Search results

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Michelle Walker.

In this single case study, Michelle gives a short background to the development of her depression and is then interviewed by Jerome.

Michelle sets out the reasons she developed depression. These map onto the research conducted by Brown and Harris some 50 years ago, showing how social factors can create a vulnerability to develop depression.

Single case studies provide us with one person’s narrative. That narrative is, however, unique and can often offer us insights that are lost in large statistical surveys.

Michelle found that the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) approach really helped her. However, she should never have had to wait as long as she did for that help. Mental health services must respond quickly, even if only to offer a triage assessment.

Brown and Harris identified four key vulnerability factors for depression in women. Michelle met three of these. How many other women are in a similar situation and are suffering in silence?

We can learn a lot from the factors that helped Michelle recover from her depressive episode: medication, CBT, the support of her mother, education, finding her soulmate and, although she does not say it, her own rugged determination and personal resilience.

The purpose of this paper is to outline a Development and Research (D and R) approach to systematic and focused professional collaborative inquiry developed as part of an externally funded project, Disciplined Collaboration and Evaluation of Professional Learning (DCEPL), and highlight a model of professional collaboration that was aimed at generating meaningful teacher engagement within, between, and across schools. The “Disciplined Collaboration” (DC) approach was designed to prepare and equip teachers to work with a model of collaborative inquiry that was highly structured and had built-in assessment measures to help teachers judge the impact and progress of their collaborative work. The literature on professional learning highlights that superficial models of collaboration, unstructured approaches to collective learning, and a lack of adequate evaluation measures are some of the reasons why teachers’ professional collaboration may not have the impact anticipated or expected.

The DCEPL program was a D and R project that aimed to support teachers in generating their own local approaches to school-based innovation and change. As a D and R project, a framework for collaboration that became known as “DC” model was developed and shared. The project involved eight schools in different states and territories in Australia. In the first two years, the schools engaged intensely with the “DC” model, in ways that aimed to promote innovation and change. Subsequently, in a phase of consolidation, schools have refined and extended their collective work. From the outset, a range of data sources were available to schools to assist them with gauging the progress and impact of their collaborative inquiry. Data sets included a baseline assessment, a maturity model that charted progress against a rubric, documentary analysis, and an online portal. A sequenced data collection and evaluative approach, every six months, routinely captured the process and the progress of the inquiry work in each of the schools. It also illuminated progress across the D and R project.

The feedback from the project and data analyses suggest that all eight schools in the project engaged with the “DC” model; and in most cases, used a whole school approach to improvement. More generally, the findings point to several conclusions about working within a DC framework: first, that authentic collaborative inquiry, i.e., which makes a positive difference to learners, benefits from a clear operational model and consistent rules of engagement for teachers. Second, that the DC model, offered teachers clear guidelines about the process of active collaboration and its evaluative requirements from the outset. Third, while inevitably, the process of DC varied across schools, the focus upon improving learning and learning outcomes was central.

The DC model presents a new framework or a new approach in supporting teachers’ collaborative inquiry. The DC model emphasizes improvements in student learning as the main outcome of teachers’ collaborative work. In addition, it has feedback and impact measurement within its design thus, allowing teachers to naturally evaluate progress and outcomes.

Over the past several decades, instructional leadership has gradually gained increasing currency as a key role of school principals throughout much of the world. This is also the case in Malaysia where educational research, policy and practice have brought the instructional leadership role of the principal front and center. The purpose of this paper is to assess the conceptual models, research methods, and foci of scholars in the study of principal instructional leadership in Malaysia over the past 30 years.

Systematic methods were used to identify all studies conducted in Malaysia that had used the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) (Hallinger, 1982/1990/2015) as the data collection instrument. This search yielded a database of 120 studies completed between 1989 and 2016 written in both English and Bahasa Malay. Common data were extracted from the 120 research reports, coded and entered into a MS Excel spreadsheet for analysis. Quantitative methods were employed to analyze modal trends and synthesize patterns in the data across the studies.

The search identified 120 PIMRS studies, 90 percent of which had been conducted since 2005. This represented a surprisingly large corpus of studies. Over 75 percent of the Malaysian studies of principal instructional leadership had been conducted as graduate (master and doctoral) theses, relatively few of which had achieved publication in journals. The authors’ analysis found that most studies had used lower order (i.e. bivariate, direct effects) conceptual models and relied heavily on descriptive and simple correlational statistical tests. The lack of consistent results within the database of studies was attributed largely to limitations in research design and quality.

The 120 PIMRS studies conducted in Malaysia comprise a surprisingly large corpus of research on principal instructional leadership. Indeed, the Malaysian corpus is second only to the USA in terms of the number of PIMRS studies of principal instructional leadership. Nonetheless, limitations in the research models and methods employed in these studies suggest a need for stronger methodological training before Malaysian scholars can achieve the goal of contributing useful knowledge to the local and global knowledge base. Specific recommendations are offered for strengthening the quality of research.

The recent expansion of higher education in Malaysia – like other developing societies – has yielded progress in the scope of research production. However, numerous challenges remain in transforming the potential for useful knowledge production from graduate research into reality.

This is the first review of research on principal leadership conducted in Malaysia. The review follows efforts by scholars to systematically identify the boundaries of knowledge in educational leadership and management within East Asian societies (e.g. China, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong). Moreover, this is the first review of research that examines the use of the PIMRS in a single society.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the findings from a small-scale, exploratory, study of principals’ instructional leadership practice in Malaysian primary schools. The dimensions and functions of instructional leadership, explicitly explored in this study, are those outlined in the Hallinger and Murphy’s (1985) model.

This study is part of a larger international, comparative research project that aims to identify the boundaries of the current knowledge base on instructional leadership practice and to develop a preliminary empirically based understanding of how principals conceive and enact their role as instructional leaders in Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Using a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 primary school principals in Malaysia. The sample comprised principals from 14 Government National schools (SK), nine principals from Chinese schools (SJKC) and seven principals from Tamil schools (SJKT). The qualitative data were initially analysed inductively, and subsequently coded using ATLAS.ti to generate the findings and conclusions.

The findings showed that the Malaysian principals, who were interviewed, understood and could describe their responsibilities relating to improving instructional practice. In particular, they talked about the supervision of teachers and outlined various ways in which they actively monitored the quality of teaching and learning in their schools. These data revealed that some of the duties and activities associated with being a principal in Malaysia are particularly congruent with instructional leadership practices. In particular, the supervision of teaching and learning along with leading professional learning were strongly represented in the data.

This is a small-scale, exploratory study involving 30 principals.

There is a clear policy aspiration, outlined in the Malaysian Education Blueprint, that principals should be instructional leaders. The evidence shows that principals are enacting some of the functions associated with being an instructional leader but not others.

The findings from this study provide some new insights into the principals’ instructional leadership practices in Malaysia. They also provide a basis for further, in-depth exploration that can enhance the knowledge base about principals’ instructional leadership practices in Malaysia.

This qualitative study explores, through the lens of Schein's (1978) career anchor theory, the internal career perceptions (self-perceived values, challenges and capabilities) of local surf workers in the highly internationalized sector of surf tourism in Nicaragua.

Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 22 local surf tourism workers. Participant experiences were analyzed using thematic analysis to distinguish their career anchor orientations.

The results indicate the sustained value and instrumentality of Schein's original career anchor theory, specifically in terms of the interconnectedness of dominant and supporting anchors and the relevance of anchor groupings for workers in non-standard working environments. The anchors of lifestyle, entrepreneurial creativity, and security and stability were closely interrelated and complementary, as participants from this context were ultimately striving for security and stability.

Future research should consider more explicitly the role of the socio-political, environmental or economic context in shaping the internal career self-concepts and experiences of workers.

This study sheds light on the internal career drivers — the unique dilemmas, challenges, passions and motives — of local workers in a resource-constrained environment. Managers, business owners and other economic actors stand to gain important insights into the realities of workers they employ, but do not intimately understand. Such insights could be generalizable to a variety of work settings in which there are high material, social or cultural constraints.

Non-standard work contexts and local worker voices are both thematically underrepresented in the careers scholarship. Research on these topics can contribute to broader discussions of sustainability, sustainable development goals and decolonial perspectives in social science scholarship. Bringing local workers from the Global South into view means turning scholarly attention towards less-visible “others” working alongside those having received the lion's share of academic discussion, i.e. expatriate workers on a global assignment or self-initiated expatriates, most often from the Global North.

This is one of the first studies to explore the career anchors of local workers in the Global South in a non-standard, non-bureaucratic vocational setting. The study sheds light on local workers' career decisions, an often-neglected perspective within international human resource management.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of both the school counselor and the school psychologist in preparing students in urban school settings for college and/or the workforce. Throughout this paper, the authors discuss how collaboration is critical to ensuring students are successful at every school level (e.g., elementary, middle and high) to avail themselves of various postsecondary opportunities upon graduation. The authors give recommendations for practice and future research to implement and increase knowledge around collaboration between school counselors and school psychologists in preparing students in urban school settings to be college- and career-ready.

This is a conceptual paper on school counselors and school psychologists using the Eight Components of College and Career Readiness Framework to collaborate on preparing students for postsecondary options.

With support from key stakeholders like administrators, teachers and parents, school counselors and school psychologists can work collaboratively to increase students’ college and career readiness. For example, school counselors and school psychologists may start by creating and implementing a needs assessment, as it relates to the developmental tasks of students (i.e. self-regulation, self-efficacy, self-competence) that must be negotiated to ensure college and career readiness. School counselors and school psychologists should also examine out-of-school suspension, expulsion, school arrest and disciplinary referral data (Carter et al., 2014).

Collaboration around college and career readiness is important to the academic success and future of students in urban school settings. School counselors and school psychologists complement each other in preparing students for college and the workforce because their training has prepared both for addressing academic needs, assessment, mental health issues, career development, behavioral concerns and social–emotional needs of students (American School Counselor Association, 2012; National Association of School Psychologists, 2014). Further, school counselors and school psychologists are in a pivotal position to create a college-going culture by using evidence-based activities, curricula and practices.

The purpose of this article is to outline how far the empirical evidence supports the centrality of leadership in the process of improving underperforming schools.

This article draws on evidence from a contemporary, selected, review of the literature.

The findings show that leadership is the critical factor in the improvement of underperforming schools. Seven new themes, derived from the selected evidence, are presented that illuminate how leaders secure improvement in the most challenging of school contexts.

This review is not a systematic review of the evidence and does not claim to be. It provides a commentary based on selected contemporary evidence and therefore is not comprehensive account of all the relevant evidence pertaining to leading the improvement of underperforming schools. The evidence is derived from sources written in English; therefore, it is fully acknowledged that other sources, in other languages might exist but are not included or reflected.

The practical implications are clearly laid out in the form of seven key themes about leading the improvement of underperforming schools that are of direct practical use.

With so many schools in high poverty areas finding themselves in difficulty, this contemporary review provides new insights about the leadership approaches and practices that continue to make a considerable difference to underperforming schools.

Revolutionary changes are happening in retail, and the term “retail apocalypse” reflects these dramatic changes. As a growing number of traditional brick-and-motor retailers are closing, the aim of this study is to understand and test the dimensions of specific store and consumer factors that are driving this shift towards non-traditional retail marketplaces (e.g. pop-up stores, fashion trucks), factors that drive consumer loyalty (i.e. re-patronage intentions) and the mediating role of shopping enjoyment in this context.

This study used a consumer panel (n = 237) of previous shoppers of non-traditional retailers. Utilising exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this study identifies possible store and consumer factors that are associated with consumers' patronage of non-traditional retailers. Based on results, we propose a model for non-traditional retail shopping behaviour.

EFA revealed that quality of personal experience and consumer curiosity were dominant factors explaining variance. Key findings revealed that in-store factors (in-store ambiance, quality and value of products) and consumer factors (consumer curiosity, quality consciousness) influence consumers' re-patronage intentions. This highlights the importance of maintaining quality elements in shopping experiences. Shopping enjoyment was found to mediate relationships, indicating that while not all factors directly impact loyalty, it can be enhanced through pleasurable shopping experiences.

Our findings help retailers understand which factors are driving this dramatic change in consumer behaviour so they may develop better strategies to attract and retain customers. Retailers need to highlight product quality and in-store atmosphere and spark consumers' quality consciousness and curiosity to enhance consumer loyalty.

Despite the rise in popularity, this is the first study to investigate non-traditional retailers comprehensively.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of personalisation policy on the providers of social care services in England, mainly to older people, within the context of austerity and different conceptions of personalisation.

The paper draws on part of a longitudinal study of the care workforce, which involved 188 interviews with managers and staff, undertaken in two rounds.

Four themes were identified: changing understandings and awareness of personalisation; adapting services to fit new requirements; differences in contracting; and the impact on business viability.

The paper reflects a second look at the data focussing on a particular theme, which was not the focus of the research study. Furthermore, the data were gathered from self-selecting participants working in services in four contrasting areas, rather than a representative sample.

The research raises questions about the impact of a commercial model of “personalised care”, involving personal budgets (PBs) and spot contracts, on the stability of social care markets. Without a pluralistic, well-funded and vibrant social care market, it is hard to increase the consumer choice of services from a range of possible providers and, therefore, fulfil the government’s purposes for personalisation, particularly in a context of falling revenues from local authorities.

The research presents an analysis of interviews with care providers and care workers mainly working with older people. Their views on personalisation have not often been considered in contrast to the sizeable literature on PBs recipients and social workers.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether work-related technology use outside of work and around family members could produce technoference or phubbing, where time spent with family members is interrupted by or intruded upon by technology use. The authors also examined its impact on work-to-family spillover, feelings of overload, life satisfaction and job satisfaction for workers.

Via an online survey, the authors assessed the frequency of technoference due to work, work-to-family spillover, feelings of overload, life satisfaction and job satisfaction. The authors’ analytic sample included US parents (95 fathers and 88 mothers) who worked for pay and experienced technoference in their relationships, which was at least sometimes due to work.

Results reveal possible impacts of technoference related to work on employee feelings of work-to-family spillover, greater feelings of overload, lower life satisfaction and lower job satisfaction.

Data are from a cross-sectional online survey, and results are correlational. Although the authors have theoretical/conceptual evidence for the impacts of technoference, it is possible that the direction of effects could be reversed or even bidirectional. Experimental/intervention work could further examine whether changes in technology use at home due to work improve employee well-being.

The authors’ findings suggest that organizational policies which promote healthy boundaries and work-life balance are likely fundamental to employee well-being and that employers should be mindful of employees' work-related technology use at home.

This study examines technoference and phubbing due to work while at home, as opposed to focusing on the at-work context.