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1 – 10 of over 2000Jennifer L. Roberts and Mary M. Chittooran
There has been an increase in the number of non-government organization (NGO) schools in India’s disadvantaged communities. Since these schools often serve the most marginalized…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been an increase in the number of non-government organization (NGO) schools in India’s disadvantaged communities. Since these schools often serve the most marginalized populations, it is important to understand their role in addressing educational inequities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of an NGO school in Uttar Pradesh, India in improving girls’ education.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study methodology was utilized to identify barriers to girls’ education and ways in which the NGO school is working to minimize educational inequities.
Findings
The barriers to girls’ education in this study are traditional values, lack of economic opportunities, and safety concerns. The school works to minimize these inequities by providing a rigorous curriculum, teaching the students how to be good citizens, improving school facilities, and providing free school supplies. Implications – it is through better understanding the role of the NGO sector that a more complete understanding of the status of girls’ education will develop.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on girls’ education, but expands the conversation to include NGO schools.
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Megumi Sugimoto, Hirokazu Iemura and Rajib Shaw
This paper seeks to demonstrate a unique project with tsunami height poles and disaster education to maintain disaster awareness for several decades in the area where the Indian…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to demonstrate a unique project with tsunami height poles and disaster education to maintain disaster awareness for several decades in the area where the Indian Ocean tsunami caused significant damage in 2004.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach is utilized combined with field observation, participatory observation and a general literature review of relevant studies and secondary sources.
Findings
The major finding is that the unique device of 85 tsunami height poles was brought from the outside to Banda Aceh city so that people may remember the impact of the tsunami over a longer period of time when awareness is likely to reduce. As local people gradually understood the significance of the poles, the number of local cooperators increased and the project's impact improved significantly.
Research limitations/implications
The long‐term impact of the disaster resilience is yet to be verified in Banda Aceh city. The field research results of the project's process and impact immediately connected with grassroots practice with people to maintain disaster awareness and resilence for the city. The practice to which the Hyogo Framework for Action gives priority connects with building understanding of tsunami risk and disaster awareness with local knowledge, assimilated by preserving disaster records and visualizing disaster.
Practical implications
The paper describes a field‐based project in Banda Aceh city and the suburb, Indonesia, which was implemented in cooperation with local communities, local non‐government organizations, local school boards and specialists from Kyoto University, Japan. Thus, the study findings are directly related to its practical implications.
Originality/value
The paper highlights how the device of 85 tsunami height poles which were built in order to visualize disaster and maintain disaster awareness under the concept, blended an expert's unique idea with old Japanese knowledge in Banda Aceh city by the local community in Indonesia in June 2007. The paper shows that local ideas maintain living knowledge and lessons with sustainable development in the local place after the project had finished and recommendations can apply to the other tsunami affected areas.
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Faiz Ahamad and Gordhan K. Saini
While the information source is likely to affect job search process, it is still unknown how the information source interacts with the information content and information valence…
Abstract
Purpose
While the information source is likely to affect job search process, it is still unknown how the information source interacts with the information content and information valence. In this study, first, the authors examine the influence of information source, information content, and information valence on employer attractiveness and job pursuit intention; and second, the authors estimate the interaction of information source with content and valence of information on employer attractiveness and job pursuit intention.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopted a 2 (information source: company-independent vs company-dependent) x 2 (information content: instrumental vs symbolic) x 2 (information valence: positive vs negative) between-subject factorial design to achieve the study’s research objectives, using a sample of 240 job applicants; and applied multivariate analysis of covariance for estimating the main and interaction effects.
Findings
The authors find a significant interaction of information source with the content and valence of information, indicating a differential effect of content and valence, depending on the information source. The study reveals that the effect of information content (i.e. symbolic vs instrumental) on employer attractiveness varies depending on the source of information (i.e. company-independent vs company-dependent), with the company-independent source having a higher effect than the company-dependent source.
Practical implications
Considering that the information source has a differential effect on job seekers, it would be useful to account for such differences in designing recruitment communications. Results guide managers in deciding the appropriate recruitment information outlet for communicating symbolic and instrumental attributes. The use of symbolic attribute content is recommended for generating favourable evaluations about an employer.
Originality/value
This study is a novel attempt to examine on how information source interacts with information content type and information valence in influencing recruitment outcomes. The authors provide valuable insights to human resource managers or employer brand managers to design effective recruitment communications and leverage the company-independent information sources appropriately.
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Julian Teicher and Katie Spearitt
Examines the range and changing nature of the initiatives implemented by Australian governments under the rubric of equal opportunity. Reviews the character and trends in the…
Abstract
Examines the range and changing nature of the initiatives implemented by Australian governments under the rubric of equal opportunity. Reviews the character and trends in the Australian labour market. Provides an account of the public policy framework, including industrial relations, anti‐discrimination and affirmative action legislation. Considers employer responses and the dilemmas for the broader diffusion of diversity management.
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Although affirmative action is often referred to as though it was an homogeneous entity, the reality is that affirmative action policies can take many different forms. To date…
Abstract
Although affirmative action is often referred to as though it was an homogeneous entity, the reality is that affirmative action policies can take many different forms. To date, the variety of affirmative action policies that have been implemented in Australia has not been well‐documented. In this paper, a framework is developed to describe the variety of affirmative action policies being implemented in Australia in the 1990s. The most frequently reported policies by Australian organisations concern reviewing employment policies for discriminatory practices. The next most commonly reported policies relate to companies’ efforts to assist employees to balance the competing roles of work and family. Policies that seek to challenge traditional patterns of employment, and policies that seek to “fix” women are less commonly reported by organisations. The breaking down of affirmative action into various types of policies provides scope for more fully exploring the question of the effectiveness of affirmative action policies.
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Maria Ftanou, Anna Machlin, Angela Nicholas, Kylie King, Justine Fletcher, Carol Harvey and Jane Pirkis
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness and relevance of the Mental Health Professional Online Development (MHPOD) training package in further developing the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness and relevance of the Mental Health Professional Online Development (MHPOD) training package in further developing the skills in mental health and recovery-informed practice of the Australian non-government community mental health workforce. MHPOD is an evidence-based, self-paced, online learning resource that consists of 58 mental health topics.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 349 e-learners were recruited from seven non-government community mental health services across Australia. E-learners were invited to complete up to twelve online surveys, a baseline survey, a topic completion survey for each completed topic, and a follow-up survey towards the end of the pilot.
Findings
The majority of e-learners indicated that MHPOD was useful for professional development and relevant to their current employment. E-learners identified that MHPOD led to significant improvement in their knowledge and confidence in their ability. A number of enabling factors such as managerial and organizational supports, technical supports and up-to-date and relevant content materials need to be present for the successful implementation of online programs such as MHPOD.
Originality/value
Online training packages such MHPOD that a relatively easy to use are helpful in developing knowledge, and confidence in the skills of the mental health workforce. The evaluation findings suggest that MHPOD is a relevant and appropriate training tool for the non-government community mental health sector within Australia.
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As social media technologies permeate public life, the current forms of collaboration between government and non-government stakeholders are changing. The purpose of this paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
As social media technologies permeate public life, the current forms of collaboration between government and non-government stakeholders are changing. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how social media use reconfigures the organizing practices around such collaboration. A case study of a collaborative e-government project showcases how emergent organizing practices through external social media differ from existing ones along the dimensions of time, task, team and transition.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a case study of a collaborative e-government project on open data, organized by Shanghai Municipality, local businesses, universities and non-governmental organizations, using an external social media platform, WeChat. Adopting the theoretical lens of temporary organization, the paper identifies the key aspects of change emerged in the organizing practices of this collaboration.
Findings
The findings outline how the use of external social media reconfigures the collaboration between government and non-government stakeholders along the four dimensions of time, task, team and transition. The new form of collaboration is reconfigured along the lines of (1) an ad hoc and non-linear management of time; (2) discursive task creation, assignment and engagement among stakeholders; (3) a serendipitous engagement of team members based on expertise; and (4) a shift in formal and informal organizing practices.
Originality/value
This paper provides insights on the use of external social media for collaboration in e-government research and develops the concept of temporary organization in a sociomaterial setting. It also provides practical suggestions on how to manage new forms of public projects leveraging on the capacity of external social media.
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Craig Campbell and Lyndsay Connors
The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the history of national education policy through an interview with one of its significant makers and critics, Lyndsay Connors, a former…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the history of national education policy through an interview with one of its significant makers and critics, Lyndsay Connors, a former Australian Schools Commissioner.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper occurs as an interview. The text is based on a revised conversation held as an event of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Conference held at the University of Canberra, on 26 September 2017.
Findings
Australian educational policy is peculiarly complex, and apparently “irrational”. This appears especially so in relation to the government, tax-raised, funding of government and non-government schools. A combination of the peculiarities of Australian federalism in relation to education, political expediency, popular exhaustion with the “state aid” debate, the power of entrenched interest groups and the distancing of democratic decision making from the decision-making process in relation to education all play a part.
Originality/value
The originality of this contribution to a research journal lies in its combination of autobiography with historical policy analysis.
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This article considers the use of charging differential fees for the same tuition services as a means to widen the financial accessibility of non‐government schools to children of…
Abstract
This article considers the use of charging differential fees for the same tuition services as a means to widen the financial accessibility of non‐government schools to children of less affluent parents in Australia. After discussing theoretical aspects, the author considers how the theoretical concepts could be operationalized, then how a sliding scale fee schedule could be implemented without, and with, external financial assistance.
Janandani Nanayakkara, Alison O. Booth, Anthony Worsley and Claire Margerison
This study aims to gain an understanding from parents and teachers about the types of food provision practices and venues, and the food-related policies and rules in primary…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to gain an understanding from parents and teachers about the types of food provision practices and venues, and the food-related policies and rules in primary schools in Australia; and investigate any differences in the presence of policies and rules based on the school location and school type.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via two online surveys from August 2019 to March 2020. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse quantitative responses. Respondents' written responses to food-related policies were categorised into groups.
Findings
The two most common food provision services were canteen and lunch order services (mentioned by 72 and 55% of respondents, respectively). Of the 425 respondents whose schools had a canteen (parents and teachers together), 62% reported their school implements a healthy school canteen policy. Significantly more parents compared to teachers, and more respondents from government schools compared to non-government schools stated that their school had implemented such a policy. Approximately half of the respondents (47%) stated their school had implemented other food-related policies and/or rules. These policies or rules belonged to four categories: avoiding certain foods, avoiding food sharing, avoiding food packages and promoting healthy eating.
Originality/value
This study shows the disparities exist in implementing food-related policies among primary schools in Australia. Nutrition promoters and policy planners should consider these results and find the best mechanisms to minimise the gaps in policy implementation.
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