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Article
Publication date: 31 July 2019

Muhammad Fauzan Ansyari, Fabio Oliveira Coelho, Kalayo Hasibuan, Dodi Settiawan and Masni Kamallia

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motivation levels of non-permanent English instructors (lecturers) in a university language centre (LC) and the factors with regard…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motivation levels of non-permanent English instructors (lecturers) in a university language centre (LC) and the factors with regard to what elements sustain their motivation to teach English and to remain in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) profession at an Islamic higher education institution.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory case study with a purposive sampling technique was employed in this study. Ten instructors (seven females and three males) aged between 26 and 40 years old participated (M = 29.6 year olds). The selected participants in the sample were instructors who had taught between three to nine years at the LC (M = 3.9 years), and interviews were the tools used to collect data.

Findings

Overall, LC instructors’ motivation is not internalised or less internalised into their self-concept. This can be seen from the results that show, respectively, instructors’ levels of no internalisation (42 per cent), less internalisation (40.5 per cent), more internalisation (11 per cent) and full internalisation (6.5 per cent). In total, 11 factors were identified: the influence of others, financial benefits, professional development opportunities, schedule flexibility, supportive working environment, social status and acceptance, a stepping stone for career advancement, networking, dedication, challenge and teaching as a calling. In general, it has been found that instructors are more externally than internally regulated or motivated.

Research limitations/implications

This study only employed interview to collect data and had only ten respondents.

Originality/value

Data were collected at the LC of an Islamic institution of higher education institution where instructors are non-permanently employed. The LC is a TEFL environment serving about 12,000 students a year. This study, therefore, allows for an understanding of instructors’ motivation in such context.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2024

Emma Sadera, Elina E.K. Suonio, Joseph Chih-Chien Chen, Rowan Herbert, Dennis Hsu, Branka Bogdan and Bridget Kool

The aim of this scoping review was to identify key characteristics related to strategies and approaches for delivering sustainable training and professional development (PD) of…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this scoping review was to identify key characteristics related to strategies and approaches for delivering sustainable training and professional development (PD) of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), teaching assistants (TAs), and tutors. While the continuous, coherent and responsive programmes for such training and PD may address needs that are congruent with the needs of other sessional teachers, the literature has not focussed on GTA training and PD that support the longer-term retention of GTAs as sessional teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

In this scoping review, we devised a search strategy to identify literature relating to the key characteristics of strategies and approaches for delivering sustainable GTA training and professional development in higher education settings. We were guided by the frameworks for such reviews developed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005), Levac et al. (2010) and Westphaln et al. (2021). We used PRISMA guidelines to guide our reporting processes, and used thematic analysis practice (Braun and Clarke, 2022) as our analytical approach in order to identify and discuss the key themes.

Findings

We identified that strategies and approaches for delivering sustainable GTA training and PD frame GTAs as future academics and leaders in teaching; provide institutional support and investment in teaching; deliver departmental training; facilitate peer support; provide pedagogical training; implement training strategies; and support the teacher identity of GTAs.

Originality/value

These findings add to the body of research that explores how strategies and approaches for delivering sustainable GTA training and PD address and meet the needs common to all sessional teachers constrained by the precarity of the part-time faculty/academia. While our findings indicate such training and PD enhance the quality of teaching available to university students, this effect is dependent on institutional support and facilitation of peer and faculty networks.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Abdur Rehman Cheema, Abid Mehmood and Muhammad Imran

The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical analysis of the disaster management structure, policies and institutions in Pakistan between 1947 and 2005, and highlights the…

44382

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical analysis of the disaster management structure, policies and institutions in Pakistan between 1947 and 2005, and highlights the contemporary challenges in view of the learning from the past.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a historic-integrative case study approach to disaster management and risk reduction policy, planning and practice. Qualitative data were collected through purposive sampling and a case study design was adopted. A broad range of actors was recruited as research participants. In total, 22 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted in relation to this study in six different districts of Pakistan to achieve insight into the role of different institutions and stakeholders.

Findings

Overall, the post-colonial flood-centric policy framework and fragmented responsibilities of different disaster management institutions show the lack of an effective institutional structure for disaster management and mitigation in Pakistan, particularly at the local level. Until the event of the 2005 earthquake, policies heavily relied on attaining immediate and short-term goals of response and relief while ignoring the long-term objectives of strategic planning for prevention and preparedness as well as capacity building and empowerment of local institutions and communities.

Practical implications

The analysis explains, in part, why disaster planning and management needs to be given due attention in the developing countries at different policy scales (from local to national) especially in the face of limited resources, and what measures should be taken to improve effectiveness at different phases of the disaster management cycle.

Originality/value

The paper advances the importance of a historical case study approach to disaster management and mitigation. The empirical work provides original research evidence about the approaches to dealing with disasters in Pakistan and thus enriches existing knowledge of disaster management policy and planning about the country.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management, vol. 25 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 July 2007

Karl W. Haltiner and Tibor Szvircsev Tresch

Switzerland is characterized by the smallness of its territory (41,000km2) as well as by its considerable ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity. This combination of small…

Abstract

Switzerland is characterized by the smallness of its territory (41,000km2) as well as by its considerable ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity. This combination of small size and diversity has had a strong influence on Swiss politics and the Swiss militia army. There has always been a pressure to take into consideration many different interests in political decision making. It is not primarily theoretical considerations that have been decisive for the army format (model) and the civil–military relations but rather the political and historical conditions of the founding of the Swiss Federation. These circumstances are the principles of federalism on the one hand and the century-old tradition of the citizen militia in connection with a deeply rooted distrust of military professionalism on the other. In addition, the neutrality of Switzerland plays an important role as well.

Details

Cultural Differences between the Military and Parent Society in Democratic Countries
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-444-53024-0

Article
Publication date: 5 November 2018

Silvia Pereira de Castro Casa Nova, Isabel Costa Lourenço and Renato Ferreira LeitãoAzevedo

This study aims to analyse the impacts of an institutional change process on a specific higher education institution in Europe and the trade-offs between the faculty perceptions…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyse the impacts of an institutional change process on a specific higher education institution in Europe and the trade-offs between the faculty perceptions of success and the organization image during this process, in light of the identity institutional theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The impacts of this institutional change are analysed and discussed based on in-depth interviews conducted with faculty members of the accounting department in which they reflected upon academic success vis-a-vis the career assessment system adopted, followed up by those faculty members’ answering an electronic questionnaire about organizational identity and image perception (Gioia et al., 2000).

Findings

Considering the individual perspectives, faculty are concerned about their vocations and aspirations, with feelings of apprehension and insecurity, perceiving the institutional goals as too high and potentially unattainable. By shifting the priority towards research, costs in terms of losing the institutional excellence in teaching might arise, which has been traditionally keen to the institute’s organizational identity and consistent with faculty’s perceptions of academic success.

Research limitations/implications

As in any research endeavour, some limitations might emerge. First, the authors addressed the context of a specific business school, in a European country. It is certainly true that culture plays a role in terms of both organizational and national levels. The authors acknowledge this as a limitation. Nevertheless, this research takes a “local” stance, the logic of academic evaluation and its impacts on institutional and individual identity formation processes is a worldwide phenomenon. Second, in defining the authors’ selection criteria, the authors excluded the possibility of other voices to be heard, both in the department itself and in the business school. Regarding the department, the authors argue that those are the ones who could influence future decisions, considering that they are the only ones eligible for the governing bodies under the institute’s regulations. Regarding the business school, adding other department(s) means adding other discipline(s) to the authors’ analysis with specific and different dynamics of researching, publishing and teaching, which also impacts the expectations regarding career and academic success.

Practical implications

First, before beginning an institutional change process, it is necessary to assess the vocations and aspirations of its members. The solution requires to reanalyse academic career premises and to reconsider the weights given to each academic activity, or furthermore, to offer more than one career path, so as to make it flexible for each faculty to follow their vocations and aspirations or to adapt to life demands. Second, in terms of organizational identity and image, the challenge is to minimize the gap between the construed external image and the internal identity, striving to achieve a balance between teaching, research, outreach and service.

Originality/value

Because of the nature of the academic work, the authors propose that the application of the theory should be preceded by a careful consideration of what is academic success. The misalignments studied and reported here reveal a multilevel phenomenon, wherein individual academic identities are often in conflict with the institutional image. The authors’ study entails a contribution to the application of the identity institutional theory to academic institutions.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 30 June 2014

Rekha Jain

Case A uses the context of unfair, non-transparent process of spectrum allocation by the Indian government to private operators that led to Supreme Court (SC) cancel 122 licenses…

Abstract

Case A uses the context of unfair, non-transparent process of spectrum allocation by the Indian government to private operators that led to Supreme Court (SC) cancel 122 licenses. It gives scope to discuss the relationship between policy and regulatory agencies and their effectiveness, role of other institutes outside telecom sector such as the Prime Minister Office, Empowered Group of Ministers and the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.

Book part
Publication date: 28 January 2019

Jussi Kivistö, Elias Pekkola and Attila Pausits

Historically, academic careers in many European universities have been characterized by the civil servant status of academics (i.e., an open vacancy model) based on the German…

Abstract

Historically, academic careers in many European universities have been characterized by the civil servant status of academics (i.e., an open vacancy model) based on the German Lehrstuhl (professorial chair) tradition. The chair system has been abandoned in many countries, and the status of civil servants has been changed to private employment. At the same time, many European universities have introduced some variant of the tenure track model to increase the attractiveness of academic careers at their institutions; however, open vacancy models continue to dominate academic careers in Europe. This chapter describes recent changes in academic promotion systems using case examples from tenure track models in two European countries, Finland and Austria. In conclusion, this chapter offers examples based on the best practices and challenges identified in the analyzed tenure track models.

Details

Achieving Academic Promotion
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-902-7

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Advances in Accounting Education Teaching and Curriculum Innovations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-868-1

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Pedro Pineda

I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile…

Abstract

I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile, Colombia, Germany, and the USA. I find that temporary academic positions were institutionalized through the creation of previously inexistent academic categories called a contrata in Chile, de cátedra in Colombia, “junior professor” without tenure in Germany and “postdoc” in the USA; used in higher education and employment laws since 1989, 1992, 2002, and 1974, respectively. Under institutional frameworks demanding the maximization of students and research, universities have increasingly contracted academics through temporary contracts under rationales that differ between regions. In Colombia and Chile, public university leaders and owners of private universities contract such teaching positions to expand student numbers through lowering costs. In Germany and the USA, employment insecurity is mostly driven by temporary scientific positions under a main rationale of scientific expansion. The share of temporary positions has increased exponentially in Colombia and Germany in recent decades, whereas in the USA there has only been an increase since 2012. Moreover, in Chile, the share of permanent positions has decreased since 2012. The common trend is one of isomorphism of vertical academic structures sharing a pyramidal form, with a wide base of academics working under conditions of contractual insecurity. Such trends follow a rationale for maximization of student numbers as well as administration, and scientific production that is in tension with prioritizing wellbeing and improvement of academics’ working conditions. Yet, in these environments, the institution of tenure in the USA and recent Chilean regulations on accreditation represent mechanisms counteracting precarious employment.

Details

University Collegiality and the Erosion of Faculty Authority
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-814-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 June 2012

M. Rafiqul Islam, Shawkat Alam and Pundarik Mukhopadhaya

The multilateral liberalisation of trade in education under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has achieved little progress. In a bid to overcome this lacklustre…

4492

Abstract

Purpose

The multilateral liberalisation of trade in education under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has achieved little progress. In a bid to overcome this lacklustre education trade liberalisation under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the purpose of this paper is to examine education trade bilateralism between Australia and India as an alternative to multilateralism. The end is to maximise bilateral trade liberalisation in education as a means to facilitate dynamic productivity gains, export opportunities, market competition, and FDI in the sector. The combined effect of this bilateralism would help accelerate economic growth in both countries, which is likely to generate domino effects on other WTO members, thereby contributing to the multilateral liberalisation of trade in services under the WTO.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology is analytical, based on pertinent empirical and secondary information.

Findings

Strong complementarities and synergies are found for the integration of trade in education services between Australia and India. Of the major exporters of education services, Australia enjoys the most competitive edge and comparative advantage in the Asia‐Pacific. India faces strong demands for quality education services due to its economic reforms and expansion requiring knowledge‐based workforce for high efficiency and productivity and has become a major importer of education services in the region.

Originality/value

The paper identifies new means of consolidating Australia and India's existing trade, niche areas of further opportunities, and potential challenges to be confronted for greater economic integration through trade in education. The originality of the paper lies in its core message that education trade bilateralism can be a valuable stepping stone, in many instances, to multilateral trade in education.

Details

Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-0024

Keywords

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