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1 – 10 of 133Karen Pickett, Willeke Rietdijk, Jenny Byrne, Jonathan Shepherd, Paul Roderick and Marcus Grace
The purpose of this paper is to understand early career teachers’ perceptions of the impact of a pre-service health education programme on their health promotion practice in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand early career teachers’ perceptions of the impact of a pre-service health education programme on their health promotion practice in schools and the contextual factors that influence this.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 primary and secondary trainee and qualified teachers who had trained at a university in England. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
The teachers found the training to be a useful introduction, particularly when it was relevant to their practice. They valued gaining practical skills at university, on placement and in school once qualified. They reported that witnessing pupils’ lives in school had increased their awareness that health education is important. Their personal qualities, life experience, the school’s ethos and competing pressures influenced their practice. Teachers considered that building relationships with colleagues, pupils and parents facilitated health promotion, and that health education needs to be relevant to pupils. Some teachers expressed that teaching about health could be a “minefield”. They also discussed whether schools or parents are responsible for educating pupils about health issues and the place of health promotion within education’s wider purpose.
Originality/value
Few studies have followed-up trainee teachers once they are in teaching posts to explore the longer-term perceived impact of pre-service health education training. The findings suggest that teachers’ development takes place via an interaction between training and practice, suggesting that training could particularly aim to provide teachers with a contextualised understanding of health issues and practical experience.
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Alysoun M. Moon, Mark A. Mullee, Rachel L. Thompson, Viv Speller and Paul Roderick
Health‐related research and evaluation in school settings have grown in recent years as the needs to demonstrate accountability and effectiveness in health education and promotion…
Abstract
Health‐related research and evaluation in school settings have grown in recent years as the needs to demonstrate accountability and effectiveness in health education and promotion have increased. The evaluation of the Wessex Healthy Schools Award (WHSA) scheme and its effectiveness in secondary schools took place between 1995 and 1998. Outlines what was planned and describes what actually happened and how the research team responded to unforeseen changes in the study design and implementation. Lists several recommendations for health or education personnel contemplating, or about to start, school‐based health education and promotion, arising from the WHSA evaluation experience.
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Viv Speller, Jenny Byrne, Sue Dewhirst, Palo Almond, Lisa Mohebati, Melanie Norman, Sarah Polack, Anjum Memon, Marcus Grace, Barrie Margetts and Paul Roderick
The purpose of this paper is to report the outcome of an education and public health collaboration investigating the impact of adapted training to enhance teachers' potential role…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the outcome of an education and public health collaboration investigating the impact of adapted training to enhance teachers' potential role to promote child health and wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted in three phases: a survey of the health education content in universities in initial teacher training courses; a longitudinal survey at the commencement and completion of courses to capture trainees' knowledge, skills and attitudes towards health and their role in health promotion; and mapping curriculum content against qualified teacher standards and public health competencies.
Findings
Training about health varies largely between institutions. Trainees' knowledge levels remained low after training; ranked importance of key health topics – nutrition, alcohol, smoking, – decreased significantly; a majority thought that teachers and schools play an important role in health promotion, but significant increases were also noted in the minority who thought health promotion is not part of their remit (Phase 2).
Originality/value
To the best of one's knowledge, similar work has not so far been reported. While teachers are in a prime position to influence child health, trainees require knowledge and skills to realise their public health potential.
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Jenny Byrne, Viv Speller, Sue Dewhirst, Paul Roderick, Palo Almond, Marcus Grace and Anjum Memon
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a curriculum change in the provision of health promotion in pre‐service teacher education in a one‐year postgraduate certificate in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a curriculum change in the provision of health promotion in pre‐service teacher education in a one‐year postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) secondary course in one Higher Education Institution (HEI) in England.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes the iterative development process, from an initial survey and mapping of the existing pre‐service teacher training programme, which provided an evidence base for the piloting of a new health promotion component in the curriculum, and its subsequent evaluation. Changes to the health promotion element of the curriculum reflect the programme philosophy which balances the requirements of a competency based curriculum with a more liberal approach to education and training in which pre‐service teachers are expected to critically reflect on, and evaluate their practice. This work adopts a socio‐constructivist approach to teacher education, in which teachers develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes by interacting with others through dialogue, and learning from more knowledgeable others in a cooperative and scaffolded manner.
Findings
The paper presents the results of these changes and discusses implications for their sustainability. The changes made to the health promotion component of the programme and their implementation would not have been possible without the inter‐professional collaboration that took place over three years.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge similar work involving a multi‐disciplinary collaborative approach to the development of a health education component of a pre‐service teacher education curriculum has not been employed or reported.
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Today, as the understanding of diversity is further expanded, the meaning of social justice becomes even more complicated, if not confusing. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Today, as the understanding of diversity is further expanded, the meaning of social justice becomes even more complicated, if not confusing. The purpose of this paper is to explore how school principals with social justice commitment understand and perceive social justice in their leadership practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research design is used for this study. In total, 22 school principals in Ontario were interviewed. The interviews glean data on principals’ work context, their perceptions of social justice, and anecdotes, stories, and examples concerning social justice in their practices.
Findings
The research findings draw attention to the central importance of awareness of the social injustices in schools – in structure, policy, and practices – and open space for debate on what can be considered as leadership for social justice. They also provide a useful starting point in exploring how leadership roles and practices can be improved to reverse injustices associated with the diversity of students based on race, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, and ability.
Originality/value
What principals perceive may have a significant impact on the actions and practices for social justice. Therefore, it is important to gain insight into principals’ persecutions and perspectives on social justice as they may become norms and criteria that guide their actions.
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Patricia Fosh, Huw Morris, Roderick Martin, Paul Smith and Roger Undy
Since 1979, the Conservative government in the UK has introducedwide‐ranging and detailed regulations for the conduct of union internalaffairs; a number of other Western…
Abstract
Since 1979, the Conservative government in the UK has introduced wide‐ranging and detailed regulations for the conduct of union internal affairs; a number of other Western industrialized countries have not done so (or have not done so to the same extent) but have continued their tradition of relying on unions themselves to establish democratic procedures. Alternative views of the role of the state in industrial relations underlie these differences. A second, linked article, appearing in Employee Relations (Vol. 15 No. 4), examines state approaches to union autonomy in the context of attitudes towards other controls on union activities and attempts to explain the successive shifts in British policy in the UK since the 1960s.
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Patricia Fosh, Huw Morris, Roderick Martin, Paul Smith and Roger Undy
This is the second of two linked articles on the question of unionautonomy; the first appeared in the previous issue of this journal. Itconsiders state control and approach to…
Abstract
This is the second of two linked articles on the question of union autonomy; the first appeared in the previous issue of this journal. It considers state control and approach to union autonomy in the wider context of state controls on unions′ bargaining activities including industrial action. Two questions are posed: whether there is any “balance” between state respect for union autonomy and state confidence that union collective bargaining activities take place within a legally prescribed framework; and how the state in the UK was able to shift so rapidly from the traditional, voluntary approach and the incipient neo‐corporatism of the 1970s, to the detailed and onerous regulation of union internal and external activities in the 1980s and 1990s.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between income inequality and economic growth, both in linear and non‐linear specifications.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between income inequality and economic growth, both in linear and non‐linear specifications.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper has employed annual time series data over the period of 1971 up to 2005. Autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) bounds testing approach has been used for cointegration and error correction model for short run behavior. Unit root problem is handled by the use of augmented Dickey‐Fuller unit root test.
Findings
The analysis findings are sharply contrasted to the significant association between income inequality and economic growth found in 1994 by Alesina and Roderick and by Persson and Tabellini. The empirical evidence provides support for the existence of Kuznets inverted‐U as well as inverted S‐shaped curve in Pakistan.
Practical implications
This paper opens up new directions for policy‐making authorities to equalize income distribution in the case of a small transition economy like Pakistan.
Originality/value
This paper convincingly argues that there is a need for case‐by‐case study on such a project in view of each country's unique characteristics. This paper makes a unique contribution to the literature with reference to Pakistan, being a pioneering attempt that employs ARDL cointegration approach.
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Roderick A.W. Rhodes and Anne Tiernan
The purpose of this paper is to outline the current state of political and administrative ethnography in political science and public administration before suggesting that focus…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline the current state of political and administrative ethnography in political science and public administration before suggesting that focus groups are a useful tool in the study of governing elites. They provide an alternative way of “being there” when the rules about secrecy and access prevent participant observation. Briefly, it describes the job of Prime Ministers’ Chiefs of Staff before explaining the research design, the preparations for the focus group sessions, and the strategies used to manage the dynamics of a diverse group that included former political enemies and factional rivals.
Design/methodology/approach
It outlines the approach to analysis and interpretation before reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of focus groups for research into political and administrative elites.
Findings
It concludes that focus groups are a valuable tool for making tacit knowledge explicit, especially when all participants work in a shared governmental tradition.
Originality/value
It is the first project to use focus groups to study the political elites of Westminster systems, let alone Australian government.
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Robert Newbery, Stephen Roderick, Johannes Sauer, Matthew Gorton and Keith Robbins
Research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) seeks to understand the EO–performance relationship. However, at a strategic level, performance relates to a competitive advantage and…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) seeks to understand the EO–performance relationship. However, at a strategic level, performance relates to a competitive advantage and comprises both value-added and efficiency measures. Following arguments that performance is context and strategy dependent, the paper argues that EO research needs to clarify and specify the type of performance relationship measured.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore the EO–performance relationship, the research considers the agricultural sector where policy has traditionally encouraged the maximisation of efficiency in production and has only recently promoted entrepreneurship, providing fertile ground to explore different approaches to measuring performance. A survey collected detailed accounting records and context specific EO for 282 commercial farms. The authors estimate two models (Heckman selection regression and stochastic production frontier) that examine the relationships between EO and value-added/efficiency performance outcomes.
Findings
The analysis confirms the EO–value-added performance relationship, with significant positive relationships for the EO components proactiveness and innovativeness and a negative relationship for risk. No EO–efficiency performance relationship was found, despite a robust analysis of technical efficiency using detailed accounting data.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to EO theory by problematizing performance and highlighting the importance of the type of performance measured. This paper contributes empirically with findings relating to a mature industry contributes to entrepreneurship methodology by outlining how EO–performance relationships can be measured in terms of productivity and technical efficiency.
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