Search results

The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of the term well-being as conceptualised by parents, grandparents, principals and teachers in the Irish primary education system.

A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted to understand the nature and meaning of the phenomenon of well-being. Interviews were carried out with 54 principals, teachers, parents and grandparents from a representative sample of primary schools in Ireland. Each participant was asked the same, open, question: “What does well-being mean to you?” Responses were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a combination of the principles of the hermeneutic circle and Braun and Clarke’s framework for thematic analysis.

Three conceptualisations of well-being were identified (1) well-being is about being happy, (2) well-being is about being healthy and safe and (3) well-being is something you “do”.

To the best of our knowledge this paper is the first of its kind to describe how well-being is conceptualised by adults in Irish primary school contexts. In particular it highlights how neoliberal conceptualisations of well-being as a “thing”, a commodity exchanged on assumptions of individualism, moralism and bio-economism, have crept into the education of our youngest citizens.

This paper seeks to illustrate how interventionist education reforms shape dis/trust-building processes and their impact on teacher professionalism in vocational education and training (VET) across national contexts. Using trust as the object of analysis, we discuss the affective mechanisms of becoming a professional in a standards-based neoliberal environment.

Through an analysis of VET teacher narratives in England and Austria, the paper draws attention to the ways in which policy instrumentalism has created a culture of distrust in VET. Drawing upon foundational work on system trust developed by Niklas Luhmann, we illustrate how conditions for trust sit at symbolic thresholds, which set the conditions for professional recognition within VET.

Our analysis revealed that attempts to standardise VET strategy are fuelled by the need for existential security and predictability, leading to tensions in the cultivation of system trust. Conditions for professional recognition across both contexts were based on practices of documentation and subordination, narrowly defining modes of legitimate self-expression in organisations. This constitutes a crisis of trust in VET teacher professionalism, which undermines pedagogical autonomy and integrity.

We seek to highlight the impact that reduced trust in the governance of VET can have on issues associated with teacher motivation, well-being and retention. The consideration of trust is therefore essential both for policy design and implementation in VET organisations.

The application of trust theory offers a distinctive lens through which to understand the impact of accountability, performativity and governance processes upon teacher subjectivity within VET across national contexts.

The purpose of this study is to examine effects of classroom-level and student-level factors on student engagement in the context of a higher education system vertically differentiated into research, applied and comprehensive university types.

The study used a cross-sectional multilevel design to explain student engagement based on class and student variables. Specifically, the study collects data from 656 students and 61 randomly selected teachers at both levels and uses multilevel modeling to explain relationship patterns.

The results show that institutions vary significantly in student engagement scores. In addition, while a significant variation is found at the student and classroom level, the effects of academic achievement, instructional quality, teaching experience and teacher qualifications on student engagement vary across classrooms in institutions. However, the interaction effect of classroom and student-level variables on student engagement remains non-significant.

The main contribution of this lies in the explanation of student engagement using classroom and student level factors in a vertically differentiated higher education system using multilevel modeling. Student engagement varied in classrooms research universities applied and comprehensive universities.

The paper aims to explore the role of union strategic influence on the adoption of High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) in organisations and examines how the effects of job security and then in turn the industrial relations climate, mediate this relationship in a serial manner.

The research analyses an original quantitative survey of union negotiators and representatives in 382 workplaces in England. The analysis employs structural equation modelling techniques to examine the relationships between union influence, job security, industrial relations climate and HPWS.

Union strategic influence has a positive effect on the take up of HPWS in unionised workplaces. Job security and the industrial relations climate demonstrate a serial mediation effect between union strategic influence and the take up of HPWS: union strategic influence has a positive effect on job security, which in turn positively impacts the industrial relations climate, thereby increasing the likelihood of the adoption of HPWS. The findings for the industrial relations climate are particularly strong.

Findings suggest that organisations will benefit from focussing on the development of positive industrial relations, where unions have genuine strategic influence, because this maximises the likelihood that HPWS can be adopted and sustained.

The paper provides a novel focus on the take up of HPWS within unionised workplaces. It focusses on the role of union strategic influence and the mediating effects of job security and the industrial relations climate, which are contextual factors that have been underexplored in the HPWS literature to date.

This study looked into the factors that could make a difference in teachers’ individual innovativeness and team innovativeness. We investigated five categories of factors: (1) innovation-related teacher preparedness, (2) innovation-related teacher professional development, (3) teacher professional practices, (4) teacher empowerment and (5) innovation-related teacher self-efficacy.

The data source is the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) US data. The samples include about 165 schools and 2,560 teachers. We applied the structural equation model to analyze the data and the unit of analysis is set at the individual teacher-level.

We found that all factors matter except professional development and that they matter differently for different innovativeness outcomes.

This study is significant in several aspects: first, it is among the first that examined the factors that could make a difference in teacher innovativeness. Second, we differentiated between individual and team teacher innovativeness. Third, the findings highlight the importance of several factors including teacher preparation, teacher collaboration, teacher participation in school decisions and teacher self-efficacy.

The Further Education and Training (FET) sector is being positioned as a centrepiece of the government's post-pandemic recovery. However, issues of capacity and staff churn are threatening the potential success of this strategy. Unfortunately, there has been almost no strategic analysis of teacher churn in the English FET system or of the derivative issues of recruitment and retention, both of which jeopardise the sector's capacity to deliver high-quality teaching and improve workforce skills. This paper examines these issues for policymakers and sector leaders and makes suggestions on how these can be redressed. A call for a more joined-up FET sector is presented.

This is a follow-up paper to a report published by the Education and Training Foundation in 2022 on teacher recruitment in the English FET sector. This paper pulls together all of the most recent research on the English FET sector on teacher recruitment and retention and frames these against the DfE's Skills for Jobs policy commitments. It also analyses a number of proposed solutions, reflecting on their merits and potential consequences.

An updated profile of FET institutions within the college, private training and adult subsectors is offered, showing how the FET sector in England has been in steady decline, which is juxtaposed against the rhetoric of industrial productivity and economic renewal. Four variables, namely funding, institutional numbers, staffing and learner numbers are examined to explore this disparity. A more in-depth analysis of recruitment and retention research follows, showing that pay, job insecurity and status are the factors influencing the decision to start an FET career. Strategies for remedying the “crisis” are assessed, including the role of national campaigns and professional bodies.

The first point for any research programme is to draw together the research data and themes that have been previously discussed in order to build a platform for future investigation, which is what this paper does. There are clear steers on where future research might be located: staff well-being, professional status, recruitment methods and what is meant by an FET career. These are factors that affect the desirability of FET work and the sector's ability to recruit high-quality candidates. The consequences of not doing this research is the likely continuation of the status quo, which is unsustainable for the FET sector and potentially catastrophic to UK productivity.

Policymakers and sector leaders are presented with analysis and advice on the impact of teacher shortages and the factors that contribute to this. The evidence to support these factors is explored and solutions discussed in light of this evidence. A research agenda is suggested including an appeal for professional organisations and FET stakeholders to work together to solve the recruitment and retention crisis. The power of research to enlighten and inform is one of several conclusions proposed.

Addressing the factors that corrode staff professionalism and increase teacher attrition is an essential component of a wider discourse to improve the desirability of an FET career. Issues of status and esteem are interwoven in this analysis, as are the implications of not recruiting talented teachers and assessors. This includes staff well-being – a rare topic in FET journal papers – as well as organisational culture and importance of the FET mission, which is considered to be embedded in an ethic of public service. This mission is linked via the Augur Report to the sector's transformational properties to raise social mobility.

There is no precedent for this paper. It is the first article that has provided a comprehensive examination of teacher recruitment and retention issues affecting the whole FET sector in England. Whilst its comparative analysis builds on the Education and Training Foundation (2022) earlier report, it uniquely draws on other contemporary research that triangulates and discusses these findings, including setting out a new agenda for change and future research. In doing so, new issues are introduced for discussion including professional status and staff well-being.

This study aims to use the dual-continuum model of mental health to explore mental health in Australian construction apprentices from the perspective of key stakeholders in the apprenticeship model. In particular, this study explored how construction apprentices, Vocational Education and Training (VET) teachers, industry employers and mental health workers understood the construct of mental health, factors associated with the dimension of psychological distress/symptoms of mental illness, and factors associated with the dimension of mental wellbeing.

This study used an exploratory qualitative research design. Data from 36 semi-structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants comprised 19 Australian construction apprentices, 5 VET teachers, 7 industry employers and 5 mental health workers.

In total, 14 themes were generated from the data set. Participants across stakeholder groups reported a limited understanding about mental health. Participants cited a range of negative personal, workplace and industry factors associated with psychological distress/symptoms of mental illness, but only reported a few factors associated with mental wellbeing.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to use the dual-continuum model of mental health to explore the mental health of Australian construction apprentices, and to explore the factors associated with both dimensions of this model from the perspective of key stakeholders in the Australian construction apprenticeship model.

In this article, we use the film Bridge of Spies – which depicts the case of U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers – and relevant primary sources, particularly Powers' letters from prison, to provide teachers with a case that can engage students with the complexity of the Cold War. Understanding USA–Russia relations is as important today as ever as we watch the tragedy unfold in Ukraine. Using primary sources to reflect on the Cold War can help secondary students understand the historical context of the war in Ukraine as well as how to evaluate and critique sources of information about the war.

The film and personal letters provide insights often not available or obvious when we focus on the political or military history of an event or time period. The Cold War is frequently defined by the rhetoric of the USA and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) governments – but everyday people and citizens had a wider range of views and experiences. The film and letters bring out the humanity of the Cold War.

This article supports secondary teachers in incorporating film and primary sources as teaching tools to study the Cold War while more broadly thinking about these sources as ways to understand the past. The letters used, including those from U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers, help us understand his time in a Soviet prison as well as the behind-the-scenes work to free him as part of a prisoner exchange.

The U-2 Incident and other events of the Cold War provide important context for understanding the Cold War-like tensions between the USA and Russia today. The distrust between these countries has a long history. However, documents like the film and letters discussed here show that there is much more to the bluster of political leaders and the military chess game. There is an important human element to these events and an impact on individuals who are much more than pawns in international diplomacy.

The aim of the paper is to examine whether there really is a shortage of VET teachers, and if so, whether there are links to the salary offered and to the qualifications required.

The paper uses three main approaches to examine the narrative of a shortage of VET teachers in Australia.

There was no documented evidence of a VET teacher shortage, beyond a general perception of shortage in line with other occupations due to the post-COVID economic recovery. Salaries for VET teachers were found to compare well with other education occupations and other jobs in the economy. There was no evidence of the required qualifications deterring entry. The main concern appears to be whether VET can adequately train workers for other sectors in shortage.

The research did not include empirical survey work and suggests that this needs to be carried out urgently.

The research provides evidence that will challenge current assumptions and help in the recruitment of VET teachers.

It argues for a recognition of the importance of the VET sector beyond its function of serving industry.

It highlights ways to make VET teaching a more attractive proposition and to better promote its advantages.

This study seeks to estimate union wage effect in the public and private sectors of Ghana, respectively. It also seeks to ascertain whether the union wage effect in the two sectors varies.

The authors use data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey 6 (GLSS 6, 2012/2013) and Ghana Labour Force Survey (GLFS, 2015). In terms of estimation technique, the authors employ the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition technique to estimate union wage effect in public and private sectors, respectively.

The findings indicate that union wage effect in the public sector is positive and higher relative to that of the private sector.

The findings imply that strict enforcement of Section 82 of Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) will curb the political influence of public sector unions over their employer (Government).

This research paper has not been presented to any journal for publication and it is the authors' original work.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0045