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1 – 10 of 78Ali Davari, Mona Zehtabi, Mostafa Negati and Mohammad Ehsan Zehtabi
Entrepreneurship development is known as a key enabler of economic development, hence it has been contemplated in the strategic plans of various countries. Iran is no exception in…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurship development is known as a key enabler of economic development, hence it has been contemplated in the strategic plans of various countries. Iran is no exception in that regard, since developing entrepreneurship has been emphasized in the country's third and fourth development plans, in order to tackle the increasing rate of population growth and unemployment. Now, as the fourth development plan has come to its end, it is necessary to evaluate the policies and programs related to entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to assess the entrepreneurial development plans of this important Middle East country to provide a benchmark of influential policies on entrepreneurship development at both macro and micro level and to evaluate them accordingly.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative methods, namely survey and questionnaire distribution among experts dealing with entrepreneurship subjects have been used as the main method for data collection.
Findings
The results reveal that influential entrepreneurship policies at both macro and micro levels are not generally forward‐looking and supportive of entrepreneurship development. Therefore, some suggestions have been provided to develop these policies.
Originality/value
The paper presents findings of research which come from a rapidly‐growing, developing country, which can provide better insights from a less‐explored context and further add to the body of knowledge.
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The United Nations (UN) actively incorporated new media as a tool for consultation and agenda setting during the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)–Sustainable Development Goal…
Abstract
The United Nations (UN) actively incorporated new media as a tool for consultation and agenda setting during the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)–Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) transition. As global actors shifted their attention to the sustainable development goals, the UN and its partners scaled up their digital engagement with civil society, multinational agencies, and country-level stakeholders to inform the post-2015 agenda. This chapter explored how the UN integrated Twitter into the post-2015 consultation and how the UN Women and the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative used Twitter to construct and diffuse girls’ education policy discourse during the MDG–SDG transition.
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Luca Zan and Qingmei Xue
Transformations taking place in China are of crucial importance in the development of the world economy. The international community is turning its attention to China's move…
Abstract
Purpose
Transformations taking place in China are of crucial importance in the development of the world economy. The international community is turning its attention to China's move towards a market economy and assessing the likely impact on the years ahead. This paper aims to plot the evolution of administrative reforms in China with particular reference to the state (and therefore public sector), because the modernization of the state is an issue that will persist into the future, and because the state itself was driving the country's transformation towards a market economy in a deliberate way.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper revisits the debate on administrative reforms at different levels, i.e. fiscal, budgeting, government organizations, and public sector units (PSUs). In addition to reconstructing the evolution of norms and procedures as part of deliberate strategies by the center, the paper also investigates how actual practices at the micro level have followed this process of reform, with reference to the administration of cultural heritage at the municipal level, based on a field research project.
Findings
A lack of understanding of the role played by actual accounting transformation seems to characterize the current debate on policies. Serious discrepancies can be found between expectations and actual changes; between macro and micro policies, and micro practices.
Originality/value
An holistic focus on various trend of reforms is taken, looking at debates that are usually separated, also linking them to actual changes in accounting practice.
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Ann Elisabeth Gunnulfsen and Astrid Roe
The purpose of this paper is to examine teachers’ reported experiences, practices, and attitudes on the use of national test results in a low-stakes accountability context…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine teachers’ reported experiences, practices, and attitudes on the use of national test results in a low-stakes accountability context. Whether the stakes are high or low, teachers and school leaders have different experiences, knowledge, and beliefs concerning how to use national test results to benefit individual student learning. This paper addresses how teachers experience school leadership and policy requirements for using national test results in local schools.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is part of a larger study conducted in a Norwegian educational context investigating school leaders’ and teachers’ enactments of policy demands via the use of national test results data. The sub-study reported in this paper is based on survey data from all lower secondary teachers (n=176) in one Norwegian municipality. Micro-policy perspectives and the concept of crafting policy coherence served as analytical tools.
Findings
Diversity between the schools was found in how teachers perceive the principals’ role. Practices and attitudes appeared restrained, somewhat conformed by, but still indifferent to the policy intention. However, there was a close relationship between the principals’ facilitation of national tests and the teachers’ practices of utilizing the results.
Originality/value
This study clarified how micro-policy works in local schools in a low-stakes context. A prominent difference was found between the policy intentions and local schools’ practice of using national test results.
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FREDERICK P. FRANK and MURIEL MACKETT‐FRANK
This work examines implications for educational administration of the International Association for the evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) surveys. Major implications…
Abstract
This work examines implications for educational administration of the International Association for the evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) surveys. Major implications discussed include productiveness of both international comparison and international measures of educational achievement. Implications are also discussed in terms of viability of the application of large scale sample survey data to decision making within individual countries. Issues generated by the IEA studies are presented including: (1) cultural relevance of test items; (2) ethnocentrism of test makers; (3) contributions to comparative analysis; (4) cost effectiveness and feasibility; (5) potential descriptive value to individual nations; (6) data interpretation; (7) relating data to micro policy issues; (8) and potential for redefining concepts of educational achievement. It is concluded that the work of educational administration must proceed with awareness of the hazards and blessings of cross‐sectional research for training, practice, and new research.
The purpose of this project is to examine the development and learning of higher education policy makers in emerging markets as they confront the need for sustainability and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to examine the development and learning of higher education policy makers in emerging markets as they confront the need for sustainability and global competitiveness of their workforces.
Design/methodology/approach
Comparative commentary is based on representative countries in emerging markets of similar demographics and market maturity.
Findings
Policy makers can deploy scarce resources more wisely with regionally astute strategies that leverage their unique aspects in light of learning from experiences of other emerging market peers.
Originality/value
This review and commentary takes a macro approach to micro policy issues through a boundary spanning comparative approach.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine instructional leadership (IL) in outstanding secondary schools within a centralised (Greece) and a partially decentralised (England…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine instructional leadership (IL) in outstanding secondary schools within a centralised (Greece) and a partially decentralised (England) education context.
Design/methodology/approach
Since the purpose of the study is exploratory, the researchers adopt a qualitative approach, employing a series of four qualitative case studies with the purpose of examining the impact of IL on student learning, teachers’ professional growth and school improvement, using the interpretivist paradigm. Semi-structured interviews with various data sets (stakeholders) within and outside the school, observation of leadership practices and meetings, and scrutiny of relevant macro and micro policy documents are employed to enhance methodological and respondent triangulation.
Findings
Recognising that IL is not confined to the principals’ leadership domain, a sense of shared and distributed leadership prevails in schools, while its implementation is inevitably linked to system constraints. The findings from the Greek schools link to the official expectations that principals operate as administrative rather than instructional leaders, while an unofficial instructional “teacher leadership” culture suggests potential for reconsidering leadership in Greek state schools. In contrast, the decentralisation of school activities creates the platform for the emergence of shared and distributed leadership within the English context, where school actors enact direct and indirect IL roles.
Originality/value
This cross-country comparative study demonstrates theoretical significance in its focus on the collaborative and reciprocal nature of IL, while its empirical contribution lies in generating new knowledge on how IL is contextually bounded.
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