12,606 results on '"ROLE conflict"'
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2. 'So Sorry Your Grandma Died. Get That Paper In.': Graduate Teaching Assistants' Experiences of Student Grief in the Communication Classroom
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Jessica Cherry and Carly Densmore
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Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are faced with managing how to respond to student disclosures of grief in the classroom but often lack grief training from their universities when these instances occur. Good and Mad grief, and Critical Grief Pedagogy (CGP) are the frameworks for which this study is positioned. Through interviews with GTAs in the United States, we explore their experiences when engaging with student grief disclosures and revealed three main themes: "regulations and boundaries, transactional exchanges in institutions," and "the classroom being a human space." We also discuss how GTAs use CGP to manage these interactions. We further suggest that GTA training should include CGP to help prepare future instructors for student grief and welcome grief into the classroom.
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- 2024
3. Transposed Identity Negotiation: A New Conceptual Framework
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Kelly S. McAllester
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International students negotiate various intersecting identities while studying abroad. When an international student moves into the new spatial context of their host country, the student's intersectional identity is perceived with degrees of marginalization or privilege by host country nationals that conflict with the student's understanding of their identities in their home context. Existing frameworks from various theoretical traditions describe how students experience identity negotiation and construction, yet there is no synthesized conceptualization of how students negotiate identity when intersectional identities are relocated, or transposed, into a new spatial context. In this manuscript, I propose a new conceptual framework, which I call transposed identity negotiation, that weaves together identity negotiation (Swann, 1987), intersectional reflexivity (Crenshaw, 1991; Jones, 2010), and the theory of social and spatial contexts (Lindemann, 2007; Logan, 2012; Vital & Yao, 2021) to improve our understanding of how international students negotiate identities in the host country context.
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- 2024
4. Working at the Frontier: Swiss Educational Information and Communication Technology Coordinators as Mediators and Intermediaries of the Digital Transformation
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Michael Geiss and Tobias Röhl
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This article examines Swiss educational information and communication technology (ICT) coordinators ('Pädagogischer ICT-Support'; PICTS) in Swiss compulsory schools in their ambivalent role between active agents of change and mere facilitators for their colleagues. Using a qualitative research design, it explores the history, self-perception and current roles of PICTS in the canton of Zurich and their interaction with other actors in the education system and the cantonal authorities. This paper draws on science and technology studies to understand the unique role of educational ICT coordinators. The results show that the perceptions and self-understanding of PICTS have remained consistent since their establishment, even though the digital technologies they deal with have evolved rapidly. Their dual role allows PICTS to be both active agents of change and part of a school's teaching staff. Working at the frontier, they are ambiguous figures, embodying the contradictions of digital transformation in education without necessarily making them explicit.
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- 2024
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5. Is Motherhood a Burden or an Asset to Female Computer Science and Engineering Faculty? Case Studies in China and Italy
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Biying Wen, Qian Wang, Floriana Grasso, Qing Chen, and Juming Shen
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The problem of gender disparity in computer science and engineering has persisted despite longstanding efforts made in higher education. This study drew data from ten female computer science and engineering faculty in China and Italy to demonstrate the gender-specific challenges they face. The researcher applied positioning theory to analyse female faculty's motherhood experiences. Findings suggest that the dual mother-and-educator role conflict in the intersectional space of work and family can be both a burden and an asset to female faculty. As a burden, the sociocultural expectations of the mother's role drive females to take on primary childcare responsibilities. It leads to significant barriers to female faculty's career advancements. As an asset, the study finds that the female faculty's motherhood experience allowed them to generate new insights into their identities as educators and teaching practices. Their learning from motherhood prompts them to reflect and gain an appreciation of their educator identity. Such realisation enables them to improve their teaching practices and interactions with students. The study offers policy recommendations for higher education institutions to support female faculty navigating the dual roles of mother and educator. Finally, the researcher discusses the limitations and directions for future study.
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- 2024
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6. Exploring Family and Academic Role Conflict among Undergraduate Students of the University of Nigeria
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Uju I. Nnubia and Faustina E. Eze
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Many adult workers struggle to balance family and work roles, potentially leading to inter-role conflict. Similarly, adult students experience conflicting demands of academic and family roles. The study explored the prevalence and correlates of family and academic role conflict using a sample of 300 students selected from five faculties of the University of Nigeria. Data were collected with a questionnaire titled Family and Academic Role Conflict Scale. The questionnaire was validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. A bi-factor model was established; the academic-to-family role (AFR) conflict, the family-to-academic role (FAR) conflict factors, and the combined family and academic role conflict (FARC). Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, point biserial correlation, and multiple regression. Results showed a high (23.3%) prevalence of FARC with a higher prevalence (38.0%) of the AFR than the 19% prevalence of the FAR conflict. Certain demographic characteristics of the students such as age, marital status, and parents/guardians/spouses' educational status significantly correlate with family and academic role conflict. The study concludes that undergraduate students experience inter-role conflict between their family and academic roles in the same way as employed adults experience work and family conflict and this could impact their academic performance and overall well-being. University authorities need to fully understand family and academic role conflict among students to develop sustainable solutions. This article provides insights into how such conflict plays out in this particular context. Therefore, collaboration among stakeholders is crucial for effective strategies to balance family demands and the academic responsibilities of students.
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- 2024
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7. New Education Policy and Higher Education Reforms in India
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Rajesh Bhattacharya
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The New Education Policy (NEP), 2020, adopted by Government of India, envisages significant and far-reaching reforms in higher education sector in India. In this article, I foreground certain peculiar features of the process of massification of higher education in India, including privatisation and fragmentation. I locate the political economy of higher education in India in tensions inherent in centre-state relations and the pressure to respond to popular aspirations on the one hand and maintain standards on the other. The NEP, 2020 does not appear to acknowledge these historical processes. Instead, they appear to rely on a corporate model of BoG-driven governance of higher education institutions to drive the envisaged changes.
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- 2024
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8. 'Juggle the Different Hats We Wear': Enacted Strategies for Negotiating Boundaries in Overlapping Relationships
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Andrea Gingerich, Christy Simpson, Robin Roots, and Sean B. Maurice
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Despite agreement that teaching on professional boundaries is needed, the design of health profession curricula is challenged by a lack of research on how boundaries are maintained and disagreement on where boundaries should be drawn. Curricula constrained by these challenges can leave graduates without formal preparation for practice conditions. Dual role or overlapping relationships are an example: they continue to be taught as boundary crossings amidst mounting evidence that they must be routinely navigated in small, interconnected communities. In this study, we examined how physicians are navigating overlapping personal (non-sexual) and professional relationships with the goal to inform teaching and curricula on professional boundaries. Following constructivist grounded theory methodology, 22 physicians who had returned to their rural, northern and/or remote hometown in British Columbia, Canada or who had lived and practised in a such a community for decades were interviewed in iterative cycles informed by analysis. We identified four strategies described by physicians for regulating multiple roles within overlapping relationships: (a) "signalling" the appropriate role for the current context; (b) "separating" roles by redirecting an interaction to an appropriate context; (c) "switching" roles by pushing the appropriate role forward into the context and pulling other roles into the background; and (d) "suspending" an interfering role by ending a relationship. Negotiating boundaries within overlapping relationships may involve monitoring role clarity and role alignment, while avoiding role conflict. The enacted role regulation strategies could be critically assessed within teaching discussions on professional boundaries and also analyzed through further ethics research.
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- 2024
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9. Examining Role Strain among Academic Program Coordinators
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Jeffery Bieber, Samer Jan, and Zitsi Mirakhur
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From the perspective of role theory and its attendant construct role strain, we examine open-ended survey responses to an online survey from 47 program coordinators at a R1 university conducted during the 2021-2022 academic year. Results suggest that beyond the era-specific challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and satisfactions realized from working with students, notable sources of role strain derive from issues of compensation and institutional norms relating to how the work gets done by program coordinators. Implications with an eye toward compensation, training, and equity are discussed.
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- 2024
10. Liminality in Academic Middle Management: Negotiating the Associate Dean Role in US Higher Education Administration
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Karla L. Davis-Salazar
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This article explores the complex academic-administrative role of the associate dean in US higher education administration. Previous research in Australia, UK and USA indicates that these academic middle managers experience significant conflict and ambiguity due to their roles and responsibilities as faculty members and administrators. Victor Turner's concept of liminality provides insight into the challenges of academic middle management at this administrative level. Analysing qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with associate deans at US research-intensive universities, I find that associate deans experience changes in perspective and relationships that foreground contradictions of meaning and highlight their paradoxical social status. I argue that, as part of a process of transition from faculty to administrator, the associate deanship is essential to the social construction of the university.
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- 2024
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11. Australian School Psychologists' and Counsellors' Experience of Stress
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Donna Pennell, Marilyn Campbell, M. Zahid Juri, and Mary McMahon
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There are few studies examining the wellbeing of Australian school-based psychologists/counsellors (SPCs) despite the research indicating there are unique stressors associated with the role. The purpose of this study was to measure the stress perceived by working Australian SPCs. Data were collected via an online survey within which the Perceived Stress Scale -- 10 item version (PSS-10) was embedded. Mean global stress for 162 participants was calculated then compared with the general population and a previous cohort of Australian SPCs. Four variables of influence were also statistically analysed: school level, years of experience, amount of time participating in supervision and alignment with two differing professional identity statements -- 'I see myself as an educator with a counselling/psychology specialisation' or 'as a psychologist/counsellor who works in an education setting'. Moderate-high frequency of stress, in excess of the general population and stress levels reported previously, was found. No significant relationships were found between stress and school level, years of experience or professional identity. A negative relationship was found between stress and the amount of supervision received. The level of stress experienced by Australian SPCs warrants that policies and practices monitor and protect Australian SPC wellbeing.
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- 2024
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12. System Justification Theory and Epistemic Limitations: Understanding Student Teachers' Epistemic Resistance to Critical Topics
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Jamie C. Atkinson
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Students in teacher education programs are often faced with perceived threats to their epistemological heritages. According to System Justification Theory, when faced with these perceived threats, individuals may become more defensive, epistemically resistant, and cognitively rigid. More specifically, due to a palliative psychological need, students may become motivated to justify what they conceive of as the status quo, or system justifications, to defend their epistemological heritage and socializations. Students may face perceived threats to their social and epistemological heritages in courses which are critically focused, such as foundations of education courses, and courses where there are requirements for both dialogical and dialectical engagement. System Justification Theory offers the potential to be utilized as a way of understanding student teachers' epistemological resistance and epistemic vices while informing teacher educators' pedagogy.
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- 2023
13. Faculty from Marginalized Groups in the Health and Social Service Professions: Challenging 'Expected Academic' Identity and Roles
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Tara Pride, Kaitlin Sibbald, Anna MacLeod, Debbie Martin, and Michelle Owen
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Academics have historically been members of socially dominant groups--white, cisgender, heterosexual men, from middle- to upper-classes, who identify as able-bodied and able-minded. Members of other groups are often disadvantaged. In two larger studies, semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals from marginalized groups. Here we explore the narratives of 16 participants who explicitly discussed their experiences in faculty positions within the health and social service professions. The "expected academic" roles of teacher, researcher, and colleague/administrator did not neatly fit for participants, clashing with the expectations they faced by virtue of their marginalized identities. Within the health and social service professions, the norms and expectations of the academy required marginalized faculty to make sacrifices of their time and sense of self to meet job demands. The effects of these role conflicts are pervasive, affecting many areas of academic work and beyond.
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- 2023
14. Tensions between Catholic Identity and Academic Achievement: Roles of Catholic School Leaders in Southeastern Nigeria
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Augustina Ngozi Mbata
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Despite the series of documents by the sacred ecumenical council and replete research enumerating the two-dimensional focus of Catholic schools: faith and academics and its collaborative nature, Nigerian (southeast) Catholic primary and secondary schools are continually experiencing activities of disharmony between Catholic identity and students' academic achievements. To better understand the nature of disharmony and its causes from the perspectives of leaders, teachers, and parents, this study examines the major challenges that face the representation and teaching of Catholic identity and the students' academic achievement in the Catholic schools of southeastern Nigeria. While the purpose is critical to the student's overall success, the study draws on the Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) theory of Geneva Gay. The theory provides the basis for the argument that Catholic identity is the culture of the school and the students. As such, for the overall success of the students, their learning should be situated within their Catholic cultural background and experiences. Through a convergent mixed-method research design, quantitative data were collected through surveys from administrators, teachers, and parents, while qualitative data were collected through one-on-one interviews with administrators and parents and a focus group with teachers. Findings suggest a tension between Catholic identity and academic achievement caused by the use of a common curriculum and common examination, unqualified educators, examination malpractice, lack of complete knowledge on what constitutes Catholic identity, a decline of Catholic values, a focus on academics, tension between maintaining Catholic identity and increase in enrollment, pressure from parents, and lack of parental engagements. Primarily, the situation hovers around the premise of leadership; as such, this study recommends the roles of leaders in their practical approaches to eliminate the tension between Catholic identity and academic achievement and present relevant implications for policy and practice. Findings from this study reveal the importance of recruiting and hiring educators who are qualified and committed to promoting a culturally responsive Catholic education. Future research should include the voices of the students to reveal additional insights into the nature of Catholic identity in Southeast Nigeria. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
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- 2024
15. Experiences of Queer Female Counselor Educators: An Intersectional Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
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Caryn A. Leonard-Wilde
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The Council for Accreditation of Counselor Education and Related Programs and the American Counseling Association require counseling programs (CPs) to recruit, employ, and retain diverse faculty. Queer sexual orientation and gender identity is considered an aspect of diversity with which counselors must gain competency and against which counselors should not discriminate yet little is known about queer female counselor educators (QFCEs) with intersecting minority identities. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) with both hermeneutic and intersectionality theory frameworks was to explore the experiences and meaning making of QFCEs and to describe the impact of these experiences on QFCE's mental health (MH) and physical health (PH), teaching, and student learning. This research study contained data collected from in-depth semistructured interviews with six openly QFCEs employed in CACREP accredited CPs. Data analysis was consistent with the IPA steps described by Smith, Flowers, and Larkin and resulted in the emergence of four main themes: (a) QFCE's experiences with identity, (b) the personal impact of being a QFCE, (c) the professional impact of being a QFCE, and (d) making sense of the conflict between person, profession, and purpose. The results of this study show the unique experiences of QFCEs and the positive and negative impacts on their PH, MH, teaching, and student learning. The results of this study may inform the strategies used by CPs to recruit, employ, and retain diverse faculty and influence systemic change. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
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- 2024
16. First Born Latina Daughters of Immigrant Parents Navigating Higher Education
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Jacqueline A. Florian
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First-born Latina daughters of immigrant parents are raised take on responsibilities within their household and are also expected to obtain a good education. These roles can often conflict with each other due to their different demands. This research aimed to understand the experiences of first-born Latina daughters of immigrant parents who were navigating higher education. Additionally, it aimed to identify how they balance the roles of a daughter and a student. The study used a phenomenological hermeneutic qualitative approach and collected data through semi-structured interviews with 15 participants. All participants identified as Latina, the first-born daughter in their family, and had at least one parent that immigrated to the United States from a Latino American country and/or the Caribbean. The research was analyzed using van Manen's six steps approach to hermeneutic phenological analysis. Findings highlighted five recurring themes that describe the experience of the participants including their roles, expectations placed on them, a lack of understanding of their experience, support systems, and a sense of responsibility. These findings also highlighted a need to further understand this experience to be able to support first-born Latina daughters to achieve higher education goals while also engaging in their familial roles. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
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- 2024
17. Job Stress and Teacher Burnout in Preschools -- Preliminary Assessment of the Buffer Effect of Job Resources in the Stressor-Strain Model in a Lower-Middle-Income Country
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Michael Osei Aboagye, Collins Opoku Antwi, Kotor Asare, Ntim Seth, Ficus Gyasi, and Frimpong Kwasi
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This study examines how asymmetric job conditions deplete the psychological resources of the ECE workforce in a lower-middle-income country (LMIC). Specifically, this preliminary study, using data from preschool teaching staff, examined the influence of (a) job demands (emotional demand, workload, role conflict and work-family conflict) on psychological burnout (emotional exhaustion), and (b) the offsetting effect of occupational resources (social support and job autonomy) in the job demands-emotional exhaustion relations. SEM analyses revealed that high stressors (i.e. job demands) were related with high levels of emotional exhaustion, while social support and job autonomy served as significant buffers in the stressors-emotional exhaustion positive link. These outcomes serve as preliminary evidence for ECE job re-design and burnout management programs by strategically allocating school-level resources in LMICs.
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- 2024
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18. 'The Struggle Is Real': A Qualitative Case Study on the Impact of Role Strain on Nontraditional Female Business Graduate Students
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Nadia Naheed Ali
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In light of evolving demographics, higher education institutions must guarantee that their programs adequately address the unique requirements of female students. These changes have considerable significance for program administrators as well. Nontraditional students, particularly females, grapple with the effects of role strain more acutely than their traditional counterparts. Role strain, characterized as "the perceived difficulty in fulfilling role obligations" (Goode, 1960, p. 483), presents a notable challenge for these students. Graduate programs must actively acknowledge and comprehend the ramifications of role strain on nontraditional female graduate students, implementing strategies and policies to alleviate and lessen these challenges. Goode's theory of role strain guided this qualitative case study. I thoroughly analyzed surveys from four participants and conducted semi-structured one-on-one interviews from the same four participants, all of whom were either current or graduated MBA or business MS students. Furthermore, I reviewed the participants' validated interview transcripts to ensure triangulation in the study. The focus of the research centered on understanding the influence of role strain on the success of nontraditional female business graduate students. The objective of this qualitative single case study was to comprehend the impact of role strain on nontraditional female business graduate students and explore ways graduate school administration could assist in alleviating and mitigating this impact. The findings highlight the necessity for graduate program administration and faculty to adapt and accommodate to the unique needs of this rapidly growing student demographic. The study demonstrates the importance of nontraditional female business graduate students sharing their experiences to guide, mentor, and support new and prospective students. Additionally, the findings also revealed that women enrolling in a business graduate program need to have a strong personal and professional support system in place, as well as strive to make connections with nontraditional female students further in the program or graduated from the program as an additional sort of support. The asset of having supports in place is crucial to navigate the role strain of adding the role of student to current life roles and responsibilities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
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- 2024
19. Staying with Difficulty: On the Emotional and Social Uses of Childhood Objects in Unbecoming a Teacher
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Dragana Mirkovic, Ellouise VanBerkel, and Lisa Farley
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This article examines how five teacher candidates conceptualized meanings of teaching and childhood through discussions of childhood objects within a focus group. Drawing on psychosocial methods, we show how teachers used their objects to work through tensions between professional roles as educators and the return of personal memory. We highlight the ways in which meanings of teaching and childhood were affected by the shifting dynamics of compliance, anxiety, and conflict within the group. Through our analysis, we illustrate the value of using objects to support emerging teachers' engagements in complicated conversations within a divergent community to represent conflictive meanings of childhood and education.
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- 2024
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20. Exhaustion and Job Satisfaction among Internal and External Outplacement Counsellors
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Manuela Richter, Cornelius J. König, Christina Brausch, and Jessica Gaszka
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When organisations make employees redundant, they increasingly offer outplacement counselling to them, either in-house or as a service of specialised companies. Despite outplacement counsellors' importance, their work-related stress has not been studied yet. In this paper we argue that internal (in-house) outplacement counsellors have a particularly demanding job (especially because being employed by firing organisations should increase role conflicts among internal outplacement counsellors) and they should thus be more emotionally exhausted than external outplacement counsellors. Data from 98 German outplacement counsellors supported this argumentation. Mediation analyses showed that these differences were mediated by increased role conflicts, consistent with role theory arguments. The same effect was found for counsellors' job satisfaction. These results help understanding the stress that outplacement counsellors experience.
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- 2024
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21. From Regular Education Teachers to Special Educators: The Role Transformation of Resource Room Teachers in Chinese Inclusive Education Schools
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Zhengli Xie, Meng Deng, and Zhiyong Zhu
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This study aims to explore the perspectives of resource room teachers (RRTs) on their role transformation from regular education teachers to special educators and its influencing factors. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 RRTs from inclusive education schools in Beijing, China. This study found that the RRTs have experienced three stages of role transformation moving from confusion by the new job to conflict among multiple expectations and then to being professionalised as special educators with self-determination. They struggled with multiple roles, felt marginalised and deprofessionalised, and were dominated by a categorical perspective serving students with special educational needs. Moreover, clearly authorised full-time positions, professionalisation, administrative support, and attitudes towards inclusive education were found to be key determinants in RRTs' successful role transformation. The present study concludes that RRTs should be empowered with clear expectations of their roles and responsibilities to lead inclusive education practices in schools and guarantee a stable professional status via sustainable training.
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- 2024
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22. Examining and Reconceptualizing Self-Authorship for Undergraduate Student-Mothers
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Alyssa Stefanese Yates
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There are over 2.7 million student-mothers pursuing associate and bachelor's degrees in the US higher education system. Although student-mothers' enrollment continues to grow, they report being misunderstood and underserved in higher education. In response, I offer a modification to Marcia Baxter Magolda's self-authorship entitled, "Self-Authored Identity Resolution and Development for Undergraduate Student-Mothers," to inform student affairs practice and better serve student-mothers.
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- 2024
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23. Exploring the Role of Religious Ideology in English Language Teachers' Identity Construction: A Community of Practice Perspective
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Sedigheh Karimpour, Roya Jafari, and Mostafa Nazari
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This study drew on a community of practice (CoP) perspective and examined the role of religious ideology in 10 Iranian English language teachers' identity construction. The study was situated within a narrative inquiry methodology. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and narrative frames to capture how Islamic principles contribute to the teachers' professional practice and identity construction. Our findings revealed that religious ideology shaped the teachers' identity construction across teaching materials, institutional relationships, and tensions between the normative and personalized ideologies of the teachers. We show how religious ideology, as extended to the context of the school CoP, functions as a source of tensions for the teachers by promoting materials that clash with their internal feelings and creates detachment in their institutional relationships. Moreover, the religious ideology served as a source of marginalization, detachment from the dominant religious principles, and attachment to personal values as practical alternatives facilitating teachers' membership. We further provide implications for running professional development courses that enhance teachers' awareness of the role of religious ideology in their professional practice.
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- 2024
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24. Teacher-Coach-Mom: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Exploration into the Clashing Cultures of Physical Education and School Sport
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Jodi Harding-Kuriger and Douglas Gleddie
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Using collaborative autoethnography, critical incidents, and artefacts, one teacher/coach (T/C) role conflict is contextualized in the Canadian physical education & school sport (PESS) setting. The purpose of the project was to use CAE in conjunction with a systematic analysis to promote personal narratives as both an approach to practitioner reflection and as a form of research inquiry to forward the field of PESS and occupational socialization. Data analysis sought to answer the singular question: Was the experience educative? An educative experience required alignment with the Meaningful PE democratic principles of autonomy and inclusivity. Critical accounts of T/C role conflicts resulted in the undesired continuity of T/C role socialization. By sharing these stories to learn by educators are encouraged to reflect on, question, and consider T/C roles in their educational settings.
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- 2024
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25. Strength and Conditioning in U.S. Schools: A Qualitative Investigation of Physical Educators' Socialization and Professional Experiences
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Ben D. Kern, David Bellar, Wesley J. Wilson, and Samiyah Rashe
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Purpose: To examine socialization experiences of physical educators who deliver strength and conditioning (S&C) programming, particularly the development of subjective theories, expertise, orientations, and perceived mattering. Methods: Thirty-one secondary school physical educators providing S&C instruction/supervision as part of required duties completed in-depth interviews with Occupational Socialization Theory as a guiding framework for analysis. Results: Themes developed were: (a) acculturation and organizational socialization influence beliefs, (b) S&C professional development is scarce, (c) S&C in physical education is a sporting endeavor, (d) blurred lines between teaching and coaching, and (e) S&C-related programs matter. Discussion: Physical educators delivering S&C programming lack adequate preservice preparation and professional development, and experience both role conflict and decreased marginalization. Physical education teacher education programs should offer more formal S&C training for safe and effective instruction/supervision. Schools should provide S&C-related professional development to maximize student learning and safety and avoid potential legal liability.
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- 2024
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26. 'You're Working, but You're Not Working:' Academic Precarity, Ambivalence and the Use of Researchers as Factotums
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David Cairns
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This article explores an important aspect of academic precarity: the use of fixed-term contract researchers as factotums within universities. The practice can be defined as the taking-on of tasks that are outside of core research activities, including substantial amounts of time spent teaching, supervising students and preparing research proposals, often at the behest of tenured staff members, reflecting existing power dynamics within the organisation. At a theoretical level, it is argued that this aspect of academic precarity reflects various forms of ambivalence in researchers' lives, creating tensions in addition to expanding their workloads. Using evidence from 54 interviews with researchers of at least five years' experience and based at research units in Portugal, conducted during 2022 and 2023, it is possible to illustrate various aspects of academic precarity and ambivalence, with different responses from researchers including acceptance of and resistance towards the factotum role.
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- 2024
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27. Understanding Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity of School Principals in Nepal
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Jeevan Khanal and Subekshya Ghimire
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In the context of developed countries, a lot of research has been done to uncover and identify the problems school leaders face in their work but little is known about the school leadership of underdeveloped countries. In a quest to discover contextual problems in terms of role conflict and role ambiguity of school leaders, this qualitative study tries to capture the experiences of principals in Nepal through in-depth interviews of six community school principals. The findings reveal that the major sources of role conflict and ambiguity for principals from Nepal are problematic power-sharing, low job autonomy, dual role conflict, limited professional development training, and lack of leadership knowledge. The study has several policy-level implications such as importance of hiring principals with proven leadership skills and increasing the leadership skills of current principals to ensure that they can tackle these challenges.
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- 2024
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28. Using Founder's Syndrome to Explore Leadership in One Zimbabwean School Funded by Tourism
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Kathleen Smithers and Kasey Hillyar
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In Zimbabwe, a range of actors are involved in education due to ongoing challenges of resourcing and funding schools. There are complex socio-political arrangements that result from private-public partnerships in the education system. Some schools are created and funded by individuals, and little is known about the tensions these funding structures create for school leaders and teachers. This qualitative study examined one school in Matabeleland North, using semi-structured interviews and observations across one term. It argues there are complexities created through the position of being a school 'founder' that shape a school's administration and leadership structures. Using the example of the school principal's role and two tensions that result from relationships between the principal and school founders, this paper argues that more attention needs to be made towards the arrangements of school funding and the conflicts and tensions that result from complex relationships of power between school founders and teachers.
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- 2024
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29. It Takes Work: How University Students Manage Role Boundaries When the Future Is Calling
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Eastgate, Lindsay, Creed, Peter A., Hood, Michelle, and Bialocerkowski, Andrea
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Managing boundaries between students' work and study roles is crucial for success at university. Little research has examined the strategies used to manage these roles, the factors that relate to implementing them, and the outcomes associated with their use. Boundary management theory, an identity-based perspective, explains boundary management processes; yet, few studies have examined how identity affects the enactment of boundary strategies. We investigated the extent to which identity-based concepts (i.e., student role salience and future-self) were related to different types of boundary strategies (i.e., temporal and communicative), how these related to work-study balance, and, in turn, academic satisfaction. We tested our model on a sample of 266 working university students (M[subscript Age] = 20.07 years, SD = 2.63; 74% women) and it accounted for 41% of the variance in academic satisfaction. Significant relationships were found among identity-based concepts, boundary strategies, work-study balance, and academic satisfaction, highlighting the importance of student identity and the use of temporal strategies in achieving greater work-study balance and academic satisfaction. Suggestions for how education providers can retain students who are struggling to manage work and study are discussed.
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- 2023
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30. Music Teacher Role Stress: A Structural Equation Model
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Taft, Seth A.
- Abstract
Teaching music can be very stressful. The music education literature includes investigations of sources of stress and suggestions for stress relief, although it lacks a consistent underlying conceptual framework for stress. Role stress--a framework for understanding stress related to workplace dynamics--has the potential to provide structure while accounting for the nuance and complexity of organizations. The purpose of this study was to adapt and develop psychometrically sound questionnaires and then collect data to test a model to determine relationships among role stressors, role stress, and other variables of interest. Participants (N = 1,576) responded to items related to six hypothesized role stressors, specialization and teaching loads, holding multiple jobs, years taught, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave the current job. I analyzed the data using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. Key findings included (a) strong relationships among role stress and negative occupational outcomes, (b) confirmation of four known role stressors but nonseparation of role conflict and role ambiguity in statistical models, and (c) weak relationships between role stress and model covariates (years teaching, within-specialization teaching, and having multiple jobs). These results have implications for current and prospective secondary music teachers, music teacher educators, and school administrators.
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- 2023
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31. Female First-Generation College Students: A Review of Challenges and Successes
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Kim, Junghwan, Miller, Sarah M., Hwang, Jihee, and Olson, Joann S.
- Abstract
With increasing college access rates of underrepresented populations in recent years, first-generation college students (FGCSs), those who are the first in their family to attend college, have caught the attention of researchers and policymakers in the U.S. higher education system. This study focused on female FGCSs to identify the various challenges that are unique to this population. Through a systematic literature review, 13 studies were analyzed related to female FGCSs. Three themes were found from the analysis: role expectations, support systems, and socioeconomic background. These explain the challenges and self-identified strategies that female FGCSs discussed as contributing factors to their persistence during their degree attainment. Findings and a discussion of the data are presented, along with practical implications to better support female FGCSs and areas for future research.
- Published
- 2021
32. Capacity and Control: Superintendent-School Board Relations in Locally Controlled Districts
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Hall Sutherland, Daniella
- Abstract
Purpose: In the wake of school board protests nationwide, it is essential for educational leaders, policymakers, and researchers to understand locally controlled educational governance. The stability of educational districts depends on superintendents navigating relationships with their school boards, yet little research exists that addresses board-superintendent relationships in locally controlled districts. Using theories of local will and capacity, and community power relationships, I examine what factors shape the extent of local control enacted by school boards, and how these factors affect superintendent-school board relations. Research Methods: The qualitative case study design is bounded as one multi-district union superintendent and three rural school boards. Data collection included semistructured interviews, ethnographic observations, and document collection to understand the relational dynamics of local control. Data analysis included "in vivo" and a priori coding, and the development of analytic matrices. Findings: All boards demonstrated local will and some local capacity, which explained the dimensions of enactment of local control. Rural board capacity--tenure, expertise, and residency of board members--influenced the extent of local control. Cross-case analysis revealed a relationship between board capacity, community capacity, and board--superintendent relationships. These patterns are theorized as local control school board--superintendent relationships typology, based on board capacity and local community capacity. The relationships include role contestation, confusion, collaboration, and dependence. Implications for Research and Practice: The study expands the theory of local capacity to include community and board dimensions and describes the complexities of superintendent--board relationships. The study concludes with recommendations for practice, policy, and research on locally controlled school boards.
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- 2023
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33. Learned Irrelevant Stimulus-Response Associations and Proportion Congruency Effect: A Diffusion Model Account
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Luo, Jiaorong, Yang, Mingcheng, and Wang, Ling
- Abstract
The increased Simon effect with increasing the ratio of congruent trials may be interpreted by both attention modulation and irrelevant stimulus-response (S-R) associations learning accounts, although the reversed Simon effect with increasing the ratio of incongruent trials provides evidence supporting the latter account. To investigate if learning irrelevant S-R associations is a common mechanism underlying the proportion congruency (PC) effect of the Simon task, we employed a variant of diffusion model, diffusion model for conflict tasks (DMC), to test which theory can simultaneously account for the mean reaction time (RT) and RT distribution patterns of the Simon effect in different PC conditions. Simulation results showed that the DMC modulating starting point according to learned irrelevant S-R associations rather than drift criterion or attention-related parameters (i.e., drift rate of controlled process, peak amplitude and time-to-peak of automatic activation) can simultaneously simulate the increase and reversal of the Simon effect and the different shapes of delta functions in different PC conditions. Moreover, when fitting to empirical data, the DMC adjusting starting point provided a good fit to the mean RT and RT distribution patterns of the Simon effect in different PC conditions. These results suggest learning irrelevant S-R associations (biasing starting point) may be a common mechanism underlying the PC effect of the Simon task.
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- 2023
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34. 'Overworked and Stretched Thin': Burnout and Systemic Failure in School Social Work
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Carnes, Stephanie L.
- Abstract
The effects of burnout on client service provision, organizational health, and individual well-being are increasingly a focus of social work research, particularly against the societal backdrop of the post-COVID-19 era. Children and their families rely on school social workers (SSWs) to meet increasingly pressing and common mental health needs. However, burnout may jeopardize not only SSWs' well-being, but also their collective ability to serve this vulnerable population. The current study captures SSW perspectives on burnout related to the following themes: SSW-administrator dynamics; role conflict and lack of role definition; presence of trauma in caseload; systemic challenges (including the subthemes of unrealistic workload, the desire for more interprofessional collaboration and social work-specific supervision, and limited resources); and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using these perspectives as a guide, policy recommendations are made to enhance interprofessional collaboration, clarify roles and responsibilities, and safeguard SSWs as "first responders" for children's mental health.
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- 2023
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35. Ethical Dilemmas of School Counsellors: A Vignette Study
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Sensoy, Gözde and Ikiz, Fatma Ebru
- Abstract
School counsellors often encounter ethically challenging situations due to contradictory values and roles. This qualitative research aimed to define school counsellors' ethical dilemmas and their responses to such situations. Twenty-seven school counsellors in Turkey were asked to respond to 13 vignettes with ethical dilemmas. The most frequent ethical dilemmas involved the limits of confidentiality, confusion about counsellors' professional roles in school settings, uncooperative behaviours among stakeholders, and suspected child sexual abuse. It was revealed that counsellors prioritise the students' benefit and respect students' privacy. They follow legal guidelines in risky situations and insist on working within their areas of competence; they are not willing to accept noncounselling tasks. The results and implications for counsellors, counsellor educators and researchers are discussed.
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- 2023
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36. Vice-Principals as Leaders: Role Ambiguity and Role Conflicts Faced by Vice-Principals in Singapore
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Ho, Jeanne, Shaari, Imran, and Kang, Trivina
- Abstract
This article examines what vice-principals in Singapore experience as constraints to their leadership practice, and how they deal with these constraints, cognisant that role misalignment for vice-principals presents barriers to schools achieving optimal effectiveness. This qualitative study seeks to hear the voices of vice-principals, to uncover the contextual richness of their experiences through interviews with 28 vice-principals. Coding involved a mix of codes from the literature and from the interviews, with member checking of the findings. Vice-principals in Singapore face two main constraints: role ambiguity and role conflicts. These are mainly a structural issue, given the dual expectations of vice-principals to support their principals and to lead. The problems are heightened when there are clashes of values, with vice-principals conflicted between two sources of authority: administrative and professional. Framing the constraints faced by vice-principals under role ambiguity and role conflicts raises these constraints to a theoretical and organisational level. The study proposes a link between the concepts of role ambiguity and role boundaries and illustrates how role ambiguity and conflicts can be disempowering. However, the study also shows that ambiguity need not always be a constraint but can be positive under some conditions.
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- 2023
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37. A Case Study Exploring Teacher/Coach Role Conflict in Rural Schools through the Lens of Occupational Socialization Theory
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Zadorozny, Mark
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The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore, through the lens of Lawson's (1983a, 1983b) Occupational Socialization Theory, teacher/coaches' lived experiences of teacher/coach role conflict in one large rural school and one small rural school. Through the lens of occupational socialization, this study examines the consequential influences on teaching/coaching orientations, motivations, and role pressures. Qualitative measures such as interviews, documents, and observations were applied. Further, open coding and analytical coding were used to analyze data and highlight important information. Five central themes emerged based on the cross-case analysis of the participants in this study: challenging to balance multiple roles, difficulty with compartmentalizing roles, the need for time management, role ambivalence, and role retreatism. Findings suggest that various responsibilities and socialization factors can lead to teacher/coach role conflict. Based on the findings, implications for school administrators and stakeholders, future teacher/coaches, and teacher preparation programs will be discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
- Published
- 2023
38. Teachers' Perceptions of the Barriers to Assessment of Mental Health in Schools with Implications for Educational Policy: A Systematic Review
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O'Farrell, Pia, Wilson, Charlotte, and Shiel, Gerry
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Background: Assessment of mental health in schools has garnered increased interest in recent years. Children spend a large proportion of their waking hours in schools. Teachers can act as gatekeepers by playing a key role in identifying children with mental health difficulties in the classroom and making the necessary onward referrals to external services. The prevalence of mental health difficulties, their impact on schooling (and beyond) and the importance of early intervention means that it is incumbent on schools to identify and support potentially affected children. Aims: Previous reviews focused on mental health interventions in schools; however, this review focuses on the assessment of mental health in schools and on teachers' perceptions of this, as such a review is still lacking. Therefore, the study fills a gap in the existing literature while also providing new, highly relevant evidence that may inform policy making in this area. Composition of studies included in this review: This review included 19 studies. Five studied teachers exclusively at primary/elementary level, and seven focused on secondary level, while six included both primary and secondary teachers. Three studies employed mixed methods, ten were primarily qualitative studies, and five were primarily quantitative. Methods: Bronfenbrenner's (The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design, Harvard University Press, 1979) framework, adapted by Harvest (How can EPs best support secondary school staff to work effectively with children and young people who experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties? 2018), which includes the mature version of the theory (Tudge et al., 2009, J. Fam. Theory Rev., 1, 198), was used to analyse the literature. Results: Results found that lack of training in assessment of mental health and 'role conflict' were key barriers; some teachers attributed this to their lack of knowledge, skills and confidence in the area. Conclusion: Implications for practice and research are discussed in relation to the importance of sustained training both pre-service and in-service.
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- 2023
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39. Academic Librarians' Development as Teachers: A Survey on Changes in Pedagogical Roles, Approaches, and Perspectives
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Baer, Andrea
- Abstract
This article reports on findings of an online survey of teacher librarians about their instructional work, approaches, and roles and how these aspects of their teaching have changed over time. Academic librarians who had at least one year of library teaching experience and who had been actively involved in library instruction within the past two years completed the online survey. Participants were asked a series of questions, the majority of which were open-ended, about the types of instruction-related activities in which they presently and previously engaged, if/how their views of their instructional work and their instructional roles had changed over time, what experiences had been particularly influential in their teaching, and if they identified as teachers. The responses were analyzed through manual textual coding, through which emerging themes and variations in participants' responses were identified. These findings provide further insight into academic librarians' ongoing teacher development and their experiences as teaching librarians. Fuller understandings of this development and experiences can inform professional development and communities of practice in which librarians foster a sense of agency, confidence, responsiveness, and purpose in their teaching, cultivate and sustain meaningful teaching practices, and prevent burnout.
- Published
- 2021
40. Parent First, Essential Worker Second, Student Third: Lessons Learned from an Underrepresented Student's Journey in a Service-Learning Course during COVID-19
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Fry, Sara Winstead, Brown, Dawna, and Sass, Margaret Shu-Mei
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In this reflective essay, I share lessons learned when COVID-19 necessitated immediate changes to service-learning during the spring 2020 semester. The pandemic created an environment that heightened awareness about meeting underrepresented students' needs and the benefits of solidarity and reciprocity when collaborating with community partners. As the pandemic unfolded, my focus shifted from honoring commitments to community partners and course learning objectives to recognizing that the complex realities of students' lives made being responsive to their needs paramount. One nontraditional student serves as a case study; her story underscores the deep ways the pandemic affected a student's personal and professional life. I close the article with four generalizable lessons learned that faculty can employ in support of students' success in service-learning: exercising solidarity, reciprocity, and flexibility; providing guidance in project selection; serving as model learner; and embedding support for parenting and caregiving students.
- Published
- 2021
41. When the Kids Are Not Alright: School Counseling in the Time of COVID-19
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Savitz-Romer, Mandy, Rowan-Kenyon, Heather T., Nicola, Tara P., Alexander, Emily, and Carroll, Stephanie
- Abstract
The unprecedented arrival of COVID-19 upended the lives of American children with rapid shifts to remote and hybrid schooling and reduced access to school-based support. Growing concerns about threats to students' mental health and decreased numbers of students transitioning to postsecondary education suggest access to school counselors is needed more than ever. Although previous research on school counselors finds they promote positive postsecondary, social emotional, and academic outcomes for students, further studies highlight the organizational constraints, such as an overemphasis on administrative duties and unclear role expectations, that hinder their work. Drawing on survey and focus group data, our mixed methods study documents school counselors' experiences during the COVID-19 crisis, including the opportunities and constraints facing their practice. Findings suggest there should be a concerted effort to reduce the role ambiguity and conflict in counselors' roles so they are better able to meet students' increased needs.
- Published
- 2021
42. Views from the Inside: Roles of Deputy Directors in Early Childhood Education in Finland
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Halttunen, Leena and Waniganayake, Manjula
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This study explored the perceptions of deputy directors about their leadership in Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres in Finland. Our aim was to look beyond task distribution and understand how deputy directors enacted leadership with their colleagues. Six deputy directors employed in one municipality in Finland participated in this study. Interviewed individually, the participants discussed how they themselves perceived being in a leadership position and what their leadership looked like in practice. The emphasis they placed on the various relationships highlight the importance of paying attention to the relational dynamics amongst staff within a centre, taking into account both formal and informal authority. Given the increasing global interest in understanding leadership enactment within ECE centres, and its connection with quality service provision, knowledge of the positional leadership roles of deputy directors is of importance to the ECE sector. This is one of the first studies dedicated to exploring the work of ECE deputy directors.
- Published
- 2021
43. What Is the Real Cost of Professional Success? A Qualitative Analysis of Work and Life Balance in Agriscience Education
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Clemons, Christopher A., Hall, Meredith, and Lindner, James
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The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate United States secondary agriscience teachers' perceptions and attitudes of balancing personal and professional responsibilities. While many researchers are asking educators why they have or would leave the profession others have suggested a more forward-looking approach to why teachers remain in the profession. The theoretical framework for this study was structured in Self-Determination Theory and framed in Attrition Theory. This study addressed two research questions: what are your perceptions of overcoming professional challenges in your career, and how do you evaluate and address your personal wellbeing as an agriscience teacher. Five semi-structured research questions were prepared prior to the telephone interviews. The frame for this study consisted of six women and ten men in 14 states. Independent analysis of participant comments were organized into 19 categories using 318 coded objects. Three emergent themes were developed and included secondary agriscience teacher contributions to the student learning environment, secondary agriscience teacher resilience confronting conflicting experiences between personal and professional responsibilities, and professional motivation and validation of individual self-worth. The findings of this paper identified a connection between professional success through intrinsic motivation affected teacher's personal life and feelings of contentment and happiness. Findings also revealed student success in programs, academic student success in local, state, and the national FFA organization were influential as extrinsic motivators to drive intrinsic happiness.
- Published
- 2021
44. An Investigation of Factors Contributing to Secondary Traumatic Stress in School Counselors: A Pilot Study
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Beasley, Jordon J. and Norris, Elizabeth K.
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School counselors often experience high levels of stress that may result from a variety of factors including multiple job responsibilities, role ambiguity, high caseloads, limited clinical supervision, and exposure to students who have experienced trauma (DeMato & Curcio, 2004; Lambie, 2007; McCarthy et al., 2010; Rumsey, 2017; Mullen & Gutierrez, 2016). This article reports findings from a pilot study that further explored the relationship between counselor activities and demographic variables on school counselors' (N=55) levels of secondary traumatic stress after controlling for burnout and years of experience. Findings indicate that overall secondary traumatic stress was low to moderate with Coordination and Other activities significantly influencing the outcome. This brings attention to the contributing factors of secondary traumatic stress in school counselors that can inform educational training, wellness interventions, and environmental supports for school counselors. This pilot study resulted in encouraging findings and future implications are discussed.
- Published
- 2021
45. Redefining Roles: Female Scholars' Reflections and Recommendations for Coping during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Author
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Brochu, Kelly J., Bryant, Trina R., Jensen, Amanda J., Desjardins, Danielle R., Robinson, Regina M. M., and Bent, Lauren G.
- Abstract
The objective of this article is to amplify the stories of female doctoral students and their passage through role conflicting periods of uncertainty and trauma. Specifically, this article highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest in the U.S. have impacted women pursuing doctorates in education. In addition to sharing personal reflections and experiences, the authors have outlined resources and recommendations for those who support doctoral students. Through the diverse perspectives of five students and one faculty member in the EdD in Higher Education Leadership program at Regis College, this article explores the lived experiences of second-year doctoral students during an incredible period of uncertainty. Douglas T. Hall's model of coping serves to frame content around the many conflicting roles these students have been navigating and found to be exacerbated during the year 2020. This article seeks to empower leaders to re-envision approaches to support doctoral students through future crises and periods of uncertainty.
- Published
- 2021
46. Work-Life Balance and Role Conflict among Academic Staff in the Middle East: A Review of Literature
- Author
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Asfahani, Ahmed M.
- Abstract
Family and work are fundamental aspects of life, and an individual must find a balance between both. Prioritizing one over the other can cause distress in one's life. Every individual plays an important role in their work and non-work/personal life with the aim of fulfilling their needs, but it's not always easy to find a balance, which may cause a conflict. The reasons behind this conflict vary according to different professional constraints such as working hours, work environment, nature of job, and interpersonal relations. Non-work and personal factors such as: marital status, number of children, home environment, age, gender, and location may also contribute. This paper aims to study the importance of work-life balance in reducing role conflict among academic staff in the Middle Eastern region.
- Published
- 2021
47. Academic Identity and Communities of Practice: Narratives of Social Science Academics Career Decisions in Taiwan
- Author
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Ching, Gregory Siy
- Abstract
Academic identity is an important aspect of organizing an academic career. An academic identity is distinct and unique and can be defined as the core attitudes that determine how individuals approach the concept of work. In the current era of neoliberalism, changes to university governance in Taiwan have transformed working conditions and hiring practices in academia. Inevitably, role conflicts have emerged, and work stress within higher education institutions has increased. The current study summarizes the narratives of nine academics from the social sciences. The study is anchored in the concept that academic identity formation is rooted in the doctoral education stage. Using a qualitative narrative inquiry lens, interactions between different communities of practice during the doctoral education stage are analyzed, along with later career decisions and the role communities of practice play in those decisions. The findings show that doctoral mentors and fellows all contributed to the formation of a core academic identity, while later career decisions were equally affected by neoliberal policies. It is hoped that by recognizing the role of academic identity, administrators may be able to influence how academics adapt amidst the competing pressures within the academe.
- Published
- 2021
48. Achieving Academic Promotion: The Role of Work Environment, Role Conflict, and Life Balance
- Author
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Bowering, Elizabeth and Reed, Maureen
- Abstract
Fifty-two faculty at two Canadian universities were interviewed about the impact of work environment, role conflict, and work-life balance on career-related experiences and decisions to apply for promotion to full professor. Faculty described conflicts between their academic responsibilities of teaching, research, and service (including limited time for research despite long work weeks) as well as work-life imbalance. These issues were often gendered; women took slightly longer to achieve the rank of associate professor, accepted tasks of lower reward value, held decreased expectations for promotion, and experienced workplace conflict and bullying more than their male counterparts. Even so, faculty identified colleagues as a valuable career support. Our data lead us to theorize that the decision to apply for academic promotion is informed by a cost-benefit analysis, early career experiences, conformity with academic norms that over-emphasize research productivity, as well as access to career-advancing resources (especially time for research). We recommend that the gendered nature of the academic reward system be re-imagined to promote equality, and provide suggestions as to how to do so.
- Published
- 2021
49. Academic-Family Integration: How Do Men and Women in Distance Education and Residential Doctoral Programs Integrate Their Degree and Family?
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Rockinson-Szapkiw, Amanda and Watson, Jessica Herring
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Multivariate statistical analyses were used to determine if differences existed between how men and women enrolled in distance education and residential doctorate of education programs in the United States managed and negotiated their family and academic lives. Results provided evidence that distance education students (n = 106) reported having lower academic-family satisfaction and functioning, more interference between the academic and family domains, and more impermeable boundaries between the domains than their residential peers (n = 71). Moreover, women (n = 126) in comparison to men (n = 51) reported poorer academic-family balance and the desire to set more rigid boundaries between their academic and family domains.
- Published
- 2020
50. How Motherhood Enhances and Strains Doctoral Research/ers
- Author
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Mason, Shannon, Bond, Melissa, and Ledger, Susan
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Motherhood is often positioned as incompatible with further education, and various cohort studies have revealed the many ways in which mothers are discouraged from and disadvantaged in higher education. Guided by role theory, we investigated the experiences of more than 1300 'PhD mums' from across the world as they simultaneously navigate the roles of doctoral researcher and mother (or mother-like role). Using a mixed-methods survey design, qualitative and quantitative results were analysed to reveal the contradictions and complexities of the PhD mum experience, with motherhood both straining and enhancing the doctoral journey. Motherhood may place considerable strains on doctoral researchers, including on their ability to conduct and write-up their research. These strains are exacerbated by inequitable and gendered role expectations, finite resources, and limited support, often at the expense of doctoral researchers' physical and mental well-being. However, it is not all negative, and PhD mums can bring a range of skills and attributes that are valuable to individual doctoral studies as well as doctoral programmes and institutions more broadly. The benefits also extend to the PhD mums themselves, their families, and their communities. This paper challenges unfounded assumptions about the commitment and ability of mothers to succeed in doctoral education, but also raises serious concerns about the role of institutions in perpetuating social inequalities while espousing commitment to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion.
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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