Joan Amanda Ballantine, Tony Wall and Anne Marie Ward
The public sector is often considered the vanguard in terms of the availability and promotion of flexible working arrangements (FWAs). Despite this, little is known about how…
Abstract
Purpose
The public sector is often considered the vanguard in terms of the availability and promotion of flexible working arrangements (FWAs). Despite this, little is known about how senior managers in the public sector engage with FWAs. This paper aims to address this gap, reporting on a number of issues, including the reality of FWAs, the existence of a flexibility stigma and whether this is gendered, and the drivers influencing the uptake of FWAs.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretical insights of flexibility stigma from the literature and data from semi-structured interviews with senior managers in the Northern Ireland Civil Service explore the realities of FWAs at this level.
Findings
The findings indicate a decoupling between the rhetoric and reality of FWAs, with few senior managers availing of such arrangements. The authors also identify a complex web of issues that constrain senior managers' agency in shaping a positive culture of FWAs at senior management level in the Civil Service, including an inherent resistance to flexibility, a lack of visible role models and negative perceptions around progression. The findings also indicate deeply held perceptions among senior males and females that availing of FWAs is associated with a flexibility stigma. These perceptions were confirmed by the small number of senior females with caring responsibilities who were availing of FWAs.
Research limitations/implications
The paper provides senior managers and human resource practitioners with insights into the difficulties associated with wide-scale FWA availability and use at senior levels of the Civil Service.
Originality/value
The findings of the study offer valuable insights into the experience of senior managers in the public sector as they engage with FWAs. The study, therefore, contributes to the limited literature in this area.
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Natalia Ward, Jennifer Lubke and Anne McGill-Franzen
This study explored the impact of integrating digital tools on professional preparation in literacy, specifically an online digital video portal for teachers’ self-observation of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored the impact of integrating digital tools on professional preparation in literacy, specifically an online digital video portal for teachers’ self-observation of instructional practice.
Methodology/approach
As a design experiment (Bradley & Reinking, 2011), a graduate-level Reading Education course was revisioned for blended learning to accommodate the professional development of practicing teachers in a rural, remote context. This chapter focuses on understanding how teachers experience video as a platform for reflection on and improvement of practice, with implications for those who seek to incorporate digital video into literacy professional development.
Findings
Through video analysis mediated by the use of a self-evaluation guide and a collaborative, online community, teacher-learners reflected on their own and their peers’ pedagogy and language interactions with students. After overcoming initial struggle with watching themselves on the video, the close analysis of clips became a powerful catalyst for professional growth. Teachers’ reflections shifted from outward-directed to inner-directed.
Practical implications
To successfully integrate video analysis in Reading Education practicums and professional development for in-service teachers, consideration should be given to technical as well as pedagogical components. Purposefully building in various scaffolds, for example, technical tutorials, prompts to focus video analysis, and safe platforms for sharing and collaboration, proved to be beneficial for teacher-learners in our courses.
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In an era marked by profound technological change young people must prepare for a future in which rapid innovation is accompanied by the passing of traditional social norms such…
Abstract
In an era marked by profound technological change young people must prepare for a future in which rapid innovation is accompanied by the passing of traditional social norms such as career paths and job security. This calls for a level of self‐reliance, self‐determination and preparedness for life‐long learning not required in previous generations. Traditional measures of academic success overlook the broader skill set that is needed for success in the new environment. Emotional intelligence and enterprise skills now form part of a fundamental skill set which has not been given prominence in a traditional school curriculum designed towards a job outcome. Young people need not be victims of change. Parents, educators and entrepreneurial role models in the wider community can all play a role in preparing young people for a life of purpose in which they are aware of and can draw on their talents and abilities.
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Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how rural outlaws, known in the Australian context as bushrangers, impacted on the introduction of itinerant teaching in sparsely settled…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how rural outlaws, known in the Australian context as bushrangers, impacted on the introduction of itinerant teaching in sparsely settled areas under the Council of Education in the colony of New South Wales. In July 1867 the evolving process for establishing half-time schools was suddenly disrupted when itinerant teaching diverged down an unexpected and uncharted path. As a result the first two itinerant teachers were appointed and taught in an irregular manner that differed significantly from regulation and convention. The catalyst was a series of events arising from bushranging that was prevalent in the Braidwood area in the mid-1860s.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on archival sources, particularly sources within State Archives and Records NSW, further contemporary sources such as reports and newspapers; and on secondary sources.
Findings
The paper reveals the circumstances which led to the implementation of an unanticipated form of itinerant teaching in the “Jingeras”; the impact of rural banditry or bushranging, on the nature and conduct of these early half-time schools; and the processes of policy formation involved.
Originality/value
This study is the first to explore the causes behind the marked deviation from the intended form and conduct of half-time schools that occurred in the Braidwood area of 1860s New South Wales. It provides a detailed account of how schooling was employed to counter rural banditry, or bushranging, in the Jingeras and provided significant insight into the education policy formation processes of the time.
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Victoria Walton, Anne Hogden, Janet C. Long, Julie Johnson and David Greenfield
This paper aims to explore if health professionals share understanding of teamwork that supports collaborative ward rounds.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore if health professionals share understanding of teamwork that supports collaborative ward rounds.
Design/methodology/approach
A purpose-designed survey was conducted in two acute medical and two rehabilitation wards from a metropolitan teaching hospital. Medical officers, nurses and allied health professionals participated. To understand characteristics that support collaborative ward rounds, questions developed from literature and industry experience asked: what are the enablers and challenges to teamwork; and what are clinicians’ experiences of positive teamwork? Descriptive and thematic analyses were applied to the dimensions of effective teamwork as a framework for deductive coding.
Findings
Seventy-seven clinicians participated (93% response rate). Findings aligned with dimensions of teamwork framework. There was no meaningful difference between clinicians or specialty. Enablers to teamwork were: effective communication, shared understanding of patient goals, and colleague’s roles. Challenges were ineffective communication, individual personalities, lack of understanding about roles and responsibilities, and organisational structure. Additional challenges included: time; uncoordinated treatment planning; and leadership. Positive teamwork was influenced by leadership and team dynamics.
Practical implications
Ward rounds benefit from a foundation of collaborative teamwork. Different dimensions of teamwork present during ward rounds support clinicians’ shared understanding of roles, expectations and communication.
Originality/value
Rounds such as structured rounding, aim to improve teamwork. Inverting this concept to first develop effective collaboration will support team adaptability and resilience. This enables teams to transition between the multiple rounding processes undertaken in a single ward. The emphasis becomes high-quality teamwork rather than a single rounding process.