Search results

Seeks to help managers to recognize different types of resistance and how to react to them. Categorizes types of resistance (resistance quadrants) and presents questions to help identify the personality of the resistor. Resistance to change can be intentional or unintentional, covert or overt. Describes causes of resistance and presents diagnostic questions. Managers with self‐awareness and a sense of humour are most successful in overcoming resistance to change.

Reports on resistance to change among staff within an organization and the subsequent problems for managers. Examines causes of resistance and categories of behaviour related to it. Suggests that better understanding of both of these issues leads to more effective management.

Serves a dual purpose: (1) to clarify the nature and occurrence of impasse in groups towards defining and categorizing it: and (2) to use these findings as a means for diagnosing impasse and providing intervention to resolve it. It is a partial report of findings from a research project which contributed to the field of Organizational Gestalt and supported a paradoxical perspective to group life. This qualitative study used direct observation, surveys and interview methods. The weekly decision‐making meetings of nine senior managers of a mental health facility provided its data. Impasse situations were identified and analysed. From this a definition and five categories of impasse emerged. Also offers an approach for intervention design following a case study which illustrates impasse.

This teleobservation pilot study focuses on an innovative approach for the preparation of elementary social studies preservice teacher candidates through the use of interactive videoconferencing to provide observations of elementary classrooms. Preservice teacher candidates observed social studies lessons team-taught by regular classroom teachers and university professors in public school classrooms via videoconferencing equipment. Preservice teacher candidates remained on campus while another professor guided them through the social studies observation. Qualitative data were collected from preservice teacher candidates completing their social studies methods course through reflective summaries, KWL charts, and archived threaded discussions. The benefits and challenges of teleobservation are discussed along with implications and possibilities for future work. Specifically, the goals of this project included providing future social studies teachers with the following opportunities: 1) observe an elementary classroom in real-time; 2) discuss teaching as it is happening, and 3) observe university social studies professors modeling theory into practice.

As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technical support tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of this technology published in Computers in Libraries magazine increases in size and scope. This year, author Susan L. Adkins has prepared this exceptionally useful bibliography which she has cross‐referenced with a subject index.

The purpose of this paper is to view the human experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes through a varied set of disciplinary lenses in order to give voice to those who experienced the trauma of the earthquakes, especially groups whose voices might not otherwise be heard.

The research designs represented in this special issue and discussed in this introductory paper cover the spectrum from open-ended qualitative approaches to quantitative survey design. Data gathering methods included video and audio interviews, observations, document analysis and questionnaires. Data were analysed using thematic, linguistic and statistical tools.

The themes discussed in this introductory paper highlight that the Canterbury response and recovery sequence follows similar phases established in other settings such as Hurricane Katrina and the Australian bushfires. The bonding role of community networks was shown to be important, as was the ability to adapt formal and informal leadership to manage crisis situations. Finally, the authors reinforce the important protocols to follow when researching in sensitive contexts.

The introductory paper only discusses the articles in this special issue but it is important to acknowledge that there are other groups whose stories were not shared due to logistical limitations.

This introductory paper sets the scene for the articles that follow by outlining the importance of the human stories of the Canterbury earthquakes, through the eyes of particular groups, for example, medical staff, schools, women, children and refugees. The approach of viewing the experience through different community voices and disciplinary lenses is novel and significant. The lessons that are shared will inform future disaster preparedness, response and recovery policy and planning.

The 22 February 2011 series of earthquakes that devastated large parts of the Canterbury region of New Zealand provides the dramatic backdrop to this paper, which explores the manner in which schools responded and recovered from the quakes. Drawing on interviews held 18 months later with principals, teachers and students, practical suggestions for how schools can manage risk, and prepare for future similar events are made. The manner in which schools altered, and in particular, the roles principals took, are examined. Finally, the central importance of care and love in schools in the quake-affected areas is considered.

A qualitative research design using narrative enquiry approaches was used to capture the stories of principals, teachers, and students who had experienced both the earthquakes, and the recovery period following the trauma. Semi-structured interviews with participants were held over a period of days.

The importance of being prepared for natural disasters is paramount for all New Zealanders in order to ensure health, safety, and cohesion on the day of an earthquake. However, the research reveals there is significance in having secure, meaningful, and honest relationships with school students to help raise the well-being of all affected by natural disasters.

The paper continues to look at a pedagogy of love and care as a vital way to support, encourage, and aid children through their trauma and grief which continues long after the earthquake.

There are growing concerns among social studies professionals that social studies instruction is disappearing from elementary schools. These concerns have become more pressing as educational policies emphasize core curricula of reading, writing, mathematics, and science. Questions arise as to how social studies can resume its traditional role as one of these core curricula. One possibility is to have social studies included in the accountability movement through testing. This article contemplates the role of testing in impacting social studies instruction in the elementary curriculum through a comparative analysis of data collected from a study of practicing elementary teachers in two states: one in which social studies instruction is tested and the other in which social studies instruction is not tested.