M. Neus Álvarez, M. Laura Angelini, Inmaculada López-Lull and Chiara Tasso
This chapter examines how lesson study is reported with pre-service teachers in initial teacher education programmes. Different voices are included talking about the ways in which…
Abstract
This chapter examines how lesson study is reported with pre-service teachers in initial teacher education programmes. Different voices are included talking about the ways in which lesson study has been reported in various settings so far. The chapter concludes with a qualitative study of student-teachers’ reflections drawn from their reports, written after finalising the lesson study cycle at the Universidad Católica de Valencia. The analysis provides support for the premise that lesson study significantly promotes research in ITE and develops a more critical approach to literature about pedagogy and good practice in teaching.
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Olga Khokhotva and Iciar Elexpuru Albizuri
The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from a case study of an action research project in the context of a secondary school in Kazakhstan where, for the first time in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from a case study of an action research project in the context of a secondary school in Kazakhstan where, for the first time in their teaching practice, three English as a Foreign Language teachers introduced student voice (Flutter and Rudduck, 2004) into their practice within the Lesson Study (LS) framework. The research aimed at conceptualizing Student Voice Space in LS as one of the valuable factors capable of triggering situations of disjuncture (disorienting dilemma, disruption) for teachers which could potentially lead to teacher’s transformative learning, educational beliefs change and improved practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts the qualitative research design and follows narrative inquiry methodology (Lyons and LaBoskey, 2002) with a series of narrative interviews (Bauer, 1996) as the main method of data collection within a single case study (Bassey, 1999) of an action research project. The data were analyzed as text following a general inductive approach (Thomas, 2003) where emerging themes were identified by means of data reduction.
Findings
The findings suggest that listening to student voice triggers teachers’ going through certain stages of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory including critical assessment of own assumptions, testing new options for behavior and reflecting critically on the teaching practice. Therefore, the authors suggest that Student Voice Space in LS is one of the important factors capable of triggering the teacher’s transformative learning. Moreover, it has an enormous potential not only to bring about positive changes in teachers’ practice but also challenge the ossified teachers’ educational beliefs, and thus, potentially, pave the way for a gradual change from “inappropriate beliefs” (Mayrhofer, 2019), or subconscious assumptions that lie in the core of teachers’ folk pedagogies (Torff, 1999), or taken-for-granted frames of reference (Mezirow, 2000) into true, justified or informed educational beliefs.
Research limitations/implications
Further analysis of teachers’ narratives is required to elicit and categorize reported changes (shifts, transformations) concerning specific teachers’ educational beliefs, and draw a more clear line between student voice and its impact on the research lesson planning and its modification in LS. Finally, a supplementary study utilizing classroom observation methods is needed to explore if student voice intervention results in tangible (actual) changes in teachers’ classroom practice and educational beliefs, rather than potential transformations that are mainly reported in this study.
Originality/value
Carried out in the largely overlooked by the academic literature context of the Reform at Scale (Wilson et al., 2013) in Kazakhstan and building on the original combination of theoretical lenses, the research contributes to the academic literature aiming at illuminating “the black box of teachers’ learning” in Lesson Study (in Widjaja et al., 2017, p.358) since it is one of the rare studies attempting to connect teacher learning, student voice and Lesson Study (Warwick et al., 2019). Additionally, approaching teacher learning in Lesson Study from the transformative learning perspective combined with the literature on teachers’ educational beliefs and student voice, this study contributes to the further development of a shared vocabulary for discussing teacher learning in Lesson Study.
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IN 1971 there were 1,207 scaffolding accidents, 14 of them fatal. This revelation was made by Mr. Dudley Smith, M.P., Parliamentary Under‐Secretary of State at the Department of…
Abstract
IN 1971 there were 1,207 scaffolding accidents, 14 of them fatal. This revelation was made by Mr. Dudley Smith, M.P., Parliamentary Under‐Secretary of State at the Department of Employment, in his recent speech at the Scaffolding Training Centre. In view of his further comments, and the fact that many construction companies operate work study departments, much of what he had to say is worth more publicity than it has so far received.
The original criteria for library automation in Hertfordshire are reviewed. The ALS system eventually installed is described. Its operation and performance are discussed, with…
Abstract
The original criteria for library automation in Hertfordshire are reviewed. The ALS system eventually installed is described. Its operation and performance are discussed, with notes on the effects of system failure. Software performance and maintenance are evaluated, with notes on system loadings and response times. The derivation and use of catalogue records is briefly described, and the impact of the system on the supply of reserved items, and on the public is outlined. The staffing implications of the automated system to date are described.
Alexandra Smith, Rebecca Olson, Maddison Cuerton, Keesha Abdul Khalil, Phillip Good and Janet Hardy
Symptom control is a key aim of advanced cancer and palliative care. Yet, wellbeing in this context is complex, highly contextual, and contested. The World Health Organisation’s …
Abstract
Symptom control is a key aim of advanced cancer and palliative care. Yet, wellbeing in this context is complex, highly contextual, and contested. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO, 2021, p. 10) recent definition of wellbeing, for example, emphasises ‘meaning and purpose’. Models of care – such as the biopsychosocial model – aim to attend to this complexity. And such models matter: if assessments of an intervention lowlight effects relating to psychological and social domains, the potential benefits of these interventions may go unrecognised. In this chapter, the authors provide the results of a review of symptom assessment scales used in advanced cancer and palliative care settings. Combining the analytic strengths of a critical review with the brevity of a rapid review (Grant & Booth, 2009), this critical rapid review asks: to what degree do scales measuring the impacts/effects of symptoms on wellbeing in advanced cancer contexts incorporate the three components of the ‘biopsychosocial’ model: biological, psychological, and social? Findings – considered in the context of conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis in supporting patient wellbeing – show that only five of the eleven scales identified through the review attend to social aspects of wellbeing. These findings reinforce critiques of the biopsychosocial model and demonstrate the dominance of dualistic, biomedical conceptualisations of wellbeing. Drawing on Barry et al.’s (2008) scholarship on interdisciplinarity, the findings underscore the limitations of numeric measures of wellbeing conducted in isolation and support calls for an ontological reimagination of wellbeing in advanced cancer and palliative care contexts.
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During the period 1979–1982, Hertfordshire Library Service will install an integrated circulation control and catalogue maintenance system. This paper discusses aspects of the…
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During the period 1979–1982, Hertfordshire Library Service will install an integrated circulation control and catalogue maintenance system. This paper discusses aspects of the system design deriving from policy decisions concerning limited management change, the careful allocation of resources and the need for improved reader services. This involves the development of co‐operative cataloguing, new systems of reservations control and the development of an on‐line catalogue. Microprocessor sub‐systems will be used to ensure a high degree of reliability, and the attempt to balance hardware costs against a degree of robustness is described. The paper also sets out a statistical model for estimating real‐time system loading deriving from queuing theory and the response characteristics of the machine system. 8 Refs.
Mohan P. Pokharel and Sang Ok Choi
The purpose of this research is to evaluate the Dimensions Of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) framework from the perspective of public sector organizations. We have…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to evaluate the Dimensions Of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) framework from the perspective of public sector organizations. We have used performance indicator data after organizational learning inspired intervention in a semi-autonomous network of public sector organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used original administrative data to track the learning progress, as measured by a ratio of access to funding sources. The study also collected survey data using tailored DLOQ instruments and then determined the efficacy of DLOQ framework for public sector organizations. Several data analysis techniques were used to specify a final set for the learning organization instrument with construct validity and instrument reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis was selected to test the construct validity for the measurement of the dimensions of the learning organization and to verify the adequacy of the item to factor associations and the number of dimensions underlying the construct.
Findings
We found evidence that confirms that the organizational level (particularly the system connection) has a positive impact on organizational performance and a mediating effect on the relationships between the individual/group levels of learning organization characteristics and organizational performance. This study extends the Watkins and Marsick’s (1993, 1996) learning–organization framework that helped to produce case-specific outcomes such as the extent of error reduction. This framework provides a useful structure for other researchers to study learning dimensions and their relationships with other organizational performance variables. The results also show evidence of internal consistency and the construct reliability of the dimensions of the learning organization.
Research limitations/implications
Care should be taken in generalizing the structural equation model identified in this study. Because of the multidimensional and complex nature of the learning organization, the research setting for this study might be only one of the possible settings that specify the relationships among different levels of the learning organization and performance outcomes. There are rather complicated interactions among these dimensions and in each attribute of a learning organization.
Originality/value
This study theoretically confirms that the organizational level (particularly the system connection) has a positive impact on organizational performance and a mediating effect on the relationships between the individual/group levels of learning organization characteristics and organizational performance. This study also methodologically shows evidence of internal consistency and the construct reliability of the learning organization measures along with significant efficiency gain in theory.
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This chapter investigates the impacts of households’ residential self-selection, parents’ perceptions and travel patterns on their children’s daily travel mode shares, among…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter investigates the impacts of households’ residential self-selection, parents’ perceptions and travel patterns on their children’s daily travel mode shares, among single parent households.
Methodology/approach
To capture the complexity of the relationships between parent and children daily travel mode choices, an integrated model structure is introduced and the model estimated with simultaneous equation modelling.
Findings
The results show that, beside the daily activity-travel engagements of the parent, both parent’s perceptions and his/her residential self-selection reasons play significant roles in influencing their children daily travel mode shares. The parent’s perceptions play more significant roles in influencing children’s travel modes shares, whilst the residential self-selection reasons have more significant influence on the parent’s travel mode choice.
Research limitations/implications
The finding of this study reveals a fact that wherever the children live, their travel behaviour tend to be ‘neutral’ and open to influence by their parents throughout their childhood.
Originality/value
This study adds to our understanding of the interactions between parents’ attitudes and behaviours with their children’s travel patterns. This study focuses on single parent households, on which there is very little literature.
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Automation is no longer an option; it is no longer “if” but “when” and “how”. This book has been written for senior librarians who recognise this, for their line managers to whom…
Abstract
Automation is no longer an option; it is no longer “if” but “when” and “how”. This book has been written for senior librarians who recognise this, for their line managers to whom the detailed work has been delegated, and for the junior staff, library and clerical, who need to know not only how to operate a system, but why it works as it does.
Boisot’s I‐space is used as a framework to explain the comparative success of computer‐based tools in information scanning and dissemi‐ nation, and the failure to support problem…
Abstract
Boisot’s I‐space is used as a framework to explain the comparative success of computer‐based tools in information scanning and dissemi‐ nation, and the failure to support problem areas in the process of knowledge creation, especially where this involves interactions within user groups. Recent research indicates that process‐based studies are likely to be productive, and that there is a useful overlap between information science and computer science interests and methods.