The purpose of this paper is to explore the current literature and ideas on how local climate change action (both mitigation and adaptation) could be intensified.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the current literature and ideas on how local climate change action (both mitigation and adaptation) could be intensified.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review of Australian and international academic journals and policy documents on the current views of effective local climate action was conducted. Additional data on Australian grassroots community activities was compiled from the internet, participant observation and secondary sources.
Findings
The paper argues that local climate action is important and three key aspects could provide effective avenues to step‐up local climate action. These three avenues are: increased attention to local adaptation; the linking of adaptation and mitigation efforts together and with other local ecological concerns; and greater engagement with active community members and grassroots community‐initiated climate change actions. These three key aspects could give climate change a local saliency and tangibility, spur more effective action, build community resilience and reduce vulnerability.
Research limitations/implications
Research is in the explorative stages and, therefore, only tentative conclusions and possible future directions can be suggested.
Practical implications
The avenues identified to scale‐up local action on climate change could be readily utilised by local governments and/or other interested groups.
Originality/value
The paper disseminates three compelling ways that climate action could be intensified at the local scale, and possibly create greater public engagement and avenues to innovative approaches to tackle climate change.
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Kara Lasater, Meghan Scales, Kelley Sells, Meleah Hoskins and Jordan Dickey
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how rural schools and communities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through compassionate care.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how rural schools and communities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through compassionate care.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides “compassion narratives” (Frost et al., 2006, p. 851) from five educators (i.e. the authors) working and/or living in rural communities. Each narrative describes how compassion was witnessed and experienced from various professional positions (which include classroom teacher; building-level leader; district-level leader; special services director and school psychologist; and assistant professor of educational leadership).
Findings
The compassion narratives described in this paper demonstrate how various organizations and communities responded to COVID-19 through compassionate care. They also provide a lens for considering how rural schools and communities might sustain compassion in a post-pandemic world.
Originality/value
This paper extends disciplinary knowledge by considering the healing, transformative power of compassion within rural schools and communities – not just in response to COVID-19 but in response to all future adversities.
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Stephanie Grace Prost and Meghan A. Novisky
The purpose of this paper aims to examine differences in measures of and relationships between visitation and quality of life (QOL) among older and younger jailed adults. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper aims to examine differences in measures of and relationships between visitation and quality of life (QOL) among older and younger jailed adults. The authors also explored the contribution of visitation to QOL among adults in this setting. The authors anticipated fewer visits and lower QOL among older adults. Framed by psychosocial developmental theory, the authors also anticipated a larger effect in the relationship between visitation and QOL among older rather than younger adults and that visitation would contribute most readily to psychological QOL.
Design/methodology/approach
Cross-sectional data from a large US jail were used (n = 264). The authors described the sample regarding visitation and QOL measures among older (≥45) and younger adults (≤44) and examined differences in measures of and relationships between visitation and QOL using independent sample t-tests and bivariate analyses. The authors explored the contribution of visitation to psychological, social relationships, physical and environmental QOL among jailed adults using hierarchical multiple linear regression.
Findings
Older adults had fewer family visits and lower physical QOL than younger adults, disparities were moderate in effect (d range = 0.33–0.35). A significant difference also emerged between groups regarding the visitation and environmental QOL relationship (z = 1.66, p <0.05). Visitation contributed to variation in physical and social relationships QOL among jailed adults (Beta range = 0.19–0.24).
Originality/value
Limited research exists among jailed older adults and scholars have yet to examine the relationship between visitation and QOL among persons in these settings.
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Meghan McGlinn Manfra and Cheryl Mason Bolick
To improve social studies teaching and learning, teachers must engage in quality professional development experiences to deepen their pedagogical content knowledge. This article…
Abstract
To improve social studies teaching and learning, teachers must engage in quality professional development experiences to deepen their pedagogical content knowledge. This article describes a Master of Education for Experienced Teachers (M.Ed.) program that reconcepulatized graduate study for teachers, using Alan Tom’s (1999) markers for reform — ongoing self-improvement, a commitment to working together collegially, and a focus on student learning. We describe each of the markers and the experiences of the social studies cohort enrolled in this program. We hope that by sharing our efforts to revitalize graduate study for social studies teachers, we will stimulate continued, thoughtful reflection and discourse.
Laura Lunsford, Vicki Baker and Meghan Pifer
The purpose of this paper is to understand faculty mentoring experiences across career stages and the influence of mentoring relationship quality on job satisfaction. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand faculty mentoring experiences across career stages and the influence of mentoring relationship quality on job satisfaction. The study participants were faculty members from a consortium of liberal arts colleges in the USA. The theoretical lens draws from scholarship on career stages, developmental networks, and working alliances.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on a subset of 415 faculty member responses about mentoring from a larger data set on faculty development. The online survey was conducted in Spring 2014. Frequencies, χ2, regression equations, and confirmatory factor analysis were computed using R statistical software.
Findings
Over half the faculty members were both mentors and protégés; although, a sizable minority of faculty members did not engage in mentoring. Early-career faculty members were significantly more likely to have a mentor than were mid- or late-career faculty members. For both mentors and protégés, the higher they rated the quality of the mentoring relationship, the more job satisfaction they reported; this finding was greatest for mid-career (associate rank) faculty members. Participants reported significantly higher relationship quality with their mentors than with their protégés.
Research limitations/implications
The results may not generalize to faculty members who work at other institution types, for example, research-intensive or two-year schools, or to non-US higher education contexts. Statements made regarding those who do not participate in mentoring are speculative on the part of the authors.
Practical implications
Institutions may need to develop support for faculty members who may not desire to engage in mentoring. More attention may be warranted to create individual and institutional supports focused on high-quality mentoring.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on mentoring by establishing that many employees serve in mentor and protégé roles simultaneously. Further, employees engage in mentoring relationships across career stages as mentors and as protégés. The authors developed a reliable measure of mentoring relationship quality that may be used in future mentoring studies. Higher quality mentoring relationships were associated with significantly greater job satisfaction.
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Meghan McGlinn Manfra and John K. Lee
In this qualitative case study we explored the experiences of low- achieving students responding to an educational blog. Our intention was to leverage the unique affordances of…
Abstract
In this qualitative case study we explored the experiences of low- achieving students responding to an educational blog. Our intention was to leverage the unique affordances of blogs to teach United States history concepts primarily by providing access to digital primary sources and facilitating on-line participation. Overall, our findings point to the positive potential of blogs to enhance instruction with low-achieving students. We found the integration of the educational blog provided an effective instructional format to differentiate content instruction and deliver “equity pedagogy.” In this study student participation increased, students engaged in historical work (although tentative), and the resources activated their prior knowledge. Rather than withholding Web 2.0 technologies from low-achieving students we encourage teachers to use them to meet the unique learning needs of all of their students. With thoughtful scaffolding, it appears teachers might be able to leverage the unique features of blog-based activities to improve student experiences.
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Joel T. Nadler, Nicole L. Cundiff, Meghan R. Lowery and Stacy Jackson
Past research on flextime programs often treat work schedule flexibility as a homogeneous construct. The purpose of this paper is to empirically demonstrate the relationship…
Abstract
Purpose
Past research on flextime programs often treat work schedule flexibility as a homogeneous construct. The purpose of this paper is to empirically demonstrate the relationship between different flexible work schedules and employee perceptions of organizational attractiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants (n = 655) reviewed a scenario with work schedule flexibility manipulated into one of eight consecutively more flexible schedules. Participants then rated the job offer within the scenario on organizational attractiveness.
Findings
The study found significant differences in organizational attractiveness based on the eight types of work schedule flexibility. The study's results supported categorizing flextime programs as heterogeneous constructs.
Research limitations/implications
The study utilized scenarios reducing generalization to work situations. Participants were college students with a limited work experience and may have viewed organizational attractiveness based on expectations, not on experiences. Future studies should examine workforce populations and also examine different work schedule flexibility programs' effects on absenteeism and productivity.
Practical implications
The study suggested that work schedule flexibility affects future employees' perceptions of organizational attractiveness. Attracting high‐quality employees is in the best interests of organizations and the effects of a flexible work schedule may begin before employees are hired.
Originality/value
The paper illustrates that different work schedule flexibility schedules, often labeled “flextime,” are perceived differently regarding organizational attractiveness. The paper further supports the notion that work schedule flexibility is a complex construct that cannot be examined using one broad term.
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David M. Rosch, Scott J. Allen, Daniel M. Jenkins and Meghan L. Pickett
We conducted a national study of the Collegiate Leadership Competition (CLC), which since inception in 2015, has included over 75 higher education institutions. The CLC brings…
Abstract
We conducted a national study of the Collegiate Leadership Competition (CLC), which since inception in 2015, has included over 75 higher education institutions. The CLC brings students together in collaborative institution-based teams to compete with other teams in competitions to achieve goals and practice effective leadership skills. Our goal was to assess leadership capacity growth over the course of a four-month team practice period through the daylong inter-team competition and evaluate participant leadership assessed several months later. Results suggested students made significant and sustainable gains in leader-self-efficacy and short-term gains in leadership skill and motivation to lead. Our results also indicated the team’s coach played a significant role in student leadership development.
Leadership development programs for students in educational settings are proliferating in number and design. Curricular programs range from academic minors and certificates to doctoral programs in a variety of academic homes (e.g., education, business, healthcare). Co-curricular programs often take the form of drop-in workshops, day-long experiences, alternative spring breaks, service-learning trips, and other programs housed in student affairs and administrative offices (Guthrie & Jenkins, 2018). Moreover, the number of programs has steadily increased over the last 15 years from just under 1,000 in 2006 (Brungardt, et al., 2006) to more than 2,000 (ILA Program Directory, 2021). And while there is some commonality among the approach of these leadership programs in terms of content and delivery (see Harvey & Jenkins, 2014), vast differences exist in the structure and learning goals of student leadership programs compared to other social science disciplines. A potentially fruitful area in which to explore its effectiveness in supporting leadership development is the environment of competitive teams, where individuals work together as a group to compete against other teams. The purpose of our research was to investigate the degree to which such a competitive environment might support or detract from student leadership group, employing a potentially effective example of a formal program that utilizes the innovative approach of team competitions to motivate learning (the CLC).
Todd Pezzuti, Meghan E. Pierce and James M. Leonhardt
This paper investigates how language homophily between service providers and migrant consumers affects migrant consumers’ intentions to engage with financial and medical service…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how language homophily between service providers and migrant consumers affects migrant consumers’ intentions to engage with financial and medical service providers.
Design/methodology/approach
Three empirical studies were conducted with migrant consumers living in Chile, England and the USA. Participants were presented information on service providers, and language homophily was manipulated between subjects. In the high (low) language homophily condition, service providers were described as having (not having) the ability to speak the native language of the migrant consumer.
Findings
Language homophily was found to increase migrant consumers’ expectation of control over a service encounter and, in turn, increase their intention to use a provider’s services. Collectivism was identified as a boundary condition. Among high collectivist consumers, language homophily did not affect service usage intentions; however, language homophily did positively affect service usage intentions among low collectivist consumers.
Originality/value
This work extends prior research on service provider language by finding a positive effect of language homophily on service usage intentions and by identifying mediating (i.e. expected control over the outcome of the service encounter) and moderating (i.e. collectivism) mechanisms for this effect.