Rajinder Garcha and Patricia Yates Russell
Reviews the problems posed by international students in highereducation in the USA, and some of the difficulties they encounter.Specifically relates these problems to the…
Abstract
Reviews the problems posed by international students in higher education in the USA, and some of the difficulties they encounter. Specifically relates these problems to the provision of library services and, more specifically, to bibliographic instruction. Reports on a survey from the University of Toledo to examine foreign students′ background knowledge of academic libraries and to develop a programme to meet the special needs of this multicultural group. Presents specific conclusions and recommendations.
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This article aims to consider the construction and use of a qualitative survey in opening relational aspects of the organisational culture within an educational institution…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to consider the construction and use of a qualitative survey in opening relational aspects of the organisational culture within an educational institution. Rather than a numeric set of metrics, the researcher's intent was to use a survey as a vehicle for thematic and hermeneutic constructions of the data that might show emergent themes that are ontological in nature. The open-ended questions in this survey were constructed in four sections: general practice and comparison, history, relational experiences, and leadership practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The context for this research was a department within a faculty of education. In addition to the process of collecting and analysing the survey data, the chairperson of the department was interviewed in terms of the quality of the data and the usefulness of the data. The quality of the data was considered in terms of the insights that might be gained from the participants' data.
Findings
The findings of the qualitative survey showed the relational nature of the department in terms of the collegiality and reciprocity of care between those in leadership and amongst the staff in general. While staff referred to the strengths of the relational culture, the growth in student numbers and staff leave staff wondering about the sustainability of a rich collegial culture. In addition, the chairperson appreciated understandings from the participants in terms of the future growth and culture of the department.
Originality/value
All too often, educational leaders are busy with data associated with the future directions of an educational enterprise. Educational leaders can make assumptions from their interactions with staff in the busyness of leadership and management tasks. This survey has opened themes that were new to the chairperson, or validated some of their hunches and assumptions. The success of the experience, findings and learning on the part of the educational leader has led to the trialling of this organisational tool in the context of an elementary primary school.
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Julia A. Martin, Kathleen M. Reaume, Elaine M. Reeves and Ryan D. Wright
ESL students often do not utilize the librarian for help or attend library orientation and instruction sessions. Academic librarians and ESL composition instructors need to bridge…
Abstract
Purpose
ESL students often do not utilize the librarian for help or attend library orientation and instruction sessions. Academic librarians and ESL composition instructors need to bridge the gap in order to help guide international students during their academic career. This paper aims to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper will describe the benefits of relationship building between a librarian and two ESL instructors at the University of Toledo and the information literacy instruction sessions created for two ESL composition classrooms.
Findings
The paper finds that librarians and ESL instructors can bridge the gap for ESL students. Understanding the needs of the international/ESL community can help librarians approach ESL instructors or the international/ESL community in a way that allows the ESL student to feel comfortable and to seek out the librarian's assistance as new needs arise.
Practical implications
The collaboration at the University of Toledo indicates that closer relationships are needed between librarians and ESL instructors and that more than one library session is needed to help ESL students feel comfortable with librarians and libraries.
Social implications
Understanding the culture, values, beliefs, and practices that ESL students bring from their home countries and exhibit in the composition classroom can help librarians create programs that help define library services and help to bridge the gap between services provided by the librarian and the ESL composition instructor.
Originality/value
The very strong relationship built between the librarian and the ESL instructors had a very positive affect not only in the initial trial, but also in developing part of the curriculum for ESL composition students. This paper has great potential value for both librarians who are interested in embedding themselves in ESL programs and for ESL instructors.
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Glenn Finau, Diane Jarvis, Natalie Stoeckl, Silva Larson, Daniel Grainger, Michael Douglas, Ewamian Aboriginal Corporation, Ryan Barrowei, Bessie Coleman, David Groves, Joshua Hunter, Maria Lee and Michael Markham
This paper aims to present the findings of a government-initiated project that sought to explore the possibility of incorporating cultural connections to land within the federal…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the findings of a government-initiated project that sought to explore the possibility of incorporating cultural connections to land within the federal national accounting system using the United Nations Systems of Environmental-Economic Accounting (UN-SEEA) framework as a basis.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a critical dialogic approach and responding to the calls for critical accountants to engage with stakeholders, the authors worked with two Indigenous groups of Australia to develop a system of accounts that incorporates their cultural connections to “Country”. The two groups were clans from the Mungguy Country in the Kakadu region of Northern Territory and the Ewamian Aboriginal Corporation of Northern Queensland. Conducting two-day workshops on separate occasions with both groups, the authors attempted to meld the Indigenous worldviews with the worldviews embodied within national accounting systems and the UN-SEEA framework.
Findings
The models developed highlight significant differences between the ontological foundations of Indigenous and Western-worldviews and the authors reflect on the tensions created between these competing worldviews. The authors also offer pragmatic solutions that could be implemented by the Indigenous Traditional Owners and the government in terms of developing such an accounting system that incorporates connections to Country.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to providing a contemporary case study of engagement with Indigenous peoples in the co-development of a system of accounting for and by Indigenous peoples; it also contributes to the ongoing debate on bridging the divide between critique and praxis; and finally, the paper delves into an area that is largely unexplored within accounting research which is national accounting.
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Makoto Matsuo, Kohei Arai and Takami Matsuo
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of managerial coaching on critical reflection mediated through learning goal orientation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of managerial coaching on critical reflection mediated through learning goal orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a questionnaire survey of 169 employees in 53 teams at an IT firm in Japan. The data were examined using multi-level analyses.
Findings
Managerial coaching has a direct positive effect on critical reflection, and the relationship is mediated by learning goal orientation.
Research limitations/implications
The characteristics of the sample may limit the generalization of the findings. Future research should verify the model in other industries and countries.
Practical implications
The organizations should note that managerial coaching is useful not only for facilitating employees’ problem-solving but also for enhancing their critical reflection. It should also be noted that employees can reflect critically on their beliefs and work routines when they have learning goals.
Originality/value
Although few quantitative studies have investigated the determinants of critical reflection, the present research reveals the overlooked functions of managerial coaching in promoting employees’ learning.
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Katie D. Ricketts, Jeda Palmer, Javier Navarro-Garcia, Caroline Lee, Sonja Dominik, Robert Barlow, Brad Ridoutt and Anna Richards
Private retail and brand-driven sustainable procurement standards are influencing global agri-food markets, shifting trade and export priorities and reshaping food supply chains…
Abstract
Purpose
Private retail and brand-driven sustainable procurement standards are influencing global agri-food markets, shifting trade and export priorities and reshaping food supply chains. Using the case of Australian beef, the authors construct and evaluate three procurement activity “portfolios” and evaluate how these activity sets pull towards or against diverse organisational goals and/or science-based sustainability objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the academic and practitioner literature identified three key pillars for sustainable Australian beef procurement: animal welfare, environmental management and climate change (i.e. emissions). A subset of sustainable beef production activities (n = 100) was identified through this review plus semi-structured interviews with Australian beef retailers and industry bodies. This activity set was filtered (n = 40) and scored by a panel of science experts via a series of workshops and an additional survey. Using these data, the authors use a k-means cluster analysis (k = 3) to consider the strong or weak contributions of each activity portfolio towards typical sustainable beef goals.
Findings
A portfolio-based view of sustainable procurement puts the trade-offs between activities and the need for clear sustainability prioritisation into sharp focus. The authors find that individual strategies may be singularly more or less impactful, complex or popular, but when combined as a suite of activities enacted towards a particular goal or set of goals, essential for success. The authors find that obtaining balance across sustainable beef pillars versus within specific pillars can narrow the optimal set of activities that can succeed against multiple sustainability goals.
Practical implications
For procurement managers, the balance between clear focus and multidimensional progress is a difficult challenge. It requires the bold identification and articulation of an organisation’s interlocking corporate, industry or environmental objectives and flexibility on the strategies, tools and resources required. The authors posit that shifting away from a focus on rigid metrics may be useful in breaking the impasse on meaningful action.
Social implications
Using a set of known activities and strategies that a procurement manager might draw from in operationalising sustainability goals, the authors cluster activities into three discrete activity portfolios. Each portfolio requires differing levels of effort, implementation complexity and potential for within-pillar and cross-pillar impact (i.e. co-benefits). Assessing the evidence and potential for cross-pillar impacts of individual strategies is a complex undertaking, indicative of the systems and tangled interactions that characterise sustainability science more broadly.
Originality/value
By assessing how the procurement function can be leveraged and operationalised towards sustainability goals through a lens of optimal portfolio management, the authors provide a way forward for the procurement managers working within large retailers and agri-food businesses to progress towards multiple sustainability pillars simultaneously.
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Barbara Franken, Jennifer Yates, Cynthia Russell and Victoria Marsick
This paper aims to explore the possible relationships between the dominant actor and levels of reflection within learning paths. Learning-network theory, the framework of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the possible relationships between the dominant actor and levels of reflection within learning paths. Learning-network theory, the framework of individual learning paths (Poell and Van der Krogt, 2013), suggests that organizational actors create different learning processes through their interactions. The second theoretical perspective emphasizes the influence of interactions on the depth of the reflective process of an individual (Kemper et al., 2000).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines a thesis that dominant actors within four ideal learning paths may influence one of four anticipated levels of reflection for individuals. Two prior qualitative, interview-based data sets were reanalyzed and coded for pattern matching.
Findings
Reflection levels were higher than anticipated for several ideal learning paths and lower in others. Findings indicate that contextual variables impact the level of reflection, importantly the role of coaches, mentors, feedback and reflective learning programs.
Research limitations/implications
Data sets were reanalyzed from prior studies with relatively small numbers of participants. Further research is necessary to draw conclusions about the relationships between the two constructs.
Practical implications
This research shows the impact of incorporating reflective practices in workplace learning programs to increase levels of reflection. This study did not find fixed relationships, but rather discovered more fluid, dynamic relationships. Those responsible for creating learning programs might consider the potential of including reflective practices even in highly structured learning arrangements.
Social implications
In the complex, rapidly changing organizational environment, where employees need to adapt and change, reflective practices seem to influence desired behavioral change and learning.
Originality/value
This study sheds new light on the potential impact of reflective practices in workplace learning arrangements.
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This chapter offers a re-description of knowledge organization in light of genre and activity theory. Knowledge organization needs a new description in order to account for those…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter offers a re-description of knowledge organization in light of genre and activity theory. Knowledge organization needs a new description in order to account for those activities and practices constituting and causing concrete knowledge organization activity. Genre and activity theory is put forward as a framework for situating such a re-description.
Findings
By means of genre and activity theory, the chapters argues that understanding the genre and activity systems, in which every form of knowledge organization is embedded, makes us capable of seeing how knowledge organization, as a genre, both can be a tool and an object in genred human activities.
Originality/value
In contrast to much research into knowledge organization, this chapter does not emphasize techniques, standards, or rules to be the sole object of study. Instead, an emphasis is put on the genre and activity systems informing and shaping concrete forms of knowledge organization activity. With this, we are able to understand how knowledge organization activity also contributes to construct genre and activity systems and not only aid them.
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To provide a small overview of genre theory and its associated concepts and to show how genre theory has had its antecedents in certain parts of the social sciences and not in the…
Abstract
Purpose
To provide a small overview of genre theory and its associated concepts and to show how genre theory has had its antecedents in certain parts of the social sciences and not in the humanities.
Findings
The chapter argues that the explanatory force of genre theory may be explained with its emphasis on everyday genres, de facto genres.
Originality/value
By providing an overview of genre theory, the chapter demonstrates the wealth and richness of forms of explanations in genre theory.