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1 – 10 of over 4000Simon King and Amber Gove
We’re all just looking at the stars; how behavioral economics helps us understand the barriers to education programming in Tanzania.
Abstract
Purpose
We’re all just looking at the stars; how behavioral economics helps us understand the barriers to education programming in Tanzania.
Design/methodology/approach
This article uses a qualitative approach to explore the behaviorally normed barriers to quality classroom instruction that contribute towards low learning outcomes. Themed text analysis was applied to qualitative secondary data from seventeen classroom observations and teacher interviews collected from low-performing schools in rural Tanzania.
Findings
It was found that teachers in poor-performing schools in Tanzania were focused on the delivery of curriculum and pedagogy, with a misplaced belief that their pupils were performing adequately. The study found no evidence of teacher resistance to change; instead, the teachers were content and often happy to implement the reading program, believing that teaching phonics-based instruction improved their teaching approach. Teachers sought confirmation of their quality instructional practice from convenient yet inaccurate sources that did not include effective pupil assessment.
Research limitations/implications
As a result of the chosen research approach, findings may lack generalizability.
Practical implications
While existing models of teacher change rely on logic and reason for decision-making, this paper provides evidence that teacher models of change are much more complex and irrational, aligned more closely with insights from behavioral economics (BE). Additionally, this paper justifies that traditional research frameworks that study what works provide an incomplete picture to support effective program improvement.
Originality/value
The application of behavioral economics to research and education programming focused on reducing the restraining forces rather than pushing incentives and other program components.
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Mark J. Zbaracki, Lee Watkiss, Cameron McAlpine and Julian Barg
James G. March rejected relevance as a criterion for social science research, but he was concerned about the social implications of social science models. He argued that a focus…
Abstract
James G. March rejected relevance as a criterion for social science research, but he was concerned about the social implications of social science models. He argued that a focus on truth alone as a criterion for evaluating models meant that social scientists miss the implications of their models for beauty and justice. Here, we explore all three criteria to see what they bring to the practice of building social science models and how they interact in the models and in the world. We argue that the choices that social scientists make about these three criteria shape what they select to study in the models, what they see in the world, and what they imagine for the world. We also argue that how social scientists approach truth, beauty, and justice has implications for how they understand and engage the world.
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Claudine McCreadie, Anthea Tinker, Simon Biggs, Jill Manthorpe, Madeleine O'Keeffe, Melanie Doyle, Amy Hills and Bob Erens
The article outlines the background to the recently commissioned UK national study of the prevalence of elder abuse and explains the methodology adopted in Stages 1 and 2 of the…
Abstract
The article outlines the background to the recently commissioned UK national study of the prevalence of elder abuse and explains the methodology adopted in Stages 1 and 2 of the research. This is being funded by Comic Relief with co‐funding from the Department of Health and carried out by a team of researchers at King's College London and the National Centre for Social Research. Stage 1, the development work, was completed in autumn 2005. Stage 2, which began in March 2006, is a national survey of the private residential population of the United Kingdom.
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This article describes the findings of research on the housing support needs of people with challenging behaviour, undertaken between 1998 and 2001 and completed in Aberdeen as…
Abstract
This article describes the findings of research on the housing support needs of people with challenging behaviour, undertaken between 1998 and 2001 and completed in Aberdeen as part of the closure of long‐term hospitals for people with learning disabilities. The problem faced at the beginning of the research was the failure of the traditional models of supported housing to meet more complex and challenging needs. Solutions were required that allowed for choice and which are cost‐effective, provide high levels of support and have flexibility. Key to this was the housing and support model. The findings have enabled Aberdeen to develop flexible solutions offering a range of support options, including the use of assistive technology to enhance support.
Katherine K. Chen and Victor Tan Chen
This volume explores an expansive array of organizational imaginaries, or understandings of organizational possibilities, with a focus on how collectivist-democratic organizations…
Abstract
This volume explores an expansive array of organizational imaginaries, or understandings of organizational possibilities, with a focus on how collectivist-democratic organizations offer alternatives to conventional for-profit managerial enterprises. These include worker and consumer cooperatives and other enterprises that, to varying degrees, (1) emphasize social values over profit; (2) are owned not by shareholders but by workers, consumers, or other stakeholders; (3) employ democratic forms of managing their operations; and (4) have social ties to the organization based on moral and emotional commitments. The contributors to this volume examine how these enterprises generate solidarity among members, network with other organizations and communities, contend with market pressures, and enhance their larger organizational ecosystems. In this introductory paper, the authors put forward an inclusive organizational typology whose continuums account for four key sources of variation – values, ownership, management, and social relations – and argue that enterprises fall between these two poles of the collectivist-democratic organization and the for-profit managerial enterprise. Drawing from this volume’s empirical studies, the authors situate these market actors within fields of competition and contestation shaped not just by state action and legal frameworks, but also by the presence or absence of social movements, labor unions, and meta-organizations. This typology challenges conventional conceptualizations of for-profit managerial enterprises as ideals or norms, reconnects past models of organizing among marginalized communities with contemporary and future possibilities, and offers activists and entrepreneurs a sense of the wide range of possibilities for building enterprises that differ from dominant models.
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Josie Dixon, Simon Biggs, Martin Stevens, Jill Manthorpe and Anthea Tinker
The purpose of this paper is to set out and discuss findings from a developmental study, commissioned by the English Department of Health and the charity, Comic Relief, which was…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to set out and discuss findings from a developmental study, commissioned by the English Department of Health and the charity, Comic Relief, which was commissioned to clarify definitional issues and recommend ways of operationalising key concepts for a prospective survey of abuse, neglect and loss of dignity in the care of older people in residential care in the United Kingdom (UK).
Design/methodology/approach
As well as drawing upon their experience and expertise, the authors conducted a review of the literature, held consultation events with a range of stakeholders and undertook in‐depth interviews with international academics and care home residents.
Findings
Existing definitions and descriptions vary widely in form and content, are commonly subjective and imprecise and frequently make reference to abstract concepts which themselves need defining. Many of the concepts are also inherently evaluative, unspecific and open to interpretation. The study considered how, in this context, practical research definitions that are clear, unambiguous and widely acceptable to a range of stakeholders could be developed.
Research limitations/implications
The study took a UK focus and the review of literature was confined to the English language. Further research might usefully extend discussion about definitions cross‐culturally. The interview samples were small and should not be considered to be representative.
Originality/value
The paper identifies key issues in defining the perpetrator. It focuses on the concepts of trust and intentionality, the responsibilities of the care home and multiple perpetrators and makes practical proposals for operationalising the “perpetrator” in research. Recommendations from the study were positively received and have directly informed the Government‐funded research programme in England.
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Simon Biggs, Chris Phillipson, Rebecca Leach and Annemarie Money
This paper provides a critical assessment of academic and policy approaches to population ageing with an emphasis on the baby boomer cohort and constructions of late‐life…
Abstract
This paper provides a critical assessment of academic and policy approaches to population ageing with an emphasis on the baby boomer cohort and constructions of late‐life identity. It is suggested that policy towards an ageing population has shifted in focus, away from particular social hazards and towards an attempt to re‐engineer the meaning of legitimate ageing and social participation in later life. Three themes are identified: constructing the baby boomers as a force for social change, a downward drift of the age associated with ‘older people’ and a shift away from defining ageing identities through consumption, back towards work and production. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for future social and public policy.
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This paper aims to spark dialogue regarding what it takes to lead well as a university leader post-pandemic. While much has been written about the future challenges facing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to spark dialogue regarding what it takes to lead well as a university leader post-pandemic. While much has been written about the future challenges facing universities, not a lot has been written about the kind of moral courage that is required to lead them. There never has been a more important time for strong leadership from university presidents; leadership that supports human flourishing and learning in all its forms.
Design/methodology/approach
Discussion focuses on the role of presidents in leading the post-pandemic university. The author speaks from experience on the need to restore well-being, community, and capacity for a more hopeful and resilient future.
Findings
This study makes a case for a post-pandemic university needing to be marked by courage and humanity. Students are looking for universities to align with what they care about and what is relevant to their experience and future. Responsibility falls to leaders within the academy to restore well-being, community and capacity across the university.
Research limitations/implications
Leading a university as president, at the best of times, is a complex and rewarding role. Leading during a global pandemic could hardly get more challenging. It is hoped that this paper will generate additional discussion as to what it means to lead well in the academy.
Originality/value
The author’s experience having led a university through one of the most challenging times in our history may provide a perspective for colleagues and future leaders of the university sector.
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Jill Frances Atkins, Aris Solomon, Simon Norton and Nathan Lael Joseph
This paper aims to provide evidence to suggest that private social and environmental reporting (i.e. one-on-one meetings between institutional investors and investees on social…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide evidence to suggest that private social and environmental reporting (i.e. one-on-one meetings between institutional investors and investees on social and environmental issues) is beginning to merge with private financial reporting and that, as a result, integrated private reporting is emerging.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, 19 FTSE100 companies and 20 UK institutional investors were interviewed to discover trends in private integrated reporting and to gauge whether private reporting is genuinely becoming integrated. The emergence of integrated private reporting through the lens of institutional logics was interpreted. The emergence of integrated private reporting as a merging of two hitherto separate and possibly rival institutional logics was framed.
Findings
It was found that specialist socially responsible investment managers are starting to attend private financial reporting meetings, while mainstream fund managers are starting to attend private meetings on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Further, senior company directors are becoming increasingly conversant with ESG issues.
Research limitations/implications
The findings were interpreted as two possible scenarios: there is a genuine hybridisation occurring in the UK institutional investment such that integrated private reporting is emerging or the financial logic is absorbing and effectively neutralising the responsible investment logic.
Practical implications
These findings provide evidence of emergent integrated private reporting which are useful to both the corporate and institutional investment communities as they plan their engagement meetings.
Originality/value
No study has hitherto examined private social and environmental reporting through interview research from the perspective of emergent integrated private reporting. This is the first paper to discuss integrated reporting in the private reporting context.
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