Women as social entrepreneurs in the hospitality and tourism industry: Does empowerment play a role?

This paper which is a work in progress presents a qualitative study exploring the nature, motivations and extent to which female entrepreneurs use their H&T businesses as platforms for engagement in various forms of social entrepreneurship (SE) leading to value creation, economic and community development. Although SE is seen as a key contributor to the creation and diversification of entrepreneurial activity, women empowerment and local economic development, there is limited research on the role of female H&T entrepreneurs in emerging non -western destinations. We focus on the following research questions: a) Can female entrepreneurs in H&T be considered as social entrepreneurs? b) How does the structure and organization of society shape the nature of female participation in SE? c) What are the challenges involved in mobilizing female entrepreneurs to effectively engage in SE? d) How does SE maximise value creation and higher levels of satisfaction for all participants? Concepts from women-owned H&T enterprises, SE and women empowerment are drawn upon. We argue that women are embedded in male dominated traditions/customs, community associations and government bureaucracies that may either empowered or dis-empower them. Using the case of Cameroon, we examine how embeddedness enhances the capacity of women to engage in SE in the H&T industry, thereby contributing to local economic development. Empirically we adopt a mixed methods approach using multiple case studies: a survey questionnaire, five focus groups meetings (two women -only, one male-only, and two mix of male and female entrepreneurs) and twenty-five in-depth interviews with selected female entrepreneurs (18), (non)governmental organisations (03) and beneficiaries (04) of social enterprise ventures between May 2014 and February 2015. The findings clarify the role of women in SE in H&T and policy implications for maximising social value creation through the participation of women in SE

Researching Across Two Cultures: Shifting Positionality

Embodied and creative research methods provoke honesty, emotion, and vulnerability in participants, which add to the richness of the stories they tell and are willing to share. The positionality of the researcher is less of “interviewer” and more “co-producer” or participant in a dialogue. Visual and creative approaches invite participants to share in ways in which they are not able or willing through words alone. The data and outputs they produce, with film, art, or objects, can in turn affect those who see it more than written text and need to be analysed and disseminated along with more traditional transcripts, articles, and presentations. In the context of investigating sensitive issues such as those around embodied identity, these methods, which use embodied methods to explore embodied research questions, may feel the most appropriate. These approaches lie along the boundary of therapy and research, asking much of researchers who are unlikely to have received therapeutic training or ongoing support. Due to this deficit, the researched may find that their experience is not held or contained in a way that the content would demand. Similarly, the data themselves lie on the boundary of art and research, in that they can be seen as more than a tool to facilitate reflection, but as artifacts in their own right. What are the implications in this scenario? Where should we position ourselves and our work along these boundaries? Who holds the space for the researcher and the researched if both are made vulnerable

Media literacy and for the net generation

The paper explores the opportunities and challenges of combining media literacy and social-emotional literacy to promote mental health and wellbeing in school curricula. It describes the implementation of an experimental module within the program Crescere insieme What's Up (Growing up together What's Up). This upstream prevention and health promotion program, from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region (north-eastern Italy) is designed to harness the protective effects of developing and strengthening life skills to move beyond risk factors to prevent youth suicide, fostering connections and support between school and mental health institutions, peers and adults. The program activities involved role plays and reflection activities, collaborating in project group work, consulting and producing media (such as articles, Youtube videos and Powerpoint presentations) for peer-to-peer education. It adopted an experiential approach enabling active engagement of high school students, their parents and teachers, and 'learning by doing' with agency and responsibility. Qualitative feedback from students and teachers, study limitations and further implications are discussed.peer-reviewe

Transforming Together for Equity, Well-being, and Decolonization

Decolonization, equity, and well-being in K-12 education have become pivotal aims for educational leaders in the province of British Columbia, in Canada, and around the globe. By dismantling coloniality in pedagogical praxes and learning leadership structures within school and district systems, this paper maps a bold and essential journey for change and presents a disruptively anti-colonial amalgam of theory and practice for well-being and equity. In the central Problem of Practice, these complex system leadership goals are investigated through the case of a small and innovative BC school district. Learners—both student and adult—are at the centre of this powerful vision for educational transformation as empowered community change makers, and as beneficiaries of anti-colonial, equitable, and flourishing learning environments articulated in the plan for change. The wisdom of Indigenous and critically oriented epistemologies undergird action. Complex Adaptive Systems organizational theory supports emergence, responsivity, and interconnectedness. Leadership lenses of adaptive leadership are deepened by decoloniality, relationality, and systems thinking. Compassionate Systems Leadership and collaborative inquiry grow capacity for change hand in hand with students, parents, Elders, Indigenous families, community, teachers, and school and district leaders. Well-being and human flourishing are cultivated through networked collaboration, relational accountability, and systemness. These transformative elements cradle a coherent change vision, support solutions, and ultimately embrace an anti-colonial plan for system change focused on decolonizing pedagogy and learning leadership structures. This paper presents vision and action for collective difference-making, so critical for education now—and for a sustainable future. Transforming together is powerful alchemy

Exploring the Leadership Preparation Needs of Middle Leaders in International Schools: Case Studies from Vietnam

This research aims to explore the perceived leadership preparation needs of middle leaders in international schools in Vietnam. Research and scholarship into the many dispositions and articulations of educational leadership in an international context has developed rapidly due to the expansion of international organizations worldwide. Nevertheless, research surrounding the leadership preparation needs of middle leaders continues to be relatively scarce. Data was obtained using a two part data collection process. Firstly, an open-ended survey questionnaire was used as a preliminary method; followed by semi-structured focus groups, allowing for deeper exploration into the experiences of participants. Findings explored teacher perceptions that consisted of both positive and negative experiences in organizational knowledge, interpersonal skills, and pedagogic knowledge. Middle leaders’ perceptions included positive experiences of informal support from senior leaders, whilst suggesting their negative experiences were a result of feeling ill-prepared to deal with the process-relational aspects associated to the role of the middle leader, and insufficient formal professional development provision

Thriving, Robust Equity, and Transformative Learning & Development: A More Powerful Conceptualization of the Contributors to Youth Success

This new conceptualization of youth success draws from more than 180 sources and makes an argument for new definitions to propel practice and policy that addresses educational and racial equity. The paper:Introduces a formula and a rationale for addressing thriving, equity, and learning and development together that helps us better focus on actionable social factors;Summarizes prevailing definitions of thriving, equity, and learning and development (and related terms);Takes a deeper dive into the dimensions that contribute to individual and collective thriving;Offers powerful and aligned conceptualizations of thriving, equity, and learning and development;Describes the opportunities and conditions required to ensure that efforts to create "equitable educational outcomes" or "equitable learning and development opportunities" are as powerful and inclusive as possible

Towards a social pedagogic approach for social care

The term ‘social care’ has come to be applied in England to a variety of policies and services for children and adults deemed, for a variety of reasons, in need of support and assistance. The field to which it is applied is widely recognised to be in crisis, as demand grows, funding lags and a poorly qualified, low-paid workforce shows increasing signs of strain. The article argues that a further dimension to the crisis is the very term ‘social care’. It has little substance and is of limited value in addressing the practice involved in working with children, young people and adults, while its continued use has encouraged a simplified and commodified understanding of what this work entails. The article introduces an alternative concept – social pedagogy – long established and well developed in continental Europe, which, it is argued, could provide a more substantial basis for everyday practice, and a strong foundation for future policy, including reforming the workforce. The conclusion questions whether ‘social care’ can play any useful role in the evolution of policy and practice, discussing some issues that a turn to a social pedagogic approach might raise

Systemic inquiry as a form of qualitative Inquiry

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