Responding to imposed job redesign : the evolving dynamics of work and identity in restructuring professional identity

Professionals are increasingly prevalent in organizations and are required to change their professional practice in response to requirements from employers. It is therefore important to understand how professionals respond when they are required to conduct work that does not match with their identity. We investigated this situation in an English public services organisation where a major work redesign initiative required professionals to engage in new tasks that they did not want to do. Based on our findings, we develop a process model of professional identity restructuring that includes the following four stages: (1) resisting identity change and mourning loss of previous work, (2) conserving professional identity and avoiding the new work, (3) parking professional identity and learning the new work, and (4) retrieving and modifying professional identity and affirming the new work. We contribute to the literature by showing how parking one’s professional identity facilitates the creation of liminal space, which enables the restructuring of one’s professional identity. Our model also explicates the dynamics between professional work and professional identity, showing how requirements for new professional work can lead to a new professional identity

The Global People competency framework: competencies for effective intercultural interaction

This Competency Framework explains the competencies that are needed for effective intercultural interaction. In contrast to the Life Cycle Model for Intercultural Partnerships (see the Global People Toolbook) which presents the competencies by stage (i.e. key competencies are identified for each stage of a project life cycle), the Competency Framework presents them by clusters. Intercultural competencies can be grouped into four interrelated clusters, according to the aspect of competence they affect or relate to: - Knowledge and ideas - Communication - Relationships - Personal qualities and dispositions We overview these four clusters in Section 2. In Sections 3 – 6, for each competency cluster, we list the key component competencies, along with descriptive explanations of each of them. We also provide case study examples from the eChina-UK Programme to illustrate one or more of the following: - How the competency manifests itself; - Why the competency is important or is needed; - How the competency can be displayed in behaviour; - What problems may occur when the competency is not present. The Competency Framework is thus useful for those who wish to gain a systematic, in-depth understanding of intercultural effectiveness and the competencies need to achieve it

Promoting Inquiry in Science Classrooms in European Schools : a Handbook for Tutors

In Scotland, PISCES stands for Promoting Inquiry Skills for a Curriculum for Excellence in Science. It is a CPD module for teachers of science, which has been developed in Scotland with the support of the S-TEAM project. However, this Handbook uses our international acronym in which PISCES stands for Promoting Inquiry in Science Classrooms in European Schools . It is, we believe, potentially equally as successful across Europe as it was designed around the idea of empowering teachers to think for themselves how to make their practice more-inquiry based, wherever they are. It is recognised that some school, social, policy and cultural environments may be more supportive of the idea of ‘more inquiry-based practice’ than others. PISCES empowers teachers to make small or large changes to their practice, according to those sorts of contextual factors, their own aims and how they perceive the needs of their pupils. You will note that we have been careful to use the word ‘more’ in ‘more inquiry-based.’ As befits the idea of empowerment to adapt to one’s own context, there is no single model of inquiry being ‘pushed’ here. Indeed, we count it as a measure of success of PISCES that the teachers who have participated did very different things in making their practice more inquiry-based. Strathclyde University is a leading partner in S-TEAM. Members of Strathclyde University, along with the Development Officer for Curriculum for Excellence for East Lothian, successfully developed and delivered a pilot version of PISCES as a module to a group of East Lothian teachers, in 2010/11. The module resulted in successful ‘experiments in practice’ and increased awareness of the benefits of inquiry-based teaching and learning. The same group of teachers have also taken part in a follow-up course (ARIES: Advanced Resources for Inquiry and Evaluation in Science). PISCES is a high quality CPD programme, valued by teachers and supportive of their professional self-development. It can be applied to both primary and secondary teaching, in all science subjects. Pupils benefit from learning experiences, which develop scientific inquiry skills. Feedback from participating teachers has been consistently positive

Overcoming Roadblocks to Learning

{Excerpt} The gulf between the ideal type of a learning organization and the state of affairs in typical bilateral and multilateral development agencies remains huge. Defining roadblocks, however numerous they may be, is half the battle to removing them—it might make them part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Organizational learning is collective learning by individuals, and the fundamental phenomena of individual learning apply to organizations. However, organizational learning has distinctive characteristics concerning what is learned, how it is learned, and the adjustments needed to enhance learning. These owe to the fact that an organization is, by general definition, a collective whose individual constituents work to achieve a common goal from discrete operating and supporting units. Practices bring different perspectives and cultures to bear and shape data, information, and knowledge flows. Political considerations are the most serious impediment to becoming a learning organization. However, by understanding more fully what obstacles to learning can exist in a complex organization in a complex environment, one can circumscribe the problem space and create enabling environments for a more positive future. Such environments would facilitate self-organization, exploration of the space of possibilities, generative feedback, emergence, and coevolution.They would create an explanatory framework and facilitate action

Linking Disability and Intercultural Studies: the adaptation journey of the visually impaired migrant in Ireland

This study focuses on the lived experiences of the visually impaired migrant in Ireland and this is the first study to document the lives of these members of Irish society. It examines how visually impaired migrants are simultaneously adapting to their disability and a new cultural environment while living in Ireland. In so doing this study aims to link the two academic fields of Intercultural Studies and Disability Studies and theoretical underpinnings for this study are drawn and woven together from both fields. As such this study draws from the development of theories relating to disability as well as the intercultural aspects of migration. Qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 participants living in the larger Dublin region, which comprised of two groups; migrant users and providers of services for the visually impaired. Data analysis was assisted through the software package Atlas.ti. A grounded theory approach to collecting and analysing data was adopted as this facilitates the flow from raw data to codes to concepts. Purposive sampling was employed and the typical method of grounded theory of constant comparison was not used, rather interviews were analysed individually once they were all completed then compared. Research findings indicate that the cultural perceptions of disability may help or hinder the individual’s adaptation process both to their visual impairment and to living and integrating into a new culture in Ireland. Findings cluster around the three areas of cultural perceptions of disability, support networks and cultural barriers to adaptation. Synergising theoretical concepts and data steered the development of a new integrative model which identifies the inhibitors and facilitators for the process of adaptation to visual impairment for a migrant in Ireland

More than Money: The potential of cross-sector relationships

Collaboration and co-funding between foundations has seen strong and consistent development. However, less has been done to explore and document the opportunities that collaboration across sectors between foundations, public and private sector funders may provide. 'More Than Money' provides a valuable insight into what it means for funders from different sectors to work collaboratively. Examples include the Pears Foundation working with the Department for Children, Schools and Families to turn a school linking project from a small pilot to a national project, or the development of the Evaluation Support Scotland project which began through informal discussions between a small group of funders from the statutory and voluntary sector, and continued to develop through funding from the Scottish Executive.We hope that this publication will help inform and encourage funders from all sectors as they continue to explore the exciting opportunities that cross sector collaboration can offer

Needing and Necessity

Claims about needs are a ubiquitous feature of everyday practical discourse. It is therefore unsurprising that needs have long been a topic of interest in moral philosophy, applied ethics, and political philosophy. Philosophers have devoted much time and energy to developing theories of the nature of human needs and the like. Philosophers working on needs are typically committed to the idea that there are different kinds of needs and that within the different kinds of needs is a privileged class of needs that is especially normatively significant. Some philosophers go further and make rather grand claims about needs. They claim that needs are central or fundamental to moral thinking and that we must have a needs-centred moral theory or a general reorientation of moral philosophy around needs. In this paper I aim to do two things. First, to show how applying recent work on modal terms can help us to understand thought and talk about needs. This is the positive part. I then use these ideas to cast doubt on the more ambitious claims about needs. Put briefly, a proper understanding of claims about needs undermines the idea that the concept of needs is fundamental in moral thought or in moral philosophy. Ambitious needs theory fails

A Violência no Local de Trabalho em Instituições de Saúde: Um Estudo Monocêntrico sobre Causas, Consequências e Estratégias de Prevenção

Introduction: Workplace violence is one of the main risk factors in the professional world. Healthcare workers are at higher risk when compared to other sectors. Our study aimed to characterize physical and verbal violence in a public hospital and to define occupational health prevention and surveillance strategies. Material and Methods: Single center observational cross-sectional study, carried amongst healthcare workers in a public hospital in Lisbon. A qualitative survey was carried out through six in-depth interviews. A quantitative survey was carried through questionnaires delivered to 32 workers. A significance level of 5% was accepted in the assessment of statistical differences. The Mann-Whitney test and the Fisher’s exact test were used to calculate p values. Results: The main results are: (1) 41 violence incidents were reported in the quantitative phase; (2) 5/21 [23.81%] victims notified the incident to the occupational health department; (3) 18/21 [85.71%] victims reported a permanent state of hypervigilance; (4) 22/28 [78.57%] participants self-reported poor or no familiarity with internal reporting procedures; (5) 24/28 [85.71%] participants believed it is possible to minimize workplace violence. Discussion: Workplace violence is favored by unrestricted access to working areas, absence of security guards and police officers or scarce intervention. The low notification rate contributes to organizational lack of action. The state of hypervigilance reported in our study reflects the negative effects of threatening occupational stressors on mental health. Conclusion: Our results show that workplace violence is a relevant risk factor that significantly impacts workers’ health in a noxious manner, deserving a tailored occupational health approach whose priority areas and strategies have been determined.Introdução: A violência no local de trabalho é um dos principais fatores de risco no mundo do trabalho. Os trabalhadores da saúde apresentam um risco superior. O nosso estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar a violência física e verbal num hospital público e definir estratégias de prevenção e vigilância em saúde ocupacional. Material e Métodos: Estudo observacional transversal monocêntrico, conduzido num hospital público em Lisboa com trabalhadores da saúde. Foi realizado um inquérito qualitativo com entrevistas em profundidade a seis trabalhadores e um inquérito quantitativo com questionários a 32 trabalhadores. Aceitou-se um nível de significância de 5% na avaliação das diferenças estatísticas. O teste de Mann-Whitney e o teste exato de Fisher foram usados para calcular os valores de p. Resultados: Os principais resultados são: (1) 41 episódios reportados na fase quantitativa; (2) 5/21 [23,81%] vítimas notificaram o incidente; (3) 18/21 [85.71%] vítimas reportaram estados de hipervigilância permanente; (4) 22/28 [78,57%] participantes não conheciam ou conheciam mal os procedimentos de notificação; (5) 24/28 [85,71%] consideravam possível minimizar o problema. Discussão: A violência é favorecida pelo acesso livre às zonas de trabalho, ausência de agentes de segurança e polícia ou falta da respetiva intervenção. A baixa notificação contribui para a ausência de medidas organizacionais. O estado de hipervigilância relatado reflete o efeito prejudicial da exposição a fontes de stress e ameaça. Conclusão: A violência no local de trabalho é um fator de risco relevante, com impacto negativo na saúde dos trabalhadores e merece uma abordagem individualizada no âmbito da saúde ocupacional, cujas áreas e estratégias prioritárias foram definidas neste estudo. Palavras-chave: Fatores de Risco Profissionais; Prevenção; Saúde Ocupacional; Trabalhadores da Saúde; Violência no Local de trabalho.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Practicum Pairs: An Alternative for First Field Experience in Early Childhood Teacher Education

This paper focuses on partnership between pairs of students in early childhood education during a teaching practicum in preschools and kindergartens. One hundred students enrolled in early childhood preservice teacher education programs at a large metropolitan Australian University were paired and placed in kindergartens and preschools with host teachers. The project aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of host teachers and students involved in the paired practicum which was evaluated qualitatively using semi-structured surveys of host teachers and students. This paper identifies eight practices and two principles making this paired practicum successful or not successful