68 research outputs found

    The Role of Workarounds in Benefits Realisation: Evidence from a Field Study in Saudi Arabia

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    Recent studies show that more than half of Saudi Arabian (SA) organisations fail to realise business benefits from their IS investments. This has been largely attributed to the contextual misalignment between information technologies and the needs of developing countries. In the IS literature on benefits realisation, the application of benefits dependency networks (BDN), have been established as being helpful in improving IS projects outcomes. This research investigates current IT development practice in SMEs in Saudi Arabia and reports on some of the challenges that these businesses need to overcome to achieve benefits from their IT investments. Evidence from the literature and a field study suggests that workarounds are widely used when implementing new IT, particularly to facilitate the continuation of embedded cultural practices. The paper argues that integrating the Theory of Workarounds into frameworks for benefits realisation would offer a useful conceptualisation of IT implementation practice to support businesses in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia to improve outcomes when investing in IT

    PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP AS A MODERATOR OF TEACHER TURNOVER FOLLOWING NATURAL HAZARD EXPOSURE

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    This study investigated principal leadership as a moderator of teacher turnover following natural hazard exposure. Like other disruptions to schooling, such as pandemics, natural hazard exposure is associated with a variety of negative outcomes in schools, including increased stress for teachers and lowered achievement for students. Using statewide administrative personnel records, I explored whether teacher turnover follows natural hazard exposure. I also explored the extent to which natural hazard exposure is associated with teacher turnover by comparing turnover rates across schools affected by one or more exposures. Using interview data, I also investigated the support and care school principals exhibited toward teachers following a natural hazard exposure. Through a sequential mixed methods design, I aimed to determine the influence principal leadership may have on teacher turnover in schools exposed to a natural hazard through leaders’ crisis management and caring leadership behaviors. The study presents nuanced evidence that can guide school and district leaders and policymakers looking for information about how principal leadership can attenuate teacher turnover in the context of a school exposed to a natural hazard. In addition, the study adds to the emerging literature on the effects of natural hazard exposure on schools, as these effects are a pressing issue due to global climate change and the expected increases in natural hazard exposure.Doctor of Philosoph

    Defining Effective Teacher Practices among Students with Emotional Behavioral Disabilities

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    This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of special education teachers who worked with students with emotional behavioral disabilities (EBD) across various urban settings and educative environments. Given that the overall percentage of students receiving special education services has increased, the overall percentage of students with EBD served among all school-aged children and youth has remained below 1% (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2018). The current failings of reform efforts to improve the academic achievement of students with EBD brings the roles, responsibilities and practices of teachers and their preparation into view. This study examined the impact of culture on the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of special education teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants (N = 8). A thematic analysis resulted in three overarching themes. The three themes included: (a) the essentials: keys to student engagement, (b) the frustrations regarding effective program implementation, and (c) elements of an effective program. This study exposed multiple factors affecting the effectiveness of special educators\u27 practices as well as offered recommendations for teachers, schools, districts, policies, and future research

    Psychological and contextual influences on travel mode choice for commuting

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    Travel behaviour - especially car use - is of concern because it contributes to environmental problems such as climate change. Focusing on commuting, this thesis aimed to explain people's travel mode decisions and what might motivate drivers to switch modes. The literature shows that - as in the wider field of environmentallysignificant behaviour - Schwartz's norm-activation theory (NAT) and Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB) are predominant in travel psychology. Research undertaken for this thesis was based on these theories. Study 1 used logistic regression (n = 312) to test NAT and the TPB's ability to explain drivers' intentions to maintain or reduce their car use for commuting to De Montfort University (DMU). A model using variables from both theories was also tested, as was a model that added contextual variables to these psychological constructs. The model including contextual variables had the greatest predictive power (shown by Rl values). There were interactions between several predictor variables. Most notably, the influence of altruistic (pro-environmental) motives on intentions was moderated by perceived control over commuting mode choice and by contextual factors including bicycle ownership, carriage of passengers and journey time. In study 2,24 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with commuters to DMU. Using discourse analytic techniques, the prevalent stances on car use and use of other modes for travel to work were identified. Many echoed NAT and TPB constructs (e.g. moral motives, perceived control over modal choice), underlining these theories' applicability to commuting. However, other stances were also evident, most notably affective motives and habits as reasons for commuting mode decisions. People drew on various combinations of these discourses to explain their commuting behaviour. The thesis proposes a new model of commuting mode choice and suggests guidelines for interventions designed to encourage drivers to use alternative modes. However, it is stressed that reliance on attitude-behaviour research alone may ignore wider sociocultural influences on travel behaviour. Suggestions are made regarding theoretical perspectives and methods that may help in understanding these forces and a case is made for mixed-method research as the way ahead for travel psychology

    Taking Heed: Principals Who Identify as African American or Black Working in Predominantly White Schools

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    This is a narrative study of the lived experiences of school leaders who identify as African American or Black and are working in predominately White school settings. The study sought to understand the lived experiences of these school leaders by exploring how these leaders make sense of their work in a predominantly White setting. This included the opportunities and challenges they encountered and the leadership beliefs, practices, and strategies they employed to navigate the predominantly White school setting. A critical race methodology was used throughout the study that centered race and racism in all aspects of the research (SolĂłrzano & Yosso, 2002). This was important to the study as predominantly White school settings are racialized organizations that seek to marginalize students and educators of color learning and working in their organizations (Ray, 2019). Data was gathered using interviews which generated narratives for each of the ten participants. A thematic data analysis of the narratives resulted in eight common themes with related sub themes. The six findings of the study are focused on elevating the voices of the ten school leader participants who are African American or Black to an audience of White district leaders that are called upon to disrupt their predominantly White organizations so that all children receive an equitable education

    Evolution of Teacher Leadership: The Influence of Leadership Professional Development Opportunities on Teacher Leaders’ Perceptions of Their Leadership Characteristics, Professional Vision, and Professional Identity

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    The importance of teacher leadership has received intense interest as an area of educational research over the past three decades (Crowther, Kaagan, Ferguson & Hann, 2002; Harris, 2003; Lambert, 2002; Marks & Printy, 2003). Most of this research has focused on the qualifications, impacts, and development of teacher leadership (Smylie & Mayrowetz, 2009). This study aimed to broaden the scope of research to include science teachers’ interaction with leadership practices in the course of a leadership development program that includes both their own professional development (PD) and leadership of teacher-driven professional development (TDPD). The study considered professional vision and identity rather than focusing only on formal or informal leadership roles. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine experienced physics and chemistry high school teachers’ perceptions of their leadership roles and characteristics and their professional vision and identity as they participated in a leadership development training program and a math and science partnership program as facilitators of the science activities for K-12 teachers. The study was situated within the leadership training program (I-LEAD) five-year project, which was designed to recruit experienced secondary physics and chemistry teachers, called Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs), to understand the dynamics that support or limit the development of teacher leaders. The participants in this study consisted of up to three of these MTFs, who organized and implemented TDPD activities for K-12 teachers to improve these teachers’ science knowledge and teaching practices. The data was analyzed using multiple coding methods that generated themes from interviews with the MTFs and archival data from the I-LEAD leadership program. The results of the study claim that professional vision, professional identity, and teacher leadership roles and skills are inextricably interrelated. These dynamic components are refined, reshaped, and reformed by self-reflection, discussion, and feedback as provided through PD activities. This study further suggests that teacher leadership mechanism evolves over time through practicing different teacher leadership roles in the professional journey. Implications and practical suggestions for school administrators, PD developers, and policy makers as well as teacher leaders are discussed

    Hidden in Plain Sight : Knowledge Broker Teachers and Professional Development

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    This qualitative study was prompted by initiatives that addressed the need for teachers to engage in professional development that enables them to be 21st century ready. Recommendations put forth by government and business have stressed that professional development foster connected teaching and create networked educators by emphasizing peer-topeer collaboration and sharing. Despite this focus, little attention has been paid to the role that regular teachers play in becoming professional developers for their colleagues. My study investigated how four K-12 teachers, that I termed “knowledge broker teachers,” created new pathways for informal, teacher professional development in their schools. Extending on the concept of “knowledge brokers” from business studies, knowledge broker teachers serve as an informal source of professional development, moving knowledge from those who have it to those who need it. This study’s purpose was to examine examined how knowledge broker teachers built and shared their knowledge, and to identify their attributes. I applied a situated learning approach to frame this study, emphasizing the social nature of learning. Participants included four K-12 knowledge broker teachers and 12 of their teacher colleagues with whom they shared knowledge. Data collection included the use of interviews with participants and screen casts of the knowledge broker teachers’ online activity. Data analysis employed open coding to generate categories, then themes. Three findings about knowledge broker teachers emerged: brokers, brokering, and brokerage. Brokers encompassed the context-dependent ways the four knowledge broker teachers shape-shifted and assumed different personas (e.g. knower-learner, comrade, cheerleader, shrinking violet) enabling them to be knowledge broker teachers. Brokering entailed the processes they used to build and share knowledge. These included processes of making connections through online and face to face opportunities, taking advantage of moments of kismet, and tailoring knowledge to match their colleagues’ ability. Brokerage involved the actions that affected the quality of social relationships and the emergence of trust between the knowledge broker teachers and their colleagues. Brokerage actions presented by the knowledge broker teachers included giving and taking knowledge with colleagues, recognizing and honoring their colleagues’ potential, and being expected to go above and beyond. My study recognized the existence of knowledge broker teachers and their effect on informal professional development. However, given the findings, formalizing their roles in schools may have a detrimental effect on their ability to build and share knowledge. Considering ways to leverage these findings may provide new ways for thinking about informal teacher professional development

    Dancing to their own tune: Career success and Australian women leaders

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    Although there is a considerable body of research into the reasons for disparity in gender representation at leadership level, less is known about the enabling factors for the relatively few women who have managed to get ‘to the top’. This study explores how such women perceive and define career success highlighting enabling factors and identifying antecedents. The study focuses on the experiences, understandings and insights of seventeen Australian women leaders across a range of industries. These women entered the workforce around the years between 1970 and 1990; a time of great social change in the career landscape as women began to engage with tertiary education and professional work in unprecedented numbers. They are part of a group of pioneering women aspiring to professional careers and leadership. This study preserves the experiences and understandings of these pioneers making a historically significant contribution to the discourse about career success for women in Australia. Participants shared a determination to find their way ‘to the top’ despite different career routes and life journeys; standing out from other women. They were able to chart their own career courses in the established patriarchal hierarchy of the time with little guidance and few established pathways, requiring the creation of new and unique ways to advance their careers. This qualitative study is conceptually framed by Bourdieu’s cultural capital theory as a way of understanding how value is attributed to antecedent personal, societal and contextual factors, and how the ability to accumulate career capital is influenced by childhood and adulthood forces. Career success hinges on the development of capital-rich personal characteristics, shaped by the socio-cultural milieu of early life and the legacy of attitudes and practices passed down through family, yet also influenced by broader societal and contextual forces

    ENHANCING PRE-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING: THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN ONLINE MODEL TO DEVELOP REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

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    Abstract. The thesis explored and analyzed an online virtual learning environment (VLE) as a vehicle for facilitating the reflective capabilities of third year pre-service ESOL teacher trainees during field experience block practice. This period was chosen for the study because it is an important time during which neophytes are encouraged, through reflection, to connect theory and practice by applying the learning from their Bachelor of Education tertiary programs to the dynamics of their classroom experiences. The VLE was selected because of the potential benefits of the asynchronous, collaborative discussion forums as a platform on which reflections could be posted and shared. Using action research methodology over eighteen months, three case studies were conducted and a model which could scaffold trainee online reflections constructed. This model entails trainees applying a well-known reflective practice development tool from Argyris and Schön (1978) to enable them to conduct their own small-scale action research projects based on their practicum experiences. It is also designed to facilitate critical thinking that examines events from different perspectives. Findings suggest that trainees could apply the initial single loop learning cycle to their work and report on the outcomes of this. They also suggest that neophyte reflections are improved through online collaboration and asynchronous communication. Thus, the online virtual learning environment can be an effective vehicle for facilitating reflective practice during practicum. However, more research in this field is required as despite these positive results, deeper levels of reflection attempting to apply the second or double loop learning cycle were found to be relatively rare, even when those interactions were co-constructed using tutor Socratic dialogue to guide participant thinking processes. The study concludes by arguing that there is a strong case for this kind of research as it provides trainee teachers with a virtual space to exploit the opportunities that arise during block practice for reflective practice capability development
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