Critical consciousness and critical language teaching

What is a language teacher’s job? Is our job to provide instruction using mainstream SLA methods proclaimed to best promote language acquisition? Is our job to provide what students expect in a language classroom in order for instructors to claim that her or his teaching is humanistic and student-centered? Is our job to empower students so that they feel encouraged to achieve their goals in and outside the classroom? Is our job to offer content-based language instruction that helps students pay attention to social issues and social inequalities? How should a teacher perceive language teaching? Although I consider it extremely important to promote effective language teaching to improve students’ language proficiency, in this paper, I will focus on the educational, ethical, and sociopolitical roles of a language teacher

Unlocking inhibitors to women’s expatriate careers: can job-related training provide a key?

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine what job-related training interventions female expatriates seek and can access in order to build necessary knowledge and skills to progress into further career-enhancing expatriate positions. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a cross-sectional qualitative research approach, drawing upon semi-structured interviews in respect of organisational training practice with 26 current female expatriates and nine Human Resource, International Assignments and Training Managers in two oil and gas exploration firms. Findings Budgets, time and travel restrictions, and competitive business pressures constrain on-the-job training provision for expatriates. Assignees require specific knowledge and skills ahead of appointment to subsequent expatriate positions. HR personnel believe training provides appropriate knowledge and capability development supporting women expatriates’ career ambitions. Women assignees view training available within their current roles as insufficient or irrelevant to building human capital for future expatriate posts. Research limitations/implications Longitudinal research across a wider spectrum of industries is needed to help understand the effects of training interventions on women’s access to future career-enhancing expatriation and senior management/leadership positions. Practical implications Organisations should ensure relevant technical skills training, clear responsibility for training provision, transparent and fair training allocation, positive communication regarding human capital outcomes, and an inclusive culture that promotes expatriate gender diversity. Originality/value Set within the framework of human capital theory, this study identifies the challenges that female expatriates experience when seeking relevant job-related training to further their expatriate careers. It identifies clear mismatches between the views of HR and female assignees in relation to the value of job-related training offered and women’s access to it

How Information Technology Influence IS/IT Workers\u27 Job Burnout in Chinese Society?

As organizational utilization of information systems and information technology continues to grow in the 21st century, and although job stress is a worldwide problem, the rules, and emotional expression of people differs in different cultural areas. Due to Mainland China not only being the second largest economy in the world, but also is the significant market to all global enterprises. Chinese employees have a higher commitment to organization due to their culture, thus, they will scarifice individual well-beings for group harmony, and this induces having a higher work exhaustion rate and job burnout level. In light of this, this project believes that it is necessary to use a qualitative research method to explore what reasons will induce the job burnout of IS/IT workers in China, and what role Chinese guanxi plays in their job burnout. At the same time, has the contribution from both academics and practice resolved the job burnout research

Crisis and Opportunity: Aligning the Community College Presidency with Student Success

In recent years, Americans have awakened to the profound connection between community college student success and the strength of our nation.That community colleges matter deeply is clearfrom a few simple facts:They educate over 7 million degree-seeking students, more than 40 percent of the U.S. college population.They have in recent years been growing at four times the rate of four-year colleges.They enroll a disproportionately large share of the rapidly expanding number of college students of color and first-generation students.Today, though, not enough community college students succeed. This reality was boldly acknowledged in a recent report by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC): "What we find today are student success rates that are unacceptably low, employment preparation that is inadequately connected to job market needs, and disconnects in transitions between high schools, community colleges, and baccalaureate institutions."?Focusing exclusively on the challenges facing the entire sector, however, obscures an important fact: Many community colleges have been engaged in difficult work on their campus to achieve improved rates of completion, higher levels of student learning and job preparedness, and more equitable outcomes for students of color and others who have historically been left behind in public education.The organizations that prepared this report, Achieving the Dream and the Aspen Institute, work with many institutions that are in fact demonstrably improving student success.What we have learned through our work is that while strong leadership can be exercised by people throughout an institution, every high-performing community college has a first-rate president. The best leaders across the country have a special set of qualities and know-how that enable them to lead institutions to high and improving levels of student success. This report presents a unified vision of who these leaders are and what they do, so that everyone involved in hiring and preparing community college presidents -- trustees and leaders of state systems, universities, and associations -- can consider the extent to which their assumptions and practices ensure that strong presidents are chosen and effectively trained to lead colleges in ways that meet the aspirations of every student as well as the critical goal of significantly improving student outcomes