I Just Feel Worn Out”: Constraints to Teacher Agency throughout COVID-19

COVID-19 created serious and long-lasting difficulties within educational systems resulting in higher rates of teacher attrition in the U.S. Teacher agency, which is the teacher’s capacity to act professionally, is a predictor of teacher attrition. The school environment, through policies and practices, can inhibit teacher agency, and the constraint of agency promotes teacher attrition. As school structures shift to address new post-pandemic needs, there is an increased need to understand how school structures throughout the pandemic inhibited teacher agency and drove teacher attrition. We examine how school systems constrained the agency of three veteran high school teachers from March 2020 through their resignation in May 2022. The participants shared how their agentic constraints in the remote (reduced instructional time, optional student web cameras, changes to grading policy) and hybrid/ in-person (addition of common assessments, administrative responses to new student behaviors) learning environments led to growing feelings of disenfranchisement and directly motivated their resignation. Campus administrators also experienced limited agency and could not effectively address the teachers’ barriers during COVID-19. Implications are discussed

Service-Learning in der Aus- und Weiterbildung von Lehrkräften am Beispiel der Pädagogischen Hochschule Oberösterreich

Die Frage, inwieweit Service-Learning an der Pädagogischen Hochschule Oberösterreich bereits Bestandteil der Lehrer*innenaus- und -weiterbildung ist wird im Beitrag thematisiert. Die Autorinnen zeigen auf, welche Ansätze hier im Rahmen der Primar- und Sekundarstufenausbildung bereits vorliegen. Zudem wird ein Projekt vorgestellt wird, dessen Ziel die Etablierung eines europäischen Fortbildungskonzepts für Lehrkräfte zum Thema Service-Learning ist. (DIPF/Orig.

Community Outreach and Engagement to Prepare for Household Recruitment of National Children\u27s Study Participants in a Rural Setting

CONTEXT: The National Children\u27s Study (NCS) is a longitudinal study of environmental influences on children\u27s health. Recruitment of a representative birth cohort that will be followed until 21 years of age requires unique approaches across the nationwide study communities.PURPOSE: To describe community outreach and engagement in preparation for household recruitment of women of childbearing age at a rural-classified NCS location that includes 4 adjacent Northern Plains counties spanning 2,500 square miles.METHODS: Outreach and engagement methods focused on rural community characteristics. The team established an advisory council, conducted outreach meetings with agencies and groups, participated in local events, and collaborated with stakeholders. Study awareness was raised using radio announcements, local television stories, and widespread distribution of print materials through churches, businesses, and child care centers. Impact evaluation examined the number of stakeholder events by type. Outcome evaluation examined the number of households contacted for recruitment, numbers of age-eligible women who completed the screening, and exploration of whether women had heard about the study.FINDINGS: Over 300 outreach events occurred, ranging from tribal council meetings to parade entries. Recruitment outcomes were as follows: (1) 80% of 14,700 non-vacant households were reached for potential recruitment; (2) screening interviews were conducted with 89% of the 5,800 age-eligible women identified; and (3) 53% of women who completed the screening had heard about the studyCONCLUSIONS: Outreach targeted to rural communities facilitated strong recruitment outcomes. Collaboration with the cooperative extension service was a unique rural asset that facilitated relevant activities. Participant retention is an ongoing priority

Time Management Strategies for Research Productivity

Researchers function in a complex environment and carry multiple role responsibilities. This environment is prone to various distractions that can derail productivity and decrease efficiency. Effective time management allows researchers to maintain focus on their work, contributing to research productivity. Thus, improving time management skills is essential to developing and sustaining a successful program of research. This article presents time management strategies addressing behaviors surrounding time assessment, planning, and monitoring. Herein, the Western Journal of Nursing Research editorial board recommends strategies to enhance time management, including setting realistic goals, prioritizing, and optimizing planning. Involving a team, problem-solving barriers, and early management of potential distractions can facilitate maintaining focus on a research program. Continually evaluating the effectiveness of time management strategies allows researchers to identify areas of improvement and recognize progress

Normalizing Rejection

Getting turned down for grant funding or having a manuscript rejected is an uncomfortable but not unusual occurrence during the course of a nurse researcher’s professional life. Rejection can evoke an emotional response akin to the grieving process that can slow or even undermine productivity. Only by “normalizing” rejection, that is, by accepting it as an integral part of the scientific process, can researchers more quickly overcome negative emotions and instead use rejection to refine and advance their scientific programs. This article provides practical advice for coming to emotional terms with rejection and delineates methods for working constructively to address reviewer comments

Strategies for a Successful PhD Program: Words of Wisdom From the \u3cem\u3eWJNR\u3c/em\u3e Editorial Board

Nursing doctoral programs prepare students for research-focused careers within academic settings. The purpose of this Editorial Board Special Article is to provide PhD students and advisors with suggestions for making the most of their doctoral experience. Editorial Board members provide their individual insights on the skills and attributes students must acquire during the course of their doctoral education in order to succeed. The authors provide practical tips and advice on how to excel in a PhD program, including how to select an advisor and a dissertation committee, the importance of attending conferences to increase visibility and develop a network of colleagues, presenting and publishing research while still a student, and balancing work and personal life. Students who take full advantage of the opportunities available to them during the course of their doctoral programs will graduate well prepared to take on the multiple responsibilities of research, teaching, and leadership

Value-based Nursing Education

Curriculum guidelines from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing ( [ AACN], 1998) espouse that baccalaureate programs facilitate the development of professional values. The five core nursing values include human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism, and social justice. Behaviors that reflect these values characterize the caring, professional nurse (AACN, 1998). Teaching attitudes and actions that facilitate caring is a curriculum challenge. Caring is a multi-dimensional nursing concept that can be actualized through purposeful teaching and student-centered learning of core nursing values. This scholarly paper presents an innovative and integrative approach to value-based education in the baccalaureate nursing program at South Dakota State University (SDSU)

Editorial: Campus-Community-Partnerships: Zukunftspartnerschaften zwischen Hochschule und Gesellschaft

Ausgehend von der gleichnamigen Jahrestagung des internationalen Hochschulnetzwerks „Bildung durch Verantwortung“, die im Herbst 2022 zum ersten Mal in Österreich stattfgefunden hat, nimmt das Themenheft „Campus Community Partnerships“ (CCPs) in den Blick, d.h. die Zusammenarbeit von Hochschulen und Community-Partner:innen mit der Zielsetzung, sowohl wissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzungen als auch gesellschaftlich relevante Problemstellungen sinnstiftend zu verknüpfen. Einen aktuellen empirischen Überblick zur Zusammenarbeit von Hochschulen und Praxispartner:innen (CCPs) gibt es für den deutschsprachigen Raum derzeit noch nicht, auch fehlt es nach wie vor an systematischer empirischer Forschung. Das Themenheft widmet sich dieser Forschungslücke auf Initiative des Forschungsnetzwerks „Hochschulen Engagiert Österreich“, ein 2019 gegründeter Zusammenschluss von Wissenschaftler:innen unterschiedlicher Hochschulen in Österreich, die sich mit dem Thema Zusammenarbeit zwischen Hochschule und Gesellschaft in ihrer Forschung und Lehre beschäftigen und dabei das Ziel verfolgen, wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zu sammeln, für den österreichischen Hochschulkontext zu erschließen und auf diese Weise das Thema in Österreich systematisch voranzutreibe