Beyond Language

The authors of this paper invite you to imagine you are holding a kaleidoscope. As you put it against the light, an orderly pattern of pieces of glass creates a design pleasing to the eye; but when you give it a shake, the design changes completely. The colours are still the same but the design has reconfigured itself into a different pattern. In the same way, at strategic points in time, history shakes up the world and our perceptions of it. The evolution of globalisation and the rapid growth of computer technology have created precisely one of those strategic points and the world of education is no less shaken-up than any other aspect of our lives(Thurlow, Lengel and Tomic, 2004). Perhaps there is a need to remind ourselves, every now and then, that the world our students inhabit is very different to the one lived in by previous generations

Constructive thinking and burnout among secondary school teachers

research articleThe present study investigated the relationship between Epstein’s (1998, Constructive thinking: The key to emotional intelligence. London: Praeger publisher.) components of constructive thinking and burnout as experienced by a sample of Dutch secondary school teachers. A postal questionnaire was sent to teachers from randomly selected secondary schools. The response rate was 54.1% (N = 433). Four components of constructive thinking significantly contributed to the explained variance in emotional exhaustion (17%), depersonalization (21%), and personal accomplishment (20%). The results of the study suggest that secondary school teachers’ maladaptive thinking processes prevent them from rational thinking during their work, which significantly contributes to the onset of burnout. Burnout intervention programs for teachers are likely to be more effective when the participator’s maladaptive thinking system is taken into consideration. This stems from the idea that personality factors are a probably easier point of departure to tackle burnout symptoms than organizational factors

Asynchronous sampling for decentralized periodic event-triggered control

Decentralized periodic event-triggered control(DPETC) strategies are an attractive solution for wireless cyber-physical systems where resources such as network bandwidthand sensor power are scarce. This is because these strategieshave the advantage of preventing unnecessary data transmis-sions and therefore reduce bandwidth and energy requirements,however the sensor sampling regime remains synchronous.Typically the action of sampling leads almost immediately toa transmission on an event being detected. If the sampling issynchronous, multiple transmission requests may be raised atthe same time which further leads to bursty traffic patterns.Bursty traffic patterns are critical to the DPETC systemsperformance as the probability of collisions and the amount ofrequested bandwidth resources become high ultimately causingdelays. In this paper, we propose an asynchronous samplingscheme for DPETC. The scheme ensures that at each samplingtime, no more than one transmission request can be generatedwhich prevents the occurrence of network traffic collision.At the same time, for the DPETC system with asynchronoussampling a pre-designed global exponential stability andL2-gain performance can still be guaranteed. We illustrate theeffectiveness of the approach through a numerical example

A Quasi-experimental Study on Management Coaching Effectiveness

research articleCoaching has become an important managerial instrument of support. However, there is lack of research on its effectiveness. The authors conducted a quasi-experimental study to figure out whether coaching really leads to presupposed individual goals. Sixty managers of the federal government were divided in two groups: one group followed a coaching program, the other did not. Before the coaching program started (Time 1), self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies were measured, linked to three central domains of functioning: setting one’s own goals, acting in a balanced way and mindful living and working. Four months later (Time 2), the same variables were measured again. Results showed that the coached group scored significantly higher than the control group on two variables: outcome expectancies to act in a balanced way and self-efficacy beliefs to set one’s own goals. Future examination might reveal whether coaching will also be effective among managers who work at different management levels, whether the effects found will be long-lasting, and whether subordinates experience differences in the way their manager functions before and after the coaching

Feelings of Existential Fulfilment and Burnout Among Secondary School Teachers

Abstract Teacher burnout is recognized as a serious problem. In research it has been related to many person-specific variables; one of these, the variable of existential fulfilment, has received very little attention thus far. The present study focuses on the relationship between existential fulfilment and burnout among secondary school teachers in the Netherlands (N = 504). Existential fulfilment was made operational by means of the Existential Fulfilment Scale, which distinguishes between three dimensions: self-acceptance, self-actualization, and self-transcendence. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed a three-dimensional construct with interdependent dimensions. Burnout was measured by the Dutch version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for teachers. Negative relationships between the existential fulfilment dimensions on the one hand and the burnout dimensions exhaustion and cynicism on the other were hypothesized, as well as positive relationships between the existential fulfilment dimensions and the burnout dimension professional efficacy. The hypotheses were confirmed, except for the relationships between self-transcendence and exhaustion and self-transcendence and cynicism, which appeared not to be significant. The inquiry demonstrated the importance of existential fulfilment for the prevalence and prevention of burnout among teachers. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications for future research

Conceptualization, Construction and Validation of the Existential Fulfilment Scale

research articleThis study presents the development and validation of the Existential Fulfilment Scale. Following Frankl’s concepts of life meaning and existential vacuum, the authors elaborate the construct of existential fulfilment. Three basic attitudes are distinguished, viz. selfacceptance, self-actualization, and self-transcendence, all of which deal with overcoming the conflicts caused by the human existential boundaries. A new scale has been developed out of Längle’s Existence Scale, the Existential Fulfilment Scale. Its advantage is that it distinguishes psychologically unhealthy, self-alienating purposes in life from healthy ones. Well-known measures such as Purpose in Life Test, Life Regard Inventory, and Sense of Coherence, fail to do so. The Existential Fulfilment Scale has been tested among 812 Dutch individuals. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis make clear that the three basic attitudes of existential fulfilment should be interpreted as distinct dimensions

Does Equity Sensitivity Moderate the Relationship Between Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Teacher Burnout?

research articleThe purpose of this study was to examine the question whether equity sensitivity has a moderating effect on the relationship between self-efficacy and the three dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement. A total of 271 secondary school teachers (65% male and 35% female) participated in this study. Three questionnaires dealing with burnout, self-efficacy, and equity sensitivity were administered. The findings show that equity sensitivity has a significant though small moderating effect on the relationship between perceived self-efficacy and two dimensions of burnout, i.e. emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment. No evidence was found for the moderating effect of equity sensitivity on the relationship between self-efficacy and depersonalization. Implications of the study's findings are discussed