Surviving the performance management of academic work: evidence from young Chinese academics

ABSTRACT

Despite predominant macro-level changes of performance management at Chinese universities, little attention has been paid to how the disciplinary technologies have been interpreted and enacted at the level of individual academics. Using qualitative data with 26 participants at a Chinese research university, this study provides evidence of collective compliance with the performative imperatives. The study indicates that tacit compliance has been reinforced through the coercive powers of reward, punishment, and bureaucratization and consolidated through the normative influences of the Chinese Confucian culture and subjectification via creating new notions of ‘academic success’. Moreover, the process of perverse learning, during which opportunistic behaviors are taken to ‘play the game’, has contributed to the emergence of performance paradox. In addition, the findings do not indicate any vocal resistance in public but conscientious efforts have been taken in private by some of the participants to navigating through the performance paradox in order to alleviate the dysfunctional consequences caused by the perverse learning.     

Using life/work planning techniques for internship placements

This paper discusses the use of life/work planning techniques in internship placements. Specifically, it offers a way to help students mesh their individual interests, values, and skills with the proposed internship, work/study, or volunteer experience through the application process itself. The application, which is brief and eliminates the need for submitting a resume, has been found to be a valuable asset in clarifying needs and goals for the experiential project. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive for the application, which centers on a broader, more holistic internship placement procedure than the traditional career and academic goals approach.     

Exploring the work/life/study balance: the experience of higher education students in a Scottish further education college

This study explores the dimensions of the work/life/study balance and its influence on student participation in higher education, through a case study of the experience of higher education students, studying both full time and part time, in a Scottish further education college. The experience of the students and the work/life/study challenges that they face stand in marked contrast to the traditional conception of university students, on which higher education policy is usually based. The majority of the students in this case study combined study with work and/or family commitments and the normal ‘working’ week was of 59–71 hours. Full time and part time students experienced different but equivalent demands on their time and were equally at risk of overload. Over half of the students achieved a good or manageable work/life/study balance, whilst some experienced stress caused by conflicting priorities. The students' success in balancing study with work and family life was influenced by their coping strategies and by the nature and quality of the support they received from families and employers. It is recommended that there is scope for the further development of an institutional culture and ethos that is compatible with the reality of the students' busy lives. A case is made for the equalization of financial support for full time students and part time students.     

The work sampling system: Reliability and validity of a performance assessment for young children

Performance assessment, an alternative approach to assessing students' achievements in school, refers to assessment methods that allow students to demonstrate their skills, knowledge, behavior, and accomplishments across a wide variety of classroom domains on multiple occasions. This article presents data concerning the reliability and validity of the Work Sampling System with 100 kindergarten-age children. A psychometric design was implemented in which children were enrolled in classrooms where the Work Sampling System was used and were also given individually-administered norm-referenced assessments in the fall and spring; in addition, their teachers completed a behavior rating scale in the spring. Results show that the Work Sampling checklist and summary report have very high internal and moderately high interrater reliability. The Work Sampling System accurately predicts performance on the norm-referenced achievement battery, even when the potential effects of gender, maturation (age), and initial ability are controlled. These data provide empirical support for the reliability and criterion validity of this performance assessment system as a measure of children's overall school achievement in kindergarten. The discussion covers issues raised by the study's design and by the use of performance assessment in general.     

Mothering young children: Child care, stress and social life

This study focuses on mothers’ and young children’s everyday social experience by analyzing their social relationships, social support in child care, mother-child interaction, and mothers’ evaluations of all these aspects. Three hundred and eighty-four mothers with a child aged between I and 3 years, living in a city in Central Italy, were interviewed. A Principal Components Analysis was performed on items concerning mothers’ and children’s social experience and mothers’ evaluations. Four PCA generated factors were regressed on the mother’s and Four PCA generated factors were regressed on the mother’s and child’s characteristics. Results show that, even in a context characterized by social conditions supportive to mothering, there is a comparatively widespread desire for social interaction with other mothers and children. A stress related to intensive mothering was found in a minority of the mothers and was predicted by the mothers’ continuous commitment in child care during the whole day. Results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that social contacts with other mothers may have a mitigating effect on mothers’ stress. One implication is that early educational services that provide the opportunity for social intercourse among parents can be an important resource for them.     

Hong Kong-based TEFL/TESOL global academics: life,culture, mobility,globalisation and cosmopolitanism

This paper is about a qualitative research concerning a group of expatriates' (TEFL/TESOL English language teachers) experiences in Hong Kong. Data related to their life, attitudes and cultural dispositions are discussed under four different states, namely, Adaptation, Drifting in Global Comfort, Drifting in Global Discomfort and Bitter/Sweet Home. Together, these contribute to their mobility pattern – the Global Drift. The study discusses their global experiences and situations relating to the interplay of personal choice on the one hand and changing global and local processes and conditions on the other. It is argued that this is a self-perpetuating group sustained and reproduced by a Global Quality including distinct cultural dispositions, concepts of home and the reproduction of third-culture-kids, who are tailor-made for twenty-first-century mobile work. Finally, the research is situated in the study of cosmopolitanism, particularly in the identification of cosmopolitans and their dispositions. Alternative ways of theorising home (as interactive continuums) and issues related to mobility and dispositions will be discussed briefly.     

Software for young children

Due to the pervasive nature of computers in all areas of our society, it comes as no surprise that they are creeping into the world of preschoolers. The issue is no longer whether or not it is appropriate to use computers with very young children, but rather how they can be used effectively with them.Janet Fowle McLanahan is an Associate Professor and Chair of Early Childhood Education at North Shore Community College in Beverly, MA.     

Early identification and systemic educational intervention for young children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)

This paper focuses on the international experience with early identification and intervention for children with AD/HD. Much less is known about AD/HD in two- to five-year-old preschool children than is known for older school-aged youngsters. Despite this lack of knowledge, AD/HD is increasingly recognized in this population and stimulant medication increasingly prescribed to treat it. The lack of control of temperamental patterns in preschoolers seems related to later observations of hyperactivity, attention problems and antisocial behaviours in school-aged children. The emergence and continuity of AD/HD-like behaviours is influenced not only by genetic, pre- and perinatal factors, but also by social context factors. All these influences interact with a child's developmental needs in complex ways according to a systemic bio-psychosocial model. The undiagnosed AD/HD child will often be labelled by parents as difficult and the family scapegoat. Because of the age of the children and the variety of ‘normal behaviour’ in this group, interventions should include systemic, environmental and play-centred approaches.     

Developmentally appropriate parent training for families with young children

In an effort to explore the value and feasibility of teaching the principles behind developmentally appropriate practices to parents, 53 families with young children were studied. Parents were randomly assigned to participate or not participate in a three month-long, weekly, parent training program. Following completion of the program members of participating families were less likely to engage in conflict during a puzzle solving task than were members of nonparticipating families. Parents who participated were more likely to take a supportive leadership role and have age-appropriate expectations during a puzzle solving task than were nonparticipating parents. Children in participating families showed better social skills than children in nonparticipating families. Portions of the increase in social skills were related to reductions in family conflict and to the development of a task orientation that was more appropriately focused on process than outcome. Lower family conflict was also related to better gross motor skills in children.     

Math activities for young children

Children use mathematical terminology throughout their daily play. While observing a group of children during play, one is likely to hear comments such as: He has more, These are my numbers, Jane has the biggest half, I'm bigger than you 'cause I'm five years old, Give me the round one, I gave each child one cupcake, and so on.Diane M. Kohl is Assistant Professor of Child and Family Development, The University of Georgia.     

Space concepts for young children

Conclusion The young child is in motion most of the time. Through movement, the child achieves mastery of the space he or she lives in. Teachers can “move” with the child by using topologically oriented science activities. Such activities capitalize on natural inclinations. They encourge the understanding of relationships which are basic to the developmental tasks with which the child is working. Cynthia Szymanski Sunal has taught children of a variety of ages and is at present studying the perceptual development of the young child. She may be contacted at Essex Community College, Baltimore County, Maryland 21237. Dennis W. Sunal is a specialist in science education who has developed programs for preschool-primary children.