Organising professional support staff at higher education institutions: a multidimensional,continuous balancing act

Tertiary Education and Management - Centralisation is a recurrent theme when the organisational structure of contemporary higher education institutions is on the agenda. This may be in large part...     

Structure reconsidered: Towards new foundations of explanatory transitions theory

The most prominent framework for studying socio-technical transitions to date is the multi-level perspective (MLP). While appreciated for its flexibility and usefulness for studying socio-technical transitions it has not been without its critics. In this paper we focus on the ontological foundations of the MLP and its (in)ability to explain transitions and how they come about. The purpose is to initiate development of an explanatory theory for socio-technical transitions, by carrying out an immanent critique of the ontological foundations of the MLP together with a methodological critique. We show that the ontological foundations of the MLP to a large extent inhibits explanatory capacity. The argument is fourfold: since structure and agency are understood as inseparable, (i) the causal influence of material properties are undervalued, and (ii) different degrees of structural constraint and freedom of actors are ignored. As a consequence (iii) transitions are reduced to shifts in the maturity and spread of socio-cognitive rules, without analysis of systemic change. Moreover, (iv) mechanisms are reduced to recurring patterns of events which cannot explain why some transitions fail while others succeed. To remedy these limitations we outline alternative critical realist foundations for transitions theory.     

Rethinking Sport for Development and Peace: the Capability Approach

In recent years, we have witnessed an upsurge in the attention given to Sport for Development and Peace (SDP). Yet, despite a burgeoning body of scholarship, SDP remains largely undertheorized. Emergent perspectives, however, point to the complex nature of SDP programmes. The purpose of this article is to assess how Sen’s Capability Approach – a normative framework rooted in human development – may help us better understand SDP at the conceptual level. In this paper, we analyse: (a) existing theories on SDP, (b) the Capability Approach and (c) implications of re-examining SDP through the Capability Approach. This includes an analysis of the applicability of the Capability Approach to SDP practice, policy and research. We conclude by suggesting that the Capability Approach provides a malleable normative framework that can promote conceptual clarity of SDP across a multitude of epistemological, theoretical and methodological perspectives.     

Educational neoliberalization: the mediatization of ethical assertions in the voucher debate

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the evolving ethical claims and empirical evidence being advanced within U.S. media relating to voucher-style programs. As such, the research seeks to better understand how and why these policies proliferate, despite scant evidence recommending them. Our specific media focus reflects the recognition that issues, problems, and solutions are defined and set within ‘ethical’ frameworks through the media, often in efforts to influence the polity. Framed by the concept of ‘neoliberalization’, the analysis notes dominant discourses and activities by both advocates and opponents around the issue. Specifically, the research reveals shifting ethical assertions. Media-based ‘choice for all’ advocacy, and support of generalized parent choice/empowerment via voucher reforms, have become more prominent, while advocacy related to expanding choice for the disadvantaged has receded (though with certain high-profile exceptions). Meanwhile, opponents engage in what sometimes appears as more reactionary, though still active, media participation in seeking to challenge such reforms.     

Compensating for Conflicting Policy Goals: Dilemmas of Teachers’ Work With Asylum-Seeking Pupils in Sweden

This article examines challenges experienced by teachers of asylum-seeking pupils in Sweden, where the right to education is part of a policy of promoting “normal life” during the asylum process. A theoretical framework contributed a deepened understanding of the teachers’ experiences as street-level bureaucrats. Interviews indicated that institutional factors, lack of training, and insufficient support within the educational system constrained the teachers’ work. They developed strategies for dealing with the dilemma of being impeded in providing education equivalent to that of resident pupils but still struggled with how the asylum process affected classroom work. They were sidelined by a lack of control over the asylum decision, processed outside school. This was a source of moral distress and an additional workload, as catering to asylum-seekers’ needs was left to their discretion. Conflicting goals of educational and immigration policy thus conditioned their work and risked undermining the compensatory pedagogical task.     

Theoretical Foundations of Phenomenography

In this article the concepts of research tradition, research programme, research tool and research orientation are used to clarify the character of phenomenography. Phenomenography is said to be fundamentally a research orientation and to be characterised by the delimitation of an aim in relation to a kind of object. The aim is to describe and the kind of object is a conception. Phenomenographic research also has common characteristics of method of a general kind related to the orientation and these are called a research approach. The orientation and approach together are said to represent a research specialisation. The historical roots and the ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions of this research specialisation are described and summarised. Lastly, phenomenography is described as a reaction against and an alternative to dominant positivistic, behaviouristic and quantitative research and as making its own ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions with inspiration from, and similarities to, several older and concomitant traditions, without agreeing entirely with any of those.     

Education for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR): a mapping of SRHR-related content in higher education in health care,police, law and social work in Sweden

ABSTRACT

Knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) by health care, police, legal and social work professionals has been shown to be insufficient. This lack of competence is likely to affect the quality of services. The aim of this study was to describe SRHR indicators in educational programmes in health care, police, legal and social work higher education in Sweden. A text-based analysis was conducted of written material from all educational programmes in law, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, police work, psychology, social work and undergraduate medicine (93 educational programmes at 27 universities and university colleges). Representation of different SRHR indicators varied, but most were poorly covered in the educational programmes. Existing educational programmes lack comprehensiveness in their coverage of SRHR and are unequal both within and between the professions and universities. This situation creates the risk of inequalities in SRHR competence and suggests that needs within this field may be unmet. There is an urgent need therefore to enhance the presence of SRHR in health care, social work and law enforcement education in Sweden.     

If I had a magic wand I'd magic her out of the book: the rich literacy practices of competent early readers

This article explores the reading behaviours of 10 young competent nursery and reception children, The 10 children were selected from a group of 54 case study children involved in the national Bookstart evaluation study, Bookstart: Planting a Seed for Life (2005). This group of young readers, from different socioeconomic groups, were identified as reading in advance of their peers. The first part of this article explores the children's attitudes to reading, their responses to selected texts and their understanding of early phonological and letter knowledge. Second, the article reports on the findings from interviews with the parents of these children in order to illuminate the home literacy events that shape these young children's reading competences. This article is based on the larger scale national evaluation study of the Bookstart project, Bookstart: Planting a Seed for Life (2005). The evaluation was set up to explore the effectiveness of the Bookstart programme and the impact of early book giving on the first national cohort of Bookstart children as they entered school. View all notes     

基于经济外部性的节能减排评价研究

本研究从经济外部性分析出发,寻找可持续发展与节能减排的结合方式,从宏观角度确定将国内各地级市作为开展节能减排成效评价的基本单位.进而从不同的角度对节能减排各项指标进行了分类,结合国内外节能减排的实践拟订了评价指标体系,并在此基础上深入探讨有效率社会协同的地区节能减排评价模式.