With the eyes of others: an ethnography of an academic office

The author raises questions about ethnographic methodology through exploring the implications of using observations produced by his colleagues about his office as data for his research. This process blurred the boundaries between researcher, method and the object and subject of research. It meets some criteria for ethnography and not others, and does not evidence clear definitional boundaries for any sub-genre such as autoethnography or collaborative authoethnography. Besides raising definitional challenges and the blurring of roles in research, the study also illustrates how the methodology revealed tensions over collegial trust, boundaries and privacy. The author's colleagues exposed aspects of the author's identity that were opaque and even invisible to the author. The author accordingly raises questions about the locus of ethical concern. Thus, issues of roles, definition, trust, boundaries, privacy and method were entwined.     

The Roles of Parental Support and Family Stress in Adolescent Sleep

The current study examines the association between parental support and adolescent sleep under varying levels of family stress. Participants included 316 adolescents (M_age = 16.40 years, 43% male) and their parents (M_age = 45.67 years, 91% mothers) from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Both adolescents and parents completed questionnaires and adolescents wore wrist actigraphs and completed self‐reports on their sleep for 7 consecutive days. Results indicated that under contexts of family stress, more parental support was linked to longer sleep duration, less sleep variability, and less time spent awake during the night. Findings suggest that under contexts of family stress, cohesive family relationships may provide a sense of stability and security that is necessary for healthful sleep.     

Agile administrative choreographies for multimode education at the University of Pretoria

This paper responds in part to a special edition of this journal (39/2) on dual-mode provision. We were concerned that contact providers might drift into distance education provision through extending campus-based online learning without first thinking through the underpinning implications of its administrative systems, an issue that was not addressed in the special edition. Proceeding from a pragmatic and constructivist perspective, while adopting a transactional orientation drawing on systems theory and hermeneutics, this paper focuses on the challenge for administrative staff and systems of the changing nature of provision in terms of both the underpinning learning and business models. Based on experience and reflection, we conclude that the move into dual- and multimode provision is inevitable and that this requires agility on the part of both administrative staff and systems that is often overlooked in planning and review processes.     

Faculty experience of rudeness in Scottish higher education: dealing with rudeness from students and colleagues.

This paper investigated rudeness experienced by academic staff from students, co-workers and senior staff members. The focus of much of the rudeness literature in an educational setting has been on the student experience of rudeness, predominantly in the classroom. The aim of the current study was to focus on the experience of academic staff rather than students, and to broaden consideration of rudeness beyond the classroom, to include e-mail. Using a mixed-methods questionnaire, with both closed and open questions, rudeness perception, impact and response was examined across a sample of 122 academic staff from Scottish Higher Education institutions. The study examined relationships between personality, stress, job satisfaction, level of rudeness and the impact of rudeness on staff. The qualitative segment explored responses to rude e-mails across three sources; student, colleague and senior colleague. The results indicated that academic staff reported similar levels of rudeness from students, co-workers and senior colleagues. Faculty who reported high levels of neuroticism were more likely to report a negative impact of rudeness. Academic staff also reported that their response to rudeness could differ according to the instigator: a greater proportion of staff reported that they would be likely to reprimand a student, in comparison to a colleague, for rudeness. Staff were more likely to seek an informal resolution to rudeness with a co-worker, rather than a student. This paper highlights the potential importance of individual characteristics in assessing the impact of rudeness on faculty and indicates that rudeness may come from several sources in academia.     

Curiosity, interest and engagement in technology-pervasive learning environments: a new research agenda

This paper identifies the need for developing new ways to study curiosity in the context of today’s pervasive technologies and unprecedented information access. Curiosity is defined in this paper in a way which incorporates the concomitant constructs of interest and engagement. A theoretical model for curiosity, interest and engagement in new media technology-pervasive learning environments is advanced, taking into consideration personal, situational and contextual factors as influencing variables. While the path associated with curiosity, interest, and engagement during learning and research has remained essentially the same, how individuals tackle research and information-seeking tasks and factors which sustain such efforts have changed. Learning modalities for promoting this theoretical model are discussed leading to a series of recommendations for future research. This article offers a multi-lens perspective on curiosity and suggests a multi-method research agenda for validating such a perspective.     

Enhancing the practice of social work

This account of practice focuses on my learning and development as a new Action Learning Facilitator. It reflects on my thoughts and feelings as I began to facilitate my own sets a year or so ago. It will discuss and reflect on topics such as communication, feedback, expectations (both mine, the set members and the organisations), values, ethics, power and confidentiality. It opens with a personal reflection on my experience of becoming a set facilitator and then explores other aspects of my learning. It draws out, in particular, the links between Action Learning and social work and the ways in which the principles that underpin each of these are complementary and mutually enhancing.