Dialectic, contradiction, or double bind? Analyzing and theorizing employee reactions to organizational tension

Drawing from qualitative data gathered at two correctional facilities, this paper empirically illustrates employee reactions to organizational contradictions in a total institution and advances a theoretical model positing that organizational tensions may be framed as complementary dialectics, simple contradictions, or pragmatic paradoxes—each accompanied by attendant organizational and personal ramifications. The analysis suggests that organizations can create structures in which employees are more likely to make sense of organizational contradictions in healthy ways and avoid the debilitating reactions associated with double binds. Specifically, through metacommunication about organizational tensions (for instance, manifest in role play enactment of contradictory occupational goals), employees are better able to understand the paradoxes that mark work life and make sense of them in emotionally healthy ways.     

Fungal bioreceptivity of Japanese tissue papers treated with plant dyes,watercolours, and acrylic paints in paper conservation

Despite substantial literature on the dyeing of textiles, there is a lack of research about colouring Japanese mending papers (tissue papers) used for paper conservation purposes. This study investigates the fungal bioreceptivity of Japanese tissue papers after they have been treated with various dyes and pigments. A variety of toning materials including plant dyes, watercolours, acrylic paints, inks, pastels, gouaches, and colour pencils are commonly used by conservators for paper toning purposes. In this study, two Japanese tissue papers (Yukyu-shi and Sekishu Mare) were treated with selected plant dyes, watercolours, and acrylic paints and then inoculated with fungal species. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to quantify the DNA from Aspergillus niger and Penicillium rubrum as a proxy for fungal species abundance before and after inoculation and artificial moist heat ageing. qPCR primers which were universal for fungi amplified DNA from papers inoculated with A. niger and P. rubrum and these species were found to grow less on treated Sekishu Mare and Yukyu-shi papers compared with untreated papers. Sekishu Mare papers treated with artists' acrylic paints were found to be more resistant to fungal growth than similarly treated Yukyu-shi papers. This study suggests that for the best long-term preservation outcomes for paper materials in archives, libraries, galleries, and museums, acrylic paints generally perform better in conservation terms than most plant dyes and watercolours, although most colourants displayed some bioinhibition.     

Job Satisfaction and Gender

This study uses quantitative and qualitative survey data to examine the job satisfaction of male and female employees at Iowa newspapers. Responses to open-ended questions indicated qualitative differences in the issues men and women considered salient and in the discourses they used to talk about their work. Male respondents were more likely to use language that evoked professional efficacy and emphasized presence. Female respondents more likely to use language that related to production and emphasized position. The findings also indicate a gender discrepancy related to income and financial status; men reported higher salaries and indicated greater financial security than women. Economic environment emerged as a salient issue for both male and female employees. Overall, the findings support the use of qualitative data to explore issues related to gender and job satisfaction and suggest organizational factors play an important role in newspaper employees’ attitudes and perceptions about their work.     

Recognising Difference: the Romani ‘Gypsy’ child socialisation and education process

There is considerable conflict between Romani Gypsy child socialisation and education processes and mainstream education practices. In Romani communities children are encouraged to show initiative and independence at an early age. They learn by participating in the communities’ economic activities and observing adult verbal and non‐verbal communication skills. In mainstream education, by comparison, they learn in an enclosed classroom where they are rarely able to initiate or create their own learning experiences. Due to the increasing demands of industrialised societies, literacy is vital for Romani people. However, education systems are at present failing to meet the needs of these children. Structural inequalities such as poverty and racism, coupled with differing viewpoints on the benefits of education, continue to contribute to the low participation rates of Romani children in mainstream schools.     

Further education and skills in Northern Ireland: policy and practice in a post-conflict society

ABSTRACT

This paper contextualises the Further Education (FE) sector in Northern Ireland (NI). It outlines the specific political, social and economic influences that have shaped its position as a major but understated educational provider in what remains a highly divided educational system that is slowly transitioning in a post-conflict environment. Key policy frameworks underpinning sectoral development are described, showing how many policy initiatives have been both ‘borrowed’ from the English context and adapted to local need. The article proceeds to highlight a number of curricular and institutional innovations that have contributed to the development of a small-scale, but distinctive educational, social and economic model. The piece concludes by suggesting that the NI FE experience has the potential to contribute not only to its own specific conditions but, through its ‘policy and practice’ adaptations’, to positively influence FE policy and practice in other parts of the United Kingdom (UK) that require interventions around skills development economic growth and social cohesion.     

Self-Regulation and Academic Measures Across the Early Elementary School Grades: Examining Longitudinal and Bidirectional Associations

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the association between children’s (N = 301) self-regulation and math and reading achievement in kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. Children’s self-regulation was assessed using the Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders (HTKS) task (involving control of gross body movements) and a computerized continuous performance task (CPT; assessing primarily inhibitory control) in kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. Research Findings: Based on cross-lagged structural equation panel models, HTKS task performance positively predicted later math and reading achievement. Math achievement significantly and positively predicted later HTKS and CPT scores. Earlier math and reading achievement moderated the association between CPT scores and later math and reading achievement; inhibitory control–based self-regulation assessed with the CPT predicted higher math or reading achievement in subsequent grades for children with lower math or reading achievement in prior grades. Performance on the CPT moderated the paths from HTKS scores to later reading achievement; behavioral self-regulation assessed with the HTKS task predicted higher reading achievement in subsequent grades for children with low or average CPT performance in prior grades. Practice or Policy: Results from this study have the potential to inform targeted academic interventions focused on enhancing self-regulation in school contexts. The findings highlight the utility of assessing multiple measures of self-regulation.     

Educating the child care administrator

ABSTRACT

There is a strong national movement to improve the quality in child care programs nationwide and an important part of this movement includes professional preparation standards. Stakeholders in New York State (NYS) have developed the NYS Children’s Program Administrator Credential (CPAC), designed to meet the need for increased knowledge in child care administration. In response, Empire State College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY), developed four models to help practitioners meet the new requirement: study group, independent study, residency, and online. The purpose of this article is to examine the development of the credential, discuss the collaborative process involved in the development of the different modes of study, followed by a discussion of the strengths and challenges of each model.     

Bridging identity ‘chasms’: occupational therapy academics’ reflections on the journey towards scholarship

The performative context of higher education demands that practice-oriented academics shift their priorities from preparing practitioners for the profession, towards ‘productive’ scholarship. We present narratives from occupational therapy academics at the end of a year-long journey through an action research project focussed on academic identity and scholarly growth. Our analysis captures subtle and striking shifts in being and becoming, doing and belonging. The findings, re-presented as an adapted Hero’s Journey, also reveal the powerful impacts on identity and practice that are enabled when academics have the opportunity to create spaces for scholarship that are experienced as caring, collaborative and collegial.     

The psychological significance of play with imaginary companions in early childhood

Although social play is common to many species, humans are unique in their ability to extract some of the benefits of social play through imagination. For example, in play with imaginary companions (ICs), children often practice skills that might be useful for later adaptive social, relational, and emotional functioning. While play with ICs does not provide the same immediate feedback that play with real others affords, this imagined, quasisocial context allows children to experiment with or rehearse events that might occur in real relationships. This symbolic enactment of social relationships might afford opportunities to experience not just social situations but all manner of positive and negative emotions in a risk-free way. In addition, children’s interactions with real others around their ICs allow for negotiation of social roles in real relationships. ICs also provide a forum for psychological distance that might help young children manage their real relationships and engage in processes such as negotiation and cooperation, which are needed for successful social adaptation. Although play with ICs is clearly not of adaptive value in an evolutionary sense, for the children who create them, ICs might hold psychological significance for adaptive social development.