Purpose-driven consultancies’ negotiation of organizational tensions

This article examines the negotiation of organizational tensions by purpose-driven consultancies, for-profit firms also motivated by social change agendas in their implementation of organizational development for corporate clients. Using two case studies – APCom training ethical corporate leaders, and GreenD communicating environmental sustainability programs – we trace how such consultancies negotiate these tensions, and how their underlying purpose might accordingly transform. Our multi-case study suggests two broad tensions related to purpose and impact that are experienced in context-specific ways by the consultancies. Although members sought to frame these tensions in positive ways, as complementary dialectics or contradicting the dominant capitalist system, they were also at risk of devolving into more paradoxical contradictions and even debilitating double binds, without sustained discussion to ‘repurpose’ the firms. We close by discussing theoretical and practical implications for purpose-driven consultancies, given that their pursuit of social change is often at odds with the status quo.     

Educational TV Consumption and Children’s Interest in Leisure Reading and Writing: A Test of the Validated Curriculum Hypothesis

The relationship between children’s TV consumption and literacy outcomes is currently unclear, as past research has identified both linear and curvilinear trends. One explanation for the contradictory results is the varying content children consume; specifically, researchers have argued that research-based educational TV programming should be positively related to literacy outcomes whereas non research-based programming should be negatively related to literacy outcomes (what we refer to as the validated curriculum hypothesis). To test this hypothesis, students in grades 4 and 5 N = 120) completed a survey assessing educational TV consumption and leisure reading/writing behaviors. The results upheld the validated curriculum hypothesis and revealed several key moderators including composite TV consumption and parents’ reading behavior.     

School and Residential Segregation in School Districts with Voluntary Integration Policies

ABSTRACT

Since the Supreme Court’s 2007 Parents Involved decision, school districts have been pursuing integration in more legally and politically charged environments. The retreat of the federal government in the racial integration of schools is well documented, but less understood is what local school districts are doing to fill that void. This study documents the districts in the United States that are engaged in voluntary integration. We measure the racial and income segregation in these districts at the school level from 2000 to 2015, examining the relationship between integration methods and levels of segregation. We also measure block group-level segregation in these school districts during this time period to better understand residential patterns of segregation within the districts and contextualize school-level trends.     

The AQ scores of school-age children referred to educational psychologists

The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scale was designed to detect the level and distribution of autistic-like traits across both the general population and those diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Condition. Scores in the large normative samples were consistent with previous research in showing a continuous distribution of traits, implying that the Autism Spectrum might be viewed as one pole of an endless continuum rather than a distinct categorical condition. The preliminary research reported in this article looked at AQ levels in 75 random referrals to educational psychologists and identified a significantly elevated mean score with a large effect size (d = 1.46). The possible implications for practice and for further research are discussed.     

A UK and Ireland survey of educational psychologists’ intervention practices for students with autism spectrum disorder

Although evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been identified in recent systematic literature reviews, the extent to which the practice of educational psychologists (EPs) in the UK and Ireland is informed by these is unknown. This study presents the results of a questionnaire that surveyed 146 EP practitioners in the UK and Ireland about their use of 31 EBIs for ASD. This survey also explored the factors that influence EP practitioners’ decision-making when planning interventions for students with ASD. Of the 31 EBIs, EP practitioners were most often involved with implementing visual supports, social stories, reinforcement, modelling, antecedent-based interventions, prompting, and social skills training. The most salient factors that influenced EP practitioners’ decision-making when planning interventions for students with ASD included the student’s individual needs and factors related to the school context. Implications for EP practice are discussed in addition to the limitations of this study.     

Living on borrowed time: rethinking temporality,self, nihilism,and schooling

Seeking to contribute to recent attempts to rethink the deepest foundations of the field, this paper offers news ways of contemplating time, specifically its relations to self, nihilism, and schooling. We briefly review how some leading Western thinkers have contemplated time before detailing Japanese scholars who have offered divergent, original, and arguably more sophisticated, theoretical accounts. We then illustrate these ideas by sketching how Japan ‘borrowed time’ following the abrupt political rupture of 1868, showing how Linear Time came to be disseminated and diffused, largely through modern schooling. Last, we spotlight the nihilism that has arisen as consequence. Our primary aim is not empirical elaboration, however, but instead disclosure of a complex of relations that the field of comparative education has yet to discuss. We offer both the experience-cum-thought of Japan and this complex itself as reconstructive resources for the field which remains shallow in its parochial presumptions and unwillingness to engage ontologically.     

Investigating expectations and experiences of audio and written assignment feedback in first-year undergraduate students

Previous research suggests that audio feedback may be an important mechanism for facilitating effective and timely assignment feedback. The present study examined expectations and experiences of audio and written feedback provided through turnitin for iPad^® from students within the same cohort and assignment. The results showed that although initially sceptical of audio compared to written feedback, there were no significant differences in students' experiences of audio and written feedback. Students' performance on the assignment was not associated with their experiences of audio feedback but first-class performing students (?>?70%) had more positive experiences of written feedback than those who received an upper second-class grade (60–69%). In general, the results imply that audio feedback provided through turnitin for iPad^® is a viable alternative to written feedback. The findings are discussed in relation to past research findings.     

Executive function: association with multiple reading skills

Reading and Writing - Executive function (EF) is related to reading. However, there is a lack of clarity around (a) the relative contribution of different components of EF to different reading...     

Multidisciplinary exhibit design in a Science Centre: a participatory action research approach

In this paper we highlight the issues and opportunities of a participatory action research (PAR) and co-design project, currently being undertaken as engaged research between academics at Durham University and practitioners at the UK’s International Centre for Life in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (CfL; see creativescienceatlife.com for more information and developments). The focus is on the use of PAR to enable university researchers and Science Centre professionals to co-design Informal Science Learning exhibits that enhance creativity and innovation in young people. We define the principles of PAR and explore reasons for adopting the approach. An account is provided of the iterative co-design and piloting of a novel exhibit within a new exhibition space at the CfL. Reflections collated independently by the practitioners and the academics involved highlighting the development of ideas and insights over the course of the PAR process. We discuss how PAR enabled effective engagement with and creation of enriched knowledge, and innovation, in both the academy and science-learning professionals. The added value of PAR and co-production to our project aligns with current calls for a redefining of how societal impact of academic research is considered.