Theoretical Frameworks of Performance‐Based Models

The purpose of this article is to highlight theories that support the functions of performance‐based design models and to discuss the implications of integrating divergent models into the system‐oriented human performance technology (HPT) and performance improvement (PI) disciplines. HPT, PI, and instructional systems design (ISD) share a systems framework, along with the influence of common theories such as performance theory, learning theory, adult learning, cognitive psychology, and behavioral psychology (Foshay, Villachica, & Stepich, 2014). This article focuses on the role of theory as a tool in the practitioner's toolbox and as a connection point when working with teams and organizations that have different theoretical orientations. Performance‐based ISD models are discussed, including Robinson and Robinson's (1989) Training for Impact, Brethower and Smalley's (1998) Performance‐Based Instruction, and Bradford and Boler's (2015) Horizon Model. Allen and Sites's (2012) successive approximation model (SAM) retains elements of ADDIE as a process, but the model is iterative rather than systematic in design.     

Indigenous students' persistence in higher education in Australia: contextualising models of change from psychology to understand and aid students' practices at a cultural interface

The need to address the substantial inequities that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in higher education is widely recognised. Those factors that affect the performance of Indigenous students in tertiary education have been reasonably well documented across different institutions, disciplines, and programme levels but there has, to date, been less consideration of the processes by which Indigenous students either persist or desist in higher education. This paper aims to present a conceptual understanding of academic persistence that can inform the delivery of tailored academic support interventions to Indigenous students who are at high risk of leaving higher education.     

Reviewing the Family Unit as a Stakeholder in Talent Development: Is It Undervalued?

As elite youth sport becomes more organized and professionalized, the role of the family is increasingly acknowledged as being significant in the development of young talent. High-profile examples across a range of professional sports, both positive and negative, have drawn attention toward this important stakeholder. Accordingly, this review first examines the key issues in relation to family involvement in talent development in relation to what is perceived as good and bad practice on behalf of the family. Next the key theoretical underpinning is considered, Family Systems Theory, and how it may be integrated within elite youth sport. Finally, the article concludes with a summary of where the current literature leaves us and where we can progress from here. Two possible inputs are suggested that could benefit the effectiveness of family involvement: a focus on the family holistically and a second on the role different family members can play.     

Do values drive the plan? Investigating the nature and role of organizational values in university strategic planning

Strategic planning is a common practice at higher education institutions. Furthermore, it is assumed that identifying organizational values is an essential part of the planning process. Values are often construed as foundational elements of strategic thinking that serve to ‘drive the plan’. However, there is little conceptual or applied evidence to support the effectiveness of coupling organizational values articulation with strategic planning processes. The author reports on a study that was designed to effectively conceptualize organizational values, and foster a deeper understanding of organizational values application in higher education administration. This research involved a textual analysis of strategic planning documents pertaining to organizational values from Canadian universities. Research results offer concrete ways to conceptualize and apply organizational values within university settings. The results serve as a foundation to explore small-group-focused approaches to both policy creation and evaluation pertaining to the articulation of organizational values in university administration.

     

How do principals make sense of school leadership in Norwegian reorganised leadership teams?

A growing body of research has emphasised the importance of school leadership practice for quality improvement in schools. Yet, little attention has been paid to the investigation of how principals reshape their leadership role and leadership practices when schools reorganise the leadership team with the purpose of increasing the number of formally assigned leaders. As such, this study provides additional insight into how moments of transitions may reshape institutional logics regarding principal leadership practice. Drawing on interviews and contextual observations of five principals in lower secondary schools, framed within a distributed perspective and theory of sense-making, we address this issue by demonstrating that regulative changes influence the normative and cognitive aspects of institutions. We argue that principals re-conceptualise leadership when they move from being solo leaders to sharing leadership, and this allows for subjective interpretations. We have identified two approaches for principal leadership practice which the reorganised leadership team can provide – the exchanging information – and collaborative discussion approaches.     

Individual Differences in Fifth Graders’ Literacy and Academic Language Predict Comprehension Monitoring Development: An Eye-Movement Study

In this study, we investigated fifth graders’ (n = 52) fall literacy, academic language, and motivation and how these skills predicted fall and spring comprehension monitoring on an eye movement task. Comprehension monitoring was defined as the identification and repair of misunderstandings when reading text. In the eye movement task, children read two sentences; the second included either a plausible or implausible word in the context of the first sentence. Stronger readers had shorter reading times overall suggesting faster processing of text. Generally fifth graders reacted to the implausible word (i.e., longer gaze duration on the implausible vs. the plausible word, which reflects lexical access). Students with stronger academic language, compared to those with weaker academic language, generally spent more time rereading the implausible target compared to the plausible target. This difference increased from fall to spring. Results support the centrality of academic language for meaning integration, setting standards of coherence, and utilizing comprehension repair strategies.     

Leveraging Play for Learning and Development: Incorporating Cultural-Evolutionary Insights into Early Educational Practices

There is a renewed scientific interest in the role of childhood in human evolution, pointing to the explorative phase of a human's life history that shapes how children learn and develop. This study presents a synthesis from evolutionary sciences that considers biases in childhood learning through activities in play, exploration, and social interactions. The study argues that childhood education based on this framework diverges from formal education. This framework explains why common misconceptions about childhood learning arise and how to resolve them. Finally, we propose how childhood education can be changed to take advantage of biological biases in learning.     

Participatory Action Research: issues in theory and practice

Action research is now common in educational and social practices of various kinds. The renaissance of this valuable approach to social enquiry has many virtues, but success is somewhat soured by cooption of some of the techniques occasionally used by action researchers for the technical improvement of practices, the Implicit values of which are poorly understood and timidly questioned. Naive cooption is accompanied by both traditional and new critique. Like most approaches to educational and social research, action research (or some people's impressions of it) has been subjected to critique by theorists of the so‐called post‐modern turn. These critiques have become prematurely Judgemental, and though drawing on what some see as powerful theoretical resources, are somewhat oblivious to the breadth and dynamism of action research theory and practice and dismissive of the achievements of action researchers who often work in contexts decidedly more risky than the academies which nurture and reward critique. Action research remains a diverse and thoroughly Justified and preferred mode of educational and social enquiry, continuing to address the concerns of both its practitioners and its critics.