Enterprise education: pre-service further education teachers' impressions and aspirations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes and impressions of pre-service Further Education teachers towards enterprise education. It also looks at the potential impact on their future teaching practices and aspirations. This study builds on the literature in this area by bringing a teacher education focus and by providing views from the underserved further education sector.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach was used to evaluate pre-service further education teachers' understanding of and attitudes towards, enterprise education. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 students in their final year of an initial teacher education degree.FindingsFindings emerged through constant comparative analysis of interview transcripts. These findings indicate that exposure to enterprise education greatly increased understanding of its importance and relevance, while also encouraging pre-service further education teachers to recognise the benefits of incorporating enterprise education into their classrooms of the future.Originality/valueWhile there is an array of literature on entrepreneurship and enterprise education outside of business contents, very few studies exist, which examine enterprise education in an initial teacher education context. Fewer still examine enterprise education from the perspective of further education. This study provides a unique qualitative view of pre-service further education teachers' impressions of enterprise education and their aspirations for the future.

“That’s How Revolutions Happen”: Psychopolitical Resistance in Youth’s Online Civic Engagement

This paper describes forms of online youth civic engagement that center the experiences of youth with historically marginalized identities and documents ways that youth are civically engaged. Twenty U.S.-based, digitally active youth ages 16 to 21 years old were interviewed. Seven participants (35%) identified as female, nine (45%) as male, and four (20%) as gender nonbinary. Twelve (60%) identified as a first or second generation immigrant. Youth were recruited through youth-led movement accounts on Twitter and contacted via Direct Messaging. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with youth between March and September 2020, a period spanning the outbreak of COVID-19 and rise in participation in the Black Lives Matter movement. Inductive Constant Comparative Analysis was used to document forms of youth civic engagement on social media and understand how youth ascribed meaning to their civic engagement. Framed by literature on critical consciousness and psychopolitical resistance to oppression, findings highlight three forms of online youth civic engagement: Restorying, Building Community, and Taking Collective Action. These findings indicate that, for youth with identities that have historically been marginalized, social media is an important context to be civically engaged in ways that resist oppression and injustice.

A Proposed Model for Dental Services Management in Iran

Background: Oral health is an integral part of general health and one of the necessities of a good life. Having a healthy mouth and teeth requires individual care, the development and implementation of community-based intervention programs, and professional care. The purpose of this study was to design a model for the management of dental services in Iran. Methods: This was an applied research in terms of purpose, descriptive in terms of implementation method, and a survey research in terms of descriptive typology. The statistical population included dental experts. To conduct the study among policy makers, planners, managers, university professors and the staff of the dental services, dental experts were chosen using purposive non-probability sampling for in-depth interviews based on grounded theory method to collect indicators of dental services management for providing a suitable selection model. To reach theoretical saturation, the text of the interviews was analyzed, phrase by phrase and sentence by sentence, through constant comparative analysis. For analysis, the grounded theory method was used, and the collected data were coded in 3 steps. In order to assess the validity of the research regarding interviews, the participants' feedback and the opinions of colleagues were used. To ensure the reliability of the interviews, 2 methods of test-retest and double coding were used. In this study, Delphi method was used in designing the model. Results: According to the obtained model, 29 factors were effective in managing dental services. The obtained indicators were included in the Delphi survey. During the Delphi stages, consensus was reached on 29 indicators which were classified into 5 dimensions (components) including planning, organizing, mobilizing of resources and facilities, guiding, monitoring and controlling. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that a 5-component model is suitable for the management of dental services in Iran, and health planners and policy makers can use it to improve the delivery of dental services.

Advocacy Experiences Among Rural Parents of Children With Disabilities

Parent advocacy is an essential component to help children with disabilities receive appropriate school services. However, there are limited studies about parent advocacy for children with disabilities living in rural areas. To address this issue, semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 parents of children with disabilities. The purpose of the study was to identify and define unique barriers and facilitators to advocacy among families of children with disabilities living in rural areas. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The findings suggest that families living in rural areas lack the necessary resources to advocate successfully for their children with disabilities. Notably, participants expressed that advocating and maintaining relationships with school personnel took an emotional toll. Participants also reported that relationships with school personnel outside of school impacted their experiences with advocacy. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Having a Post-Retirement Job: Improvisation and Containing Commitments

This qualitative paper focuses on individuals who work after pensionable age, a distinctive period in the late career when workers are supported by the known and reliable income of a pension. Using constant comparative analysis, we analyzed interviews from a purposive sample of 25 Swedish people in their late sixties and early seventies. We examined conditions for being in paid work in terms of enabling factors (self-employment, shift work, shortage occupation), improvisation, and the role of chance. The interviews revealed that post-retirement workers took charge of the aspects of work that mattered most to them, evading the disciplinary aspects of work by controlling scheduling and limiting the duration of their commitment. These constrained commitments had knock-on effects of improving psychosocial working conditions. Women and immigrants—groups facing low pensions—experienced the greatest financial consequences of being unable to work in their retirement years in order to supplement their pension income.

Do Family Caregivers of Dementia Patients Feel Competent in Pain Management?

Older adults with dementia rely on others to recognize and treat their pain and will ultimately become dependent. Family caregivers (FCGs) play a crucial role in pain management, yet limited data is available regarding the factors that impact their abilities. This qualitative descriptive study sought a deep understanding of FCGs perception of their abilities to manage pain for a loved-one with dementia. A sample of 25 adult family caregivers of community-based older adults with dementia was recruited in central Virginia. Participants were 29 to 95 years old, predominantly white, married, female, and high school graduates. We conducted semi-structured interviews that were audio recorded and analyzed using constant comparative analysis. Participants’ who perceived greater competence with pain management reported less pain for their loved-one, and their level of confidence was influenced by 3 factors: progress and stage of dementia: this increases the complexity of care, affecting FCGs ability to manage pain and engendering a self-perception of incompetence; developing adaptive mechanisms: built self-efficacy and improved FCGs perceived competence;, and support from professionals: a greater degree of support alleviated FCGs concerns and instill new skills, Effective pain management depended on family caregivers’ belief in their own abilities, and perceived competence could be improved by learning new skills or making adaptations. Professional care givers need to routinely assess FCGs abilities and provide adequate interventions.

I want to work there: how public relations agencies communicate organizational culture and identity on Instagram

PurposeThis study examined Instagram content shared by public relations (PR) agencies, through the sensitizing framework of organizational identity theory, to determine what messages related to organizational identity, culture and image were communicated to external audiences. This study highlights the various ways that Instagram can be used for strategic organizational communication.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, thematic analysis of Instagram content was conducted. The constant comparative analysis was guided by organizational identity theory, which provided an individual-level perspective for interpreting organizational messages within the posts.FindingsPR agencies use hashtags, employee sharing and communicating about agency outreach efforts and accolades to communicate organizational identity. PR agencies communicate aspects of its culture through employee engagement and development, employee cohesiveness and through communicating a commitment to diversity, philanthropy and community service. PR agencies influenced its organizational image by communicating content related to promotion and support of creative efforts, having a public Instagram account and retelling the history of the agency.Originality/valueThis study extends our understanding of corporate self-presentation strategies on social media.

A Grounded Theory of Preneurial Agency in Information Technology Creation

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine how entrepreneurs act to bring an Information Technology-based innovation into being. Successful realisation of such innovations requires collective effort, involving resources and actors both internal and external to the entrepreneur‘s own venture (Van de Ven, 1993a, 2005; Lavie, 2006). The study is qualitative in nature and uses the Glaserian variant of the grounded theory method to collect and analyse data obtained from interviewing entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and collective agents involved in creating IT innovation. Through undertaking open, selective, and theoretical coding and the process of constant comparative analysis, the research produces a substantive theory for explaining: A Grounded Theory of Preneurial Agency in IT Creation. The Grounded Theory of Preneurial Agency in IT Creation accounts for the actions of both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who are jointly called ―preneurs‖ within this study, and their interaction with collective agents to create IT innovation. The process of preneurial agency, the actions the preneur undertakes to create the innovative idea and make it a tangible reality, is shown as a triality involving the combined agency of the preneur and collective agents interacting within social structures established by the preneur. To support this abstracted view of entrepreneurship, the study develops and defines a family of terms to describe the process of preneurship, the preneur, preneurial agency, and the preneurial ba within which the actors interact to create IT-based innovation. The value of the research lies in its view of the preneur‘s process of transition from entrepreneur to intrapreneur and to institutional actor; and how the actions of both the entrepreneur and intrapreneur to create IT innovation can be shown in an abstracted process of preneurial agency. It is expected that through the application of a specific set of actions, presented in The Grounded Theory of Preneurial Agency in IT Creation as six theoretical propositions, practitioners will be better able to inform their practice, and enhance the self management of their preneurial agency and interaction with collective agents.</p>

A Grounded Theory of Preneurial Agency in Information Technology Creation

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine how entrepreneurs act to bring an Information Technology-based innovation into being. Successful realisation of such innovations requires collective effort, involving resources and actors both internal and external to the entrepreneur‘s own venture (Van de Ven, 1993a, 2005; Lavie, 2006). The study is qualitative in nature and uses the Glaserian variant of the grounded theory method to collect and analyse data obtained from interviewing entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and collective agents involved in creating IT innovation. Through undertaking open, selective, and theoretical coding and the process of constant comparative analysis, the research produces a substantive theory for explaining: A Grounded Theory of Preneurial Agency in IT Creation. The Grounded Theory of Preneurial Agency in IT Creation accounts for the actions of both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who are jointly called ―preneurs‖ within this study, and their interaction with collective agents to create IT innovation. The process of preneurial agency, the actions the preneur undertakes to create the innovative idea and make it a tangible reality, is shown as a triality involving the combined agency of the preneur and collective agents interacting within social structures established by the preneur. To support this abstracted view of entrepreneurship, the study develops and defines a family of terms to describe the process of preneurship, the preneur, preneurial agency, and the preneurial ba within which the actors interact to create IT-based innovation. The value of the research lies in its view of the preneur‘s process of transition from entrepreneur to intrapreneur and to institutional actor; and how the actions of both the entrepreneur and intrapreneur to create IT innovation can be shown in an abstracted process of preneurial agency. It is expected that through the application of a specific set of actions, presented in The Grounded Theory of Preneurial Agency in IT Creation as six theoretical propositions, practitioners will be better able to inform their practice, and enhance the self management of their preneurial agency and interaction with collective agents.</p>

Determining Competency for Entry to Nursing Practice: A Grounded Theory Study

<p>Critical Comparative Nursing Assessment (CCNA) is a theory about how the competence of completing Bachelor of Nursing students in New Zealand is determined. Semi-structured, audio-taped interviews and field notes were used to collect data from twenty-seven nurses with experience in undertaking competency assessment. A Glaserian grounded theory approach was used to guide the data collection and analysis. This utilised the processes of constant comparative analysis, theoretical sampling and saturation to generate a middle range substantive grounded theory. This is presented as a model consisting of four emergent categories that explain how nurses formulate professional judgements about competence. These are a) gathering, which describes the processes used to collect evidence of practice to inform decisions; b) weighing up, which explains how evidence is analysed using the processes of benchmarking and comparative analysis; c) judging brings into focus the tensions inherent in making professional judgements about competence and how nurses formulated these, and d) moderating, which describes the processes nurses use to validate decisions and ensure that professional responsibilities and public safety are upheld. The basic social psychological process of comparing integrates these categories to explain how nurses resolve the tensions associated with making decisions about competence. This research presents a new way of viewing and understanding how nurses assess competence. It identifies where the challengers and tensions related to the assessment of competence lie and suggests strategies that if implemented could further enhance the validity and reliability of assessment outcomes.</p>