Passion and psychological adjustment: A test of the person-environment fit hypothesis

Passion represents a strong inclination toward an activity that is important, liked, and in which significant time is invested. Although a harmonious passion is well integrated in one’s identity and is emitted willingly, obsessive passion is not well integrated and is emitted out of internal pressure. This study tested for the presence of a Passion × Environment fit interaction with respect to psychological adjustment. Elite hockey players (N = 233) who tried out for a team in a highly competitive league participated in this short-term longitudinal study. As hypothesized, being selected by the highly competitive leagues led to higher psychological adjustment than not being selected by such leagues. Two months later, an interaction revealed that among athletes who were playing in highly competitive leagues, obsessively passionate athletes reported higher psychological adjustment than did harmonious athletes. Conversely, among athletes playing in less competitive leagues, harmonious athletes reported higher psychological adjustment than did obsessive athletes.

The relationships among teacher behaviours, teacher efficacy, and student quality of school life: A multilevel perspective

This Study invesdgated the impact of teacher behaviours on student quaUt}' of school Ufe (SQSL). A measure of teacher organisadonal cidzenship behaviour (OCB) was developed, tapping two dimensions of organisadon-focused OCB (OCBO) and one dimension of individual-focused OCB (OCBI). In Une with previous research suggesdng that OCBOs may consdtute efficacyenhancing experiences, as weU as studies demonstradng the posidve consequences of teacher efficacy for students, we expected teacher efficacy to mediate the reladonship between OCBO and SQSL. Hypotheses were tested in a muldlevel design in which 171 teachers and their students (N=3018) completed quesdonnaires. A significant propordon of variance in SQSL was attributable to classroom factors. Support was found for the main effects of OCBO, as well as the main and mediadng effects of teacher efficacy.

Investigating Concept Mapping and Stimulated Recall to Reveal Academic Teacher Beliefs and how they are enacted through learning designs for the Web

Increasingly, academic teachers are designing their own web sites to add value to or replace other forms of university teaching. These web sites are tangible and dynamic constructions that represent the teachers thinking and decisions derived from an implicit belief system about teaching and learning. The emphasis of this study is to explore the potential of the research techniques of concept-mapping and stimulated recall to locate the implicit pedagogies of academic teachers and investigate how they are enacted through the learning designs of their web sites. The rationale behind such an investigation is that once these implicit belief systems are made visible, then conversations can commence about how these beliefs are transformed into practice, providing a potent departure point for academic development.

Inter-organisational networks, value creation and the process of technology integration in research and development

Traditional methods of R&D management are no longer sufficient for embracing innovations and leveraging complex new technologies to fully integrated positions in established systems. This paper presents the view that the technology integration process is a result of fundamental interactions embedded in inter-organisational activities. Emerging industries, high technology companies and knowledge intensive organisations owe a large part of their viability to complex networks of inter-organisational interactions and relationships. R&D organisations are the gatekeepers in the technology integration process with their initial sanction and motivation to develop technologies providing the first point of entry. Networks rely on the activities of stakeholders to provide the foundations of collaborative R&D activities, business-to-business marketing and strategic alliances. Such complex inter-organisational interactions and relationships influence value creation and organisational goals as stakeholders seek to gain investment opportunities. A theoretical model is developed here that contributes to our understanding of technology integration (adoption) as a dynamic process, which is simultaneously structured and enacted through the activities of stakeholders and organisations in complex inter-organisational networks of sanction and integration.

'Slippage' is not a dirty word: Considering the usefulness of Giddens' notion of knowledgeability in understanding the possibilities for teacher education

The attempt to understand the relationship between messages intended and messages received has been an enduring issue in teacher education. For the past three decades researchers have made forays into understanding this enduring issue, and in the process have drawn on various explanatory frameworks, one of them being socialisation. In this paper we work with Giddens' structuration theory as well as his concept of knowledgeability as analytical frameworks for understanding the relationship between messages intended (by the teacher educator) and messages received (by the student-teachers). Our discussion is informed by the findings of a study that investigated student-teachers' interpretations of the pedagogical process of a physical education teacher education course. Data generated from conversations with, and observations of, the student-teachers indicated that there was considerable “slippage” between the teacher educator's critical pedagogy inspired intentions and what was understood by the student-teachers.

The influence of financial participation and participation in decision-making on employee job attitudes

This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of financial participation (FP) and participation in decision-making (PDM) on employee job attitudes. The central premise is that both financial participation and participation in decision-making have effects on job attitudes, such as integration, involvement and commitment, perceived pay equity, performance-reward contingencies, satisfaction and motivation. After reviewing the theoretical and empirical literature and testing two theoretical frameworks, developed by Long (1978a) and Florkowski ( 1989), a new model was constructed to consider a combined effects of both FP and PDM, herein referred to as employee participation (EP). The underpinning of the model is based on the assumption that both ( a) the combination of financial participation and participation in decision-making ('employee participation'), and (b) participation in decision-making produce favourable effects on employee job attitudes. The test of the new model showed that employee participation does not produce more favourable effects on employee job attitudes, than does participation in decision-making on its own. The data were gathered from a questionnaire study administered in a large British retail organization that operates two types of ownership schemes - profit-sharing and SAYE schemes.

An Internet training intervention for people with traumatic brain injury: Barriers and outcomes

Primary objective: To test whether people with cognitive-linguistic impairments following traumatic brain injury could learn to use the Internet using specialized training materials. Research design: Pre-post test design. Methods and procedures: Seven participants were each matched with a volunteer tutor. Basic Internet skills were taught over six lessons using a tutor's manual and a student manual. Instructions used simple text and graphics based on Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5. Students underwent Internet skills assessments and interviews pre- and post-training. Tutors completed a post-training questionnaire. Main outcomes and results: Six of seven participants reached moderate-to-high degrees of independence. Literacy impairment was an expected training barrier; however, cognitive impairments affecting concentration, memory and motivation were more significant. Conclusions: Findings suggest that people with cognitive-linguistic impairments can learn Internet skills using specialized training materials. Participants and their carers also reported positive outcomes beyond the acquisition of Internet skills.

Interrogating single-sex classes as a strategy for addressing boys' educational and social needs

This paper explores the policy of single-sex classes that is currently being adopted in some schools as a strategy for addressing boys' educational and social needs. It draws on research in one Australian government, coeducational primary school to examine teachers' and students' experiences of this strategy. Interviews with the principal, male and female teachers responsible for teaching the single-sex classes and the students involved in these classes are used to illustrate the impact and effect of the strategy on pedagogical practices in this particular school. The data are used to raise critical questions about the impact and effects of teachers' pedagogical practices in light of the current literature and research about single-sex classes. In this case study, it was found that teachers had a tendency to modify their pedagogical practices and the curriculum to suit stereotypical constructions about boys' and girls' supposed oppositional orientations to learning. It is concluded that teacher knowledges and assumptions about gender play an important role in the execution of their pedagogies in the single-sex classroom.

Love, that indispensable supplement: Irigaray and Kant on love and respect

Is love essential to ethical life, or merely a supplement? In Kant's view, respect and love, as duties, are in tension with each other because love involves drawing closer and respect involves drawing away. By contrast, Irigaray says that love and respect do not conflict because love as passion must also involve distancing and we have a responsibility to love. I argue that love, understood as passion and based on respect, is essential to ethics

Feel it and deal with it: mental health practitioners' experiences of exposure to the trauma of survivor clients

Empathic engagement by the trauma therapist with another person's traumatic experiences is believed to create risks for the helping professional. Much attention has been focused upon the mental health professional experiencing symptoms of distress as a result of their exposure to the material of clients who survive traumatic incidents. This thesis contains the findings of a qualitative study that centres on a group of male mental health professionals and their experiences of exposure to the trauma material of survivor clients. The participants of the study practise within an internal Employee Assistance Program that provides, among other duties, a 24 hour, 7 day response to critical incidents to a heavy transport industry. Using semi-structured, in-depth interviews, the effects on the trauma therapists are explored by analysing their reactions to their survivor clients' accounts, the impact of these experiences upon their psychological schema, the organisational culture in which they practise and its influence upon their experiences and the methods participants use to cope with the psychological effects of exposure to trauma material. Participants' experiences are closely examined for critical comparisons with vicarious traumatization. Therapists' responses reveal their continued ability and motivation to empathically engage with the trauma material of survivor clients despite the potential risks.