Building an index of well-being for children living in Ireland: conceptual, measurement and policy considerations

This study conceptualised and measured children’s well-being in Ireland and considered how such conceptualisations and approaches to the measurement of well-being might inform social policy for children and families living in Ireland. This research explored what is meant by children’s well-being and how it can be conceptualised and measured so as to reflect the multi-dimensionality of the concept. The study developed an index of well-being that was both theoretically and methodologically robust and could be meaningfully used to inform social policy developments for children and their families. For the first time, an index of well-being for children was developed using an explicitly articulated unifying theory of children’s well-being. Moreover, for the first time an index of wellbeing was developed for 13-year old children living in Ireland using data from Wave 2 of the national longitudinal study of children. The Structural Model of Child Well-being (SMCW), the theoretical framework that underpins the development of this study’s index, offers a comprehensive understanding of well-being. The SMCW builds on, and integrates, a range of already-established theories concerning children’s development, their agency, rights and capabilities into a unifying theory that explains well-being in its entirety. This conceptualisation of well-being moves beyond the narrow focus on child development adopted in some recent studies of children’s well-being and which perpetuate individualised and self-responsibilising conceptualisations of well-being. This study found that the SMCW can be meaningfully applied, both theoretically and operationally, to the construction of an index of well-being for children. While it was not the purpose of this study to validate the SMCW, in the process of developing the index, I concluded that there was a theoretical ‘fit’ between the conceptual orientation of the SMCW and the wider children’s well-being literature. The ‘nested’ structure of the SMCW facilitated the identification of domains, sub-domains and indicators of well-being reflecting typical conventions of index construction. The findings from the resulting index, in both its categorical and continuous forms, demonstrated how a comprehensive theory of well-being can be used to illustrate how children are faring and which children are experiencing poorer or better well-being. Furthermore, this study demonstrated how the SMCW and the resultant index can be meaningfully used to support the implementation and review of the national policy framework for children and young people in Ireland.

The Response to an ESL Population Boom in the Beaufort County, South Carolina School System: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study was to examine the why the English language learners (ELLs) in the Beaufort County, South Carolina school system have been so successful. This school system has recently experienced a boom in its ESL student population, and this population has performed very well on standardized tests. This study used critical theory as its theoretical framework and examined why the students have been successful rather than marginalized in Beaufort County schools. This phenomenon was investigated using semi-structured interviews with the ESOL Coordinator for Beaufort County, 4 ESL-lead teachers, and 6 mainstream teachers. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with Sarah Owen, the Beaufort County ESOL, Gifted and Talented, and World Languages coordinator. Based on the results of her interview, 4 themes emerged that were used for the semi-structured interviews with ESOL and mainstream teachers. The interviews centered on the themes of ESL policy, ESL leadership, and teacher training. The ESL and mainstream teacher interviews also revealed several subthemes that included teacher attitude, why Beaufort County has been successful with the ELLs, and the teachers’ recommendations for other schools systems trying to successfully accommodate a large ESL student population in mainstream classrooms. The findings from the teachers’ interviews revealed that additional training for the teachers without ESL experience helped them become comfortable instructing ELLs. This training should be conducted by the ESOL teachers for those without ESOL certification or endorsement. As the teachers had more training, they had better attitudes about teaching ESOL students in their classes. Finally, those who utilized the additional ESOL training and ESOL accommodations saw better student achievement in their classes. Based on the finding of this study, the researcher proposed a model for other school systems to follow in order to replicate the success of Beaufort County’s ELLs. The implications of this study focus on other schools systems and why ELLs are not obtaining the same level of success as those in Beaufort County’s schools. Finally, recommendations for further research are provided.

designing + (dis)assembling disputes: an ethnography of disputes & lawyers in the construction industry

The UK construction industry is notorious for the sheer amount of disputes which are likely to arise on each building and engineering project. Despite numerous creative attempts at “dispute avoidance” and “dispute resolution”, this industry is still plagued with these costly disputes. Whilst both academic literature and professional practices have investigated the causes of disputes and the mechanisms for avoidance/resolution of these disputes, neither has studied in any detail the nature of the construction disputes and why they develop as they do once a construction lawyer is engaged. Accordingly, this research explores the question of what influences the outcome of a construction dispute and to what extent do construction lawyers control or direct this outcome? The research approach was ethnographic. Fieldwork took place at a leading construction law firm in London over 18 months. The primary focus was participant observation in all of the firm’s activities. In addition, a database was compiled from the firm’s files and archives, thus providing information for quantitative analysis. The basis of the theoretical framework, and indeed the research method, was the Actor‐Network Theory (ANT). As such, this research viewed a dispute as a set of associations – an entity which takes form and acquires its attributes as a result of its relations with other entities. This viewpoint is aligned with relational contract theories, which in turn provides a unified platform for exploring the disputes. The research investigated the entities and events which appeared to influence the dispute’s identity, shape and outcome. With regard to a dispute’s trajectory, the research took as its starting point that a dispute follows the transformation of “naming, blaming, claiming…”, as identified by Felstiner, Abel and Sarat in 1980. The research found that construction disputes generally materialise and develop prior to any one of the parties approaching a lawyer. Once the lawyer is engaged, we see the reverse of the trajectory “naming, blaming, claiming…” this being: “claiming, blaming, naming…” The lawyers’ role is to identify or name (or rename) the dispute in the best possible light for their client in order to achieve the desired outcome – the development of which is akin to the design process. The transformation of a dispute and the reverse trajectory is by no means linear, but rather, iterative and spatial as it requires alliances, dependencies and contingencies to assemble and take the shape it does. The research concludes that construction disputes are rarely ever completely “resolved” as such. Whilst an independent third party may hand down a judgment, or the parties may reach a settlement agreement, this state is only temporal. Some construction disputes dissipate whist others reach a state of hibernation for a period of time only to pick up momentum and energy some years later. Accordingly, this research suggests that the concept of “dispute resolution” does not exist in the UK construction industry. The ultimate goal should be for parties to reach this ultimate and perpetual state of equilibrium as quickly and as cost effectively as possible: “dispute dissolution”, the slowing down of the dispute’s momentum. Rather than focusing on the design and assemblage of the dispute, the lawyers’ role therein is, or should be, to assist with the “disassembling” of the dispute.

Discourse on equality in organizations. A case study of the chemical industry in Tarragona

This paper presents a proposal for analyzing discourses on gender equality in organizations. The research is carried out as a case study, focusing on the chemical industry in Tarragona. To the question: why there are still so many differences between women and men in labour market, despite having multiple tools to avoid inequalities? we propose to focus on discourses of equality to find an answer. The viewpoint that companies have on gender is crucial in enabling policies for equality. To ensure that policies are truly aimed at promoting equality, it is needed a gender approach that nowadays is not widespread in organizations. From these considerations, we present a fourfold typology of discourses on equality in organizations.

Rationalizing spatial exploration patterns of wild animals and humans through a temporal discounting framework

Understanding the exploration patterns of foragers in the wild provides fundamental insight into animal behavior. Recent experimental evidence has demonstrated that path lengths (distances between consecutive turns) taken by foragers are well fitted by a power law distribution. Numerous theoretical contributions have posited that “Lévy random walks”—which can produce power law path length distributions—are optimal for memoryless agents searching a sparse reward landscape. It is unclear, however, whether such a strategy is efficient for cognitively complex agents, from wild animals to humans. Here, we developed a model to explain the emergence of apparent power law path length distributions in animals that can learn about their environments. In our model, the agent’s goal during search is to build an internal model of the distribution of rewards in space that takes into account the cost of time to reach distant locations (i.e., temporally discounting rewards). For an agent with such a goal, we find that an optimal model of exploration in fact produces hyperbolic path lengths, which are well approximated by power laws. We then provide support for our model by showing that humans in a laboratory spatial exploration task search space systematically and modify their search patterns under a cost of time. In addition, we find that path length distributions in a large dataset obtained from free-ranging marine vertebrates are well described by our hyperbolic model. Thus, we provide a general theoretical framework for understanding spatial exploration patterns of cognitively complex foragers.

Rationalizing spatial exploration patterns of wild animals and humans through a temporal discounting framework

Understanding the exploration patterns of foragers in the wild provides fundamental insight into animal behavior. Recent experimental evidence has demonstrated that path lengths (distances between consecutive turns) taken by foragers are well fitted by a power law distribution. Numerous theoretical contributions have posited that “Lévy random walks”—which can produce power law path length distributions—are optimal for memoryless agents searching a sparse reward landscape. It is unclear, however, whether such a strategy is efficient for cognitively complex agents, from wild animals to humans. Here, we developed a model to explain the emergence of apparent power law path length distributions in animals that can learn about their environments. In our model, the agent’s goal during search is to build an internal model of the distribution of rewards in space that takes into account the cost of time to reach distant locations (i.e., temporally discounting rewards). For an agent with such a goal, we find that an optimal model of exploration in fact produces hyperbolic path lengths, which are well approximated by power laws. We then provide support for our model by showing that humans in a laboratory spatial exploration task search space systematically and modify their search patterns under a cost of time. In addition, we find that path length distributions in a large dataset obtained from free-ranging marine vertebrates are well described by our hyperbolic model. Thus, we provide a general theoretical framework for understanding spatial exploration patterns of cognitively complex foragers.

Taller de Escritura Creativa para el desarrollo de la Competencia Literaria en Brasil

Este artículo describe una propuesta de innovación docente basada en la corriente educativa de la Educación para el Desarrollo, así como la mejora de Competencia Comunicativa en L2 y de las Competencias Literarias e Interculturales por medio de un taller diseñado para tal fin. El propósito de este artículo es doble: por un lado mostrar las posibilidades que ofrece el Taller de Escritura e Ilustración Creativa para el desarrollo de las Competencias Literaria, Intercultural y Comunicativa en L2. Se muestra cómo el taller cumple con las directrices marcadas por la Educación para el Desarrollo que se describe en el marco teórico. El segundo objetivo es narrar cómo se han organizado, coordinado e implementado el Taller de Escritura e Ilustración Creativa en la Universidade Federal do Amazonas en Manaos (Brasil), basándose en la metodología del aprendizaje basado en tareas, y cómo se ha conseguido (i) promover la creación de puentes para la consolidación de las relaciones bilaterales entre universidades; (ii) motivar la colaboración científica con los centros brasileños que cuentan con un departamento de español, y (iii) emplear y crear herramientas que permitan incluir la Educación para el Desarrollo.

Konflikter, ogräs eller frön? : Arbetsplatskonflikter utifrån ett ledarskapsperspektiv

Det gemensamma intresset för konflikter grundade idén att studera väl ansedda ledares perspektiv på arbetsplatskonflikter och hur dessa ledare löser konflikter konstruktivt. I grunden finns en undran om väl ansedda ledare har förmågor som gör att de löser konflikter mer konstruktivt. Konflikter utgör en stor del av en ledares arbetstid. Konflikter kan förmodligen inte undvikas men hur konflikter hanteras är avgörande för att en organisation och dess anställda skall mogna och utvecklas. Det har utövats forskning inom konflikthantering utifrån ett ledarskapsperspektiv men de studierna har haft en kvantitativ ansats. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur väl ansedda chefer ser på arbetsplatskonflikter och hur dessa chefer hanterar konflikter. Ett delsyfte är att erhålla kunskap om vilka metoder ansedda ledare använder i konflikthantering. För att besvara syftet har följande frågeställningar använts: Vilka typer av arbetsplatskonflikter uppstår i en organisation? Vad är avgörande om konflikter blir konstruktiva eller destruktiva? Vad har ledarskapet för inverkan på konflikthantering och hur ska ledaren ta sig an konflikter? Vilka förmågor och egenskaper har ledare som hanterar konflikter effektivt? Studien grundar sig på en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer som insamlingsmetod. Det införskaffade materialet kodades och tematiserades. Resultaten analyserades med hjälp av teoriramen. Slutligen användes Rahims (2002) teori om conflict management i diskussion då det i resultatet framkom stöd för modellen, dock med en utveckling vilket presenteras i slutsatsen. I studiens analys framkom att ledare som hanterar konflikter konstruktivt behärskar tre huvudområden. Dessa förmågor är människoorienterad, uppgiftsorienterad och lärande- och kulturorienterad. Väl ansedda ledare manövrerar emellan dessa förmågor beroende på situation. I studiens resultat framkom också att undvikande och dominant ledarskapsbeteende skapar barriärer i konflikthantering.

O estágio extracurricular remunerado no cuidar da enfermagem nos hospitais de ensino

OLIVEIRA,Jonas Sâmi Albuquerque de; ENDERS, Bertha Cruz; MENEZES, Rejane Maria Paiva de MEDEIROS, Soraya Maria de. O estágio extracurricular remunerado no cuidar da enfermagem nos hospitais de ensino. Revista Gaúcha de Enfermagem, Porto Alegre(RS),v.30,n.2, p.311-8,jun.2009.

O estado como empregador de última instância: uma proposta de pleno emprego, estabilidade e condições dignas de trabalho para o Brasil

GOMES, Z. B. ; LOURENÇO, André Luís Cabral de . Atuação do Estado como empregador de última Instância: uma proposta para eliminar o desemprego estrutural do Brasil. In: Encontro Nacional de Economia Política, 13. 2008, João Pessoa/PB. Anais... João Pessoa: ENEP, 2008.

”Ska jag jobba med en ny, gud vad jobbigt. Dom kan ju ingenting” : En undersökning om socialisationsprocesser för nyanställda

Denna studie grundar sig i att rekryteringsbehoven inom vård och omsorg i Sverige ökar enligt SKL (2015). Personalbristen leder till en konkurrens om arbetskraft bland organisationer. En lösning på detta problem är kunskap och förståelse för människors socialisation, med fokus i arbetslivet. För att på detta sätt kunna underlätta organisationens hantering för att behålla personal. Utgångspunkten för studien är att det tycks krävas mer forskning kring vilken betydelse chefers stöd och kollegors relationer har på nyanställdas socialisationsprocess. Syftet med denna studie är således att undersöka hur ett företag inom vård och omsorgssektorn arbetar med socialisationsprocessen av nyanställda med fokus på relationer och chefers stöd. Forskning som berör nyanställdas socialisationsprocesser belyser kollegor som ett verktyg för att få tillgång till viktiga resurser exempelvis tyst kunskap. Chefer behöver vara närvarande och ge feedback. Organisationskulturen påverkar som en del av organisationens personlighet. Studien bygger på en abduktiv ansats och kvalitativa intervjuer, då intresset låg på individens tolkning och upplevelse av deras socialisation till företaget. Elva intervjuer har genomförts, fyra ansvariga chefer och sju nyanställda har deltagit i studien. Resultatet från intervjuerna har analyserat utifrån den teoretiska referensramen. I denna studie har vi kommit fram till att chefernas medvetenhet om vad individen går igenom i sin socialisationsprocess påverkar processen och chefernas stöd till de nyanställda. Kollegor är inte bara ett verktyg för nyanställda till viktiga resurser, utan behöver även ta på sig ett stort ansvar för individens introducerade till den sociala miljön på arbetsplatsen. Dock behöver individen vara öppen och aktiv för att få stöd från kollegorna. För att personalen ska dela organisationskulturen behöver de få vara involverade i förändringar och gemensamma mål. Dessa genomsyrar hela verksamheten, vilket underlättar nyanställdas socialisationsprocess. Vid nyanställdas socialisation har HR funktionen en stor del om processen blir lyckad eller inte.

Relações interorganizacionais e eficiência coletiva: um estudo de caso no arranjo produtivo local de confecções do Agreste de Pernambuco

This work is a study in the Local Productive Arrangement of confections from Agreste of Pernambuco, as a relevant sector in economic and social aspect. This research has as central aim to understand how the inter-organizational relations influence the collective efficiency of arrangement. The theoretical framework employed highlights the approaches that deal with the benefits of business agglomeration for the develop­ment of firms and regions. It has discussed the approach of small and medium enter­ prises and industrial districts (SCHMITZ, 1997), which introduce the concept of col­ lective efficiency, explaining that only those externalities explained by Marshall (1996) are not sufficient to explain the competitive advantage of enterprises, expand­ing the idea that organizations achieve competitive advantage not acting alone. To examine the influences of relations in the collective efficiency, it has been taken as analytical perspective theory of social networks (GRANOVETTER, 1973, 1985; BURT, 1992; UZZI, 1997) because it has believe that this approach provides subsi­ dies for a structural analysis of social relationships in face the behavior of human ac­tion. By examining the organizations in a social network, you should understand the reason of this establishment of the relationship, their benefits, and as the information flow takes place and density of links between the actors (Powell; SMITH-DOERR, 1994). As for the methods, this study is characterized as a case study, in according to the purposed objectives, in addition to qualitative method. Also, due to recovering of the historical milestones of the arrangement, it is used a sectional approach with longitudinal perspective (VIEIRA, 2004). The primary and secondary data were used in order to understand the evolutionary process of the sector and their inter-actors re­ lationships in the arrangement for the promotion of development, for both, was used the contend and documentary analysis technique, respectively (DELLAGNELO ; SIL­VA, 2005). The approach of social networks has permitted understand that social re­lationships may extend the collective efficiency of the arrangement, and therefore need to develop policies that encourage the legalization of informal companies in ar­rangement, by showing up themselves representative. Thus, the relations estab­ lished in LPA of confections from Agreste of Pernambuco need for more effective mechanisms to broaden the collective efficiency. Therefore, this way as take place has directly benefited only a group of companies that are linked in some way the sup­portive institutions. So we can conclude that the inter-actor relations have limited the collective efficiency of LPA, being stimulated by the institutions in support only to groups of entrepreneurs, even those that produce external relations for all clustered companies

Inserção de fornecedores locais como fonte de desempenhos em custos de transação e legitimidade: estudo de caso na cadeia produtiva do petróleo e gás do Rio Grande do Norte

The inclusion of local suppliers in production chains has considerable impact on its performance, but most notably in its main actors. The results of this process may be of different kinds and can be analyzed from economic or institutional approaches. This study aimed to verify the existence of different performances of Petrobras due to the inclusion of local suppliers in the oil and gas production chain in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, from the viewpoints of transaction costs and the Institutional Theory. In order to this, were made the characterization of the PROMINP, the description of its actions and results, the mapping of its institutional context of reference, and identification of results obtained by Petrobras in terms of transaction costs and legitimacy. The theoretical framework is based on authors dealing with industrial concentration, as like Marshall, Krugman, Porter and Schmitz, from the sociological perspective of neoinstitucional theory, as like DiMaggio and Powell and Scott and Meyer, and transaction costs, as like Williamson. This is a qualitative research, with data collection done by consulting secondary fonts and semi-structured interviews with nineteen actors of three groups, namely: actors involved in actions of the program, representatives of enterprises and representative of Petrobras. To analyze the content was used the Suchman s model (1995) for categories associated with strategies of legitimation and fourteen variables associated with the three variables assets specificity, bounded rationality and opportunism (Williamson, 1995, 1989) in the case of transaction costs. The results indicate that PROMINP has achieved its objectives by encouraging the increased participation of local companies in the oil and gas production chain, reflecting in the economic development of the state. The Redepetro/RN, fostered and built upon the interaction of the participants, is presented as a solution of continuity to the participation of enterprises in the chain, after the closure of the actions of the program. PROMINP demands responses to coercive, legislative and regulatory pressures of the organizational field, whose institutional context of reference is wide. From the point of view of legitimacy, through strategies to gain cognitive legitimacy and maintaining pragmatic legitimacy, Petrobras can manipulate the environment, ensuring the compliance of the constituents to their technical and institutional demands. Enterprises, in turn, respond to the demands through compliance with technical demands, mainly through the certification of processes, and cultural changes. There aren t clear gains related to the transaction costs, however, gains in legitimacy can be seen as a cumulative capital that can serve as a competitive differential that generates economic gains. In terms of theoretical findings, it was found that, due to its explanatory power for actions that are difficult to explain only in economic terms, Institutional Theory may be used as theoretical support concurrent with other theories. TCE model has limitations in explaining the program actions. In the case, it s emphasized that Petrobras doesn t seek only economic efficiency, but has in its mission the commitment to social development.

“It’s the People That Drive It”: Motivating and Supporting Collaborative Data Use Practices in Three Teacher Education Programs

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Gestão de pessoas, fato administrativo e racionalidades: um estudo em uma ONG de Natal-RN

This present work aimed to investigate, through the structuring element Fato Administrativo , the way rationality guides the processes of personnel management at the Associação Companhia TerrAmar , which operates in the district of Felipe Camarão in Natal/RN. This paper is characterized by a descriptive study, as it sought to establish the relationship between the materialization of the studied phenomenon - by means of a theoretical framework consisting of the following theories: Fato Administrativo (GUERREIRO RAMOS, 1983), Substantive and Instrumental Rationality (GUERREIRO RAMOS, 1981) and Proceedings of Personnel Management proposed by Joel Dutra (2004). As the main research findings, time as an intrinsic element of the Fato Administrativo - suffers much interference from external factors, especially from the sponsors of the researched organization and also from their bureaucratic control tools; not directly relating to the processes of Personnel Management, though. Among these, it was noticed that there isn‟t a dialogue between the sponsors and the theory, due to incompatibilities regarding the structure and nature of each organization. Both movement and development have stood out. These are processes that are guided by elements of substantive rationality, literally speaking, including personal, emancipatory and solidarity values. Thus, it is stated that for future research a compatible model of Personnel Management should be built and explored (compatible with the nature of nonprofit organizations). Understanding, in depth, the processes separately aiming to understand each work is also advised. Trying to fully understand the ways of overcoming the lack of skilled workers to perform activities in similar organizations needs to be considered as well