This paper reports the results of a study that examined the ways a group of department heads in Ontario, Canada, describe their role. Despite their ubiquity and importance, department heads have been seldom investigated in the educational leadership literature. The study uses the metaphor as an analytic tool to examine the ways participants talked…

Although studies on teacher identity have proliferated in recent years, and examinations of the said topic have been conducted under various educational contexts, limited focus has been given to teacher identity in the early childhood educational context. Drawing upon data from semi-structured interviews with five early childhood teachers, this…

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the language skills of the international students attending different Turkish language centers are sufficient to understand their departmental courses. The research was carried out through focus group interviews which are among the qualitative data collection techniques. For this purpose, 14…

This article presents findings from a research study wherein participants demonstrated the use of similes, metaphors, and analogies, termed "conceptual metaphors," in response to disorienting dilemmas instigated by breast cancer. In this qualitative case study of 18 breast cancer survivors, conceptual metaphors were used in three…

Feedback has typically been studied as a means of improving academic performance. Few studies inquire into the processes by which feedback shapes student identity. The authors carry out a discourse analysis of written comments to explore how feedback is discursively constructed by both teachers and students. Analysis of written feedback,…

Cross-cultural studies of mental health and illness generally adhere to one of two agendas: the comparison of mental health between sites using standard measurement tools, or the identification of locally specific ways of discussing mental illness. Here, we illustrate a methodological approach to measuring mental health that unites these two…

Background: Elite athletes often take part in group trainings and use teammates as learning resources. Despite this, research on the training and learning of elite athletes tends to characterise this training and learning as primarily individual. Purpose: This study, explores interrelated learning processes among elite athletes by exploring the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which charter school leaders influence the understanding and conception of accountability policy and how that understanding translates into practice. In particular, this paper draws from sense-making theory and research on charter school leaders to identify their pre-existing…

There is a wide consensus that during their year abroad higher education (HE) language students should improve their language skills in contact with native speakers in the host community. Research shows, however, that many students find it difficult, if not impossible, to make meaningful contact to locals, and some consider the lack of it as a…

Idiomaticity is central to linguistic theory. Despite the pervasiveness of idioms in language, pedagogical articles in professional journals have yet to pay attention to the benefits of idiom instruction in the second language (SL) classroom. Addressing this concern, this article reports the results of an exploratory qualitative research study…

This study was conducted to compare the organizational culture in two TRNC schools by using influencing factors of metaphors, physical environment, values, norms, rituals, language, legends and reward systems. To obtain data, a triangulation of participant interviews, observations and written sources were used. Results appear to display that the…