In a qualitative focus group study of educational coordinators in teaching hospitals with social workers, four main themes emerged: difficulty managing field education; a struggle to maintain stable student programs; the importance of support from the university and; the need to be creative in delivering the educational program while undergoing…

Uses focus-group interviews of social work supervisors and caseworkers to explore impact of masters of social work degree obtained in a university/agency partnership on personal behavior, structure, and technological organization. Notes findings including increased worker confidence, changed communication patterns between workers and organization,…

The impact of information and communications technologies on jobs is not yet known and no outcome is inevitable. Technology-driven changes in organizational structures, employment relations, worker autonomy, and work organization will not automatically result in higher job quality. (Contains 92 references.) (SK)

The author argues that leadership is a cultural construct embedded in symbolic processes. By culture, the author refers to the informal codes and shared assumptions of individuals who participate in an organization. An organization's members shape and are shaped by the symbols and rituals of the institution as well as the unique history from which…

Last year, Louisville, KY, grew overnight from the country's 64th largest city to the 16th largest, the result of the merger of the city with Jefferson County. Pittsburgh and Buffalo, NY, are among other communities discussing city-county mergers. Many smaller communities are considering merging services, such as police and fire, or consolidating…

The authors review research on (a) gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) families and the nature of discrimination against them; (b) school factors that hinder and facilitate equity for GLBT families; (c) instituting change through organizational consultation or large group-level strategies; and (d) instituting change through traditional…

For successful implementation of FLCs, consider leadership recommendations for institutional change, reasons for choosing the FLC model, and institutional conditions that may facilitate or hinder FLC development. (Contains 1 table.)

In this autoethnographic, institutional narrative, we describe the evolution of a Studio program at an open-access, regional campus of a state university. The Studio, first conceptualized by Grego and Thompson, is a one-credit writing workshop taken by students concurrently enrolled in a composition course. Developing this program necessitated…

Distance education enabled by e-learning is at the forefront of university participation in an increasingly connected world. Physical, temporal, cultural and educational borders are becoming both less rigid and less predictable than ever before. The authors suggest, in this article, that university distance e-learning could and should allow…

This paper attempts to classify Hong Kong schools along four possible stages of development framed in a dynamic model of organizational learning. Factors governing the development of 67 sampled primary and secondary Hong Kong schools are compared and contrasted. Interviews with the concerned principals in diverse phases of progression further…

A "mapping task" was used to explore the networks available to head teachers, school coordinators and local authority staff. Beginning from an ego-centred perspective on networks, we illustrate a number of key analytic categories, including brokerage, formality, and strength and weakness of links with reference to a single UK primary…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the way change implemented effects organizational learning. More specifically, we study the relationships between the use of social accounts, participation and organizational learning in the context of strategic change. The use of social accounts and participation are often promoted during…

Purpose: This paper seeks to provide an empirical insight into the facilitation dilemmas for conversational learning in a project team environment. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is an outcome of a participative action research process into the dynamics of situated learning activity in a case study project team. As part of their…

Recent federal initiatives and efforts within education and psychology professional organizations have contributed to an increased focus on scientifically based practices in education. Although interventions are available to educators, there is a need to enhance systems capacity through identification, selection, and implementation of appropriate…

Mergers have been a frequent phenomenon in higher education in the last quarter century. The conventional wisdom is that mergers are undertaken mainly for economic reasons, either to expand markets or to reduce costs. About four out of five college or university mergers survive. In the for-profit sector the comparable rate is closer to two out of…