This paper identifies and analyses the legitimation strategies used by the OECD as it expanded its role in global educational governance. Whilst the literature recognises the mainly discursive sources of legitimacy which the OECD derives from its testing regime, especially PISA, what remains unexplored is how exactly it has created the legitimacy…

Introduction: The relational characteristics of an answerer on a social networking site can be used as cues to assess the credibility of an answer. This study examined the effects of different numbers of followers and friends of an answerer on readers' perceived credibility of an answer posted by the answerer in the context of Facebook. Method: We…

Background: Transition to higher education (HE) confronts undergraduates with a variety of social and academic challenges. Research on how these challenges are dealt with often refers to a Bourdieusian perspective and links successful access to HE to the capital and habitus that students bring with them when adapting to unfamiliar institutional…

The paper is informed by a research study exploring middle leadership as experienced by Chairpersons of Departments within one faculty in a university in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is argued that middle leadership in higher education needs to be understood as a highly complex relational endeavour, characterised by compromises that are negotiated…

Studies adopting a construct validity approach can be categorized into within- and between-network studies. Few studies have applied between-network approach and tested the correlations of the social (same-sex relations, opposite-sex relations, parent relations), moral (honesty-trustworthiness), and emotional (emotional stability) facets of the…

Regardless of the aims and purposes of education, recent trends in pedagogy suggest an increasing popularity of project-based learning (PBL) and a focus on interdisciplinary approaches to learning, however ill-defined they may be. Connections between PBL, curriculum trends and health and wellbeing are reviewed, as well as potential value of…

This study investigated the social construction of domestic abuse by police officers, specifically in the context of arguments presented to the prosecutor for a decision on whether to proceed with or discontinue the case. Nineteen police files were examined with a particular focus on the MG3, the "Report to Crown Prosecutors for Charging…

Soft skills comprised both rational and emotional elements, becoming a new focus on leadership, as behavior displayed during interaction with other individuals will affect effective interaction outcomes. This study aimed to examine the leadership soft skills of deans in public universities of Malaysia. This survey designed research was performed…

A long-running collaboration between Kaurna people and linguists in South Australia began in 1989 with a songbook. Following annual community workshops and the establishment of teaching programs, the author embarked on a PhD to research historical sources and an emerging modern language based on these sources. In response to numerous requests for…

Healthcare organizations are striving to meet legislated and public expectations to include patients as equal partners in their care, and research is needed to guide successful implementation and outcomes. The current research examined the meaning of customer service as related to the culture of care relationships within a Canadian hospital in…

This article presents an innovative approach to preparing future teachers at a teachers college in Taiwan. The approach outlined here is designed to emphasize the beneficial effects of a feminist leader in providing an empowering educational experience to preservice teachers. The traditional university classroom approach often does not promote…

This study investigated victim culpability, credibility, and assault severity in a hypothetical sexual abuse case. A 2 (respondent gender) x 3 (victim age) x 3 (perpetrator type) between-subjects design was employed. Members (391) of the U.K. general public read the depiction of a female child assaulted by an adult male perpetrator. Respondents…

Females had a higher level of belief in the trustworthiness of people. In a multicultural comparison, Indo-Fijians and Europeans both had a higher level of belief in the trustworthiness of people than Fijians. Europeans saw people in general as more complex. (Author)

Young people engaged as peer educators are increasingly important in sex and relationship education (SRE) programmes in a variety of settings and are particularly valued in the APAUSE programme (Rees et al., 1997). The increase in popularity of peer education raises a need to value the inputs of young people and to give formal recognition to…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 25 titles deal with a variety of topics, including: (1) persuasive messages and the hearing impaired; (2) the judicial speeches of Cicero; (3) the rhetoric of employment interviews; (4) doctor/patient communication; (5) black…