This article introduces the present collection of sign language planning studies. Contextualising the analyses against the backdrop of core issues in the theory of language planning and the evolution of applied sign linguistics, it is argued that--while the sociolinguistic circumstances of signed languages worldwide can, in many respects, be…

This article investigates how informal positions of power emerge within a community of practice and how positions of power influence communication and understanding about key issues. Findings from a study of one community of practice reveal Janusian leadership within the group and the effects of emergent, informal power roles on group goals,…

World polity theory is explicitly relational, implying a global network structure that exists outside of the nation-state. And world polity theory increasingly acknowledges power--that some states and regions are dominant in the international field. But current world polity measures of international non-governmental organizations do not…

In this article, we discuss the range of concerns people weigh when evaluating the acceptability of harmful actions and propose a new perspective on the relationship between harm and morality. With this aim, we examine Kelly, Stich, Haley, Eng and Fessler's [Kelly, D., Stich, S., Haley, K., Eng, S., & Fessler, D. (2007). Harm, affect, and the…

The governance and leadership at transnational, national and school level seem to be converging into a number of isomorphic forms as we see a tendency towards substituting "hard" forms of governance, that are legally binding, with "soft" forms based on persuasion and advice. This article analyses and discusses governance forms…

The conversational research interview constitutes a complex and fraught context for personal accounts, and the methodological literature of the past few decades has acknowledged this. Theoretical discussions about representation, ethics, and power in interviews have been extended in empirical studies of actual interaction. Particularly useful for…

Counselors and counselor educators are ethically bound to lifelong development of knowledge and skills that promote personal growth and relational development. The Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC) was established on the principles of relational-cultural theory (RCT), which addresses the role of relational competency in…

This article introduces a qualitative research method called "discourse tracing". Discourse tracing draws from contributions made by ethnographers, discourse critics, case study scholars, and process tracers. The approach offers new insights and an attendant language about how we engage in research designed specifically for the…

Beginning school administrators face a predictable set of professional challenges that are very personal. By addressing these challenges as opportunities for learning and growth, new administrators can become leaders. This article offers several tips on how school administrators can adapt to their new positions.

In this paper the four authors explore the experience of school bullying, drawing on stories of bullying generated in a collective biography workshop and on fictional accounts of bullying. They counter the current trend of reading bullying as individual or family pathology with a post-structuralist analysis of subjectification and power.

Leadership, currently prescribed as a key requirement for effective school organization and management, is examined here as a rhetorical or discursive device, as a "turn", in the sense used in literary and sociological discussion of the linguistic turn. In the educational sphere, a tacit separation of leadership from issues of governance…

The aim of the present study is to examine factors affecting participation in telecollaborative language courses conducted in virtual world environments. From recordings of a course in sociolinguistics conducted in Second Life (SL), we determine degrees of linguistic participation (voice and chat), and triangulate these data with questionnaire…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how PBL student teams develop specific leadership configurations when implementing interdisciplinary projects and whether or not tutors help in dealing with the group interactions that are subsequently generated. The data set was drawn from 2 cohorts of first-year students engaged in PBL activities in an…

Purposes: This study investigates the role of formal and informal leaders in the diffusion of external reforms into schools and to teachers' practices. Formal leaders are designated by their roles in the formal organization of the school (e.g., principals, department chairs, and instructional coaches) and informal leaders refer to those who do not…

Research has indicated that schools should be developed as inclusive learning communities that would support collaborative learning and problem solving in order to address learner diversity more effectively. This article explores school leadership as one determining factor which either affords or constrains collaborative teacher learning for…