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Descriptors:
Teachers; Teaching Methods; Learning Processes; Professional Development; Personal Narratives; Evaluation; Foreign Countries; Social Psychology; Theories; Cultural Context; History; Formative Evaluation

Abstract:
Analysis of the impact of professional learning and development (PLD) programmes for educators is complex. This article presents an analysis of a PLD initiative in which classroom teachers learned to use narrative assessment for students with "high" and "very high" learning needs. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), the analysis showed how various tensions arose across the activity system of participants during the initiative. Tensions were associated with the roles of those involved, the narrative assessment approach, and the rules of the initiative. While the new narrative assessment approach resulted in benefits for the students and their parents, role conflict emerged in relation to established assessment approaches already used by the educators. It is argued that CHAT enables a more nuanced understanding of the complex ways in which teachers actually engage with official curriculum, pedagogy or assessment PLD initiatives, than do theories that position teachers as simply resistant to change. (Contains 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Psychological Patterns; Ethnography; Foreign Countries; Educational Change; Ideology; Religious Cultural Groups; Interaction; Group Dynamics; Role; Social Psychology

Abstract:
Based on an interactionist framework, this article examines how followers of a contemporary Chinese religious movement, Falun Gong, deal with a crisis situation and sustain their conviction in the absence of their charismatic leader. Data were collected during a yearlong ethnography of the Falun Gong in Chicago and Hong Kong. The findings reveal that followers experienced cognitive dissonance as a result of the Chinese authorities' suppression and their leader's disappearance. To cope with the external and internal threats, they engaged in frequent collective actions and discourses. These collective exercises allowed them to act out their shared ideology, reaffirm their ideological mentality, and activate their ideological passion. Through interaction and collective interpretation, followers not only reconstructed meanings out of the confusion, they also romanticized the charisma of their missing leader. This article asserts the critical role of doing ideology in sustaining a movement and integrates an interactionist, social psychological approach into the literature of social movements. (Contains 12 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Experiential Learning; Educational Research; Grounded Theory; Interviews; Learning Processes; Learning Theories; Group Dynamics; Group Behavior; Social Psychology; Doctoral Programs; Educational Experience; Social Structure; Power Structure; Educational Practices

Abstract:
This paper presents the proposition that a variety of differing hierarchies exist in an action learning set at any one time, and each hierarchy has the potential to affect an individual's behaviour within the set. An interpretivist philosophy underpins the research framework adopted in this paper. Data were captured by means of 11 in-depth interviews that formed part of wider research into set members' perceptions of what makes an effective action learning set. The interviewees were all former students of the researcher and her colleagues. The research draws upon grounded theory as a dominant research paradigm and uses thematic analysis to interpret the research findings. The findings of the research serve to simply illustrate that there is the potential for a variety of differing hierarchies to exist in an action learning set at any one time. Some of the hierarchies may exist for the full duration of the set; others are somewhat ephemeral. The findings from this research also present themselves as points of consideration for academics and practitioners who have used or are about to use action learning as a learning vehicle. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Adolescents; Ideology; Qualitative Research; Masculinity; Gender Issues; Adolescent Attitudes; Adolescent Development; Psychological Characteristics; Social Structure; Social Theories; Educational Environment; Institutional Characteristics; Youth Opportunities; Youth Problems; Change Strategies; Social Psychology; Social Influences

Abstract:
This study stems from a yearlong qualitative inquiry examining the influence that gender ideologies exercised in the lives of four young men in the high school setting. Utilizing a feminist, post-structuralist perspective (Davies, 1997, 1989; Connell, 1996, 1997, 1989; Martino, 1995), it analyzes how masculinity constructs itself through discursive practices. The study involves four adolescent boys, Michael, Peter, Aiden and Jack, all friends and classmates in a small, Midwestern high school comprised mainly of working class and farming families. This study examines each boy's idiosyncratic positioning within dominant discourses of masculinity, specifically questioning its ability to shape, influence and possibly constrain posture and performance in the classroom setting. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Psychological Patterns; Emotional Development; Social Theories; Developmental Stages; Mediation Theory; Social Psychology; Self Control; Semiotics

Abstract:
Starting with an overview of theoretical approaches to emotion from an activity-oriented stance, this article applies Vygotsky's three general principles of development, sign mediation, and internalization to the development of emotional expressions as a culturally evolved sign system. The possible twofold function of expression signs as a means of "interpersonal" regulation and "intrapersonal" regulation predestines them to be a mediator between sociocultural and psychological processes in the domain of emotions. The proposed internalization theory of emotional development transfers Vygotsky's theory of the development of speech and thinking to the development of expression and feeling. Three stages of emotional development are described and underpinned by empirical studies: (a) the emergence of enculturated expression signs and related emotions from precursor emotions of newborns in the interpersonal regulation between caregivers and children during early childhood, (b) the emergence of intrapersonal regulation of emotions out of their interpersonal regulation by using expression signs as internal mediators that starts from preschool age onward, and (c) the internalization of emotional expression signs and the emergence of a mental plane of emotional processing. (Contains 1 figure and 2 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Group Dynamics; Interaction; Group Membership; Psychological Patterns; Maintenance; Social Psychology; Gender Differences; Models; Social Theories; Role; Individual Characteristics; Court Litigation; Simulated Environment; Interaction Process Analysis; Classification

Abstract:
A new theory of interaction within small groups posits that group members initiate actions when tension mounts between the affective meanings of their situational identities and impressions produced by recent events. Actors choose partners and behaviors so as to reduce the tensions. A computer model based on this theory, incorporating reciprocal exchanges and actions toward the whole group, was used to generate 1,000 interactions in 500 virtual juries. Behaviors of modeled jurors matched the instrumental and expressive content of behaviors among actual jurors during observed deliberations. The system also reproduced sex differences among jurors, both in behavioral content and in levels of participation. Additionally, the system reproduced the domination of small-group interaction by a few active participants. Plausible changes in outcomes resulted when the system was used to analyze groups other than juries. These results indicate that the theory and model can advance research on small-group processes. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures and 1 footnote.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Social Psychology; Job Skills; Transfer of Training; Educational Research; Behavior Change; On the Job Training

Abstract:
The article deals with the question under which conditions people change their behavior through vocational trainings or not. Following the demand of more theory-driven investigations in transfer research (Blume, Ford, Baldwin, & Huang, 2010) we wish to add the perspective of social psychology. We therefore illustrate how well-known concepts from social psychology hold untapped potential to improve transfer research by explaining the underlying mechanisms of factors that support (or hinder) the transfer of newly trained behavior and skills on the job. In choosing social psychological theories that have so far only scarcely been considered with regard to explaining training transfer we combine them with well known concepts in transfer research. We give furthermore hints for implications and tools to foster transfer in practice. (Contains 1 table.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Organizational Development; Educational Administration; Leadership; Individualism; Leadership Responsibility; Leadership Effectiveness; Leadership Role; Transformational Leadership; Industrial Psychology; Social Psychology; Problem Solving; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
There are two major categories of explanation for organisational performance: structural and individual. With the shift away from systems-theoretic accounts that occurred in the 1980s, structural explanations have been replaced increasingly by the individualism of leadership and leader-centric explanations, especially when it comes to schools. In this paper, we argue that leader-centric accounts involve a commitment to methodological individualism and that there are four serious problems with this view. First, it is logically difficult to describe individual actions without recourse to structures. Second, methodological individualism fosters a centralised mindset inviting the attribution of leadership where none may exist. Third, evidence for distributed cognition compromises leader-centrism. And fourth, administrative tasks themselves are often highly structured. In response to these problems, we urge a more balanced approach to organisational functioning, one that involves both structures and individuals. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Organizational Culture; Learning Processes; Adjustment (to Environment); Organizational Theories; Workplace Learning; Reflection; Industrial Psychology; Social Psychology; Best Practices

Abstract:
This article takes a psychological perspective on organisational learning, putting "reflection" into the centre of attention. We argue that (1) organisational learning is based on individual and team learning at work, (2) reflection is the driving force that leads to organisational learning and (3) cumulation of the staff's reflection outcomes allows for integration of individual and team learning into organisational best practice. Building on a vast amount of theory in this area, we provide a refined psychological model of the socio-cognitive processes of reflective learning within organisations including the initiation and the termination of reflection. Further, we discuss in depth the role of reflection for organisational learning in the light of recent theories of organisational learning. (Contains 4 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Social Networks; Network Analysis; Transfer of Training; Social Environment; Educational Research; Research Reports; Organizations (Groups); Learning Processes; Cognitive Psychology; Social Psychology; Educational Psychology; Social Support Groups; Industrial Psychology

Abstract:
This article reviews studies which apply a social network perspective to examine transfer of training. The theory behind social networks focuses on the interpersonal mechanisms and social structures that exist among interacting units such as people within an organization. A premise of this perspective is that individual's behaviors and outcomes are significantly affected by how that individual is tied into the larger web of social connections. With regard to transfer of training, the investigation of social networks as a perspective can build in-depth understanding of how social support aids in transfer of training. Three groups of studies using a social network perspective are identified. A first group questions the role of the social network within the organisation for transfer of training. A second group of studies includes the network outside the organisation, hereby stretching the traditional idea of social support. A third group of studies sees the social network as an important outcome of itself. Through these studies, the potential value of the social network perspective for transfer of training research is identified and implications can be indicated. (Contains 3 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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