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This epilogue to the special issue entitled ‘The Nordic experience of inclusive and special education’ reflects on the eight articles included in the special issue. The analysis is centred around two specific questions 1) can distinctive Nordic conceptualisationHs of inclusive and special education be identified? 2) what insights can be gained from this special issue for research and practice in the field of inclusive and special education beyond the Nordic community? The findings indicate a degree of consistency across the Nordic countries, yet also highlight significant variations at the national, regional, and local levels, which contrasts with the perception of a distinctive Nordic model of inclusive and special education. The greatest commonality is that all Nordic countries (like other European countries) are striving to advance inclusive education and still have a lengthy journey ahead of them in reducing educational inequalities. However, the definition of special educational needs, the implementation of inclusive and special education, and the professionalisation of teachers, could not be characterised by a universal, uniform Nordic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been increased attention on the importance of healthcare environmental cleaning, including the need to professionalize and support the workforce responsible for performing cleaning. Global agendas and strategies on infection prevention and control (IPC) and water, sanitation and hygiene highlight the need for improvements to this sector, particularly in resource-limited healthcare facilities in low- and middle-income countries. Correspondingly, several resources have been developed that aim to (1) improve professional training of cleaners and (2) improve implementation of best practices in resource-limited settings. This commentary seeks to provide insight into the barriers and facilitators to implementing these resources, drawing on the practical experience from two initiatives across four countries from 2018 through 2023. Several common barriers were identified across the diverse settings, including (1) low empowerment and status of the workforce, (2) low pay, inadequate staff time for the high workload needed to achieve best practices and high turnover of staff, and (3) a lack of connection and integration of environmental cleaning with IPC and patient safety efforts at the participating hospitals. Despite barriers, local teams identified effective mitigation measures. While considerable time and effort will be needed to truly overcome these barriers, there are opportunities to build upon attention and momentum on this topic and IPC initiatives in resource-limited settings in low- and middle-income countries. We propose several broader actions, all of which require local leadership and context-specific approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European expertise is an effect of the field of European politics that opens up access to sources of knowledge and authority beyond the political context and varies depending on the state of European integration. This can be exemplified by a prosopography of members of political-economic European Expert Groups (1966–2018). A multiple correspondence analysis of 261 professional careers allows us to reconstruct the structure of European expertise in this policy area to determine six types of experts by clustering and, in the light of the observed diversity, to trace the decline in scientific and the increase in financial expertise. This development can be interpreted as a strengthening of the economic-heteronomous pole in the field, which goes hand in hand with the rise of neoliberal forms of government, the autonomisation of the field and the professionalisation of expert consultations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we adopt a critical sociological perspective to understanding gender relations and cricket, through the lens of The Hundred – a new, short-form tournament, described by the England and Wales Cricket Board as being part of its long-term commitment to making cricket a gender-equal sport. The Hundred is the first sporting tournament in the world which, from the outset, featured fully aligned competitions for both men's and women's teams, including equal prize money, but not equal pay, which the recent Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket condemned. Drawing on concepts of professionalisation as a gendered process we discuss data from interviews with 33 people working in cricket to consider how gender relations continue to impact opportunities for women in cricket. This article further supports the need to conceptualise professionalisation in sport as gendered by considering the ways The Hundred facilitates opportunities for men's and women's cricket differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International discussion on inclusive education has managed to identify various contextual, process and individual factors having an impact on implementation. In addition, learning and support assistants (LSAs) have been found to be a key element in enhancing participation and learning for all students in inclusive schools. The present cross-sectional study explored the impact of assistance services on the implementation of inclusive education from the perspective of 89 Styrian LSAs and, moreover, which contextual, process and individual factors are related to their impact. The results demonstrate that assistance services are perceived as being an effective resource for the successful inclusion of students with SEN, particularly regarding their participation in field trips and their class participation. Furthermore, individual LSA characteristics were found to be crucial for inclusion success. LSAs' with higher self-efficacy or those with more comprehensive professional knowledge see their impact on the implementation of inclusive education as being more effective. Our findings highlight the value of assistance services in inclusive education and provide unique insights into aspects necessary for success. The need to promote greater professionalisation among LSAs is one key finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, social work literature regarding transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals situates TGD individuals as objects of social work knowledge and intervention. While this existent work represents an important foundation, it may foreclose other positionalities for TGD individuals. Therefore, this feminist critical discourse analysis of social work literature utilizes professionalization and transnormativity as conceptual anchors to explore the phenomenon of "transgender lived experience" in social work literature in order to understand both the nature of transgender lived experience and who is permitted to have it. Ultimately, this project found that transgender lived experience within social work is a totalizing discourse centered on a wholly painful experience of othering that can only be ameliorated through medical intervention. While this experience can confer expertise upon some individuals, transnormativity and professionalization operate in concert with this discourse to situate TGD people as transgender in the first place, foreclosing any other subjectivity. Therefore, future inquiry into the experiences of TGD individuals in social work must be willing to embrace epistemic perspectives and methodologies that emphasize the nuance and diversity of individuals' experiences and resist totalizing grand narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new, developing bureaucratic procedures in the nineteenth century had wide-ranging influence over the Ottoman ulema in such areas as professionalization, performance evaluations, examinations for graduation, appointments, and promotions. The central government by increasing its direct control over the Ilmiye members incorporated them into the centralized state system and they became more and more intertwined with state service. During this period, they adapted to the new rules of the current bureaucratized system of the centralized state with their official identities in the education, judicial, and religious affairs of the state bureaucracy. In this respect, this article aims to show that the institutionalization of the Şeyhülislam Office through the Tanzimat process introduced the appointment mechanism of the ulema to the Ilmiye posts in the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does bureaucratic structure shape presidential strategy in managing top executive posts? The comparative literature on cabinet formation focuses heavily on presidential legislative strategy, largely overlooking the administrative dimension of cabinet management. This article fills this gap by examining how bureaucratic professionalization shapes the president's strategy in distributing and managing cabinet posts. We argue that as bureaucracies become more autonomous via professionalization, ministers from the bureaucracy are more likely to be central players in presidential cabinet management. Our analysis of original data on 1538 ministers' cabinet careers from 26 presidential administrations in four Asian democracies shows that bureaucrats are more likely to receive and retain cabinet posts in key policy areas as bureaucratic professionalization increases, whereas they are less likely to do so with decreasing bureaucratic professionalization. This finding suggests that presidential cabinet management follows a different set of rules according to the level of bureaucratic professionalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Health social work is often described as a blurred profession, as a work area based on an interdisciplinary field of science with an unclear knowledge foundation of its own. This study describes and analyses the knowledge production in Swedish doctoral dissertations in health social work, authored by social workers, from 2008 to 2019, and focuses on the differences between dissertations published by faculties of health and those in the social sciences. Descriptive statistical and content analysis was carried out on the 52 dissertations identified. Dissertations in the health sciences were often about specific patient groups within adult somatic care. They predominantly used mixed methods and psychological and psychosocial theories and models. Dissertations in the social sciences more often concerned adults in psychiatric or addiction care and the organization of social work. A majority used qualitative research methods, organization and profession theories, as well as interactionist and critical theories. The differences are discussed as being associated with different research ideals and traditions in the scientific disciplines. The findings raise questions about the core components of health social work and how a knowledge foundation and its development can enhance the professional development of social workers and their contribution to healthcare and patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the emergent field of Muslim chaplaincy research by reviewing English-language publications in this growing area of professional religious work, especially in Europe and the United States. After presenting the method of our enquiry, we provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the literature reviewed. We then focus on three key topics in Muslim Chaplaincy Studies that derive from our quantitative and qualitative research. These are: the training of Muslim chaplains, which is strongly linked to professionalisation, the vocabulary and sources that underpin Muslim chaplaincy and, finally, the significance of the increasing involvement of Muslim women in this area of professional religious work and leadership. Having identified exactly 100 publications related to the development of Muslim chaplaincy, many of them arising from empirical research, serious practitioner reflections located in peer-review publications, and a small number of articles that are explicitly devoted to methodological considerations, we are suggesting in this article that a distinctive sub-field of Muslim Chaplaincy Studies can now be identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 50 years, China’s initial teacher education (ITE) system has undergone significant changes and improvements. To review and reflect on these experiences, we construct a multi-level, context-specific conceptualisation of ITE professionalisation. Guided by this framework, we segment the history of ITE professionalisation into three phases: the specialising phase (1974–1998), the upgrading phase (1998–2012), and the quality-equity balancing phase (2012-present). The specialising phase is characterised by a single-purpose ITE system that is directly governed by educational authorities. The upgrading phase involves a policy-driven enhancement of ITE within higher education institutions and the transition from single-purpose to general-purpose institutions, reflecting broader transformations in higher education policies in China. The quality-equity balancing phase focuses on policies aimed at improving the quality of ITE while ensuring equitable access to high-quality teachers in underdeveloped regions and hard-to-staff rural schools. Our historical review contributes new insights into ITE research, offers practical implications for ITE reform and improvement, and raises questions for further investigation of ITE in both the Chinese context and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Initial teacher education (ITE) has changed dramatically over the past 50 years but some of the same issues persist in Canada and around the world. This article begins with an overview of how teacher education has evolved in Canada with a particular emphasis on the past 50 years. It recounts the gradual rise of professionalisation as teacher preparation moved from normal schools and teachers’ colleges to universities. We discuss the struggles for control of teacher education and how these have played out differently in various provinces and territories. The second part of the article provides an overview of external bodies that influence policies and programmes related to ITE in Canada including government agencies, royal commissions, colleges of teachers, and teachers’ federations. The third part focuses on internal influences on ITE that are both university and school-based and examines some of the points of tension between them including programme content, the balance between theory and practice, and the practicum. Finally, we look at recent developments in ITE focusing specifically on Indigenous education, truth and reconciliation and equity, diversity and inclusion, all of which will continue to be priorities for Canadian ITE moving forwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motivation for the current study is two-pronged. First, it tries to address the existent obstacles for establishing a translation profession in Iraq; second, on the light of the recommendations suggested by the active agents in the field, the study seeks to come up with some solutions and suggestions to upgrade the status quo. The key agents such as translators, publishers and others, and in addition to the institutions involved have all been the recent emerging research focus in translation studies. Looked at as a profession, the research avenues have been to investigate the status of translation from a sociological perspective. For this purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of translation agents in Basra city to collect data qualitatively in Iraq. The study reached some significant results that indicate the challenges facing the establishment of translation as a profession in Iraq. Based on the participants' comments and replies, and the reviewed relevant literature, some solutions and suggestions were introduced to help improve the current situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood education is a field of educational policy that has been little ad- dressed despite the scientific evidence about the importance of child development in the early years for achieving academic excellence in later stages of life; the issue of improving the quality of the services and interactions provided by caregivers of infants, toddlers, and young children has also been overlooked. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the policies for professionalizing early childhood education teachers. The review of the regulatory framework and the strategic programs of the 2018-2024 six-year term is taken as the axis to analyze the main challenges for the professionalization of teachers at this educational level for the 2024-2030 term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neo-liberal reforms have triggered the emergence of new professionalism of teachers. This study adopts the perspective of inhabited institutionalism theory and proposes that teachers are not passively influenced by the new professionalism but that they can also respond to it differently based on their own sense-making. Using in-depth interview data from Chinese high school teachers, this study finds that two contradictory but coexisting forms of managerial professionalism strongly influence teachers: examination-oriented professionalism and quality-oriented professionalism. Meanwhile, three patterns of teachers' reactions to externally-imposed professionalism are identified: 'Why bother?', 'Struggling', and 'Meaningless'. The findings provoke further discussion of the potential influence of teachers' responses to the new professionalism and professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyse the strategic decisions made by the foundational cadre during the establishment of homeland security in the early years of the Turkish Republic and their consequential impact on the institutional capacities of the state's coercive apparatus. To achieve this objective, this article primarily focuses on the evolutionary trajectory of homeland security institutions during the final stages of the Ottoman Empire and the founding period of the Turkish Republic. A central thesis posited herein contends that political considerations were the driving force behind the establishment of police organizations and the subsequent professionalization of policing, particularly since the 1930s. This study also elucidates the political directives issued to the police organization by the government, the successive phases of police training, and the legal framework governing the restructuring of the police institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the globe school autonomy reforms have been criticised for opening up public assets to various dangers or risks, from misappropriation of public monies by private sponsors to secretive governance structures maintained by homophilic groups. While these risks are not the exclusive product of school autonomy reforms, they are an endemic feature of the conditions made possible by these reforms, namely 'depoliticisation', 'corporatisation', 'endogenous privatisation', and 'disintermediation'. In response international organisations and national governments have called for improved accountability amid fears of corruption and governance failure. In this paper, we take a fresh look at the existing literature on school autonomy through a unique focus on risk as a rationality of government. Specifically, we adopt a governmentality perspective of school autonomy reforms in England and Australia to capture the significance of risk to recalibrations of education governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a researcher-practitioner action inquiry which was used to explore children's sensory experiences with a focus on the sense of smell (olfaction). We critically considered the early childhood theories that positioned children's sensory learning within equitable, socially just early childhood approaches and connected them to an action inquiry approach. The data comprise a systematic documentation of the odours experienced by children in the classroom, an olfactory log of the kindergarten space as well as children's 'smellmaps' from outdoor 'smellwalks'. We interpret children's olfactory experiences and reflect on the ways in which the multi-sensory approach to literacy might extend the field's understanding of the multi-dimensional ways in which educational researchers and practitioners can cultivate their joint inquiries in early childhood education. We present implications for adopting an olfactory researcher-practitioner collaboration in early childhood and conclude that such an approach exemplifies a sensorially sensitive early childhood curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In every sector, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of mental health resources for wellbeing. Although scholars have long recognized the interdependent relationship between academic success and positive mental health, research that can be used to guide mental health service design and delivery in post-secondary institutions is relatively unexplored. Further, the experiences of practitioners, in their day-to-day operations toward understanding and responding to student mental health problems, are an under-recognized source of data that can contribute to more effective planning and implementation. The objective of this project is to use practitioner action research principles to design, implement, and evaluate a mental health and addiction services plan at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. This paper details what occurred in the plan-act-observe-reflect cycles as practitioners gathered qualitative data using interviews and the World Café methodology. Results show improvement in student satisfaction ratings with on-campus mental health services. Our experience reveals that practitioner action research is a useful framework for practitioners seeking a systematic process to contribute to both fields of knowledge and fields of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents findings from a four-year collaboration focused on building the research capacity of educators at a university laboratory school. The Comprehensive Educator Research Program (CERP) intentionally builds the research capacity of educators, leadership, and counselors throughout the school using action research within their own practice. The foundational principles of the program are reviewed, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the partners involved. Data sources included a survey of the educators involved in the program, reflections from program facilitators, and an analysis of the action research projects and dissemination outcomes from educators across the program. Findings highlight the importance of self-selection of research topics, evolving opportunities for involvement in the research process and layered support structures within and outside the laboratory school. This project has shown that teachers can produce a rigorous amount of classroom and school-based research that includes data that has historically been left out of many data-informed decisions made in educational research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education policies are typically anchored in official texts that provide a foundation for their enactment in schools. What are the implications of an invisible policy not anchored in any official text due to political motives? This study explores the enactment of an invisible education policy that regulates religious enclave schools. These schools' curricula are the source of frequent conflict between states and religious enclave communities. The study draws on the case of the National Haredi Education (NHE) reform in Israel that enabled ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) private schools in Israel to affiliate with a new stream of public schools whose regulations were not anchored in any official text. The data comprised interviews with principals, teachers, and supervisors, as well as document analysis. The findings showed that the enactment of the NHE policy was primarily manifested in invisible changes, such as teacher professionalisation and pupil assessment. Curricular changes visible to the wider school community were enacted differently in different schools. Our findings also characterised the implications of the NHE policy's invisibility. The lack of institutional recognition hindered the reform, but the autonomy of the implementing agents enabled them to promote changes within their purview and become policy entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Athenaeum: Polskie Studia Politologiczne is the property of Faculty of Political Science & Security Studies Nicolaus Copernicus University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive model for understanding and enhancing cultural capital within the national sports system. Methodology: This research adopts a qualitative grounded theory approach, specifically utilizing the Strauss and Corbin method (2008). Data were collected through in-depth, open-ended interviews with 20 experts in academic and executive sports environments. The interviews were analyzed using open coding, axial coding, and selective coding to identify key concepts and categories. The study also incorporated library studies and document reviews to supplement the interview data. The validity and reliability of the findings were assessed through expert reviews and inter-rater agreement methods. Findings: The analysis revealed several critical factors influencing cultural capital in the national sports system, categorized under main constructs such as sports tradition, professional status of sports, sports in society, economy, and education. Intervention conditions like policy status, unexpected events, development indices, media, politics, cultural macro-conditions, and geographic distribution were identified as significant influencers. Background conditions included values, social class diversity, organizational culture, meritocracy, and job security. The study identified strategic responses as either pattern-centered or conventional interactions leading towards globalization. These strategies significantly impacted social mobility and the priorities within the sports field. Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive model for understanding and developing cultural capital within the national sports system. It underscores the multifaceted nature of cultural capital and its critical role in fostering participation, professionalization, and social mobility in sports. The findings highlight the necessity for robust policy frameworks, educational initiatives, and financial support mechanisms to enhance cultural capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group-Analytic View on Processes of Institutionalization in Feminist Anti-Violence-Activities: The Stony Path of Implementing Ideals The aim of this paper is to analyze and reflect on paradox development processes in feminist anti-violence activities based on experiences as supervisor. Starting point is the relevance of founding ideals, connected hopes and disappointments and their conscious and unconscious effects. First the development of anti-violent projects will be sketched out as social framework, followed by structural challenges through institutionalization and professionalization, ambivalent effects of feminist principles and supra-individual splitting mechanisms as a way of coping. The summary looks at successes, dilemmas and resulting tasks for feminist anti-violence activities and for group-analytic supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job crafting offers an exciting way to understand how people engineer their jobs to create more meaningful work. Work is meaningful if workers perceive their work as significant and serving an important purpose. To examine how four early childhood educators individually and collaboratively craft their work, the study reported here examines data from a case study in a Canadian daycare centre collected over a 16-month period by participating in theory/practice inquiry meetings and individual educator interviews. Educators develop an individual understanding of their job's requirements, individual beliefs and values but also acquire a shared understanding as they collaboratively craft their work in daily informal discussions. Explicit collaborative job crafting could contribute to professional development and improved job satisfaction for Early Childhood Education and Care practitioners. To develop an explicit collaborative understanding of their profession co-workers and supervisors need enabling working conditions such as opportunities and support for professional knowledge sharing, professional reflection, continuous training, and therefore ongoing professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Public Health Forum is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Politica: Tidsskrift for Politisk Videnskab is the property of Politica: Tidsskrift for Politisk Videnskab and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Job profiles in German adult education are manifold, and the requirements for engaging in professional activity are only minimally regulated by the state. It is primarily the providers in adult education who decide on access to the professional field and influence the historical development of job profiles. The article presents findings from a historical longitudinal analysis of job advertisements and other historical documents, focusing on the historical genesis of job profiles in adult education in the Federal Republic of Germany. The analysis draws on theoretical concepts from "Economics of Convention" (EC) research on occupational categories, intermediaries, and labor markets. The results demonstrate that the conception, dissemination, and long-term establishment of a specific job profile for adult education were only made possible through the interaction of different actors, each taking on different intermediary functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports results of a survey about employment and compensation models for clinical ethics consultants working in the United States and discusses the relevance of these results for the professionalization of clinical ethics. This project uses self-reported data from healthcare ethics consultants to estimate compensation across different employment models. The average full-time annualized salary of respondents with a clinical doctorate is $188,310.08 (SD=$88,556.67), $146,134.85 (SD=$55,485.63) for those with a non-clinical doctorate, and $113,625.00 (SD=$35,872.96) for those with a masters as their highest degree. Pay differences across degree level and type were statistically significant (F = 3.43; p <.05). In a multivariate model, there is an average increase of $2,707.84 for every additional year of experience, controlling for having a clinical doctorate (ß=0.454; p <.01). Our results also show high variability in the backgrounds and experiences of healthcare ethics consultants and a wide variety of employment models. The significant variation in employment and compensation models is likely to pose a challenge for the professionalization of healthcare ethics consultation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Aksaray University Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences / Aksaray Üniversitesi Iktisadi ve Idari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Aksaray University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Airbnb has created a significant incentive to invest in real-estate with the purpose of short-term accommodation provision in touristic cities. The robust growth of Airbnb supply has been accompanied with an increasing professionalization of the platform, contributing to such challenges as overtourism and gentrification. The main aim of this analysis is to examine the spatial characteristics of Airbnb supply in Barcelona, Berlin and London, focussing on the differences between offers that belong to non-professional and professional hosts. Based on Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis techniques the study demonstrates that listings that belong to professional hosts are more concentrated in city centres, and are more influenced by the location of tourist attractions and hotels than non-professional offers. On the other hand, non-professional listings facilitate a spatially more diverse accommodation supply. The results suggest that professional offers may contribute more to the negative effects of Airbnb on local residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Die Urologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Guanxi is a ubiquitous, intricate, and enduring characteristic of Chinese society and permeates virtually every aspect of Chinese life. Drug policing is no exception. This study attempts to clarify the concept of guanxi and illustrate how guanxi affects police professionalisation in China through observing drug policing conducted by two Anti-Drug Squads and one Anti-Drug Corps in Jixiang City in China and interviewing 25 anti-drug police officers. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. This article defines guanxi as a long-term, interpersonal, and transmittable relationship that is connected by ganqing (affective bonds) and renqing (instrumental bonds). It involves mianzi (face and reputation) maintenance and social reciprocity. It highlights the importance of the Guanxi Base, which has often been omitted in previous literature. It argues that guanxi may result in unfair police management and give rise to renqing cases that undermine police professionalisation and the rule of law. Furthermore, it is argued that police professionalisation may bring about some resistance to political interference, particularly when it violates the law. However, guanxi operates smoothly within legal boundaries during drug policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth work has become a well-developed European field of activity in terms of structure and content, not at least since the adoption of the European Youth Work Agenda (2020). Through a meta-synthesis of three structural studies on youth work in Europe, this article provides three main considerations. Firstly, the article makes an analytical distinction between European youth work and youth work in Europe, thus clarifying the general concept of "youth work". Secondly, this analytical distinction helps to systematise and classify the topics being dealt with by actors in the field of youth work: youth work as a European framework (role of European documents; transfer between levels; youth work in times of crises), youth work development at the national, regional and local level (youth work legal framework; funding; recognition, quality and professionalisation; innovations), and the multi-dimensional challenges of shrinking spaces for both young people and youth work (youth work as an independent field of action; shortage of skilled labour; austerity measures; young people moving away; rise of extremism). Thirdly, the discursive openings the different concepts and narratives of youth work can offer are outlined. In this way, the article hopes to contribute to the (further) development of youth work theory in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background. The reforms of universities in the early 19th century created a unique system of equal faculties: the previously preparatory faculty of philosophy divided into two faculties, one is history and philology and another one is physics and mathematics that changed the task from training future law and medical students to training staff for public service, primarily teachers for the developing network of schools. In 1828 the new statute of gymnasiums appeared, it was oriented towards the classical system that’s why the state needed mathematics teachers, but in the late 1830s physics and mathematics faculties were divided into departments of mathematical and natural sciences. This did not fit into the paradigm of school education, as there were no vacancies for science teachers in gymnasiums. The author proves the hypothesis about the school orientation of mathematics departments and the absence of it for the natural sciences departments. This hypothesis is also supported by the absence of state vacancies for natural sciences students. Purpose is to analyze the politics of the Ministry of Public Education in the sphere of training of pedagogical staff for secondary schools at the physics and mathematics departments of the universities of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Materials and methods. The main research methods were historical-genetic and historical-comparative, which allowed to describe the studied phenomenon in its development and in the context of secondary school reforming. This research is based on statistical data extracted from archival documents and published in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, as well as opinion pieces on the organisation of teacher training at universities, which developed in the 1860s. Results. When physics and mathematics faculties appeared in the early 19th century, the Ministry of Public Education gave them the function of training teachers for the forming network of secondary schools, especially gymnasiums. However, the pedagogical institutes opened at universities had the task of training not only school teachers but also university teachers. By the end of the 1820s it was already clear that the pedagogical institutes could not cope with these broad powers, so the functions were divided and teacher training was entrusted to the renewed pedagogical institutes. University students, rather than graduates, were enrolled in them. An important role in the organization of pedagogical institutes under the statute of 1835 belonged to the new statute of gymnasiums of 1828, which made a turn to classical education. According to this law, gymnasiums did not need teachers of natural history, but only teachers of mathematics and physics. In this connection, the division of physics and mathematics faculties into departments of mathematical and natural sciences, adopted in 1836, entailed a division of functions: the mathematical departments were responsible for training teachers, while the natural sciences departments were deprived of such an opportunity. Apparently, the goal of training future economic managers such as landlords and public staff was envisioned for them. The pedagogical institutes were closed in the 1850s, and in 1860 they were replaced by pedagogical courses. The new statute of gymnasiums of 1864, somewhat oriented towards real education, did not last long and was finally replaced by the classical one in 1871. The victory of the classicist lobby in the ministry also affected the training of pedagogical staff at universities: pedagogical courses were closed in 1866, and the faculty of physics and mathematics was left without any pedagogical training at all. Classical gymnasiums allocated very few hours (2 hours per week during only one year) to natural science, and real education did not entitle graduates to enter universities. Even though natural sciences were included in the course of study of real schools in a larger number, they were more oriented to technical high schools. This created a kind of vicious circle: graduates of gymnasiums entered universities, but gymnasiums did not give a good preparation in natural science, which was studied at the natural sciences departments, graduates of these departments could count on vacancies not in gymnasiums, but in real schools and other types of schools, graduates of which were not admitted to universities without examinations.

Gamification is a powerful tool of modern education, but its successful implementation requires careful planning that takes into account the academic context and the individual needs of students. The authors tested a new narrative model of gamification, which integrated game elements and storylines to create a more interactive and motivating learning environment. The model involved stories and scenarios that linked various tasks and activities to immerse students in professionally relevant situations. The model was based on gamification principles, game mechanics, interactive tasks, social interaction, and adaptive feedback. The narrative contextualized learning, thus enhancing students’ engagement, motivation, and professional identity. The experiment (September-December 2023) gamified a course of Professional Ethics and involved first-year students of Clinical Psychology (n = 31), Voino-Yasenetsky Krasnoyarsk State Medical University. The narrative model of gamification fostered a more positive attitude towards the future profession, increased students’ engagement, and enhanced their interest in the academic process. Storylines, roles, personages, problematic situations, and unpredictability ensured students’ deep immersion in professional situations and contributed to the development of important ethical and professional qualities. Gamification has a great potential for improving the quality of higher education, making the learning routine more exciting and effective.

Internationally, professionalization has become a key policy strategy targeting quality improvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC), utilizing top-down managerial strategies including implementation of quality standards and increased workforce qualifications. Set against this backdrop, this study explored educators' accounts of their professional status and professionalism in their work. Data were collected from a representative sample of Australian educators (n = 98) participating in a national ECEC workforce study. Educator accounts were inductively and deductively coded, while statistical analysis examined association of codes with educator personal and professional characteristics. Educators overwhelmingly named their work as a profession, with three categories of explanation: purpose (educating children), qualification, and public opinions. However, analysis of educator accounts of their work practices, drawing on Moss's (2006) understandings of the ECEC workforce, found that less than half of the educators presented their roles as other than technical or nurturing/laboring. Degree qualified teachers were more likely than less qualified educators to define professionalization in terms of purpose and professionalism in terms of autonomous decisions based on expert knowledge. Policy or practice: The study provides grassroots perspectives on professionalization and professionalism in ECEC and draws attention to three areas of misalignment between current policy and educators' views and practices that require attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores external facilitation for school improvement; more specifically, it examines the practical work of external facilitators. It is based on a Swedish case in which facilitators at the Swedish National Agency for Education support low-performing schools. The article aims to develop knowledge about how external facilitators in their practical work both promote and prevent developed understanding and improvement capacity. Based on observations and documents, facilitators' endeavours and critical situations in their work to support school improvement are identified. The findings show five different endeavours to promote development of understanding and improvement capacity. However, they also show how taking ownership, simplification, and model focus, three of five identified recurring critical situations, prevent such development. The conclusion is that there are several aspects for external facilitators to balance to promote school improvement and turn around low-performing schools. When planning for external facilitation, it is important to consider how the facilitators' practical work can be adapted to the local contexts of those who are facilitated in order to promote their ownership of the processes. Without balance and adaptation, external facilitation can lead to deprofessionalisation instead of development of improvement capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The purpose of the scoping review is to develop understandings around the high demand for in-home healthcare for the aged and how to find ways to better support declining numbers of in-home care workers and healthcare professionals. The scoping review highlights the role of human resource management (HRM) in this sector. Design/methodology/approach: This scoping review of literature takes a systematic approach to identify themes on the aged care sector and levels of support for in-home care. We map the literature from specific databases to find themes. Findings: It is important for HRM of aged care service providers to understand the key issues around homecare workers and healthcare professionals. There are key issues for stakeholders, such as clients' health needs, organizations struggling to recruit and retain healthcare workers, and it is critical to know how such issues impact on clients and the healthcare workforce. Originality/value: There is a dearth of literature on in-home care for the aged, and therefore, we contribute to understandings about the competing pressures surrounding the demand for in-home care versus the declining number of homecare workers and professional healthcare workers in this sector. We highlight the lack of HRM support from aged care providers and the impact on homecare workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coaches in youth sport stand as crucial actors in the implementation of policies and rights. But there are expectations, stresses, and pressures on the coaches from parents, the culture, sport governance, local organizations, as well as the children, that work implicitly or explicitly, either as supports or obstructions. Thus, the vital aim of this article is to present and discuss the dilemmas in acting as a coach in youth football, at a minor level – at a 'street-level', Hence, Michael Lipsky's study on several professions (in service and welfare) and, especially, his thesis on 'street-level bureaucracy' stands basically as the important influence in the design, presentation and final discussion and statements. The article is grounded in an empirical study, labelled as FC Countryside, which embodies and exemplifies a large number of Swedish football clubs in the lower divisions. These coaches in youth sports are regularly recruited and engaged as volunteers. Despite this position, due to sport policies, demands on skills and knowledge and the implementation of rights, they are subject to an increasing professionalization process of football in general. The discussion, due to the empirical findings, present the coaches as semi-professionals, and as 'street-level coaches', in the perspectives of Lipsky. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coaching in Scandinavia is characterized by tensions between voluntary ideals and increased demands for professionalization. This paper examines the origins and content of such demands, how voluntary run and governed football clubs translate them into practices, and the impact of professionalization on the coach role. Within an organizational perspective, our analysis is framed by institutional theory and a translation perspective and draw on data from interviews with representatives of Norwegian football clubs. The results show how demands for professionalization are translated into (new) practices in football clubs and lead to (more) professionalization of the coach role. In a 'top-down' trajectory, professionalization is characterized by bureaucratization driven by a need to satisfy the Norwegian Football Federation and Norwegian Elite Football. In a 'bottom-up' trajectory, professionalization is characterized by individualization driven by pressures from members to tailor-make the club's service offer. In a 'trickle-sideways' trajectory, professionalization is characterized by marketization driven by the establishment of private football academies that exert pressure on football clubs to adapt to a more customer-oriented membership base. In conclusion, this examination highlights the multidimensional character of the professionalization of the coach role and emphasizes the need for further research on the broader ramifications of professionalization in contexts characterized by voluntary ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the introduction of a national system for upper-secondary sport schools in Sweden in the 1970s, these institutions have been an important environment for developments in training and coaching. This is particularly true for cross-country skiing, where these schools quickly became an obligatory passage point. Coaches at the sport schools, often formally employed as PE teachers, were among the first professionalized endurance sport coaches in Sweden. This article examines how communities of practice have influenced the professionalization process of XC ski coaches at Swedish sport schools. The results show how being part of this community is conditioned on personal experience of active learning, historically as a skier yourself and currently as a coach who participates in the everyday work. The strong communities of practice have enabled coaches to maintain a high degree of self--governance and ensured that experiential knowledge remain important in relation to scientific knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine the professionalization coaching in Norway, focusing on the years between 1990 and 2020. During this period, Norway started to perform comparatively well in international elite sport. Data are drawn from two relatively separate fields of Norwegian elite sport, namely elite football for men and the Norwegian organization for elite sports' (Olympiatoppen) programme for future elite sport coaches. In our analysis, we rely on two sets of concepts: Giddens' notion of reflexivity in late modern society, and Foucault's concept of pastoral power. When concepts and methods from both the natural and the social sciences enter the clutches of elite sport, academic perspectives transform into recipes that aim to help athletes achieve more. The more the coach knows about the athlete, the better she can plan for training sessions. On the other hand, it creates a risk of manipulation and abuse of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until the 1960s, the elite coach was shadowed by elected representatives and amateur players. Since then, the professionalization process has transferred power to the coaches. As this process is intertwined with the commercialization of sport, the aim of this article is to advance the understanding of the impact of commercialization on the elite coach in a Scandinavian context. Through the lens of governmentality, and the Swedish men's elite football coach as the example, the study shows how commercialization has impacted the coach's power and responsibilities in the club, the relationships with the athletes, and with external stakeholders. The study draws on the board minutes and annual reports of a football club, education material from the Swedish coach education programme, and interviews with six former coaches. The results show that the governmentality of commercialization has placed the coach in the limelight, that they are responsible for guiding the players' actions to enhance their economic value, and are the club's outward face to convince external stakeholders to invest in football. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]