Margaret Haughey

Respite—A Coping Strategy for Family Caregivers

The caregiver respite experience is seen as one way to moderate the negative consequences of caregiving. From an interpretivist research orientation, this study explored how 10 family care-givers of persons with dementia experienced respite. From a coping theoretical perspective, the caregiver respite experience is discussed as a process of “getting out” of the caregiver world, and is linked to avoidance strategies of emotion-focused coping. The following three phases within the coping dimension of the respite experience were found: caregivers recognizing their need to get out of the caregiver world, giving themselves permission to actually get out from it temporarily, and having the appropriate social support resources available to facilitate the getting out. The critical practice and research implications linked to caregivers’ability to acknowledge their need for respite are described.

The Impact of Computers on the Work of the Principal: Changing Discourses on Talk, Leadership and Professionalism

This paper, based on a two-year study involving interviews with 30 principals about the impact of computers on their work, explores their responses through the concepts of talk, distributed leadership, professionalization and knowledge management. Gronns elucidation of the ways power is handled through discourse is an interesting counterpoint to the principals’ accounts of the use of email and the push for immediacy. The current emphasis on distributed leadership mimics the distributive power of the network. There is some evidence that schools are becoming networks rather than hierarchies while professionalization has created communities that go beyond the boundaries of the school. Knowledge management is evident both in regulated activities and in informal communities used to support the dynamic structure of school life.

Literacy Achievement in Small Grade 1 Classes in High-Poverty Environments

We explored the influence of three interventions on the literacy achievement of grade-1 students in 10 schools in high poverty environments: small class size, a focus on literacy, and teachers’ continuing professional development. Despite the short-term nature of the project, the students made noteworthy gains in reading and writing, as measured on test scores. In interviews, teachers, principals, students, and parents described not only the general advantages of small classes, but also the additional benefits accruing from an instructional focus on literacy and from teachers’ continuing professional development. La recherche porte sur l’influence de trois facteurs sur les resultats en alphabetisation d’eleves de premiere annee dans dix ecoles de quartiers defavorises : petite classe, accent sur l’alphabetisation et perfectionnement professionnel des enseignants. En depit de la courte duree du projet, les eleves ont fait des progres remarquables en lecture et en ecriture, comme en temoignent les notes obtenues. Au cours d’entrevues, les enseignants, les directeurs d’ecole, les eleves et les parents ont decrit non seulement les avantages lies aux petites classes, mais aussi les bienfaits derives de l’accent mis sur l’alphabetisation et de la formation professionnelle continue des enseignants.

Technical expertise and teacher growth: results of a teacher evaluation policy impact study

Analysis of the findings from this provincial study point to the difficulties raised by the use of double objectives ‐‐ inspection of teaching and improvement of student learning ‐‐ in teacher evaluation policies. The policy assumes that one is directly connected to the other and that the conditions under which one is conducted are also conducive to the realization of the second objective. In practice, these proved to be horns of a dilemma. We have to respect the lived experiences of teachers and administrators about teacher evaluation and we have to find a way to be accountable to the public Practices which help resolve this dilemma are identified as those most likely to emphasise student success and to reaffirm the importance of professional growth for all educators.

The Introduction of Online Learning: A case study of YCMOU

There are many reasons why Indian open universities are adding online learning opportunities to their course offerings. Two universities, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), have been developing online aspects of their programs for some years. This article documents the experiences at IGNOU and then examines the situation for online development at YCMOU. Lessons can be learned from both experiences. These include being strategic in choosing which courses to offer, and in deciding which services to develop for which clientele. Choosing those that will bring the greatest enhancement in flexibility and efficiency for the least amount of new skill requirement from learners is likely to be of biggest benefit. Keeping cognizant of the computing context of learner sub‐groups and enhancing learning through additional optional online services is most likely to result in effective courses and quality student services while maintaining efficiencies in financial logistics.

The Impact of ICT on the Work of the School Principal

Principals’ work has been affected through the use of information and communication technology (ICT): management information systems have regularized, enforced, and revealed inconsistencies that need to be addressed; e-mail has increased and intensified interactions and expectations within the school and with central administration. ICT have given teachers more information about students but they have also made teaching more transparent and accessible. Similarly, the principals’ work is more visible to central administrators. As principals and teachers become more comfortable and competent in using ICT it is likely they will develop school-wide instructional as well as administrative responses to ICT.