title: Considering 'The Professional' in communication studies: Implications for theory and research within and beyond the boundaries of organizational communication

authors: Cheney, George

subjects: professionalism

abstract: This essay positions contemporary "professionalism" as a contested term and a nexus of important theoretical and practical concerns for communication scholars, including, for example, those engaged in the empirical, interpretive, and critical examinations of culture and the self. We advance communication-based understandings of the meanings and practices of professionalism as a complement to the predominantly sociological conceptions of the rise and place of the professional in modern industrialized societies. We are deliberately playful with the term professionalism in demonstrating the power of its ambiguity for reflecting, shaping, and indexing particular kinds of social relations and expectations for them. Part of our argument concerns the complex interplay of symbolism and materiality in the domains of interaction and artifacts surrounding "the professional," and especially its embodiment in work and other settings. This brings us directly to an examination of the "intersectionality" of aspects of difference in the world of the professional (and by implication, the nonprofessional), including race, gender, and class, and to observe a broad-based cultural dialectic of the civilized and the primitive. Finally, we briefly consider extensions as relevant to domains of communication studies beyond the accustomed domain of organizational communication.

text: Considering 'The Professional' in communication studies: Implications for theory and research within and beyond the boundaries of organizational communication This essay positions contemporary "professionalism" as a contested term and a nexus of important theoretical and practical concerns for communication scholars, including, for example, those engaged in the empirical, interpretive, and critical examinations of culture and the self. We advance communication-based understandings of the meanings and practices of professionalism as a complement to the predominantly sociological conceptions of the rise and place of the professional in modern industrialized societies. We are deliberately playful with the term professionalism in demonstrating the power of its ambiguity for reflecting, shaping, and indexing particular kinds of social relations and expectations for them. Part of our argument concerns the complex interplay of symbolism and materiality in the domains of interaction and artifacts surrounding "the professional," and especially its embodiment in work and other settings. This brings us directly to an examination of the "intersectionality" of aspects of difference in the world of the professional (and by implication, the nonprofessional), including race, gender, and class, and to observe a broad-based cultural dialectic of the civilized and the primitive. Finally, we briefly consider extensions as relevant to domains of communication studies beyond the accustomed domain of organizational communication.

year: 2007

title: Statutory intervention: perceptions of New Zealand primary school principals and their experiences

authors: Cook, Sheralyn F.

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: Each year, a small number of New Zealand schools are identified as underperforming and require external leadership assistance, usually from the Ministry of Education. This support is implemented through a statutory intervention mechanism aimed to address underpinning issues such as governance and leadership matters, low student academic achievement, issues of finance, and student and staff wellbeing (Ministry of Education, 2017).
While statutory interventions have been enacted in New Zealand since 1994 as a mechanism to ‘turn a school around’, there is little research about what this experience is like for educational leaders, or how it affects their professional and personal lives. Within the turnaround school literature, educational leaders are often positioned as heroic leaders who seek to address students’ low academic performance by changing the school climate and culture, or as servant leaders who devote their life to the school.  There is, however, an omission within this literature on the countervailing pressures school leaders experience while seeking to implement change, and how these pressures affect the professional and personal lives of leaders.
Using Dewey’s theory of experiences, I examined the personal and professional experiences of three state primary school principals who were leading a school in statutory intervention.  The participating principals’ knowledge was lived, contextualised, shaped, and embedded within the professional-knowledge landscape of New Zealand primary schools (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007).  The stories told by the principals “express their personal understandings” (Elbaz-Luwisch, 2007, p. 367) of their experiences of leading and managing a school during a statutory intervention. 
The principals provided some key insights into their experiences of leading school change through complex, difficult situations. Working with statutory appointees provided a range of challenges for the principals, which included seeking to find common understandings of the issues within the school and the lack of contextual awareness from some appointees.  Complex and challenging issues relating to staff where highlight in the principals narratives.  Staff issues included a lack contextual and cultural awareness, deficit thinking with punitive classroom management systems, low teacher engagement with teaching and learning, resistant to change and traumatised staff.  
The principals also experienced issues professionally and personally.  Working in complex challenging schools resulted in the principals feeling isolated from other leaders. They felt no other principal had experienced nor understood their situation, therefore finding appropriate support and guidance was difficult.  Subsequently, the principals’ health and wellbeing began to suffer with significant consequences on their mental health and wellbeing.  
The principals involved in this study have been shaped and influenced by their experiences (Dewey, 1938). They are not the same principal who entered into a statutory intervention as the principal who emerged from it. Their experiences, the context of their schools and the interactions they had with their statutory appointee and school stakeholders, have influenced and shaped them personally and professionally.

text: Statutory intervention: perceptions of New Zealand primary school principals and their experiences Each year, a small number of New Zealand schools are identified as underperforming and require external leadership assistance, usually from the Ministry of Education. This support is implemented through a statutory intervention mechanism aimed to address underpinning issues such as governance and leadership matters, low student academic achievement, issues of finance, and student and staff wellbeing (Ministry of Education, 2017).
While statutory interventions have been enacted in New Zealand since 1994 as a mechanism to ‘turn a school around’, there is little research about what this experience is like for educational leaders, or how it affects their professional and personal lives. Within the turnaround school literature, educational leaders are often positioned as heroic leaders who seek to address students’ low academic performance by changing the school climate and culture, or as servant leaders who devote their life to the school.  There is, however, an omission within this literature on the countervailing pressures school leaders experience while seeking to implement change, and how these pressures affect the professional and personal lives of leaders.
Using Dewey’s theory of experiences, I examined the personal and professional experiences of three state primary school principals who were leading a school in statutory intervention.  The participating principals’ knowledge was lived, contextualised, shaped, and embedded within the professional-knowledge landscape of New Zealand primary schools (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007).  The stories told by the principals “express their personal understandings” (Elbaz-Luwisch, 2007, p. 367) of their experiences of leading and managing a school during a statutory intervention. 
The principals provided some key insights into their experiences of leading school change through complex, difficult situations. Working with statutory appointees provided a range of challenges for the principals, which included seeking to find common understandings of the issues within the school and the lack of contextual awareness from some appointees.  Complex and challenging issues relating to staff where highlight in the principals narratives.  Staff issues included a lack contextual and cultural awareness, deficit thinking with punitive classroom management systems, low teacher engagement with teaching and learning, resistant to change and traumatised staff.  
The principals also experienced issues professionally and personally.  Working in complex challenging schools resulted in the principals feeling isolated from other leaders. They felt no other principal had experienced nor understood their situation, therefore finding appropriate support and guidance was difficult.  Subsequently, the principals’ health and wellbeing began to suffer with significant consequences on their mental health and wellbeing.  
The principals involved in this study have been shaped and influenced by their experiences (Dewey, 1938). They are not the same principal who entered into a statutory intervention as the principal who emerged from it. Their experiences, the context of their schools and the interactions they had with their statutory appointee and school stakeholders, have influenced and shaped them personally and professionally.

year: 2021

title: Claiming spaces: Prioritising Maaori worldview

authors: Penehira, Mera

subjects: Maori

abstract: Ohomairangi Trust was established as a provider of early intervention services in February 2002. It is funded and accredited by the Ministry of Education, and is the first Kaupapa Maaori based early intervention service to be accredited by the Ministry of Education. Essentially Ohomairangi was developed because of a need in the community for a service that could focus on developing and providing early intervention in a uniquely Maaori way, without the constraints of a crown agency. The Ohomairangi early intervention team has a commitment to supporting both the positive developments for Maaori within the Ministry of Education, and the continued independent research and development of Kaupapa Maaori services. The primary purpose of Ohomairangi is to develop and provide a Kaupapa Maaori based early intervention service across Taamaki Makaurau, which meets recommended practice guidelines. This evolves from a starting point of Kaupapa Maaori theory.

text: Claiming spaces: Prioritising Maaori worldview Ohomairangi Trust was established as a provider of early intervention services in February 2002. It is funded and accredited by the Ministry of Education, and is the first Kaupapa Maaori based early intervention service to be accredited by the Ministry of Education. Essentially Ohomairangi was developed because of a need in the community for a service that could focus on developing and providing early intervention in a uniquely Maaori way, without the constraints of a crown agency. The Ohomairangi early intervention team has a commitment to supporting both the positive developments for Maaori within the Ministry of Education, and the continued independent research and development of Kaupapa Maaori services. The primary purpose of Ohomairangi is to develop and provide a Kaupapa Maaori based early intervention service across Taamaki Makaurau, which meets recommended practice guidelines. This evolves from a starting point of Kaupapa Maaori theory.

year: 2008