title: Work attitudes and well-being among virtual workers

authors: Witzel, Marisa

subjects: virtual work

abstract: The present study examined how certain characteristics of flexible work, the home environment, and the individual impact the outcomes of work-family conflict, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and psychological strain.  
	A questionnaire measuring perceptions of control, flexibility, job involvement, family involvement, work to family and family to work conflict, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, family support, physical boundaries, workplace isolation, psychological strain, personality, and demographic information was created and posted online.  An email was circulated to 390 virtual sales employees from one large organisation in the United States inviting them to participate in the study, and 278 people responded.  
Results identified characteristics of the type of work, work enivronment, and the individual that are predictive of individual and organisational outcomes. Findings supported hypotheses that control, flexibility, and family support positively impact the outcomes of conflict, satisfaction, and strain for virtual workers.  Job involvement was found as predicted to positively impact work to family conflict, and family involvement was positively related to family to work conflict.  Contrary to predictions, a negative relationship was found between job involvement and strain, suggesting that those who identify more highly with their job also 
experience less strain. Consistent with earlier studies, workplace isolation was associated with reduced job satisfaction and organisational commitment (Marshall, Michaels, and Mulki, 2007). In line with boundary theory (Voydanoff, 2005), it was hypothesised that the presence of physical boundaries between work and non work domains would significantly impact measures of conflict and strain for virtual workers. However, results indicated no significant effects.
A comparison of perceptions of work-family conflict between individuals with children at home and those without illustrated no significant differences between employees with children at home and those without.  Speculated explanations for inconsistent findings are addressed in the discussion chapter.
	Work to family conflict was predicted to mediate the relationship between flexibility and job satisfaction for virtual workers, and analysis supported the presence of partial mediation.  Family to work conflict was also predicted to mediate the flexibility and job satisfaction relationship, however, results were not significant in this case.  Uses of workspace (i.e. for work, leisure, family activities, etc.) were tested as mediator for the relationship between family to work conflict and job satisfaction, and results did not support a mediation effect.  
	In sum, findings of this study identify sources of both positive and negative outcomes for people working from home.  Although individuals' experiences working virtually differ greatly, this study identifies common  
challenges and issues they face.  By pinpointing the sources of conflict, satisfaction, commitment, and strain in the home office, organisations and individuals can take steps to protect workers against negative outcomes, and maximise positive outcomes.  Implications and limitations of this study are discussed in the final chapter.

text: Work attitudes and well-being among virtual workers The present study examined how certain characteristics of flexible work, the home environment, and the individual impact the outcomes of work-family conflict, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and psychological strain.  
	A questionnaire measuring perceptions of control, flexibility, job involvement, family involvement, work to family and family to work conflict, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, family support, physical boundaries, workplace isolation, psychological strain, personality, and demographic information was created and posted online.  An email was circulated to 390 virtual sales employees from one large organisation in the United States inviting them to participate in the study, and 278 people responded.  
Results identified characteristics of the type of work, work enivronment, and the individual that are predictive of individual and organisational outcomes. Findings supported hypotheses that control, flexibility, and family support positively impact the outcomes of conflict, satisfaction, and strain for virtual workers.  Job involvement was found as predicted to positively impact work to family conflict, and family involvement was positively related to family to work conflict.  Contrary to predictions, a negative relationship was found between job involvement and strain, suggesting that those who identify more highly with their job also 
experience less strain. Consistent with earlier studies, workplace isolation was associated with reduced job satisfaction and organisational commitment (Marshall, Michaels, and Mulki, 2007). In line with boundary theory (Voydanoff, 2005), it was hypothesised that the presence of physical boundaries between work and non work domains would significantly impact measures of conflict and strain for virtual workers. However, results indicated no significant effects.
A comparison of perceptions of work-family conflict between individuals with children at home and those without illustrated no significant differences between employees with children at home and those without.  Speculated explanations for inconsistent findings are addressed in the discussion chapter.
	Work to family conflict was predicted to mediate the relationship between flexibility and job satisfaction for virtual workers, and analysis supported the presence of partial mediation.  Family to work conflict was also predicted to mediate the flexibility and job satisfaction relationship, however, results were not significant in this case.  Uses of workspace (i.e. for work, leisure, family activities, etc.) were tested as mediator for the relationship between family to work conflict and job satisfaction, and results did not support a mediation effect.  
	In sum, findings of this study identify sources of both positive and negative outcomes for people working from home.  Although individuals' experiences working virtually differ greatly, this study identifies common  
challenges and issues they face.  By pinpointing the sources of conflict, satisfaction, commitment, and strain in the home office, organisations and individuals can take steps to protect workers against negative outcomes, and maximise positive outcomes.  Implications and limitations of this study are discussed in the final chapter.

year: 2008

title: A contextualized report on the impact of pre-service training on language teachers in Taiwan

authors: Johnson, Diane

abstract: The beliefs and practices of contemporary language teachers who have undergone professional training are expected to reflect some of the major changes and developments that have been reported in the literature on language teaching and learning. To determine whether this is actually the case, a large-scale research project was initiated at the University of Waikato in New Zealand a decade ago. Twelve PhD students have conducted research involving over 1,200 teachers of five different languages in a number of different countries . Each of the students has used a mixed method approach that combines questionnaire-based surveys with semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. .....

text: A contextualized report on the impact of pre-service training on language teachers in Taiwan The beliefs and practices of contemporary language teachers who have undergone professional training are expected to reflect some of the major changes and developments that have been reported in the literature on language teaching and learning. To determine whether this is actually the case, a large-scale research project was initiated at the University of Waikato in New Zealand a decade ago. Twelve PhD students have conducted research involving over 1,200 teachers of five different languages in a number of different countries . Each of the students has used a mixed method approach that combines questionnaire-based surveys with semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. .....

year: 2015

title: Education leaders can reduce educational disparities

authors: Bishop, Russell

subjects: education

abstract: This chapter is about how education leaders can act to reduce educational disparities for indigenous and other minoritized peoples through strategic goal setting, supporting effective pedagogies of relations, promoting distributed leadership, enacting inclusivity, using evidence and owning the need for reform. Examples are drawn from a large-scale, theory-based education reform project called Te Kotahitanga which is currently running in 50 secondary schools in New Zealand. Developing a model for effective leadership needs to commence with the understanding that the key to change is teacher action supported by responsive structural reform (Elmore 2004). In our earlier work (Bishop et al. 2003, 2007) we investigated what effective teacher action looks like. This chapter presents a model of what “responsive structural reform” looks like in practice and what leaders need to do to implement and sustain gains made in student performance at the classroom, school and system-wide levels.

text: Education leaders can reduce educational disparities This chapter is about how education leaders can act to reduce educational disparities for indigenous and other minoritized peoples through strategic goal setting, supporting effective pedagogies of relations, promoting distributed leadership, enacting inclusivity, using evidence and owning the need for reform. Examples are drawn from a large-scale, theory-based education reform project called Te Kotahitanga which is currently running in 50 secondary schools in New Zealand. Developing a model for effective leadership needs to commence with the understanding that the key to change is teacher action supported by responsive structural reform (Elmore 2004). In our earlier work (Bishop et al. 2003, 2007) we investigated what effective teacher action looks like. This chapter presents a model of what “responsive structural reform” looks like in practice and what leaders need to do to implement and sustain gains made in student performance at the classroom, school and system-wide levels.

year: 2011