Area Of Professional Practice Research Articles

PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS' FIELD DEPENDENCE: CANADIAN EVIDENCE1,2

The cognitive styles of 113 practicing, professional accountants from Nova Scotia, Canada were examined using the Group Embedded Figures Test. They completed a demographic survey for descriptive information as well as their rank in the firm and preferred area of professional practice. Analysis suggested professional accountants tend to be more analytical than intuitive in cognitive style and, consistent with recent findings in other fields, men and women in accounting do not appear to be different in cognitive style. No statistically significant differences were found on the embedded figures scores across ranks of trainee, manager, and partner or across select, preferred areas of professional practice.

Public Accountants' Field Dependence: Canadian Evidence

The cognitive styles of 113 practicing, professional accountants from Nova Scotia, Canada were examined using the Group Embedded Figures Test. They completed a demographic survey for descriptive information as well as their rank in the firm and preferred area of professional practice. Analysis suggested professional accountants tend to be more analytical than intuitive in cognitive style and, consistent with recent findings in other fields, men and women in accounting do not appear to be different in cognitive style. No statistically significant differences were found on the embedded figures scores across ranks of trainee, manager, and partner or across select, preferred areas of professional practice.

Key writing challenges of practice-based doctorates

Building on the increasing interest within English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in postgraduate literacy development, this article examines the complexities of writing research at the academic/professional interface. It analyses two literature reviews by professional doctorate students at an Australian university who were writing research in their first language, English, about issues arising from their areas of professional practice. One of the student texts received a mostly negative evaluation from the disciplinary marker while the other received a mostly positive evaluation. Our analysis of the two texts identifies some key challenges of writing practice-based research, namely, framing a real-world problem as a research issue; incorporating one's own (and others’) professional knowledge; and using the literature to contextualise and theorise the issue under investigation. We propose that EAP-style pedagogies involving guided analysis of issues like these within research texts may benefit not only students writing in an L2 but also those struggling to write in their L1, and that more nuanced understandings of the textual expectations of practice-based research are needed so that student writers can learn to produce knowledge that will count within the academy.

Psychotherapy Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Psychotherapy is now an approach used within several models of neurorehabilitation. However, a core theoretical model to guide psychotherapeutic practice is lacking. This article attempts to illustrate how the Generic Model of Psychotherapy of Orlinsky and Howard, which emphasizes the common factors shared by many psychotherapies, can be applied in neurorehabilitation settings. A case report is presented to illustrate how this model can potentially inform psychotherapeutic practice. The use of a theoretical model to underpin psychotherapeutic interventions in neurorehabilitation settings has the potential to facilitate our understanding of the psychotherapeutic process following traumatic brain injury in this evolving area of professional practice.

Designing quality course management systems that foster intra-professional education

This paper draws on the experiences of the author in designing and implementing quality course management policies and procedures for vocational and higher educational programs, both overseas and in Australia. In particular, the paper focuses on those programs of study that require practicums within the curriculum. Whether these are clinical nursing placements, physiotherapy hands-on practical blocks or teacher training instruction, there are many principles of adult education that can be applied to the design and development of course management systems that foster inter-professional education. It is important that the components of any such system allow for a multi-faceted approach that relates collaborative learning to collaborative practice and supports a team of professionals through the skilled use of group-based learning, interactive assessments and inter-organisational processes and practices. The term 'course management system' is used here to describe all those policies and procedures that form the framework of any higher education department or faculty that has the overall responsibility for developing curriculum, teaching and learning resources that ensure quality educational outcomes for its students. In these days of multi-skilling, the benefits of inter-professional education may be significant. To guarantee that standards are kept high and learning outcomes are achievable, the management of an educational system must cover many areas of professional practice. It needs to be supported by all stakeholders in the organisation so that there is an environment of understanding, good interpersonal communication, supportive inter-group relations and an atmosphere of professionalism that is pervasive. This paper introduces a third definition to the model and suggests that intra-professional education be added to form a tripartite foundation for quality professional learning outcomes.

Changing the Way We Think in English Education: A Conversation in the Universal Barbershop

This essay extends Robert Yagelskiߣs discuss sustainability; in teacher education by examining how the processes of Cartesian-Newtonian thinking limit the ability of both standards reformers and English educators to think in genuinely new ways and to conceive of real change. The essay includes a discussion of how standards reform since the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 has been based on arguments and ways of thinking similar to reform measures in the early twentieth century. The essay also discusses four areas of professional practice toward which English teacher educators might look for guidance in initiating real change. One key point of reference is the work of David Bohm, a physicist and philosopher of science, whose critique of scientific thinking represents a unique way of understanding how to understand and reconfigure approaches to educational reform in the twenty-first century.

Designing quality course management systems that foster intra-professional education

This paper draws on the experiences of the author in designing and implementing quality course management policies and procedures for vocational and higher educational programs, both overseas and in Australia. In particular, the paper focuses on those programs of study that require practicums within the curriculum. Whether these are clinical nursing placements, physiotherapy hands-on practical blocks or teacher training instruction, there are many principles of adult education that can be applied to the design and development of course management systems that foster inter-professional education. It is important that the components of any such system allow for a multi-faceted approach that relates collaborative learning to collaborative practice and supports a team of professionals through the skilled use of group-based learning, interactive assessments and inter-organisational processes and practices. The term 'course management system' is used here to describe all those policies and procedures that form the framework of any higher education department or faculty that has the overall responsibility for developing curriculum, teaching and learning resources that ensure quality educational outcomes for its students. In these days of multi-skilling, the benefits of inter-professional education may be significant. To guarantee that standards are kept high and learning outcomes are achievable, the management of an educational system must cover many areas of professional practice. It needs to be supported by all stakeholders in the organisation so that there is an environment of understanding, good interpersonal communication, supportive inter-group relations and an atmosphere of professionalism that is pervasive. This paper introduces a third definition to the model and suggests that intra-professional education be added to form a tripartite foundation for quality professional learning outcomes.

Community development practice in a bicultural context: Aotearoa New Zealand

Community development as an academic discipline is concerned with the critical examination of how the forces of structural change, economic inte- gration, institutional development and renewal impact on the capacity of individuals, groups and communities for self-determination. As an area of professional practice, community development intervenes through distri- butive and collective strategies to enhance social justice and economic equity between groups and communities locally, nationally and internation- ally. These are achieved through development strategies that seek to increase the skills and capabilities of people to act on their own behalf to transform their communities through participation in economic, sociopoli- tical and institutional developments. For community development inter- vention to be effective, transforming and sustainable, it must be participatory; the process must be collaborative with members of the client community defining what their needs and issues are, what they con- sider to be their well-being and what processes would work best within their context. The need for community development intervention to ensure social justice and economic equity is particularly critical in societies where indigenous people and other minority ethno-cultural communities are marginalized by socio-economic and political processes such as coloni- zation, globalization and political and economic restructuring. The concept of 'community' used in the papers for this special issue of the Community Development Journal reflects the variety of settings and the diver- sity of community development practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. At one level, 'community' is used to refer to geographical locations such as rural and urban communities and, more specifically, neighbourhoods, but may also relate to a whole town or even region; whereas at another level it

Peer–Professional Workgroups in Palliative Care: A Strategy for Advancing Professional Discourse and Practice

As part of a comprehensive national effort to improve care at the end of life, the Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation convened "national peer-professional workgroups" of recognized authorities or leaders to advance palliative aspects of practice in their respective specialties or fields. The conveners' goals were to establish research and practice agendas to integrate palliative care within selected fields and health care settings, and to expand delivery of palliative care to special patient populations that have been underserved by palliative care. We hypothesized that leading professionals within specific fields, chartered to achieve clear goals, and then provided with sufficient administrative and logistical support, could develop recommendations for expanding access to, quality of and financing for palliative care within their disciplines. Staff at the national program office of Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care convened eight disease-based, specialty-based or issue-based workgroups (the selected workgroup topics were amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cost accounting, critical care, end-stage renal disease, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome [HIV/AIDS] disease, Huntington's disease, pediatric care, and surgical palliative care). The national program office implemented a small group process design in convening the groups, and provided coordination, oversight and administrative support, along with funds to support meetings (telephone and in-person). A workgroup "charter" guided groups in determining the scope of efforts and set specific, time-limited goals. From the outset, the workgroups developed plans for dissemination of workgroup recommendations to defined stakeholder audiences, including health care providers, policy-makers, payers, researchers, funders, educators, professional organizations and patient advocacy groups. Groups averaged 25 members and met for an average of 24 months. Promoting Excellence leadership chose workgroup topic areas that addressed patient populations underserved for palliative care, and corresponding professional specialties with demonstrated interest and readiness to improve education, evidence base, and professional expertise in palliative aspects of care. Each workgroup was highly productive and advanced changes in respective fields through developing and disseminating recommendations to their respective fields regarding practice, education, clinical and health service research and policy. Beyond their chartered responsibilities, workgroups also developed educational programs and curricula and a wide array of resources. The workgroups also authored articles for publication, intended to stimulate professional discourse and influence clinical norms and culture. The national peer-professional workgroup model exceeded original expectations and produced well-considered Recommendations to the Field as well as a body of resources for professionals in expanding access to and quality of palliative care. Results of this experimental venture in professional change suggest that the workgroup model may be a useful, cost-effective, rapid-change strategy for quality improvement in other areas of professional practice and service delivery.

Benchmarking human resource development: an emerging area of practice

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the potential for the application of benchmarking to human resource development (HRD) practice in the LIS sector.Design/methodology/approachThis paper outlines the principles of benchmarking, examines dimensions which may be useful in benchmarking HRD and focuses in particular on the potential for the application of benchmarking principles to HRD activity in the library and information services (LIS) sector. Several examples of emergent HRD benchmarking practice in the LIS sector are used to illustrate the application of benchmarking principles and methodologies.FindingsThe paper finds that HRD benchmarking has significant potential to become a powerful tool in ensuring good and improving HRD practice in the LIS sector.Practical implicationsThe paper offers practical information and advice to those considering the application of benchmarking principles and practices to HRD.Originality/valueThe paper examines an emergent area of professional practice in the LIS sector. As such it has particular relevance and applicability to those responsible for planning and managing in that sector.

The worth of natural light

Ransom in a negotiation traditionally has been accepted in rights of light, however, the recent ruling in Mid-Town v City of London Real Property Company [2005] EWHC33 (CH) challenges both this style of negotiation and the legal basis that has allowed parties to benefit financially from another development's aspirations. The developer awaits the inquiry into costs in this case and the issue of debate now is how will the court calculate the worth of a rights of light injury? The public attention that has been generated, due to this case, has brought light valuation methods into the open from what historically has been a closed area of professional practice frequented by only a few. This new focus on light has led some to ask if this method of valuation could hold the key to a new source of local government taxation based on the level of development profit.

Sharing practice: problems and possibilities

Sharing practice: problems and possibilities

Journey around Leadership

Ideas about leadership in education, as in other areas of professional practice, increasingly borrow from management and business thinking. In this article I provide a commentary and critique of contemporary leadership in the form of a narrative of my own experience as an educator in a business school. My experience as a woman teacher of largely male, adult management students has underscored my learning about and critique of leadership theory and my own aspirations as teacher and leader. Personal experience is interwoven with theoretical commentary to highlight the limitations of leadership discourses—too often disembodied, de‐gendered and de‐sexualized. By inserting my responses and feelings I also seek to subvert, or at least to add some different dimensions to, intellectualized and inert critiques of leadership. Learning about leadership, including engagement, reaction and contestation, is not just a cerebral undertaking, but emotion laden and thoroughly embodied. I sought to reflect these qualities in this article.

Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Orientation and Mobility Services in Public Schools

The related service areas of occupational therapy, physical therapy, and orientation and mobility share some areas of professional practice but are quite distinct in the way services allow children with disabilities to fully participate in contemporary school environments. This article presents an overview of the roles and responsibilities of professionals in these areas and how they offer their services to children with disabilities.

ASSESSING THE CANDIDATE AS A WHOLE: A HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT FOR PERSONNEL DECISION MAKING

Although individual assessment is a thriving area of professional practice in industry, it receives little, if any, attention from textbooks on industrial psychology or personnel management. This article is an attempt to establish individual assessment's place in the history of personnel selection, and to examine why the practice has survived despite receiving little attention in research and graduate training. It is argued that the clinical, holistic approach that has characterized individual‐assessment practice has survived primarily because the “elementalistic” testing approach, focusing on traits and abilities, has often been dismissed as inadequate for addressing the complexities of the executive profile. Moreover, public displeasure with standard paper‐and‐pencil testing in the 1960s and 1970s made the holistic approach to assessment an attractive, alternative. The article contrasts individual assessment practice with the current state of knowledge on psychological assessment and personnel decision making. Like psychotherapy in the 1950s, individual psychological assessment appears to have achieved the status of functional autonomy within psychology.

The intentional mentor: Strategies and guidelines for the practice of mentoring.

How can faculty in professional psychology programs become more intentional and effective mentors? Many psychology graduate students are never mentored, and very few psychologists have ever received training in the practice of mentoring. This article briefly summarizes the nature of mentoring, the prevalence of mentoring in psychology, primary obstacles to mentoring, and some ethical concerns unique to mentoring. The article provides several strategies to enhance mentoring and guidelines for the profession, departments of psychology, and individual psychologists who serve as mentors. This article is designed to help readers take a more deliberate approach to the practice of mentoring. Our system of higher education, though officially committed to the fostering of intellectual and personal development of students, provides mentoring that is generally limited in quantity and poor in quality. (Levinson, Darrow, Klein, Levinson, & McKee, 1978, p. 334) Are psychologists equipped to mentor? Do most psychologists who develop long-term helping relationships with graduate students and junior colleagues consider mentoring a distinct area of professional practice? Although mentoring relationships clearly benefit those mentored, the mentors themselves, and the profession of psychology (Bogat & Redner, 1985; Clark, Harden, & Johnson, 2000), and although psychologists are increasingly called upon to mentor junior colleagues (H. C. Ellis, 1992; Hardy, 1994; Murray, 1997), relatively few psychologists ever receive training or supervision in the art and science of mentoring. Graduate school faculty, pressed with demands for research, teaching, and committee work, seldom initiate mentor relationships (mentorships; Clark et al., 2000; Cronan-Hillix, Davidson, Cronan-Hillix, & Gensheimer, 1986) and rarely consider methods of explicitly structuring and managing those that exist (Johnson & Nelson, 1999). Further, many psychologists may implicitly assume that mentoring “just happens,” whereas others hold widely divergent views about what mentoring actually means. In this article, I encourage a deliberate transition in our profession’s conceptualization of mentoring—from secondary or collateral duty to intentional, professional activity. This will require adoption of a framework that casts mentoring as a distinct area of professional practice requiring intentional preparation and careful application. I present a brief review of the literature on the nature of mentoring and the prevalence of mentoring in the field of psychology. Recent publications from psychology are emphasized, with secondary attention to key research from the fields of management and education. I highlight essential obstacles to mentoring and ethical concerns specific to mentorships, and I offer strategies for enhancing intentional mentoring at organizational, departmental, and individual levels. My primary purpose is to offer some preliminary practice guidelines for psychologists who mentor. I predict that as more psychologists become intentional mentors,

Communication: an important assessment and teaching tool.

Communication, as a process, is essential to adequate nursing care; language is a key factor. This article reviews the aspects of language that impair, and those that improve, communication in the health care setting. Standards are cited, along with recommendations for developing optimal communication skills within nursing's professional practice area. This includes the importance of using interpreters when language is a barrier.

The Myth of Asexuality: A Survey of Social and Empirical Evidence

Self-advocacy groups and individual authors have increasingly expressed concern that persons with disabilities (PWD) are sexually disenfranchised by a society that inaccurately perceives them as asexual beings. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the social and empirical foundations for the contention that PWD are indeed viewed as asexual and examine whether there is cause for ongoing concern and intervention. This review includes a consideration of the implications for both clinical practice and future research as well. It is concluded that despite significant gains in our biological and psychosocial understanding of sexuality in the context of disability, there remains much to be accomplished to effect needed change in the areas of professional practice, research, societal attitudes, and most importantly, in the lives of PWD.

Enhancing instructor evaluation

Enhancing instructor evaluation

A question of balance

Dr W. Warner Burke is Professor of Psychology and Education and Chair of the Department of Organization and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York. He is also Chairman of W. Warner Burke Associates, Inc., an organization consulting firm. Burke earned his BA from Furman University and his MA and PhD from the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to Teachers College, he served in senior positions at Clark University, the NTL Institute, and as Executive Director of the OD Network. Dr Burke's consulting experience has been with a variety of organizations in businessindustry, education, government, religious and medical systems. A Diplomate in 1/0 Psychology, the American Board of Professional Psychology, he is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Society, and the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and past editor of both Organizational Dynamics and the Academy of Management Executive. He has authored over 100 articles and book chapters on OD, and authored, co-authored or edited thirteen books. He has received numerous awards, including, in 1989, the Public Service Medal from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in 1990, the Distinguished Contribution to Human Resource Development Award and, in 1993, the Organization Development Professional Practice Area Award for Excellence—The Lippitt Memorial Award—from the American Society for Training and Development. He has been working in the field of OD for over thirty-five years. Seth A. Berr, MA, is a Research Associate at W. Warner Burke Associates, Inc. He received his BA in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and MA in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. He currently specializes in the co-ordination and planning of executive development and feedback-based programmes. Allan H. Church, PhD, RODC, is a Principal at W. Warner Burke Associates, Inc., an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and edtor of both the Organization Development Journal and The Industrial-Organizational Pychologist. He has published more than eighty articles and several book chapters, and was recently awarded the 1999 OD Consultant of the Year Award from The OD Institute.