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Institutional complexities of smart maintenance purchasing in higher education institutes: setting the scene

This paper analyzes the institutional context of maintenance purchasing in higher education. It aims to provide insights into the institutional complexities of smart maintenance purchasing in higher education institutes. In a case study, six external institutional fields and two internal institutional logics are identified. They create two types of institutional complexities that impede innovation if not treated correctly. Three ways are discussed to deal with those institutional complexities, 1) negotiating institutional field boundaries, 2) creating new institutional logics and practices, and 3) implementing institutional changes.

Teachers’ personal constructs on problem behaviour: towards professional development & Personal constructs on (problem) pupils: a teacher’s view

This study focuses on revealing and developing personal constructs regarding problem behaviour in classrooms. Twenty-nine teachers (initial and in-service students) took part in the project. The main idea is that teachers’ opinions about their pupils and themselves influence the way they act in their classrooms. Their thoughts and ideas about students - their personal constructs - are generally unconscious. To clarify and to develop teachers’ constructs, we used Kelly’s repertory grid technique and Garman’s reflective approach. Both methods give a powerful impulse to the development of thinking and acting of teachers. They can use the experiences as an integral part of their own action research. & I am one of the teachers who took part in the constructs research.A personal set of fifteen constructs on twenty-eight pupils was collected. These constructs showed me what kinds of constructs I have (mainly social-emotional and cognitive ones) and made me reflect. They also made clear to me that I think less positively on problem children. Participation in this research includes coaching, theoretical orientation and continuous reflection, making me conscious of what (problem) behaviour I like or dislike and what I should change to get a professional, holistic view. Then problem behaviour will be more easily tolerated by me and I can teach my colleagues about my new insights in intercommunicative sessions and by personal counselling.

Youth workers engage “radicalized” young Dutch Muslims

Exploring the collaboration between formal and informal care from the professional perspective

In Dutch policy and at the societal level, informal caregivers are ideally seen as essential team members when creating, together with professionals, co-ordinated support plans for the persons for whom they care. However, collaboration between professionals and informal caregivers is not always effective. This can be explained by the observation that caregivers and professionals have diverse backgrounds and frames of reference regarding providing care. This thematic synthesis sought to examine and understandhow professionals experience collaboration with informal caregivers to strengthen the care triad. PubMed, Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane/Central and CINAHL were searched systematically until May 2015, using specific key words and inclusion criteria. Twenty-two articles were used for thematic synthesis. Seven themes revealed different reflections by professionals illustrating the complex, multi-faceted and dynamic interfaceof professionals and informal care. Working in collaboration with informal caregivers requires professionals to adopt a different way of functioning. Specific attention should be paid to the informal caregiver, where the focus now is mainly on the client for whom they care. This is difficult to attain due to different restrictions experienced by professionals on policy and individual levels. Specific guidelines and training for the professionals are necessary in the light of the current policy changes in the Netherlands,where an increased emphasis is placed on informal care structures.

Clarifying pre-service teacher perceptions of mentor teachers' developing use of mentoring skills

The aim of this study is to clarify how pre-service teachers perceive mentor teachers' use of mentoring skills. Sixty stimulated-recall interviews were conducted, each in connection with a previously recorded mentoring dialogue. A quantitative analysis showed that six types of mentoring skills appeared to be perceived by pre-service teachers as offering emotional support and five others as offering task assistance. After mentor teachers were trained in mentoring skills, shifts in their frequencies of use of distinct skills, as observed by independent raters, corresponded to a considerable extent with shifts in frequencies of pre-service teacher perceptions of mentor teachers' mentoring behaviour.

The role of purchasing in raising the maturity of smart maintenance management

PurposeThe aim of this study is to provide insights into how the purchasing function can increase the maturity of smart maintenance management (SMM) in construction clients by (1) assessing current SMM maturity and (2) developing an adapted service triad for purchasing's meaningful involvement in SMM.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case research design was used, and data were collected from four higher education institutes in the Netherlands through an assessment of their current SMM maturity. Coding and a cross-case analysis were used to qualitatively analyze the data to identify roles and value chain integration factors as intermediate steps in adapting the service triad to a service hexad.FindingsWithin construction client organizations, collaboration between maintenance management, project management and ICT services requires improvement. The proposed service hexad redefines the client's SMM roles with the aim of improving collaboration. The authors discuss how this enables a transition to higher levels of SMM maturity.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings were derived from a particular class of construction clients: higher education institutes that operate owner-occupied properties. Although the service hexad could be adapted, to owner-occupied multi-user properties, further research is necessary to assess its relevance for investor-owned properties.Practical implicationsImplementing the service hexad provides construction clients with a stronger position in supply networks. It clarifies the briefing process in construction management and emphasizes the data supply responsibilities of construction management professionals.Originality/valueThe study draws on the service triads and meaningful involvement concepts from the purchasing literature and applies them to SMM.