Browsing by Subject "Professional identity"
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Item At the crossroads of crisis : newspaper journalists' struggle to redefine themselves and their work as their organization and the profession change(2010-08) Hinsley, Amber Willard; Poindexter, Paula Maurie; Sylvie, George; Lasorsa, Dominic; Coleman, Renita; Bartel, CarolineNewspaper journalists today find themselves at the nexus of a changing media landscape. Their professional principles and job roles are being challenged by changes in the technology they are expected to use, changes in the economic model that has supported the industry since this nation was founded, and changes in public attitudes and perceptions of newspaper journalism. This study examines these changes through the lens of social identity theory, examining how technological and economic changes have affected newspaper journalists’ perceptions about the ways in which they are able to perform their jobs and their perceptions about threats to the status of their profession, and how those beliefs affect their identification with their newspaper organizations and the profession. The primary methodological approach used was a national Web-based survey of journalists working at newspapers with circulations of more than 10,000. To supplement the survey findings, in-depth interviews were conducted with survey participants who volunteered to be interviewed. The findings included that journalists who have negative perceptions about changes in the newspaper industry will be more likely to have negative feelings about the impact of those changes on their jobs, and that journalists with negative feelings about those changes on their jobs will be more likely to have lower organizational identification. Professional identification was found to partially mediate this relationship, in large part because it has a considerable overlap with journalists’ organizational identification. This study also found that journalists who have negative perceptions about changes in the industry will be more likely to perceive the status of the profession has been threatened, and that journalists who perceive those status threats will be more likely to have lower professional identification. Additionally, journalists’ job type and the circulation size of their newspaper affected some of these relationships, such as the link between negative feelings about technological and economic changes and lower organizational identification. The implications of this study’s findings for the newspaper profession and those who study it are discussed in the last chapter.Item Community paramedics' perception of their roles in community paramedicine programs(2021-05-04) Okoh, Chinyere Mma; Moczygemba, Leticia R.Community Paramedicine (CP) is an evolving care model that expands paramedic roles to a focus on non-emergent and preventive health services tailored to local community needs. Though acceptance of CP is gradually increasing, there is limited research on how community paramedics (CPs) perceive their expanded roles. Thus, the study aim is to assess CPs' perceptions about their training, roles, role clarity, role readiness, role satisfaction, professional identity (PI), and interprofessional collaboration (IPC). The results from a cross-sectional, web-based survey of 57 eligible members of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMTs) were evaluated. Respondents worked as a CP for 29.0 hours/week (SD 15.8), and 30.8% had 4 years or more of CP experience, had 18.0 years (SD = 9.9) of EMT/paramedic experience, and majorly performed health assessments (96.5%). There were variations in perceptions of role clarity (M=15.5; SD=4.3), PI (M=46.8; SD=6.1), and role satisfaction (M=4.4; SD=0.9)). Eighty percent completed didactic and/or clinical training. Participants were neutral about their role readiness (M=3.3/5; SD=0.8), mostly collaborated with physicians (94.3%), and viewed IPC as very important (M=9.5/10; SD=0.9)). There was a positive, significant association between PI and role clarity (p=0.0013), and PI and IPC (p=0.0015). Role satisfaction was higher (p=0.0114) among participants that completed training (M=29.4, SD=39.3) compared to those that did not (M=16.7, SD=39.3). There were significant differences in the extent of IPC in performing patient navigation (p=0.0023), health promotion (p=0.0037), and injury prevention/safety assessments (p<0.0001). Participants with at least weekly performance of respective roles reported greater IPC compared to those who did not perform the respective roles. Sustainable payment models, a shift to CP models as EMS standard of care, and expansion in service delivery and geographic reach, and a more standardized training curriculum are important to the future of CP. COVID-19 challenges included CPs wellbeing, inadequate funding to meet service needs, and keeping up with an emerging understanding of policies/procedures; opportunities included expanded service delivery, enhanced telehealth utilization, and CPs being flexible to meet community needs. Future studies should focus on understanding factors that impact CP role clarity and how role clarity, role readiness, role satisfaction, PI, and IPC could be improved.Item Online teacher learning communities : how can Facebook support professional development?(2018-06-15) Mann, Deborah Mary; Marshall, Jill Ann; Borrego, Maura; Hobbs, Mary; Sampson, Victor; Keating, XiaofenDeveloping and supporting teacher identity has been largely overlooked in the professional development arena. Components of identity are typically associated with the more affective development of teaching capacities. This dissertation explored teacher identity as expressed on the Facebook page of a non-profit professional development organization, Ecorise. Teachers participated in face-to-face training with Ecorise and some were active participants of the private Facebook group. The Facebook page was used by the organization and teachers to share information and offer support. A framework of teacher identity was created from the literature. Four main categories included contextual identity, formative influences, professional identity and personal identity. Discourse analysis of the Facebook page interactions and analysis of survey responses highlighted use and impact of the Facebook page on and by teachers in the context of teacher identity. Findings in contextual identity focused in two main categories, discourse identity and affinity identity. The latter included indications of how the individuals aligned with the group identity. Liking and commenting on the Facebook page were gateways to moving to a more central rather than peripheral participation in the group. Facilitation of the group was not overt but occurred through group interaction, particularly validation. The nature of engagement differed between teachers new to the organization and those who were considered veterans. Some teachers reported preferring Canvas, an online course management tool focused on content delivery, as an online support, although many teachers were not aware of the Facebook page. Teachers using the Facebook page sought information on how to implement projects and topics. Facebook promotes reflection, an important formative influence. Through sharing stories teachers reflected on practice. These stories prompted validation providing encouragement to teachers. In exchanging “how-to’s” and telling stories teachers expressed and developed their pedagogical knowledge, the general focus being on instructional rather than content knowledge. Creativity was evident in the descriptions and photographs of student outcomes. Through all, the components of personal identity are intertwined illustrating the close connection between professional and personal identity and the concept of teaching as a calling. This emphasizes the importance of considering the affective domain in teacher training and investigating the use of tools, such as Facebook, that promote and support those qualities that build teacher identity.Item Professional identity in Canadian student affairs and services(2017-10-26) Massey, Kyle Donald; Kameen, Marilyn C.; Somers, Pat; Reddick, Richard; Laker, JasonThe professionalization of Canadian student affairs and services (SAS) has evolved in the last few decades, but little is known about the nature of professional identity among practitioners in the field or how they develop an understanding of their professional identity. This dissertation seeks to address this gap in the literature and achieve a greater understanding of Canadian student affairs and services practitioners by focusing on an analysis of their professional identities. To achieve these aims, this study utilized a qualitative approach grounded in a constructivist epistemology. Identity theory as understood from the symbolic interactionist perspective provides the theoretical framework for this dissertation, defining identity as “what it means to be who one is.” Twenty-five participants completed an online questionnaire and a one-on-one interview. Participants included student affairs and services professionals from across Canada, in a range of SAS roles at various post-secondary institutions, including both colleges and universities of various types. Questionnaires and interviews were conducted in both English and French; an interpreter was used to assist with French-language components. I found that for most participants, their overall professional identity as a student affairs professional was their dominant identity, characterized by a suite of identity meanings and inclusive of one or more sub-identities. Depending on the specific person and the context in which they were operating, the multiple sub-identities were ranked at varying levels of identity prominence and identity salience. The interview data revealed SAS professionals enter the field through direct and indirect pathways, creating significant diversity among practitioners’ backgrounds, skills, and experience. The misconceptions many outside of the profession have about SAS, and the professional marginalization SAS practitioners often encounter were found to characterize the context in which a professional identity is constructed. The findings include a discussion of the various specific factors impacting the development of professional identity in Canadian student affairs and services. I also offer recommendations for practice and suggestions for future research.Item Telling secondhand stories : news aggregation and the production of journalistic knowledge(2015-08) Coddington, Mark Allen; Reese, Stephen D.; Anderson, C W; Bock, Mary A; Lawrence, Regina G; Strover, Sharon LNews aggregation has become one of the most widely practiced forms of newswork, as more news is characterized by information taken from other published sources and displayed in a single abbreviated space. This form of newsgathering has deep roots in journalism history, but creates significant tension with modern journalism's primary newsgathering practice, reporting. Aggregation's reliance on secondhand information challenges journalism's valorization of firsthand evidence-gathering through the reporter's use of observation, interviews, and documents. This dissertation examines the epistemological practices and professional values of news aggregation, exploring how aggregators gather and verify evidence and present it as factual to audiences. It looks at aggregation in relationship to the dominant values and practices of modern professional journalism, particularly those of reporting. The study employs participant observation at three news aggregation operations as well as in-depth interviews with aggregators to understand the practices of news aggregation as well as the epistemological and professional values behind them. I found that aggregation proceeds by gathering textual evidence of the forms of evidence gathered through reporting work, positioning it as a form of second-order newswork built atop the epistemological practices and values of modern journalistic reporting. Aggregators' distance from the evidence on which they base their reports lends them a profound sense of uncertainty, which they attempt to mitigate by using textual means to communicate their epistemological ambivalence to their audiences and by seeking out technologically afforded means to get closer to news evidence. Aggregators' uncertainty extends to their professional identity, where they attempt to improve their marginal professional status by articulating their own ethical values but also by emphasizing their connections to traditional reporting. Narratively speaking, however, their work does not break down traditional journalistic forms, but instead broadens the narrative horizon to conceive of individual news accounts primarily as part of larger story arcs. The study illuminates the fraught relationship between aggregation and reporting, finding that while aggregation is heavily dependent on reporting, it can be developed as a valid, professionally valued form of newswork. Ultimately, both forms of work have a crucial role to play in providing vital, engaging news to the public.Item Understanding identity development : a longitudinal study of professional identity development in educational psychology graduate students(2016-05) Park, Jong, M.A. H.; Schallert, Diane L.; Borich, Gary D.This study highlights how graduate studies involve students in building their professional identity by social roles, positions, and discourse skills in the process of professional training. The research question addressed in this study is whether the new roles and situations encountered by graduate students bring constraints and expectations. I was hoping to contribute to the literature on understanding how graduate students build new identities as researchers, and at a more theoretical level, to developing insight into the connection between identity and professional identity construction. The result presented as the central phenomenon of a grounded theory model, professional disciplinary enculturation was influenced by previous job and education experiences and current academic and personal relationships. The disciplinary training influenced by coursework, and research and writing projects seemed to support the students’ identity development, even as the enculturation process was experienced as emotionally taxing to different degrees and required the (re)shaping of identity and discourse practices.