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Mend the Gap: How Organisations Can Cultivate Readiness for Group Coaching to Mend After Moral Injury
No full text2025There is limited understanding of how workplace moral injury affects individuals and organisational systems. “Workplace moral injury is a response to witnessing or participating in behaviours that contradict one’s moral beliefs” (Praslova, 2022). This study explores how organisations can create the conditions necessary for group coaching as a mending intervention following workplace moral injury. The term "mending" is intentionally used instead of "healing," as it suggests repair and restoration rather than clinical recovery. This distinction holds considerable significance within the workplace context, as the term healing may not resonate universally or may be deemed inappropriate by some organisations. Data were collected using focus groups and interviews, which informed the creation of a survey examining the conditions necessary to implement a coaching intervention. The transition from a coaching intervention-based research methodology to exploratory qualitative methods and surveys offered valuable insights. Notably, the findings suggest that the conditions required for a group coaching intervention following workplace moral injury are the same conditions needed to reduce the likelihood of experiencing workplace moral injury.
Emerging patterns suggest that workplace moral injury is primarily a leadership issue, and it has a significant impact on the organisation. Creating conditions for group coaching as a mending intervention requires leadership to enable key elements within the organisation. Those elements include self-awareness, leading by example, intentionally cultivating a psychologically safe workplace culture, and managing complexity with care. This study emphasises that leaders in organisations have a responsibility to foster and sustain a deliberately designed culture actively. It also points out the potential for further research in several areas, including whether HR practitioners are more susceptible to experiencing workplace moral injury.
Time Travel at the Fortress of Louisbourg: The Implications of Social Media and Digital Tools Affecting Visitation of Parks Canada National Historic Sites, Cape Breton Island, Canada
No full text2025The purpose of this study is to examine the Fortress of Louisbourg site visitation. Louisbourg is a unique national historic site on Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island). The fortress has seen a decrease in visitation annually throughout recent years; it is unclear why. Using a mixed methods approach, this method of study investigates the current methods of social media and digital tools used by Cape Breton Island tourism stakeholders to promote culture and heritage. The research analysis determined planning must occur months prior to a visitor’s arrival during the peak tourism season when all services are in full operation onsite. The findings also concluded that self-drive routes available through a destination marketing organization website should be incorporated. Self-drive routes entice visitors to explore culture and heritage attractions and help to close large travelling distances
Helping Coaches Engage in Learning: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of NCCP Participation and Certification Rates
No full text2025This explanatory mixed-methods case study research explores impacts of learning blends, consumer behaviour, and personality traits on coach education participation and certification rates in Canada’s National Coaches Certification Program. The research builds upon previous literature to further identify and quantify factors such that future revisions to coach education learning materials and program design can decrease participation barriers and increase certification rates. Using a mixed-methods approach, data was collected from 67 active coaches, coach developers, and instructional designers from eleven Canadian sports and analyzed using both regression and thematic methods. The findings reveal correlations between higher household incomes, incentives, certain personality traits, and learning preferences impact the likelihood of achieving NCCP-trained and certified status. These results contribute to the field of coach education by highlighting the importance of accessible, clear, and relevant content, flexible evaluation methods, and deliberate mentorship to better support diverse learning preferences and personality types. Implications for practice and future research include greater emphasis on learner-centred approaches, exploring sport-specific policies to better understand barriers and incentives, and expanding the sample size to further isolate the effect of predictive variables
The cheetah and the albatross: the impact of relationship, teacher attitudes, and trauma on the school experience of a gifted child
No full textThis autoethnographic study explores the experience of a gifted child who struggled in public elementary school, as well as the later impacts of that experience on teacher identity. Gifted children are widely misunderstood. More than ability and achievement, giftedness is a form of neurodivergence with associated social and emotional needs and a number of recognizable traits. Giftedness is also a risk factor for experiencing trauma, making these students particularly vulnerable when their social, emotional, and academic needs are not met. While the literature shows the importance of safe, trusting relationships with teachers for gifted students, teachers often have misunderstandings, biases, and sometimes even hostile attitudes towards these students that interfere with forming relationships with them. To shed light on the experience of being gifted, this autoethnography uses a combination of imaginative narratives and realist descriptive critical reflections on artifacts to create dialogues that both illustrate and explore the author’s experience as a gifted child in public school. An analysis of these narratives reveals themes related to relationships with teachers and administrators, the impact of teacher and administrator attitudes, the potential for school-based trauma for gifted students, and the impact of having been a gifted child on teacher identity. Readers will be provided with insight into the inner experience of being a gifted child. Suggestions for improving the experience of public school for gifted children, including the strengths neurodivergent educators may have for relating to these students, are also shared
The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth: Saving Canada’s Democracy and Building Trust With the Public Through Planning, Public Performance Reporting, and Citizen Engagement
No full text2025One of the defining characteristics of a representative democracy is a commitment to public accountability and transparency to the public it serves. The need for governments to demonstrate accountability and transparency to the public is increasing, particularly in times when financial resources are not abundant and public needs and expectations are increasing. This study explores public accountability and transparency within the planning and performance reporting realm in public sector organizations at all levels of government: Federal, provincial, and regional in Canada. The research question, “How might planning and performance reporting practices and processes be used by government organizations to facilitate learning, encourage higher levels of citizen engagement and participation, and promote accountability and transparency?” generated results that indicate the need for improvements in public accountability, transparency, citizen engagement, and public performance reporting, and further unveiled the need to evaluate and assess an overarching political culture that is currently not conducive to making positive change. An interdisciplinary, constructivist epistemological approach was adopted, using an appreciative-oriented inquiry to interview 26 individuals consisting of 15 senior government bureaucrats, seven auditors, and four politicians. Planning and public performance reporting is indeed an avenue to connect with the public, to begin a journey of building trust with the public, and to ensure democratic principles remain intact. This can only come with a commitment to shifting a political culture that has become increasingly adversarial and driven by the pursuit of power as a primary goal
Exploring the Noble Eightfold Path as a Catalyst for Awakened Leadership Development
No full text2025This study explored the experiences of 20 Canadian leaders who participated in a 6-month virtual learning journey focused on the noble eightfold path, a pillar of Buddhist thought and practice, tentatively positioned as a secular social science. This research aimed to ascertain the suitability of the noble eightfold path as a framework for awakened leadership development and plausible strategies for integration in the corporate world. Over the past two decades, mindfulness, a subset of Buddhist meditative practice, has gradually blended into the corporate landscape, propelled by its secularization and scientific validation. However, mindfulness is only one of the eight interdependent components of the eightfold path, raising the question of the feasible integration of the remaining seven elements. Through a qualitative methodology, integrating phenomenology and grounded theory as two distinct phases of research, the results revealed the eightfold path as a valuable conduit for leadership development due to its transformative impact on participants. Findings exposed the expansion of intra- and interpersonal skills, reconnecting to values, and enhancing leadership presence. Results from this research expanded the existing awakened leadership conceptual framework and introduced a practical pathway for its development by adopting the eightfold path as its guiding catalyst. However, the findings also suggested limitations for its corporate integration and recommended modernizing the eightfold path to appeal to a contemporary leadership audience. This research contributes to a broader discourse blending ancient wisdom with contemporary organizational needs. By blending spiritual wisdom with secular practices, this research advances a broader discourse blending traditional wisdom with contemporary organizational needs
AI, Team Coaching and The Human Element®: Exploring Team Leaders’ Preferences for an AI Team Coaching Tool Informed by Human-Centered Principles
No full text2025As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into organizational life, its potential applications in team development and coaching are emerging as a focus of interest and concern. This thesis explores the preferences and perspectives of Team Leaders regarding the use of an AI Team Coaching tool, investigating whether Team Leaders would consider using an AI Team Coaching tool, what functionality they would find most useful, and what concerns or hesitations they might have. Using a survey, responses were collected from a diverse sample of Team Leaders across multiple industries and cultural contexts. The survey consisted of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. It was designed to elicit participants’ views on the role of coaching in team development, their attitudes toward AI integration in relational and emotional domains, and their expectations or hesitations about an AI Team Coaching tool. The questions were informed by the principles of Will Schutz’s (1994) The Human Element® which were used as a conceptual foundation for some of the either/or questions. Survey invitations were sent to eighty (80) potential participants. Thirty-seven (37) individuals completed the survey. Respondents came from a wide range of organizational contexts, including corporate, nonprofit and educational institutions, and represented multiple cultures on four continents. While the survey was administered in English, not all respondents were native English speakers. All responses were anonymous to promote candid feedback and to reduce bias. The data gathered through the survey provides insight into the perceived readiness of Team Leaders for an AI Team Coaching tool and offers guidance for future tool development and implementation. The findings suggest a cautious openness to using an AI Team Coaching tool, especially if the tool can foster psychologically safe team environments and promote deeper interpersonal understanding. Key concerns included confidentiality, emotional sensitivity, trustworthiness, and the potential displacement of human coaches. Team Leaders emphasized the need for the tool to
be not only technically competent but also capable of facilitating honest, constructive dialogue and enhancing human connection. The study concludes by outlining implications for the ethical design of an AI Team Coaching tool and proposes a conceptual foundation for creating technology that augments rather than replaces human leadership and team coaching
Effectiveness of Root-Boring Knapweed Weevil (Cyphocleonus achates Fåhr.) Herbivory on Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe Lam.) in Kamloops, BC: A Five-year Review
No full text2025Spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) is an Eurasian plant now invasive across North America. The root-boring knapweed weevil (Cyphocleonus achates) is one of 13 approved biocontrol agents. In 2017 and 2018, root-boring knapweed weevils were released at 15 sites across Kamloops, BC, Canada. This study is a five-year follow-up on the possible effects of C. achates on spotted knapweed density, distribution, and vigour. The presence of weevils was determined by destructive sampling that included plant extraction and root dissection. Plant height, number of stems, flowers, and buds was also recorded per plant. At the population level, infestation size and plant density was recorded. There was no consistent effect found at the individual plant level between those attacked by the weevil versus those unattacked. Additionally, there was no change in population size or density when compared to parameters from 2017/18. These lack of results is likely due to the short time frame of this study. The sites studied may be too different from those that have shown to be successful in other studies. Further research is required to better understand how spotted knapweed can be effectively controlled in the Kamloops area
Assessment of the Socioeconomic Impacts of Water Hyacinth in the Ada Communities on the Lower Volta River of Ghana
No full text2026Abstract The Lower Volta River provides essential ecosystem services that support livelihoods, income,and economic opportunities. However, the invasion of water hyacinth significantly hinders these
benefits. This study evaluates the ecosystem services of the Lower Volta River and the perceived
effects of water hyacinth invasion and management strategies in the Ada community in Ghana.
Data collection involved surveys, stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions, and field
observations, and was analyzed using linear regression and descriptive statistics. Key ecosystem
services include fish, prawns, clams, flood protection, and water quality for recreation. Water
hyacinth significantly affects these services (ANOVA, F=27.44, p<0.001), contributing 75.2% of
the variance in ecosystem service impacts. Communities mainly rely on physical control
measures, with minimal adoption of chemical or utilization-based approaches. The study
recommends innovative management strategies, including biological control and water hyacinth
utilization, to mitigate socioeconomic impacts and enhance sustainable ecosystem management
in Ghana. Keywords: Invasive aquatic weed, Water hyacinth, Socioeconomic effects, Control measure
The role of fluency and rhythm in the assessment of task delivery
No full textResearch poster from the 2025 Second Language Research Forum which took place September 26-28, 2025, at Northern Arizona University.This study examines the relative importance of temporal and rhythmic features in the assessment of task delivery