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“I am rooted, but I flow”:a photovoice investigation into the (re)construction of professional identity among immigrant early childhood educators in Australia
No full textImmigrant ECEC educators in Australia navigate unique personal, cultural, and institutional conditions as they (re)construct their professional identities in a new sociocultural context. This study employs Photovoice and two rounds of in-depth interviews with twelve immigrant ECEC educators to explore the factors that facilitate or impede this identity construction process. Using a “garden elements” metaphor developed through constructivist grounded theory analysis, the findings highlight three key facilitators of identity construction, namely reflective practices that anchor growth (“roots”), community and institutional supports that provide emotional and professional nourishment (“soil”), and everyday acts of creative agency that energise practice (“sunlight”). Conversely, three impediments that disrupt continuity and contribute to moments of fragmentation include emotional and resource scarcity (“drought”), tensions arising from negotiating multiple cultural and professional expectations (“weeds”), and periods of reflective immobility (“pests”). Methodologically, this study extends Photovoice by adapting it to individual interviews and by giving equal analytic weight to visual and narrative data. Implications for supporting immigrant ECEC educators include strengthening culturally responsive induction structures, embedding reflective learning opportunities, and recognising theseeducators’ creative and cultural expertise as central to high-quality ECEC practice.</p
Proposing a multi-level perspective of the influencing factors of repair behaviours of household electrical appliances
No full textWithin the framework of the circular economy, extending the lifespan of electrical products through repairing them is a promising approach, particularly against the backdrop of growing e-waste levels. Consumers play a key role in facilitating repair and multiple studies have suggested their behaviour is influenced by combinations of different internal (e.g. attitudes, knowledge and motivation) and external factors (e.g. product design, market conditions and service availability). Despite this, in empirical research, there is still preference for psychological theories that foreground the individual. Thus, the present study moves beyond these theories and is underpinned by a multi-level perspective – an approach that can systematically organise factors to internal and external contexts. Through qualitative interviews with consumers we identify and then organise the factors that influence repair behaviours of household electrical appliances to a multi-level perspective including micro (individual), meso (household) and macro (repair ecosystems and beyond) levels. The main finding from the interviews and framework development was the identification of 18 influencing factors across four nested levels. The primary contribution is the resulting framework that makes explicit the different internal and external contexts that influence repair behaviours. In particular, the framework highlights the important role of the household-level and makes visible how factors and levels interact to influence repair behaviours. Hence, the framework supports program managers and policymakers to design multi-level interventions. We also offer several opportunities for future research to explore the role of household routines and structure and continue to build an understanding of the interactions between levels and factors.</p
Clinical indicator prioritisation for the ACTMed trial:a modified nominal group technique approach for primary care research in the electronic age
No full textBackground: The nominal group technique has been shown to be an effective method for reaching consensus among a group of healthcare experts when selecting clinical indicators for application in primary care research, especially where there are competing prioritisation criteria being considered. In the context of manifest barriers to traditional face-to-face meetings, and with the advent of evolving and improved digital tools, alternative approaches are being more commonly utilised to overcome these challenges. In this study, we sought to prioritise a set of existing, validated clinical indicators proposed for inclusion in ACTMed (ACTivating primary care for MEDicine safety), a clinical trial aiming to reduce medicine-related harm in primary care. Methods: A modified nominal group technique, using a fully online approach, was employed to facilitate consensus among a group of pharmacists and general practitioners. Quantitative data were obtained using an online survey platform both prior to the structured virtual forum and again following group discussion. Qualitative material was gathered from written feedback included in the pre-forum questionnaire and through verbal contributions made during the online forum. Results: The highest priority indicators determined by the two-staged survey process were for myocardial ischaemia, cerebrovascular ischaemia related to atrial fibrillation, heart failure, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and falls with fracture. Qualitative reasoning behind the participants’ evaluation of the clinical indicators included value for money, impact of the intervention, consequences of clinical outcomes and ability to implement the intervention in practice. Conclusions: In this study, the interactive component of the nominal group technique process had little impact on the final prioritisation of the clinical indicators. Potential explanations for this might include previously established strong participant views and preferences or relative group homogeneity based on similar learning, research or clinical experience.</p
Downstream impacts of mines on agriculture in Africa
No full textMining operations in Africa are expanding rapidly, creating negative externalities that remain poorly understood. In this paper, we provide causal evidence for the impact of water pollution from mines on downstream vegetation and agriculture across the continent. We exploit a natural experiment, where mines cause a discontinuity in water pollution along river networks, to compare vegetation health in upstream and downstream locations. We find that mines significantly reduce peak vegetation downstream by 1.3–1.5%, impairing the productivity of over 74,000 km2 of croplands. These reductions correspond to annual losses of 91,000–205,000 tons of cereal crops in the immediate vicinity alone, with particularly severe effects in fertile regions and areas where gold mining predominates. Our findings highlight substantial externalities of mining and demonstrate an urgent need for oversight and regulation.</p
Associations between teacher-student relationship quality and middle and secondary school teachers’ wellbeing:a systematic review
No full textPositive teacher-student relationships have the potential to impact teacher, as well as student, wellbeing. However, in middle and secondary schools, where teachers have contact with more students and less time with each of them, it is less clear how important these relationships are. This study systematically reviewed the literature on the association between positive teacher-student relationships and wellbeing in middle and secondary school teachers. A total of 55 studies were included in the review. Results suggested that positive teacher-student relationships were associated with each of the other aspects of wellbeing outlined in the PERMA model (positive emotions, engagement, meaning, and accomplishment) as well as overall wellbeing. There was wide variation in how teacher-student relationships were measured and defined, with majority of the studies adopting tools and definitions that were formulated for primary school teacher-student relationships, indicating that developing an understanding of what constitutes positive relationships for teachers in middle and secondary school settings through future research would be valuable
How natural disasters spread conflict
No full textThis paper studies how natural disasters spread conflicts within a network. We first construct a new panel data set that combines geo-referenced information about conflict events and natural disasters, for 5,944 districts in 53 African countries, over the period 1989–2020. Considering natural disasters as exogenous shocks that affect the combatants’ activity in a locality, we find that natural disasters decrease conflict incidence in the affected locality, increase conflict incidence in neighbouring localities, and lead to an overall net increase in conflict incidence. The spatial dispersion of conflict varies by the level of local rent-seeking opportunities and the level of international, post-disaster aid. We then provide a simple theoretical framework that may explain this conflict dispersion pattern. Findings provide important implications for implementing local and aggregate level conflict mitigation policies.</p
Which factors in China? A pre-registered study
No full textWe evaluate the ability of the asset pricing models of Liu, Stambaugh and Yuan (2019), hereafter LSY, and Fama and French (2018) to price Chinese stocks. Following the methodology specified in the pre-registered report (Gharghori and Nguyen, 2025), we employ spanning regressions and maximum Sharpe ratios to compare models. Our results show that the LSY models exhibit higher Sharpe ratios and outperform both conventional and modified Fama-French models in spanning regressions. In contrast to developed markets, the investment factor carries a negative premium in China. Additionally, the LSY models do not span this factor. Consequently, the model that delivers the highest Sharpe ratio is the one that augments the LSY four-factor model with the investment factor of Fama-French.</p
