Principals as agents in secondary schools shape the meaning of what goes on in the school. To some extent, what happens in the school is a reflection of their beliefs, values and the dominant societal norms. School-community partnerships are a result of competing values, beliefs and visions of what can contribute to the success of the school from the perspective of the principal, the policy of the district school board and the teachers’ interests. School-community partnerships are therefore generally a compromise between the values of the principal and the teachers in the school through nurturing relationships and interpersonal leadership style. This study focused on the role of principals in establishing and maintaining school-community partnerships in an urban district school board in southern Ontario. The study employed qualitative research methods, drawing on two case studies in secondary schools. Data for the study was collected over a period of eight months through in-depth interviews of two principals and sixteen teachers. I used a micropolitical conceptual framework to analyze the principal’s role in school-community partnerships. The conceptual framework contributes to revealing the role of agency in organizations. The study revealed that principals initiate, support, coordinate, approve, allocate resources and evaluate school community partnerships. Through these roles, principals influence how partnerships unfold in the school. Principals’ roles in school-community partnerships are a reflection of the leadership style they enact in schools. The role is indicative of her/his values, beliefs and preference. This insight is important as a variable to how policies are implemented at different levels on the chain of implementation. It confirms other research that have strongly suggested that policies can be implemented best if the principals’ and teachers’values and beliefs are consistent. The implementation of policies are negotiated on daily basis between the principal and the teachers and principals have upper hand in determining their outcome. The result from this study illustrates how the roles of individuals in an organization mirror their values and beliefs and in turn affect how policies are implemented. The presence of school-community partnerships in secondary schools, although mandated by the district school board policy are the result of the role played by principals rather than merely policy provision. The role of the principal that was not clear was evaluating partnerships. There is need for further study to examine the criteria of evaluating partnerships in schools in order to ascertain the total contribution of the same to the success of schools.

Collaboration between international NGOs (INGOs) and governmental organizations (GOs) have contributed significantly to the goals of poverty alleviation and agricultural development in developing countries. Much of the literatures on NGO-GO partnerships have explored theoretically or empirically what motivate and hinder cross-sector collaboration. But not many have studied cross-sector collaboration from both analytical and descriptive perspectives. This study filled in this gap by drawing from previous studies a conceptual framework through which contexts, incentives, and barriers that influence INGO-GO partnerships were described and explained. The researcher adopted a qualitative case-study method with emergent design. Personal interviews were conducted with 20 key informants, including eight Vietnamese staff from one INGO and 12 government officials from six GOs who partnered with the INGO. All participating organizations were institutions serving agricultural and rural development in the south of Vietnam. The data were collected in 2010 and analyzed using the software package ATLAS.ti. The results showed four categories that interact to form a framework of a dynamic continuum of partnership development. The four categories included conditioning factors, incentives, barriers, and feedback loop. The categories held the following themes: 1) socio-political contexts and organizational natures for conditioning factors, 2) shared missions, resource mobilization, capacity building, and networking for incentives, 3) ideological conflicts, structural constraints, and operational hurdles for barriers, and 4) reflections and recommendations for feedback loop. The study contributed a theoretical- and empirical-based perspective on INGO-GO partnerships in post-reform countries. It provided a framework that comprehensively describes and explains partnership dynamics. The study also shared knowledge of the intricacies of INGO-GO partnerships in rural Vietnam. For institutions serving agricultural and rural development, the study could assist in strategic management to minimize constraints and maximize opportunities in collaborative environments.

Planning practitioners and academics continually search for ways to help revive ailing downtowns and to better understand the factors that influence the success or failures of downtown revitalization. Most of the literature dealing with such revitalization attempts focuses on either larger urban areas or small rural municipalities -- much of it is based on anecdotal evidence drawn from a very limited number of observations (Filion, et al. 2004; Gratz and Mintz, 1998; Leinberger, 2005; Robertson, 1995, 1999). For the most part, downtown revitalization strategies have focused on either physical or functional improvements. For the mid-size city (population between 50,000 to 500,000), the need for new remedies grounded in an understanding of their present day downtown challenges, is becoming increasingly evident. Recent studies have observed that those mid-size cities ranked as having successful or very successful downtowns all shared distinctive attributes such as high levels of pedestrian activity; a strong tourist or visitor appeal; a well-preserved historical district; attractive natural features such as waterfronts; and the presence of a university in the downtown (Bunting et al. 1999; Filion et al., 2004; Lederer and Seasons, 2005). This dissertation focuses one such factor – the presence of a university. It examines the university role(s) in downtown revitalization and collaborative partnerships between community and university. Collaborative planning theory was used to help conceptualize this research by providing further insights into the dynamics, nature, and roles of these “town-gown” partnerships. Community-university partnerships continue to grow and appear to be helping meet the challenges and complexity of downtown planning issues. However, little empirical research is available on the role of universities in downtown revitalization initiatives, especially in mid-size cities. Using a conceptual framework that included a literature review, field trips, a web-based questionnaire survey, and telephone interviews, information was collected about mid-size city downtowns, roles of universities, university and downtown revitalization, and community-university partnerships. Given the review of the available literature and the information provided by surveyed respondents, universities appear to be playing an important role in downtown revitalization primarily through economic development and human capital investment. The ability for partners to engage more freely in a mid-size city is apparent because they are more readily known and available to each other unlike their counterparts in larger urban centres. Strong leadership, relationship building, accessibility, and open lines of communication limit issues of mistrust and alienation amongst partners. Collaborative planning theory (Healey, 1997, 2003) helped illustrate the importance of mutual learning and relationship building to members who have or are involved with a community-university partnership. Although the roles of partners varied, the weight placed on such roles must be considered as of equal value. The planning process in building vision, capacity building, and negotiating outcomes can be led by community and facilitated by university partners – two very different roles yet weighted equally. The research also suggests that the use of collaborative planning for downtowns is appropriate in settings where collective action is necessary to help provide resources toward revitalizing ailing downtowns. Planners, therefore, must handle a number of roles: listening, educating, facilitating, mediating, advocating, communicating, and organizing. For the university, service learning also plays an important role in educating and developing community -- especially in downtown revitalization. It challenges universities to broaden their missions towards becoming “engaged” campuses supporting not only what is important to them within their own domain but outside as well (i.e. their host community). However, the degree of collaborative effort with universities (i.e. faculty, staff, and students) is dependent on an institution’s culture and its level of support for community engagement and outreach. This research provides new insights into the collaborative nature of the community and university partnership. The knowledge gained from this research provides further understanding of the implications for planning by informing planners and policy-makers about how these partnerships can facilitate downtown revitalization.

The purpose of this research is to understand if and how downtown university campuses contribute to mid-size city downtown revitalization, how this contribution is measured, and the implications for planning practice and planning theory. To address this research question, a mixed methods approach was used which included a literature review, the use of two case studies, a survey administered to downtown businesses, a web-based survey administered to students, faculty and staff and interviews conducted with municipal planners. The two case studies were: Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Social Work (WLU FSW) in downtown Kitchener, Ontario and the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture (UW SA) in downtown Cambridge, Ontario. The findings of this research indicate that downtown university campuses do contribute to downtown revitalization in mid-size cities. The WLU FSW and UW SA campuses are not, however, a panacea for their respective downtowns, nor are they significant contributors to downtown retailing or a major catalyst. Rather, the WLU FSW and UW SA campuses act as stabilizing influences on the downtown, bringing confidence to and about the downtown for residents, potential downtown visitors and potential downtown investors. They are examples of revitalization strategies that contribute to the improved reputation of the downtown and city. They are strategies that build on existing downtown strengths (e.g. adaptive re-use of heritage buildings, the complementing of existing businesses and services) and they are part of a larger community vision for these downtowns. The WLU Faculty of Social Work campus and the UW School of Architecture campus are both examples of effective and successful university-community partnerships. Recommendations based on the findings of this research are provided for municipalities, planning practitioners and academics. This research contributes to the limited but expanding literature on mid-size cities, mid-size city downtown revitalization and university-community partnerships. Recommendations for further research are also provided.

Art education has faced cutbacks in school funding because of the mandates and current trends in our nation’s educational policies. The United States Department of Education states that its federal involvement in education is limited. In fact, federal legislations, regulations, and other policies dictate the structure of education in every state particularly with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and now the Race to the Top (RTTT) initiative. The arts have been unfavorably impacted under the nation’s most predominant policy, NCLB, and run the risk of further adverse impacts with RTTT, regardless of the public’s support of the arts and its educational benefits. By linking federal funding to the school's yearly progress in reading and mathematics, NCLB created an environment in which art is viewed as nonessential and secondary to the academic mission of the school. Policymakers have underestimated the critical role the non-profit cultural sector can offer to arts learning for academic support. Collaboration of the arts community with local schools expands access to the arts for America’s schools. Some schools have already adopted this strategy to tap the expertise of local community arts organizations to address the issues surrounding arts education, like the lack of funding and resources. The future of our educational system must create innovative ways for students, teachers, parents, and the community to work together in partnerships to ensure all American children is provided a high-quality education. An example of this promising practice would be to connect schools with the arts community, particularly schools and museum partnerships. School and museum partnerships have a long-standing history of collaborating with one another and therefore share a commitment to some of the same educational goals (Osterman & Sheppard, 2010). The purpose of this study investigated features and operational logistics of successful partnerships between museums and schools. The study explored an existing partnership with an art museum and an urban public school district. To understand the elements of these partnerships, the study investigated art education and cultural governing policies, program goals and long-term goals, operation and funding. It is my hope that through this study a discourse about policy recommendations or policy-making eventually develops that could aid in the creation of successful partnering relationships to sustain art education in the state of Georgia. In this qualitative case study, the research design utilized several methods of data collection, including semi-structured interviews, documents, and visual methods, specifically image elicited exercises as positioned by Harper (2002). Participants in the study included school administrators, principals, art teachers, and museum educators.

The theory of rejection sensitivity, suggests that early experiences of rejection (e.g. parental rejection, peer rejection) can result in the tendency to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to rejection by significant others in future relationships. An abundance of quantitative research has suggested that rejection sensitivity has significant implications regarding one’s thoughts and actions within intimate partnerships (e.g. Downey & Feldman, 1996); however, little is known about the lived experience of the women who are sensitive to rejection. The present research sought to move beyond the developmental perspective of the theory of rejection sensitivity (as presented in the first two chapters) by aiming to gain an understanding of how women experience rejection sensitivity within their intimate partnerships and how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours have impacted their romantic lives. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to explore the lived experience of women who identified with rejection sensitivity. Data generated during two interviews with three participants was transcribed and analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach. An over-arching theme of I won’t let it happen again: a journey of self-protection emerged that was representative of the women’s shared experience of protecting themselves from experiencing further rejection in their romantic relationships and was further illustrated throughout three secondary themes: I can control things so I won’t let it happen again, Wait…is it happening anyway?, and A continuous journey. Based on the present findings, considerations for further research and practice are offered. Given lack of research aimed at understanding the experiences of women who identify with rejection sensitivity, the value of the present study is twofold: This research makes a notable contribution to current literature, but also encourages women, and those devoted to helping them, to understand their own unique relationships with rejection sensitivity and navigate their own journeys with a sense of hope for mutually satisfying and beneficial romantic relationships in their futures.

The purpose of this research is to understand if and how downtown university campuses contribute to mid-size city downtown revitalization, how this contribution is measured, and the implications for planning practice and planning theory. To address this research question, a mixed methods approach was used which included a literature review, the use of two case studies, a survey administered to downtown businesses, a web-based survey administered to students, faculty and staff and interviews conducted with municipal planners. The two case studies were: Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Social Work (WLU FSW) in downtown Kitchener, Ontario and the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture (UW SA) in downtown Cambridge, Ontario. The findings of this research indicate that downtown university campuses do contribute to downtown revitalization in mid-size cities. The WLU FSW and UW SA campuses are not, however, a panacea for their respective downtowns, nor are they significant contributors to downtown retailing or a major catalyst. Rather, the WLU FSW and UW SA campuses act as stabilizing influences on the downtown, bringing confidence to and about the downtown for residents, potential downtown visitors and potential downtown investors. They are examples of revitalization strategies that contribute to the improved reputation of the downtown and city. They are strategies that build on existing downtown strengths (e.g. adaptive re-use of heritage buildings, the complementing of existing businesses and services) and they are part of a larger community vision for these downtowns. The WLU Faculty of Social Work campus and the UW School of Architecture campus are both examples of effective and successful university-community partnerships. Recommendations based on the findings of this research are provided for municipalities, planning practitioners and academics. This research contributes to the limited but expanding literature on mid-size cities, mid-size city downtown revitalization and university-community partnerships. Recommendations for further research are also provided.

Community identity is a concept involving a web of relationships whereby a committed group of people emotionally identify with a shared set of values, norms, meanings and history. When municipalities co-operate, concerns among stakeholders can arise that potentially lead to a sense that interdependence among municipal partners can threaten a community’s independence and correspondingly community identity. The main goal of this study was to understand how the development of an inter-municipal partnership associated with the provision of a centralized multi-use recreation facility affected community identity among partnering communities. This goal was accomplished by exploring the case of Pictou County. Municipal leaders, members of the public, and local persons of influence were interviewed to gather their impression of the implications of an inter-municipal partnership for community identity. An interpretivist viewpoint guided this case study. One-on-one interviews were transcribed, analyzed, and broken down into different themes to capture the impact this case had on community identity. Findings were organized into three sections: (1) concerns about the partnership, (2) anticipated benefits, and (3) the overall implications for community identity. The findings of this case study revealed a shift in identity within the region in which the partnership took place. Although residents in each neighbouring municipality had a strong sense of community identity, the case illustrated a general shift toward a regional identity that was beginning to emerge. Study participants understood why some members of their communities were threatened by the inter-municipal partnership under investigation, but explained how the partnership created benefits that outweighed the negative impacts of co-operation. In particular, stakeholders believed the economic benefits of the partnership overshadowed any concerns about transparency or public input. This has allowed a shift in the tradition ways recreation services have traditional been offered in the county. Now instead of each municipality working as independent services providers they are now starting to work more interdependently to provide services for the municipalities. This case helps add to the body of literature involving inter-municipal partnerships and provide the opportunity for future research to be conducted on topics such as geographic identity and interscetionality. As well, the case provides insight to future practitioners when they are conducting research to understand that citizen participation is important in a project like this but it may be less significant than if the primary interest, such as economic interests, of the community members if initially managed. Addressing these interests should help lessen the chance of resistance forming later in the project.

While service and support delivery for youth and families has been a priority within education in Saskatchewan for the past thirty years, educators and schools struggle to respond to the changing and often complex needs of students and families today.<p> The primary purpose of this study was to formulate a conceptual framework to explore the construct of social capital and the variables affecting social capital creation, acquisition and mobility. My secondary purpose was to then use network inquiry to investigate how networks of relations in a school community could be invested in and utilized to increase sources of social capital in an educational context for educators, students and families. As both an interpretive qualitative study and a critical qualitative study, this dissertation used focus groups to explore the experiences and sense-making of 16 participants in an educational setting to answer questions regarding social capital.<p> Having used network inquiry to investigate existing levels of social capital in a school community and the opportunities for social capital growth, the findings affirm the potential of network inquiry to contribute to the discourse on service delivery in schools. Furthermore, by identifying the academic and non-academic variables that contributed to successful collaborative partnerships and the determinants for increased capacity, process is emphasized before outcome, which holds potential for promising practices. Finally, because this study was conducted in an educational context, this may help policy makers to provide a framework to investigate processes for optimum service delivery and to frame educational policies for improved outcomes for youth and families.

During the last decades, the tourism industry has become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. The growth has in turn led to traditional marketing techniques such as branding being applied to places and destinations. The concept of destination branding is concerned with creating an image which positively can influence consumer’s choice of destinations. Conditions surrounding organizations working with destination branding, so called destination marketing organizations is very complex. This highlights a need for effective management, leading to managerial activities such as stakeholder management, partnership creation and brand architecture being key factors in destination branding success. The purpose of this study is consequently to investigate the antecedents of successful destination marketing focusing on stakeholder management, partnerships and brand architecture. Based on a literature review, three research questions were created. A case study has been carried out in the form of semi-structured interviews with destination marketing organization from three Swedish regions. This study reveals that stakeholders are vital for the destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and their businesses. Therefore they have a clear understanding of which groups and individuals are stakeholders to their brand. The focus lies on the primary stakeholders and the DMOs are taking a motivating and caring role of the stakeholders, treating them with respect and appreciation. Collaborating within partnerships constitutes a large part of the daily work of the regional DMO's activities, and is often based on a need or possibility of creating an activity or product to improve the destination brand. Important factors to consider when creating partnerships have been identified, as well as ingredients for a successful partnership and what DMOs are expecting from their partnerships in terms of outcomes. Finally this study concludes that the regional destination marketing organizations are not fully applying any classic brand architecture strategies. Instead they are adopting a mix of umbrella brand and endorsed brand with selective communication of the brands in the region where they choose which brand should be communicated depending on which customer group is being targeted.