Shared governance (SG) creates an evidence-based framework to support decision making in healthcare organizations by encouraging nursing staff ownership of nursing practice issues. This project assessed the current state of shared governance at a community hospital through: (a) deployment of Hess's Index of Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG) and the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) nursing satisfaction surveys which were open to nurses working in areas included in the SG framework at the project site, and (b) retrospective review of Unit Practice Council (UPC) and Nursing Senate (NS) minutes and agendas. Kotter's theory of change and the logic model informed interventions aimed at creating an effective SG. IPNG data were analyzed using Hess' scoring guidelines to establish total governance and subscale scores. Mean IPNG scores of nurse leaders, clinical nurse managers, and staff nurses were compared using a 1-way ANOVA based on job title, education, employment status, and shift. NDNQI results were analyzed based on benchmarked Magnet objectives and comparison to previous year's surveys. Meeting agendas and minutes were analyzed for attendance and initiation of interventions. Outcomes of this project included successful creation of a UPC on a medical telemetry unit; alignment of meeting times to promote attendance; paid access to remote meeting attendance; standardization of meeting minutes and agendas; and unit-specific, outcomes-data dashboards. Implementation of this model to improve the effectiveness of SG can lead to positive social change through improvement in the decision-making process in the nation's healthcare institutions. Inclusion of all members of the healthcare team in the decisions that impact practice helps ensure comprehensive, evidence-based, and patient-centric care.

A luta por território realizada pelos camponeses, indígenas e demais trabalhadores do centro-sul do México, reunidos em torno da figura de Emiliano Zapata, foi um dos principais alicerces do processo histórico que ficou conhecido como revolução mexicana, a partir do final de 1910. Ao longo de seus primeiros passos, o zapatismo elaborou um posicionamento de autonomia em relação às disputas pelo poder central e realizou sua luta a partir de parâmetros próprios, sem esperar diretrizes construídas a partir do Estado. O presente estudo busca observar a autonomia do movimento zapatista conduzido pelos pueblos junto a seu Exército Libertador, com base em suas necessidades. A fim de compreender os parâmetros e alcances deste posicionamento autônomo, analisamos a prática do zapatismo na reorganização produtiva de seu território, a partir da expulsão dos hacendados produtores de açúcar que, historicamente, haviam roubado as terras pertencentes aos pueblos. Observamos a produção do zapatismo em torno de dois aspectos: a base e a restituição da economia milenar dos pueblos pautada no cultivo do milho e a relação do movimento com as formas de produção deixadas pelas haciendas de açúcar e ocupadas pelo zapatismo em prol de sua insurreição. Este trabalho se debruça, assim, sobre os limites e as potencialidades das ações realizadas pelo zapatismo no estado de Morelos e estados vizinhos, de 1911 ao início de 1916, que proporcionaram a possibilidade de uma nova forma de produzir a sobrevivência coletiva e a vida, em meio à resistência contra as forças que atacaram permanentemente a prática e o projeto dos insurgentes do centro-sul. / The struggle for territory held by peasants, indigenous and other workers of south-central Mexico, gathered around the figure of Emiliano Zapata, was one of the main foundations of the historical process that became known as the Mexican Revolution, from the end of 1910. Throughout its first steps, Zapatismo has produced a position of autonomy in relation to the dispute by the central power and conducted its struggle from its own parameters, without waiting for guidelines built by the State. The present study seeks to observe the autonomy of the Zapatista movement led by the pueblos next to their Liberating Army, based on their needs. In order to understand the parameters and scope of this autonomous positioning, we analyze the practice of Zapatismo in the productive reorganization of its territory, after the expulsion of the sugar-producing hacendados who, historically, had stolen the lands belonging to the pueblos. We observe the production of zapatismo around two aspects: the base and the restitution of the millenarian economy of the pueblos based on the corn cultivation and the relation of the movement with the forms of production left by the sugar haciendas and occupied by the zapatismo in favor of its insurrection. This work focuses, therefore, on the limits and potentialities of actions taken by the Zapatistas in the state of Morelos and neighboring states, from 1911 to early 1916, which provided the possibility of a new way of producing both collective survival and life, in the midst of resistance against the forces that permanently attacked the practice and project of the south-central insurgents.

Autonomous learning is defined as an individual being actively engaged in the learning process to further his or her own interests and pleasure (Evans, 2016). This study measured music educators’ self-reported perceptions of autonomy-support provided by their principal and music educators’ self-reported perceptions of the autonomy-support they offered to their students. Bonneville-Roussy, Lavigne, and Vallerand (2011), Bonneville-Roussy, Vallerand, and Bouffard (2013), and Evans (2015) researched autonomous learning in music teaching and learning. They suggested music educators need to create a learning environment where students are motivated to learn for their own interests, pleasure, and passion for music. Autonomous learning research has focused not only on the autonomous learning of the students, but on the support offered by the teacher to motivate the autonomous learning (Reeve, 1998). Reeve (2009) defined autonomy-supportive teaching as “the interpersonal sentiment and behavior teachers provide to identify, nurture, and develop students’ inner motivational resources” (p. 159). Building from that definition, Deci and Ryan (2016) asserted through autonomy-supportive efforts in the classroom, a student will be “moved to act” in the motivational process (Ryan, 2016; Ryan & Deci, 2016). Autonomy-supportive teaching centers on the careful alignment of the teacher’s motivating action with student needs. For this study, current music educator participants (N = 295) took an online survey that included demographic information, the Work Climate Questionnaire-Schools (Baard, Deci, & Ryan, 2004; adapted for schools with permission), and the Situations in Schools Questionnaire (Aelterman et al., 2017; used with permission from J. Reeve, 2016). Descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, MANOVA, and ANOVA resulted in no significant differences in the correlation analysis between Work Climate Questionnaire – School and Situations in Schools – Controlling-Teaching or Work Climate Questionnaire – School and Situations in Schools – Autonomy-Support. There was significant negative correlation between Situations in Schools – Controlling-Teaching and Situations in Schools – Autonomy-Support, r (293) = -.160, p < .01, one-tailed. The MANOVA design indicated a main effect for area taught by level taught by highest education attained, Өᵢ = 0.031, F (2, 276) = 4.26, p = .015. There was a statistically significant difference between highest education level attained and the Situations in Schools – Controlling-Teaching Scale, F (1, 290) = 4.923, p < .05. The negative relationship between controlling-teaching and autonomy-supportive teaching promotes the relevance for the newly established Situations in Schools (Aelterman et al., 2017) measurement tool. The data suggest music educators who possess graduate degrees tend to utilize less controlling-teaching practices. Future research in undergraduate teacher training and professional development in autonomy-supportive teaching could enhance the development of teachers-in-training and current music educators.

Scholars have connected cognitive distortions to adolescents’ externalizing behaviors. Other scholars have offered that higher levels of cognitive autonomy, which develops during adolescence, may be a protective factor for problem behaviors in adolescence. To date, no studies have explored how these two cognitive processes function and potentially interact to predict adolescent problem behaviors. This study’s purpose was to see if cognitive autonomy affected the relationship between cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors in a clinical population of adolescents. Past research has suggested that cognitive distortions are greater and more prevalent in clinical populations. Because of this, the processes of cognitive autonomy could be affected by cognitive distortions (that can form prior to adolescence), and worsen the relationship between cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors. This study analyzed 146 adolescents, from a residential treatment facility. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine if links between cognitive distortions, cognitive autonomy, and externalizing behaviors existed, and to determine if elements of cognitive autonomy affected the relationship between cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors. As expected, analyses showed that cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors were related. Additionally, results indicated that aspects of cognitive autonomy were protective of externalizing behaviors. Results did not reveal that cognitive autonomy affected the relationship between cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors. Discussion highlights potential reasons and alternative explanations for the results that were inconsistent with expectations. Limitations and future directions also are discussed.

Corporate Autonomy: Law, Constitutional Democracy, and the Rights of Big Business is a normative, interdisciplinary and analytical examination of the rights and internal governance of business corporations in constitutional liberal democracies. Drawing from political theory, economics and law, it concludes that corporations should not merit legal protections unless they first exhibit some internal democratic credentials. In contrast to theories of collective moral personhood, I argue that the question of corporate ontology should not determine the kinds of legal rights it can claim. Rather, following Dewey (1926) and Habermas (1996), I maintain that the law, as a reflection of popular sovereignty, should respond flexibly to shifting social configurations by defending the principle of equal human worth (Arendt) regardless of whether or not corporations are properly understood as “real” entities with a will of their own, aggregations of individual rights-holders, or state-created legal fictions. I argue that corporations can make a prima facie case for legal autonomy rights based upon human beings’ associational freedoms. I then conclude that corporate legal autonomy rights are more likely to vindicate associational liberty if corporations first exhibit some internal democratic credentials. Permitting corporate members a voice in decision-making can ensure that corporate purposes align with the individual purposes upon which associational freedom derives. (Laborde, 2017) Nevertheless, after consideration of the literature on group agency (e.g., List and Pettit 2011) and group rights, (e.g., Benhabib 2002; Levy 2014) I also conclude that autonomy rights founded on associationalism must be tempered to protect the equal rights and liberties of those that might be harmed by corporate action. Given labor markets characterized by monopsony, financial markets characterized by the “forced capitalism,” (Strine, Jr., 2017) and the ongoing control exercised by corporate leadership under the constraints of product market competition, I find that ascribing associational rights to corporations is a tall order indeed. It may require that corporations assume further democratic institutions designed to protect those whose rights are vulnerable to corporate autonomy: e.g., intra-corporate individual autonomy rights, accountability mechanisms, internal counter-powers, and systems of discursive justification. I then argue that this theory of corporate autonomy rights incorporates the best, and jettisons the worst, of alternative theories of workplace democracy. In particular, it integrates and tempers the associationalist instincts of syndicalist, participatory democratic theories while building on the protective instincts of republican theories. The dissertation concludes by addressing a common objection to workplace democracy: that it is so inefficient that it would destroy the very good its members mean to pursue as they exercise their associational freedoms. It finds that accountable representation, delegation of decision-making functions, and market exit can help a corporation maintain its democratic credentials while permitting it to respond to market constraint.

No description available.

The general goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of creating a constructivist learning environment in a university mathematics course as an alternative to the dominant transmissionist learning environments currently in place in most such courses. In order to accomplish this goal the researcher, a university professor, attempted to create this environment and document it in a case study.The study sought to ascertain which dimensions of a constructivist learning environment - autonomy, prior knowledge, negotiation, student-centeredness - university students preferred and how these preferences changed after being in such an environment. It also sought to find out how students' preferred environments matched the environment they perceived to be in place. In addition, the study sought to determine what changes the instructor had to make in his teaching practice to implement each of the dimensions.The results of the study suggest most students very strongly preferred the prior-knowledge and negotiation dimensions, strongly preferred the autonomy dimension, and weakly to moderately preferred the student-centeredness dimension. The data indicate that during the study student preferences for prior knowledge and negotiation increased slightly, preferences for student centeredness increased moderately, and preferences for autonomy increased significantly.In addition, the researcher found that the four dimensions were not implemented equally. While the first three dimensions were strongly implemented, the student-centeredness dimension was only moderately implemented. Interestingly, the learning environment the students perceived to be in place closely matched their preferences.

The connection between intrinsic motives and positive psychological outcomes has been widely demonstrated, and has been extended to Self-Determination Theory concepts of the self-determination continuum and the three basic needs. However, only a small amount of literature has looked at this connection in relationships, especially with friends. Therefore, this study sought to investigate Self-Determination Theory in relationships with friends and partners. The main hypothesis was that selfdetermination and the three basic psychological needs' fulfillment in relationships, would be positively correlated with relationship satisfaction.

In recent years, the Australian Government's (Commonwealth) relationship to universities has become one of greater involvement as political circles recognise the escalation in the significance of higher education as a key determinant in Australia's economic, social, cultural, and intellectual development. The increasing role of the Commonwealth in Australian universities is largely a consequence of this recognition, but it is also due in part to changes in the way governments approach the public sector and publicly funded institutions. Both the literature and extensive Commonwealth reports provide an array of details in relation to: what the Commonwealth wants from its universities; why it wants it; what it is doing to ensure that it gets what it wants; and the results of its actions-at least from the perspective of the Commonwealth. But what is missing is how universities themselves perceive the impact of the Commonwealth's increasing involvement in universities. Although academics and managers in Australian universities have much to say about how current and proposed Commonwealth policies affect their working environment they are not given much of a venue to opine. As such there is a lack of literature on how universities perceive the impact of this increasing involvement. This dissertation aims to fill the gap by providing a forum that addresses universities' perceptions of how Commonwealth policies affect their universities. Specifically, this dissertation sets out to discover if and how Commonwealth policies change universities and focuses on how policies influence autonomy and research in Australian universities through the responses of those who work in the offices of the deputy vice chancellors of research in twelve Australian universities. One of the most significant findings of the thesis is that the Commonwealth's increasing involvement in universities is viewed by respondents as a consequence of the Commonwealth's mistrust of Australian universities. Furthermore, the Commonwealth is seen as lacking expertise in areas relating to universities-their needs, history, purpose, mission, and how they best relate to and contribute to society-and their need for autonomy. This dissertation offers some insights into perspectives whereby policies built on the Commonwealth's mistrust and lack of expertise in university matters negatively influence autonomy and research productivity in Australian universities. The results indicate decreased productivity which leads to further mistrust that appears to decrease productivity even morea cycle that respondents fear might be a self-propelling downward spiral. Eight hypotheses and one overarching proposition emerge from the findings. In addition, nine areas are identified as adding to the overall understanding of the affect that Commonwealth policies have on university autonomy and research productivity in Australian universities.

Research into learner autonomy has confirmed the importance of learner competencies such as effective strategy use, goal setting and planning, maintaining motivation, and the ability to reflect and self-evaluate to the development of autonomy. The introduction of key competency frameworks to develop learner autonomy has been a focus of recent curriculum development from primary through to tertiary levels in the New Zealand education system. However, facilitating and managing the development of these learning competencies in a programme of study that has a number of different papers and staff, can be problematic. The learning portfolio is emerging as a possible medium to provide the required framework. This study investigated the effectiveness of an ePortolio in enhancing learner autonomy in the context of a language learning programme. The aim of this study was to gain insight from a student perspective into the usfulness of ePortfolios as a tool to enhance student learning. Investigating learner autonomy and the development of self-reflection resulting from the use of ePortfolios was the main focus of the study. It also examined some of the practicalities of using an ePortfolio to develop the desired learner competencies, and discussed whether an ePortfolio provides an effective framework to record, monitor and provide feedback to students. The results of the study reinforce the findings of previous studies in that there are benefits of ePortfolios as they encourage reflection. ePortfolios also have the potential to support the reflective process by making learning outcomes visible and they promote goal-setting. However, despite these apparent benefits, the findings suggest that there are many challenges, which have the potential to negatively influence its effectiveness. The ePortfolio in this study was used with varying degrees of success. The findings have raised several issues regarding the introduction of an ePortfolio. The time it takes for teachers to give individual feedback and maintain an adequate level of feedback throughout the semester was one major challenge. The extent to which learners need to be trained in the purpose of the ePortfolio and its link to reflection and developing autonomy was another issue that was raised. In addition, getting students to reflect on their learning holistically also proved to be problematic. Overall however, findings as to the effectiveness of the ePortfolio in promoting autonomous learning appear promising, but they have highlighted the need to make changes to the ePortfolio itself. Its integration into the curriculum needs to be reconsidered to maximize its use and gain maximum benefit.