What Do the Relationships between Pre-Service Biology Teachers’ Personality and Professional Knowledge Reveal about Their Innovativeness?—An Exploratory Study Using Canonical Correlation Analysis

Already in 2016, the German educational policy adopted the Education in the Digital World strategy, recommending that all teachers should become experts in using media. However, despite this initiative regarding the promotion of innovative forms of teaching using digital media, most teachers did not feel optimally prepared to successfully cope with the demands of implementing e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most empirical studies on potential barriers to innovation pertain to comparatively easy, changeable environmental factors, whereas only a few studies have focused on teachers as an individual factor so far. Since several organizational psychological studies on the relationships between innovativeness and personality traits in professional contexts identified the personality trait of openness to experience to be particularly influential on the innovative behaviors of employees’, our study aimed to explore whether comparable results can also be found in the educational context. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional survey (n = 201) to analyze to what extent the Big Five personality traits are related to pre-service teachers’ self-concept of professional knowledge and, in particular, its digitalization-related domains. The results of our canonical correlation analysis show that the two personality traits of openness to experience and conscientiousness appear to be significantly related to the overall professional knowledge of our sample. Furthermore, a dominant affinity for technology seems to be associable with the risk of lower values on personality traits that are regarded to be pedagogically relevant. However, we found that our canonical model could also get along with fewer variables since the actual digitalization-related teaching skills were not sufficiently reflected by the canonical solution but were rather caught up in the domain of pedagogical content knowledge. Interpretations of these findings as well as practical implications are discussed.

Introducing Parenting Support in Primary Care: Professionals’ Perspectives on the Implementation of a Positive Parenting Program

While positive parenting programs are an initiative aligned with the Family-Centered Care model and the Council of Europe’s Recommendation on Positive Parenting, implementation in healthcare centers remains a challenge. The aims of this study were to (1) investigate how the hybrid version (online course plus face-to-face activities) of the program “Gain Health & Wellbeing From 0 to 3” was implemented in Spain from professionals’ perspective, and (2) explore the perceived impact of this hybrid version of the program on the implementers’ professional development. We used a qualitative mixed-methods design that included focus groups and surveys. Fifty professionals from 17 centers completed the survey on professional development. Thirty-one of these also participated in the focus groups to address the first aim. The key themes identified from the focus group were professional training, parent recruitment, program features, organizational issues, parental responses, and program sustainability. Survey results related to positive professional impact fit nicely with subthemes concerning collaboration with parents, parental needs, center coordination, and future expectations. The perceived relevance of the parenting program and its positive impact on the implementers’ professional development were potential predictors for the adoption and sustainability of the program in the public health system.

What drives hospital wards' ambidexterity: Insights on the determinants of exploration and exploitation

OBJECTIVES

Hospital wards are required to exploit current knowledge and explore for new knowledge. Ambidexterity (i.e., the capability to combine both exploitation and exploration) is a major issue in healthcare as result of the growing expectations that hospitals wards have the capability to manage the trade-off between high-quality delivery of care and cost-containment. This study sheds novel light on the determinants of ambidextrous behaviours in hospital wards.

METHODS

A theoretical framework has been built on the extant literature. The main determinants of ambidexterity are opening/closing leadership, organisational support, organisational creativity and environmental dynamism. The model has been tested empirically through data collected via survey administered to head physicians in charge of hospital wards. After the quality check, 80 questionnaires were available for the statistical analysis based on a hierarchical sequential linear regression model (with enter methodology).

RESULTS

Results showed that opening (β = 0.389;p < 0.001) and closing (β = 0.288;p < 0.01) leadership, as well as organisational creativity (β = 0.499 p < 0.001) are necessary to materialize ambidextrous behaviours (Adj.R² = 0.529). Environmental dynamism does not moderate these relationships. While opening leadership (β = 0.375;p < 0.01), organisational creativity (β = 0.270;p < 0.05) and environmental dynamism (β = 0.224;p < 0.1) are determinants of exploration, closing leadership (β = 0.506;p < 0.001) and organisational creativity (β = 0.529;p < 0.001) are determinants of exploitation.

CONCLUSIONS

Head physicians' leadership style as well as organizational creativity play a pivotal role in materializing ambidextrous behaviours in wards.