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“What’s Best for you?”: Using Cripistemologies as a Grounding for Participatory Research with Communities that are Non-Verbal
No full textParticipatory approaches are a welcome grounding for doing disability research in PE. Despite best intentions however, people that do not best communicate through traditional oral methods (e.g., some individuals with cerebral palsy, autism, D/deaf communities, verbal dyspraxia) are still excluded from research due to a reliance on ‘talk’ to recruit participants, gain informed consent and co-construct data. Embedding work in cripistemologies can dismantle ways of thinking and doing research using only oral methods and provide space to ‘crip’ research in such a way that research is informed by people that are non-verbal for people that are non-verbal. We propose two ways of engaging in cripistemologies, (1) acknowledging ableist baggage and (2) crip time. In this chapter we draw upon our experiences of living as someone that is non-verbal (Christian) and working with communities that are non-verbal (Emma, Rebecca and Helen) to show how we used these cripistemologies and provide ‘tips’ for researchers to ensure people that are non-verbal can also be included in participatory research
“I’m just not artistic.” An exploration of Initial Teacher Education trainees’ confidence in their art-ability and their perceptions of teaching the primary art and design curriculum
No full textThis study explores the ongoing debate surrounding the degradation of art and design in primary education and the perceptions of trainee teachers preparing to teach the subject. It provides a starting point for further research into the role of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in reframing trainee teachers’ conceptions of the nature and importance of the art and design curriculum. This qualitative study interviewed six trainee teachers at the beginning of their first year of teacher education to ascertain their experiences of art to date and explore themes around artistic confidence and preparedness for teaching primary art. The data indicates a surprising trend where trainee teachers have little confidence in their own artistic abilities yet consider themselves effective future art teachers. The study identifies a number of common misconceptions around the nature of primary art as a subject that is fun, low-stakes and expendable, as well as highlighting key tensions about trainees’ perception of artistic skill as pre-ordained rather than learned
Nurturing Compassion in the Early Years: Foundations for Professional Practice
No full textThis chapter explores the essential role of compassion in early years education and care, arguing that it is foundational to meaningful, ethical practice. It examines key concepts including empathy, heartful practice, and professional love, drawing on research and real-world examples to illustrate compassionate interactions with children, families, and colleagues. The chapter discusses the emotional demands of early years work, including the risks of empathic distress and compassion fatigue, and highlights the importance of self-compassion. It also critiques policy and practice constraints, advocating for emotionally rich, responsive care that honours the holistic needs of young children and their communities
How Do Factors External to Statutory Guidance Influence Approved Mental Health Professionals, When Making Decisions During Assessments with Service Users Presenting with Suicidal Ideation?
Get PDFApproved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP) are often required to assess people experiencing suicidal thinking and they must make difficult decisions in challenging circumstances that require a range of factors to be considered, not least the safety of the person being assessed. This study explores some of the inherent challenges involved in this work and considers the preparedness of AMHPs, the complex dynamics that inform decision making and finally how AMHPs are supported by the organisations for whom they work. The research is an empirical study based on unstructured interviews with practitioners working in the field. It identifies that AMHPs can often believe the person being assessed is not mentally unwell, rather they are experiencing what the study describes as ‘emotional distress’ relating to stressful life events. The study also identifies evidence that AMHPs feel confident to fulfil their statutory role and reach independent decisions, however, despite some very good support structures, AMHPs would benefit from more enhanced support following cases where an undesired outcome occurs. The findings hope to assist social work training organisations and employers by highlighting the importance of training related to this area of practice and the necessity of robust support systems for practitioners
Towards Privacy-Preserving Deep Learning for Intelligent IoT Botnet Detection
Get PDFInternet of Things (IoT) botnets are networks of infected smart devices controlled by at-tackers, posing a serious cybersecurity challenge. Developing detection approaches that maintain high accuracy while protecting privacy presents considerable challenges, particularly in large and heterogeneous IoT networks. This paper empirically compares three modeling approaches on Bot-IoT and N-BaIoT in binary and multiclass settings: hand-crafted machine learning with Random Forest (RF), centralized deep learning (CDL) with DNN/LSTM/BiLSTM, and federated deep learning (FDL) with the same architectures. Model hyperparameters are selected via randomized search on stratified subsets and then fixed for final training. Results show near-perfect performance for all approaches in binary detection: on Bot-IoT, CDL-DNN attains perfect accuracy, and RF is virtually perfect (only four benign-to-attack false positives), while FDL models are similarly strong with only small false-positive and false-negative counts. On N-BaIoT, RF and CDL (especially LSTM) are near-perfect, and FDL is very close to CDL. For multiclass detection, CDL-DNN leads on Bot-IoT, RF remains near-perfect with minimal cross-class confusion, and FDL trails slightly; on N-BaIoT, FDL-BiLSTM and RF are essentially perfect, with CDL-LSTM close behind. Overall, the findings validate RF as a competitive classical approach, show where centralized representation learning adds value, and demonstrate that federated training preserves most of the centralized accuracy while avoiding raw-data centralization (data locality) for scalable deployment
Book review of The Jewish Pedlar: An Untold Criminal History, by Tony Kushner, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2025, 344 pp. ISBN: 9781526178022, £20 (hardcover)
No full textAdvanced clinical practitioners' role in reducing readmissions for patients aged over 65 years
No full textBackground
Hospital readmission rates in the UK older population present an undeniable pressure to the healthcare system, patients, and their families. The Advanced Clinical Practitioner role (ACP) is one possible solution to alleviate General Practitioners (GPs) pressures within primary care to impact prevention of readmissions.
Aim
To understand GPs perspective of the ACP role to reduce hospital readmission rates for over 65 year olds.
Methods
A qualitative study using Interpretative Phenomenology Approach (IPA) was employed, using purposive sampling to explore perceptions of GPs working within a primary care setting. Three in depth semi-structured interviews were recorded and analysed using the IPA framework.
Results
Three key themes were extracted from the data; 1) Poor communication post hospital discharge. 2) Patient follow-up. 3) The role of the ACP in preventing readmissions.
Conclusion
The GPs in this study recognised the value of the ACP role and their ability to enrich care provided to patients post hospital discharge, which may subsequently impact on reducing hospital readmissions. Although the ACP role was perceived differently across General Practices, findings demonstrate GPs positive reflection of the role with a sense of camaraderie and collaboration between ACPs and GPs
Wildlife on Wednesday: Nurturing nature connectedness in ITE at the University of Worcester
No full textHow a Green Impact Project was used to engage Secondary ITE trainees in nature connection activities
Deep bed farming with maize–soybean intercropping improves maize yield and soil fertility in northern Malawi
Get PDFIn sub-Saharan Africa smallholder farmers face challenges of declining soil fertility, erratic rainfall, low crop yields, and food insecurity. Deep bed farming (DBF), a conservation agriculture-based approach promoted by Tiyeni in Malawi, shows potential to address these issues. This study evaluated the effects of integrating maize (Zea mays)–soybean (Glycine max) intercropping with DBF on maize grain yield and soil fertility. A split-plot design was used, with cropping systems (CSs) as main plots and tillage systems (TSs) as subplots, replicated three times across three cropping seasons. CS included mono-maize without fertilizer (M), mono-maize with 92 kg N ha−1 (M + 92 N), mono-soybean (S), and maize–soybean (MS) intercropping; TS comprised DBF and conventional tillage (CT). In season two, mono-maize without fertilizer was planted across all plots; in season three, maize was planted with 50 kg N ha−1. Results showed that MS intercropping under DBF significantly enhanced early maize growth—taller plants, more leaves, and greater leaf area compared to both mono-cropped maize under DBF and all CSs under CT. While M + 92 N yielded the most grain, intercropping showed favorable land productivity (land equivalent ratio > 1.16). Soybean yields were lower in intercrops but improved under DBF. Residual benefits from combined legume-based systems and DBF led to significantly higher maize yields and improved total N, available P, and soil organic carbon in subsequent seasons. Integrating MS intercropping with DBF enhances land-use efficiency and soil fertility, offering a climate-smart, conservation-aligned strategy for sustainable smallholder farming in Malawi and similar agroecological zones
Nursing and social work students working together to safeguard children – Using simulation to improve knowledge of the child protection system
Get PDFChild protection practice relates to activities undertaken to protect specific children who are suspected to be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, it is challenging and requires effective multiagency working (LGA, 2025). NHS England (2024) identifies safeguarding as embedded in the core duties and statutory responsibilities of all organisations across the NHS and health system. The consequence in failing to work effectively can be catastrophic and underpins this initiative to improve interprofessional practice. The team delivered an IPE event which brought together child nursing and social work students in a simulated Initial Child Protection Conference (ICPC) which was evaluated using a mixed methods design. Statistically significant findings were compelling, evidencing increases in knowledge and understanding of the child protection process and the roles and responsibilities of the interprofessional team. These findings were contextualised in the established four themes of the qualitative data. Our experience supports the continuing development and evaluation of interprofessional learning events underpinned by transformative learning approaches