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External agents in schools: roles and responsibilities for children and young people’s learning and wellbeing
Get PDFThis thesis examines the other individuals involved in schools and classrooms who are not teachers or teaching assistants. Many terms exist for these individuals including external agents, providers and specialists. This is set within a policy background of government reports, Acts and initiatives from the early 1900s. Those invited in to be involved in schools. includes statutory agencies, military-style organisations, the voluntary sector, community members and employers. The literature which examines the involvement of these external agents in schools does so from a narrow perspective, such as a specific agent type or policy initiative. In contrast, the aim is to identify the full range of agents involved across four case study schools through a broad approach in that it does not focus on a type of agent (e.g. employers); a specific initiative (e.g. extended schools) or period (e.g. 1960 to 2000). There is a lack of discussion within the literature from the agent perspective. To counteract this gap, the perceptions of agents are compared against those of school staff, in terms of the rationales for their involvement in schools. The aim is to determine if the involvement of agents is in relation to government invitations or if other rationales exist. The contribution to knowledge is in terms of this broad approach to the identification of agents, against the approach taken in previously studies. It also adds knowledge in that it compares the perceptions of both external agents and school staff about the rationales for involvement.
The research involves completion of a pro-forma by a staff member at each school to identify the agents. It also includes semi-structured interviews with school staff and external agents plus documentary analysis. It draws on a collective case study approach to describe the situation in terms of external agent involvement and used an ideology critique to examine the different interests and the legitimacy of the situation. This research draws on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model of Human Development (1979) to explore the different system levels of rationale. It also utilises the different form of capital which include social capital (Putnam, 2000), cultural capital and economic capital (Bourdieu, 1997), human capital (Becker, 1964), intellectual capital and organisational capital (Hargreaves, 2001; 2003; Craig et al. 2004). These are presented as a typology. The different forms of capital are used to explore if the involvement is in relation to one form of capital over another. Through this process of reflection the aim is to share an insight in terms of the reality of external agent involvement in schools and to make recommendations through this research to improve the involvement of external agent involvement in schools through shared knowledge.
The findings indicate a high involvement of external agents in the schools with trends of agent type being linked to government policies. However, the ‘messiness’ in the identification of agents resulted in just a ‘snapshot’ of the agent involvement. This is a consequence of insufficient staff knowledge related to their role, time in service or value they place on the capitals of the agents. There is a disconnection between some agent perceptions of their relationship to the school and the inclusion in the data. The findings also suggest there is a complexity in terms of the rationales which operate at multi-system levels. These rationales include financial, educational, informational and wellbeing. Where agents are involved through school requests there is clearly an agent benefit but also a link to macro rationales. Where agents are involved for rationales that emanate beyond the schools, access difficulties are reported and the desire to ‘fit in’ to negotiate access. Agents use the different capitals such as social capital and economic capital to attempt to gain access to schools. Although agents have their own primary rationale for being involved in schools, many are asked by schools to deliver specialist or targeted provision at no cost. There are tensions between some agents and schools in terms of the expectations placed upon them by schools. However, even where agents offere physical cash to schools, it does not result in open access to pupils. This highlights a complexity in the rationales for involvement of external agents in schools
Digital skills, confidence and motivation: technology supported authentic learning in journalism education
Get PDFThis study explores the use of technology to incorporate authentic learning practices into the Review and Lifestyle Journalism module at Staffordshire University. The research takes a constructivist view, considering both tutor observation and student feedback to evaluate an experiential journalism project, StaffsLive Reviews, developed in the academic year 2016-17. Here authentic learning is defined as designing activities to provide meaningful, ‘real-life’ situations which are relevant from a student’s perspective, while providing protective scaffolding to support learning (Icuc and Marin 2014 and Stein 2004). This encapsulates a broader institutional focus on employability, by designing activities that closely match ‘real-world’ tasks of media professionals (Lombardi 2007)
Flavin, M. (2017) Disruptive Technology Enhanced Learning: The use and misuse of digital technologies in higher education. Palgrave Macmillan
Get PDF‘We need more disruptive behaviour’, is not the final action call most academics will be hoping for from a title promising to outline the use and misuse of digital technologies in higher education.
However, on reaching this final sentence, teaching staff will likely recognise themselves as part of this disruptive revolution; for what is being suggested is not necessarily a teaching-level change, but a greater recognition by those planning university-wide IT strategies that the use of digital technology is not something that can or should be contained as a one-size fits all model
Mid-infrared dual-rhombic air hole Ge 20 Sb 15 Se 65 chalcogenide photonic crystal fiber with high birefringence and high nonlinearity
Get PDFWe propose a mid-infrared dual-rhombic air hole hexagonal lattice photonic crystal fiber with high birefringence and large nonlinearity based on Ge20Sb15Se65 chalcogenide glass. The properties of birefringence, dispersion, nonlinearity, and confinement loss were investigated in the 3 µm~5 µm mid-infrared range by using the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method with perfectly matched layer (PML) absorption boundary conditions. The results indicate that for the optimized structural parameters of Λ= 2.0 µm, D= 1.932 µm, d= 0.8 µm, and H= 0.8 µm, an ultrahigh birefringence of 0.041, a very low confinement loss of 0.0013 dB/km (for x-polarization modes) and 0.0342 dB/km (for y-polarization modes), and the maximum nonlinearity coefficient of 4375 w−1km−1 (for x-polarization modes) and 3960 w−1km−1 (for y-polarization modes) were achieved, respectively. The proposed PCF has a lower confinement loss and higher birefringence than an elliptical-hole PCF with the same air-filling fraction. Thus, it will be an excellent candidate for mid-infrared optical fiber sensing, precision optical instruments and nonlinear optics
Fiscal Decentralisation and Economic Growth in Transition Economies
Get PDFSince the collapse of the communist system, transition economies (TEs) have
witnessed significant growth in fiscal decentralisation (FD). In order to meet the needs
of the new decentralised system and adapt to new political changes such as the EU
accession, these countries started to reform their governance system by devolving
greater power to subnational governments. The ongoing intergovernmental fiscal
relations and territorial reforms during these twenty-eight years of transition have
demonstrated that decentralisation in general, and FD in particular, is an ongoing
process, continually evolving and contributing to democracy, economic efficiency and
ultimately economic development (Bird, 1993; Bird et al., 1995). Given the variation
in FD during transition and the attention it has received especially amongst developed
TEs, this dissertation aims to assess the relationship between FD and economic growth
in the context of the transition process. First, it contributes to the current theoretical
literature by critically reviewing the existing theories on this relationship and
exploring new potential (direct and indirect) channels of transmission from FD to
economic performance. Also, this thesis contributes to the current empirical literature
on FD by providing an empirical investigation of the impact of FD on economic
growth for selected transition economies, taking into account the relevance of
important factors such as the level of analysis (national vs subnational levels), the stage
of economic transition, the geographical location and the size of countries - factors
that have not been sufficiently investigated in previous studies. The previous empirical
studies were unable to provide conclusive evidence concerning the impact of FD on
economic performance. By shedding light on the factors that contribute to the FDeconomic
growth relationship and using statistical methods that are appropriate to the
analysis of this relationship, this thesis provides some explanation for the inconclusive
nature of previous studies. Using data for TEs in Europe and the former Soviet Union,
the empirical results suggest that the economic effects of FD are sensitive to the FD
measures used and, more importantly, to the economic and institutional reforms
implemented in these countries. The thesis shows that while FD may have an
insignificant effect on countries in early stages of transition, it can be employed with
beneficial effects by countries at relatively advanced stages of transition. In this sense,
this thesis confirms the theoretical claim, ignored up to now, that FD is a “normal
good”. Exploring the FD-economic growth relationship on a more homogenous
dataset and at subnational level, this thesis concludes that the economic effect of FD
is more visible at regional level, while being moderated by the country size and other
characteristics of countries involved. The empirical evidence has potentially useful
policy implications for the ongoing decentralisation reforms in transition economie
An empirical study of e-government diffusion in Fiji: a holistic and integrative approach
No full textPacific Island countries (PICs) are facing certain unique challenges in e-government diffusion due to their geographic, cultural, social, and economic environments. However, very few rigorous empirical studies have been published about e-government diffusion issues in the region. To address the knowledge gap, we conducted a case study of Fiji. Drawing on Fountain’s technology enactment framework as a theoretical lens, we identified and investigated in a holistic and integrative way the major issues and challenges which influenced e-government diffusion and outcomes in Fiji. The study has significant implications both for research and practices not only in Fiji but also in the PICs
Increasing the confidence of first year student nurses with peer mentoring.
No full textA study that explored the effectiveness of peer mentoring between first year and final year undergraduate student nurses
Active commuting through natural environments is associated with better mental health: Results from the PHENOTYPE project
Get PDFCommuting routes with natural features could promote walking or cycling for commuting. Commuting through natural environments (NE) could have mental health benefits as exposure to NE can reduce stress and improve mental health, but there is little evidence. This study evaluates the association between NE and commuting, whether active or not, and the association between commuting (through NE), whether active or not, and mental health. We also evaluate the moderating effect of NE quality on the association between NE commuting and mental health.
Methods
This cross-sectional study was based on adult respondents (n = 3599) of the Positive Health Effects of the Natural Outdoor Environment in Typical Populations in Different Regions in Europe (PHENOTYPE) project. Data were collected in four European cities in Spain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. Data on commuting behavior (active commuting at least one day/week, daily NE commuting) and mental health were collected with questionnaires. Associations were estimated with multilevel analyses including random intercepts at city- and neighborhood level.
Results
Adjusted multilevel analyses showed that daily NE commuters were more often active commuters (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.19, 1.70). There was no association between active commuting and mental health, but daily NE commuters had on average a 2.74 (95% CI 1.66, 3.82) point higher mental health score than those not commuting through NE. The association with mental health was stronger among active commuters (4.03, 95% CI 2.13, 5.94) compared to non-active commuters (2.21; 95% CI 0.90, 3.51) when daily commuting through NE, but NE quality did not have a moderating effect.
Conclusions
Daily NE commuting was associated with better mental health, especially for active commuters. Daily NE commuters were likely to be active commuters. Active commuting itself was not associated with mental health. These findings suggest that cities should invest in commuting routes with nature for cycling and walking
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