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School and system reform – an agenda for Wales
No full textThe article begins with a review of what is known internationally about system level reform. With these frameworks in mind, a critique is then made of recent educational change efforts in Wales. This is followed by a comprehensive description of a system reform strategy for Wales based around the four drivers of personalised learning, professionalised teaching, intelligent accountability and networks and collaboration, all of which are moulded to context by system leadership. It is this framework that holds promise for sustained progress in student achievement throughout the country
Intention, supremacy and the theories of judicial review
No full textIn the late 1980s, a vigorous debate began about how we may best justify, in constitutional terms, the English courts’ jurisdiction to judicially review the exercise of public power derived from an Act of Parliament. Two rival theories emerged in this debate, the ultra vires theory and the common law theory. The debate between the supporters of these two theories has never satisfactorily been resolved and has been criticised as being futile. Yet, the debate raises some fundamental questions about the constitution of the United Kingdom, particularly: the relationship between Parliament and the courts; the nature of parliamentary supremacy in the contemporary constitution; and the possibility and validity of relying on legislative intent.This book critically analyses the ultra vires and common law theories and argues that neither offers a convincing explanation for the courts’ judicial review jurisdiction. Instead, the author puts forward the theory that parliamentary supremacy – and, in turn, the relationship between Parliament and the courts – is not absolute and does not operate in a hard and fast way but, rather, functions in a more flexible way and that the courts will balance particular Acts of Parliament against competing statutes or principles. McGarry argues that this new conception of parliamentary supremacy leads to an alternative theory of judicial review which significantly differs from both the ultra vires and common law theories
Emotional intelligence as a contributing factor of pupil performance in pupils with learning difficulties
No full textThe present study aimed at investigating the impact of Emotional Intelligence on pupil performance. Existing literature, even if it is limited, has revealed that such a relationship exists under particular circumstances. It was therefore interesting to look at this relationship under the prism of learning difficulties. The current study expands current literature in that it examines the relationship of emotional intelligence and pupil performance taking into consideration the influence of specific learning difficulties. Studies up to this point have not shed light on this triangulating relationship.A case study methodology is utilized whereby a small sample of 13 primary school pupils (ages 9-10 years old) with learning difficulties is selected within a private school in Piraeus, Greece. Three research tools were employed to assess the impact of Emotional Intelligence on pupil’s school performance: observation protocols, questionnaires and interviews. Data collection produced a range of qualitative data in the form of texts that were analyzed via the NVivo software program.The findings revealed that Emotional Intelligence can impact on pupil performance in pupils with learning difficulties, as pupils with higher level of Emotional Intelligence managed to have better learning results. More specifically emotionally intelligent pupils were open to success and failure, had a growing intrinsic motivation for participation, complied with classroom rules, managed more effectively school stress and had higher levels of self-esteem.The study has implications for the development of primary school curricula that take Emotional Intelligence into account when designing subject materials. The findings of this study may also assist stakeholders in the education sector in developing a better understanding of the impact of Emotional Intelligence on the performance of primary school pupils. By so doing, pupil performance could be improved, even in populations with learning difficulties
Performance management within the NHS
No full textA performance measurement (PM) system should exemplify an organisation’s activities, so it can learn and adapt based on its assessment (Otley, 1999; Adler, 2011; Agostino & Arnaboldi, 2012).This paper investigates ‘to what extent NHS performance can be measured’ in the confines of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.The NHS constitution stipulates ‘95% of patients should be seen and discharged within 4-hours’; hence, this is widely regarded as the ‘key metric’ of A&E performance (The King's Fund, 2016; NHS England, 2013). Since 2013, performance across all areas of health and social care in England, is externally regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC, 2015).In 2015/16 ELHT’s emergency services treated over 185,000 patients, placing it in the top-twenty busiest units in the country. Unfortunately, its 4-hour target for the same period was 92.5% and its emergency services were classified as ‘requiring improvement’ by the CQC (HSCIC, 2016; CQC, 2014).Literature relating to performance was critically reviewed, alongside theories of organisational effectiveness (OE). The CQC’s performance regulatory framework was appraised against theoretical models and considered to support PM from an ‘internal process’ perspective (of OE). Conversely, A&E was deemed to align with an ‘open systems’ model i.e. its individuals, groups, processes and interactions are interconnected with the rest of the hospital and the external environment (Stacey & Mowles, 2016).After evaluating various models of ‘open systems’, key components of A&E performance were aggregated and conceptualised into an appropriate framework. Subsequently, research was undertaken in the practical setting to identify areas for improvement.A critical realist research philosophy was applied to a case study design, which incorporated self-completion questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and secondary data collection methods.Research identified some good practices, particularly in relation to A&E’s internal processes i.e. policies and procedures. Other areas included improvements in competency training and medical device technologies. Staff’s professionalism and sense of purpose to providing exceptional care was also very strong.This mood was offset by a sense of disengagement from the organisation that echoed through the factors of the conceptual framework, leading to the following recommendations: r einforce vision and values to A&E staff; create a bespoke A&E mission statement; review A&E leadership structure and training programme; budget training for senior A&E clinical staff; r oll-out of e-Rostering training; u pdate of job descriptions against workplace demands; review of appraisal process; upgrade of IT systems.An area for further research was uncovered relating to producing a standardised ‘A&E coefficient’, which captures all elements of open systems performance, allowing fair comparison for A&E departments across the country
Everyday leisure and northernness in Mass Observation’s Worktown 1937–1939
No full textMuch leisure history deals with specific forms of activity or with the macro social and cultural patterns which mark leisure behaviours. However, as historians have turned to the micro-history of the everyday, individuals have become visible as producers and not only consumers of leisure. Mass Observation’s Worktown archive offers unique insight to the leisure lives of Bolton’s working class population between 1937 and 1939. Bound to the culture of the cotton industry and the spatial confines of Bolton, leisure served to form overlapping identities around work and neighbourhood.Everyday leisure accommodated mass cultural forms, while also remaining part of a local northern culture which grew from its industrial environment. The ‘up-close’ nature of the history of the everyday afforded by the Worktown archive provides new insights to leisure practices which become defined not only in terms of activity, but also involve conviviality, conversation and custom. This article argues that leisure was not so much a field of resistance but a sphere in which ordinary people were able to create their own leisure spaces through customary practice, language and an adaptation of employer-based facilities. Everyday working-class leisure was not confined to an illusory escapism of passive consumption but was active and engaged, forming social contexts, shared places and communal activities which helped form a collective consciousness and a sense of social and cultural identity
Investigation and Analysis on Racing Car Front Wings
No full textA great number of studies have been done on aerodynamic test for the racing car. Due to critical competition among the racing car teams, the results of the studies will only been published when they are obsolete. This study was conducted by using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) utilising SolidWorksTM to perform simulations about the airflow on the front and rear wings of a racing car with different angles of attack. The analysis generates the theoretical Lift force, Down force, and Drag force for a racing car wing. Consequently, at higher velocity, the down force and interrelated induced drag increases. The maximum speed on a straight part is thus reduced due to the increase in induced drag. Finally, tests from the C15 wind tunnel also show similar trends to those derived from the simulations. Compared with results of Model geometry and wind tunnel tested, it is shown that an angle between -10 degrees and -20 degrees below the horizontal indicates the stalling conditions
RAMLET: a conceptual model for resource aggregation for learning, education, and training
No full textThe Resource Aggregation Model for Learning, Education and Training (RAMLET) is a new IEEE standard, IEEE Std 1484.13.1™-2012, that has been developed to facilitate interoperability of existing standards for multimedia resource aggregations. Examples of such standards include METS and MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration. These standards are used on a large scale for describing the structure of a collection of multimedia content. In addition, multiple structures can be specified to provide different paths through the same content. A limitation lies in the fact that they cannot interoperate. For instance, content structured in MPEG-21 cannot be reused in a METS context. This article presents different use cases in which the RAMLET standard enables interoperability of resource aggregation formats. We describe the RAMLET standard and mappings to other standards. In addition, we discuss lessons learned from the development process of this standard and future research challenges