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Social Work Reflections
No full textSocial Work Reflections is a compelling testament to the significance and impact of social work. Recognizing the challenges practitioners face in an increasingly complex and evolving field, this edited collection brings together diverse perspectives from educators, practitioners and managers to showcase the vital role social workers play in advancing social justice and safeguarding society’s most vulnerable members.
Drawing on the expertise of academics, practitioners and individuals with the lived experience of social work services, this book aims to inspire progress and empower students, practitioners and managers at all levels of study and practice by emphasizing their value as drivers of individual and collective change
Evaluating educational technology: Consolidating across multiple impact indicators and rating systems
Get PDFProcurement of educational technologies (EdTech) requires a research-based rubric with multiple quality indicators that reflect the technology’s impact across various settings. We outline the development of the Multiple EdTech Impact Index (MEII) and an impact benchmarking formula for EdTech tools designed for K12 education. MEII includes fifteen indicators of impact, categorized into three evidence weights (high, medium, low) across five domains: efficacy, effectiveness, ethics, equity, and environment. It calculates a total EdTech impact score, highlighting the strength and relevance of products. MEII integrates evaluations based on diverse national EdTech certification standards and proposes a unified approach for assessment. We demonstrate its value through two models: national EdTech certification systems and a comparative database ranking EdTech tools by impact weight
Student carers in distance higher education: study strategies and support needs
No full textWhilst research about student carers is limited, what exists suggests that participation in higher education can be extremely challenging. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences, study strategies and support needs of 40 open and distance learning students with caring responsibilities in terms of three dimensions of Tinto’s Longitudinal Model of Student Integration – goals and institutional commitment, academic integration and social integration. Student carers were motivated by a desire to transcend their caring role. In relation to academic integration, participants presented as dedicated students struggling to fit study around care and consequently studied strategically. Participants typically eschewed all but the most essential academically focused dimensions of social integration. The participants’ reluctance to not disclose carer status or only do so informally, limited the institutional capacity to proactively offer support and build a better understanding of this group. Suggestions to better support student carers’ commitment to study goals as well as academic and social integration are propose
ArcticNet for Semantic Segmentation of Meltpond Regions in the Arctic Sea Ice
Get PDFAs climate change drives global temperatures upward, seasonal sea ice in the Arctic is rapidly diminishing, leading to the formation of meltponds. Meltponds absorb more solar radiation compared to snow due to lower reflectivity (albedo), accelerating the melting of the ice underneath. The manual assessment of the complex boundaries of meltponds is a demanding and time-consuming endeavor. To streamline this process, we introduce a novel method for detecting and segmenting meltponds based on the UNet architecture, named ArcticNet. Our framework combines two UNets that incorporate recurrent, residual and attention operations. The first UNet extracts intermediate features that are further refined by the second UNet improving overall performance by learning hierarchical representations. The proposed architecture possesses the ability to enhance the boundaries of meltponds while accurately capturing their precise locations. The inclusion of residual and recurrent operations gives an expanded field of view for segmentation. Combining this with an attention gate, which concentrates primarily on target regions of diverse shapes and sizes, has been demonstrated to enhance the overall performance and robustness of the network by boosting model sensitivity and improving predictions. The performance of our model was assessed using 3–channel (RGB), high–resolution aerial images from Healy–Oden Trans Arctic Expedition (HOTRAX) and NASA's Operation IceBridge. The ArcticNet architecture categorized the HOTRAX and Operation IceBridge images into three and two classes respectively. HOTRAX include meltponds, open water, and snow, whereas Operation IceBridge includes only meltponds and snow. The new algorithm showed superior performance in segmenting meltponds when compared to other state-of-the-art approaches
An analysis of neglected and underutilised species integration in UK alternative food networks: a case study of Dorset
No full textThe global food system remains critically vulnerable due to an over-dependency on a narrow range of 12 staple crops and 5 livestock breeds. This limited diversity increases exposure to climate shocks, biodiversity loss, and dietary restrictions. Moving beyond paradigms of sustainable intensification, this study explores the potential of neglected and underutilized species (NUS) to foster diversification and resilience. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach in Dorset, UK, data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a photographic inventory exercise with 11 food system actors. Findings reveal strong intrinsic motivations among actors driven by wellbeing and ecological stewardship; however, NUS integration is significantly hindered by regulatory barriers, risk perception, and rigid definitions of “legitimate” food. Wild venison is highlighted as an exemplar capable of supporting nutritional security, ecosystem services, and local livelihoods, aligning with UN SDGs 1, 2, 13, and 15. The findings highlight that unlocking the potential of NUS requires systemic interventions in policy, infrastructure, and knowledge systems rather than individual behavior change alone, offering a vital pathway for food sovereignty and biodiversity conservation
Unsettling zemiology
No full textThis chapter argues that the prospects and potential of theories for thinking outside dominant paradigms of knowledge are limited so long as they are not considered in the context of such theories’ production, consumption and utilisation. As such, one of the issues facing radical efforts to think outside of dominant academic discourses is that they often remain wedded to traditional models of what knowledge is and whose knowledge counts. Using zemiology as a case study to interrogate whether efforts to challenge dominant discourses and the power structures they serve reflect genuine horizons of hope or, ultimately, sites of recapitulation, this chapter explores calls for a specific ‘decolonial zemiology’ (Wright, 2023), suggesting this risks inadvertently becoming a further specialism. Instead, it contends, what is needed are ways to disrupt and unsettle not just discourses and/or who produces knowledge and for whom, but the broader climate of academic imperialism. Drawing on Sayed Hussein Alatas’s (1974) notion of the ‘creative mind’, it suggests the development of a utopian method, as devised by Ruth Levitas (2013). as a potential means for doing so
Exploring the prevalence, forms, risk factors, and interventions associated with violence against children in alternative care settings: A scoping review
No full textViolence against children (VAC) in alternative care settings, including foster care, residential care, and kinship care, is a significant global concern. This scoping review synthesises evidence from 77 studies published between 2014 and 2024 across high, middle, and low-income contexts, examining the forms, risk factors, consequences, protective features, and interventions associated with violence in care. In line with PRISMA-ScR guidance, the review maps patterns in the evidence base but does not estimate pooled prevalence across settings.
Neglect was the most frequently reported form of maltreatment, often linked to poverty and limited external support, including in some informal kinship care contexts. Residential settings were commonly associated with reports of physical abuse and peer violence, while findings on sexual abuse varied across contexts. Emotional abuse was reported in all care settings.
Identified risk factors included placement instability, inadequate caregiver support, poverty, and prior exposure to violence. Reported consequences ranged from poor mental health and disrupted relationships to heightened risks of revictimisation. Evidence on effective interventions was sparse, although supportive caregiver-child relationships and trauma-informed models were noted as protective.
Important gaps remain in longitudinal and disaggregated evidence, particularly in low and middle-income contexts and with respect to peer violence, children with disabilities, and LGBTQI+youth. While this review focuses on violence, it is essential to caution that many children experience alternative care as protective and nurturing, and our findings should not be interpreted as suggesting that all care arrangements are harmful. Strengthening family-based care, ensuring robust oversight, embedding protective, child-centred practices, and prioritising reintegration where possible are critical to reducing risks and promoting children’s well-being
