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To what extent can a distributed leadership model be utilised by Heads of Department to impact job satisfaction?
No full textThis research study explores the extent to which a distributed leadership model can be utilised by Heads of Department to impact job satisfaction. This research is required as the Institute of Education reported that teachers in England have the lowest job satisfaction across twenty two countries in Europe (Özkan and Akgenç, 2022). Further to this the 2024 Department of Education report stated that 36% of teachers and leaders indicated they were considering leaving the profession in the next twelve months (Department of Education, 2024). This study explores the potential link between distributed leadership and teachers job satisfaction. This study conducts six semi structured interviews with Heads of Department who were selected through selective (purposive) sampling. Thematic analysis generated three key findings from the data collection. Finding one showed participants’ understanding and use of distributed leadership varied considerably across departments emphasising multiple approaches to distributed leadership. Finding two suggested that distributed leadership created rewards such as increased opportunities and ownership that enhanced job satisfaction. Finding three acknowledges the risks including unintended outcomes and departmental conflict leading to reduced job satisfaction. The main finding from this study is that the utilisation of distributed leadership within a department represents a delicate balance between its potential rewards and associated risks. This study concludes by suggesting the rewards outweigh the risks. Therefore suggesting that distributed leadership has a positive impact on job satisfaction however further research is required to increase the confidence in this positive correlation
IPC Postgraduate Certificate in Managing Practice Quality in Social Care (TMDP) Student Handbook
No full textProgramme and Student Handbook 2025-2026 (English & Welsh versions
What conditions best nurture creativity in children?
Get PDFHelping young people to develop their own creative skills should be a top priority for all countries. With ever increasing automation in the workplace it is estimated, according to the World Economic Forum ('The Future of Jobs' report, October 2020), that by 2025 globally 85 million jobs will be displaced due to a shift in the balance of tasks being done by machines, as opposed to being done by humans. Reassuringly, however, it is thought that simultaneously 97 million new jobs may evolve. It is crucial, therefore, that parents and educators provide young people with the opportunities they need to develop skills to access these new jobs. They will need to be able to work towards goals that are not fully predetermined, to think on their feet, and to work in collaboration with others. These are all creative skills. This presentation will unpick how creative skills, defined in this way, can be taught and nurtured, in and out of schools.
Using insights that have emerged from my own investigations, brought together as three common themes (or, as I propose, 'conditions for nurturing creativity'), I will explore practice in and beyond school settings that demonstrate the conditions having creativity-nurturing benefits when offered to young people. Examples of practice will include sharing findings from empirical research that I have undertaken with teachers and with teacher training students in the UK (using questionnaires, interviews and log journals) where they have reflected on the creative outcomes of the children they have taught and the pedagogy they employed.
Adapting care homes to heat : A comparison of building retrofit interventions in London, UK
Get PDFThe increasing frequency of extreme heat events due to climate change poses significant risks to older adults in care settings, which are particularly vulnerable to overheating. This study aimed to identify retrofit interventions that reduce summertime overheating without compromising winter energy performance.
Dynamic thermal modelling in EnergyPlus was conducted across three empirically calibrated London care homes representing renovated medieval, 1980s, and newbuild typologies. Interventions were grouped into four categories: (a) window shading, (b) thermal mass enhancement, (c) active cooling, and (d) behavioural changes for ventilation optimisation. Simulations were conducted under current and future climate scenarios consistent with 2°C and 4°C global warming projections.
Findings highlight the need for building context-specific interventions that reduce overheating while limiting winter energy penalties. Night ventilation with cross-zone airflow consistently lowered average indoor operative temperatures during a heatwave by around 1.6-5.0 °C. Combining night ventilation with fixed shading and glazing films reduced overheating by 68-89%, with 6-45% increase in winter heating demand depending on building type. Pairing night ventilation with a single shading element often offered a better seasonal balance, particularly in well-insulated, low-heating-load buildings. Zonal mitigation, including passive interventions and air conditioning targeting heat-vulnerable residents in high-risk zones, may offer a more energy-efficient approach.
The study provides new evidence on the seasonal and occupant-specific performance of overheating reduction measures in care homes. The findings support retrofit strategies tailored to thermal and operational contexts. A passive-first retrofit approach remains essential to reduce reliance on mechanical cooling and enhance resilience in the UK care home sector.
“Dream on, deluded one! The awakening will come soon!”: Reclaiming the Sensation Fiction Author, Gertrude Fenton.
No full textThis dissertation's aim is to highlight a forgotten author of a genre that was held in contempt by Victorian society; a genre that was a first of its time, breaking down boundaries in a new emerging publishing industry that was publishing cheap periodicals at a more rapid rate due
to the printing press. With this advanced system, the traditionalists in the industry felt threatened and attempted to thwart its efforts, which presented itself through the theory of cultural hierarchy; by using this literary theory and discourse, this dissertation will explore the narrative surrounding the Sensation Fiction genre, the woman reader, and the woman author. Using Victorian society and the theory of cultural hierarchy, this dissertation will showcase how women authors' novels were seen as “low-brow” art and thus are considered “guilty pleasures.” This will be analyzed through the lens of the author Gertrude Fenton, her written works, and their critical reception. The comprehensive primary and secondary research conducted has aided in rediscovering Gertrude Fenton. Her novels and various literary periodicals have assisted in showcasing her as an author and how the patriarchal Victorian society hindered women authors and women readers from moving into the
upper-class literary space
Exploring Motivational Factors: Why Adults are Involved in Schools as Extracurricular Leaders
No full textThis dissertation explores the motivational factors that influence adults’ initiation and sustained involvement as extracurricular leaders (ECLs) in K–12 schools in the United States. Grounded in Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (1985, 2000), the research aims to understand why adults choose to lead extracurricular activities (ECAs) and how school leaders can leverage these motivations to improve recruitment and retention. Using a mixed-methods, cross-sectional design within an interpretivist paradigm, questionnaire data were collected from 20 participants, and follow-up interviews were conducted with two participants to explore motivational factors in greater depth.
The findings reveal that ECLs are motivated when they perceive themselves as making positive social impacts, receive leadership support, and engage with activities aligned to their personal interests. Adults who feel autonomously motivated in ECL roles have more opportunity to experience significant personal and professional benefits, including a stronger sense of fulfilment, identity, and connection to their school communities. These benefits, in turn, enhance the quality and consistency of their leadership, ultimately creating even greater opportunities for student growth, engagement, and development. Conversely, a lack of autonomous support can lead to decreased motivation and higher turnover. This study underscores the importance of creating autonomy-supportive environments within schools to sustain motivated ECLs, thereby maximizing the positive impact on both adults and students across diverse educational settings
Leaping between branches : hybridisation and the tangled evolutionary history of true lemurs
Get PDFThe true lemurs (genus Eulemur) are a genetically diverse and spatially widespread group of species inhabiting most of Madagascar’s forests. Including 12 recognized species, the genus can be divided into four major evolutionary groups: E. rubriventer, E. mongoz, the Brown Lemur Species Complex (BLSC), and the coronatus-macaco-flavifrons complex (CMFC), although monophyly for the CMFC is not always supported. Recent genome-based studies highlighted topological and chronological differences between nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenies of true lemurs, which could be explained by events of hybridisation. In order to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the genus, we test for gene-flow between Eulemur clades using a set of whole genome sequences representative of the diversity of the genus. Events of hybridization among true lemurs clades were identified, explaining discordances between mitochondrial and nuclear phylogenies and providing the context for mito-nuclear co-evolution, which we detected for E. rubriventer. Overall, by directly testing for hybridization among Eulemur species, we developed an evolutionary model that deepens our understanding of the unique and complex history of the genus Eulemur, and sets it as a starting point for future research
Humanoid robotic head movement platform
No full textHumanoid robots have gained public awareness and intrigue over the last few years. During this time, there has been a greater push to develop robots to behave more like humans, not just in how they speak but also in how they move. A novel humanoid robotic head-and-neck platform designed to facilitate the investigation of movement characteristics is proposed. The research presented here aims to characterise the motion of a humanoid robotic head, Aquila, to aid the development of humanoid robots with head movements more similar to those of humans. This platform also aims to promote further studies in human head motion.
This paper proposes a design for a humanoid robotic head platform capable of performing three principal human motion patterns: yaw, pitch, and roll. Using the Arduino IDE and MATLAB/Simulink, all three types of movement were implemented and tested with various parameters. Each type of movement is quantified in terms of range, stability, and dynamic response using time-series data collected over 35 seconds of continuous observation.
The results demonstrate that a humanoid robot head can mimic the range of displacement of a healthy human subject but does not exhibit the same smoothness and micro-adjustments observed in dynamic human head movements. An RMSE of under 0.3 rad is achieved for each motion axis —pitch, roll, and yaw — when comparing robotic head movement to human head movement. The investigation of preliminary results highlights the need for further system optimisation. The paper’s conclusion highlights that the bio-inspired control concept, paired with the proposed 8-stepper motor platform, enhances realism and interaction in the context of head movement in robotic systems
The ER-PM interaction is essential for cytokinesis and recruits the actin cytoskeleton through the SCAR/WAVE complex
Get PDFPlant cytokinesis requires coordination between the actin cytoskeleton, microtubules, and membranes to guide division plane formation and cell plate expansion; how these regulatory factors are coordinated remains unknown. The actin cytoskeleton assembly is controlled by several actin nucleation factors, such as the SCAR/WAVE complex, which regulates actin nucleation and branching through the activation of the ARP2/3 complex. The activity of these actin regulatory proteins is likely influenced by interactions with specific membranes; however, the molecular basis and the biological relevance of SCAR–membrane interactions are also unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that the ER–PM tethering protein VAP27-1 directly interacts with SCAR2 at the ER membrane and that they colocalize to guide cell plate orientation during cell division. In the root meristem, both VAP27-1 and SCAR2 exhibit polarized localization at the cell plates, where the interaction between ER and PM is abundant. VAP27-1 recruits SCAR2 to the cell division plane, where there is a high concentration of actin filaments. In the vap27-1346 mutant, the densities of cortical ER, SCAR2, and consequently actin filaments are significantly reduced at the cell division plane, affecting cell plate orientation, cell division, and root development. A similar phenomenon is also observed in the scar1234 mutant, suggesting that VAP27 and SCAR proteins regulate cell division through a similar pathway. In conclusion, our data reveal a plant-specific function of VAP27-regulated ER–PM interaction and advance our understanding of plant ER–PM contact site and its role in cell division