121 research outputs found

    Technical education and the London county council 1918-1939. A study in course innovation and development

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    This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Our thesis is concerned with the process of course innovation and Development in technical education within the area of the London County Council During the period 1918-39. Although essential, an historical study, the Thesis is intended to be of value in a consideration of future development in Technical education, and in particular in the study of the relationship between Curriculum management and manpower planning. The first part of our thesis describes the institutional structure of the principal sectors of technical education in London and outlines the Type of courses that were available and their general progress during the Interwar years. The second part of our thesis seeks to analyse the background to course innovation and to assess why certain courses were successful and why others were comparative failures. Since the topic is potentially so vast, our thesis has been limited to an identification of major factors, rather than a detailed consideration of each one. Our analysis shows the process of course innovation and development in technical education to have been a highly complex interaction of forces in which the other aspects of the educational structure, including administrative as well as teach1ng institutions, played a vital role. Emphasis has been given to the influence of senior administrative officers within the local I education authority framework. Special mention has been made of the work of the Board of Education and of the limitations of the Board in tailing to establish definite guidelines for course development in technical education. Important factors outside the educational structure have also been considered, including the attitudes of parents and business management to formal technical training

    What does the ‘Fourth Wave’ mean for teaching feminism in 21st century social work?

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    There is no straightforward definition of feminism today. In spite of this, scholars and researchers who describe themselves as ‘feminist’ continue to produce work that both interrogates the specific and general conditions of women’s lives and explores the more ubiquitous construct of ‘gender’, and in social work, feminist understandings remain central to practice, theory and research. This may, in large part, be reflective of the continuing over-representation of women as providers and users of social work services. It may also echo social work’s broader emancipatory, ‘social justice’ aspirations. Whichever is the case, we are currently witnessing a resurgence of interest in feminism across the world, with a claim that we are experiencing a ‘fourth wave’ in the global North that has its birthplace primarily on the Internet (Baumgardner, 2011; Leupold, 2010; Solomon, 2009). Given that this is so, this paper asks: what (if any) is the impact or possible influence of fourth wave feminism on teaching social work today

    Enacting Reasoning-and-Proving in Secondary Mathematics Classrooms through Tasks

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    Proof is the mathematical way of convincing oneself and others of the truth of a claim for all cases in the domain under consideration. As such, reasoning-and-proving is a crucial, formative practice for all students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, which is reflected in the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. However, students and teachers exhibit many difficulties employing, writing, and understanding reasoning-and-proving. In particular, teachers are challenged by their knowledge base, insufficient resources, and unsupportive pedagogy. The Cases of Reasoning and Proving (CORP) materials were designed to offer teachers opportunities to engage in reasoning-and-proving tasks, discuss samples of authentic practice, examine research-based frameworks, and develop criteria for evaluating reasoning-and-proving products based on the core elements of proof. A six-week graduate level course was taught with the CORP materials with the goal of developing teachers’ understanding of what constitutes reasoning-and-proving, how secondary students benefit from reasoning-and-proving, and how they can support the development of students’ capacities to reason-and-prove. Research was conducted on four participants of the course during either their first or second year of teaching. The purpose of the research was to study the extent to which the participants selected, implemented, and evaluated students’ work on reasoning-and-proving tasks. The participants’ abilities were examined through an analysis of answers to interview questions, tasks used in class, and samples of student work, and scoring criteria. The results suggest that: 1.) participants were able to overcome some of the limitations of their insufficient resource by modifying and creating some reasoning-and-proving exercises; 2.) participants were able to maintain the level of cognitive demand of proof tasks during implementation; and 3) participants included some if not all of the core elements of proof in their definition of proof and in their evaluation criteria for student products of reasoning-and-proving products

    The development of the British army during the wars with France, 1793-1815

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    The British Army that fought the engagement at Waterloo in 1815, was outwardly little changed from that which was engaged in the initial campaigns of the Wars, twenty-two years previously. Line upon line of red-coated, musket-armed infantry, manoeuvred as chess pieces across open fields, deciding the issue by volley and bayonet, having spent a hungry night exposed to rain and cold. The cavalry were still beautifully and often impractically clad, and were always seeking the decisive charge, on their unfed and often sickly mounts. The Army's commander still viewed his troops as 'the scum of the earth', who were rarely paid, and predominantly enlisted for life. It would therefore appear that little had altered from 1793 to 1815, and that this will be a study of continuity rather than change. However, this thesis will show that despite outward appearances, the Army that took the field at Waterloo was intrinsically different from the one that entered the conflict in 1793, being modernised in line with other institutions of state, and other European armies. This thesis is first and foremost intended to be a contribution to the history of the British Army from the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France in 1793, to the reduction of the forces after the battle of Waterloo in 1815. It proceeds from an assumption that the understanding of not only that history, but the history of the developing British state, will be significantly advanced through a study of the operation of, and the changes which took place within, the Army during the Wars with France

    The development of social legislation for blind or deaf persons in England 1834-1939

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    This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.As indicated by the title the purpose of the thesis is to trace the development of social legislation for blind or deaf persons in England between 1834 and 1939. No attempt is made to deal with assistance whether from statutory or voluntary sources for war blinded or deafened persons. In the first chapter a survey is made of the position of the blind or deaf under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and succeeding Poor Law legislation up to 1919. Chapter two deals with the enquiry into the condition of the blind carried out in 1874-75 by the Charity Organisation Society and the much more comprehensive survey of the state of the blind or deaf made between 1884 and 1888 by the Royal Commission on the Blind, Deaf and Dumb which reported in 1889. The latter enquiry resulted in the passing of the Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act of 1893 and also provided the essential data on which state action for the two disabilities could be based. The third chapter gives an account of the campaign to secure legislation for the blind which culminated in the Blind Persons Act of 1920. How the Blind Persons Act was implemented at the local level and the effect on blind welfare of the work of the Advisory Committee on the Welfare of the Blind and the passing of the Local Government Act of 1929, is the concern of chapter four. Chapter five describes the events leading up to the enactment of legislation relating to the issue of free dog licences in respect of guide dogs for the blind, concessionary postal rates, reduced fees in respect of wireless receiving licences, and the Blind Voters Act of 1933. In Chapter six the story of the campaign for legislation for the blind is continued up to the passing of the Blind Persons Act of 1938. The penultimate chapter relates the attempts made to secure legislation provision for the deaf in the form of a Deaf Persons Act broadly similar in scope to the Acts on behalf of the blind. The thesis concludes with a consideration of certain conclusions drawn from the subject matter presented in the preceding chapters

    Cognitive factors in NHS staff responses to violence and aggression

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    NHS staff frequently experience violence and aggression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is amongst the potential psychological consequences. Using a prospective design, the present study sought to establish whether cognitive factors, specified in Ehlers and Clark's (2000) model, could predict symptom severity over and above other established risk factors. The aim was to develop and refine a predictive tool, which could be used to identify individuals who may benefit from early, targeted interventions. Forty-eight healthcare workers completed questionnaires assessing a range of cognitive factors, immediately following an incident of violence or aggression. Of these participants, twenty provided data concerning PTSD symptoms at three-month follow-up, despite implementing strategies to maximise response rates. It was therefore not possible to address the original research question owing to the small sample size. However, several participants reported experiencing symptoms, and for some these were moderate to severe. Several potential reasons for non-response were identified, including the possibility that healthcare workers appraise workplace incidents in such a way that subsequent effects are minimised. An experimental analogue study examined this hypothesis. Student nurses (N = 190) read a vignette as an analogue for a violent incident, in which the context was manipulated. Results indicated that neither organisational setting (work / non-work), nor cause of the perpetrator's behaviour (illness / non-illness) influenced the type of appraisals endorsed, or ratings of perceived distress. It therefore seems likely that other factors contributed to the low response rate observed in Study 1. However, in line with Ehlers and Clark's (2000) cognitive model, appraisals explained a significant amount variance in dysfunctional behaviours after controlling for perceived distress. Study 1 indicated that a proportion of staff were adversely affected by incidents of violence and aggression. Replication of this research is warranted in light of the current literature, and recommendations are made for modification

    Corporate environmental performance considerations within bank lending processes : the social construction of risk perception.

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    SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN013001 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

    Liberalism, nationalism and the evolution of middle-class values : the literature on interior decoration in England, 1875-1914.

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    PhDIn the 1870s and 80s, the interior decoration of the middle-class home was the focus of a great deal of attention, as reflected in a dramatic increase in the literature on this subject in the form of handbooks 'for those about to furnish', articles in women's magazines, trade Journals and publications for artists and architects. This literature expressed the most advanced ideas of the day and actively promoted such progressive concepts as individual freedom of expression, cosmopolitan internationalism, the need for improvement in the position of women, and the application of new scientific theories This thesis traces these ideas to the political ideology of modern British liberalism which was at its most influential during this period Liberal writers, in particular John Stuart Mill, wrote persuasively about the primacy of the private sphere of life In their view, it was only in private life that man could develop true individuality through freedom of choice, this concept had important implications for the appearance of the home Many of those who wrote on interior decoration had read Mill, or were involved with reform movements or political activities inspired by liberal theories As a result, they tried to bring about social change through the application. of liberal principles to the decoration of the middle-class home There were also, however, sharp disagreements expressed in the decorating literature about what constituted the optimal middle-class interior These conflicts reflected areas of unresolvable tension within the ideological framework of liberalism; their impact on interior decoration is explored as well As the influence of liberalism waned, the values expressed in the literature on decoration changed correspondingly The importance of the home in the formation of national character was given greater emphasis and a return to 'correct' and traditional national styles was seen as a necessary protection against both internal weakness and the 'foreign contagion' of European styles such as Art Nouvea

    Intellectual property related development aid: is supply aligned with demand?

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    We assessed to what extent developed country development aid programmes are likely to have interacted with, and potentially contributed to the promotion of country-appropriate sustainable changes in IP strategies and technological capacities over the period 2005-10. This was done primarily on the basis of an imputed impact assessments of four emerging and transition economies; namely Brazil, India, Poland and Thailand. Through an analysis of various measures of the domestic economic, technological and Intellectual Property context, we studied to what extent the supply of IP-related development aid provided between 2005 and 2010 responded to the likely needs of recipient countries. While the data shows that technical and financial assistance in this area could be of great use, and there is clearly a need for well-targeted IP TA and much scope for useful IP TA interventions, there seemed to only be a partial alignment between country needs and the direction of IP TA. On the whole, most IP-related development aid and technical assistance ended to focus on similar areas in each country, regardless of the development context. In Brazil and India’s case, training on IP administration may have influenced increased efficiency (from a low base) at the INPI and IP India, while the substantial EU support to raise SME IP awareness in Poland is likely to have had some significant impacts. In India, sustained development aid in this area likely influenced legislation on plant variety protection, as did WIPO TA on legislative reforms in Thailand. In all cases, the substantial US (and to a more limited extent EC) focus on development aid directed towards enforcement coincided with improvements in this area, though the political and economic pressures by both providers, and especially the US Section 301 System probably dwarfed the impact of this type of aid. Further, the typology and direction of IP related development aid reflects the comparative advantage of IP TA providers, as well as political and diplomatic interests, trade priorities and colonial ties, among many other things. As such, it is important to understand that IP TA is also highly political – a fact often concealed in the emphasis on its “technical” nature.Intellectual Property and development, aid and technical assistance technological capacities in Brazil, India, Poland, Thailand, taxonomy of development, funding flows Intellectual Property and development, aid and technical assistance technological capacities in Brazil, India, Poland, Thailand, taxonomy of development, funding flows Intellectual Property and development, aid and technical assistance, technological capacities in Brazil, India, Poland, Thailand, taxonomy of development, funding flows Intellectual Property and development, aid and technical assistance technological capacities in Brazil, India, Poland, Thailand, taxonomy of development, funding flows
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