Women's Euro 2005 a ‘watershed’ for women's football in England and a new era for the game?

ABSTRACT

The UEFA Women's Euro 2005 Championship hosted in England can be seen as a significant event in the development of football for women, being the largest female, international tournament held in the UK up to that date. However, despite record crowds and unprecedented media attention, an increase in participation by women after the event was neither significant, nor sustained in the hosting region or nationally. As identified in Parliamentary committee evidence, grass roots women's football has continued to struggle, despite strategies investing heavily development and the ‘Superleague' to drive increased engagement in the game after 2005. Success in international events in 2012, 2015, and 2017 by England national teams showed spikes in media interest, audiences and progression on the field of play. However, an examination of national participation statistics demonstrates the difficulties of evidencing sport participation event legacy. The event in 2005 clearly contributed to changing public perceptions, stimulating a new strategic focus on women by the Football Association and therefore began the new era for the game, particularly in England. This research may provide some insight for planning for Euro 2021 – when football ‘comes home’ once again.     

Constructing a patient education system: A performance technology project

The purpose of the patient education system described here was to distribute patient education material to and within medical practices managed by a small medical practice management company. The belief was that patient education opportunities improved health care outcomes and increased patient participation in health care decisions and compliance with health care plans. This tool reinforced medical practices' commitment to having patients participate actively in their treatment, differentiated them from other practices, and contributed to the generation of new patients.     

Towards Inclusive Learning Environments (TILE): Developing the ‘Roadmap for the Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs in Vocational Education and Workplace Settings’

Twenty years after UNESCO's Salamanca Statement enshrined international action for provision for children, youth and adults with special educational needs within the regular educational system, this article presents the current underpinning international and national UK context for developing inclusion in vocational education and training and workplace settings. This context is explored through the justification for developing an EU‐funded project entitled ‘Towards Inclusive Learning Environments (TILE)’ and the creation of an associated audit tool, the ′Roadmap for Inclusion′, by a partnership group consisting of universities and VET settings from Finland, the Czech Republic, Estonia and England.     

Making the transition to post-secondary education: opportunities and challenges experienced by students with ASD in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

Internationally there are increasing numbers of young people on the ASD spectrum attending higher education. Early transition planning is essential and students with ASD often require support to articulate their post-school educational goals and actively participate in transition planning meetings. Services within higher education are primarily designed to provide academic supports however, non-academic supports may be an even more crucial factor in enabling successful transitions for young people on the ASD spectrum who often experience heightened anxiety within an unfamiliar environment. Within this paper, the results of a small-scale exploratory study of the transition experiences of six young people on the ASD spectrum to post-secondary education will be shared. There was limited evidence that transition planning had been initiated as a formal process for the six students. Accessing support in higher education proved to be a complex process for some students who required sustained input from parents to ensure that they would utilise the supports available. Encouraging the development of self-determination skills, a key predictor of success in higher education, needs to begin in secondary school. It is anticipated insights from this study can contribute to the development of an embedded infrastructure to support effective transitions for students with ASD to post-secondary education.     

Supporting young people with dyslexia in international schools: a case study example of current provision in Southeast Asia

This small‐scale qualitative study examines professional and parental perspectives of dyslexia within international schools located in Bangkok. The views of participants indicated that there is a need for a greater awareness of ‘dyslexia‐friendly’ approaches in these settings and a lack of resources to support the identification and teaching of individuals having specific needs. The findings also indicated that the collaboration between parents and professionals was central to what could be identified as ‘good practice’ and that the identification of difficulties alone, without the acknowledgement of an individual's strengths, could be detrimental. Opportunities for continuing professional development are highlighted as central to the needs of professionals working within this region.     

Cooperation in Teacher Education in the European Community

During 1977, the Commission of the European Communities offered for the first time a limited number of grants for short study visits in member states. These grants were introduced to enable teaching and administrative staff and researchers to undertake studies of aspects of the organization and administration of European Community higher education institutions. The central intention was the promotion of cooperation. This paper describes the strategies adopted in operating a study visit programme involving one institution in the United Kingdom and fourteen institutions in six member states of the European Community, i.e. Belgium, Denmark, France, Holland, Italy and West Germany, and presents an interim evaluation of the outcomes of this project.     

Engineering Design and Conceptual Change in Science: Addressing thermal energy and heat transfer in eighth grade

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of engineering design classroom activities on middle‐school students’ conceptions of heat transfer and thermal energy. One eighth‐grade physical science teacher and the students in three of her classes participated in this mixed‐methods investigation. One class served as the control receiving the teacher’s typical instruction. Students in a second class had the same learning objectives, but were taught science through an engineering design curriculum that included demonstrations targeting specific alternative conceptions about heat transfer and thermal energy. A third class also used the engineering design curriculum, but students experienced typical demonstrations instead of targeted ones. Conceptual understandings of heat transfer and thermal energy and attitudes towards engineering were assessed prior to and after the interventions through interviews, observations, artefact analysis, a multiple choice assessment, and a Likert scale assessment. Results indicated that the engineering design curriculum with targeted demonstrations was significantly more effective in eliciting desired conceptual change than the typical instruction and also significantly more effective than the engineering curriculum without targeted demonstrations. Implications from this study can inform how teachers should be prepared to use engineering design activities in science classrooms for conceptual change.