Home birth: the wave of the future?

A childbirth educator expresses frustration with a medical system that does not work for women or for many maternity care providers. She suggests out-of-hospital birth as an alternative. This column explores the safety of home birth, women's experiences of home birth, and the issues related to home birth once again being the standard. Childbirth educators are encouraged to present home birth as a viable choice.     

Inclusion of students with emotional and behavioural disorders in general education settings: a scoping review of research in the US

ABSTRACT

Inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings has been an international focus for over two decades. In the US, federal laws [e.g. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). 2004. H.R. 1350, 108th Congress] mandate access to the general education curriculum for all students, including those with disabilities. These mandates codify a philosophical orientation of least restrictive environment, within a free appropriate public education, while explicitly requiring evidence-based practices. The policies support and protect inclusive practices for individuals with emotional and behavioural disabilities, yet the state of the empirical literature is unknown. A review is needed to provide an overview of the research and reveal the breadth of the literature. To this end, scoping review methodology was used to map the state of the literature. This particular approach is recommended for topics with myriad and complex definitions and issues, as is the case with inclusive education. Results map six themes (professional and student experience, strategy effectiveness, policy and programmes, perception of influencing factors, teacher training, teacher knowledge) and reveal several gaps in the literature. Recommendations are made for systematic review, meta-analyses, and individual studies to address the gaps in the literature.     

Effectiveness of public and private sector agricultural extension: Implications for privatisation in Pakistan

Worldwide serious reservations are being expressed about the ability and competency of the public sector to deliver agricultural extension services, especially in developing countries such as Pakistan which is faced with serious financial difficulties. Consequently, the government is looking for alternative extension paradigms that are cost-effective and client-oriented. To this end the government of Pakistan is inclined towards privatizing the provision of agricultural extension services as a means to promote a second ‘Green Revolution’. This study was conducted among cotton farmers in the Punjab Province to examine the comparative effectiveness of public and private sector extension as perceived from the stakeholders. Data were collected from 52 contact farmers of both extension systems. A number of biases were identified in both systems; namely, a preference for farmers with better education and larger landholdings than their noncontact farmer counterparts. Overall, neither system appears to be working for the benefit of the wider farming community.     

Fact or folklore? Exploring “Myths” about outdoor education accidents: Some evidence from New Zealand

Abstract

This paper provides analysis on the frequency and nature of accidents and near accidents that have occurred in larger outdoor education centres in New Zealand. This is the first time that information of this type has been collected and analysed in New Zealand.

All 25 of the known outdoor education organisations employing three or more full-time staff were invited to participate in a study that would extract and review data from their records about accidents and near accidents. Twelve agreed to participate.

The data collected is analysed in the context of various myths that are often heard referred to by the outdoor education community. These are that: 1. i.focusing on minor incidents prevents major accidents occurring,

2. ii.selecting activities with high perceived risk but low real risk reduces exposure to accidents,

3. iii.more accidents occur while under the supervision of male rather than female instructors,

4. iv.accidents are more likely in the afternoon than the morning, and

5. v.outdoor education is dangerous compared to other risks in life.

The results lend some support to the factual nature of “myths” iii and iv, but help consign “myths” i, ii and v to the category of folklore. These results provide insights that may assist in developing strategies to improve safety in outdoor education.

In view of the current size and importance of the outdoor education sector in New Zealand and its likely future growth, one of the main recommendations arising from this study is for the establishment of a national system to formally record and report incidents and accidents.     

CURRICULUM AND IDEOLOGY: INDOCTRINATION AS AN INAPPROPRIATE APPROACH TO CONSERVATIVE JEWISH EDUCATION

Education is a dynamic discipline. Dynamic because an educational system does not stand on its own, apart from the social structure of which it is an extension. It must be steeped with its culture's moral and sociological beliefs in order to ensure the survival and growth of that particular culture through each new generation.     

‘RE teachers do get drunk you know’: becoming a religious education teacher in the twenty-first century

In terms of the attention that they have attracted from researchers, and in comparison with teachers of other subjects, religious education specialists would seem to be a neglected and marginalized group. This paper looks at some of the reasons why this might be and also describes a study that is using a life history approach to explore what it is like to be a religious education teacher at the turn of the millennium.     

School Leadership in Changing Cultural Contexts: How Mississippi Superintendents are Responding to Hurricane Katrina

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi Gulf Coast superintendents were faced with changes in their communities, schools, and school districts of a magnitude that they could not have imagined. This narrative study was based on multiple interviews conducted in 2005 and 2006 of 7 Gulf Coast superintendents. The study investigated how these superintendents have responded to the devastation of Katrina and how they perceive their leadership roles to have changed as a result. The study found that the superintendents have changed their priorities and focuses and have drawn on their personal strength and resilience to serve the people in their school districts and their communities.