The challenges of small-scale evaluation in a foreign country: reflections on practice

This paper is a reflection on practice. It begins by briefly describing an evaluation of an externally-funded education programme in Kosovo (a new country in south-east Europe). The programme was managed by Save the Children in Kosovo and aimed to develop and promote models of inclusive education through three strands of activity. The first of these provided a bi-lingual multicultural learning environment for children of 3–5 years; the second was designed to integrate children with special educational needs and disabilities into mainstream education; and the third was concerned to support the inclusion of Roma/Ashkali/Egyptian children in primary schooling. The three strands of the programme were piloted in selected schools in different municipalities throughout the country for between 1 year and 3 years. The client (Save the Children in Kosovo) commissioned an independent evaluation to assist with decision-making at a time of transition for the programme. The author (who was the evaluator) discusses how she attempted to address the methodological challenges often typical of this kind of work: a small budget, a compressed time-frame, a complex and volatile socio-political climate and, last but not least, a contractual requirement to produce authoritative recommendations for action. She goes on to reflect on how and why various unplanned events and encounters that occurred outwith the parameters of the evaluation made a significant contribution to its outcomes. The author invites comments from other evaluators about their experiences in similar situations.     

The concerns and interests of expectant and new parents: assessing learning needs

Antenatal education is an important component of antenatal care in the developed world, but research indicates that it may not be meeting consumer needs. This article provides an overview of a needs assessment that aimed to determine the concerns and interests of expectant and new parents and how they prefer to learn during the periods of pregnancy and the early weeks of parenthood. The findings could be used to develop an innovative approach to antenatal education in order to prepare expectant and new parents for the birth experience and the early weeks of parenthood. The current study's results identified that expectant and new parents' concerns and interests during pregnancy, childbirth, and new parenting fall within five interrelated conceptual areas: 1) perceiving achievement or failure; 2) taking on "risk"; 3) riding an emotional "roller coaster" of joy, anxiety, and uncertainty; 4) needing to "know...what is normal"; and 5) needing help to "perform well."     

Northern Ireland beginning teachers' experiences of induction: the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’

The induction of beginning teachers continues to occupy a significant position on educational policy agendas as a crucial dimension in the formation of a teacher and one upon which an emergent career is built. Whilst there is growing impetus to establish an induction model that constitutes a relevant, fulfilling experience, current arrangements continue to vary throughout the UK. This paper describes induction as it affected a sample of beginning teachers in Northern Ireland, where there is a dearth of permanent positions for those newly qualified. Highly contrasting experiences of the induction year emerged between graduates in permanent and one‐year temporary positions, and those who were short‐term temporary and supply teachers. The former completed a meaningful induction whereas the latter, because of sporadic, fragmented employment, did not. A flexible model of induction is proposed, with collaborative involvement of the higher education institutions, the schools and the local education authorities.     

Psychomotor learning theory informing the design and evaluation of an interactive augmented reality hand hygiene training app for healthcare workers

Education and Information Technologies - Hand hygiene is critical for infection control, but studies report poor transfer from training to practice. Hand hygiene training in hospitals typically...     

ON EQUAL TERMS‐NEW PARTNERS IN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

This article is an edited version of the Keynote Address given by the author at the Annual EAIE (European Association for International Education) Conference that was held in Budapest from 5 to 7 December 1996. It examined the question of the development of international educational exchanges on equal terms. Looking at the situation in Europe, the article suggests a number of preconditions that the author considers important in favouring the growth of partnerships on equal terms, referring, for example, to the different types of relationships that can exist and to the importance of the choice of partners. The question of financial inequality and what to do about it is evoked. The article also mentions different mechanisms available in Europe for building partnerships, concentrating on the impact of the enormous growth in European Union investment in higher education co‐operation programmes over the last ten years. The conclusions reached are that both institutional and individual commitment are crucial to the development of sustainable relationships, that each partner must contribute something of value to the relationship, and that the partners must have respect for and confidence in one another. Finally, co‐operation on equal terms must be seen as a work objective, one that is as much a challenge among western countries as it is between western countries and central and eastern European ones.