‘Removing the chaos from the narrative’: preparing clinical leaders for practice development

This article explores the work of a group of ward leaders who worked in a large acute NHS Trust in London in identifying the need for practice development in their clinical settings and their own leadership development needs. The ward leaders worked with a facilitator over a period of 6 months to develop knowledge, skills and experience in leading practice developments. The project was deliberately focused on helping the ward leaders become aware of the need for change and increase their potential as leaders of changes arising from the project. The ward leaders worked with the facilitator (the lead author) over a 7-month period, utilising a variety of integrated developmental and data collection techniques. The methods employed included reflection on practice, observation of practice, discussions with practitioners, 360-degree feedback and the use of a variety of creative arts. The project was based on the narrative framework of Frank (1995), and this framework was utilised to shape the interpretation of the processes and outcomes of the project. This article thus presents the combined narrative journey of the facilitator and the participants.     

“Pluto Has Been a Planet My Whole Life!” Emotions, Attitudes, and Conceptual Change in Elementary Students’ Learning about Pluto’s Reclassification

Learning about certain scientific topics has potential to spark strong emotions among students. We investigated whether emotions predicted students’ attitudes after engaging in independent rereading and/or rereading plus discussion about Pluto’s reclassification. Fifth and sixth grade students read a refutation text on Pluto’s reclassification. Participants were randomly assigned to either the reread independently or the reread plus discussion group. Results showed that students in both groups experienced attitude change and that change was sustained over time. Students reported experiencing more negative than positive emotions at pretest. Emotions, which became more positive after intervention, were predictive of students’ attitudes and attitude change. Implications for the role of emotions when learning about controversial topics are discussed.     

Do Time in Child Care and Peer Group Exposure Predict Poor Socioemotional Adjustment in Norway?

Extensive exposure to nonparental child care during the first 4.5 years of life has been demonstrated in some American studies to negatively affect children's socioemotional functioning. Data from 935 preschool children who averaged 54.9 (SD = 3.0) months of age, from Trondheim, Norway were used to examine whether such negative effects, would emerge in Norway, a country with a different child‐care system. The children's externalizing problems and social competence were unrelated to their child‐care experience. More time spent in child care during the first 4.5 years of life and experiencing peer groups of < 16 or > 18 children predicted greater caregiver–child conflict. The effect sizes were small. The results are discussed in terms of cross‐national child‐care differences.     

Pre-service teacher perspectives on the importance of global education: world and classroom views

In an era of international multimedia exposure and a global economy, there is no question that global education (GE) must be part of the school curriculum. Effective delivery of GE is reliant on adequate teacher preparation. A group of teacher educators at one University sought to raise the profile of GE with pre-service teachers through the integration of global perspectives in various courses. This paper explores pre-service teacher perceptions of the importance of GE and their learning as a result of this emphasis. Additionally, pre-service teacher preferences for further learning about GE are examined. It is apparent that pre-service teachers are interested in GE, especially in terms of how they can incorporate it in their teaching and, with exposure over a number of semesters student understandings develop, creating better prepared teachers of GE. Not surprisingly, these students were primarily focused on their future classroom practices rather than their role in the world more generally. Additionally, it was clearly evident that unique GE approaches were linked to specific teaching disciplines, an indication that GE continues to be a difficult concept to incorporate without explicit guidance for integration, something not always easy in a university setting.     

Casual Academic Staff in an Australian University: Marginalised and excluded

Abstract

The transition from a planned centralist economy to a market economy over the last decade of the 20th century has presented Russian universities with many profound challenges. These challenges require universities to review and consider their organisational culture and deserve careful study. This paper describes the changes that have taken place at Tomsk Polytechnic University ‐ one of oldest, largest and leading Russian universities.     

Supporting schools to create an inclusive environment for refugee students

In a context of increasing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers globally, recognition of the importance of the school environment for promoting successful settlement outcomes and inclusion for refugee-background young people is growing. Yet schools may be poorly equipped to recognise and respond to the multiple challenges faced by children and young people who must learn a new language while grappling with unfamiliar educational and social systems. Refugee-background students often have minimal or significantly disrupted formal education prior to arrival in their new country. Young people, and sometimes their families, may lack literacy in first languages and many are coping with the impacts of trauma associated with forced displacement. Evidence for effective interventions in schools that promote an inclusive learning environment is scarce. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of the School Support Programme operating in schools in Victoria, Australia. The programme is provided to networks of schools in a region and facilitates partnerships between schools and agencies and provides a holistic model for a whole-school approach focused on the learning, social and emotional needs of refugee-background students. The evaluation concluded that the programme provides an appropriate and feasible model that supports the capacity of schools to provide an inclusive education for this group.     

Outcomes of a service‐learning program for pre‐service teachers: links to Butin's conceptual model

The outcomes of a pilot Service‐learning Program designed for pre‐service teachers enrolled in a unit about inclusive education in an Australian University will be discussed in this paper. Service‐learning requires university or school students to become involved in their community in order to utilize knowledge learned at university. The program involves reciprocal relationships with organizations in which the service reinforces and strengthens the learning in the academic unit on inclusive education, and the learning reinforces the service for the organization. Pre‐service teachers completed 10 hours working in the community along with completing a service‐learning reflection log. Evaluation of the service‐learning reflection process as a pedagogy will be discussed using the conceptual lenses: technical, cultural, political and post modern. The data demonstrate evidence to suggest that Butin's four lenses can be supported by the reflection process associated with the Service‐learning Program described in this study and be used to construct an improved service‐learning reflection log for future students.     

Designs for Collective Cognitive Responsibility in Knowledge-Building Communities

This article reports a design experiment conducted over three successive school years, with the teacher's goal of having his Grade 4 students assume increasing levels of collective responsibility for advancing their knowledge of optics. Classroom practices conducive to sustained knowledge building were co-constructed by the teacher and students, with Knowledge Forum software supporting the production and refinement of the community's knowledge. Social network analysis and qualitative analyses were used to assess online participatory patterns and knowledge advances, focusing on indicators of collective cognitive responsibility. Data indicate increasingly effective procedures, mirrored in students' knowledge advances, corresponding to the following organizations: (a) Year 1—fixed small-groups; (b) Year 2—interacting small-groups with substantial cross-group knowledge sharing; and (c) Year 3—opportunistic collaboration, with small teams forming and disbanding under the volition of community members, based on emergent goals. The third-year model maps most directly onto organic and distributed social structures in real-world knowledge-creating organizations and resulted in the highest level of collective cognitive responsibility, knowledge advancement, and dynamic diffusion of information. Pedagogical and technological innovations to enculturate youth into a knowledge-creating culture, with classroom practices to encourage distributed and opportunistic collaboration, are discussed.     

Knowledge Types Used by Researchers and Wool Producers in Australia under a Workplace Learning Typology: Implications for Innovation in the Australian Sheep Industry

Abstract

This paper reports on research into the learning aspects of adopting integrated parasite management practices for sheep (IPM-s) applying a workplace learning framework. An analysis of four primary data sources was conducted; a postal survey of Australian wool producers, a Delphi process with IPM-s researchers, focus groups and interviews with wool producers.

Researchers had a high expectation of conceptual and high level procedural knowledge for IPM-s, while wool producers had a tendency to rely on low- and high-level procedural knowledge for parasite management. Researchers also showed concern for disposition as it related to parasite management. Practices identified as potentially problematic for extension, included worm egg count testing (according to best practice), supplementary feed (specifically for worm management), selecting estimated breeding value-tested rams, weighing and monitoring body condition scores, and keeping written paddock histories.

This research provides significant empirical insights into the knowledge differences between researchers and producers that can affect how research is developed and communicated for the IPM-s project to facilitate behaviour change. The identification of some IPM practices as problematic for producers will also allow targeted extension for these practices.     

Tracking gender differences: A comparative analysis of network correspondents and their sources

Being able to probive live coverage of breaking news events is one of the unparalleled strengths of television. The purpose of this study is to assess the opinions of 18–24 year olds about live television news reporting. Variables identified by respondents are characterized in one of three ways: awareness of live reporting; positive aspects of live reporting; and negative aspects of live reporting. From the more than 500 young adults surveyed, findings show most do not base their viewing habits on how often a news operation goes live or whether that operation happens to be first to hit the air with breaking news.

Respondents show strong agreement that live reporting gives the story a sense of immediacy, leading the positive attributes of live reporting. However, leading the list of negative attributes is the criticism that there are times when a live report is meaningless. There were differences in resoonses based on the market in which the respondents reside.