Basic Skills Provision for Offenders on Probation Supervision: Beyond a Rhetoric of Evidence–Based Policy?

This article draws upon issues within the debate on evidence–based policy raised in the academic literature and in recent government documentation. The article assesses the extent to and ways in which policy development and implementation on adult basic skills (literacy and numeracy) within the National Probation Service (NPS) are evidence–based. It is argued that the albeit limited amount of empirical evidence on adult basic skills, methodological insights gained through empirical research, and expert opinion have shaped the NPS basic skills strategy. To enhance policy implementation, findings from the NPS pathfinder evaluation have been disseminated to practitioners. It is aimed to build research evidence on basic skills in the NPS in a cumulative way and to use findings to shape policy development on an ongoing basis. The lack of a systematic review on adult basic skills is used to explore reasons for gaps in evidence–based policy on basic skills in the NPS. The article concludes that a range of types of evidence has shaped policy development on basic skills in the NPS.     

How inclusion became exclusion: policy,teachers and inclusive education

ABSTRACT

It is almost two decades since a concept of inclusion as selective segregation was proposed as an alternative to the concept of full inclusion and inclusive education was reconfigured as providing children with varied educational settings in order to meet their needs. A version of this model of inclusive education subsequently gained political traction in England where the issue of segregated or mainstream provision is now constructed as a matter of parental choice and child voice. Meanwhile, the implications of this latest model of inclusive education for teachers and schools in a rapidly changing wider educational landscape have largely been ignored or reduced to a question of training. This paper explores how the inclusive education landscape has changed in England in recent years, charting recent key developments in areas such as policy, statutory guidance and teacher training, with particular reference to teacher workload and the positioning of teachers within political and polemical educational discourse.     

Localising and tailoring research evidence helps public health decision making

Background

Published research evidence is typically not readily applicable to practice but needs to be actively mobilised.

Objectives

This paper explores the mechanisms used by information professionals with a specific knowledge mobilisation role to make evidence useful for local decision making and planning of public health interventions.

Methods

Data are drawn from a NIHR project that studied how, when, where and by whom published research evidence is used in commissioning and planning across two sites (one in England and one in Scotland). Data included 11 in‐depth interviews with information professionals, observations at meetings and documentary analysis.

Results

Published research evidence is made fit for local commissioning and planning purposes by information professionals through two mechanisms. They localise evidence (relate evidence to local context and needs) and tailor it (present actionable messages).

Discussion

Knowledge mobilisation roles of information professionals are not recognised and researched. Information professionals contribute to the ‘inform’ and ‘relational’ functions of knowledge mobilisation; however, they are less involved in improving the institutional environment for sustainable knowledge sharing.

Conclusion

Information professionals are instrumental in shaping what evidence enters local decision making processes. Identifying and supporting knowledge mobilisation roles within health libraries should be the focus of future research and training.

     

Specific mentoring: a theory and model for developing primary science teaching practices

The transition from generic mentoring to specific mentoring practices can provide a stronger focus for developing preservice primary teachers (mentees) in subject‐specific areas. Constructivist theory and a five‐factor model towards specific subject mentoring are proposed as ways to develop mentees' teaching practices. Firstly, constructivist theory complements mentoring within field experiences (practicum/internship), as it can be used to build upon prior understandings towards developing the mentee's knowledge and skills for teaching. Secondly, the picture that emerges from the literature shows five factors for mentoring, namely: (i) personal attributes that the mentor needs to exhibit for constructive dialogue; (ii) system requirements that focus on curriculum directives and policies; (iii) pedagogical knowledge for articulating effective teaching practices; (iv) modelling of efficient and effective practice; and (v) feedback for the purposes of reflection for improving practice. It is argued that ‘generalist’ primary teachers in their roles as mentors will require specific mentoring strategies linked to these five factors to enable effective mentoring in specific subject areas.     

Literacies remaking public places: the Umbrella Movement of Hong Kong, 2014

We approach Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement, also known as Occupy Central, encountered in 2 days in November 2014 as an exemplar of literacy as placemaking. As a contemporary city‐based resistance movement, the creation and subsequent resemiotisation of literacy artefacts were an important element of spatialised practice in asserting a new and dynamic sense of citizenship. In their collaborative design, shared commitment to certain values and expressions of political resistance, these occupation sites may be read as an instantiation of Goodsell's concept of public space. The initial research site of engagement gave rise to a dataset of photographs that the authors examined together as discourses in place, informed by cultural knowledge of Hong Kong. Selecting two photographs, we broaden out beyond the linguistic features of texts to consider processes of creative semiotic remediation. We suggest that in such placemaking activities, the Umbrella Movement activists embodied Giroux's concept of literacy as emancipatory practice. Finally, we make suggestions as to how this study might be connected to a critical pedagogy of place.