Costs,risks and benefits in improving access to journal articles

This paper reports on a study – overseen by representatives of the publishing, library, and research funder communities in the UK – investigating the drivers, costs, and benefits of potential ways to increase access to scholarly journals. It identifies five different but realistic scenarios for moving towards that end over the next five years, including gold and green open access, moves towards national licensing, publisher‐led delayed open access, and transactional models. It then compares and evaluates the benefits as well as the costs and risks for the UK. The scenarios, and the modelling on which they are based, amount to a benefit‐cost analysis to help in appraising policy options. Our conclusion is that policymakers should encourage the use of existing subject and institutional repositories, but avoid pushing for reductions in embargo periods, which might put at risk the sustainability of the underlying scholarly publishing system. They should also promote and facilitate a transition to gold open access, while seeking to ensure that the average level of publication fees does not exceed c.£2.000; that the rate in the UK of open access publication is broadly in step with the rest of the world; and that total payments to publishers from UK universities do not rise as a consequence.     

Making Every Child Matter: A Model for Good Practice in Counselling Children and Young People with Learning Disabilities

This paper is set against the backdrop of new policies and legislation regarding the health, welfare and education of children and young people in England. In response to these policies, the Department for Education and Skills has developed an increasing number of strategies to support the psychological health and well-being of children and young people and thereby signalled greater recognition of the value of improving mental health in relation to children's learning, achievement, attendance and behaviour. Counselling is increasingly seen as an effective strategy for addressing the psychological needs of children and young people with social, emotional, behavioural and academic problems. The aim of this paper is to explore the inclusion of children and young people with learning disabilities (13–19 years) in mainstream counselling services. The nature of learning disabilities is examined in relation to accessing counselling services and a model for inclusive counselling practice is developed from the research findings. Findings are based on data collected from a quantitative survey ( n =396) of 3000 counsellors and analysed using SPSS, along with qualitative data from the survey, which was analysed using a thematic approach.     

Professional education,reflective practice and feminism

This paper offers acritical perspectiveon Schon, and on reflective practice as apedagogy, by engaging with themes in feminism. A comparison between consciousness raising and reflective practice gives insights into the pleasures experienced by practitioners. However, it also suggests that reflection-in-action is not the prerogative of professionals. Consciousness raising and feminist reflexivity in research provide positive examples of political engagement and reflexive self-awareness. The scope of reflective practice is limited by the contexts in which it has been adopted. In the UK reflective practice has been implemented in professions with large female workforces: nursing, teaching and social work. The scope for autonomy in these professions is increasingly limited. Reflective practice, therefore, may be becoming avehicle for self-surveillance and orthodoxy. These socio-political considerations provide the basis for more searching epistemological questions about the nature of professional knowledge and the characteristics of all human labour. Both Marxist and feminist traditions suggest that the capacity to reflect is a characteristic of all humans, while some social scientists have suggested that reflexivity is a particular characteristic of modernity. These views challenge the status of reflective practice as the episteme of professional knowledge. Moreover, Schon's methodology is based on a partial and gender-blind view of professionals. The paper concludes that a reinvigorated research agenda, which engages with these broader themes, is necessary.     

Lifelong Earning: working-class women and lifelong learning

This article argues that despite the rhetoric that surrounds lifelong learning, barriers to participation for working-class women are too often ignored or made invisible. Starting from a critique of current policies and practices of lifelong learning that are based in instrumentalism and individualism, the article addresses the diversities of working-class women's multiple identities and considers some of the (apparent) wider benefits of learning for working-class women. The article concludes that many working-class women are trapped in a cycle of lifelong earning that centres on low-paid, low-status jobs. What they learn is that, in a learning society that remains driven by market forces based in inequalities of gender, race and class, there is no political escape.     

Restructuring the On-Campus Counselor Education Laboratory: Contemporary Professional Issues

An accountability model for addressing contemporary issues in the development and operation of on-campus practicum laboratories is presented. A case illustration provides an example of the model's potential use. Implications for counselor education programs are discussed.     

Book REVIEWS

Books Reviewed in this Article: Teaching Large Classes in Higher Education. Third World Guide 91/92. PM649 Supporting Primary Mathematics, The Open University. Exploring Statistics with Minitab. Ability, Partial information, Guessing: Statistical Modelling applied to Multiple-choice Tests. Mathematical Statistics. The Crest of the Peacock.     

Extended services in schools: developing resources to prepare student teachers for a rapidly changing working environment

The role of schools in providing extended services to their communities continues to undergo change and development. This has raised issues regarding the training of student teachers who are increasingly likely to take up appointments in schools offering extended services. This research project investigated the development of resources to prepare student teachers for a changing working environment. The project used a case study approach to gather data from primary and secondary schools providing extended services. From these case studies training materials were developed and trialled with focus groups of students in initial teacher training. Findings demonstrate the importance for tutors in initial teacher education to have access to authentic school‐focused materials to assist them in equipping students for the realities of school life.     

The Role and Function of the Counseling and Guidance Staff of State Departments of Education: A Descriptive Study

This study presents the results of a national survey of the counseling and guidance staff and its functions within state departments of education throughout the United States and four territories during the past decade. Counseling and guidance section directors in state departments of education in the U.S. received a letter describing the nature and purpose of the study and a request for cooperation by completing an enclosed questionnaire. Data collection resulted in an 83% return rate. The results of this study indicate specific trends and implications. These trends reflect economic changes and imply further diversification of services with fewer staff members. This article specifically addresses trends, implications, and the present impact on populations that counseling and guidance personnel serve.