Outcomes for Women and Infants Following Assisted Conception: Implications for Perinatal Education,Care, and Support

Assisted conception is becoming an increasingly more common treatment option for women and couples who experience fertility problems. Links have been made in the literature between assisted conception and a greater incidence of pregnancy or birth complications, low birth weight or premature babies, and babies with congenital abnormalities. In addition, evidence suggests that the experience of assisted conception may influence the development of early mothering relationships and impact parenting adjustment. Although this commentary article does not strategically review all available literature, it provides an overview of the health issues that women and families undergoing assisted conception have experienced or may experience. Through raising awareness and promoting discussion of these issues, practitioners will be better equipped to provide informed education and support.     

Oh to be a scholar – an HE in FE perspective

This paper considers conceptions of the term ‘scholarship’ amongst lecturers delivering business higher education programmes (BHEPs) in further education colleges (FECs). A condensed overview of leading authors’ work on the subject of scholarship is first considered; then, at the end of the paper, an alternative definition is offered in the hopes of stimulating discussion. The data was drawn from a doctoral study by the author (2009) looking at this subject area, and is based on findings from primary data collected in 2006–7. Due to the lack of published work in and on higher education (HE) in further education (FE) at that time, the study drew heavily on literature from HE. This paper highlights potential issues and anxieties of the lecturers who took part in the study, and identifies that the term ‘scholarship’ is not one familiar to, or easily defined by, those delivering BHEPs in FECs.     

The Role of Religious Higher Education in the Training of Teachers of Russian ‘Orthodox Culture’1

This article provides an ethnographic account of the tensions arising from the different ways of building authority as teachers and the role of higher education in establishing teachers' legitimacy in Russia through the specific example of religious education. After state atheism was abandoned in 1991, an unprecedented demand for religious knowledge appeared in Russia, in particular in relation to Russian Orthodoxy. Since the Russian context of Orthodox education lacks shared standards, there is considerable latitude in the criteria determining norms and rules. Seeking to increase its influence, the Russian Orthodox Church aspires to have Orthodox catechism taught in a systematic way both in parishes and in secular schools. In practice, the Church is encouraging professional pedagogues to submit their curriculum proposals that would be suffused with Orthodoxy and at the same time be eligible for adoption in all settings and institutions. Thus, in order to educate teachers of religion, the Church has made available multiple, diverse sources of religious knowledge (self-learning, various courses offered by the eparchies, Spiritual Academies, and other institutions of higher education). But the legitimacy of these sources is often questioned, for instance by asking whether the institution that delivers diplomas of religious higher education has been granted formal state recognition. The teachers' quest for being acknowledged as competent technicians of religious education leads to competing claims for the authenticity of the sources of their training.     

Gender and Education for All: Progress and problems in achieving gender equity

The paper explores the effects of rapid increases in gender parity in primary schooling in Bangladesh and Malawi on gender inequities in schools and communities. Based on an analysis of comparative case studies of marginalized communities, we argue that educational initiatives focused on achieving gender parity provide limited evidence that girls’ educational experiences modeled significantly different gender norms than in communities, or that by being educated, girls experienced a transformation of the inequitable gender relations they faced in society. The data illustrate persistent gender discrimination related to educational attainment and learning, and gender-based violence in schools. These patterns of gendered discrimination and violence largely mirrored those that girls and boys experienced in their homes and communities, raising important questions about the transformational capacity of current gender parity and schooling models.     

Skills for inclusive growth in South Africa: Promising tides amidst perilous waters

Skills development is critical to South Africa's development. It has been argued that South Africa's twin post-Apartheid challenges, poverty and unemployment requires a level of skills development not undertaken before (0300 and 0045). The creation of a separate ministry, the department of higher education and training (DHET), which has incorporated institutional entities from former Ministries of Education and Labour has engendered an expectation for the realisation of a co-ordinated and integrated post school education and training system. The establishment of this entity for the first time anticipates a coherent response to the education, training and skills development challenges faced by the country. The initial anticipation that this development will provide the basis for a coherent post-school education, training and skills development system, that is responsive to national development encapsulated by the notion of inclusive growth, have waned somewhat. In an attempt to link education and labour market more deliberately, it attempts to respond to both the education and labour market constituencies for greater synergy. The reality of success of a new institutional structure, within a wider structure embedded in the older pre-merged configuration, has proved more difficult than anticipated. The notion of ‘policy as boundary object’ is considered a critical missing element in the current re-positioning and the changed political circumstances represent a golden moment to do things differently. This paper explores the current structural re-configuration, as it has, and is likely to, impact on the skills development provisioning in the country. In particular, it focuses on the impact of current developments on the delivery of intermediate level skills, and the likely role of the beleaguered public FET Colleges (FETCs) in this regard. Whilst it is accepted that the current development is new and unlikely to have a track record, the current context is critically evaluated in terms of the potentials and challenges identified against the empirical experience of ten years of skills development in the country.     

理性约束与非理性冲动——在尼采日神、酒神精神参照下对屈赋艺术精神的理论分析

以尼采日神、酒神精神为参照,对屈赋文本背后的艺术精神作理论分析。在屈赋文本中,同时呈现出理性对作者创作的约束和非理性在作者创作中的冲动,两者构成屈赋艺术精神的关键内核,使屈赋取得极大的艺术成就。     

基于电子平台的高中生综合素质评价探索——以铜梁中学校为例

依照《重庆市普通高中学生综合素质评价方案(试行)》的要求,作为重庆市首批试用单位,铜梁中学校使用电子平台记录学生个人成长信息、参与评价过程及评价结果,开展网上自主评价、互相评价等活动.本文以铜梁中学实施的高中生综合素质电子评价为例,并结合评价效果,探讨高中生综合素质电子平台评价的方式及意义.实践表明:高中生综合素质电子评价体系的建立是深化“课改”精神的具体体现,值得我们高度重视和深入研究.     

影响高校图书馆服务质量提升的三个因素

高校图书馆有其独特的管理服务模式,领导水平相对较强,馆员素质相对较高,读者群体相对稳定.服务质量的高低是反映图书馆读者服务工作的重要指标.本文拟从领导、馆员和读者三个方面及其相互作用,阐述全方位提升图书馆服务质量的重要性.     

若干因素对铬天青-S显色的影响

研究了室温、缓冲液两种pH值、显色时间、显色剂量对食品中铝测定的铬天青-S显色的影响;铝含量和吸光度之间的线性关系.结果显示：室温从21℃升高到33℃,吸光度相应增加;pH5.7缓冲液较pH5.5的吸光度轻微增加;加入铬天青-S20分钟后至45分钟内显色稳定;将显色剂量减半后吸光度稍微降低,显色效果改善;铝含量在0.5-6μg/ml范围内与吸光度之间线性关系良好;铝含量增至8μg/ml时失去线性关系;方法的重复性较好.