Conservation Heating 24 Years On

ABSTRACT

Control of relative humidity (RH) for collections care is challenging in U.K. historic houses because they are often highly ventilated with poor heat retention, a porous building fabric and naturally tend to high (60–80%) RH if unheated. The significance of the building means that large-scale modifications and installation of air handling systems may be unfeasible and undesirable for the conservation of the building. In the late 1980s the National Trust, for English, Wales and Northern Ireland, investigated conservation heating as an RH control method that works with the natural environment of historic buildings, mimicking historic heating and requiring only modification of existing heating services or a light touch installation of new heating systems. The National Trust adopted conservation heating as its preferred method for environmental control in historic buildings from the 1990s. This method was presented at the IIC 1994 Ottawa congress on preventive conservation. Conservation heating has since been adopted by many historic house management organisations, particularly across north-west Europe, where it is well suited to the climate. This paper reviews conservation heating developments implemented by the National Trust since 1994, in response to a changing external context, new knowledge and developments in operational practice.     

Nurseries and emotional well‐being: evaluating an emotionally containing model of professional development

Despite official endorsement of attachment principles in nursery work, these are often not translated into nursery practice. One possible reason for this is that staff training does not sufficiently address the personal implications and anxieties that children's attachments may entail for practitioners. Working from a psychoanalytic perspective on organisational functioning and group learning, this paper describes action research with a group of nursery heads who participated in a professional development programme designed specifically to explore emotional experience in professional work. The positive evaluations of the programme by heads and their staff are described including examples of experiential learning and of increased staff awareness about, and responsiveness to, the emotional experience of children. However, the research also concluded that sustained effectiveness of the model is likely to be dependent on an ongoing culture of attention to the emotional experience of nursery staff within nursery umbrella organisations.     

The effectiveness of post-16 pathways for gaining employment associated with undergraduate degree study

This article sets out to examine the effectiveness of five different post-16 study pathways and the impact that spending time away from education has on gaining employment associated with an undergraduate degree. It also explores advice and guidance for students looking at post-16 study options, higher education and employment. An initial online survey was used, followed by case studies to form a mixed-method approach. The findings suggest that a vocational pathway better prepares students for making decisions around employment and study in comparison to the more traditional A Level pathway. They also highlight that a period of one to four years after finishing post-16 study and starting undergraduate degree study is the most effective for students to gain employment associated with their undergraduate degree. Finally, it was found that most participants did not have positive experiences with advice and guidance regardless of their pathway.     

Yer Doin’ it Wrong: How NOT to Interact with Vendors,Publishers, or Librarians

Three librarians who have extensive experience working in libraries or for publishers, vendors, or consortia presented an informal discussion on librarian–vendor relationships. The audience was encouraged to participate. Problems were articulated; speakers and audience members contributed suggestions for better approaches or behaviors when handling difficult situations.     

Getting in,getting on,going further: Exploring the role of employers in the degree apprentice to graduate transition

Transitions from education into work, or as part of career change and development, are increasingly central to policy debate and academic inquiry. However, the role that employers play in shaping transition is often overlooked. In this paper, we examine this issue through the experiences of a graduating cohort of ‘degree apprentices’. We present original analysis of new empirical data from what we believe to be the first substantive qualitative longitudinal research conducted with those experiencing this new vocational pathway in the English Apprenticeships system. Through analysis of repeat semi-structured interviews with 22 degree apprenticeship graduates (44 interviews in total), we provide early empirical insights into experiences of this new pathway and add to existing theoretical conceptualisations of transition within the educational literature and the employer's role within it. We show that the degree apprentice to graduate transition can be broken down into three key stages: ‘getting in’, ‘getting on’ and ‘going further’, and that employers—at both strategic and relational levels—shape experiences at each stage.     

Cuba: Au Dela De L'education Rurale Integree

Résumé Se basant sur des expériences d'éducation rurale intégrée faites par certains pays en voie de développement, l'auteur examine l'objet d'une telle éducation et ses chances de succès. Un exemple positif est donné par Cuba où tout l'ancien système d'éducation, essentiellement centré sur l'activité urbaine a été transformé et axé sur la terre pour répondre avant tout aux besoins de la population rurale. Le plan d'apprentissage prévu pour les ouvriers et les paysans a été unifié dans son contenu et dans ses structures afin que l'éducation en zone rurale et destinée à des personnes qui auront une activité rurale, ne présente pas ce caractère de bouche-trou qu'elle a dans d'autres pays. La solution aux problèmes pratiques est rangée au premier plan; on le constate dans l'éducation secondaire et universitaire où la réforme n'a pas seulement introduit des stages (agricoles) mais a aussi changé l'orientation du système tout entier afin d'offrir à la population rurale une occasion d'améliorer ses conditions de vie.

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On the basis of experiences made by some developing countries with integrated rural education, the goal of such education and its chances of success are discussed. A succesful example is the land-centred education in Cuba, where the entire—previously urban—centred educational system has been transformed into one serving primarily the needs of the rural population. Learning provision for workers and for peasants has been largely unified in content and organisation. Thus education in rural areas and for rural occupations does not have the stopgap character it has in some other countries. Emphasis is on the solution of practical problems. This is illustrated by the example of university and secondary education. The goal has been not merely to introduce practical (agricultural) training but to change the orientation of the entire system so as to offer the rural population a chance of improving their living conditions.

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Zusammenfassung Ausgehend von den Erfahrungen mit einer integrierten ruralen Erziehung in einigen Entwicklungsländern, wird das Ziel und die Erfolgschancen dieser Erziehung diskutiert. Als positives Beispiel wird die land-zentrierte Bildung in Kuba vorgestellt, wo das gesamte Bildungswesen bewusst auf die Bedürfnisse der Landbevölkerung ausgerichtet wurde. Das Bildungswesen wurde vereinheitlicht, wobei Bildungsweg und Bildungsinhalte nicht mehr nach dem alten Typ des stadtzentrierten Unterrichts organisiert sind. Das Bildungsangebot ist für Arbeiter und Bauern weitgehend vereinheitlicht. Dadurch bekam die Bildung auf und für das Land nicht den Lückenbüssercharakter wie in manchen anderen Ländern. Bei dieser mehr auf ländliche Gebiete hin orientierten Bildung steht die Lösung praktischer Probleme im Vordergrund, wie dies am Beispiel der universitären- und der Sekundarbildung erläutert wird. Es geht nicht darum, nur (landwirtschaftliche) Praktika einzuführen, sondern die gesamte Orientierung zu verändern, um insbesondere der Landbevölkerung die Perspektive besserer Lebensverhältnisse auf dem Lande zu vermitteln.

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Les opinions exprimées dans cet article ne reflètent pas nécessairement celles de l'UNESCO.