Can a systematic assessment moderation process assure the quality and integrity of assessment practice while supporting the professional development of casual academics?

There has been a threefold increase in the employment of casual academics in Australian universities within the last 20 years, to the extent that most teaching and marking is now undertaken by casual academics, also known as sessional staff. Yet, casualised teaching and assessment has been considered a risk to student engagement and success, and casual academics report a lack of professional development and increased feelings of marginalisation within the academy. Concurrently, the quality assurance of teaching and assessment in higher education has become a central focus of the government-funded regulatory organisation, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). Situated within this context, we report on an assessment moderation process that could support casual academics’ contextualised professional development, generate a sense of connectedness and collegiality and fulfil the requirements of TEQSA. Such processes may ensure that workforce growth in the higher education system supports a robust quality assurance and regulatory framework.     

Investigating the role of the HLTA in supporting learning in English schools

The development of support staff was a key aspect of the Labour government’s reform of the school workforce in England. As part of this strategy approximately 25,000 Teaching Assistants (TAs) gained Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status and were deployed in schools in a variety of roles, often operating in a quasi-teaching role. The research re-visits individuals who had acquired HLTA status between 2006 and 2009 and had participated in a questionnaire survey regarding their role at that time. A duplicate questionnaire was distributed in 2013 to 305 of these HLTAs and was followed up in 2014 by focus groups with self-selecting individuals from the original sample. To date there has been little research relating to the development of the HLTA role and the implications this has for both teachers and pupils, particularly in terms of provision for the most vulnerable learners.     

山西省农村剩余劳动力转移问题的研究分析

20世纪90年代以来,我国农村劳动力供大于求的矛盾日趋尖锐,如何加快农村剩余劳动力转移的步伐,实现农村劳动力资源的合理配置,成为社会经济发展的一个重要问题。本文着重分析了山西农村剩余劳动力现状和现阶段农村劳动力就业与转移的制约因素,提出与之相应的对策。     

Professionalisation policies in the ECEC field: trends and tensions in the Italian context

In recent times, a growing consensus has emerged, among researchers and policy-makers, that a well-educated, competent and adequately supported workforce is crucial for the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Despite governmental initiatives aimed to enhance the professional preparation and continuing development of early years practitioners being high on the political agenda of many EU member states, very few studies are analysing professionalisation policy developments and their implications within the national contexts of ECEC. Against this background, the article describes the key features of ECEC policies in Italy and their current trends by focussing specifically on the professionalisation of early childhood practitioners working across 0–3 and 3–6 services. Drawing on the data collected from documentary sources and interviews with key informants, this paper will critically review policy discourses as well as recurring themes and tensions arising from the academic and political debate. The findings from our analysis highlight that the increasing discontinuity characterising professionalisation initiatives across the 0–3 and 3–6 sector might lead to widening the gap among professionals working in such services. The risks that are associated with this trend are, on the one side, to devalue the educational role of 0–3 services and, on the other, to produce the schoolification of educational practices in 3–6 services. In addition, our analysis identified inconsistencies between initial and continuing professional development policies, which are progressively creating a dichotomy between initial and in-service training. The consequences of this process might produce, on the long term, the fragmentation of the ECEC system across public and private not-for-profit provision with the subsequent risk of impoverishing the local culture of childhood on which the Italian ECEC system has traditionally built its strength.     

Building Research Competencies in Canadian Academic Libraries: The CARL Librarians' Research Institute

This article overviews work by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) to build the workforce competencies and capacity of academic librarians in respect of librarian research skills. CARL's Librarians' Research Institute (LRI) is reviewed and evaluated as a case study example of strategic and collaborative workforce capacity building. The CARL LRI offers a model for possible replication by others seeking to build workforce competencies and capacity through collaborative action.     

现行户籍制度:穷人的枷锁

目前,人力资本是我国农村贫困的决定性制约变量,而相对于其他形式的人力资本积累来说,劳动力迁移和流动能够迅速提高穷人人力资本积累的效率。但是现行户籍制度对农民具有社会控制功能,尤其是在以户口划分为基础,并与户口身份相结合的城乡资源和利益分配的制度体系安排下,使得户籍制度在更大程度上增加了穷人的迁移成本和迁移风险,从而使他们很难摆脱贫困的命运。     

“A tie is a tie? Gender and network positioning in life science inventor collaboration”

Collaborative relationships are an important anchor of innovative activity, and rates of collaboration in science are on the rise. This research addresses differences in men’s and women’s collaborative positioning and collaborator characteristics in science, and whether network influences on scientists’ future productivity may be contingent on gender. Utilizing co-inventor network relations that span thirty years of global life science patenting across sectors, geographic locations, and technological background, I present trends of men’s and women’s involvement in patenting and their collaborative characteristics across time. Amidst some network similarities, women are less likely to connect otherwise unconnected inventors (brokerage) and have greater status-asymmetries between themselves and their co-inventors. In multivariate models that include past and future activity, I find that some network benefits are contingent on gender. Men receive greater returns from network positioning for brokerage ties, and when collaborating with men. Women benefit from collaborating with women, and are more likely to collaborate with women, but both men and women collaborate with mostly men. I discuss the implications of these results for innovative growth, as well as for policies that support men’s and women’s career development.     

中国农业经济发展中的几个基本问题

农业经济是中国国家经济发展的一个基础性问题，由于政治、历史和地理等多方面的原因，我国农业经济的发展一直处于落后的状态。解决中国农业经济发展问题的出路在于：首先要提高占中国人口70％的中国农民的科技文化素质水平；其次，要解决中国农村劳动力与土地之间的数量矛盾；劳动力的转移是解决这一矛盾的主要形式。第三，在当前我国国家经济已具备一定经济实力的基础上，要加大政府对农业的投入。     

Understanding teachers’ careers: Linking professional life to professional path

This research synthesis aims to more fully understand the current teacher retention crisis in the United States through a re-conceptualization of what is meant by a teaching career. Currently, research is divided into two broad categories: traditional research on teacher retention and traditional research on teachers’ professional lives. This synthesis identifies key studies in both fields and argues for greater coordination between the two in an effort to conceive of teachers’ careers along a continuum and utilize a range of methodologies for understanding those careers. The author points to select studies which begin to bring these two fields together and suggests potential future research directions.     

Towards Competent Systems in Early Childhood Education and Care. Implications for Policy and Practice

The close connection between the quality of provision for young children and professionaliation of the field has long been supported by international research. That the two are inseparable aspects of one picture is beginning to become accepted at European policy level, as evident in recent high level EU policy documents. This article explores the reciprocal relationship between quality and professionalisation, drawing on the findings of the study on ‘competence requirements in early childhood education and care’ (CoRe), jointly conducted by the University of East London and the University of Gent, and funded by the European Commission. Based on a review of literature in several European languages and data from a 15-country survey and seven in-depth case studies, CoRe has identified systemic conditions for a professionalisation of the entire early childhood system, beyond the formal qualification levels of individual practitioners. The article argues for a critical and systemic reconceptualisation of professional practice in a competent system.