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Considers some differences between Anglo‐American and European modes of production and methods of professionalism. Looks at theoretical models of professions and states, taking into account Herbert Spencer’s work, as well as that of Weber, Durkheim and Foucault. Examines the implications a common European Union (EU) regime will have on professional services – focusing on formal mechanisms (such as international associations) and informal mechanisms (such as lobbying and networking). Raises some questions on how internationalization is reworking and redefining professions, with new processes and mechanisms developing at both national and international level. Promotes the urgency of developing sociological models of profession‐state relations at both levels.

The aim of this article is two-fold. First, it offers a unique account of San Min, the prototype of the current Chinese educational principle proposed by Yan Fu (1854–1921) that aimed at improving people’s physical, intellectual and moral capacities. This system of educational thinking has received only marginal attention in Anglophone research literature. Second, given the influence of Yan Fu’s interpretation and promulgation of Herbert Spencer’s educational philosophy during that period, it investigates the extent to which San Min is derived from Spencer’s educational thought (the “Spencerian Triad”). This article focusses on how Yan Fu adapted the ideas of San Min from Spencer’s account.

This article considers Yan Fu’s principle of San Min in relation to Spencer’s educational triad through a close reading and comparison of key primary texts (including Yan Fu’s original writing). It explores the similarities and differences between each account of education’s goals and its proposed means of attainment.

Yan Fu’s principle of San Min is shown to have been adapted from the Spencerian Triad. However, using the theory of Social Organism, Yan Fu re-interpreted Spencer’s individual liberty as liberty for the nation. While Spencer’s goal was to empower individuals, Yan Fu aimed to serve collective independence, wealth and power.

This article addresses oversights concerning San Min’s Western origins in the Spencerian Triad and its influence on Chinese education under Yan Fu’s sway. It is significant because San Min is still at the core of the current Chinese educational policy.

This chapter details the use of the Diversity Teacher Belief Q-Sort (DTBQ) as a springboard to reflective conversations about work with diverse populations of children and their families. The DTBQ tool is provided and guidelines, including concrete suggestions and discussion prompts, are outlined to support the use of the DTBQ to facilitate reflection and to open discourse about beliefs and practices. Furthermore, suggestions are provided for using the tool to measure or assess change or shifts in teachers’ beliefs and practices.

The aim of this paper is to review some of the findings in the field of readability research. First, the differences in meaning between the terms ‘readability’ and ‘legibility’ are discussed. Next, the origins and developments of readability formulas are examined in detail. Then, the best‐known formulas for English language material are described so as to give the reader a brief overview of what has been achieved in this field of research. Finally, the principal applications of these formulas are described.

Bibliographical materials are often produced on a low budget and against a deadline, and the design of the material often does not adequately represent the structure of the information or facilitate its use. Two studies concerned with optimizing the effectiveness of design given certain practical constraints are reported here. In the first study, ten coding systems suitable for distinguishing between entries in typewritten bibliographies were tested. Subjects were given sections of author index typed in different styles, together with lists of authors' surnames to be found in the test material within a set time. The most effective system made a clear distinction between entries, and between the first element of each entry and the rest of the entry, by indentation. In the second study, the effectiveness of six spatial and three typographic coding systems for distinguishing between entries and between elements within entries in typeset bibliographies was tested for two different search tasks. In Experiment I, subjects were given lists of authors' surnames to find in the test material; in Experiment 2 they were given lists of titles. Spatial coding was more effective than typographic coding in Experiment 1; the reverse was true for Experiment 2. The most effective spatial coding systems in both experiments were those which clearly distinguished the start of each entry by line spacing or indentation. The use of capitals for authors' surnames was the most effective typographic coding system in Experiment 1; the use of bold for titles was the most effective in Experiment 2. The best compromise for both search tasks is likely to incorporate line spacing between entries with elements within entries running on, and bold titles.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the neuroscience that underpins the psychology of compassion as a competency. The authors explain why this cognitive competency is now taught and assessed on modules of different degree subjects in a UK university.

The paper is divided into first, an exploration of recent psychology and neuroscience literature that illuminates the differences, and relationship, between empathy and compassion for safeness building in teams. Within that, the role of oxytocin in achieving social and intellectual rewards though the exercise of cognitive flexibility, working memory and impulsive inhibitory control (Zelazo et al., 2016) is also identified. The literature findings are compared against relevant qualitative data from the above university, so far, nine years of mixed methods action research on compassion-focussed pedagogy (CfP).

These are that the concept and practice of embedding compassion as an assessed cognitive competency in university group work is illuminated and rationalised by research findings in neuroscience.

The limitations of the study are that, so far, fMRI research methods have not been used to investigate student subjects involved in the CfP now in use.

The paper has implications for theory, policy and practice in relation to managing the increasing amount of group work that accompanies widening participation in higher education (HE).

The social implications of what is outlined in the paper pertain to student mental health, and academic achievement; to policy and practice for HE curriculum design across subjects and disciplines; and for the HE remit to serve the public good.

A review of this kind specifically for student assessed group and its implications for student academic achievement and mental health has not, apparently, been published.

Online teaching particularly through Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) has become a phenomenon in the twenty-first century. ODeL and blended approaches inevitably lead to increasing dependence on electronic communication systems. The University of South Africa (Unisa), where the author teaches, enables students through its Learner Management System to interact with lecturers and e-tutors online. The responsibilities of e-tutors are of an educative and technical nature. Their roles include guiding and assisting students, encouraging active participation, responding to their queries and grading their assignments. In addition, e-tutors provide notifications and assign tasks or activities that students are expected to complete and submit. In several cases, these forms of assistance are absent, when there is a lack of follow-up within the response period which is 24 hours – missing notifications and lack of guidance – rendering these e-tutors ineffective. The chapter provides strategies that were analyzed and implemented to motivate effective tutoring and enhance student participation learning. The author draws on her analysis as a virtual ethnographer and long-term participant observer as an e-tutor and lecturer who supervised e-tutors and taught a large number of students – 2,500. The objective of the chapter is to encourage effective tutoring that can enhance students’ success.