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1 – 10 of 266Stephen Beyer, Andrea Meek and Amy Davies
The Real Opportunities project set out to implement a number of the approaches identified through research that can assist transition to adulthood in nine local authority areas in…
Abstract
Purpose
The Real Opportunities project set out to implement a number of the approaches identified through research that can assist transition to adulthood in nine local authority areas in Wales. Supported work experience was delivered by small job coaching teams in each area. The purpose of this paper is to establish the impact of the work experience and employment teams by describing the placements provided, any change in the skills of young people, and the responses to the placements by employers, young people and their families.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected over 24 months by participating employment services. Questionnaires were administered to employers. Interviews were carried out with a sub-sample of young people (24) participating and a family member (25).
Findings
Over a 24-month period 297 young people received supported work experience. In total, 262 young people had an intellectual disability, 35 an autistic spectrum disorder. Up to three placements were delivered to each person, averaging five weeks per placement, with 405 placements in total. In total, 62 per cent of those with two placements had a different category of second work placement to their first. These numbers demonstrated that work experience in community placements is possible with support. Young people improved work skills significantly between first and second placements. Employers reported high satisfaction rates with the young person’s work in a range of key performance areas and company benefits from participation for other staff, company image and customer relations. Interviews with 24 young people and 25 of their family members reported satisfaction with support and placements. Six young people had paid work now, and 33 per cent said they would get a job at some future time. Families reported changes in young person’s outlook but their view of prospects of employment remained pessimistic due to the external environment.
Research limitations/implications
Implications for future research are discussed.
Practical implications
Implications for transition are discussed.
Originality/value
The paper provides new insight into the impact of a large number of supported work experience placements.
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Sue Davies, Jane Hughes, Karen Davies, Elizabeth Dalgarno, Rowan Elaine Jasper, Helen Chester, Amy Roberts and David Challis
The purpose of this study is to examine changes in the nature, form and range of commissioning arrangements for home care.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine changes in the nature, form and range of commissioning arrangements for home care.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from two discrete national surveys of English local authorities with social service responsibilities were used. In the first, undertaken in 2007, responses from 111 of the 151 local authorities (74%) were received; in the second, undertaken in 2017, responses from 109 local authorities (72%) were received. A combined data set of 79 complete cases, 52% of local authorities, was created. Percentage point differences across the two time periods were calculated and tested to identify significant changes and a systematic analysis of the free-text responses regarding intended changes to the commissioning process in each data set was undertaken.
Findings
Findings identified substantial changes in some aspects of the commissioning of home care in the 2007-2017 decade. Collaboration between stakeholders had increased, particularly regarding the identification of future needs. Improved conditions of service and remuneration for home care workers were evident within the commissioning process. Standardised charges for home care (regardless of time and day) had also become more widespread. Initiatives to prompt providers to deliver more personalised care were more evident.
Originality/value
This paper describes the evolution of commissioning arrangements for home care in localities in response to national policy initiatives. It provides guidance to commissioners in meeting the needs of current service users and emphasises the importance of collaboration with stakeholders, particularly providers, in securing future capacity.
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This paper aims to clarify opportunities for collaborative interactions between cooperating teachers (CTs) and preservice teachers (PTs) in practice-based teacher preparation…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to clarify opportunities for collaborative interactions between cooperating teachers (CTs) and preservice teachers (PTs) in practice-based teacher preparation programs (TPPs). The study aimed to explore the discursive moves that facilitate collaboration between one CT and PT.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded in the critical sociocultural theory, this study applied a qualitative microanalytic approach to the study of coaching interactions for the purpose of understanding why and how collaborative discourse developed between a CT and a PT.
Findings
This study of discourse moves within collaborative coaching interactions revealed collaborative interactions developed from strategic repositioning of social roles, which created space for authentic problem-posing by both the CT and the PT, and the co-construction of teaching events, which supported more specific planning toward future lessons; and routine and appreciative use of observational data created space for co-construction and co-inquiry.
Practical implications
This study illuminated the complex social and discursive dance embedded within collaborative interactions. The findings also suggested that the project of co-constructing curriculum with someone is a powerful and necessary experience for a PT because it is through this co-construction that PTs learn how to design meaningful curriculum and critically reflect on practice.
Originality/value
This study offers new understandings around how collaborative talk in educational discourse transpires and why providing opportunities for PTs to take a more active role in their own learning is important.
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This chapter explores the episodes of Doctor Who featuring the Weeping Angels, in order to explore how their femininity impacts their monstrosity. Other (male) monsters in Doctor…
Abstract
This chapter explores the episodes of Doctor Who featuring the Weeping Angels, in order to explore how their femininity impacts their monstrosity. Other (male) monsters in Doctor Who kill the victims outright: Daleks exterminate their victims and Cybermen upgrade (essentially extracting all of their humanity, turning them into mindless robots) their victims. The only reoccurring feminine monsters, the Weeping Angels, do not kill anyone. They don’t take away their humanity; they simply transport them to another time. They live out their entire lives in this new time, unharmed beyond the inconvenience of temporal displacement.
The Weeping Angels could be analysed as a reversal of Barbara Creed’s monstrous feminine (1993); as their femininity makes them more human and more compassionate instead of more monstrous. They also could be thought of in terms of feminist ethics à la Nel Noddings’ feminist approach to care. In this chapter, I will argue that though traditionally villainous women are made monstrous via their femininity; in the case of the Weeping Angels, their femininity gives them a sense of humanity and compassion, thus making them less monstrous.
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Marta B. Calás, Han Ou and Linda Smircich
–The paper originated in challenges trying to theorize and research practices and processes of actors engaged in transnational activities for business and everyday life. Key…
Abstract
Purpose
–The paper originated in challenges trying to theorize and research practices and processes of actors engaged in transnational activities for business and everyday life. Key concern was the assumption that actors’ identities remain the same regardless of time/space. While intersectional analysis once seemed a reasonable analytical approach the authors wondered about starting from identity-based categorical schemes in a world where mobility may be ever more the ontological status of everyday experiences and social structuring. Thus, the paper addresses limitations of intersectional analysis in such situations and advances its recasting via mobile conceptualizations, redressing its analytical purchase for contemporary subject formation.
Design/methodology/approach
Discusses emergence of intersectionality at a particular point in time, its success and proliferation, and more recent critiques of these ideas. Develops alternative conceptualization – mobile subjectivities – via literatures on mobilities in the context of globalization. Illustrates the value of these arguments with ethnographic examples from a multi-sited ethnographic project and analyses. Concludes by examining implications for new feminist theorizations under neoliberalism and globalization.
Findings
Observing the constitution of a “mobile selfhood” in actual transnational business activities is a step toward making sense of complex processes in contemporary subject formation under globalized market neoliberalism.
Research limitations/implications
“Mobile subjectivities” suggest that analyses of oppression and subordination must be ongoing, no matter which “new subjectivities” may appear under “the latest regime.”
Originality/value
Theoretical and empirical analyses facilitated a reconceptualization of intersectionality as a mobile, precarious, and transitory accomplishment of selfhood temporarily fixed by the neoliberal rhetoric of “choice” and “self-empowerment.” This is of particular value for understanding transnational practices and processes of contemporary organizational actors.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore teachers’ noncompliance with secondary-level standardised literacy testing in Tasmania, Australia, particularly their motivations…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore teachers’ noncompliance with secondary-level standardised literacy testing in Tasmania, Australia, particularly their motivations, behaviours and justifications. This paper challenges pervasive views regarding test noncompliance, suggesting a reframing as “advocacy cheating”: noncompliance for purposes of advocating for and supporting students.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used a single case study design, with a simple thematic analysis of the qualitative data. The design enabled data to be collected during one iteration of the examined test regime, with depth of exploration into participants’ experiences and perspectives.
Findings
Findings indicate that small number of participants were engaged in test rule noncompliance at all stages of the testing regime: before, during and following the tests. This paper presents the concept of “advocacy cheating”, illustrated in these data through the motivations presented by participants for their noncompliant actions and the forms of noncompliance used.
Research limitations/implications
The small sample size and single site problematise drawing much broader comparisons. The age of the data means that current test processes and requirements have developed. Larger-scale studies might enable identification of ways in which this current regime has and might be improved.
Practical implications
This study’s findings and its focus on the classroom and teacher experience of testing provide insights into a widely debated and publicly important phenomenon.
Originality/value
The concept of “advocacy cheating” provides a newer way of considering and interpreting the range of ways in which teachers implement standardised tests.
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Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence…
Abstract
Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.
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Ghassan Elkahlout, Sansom Milton and Ruba Hawa
The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of mud brick houses as an alternative to the more widely adopted emergency shelters used in war-torn Syria. It focuses on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of mud brick houses as an alternative to the more widely adopted emergency shelters used in war-torn Syria. It focuses on the mud houses’ sustainability, cost effectiveness, cultural preference, income generation and security.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a qualitative research approach to a single case study. Interviews were conducted with field experts from the Qatar Red Crescent Society and members of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) community living in mud brick houses.
Findings
The findings reveal that the utilisation of mud houses is a good alternative in relief efforts. The houses are sustainable and cost-effective, take into consideration cultural dynamics and provide economic empowerment to IDPs. However, the maintenance of mud brick houses turns out to be the largest flaw, and this problem requires further research.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the inefficiency of current emergency sheltering practices in Syria and reveals that tents are not a preferred mode of shelter. It further sheds light on a unique case study in which mud houses were used by an aid and development organisation, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. This paper contributes to practical discussion and ideation on more appropriate housing for IDPs.
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A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that…
Abstract
A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).
Kimberley Hill, Sarah Mansbridge, Amy Watts and Ana Saravanja
An increasing non-drinker population is developing, but much research focusses on alcohol misuse, rather than the experiences of those who abstain or consume little alcohol…
Abstract
Purpose
An increasing non-drinker population is developing, but much research focusses on alcohol misuse, rather than the experiences of those who abstain or consume little alcohol, particularly within student populations. This student co-constructed qualitative research aimed to understand alcohol abstainer and light drinking students’ university experiences and perceptions of university alcohol cultures, given recent trends in alcohol drinking behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Ten UK undergraduate students (six males, four females; 21–26 years), five alcohol abstainers and five light alcohol drinkers (AUDIT-C), participated in semi-structured focus group interviews.
Findings
Thematic analysis of transcripts identified participants’ negative experiences of pre-university social pressures in navigating no or low alcohol drinking identities, which impacted university expectations. Participants perceived alcohol drinking cultures as remaining prevalent on university campuses and possibly used for profit and recruitment. Alcohol dominant university-sanctioned social events, alongside limited other provisions, impacted initial university transitions and belonging. However, students reported co-existing realities between such cultures and simultaneous peer acceptance of their no or low drinking status, finding similar others and long-term friendships not impacted. Due to this, student participants called for universities to take urgent action in changing pervasive university alcohol cultures, which they felt no longer aligned with changing student behaviours and perceptions.
Originality/value
Guided by findings, we provide important implications for prevention work and future research, including the importance of social context interventions. We also highlight the value of student co-creation and external partnerships within such work.
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