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This paper aims to describe a staff development activity introduced at a small regional library in Victoria, Australia to assist staff to take more control of their work time. The self‐directed professional activity (SDPA) allows staff to nominate an activity that would benefit them professionally and then provides the support and infrastructure so they can focus on one task for a sustained period of time, free from external distractions.

This single case study describes the experiences of 11 library staff undertaking the SDPA four times over a two year period, 2006‐2008. The perspective of participants was recorded and analysed using a focus group discussion, personal written reflections and written responses to open ended survey questions.

The activity achieved its initial aim of providing staff with greater control over their professional time. Staff appreciated having a dedicated time to plan and complete a specified task, which they nominated as a priority, without external interruptions. Difficulties encountered by staff included defining a task or activity that could be completed in one afternoon and resisting the temptation to check e‐mail and answer telephone calls.

The sample size is very small, focusing on one specific work environment, which makes it difficult to generalise about the applicability of this model to other organisations.

The experiences described in this case study illustrate that allowing staff to set their own priorities and minimising external interruptions can assist staff to feel more in control of their time at work.

The paper shows that elements of this approach could be incorporated into any workplace, although it appears to be of greater benefit to workers who must multi‐task in open office environments or to those who must juggle competing priorities.

Reports on a self‐development program undertaken by library employees; examines the extent to which they were empowered by being given control over part of their working week.

Provides a case study example of a self‐directed professional program; looks at how well it achieved its objectives and describes the evaluation undertaken that recorded the challenges faced by employees and the benefits that resulted from the initiative.

Many modern day offices resemble pressure cookers, employees urged to achieve “more for less” are constantly challenged to achieve targets and take responsibility for an increasing number of tasks in an environment marked by shrinking budgets and a reduced workforce. Working lives are punctuated by interruptions from colleagues and the need to deal with constant communications, from external source, via the telephone and e‐mail system, the situation often made worse by the move towards open plan offices. Employees find that they have little time to stop and think about what they are doing or to prioritize their work. The consequences of such a work regime are increasing stress levels among staff, an inability to deal creatively with problems and a reduction in job satisfaction and work performance.

Presents evidence of the benefits to be gained from implementing a staff development activity that allowed staff to focus on one activity of their own choice, free of interruptions, and identifies some of the problems that staff faced.

Outlines how worker empowerment and learning can be increased to the benefit of both employee and organization.

Demonstrates how employees' professional development and working lives can be improved, particularly salient for those workers who are facing competing work priorities and who are subject to constant external and internal interruption.

The essay is addressed to practitioners in research management and from academic leadership. It describes which measures can contribute to creating an inclusive climate for research teams and preventing and effectively dealing with discrimination. The practical recommendations consider the policy and organizational levels, as well as the individual perspective of research managers. Following a series of basic recommendations, six lessons learned are formulated, derived from the contributions to the edited collection on “Diversity and Discrimination in Research Organizations.”

A survey conducted by the College Board and reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education revealed that six million adults study for college credit each year, and that 45 percent of all undergraduate and graduate students are over twenty‐five years of age. The survey also predicted the figure could rise to 50 percent by the year 2000. Recent adult education literature offers many papers advising colleges to gear up and embrace the reentry student. Academe's metamorphosis, demonstrated by independent degree programs, more weekend and evening classes, and other enticements, confirms this reorientation. A community adult education course entitled “Academia Revisited,” which is intended specifically as a preenrollment introduction for prospective reentrants, is a signal that colleges are actively courting the adult student. Increasing enrollments of adults attest a positive response to these changes.

In complex environments, the use of technology to enhance the capability of people is commonplace. In rapidly changing and often unpredictable environments, it is not enough that these human-automated “teams” perform well when events go as expected. Instead, the human operators and automated aids must be flexible, capable of responding to rare or unanticipated events. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the Framework of Automation Use (Dzindolet, Beck, Pierce, & Dawe, 2001) as it relates to adaptive automation. Specifically, our objectives are to: (1) examine a number of factors that determine how people can effectively integrate their activities with their machine partners in fluid environments and (2) consider the implications of these findings for future research.

Learning and development occur in many spaces both within and outside formal education settings. This chapter explores progress and possibilities of a knowledge exchange programme with a third sector organisation involved with community development, playwork and youth work in an urban area of the East Midlands. Theoretical concepts draw on a growing international interest in intergenerational play (Graves, 2002) and ‘cultural circles’ (Gill, 2020) as a method of challenging power and communication barriers between practitioners and families from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Using Foucault, post-structuralist feminism and autoethnography, as well as insight from a knowledge exchange partnership – the chapter offers a critique of a national initiative aimed at addressing ‘holiday hunger’ and community engagement. Practitioners in international contexts may benefit from the chapter’s attempt to address a series of co-constructed questions that include:

1. How do we raise the profile of children’s play as a non-negotiable starting point for universal service provision to children and young people?

2. What can be done to ‘connect’ diverse communities living in close proximity and sharing amenities within urban areas?

3. How can we celebrate differences whilst designing universal services, which promote social cohesion through play and leisure spaces?

How do we raise the profile of children’s play as a non-negotiable starting point for universal service provision to children and young people?

What can be done to ‘connect’ diverse communities living in close proximity and sharing amenities within urban areas?

How can we celebrate differences whilst designing universal services, which promote social cohesion through play and leisure spaces?