Why is it Important to Involve New Fathers in the Care of Their Child

Research into fathers’ unique contributions to the physical, emotional, social and cognitive wellbeing of their offspring has been ongoing for several decades. Health and family care policy has focused increasingly on the imperative to include fathers in services and to see them as a vital resource for mothers and children. The author identified papers from 2000 onwards that illuminate health visitors’ level of engagement with fathers of young families. The review covers policy relating to health and family services for fathers, the nature of fathering in the 21st century, the influence of involved fathers on their partners and babies, what fathers say they want from family services, and future directions for research into fathering.

Violetta Undone: Getting Closer to Opera By Not Making Opera

In early 2016 students at the University of Worcester were set the task of creating an adaptation of Verdi’s La traviata, a work which they knew from having seen the production by Richard Eyre live streamed from the Royal Opera House, at the Odeon Cinema in Worcester. The majority of students attested that this was their first encounter with opera and many were not looking forward to the project. This paper will describe and examine the process of adaptation and will reflect on how the mediated experience of the opera informed the final live production. It will also examine how the devisers of a new work, called Violetta Undone, considered the inclusion of musical and dramatic themes from the opera, as well as how they considered matters of relevance to contemporary audiences. The paper will furthermore consider how this process of undoing the opera not only fulfilled the requirements of the module (to learn about the processes of adaptation) but also brought the students closer to opera as an art-form. The paper will reflect on how, what was ultimately produced, not only radically deviated from what we understand as opera (as represented by the production which acted as a stimulus) but simultaneously adhered closely to the theoretical notion of gesamtkunstwerk which lies at the heart of opera theory. Additionally, questions that will be considered include: What lessons might be learned about educating drama students about opera? And how might undoing opera in a collaborative way inform dramaturgical explorations of operas?

Professional Practice in Learning and Development: How to Design and Deliver Plans for the Workplace

Introduction The world is changing! It is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. As cliché as it may sound the evidence of such dynamism in the external environment is growing. Business-as-usual is more of the exception than the norm. Organizational change is the rule; be it to accommodate and adapt to change, or instigate and lead change. A constantly changing environment is a situation that all organizations have to live with. What makes some organizations however, able to thrive better than others? Many scholars and practitioners believe that this is due to the ability to learn. Therefore, this book on developing Learning and Development (L&D) professionals is timely as it explores and discusses trends and practices that impact organizations, the workforce and L&D professionals. Being able to learn and develop effectively is the cornerstone of motivation as it helps to address people’s need to be competent and to be autonomous (Deci & Ryan, 2002; Loon & Casimir, 2008; Ryan & Deci, 2000). L&D stimulates and empowers people to perform. Organizations that are better at learning at all levels; the individual, group and organizational level, will always have a better chance of surviving and performing. Given the new reality of a dynamic external environment and constant change, L&D professionals now play an even more important role in their organizations than ever before. However, L&D professionals themselves are not immune to the turbulent changes as their practices are also impacted. Therefore, the challenges that L&D professionals face are two-pronged. Firstly, in relation to helping and supporting their organization and its workforce in adapting to the change, whilst, secondly developing themselves effectively and efficiently so that they are able to be one-step ahead of the workforce that they are meant to help develop. These challenges are recognised by the CIPD, as they recently launched their new L&D qualification that has served as an inspiration for this book. L&D plays a crucial role at both strategic (e.g. organizational capability) and operational (e.g. delivery of training) levels. L&D professionals have moved from being reactive (e.g. following up action after performance appraisals) to being more proactive (e.g. shaping capability). L&D is increasingly viewed as a driver for organizational performance. The CIPD (2014) suggest that L&D is increasingly expected to not only take more responsibility but also accountability for building both individual and organizational knowledge and capability, and to nurture an organizational culture that prizes learning and development. This book is for L&D professionals. Nonetheless, it is also suited for those studying Human Resource Development HRD at intermediate level. The term ‘Human Resource Development’ (HRD) is more common in academia, and is largely synonymous with L&D (Stewart & Sambrook, 2012) Stewart (1998) defined HRD as ‘the practice of HRD is constituted by the deliberate, purposive and active interventions in the natural learning process. Such interventions can take many forms, most capable of categorising as education or training or development’ (p. 9). In fact, many parts of this book (e.g. Chapters 5 and 7) are appropriate for anyone who is involved in training and development. This may include a variety of individuals within the L&D community, such as line managers, professional trainers, training solutions vendors, instructional designers, external consultants and mentors (Mayo, 2004). The CIPD (2014) goes further as they argue that the role of L&D is broad and plays a significant role in Organizational Development (OD) and Talent Management (TM), as well as in Human Resource Management (HRM) in general. OD, TM, HRM and L&D are symbiotic in enabling the ‘people management function’ to provide organizations with the capabilities that they need.