Connecting with the horizon : developing teachers' appreciation of mathematical structure

A professional learning program for teachers of junior secondary mathematics regarding the content and pedagogy of senior secondary mathematics is the context for this study of teachers’ mathematical and pedagogical knowledge. The analysis of teachers’ reflections on their learning explored teachers’ understanding of mathematical connections and their appreciation of mathematical structure. The findings indicate that a professional learning program about senior secondary mathematics can enable practicing teachers to deepen and broaden their knowledge for teaching junior secondary mathematics and develop their practice to support their students’ present and future learning of mathematics. Further research is needed about professional learning approaches and tasks that may enable teachers to imbed and develop awareness of structure in their practice.

Winds of change in Myanmar? Implications for international cooperation In poverty alleviation

We are witnessing the beginnings of what could well be significant change in Myanmar. Elections in November 2010 were quickly followed by the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, then by the resignation of Senior-General Than Shwe, dissolution of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the opening of parliament, and the inauguration of Thein Sein as President on 30th March 2011. Thein Sein's inauguration speech called for national reconciliation and an end to corruption, promised a more market-oriented economy, and vowed to create employment opportunities. He also pledged to develop the health and education sectors in cooperation with international organisations, and to alleviate poverty. While some fear this may only be rhetoric, a growing number of indications suggest that major political and economic reform may indeed be getting underway. This paper traces these recent developments and the possibility of significantly improved international development cooperation in Myanmar, particularly as it affects the prospects of poverty alleviation efforts and cooperation with Western INGO and multilateral agencies. It analyses the implications of this reform on international development assistance and cooperation from the perspectives of humanitarian needs, international relations theory, development theory, and political philosophy.

An analysis of potential barriers and enablers to regulating the television marketing of unhealthy foods to children at the state government level in Australia

Background In Australia there have been many calls for government action to halt the effects of unhealthy food marketing on children's health, yet implementation has not occurred. The attitudes of those involved in the policy-making process towards regulatory intervention governing unhealthy food marketing are not well understood. The objective of this research was to understand the perceptions of senior representatives from Australian state and territory governments, statutory authorities and non-government organisations regarding the feasibility of state-level government regulation of television marketing of unhealthy food to children in Australia.

Method Data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior representatives from state and territory government departments, statutory authorities and non-government organisations (n=22) were analysed to determine participants' views about regulation of television marketing of unhealthy food to children at the state government level. Data were analysed using content and thematic analyses.

Results Regulation of television marketing of unhealthy food to children was supported as a strategy for obesity prevention. Barriers to implementing regulation at the state level were: the perception that regulation of television advertising is a Commonwealth, not state/territory, responsibility; the power of the food industry and; the need for clear evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of regulation. Evidence of community support for regulation was also cited as an important factor in determining feasibility.

Conclusions The regulation of unhealthy food marketing to children is perceived to be a feasible strategy for obesity prevention however barriers to implementation at the state level exist. Those involved in state-level policy making generally indicated a preference for Commonwealth-led regulation. This research suggests that implementation of regulation of the television marketing of unhealthy food to children should ideally occur under the direction of the Commonwealth government. However, given that regulation is technically feasible at the state level, in the absence of Commonwealth action, states/territories could act independently. The relevance of our findings is likely to extend beyond Australia as unhealthy food marketing to children is a global issue.

Doctors under the microscope: the birth of medical audit

In 1989 a UK government White Paper introduced medical audit as a comprehensive and statutory system of assessment and improvement in quality of care in hospitals. A considerable body of research has described the evolution of medical audit in terms of a struggle between doctors and National Health Service managers over control of quality assurance. In this paper we examine the emergence of medical audit from 1910 to the early 1950s, with a particular focus on the pioneering work of the American surgeons Codman, MacEachern and Ponton. It is contended that medical professionals initially created medical audit in order to articulate a suitable methodology for assessing individual and organisational performance. Rather than a means of protecting the medical profession from public scrutiny, medical auditing was conceived and operationalised as a managerial tool for fostering the active engagement of senior hospital managers and discharging public accountability. These early debates reveal how accounting was implicated in the development of a system for monitoring and improving the work of medical professionals, advancing the quality of hospital care, and was advocated in ways, which included rather than excluded managers.

Framing and enhancing distributed leadership in the quality management of online learning environments in higher education

This article reports on the findings of senior leadership interviews in a nationally funded project on distributed leadership in the quality management of online learning environments (OLEs) in higher education. Questions were framed around the development of an OLE quality management framework and the situation of the characteristics of distributed leadership at the core of the framework. The project’s premise is that distributed leadership is a descriptive reality of managing OLEs given the various leadership parties involved and the complexities of the contemporary technological landscape. Leaders’ understandings of distributed leadership were examined—its nature, value and potential for advancing the quality management of OLEs. There was confirmatory evidence of its reality, but its meaning and value were not uncritically accepted. It can be concluded that building distributed leadership must start through deliberative formal leadership commitment and action starting at the highest levels of the institution.

Medication errors in ED: do patient characteristics and the environment influence the nature and frequency of medication errors?

Background: Medication safety is of increasing importance and understanding the nature and frequency of medication errors in the Emergency Department (ED) will assist in tailoring interventions which will make patient care safer. The challenge with the literature to date is the wide variability in the frequency of errors reported and the reliance on incident reporting practices of busy ED staff. Methods: A prospective, exploratory descriptive design using point prevalence surveys was used to establish the frequency of observed medication errors in the ED. In addition, data related to contextual factors such as ED patients, staffing and workload were also collected during the point prevalence surveys to enable the analysis of relationships between the frequency and nature of specific error types and patient and ED characteristics at the time of data collection. Results: A total of 172 patients were included in the study: 125 of whom patients had a medication chart. The prevalence of medication errors in the ED studied was 41.2% for failure to apply patient ID bands, 12.2% for failure to document allergy status and 38.4% for errors of omission. The proportion of older patients in the ED did not affect the frequency of medication errors. There was a relationship between high numbers of ATS 1, 2 and 3 patients (indicating high levels of clinical urgency) and increased rates of failure to document allergy status. Medication errors were affected by ED occupancy, when cubicles in the ED were over 50% occupied, medication errors occurred more frequently. ED staffing affects the frequency of medication errors, there was an increase in failure to apply ID bands and errors of omission when there were unfilled nursing deficits and lower levels of senior medical staff were associated with increased errors of omission. Conclusions: Medication errors related to patient identification, allergy status and medication omissions occur more frequently in the ED when the ED is busy, has sicker patients and when the staffing is not at the minimum required staffing levels.

Corporate culture and greed: the case of the Australian Wheat Board

Between 1999 and 2002, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) was involved in an elaborate bribery, or 'kickback', scheme involving the illicit payment of A$300 million to the Iraq government for supposed 'transportation fees' that were funnelled to the Saddam Hussein regime. This was clearly in breach of the United Nations trade sanctions and was apparently perpetrated by the AWB to secure continued sales with the lucrative Iraqi market. This paper aims to gain further insight into how a corporate culture can lead to greed, corruption and deception. Specifically, this study aims to add to the literature by analysing, using Schein's (1997, 2004) theoretical framework, a case on the development of a corrupt corporate culture. Content analysis of official investigative reports and other published documents is used to determine the extent to which the AWB's corporate culture and leadership may have influenced the behaviour of senior managers. The findings indicate that the culture within the AWB fostered an environment in which senior managers placed sales and profits above the sanctions clearly enunciated by the United Nations.

Perspectives of clinical handover processes: a multi-site survey across different health professionals

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the perspectives of health professionals of different disciplines about clinical handover. BACKGROUND: Ineffective handovers can cause major problems relating to the lack of delivery of appropriate care. DESIGN: A prospective, cross-sectional design was conducted using a survey about clinical handover practices. METHODS: Health professionals employed in public metropolitan hospitals, public rural hospitals and community health centres were involved. The sample comprised doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, including physiotherapists, social workers, pharmacists, dieticians and midwives employed in Western Australia, New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. The survey sought information about health professionals' experiences about clinical handover; their perceived effectiveness of clinical handover; involvement of patients and family members; health professionals' ability to confirm understanding and to clarify clinical information; role modelling behaviour of health professionals; training needs; adverse events encountered and possibilities for improvements. RESULTS: In all, 707 health professionals participated (response rate = 14%). Represented professions were nursing (60%), medicine (22%) and allied health (18%). Many health professionals reported being aware of adverse events where they noticed poor handover was a significant cause. Differences existed between health professions in terms of how effectively they gave handover, perceived effectiveness of bedside handover vs. nonbedside handover, patient and family involvement in handover, respondents' confirmation of understanding handover from their perspective, their observation of senior health professionals giving feedback to junior health professionals, awareness of adverse events and severity of adverse events relating to poor handovers. CONCLUSIONS: Complex barriers impeded the conduct of effective handovers, including insufficient opportunities for training, lack of role modelling, and lack of confidence and understanding about handover processes. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Greater focus should be placed on creating opportunities for senior health professionals to act as role models. Sophisticated approaches should be implemented in training and education.

Sponsorship and IT vendor management of projects

Project sponsorship is assumed to be critical to the success of information systems development and implementation. However, there is limited research on the effect of vendor-based sponsorship on the management of information technology (IT) projects. This paper contributes to that emerging body of evidence. Drawing on literature on psychological contract, management control and project sponsorship, the authors propose that vendor-based sponsors influence project performance in two main ways. One is to protect project quality by renegotiating contract with the client; and the other is to resource the project. Based on a survey of senior managers in IT services vendor organisations, it reports that project sponsorship improves the quality, but not the cost or timeliness, of vendor delivery of IT projects. The findings suggest that IT services vendors can improve their project delivery capability by appointing project sponsors.

Thriving amid the performative demands of the contemporary audit culture: a matter of school context

The predominant focus in this paper is on issues of school context and, in particular, on the dimensions of context at a large English comprehensive school that enable it to thrive within the current demands of the contemporary audit culture. Featuring interview data gathered from a number of senior educators, the paper draws on Braun et al’s (Braun, A., S. Ball, M. Maguire, and K. Hoskins. 2011. “Taking Context Seriously: Towards Explaining Policy Enactments in the Secondary School.” Discourse: Studies in the Politics of Education 32 (4): 585 -596) heuristic device for thinking about the ‘situated’, ‘professional’ and ‘external’ dimensions of context at the school. This device supports an analysis of the school’s intake (in particular the high cultural and class related aspirations of parents and students) and its values (namely the school’s traditional ethos of academic and behavioural excellence). The central argument of the paper is that these contextual dimensions contribute significantly to the school’s capacity to forge a worthy school identity within the current hyper-accountable and competitive environment where academic achievement (along increasingly narrow and conservative lines) and maintaining standards in relation to this achievement are utmost priorities.

How to live : being happy and dealing with moral dilemmas

"This work provides clear answers to difficult moral and social issues that we face in our personal lives - that governments need to address when balancing the interests of the community. By demystifying moral discourse, How to Live provides a clear moral pathway for students of philosophy, medicine, and law, as well as the general reader. The moral framework of How to Live is developed from an interdisciplinary perspective. The culmination presents a forward-thinking theory that will maximize the success and happiness of the individual and the community within a society."--BOOK JACKET

Management attitudes to corporate governance issues : evidence from Sri Lanka

This study investigates the attitudes of senior managers in Sri Lankan firms to governance issues using a countrywide cross-sectional survey. Respondents from 64 public firms provide information on manager's attitudes to internal control procedures: (1) producing misleading financial reports, (2) providing faulty investment advice, (3) permitting insider-trading, and (4) providing inaccurate advertising. We establish if these attitudes vary with 5 firm-specific factors: industry group, international exposure of firms, size, whether the firm was listed or not, and whether the firm had a written code of ethics. Employing ordinal logistic regression techniques, the results demonstrate significant variation by respondents within different types of firms. Specifically there was little variation to these issues when respondents were classified by industry, with most variation when classified by international involvement. Respondents from firms with significant international exposures were strongly opposed to most practices, while respondents from firms with written codes of ethics were strongly opposed to the production of misleading reports and insider-trading. Interestingly respondents from listed firms were most opposed to insider-trading, while smaller firms were more opposed to misleading advertising than respondents from larger firms. The results have important implications for the implementation of corporate governance practice.

Sport safety policies and practices in two rural Victorian communities

Australian football and netball are the predominant sports played in rural Victoria, Australia. This exploratory study is the first to report the sport safety policies and practices adopted by junior Australian football and netball clubs in small rural communities. Eleven informants from four clubs completed a semi-structured interview and survey. Whilst the clubs performed a range of injury prevention activiities, they did not have formal sports safety policies. Generally, netball informants reported fewer safety practices than football informants. Crucial factors influencing safety policies and practices were the reliance on volunteers and a lack of senior players. Barriers towards the adoption of safety policies and practices appeared to be related to rural population declines, a lack of qualified people and attitudes to injury in rural areas. Future research needs to identify how widespread this lack of sport safety policies and practices is across rural Australia and to identify strategies to overcome barriers to implementing them.