Investigating teachers' concerns and experiences in teaching children with special educational needs in Bhutan

This study investigated Bhutanese teachers' concerns and experiences in teaching children with Special Educational Needs in both inclusive and special schools. A mixed method design, combining quantitative and qualitative methods was used to answer the research questions. The aim of collecting quantitative data was to identify the key concerns. The aim of collecting qualitative data was to find out how teachers were experiencing including students with SEN in the classrooms. In doing so, three major issues were highlighted from this study: lack of classroom and human resources, lack of policy and lack of professional development for teachers.

Integrated reporting and directors’ concerns about personal liability exposure: Law reform options

Integrated reporting () holds significant promise as a new reporting paradigm that is holistic, strategic, responsive, material, and relevant across multiple time frames. However, its uptake in Australia is being hampered by directors’ concerns about personal liability exposure, particularly for forward-looking statements that subsequently prove to be unfounded. This article seeks to illuminate the bases for these liability concerns by outlining the similarities between and the operating and financial review requirements under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and the relevant grounds for liability for misleading and deceptive disclosures, and breach of directors’ duties. In light of this discussion, this article proposes four possible reform options, ranging from minor adaptations to the Framework to far-reaching reforms of the Corporations Act. As assurance is desirable to ensure that reliance can be placed on integrated reports, the development of a legal safe harbour for auditors of forward-looking information is also canvassed.

Digital literacy in theory, policy and practice: Old concerns, new opportunities

The increasing ubiquity and use of digital technologies across social and cultural life is a key challenge for educators engaged in helping students develop a range of literacies useful for school and beyond. Many young people's experience of communication and participation is now shaped by almost constant engagements with digital technologies and media, as well as with global digital cultures. This increasing access and use has given many young people the opportunity to engage deeply with global media cultures via popular music, television and film franchises, the worldwide computer games industry, or countless other subcultures that connect fans and interested others from around the world via the internet. 'Digital literacy' is often the term associated with the ability to traverse these, and other, online and offline worlds; the notion has long been synonymous with the idea that digital technologies now mediate perhaps a majority of our social interactions. These forms of engagement with the world have important implications for educators and school systems which have historically recognised only a very narrow set of legitimate literacies.

Designing informal learning experiences for early career academics using a knowledge ecosystem model

This article presents a ‘knowledge ecosystem’ model of how early career academics experience using information to learn while building their social networks for developmental purposes. Developed using grounded theory methodology, the model offers a way of conceptualising how to empower early career academics through 1) agency (individual and relational) and 2) facilitation of personalised informal learning (design of physical and virtual systems and environments) in spaces where developmental relationships are formed including programs, courses, events, community, home and social media. It is suggested that the knowledge ecosystem model is suitable for use in designing informal learning experiences for early career academics.

INSA: new initiatives and concerns

The Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi which is currently in its Platinum Jubilee year, has maintained its eminence and dignity all these years. The Fellowship of INSA is highly cherished. The Academy enjoys considerable prestige. This prestige needs to be converted into influence. INSA is in the process of setting up a Science Policy Study Cell. The Academy needs to strengthen its role as a think-tank in the service of the nation on science-related issues. INSA is also in the process of establishing an archive. We can understand the present and plan for the future only in the context of the past. Thirdly, we would like to establish an electronic hub of science information at INSA. We do not wish to solely hold large quantities of information. But we need to have links with all major depositories of science- related information in the country. This is in consonance with the general philosophy of an Academy. The Academy is not a major implementer or executor of policies and programmes. It is a catalyst and a beacon that guides.

A randomized trial of fellowships for early career researchers finds a high reliability in funding decisions

Objectives Funding for early career researchers in Australia's largest medical research funding scheme is determined by a competitive peer-review process using a panel of four reviewers. The purpose of this experiment was to appraise the reliability of funding by duplicating applications that were considered by separate grant review panels. Study Design and Methods Sixty duplicate applications were considered by two independent grant review panels that were awarding funding for Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council. Panel members were blinded to which applications were included in the experiment and to whether it was the original or duplicate application. Scores were compared across panels using Bland–Altman plots to determine measures of agreement, including whether agreement would have impacted on actual funding. Results Twenty-three percent of the applicants were funded by both panels and 60 percent were not funded by both, giving an overall agreement of 83 percent [95% confidence interval (CI): 73%, 92%]. The chance-adjusted agreement was 0.75 (95% CI: 0.58, 0.92). Conclusion There was a comparatively high level of agreement when compared with other types of funding schemes. Further experimental research could be used to determine if this higher agreement is due to nature of the application, the composition of the assessment panel, or the characteristics of the applicants.

Policing LGBTIQ people in rural spaces: Emerging issues and future concerns

This article argues identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and/or questioning (LGBTIQ) in rural spaces can produce specific types of policing experiences. While some literature examines the experiences of LGBTIQ people with police, very little has focused on how rurality explicitly shapes these experiences. This is significant considering research highlights how rurality can be connected to pronounced experiences of homophobia and trans-phobia. The article highlights examples from three research projects that explored: LGBTIQ young people's interactions with police; LGBTI people's interactions with police liaison services; and LGBTIQ-identifying police officers. The examples demonstrate the need for further research to examine how policing “happens” with rural LGBTIQ people to ensure more accountable policing policies and practice, and to highlight the complexities of localized, rural policing contexts that can both support and marginalize LGBTIQ people.

On an unexpected career path? Using Wittgenstein’s Family Resemblance concept to determine the power of projects to transform project management careers

The power of projects has been demonstrated by the growth in their use across an increasing range of industries and workplaces in recent years. Not only has the number of people involved in project management increased, but the qualifications and backgrounds of those people have also broadened, with engineering no longer being the only path to project management (PM). Predicting the career trajectories in Project Management has become more important for both organisations employing project managers and project managers building career portfolios. Our research involved interviewing more than 75 project officers and project managers across a range of industries to explore their career journey. We used Wittgenstein’s family resemblance theory is to analyse the information from the transcripts to identify the extent to which the roles of participants fit with the commonly accepted definition of project management. Findings demonstrate diversity of project manager backgrounds and experiences and relational competencies across these backgrounds that form and shape PM careers.

How to develop an online community for pre-service and early career teachers

This paper contributes a number of design principles for developing large-scale online communities of pre-service and early career teachers (PS&ECTs). It presents the paradigms of connected learning, networked learning and communities of practice and contrasts them. It describes the potential for online communities to meet the needs of PS&ECTs and it identifies gaps that exist within certain types of existing online communities that currently support PS&ECTs. The paper proposes design principles for a new type of online community for PS&ECTs. These principles are drawn from the literature and from the preliminary outcomes of a pilot study.

Soliciting additional concerns in the primary care consultation and the utility of a brief communication intervention to aid solicitation: A qualitative study

Objective To investigate the perspectives of general practitioners (GPs) on the practice of soliciting additional concerns (ACs) and the acceptability and utility of two brief interventions (prompts) designed to aid the solicitation. Methods Eighteen GPs participating in a feasibility randomised controlled trial were interviewed. Interviews were semi-structured and audio-recorded. Data were analysed using a Framework Approach. Results Participants perceived eliciting ACs as important for: reducing the need for multiple visits, identifying serious illness early, and increasing patient and GP satisfaction. GPs found the prompts easy to use and some continued their use after the study had ended to aid time management. Others noted similarities between the intervention and their usual practice. Nevertheless, soliciting ACs in every consultation was not unanimously supported. Conclusion The prompts were acceptable to GPs within a trial context, but there was disagreement as to whether ACs should be solicited routinely. Some GPs considered the intervention to aid their prioritisation efficiency within consultations. Practice implications Some GPs will find prompts which encourage ACs to be solicited early in the consultation enable them to better organise priorities and manage time-limited consultations more effectively.

Moving Up in the New Economy: Career Ladders for U.S. Workers

[Excerpt] This book is about restoring the upward mobility of U.S. workers. Specifically it is about the one workforce-development strategy that is currently aimed at exactly that goal – the strategy of creating (or re-creating) not just jobs but also career ladders. Career-ladder strategies aim to devise explicit pathways of occupational advancement.

Integrating ePsychology into practice and research: A guide for early career psychologists

The ever expanding availability of technology-based mental health services and resources has opened up new areas of psychological practice and research. There are many reasons to embrace this technology movement, whether specialising in providing e-mental health services, conducting research on e-mental health or using technology to assist you in your work in other fields of psychology. e-mental health services not only offer more treatment choices for clients but they provide health professionals with an array of free and comprehensive resources that can help streamline their face-to-face work. This growth in ePsychology (the application of e-mental health by psychologists) also opens up an exciting range of research and teaching possibilities. In this article we cover what ePsychology can offer the early career psychologist.

The role of professional identity & self-interest in career choices in the emerging ICT workforce

The influence of professional identity and self-interest on the educational and career choices of the emerging Information and Communications Technology (ICT) workforce is considered in this thesis. Interviews were conducted with 52 ICT students from four Australian tertiary education institutions and the findings indicated that professional identity and self-interest should be considered together, rather than separately, to understand career decisions in relation to the ICT industry. Professional identity is associated with the accrual of symbolic resources including status and esteem, mastery, sense of belonging and attachment. By contrast, self-interest is associated with the perceived likelihood of the accrual of material (economic and social) resources.

Impact of online privacy concerns and brand reputation on consumer willingness to provide personal information

The aim of this research was to identify the role of brand reputation in encouraging consumer willingness to provide personal data online, for the benefits of personalisation. This study extends on Malhotra, Kim and Agarwal’s (2004) Internet Users Information Privacy Concerns Model, and uses the theoretical underpinning of Social Contract Theory to assess how brand reputation moderates the relationship between trusting beliefs and perceived value (Privacy Calculus framework) with willingness to give personal information. The research is highly relevant as most privacy research undertaken to date focuses on consumer related concerns. Very little research exists examining the role of brand reputation and online privacy. Practical implications of this research include gaining knowledge as to how to minimise online privacy concerns; improve brand reputation; and provide insight on how to reduce consumer resistance to the collection of personal information and encourage consumer opt-in.