Experiencing an 'inclusive' education:parents and their children with 'special educational needs'

This paper focuses on the experiences of British parents who have children identified with ‘special education needs’ within mainstream education. Expectations of mainstream education can have a negative affect on parents when a child is unable to maintain his or her education within a mainstream school. In England and Wales, ‘inclusion’ within mainstream schools is implemented by the current government and promoted as anti-exclusionary. However, current research indicates that actual ‘inclusion’ (the child experiencing inclusion as well as being placed in a mainstream environment) is not necessarily occurring in practice. As it stands, the conflict is between desires to embrace difference based on a philosophy of ‘equal rights’ (‘inclusive’ education) and prioritising educational performance, structuring it in such a way that it leaves little room for difference and creativity due to the highly structured testing and examination culture. Qualitative analysis of parents who have children identified with special educational needs indicate that they have hopes and expectations for their children. These hopes and expectations are challenged recurrently.

Challenges the finance profession has been facing following the 2008-2009. A multi-country research

In the successful strategic management of the modern companies each function plays their specific role. While today’s businesses in many ways are different from their ancestors, the key fundamentals are derived from the same roots. Their main purpose of existence is to serve the needs of their shareholders and stakeholders by creating value (Pike et al., 1993). To achieve this effectively and efficiently the various functions need to work in close cooperation with each other. The global crisis, starting in 2008, proved that volatility is higher for the financial markets and the ordinary businesses that have been anticipated before. As the recession started as a financial crisis many people started to blame – amongst others – banks and financial institutions for excessive risk taking and taking short profits ahead of long term sustainable growth. Accordingly the lost confidence in the financial institutions has taken a toll on the reputation of other Finance professionals such as accountants, book keepers, treasury, tax people and others. The finance function’s strategic importance is linked to its ability to help interpreting the business performance and provide transparency. In order to restore the trust the finance profession is now facing one of the biggest challenges of its history, the need to reinvent itself. This paper presents the findings of a recent international research conducted in the United Kingdom, France, Hungary and Poland interviewing 169 executives of the business sector plus the review of 237 job descriptions of finance professionals in order to understand the challenges of the modern finance function. The findings of the study could provide relevant answers and help to overcome a very current problem that Finance is facing today, how to rebuild reputation and to stay a trusted partner and enabler for long term business strategy.

Tourism: Who Needs It?

Is tourism economically beneficial? If so, who benefits? How much of the money generated through tourism can be channeled into other projects so desperately needed by the community without harming the local tour market? Will tourism continue to grow forever, or is there an end in sight? The authors discuss how tourism will change in approaching the next century: and how people will change if tourism is to remain such an important economic facto

Formação docente e conhecimento profissional: desafios para o ensino da matemática na EJA

As for the Education for Youth and Adult (EYA), the challenge of training these teachers is to provide tools to understand and act on the teaching of mathematics. It is realized just how special education in this modality and as such teaching is lacking in an adequate and solid training in the area of knowledge. One of the major problems affecting this type of education is the high dropout and failure rates, and lack of motivation among students. Thus the need to provide differentiated profile with a professional to teach youth and adults students, so that they are able to mobilize didactic-pedagogic knowledge, methodologies and theoretical frameworks that serve as a basis for school-developed teaching practice. This thesis aims to investigate how the math teacher, who acts in adult education from elementary school, has developed its didactic and pedagogical action, and that professional knowledge has been mobilized to teach? It has highlighted the importance of initial and continuing training and professionalization of teachers dedicated to this specific type of education, when teachers should be the protagonists of their professional development. The methodological approach was begun with a literature review, then the research was anchored mainly on the ideas by Gauthier, Nuñez and Ramalho (2004); Imbernon (2011), Garcia (2006); Perrenoud (2000); Tardif (2007 ); Haddad, Di Pierro (2000), D'Ambrosio (2002), Mendes (2006, 2009), Freire (1996, 2011), and other theorists and official documents of field of adult education here and abroad. That work leads us to the understanding of the present moment from a foray into historical and conceptual aspects, as well as educational policies of EYA, as well as training, professionalism, knowledge and skills necessary for professional practice. Then, the subjects and the locus of research and the instrument for data collection were set up and led by the object of study. To consolidate the study was selected a sample of 27 mathematics teachers, working in municipal EYA Network Teaching of Natal. This research is in an investigative nature, within the quantitative and qualitative approaches focused on the responses of study subjects from the content analysis by Bardin (1977). Results from the analyzes have revealed that the initial training of mathematics teachers of adult education needs to be reconfigured in order to formalize the knowledge base of professionals (the mathematical content, didactics and professional knowledge). Thus the study suggests that this base knowledge is embedded in the pedagogical practice of these teachers, so that there is a completion of the teaching and learning process for young people and adults. The study also has pointed out that there is a need for teachers to participate in a continuing education plan that prioritizes learning situations of mathematical content considering the previous knowledge of the students. The final analyses thus indicate that knowledge of mathematics and the didactic and pedagogical strategies to be mobilized by teachers must be able to motivate the students in such a way that they feel need to incorporate in their knowledge, mathematical knowledge capable of making them more likely to have access to social, economic and labor market

Acompanhamento do crescimento e desenvolvimento da criança: a participação das mães da área rural

The accompaniment of growth and development is the central thrust of child care in primary health care in order to contribute to the reduction of infant morbidity and mortality and promote healthy development. Despite its importance, the family health unit located in rural Parazinhocounty experiences the problem of frequent absences of children to follow-up consultations. Thus, this study aims to analyze the participation of mothers in the accompaniment of growth and development of children in the Family Health Strategy. This is an exploratory, descriptive study with a qualitative approach with the method action research, developed with mothers who are part of the monitoring of the growth and development of children in the rural area of the municipality of Parazinho/RN from May to October 2014. Data collection was performed using the focus group techniques, participant observation and individual interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis of categorization. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee, under the opinion embodied 617,559 and CAAE 28598014.7.0000.5537. In step situation analysis, were conducted two focus groups, attended by a total of 14 mothers of different rural locations. From the speeches, one realizes that they have a satisfactory understanding of the monitoring of the growth and development of the childwas a learning moment. The nurse was mentioned as key professional that actionof accompaniment. The main reason that mothers to abandon consultations is access to health services, due to the distance from their homes to the basic unit, the shortage of public transport for the movement of users and delay between the service and the back home. As a strategy to try to tackle these problems, at the suggestion of their mothers was created Monitoring of Growth and Development Itinerant, where the FHS team moved to rural locations, performing activities related to children's health. Mothers who participated in the action approved the initiative as improving access and care of health needs, despite indicate dissatisfaction as the poor infrastructure and little privacy in consultations. Therefore, it is concluded that, despite the difficulties encountered often for lack of management support and involvement of some professionals, the monitoring of growth and development itinerant proved to be an important tool in solving the problem of access to services oriented to the health of child, in addition to functioning as a space for the realization of health education, becoming, since then, an activity inherent in family health team schedule.

The Influence of Creative Tourism on Sustainable Development of Tourism and Reduction of Seasonality – Case Study of Óbidos

Tourism remains one of the most fast growing and important industries in the world. It is hard to underestimate the importance and the spectrum of the benefits that tourism provides. On the other hand, nowadays, the increasing growth of tourism poses a range of challenges and problems that need to be solved. These challenges resonate in the emergence of the so called 'alternative' or sustainable forms of tourism, which deem to be an antidote against the harms the traditional forms of tourism cause to the environment and local communities. These new forms of tourism, among which is creative tourism, are reinforced by the new breed of tourists, who are no longer satisfied with the static offer of tourism but rather prefer the dynamic one. The present research shows on the case of Óbidos the potential of creative tourism to meet these new needs of modern tourists while also solving number of problems that many destinations face, namely seasonality in tourism, as well as how creative tourism contributes to the sustainable development of tourism.

The knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of patients and their healthcare professionals around oral dosage form modification: a systematic review of the qualitative literature

Objectives: The objective of this systematic review was to synthesize the available qualitative evidence on the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of adult patients, healthcare professionals and carers about oral dosage form modification. Design: A systematic review and synthesis of qualitative studies was undertaken, utilising the thematic synthesis approach. Data sources: The following databases were searched from inception to September 2015: PubMed, Medline (EBSCO), EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ProQuest Databases, Scopus, Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR). Citation tracking and searching the references lists of included studies was also undertaken. Grey literature was searched using the OpenGrey database, internet searching and personal knowledge. An updated search was undertaken in June 2016. Review methods: Studies meeting the following criteria were eligible for inclusion; (i) used qualitative data collection and analysis methods; (ii) full-text was available in English; (iii) included adult patients who require oral dosage forms to be modified to meet their needs or; (iv) carers or healthcare professionals of patients who require oral dosage forms to be modified. Two reviewers independently appraised the quality of the included studies using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Checklist. A thematic synthesis was conducted and analytical themes were generated. Results: Of 5455 records screened, seven studies were eligible for inclusion; three involved healthcare professionals and the remaining four studies involved patients. Four analytical themes emerged from the thematic synthesis: (i) patient-centred individuality and variability; (ii) communication; (iii) knowledge and uncertainty and; (iv) complexity. The variability of individual patient’s requirements, poor communication practices and lack of knowledge about oral dosage form modification, when combined with the complex and multi-faceted healthcare environment complicate decision making regarding oral dosage form modification and administration. Conclusions: This systematic review has highlighted the key factors influencing the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of patients and healthcare professionals about oral dosage form modifications. The findings suggest that in order to optimise oral medicine modification practices the needs of individual patients should be routinely and systematically assessed and decision-making should be supported by evidence based recommendations with multidisciplinary input. Further research is needed to optimise oral dosage form modification practices and the factors identified in this review should be considered in the development of future interventions.

Benefits and resource implications of family meetings for hospitalized palliative care patients: research protocol.

BACKGROUND:
Palliative care focuses on supporting patients diagnosed with advanced, incurable disease; it is 'family centered', with the patient and their family (the unit of care) being core to all its endeavours. However, approximately 30-50% of carers experience psychological distress which is typically under recognised and consequently not addressed. Family meetings (FM) are recommended as a means whereby health professionals, together with family carers and patients discuss psychosocial issues and plan care; however there is minimal empirical research to determine the net effect of these meetings and the resources required to implement them systematically. The aims of this study were to evaluate: (1) if family carers of hospitalised patients with advanced disease (referred to a specialist palliative care in-patient setting or palliative care consultancy service) who receive a FM report significantly lower psychological distress (primary outcome), fewer unmet needs, increased quality of life and feel more prepared for the caregiving role; (2) if patients who receive the FM experience appropriate quality of end-of-life care, as demonstrated by fewer hospital admissions, fewer emergency department presentations, fewer intensive care unit hours, less chemotherapy treatment (in last 30 days of life), and higher likelihood of death in the place of their choice and access to supportive care services; (3) the optimal time point to deliver FM and; (4) to determine the cost-benefit and resource implications of implementing FM meetings into routine practice.
METHODS:
Cluster type trial design with two way randomization for aims 1-3 and health economic modeling and qualitative interviews with health for professionals for aim 4.
DISCUSSION:
The research will determine whether FMs have positive practical and psychological impacts on the family, impacts on health service usage, and financial benefits to the health care sector. This study will also provide clear guidance on appropriate timing in the disease/care trajectory to provide a family meeting.

Who needs evidence? Radical Feminism, the Christian Right and sex work research in Northern Ireland

This chapter describes my experiences of conducting research on commercial sex in Belfast, Northern Ireland which was conducted as part of a larger British Academy – Leverhulme Trust funded study that examined the policing and legal regulation of commercial sex in Belfast (Northern Ireland) along with three other cities: Manchester (England), Berlin (Germany) and Prague (Czech Republic). This study provided the first empirical analysis of commercial sex in the jurisdiction and was instrumental in shedding light on prevalence rates for those involved in the industry as well as providing demographic information on the age, nationality and sexual orientation of sex workers along with the sector worked in, whether on-street or off-street. In the chapter I consider my role as a researcher and highlight some of the difficulties that I experienced conducting what was seen as controversial research in the politically, socially and culturally conservative context of Northern Ireland.

The Broader Impact of Disability Research: Aligning Public Policy with the Experiences of People with Disabilities and Healthcare Providers

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-07

O Modelo de gestão participativa do Plano Nacional do Turismo (PNT-2003/2007): a atuação do CONETUR/RN

To implement policies and plans at the tourist sector involve disposition to the establishment of parceries among government and private initiative, space to the action of studious, researchers and professionals of several areas of knowledge and formation, able of to give new courses no only at the tourism, but to the economy how a every, seen which the tourism had a effect multiplicator, reaching 52 sectors of the economy. At this sense, the Brazil came pruning for a new phase of politic actuation at the touristy activity. Until the year 2002, the tourism politic in the Brazil no had detail, because herself treated of isolated actions and many without continuity. However, at to start 2003, several actions were developed in order to contribute for the national touristy planning. The principal was the creation of Ministério do Turismo, accompanied of the formulation and implementation of the Plano Nacional do Turismo (2003/2007). This work pretend to understand the implementation at the Rio Grande do Norte of the model of participative administration extolled by Plano Nacional do Turismo. The your centre detail the action of the Conselho Estadual de Turismo do Rio Grande do Norte (CONETUR), to promote the participation at the tourism public policies. The bibliographical research contemplated diverse sources in order to compile knowledge of credential authors in the quarrel of inherent subjects to the participation and to the tourism public policies, especially at the Brazil. A qualitative perspective the case study was adapted as research method and for attainment of the data interviews with the members of the Conselho had been carried through beyond consultation the referring documents the dynamics of functioning of the Conselho. The principal actuations of the CONETUR, the directives tourism public policies already made and directed to implementation, the type of participation at made decision, the principal difficulties of the implementation of the participative administration model of the Plano Nacional do Turismo and the degree of participation of the members of the Conselho at the reunions had been identified. The results had shown that exist some difficulties at the implementation of the participation at the Conselho Estadual de Turismo do Rio Grande do Norte, knowledge of the Conselheiros of CONETUR function, the presence of bodies which doesn t directly connected at the touristy activity; the absence of time of the Conselheiros to be presents at reunions; the discontinuity of the presidency of the Conselho; among others. So, the CONETUR show himself how a Conselho with participative characteristics, but with some adapted needs.

Promoção do envolvimento e da cooperação entre as famílias de alunos que frequentam uma unidade de apoio à multideficiência e a escola

Projeto de Intervenção apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Ciências de Educação - Especialidade em Educação Especial