The student bullying of teachers in Irish second level schools: exploring the influence of historical low state intervention in education on the development of contemporary policy responses in Ireland

The student bullying of teachers (SBT) is a distinct and complex form of bullying with a multiplicity of diverse, changeable and intersecting causes which is experienced by and affects teachers in a variety of ways. SBT is both a national and an international phenomenon which is under-recognised in academic, societal and political spheres, resulting in limited conceptual understanding and awareness of the issue. This study explores teachers’ experiences of SBT behaviours in Irish second level schools as well as teachers’ perceptions regarding training, policies and supports in Ireland to address the issue. Specifically, the study seeks to explore the influence of historical low State intervention in education on contemporary policies and supports to deal with SBT in Ireland. A mixed methods approach involving a survey of 531 second level school teachers and 17 semi-structured interviews with teachers, Year Heads and representatives from teacher trade unions and school management bodies was employed to collect and analyse data. Findings indicate that SBT behaviours are prevalent in many forms in Irish second level schools. The hidden nature of the phenomenon has simultaneously contributed to and is reinforced by limited understanding of the issue as well as teachers’ reluctance to disclose their experiences. Findings reveal that teachers perceive the contemporary policies, training and support structures in Ireland to be inadequate in equipping them to effectively deal with SBT. State intervention in addressing SBT behaviours to date, has been limited, therefore many teachers are forced to respond to the issue based on their own initiatives and assumptions rather than from an informed critically reflective approach, supported by national guidelines and sufficient State investment. This has resulted in a piecemeal, un-coordinated and ad-hoc approach to SBT in Irish schools both in terms of teachers’ management of SBT behaviours and with respect to the supports extended to staff. The potential negative consequences of SBT behaviours on teachers’ wellbeing and professional performance and thus, on the education system itself, underlines the need for a strategic, evidence-based, resourced and integrated approach which includes, as a pivotal component, consultation with teachers, whose contribution to the process is crucial.

BACH TO BASICS: A PERFORMANCE STUDY OF THE SUITES FOR SOLO CELLO BY JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, BWV 1007-1012

This dissertation project focuses on J.S. Bach's Six Suites and explores the ideology of the Suites as etudes versus concert pieces. It is my belief that the evolution of the rank of the Suites in a cellist's repertoire today represents more than just historical coincidence. My premise is that the true genius of the Suites lies in their dual role as !&I efficient teaching pieces and superior performance works. Consequently, the maximum use of Bach's Six Suites as pedagogical material heightens both technical ability and deeper appreciation of the art. The dual nature of the Suites must always be emphasized: not only do these pieces provide innumerable opportunities for building cello technique, but they also offer material for learning the fundamentals of melody, harmony, dynamics, phrasing and texture. It is widely accepted among academic musicians that Bach's keyboard music serves as perfect compositions -- the model for music theory, music form and music counterpoint. I argue that we should employ the Cello Suites to this same end. The order in which the Suites are presented was deliberately chosen to highlight the contrasts in the pieces. Because the technical demands of each suite grow progressively from the previous one, they were performed non-consecutively in order to balance the difficulty and depth of each recital. The first compact disc consists of the Third Suite in C Major and Fifth Suite in C minor (with scordatura tuning), emphasizing the parallel keys. The Second Suite in D Minor and the Fourth Suite in E-flat Major comprises the compact disc. Finally, in the third compact disc, the First Suite in G Major and the Sixth Suite in D Major (composed for the five string cello piccola, but played here on a four-string cello) highlights the progression of the Suites.

Impact of weather conditions on electric vehicle performance

Seasonal and day-to-day variations in travel behaviour and performance of private passenger vehicles can be partially explained by changes in weather conditions. Likewise, in the electricity sector, weather affects energy demand. The impact of weather conditions on private passenger vehicle performance, usership statistics and travel behaviour has been studied for conventional, internal combustion engine, vehicles. Similarly, weather-driven variability in electricity demand and generation has been investigated widely. The aim of these analyses in both sectors is to improve energy efficiency, reduce consumption in peak hours and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the potential effects of seasonal weather variations on electric vehicle usage have not yet been investigated. In Ireland the government has set a target requiring 10% of all vehicles in the transport fleet to be powered by electricity by 2020 to meet part of its European Union obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency. This paper fills this knowledge gap by compiling some of the published information available for internal combustion engine vehicles and applying the lessons learned and results to electric vehicles with an analysis of historical weather data in Ireland and electricity market data in a number of what-if scenarios. Areas particularly impacted by weather conditions are battery performance, energy consumption and choice of transportation mode by private individuals.

Stone-built heritage inventory and ‘performance in use’ condition assessment of stonework

An academic–industrial partnership was formed with the aim of constructing a natural stone database for Northern Ireland that could be used by the public and practitioners to understand both the characteristics of the stone used in construction across Northern Ireland and how it has performed in use, and, through a linked database of historical quarries, explore the potential for obtaining locally sourced replacement stone. The aims were to improve the level of conservation specification by those with a duty of care for historical structures, and to enhance the quality of the conservation work undertaken by archi- tects and contractors through their improved knowledge of stone and stone decay processes.

Quality Management and Managerialism in Healthcare:: A Critical Historical Survey

Quality Management and Managerialism in Healthcare creates a comprehensive and systematic international survey of various perspectives on healthcare quality management together with some of their most pertinent critiques. Chapter one starts with a general discussion of the factors that drove the introduction of management paradigms into public sector and health management contexts in the mid to late 1980s. Chapter two explores the rise of risk awareness in medicine; which, prior to the 1980s, stood largely in isolation to the implementation of managerial performance targets. Chapter three investigates the widespread adoption of performance management and clinical governance frameworks during the 1980s and 1990s. This is followed by Chapters four and five which examine systems based models of patient safety and the evidence-based medicine movement as exemplars of managerial perspectives on healthcare quality. Chapter six discusses potential future avenues for the development of alternative perspectives on quality of care which emphasise workforce involvement. The book concludes by reviewing the factors which have underpinned the managerialist trajectory of healthcare management over the past decades and explores the potential impact of nascent technologies such as 'connected health' and 'telehealth' on future developments.

The role and performance of Herodotus as Narrator of the Histories

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1987

Preparação para a performance instrumental: problemáticas e estratégias: relatório de estágio

Resumo I (Prática Pedagógica) - Nesta seção do relatório de estágio pretende-se caraterizar e apresentar todos os elementos referentes à prática pedagógica, que fizeram parte do estágio do ensino especializado da música, realizado na Escola de Música do Orfeão de Leiria no ano letivo de 2013/2014. De uma forma geral, o relatório de estágio pretende colocar em evidência aspetos pedagógicos como metodologias de ensino, questões motivacionais, estilos de aprendizagem, entre outros. Durante um ano letivo completo foram analisados, com especial atenção, três alunos que foram envolvidos no estágio, construindo e modelando os seus processos de aprendizagem. Para cada um deles foi realizado, ao longo do ano letivo, 30 planos de aula, uma planificação anual e três gravações vídeo/áudio em contexto de aula. Não foi uma tarefa nada fácil de realizar, mas que trouxe inúmeros conhecimentos não só de caráter pedagógico mas também de caráter pessoal. A parte inicial desta seção será dedicada à descrição e caraterização da escola onde foi realizado o estágio, a Escola de Música do Orfeão de Leiria/Conservatório de Artes. Será feita uma pequena abordagem histórica da instituição, bem como do seu projeto educativo, dacomunidade escolar, do seu contexto sociocultural e da classe de saxofone. Será apresentada também uma caraterização dos alunos, segundo vários parâmetros. Posteriormente, serão descritas algumas das práticas educativas desenvolvidas, com os alunos, em contexto de estágio. Para tal, serão utilizados como instrumentos, não só a experiência ativa do docente/estagiário, mas também todas as gravações, planos de aulas e planificações anuais, realizados em contexto de estágio do ensino especializado. Por fim, será realizada uma reflexão crítica do desempenho como docente de saxofone no âmbito do estágio e uma conclusão de toda a seção da prática pedagógica.

A importância do processo ensino: aprendizagem do trompete entre a música erudita e o jazz, tendo como objetivo a versatilidade na performance: relatório de estágio

Resumo I (Prática Pedagógica) - O Relatório de estágio foi concebido no âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Estágio do Ensino Especializado, Mestrado em Ensino da Música pela Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. Assim, este documento assenta sobre a prática pedagógica desenvolvida no Conservatório de Música David de Sousa – Polo Pombal no ano letivo 2014-2015, abrangendo três alunos de diferentes graus de ensino. Neste Relatório será caracterizado o estabelecimento de ensino onde decorreu o estágio, assim como o desempenho que cada aluno teve durante o ano letivo, salientando os aspetos de competência motora, auditiva e expressiva. Este trabalho consistiu na avaliação do meu desempenho enquanto docente de trompete, permitindo-me refletir sobre os pontos bons e menos bons do meu trabalho, para que no futuro me seja possível atingir um nível mais elevado na minha atividade docente.

Mémoire et performance : analyse de la commémoration de la Révolution kuna à Uggubseni, Panama

En 1925, les Kunas (Gunas), autochtones du nord-est du Panama, se soulevèrent en armes afin de contrer les politiques assimilationnistes du gouvernement national. Première étape dans un long processus d’affirmation identitaire et de revendications territoriales, ce soulèvement est aujourd’hui connu sous le nom de Révolution kuna (Revolución Dule). Considéré de nos jours comme un symbole des luttes autochtones pour l’autodétermination et l’autonomie politique, cet épisode historique est grandement célébré dans le territoire de Kuna Yala (Gunayala). À Uggubseni, scène principale du soulèvement de 1925, la commémoration prend la forme d’une reconstitution historique où, pendant plus d’une semaine, les villageois reconstruisent le scénario révolutionnaire. Cette commémoration particulière est l’objet du présent travail de recherche, par lequel nous tentons d’analyser comment est remémorée et interprétée aujourd’hui la Révolution kuna. Pour ce faire, nous nous sommes d'abord penchés sur l’événement même de la commémoration. Une analyse de sa forme nous amena à considérer l’ensemble commémoratif comme un nouveau rite au sein de la ritualité kuna. Nous argumentons que par sa forme carnavalesque, la commémoration permet aux villageois de repenser la relation dialectique entre l’État panaméen et l’autonomie kuna, de même qu’elle sert d’exutoire aux tensions internes. Ensuite, nous nous sommes intéressés aux diverses interprétations de cette étape de l’histoire kuna et panaméenne afin de cerner les différents intérêts impliqués dans la commémoration du soulèvement kuna. Enfin, le cœur de ce travail porte sur le rôle de la mémoire collective dans la construction et la réitération d'un discours identitaire, et ce, en analysant comment la mémoire de la révolution est transmise, reçue, interprétée et utilisée aujourd'hui.

Estimating future bidding performance of competitor bidders in capped tenders

Research in Bid Tender Forecasting Models (BTFM) has been in progress since the 1950s. None of the developed models were easy-to-use tools for effective use by bidding practitioners because the advanced mathematical apparatus and massive data inputs required. This scenario began to change in 2012 with the development of the Smartbid BTFM, a quite simple model that presents a series of graphs that enables any project manager to study competitors using a relatively short historical tender dataset. However, despite the advantages of this new model, so far, it is still necessary to study all the auction participants as an indivisible group; that is, the original BTFM was not devised for analyzing the behavior of a single bidding competitor or a subgroup of them. The present paper tries to solve that flaw and presents a stand-alone methodology useful for estimating future competitors’ bidding behaviors separately.

The Climate-system Historical Forecast Project: do stratosphere-resolving models make better seasonal climate predictions in boreal winter?

Using an international, multi-model suite of historical forecasts from the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Climate-system Historical Forecast Project (CHFP), we compare the seasonal prediction skill in boreal wintertime between models that resolve the stratosphere and its dynamics (“high-top”) and models that do not (“low-top”). We evaluate hindcasts that are initialized in November, and examine the model biases in the stratosphere and how they relate to boreal wintertime (Dec-Mar) seasonal forecast skill. We are unable to detect more skill in the high-top ensemble-mean than the low-top ensemble-mean in forecasting the wintertime North Atlantic Oscillation, but model performance varies widely. Increasing the ensemble size clearly increases the skill for a given model. We then examine two major processes involving stratosphere-troposphere interactions (the El Niño-Southern Oscillation/ENSO and the Quasi-biennial Oscillation/QBO) and how they relate to predictive skill on intra-seasonal to seasonal timescales, particularly over the North Atlantic and Eurasia regions. High-top models tend to have a more realistic stratospheric response to El Niño and the QBO compared to low-top models. Enhanced conditional wintertime skill over high-latitudes and the North Atlantic region during winters with El Niño conditions suggests a possible role for a stratospheric pathway.

Performance and narrative, bodies and movement in the construction of places and objects, spaces and knowledges: The case of the Maltese megaliths

The article explores the ways knowledge and space are co-produced performatively through bodily movement in an examination of the Maltese megaliths the first complex stone structures in the world. It is argued that knowledge is best seen as spatialized narratives of human actions and objects as materialized forms of those spatial narratives. Rewriting our social and historical narratives so that the performativity of place, space and knowledge is restored opens new possibilities for rethinking the social and material order.

Historical dynamics of the fur seal population : evidence of regulation by man?

The Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) was severely over-exploited in the 18th and 19th centuries and until relatively recently its population had remained steady at well below estimated presealing levels. However, the population is now increasing rapidly (6%–20% per annum) throughout its range and there is a need to understand its dynamics in order to assess the potential extent and impact of interactions with fisheries. Age distribution (n = 156) and pregnancy rate (n = 110) were determined for adult females collected at a breeding colony on Seal Rocks, southeast Australia, in 1971–1972. Mean ± SE and maximum observed ages were 9.37 ± 0.41 and 20 years (n = 1), respectively. A stochastic modelling approach was used to fit an age distribution to the observed age-structure data and calculate rates of recruitment and adult survival. Annual adult female survival and recruitment rates between 1954 and 1971 were 0.478 ± 0.029 (mean ± SE) and 0.121 ± 0.007, respectively, suggesting that the population was experiencing a decline during the 1960s. The pregnancy rate increased from 78% at 3 years of age to an average of 85% between 4–13 years of age before significantly decreasing in older females (the oldest was 19 years of age). There was no significant effect of body mass or condition on the probability of a female being pregnant (P > 0.5 in both cases) and the nutritional burden of lactation did not appear to affect pregnancy rates or gestational performance. These findings suggest that the low survivorship was due to density-independent effects such as mortality resulting from interactions with fishers, which are known to have been common at the time. The recent increase in the population is consistent with anecdotal evidence that such interactions have decreased as fishing practices have changed.