Pre-employment checks

In this factsheet •What pre-employment checks employers need to consider •Specific checks required when working with children and adults •Recruiting ex-offenders •Eligibility to work in the UK •The role of references •Inappropriate and unlawful practices •CIPD viewpoint •Useful contacts •References •Further reading

Agency as vulnerability:accounting for children's movement to the streets of Accra

This paper considers the agency of children moving to the streets of Accra, Ghana's capital city. A much used but largely unexamined concept, agency is nevertheless commonly deployed in childhood studies as a means to stress the capacity of children to choose to do things. In the literature on street and working children, and a cognate area of study concerned with children's independent migration, this has involved accounts of children's agency made meaningful by reference to theories of rational choice or to the normative force of childhood. It is our argument that both approaches leave unanswered important questions and to counter these omissions we draw upon the arguments of social realists and, in particular, the stress they place on vulnerability as the basis for human agency. We develop this argument further by reference to our research with street children. By drawing upon the children's accounts of leaving their households and heading for Accra's streets, it is our contention that these children do frame their departures as matters of individual choice and self-determination, and that in doing so they speak of a considerable capacity for action. Nevertheless, a deeper reading of their testimonies also points to the children's understandings of their own vulnerability. By examining what we see as their inability to be dependent upon family and kin, we stress the importance of the children's perceptions of their vulnerability, frailty and need as the basis for a fuller understanding of their agency in leaving their households. © 2013 The Author. The Sociological Review © 2013 The Editorial Board of The Sociological Review.

Maternal symptoms of depression are related to observations of controlling feeding practices in mothers of young children

Maternal depression can impair parenting practices and has been linked with less sensitive feeding interactions with children, but existing research is based on self-reports of feeding practices. This study examined relationships between maternal self-reported symptoms of depression with observations of mothers' child feeding practices during a mealtime. Fifty-eight mothers of 3-and 4-year-old children were video recorded eating a standardized lunch. The recording was then coded for instances of maternal controlling feeding practices and maternal vocalizations using the Family Mealtime Coding System. Mothers also provided information on current symptoms of depression and anxiety. Mothers who reported greater symptoms of depression were observed to use more verbal and physical pressure for their child to eat and to offer more incentives or conditions in exchange for their child eating. Mothers also used more vocalizations with their child about food during the observed mealtime when they had greater symptoms of depression. There was no link between symptoms of depression and observations of maternal use of restriction. Symptoms of depression are linked with observations of mothers implementing a more controlling, less sensitive feeding style with their child. Health professionals working with families in which mothers have symptoms of depression may benefit from receiving training about the possible impact of maternal depression on child-feeding practices, and mothers with symptoms of depression may benefit from guidance regarding its potential impact on their child-feeding interactions ©2013 American Psychological Association.

Relationships between sensory sensitivity, anxiety and selective eating in children

The present study examines whether parental reports of child selective eating are associated with child anxiety and sensitivity to sensory stimuli in their environment. Parents of 95 children aged 5-10 completed questionnaires about child eating behavior, child anxiety and sensory sensitivity. Results indicated that both anxiety and sensory sensitivity were associated with selective eating. In addition, child sensory sensitivity fully mediated the relationship between anxiety and selective eating in children suggesting that it is greater sensitivity to sensory information which explains why more anxious children are more likely to be selective eaters. Further research is necessary to better understand these relationships and indicate whether gradual exposure interventions with children who are sensory sensitive may help to prevent or reduce selective eating. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Computer Mathematics with MuPAD in School Years 6. To 9

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education and Research in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2014

Children, health and well-being:policy debates and lived experiences

This book brings together new and leading scholars, who demonstrate the importance of research with children and from a child perspective, allowing for a fuller understanding of the meaning and impact of health and illness in children’s lives. •Demonstrates the importance of research with children and research from a child perspective, in order to fully understand the meaning and impact of health and illness in children’s lives •Encourages critical reflection on contemporary health policy and its relationships to culturally specific ways of knowing and understanding children’s health •Brings together new and leading scholars in the field of children’s health and illness •Moves the highly important issue of children’s health into the mainstream sociology of health and illness

On the relationship between cultural diversity and creativity in education:the moderating role of communal versus divisional mindset

We conducted an experimental study with the aim of testing certain conditions under which engaging with cultural diversity increases creativity among schoolchildren. Results obtained from a sample of 149 Italian elementary schoolchildren revealed that engaging with cultural diversity, operationalized by asking Italian children to work with immigrant children on a cooperative task, led to an increase in creativity. Furthermore, we found that this effect was only present when a communal but not a divisional mindset (emphasizing group distinctions) was present. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of findings.

From foster care to college: Young adults' perceptions of factors that impacted their academic achievement

Despite increased Federal, state, and local efforts in the United States to improve outcomes among young adults who emancipate from foster care, low educational achievement and attainment continue to characterize this vulnerable subpopulation. Approximately 50% of foster children do not obtain a high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma (GED). Only about 20% of former foster children enroll in college, compared to 60% of youth not in foster care. The purpose of this study was to explore, describe and explain the perceptions of college students who had lived in foster care regarding the external and internal influences that impacted their academic achievement and attainment. Interviews with a purposefully selected sample of 24 Florida college students were conducted; transcripts were coded and analyzed thematically. Findings included that participants experienced a particular set of external and internal influences at school, in foster care settings, and in the community. External influences include interactions with (a) multiple non-relative guardians and case workers, (b) relatives, especially siblings, (c) mentors, (d) teachers and school administrators, and (e) school counselors. Internal influences include the barriers of anger and bad behavior and a newly identified set of internal characteristics, called success strengths by the researcher, that promote academic achievement and college attainment. Implications are as follows: (a) Future theory on academic achievement concerning foster youth should reflect the importance of the affective aspect of school interactions. (b) Policy should mandate awareness training for educators, social workers, and other adults who work with former foster youth to increase professionals' awareness of the barriers, supports and success strengths that impact the academic lives of children and youth in foster care. (c) Adult educators and human resource development professionals should develop and implement appropriate new education and training materials and interventions. Future research may include a similar interview with former foster youth who graduated from college and with foster youth who leave school before graduating. Finally, a study with a nationally representative sample of college enrolled former foster children should be conducted to determine the relative importance of the barriers, supports and success strengths identified in this study.

Tubular and sector heat pipes with interconnected branches for gas turbine and/or compressor cooling

Designing turbines for either aerospace or power production is a daunting task for any heat transfer scientist or engineer. Turbine designers are continuously pursuing better ways to convert the stored chemical energy in the fuel into useful work with maximum efficiency. Based on thermodynamic principles, one way to improve thermal efficiency is to increase the turbine inlet pressure and temperature. Generally, the inlet temperature may exceed the capabilities of standard materials for safe and long-life operation of the turbine. Next generation propulsion systems, whether for new supersonic transport or for improving existing aviation transport, will require more aggressive cooling system for many hot-gas-path components of the turbine. Heat pipe technology offers a possible cooling technique for the structures exposed to the high heat fluxes. Hence, the objective of this dissertation is to develop new radially rotating heat pipe systems that integrate multiple rotating miniature heat pipes with a common reservoir for a more effective and practical solution to turbine or compressor cooling. In this dissertation, two radially rotating miniature heat pipes and two sector heat pipes are analyzed and studied by utilizing suitable fluid flow and heat transfer modeling along with experimental tests. Analytical solutions for the film thickness and the lengthwise vapor temperature distribution for a single heat pipe are derived. Experimental tests on single radially rotating miniature heat pipes and sector heat pipes are undertaken with different important parameters and the manner in which these parameters affect heat pipe operation. Analytical and experimental studies have proven that the radially rotating miniature heat pipes have an incredibly high effective thermal conductance and an enormous heat transfer capability. Concurrently, the heat pipe has an uncomplicated structure and relatively low manufacturing costs. The heat pipe can also resist strong vibrations and is well suited for a high temperature environment. Hence, the heat pipes with a common reservoir make incorporation of heat pipes into turbo-machinery much more feasible and cost effective.

Factors associated with critical care nurses' communication with non-communicative patients in the ICU

Hospitalized individuals are isolated from their familiar environment at the onset of illness. Those individuals who are non-communicative are detached from the world and from life, as they previously knew it. Although nurses have long since recognized the importance of communication, patients still report the lack of iy. This study was done to identify factors influencing critical care nurses to communicate with their noncommunicative patients. The overall results of the study indicate that nurses are aware of the importance of verbal communication with patients who may be intubated, paralyzed, unconscious, comatose or neurologically impaired and are not deterred by them. Despite these results, some significant observations emerged identified. CCRN certified nurses and nurses with more years of experience were less likely to have verbal communication with noncommunicative patients. Nurses with children, spouses and those working full-time were more likely to communicate with non-communicative patients.

Crianças e investigação: aspectos teórico-metodológicos e cuidados éticos nas produções dos grupos de pesquisa da UFRN

The concepts of childhood are part of a cultural construction and vary throughout history politically, economically and socially. Nouns such as "childhood" and "child" did not exist as sense of unity in periods prior to modernity, reinforcing their historical character as concepts that have been socially constructed as profess the Historical Social Psychology, theoretical perspective which will support this research. The sociology of childhood distinguishes the terms and changes the approach toward the adult researcher approach with respect to children, aiming to give voice to the child. When it comes to defining the role of children in research, the researcher must take into consideration several relevant criteria such as age, gender, time, listening to the adults close to the children, the level of language and education and which children that will be heard in a group. It is from this discussion, considering the importance of children's participation in the research that are established the purpose of this work, namely, to analyze the theoretical and methodological aspects and ethical guidelines considered in the research process with children, by researchers at the UFRN, presenting as specific objectives: analyze and discuss, from research reports, the adopted ethical procedures and methods used in research with children. Set the goal, it was made a search of the UFRN Research Groups in SIGAA in order to select those which investigate children for participating in our survey. Among the centers of UFRN, we selected the Health Sciences Centre - CCSA, the Humanities Center, Letters and Arts - CCHLA, the Biosciences Center - CB and the Health Sciences Center - CCS, a total of 64 finalized reports to be analyzed. And here it is the observation that the foolish reports were not analyzed for ethical reasons as the guiding of this dissertation is the coordinator of the research group mentioned. In this study, we chose the documentary analysis of the finalized reports from UFRN research projects teachers / researchers as procedure to set up the corpus of the research. Data analysis was performed from the qualitative analysis in the following categories were established: the concept of childhood, concept of child, age of the subjects, the research context, theoretical and methodological care adopted and ethical care. It is hoped that this study will contribute with reflections on the ethical and theoretical and methodological care on research with children. The research showed how some of the results: significant number of reports excluded by repetition, most reports did not bring any closing remarks, no different procedures for children, with rare exceptions, the ethical issue was not mentioned in 50% of reports.

Prática pedagógica em educação de infância : consciência fonológica e desenvolvimento de competências orais e escritas

Relatório de estágio para a obtenção do grau de mestre em Educação pré-escolar e 1º Ciclo do ensino básico

A influência das questões de gênero nos processos avaliativos escolares

This paper aims to discuss the influences of gender issues in formal and informal evaluation processes in order to identify situations that may lead to exclusion of boys and girls in our schools. Therefore, we rely on the authors as Freitas (2005, 2006, 2011), Sordi (2009), Villas Boas (2006), Fernandes (2006, 2008), (Carvalho (2001.2004, 2011), Blonde (1995, 2003), Scott (1995), Connell (1995), Navy (2009), Dal'igna (2004), among others. These authors help us understand that both gender issues as the evaluation questions in its formal and informal when analyzed, especially in light of school reality, are impregnated with socially constructed conceptions that are reflected in the school. The survey was conducted in two rooms of the 5th year of elementary school, and the genres of research were qualitative and quantitative. In the development of this study, the research followed those steps: School Rules analysis, grade maps, class journals; Mapping of records of the evaluation results of the 1st to 5th year of elementary school; Analysis of official government documents in education; development, implementation and analysis of questionnaires answered by the students and the teachers with issues about gender and evaluation; Mapping of the evaluation results of the students of two classes surveyed during 2012; Observation in the classroom; interview with the teachers of the surveyed groups. During the research we found that gender issues are not dealt with by the school and that this reinforces some exclusion processes that are linked to these questions. Studies also tell us that on the surveyed groups most of the children who have lower evaluative results are boys, which, in the evaluation of teachers, are considered undisciplined. Of the children with poor results, 50% are black. Some of these children who had low evaluative income have not completed the school year in that school. The study also reveals that on the observed groups, generally the girls have better results in formal assessments than boys, which are considered, by the teachers, more undisciplined and difficult to work with. The girls, on the other hand, are considered more docile and attentive than boys. The observations made by teachers concerning the behavior of boys and girls also reflect in the formal evaluative results, therefore the informal assessments, the value judgment of teachers in relation to the behavior of the students influence the results of formal assessments. In this sense, in order to seek ways to try to overcome the exclusion situations experienced in the evaluation process, we believe that the principles of popular education can be configured as an important parameter to begin discussions on gender and evaluation in schools.

The Development of Forensic Social Work in Spain

The focus of this article is to explain the state of research work with regard to the specialty of forensic social work in Spain. The study was carried out as part of the activities developed by Research Team 940102 ‘Observatory for Social Intervention in Organizations’ from the University Complutense of Madrid and funded by this university.

Examining current provision, practice and experience of initial teacher training providers in Ireland preparing pre service teachers for the inclusion of students with special education needs in physical education classes.

Research from an international perspective in relation to the preparation of pre service teachers in physical education and special educational needs indicates that initial teacher training providers are inconsistent in the amount of time spent addressing the issue and the nature of curricular content (Vickerman, 2007). In Ireland, research of Meegan and MacPhail (2005) and Crawford (2011) indicates that physical education teachers do not feel adequately prepared to accommodate students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in physical education classes. This study examined initial teacher training provision in Ireland in the training of pre service physical education teachers in SEN. The methodology used was qualitative and included questionnaires and interviews (n=4). Findings indicated that time allocation (semester long modules), working with children with disabilities in mainstream settings (school or leisure centre based), lack of collaboration with other PETE providers (n=4) and a need for continued professional development were themes in need of address. Using a combined approach where the recently designed European Inclusive Physical Education Training (Kudlácěk, Jesina, & Flanagan, 2010) model is infused through the undergraduate degree programme is proposed. Further, the accommodation of hands on experience for undergraduates in mainstream settings and the establishment of inter institutional communities of practice, with a national disability research initiative, is essential to ensure quality adapted physical activity training can be accommodated throughout Ireland.