Inquiring into Non-Accidental Child Deaths: Reviewing the Review Process

There is significant public and professional interest in the non-accidental death of children where abuse and neglect are suspected of being contributory factors. Systems for reviewing these deaths have been developed in each of the four jurisdictions within the UK. The main aims are to ensure that individuals and professionals are held to account if practice falls below the expected standard, whilst also seeking to strengthen the systems for protecting children through reflecting on what lessons, if any, can be learnt from the death of a child through abuse or neglect. Recently, the benefit of such inquiries and the quality of serious case reviews have come under scrutiny. In this paper, the authors report the findings of a Delphi study that sought to explore how the process of conducting reviews following the death of a child could be improved through seeking the views of experienced professionals responsible for child protection in Northern Ireland. The authors conclude that the system does command professional support, but could be improved through greater attention to process issues and a stronger emphasis on translating learning into action. In common with research looking at other recent practice developments, there is a need to focus on process indicators as a means to ensuring that well intentioned policies are translated into workable and functioning practices.

Making Sense of Leaving Care: The contribution of Bridges Model of Transition to Understanding the Psycho-social process.

This paper is based on research into the transition of young people leaving public care in Romania. Using this specific country example, the paper aims to contribute to present understandings of the psycho-social transition of young people from care to independent living by introducing the use of Bridges (2002) to build on existing theories and literature. The research discussed involved mixed methods design and was implemented in three phases: semi-structured interviews with 34 care leavers, focus groups with 32 professionals, and a professional-service user working group. The overall findings confirmed that young people experience two different, but interconnected transitions - social and psychological - which take place at different paces. A number of theoretical perpectives are explored to make sense of this transition including attachment theory, focal theory and identity. In addition, a new model for understanding the complex process of transitions was adapted from Bridges’ (2002) to capture the clear complexity of transition which the findings demonstrated in terms of their psycho-social transition. The paper concludes with messages for leaving and after care services with an emphasis on managing the psycho-social transition from care to independent living.

The efficacy of a CDIO based integrated curriculum as preparation for professional practice in product design and development

The School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast started BEng and MEng degree programmes in Product Design and Development (PDD) in 2004. Intended from the outset to be significantly different from the existing programmes within the School the PDD degrees used the syllabus and standards defined by the CDIO Initiative as the basis for an integrated curriculum. Students are taught in the context of conceiving, designing, implementing and operating a product. Fundamental to this approach is a core sequence of Design-Build-Test (DBT) experiences which facilitates the development of a range of professional skills as well as the immediate application of technical knowledge gained in strategically aligned supporting modules.
The key objective of the degree programmes is to better prepare students for professional practice. PDD graduates were surveyed using a questionnaire developed by the CDIO founders and interviewed to examine the efficacy of these degree programmes, particularly in this key objective. Graduate employment rates, self assessment of graduate attributes and examples of work produced by MEng graduates provided positive evidence that their capabilities met the requirements of the profession. The 24% questionnaire response rate from the 96 graduates to date did not however facilitate statistically significant conclusions to be drawn and particularly not for BEng graduates who were under represented in the response group. While not providing proof of efficacy the investigation did provide a good amount of useful data for consideration as part of a continuous improvement process.

Outcomes and process in reading tutoring

Background: Large-scale randomised controlled trials are relatively rare in education. The present study approximates to, but is not exactly, a randomised controlled trial. It was an attempt to scale up previous small peer tutoring projects, while investing only modestly in continuing professional development for teachers.Purpose: A two-year study of peer tutoring in reading was undertaken in one local education authority in Scotland. The relative effectiveness of cross-age versus same-age tutoring, light versus intensive intervention, and reading versus reading and mathematics tutoring were investigated.Programme description (if relevant): The intervention was Paired Reading, a freely available cross-ability tutoring method applied to books of the pupils' choice but above the tutee's independent readability level. It involves Reading Together and Reading Alone, and switching from one to the other according to need.Sample: Eighty-seven primary schools of overall average socio-economic status, ability and gender in one council in Scotland. There were few ethnic minority students. Proportions of students with special needs were low. Children were eight and 10 years old as the intervention started. Macro-evaluation n = 3520. Micro-evaluation Year 1 15 schools n = 592, Year 2 a different 15 schools n = 591, compared with a comparison group of five schools n = 240.Design and methods: Almost all the primary schools in the local authority participated and were randomly allocated to condition. A macro-evaluation tested and retested over a two-year period using Performance Indicators in Primary Schools. A micro-evaluation tested and retested within each year using norm-referenced tests of reading comprehension. Macro-evaluation was with multi-level modelling, micro-evaluation with descriptive statistics and effect sizes, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).Results: Macro-evaluation yielded significant pre-post gains in reading attainment for cross-age tutoring over both years. No other differences were significant. Micro-evaluation yielded pre-post changes in Year 1 (selected) and Year 2 (random) greater than controls, with no difference between same-age and cross-age tutoring. Light and intensive tutoring were equally effective. Tutoring reading and mathematics together was more effective than only tutoring reading. Lower socio-economic and lower reading ability students did better. Girls did better than boys. Regarding observed implementation quality, some factors were high and others low. Few implementation variables correlated with attainment gain.Conclusions: Paired Reading tutoring does lead to better reading attainment compared with students not participating. This is true in the long term (macro-evaluation) for cross-age tutoring, and in the short term (micro-evaluation) for both cross-age and same-age tutoring. Tutors and tutees benefited. Intensity had no effect but dual tutoring did have an effect. Low-socio-economic status, low-ability and female students did better. The results of the different forms of evaluation were indeed different. There are implications for practice and for future research. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

(Re)-Introducing Themes of Religion and Spirituality to Professional Social Work Training in the Land of ‘Saints and Scholars’.

This chapter begins by alluding to Ireland’s historical reputation as the land of “Saints and Scholars” and then briefly charts its demise from this position. A parallel process in relation to religiously motivated provision of health and social care is outlined. The inclusion of themes of religion and spirituality within the current professional social work codes in the USA and Britain and the framework for social work training in Northern Ireland is noted. In this context the lack of any substantive inclusion of themes of religion and/or spirituality within the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree at Queens University Belfast will be situated. A series of intersecting reasons for this lack of inclusion are proposed in terms of the experience of living through the recent troubled history of Northern Ireland and a variety of biases in academic thought.
A rationale for the re-introduction of inputs on religion and spirituality is articulated in terms of the widespread resurgence of these themes within health and social care and psychotherapy literature and the new emphasis on practicing in culturally sensitive ways in Britain. The first steps to re-introduce these themes under the higher context marker of “culturally competent practice” are described and an analysis of data from the students’ feedback presented along with illustrative quotations. The dissonance between the initial misgivings of staff and the overwhelmingly positive responses of students are highlighted. The chapter concludes with a discussion of lessons learned through the process with an emphasis on how the inclusion of these themes can result in better practice for service users, including those impacted by “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland.

Simulation of economic benefits achieved by water quality improvement for recreational and professional users, within the SPICOSSA SSA (SPICOSSA System Approach) 11 - Guadiana estuary ecosystem sic

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão da Água e da Costa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2010

Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues

The chapter addresses the professional, legal and ethical issues associated with medicines management and the role of the nurse. To ensure safe practice it is imperative safeguards are recognised and applied; therefore pertinent legislative frameworks, policy and professional regulation are discussed. Safeguarding patients when administering prescribed medicines means the nurse must have up-to-date knowledge and skill and a key aspect of this is to ensure consent to treatment from the service user is secured; for this reason drawing on relevant legislation, the consensual process is reviewed. Not infrequently medicine management provokes ethical and legal challenges for the health care professional; these demand reflection and careful consideration; consequently in this chapter legal and ethical parameters and professional boundaries are appraised.

Ulster PD Scheme: Using e-portfolios and professional conversations to evidence recognition claims

Vicky Davies and Sarah Maguire are Professional Development Managers at the University of Ulster. They have many years of experience in delivering and assessing Higher Education Academy claims for recognition via accredited provision for new teaching staff and post-graduate students. More recently they led the development of the University of Ulster’s Professional Development Scheme http://www.ulster.ac.uk/centrehep/pds/ . The core elements of the PD Scheme are the production of an e-portfolio and an assessed professional conversation. This workshop will explore the learning they have acquired through developing this process and piloting it with applicants. You will have the opportunity to discuss this and to identify any transferability to your own practice.

Decision-making process of Nova Executivos’ students

Field lab: Consumer insights

Institutional legacies, employment and professional integration of non EU/EEA doctors in France

Internationally, policies for attracting highly-skilled migrants have become the guidelines mainly used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Governments are implementing specific procedures to capture and facilitate their mobility. However, all professions are not equal when it comes to welcoming highly-skilled migrants. The medical profession, as a protective market, is one of these. Taking the case of non-EU/EEA doctors in France, this paper shows that the medical profession defined as the closed labour market, remains the most controversial in terms of professional integration of migrants, protectionist barriers to migrant competition and challenge of medical shortage. Based on the path-dependency approach, this paper argues that non-EU/EEA doctors' issues in France derive from a complex historical process of interaction between standards settled in the past, particularly the historical power of medical corporatism, the unexpected long-term effects of French hospital reforms of 1958, and budgetary pressures. Theoretically, this paper shows two significant findings. Firstly, the French medical system has undergone a series of transformations unthinkable in the strict sense of a path-dependence approach: an opening of the medical profession to foreign physicians in the context of the Europeanisation of public policy, acceptance of non-EU/EEA doctors in a context of medical shortage and budgetary pressures. Secondly, there is no change of the overall paradigm: significantly, the recruitment policies of non-EU/EEA doctors continue to highlight the imprint of the past and reveal a significant persistence of prejudices. Non-EU/EEA doctors are not considered legitimate doctors even if they have the qualifications of physicians which are legitimate in their country and which can be recognised in other receiving countries.

Private versus public : how one gay professor negotiates the boundaries between his personal and professional lives /

This study examined how one university professor negotiated the boundaries between his personal life as a gay man and his professional life as a teacher. Using his sexual orientation as a focal point, the study explored the circumstances and underlying assumptions that influenced this professor's decisions to disclose information of a personal nature. Data collection was solicited from a number of sources: (a) In-depth interviews with the participant, his colleagues, students, and friends; (b) Field observation of the participant teaching over a 3 -day period; and (c) A document review of lesson plans, course outlines, student feedback forms, and the participant's teaching portfolio. The researcher maintained both observation journals and reflective journals during this process. Data analysis using the constant comparative method elicited several themes. The participant engaged in a variety of strategies in disclosing his sexual orientation that included: (a) no disclosure at all, (b) assuming people knew, (c) casually mentioning it in conversation, and (d) deliberately planning to tell someone. The participant also engaged in an ongoing assessment of his environment that included evaluating the level of risk in disclosing his sexual orientation and assessing the listener's ability to receive the information. The participant cited numerous reasons for disclosing his sexual orientation. Further inquiry revealed a number of belief systems that underlined these reasons. These belief systems included beliefs around privacy, authenticity, teaching, manners, professionalism, and homosexuality. The conclusions suggested that the participant utilized a consistent process in both his personal and professional lives to determine what information was kept private and what information was made public. While the process used to determine the degree of disclosure was consistent, the actual disclosures themselves varied widely in nature.

An exploration of women elementary school teachers' perceptions of how their decision to return to teaching part-time from a maternity leave influences their professional and personal lives /

The purpose of this research was to explore women elementary teachers' perceptions of how their decision to return to teaching part-time from a maternity leave influences their professional and personal lives. The investigation focused on the decisions surrounding a mother's choice to reenter the teaching profession parttime in a field where each mother had previously been employed full-time. A collective case study was undertaken based on an in-depth interview with five mothers who had made the choice to return to the classroom part-time. The data collected in this study were analyzed and interpreted using qualitative methods. The following four major themes emerged from the interviews: decisionmaking process, challenges faced by mothers who teach part-time, the importance of support, and the enhancement of instructional practice from parenthood. Using these four themes, an analysis was conducted to examine the similarities and differences among the experiences of the participants. The mothers' reflections, my analysis, and the related literature were used at the conclusion of this report to compile implications for teaching practice, theory, and further research.

Giving voice to lifelong learning in professional nursing practice

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to uncover the meaning of lifelong learning to nurses in an Academic Health Care setting. Six female pediatric nurses were interviewed and audiotaped in response to 2 main questions of interpretation and engagement in lifelong learning with respect to their nursing practice. Four additional probing questions elicited responses of further qualities and characteristics of the meaning of lifelong learning. The emergent themes uncovered the characteristics and nature of the journey of lifelong learning. The themes evolved into parallel characteristics developing into the concepts of personal empowerment and occupational authorship. The personal empowerment concept involved processes whereby the participants overcame or removed barriers to engage in personal lifelong learning. Participants utilized personal power and internal motivators to sustain their engagement in lifelong learning. The occupational authorship concept involved participants controlling their exploration into lifelong learning through collaboration and recognition of occupational demands to be met as a professional. The remaining themes revealed a seasoning journey. This journey entailed a process of mastery through the themes of engagement discord, discovery pilgrimage, transforming, and maturation. The engagement in this journey resulted in their lifelong learning to becoming more intuitive and a part oftheir being. The overall theme uncovered from the journeys was one of a vocation described as a call to thinking critically of nursing practice. The participants responded to lifelong learning as a call to be a good nurse by using critical thinking through reflection, transformative and constructionist learning processes. This study gave voice to the meaning of lifelong learning in their nursing practice as interpreted by -ao the nurse participants.

The person inside the nurse : the professional socialization of baccalaureate nursing students

The goal ofthis research was to gain an understanding ofthe process ofprofessional socialization by accessing role meaning ofstudents engaged in a BScN program. Students from each ofthe four years and faculty members from the school ofnursing volunteered as participants. G. Kelly's (1955) Personal Construct Theory provided the framework to determine awareness and constructed meanings. A reflective tool, called LifeMapping, was adapted and utilized to relate student experiences within education that have attributed to nurse role meaning. Focus group interviews verified data interpretation. Students are informed oftheir choice to study nursing through part-time and volunteer work, secondary school cooperative placements. Descriptions reveal that choices are tested and both positive and negative aspects ofthe role observed. Bipolar images of good and bad nurses seem to be context-related. These images may establish biases in choices related to learning experiences. The person inside ofeach aspiring nurse interprets, revises and understands experiences to incorporate individual meaning into their value and belief structures. Students are aware ofchanges and descnbe them as developments that occur personally up to Year ill and role-image changes that begin in Year II. The major difficulty that students encountered was descnbed as negative attitudes towards their anticipated role. Humanistic-interactionist philosophies are echoed in student accounts of learning experiences. Growth and role development corresponds to process factors of small group, problem-base learning.

Spreading my wings : how can I improve my practice and contribute to the professional knowledge base through narrative-autobiographical self-study?

"How can I improve my practice and contribute to the professional knowledge base through narrative-autobiographical self-study?" Through the use of Whitehead's (1989) living educational theory and examination of my stories, I identify the values and critical events that have helped me come to know my own learning and shape my professional self. Building on the premise that educational knowledge/theory is created, recreated, and lived through educational inquiry; I strive to make meaning of this data archive, collected over 7 years of teaching. I chart my journey to reexamine my beliefs and practices, to find a balance between traditional and progressive practices and to align my theory and practice. I retell, and, thus, in some way relive, my own "living contradictions." A reconceptualization of the KNOW, DO, BE model (Drake & Burns, 2004) is used to develop strategies to align my practice, including a six-step model of curriculum design that combines the backwards design process of Wiggins and McTighe (1998), the KNOW, DO, BE model (Drake & Burns) and Curry and Samara's (1995) differentiation planner.