Firsts: performing ways first year teachers experience identity transformation

This thesis reports on research showing the survival discourse of beginning teaching has shifted from sink or swim metaphors to describe surviving transition shock and classroom management concerns to surviving contract employment. Beginning teachers are neither sinking nor swimming in this liminal state. Rather, it is as though they are on a lifeboat where they cannot feel like a ‘real’ teacher until they can operate with certainty.

Interrogating the experiences of beginning teachers, and the transformation of their identity in their first year (1yr) of teaching, the thesis explores research participants’ firsts as epiphanic or revelatory moments of identity transformation. Participants were followed for three years from upon completion of their teacher education, through their first year of teaching, up to the beginning of their third year in the profession. The major finding was that while contemporary understandings of professional identity highlight the transformative nature of the phenomenon,  contract employment had the most impact on these teachers’ identity transformation.

Teachers’ perceptions of their own professional identity affect their efficacy and professional development as well as their ability and willingness to cope with educational change (Beijaard, Verloop & Vermunt 2000). It has been reported by the Australian Education Union (AEU) and in the Victorian media in recent years that up to 50% of beginning teachers are leaving the profession within their first five years. The reasons given for this level of
attrition include workload, pay, and behaviour management, among the top concerns of beginning teachers. These categories have positioned beginning teachers in a survival discourse for many years, yet there is more to beginning teachers’ intentions to leave than their struggles to survive in the classroom. More recently in Victoria what it means to ‘survive’ has shifted to surviving the pervasive contractual nature of beginning teachers’
employment conditions.

This qualitative study seeks to question what remains concealed with regard to beginning teachers’ experiences through an investigation of the differences between and within individuals, allowing categories of description to emerge from the data rather than pre-determining categories of investigation. Data was collected from twelve participants through individual semi-structured interviews and written communication. A theatre-based research approach to representing the participants’ experiences was employed, culminating in a performance titled ‘The First Time’. The processes of scripting, rehearsing, and performing, were utilised to analyse and represent the data to expert audiences. In an aim to uncover questions that have been buried by answers, the research is oriented as a
phenomenographic inquiry. This mode of inquiry seeks to describe, analyse, and understand (Marton 1981) the qualitatively different experiences 1yr teachers undergo in their identity formation and transformation.

The results of this research reveal the destabilising effect of short-term contracts so prevalent in the current context; that status and belonging are central to 1yr teachers’ identity work. Status and belonging are positioned within survival, liminal, and hegemonic discourses; and expressed through artefacts as symbols of belonging. The low status ascribed to contractual work has a clear impact on beginning teachers’ commitment to the profession.

Leave entitlements, time off work and the household financial impacts of quarantine compliance during an H1N1 outbreak

Background The Australian state of Victoria, with 5.2 million residents, enforced home quarantine during a H1N1 pandemic in 2009. The strategy was targeted at school children. The objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which parents’ access to paid sick leave or paid carer’s leave was associated with (a) time taken off work to care for quarantined children, (b) household finances, and (c) compliance with quarantine recommendations. Methods We conducted an online and telephone survey of households recruited through 33 schools (85% of eligible schools), received 314 responses (27%), and analysed the subsample of 133 households in which all resident parents were employed. Results In 52% of households, parents took time off work to care for quarantined children. Households in which no resident parent had access to leave appeared to be less likely to take time off work (42% vs 58%, p=0.08) although this difference had only borderline significance. Among parents who did take time off work, those in households without access to leave were more likely to lose pay (73% vs 21%, p<0.001). Of the 26 households in which a parent lost pay due to taking time off work, 42% experienced further financial consequences such as being unable to pay a bill. Access to leave did not predict compliance with quarantine recommendations. Conclusions Future pandemic plans should consider the economic costs borne by households and options for compensating quarantined families for income losses.

Engaging Faculty in Online Education: Rightsizing Incentives and Optimizing Support

: Colleges and universities of all types are pursuing increasingly ambitious goals for online education for a range of reasons—enhancing learning, increasing access, growing enrollment, managing costs. However, concerns about workload, support resources, autonomy, and course quality leave many faculty skeptical of online instruction, and most institutions expanding online offerings are struggling to get sufficient numbers of faculty both willing and prepared to teach online. This study presents best practices in managing the strategic and operational challenges associated with increasing the number of fully online and hybrid courses

The workload and plasma ion concentration in a training match session of high-goal (elite) polo ponies

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Creatine does not promote hypertrophy in skeletal muscle in supplemented compared with nonsupplemented rats subjected to a similar workload

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Childcare and parental leave

This issue of Challenges examines the progress made thus far on childcare leave for parents —mothers and fathers— and turns a spotlight on pending debts in this regard. Few legislative or practical measures exist for satisfying the many types of early childhood care needs, and inequalities of origin are still rife. In order to meet those needs, the policy response must be aimed at ensuring universal satisfaction of children's right to care regardless of the formal employment status (or otherwise) of their parents, and the existing models of care from birth must be thoroughly reviewed.

30° inclination in handles of plastic boxes can reduce postural and muscular workload during handling

CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO:O manuseio de materiais está ainda presente nos setores industriais e é associado a lesões na coluna lombar e membros superiores. A inserção de alças em caixas industriais é uma forma de reduzir os riscos relacionados à tarefa, porém a posição e a angulação das alças, que são fatores importantes para o conforto e segurança durante o manuseio, são ainda pouco investigadas objetivamente.OBJETIVOS:Comparar o manuseio de uma caixa comercial e de protótipos com alças e avaliar seus efeitos na postura de membros superiores, atividade elétrica muscular e percepção de agradabilidade em diferentes empunhaduras durante manuseio entre diferentes alturas.MÉTODO:Trinta e sete voluntários saudáveis avaliaram as alças dos protótipos que possibilitavam mudança nas posições (superior e inferior) e angulações (0°, 15° e 30º). Os movimentos dos punhos, cotovelos e ombros foram avaliados por meio da eletrogoniometria e inclinometria. A atividade elétrica muscular dos extensores do punho, bíceps braquial e porção superior do trapézio foi avaliada por um eletromiógrafo portátil. Os registros de movimento e atividade elétrica muscular foram sincronizados. Aspectos subjetivos de agradabilidade foram avaliados por meio de uma escala visual analógica.RESULTADOS E CONCLUSÕES:Os protótipos com alças inclinadas em 30° apresentaram as melhores avaliações de agradabilidade, posturas mais neutras de punho, menores níveis de atividade eletromiográfica do trapézio superior e menores ângulos de elevação dos braços. Os diferentes métodos de medida se mostraram complementares para a avaliação dos membros superiores durante as tarefas de manuseio.

Quantitative MRI of Vastus Medialis, Vastus Lateralis and Gluteus Medius Muscle Workload after Squat Exercise: Comparison Between Squatting with Hip Adduction and Hip Abduction

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the use MRI to quantify the workload of gluteus medius (GM), vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles in different types of squat exercises. Fourteen female volunteers were evaluated, average age of 22 +/- 2 years, sedentary, without clinical symptoms, and without history of previous lower limb injuries. Quantitative MRI was used to analyze VM, VL and GM muscles before and after squat exercise, squat associated with isometric hip adduction and squat associated with isometric hip abduction. Multi echo images were acquired to calculate the transversal relaxation times (T2) before and after exercise. Mixed Effects Model statistical analysis was used to compare images before and after the exercise (Delta T2) to normalize the variability between subjects. Imaging post processing was performed in Matlab software. GM muscle was the least active during the squat associated with isometric hip adduction and VM the least active during the squat associated with isometric hip abduction, while VL was the most active during squat associated with isometric hip adduction. Our data suggests that isometric hip adduction during the squat does not increase the workload of VM, but decreases the GM muscle workload. Squat associated with isometric hip abduction does not increase VL workload.

Nursing Workload as a Risk Factor for Healthcare Associated Infections in ICU: A Prospective Study

Introduction: Nurse understaffing is frequently hypothesized as a potential risk factor for healthcare-associated infections (HAI). This study aimed to evaluate the role of nursing workload in the occurrence of HAI, using Nursing Activities Score (NAS). Methods: This prospective cohort study enrolled all patients admitted to 3 Medical ICUs and one step-down unit during 3 months (2009). Patients were followed-up until HAI, discharge or death. Information was obtained from direct daily observation of medical and nursing rounds, chart review and monitoring of laboratory system. Nursing workload was determined using NAS. Non-compliance to the nurses' patient care plans (NPC) was identified. Demographic data, clinical severity, invasive procedures, hospital interventions, and the occurrence of other adverse events were also recorded. Patients who developed HAI were compared with those who did not. Results: 195 patients were included and 43 (22%) developed HAI: 16 pneumonia, 12 urinary-tract, 8 bloodstream, 2 surgical site, 2 other respiratory infections and 3 other. Average NAS and average proportion of non compliance with NPC were significantly higher in HAI patients. They were also more likely to suffer other adverse events. Only excessive nursing workload (OR: 11.41; p: 0.019) and severity of patient's clinical condition (OR: 1.13; p: 0.015) remained as risk factors to HAI. Conclusions: Excessive nursing workload was the main risk factor for HAI, when evaluated together with other invasive devices except mechanical ventilation. To our knowledge, this study is the first to evaluate prospectively the nursing workload as a potential risk factor for HAI, using NAS.

Teachers' sick leave due to mental and behavioral disorders and return to work

This manuscript presents a review of the literature about medical leaves due to mental and behavioral disorders and return to work of teachers. There are scarce published manuscripts. Most articles relate with prevalence of mental disorders and factors associated with the work organization, and did not mention intervention proposals and or changes in the work organization and teaching work. Proposed actions are discussed.

[Psychosomatic medicine and arterial hypertension - love it or leave it?]

Over the last two decades modern psychosomatic research has found multiple evidence for an impact of psychosocial factors on the control of arterial blood pressure as well as the development of arterial hypertension. This narrative review focuses first on the current stress concept and factors that influence the degree of blood pressure change following a psychosocial stressor. Second, relevant psychosocial factors associated with blood pressure are presented such as marital status, social support, socioeconomic status and work conditions. In addition, the influence of personality and cognition on blood pressure will be discussed. The second part focuses on the outcome of cognitive-behavioral therapies and relaxation techniques as a means to effectively control blood pressure. In conclusion, there is now good evidence showing that psychosocial factors and stressors may increase blood pressure. The working environment, the socioeconomic status as well as aspects of personality and cognitive factors like rumination may also impact blood pressure with to an extent that is clinically relevant. With respect to therapeutic options, cognitive-behavioral interventions, combined with relaxation techniques all fitting the needs of the individual patient best can offer a clinically meaningful contribution of an effective blood pressure control.