Enchantment and Haunting: Bimbling in Jarra: Chris Harrison’s Photographs

An essay which discusses Chris Harrison's project, I Belong Jarrow

Numeracy for 14 to 19-year-olds

GCSE results and international comparisons show that performance in numeracy is lower in Wales than that in the other home nations and below the average for OECD countries. Standards of numeracy as judged in school inspections are also lower than for communication in English and information and communication technology. The number of learners in schools, colleges and work-based learning providers who gain application of number qualifications has increased substantially over the last five years. However, too many of these learners gain qualifications at too low a level relative to their ability. These learners do not improve their numeracy skills by taking qualifications at too low a level. Only a minority of schools plan to develop numeracy systematically across the curriculum. Only a few schools track the progress of pupils in numeracy well enough, including the pupils who previously received support for numeracy in key stage 3. Around a half of the schools surveyed do not provide specific support for learners with poor numeracy skills in key stage 4. Although schools assess pupils’ numeracy skills, they do not share this information well enough when their learners attend courses at college or other providers. Further education colleges and work-based learning providers assess the level of learners’ numeracy skills at the start of courses. They generally use this information well to identify whether learners need basic support. As a result, many learners have individual learning plans and benefit from a range of support strategies. However, providers often enter learners for key skills qualifications only at the level needed to complete their framework qualification aim and do not challenge learners to achieve beyond this level

It Hurts!

Luke 12:49-5

Spiritual quest: an inter-religious dimension

Reviewed Book: Askari, Hasan. Spiritual quest: an inter-religious dimension. Leeds, England: Seven Mirrors, 1991

Critical Caring: A Feminist Model for Pastoral Psychology

Reviewed Book: DeMarinis, Valerie. Critical Caring: A Feminist Model for Pastoral Psychology. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993

Pastoral Care in Context: An Introduction to Pastoral Care

Reviewed Book: Patton, John. Pastoral Care in Context: An Introduction to Pastoral Care. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993

From Function to Competence: Engaging with the New Politics of Family

This paper argues for a critical reclaiming of family and highlights the risks associated with decentring such a powerful and pervasive concept. Influential critiques of family as an organising category are considered in the context of a contemporary trend towards reorienting it within broader studies foregrounding personal and intimate realms of human connectedness. It is suggested that while concepts of personal lives and intimacy have much to offer they can not capture the full range and nature of relations raised through the lens of family. In particular the political consequences of subsuming family within wider approaches are set out through reference to a new public politics of family in which emphasis is placed less on structure and function, and more on knowledge and competence. Through an exploration of the key changes characterising this shift a case is made for retaining family (alongside intimacy and personal life) as a flexible, enduring and necessary sociological framework.Family, Politics, Intimacy and Personal Lives, Policy

Transient pupils: the induction and support of Key Stage 3 late entrants .

Little UK research has been undertaken into the experiences of pupils who move between secondary schools after the normal year 7 entry date. This thesis builds on a major research study on pupil mobility in English schools undertaken by Dobson, Henthorne and Lewis (2000) which investigated its impact on school and pupil performance, and school and LEA responses to this. The purpose of the study described in this thesis was to identify the circumstances and characteristics associated with late entrants to secondary school, to investigate their experience of late entry and to see whether additional induction and support could assist them in making a successful transfer. The study investigated the experiences of Key Stage 3 late entrants to Coventry LEA schools who participated in a programme of induction and support provided by Connexions Service personal advisers. The research, which was conducted in two phases, involved myself, an LEA adviser, and Connexions personal advisers in collecting data. First, personal advisers collected data about personal background and school transfer experience from all late entrants who were referred to them by year heads for induction interviews. At the end of the same school year, I conducted in- depth interviews with nine pupils, their year heads and personal advisers; personal advisers also completed questionnaires. Data analysis revealed a multiplicity of circumstances and characteristics associated with moving schools during the secondary phase that made it an individual and sometimes isolated experience. Pupils used a variety of strategies to assist them in managing this transition and they valued the support of the Connexions personal adviser. School induction and support systems for late entrants varied in their effectiveness and appeared rarely to be consistently implemented within over-stretched pastoral and curriculum systems

Optimising metadata to make high-value content more accessible to Google users

Purpose: This paper shows how information in digital collections that have been catalogued using high-quality metadata can be retrieved more easily by users of search engines such as Google. Methodology/approach: The research and proposals described arose from an investigation into the observed phenomenon that pages from the Glasgow Digital Library (gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk) were regularly appearing near the top of Google search results shortly after publication, without any deliberate effort to achieve this. The reasons for this phenomenon are now well understood and are described in the second part of the paper. The first part provides context with a review of the impact of Google and a summary of recent initiatives by commercial publishers to make their content more visible to search engines. Findings/practical implications: The literature research provides firm evidence of a trend amongst publishers to ensure that their online content is indexed by Google, in recognition of its popularity with Internet users. The practical research demonstrates how search engine accessibility can be compatible with use of established collection management principles and high-quality metadata. Originality/value: The concept of data shoogling is introduced, involving some simple techniques for metadata optimisation. Details of its practical application are given, to illustrate how those working in academic, cultural and public-sector organisations could make their digital collections more easily accessible via search engines, without compromising any existing standards and practices