Generative AI in Curriculum Design: Advancing or Undermining Decolonisation Efforts?

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into curriculum design presents a paradox for educational decolonisation. This chapter examines AI’s dual potential to either advance or undermine these critical efforts. On one hand, AI offers transformative opportunities to create inclusive, culturally relevant materials by embedding diverse perspectives and representing Indigenous knowledge systems. It can personalise learning for marginalised students, helping to dismantle the Eurocentric focus of traditional curricula. Conversely, uncritical adoption poses significant threats. AI systems, predominantly trained on data from the Global North, risk perpetuating colonial biases and reinforcing hegemonic narratives. This can lead to the exclusion of marginalised voices and what has been termed “algorithmic colonialism”. Balancing these tensions requires a proactive, principled framework. This chapter advocates for the ethical implementation of AI through the co-development of culturally sensitive tools, fostering critical AI literacy, and establishing robust, inclusive governance to ensure technology serves epistemic justice

Sitting, seeing, and getting lost: the sensory aesthetics of Latvia’s women’s prison

This chapter delves into what imprisonment feels like in the global east, with a particular focus on the first encounter with the prison as an institution of confinement. The central claim of this chapter is that by focusing on women’s sensory experience of imprisonment at the start of their sentence, a better understanding can be gathered about carceral power, which in the global east is a relational and symbolic one rather than a physical manifestation in space. The spatial and cultural ‘carceral collectivism’ facilitates an intimacy in the sensorial spectrum of surveillance that essentially provides both control and support functions

The CARE model: A research tool for understanding resilience.

Abstract Healthcare organisations are complex, dynamic systems where resilience—the ability to adapt to misalignments between demand and capacity—is critical but difficult to define and study. This chapter introduces the CARE (Concepts for Applying Resilience Engineering) model, a theoretical framework developed to make resilience visible and measurable in healthcare contexts. Initially conceptualised as the relationship between misalignments and staff adaptations, the CARE model has evolved through empirical application across various healthcare settings, resulting in CARE 2.0 and 3.0. These iterations introduced categorisations of misalignments and adaptations, enabling more systematic analysis and cross-setting comparisons. The model provides a structured yet flexible approach to understanding resilience, emphasising the need to examine work as done rather than relying solely on outcomes to infer resilience. By offering a practical tool for both research and quality improvement, the CARE model contributes significantly to advancing resilience engineering in healthcare and promoting safer, more adaptable systems

Global Perspectives on Generative AI in Higher Education: Comparative Analysis of Ethical Adoption, Policy, and Stakeholder Roles

The swift incorporation of generative AI (GenAI) technologies into higher education has ignited considerable discussion regarding their ethical implications across various global contexts. This chapter presents a comparative analysis of how different regions and educational systems are adopting GenAI tools, including automated content generation, personalised learning platforms, and AI-supported research assistance. By analysing case studies from North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, the chapter delves into both the advantages and obstacles posed by these technologies. Crucial ethical issues such as data privacy, academic integrity, bias, accessibility, and the risk of AI-induced inequality are scrutinised within the framework of local cultural, legal, and policy environments. Additionally, the chapter addresses the implications for educators, students, and institutional governance, highlighting the importance of globally informed ethical standards and regulatory frameworks to facilitate responsible AI integration in higher education. By providing a nuanced perspective on these international viewpoints, the chapter seeks to offer meaningful insights for policymakers, educators, and researchers who are navigating the intricate landscape of AI ethics in academia

The Dark Five - statistical anomaly or persistent phenomena: An exploratory investigation into the factor structure of the SD4 in multiple samples

The existence of a Dark 5 (D5-SD4) within the Short Dark Tetrad Scale (Paulhus et al., 2021) was proposed tentatively by Crawford et al. (2025). However, extensive replication is required to determine if the D5-SD4 factor structure is a persistent phenomenon or a statistical artefact of the single data source used. The present study sought to explore if a D5-SD4, rather than the SD4 dimensional representation would fit the data better in several populations worldwide. In total, 12 samples from 11 different countries, with 7157 participants were analysed. The results of multivariance analysis, alignment optimization procedure and comparative confirmatory factor analysis demonstrate that D5-SD4 constantly exhibits better fit than four-factor model, albeit the differences in indices values vary across the samples. Alignment analysis showed that group means could be meaningfully compared across groups. Future research should investigate the discriminative utility of the new model

Curvature estimation techniques for advancing neurodegenerative disease analysis: a systematic review of machine learning and deep learning approaches

Neurodegenerative diseases present complex challenges that demand advanced analytical techniques to decode intricate brain structures and their changes over time. Curvature estimation within datasets has emerged as a critical tool in areas like neuroimaging and pattern recognition, with significant applications in diagnosing and understanding neurodegenerative diseases. This systematic review assesses state-of-the-art curvature estimation methodologies, covering classical mathematical techniques, machine learning, deep learning, and hybrid methods. Analysing 105 research papers from 2010 to 2023, we explore how each approach enhances our understanding of structural variations in neurodegenerative pathology. Our findings highlight a shift from classical methods to machine learning and deep learning, with neural network regression and convolutional neural networks gaining traction due to their precision in handling complex geometries and data-driven modelling. Hybrid methods further demonstrate the potential to merge classical and modern techniques for robust curvature estimation. This comprehensive review aims to equip researchers and clinicians with insights into effective curvature estimation methods, supporting the development of enhanced diagnostic tools and interventions for neurodegenerative diseases

A Complete Guide to the Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training

A new, fourth edition of the essential text for all those working towards the Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training. This new edition takes into account the refreshed ETF standards while still incorporating key information on reflective practice, study and research skills, and providing full coverage of all mandatory units. Accessible language is combined with a critical approach that clearly relates practical examples to the required underpinning theory. This fourth edition: - includes a new end of chapter feature to develop evidence-informed practice - recognises the need to provide better support and guidance to learners around gender, sexuality, racism, mental health and well-being - supports the revolution in online practices and its implications for hybrid work and learning patterns - reflects the escalating importance of the sustainability agenda and the need to decolonise the curriculum considers apprenticeships and new Ofsted foci and terminology - is suitable for use with all awarding organisations and HEIs - provides the depth and criticality to meet level 5 requirements

SMEs and the Prospects of Devolution and Local Government Re- organisation. A Research Note

This short note reports on the emerging findings of research into Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) business engagement in current plans for devolution and local government reorganisation. It seeks to capture the views of SMEs on the move to strategic authorities and larger unitary authorities as part of local government reorganisation and devolution in England. While devolution is repeatedly linked to economic growth, productivity and improvements to local governance capabilities, there is often little evidence about the voice or voices of businesses in debates over devolution and how business understands the practical changes it might make to businesses and the business environment. In other words, the demands of business and its support for reform are often assumed or even taken for granted

‘From where I stand, you're all legs’. Expectation, Desire and Queerness in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

As modern queerness advances, so do the expectations of the queer media audience. Queer media has traversed various tropes, such as the demonisation of queerness and the traditional “coming-out” narrative, but increasingly more queer narratives are steering away from queer-centric narratives to queer-additive narratives. The focus of these stories is less about who queer people are, and more about what they do as themselves. Games are a prime example of this, largely driven by the tastes of a queer audience that changes the onus of queer narratives. Games that focus on player choice and provide fantasy, especially roleplay games, benefit massively from an understanding of their audiences and their wants, needs, and, ultimately, expectations of queerness in modern games. Using a case study of games in the Dragon Age series and a longitudinal study of reflections collected from the Diversity Lounge at PAX East after the release of Dragon Age Inquisition, we look at expectation fulfilment of expressions of desire for queerness in games. We find that the latest in the Dragon Age series, Dragon Age: The Veilguard has largely fulfilled these expectations, though is not without its criticism

Responsibility of representation – ethics of transcultural filmmaking practices

This chapter looks at the philosophy of representation in an intercultural context. Drawing on David Martin-Jones (2019) and his interpretations of Deleuze’s ‘time image’ (1985), this chapter explores the responsibility of a documentary filmmaker when fixing in time a version of the interpretation of documentary contributors’ lives. Drawing on my own filming experience with the Yanesha tribe in the Peruvian Amazon and the Zhigoneshi collective by the Arhuaco community from Colombia, I explore the challenges of fixing identities in time when fragmentarisation of reception practices became inevitable. Going further, I explore the conditioning of contemporary filmmaking (and editing practices) in the search for impartiality, while remaining acutely aware of the inevitable subjectivity of the whole process, as advocated by Piotrowska. With the illusion of capturing objective reality no longer possible, how can we deal with our positionality in the face of the subjectivity of choices embedded in the filmmaking process? Drawing onto intercultural examples of documentary filmmaking, this chapter explores the questions of who tells the story and controls the narrative and why. Grounded in Hall’s encoding-decoding paradigm (Hall, 1973), this chapter seeks to explore the nature of documentary filmmaking practices in intercultural contexts with the ethical challenges they bring