Examining barriers to internationalisation created by diverse systems and structures in vocational education and training

In a global society, all educational sectors need to recognise internationalism as a core, foundational principle. Whilst most educational sectors are taking up that challenge, vocational education and training (VET) is still being pulled towards the national agenda in terms of its structures and systems, and the policies driving it, disadvantaging those who graduate from VET, those who teach in it, and the businesses and countries that connect with it. This paper poses questions about the future of internationalisation in the sector. It examines whether there is a way to create a VET system that meets its primary point of value, to produce skilled workers for the local labour market, while still benefitting those graduates by providing international skills and knowledge, gained from VET institutions that are international in their outlook. The paper examines some of the key barriers created by systems and structures in VET to internationalisation and suggests that the efforts which have been made to address the problem have had limited success. It suggests that only a model which gives freedom to those with a direct vested interest, students, teachers, trainers and employers, to pursue international co-operation and liaison will have the opportunity to succeed

Some observations on the ecology and phytochemistry of nickel-accumulating alyssum species from the Iberian peninsula : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Chemistry at Massey University

Experiments were carried out on the tolerance to, and uptake of nickel by Iberian subspecies of A. serpyllifolium. Two of these subspecies, the serpentinic-endemics s.sp. lusitanicum (from Bragança, Portugal) and s.sp. malacitanum (from Málaga, Spain) were hyperaccumulators (>1,000 μg/g in dried leaves) of nickel. Their precursor, s.sp. serpyllifolium (from Granada, Spain) was a non-accumulator of this element. Seeds of the two serpentine-endemics germinated extensively in nickel concentrations up to 12,000μg/g (1.2%) whereas s.sp. serpyllifoliurn only germinated in nickel concentrations of up to 60 μg/ml. Tolerance tests involving measurement of new root lengths of excised seedlings placed in varying nickel concentrations again showed much greater tolerance of the two serpentinophytes. In both series of experiments, the order of tolerance was: s.sp. lusitanicum > s.sp. malacitanum > s.sp. serpyllifolium. In pot trials involving seedlings of s.sp. malacitanum grown in mixtures containing varying amounts of calcium, magnesium and nickel, the most important findings were that nickel uptake is somewhat stimulated by an excess of calcium in the substrate. This relationship was confirmed by interspecies and intra-species analyses of naturally-occurring plants. Enhanced calcium uptake concomitant with nickel uptake by hyperaccumulators results in a higher (more favourable) Ca/Mg ratio and thereby counteracts one of the unfavourable edaphic effects of serpentine soils. The form of nickel in leaves of the three Iberian subspecies was investigated. Nickel existed mainly as a water-soluble polar complex in the vacuoles. Small concentrations of nickel did however exist in cell fractions particularly in the mitochondria where enzyme systems are located. GLC studies on the purified nickel complexes showed that this element is associated principally with malic and malonic acids which are present in high concentrations in the hyperaccumulators but not in s.sp. serpyllifolium. It is suggested that production of malic acid is a mechanism whereby hyperaccumulators can tolerate unfavourable edaphic factors such as nickel-rich soils. Presence of nickel in the mitochondria blocks the citric acid cycle by deactivating malic dehydrogenase leading to build-up of malic acid in the vacuoles which then absorbs excess nickel by a complexing reaction and leads to its diffusion back into the vacuoles from the mitochondria, hence unblocking the citric acid cycle. Malonic acid also blocks the cycle and leads to a reduced level of malic acid and hence lesser tolerance to nickel. This is shown to be the case for s.sp. malacitanum which contains more malonic acid than s.sp. lusitanicum and is also less tolerant to nickel. It is postulated that the chemical evidence suggests that s.sp. lusitanicum and s.sp. malacitanum are sufficiently different chemically to lend weight to the argument that the latter should be promoted to full specific rank as has already been done for s.sp. lusitanicum

When worlds collide - examining the challenges faced by teacher education programmes combining professional vocational competence with academic study, lessons from further education to higher education

This paper examines the challenges faced by higher education institutions in designing, teaching and quality assuring programmes of study which, of necessity, must combine the gaining of professional vocational competence with academic study. The paper gives recognition to the policy framework in which these programmes fit – with particular reference to teacher education. It presents the challenges at each stage, from ensuring that curriculum design meets the needs of the profession, to the quality assurance mechanisms which ensure standards and compliance. Initially the paper draws on published research to examine how and why these policy decisions have been taken in much of the developed world. The paper goes on to present a new perspective, however, by comparing current teacher education mechanisms with those that have developed in the past twenty years in further education, looking at the parallels and addressing how far we can learn from the experiences of further education colleagues to ensure that we manage to combine the two different worlds of academia and vocational training without compromising either. It suggests ways in which higher education institutions can learn from further education to tackle the challenges to ensure that concentration on training students to be good teachers is done without compromising personal growth and intellectual development, and examines how far it is possible to meet the demands of higher education quality controls which are applied with differential emphases

Seeing Is Believing

A discussion of the suffix -ing

Some of the First Shall be Last

Transpositions where a letter at one end of a word can be moved to the other end to make a new word are quite common.However, transposing two or more consecutive letters from end to end is another matter

Seeing Is Believing

An essay on words with the suffix ending ing

From baseworld to droneworld

Our planet is garrisoned by a network of around 1,100 bases operated by the U.S. military. Many of these sites exist in shadow because they are used for paramilitary operations by Special Forces and the CIA. These bases range in size and location, but a recent and favoured strategy of the U.S. military has been to construct skeletal “lily pads” that are scattered in remote outposts across the globe. Chalmers Johnson, author of the book Blowback, wrote back in 2004 that “[t]his vast network of American bases on every continent except Antarctica actually constitutes a new form of empire – an empire of bases with its own geography not likely to be taught in any high school geography class”. Of course, neither would the cost of maintaining this “Baseworld” make it to print: billions and billions of dollars spent on everything from air conditioning to internet cafes. While this Baseworld – which counts Guantanamo Bay as the jewel in its crown – is hardly new, the proliferation of remotely piloted aircraft certainly is. Everywhere and nowhere, drones have become sovereign tools of life and death, and are coming to a sky near you