Exploring Leeds Beckett University BME students’ experiences of “living at home”: sharing practice for curricular change and institutional actions

This workshop will explore research undertaken at Leeds Beckett University exploring the learning experience of BME students on five courses which have the largest BME student numbers. This project was catalysed by the need to address the national student attainment gap where BME students are consistently getting fewer good degrees than non BME students. The reasons for this are complex and multifactorial. More and more of all our University students are living at home rather than in halls or private rented accommodation. This may be one of the contributing factors influencing student learning experiences. Research has shown that much more must be done “to deepen commuter students’ involvement in learning (Jacoby, 2000). The rate of living in the parental home is even greater for BME students -55% of our female BME students live at home compared to 19% of female non BME students and 42% of the male BME students live at home compared to 17% of male non BME students. This workshop focusses on the BME students, exploring the findings of staff and student focus groups and how living at home impacted on their learning in a range of ways. We will outline some of the underpinning literature which informed our institutional action planning and explore ways we are jointly addressing the findings with students through inclusive curricular design. This workshop will encourage participants to share their own practice focussed on induction, retention and independent and collaborative learning and enhancing all students’ sense of belonging. It will end with a postcard activity where participants (be they students and staff) commit to “change one thing” in their own workplace to address the challenge of students living at home engaging beyond the classroom

Teaching abroad: Ensuring a good opportunity is really great

With increased globalization, more colleges and universities are establishing faculty exchanges, study abroad programs, collaborative research efforts, and technical assistance programs with counterparts overseas resulting in enhanced faculty development, increased learning for students, revenue generation and prestige for the partnering institutions. For faculty, the opportunity to teach abroad can be a fulfilling and career enhancing experience. However, if faculty are inadequately prepared and supported, valuable time and resources are wasted, student learning is impacted, and the image of the institution and faculty member may suffer. The purpose of this research was to determine how faculty and their home institutions can ensure those teaching abroad are not just ‘okay,’ but great experiences for all involved. To study this problem, faculty with international teaching experience and overseas country coordinators were surveyed and a literature review was conducted. Data were compiled to identify actions which can be taken to ensure greater success in overseas assignments. The researcher will share results exploring why educational institutions are expanding operations overseas, the benefits faculty can derive from teaching abroad, the negative impact of failing to adequately prepare for overseas assignments, and actions which can be taken to ensure adequate preparation

Exploring BME commuting students’ experiences: sharing practice for inclusive curricular change and institutional action

This workshop explores the learning experience of commuting BME students and how participants can change practice, even in a small way, in their own universities. The research underpinning this workshop focussed on the commuting BME students and extended the scope of earlier research which explored wider issues relating to the BME student attainment gap where BME students consistently get fewer good degrees than non BME students. (Smith, 2017). More and more of all our University students are living in the parental or family home rather than in halls or private rented accommodation. This may be one of the contributing factors influencing student learning experiences. Research has shown that much more must be done “to deepen commuter students’ involvement in learning (Jacoby, 2000 & 2004). Indeed, a recent report (Thomas & Jones, 2017) calls for a deeper understanding of the barriers to engagement faced by all commuting students. Interestingly the rate of living in the parental home is even greater for BME students -55% of our female BME students live at home compared to 19% of female, non BME students and 42% of the male BME students live at home compared to 17% of male non BME students. At Leeds Beckett we are above the national average for this. This workshop focusses on the BME student experience, exploring the findings of staff and student focus groups and how living at home impacted on the students’ engagement with learning in a range of ways. The ways students, staff and the University are jointly working in partnership to address the emergent findings through improving inclusive curricular design and wider infrastructural and cultural change will be described and then used as trigger questions for small group discussion. This will encourage participants to discuss their own university’s practice and how they engage students in the academic and cultural capital that being “on campus” can provide. It will explore how greater engagement might enhance all students’ sense of belonging. The workshop ends with a postcard activity where participants (be they students and staff) commit to “change one thing” in their own workplace to address the challenge of students living at home engaging beyond the classroom. References: Jacoby, B (2000). Why involve commuter students in learning? In M. Kramer (Series Ed.), & B. Jacoby (Vol. Ed.), New Directions for Higher Education, 109. Involving commuter students in learning (pp. 3-13). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Jacoby, B., & Garland, J. (2004). Strategies for enhancing commuter student success. Journal of College Student Retention, 6(1), 61–79. Smith, S. (2017) Exploring the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Student Attainment Gap: What Did It Tell Us? Actions to Address Home BME Undergraduate Students’ Degree Attainment. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice. 5, 1 Thomas, L and Jones, R. (2017) Student engagement in the context of commuter students. Summary Report. TSEP. Londo

Policy Essay: Fostering the acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQ youth in the child welfare system: Considerations for advancing trauma informed responses for LGBTQ youth in care

LGBTQ youth are vulnerable to nearly all forms of childhood maltreatment and trauma and are disproportionately overrepresented in the child welfare system. Many LGBTQ youth in the child welfare system encounter a number of obstacles related to discrimination, rejection, placement instability, and further maltreatment. Despite recent insights and advances in the field of trauma informed care the trauma experiences of LGBTQ youth have largely gone unaddressed in major works and frameworks related to trauma informed care. The following article explores the unique trauma and maltreatment experiences of LGBTQ youth and provides considerations for enhancing and improving practice with LGBTQ youth through the implementation of recent insights in the field of trauma informed care

Women's experiences of coping with pain during childbirth: A critical review of qualitative research

Objective To identify and analyse qualitative literature exploring women׳s experiences of coping with pain during childbirth. Design Critical review of qualitative research. Findings Ten studies were included, conducted in Australia, England, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran and Sweden. Eight of the studies employed a phenomenological perspective with the remaining two without a specific qualitative methodological perspective. Thematic analysis was used as the approach for synthesising the data in this review. Two main themes emerged as the most significant influences upon a woman׳s ability to cope with pain: (i) the importance of individualised, continuous support and (ii) an acceptance of pain during childbirth. This review found that women felt vulnerable during childbirth and valued the relationships they had with health professionals. Many of the women perceived childbirth pain as challenging, however, they described the inherent paradox for the need for pain to birth their child. This allowed them to embrace the pain subsequently enhancing their coping ability. Key conclusions Women׳s experience of coping with pain during childbirth is complex and multifaceted. Many women felt the need for effective support throughout childbirth and described the potential implications where this support failed to be provided. Feeling safe through the concept of continuous support was a key element of care to enhance the coping ability and avoid feelings of loneliness and fear. A positive outlook and acceptance of pain was acknowledged by many of the women, demonstrating the beneficial implications for coping ability. These findings were consistent despite the socio-economic, cultural and contextual differences observed within the studies suggesting that experiences of coping with pain during childbirth are universal. Implications for practice The findings suggest there is a dissonance between what women want in order to enhance their ability to cope with pain and the reality of clinical practice. This review found women would like health professionals to maintain a continuous presence throughout childbirth and support a social model of care that promotes continuity of care and an increasing acceptance of pain as part of normal childbirth. It is suggested future research regarding the role of antenatal provision for instilling such a viewpoint in preparation of birth be undertaken to inform policy makers. The need for a shift in societal norms is also suggested to disseminate expectations and positive or negative views of what the role of pain during childbirth should be to empower women to cope with childbirth and embrace this transition to motherhood as part of a normal process

Constraints faced by urban poor in managing diabetes care: patients' perspectives from South India

Background: Four out of five adults with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). India has the second highest number of diabetes patients in the world. Despite a huge burden, diabetes care remains suboptimal. While patients (and families) play an important role in managing chronic conditions, there is a dearth of studies in LMIC and virtually none in India capturing perspectives and experiences of patients in regard to diabetes care. Objective: The objective of this study was to better understand constraints faced by patients from urban slums in managing care for type 2 diabetes in India. Design: We conducted in-depth interviews, using a phenomenological approach, with 16 type 2- diabetes patients from a poor urban neighbourhood in South India. These patients were selected with the help of four community health workers (CHWs) and were interviewed by two trained researchers exploring patients’ experiences of living with and seeking care for diabetes. The sampling followed the principle of saturation. Data were initially coded using the NVivo software. Emerging themes were periodically discussed among the researchers and were refined over time through an iterative process using a mind-mapping tool. Results: Despite an abundance of healthcare facilities in the vicinity, diabetes patients faced several constraints in accessing healthcare such as financial hardship, negative attitudes and inadequate communication by healthcare providers and a fragmented healthcare service system offering inadequate care. Strongly defined gender-based family roles disadvantaged women by restricting their mobility and autonomy to access healthcare. The prevailing nuclear family structure and inter-generational conflicts limited support and care for elderly adults. Conclusions: There is a need to strengthen primary care services with a special focus on improving the availability and integration of health services for diabetes at the community level, enhancing patient centredness and continuity in delivery of care. Our findings also point to the need to provide social services in conjunction with health services aiming at improving status of women and elderly in families and society

A Critical Review of Contemporary Practice and Educational Research in Internationalisation within the business education subject communities

This report critically reviews contemporary educational research and practice in the field of internationalisation within the business education subject communities in order to inform curriculum development and pedagogy geared towards the development of international perspectives and intercultural learning. Drawing on current pedagogical literatures as well as staff and student consultations, it identifies a number of key points which reflect good practice in business education curricula. Due to the broad disciplinary scope of the subject area in focus and the diversity of curricular activities across the UK, this critical review is selective rather than exhaustive and seeks to stimulate further discussion and research in the field. The report is structured as a reference text around key themes and issues emerging from the review, providing the reader who has a particular interest or issue in their practice with an outline of key texts which can be followed up as appropriate

Internationalisation of HE in the UK: 'Where are we now and where might we go?'

This paper is based on a literature review commissioned by the Higher Education Academy in 2006 which aimed to identify existing published literature and current practices of direct relevance to the Internationalisation of Higher Education in the UK. The review was based on the assumption that a range of concerns exists, that there are emerging issues and that there are inconsistencies and gaps in the literature. The project focused on a number of questions including: what working definitions of internationalisation of higher education are in currency? what meanings are attributed to internationalisation of the curriculum? what models for institutional internationalisation are emerging? and, what curriculum models are emerging/being adopted? The literature trawl identified in excess of 300 international sources of relevance, of which, more that 100 originated in the UK. This paper draws on the analysis of these sources to determine ‘where we are’ in the UK in comparison with our Western counterparts, particularly HEIs based in Australia

Enhancing Care Transitions for Older People through Interprofessional Simulation: A Mixed Method Evaluation

Introduction: The educational needs of the health and social care workforce for delivering effective integrated care are important. This paper reports on the development, pilot and evaluation of an interprofessional simulation course, which aimed to support integrated care models for care transitions for older people from hospital to home. Theory and methods: The course development was informed by a literature review and a scoping exercise with the health and social care workforce. The course ran six times and was attended by health and social care professionals from hospital and community (n=49). The evaluation aimed to elicit staff perceptions of their learning about care transfers of older people and to explore application of learning into practice and perceived outcomes. The study used a sequential mixed method design with questionnaires completed pre (n=44) and post (n=47) course and interviews (n=9) 2-5 months later. Results:Participants evaluated interprofessional simulation as a successful strategy. Post-course, participants identified learning points and at the interviews, similar themes with examples of application in practice were: Understanding individual needs and empathy; Communicating with patients and families; Interprofessional working; Working across settings to achieve effective care transitions. Conclusions and discussion:An interprofessional simulation course successfully brought together health and social care professionals across settings to develop integrated care skills and improve care transitions for older people with complex needs from hospital to home