The application of phronesis to teaching and quality management : a case study in further education

Over the last twenty years Further Education colleges in England have expanded their Higher Education provision significantly. Higher Education in Further Education is a major force accounting for approximately ten percent of Higher Education students (Parry 2005). The thesis takes a concept from Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics and applies it to Higher Education in Further Education in England. The notion of phronesis adopted for this study differs from literal interpretations of Aristotle such as adopted by Kristyansson, (2005) but accords with adaptations of the concept by such as Eisner (2002), Birmingham (2003, 2004) and Hagar (2000). The interpretation adopted for the thesis is that phronesis is wise, practical knowledge which is deliberative, depends on judgement and is based on circumstances. It is about practicalities and the interaction between the universal and the particular. When applied to teaching it can be briefly summarised as an approach which bases the profession of teaching on practical knowledge and recognises the artistry of the teaching activity (Eisner, 2002). The argument of the thesis is that phronesis could provide a model for the teaching and quality management of Higher Education (HE) in Further Education (FE) at Hull College. The thesis demonstrates that in the face of pressures of commodification, performativity and vocationalisation in the national and global environment, students, staff and managers at the College hold beliefs more in tune with an approach based on phronesis rather than with that of The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) or The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). As a result phronesis could provide a more effective foundation for teaching and quality management. After an analysis of the academic and official literature, the empirical research adopted a case study method based on semi structured interviews with students, teaching staff and managers. The empirical evidence reinforced the academic evidence that there is a managerial imperative in colleges which leads to teaching staff and managers facing a range of pressures. There are pressures on their beliefs and what they identified as their proper professional activity: teaching, reflecting, debating, updating their subject knowledge and engaging in scholarship. However, these pressures are moderated by the commitment of the teaching staff and managers to delivering a particular HE in FE experience, in partnership with their students, in accordance with the features of phronesis. Empirical and theoretical evidence supports the conjecture that phronesis could provide a model for the teaching and quality management of HE in FE, at Hull College. The views of students, staff and managers were broadly in accord with the main features of phronesis, rather than those of performativity and commodification. Their views were also consistent with a vocational education situated in phronesis, rather than with a vocationalism which is part of the 5 managerialist, performative and commodificationist agendas. Although there are pressures from all of these agendas threatening the application of phronesis, there is evidence that it is phronesis which should underpin the teaching, management and indeed, the profession for teachers of HE in FE. Recommendations focus on acknowledging the distinct role of HE in FE: its quality management; staff participation in reflection, scholarly activity and vocational updating; the recognition of students as partners in learning

An integrated professionalism in further education: a time for phronesis?

The aim of this article is to examine the role taken by the Institute for Learning (IfL) in England to promote the nature of professionalism in the lifelong learning sector. It raises the possibility that the decisions taken by the IfL, since its inception in 2002, are leading to the de-professionalisation of teachers. It is argued that what is now needed is a new professionalism that is driven by the practice of phronesis: wise practical reasoning, based on judgement and wisdom, and that accords with the centrality of context and the reflective nature of the activity of teaching. It will be informed by values that enable practitioners to mediate the confrontational forces of managerialism which might otherwise threaten to undermine their professionalism

Carbon isotope discrimination in leaves of the common paperbark tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia, as a tool for quantifying past tropical and subtropical rainfall

Quantitative reconstructions of terrestrial climate are highly sought after but rare, particularly in Australia. Carbon isotope discrimination in plant leaves (Δleaf) is an established indicator of past hydroclimate because the fractionation of carbon isotopes during photosynthesis is strongly influenced by water stress. Leaves of the evergreen tree Melaleuca quinquenervia have been recovered from the sediments of some perched lakes on North Stradbroke and Fraser Islands, south-east Queensland, eastern Australia. Here, we examine the potential for using M. quinquenervia ∆leaf as a tracer of past rainfall by analysing carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) of modern leaves. We firstly assess Δleaf variation at the leaf and stand scale and find no systematic pattern within leaves or between leaves due to their position on the tree. We then examine the relationships between climate and Δleaf for an 11 year timeseries of leaves collected in a litter tray. M. quinquenervia retains its leaves for 1-4 years; thus cumulative average climate data are used. There is a significant relationship between annual mean ∆leaf and mean annual rainfall of the hydrological year for 1-4 years (i.e. 365-1460 days) prior to leaf fall (r2=0.64, p=0.003, n=11). This relationship is marginally improved by accounting for the effect of pCO2 on discrimination (r2=0.67, p=0.002, n=11). The correlation between rainfall and Δleaf, and the natural distribution of Melaleuca quinquenervia around wetlands of eastern Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia offers significant potential to infer past rainfall on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales

Detection of a glitch in the pulsar J1709-4429

We report the detection of a glitch event in the pulsar J1709$-$4429 (also known as B1706$-$44) during regular monitoring observations with the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (UTMOST). The glitch was found during timing operations, in which we regularly observe over 400 pulsars with up to daily cadence, while commensally searching for Rotating Radio Transients, pulsars, and FRBs. With a fractional size of $\Delta\nu/\nu \approx 52.4 \times10^{-9}$, the glitch reported here is by far the smallest known for this pulsar, attesting to the efficacy of glitch searches with high cadence using UTMOST.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figur

Animal infection studies of two recently discovered African bat paramyxoviruses, Achimota 1 and Achimota 2.

Bats are implicated as the natural reservoirs for several highly pathogenic viruses that can infect other animal species, including man. Here, we investigate the potential for two recently discovered bat rubulaviruses, Achimota virus 1 (AchPV1) and Achimota virus 2 (AchPV2), isolated from urine collected under urban bat (Eidolon helvum) roosts in Ghana, West Africa, to infect small laboratory animals. AchPV1 and AchPV2 are classified in the family Paramyxoviridae and cluster with other bat derived zoonotic rubulaviruses (i.e. Sosuga, Menangle and Tioman viruses). To assess the susceptibility of AchPV1 and AchPV2 in animals, infection studies were conducted in ferrets, guinea pigs and mice. Seroconversion, immunohistological evidence of infection, and viral shedding were identified in ferrets and guinea pigs, but not in mice. Infection was associated with respiratory disease in ferrets. Viral genome was detected in a range of tissues from ferrets and guinea pigs, however virus isolation was only achieved from ferret tissues. The results from this study indicate Achimota viruses (AchPVs) are able to cross the species barrier. Consequently, vigilance for infection with and disease caused by these viruses in people and domesticated animals is warranted in sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula where the reservoir hosts are present.Royal Society Wolfson research merit award. NRF-CRP grant (NRF2012NRF-CRP001-056)

Identifying Hendra Virus Diversity in Pteropid Bats

Hendra virus (HeV) causes a zoonotic disease with high mortality that is transmitted to humans from bats of the genus Pteropus (flying foxes) via an intermediary equine host. Factors promoting spillover from bats to horses are uncertain at this time, but plausibly encompass host and/or agent and/or environmental factors. There is a lack of HeV sequence information derived from the natural bat host, as previously sequences have only been obtained from horses or humans following spillover events. In order to obtain an insight into possible variants of HeV circulating in flying foxes, collection of urine was undertaken in multiple flying fox roosts in Queensland, Australia. HeV was found to be geographically widespread in flying foxes with a number of HeV variants circulating at the one time at multiple locations, while at times the same variant was found circulating at disparate locations. Sequence diversity within variants allowed differentiation on the basis of nucleotide changes, and hypervariable regions in the genome were identified that could be used to differentiate circulating variants. Further, during the study, HeV was isolated from the urine of flying foxes on four occasions from three different locations. The data indicates that spillover events do not correlate with particular HeV isolates, suggesting that host and/or environmental factors are the primary determinants of bat-horse spillover. Thus future spillover events are likely to occur, and there is an on-going need for effective risk management strategies for both human and animal health

Achimota Pararubulavirus 3: A New Bat-Derived Paramyxovirus of the Genus Pararubulavirus.

Bats are an important source of viral zoonoses, including paramyxoviruses. The paramyxoviral Pararubulavirus genus contains viruses mostly derived from bats that are common, diverse, distributed throughout the Old World, and known to be zoonotic. Here, we describe a new member of the genus Achimota pararubulavirus 3 (AchPV3) and its isolation from the urine of African straw-coloured fruit bats on primary bat kidneys cells. We sequenced and analysed the genome of AchPV3 relative to other Paramyxoviridae, revealing it to be similar to known pararubulaviruses. Phylogenetic analysis of AchPV3 revealed the failure of molecular detection in the urine sample from which AchPV3 was derived and an attachment protein most closely related with AchPV2-a pararubulavirus known to cause cross-species transmission. Together these findings add to the picture of pararubulaviruses, their sources, and variable zoonotic potential, which is key to our understanding of host restriction and spillover of bat-derived paramyxoviruses. AchPV3 represents a novel candidate zoonosis and an important tool for further study

Comparison of Airway Intubation Devices When Using a Biohazard Suit: A Feasibility Study

OBJECTIVES: We set out to compare emergency medicine residents\u27 intubating times and success rates for direct laryngoscopy (DL), GlideScope-assisted intubation (GS), and the Supraglottic Airway Laryngopharyngeal Tube (SALT) airway with and without biohazard gear. METHODS: Each resident passed through 2 sets of 3 testing stations (DL, GS, SALT) in succession, intubating Laerdal mannequin heads with the 3 modalities after randomization to start with or without biohazard gear. RESULTS: Thirty-seven residents participated, and 27 were male (73%); 14 (37.8%) had prior experience intubating in biohazard suits. There was a statistically significant difference in those who had prior intubation experience between DL (37, 100%), GS (32, 86.5%), and SALT (12, 32.4%) (P \u3c .001) and in median time to intubation (48 seconds, no suit; 57 seconds, with suits) (P = .03). There was no statistically significant difference between the overall times to intubate for the 3 devices. First-pass success was highest for DL (91.2%, no suit; 83.7%, suit) followed by GS (89%, no suit; 78.3%, suit) and SALT (51%, no suit; 67.6%, suit). CONCLUSION: A minority of participants had prior experience intubating in biohazard suits. Use of biohazard suits extends time to successful intubation. There was no difference in time to intubation for the 3 devices, but first-pass success was highest for DL (with or without biohazard gear)