Adult reading teachers’ beliefs about how less-skilled adult readers can be taught to read.

Despite large-scale interventions, significant numbers of adults worldwide continue to have problems with basic literacy, in particular in the area of reading. To be effective, adult reading teachers need expert knowledge at practitioner level. However, practices in adult reading education vary widely, often reflecting the individual beliefs of each teacher about how an adult can learn to read. In this study, phenomenographic analysis was used to identify categories of approaches to teaching adult reading, used by a group of 60 teachers in Western Australia and New Zealand. Four approaches were identified: reassurance, task-based, theory-based and responsive. It is argued that for teachers to become effective and consistent in responding to learner needs, they must understand their own beliefs and the consequences of these. The identification of different approaches in adult reading education is an important step in this process

Development and testing of a longitudinal model designed to examine the factors that influence the career paths of Iowa State University teacher education graduates

The purpose of the study was to develop and test a longitudinal model that examined factors that influence career paths of ISU teacher education graduates. Career choice and development theory, particularly that of Super, provided the framework for the development of the Career Path Model which includes three measurement points: at graduation from the preparation program, at one year following graduation, and at five years following graduation;The model was tested using survey data collected from two samples of ISU teacher education graduates. The first sample, Spring, 1980 and 1980/1981 academic year graduates (N = 246), provided data at all three measurement points for examining One Year Career Path and Five Year Career Path. The second sample, 1982/1983 academic year graduates (N = 179), provided data at the first two measurement points for cross-validating the portion of the model that predicted One Year Career Path;The model was generally supported. The results of the discriminant analysis procedure indicated that variables from all four major Career Path Model areas (personal and background characteristics, preparation program factors, employment factors, and indicators of career satisfaction) contributed significantly to the prediction of One Year Career Path in the testing with both samples. Preparation program factors, employment factors, and indicators of career satisfaction contributed significantly to the prediction of Five Year Career Path. The accuracy of prediction at one and five years was relatively high. The model was most accurate in identifying those whose employment at one year (teach, not teach) matched their employment plans of the previous year and at five years most accurate in identifying those who never taught and those who entered and stayed in teaching;Satisfaction with the student teaching experience was the strongest predictor of One Year Career Path with both samples and the second strongest predictor of Five Year Career Path. Those most satisfied with student teaching were most likely to plan to enter teaching the academic year following graduation; those who were least satisfied were least likely to teach during the five years following graduation

Aspects of the response of the churches to the 1984-5 industrial dispute in the British coal industry

For twelve months, from March 1984, the British coal industry was embroiled in a highly political industrial dispute, initially provoked by the sudden announcement of the closure of Cortonwood Colliery. The aims of this thesis are -a) to identify some of the ethical and theological issues raised by the dispute; b) to document the involvement of the different levels of the Christian church in the dispute; c) to identify patterns of theological thought and action; d) to discern what lessons there are to be learnt for the church. After giving a brief factual background to the dispute, attention is turned to the different parties to the dispute and their understanding of events, with key ethical issues raised by the dispute being identified. The focus then shifts to the various attempts of the churches at regional and national level to respond to the events and issues of the dispute being described. Clergy, church members and mining people from several pit communities in Durham and South Yorkshire have been interviewed and the results are summarised. The church responses are then analysed using a typology adapted from that devised by Drs D.G.A. Koelega in the report 'Unemployment: Work for the Church' (Driebergen, 1986) and issues raised by the responses are discussed further. Overall, it was concluded that the more the church became involved in ministering to those caught up in the dispute the more she was able to promote discussion of the underlying ethical issues. However, the church response was weakened by lack of communication between the various denominations, and the church would have made a more distinctly Christian response if she had concentrated more on probing the underlying ethical issues rather than on trying to produce specific peace formulas

The Nature Press, Vol. 3

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Iwi interests and the RMA: An evaluation of the quality of first generation council plans

This working paper analyses the processes adopted by councils for involving hapū /iwi in plan implementation, including the resource consents process. Three topic issues were investigated to assess plan implementation — urban amenity, storm water, and issues of importance to iwi. Questions were asked about the capacity of hapū/iwi to engage in the resource consent process, which resource issues were of concern to them, their relationship with council and consent applicants, and their perception of the consent process. Most resources listed in the questionnaire were of concern to hapū/iwi, with water quality, wāhi tapu and heritage the most commonly cited. In conclusion, we found a general dissatisfaction on the part of hapū/iwi with councils’ performance with respect to both Treaty relationships and consent processing under the RMA. A further contributing factor to the poor relationships found between hapū/iwi and councils, was the lack of clarity over the role of hapū and iwi in resource management. In several districts, diverging responses from hapū/iwi and councils to questions about level of understanding and commitment suggests there is a need for more effective communication. These problems are compounded by the generally low capacity of hapū/iwi to participate in resource consent processes. These findings suggest that there is much to be done to improve relationships and behaviour of these key stakeholder groups in the plan implementation process if key provisions in the RMA related to hapū/iwi interests are to be fulfilled. The differences shown in reciprocal perceptions have serious implications for establishing a sound working partnership between councils and hapū/iwi in their areas. Making clear these discrepancies is a first step towards taking the measures needed for building a better partnership. Further, the capacity of hapū/iwi to participate could be better utilised if there was greater integration between regional and district councils on issues of significance and processes for iwi involvement

Radar studies of the vertical distribution of insects migrating over southern Britain: the influence of temperature inversions on nocturnal layer concentrations

Insects migrating over two sites in southern UK (Malvern in Worcestershire, and Harpenden in Hertfordshire) have been monitored continuously with nutating vertical-looking radars (VLRs) equipped with powerful control and analysis software. These observations make possible, for the first time, a systematic investigation of the vertical distribution of insect aerial density in the atmosphere, over temporal scales ranging from the short (instantaneous vertical profiles updated every 15 min) to the very long (profiles aggregated over whole seasons or even years). In the present paper, an outline is given of some general features of insect stratification as revealed by the radars, followed by a description of occasions during warm nights in the summer months when intense insect layers developed. Some of these nocturnal layers were due to the insects flying preferentially at the top of strong surface temperature inversions, and in other cases, layering was associated with higher-altitude temperature maxima, such as those due to subsidence inversions. The layers were formed from insects of a great variety of sizes, but peaks in the mass distributions pointed to a preponderance of medium-sized noctuid moths on certain occasions

The quality of district plans and their implementation: Towards environmental quality

Since inception of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) the issue of sustainable management has dominated planning practice in New Zealand. Over the past decade, councils have wrestled with converting the concept of sustainable management into policy and practice. Implicit to the requirement that district councils develop plans for managing the environmental effects of the use and development of natural and physical resources is the assumption that good quality plans will result in improved environmental quality. The key question to be addressed in this paper is: Do good plans matter? Measuring the quality of plan implementation is a complex task, and little, if any, attempt has been made in councils to do it. The PUCM research is the first in New Zealand to attempt a quantitative analysis of the links between the quality of plans produced under the RMA and the quality of plan implementation. The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodology that we adopted for the research and to present some preliminary results from studying the implementation of plans through the resource consent process. Overall, we are trying to determine: how best to measure the quality of plan implementation and the effect that district plan quality has on implementation quality; and what factors influence the relationship between plan quality and implementation quality. This paper is structured into three main parts. The first is a description of the methodological approach taken to conduct the research. In the second part, the key preliminary results are presented. Finally the findings and the implications for achieving good environmental outcomes are discussed

Resource limitation and responses to rivals in males of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Diet has a profound direct and indirect effect on reproductive success in both sexes. Variation in diet quality and quantity can significantly alter the capacity of females to lay eggs and of males to deliver courtship. Here we tested the effect of dietary resource limitation on the ability of male D. melanogaster to respond adaptively to rivals by extending their mating duration. Previous work done under ad libitum diet conditions showed that males exposed to rivals prior to mating significantly extend mating duration, transfer more ejaculate proteins and achieve higher reproductive success. Such adaptive responses are predicted to occur because male ejaculate production may be limited and hence ejaculate resources require allocation across different reproductive bouts, to balance current versus future reproductive success. However, when males suffer dietary limitation, and potentially have fewer reproductive resources to apportion, we expect adaptive allocation of responses to rivals to be minimised. We tested this prediction and found that males held on agar-only diets for 5-7 days lost the ability to extend mating following exposure to rivals. Interestingly, extended mating was retained in males held on low yeast/sugar: no sugar/yeast diet treatments, but was mostly lost when males were maintained on ‘imbalanced’ diets in which there was high yeast: no sugar and vice versa. Overall, the results show that males exhibit adaptive responses to rivals according to the degree of dietary resource limitation and to the ratio of individual diet components

Consumer experiences of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in regional Australia: A mixed methods study and logic model to identify consumer-experience mechanisms to avoid hospital and enhance outcomes

The objective of this study to explore consumer experiences of their care for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in a regional Australian hospital and to ascertain consumer identified contexts and mechanisms that can enhance consumer-experience outcomes. A sequential, explanatory mixed methods design was employed including a retrospective audit of COPD admissions and re-admissions and semi-structured interviews with a sample of consumers (n=12). Themes were synthesised using a realist framework and the Expanded Chronic Care Model to develop a logic model. Audit data identified above national average hospital admission rates and length of stay for treatment of COPD. Interview data revealed three key themes namely contexts of care, mechanisms for providing care, and outcomes of care. A logic model was constructed to highlight the necessary contexts and consumer-identified mechanisms that can be enacted to achieve consumer-valued outcomes. The model outlined factors at individual, provider and system levels in a regional and rural setting including interaction and relationships with health care providers; consumer capability; workforce; care pathway; capacity to offer services and support; and continuity of care. This research identifies that positive and continuous relationships are one of the most important consumer-identified mechanisms for influencing COPD consumer experience of their care and capacity to self-manage to stay out of hospital. This research challenges regional and rural health services to harness relationships and connectedness to improve consumer experiences and the impact of care for COPD consumers. The logic model provides a template to assist health services to rise to this challenge. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Patient, Family & Community Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Evaluation of iwi and hapū participation in the resource consents processes of six district councils

This working paper analyses the processes adopted by councils for involving hapū/iwi in plan implementation, including the resource consents process. Three topic issues were investigated to assess plan implementation — urban amenity, storm water, and issues of importance to iwi. Questions were asked about the capacity of hapū/iwi to engage in the resource consent process, which resource issues were of concern to them, their relationship with council and consent applicants, and their perception of the consent process. Most resources listed in the questionnaire were of concern to hapū/iwi, with water quality, wāhi tapu and heritage the most commonly cited. In conclusion, we found a general dissatisfaction on the part of hapū/iwi with councils’ performance with respect to both Treaty relationships and consent processing under the RMA. A further contributing factor to the poor relationships found between hapū/iwi and councils, was the lack of clarity over the role of hapū and iwi in resource management. In several districts, diverging responses from hapū/iwi and councils to questions about level of understanding and commitment suggests there is a need for more effective communication. These problems are compounded by the generally low capacity of hapū/iwi to participate in resource consent processes. These findings suggest that there is much to be done to improve relationships and behaviour of these key stakeholder groups in the plan implementation process if key provisions in the RMA related to hapū/iwi interests are to be fulfilled. The differences shown in reciprocal perceptions have serious implications for establishing a sound working partnership between councils and hapū/iwi in their areas. Making clear these discrepancies is a first step towards taking the measures needed for building a better partnership. Further, the capacity of hapū/iwi to participate could be better utilised if there was greater integration between regional and district councils on issues of significance and processes for iwi involvement