Difficult knowledge : possibilities of learning in holocaust education

ABSTRACT\ud Within the last two decades, the study in UK classrooms of the Holocaust\ud narrative (that is, the twentieth century events whereby six million Jews and\ud many others perished through Nazi policies) has developed considerably.\ud Reasons given for this are not limited to its importance in European history, but\ud include its use as a stimulus to pupils in considering wider social and moral\ud issues. Both the literature on the subject of Holocaust Education and classroom\ud practitioners cite rationales which include countering racism and encouraging\ud active approaches to citizenship. This is despite existing bodies of knowledge in\ud related fields which indicate that sustained behavioural change among pupils as\ud a result of such lessons is unlikely. Notwithstanding the depressing nature of the\ud subject matter, teachers who are particularly committed to this topic often cite\ud positive responses in the classroom in terms of pupil engagement.\ud The research question addressed in this study concerns what pupils may be\ud learning in these lessons and involves qualitative research carried out mainly in\ud three English secondary schools. Findings suggest that Holocaust Education can\ud help pupils to develop a greater awareness of the nature of humanity and the\ud fragility of social values, including an appreciation of the complexity of making\ud moral choices.\ud The discourse within which the teacher approaches the lessons is a defining\ud factor, but she cannot predict the way in which the pupil will respond. Pupil\ud engagement may enable teacher desires to be fulfilled, while pupils may\ud experience a perception of empowerment, deriving from a sense of partnership\ud with the teacher as they confront 'difficult knowledge' together. While specific\ud aims and objectives set for Holocaust Education are unrealistic, the development\ud of positive classroom relationships and the possibilities for learning experiences\ud may be enhanced

Landscape configuration affects probability of apex predator presence and community structure in experimental metacommunities

Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, highlighting the urgent requirement for well-designed protected areas. Design tactics previously proposed to promote biodiversity include enhancing the number, connectivity, and heterogeneity of reserve patches. However, how the importance of these features changes depending on what the conservation objective is remains poorly understood. Here we use experimental landscapes containing ciliate protozoa to investigate how the number and heterogeneity in size of habitat patches, rates of dispersal between neighbouring patches, and mortality risk of dispersal across the non-habitat ‘matrix’ interact to affect a number of diversity measures. We show that increasing the number of patches significantly increases γ diversity and reduces the overall number of extinctions, whilst landscapes with heterogeneous patch sizes have significantly higher γ diversity than those with homogeneous patch sizes. Furthermore, the responses of predators depended on their feeding specialism, with generalist predator presence being highest in a single large patch, whilst specialist predator presence was highest in several-small patches with matrix dispersal. Our evidence emphasises the importance of considering multiple diversity measures to disentangle community responses to patch configuration. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00442-022-05178-9

Preparation of chemical gradients on porous silicon by a dip coating method

Melbourne, VI

Identifying suicide and self-harm research priorities in North West England: a Delphi study

Background: Understanding and effectively managing self-harm and suicide requires collaborative research between stakeholders focused on shared priorities. Aims: To develop a consensus about suicide and self-harm research priorities in the North-West of England using the Delphi method. Method: Items for the Delphi survey were generated through group discussions at a workshop with 88 stakeholders and subsequent thematic analysis of key themes. Forty-four participants who were experts-by-experience, researchers, and clinicians based within health services including third sector organisations completed the Delphi survey. Results: A three-round survey reached consensus on 55 research priority items identifying key priorities in each of the following groups: offenders, children and young people, self-harm in community settings, and crisis care in the community. Limitation: The pool of delegates at the workshop and subsequent self-selection into the Delphi may have introduced bias into the study. Conclusion: The current paper highlights specific actionable priorities were identified in four areas that can be used to inform research efforts and future policy and practice, based on shared areas of perceived importance and concern. Future work is needed to confirm the significance of these priority areas, including the use of evidence synthesis approaches to ascertain the extent to which these priorities have already been investigated and where gaps in understanding remain

Public opinions on seven different stray cat population management scenarios in Flanders, Belgium

Stray cat population management is an important worldwide issue. Understanding citizen attitudes towards stray cat control options is vital to the success of controlling stray cat numbers, as public perception affects the acceptance of, support for and collaboration in stray cat management policies. Audience segmentation, as to enable each group to be engaged in the stray cat management policy, is important for the success of the interventions. Therefore a web-based survey was conducted among Flemish citizens in order to examine differences in acceptance towards seven management scenarios: household cat neutering with financial support for the owner, household cat neutering without financial support for the owner, encouraging responsible household cat ownership, trapping stray cats and taking them to a shelter, trapping and neutering stray cats for release into a managed & ldquo;cat colony & rdquo; (composed by so called & ldquo;community cats & rdquo;), trapping and killing of stray cats, and undertaking no action. A total of 4059 valid responses were collected and the proportions of agreement were compared across the different management scenarios using the two-sample z-test. Interactions among factors that influenced each management scenario were investigated using the CHAID (Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection) analysis and visualized on a tree. Our results showed that fostering responsible household cat ownership (89.9%) and conversion of stray cats to & ldquo;community cats & rdquo; (76.3%) were most supported by respondents in our sample (which consisted mainly of females, cat-lovers, and families without children). Least supported were the killing of stray cats (7.7%) and undertaking no action (3.3%). The demographic analyses revealed that for the acceptance of management scenarios there were three important factors (attitude towards cats, area of residence, and gender), two weaker factors (education and having children) and two which had almost no impact (age and cat ownership). We propose that future studies should focus on the effect of & lsquo;area of residence & rsquo;, & lsquo;having children & rsquo; and & lsquo;education & rsquo;. In conclusion, our research confirms that management of and communication on stray cat strategies should not be developed with a one-size-fits-all approach. Efforts should be tailored to each audience segment, thus adapted to the area of residence and human characteristics

Integrating Trap-Neuter-Return Campaigns Into a Social Framework: Developing Long-Term Positive Behavior Change Toward Unowned Cats in Urban Areas

Cat management is often discussed in terms of population reduction, with trap-neuter-return (TNR) campaigns commonly organized to manage unowned urban cat populations. However, long-term effectiveness is only possible if positive neutering practices are continued by local residents. Here we discuss how implementing TNR within a wider framework of social engagement has the potential to tackle cat overpopulation and instill long-term positive behavior change toward them. We demonstrate how community engagement pre-TNR can help establish a baseline of the attitudes, knowledge and behavior concerning cats. Using a case study, we explore whether this information can be linked with positive intended behavior based on intentions to arrange for neutering of unowned cats. Structural equation modeling indicated that negative attitudes toward cats and reduced knowledge around neutering reduced the likelihood of positive intended behavior. This result was underpinned by the indirect effects of perceptions of unowned cats and reduced understanding of their needs. Utilizing these results alongside an understanding of the values and motivation of the community allows for tailored and targeted education and intervention. In turn, this addresses the underlying knowledge gaps and perceptions regarding cat welfare. This framework can help address the challenge of cat management because it: (1) takes an integrative approach to identifying the motivations of communities to take responsibility for unowned cats; (2) changes the structure of the social environment, encouraging positive neutering practices for unowned cats. In turn this improves the impact and longevity of TNR campaigns whilst promoting positive welfare change for unowned and owned cats; and (3) appreciates that opinions are likely to vary hugely between areas, therefore providing an adaptable community level approach