Mediation, translation and local ecologies: understanding the impact of policy levers on FE colleges

This article reports the views of managers and tutors on the role of policy ‘levers’ on teaching, learning, and inclusion in colleges of Further Education (FE) in our research project, ‘The impact of policy on learning and inclusion in the Learning and Skills Sector (LSS)’.i Using data from five research visits conducted over two years in eight FE learning sites, we explore the processes by which colleges ‘mediate’ and ‘translate’ national policy levers and how this affects their ability to respond to local need. The paper tentatively develops three related concepts/metaphors to explain the complexity of the policy/college interface – ‘the process of mediation’, ‘acts of translation’ and ‘local ecologies’. We found that policy levers interacted with a complex set of national, local and institutional factors as colleges responded to pressures from the external environment and turned these into internal plans, systems and practices. We conclude by suggesting that national policy-makers, who design national policy levers, may not be fully aware of these complexities and we make the case for the benefits of greater local control over policy levers, where these interactions are better understood

Irrecoverable pressure loss coefficients for two elbows in series with various orientation angles and separation distances

Test data is described for two ninety degree elbows that are in series for a piping network. Both elbows had a radius of curvature of 1.2. Three relative angles and seven different separation distances were investigated. The overall irrecoverable pressure loss for the two elbows is characterized relative to the irrecoverable pressure loss for a single elbow. In addition to providing design guidance relative to the net irrecoverable pressure loss for multiple elbows, the data provides a data base for helping qualify computational fluid dynamics (CFD) computer codes used to predict the irrecoverable pressure loss in piping systems

Irrecoverable pressure loss coefficients for two out-of-plane piping elbows at high Reynolds number

Pressure drops of multiple piping elbows were experimentally determined for high Reynolds number flows. The testing described has been performed in order to reduce uncertainties in the currently used methods for predicting irrecoverable pressure losses and also to provide a qualification database for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) computer codes. The earlier high Reynolds number correlations had been based on extrapolations over several orders of magnitude in Reynolds number from where the original database existed. Recent single elbow test data shows about a factor of two lower elbow pressure loss coefficient (at 40x 106 Reynolds number) than those from current correlations. This single piping elbow data has been extended in this study to a multiple elbow configuration of two elbows that are 90o out-of-plane relative to each other. The effects of separation distance and Reynolds number have been correlated and presented in a form that can be used for design application. Contrary to earlier extrapolations from low Reynolds numbers (Re c 1.0x 106), a strong Reynolds number dependence was found to exist. The combination of the high Reynolds number single elbow data with the multiple elbow interaction effects measured in this study shows that earlier design correlations are conservative by significant margins at high Reynolds numbers. Qualification of CFD predictions with this new high Reynolds number database will help guide the need for additional high Reynolds number testing of other piping configurations. The study also included velocity measurements at several positions downstream of the first and second test elbows using an ultrasonic flowmeter. Reasonable agreement after the first test elbow was found relative to flow fields that are known to exist from low Reynolds number visual tests and also from CFD predictions. This data should help to qualify CFD predictions of the three-dimensional flow stream downstream of the second test elbow

Machine and plasma diagnostic instrumentation systems for the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade

To evaluate performance of a second generation Tandem Mirror Machine, an extensive instrumentation system is being designed and installed as part of the major device fabrication. The systems listed will be operational during the start-up phase of the TMX Upgrade machine and provide bench marks for future performance data. In addition to plasma diagnostic instrumentation, machine parameter monitoring systems will be installed prior to machine operation. Simultaneous recording of machine parameters will permit evaluation of plasma parameters sensitive to machine conditions

“Further education, future prosperity? The Implications of Marketisation on Further Education Working Practices”

© 2017 Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education (ARPCE). This paper examines how the marketised funding system of vocational further education is affecting lecturers’ working practices and professional integrity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a number of lecturing staff and managers within two vocational areas at an English FE college to examine the implications of working under the current funding regime. The conclusions drawn reflect the complexity of working within FE showing how lecturers are frequently placed in a professional dilemma between securing future funding (by ensuring high levels of retention and achievement) and compromising their professional integrity and working practices in order to do so. A key finding here was the inherent tension between professional integrity and funding requirements apparently directly opposing ‘good’ practice. This means FE professionals experience what Whitehead called ‘a living contradiction’ in their working lives, increasing stress levels and diminishing their sense of professionalism

Learning through social spaces: migrant women and lifelong learning in post-colonial London

This article shows how migrant women engage in learning through social spaces. It argues that such spaces are little recognised, and that there are multiple ways in which migrant women construct and negotiate their informal learning through socialising with other women in different informal modes. Additionally, the article shows how learning is shaped by the socio-political, geographical and multicultural context of living in London, outlining ways in which gendered and racialised identities shape, construct and constrain participation in lifelong learning. The article shows that one way in which migrant women resist (post)colonial constructions of difference is by engaging in informal and non-formal lifelong learning, arguing that the benefits are (at least) two-fold. The women develop skills (including language skills) but also use their informal learning to develop what is referred to in this article as 'relational capital'. The article concludes that informal lifelong learning developed through social spaces can enhance a sense of belonging for migrant women

Learning is Like a Lava Lamp: The Student Journey to Critical Thinking

This paper explores the ways in which a university Foundation Degree programme supports undergraduate early years students to develop critical thinking, mindfulness and self-actualisation through their lived personal and professional experiences. It considers the impact of this on graduates employed within the Early Years sector. Findings inform future design of a University Foundation Degree programme situated within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). As undergraduates, students engage in higher-level learning aligned to their practice within the workplace. An interpretive Participatory Qualitative Research methodology is used to gather the views of 6 alumni who completed their studies in 2014. They participated in the research freely within ethical parameters approved by a university ethics committee. Findings revealed that the development of critical thinking is empowered by having a personal or professional impetus, which in the case of Early Years is the child as being at the heart of values based practice. This, with the inclusion of mindfulness, drives students to a sustainable deeper layer of thinking to achieve self-actualisation. Through the acquisition of critical thinking students have been subsequently able to take up positions of authority within the early years workforce