"Making it Remarkable":Teaching Professional Youth Work Values in a UK Higher Education Institution

This paper reports on the findings of a study exploring the role of values in professional qualifying courses taught at a Scottish University. The study aimed to enhance understanding of the way in which these courses draw on values-based pedagogy to incorporate professional values laid out in formal standards by external professional bodies. The paper reports on the findings relating specifically to values teaching on a professionally qualifying youth work programme, drawing on contributions uploaded to an online survey by students and lecturers engaged with the programme. It explores the themes to emerge from the survey data, including the centrality of values in practice and teaching; how these align with students’ personal values and are shaped by wider societal influences; lecturers’ pedagogical approaches; and the importance of supervised placements and dialogue between students, their supervisors, and lecturers in building their understanding and helping them to navigate the complexities of enacting values-based practice. The study concludes that youth worker education programmes, in which professional values are thoroughly embedded, offer the potential to deliver a transformative educative experience to students, and to potentially disrupt the reductionist values systems that have permeated the neo-liberal university.</p

"Making it Remarkable":Teaching Professional Youth Work Values in a UK Higher Education Institution

This paper reports on the findings of a study exploring the role of values in professional qualifying courses taught at a Scottish University. The study aimed to enhance understanding of the way in which these courses draw on values-based pedagogy to incorporate professional values laid out in formal standards by external professional bodies. The paper reports on the findings relating specifically to values teaching on a professionally qualifying youth work programme, drawing on contributions uploaded to an online survey by students and lecturers engaged with the programme. It explores the themes to emerge from the survey data, including the centrality of values in practice and teaching; how these align with students’ personal values and are shaped by wider societal influences; lecturers’ pedagogical approaches; and the importance of supervised placements and dialogue between students, their supervisors, and lecturers in building their understanding and helping them to navigate the complexities of enacting values-based practice. The study concludes that youth worker education programmes, in which professional values are thoroughly embedded, offer the potential to deliver a transformative educative experience to students, and to potentially disrupt the reductionist values systems that have permeated the neo-liberal university.</p

Aligning values in applied professional practice: a case study of children’s services qualifying programmes in a Scottish university

This comparative study, conducted in a Scottish university, seeks to explore the role of professional values in children’s services qualifying courses in community education, social work and teacher education. Data from students and lecturers were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants recognised the importance of professional values as a central tenet of the courses, and most felt able to identify where these were addressed in teaching and learning opportunities. Key themes included tensions between professional and personal values; dilemmas of values in practice; and scope for enhancement of alignment between university values, professional learning and praxis.<br/

Aligning values in applied professional practice: a case study of children’s services qualifying programmes in a Scottish university

This comparative study, conducted in a Scottish university, seeks to explore the role of professional values in children’s services qualifying courses in community education, social work and teacher education. Data from students and lecturers were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants recognised the importance of professional values as a central tenet of the courses, and most felt able to identify where these were addressed in teaching and learning opportunities. Key themes included tensions between professional and personal values; dilemmas of values in practice; and scope for enhancement of alignment between university values, professional learning and praxis.<br/

'Why is this child in special education?' : a cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT)-based intervention with senior UK education leaders on assessment for, and allocation of, specialist educational resources

Aims: This paper focuses upon systemic change in a local authority decision-making process (DMP) for allocating specialist resources for children with complex educational needs in a local authority in Scotland. The aim of the paper is to provide reflections and insights into the learning of senior managers and leaders of children's services to lead organisational change processes. Method: The original research study design was a two-stage, CHAT-based Developmental-Work-Research (DWR) formative intervention with nine senior managers over an 18-month period. Stage one, reported in this paper, comprised four, three-hour sessions enabling expansion of participants' learning through a collective zone of proximal development (ZPD). Stage two was evaluation of the intervention as a change process framework and evaluation of implementation of the new model considered as a cycle of expansive learning (discussed elsewhere). Findings: Expansive learning and transformative agency in DWR sessions occurred via four key turning points. An initial focus on problems with, and then improvement of, the DMP shifted to a re-configuration of children's services leading to the generation of a new model for meeting the children’s needs in mainstream school settings. Findings indicate that a CHAT-based intervention can support the development of new ways of learning, leadership and working to enable public services to make more effective use of resources. Limitations: Several groups such as social workers, allied health professionals, parents and young people were not represented directly in this study. Further research using DWR with these groups would contribute to a broader understanding of how systems within children’s services impact on service users. Conclusion: CHAT has theoretical and practical relevance for professionals who engage in collaborative real-world research. Findings from the study contribute to the body of knowledge for leadership learning and intervention around change processes in educational systems

MRI-derived g-ratio and lesion severity in newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis

Myelin loss is associated with axonal damage in established multiple sclerosis. This relationship is challenging to study in vivo in early disease. Here, we ask whether myelin loss is associated with axonal damage at diagnosis, by combining non-invasive neuroimaging and blood biomarkers. We performed quantitative microstructural MRI and single molecule ELISA plasma neurofilament measurement in 73 patients with newly diagnosed, immunotherapy naïve relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Myelin integrity was evaluated using aggregate g-ratios, derived from magnetization transfer saturation (MTsat) and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) diffusion data. We found significantly higher g-ratios within cerebral white matter lesions (suggesting myelin loss) compared with normal-appearing white matter (0.61 vs 0.57, difference 0.036, 95% CI 0.029 to 0.043, p &amp;lt; 0.001). Lesion volume (Spearman’s rho rs= 0.38, p &amp;lt; 0.001) and g-ratio (rs= 0.24 p &amp;lt; 0.05) correlated independently with plasma neurofilament. In patients with substantial lesion load (n = 38), those with higher g-ratio (defined as greater than median) were more likely to have abnormally elevated plasma neurofilament than those with normal g-ratio (defined as less than median) (11/23 [48%] versus 2/15 [13%] p &amp;lt; 0.05). These data suggest that, even at multiple sclerosis diagnosis, reduced myelin integrity is associated with axonal damage. MRI-derived g-ratio may provide useful additional information regarding lesion severity, and help to identify individuals with a high degree of axonal damage at disease onset. York, Martin et al. simultaneously measured g-ratio and plasma neurofilament in 73 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients at diagnosis using advanced MRI and single molecule ELISA. They demonstrate that g-ratio of cerebral white matter lesions varies at diagnosis, and show that high g-ratio of lesions is associated with elevated plasma neurofilament

Adjunctive rifampicin for Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (ARREST): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common cause of severe community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that adjunctive rifampicin would reduce bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death, by enhancing early S aureus killing, sterilising infected foci and blood faster, and reducing risks of dissemination and metastatic infection. METHODS: In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults (≥18 years) with S aureus bacteraemia who had received ≤96 h of active antibiotic therapy were recruited from 29 UK hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a computer-generated sequential randomisation list to receive 2 weeks of adjunctive rifampicin (600 mg or 900 mg per day according to weight, oral or intravenous) versus identical placebo, together with standard antibiotic therapy. Randomisation was stratified by centre. Patients, investigators, and those caring for the patients were masked to group allocation. The primary outcome was time to bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death (all-cause), from randomisation to 12 weeks, adjudicated by an independent review committee masked to the treatment. Analysis was intention to treat. This trial was registered, number ISRCTN37666216, and is closed to new participants. FINDINGS: Between Dec 10, 2012, and Oct 25, 2016, 758 eligible participants were randomly assigned: 370 to rifampicin and 388 to placebo. 485 (64%) participants had community-acquired S aureus infections, and 132 (17%) had nosocomial S aureus infections. 47 (6%) had meticillin-resistant infections. 301 (40%) participants had an initial deep infection focus. Standard antibiotics were given for 29 (IQR 18-45) days; 619 (82%) participants received flucloxacillin. By week 12, 62 (17%) of participants who received rifampicin versus 71 (18%) who received placebo experienced treatment failure or disease recurrence, or died (absolute risk difference -1·4%, 95% CI -7·0 to 4·3; hazard ratio 0·96, 0·68-1·35, p=0·81). From randomisation to 12 weeks, no evidence of differences in serious (p=0·17) or grade 3-4 (p=0·36) adverse events were observed; however, 63 (17%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 39 (10%) in the placebo group had antibiotic or trial drug-modifying adverse events (p=0·004), and 24 (6%) versus six (2%) had drug interactions (p=0·0005). INTERPRETATION: Adjunctive rifampicin provided no overall benefit over standard antibiotic therapy in adults with S aureus bacteraemia. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment