The Australian Research Quality Framework: A live experiment in capturing the social, economic, environmental, and cultural returns of publicly funded research

Copyright @ 2008 Wiley Periodicals Inc. This is the accepted version of the following article: Donovan, C. (2008), The Australian Research Quality Framework: A live experiment in capturing the social, economic, environmental, and cultural returns of publicly funded research. New Directions for Evaluation, 2008: 47–60, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ev.260/abstract.The author regards development of Australia's ill-fated Research Quality Framework (RQF) as a “live experiment” in determining the most appropriate approach to evaluating the extra-academic returns, or “impact,” of a nation's publicly funded research. The RQF was at the forefront of an international movement toward richer qualitative, contextual approaches that aimed to gauge the wider economic, social, environmental, and cultural benefits of research. Its construction and implementation sent mixed messages and created confusion about what impact is, and how it is best measured, to the extent that this bold live experiment did not come to fruition

Provision for students with learning difficulties in general colleges of further education - have we been going round in circles?

This is a PDF version of an article published in British journal of special education© 2006. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.This article discusses the current situation for students with severe learning difficulties in general colleges of further education. Findings are presented from a critical review of the literature and a small-scale preliminary investigation which set out to explore the idea that, despite radical changes to the special school sector and to the structure and organisation of further education, provision in colleges of further education for these students is poorly focused. Students with severe learning difficulties experience provision that is, at best, circuitous and repetitive and that, at worst, leads individuals back into dependence, unemployment and social segregation. Using the outcomes of interviews and the scrutiny of inspection reports, a searching critique of current practice and an interesting set of recommendations for ways in which the situation could be radically reviewed and improved is provided

Improving Librarians’ Occupational Performance Through Stress Management Strategies: An Overview

Abstract Librarians occupational performance include their task, contextual and adaptive performance which are practical and strategic tools for achieving libraries’ set objectives. Stress management strategies are activities, readjustments, methods and techniques that are employed in managing, dealing, coping, reducing and eradicating the harmful effects of stress. The paper discussed improving librarians’ occupational performance through stress management strategies as an overview. It was established that stress management strategies help librarians in dealing, handling and coping with stress and its harmful effects. Librarians can achieve high occupational performance when they are stress free. The paper explored an overview of librarians’ occupational performance, stress, concept of stress management strategies, individual stress management strategies and organisational stress management strategies and ways stress management strategies improves librarians’ occupational performance. Based on the established facts in the discourse these recommendations are made: the library managements should create awareness programmes to sensitise librarians on the need for daily stress management practices; stress management programmes should be created for librarians in the library; body fitness and training centres should be established in the library complex; and librarians should frequently consult psychologists and physiotherapists for professional advice and care when stressed

ENHANCING THE SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARIANS THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE PROFESSION

Self-development is one of the core aspirations of Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals as they get employed in any library institution or other organizations. Librarians aspire to move from one level to another in their years of active services rather than depending on salaries and promotions for survival. More so, investing energy, expertise, ideas and capital in entrepreneurship ventures is worthwhile for achieving high level self-development. The paper explored the concept of entrepreneurship and self-development, entrepreneurial opportunities in library and information science (LIS) profession, ways entrepreneurship enhances self-development of LIS professionals, sources of capital for entrepreneurial ventures in LIS and challenges associated with enhancement of librarians’ self-development through entrepreneurship ventures. Based on the established facts in the discourse, it was recommended that financial institutions should make policies that will be favorable to entrepreneurs for easy access to loans; library managements should encourage librarians to engage in self-development programmes; the government should create policies that will be favorable to young investors; and the government should control and reduce the rate of revenues and taxes been imposed on entrepreneurial ventures

Exploring pre-service teachers’ justifications for one-to-one technology use in schools: Implications for initial teacher education

peer-reviewedSet against the backdrop of a succession of educational technology policies in Ireland, influenced by international discourses, this study aimed to explore how Irish pre-service teachers justify the use of mobile technologies in schools. In order to achieve this, 23 pre service teachers were presented with a vignette that asked them to justify the use of a one-to one tablet initiative in school. The research found that pre-service teachers tended to justify the initiative, as they saw the increasing technification of schools and society as an inevitable process. In addition, they presented pragmatic reasons for using the technology rather than highlighting their educational/pedagogic value. This study points to the need to challenge pre-service teachers’ innovation-centric and techno-centric attitudes towards technology use. It also highlights the need for teacher educators, as a whole, to take a more active role in addressing this issue in teacher education programme

The School Sport Co-ordinator Programme: Changing the Role of the Physical Education Teacher?

Over the last decade or so, young people have increasingly become a focus of UK sport policy. Fuelled in part by concerns such as the increasing levels of childhood inactivity and obesity, and the lack of international success in sport, a plethora of policy initiatives aimed at young people have been developed. In April 2000, the government published its sport strategy document, A Sporting Future for All, pulling together all the threads of recent policies, and in it, restating its commitment to youth sport, sport in education, excellence and sport in the community. One such policy initiative, the School Sport Co-ordinator programme, is the focus of this paper. The School Sport Co-ordinator programme, currently being introduced into schools in England, is an initiative that involves two government departments (sport and education) and a number of other agencies, reflecting the government's current agenda to ensure 'joined up policy' thinking. It aims to develop opportunities for youth sport through co-ordinated links between PE and sport in schools, both within and outside of the formal curriculum, with those in local community sports settings. The essence of the School Sport Co-ordinator programme is to free up nominated teachers in schools from teaching to allow them time for development activities, specifically to encourage schools and community sports providers to work in partnership. This paper draws on data from an ongoing research project examining the implementation of one School Sport Co-ordinator partnership, 'northbridge'. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it explores the perceptions of the newly established School Sport Co-ordinators of their changing role. The paper highlights some of the initial tensions and challenges for them in their task of working across different educational and sporting contexts

The evolution of Home Economics as a subject in Irish primary and post-primary education from the 1800s to the twenty-first century

This paper is a historical review, documenting the evolution of Home Economics as a subject in Irish primary and post-primary education from the 1800s to the twenty-first century. In the 1800s and early twentieth-century domestic subjects, including cookery, was widely taught to females in both primary and post-primary schools. The philosophical underpinning of the subject was to enhance the quality of life for families. The subject remained a popular choice for young women up until the establishment of the Irish Free State which, thereafter, witnessed many changes in the teaching of cookery and domestic science in primary and post-primary schools. The core ideology of the subject has remained relevant and it aims to provide students with knowledge, practical skills, understanding and attitudes for everyday life as individuals and as family members. This reflects the richness of the subject from the past and the relevance of the subject in addressing issues of a twenty-first century society

A ‘quiet revolution’? The impact of Training Schools on initial teacher training partnerships

This paper discusses the impact on initial teacher training of a new policy initiative in England: the introduction of Training Schools. First, the Training School project is set in context by exploring the evolution of a partnership approach to initial teacher training in England. Ways in which Training Schools represent a break with established practice are considered together with their implications for the dominant mode of partnership led by higher education institutions (HEIs). The capacity of Training Schools to achieve their own policy objectives is examined, especially their efficacy as a strategy for managing innovation and the dissemination of innovation. The paper ends by focusing on a particular Training School project which has adopted an unusual approach to its work and enquires whether this alternative approach could offer a more profitable way forward. During the course of the paper, five different models of partnership are considered: collaborative, complementary, HEI-led, school-led and partnership within a partnership