Let me in! A comment on insider research from an outsider’s perspective

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling on 21 February 2017, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/13642537.2017.1289973.This issue of EJPC foregrounds the work of insider researchers investigating clinical practice in an array of contexts including one-to-one work with trauma, group work with those who have been abused, adoptive family work and work with a home treatment team and inpatient team. In this comment piece, I consider the papers from an outsider’s perspective and apply a quality lens to gain a surer hold of what the papers can offer. I’ve highlighted the rich resonance of many of the accounts, but also the specialist language in which most are written, and the lack of space for discussion of the process of research or analysis of data conducted. I argue that this creates barriers in the way of these papers being consumed, understood and applied by a wider audience, which may mean that the impact and implications of the work are not fully realised.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Transforming identities through Transforming Care : How people with learning disabilities experience moving out of hospital

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Annabel Head, Helen Ellis-Caird, Luisa Rhodes, and Kathie Parkinson, ‘Transforming identities through Transforming Care: How people with learning disabilities experience moving out of hospital’, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol. 46 (1): 64-70, March 2018, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12213. Under embargo until 11 January 2020. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Accessible Summary People with learning disabilities talked about what it was like to move out of hospital. People talked about how important their relationships with other people were. People wanted to feel comfortable with new members of staff so that they felt safe and happy in their new home. People talked about how moving out of hospital changed how they thought about themselves. When they were in hospital, people sometimes thought that they were “bad.” But after they moved, some people started to think that they were a different person. It is important for everyone to think about how they talk to people when they are in hospital, and when they have moved out. People can do really well living in their own home, rather than in hospital. Abstract: Background People with learning disabilities are moving out of hospitals as part of the Transforming Care programme, although thus far their views on how they have experienced this have not been researched. Materials and Methods A qualitative design was used to explore how people with learning disabilities experienced moving as part of Transforming Care. Eleven people took part in semi-structured interviews; they were supported by Key Support People (n = 9) who knew them well. A social constructionist Grounded Theory approach was used in analysis. Results and Discussion People reported that their relationships with other people, including friends, family and staff, played a significant role in how they experienced the move. Moving was also an opportunity for people to shift their ideas about who they were as a person and opened up a wider array of stories about their identity. Conclusions A number of recommendations are discussed, relevant for staff working in this field to support positive transitions out of hospital.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

“I can haz emoshuns?”: understanding anthropomorphosis of cats among internet users

The attribution of human-like traits to non-human animals, termed anthropomorphism, can lead to misunderstandings of animal behaviour, which can result in risks to both human and animal wellbeing and welfare. In this paper, we, during an inter-disciplinary collaboration between social computing and animal behaviour researchers, investigated whether a simple image-tagging application could improve the understanding of how people ascribe intentions and emotions to the behaviour of their domestic cats. A web-based application, Tagpuss, was developed to present casual users with photographs drawn from a database of 1631 images of domestic cats and asked them to ascribe an emotion to the cat portrayed in the image. Over five thousand people actively participated in the study in the space of four weeks, generating over 50,000 tags. Results indicate Tagpuss can be used to identify cat behaviours that lay-people find difficult to distinguish. This highlights further expert scientific exploration that focuses on educating cat owners to identify possible problems with their cat’s welfare

Focussing on form in the classroom

Current theories of second language acquisition emphasise the importance of learners' attending consciously to form. Similarly, current discussions of communicative language pedagogy stress the need for classroom language learners to focus on form as well as meaning. The study reported in this article is intended to contribute to both theory and practice. It examines the different ways in which teachers and students achieve a ‘focus-on-form' (i.e. attend to linguistic form in the context of activity that is primarily message-oriented). Based on an analysis of 12 hours of teaching English in a private language school, a coding system is developed to account for the general characteristics of ‘focus-on-form episodes' (FFEs). The system is then used to provide an account of focus-on-form in the classrooms studied, revealing that nearly half of the total FFEs were proactive rather than reactive and that more than half involved negotiating form rather than negotiating meaning (i.e. they were not triggered by any communicative problem). The paper concludes with proposals for future research. Key words: communicative pedagogy, focus-on-form, uptake [Jnl for Language Teaching Vol.37(2) 2003: 149-163

Living through unsuccessful conception attempts: : a grounded theory of resilience among women undergoing fertility treatment

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology on 6 May 2017, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2017.1320366.Objective: To provide a model of resilience among women undergoing fertility treatments, who experience repeated unsuccessful conception attempts. Background: Assisted reproductive treatment is emotionally and physically challenging. Women undergoing such treatments report experiencing high levels of anxiety and depression. There continues to be a lack of understanding of the process women go through to adapt to the challenges associated with fertility treatment, in order to continue to pursue their goal of pregnancy. Method: The study employed a qualitative Grounded Theory design. Eleven women aged between 24 and 42 years took part in individual semi-structured interviews around their experiences of living through unsuccessful fertility treatment attempts. Results: Three core categories were identified: ‘Appraisal’; ‘Stepping away from treatment’; and ‘Building self up for the next attempt’. Following the failure of treatment, participants appraised their ability to carry on with further treatment attempts. Those who felt they had depleted their resources through the cycle of attempting pregnancy had taken a step back from the treatment cycle to reconnect with themselves and gather sufficient resources to attempt treatment again. During preparation for the next treatment, participants demonstrated their resilience by taking steps to build up their resources, such as nurturing their strength and taking control of their fertility experience. Conclusions: Women undergoing fertility treatment demonstrate their resilience through a variety of actions that enable them to continue to pursue their pregnancy goal. Clinical staff should be mindful of their clients’ need to withdraw from the treatment cycle and offer support to enable them to do this.Peer reviewe