Developing Accomplished Teaching and Teachers

This paper discusses the question of the development of accomplished teachers and teaching in Scotland and examines a number of emerging issues including the definition of accomplished teaching, the enhancement of teaching quality, the role of accomplished teachers including chartered teachers in schools, the contribution of accomplished teachers and impact on pupil learning, the question of teacher agency and enhanced professionalism and opportunities to engage with the wider social and educational context. The origins of this work on accomplished teachers and teaching were in a series of symposia at ECER (European Conference for Educational Research, 2009, 2010) organized by Dr Margery McMahon, University of Glasgow who brought together stakeholders in Scotland with international partners including academics and professional associations to examine the issues related to the recognition and development of expertise and accomplishment in teaching. These symposia were followed by an International Symposium on Developing Accomplished Teachers and Teaching (ISAT&T) co-hosted by the University of Glasgow and the GTCs and sponsored by the Scottish Government. Participants in the ISAT&T were drawn from the universities of Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Wales, Glasgow and Stirling and representatives from HMIe, Local Authorities and the GTCs. This paper is a synposis of the proceedings of the International Symposium

Teacher education in the UK in an era of performance management

In common with all education systems world wide, those of the United Kingdom have been subject to rapid change and development in recent years. Much of the management of this change has been supported by methods, including performance management of individuals, borrowed from industrial or commercial spheres of activity (Peters et al, 1999). This has led to a redefinition of concepts of teacher professionalism. In the two principal UK systems - those of England (often itself referred to as the UK system) and Scotland - there have been different emphases in terms of managing and developing the profession, although concerns of staff development and professional accountability are encapsulated in both. In this paper we argue, firstly, that staff development - of whatever variety - has to result in better learning for young people within schools. Secondly, we assert that the construction of teacher professionalism is a contested area in the UK, both in terms of initial teacher education and in terms of continuing professional development and that there has to be a recognition of this debate. Ultimately, however, both sides need to come together to create systems which support and develop pupil learning

The worker branch in Yorkshire as a way of organising Polish migrants: exploring the process of carving out diasporic spaces within the trade union structure

While post-2004 Polish labour migration to the UK was underpinned by diasporic spaces instrumental in facilitating social and labour market adjustments, the institutions of the host society such as trade unions also sought to establish links with migrants. The analysis of interactions between UK unions and EU migrants focused on organising strategies and specific provisions such as English language learning. However, the discussion tended to ignore the impacts of diasporic influences, from ethnicity and native languages of migrants to the outcomes of migrant worker organising. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative data, this paper discusses how Polishness, in its ethnic, historic and linguistic manifestations, has affected the internal dynamics of a migrant worker organisation created by a major UK trade union. The explicit acknowledgement of diasporic particularities of post-2004 Polish migrants not only enabled labour organising activities but also shaped the migrant worker organisation from within. The strength of diasporic influences on one hand and the chosen form of union organising on the other created conditions for the development of diasporic spaces within the institution of the host society

An Evaluation of The Migrant Access Project Plus Final Report

The Migrant Access Project operated within West and South Leeds, 2018 until March 2020. It aimed to provide support to new and existing migrant communities to better help them integrate, and thus reduce pressure on existing services, minimising low level tensions and thereby concerns from settled communities within Leeds. Our 2018 interim report focused upon the Migrant Access Plus Project (MAPP) that was running in the Armley and Holbeck areas of the city. Our 2019 report explored the extension of the project into three additional areas as part of the second year of delivery: Beeston Hill, Little London/Hyde Park/Woodhouse and New Wortley. This final report draws together all findings and overall learning from the delivery of MAPP, following a third year of extension funding

On-Shell Unitarity Bootstrap for QCD Amplitudes

We describe the recently developed on-shell bootstrap for computing one-loop amplitudes in non-supersymmetric theories such as QCD. The method combines the unitarity method with loop-level on-shell recursion. The unitarity method is used to compute cut-containing parts of amplitudes, and on-shell recursion is used for the remaining rational terms.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, write-up of talks given by Z. Bern and D. A. Kosower at Loops & Legs 2006, Eisenach, Germany; v2: added referenc