Self-funded leave and life role development

Self-funded leave is an employee benefit that provides a time resource to those who wish to develop interests and other life roles. Semistructured interviews were used for this qualitative study to explore the motivations for enrolling in the self-funded leave program, how the leave contributed to work-life balance through development of other life roles, and the difficulties that arose during the program. Adult transition theory is used to conceptualize the process of participating in self-funded leave programs and to suggest how employees who undertake self-funded leave can be best supported by career counselors

Unifying particle-based and continuum models of hillslope evolution with a probabilistic scaling technique

Relationships between sediment flux and geomorphic processes are combined with statements of mass conservation, in order to create continuum models of hillslope evolution. These models have parameters which can be calibrated using available topographical data. This contrasts the use of particle-based models, which may be more difficult to calibrate, but are simpler, easier to implement, and have the potential to provide insight into the statistics of grain motion. The realms of individual particles and the continuum, while disparate in geomorphological modeling, can be connected using scaling techniques commonly employed in probability theory. Here, we motivate the choice of a particle-based model of hillslope evolution, whose stationary distributions we characterize. We then provide a heuristic scaling argument, which identifies a candidate for their continuum limit. By simulating instances of the particle model, we obtain equilibrium hillslope profiles and probe their response to perturbations. These results provide a proof-of-concept in the unification of microscopic and macroscopic descriptions of hillslope evolution through probabilistic techniques, and simplify the study of hillslope response to external influences.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

The Pause that Refreshes: A Study of Self-Funded Leave

Self­funded leave programmes provide a time resource to employees so that they can pursue interests outside their normal employment. This article reports the results of qualitative research conducted on 16 workers who completed a self­funded leave programme. Semi­structured interviews were used to explore participants’ motivations to enrol in the self­funded leave programme, how the leave contributed to work­life balance through development of non­work life roles, and difficulties that arose during participation in the self­funded leave programme. Results reveal that participants did use self­ funded leave to improve their work­life balance and augment other life­roles. However, unpredicted events influenced how the leave time was actually used, which was often different from original plans and goals. Adult transition theory is used to conceptualize the process of participating in self­funded leave and to suggest how employees who undertake self­funded leave can be best supported by employers

Best practices in career education and development in New Zealand secondary schools

This study investigated best practices in New Zealand secondary school career education and guidance programmes. Schools considered to use best practices were identified by nominations from professional associations and from Careers New Zealand. A total of 20 nominated schools agreed to be included in the study and the career advisers of these schools were interviewed. Seven themes emerged from the interviews. These themes suggest career education and guidance programmes that are worthy of emulation by other schools, but the need to consider unique school and community characteristics in the design and implementation of career education and guidance is essential

How long is a hillslope?

Hillslope length is a fundamental attribute of landscapes, intrinsically linked to drainage density, landslide hazard, biogeochemical cycling and hillslope sediment transport. Existing methods to estimate catchment average hillslope lengths include inversion of drainage density or identification of a break in slope–area scaling, where the hillslope domain transitions into the fluvial domain. Here we implement a technique which models flow from point sources on hilltops across pixels in a digital elevation model (DEM), based on flow directions calculated using pixel aspect, until reaching the channel network, defined using recently developed channel extraction algorithms. Through comparisons between these measurement techniques, we show that estimating hillslope length from plots of topographic slope versus drainage area, or by inverting measures of drainage density, systematically underestimates hillslope length. In addition, hillslope lengths estimated by slope–area scaling breaks show large variations between catchments of similar morphology and area. We then use hillslope length–relief structure of landscapes to explore nature of sediment flux operating on a landscape. Distinct topographic forms are predicted for end-member sediment flux laws which constrain sediment transport on hillslopes as being linearly or nonlinearly dependent on hillslope gradient. Because our method extracts hillslope profiles originating from every ridgetop pixel in a DEM, we show that the resulting population of hillslope length–relief measurements can be used to differentiate between linear and nonlinear sediment transport laws in soil mantled landscapes. We find that across a broad range of sites across the continental United States, topography is consistent with a sediment flux law in which transport is nonlinearly proportional to topographic gradient

A Comparison of the Motivations of Pre-degree and Degree Education Students for Becoming Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand

In New Zealand the Ministry of Education is committed to attracting and retaining ‘high quality individuals’ to the teaching profession who represent the diverse cultural and socio-economic communities in the country. One way to achieve this has been through the provision of multiple pathways into initial teacher education (ITE). Such pathways provide access for students significantly underrepresented in Teacher Education. This research sought to investigate and compare the motivation of students enrolled on the Certificate of Introduction to Early Childhood Education (ECE) or the Bachelor of Education (BEd) Primary and ECE specialism. As other research has suggested, there is a correlation between student motivation to teach and their success in ITE programmes, through to being qualified and working in the teaching profession. Qualitative and quantitative data was gathered from a questionnaire and focus groups, using semi-structured questions to expand on questionnaire responses. Findings from data sources highlighted that, despite the differences in academic achievement on entry between both groups, motivations for pursuing teaching as a career were remarkably similar, showing comparable responses in relation to altruistic, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

The rarefied (non-continuum) conditions of tracer particle transport in soils, with implications for assessing the intensity and depth dependence of mixing from geochronology

We formulate tracer particle transport and mixing in soils due to disturbance-driven particle motions in terms of the Fokker–Planck equation. The probabilistic basis of the formulation is suitable for rarefied particle conditions, and for parsing the mixing behavior of extensive and intensive properties belonging to the particles rather than to the bulk soil. The significance of the formulation is illustrated with the examples of vertical profiles of expected beryllium-10 (10Be) concentrations and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) particle ages for the benchmark situation involving a one-dimensional mean upward soil motion with nominally steady surface erosion in the presence of either uniform or depth-dependent particle mixing, and varying mixing intensity. The analysis, together with Eulerian–Lagrangian numerical simulations of tracer particle motions, highlights the significance of calculating ensemble-expected values of extensive and intensive particle properties, including higher moments of particle OSL ages, rather than assuming de facto a continuum-like mixing behavior. The analysis and results offer guidance for field sampling and for describing the mixing behavior of other particle and soil properties. Profiles of expected 10Be concentrations and OSL ages systematically vary with mixing intensity as measured by a Péclet number involving the speed at which particles enter the soil, the soil thickness, and the particle diffusivity. Profiles associated with uniform mixing versus a linear decrease in mixing with depth are distinct for moderate mixing, but they become similar with either weak mixing or strong mixing; uniform profiles do not necessarily imply uniform mixing.</p