Ethical accountability and routine moral stress in SEN professionals

This small-scale interview study considers experiences, difficulties and dilemmas of local SEN (Special Educational Needs) professionals such as SEN Caseworkers, and examines the neglected ethical dimensions of their role. It argues that fostering ‘ethical knowledge’ (Campbell, 2003), rather than an increase in prescriptive guidance, will enable more productive partnerships between professionals, and between parents and professionals respectively. The study demonstrates a SEN professionalism that is able to respond to moral complexity and that is willing to carry significant personal and moral burdens in order to meet the needs of children and young people with SEN. It also highlights experiences of routine moral stress (Cribb, 2011) which are not adequately addressed by either individuals or their organisations

Cracking the code: reflections on implications for teacher education and professional formation following the introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 2014

This discursive article considers implications for teacher education in England following the introduction of the new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice (CoP) 2014. Tailored training to increase skills in differentiation and personalization, as well as the skills required to lead effective review meetings for children with SEND and their families may be one response. However, the article argues that rather than viewing the Code merely as a manual, a critical engagement with its messages and intentions may better prepare beginning teachers to meet the demands and expectations articulated within. One such example is the familiarization with the ongoing debate in literature about shortcomings in partnership working. By considering the SEND Code of Practice from the vantage points of professionalism and professional ethics, and by discussing contested conceptions of professional identity as well as personal responses to uncertainty, complexity and dilemmas, teacher educators can support individuals to draw on resources beyond prescriptive guidance and SEND awareness training for professional formation

Reconceptualising dyslexia provision in a primary school by applying the five ‘special educational needs in mainstream school’ EEF recommendations: meeting identified need in order to thrive

This article reports on an action-research improvement project undertaken in a primary school setting in London in collaboration with local authority advisors and a reference school. It describes the journey towards the goal of becoming a dyslexia-friendly school framed by the five key recommendations of the Education Endowment Fund recently published guidance report Special Educational Needs in Mainstream School. I argue that this framing supports the thriving of individuals, rather than perpetuating a reliance on outdated diagnosis-led support. I conclude that the EEF recommendations can support practitioners to embed inclusive practices that take individual needs seriously but reject deficit models of disability

‘There is Still a Long Way to Go to be Solidly Marvellous’: Professional Identities, Performativity and Responsibilisation Arising From the Send Code of Practice 2015

Special educational needs and disability (SEND) professionalism can be seen as a microcosm of the wider policy arena where traditional policy frameworks of professionalism and bureaucracy are challenged by frameworks of managerialism, consumerism and individual rights and where the neoliberal policy technologies of performativity and responsibilisation challenge and change collaborative working practices and professional identities. The recent introduction of the statutory SEND Code of Practice 2015 in England brings this transformation into relief. An exploratory qualitative interview study highlights how individual professionals respond to, are changed by and sometimes resist these demands

MRI-targeted or standard biopsy for prostate-cancer diagnosis

Background Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with or without targeted biopsy, is an alternative to standard transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy for prostate-cancer detection in men with a raised prostate-specific antigen level who have not undergone biopsy. However, comparative evidence is limited. Methods In a multicenter, randomized, noninferiority trial, we assigned men with a clinical suspicion of prostate cancer who had not undergone biopsy previously to undergo MRI, with or without targeted biopsy, or standard transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy. Men in the MRI-targeted biopsy group underwent a targeted biopsy (without standard biopsy cores) if the MRI was suggestive of prostate cancer; men whose MRI results were not suggestive of prostate cancer were not offered biopsy. Standard biopsy was a 10-to-12-core, transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy. The primary outcome was the proportion of men who received a diagnosis of clinically significant cancer. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of men who received a diagnosis of clinically insignificant cancer. Results A total of 500 men underwent randomization. In the MRI-targeted biopsy group, 71 of 252 men (28%) had MRI results that were not suggestive of prostate cancer, so they did not undergo biopsy. Clinically significant cancer was detected in 95 men (38%) in the MRI-targeted biopsy group, as compared with 64 of 248 (26%) in the standard-biopsy group (adjusted difference, 12 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4 to 20; P=0.005). MRI, with or without targeted biopsy, was noninferior to standard biopsy, and the 95% confidence interval indicated the superiority of this strategy over standard biopsy. Fewer men in the MRI-targeted biopsy group than in the standard-biopsy group received a diagnosis of clinically insignificant cancer (adjusted difference, -13 percentage points; 95% CI, -19 to -7; P<0.001). Conclusions The use of risk assessment with MRI before biopsy and MRI-targeted biopsy was superior to standard transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy in men at clinical risk for prostate cancer who had not undergone biopsy previously. (Funded by the National Institute for Health Research and the European Association of Urology Research Foundation; PRECISION ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02380027 .)

4D synchrotron X-ray tomographic quantification of the transition from cellular to dendrite growth during directional solidification

Solidification morphology directly impacts the mechanical properties of materials; hence many models of the morphological evolution of dendritic structures have been formulated. However, there is a paucity of validation data for directional solidification models, especially the direct observations of metallic alloys, both for cellular and dendritic structures. In this study, we performed 4D synchrotron X-ray tomographic imaging (three spatial directions plus time), to study the transition from cellular to a columnar dendritic morphology and the subsequent growth of columnar dendrite in a temperature gradient stage. The cellular morphology was found to be highly complex, with frequent lateral bridging. Protrusions growing out of the cellular front with the onset of morphological instabilities were captured, together with the subsequent development of these protrusions into established dendrites. Other mechanisms affecting the solidification microstructure, including dendrite fragmentation/pinch-off were also captured and the quantitative results were compared to proposed mechanisms. The results demonstrate that 4D imaging can provide new data to both inform and validate solidification models