The k-variable property is stronger than H-dimension k

Accepted versio

Precarious lives: Experiences of forced labour among refugees and asylum seekers in England

This research uncovered evidence that refugees and asylum seekers are susceptible to forced labour in the UK. The findings are based on a two-year study by academics at the Universities of Leeds and Salford, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The research explored experiences of forced labour among 30 people who had made claims for asylum in England, supplemented by interviews with 23 practitioners and policy-makers

In-service Initial Teacher Education in the Learning and Skills Sector in England: Integrating Course and Workplace Learning

The aim of the paper is to advance understanding of in-service learning and skills sector trainee teachers’ learning and propose ways of improving their learning. A conceptual framework is developed by extending Billett’s (International Journal of Educational Research 47:232–240, 2008) conceptualisation of workplace learning, as a relationally interdependent process between the opportunities workplaces afford for activities and interactions and how individuals engage with these, to a third base of participation, the affordances of the initial teacher education course. Hager and Hodkinson’s (British Educational Research Journal 35:619–638, 2009) metaphor of ‘learning as becoming’ is used to conceptualise the ways trainees reconstruct learning in a continuous transactional process of boundary crossing between course and workplace. The findings of six longitudinal case studies of trainees’ development, and evidence from other studies, illustrate the complex interrelationships between LSS workplace affordances, course affordances and trainee characteristics and the ways in which trainees reconstruct learning in each setting. The experience of teaching and interacting with learners, interactions with colleagues, and access to workplace resources and training are important workplace affordances for learning. However, some trainees have limited access to these affordances. Teaching observations, course activities and experiences as a learner are significant course affordances. Trainees’ beliefs, prior experiences and dispositions vary and significantly influence their engagement with course and workplace affordances. It is proposed that better integration of course and workplace learning through guided participation in an intentional workplace curriculum and attention to the ways trainees choose to engage with this, together with the use of practical theorising has the potential to improve trainee learning

Interchangeable parents? The roles and identities of primary and equal carer fathers of young children

Against the context of enduring gender inequalities in early years parental care, this article examines the experiences of UK fathers who had taken on primary or equal care responsibility for children aged three or under. Informed by qualitative interviews with 24 such fathers, the article explores a discourse of parental interchangeability that pervaded their accounts before outlining the ways that, in practice, most caregiving tasks did tend to be allocated to them or their partners primarily on the basis of factors other than gender. The men’s comfort in presenting themselves and their partners as interchangeable equivalents, along with the range of caregiving approaches they were taking on, suggests that they had begun to move beyond clearly differentiated motherly or fatherly roles. The study goes on, however, to show that certain emotional, organisational and social aspects of parenting sometimes continued to be centred on mothers. In explaining the endurance of these areas of maternal responsibility within otherwise interchangeable partnerships, mutually reinforcing sets of maternal pressures and paternal barriers are outlined

Mediation, translation and local ecologies: understanding the impact of policy levers on FE colleges

This article reports the views of managers and tutors on the role of policy ‘levers’ on teaching, learning, and inclusion in colleges of Further Education (FE) in our research project, ‘The impact of policy on learning and inclusion in the Learning and Skills Sector (LSS)’.i Using data from five research visits conducted over two years in eight FE learning sites, we explore the processes by which colleges ‘mediate’ and ‘translate’ national policy levers and how this affects their ability to respond to local need. The paper tentatively develops three related concepts/metaphors to explain the complexity of the policy/college interface – ‘the process of mediation’, ‘acts of translation’ and ‘local ecologies’. We found that policy levers interacted with a complex set of national, local and institutional factors as colleges responded to pressures from the external environment and turned these into internal plans, systems and practices. We conclude by suggesting that national policy-makers, who design national policy levers, may not be fully aware of these complexities and we make the case for the benefits of greater local control over policy levers, where these interactions are better understood

Student vocational teachers: the significance of individual positions in workplace learning

In most Initial Teacher Preparation (ITP) programmes, learning in teaching placements is considered to be an important component for providing workplace learning experiences to develop the skills of being a teacher. This paper is based on a bigger qualitative study which explored the learning experiences of a group of in-service student vocational teachers prior to and during their one-year ITP programme in Brunei. The study examined these student teachers’ dispositions to learning as revealed through their experiences on different placements during their training. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of the student vocational teachers’ roles and positions relative to their teaching placements. Theoretically, the findings also extend Bourdieu’s thinking, where existing cultural capital in the form of subject knowledge which is valued in one context does not necessarily help the learning of individuals in becoming a vocational teacher in another context. In addition, the paper argues for a need to reconceptualise in-service teacher education, more specifically, the workplace learning aspect. Lastly, it concludes with recommendations to support these student teachers in their placements through creating more expansive learning environments

Intervenciones feministas en el cine documental: conocimientos situados y (auto)representaciones de género en películas de Alina Marazzi y Maricarmen de Lara

En esta tesis reviso películas de Alina Marazzi (1964, Italia) y Maricarmen de Lara (1957, México) dentro del debate sobre el realismo cinematográfico y la experimentación formal en el cine documental feminista. Mi hipótesis es que las intervenciones feministas en No les pedimos un viaje a la luna (1986) y ¿Más vale maña que fuerza? (2007) de Maricarmen de Lara, así como en Un’ora sola ti vorrei (2002) y Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) de Alina Marazzi, se manifiestan en cuatro paradigmas (forma, contenido, producción y recepción) a partir de la comprensión de la objetividad como conocimiento situado que permite a las cineastas rendir cuentas sobre su tratamiento creativo de la realidad y del planteamiento de un cine narrativo subversivo en el que las mujeres filmadas son representadas y/o se autorepresentan dentro y fuera del género. Con la elección de dos cineastas cuyos estilos son diferentes (documental realista observacional-participativo de inclinación política por un lado, documental reflexivoperformativo de inclinación experimental por el otro) busco poner en diálogo dos modos de representación que parte de la teoría feminista del cine de los setenta consideró opuestos. Adoptando la perspectiva de los conocimientos situados (Haraway) propongo una salida al juicio dicotómico que tiende a contraponer y jerarquizar las diferencias. Sustituyendo el desdoblamiento entre sujeto y objeto por el principio de que lo personal/privado es político/público, analizo el trabajo de Maricarmen de Lara y Alina Marazzi como inseparable de quiénes son/han sido ellas como sujetos generizados que, al acercarse al feminismo, trabajan en espacios dentro y fuera del género donde se revisan las contradicciones entre “la Mujer” y las mujeres (Lauretis). En su cine emplean estrategias del documental clásico y/o narrativo pero con una subversión feminista: desenmascarar las inequidades del androcentrismo y ser vehículo de voces disidentes, cuerpos rebeldes y sujetos femeninos autoconscientes. Abstract This thesis analyzes films by Alina Marazzi (1964, Italy) and Maricarmen de Lara (1957, Mexico) within the context of the debate on cinematic realism and formal experimentation in feminist documentary films. The hypothesis is that feminist aspects in No les pedimos un viaje a la luna (1986) and ¿Más vale maña que fuerza? (2007) by Maricarmen de Lara, as well as in Un'ora sola ti vorrei (2002) and Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) by Alina Marazzi, emerge at four paradigms (form, content, production and reception), which are characterised by an understanding of objectivity as situated knowledge that allows the filmmakers to be accountable for their creative treatments of reality and the development of a subversive narrative cinema, in which the filmed women are (auto)represented in-and-out of gender. The selection of two filmmakers whose styles are different (observationalparticipatory realistic documentary with a political inclination on the one hand, reflexiveperformative documentary with an experimental inclination on the other hand), aims to bring into dialogue two streams that most feminist film theorists in the Seventies considered incompatible with each other. By adopting the perspective of situated knowledges (Haraway), I propose an alternative to the dichotomous view that tends to contrast and rank different approaches. Replacing the split between subject and object with the principle that the personal/private is political/public, I analyze Maricarmen’s and Alina’s films as inseparable from who they are/have been as gendered subjects that, on approaching feminism, work in a space in-and-out of gender where the contradictions between “the Woman” and women become evident. Their feminist cinema exploits the strategies of classic and/or narrative documentary “with a vengeance” (Lauretis): it exposes the inequities caused by androcentrism and becomes a vehicle for the expressionThis thesis analyzes films by Alina Marazzi (1964, Italy) and Maricarmen de Lara (1957, Mexico) within the context of the debate on cinematic realism and formal experimentation in feminist documentary films. The hypothesis is that feminist aspects in No les pedimos un viaje a la luna (1986) and ¿Más vale maña que fuerza? (2007) by Maricarmen de Lara, as well as in Un'ora sola ti vorrei (2002) and Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) by Alina Marazzi, emerge at four paradigms (form, content, production and reception), which are characterised by an understanding of objectivity as situated knowledge that allows the filmmakers to be accountable for their creative treatments of reality and the development of a subversive narrative cinema, in which the filmed women are (auto)represented in-and-out of gender. The selection of two filmmakers whose styles are different (observationalparticipatory realistic documentary with a political inclination on the one hand, reflexiveperformative documentary with an experimental inclination on the other hand), aims to bring into dialogue two streams that most feminist film theorists in the Seventies considered incompatible with each other. By adopting the perspective of situated knowledges (Haraway), I propose an alternative to the dichotomous view that tends to contrast and rank different approaches. Replacing the split between subject and object with the principle that the personal/private is political/public, I analyze Maricarmen’s and Alina’s films as inseparable from who they are/have been as gendered subjects that, on approaching feminism, work in a space in-and-out of gender where the contradictions between “the Woman” and women become evident. Their feminist cinema exploits the strategies of classic and/or narrative documentary “with a vengeance” (Lauretis): it exposes the inequities caused by androcentrism and becomes a vehicle for the expression of dissenting voices, rebellious bodies and self-conscious female subjects.Questa tesi esamina i film di Alina Marazzi (1964, Italia) e Maricarmen de Lara (1957, Messico) all’interno del dibattito sul realismo cinematografico e la sperimentazione formale nel documentario femminista. L'ipotesi è che gli aspetti femministi sia in No les pedimos un viaje a la luna (1986) e ¿Más vale maña que fuerza? (2007) di Maricarmen de Lara, sia in Un’ora sola ti vorrei (2002) e Vogliamo anche le rose (2007) di Alina Marazzi, emergano a quattro paradigmi (forma, contenuto, produzione e ricezione). Tali paradigmi sono caratterizzati da una concezione dell’obiettività come “conoscenza situata” che gli permette di essere responsabile per il proprio trattamento creativo della realtà e dall’approccio di un film narrativo sovversivo, in cui le donne girate sono (auto)rappresentate dentro e fuori dal genere. La scelta di due registe con stili differenti (documentario realista osservazionalepartecipativo d’inclinazione politica da un lato, documentario riflessivo-performativo d’inclinazione sperimentale dall’altro), cerca di mettere in dialogo due correnti che parte della teoria femminista del cinema negli anni Settanta ha considerato opposti. Adottando la prospettiva della conoscenza situata (Haraway), propongo una soluzione alla dicotomia che tende a contrapporre e gerarchizzare i diversi approcci. Inoltre, sostituendo la scissione tra soggetto e oggetto con il principio che il personale/privato è politico/pubblico, analizzo come il lavoro di Maricarmen de Lara e Alina Marazzi sia inseparabile da chi sono/sono stati come soggetti di genere che, con il loro approccio al femminismo, lavorano in uno spazio dentro e fuori dal genere, in cui le contraddizioni tra “la Donna” e le donne emergono (Lauretis). Il loro cinema è capace di impiegare le strategie stilistiche del documentario classico e/o narrativo, ma con una sovversione femminista: esporre le disuguaglianze dell’androcentrismo ed essere un veicolo per voci di dissenso, corpi ribelli e soggetti femminili consapevoli.Máster Erasmus Mundus en Estudios de las Mujeres y de Género, GEMM

Environmental risk assessment of genetically modified crops: The use of molecular markers to trace insect and wind dispersal of Brassica napus pollen.

End of Project ReportThis project aimed to develop a better understanding of the potential risks of gene flow and to generate isolation distances required for genetically modified (GM) OSR. The study examined biotic (insect) and abiotic (wind) pollen dispersal over two seasons. A considerable portion of work was devoted to the development of molecular markers, to differentiate Brassica napus varieties from each other to distinguish them from their wild relatives. The project broadly aimed to study gene flow, via pollen movement, from OSR but specifically aimed to: ! Characterise B. napus cv. Marinka using molecular markers. ! Elucidate the distance travelled by OSR pollen by biotic dispersal. ! Elucidate the distance travelled by OSR pollen by abiotic dispersal. ! Elucidate pollination/seed set at various distances from a source crop using male sterile bait plants. ! Develop risk assessment/containment strategies

Nazi Punks Folk Off: Leisure, Nationalism, Cultural Identity and the Consumption of Metal and Folk Music

Far-right activists have attempted to infiltrate and use popular music scenes to propagate their racialised ideologies. This paper explores attempts by the far right to co-opt two particular music scenes: black metal and English folk. Discourse tracing is used to explore online debates about boundaries, belonging and exclusion in the two scenes, and to compare such online debates with ethnographic work and previous research. It is argued that both scenes have differently resisted the far right through the policing of boundaries and communicative choices, but both scenes are compromised by their relationship to myths of whiteness and the instrumentality of the pop music industry