Capability, practical intelligence and the first year Foundation degree curriculum: lighting the blue touch paper

The rapid expansion in Britain of vocationally-orientated Foundation degrees, since their introduction in 2001, means a new group of graduates is entering employment across sectors as diverse as creative industries, engineering and social care. Yet provisional progression and completion statistics suggest this group of predominantly experienced, part-time, employed learners take longer to complete their studies and remain in low-paid employment even after graduating (HEFCE, 2007). The human and economic cost of attrition makes it imperative to understand how the curriculum can engage and support the experienced worker entering Higher Education. Whilst the dual status (of worker and learner) is undoubtedly stressful, we suggest there is an under-exploited opportunity during the first year to facilitate successful transition; by understanding, valuing and utilising the practical intelligence of such students, described by Sternberg and Grigorenko (2000) as ‘the capacity to behave effectively in everyday life’.Drawing upon theoretical constructs and research with health and social care graduates, this paper proposes an approach to the first year curriculum which is designed to respect and engage with Foundation degree students’ (typically) extensive practical knowledge and high degree of motivation. By seeking to systematically discover how each theorises about self (Yorke and Knight, 2004), it is possible to appreciate the strengths of practical intelligence and in doing so, to challenge the insidious ‘deficit’ model (Marteau, Sowden & Armstrong, 2008). Indeed, we suggest that the situational and dispositional factors characterising Foundation degree learners create a flammable mixture which may be ignited or doused early in the learning journey. We will not propose a simple ‘skills-based’ approach though, as it is critical that thinking, reasoning and judgement deepens practical intelligence for adaptable, capable practitioners to develop (Fraser and Greenhalgh, 2001). Instead, we relate emergent themes from interviews to the work of Yorke and Knight (2004), proposing students’ self-theories as a starting point for successful lifelong engagement with academic study within Higher Education. This longer term commitment is essential to all health and social care careers in which practitioners require ongoing development to be evidenced

An exploration of the professional relationship between caseloading midwives and the women they care for

This research seeks to increase understanding regarding the midwife-woman relationship. Midwives provide care within a context that is intimate and highly emotional. Additionally, it is often in a one-to-one setting that is private. To work successfully in this space they need to have a high level of self-awareness and reflexivity to be responsive to the situations that may arise. A positive relationship has been shown to influence the outcome for the woman and her baby (Hunter, 2005; Pembroke & Pembroke, 2008; Thomas & Dixon, 2012; Walsh, 1999), and increase the job satisfaction for the midwife (McAra-Couper, Gilkison, Crowther, Hunter, Hotchin & Gunn, 2014)

Matters of materiality in Byzantium: the Archangel Gabriel in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople

This article considers questions of materials and materiality in the context of the very large Byzantine mosaic of the Archangel Gabriel in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It looks at the ways in which the materials of mosaics affected and affect the appearance of the image, and discusses how this sits with Byzantine conceptions of angels as both embodied and disembodied beings

It's time to reconsider early-morning testosterone tests

Guidelines recommend collecting an early-morning sample to compensate for the natural diurnal variation in testosterone levels. But for men 45 and older, this is unnecessary. Practice changer: Early-morning testosterone tests are necessary only for men younger than age 45. Because the natural diurnal variation in testosterone levels tends to diminish with age, it is acceptable to test men ages 45 and older before 2 pm.

An attitude for gratitude: how gratitude is understood, experienced and valued by the British public: research report

The subject of gratitude has gained traction in recent years in academic and popular (eg, media) circles. However, limited attention has been devoted to understanding what laypeople understand by the concept of gratitude; the meaning of which tends to have been assumed in the literature. Furthermore, while intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of gratitude have been extolled in this growing body of research, there has been little assessment of the value laypeople place on gratitude themselves, or whether and how they think it might be fostered. Since September 2012, our Attitude for Gratitude research project has been engaged in examining precisely how gratitude is conceptualised by the British public, what British people are grateful for, the value they place on gratitude, what kinds of people tend to be grateful, and whether and how they think gratitude might be promoted in British society. The project has incorporated a variety of methods to examine these questions, conceptually and empirically, canvassing the opinions of over 10,000 people in the UK. A key issue for our research has been to represent the views of British people across a range of ages, ethnicities and backgrounds that are representative of Britain today. We are strongly committed to the view that researchers should engage with laypeople to avoid superimposing a meaning and value on gratitude that does not reflect the views of the people the research purports to study. To this end, and to throw light on what British laypeople understand by the concept of gratitude, we carried out a series of empirical studies that complement the definitions of philosophers and psychologists with more everyday definitions of laypeople5. To examine the perceived value of gratitude we surveyed British people directly, making no prior assumptions about where gratitude might be evaluated in relation to other values and virtues. Finally, we sought to elicit suggestions from the British public themselves about how gratitude might be fostered in British society. Much recent research on gratitude has originated in the USA and therefore a further aim of the project was to assess the degree to which the understanding and evaluation of gratitude may differ between the USA and the UK. We sought to target the British public with these questions

An exploration of the professional relationship between caseloading midwives and the women they care for.

This research seeks to increase understanding regarding the midwife-woman relationship. Midwives provide care within a context that is intimate and highly emotional. Additionally, it is often in a one-to-one setting that is private. To work successfully in this space they need to have a high level of self-awareness and reflexivity to be responsive to the situations that may arise. A positive relationship has been shown to influence the outcome for the woman and her baby (Hunter, 2005; Pembroke & Pembroke, 2008; Thomas & Dixon, 2012; Walsh, 1999), and increase the job satisfaction for the midwife (McAra-Couper, Gilkison, Crowther, Hunter, Hotchin & Gunn, 2014)

Professional Development of Midwives, Shenzhen, China

Presentation to Shenzhen Midwifes (China) regarding midwifery practices, philosophy and undergraduate curriculum within New Zealand. Overview of New Zealands code of conduct, Standards of Practice and Competencies and how these are integrated within the curriculum

Gentle birth in New Zealand

Presentation to the Fourth International Gentle Childbirth Midwifery Technology and Management Forum, Shenzhen, Chin

Ecology of Floristic Quality Assessment: testing for correlations between coefficients of conservatism, species traits and mycorrhizal responsiveness

Many plant species are limited to habitats relatively unaffected by anthropogenic disturbance, so protecting these undisturbed habitats is essential for plant conservation. Coefficients of conservatism (C values) were developed as indicators of a species’ sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbance, and these values are used in Floristic Quality Assessment as a means of assessing natural areas and ecological restoration. However, assigning of these values is subjective and improved quantitative validation of C values is needed. We tested whether there are consistent differences in life histories between species with high and low C values. To do this, we grew 54 species of tallgrass prairie plants in a greenhouse and measured traits that are associated with trade-offs on the fast-slow continuum of life-history strategies. We also grew plants with and without mycorrhizal fungi as a test of these species’ reliance on this mutualism. We compared these traits and mycorrhizal responsiveness to C values. We found that six of the nine traits we measured were correlated with C values, and together, traits predicted up to 50 % of the variation in C values. Traits including fast growth rates and greater investment in reproduction were associated with lower C values, and slow growth rates, long-lived leaves and high root:shoot ratios were associated with higher C values. Additionally, plants with high C values and a slow life history were more responsive to mutualisms with mycorrhizal fungi. Overall, our results connect C values with life-history trade-offs, indicating that high C value species tend to share a suite of traits associated with a slow life history