Perceptions of influence by social actors on professional doctoral students: a nested case study’s methodological use of sociograms

Social influence is an important part of human relationships and people’s daily interactions (Turner 2005) and causes changes in attitude, values, emotions, behaviour, and actions. This interpretive study explores the social influence perceptions and experiences of eleven professional individuals. It analyses who their influencers were and how they affected participants’ decisions and actions to engage in a professional doctorate. Turner’s (2005) concept of social power through others and Broome’s (2009) philosophical concept of reasoned judgement, motivation and action were used to understand how the participants’ social interactions affected their actions. Research participants were professional doctorate students at various stages of their study. Each professional participated in semi-structured interviews and completed a sociogram to explore the effects of social influence. Template analysis, a form of thematic analysis, was selected to analyse data because this approach supported the development of multiple iterations as new themes emerged, allowing other themes to be changed or deleted. The findings highlight how friends’ and families’ influential skills signposted doctoral study and the ways they used social power to encourage, challenge or dissuade professionals from engaging in a doctorate. An unexpected finding was the significant effect authoritative parents had on adult children with established careers and the way these parents’ education expectations affected their children’s doctoral engagement. The findings also identified how professional colleagues’ status, expert voice and in-group membership were important influences, as participants aspired to attain the same status and expert voice as their colleagues and become influential professional practice advocates. The research makes an original contribution to knowledge and PD practice as it illustrates the perceptions of how family, friends, and professional colleagues used influential strategies and the effect this had on professional doctoral students’ personal and professional decisions and actions

Gravitational energy as dark energy: Concordance of cosmological tests

We provide preliminary quantitative evidence that a new solution to averaging the observed inhomogeneous structure of matter in the universe [gr-qc/0702082, arxiv:0709.0732], may lead to an observationally viable cosmology without exotic dark energy. We find parameters which simultaneously satisfy three independent tests: the match to the angular scale of the sound horizon detected in the cosmic microwave background anisotropy spectrum; the effective comoving baryon acoustic oscillation scale detected in galaxy clustering statistics; and type Ia supernova luminosity distances. Independently of the supernova data, concordance is obtained for a value of the Hubble constant which agrees with the measurement of the Hubble Key team of Sandage et al [astro-ph/0603647]. Best-fit parameters include a global average Hubble constant H_0 = 61.7 (+1.2/-1.1) km/s/Mpc, a present epoch void volume fraction of f_{v0} = 0.76 (+0.12/-0.09), and an age of the universe of 14.7 (+0.7/-0.5) billion years as measured by observers in galaxies. The mass ratio of non-baryonic dark matter to baryonic matter is 3.1 (+2.5/-2.4), computed with a baryon-to-photon ratio that concords with primordial lithium abundances.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; v2 improved statistics, references added, to appear in ApJ Letter

Study support essentials: guidance for Ofsted Framework 2012

The well-being of children and young people encompasses, amongst other things, enhanced self-esteem through personal achievement and a confidence in learning behaviours. The Study Support strategy articulated in this document supports professionals in developing an inspirational vision for the children and young people in their care. If this vision is to be realised, professionals need to be both knowledgeable and skillful in utilising pedagogies that engender deep learning. This Study Support strategy will enhance children and young people’s enjoyment, engagement and attainment thereby contributing to the overall performance and improvement agenda in any given school

Quality development framework for extended services

The Quality Development Framework (QDF) is a flexible self-evaluation tool which supports review and self-assessment, planning and quality assurance. It is a framework for schools, Children’s Centres and multi-agency partners working as Consortia to deliver Extended Services, which recognises the complex and developmental nature of this process. Engagement with the QDF will contribute to the completion of Schools and Children’s Centres’ Self Evaluations Forms and provide an evidence base to support other Self-Evaluation processes and Quality Assurance systems

Study support essentials: guidance for academies

This guidance supports academies in considering the case for sustaining and extending provision and offers frameworks for self-evaluation. The case studies provide a wealth of ideas to stimulate discussion and inspire fresh approaches to meet the needs of today’s students. Practical recommendations from QiSS (Quality in Study Support and Extended Services) to aid strategic and operational planning are based on many years of research and experience as the national leader in the field

Study support essentials: guidance for school governors

This document is a valuable guide for school governors as it enables them to use the guidance in this document to support their school’s teaching and learning activities outside of the curriculum. It empowers governors to ask leading and challenging questions of their school’s extending learning opportunities strategy. Thereby support the school to raise pupil attainment, attendance and behaviour which all contribute to School Improvement and Performance

Schools and their communities: pupil and teacher perceptions of community action

In England over the last two decades, there has been a growing interest in the role of English schools in developing, facilitating and supporting young people’s community participation. A number of policy initiatives have sought to build the capacity and opportunities for youth participation. Research suggests, however, that pupils and schools are often prohibited by significant barriers from becoming involved with community activities, particularly those which might occur beyond the school environment itself. In March 2010 the UK Labour government launched a Youth Community Action initiative for England, piloted across five local authorities, which aimed to involve young people of 14-16 years-of-age in community action. Following the UK general election in May 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government terminated these pilots but was quick to announce the launch and piloting of a National Citizen Service for 16-19 year olds in England. Purpose Drawing on research conducted with participants in one Youth Community Action pilot project, the aim of this study was to explore the perceptions and understandings of young people regarding their involvement in community action activities and how this compared to the perceptions and understandings of the teachers responsible for co-ordinating such activities. Sample In the final synthesis, the sample comprised 614 pupil questionnaires, representing a response rate of 24 percent of the pupils in the 9 participating schools. 11 semi-structured interviews and one focus group interview were conducted with pupils in 6 of the schools, with a further 8 semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers in these 6 schools. Design and methods A questionnaire was administered to pupils participating in the Youth Community Action pilot, enabling an exploration of self-reported behavioural attitudes and perceptions. The data collected was analysed thematically, with an identification of common themes in responses. In addition, factor analysis and a series of Chi² tests of association were carried out. The use of semi-structured interviews, the data from which were analysed thematically, enabled a qualitative exploration of pupils’ and teachers’ self-reported perceptions of community action activities. Results The findings of our questionnaires report that those pupils who know more about their local neighbourhood and community are likely to report greater levels of concern for what happens within it. This suggests that pupils’ learning about their neighbourhoods and community is likely to be beneficial toward developing affective attachments to them. For the pupils in our data-set, simply possessing pro-social behaviours and attitudes was not a sufficient or necessary condition for their community awareness and involvement. It suggests that, at least for a notable number of pupils, active engagement in the community requires cultivation and learning beyond pro-social behaviours. The semi-structured interviews report that pupils identify the school as the key source of information about community engagement opportunities, but also indicate that there is a marked difference in the activities which teachers identify their pupils as having undertaken, and the ability of pupils to vocalise these themselves. A further notable finding was a focus on the practical (time, distance, age-constraints) and social (peer-pressure) barriers to community action activities to the exclusion of specifically educational (lack of understanding and skills) barriers. Conclusions Results from this study suggest that schools represent an important source for pupils’ community involvement, but that in our sample pupils often lack the vocabulary with which to explain the extent and nature of such engagement. Pupils and teachers identify a range of barriers to and benefits of community involvement, but these do not include a lack of understanding or skills. The research raises important questions in the context of recent policy trends in England

Local Authority Development Collaboratives 2008-09 report

As part of the Study Support (SS) Quality Development Programme (QDP) the DCSF provided via Quality in Study Support (QiSS) a grant to develop collaboratives to support Local Authorities (LAs) working together to measure the impact of study support provision within and across regions. Each region was asked to invite Local Authorities (LAs) to commit time to specific projects alongside colleagues within the two themes under the umbrella of QA and impact measurement. Each group would then submit an action plan and budget which would be approved centrally before funding was approved. As a condition of the grant each participating LA initially was asked to carry out a Study Support self-review based on the criteria developed as part of the national framework for Study Support to demonstrate how the proposed collaborative project addressed developmental needs identified in the self-review. Each participating LA was asked to describe how the impact of the activity was evaluated and outcomes disseminated. In addition they were required to indicate how their ‘Development Collaborative’ (DC) has address staff or organisational or service development or delivery issues. 49 LAs participated in DCs during the year 2008-09 .13 DCs were planned but two withdrew and have not been reported upon compared to 19 undertaken in 2007-08). A number of notable outcomes resulted, ranging from increased involvement of young people as advocated and mentors through to holding a conference aimed at commissioners of services and LA Advisors to highlight the importance of engaging in study support activities

Extending learning opportunities: a framework for self-evaluation in study support

The Extending Learning Opportunities (ELO) framework for selfevaluation in study support is a tool to use when quality assuring learning opportunities for children and young people outside of normal lesson time. This framework is a revised edition of the ELO (2009) DCSF publication. It provides a framework for all schools, and school consortiums including Complementary Supplementary Schools, Children’s Centres, Playing for Success (PfS) centres, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and organisations such as libraries, museums, galleries, theatres, including youth and community/volunteer projects that offer a structured learning programmes to young people, to extend and enhance their provision and so to improve their outcomes. It is based on self–evaluation and sets out criteria against which schools, HEIs and other organisations, can review their extended provision, the planning and practices which support it and the overall ethos which supports learning. The criteria, which take the form of Key Indicators, are at three levels: Emerged, Established and Advanced

Dark energy from scalar field with Gauss Bonnet and non-minimal kinetic coupling

We study a model of scalar field with a general non-minimal kinetic coupling to itself and to the curvature, and additional coupling to the Gauss Bonnet 4-dimensional invariant. The model presents rich cosmological dynamics and some of its solutions are analyzed. A variety of scalar fields and potentials giving rise to power-law expansion have been found. The dynamical equation of state is studied for two cases, with and without free kinetic term . In both cases phenomenologically acceptable solutions have been found. Some solutions describe essentially dark energy behavior, and and some solutions contain the decelerated and accelerated phases.Comment: 21 page