Understanding a ‘career in careers’: learning from an analysis of current job and person specifications

The Career Development Institute (CDI) is developing a career progression pathway for the career development sector. This report provides evidence which can inform the creation of such a framework. It is based on an analysis of 214 job and person specifications. These were drawn from all four UK nations and reflect the five CDI constituency groups as well as higher education and the welfare to work sector. Key findings include the following: It was possible to identify six levels of vacancies in the career development sector: entry level; practitioner; advanced practitioner; manager and senior manager; and research and technical support. There were careers vacancies in every UK nation and in every English region. Nearly half of the vacancies were located in London and the South East. Over three-quarters of the job opportunities for the career development workforce were located within careers companies and the education sector. Just less than three quarters of the vacancies were full time positions. A clear majority of vacancies (69%) were permanent positions. Three-quarters of vacancies specified a careers qualification. Many job and person specifications either did not specify the level of the qualification or suggested diverse careers qualifications at different levels. A minority of vacancies did not require any qualifications and a small number did not require any specific careers qualifications. Job and person specifications set out a wide range of duties for careers workers. The most common were providing one to one career information, advice and guidance and organising and delivering group sessions. The behaviour, knowledge and skills most likely to be specified were interpersonal skills, the use of ICT and electronic systems (including CRM systems) and the ability to manage paperwork and work to targets. Salaries varied from £13,400 to £65,000 although the overwhelming majority of those that specified a salary were between £15,001- £35,000. Salary varied according to the level of the job, the sector it was based in and the qualifications that were required. The analysis revealed 103 different job titles. This is a significant increase on the 2009 mapping by LLUK which identified 43 job roles. Careers adviser/advisor was the job title most commonly cited.Career Development Institut

Strategic consultation on the FE workforce and Initial Teacher Education workforce for the Education & Training Foundation

A research project undertaken on behalf of the Education and Training Foundation exploring barriers to attracting candidates with higher qualifications and skills to the FE sector and to explores if ITE predominantly attracts people from a humanities background. The report suggests that people move into FE teaching through opportunity. The issue if dual professionalism is an important element of identity. Those becoming teacher educators tend to drift into the role. Discussions were focused less on the background of people but on the space they have to deliver a curriculum which includes pedagogy theory and the extent to which ITE need to have subject specialisms to prepare teachers for effective classroom practice.Education and Training Foundatio

Strategies to improve the quality of initial teacher education for teachers in the education and training sector (further education and skills)

This report details the Inquiring Teachers, Inquiring Learners project which was developed to support partner institutions to develop and apply a culture of action research within their organisation. The underlying principle of the project was professionalism and in particular the promotion and development of teachers’ professional identities and attitudes as the key to the enhancement of student learning, above all, a vision of the ‘inquiring teacher’. Inquiring teachers it is felt are more likely to develop inquiring learners. Teachers are best placed to know about their subjects and their learners’ needs within their local contexts. The project aimed to support partners of the School of Education to develop the skills and knowledge to define and undertake an action research project that would contribute to improving ITE within their context.Education and Training Foundatio

Online Segregation

A large number of agents from two groups prefer to interact with their own types online and also have preferences over two online platforms. We find that an online platform can be tipped from integrated to segregated without any change in the ratio of the two groups interacting on the platform. Instead, segregation can be triggered by changes in the absolute numbers of both groups, holding the Schelling ratio fixed. In extreme cases, the flight of one group from a platform can be triggered by a change in the group ratio in favor of the group that ends up leaving

Epigenetics and the overhealing wound: the role of DNA methylation in fibrosis

Fibrosis is a progressive and potentially fatal process that can occur in numerous organ systems. Characterised by the excessive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins such as collagens and fibronectin, fibrosis affects normal tissue architecture and impedes organ function. Although a considerable amount of research has focused on the mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis, current therapeutic options do not directly target the pro-fibrotic process. As a result, there is a clear unmet clinical need to develop new agents. Novel findings implicate a role for epigenetic modifications contributing to the progression of fibrosis by alteration of gene expression profiles. This review will focus on DNA methylation; its association with fibroblast differentiation and activation and the consequent buildup of fibrotic scar tissue. The potential use of therapies that modulate this epigenetic pathway for the treatment of fibrosis in several organ systems is also discussed

Digitized thought records: A practitioner-focused review of cognitive restructuring apps

Mental health (MH) apps can be used as adjunctive tools in traditional face-To-face therapy to help implement components of evidence-based treatments. However, practitioners interested in using MH apps face a variety of challenges, including knowing which apps would be appropriate to use. Although some resources are available to help practitioners identify apps, granular analyses of how faithfully specific clinical skills are represented in apps are lacking. This study aimed to conduct a review and analysis of MH apps containing a core component of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)-cognitive restructuring (CR). A keyword search for apps providing CR functionality on the Apple App and Android Google Play stores yielded 246 apps after removal of duplicates, which was further reduced to 15 apps following verification of a CR component and application of other inclusionary/exclusionary criteria. Apps were coded based on their inclusion of core elements of CR, and general app features including app content, interoperability/data sharing, professional involvement, ethics, and data safeguards. They were also rated on user experience as assessed by the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Whereas a majority of the CR apps include most core CR elements, they vary considerably with respect to more granular sub-elements of CR (e.g. rating the intensity of emotions), other general app features, and user experience (average MARS = 3.53, range from 2.30 to 4.58). Specific apps that fared best with respect to CR fidelity and user experience dimensions are highlighted, and implications of findings for clinicians, researchers and app developers are discussed. Key learning aims (1) To identify no-cost mobile health apps that practitioners can adopt to facilitate cognitive restructuring. (2) To review how well the core elements of cognitive restructuring are represented in these apps. (3) To characterize these apps with respect to their user experience and additional features. (4) To provide examples of high-quality apps that represent cognitive restructuring with fidelity and facilitate its clinical implementation

Rationale and design of the hip fracture accelerated surgical treatment and care track (hip attack) trial: A protocol for an international randomised controlled trial evaluating early surgery for hip fracture patients

Introduction: Annually, millions of adults suffer hip fractures. The mortality rate post a hip fracture is 7%-10% at 30 days and 10%-20% at 90 days. Observational data suggest that early surgery can improve these outcomes in hip fracture patients. We designed a clinical trial-HIP fracture Accelerated surgical TreaTment And Care tracK (HIP ATTACK) to determine the effect of accelerated surgery compared with standard care on the 90-day risk of all-cause mortality and major perioperative complications. Methods and Analysis: HIP ATTACK is a multicentre, international, parallel group randomised controlled trial (RCT) that will include patients ≥45 years of age and diagnosed with a hip fracture from a low-energy mechanism requiring surgery. Patients are randomised to accelerated medical assessment and surgical repair (goal within 6 h) or standard care. The co-primary outcomes are (1) all-cause mortality and (2) a composite of major perioperative complications (ie, mortality and non-fatal myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, sepsis, stroke, and life-threatening and major bleeding) at 90 days after randomisation. All patients will be followed up for a period of 1 year. We will enrol 3000 patients. Ethics and Dissemination: All centres had ethics approval before randomising patients. Written informed consent is required for all patients before randomisation. HIP ATTACK is the first large international trial designed to examine whether accelerated surgery can improve outcomes in patients with a hip fracture. The dissemination plan includes publishing the results in a policy-influencing journal, conference presentations, engagement of influential medical organisations, and providing public awareness through multimedia resources

Effects of accelerated versus standard care surgery on the risk of acute kidney injury in patients with a hip fracture: A substudy protocol of the hip fracture accelerated surgical treatment and care track (hip attack) international randomised controlled trial

Introduction: Inflammation, dehydration, hypotension and bleeding may all contribute to the development of acute kidney injury (AKI). Accelerated surgery after a hip fracture can decrease the exposure time to such contributors and may reduce the risk of AKI.Methods and analysis: Hip fracture Accelerated surgical TreaTment And Care tracK (HIP ATTACK) is a multicentre, international, parallel-group randomised controlled trial (RCT). Patients who suffer a hip fracture are randomly allocated to either accelerated medical assessment and surgical repair with a goal of surgery within 6 hours of diagnosis or standard care where a repair typically occurs 24 to 48 hours after diagnosis. The primary outcome of this substudy is the development of AKI within 7 days of randomisation. We anticipate at least 1998 patients will participate in this substudy.Ethics and dissemination: We obtained ethics approval for additional serum creatinine recordings in consecutive patients enrolled at 70 participating centres. All patients provide consent before randomisation. We anticipate reporting substudy results by 2021.Trial registration number: NCT02027896; Pre-results