Flip, feedback and fly: Using LOOP to Enhance the Professional Experience of Initial Teacher Education

The Australian Professional Teaching Standards require pre-service teachers to complete a minimum number of days of professional experience in order to graduate. Problems can arise, however, when the evaluation of their professional experience against the Standards shifts from the providers of teacher education programmes to school-based supervising teachers. The Lesson Observation On-line Platform (LOOP) begins to address these problems by utilising a secure, shared digital platform to facilitate evidence-based evaluation of the performance of pre-service teachers. In this research, we evaluated the potential of LOOP to assess pre-service teachers against the Standards as well as to enhance the professional development of both pre-service teachers and their supervising teachers. The responses from two pre-service teachers and their supervising teachers demonstrate that the methodological matters can be easily overcome. Nevertheless our findings indicate that there are several practical issues that need to be overcome if LOOP were to be fully successful

Buber's perception of Judaism. Its character and development.

The thesis enquires into Buber's concept of Judaism and his self- understanding as a Jew. Scholars in the field have been concerned with many aspects of Buber's dialogical philosophy but except for articles written from the point of view of Jewish orthodoxy, no in- depth work has been produced specifically examining the nature of his Judaism. The thesis draws out neglected and misunderstood aspects of Buber's thought and aims to conclude that his understanding of religious experience and life is profoundly Jewish. That is to say, his perception of what is essential to Judaism and to Jewish religious experience and life draws on the same (traditional) sources as orthodoxy and maintains Buber within a specific Jewish continuum. Consequently while the influences on Buber's developing thought are carefully examined the emphasis of the argument is on Buber's understanding of God and revelation, and of the nature of man's responsibility. These are considered after an examination of the I- Thou/I-It word-pairs which represent the attitudes associated with Buber's dialogical philosophy. The problems concerning Buber's belief that law cannot be a part, of the content of revelation, and the subsequent issue of his non-observation of mitzvot, are dealt with in depth. A parallel emphasis is given to Buber's involvement with Zionism, his work for Jewish communities in Germany before and during Hitler, and his continual work for Arab-Jewish rapprochement both in Palestine and after the establishment of the Israeli state. It is by an analysis of the inextricable relationship between Buber's thought and practical work that the argument of the thesis establishes the reasons why Buber's self-perception is valid in terms of Jewish religious belief and life

The victorious English language: hegemonic practices in the management academy

This study explores hegemonic linguistic processes, that is, the dominant and unreflective use of the English language in the production of textual knowledge accounts. The authors see the production of management knowledge as situated in central or peripheral locations, which they examine from an English language perspective. Their inquiry is based on an empirical study based on the perspectives of 33 management academics (not English language speakers) in (semi) peripheral locations, who have to generate and disseminate knowledge in and through the English language. Although the hegemony of the center in the knowledge production process has long been acknowledged, the specific contribution of this study is to explore how the English language operates as part of the “ideological complex” that produces and maintains this hegemony, as well as how this hegemony is manifested at the local level of publication practices in peripherally located business and management schools

AI in Production: Video Analysis and Machine Learning for Expanded Live Events Coverage

In common with many industries, TV and video production is likely to be transformed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), with software and algorithms assisting production tasks that, conventionally, could only be carried out by people. Expanded coverage of a diverse range of live events is particularly constrained by the relative scarcity of skilled people, and is a strong use case for AI-based automation. This paper describes recent BBC research into potential production benefits of AI algorithms, using visual analysis and other techniques. Rigging small, static UHD cameras, we have enabled a one-person crew to crop UHD footage in multiple ways and cut between the resulting shots, effectively creating multi-camera HD coverage of events that cannot accommodate a camera crew. By working with programme makers to develop simple deterministic rules and, increasingly, training systems using advanced video analysis, we are developing a system of algorithms to automatically frame, sequence and select shots, and construct acceptable multicamera coverage of previously untelevised types of event

Experimental and computational studies of jamming

Jamming is a common feature of out of equilibrium systems showing slow relaxation dynamics. Here we review our efforts in understanding jamming in granular materials using experiments and computer simulations. We first obtain an estimation of an effective temperature for a slowly sheared granular material very close to jamming. The measurement of the effective temperature is realized in the laboratory by slowly shearing a closely-packed ensemble of spherical beads confined by an external pressure in a Couette geometry. All the probe particles, independent of their characteristic features, equilibrate at the same temperature, given by the packing density of the system. This suggests that the effective temperature is a state variable for the nearly jammed system. Then we investigate numerically whether the effective temperature can be obtained from a flat average over the jammed configuration at a given energy in the granular packing, as postulated by the thermodynamic approach to grains.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure

The impact of overseas training on curriculum innovation and change in English language education in Western China

This article assesses the impact of a UK-based professional development programme on curriculum innovation and change in English Language Education (ELE) in Western China. Based on interviews, focus group discussions and observation of a total of 48 English teachers who had participated in an overseas professional development programme influenced by modern approaches to education and ELE, and 9 of their colleagues who had not taken part, it assesses the uptake of new approaches on teachers’ return to China. Interviews with 10 senior managers provided supplementary data. Using Diffusion of Innovations Theory as the conceptual framework, we examine those aspects of the Chinese situation that are supportive of change and those that constrain innovation. We offer evidence of innovation in classroom practice on the part of returnees and ‘reinvention’ of the innovation to ensure a better fit with local needs. The key role of course participants as opinion leaders in the diffusion of new ideas is also explored. We conclude that the selective uptake of this innovation is under way and likely to be sustained against a background of continued curriculum reform in China

Thinking about Later Life: Insights from the Capability Approach

A major criticism of mainstream gerontological frameworks is the inability of such frameworks to appreciate and incorporate issues of diversity and difference in engaging with experiences of aging. Given the prevailing socially structured nature of inequalities, such differences matter greatly in shaping experiences, as well as social constructions, of aging. I argue that Amartya Sen’s capability approach (2009) potentially offers gerontological scholars a broad conceptual framework that places at its core consideration of human beings (their values) and centrality of human diversity. As well as identifying these key features of the capability approach, I discuss and demonstrate their relevance to thinking about old age and aging. I maintain that in the context of complex and emerging identities in later life that shape and are shaped by shifting people-place and people-people relationships, Sen’s capability approach offers significant possibilities for gerontological research