Towards an understanding of the construction of the professional identity of vocational further education college teachers

This thesis presents findings of a research project that was carried out within the field of Further Education (FE). The broad aim of the study was to gain a greater understanding of the professional identity formation process that vocational FE teachers undergo as they progress from the role of industry practitioner to teacher. The thesis develops and builds upon Robson’s work and seeks to answer her ‘call’ for a better understanding of this complex identity development process that FE teachers undergo. In order to realise this aim, practising vocational FE teachers were interviewed across four different general FE colleges located in the south east of England. Responses were analysed using Illeris’ (2011) theories of workplace learning. The findings of the study were grouped together to form themes and then distilled to establish how vocational FE teachers view their identity and what the key influences on the identity formation process were. The thesis presents two key assertions about the professional identity formation process. This study concludes firstly, that contrary to previous studies, formal initial teacher training is not highly valued by vocational FE teachers, it is placed second to experiential work-place learning on the job with the support of practitioner peers. This learning process, instigated by the practitioners themselves, involved various types of networking with peers and was encouraged by managers. Secondly, Illeris’ workplace learning theory can be used as a lens to explain the rich learning process and the key elements that contribute to the formation of vocational FE teachers’ professional identity. Professional identity formation takes place in a learning space influenced by workplace production, the individual, work practice and the community within the workplace. The work suggests that these findings make a contribution to knowledge in the field of FE and should be used to inform future discussions concerning the professional formation of vocational FE teachers and the development of their practice

Are existing biodiversity conservation strategies appropriate in a changing climate?

Many countries have conservation plans for threatened species, but such plans have generally been developed without taking into account the potential impacts of climate change. Here, we apply a decision framework, specifically developed to identify and prioritise climate change adaptation actions and demonstrate its use for 30 species threatened in the UK. Our aim is to assess whether government conservation recommendations remain appropriate under a changing climate. The species, associated with three different habitats (lowland heath, broadleaved woodland and calcareous grassland), were selected from a range of taxonomic groups (primarily moths and vascular plants, but also including bees, bryophytes, carabid beetles and spiders). We compare the actions identified for these threatened species by the decision framework with those included in existing conservation plans, as developed by the UK Government's statutory adviser on nature conservation. We find that many existing conservation recommendations are also identified by the decision framework. However, there are large differences in the spatial prioritisation of actions when explicitly considering projected climate change impacts. This includes recommendations for actions to be carried out in areas where species do not currently occur, in order to allow them to track movement of suitable conditions for their survival. Uncertainties in climate change projections are not a reason to ignore them. Our results suggest that existing conservation plans, which do not take into account potential changes in suitable climatic conditions for species, may fail to maximise species persistence. Comparisons across species also suggest a more habitat-focused approach could be adopted to enable climate change adaptation for multiple species

Predicting a change in the order of spring phenology in temperate forests

The rise in spring temperatures over the past half‐century has led to advances in the phenology of many nontropical plants and animals. As species and populations differ in their phenological responses to temperature, an increase in temperatures has the potential to alter timing‐dependent species interactions. One species‐interaction that may be affected is the competition for light in deciduous forests, where early vernal species have a narrow window of opportunity for growth before late spring species cast shade. Here we consider the Marsham phenology time series of first leafing dates of thirteen tree species and flowering dates of one ground flora species, which spans two centuries. The exceptional length of this time series permits a rare comparison of the statistical support for parameter‐rich regression and mechanistic thermal sensitivity phenology models. While mechanistic models perform best in the majority of cases, both they and the regression models provide remarkably consistent insights into the relative sensitivity of each species to forcing and chilling effects. All species are sensitive to spring forcing, but we also find that vernal and northern European species are responsive to cold temperatures in the previous autumn. Whether this sensitivity reflects a chilling requirement or a delaying of dormancy remains to be tested. We then apply the models to projected future temperature data under a fossil fuel intensive emissions scenario and predict that while some species will advance substantially others will advance by less and may even be delayed due to a rise in autumn and winter temperatures. Considering the projected responses of all fourteen species, we anticipate a change in the order of spring events, which may lead to changes in competitive advantage for light with potential implications for the composition of temperate forests

In brief: The future of finance

A new CEP report says that the financial system has become far more complicated than it need to be - and dangerously unstable toofinance, credit crunch

Persistent elastic behavior above a megathrust rupture patch: Nias island, West Sumatra

We quantify fore-arc deformation using fossil reefs to test the assumption commonly made in seismic cycle models that anelastic deformation of the fore arc is negligible. Elevated coral microatolls, paleoreef flats, and chenier plains show that the Sumatran outer arc island of Nias has experienced a complex pattern of relatively slow long-term uplift and subsidence during the Holocene epoch. This same island rose up to 2.9 m during the Mw 8.7 Sunda megathrust rupture in 2005. The mismatch between the 2005 and Holocene uplift patterns, along with the overall low rates of Holocene deformation, reflects the dominance of elastic strain accumulation and release along this section of the Sunda outer arc high and the relatively subordinate role of upper plate deformation in accommodating long-term plate convergence. The fraction of 2005 uplift that will be retained permanently is generally <4% for sites that experienced more than 0.25 m of coseismic uplift. Average uplift rates since the mid-Holocene range from 1.5 to −0.2 mm/a and are highest on the eastern coast of Nias, where coseismic uplift was nearly zero in 2005. The pattern of long-term uplift and subsidence is consistent with slow deformation of Nias along closely spaced folds in the north and trenchward dipping back thrusts in the southeast. Low Holocene tectonic uplift rates provide for excellent geomorphic and stratigraphic preservation of the mid-Holocene relative sea level high, which was under way by ∼7.3 ka and persisted until ∼2 ka