An Investigation into the Perceptions of Veterinarians towards Perioperative Pain Management in Calves

While veterinarians are instrumental to the welfare of calves (Bos taurus), limited knowledge exists concerning veterinary perceptions towards perioperative pain management in calves. As a part of a larger, nationwide study investigating the perceptions of veterinarians towards calf welfare, the current work sought to quantify veterinary perceptions towards perioperative pain management, including barriers to its use, and investigate demographic influences affecting those perceptions. An electronic mixed-methods survey was completed by 104 veterinarians registered with the Veterinary Council of New Zealand. The current work revealed that most veterinarians considered a multimodal approach as the most effective method for ameliorating perioperative pain in calves, rejected the practice of differential treatment based on developmental age, and perceived that postprocedural pain persists beyond 24 h for the majority of procedures included in the survey. Despite this, veterinarians identified certain barriers that may inhibit the provision of pain mitigation on-farm, including costs, inadequate recognition of pain, and ingrained farming practices. Certain demographic effects were found to influence perceptions towards perioperative pain management, including gender, the number of years since graduation, and species emphasis. Nevertheless, the current work demonstrated considerable support among veterinarians to improve pain management protocols during routine husbandry procedures. The asymmetries that exist between the current minimum provisions of perioperative pain management and veterinary perspectives suggest that substantive improvements are necessary in order to reconcile New Zealand’s existing regulatory regime with developments in scientific knowledge

An Investigation into the Perceptions of Veterinarians towards Calf Welfare in New Zealand

Despite recent legislative amendments to address areas of highest risk to the welfare of calves (Bos taurus) in New Zealand, there are prevailing concerns that animal welfare science knowledge has not been adopted in practice. As a part of a larger, nationwide study investigating the perceptions of veterinarians towards calf welfare, the aim of the current work was to investigate the perceptions of veterinarians towards the level of welfare protection afforded to young “bobby” calves in New Zealand. This study also explored concerns for welfare compromise and identified barriers to welfare-related change for calves more generally. An electronic mixed-methods survey was completed by 104 veterinarians registered with the Veterinary Council of New Zealand. The findings revealed that veterinarians strongly disagreed with the specifications of certain calf welfare regulations. Veterinarians also identified areas at highest risk of calf welfare compromise across the production chain and barriers to welfare-related change. These findings demonstrate considerable support among veterinarians for improving the level of welfare protection afforded to calves. Given the discrepancies that exist between the current regulatory regime and veterinary perspectives, the knowledge gained from this study can be used in support of regulatory reform to strengthen calf welfare in practice and policy in New Zealand

Video viewing in teacher education and professional development: A literature review

International audienceThis article reviews the international literature on video viewing in teacher education and professional development. Two hundred and fifty-five articles were collected, summarized and categorized using a conceptualization that includes four aspects: teachers' activity as they view a classroom video, the objectives of video viewing, the types of videos viewed, and the effects of video viewing on teacher education and professional development. The findings in each of these aspects suggested three main questions that may profitably guide future research: How can teaching teachers to identify and interpret relevant classroom events on video clips improve their capacity to perform the same activities in the classroom? How can we best articulate the diverse objectives of video viewing and the diverse types of videos in teacher education and professional development programs? How can we create a “continuum” between teacher education programs and professional development programs in such a way that video viewing becomes a routine, familiar professional practice able to produce the desired effects over the course of an entire teaching career