Diploma in Education? Rethinking the Curriculum.

For well over half a century the traditional end-on diploma year has been under fire from university departments, students, and the teaching profession. How is it possible in one year for students to reach adequate levels of knowledge and understanding in a large number of subjects, epistemologicalIy diverse and frequently outside their undergraduate experience? The answer of course, is that it is not possible to believe otherwise is to labour under gross delusion. A university department of education, acting with the best of intentions, cannot give more than cursory attention to even the most essential elements of a preservice programme within an abbreviated academic year

Quantitative and qualitative outcomes of transactional analysis psychotherapy with male armed forces veterans in the UK presenting with post-Traumatic stress disorder

This paper presents findings from a two-year research project conducted within a live-in residential charity setting in the UK, examining clinical outcomes of TA psychotherapy among 15 male armed forces veterans presenting with severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other comorbid disorders. Outcomes were measured for short-term (24 sessions) and long-term (52 sessions) transactional analysis (TA) treatment using the quantitative CORE-OM (Evans, Mellor-Clark, Margison, Barkham, McGrath, Connell & Audin, 2000), PHQ-9 (Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams, 2001) and GAD-7 (Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams & Löwe, 2006) questionnaires and the qualitative Change Interview (Elliott, Slatick, & Urman, 2001, as cited in Frommer & Rennie, 2001). Quantitative findings show that positive Reliable Change on global distress, depression and anxiety has taken place within both the short-term and long-term treatment groups with some clients achieving Clinically Significant Change on these measures. Qualitative findings arising from thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) indicate that a broad spectrum of therapist factors and psychotherapy process factors within the TA therapy delivered were beneficial for this particular client group. The negative influence of a number of psychosocial factors on the veterans' well-being is also discussed based on numerical data and interview responses. Overall, these results suggest that TA psychotherapy can be effective in the treatment of PTSD among combat veterans

A practice-based exploration of therapeutic change in a charitable, community-based person-centred counselling service using routine outcome measures of anxiety and depression. I: Statistical and clinically significant change

Abstract Background Establishing the value of differing treatments for depression and anxiety is crucial in a climate of delimited spending and increased demand. Drawing from a well-founded, diverse evidence base is salient to constructive evaluation and any subsequent recommendations being fit for purpose. Design This study employed a practice-based quantitative design to explore therapeutic gains in adult counselling clients attending person-centred therapy (n = 301), delivered in a charitable, community-based UK service. Measures Outcome measures PHQ-9 and GAD-7 were used from three time points: initial assessment (IA), first ongoing session and last or 6th ongoing appointment (whichever occurred first; T1, T2 and T3). Analysis Repeated measures ANOVA, CSI, RI and RCSI calculations were used to consider significant change in clients. Findings Reductions in PHQ-9 and GAD-7 outcome measures were observed over time (between T2 & T3 and T1 & T3) and were all statistically significant (p = <0.001). By T3: CSI was achieved by 48.1% of clients on PHQ-9 and 50.8% of clients on GAD-7, RI was achieved by 47.8% of clients on PHQ-9 and 60.5% of clients on GAD-7, and RCSI was achieved by 32.6% of clients on PHQ-9 and 41.2% of clients on GAD-7. Conclusions The treatment observed resulted in effective outcomes equivalent to other therapies reviewed in the literature for clients' symptoms of anxiety and depression as measured by GAD-7 and PHQ-9

Carbon isotope stratigraphy and palynology of an eastern Tethyan Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary section from Sumbar, Turkmenistan

A number of marine sequences across the K/Pg boundary have been identified that offer reasonably continuous records and relatively high sedimentation rates, most notably those near Tethyan continental margins. However, few Eastern Tethys K/Pg localities have been studied compared to the well-known North African and Southern European sites. Here we present a high-resolution stable carbon isotope and palynological record of a 2m thick section across the K/Pg boundary from the eastern Tethys at Sumbar in Turkmenistan (38°28’N, 56°14’E). The stratigraphy and inorganic geochemistry of the section used in this study, SM-4, has been described in detail by [1]

Aspects of traditional verbal control : threats and threatening figures in Newfoundland folklore

Adults in many different cultures employ certain traditional verbal devices to control the behaviour of children. These verbal controls, which frequently take the form of threats implying punishment or retribution, have existed at least since the days of ancient Greece and are still widely. From the many entities which are regarded as frightening, each culture selects certain figures as focal points in the threats. These figures and the linguistic structures which incorporate them exist in bewildering variety in each culture. Both the threats and the figures, however, exhibit certain typical structural and semantic features which reflect the social context in which they are used. The threats may be classified into a small number of fundamental structural categories which are expressed in a myriad different ways, including the potentially infinite variation of the central threatening figure. The figures themselves include not only supernatural or invented entities but also living people, animals and inanimate objects. -- A survey of traditional verbal controls in Newfoundland in the five-year period 1963-1968 reveals something of the wealth of such usages in the Province and reflects similar findings in other parts of the English-speaking world and beyond. The wealth of data contributed in both manuscript and tape-recorded form to the Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive not only illustrates the considerable range and linguistic variety of such structures but also shows that they have an important functional role. Their primary function is to control unacceptable behaviour, but they are also used for such specific purposes as the protection of the child from the hazards of his environment. Further, they serve as a release mechanism through which adults give vent to their anger and frustration, and they act as a substitute for physical punishment. -- While supernatural and invented threatening figures continue to be used in Newfoundland, as in other parts of the western world, belief in them is declining. Alongside them, a number of living people, especially those who have authority or who are abnormal in some other way, appear very frequently in threats and their use is apparently increasing. Society endows them with the aura of supernatural beings and makes them appear more fearsome in their threatening role. The considerable variety of figures used makes it difficult to evolve a comprehensive typology, but in itself indicates something of the richness of these traditional usages in Newfoundland and elsewhere. This study therefore makes available a substantial body of data which demonstrates the linguistic, semantic and functional complexity of the verbal controls and provides a basis for alternative interpretations of the material

Authenticity, Culture and Language Learning

In philosophy, authenticity has been used with two meanings: one entails the notion of correspondence; the other entails the notion of genesis (Cooper, 1983: 15). As in certain branches of philosophy, language teaching has perhaps clung too long to the first of these notions of authenticity at the expense of the other. This paper reviews four key conceptualisations of authenticity which have emerged in the field of applied linguistics: text authenticity, authenticity of language competence, learner authenticity and classroom authenticity. If any of these types of authenticity is couched exclusively in terms of one usage or the other, it can lead to an impoverishment and objectification of the experience of language learning. Text authenticity can lead to a poverty of language; authenticity of competence can lead to a poverty of performance; learner authenticity can lead to a poverty of interpretation; classroom authenticity can lead to a poverty of communication. This paper proposes that a pedagogy of intercultural communication be informed by a more hybrid view of authenticity as a process of subjectification, derived from the Heideggerian concept of self-concern

Listening to the voices of women suffering perinatal psychological distress

This article suggests that transactional analysis can be an effective treatment approach for women suffering from mental health conditions and the emotional and life disturbances that may occur during the perinatal period. It offers a brief introduction to perinatal psychological distress followed by a description of the use of transactional analysis psychotherapy for this condition. The article outlines a new model for a research project that aims to ascertain women’s views on the helpfulness of the treatment and to gain a better understanding of the stigma often associated with perinatal mental health issues. The author argues for the necessity of qualitative research to assess the efficacy of transactional-analysis-based treatment and to increase our knowledge about the change process in transactional analysis psychotherapy with this client population as well as to inform future transactional analysis treatment protocols

Observations on the development of Heterodera rostochiensis Woll. in sterile root cultures

RESP-402

Kompetenznetz E-Learning Hessen

Mit dem Kompetenznetz e-learning-hessen.de vernetzen sich die hessischen Hochschulen mit Hilfe der Koordination und Unterstützung durch das httc und Förderung durch das Hessische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst rund um das Thema E-Learning. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt die Ziele des Netzwerks, dessen Maßnahmen und Elemente und die bisherigen Erfahrungen und seine Entwicklung seit dem Jahr 2000. Mit der abschließenden Bewertung werden Anhaltspunkte für eine erfolgreiche Vernetzung von Hochschulen und ein Ausblick auf die geplanten Aktivitäten des hessischen Netzwerkes in den nächsten Jahren gegeben. (DIPF/ Orig.