Understanding school cultures : developing participation

In this thesis I examine the relationship between school cultures and participation. I start by describing the three methodological approaches I have taken to explore these two key concepts. First, I discuss the reading I have undertaken for the study. Second, by reflecting on my existing experiences of schools and education, I present a series of autobiographical tales. Third, I provide an in-depth case study of a single school The study of this urban comprehensive school comprises the main part of the empirical work. By working as a learning support assistant whilst researching at the school I was able to observe closely its cultures and their relationship to processes of and barriers to participation. I focus on three aspects of this relationship: Interacting with Extemal Worlds, Forming Relationships within the Institutional Structures of a School and Supporting Classroom Learning: Valuing Diversity? Through an analysis of the findings from my reading, autobiographical fragments and the case study, I am able to redefine the key concepts of the thesis and establish si"'{ principal conclusions. I argue that the concept of school cultures is central to understanding participation and that the successful development of more participatory policies and practices requires a concomitant shift in school cultures. I note the importance of understanding members' values and beliefs and suggest that at the heart of developing participation is first, the nature of relationships between members and second, responses to diversity. I end the thesis with a critique of the study's methodology and a number of recommendations for further research. Finally, I consider the contribution this thesis has made to an understanding of the process of research through its intention to maintain integrity both within and between its methodological approaches and its conceptual development

The response to whistleblowing by regulators: a practical perspective

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 provides protection for whistleblowers; it does not place statutory obligations on regulators to act in response to whistleblowing concerns. Using Freedom of Information requests as a research methodology, this paper seeks to examine how whistleblowing is approached by regulators and what happens when a whistleblowing disclosure is made. Forty-eight national regulators in a variety of fields and 408 county, district and unitary local authorities with responsibility for the regulation of food were contacted. The paper begins by considering the importance of whistleblowing disclosures and how they are protected in PIDA. The examination of the law reveals that several organisations with important regulatory functions are not prescribed, and this has the potential to create inconsistencies in the protection of whistleblowers. The bulk of the paper examines the results of the Freedom of Information requests. By examining the results of these requests, it was possible to show that there are a number of inconsistencies in the way in which regulatory agencies handle concerns. Several changes to practice are suggested in order to ensure that the whistleblowers receive appropriate treatment and that the concerns that they express can be properly addressed

Crisis, what crisis? Regulation and the academic orthodoxy

What can criminology or socio-legal studies tell us about the causes of the financial crisis – a failure of regulation, at the very least – or ways in which further such crises might be prevented, mitigated, responded to? The article begins by setting out the emergence and dimensions of the academic orthodoxy on regulation – a series of shared assumptions regarding feasible and desirable forms of regulation. Then it undertakes quantitative and qualitative content analysis of work on regulation and the crisis to assess the extent to which this orthodoxy has been reassessed in the light of events since 2007

Optical and Mid-Infrared Observations of the Planetary Nebula NGC 6781

Although the planetary nebula NGC 6781 appears to possess an elliptical morphology, its kinematic and emission characteristics are in many ways unusual, and it is possible that it may represent a bipolar source oriented close to the line of sight. We shall present deep imaging of this nebula in [O III], Ha and [N II], and using broad-band (F555W and F814W) filters. These were taken with the 2.56-m Nordic Optical Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope. This is combined with mid-infrared (MIR) imaging and spectroscopy acquired with the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer), and near-infrared spectroscopy deriving from the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). These reveal details of the complex [N II] structure associated with extended shell emission, perhaps associated with highly inclined bipolar lobes. We also note the presence of narrow absorbing filaments and clumps projected against the surface of the envelope, components which may be responsible for much of the molecular emission. We point out that such clumps may be responsible for complex source structure in the MIR, and give rise to asymmetries in emission along the major axis of the source.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 32 pages in arXi

The rock art of Kisar Island, Indonesia: a small island with a wealth and diversity of artistic expression

We report 40 recently discovered rock art sites from Kisar Island in eastern Indonesia and investigate the commonalities between this art and painted art in other islands of Indonesia and in Timor-Leste. Predominantly painted, the art can be broadly divided into three categories: 1) small figurative motifs including humans, animals, boats and items of material culture, 2) a range of geometrics, both curvilinear and rectilinear, and 3) hand and arm stencils. On the basis of geological features and weathering we suggest that the Kisar paintings span a considerable period of time, from the Pleistocene through to the Indonesian historic period. We argue that the oldest paintings in the Kisar repertoire are some of the red pigment hand and arm stencils. The small figurative motifs such as the anthropomorphs and some of the geometrics are remarkably similar to those featured in the rock art assemblages of nearby Timor-Leste, and at a number of locations throughout eastern Indonesia. One site with an engraved motif carved into a stalagmite formation was also recorded

What makes a young assertive bystander? The effect of intergroup contact, empathy, cultural openness, and in-Group bias on assertive bystander intervention intentions.

The present research tests the indirect effects of intergroup contact on adolescents’ bystander intervention intentions via four potential mediators: “empathy,” “cultural openness,” “in-group bias,” and “intergroup anxiety.” British adolescents (N = 855), aged 11–13 years, completed measures of intergroup (interethnic) contact and the identified indirect variables. Intended bystander behavior was measured by presenting participants with an intergroup (immigrant) name-calling scenario. Participants rated the extent to which they would behave assertively. The findings extend previous intergroup contact research by showing a significant indirect effect of intergroup contact on assertive bystander intentions via empathy, cultural openness and in-group bias (but not via intergroup anxiety). Theoretical implications and practical suggestions for future prejudice-reduction interventions are discussed

Regulatory inspection and the changing legitimacy of health and safety

The regulation of conduct via law is a key mechanism through which broader social meanings are negotiated and expressed. The use of regulatory tools to bring about desired outcomes reflects existing social and political understandings about¬ institutional legitimacy, the meanings attached to regulation, and the values it seeks to advance. But these contextual understandings are not static, and their evolution poses challenges for regulators, particularly when they reflect political framing processes. This paper shows how inspection has been reshaped as a tool within the United Kingdom’s health and safety system by changes in the meanings attached to the concept of ‘risk-based regulation’. While rates of inspection have fallen dramatically in recent years, the nature and quality of inspection have also been fundamentally reshaped via an increasingly procedural and economically-rational ‘risk-based’ policy context. This has had consequences for the transformative and symbolic value of inspection as a tool of regulatory practice

The study of metaphor as part of Critical Discourse Analysis

This article discusses how the study of metaphoric and more generally, figurative language use contributes to critical discourse analysis (CDA). It shows how cognitive linguists’ recognition of metaphor as a fundamental means of concept- and argument-building can add to CDA's account of meaning constitution in the social context. It then discusses discrepancies between the early model of conceptual metaphor theory and empirical data and argues that discursive-pragmatic factors as well as sociolinguistic variation have to be taken into account in order to make cognitive analyses more empirically and socially relevant. In conclusion, we sketch a modified cognitive approach informed by Relevance Theory within CDA