Using Visual and Participatory Research Methods to Describe Processes of Educational Resilience in Returners to Education

Around 20,000 people per year return to education via HE Access qualifications. For many, this offers the opportunity to enter university and unlock the potential for social mobility. This study aimed to identify the processes leading to educational resilience which contributed to a successful return to education for this group. Twenty students from two Social Mobility Cold Spots (SMCSp) in the East of England acted as co-researchers. The research utilised a participatory method. Participation in the research included refining research questions, collecting and analysing data. Coresearchers gave their views visually through producing collages which described factors throughout the lifespan facilitating a return to education. Co-researchers were taught how to conduct a thematic analysis which they completed. The thematic maps produced demonstrated how these factors interacted throughout their lifespan to form educational resilience processes. Co-researchers identified 11 master themes; these were synthesised into three major processes of educational resilience in this group of returners to education: Support, connectedness and adversarial growth gained through reflection. Co-researchers described transformative change which led to a return to education and the motivation to succeed. The participatory and visual approach to the study highlighted a number of advantages and challenges for use. A critique of the methodology is provided alongside suggestions for improvement and critical reflections for other psychologists considering employing participatory research. The findings from this study suggest the potential for development of a new narrative tool. Several implications are proposed which include how EPs and other stakeholders can support returners to education after taking a break, the importance of work experience and relationships, the role of the EP working with FE and ensuring learners feel supported in high school

Considering Ways to Operationalise Trauma-Informed Practice for Education Settings

This discussion paper looks at the emerging practice around trauma-informed care and how education settings are implementing the theory. It reviews the impact of trauma responses on behaviour in education settings and also looks at some of the barriers that prevent the effective implementation of trauma-informed practice. We consider the political and financial landscape of education settings, the impact of current behaviourist practice in settings and the perspectives of teachers in relation to embedding new practice. Finally, we present two distinct ways of operationalising the exciting and inspiring trauma-informed theory and resources that are available. The first is an applied model to sequence how we support and respond to trauma, the Applied Trauma Responsive Classroom Model (ATRCM), and the second is the Resilience Support Programme that has been created for post-16 education to support the overcoming of adversity and trauma

The secrets in our soils: Using soil bacteria to monitor mine site restoration across a 40-year chronosequence in an arid environment in Western Australia

Very little is known about the patterns of recovery and processes of soil biota following land ecological restoration of native ecosystems cleared for mining. Despite this, there is increasing recognition of the importance of soil biota for restoration of critical ecosystem processes. The emergence of new eDNA metabarcoding technologies now enable the high throughput assessment and characterisation of these previously hidden belowground communities. Here, I sampled soil bacterial communities from a 40-year rehabilitation chronosequence of a mineral sands mine in an arid environment in southwest Western Australia. The assemblages displayed strong differences in composition across differently aged rehabilitated sites. A general recovery trend toward the native, undisturbed state was observed, with some notable phyla and orders showing strong trajectories of recovery to native assemblages with increasing time since rehabilitation. These shifting taxonomic patterns were accompanied by changes in putative functional assignments of ecological processes including carbon and nitrogen cycling. This analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of diversity and association with environmental conditions in natural and differently aged rehabilitated ecosystems can be used to monitor recovery progress and trajectories, and aid future restoration goal setting and decision making

Investigation of conserved Flagellum proteins in Trypanosoma brucei

The single celled protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei is an excellent model organism to study eukaryotic cilia and flagella as it has a single flagellum that remains assembled throughout the cell cycle. The new flagellum assembles in a known position relative to the old flagellum, therefore creating a model system of identifiable organelle generations. In additional to a sequenced genome, there are many reverse genetics tools developed for T. brucei which makes the functional analysis of proteins possible. More than 300 proteins have been identified as components of the T. brucei flagellum but functional analysis of the majority of these proteins has not been carried out to date. This project used a bioinformatics approach to identify potential flagellum proteins in T. brucei that were also conserved in Homo sapiens, thereby identifying potential ciliopathy candidates. Candidate proteins were confirmed as flagellum components through endogenous localisation techniques and co-localisation studies. Functional analysis was performed using inducible RNAi cell lines. Light and electron microscopy techniques were used for phenotypic analysis. Through bioinformatics analysis a novel family of coiled-coil TPH domain-containing proteins were identified that are highly conserved in flagellated eukaryotes. There are three TPH domain-containing proteins conserved in T. brucei that all have a role in flagellum length control and cell morphogenesis. In all three cases protein ablation has a detrimental effect on cellular motility. This work provides further understanding into the complexities of flagellum biogenesis in T. brucei and the downstream effects on cell motility and morphogenesis

Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth, by Samuel Chand

LEADERSHIP PAIN: THE CLASSROOM FOR GROWTH By Samuel Chand Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson (2015) Hardcover, 244 pages Samuel chand’s Leadership Pain is a book on leadership and its struggles and victories. But most important this is a book about experiencing and working through our pain, hurt, disappointments and betrayal as christian leaders. As chand states in every chapter, “You’ll grow only to the threshold of your pain.” this is both thought provoking and challenging, but also it encourages us to raise our threshold of pain

Equivalence of the realized input and output oriented indirect effects metrics in ecological network analysis

A new understanding of the consequences of how ecosystem elements are interconnected is emerging from the development and application of Ecological Network Analysis. The relative importance of indirect effects is central to this understanding, and the ratio of indirect flow to direct flow (I/D) is one indicator of their importance. Two methods have been proposed for calculating this indicator. The unit approach shows what would happen if each system member had a unit input or output, while the realized technique determines the ratio using the observed system inputs or outputs. When using the unit method, the input oriented and output oriented ratios can be different, potentially leading to conflicting results. However, we show that the input and output oriented I/D ratios are identical using the realized method when the system is at steady state. This work is a step in the maturation of Ecological Network Analysis that will let it be more readily testable empirically and ultimately more useful for environmental assessment and management.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl