Jury instructions on eyewitness identification evidence: a re-evaluation

The primary contribution of this paper is to challenge the accepted wisdom that jury instructions are an ineffective safeguard against wrongful conviction caused by mistaken eyewitness identification. It argues that such a conclusion is based on an erroneous interpretation of the available experimental evidence and that, in fact, there are grounds for optimism about the effectiveness of jury instructions in educating jurors about the risks posed by eyewitness identification evidence and sensitising them to the factors relevant to its evaluation. In order to play a useful role in safeguarding against wrongful conviction, however, instructions need to be easily comprehensible; to reflect the relevant scientific findings; and be provided to jurors in writing (or an alternative format for those who would find written instructions inaccessible). The paper also makes a secondary contribution, which is to warn of the dangers of accepting uncritically the findings of mock jury research as the basis for legal policy formation

Absence in the public sector: are managers managing?

This paper focuses on absence management, one of HR’s most contemporary issues due to the costs to the UK economy, individual organisations, managers and employees. This subject has been the focus of much research but one aspect has remained under-represented; the role of first line managers (FLMs) in managing absence. This work disseminates some of the results of an exciting research project involving ten UK Local Authorities who all have higher than average levels of absence in the same Department: Adult Social Services. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods this work investigates the extent to which managers appear to be managing absence in comparison with best practice criteria. Recommendations from this study include the need for adopting a holistic approach and increased focused support for FLMs. To conclude, yes, managers are managing absence but only just and more work is needed to gain the maximum benefits

Evolving perspective(s) of Teacher Leadership: an exploration of Teacher Leadership for inclusion at preservice level in the Republic of Ireland

There is an increasing body of literature that extols the virtues of teacher leadership despite the concept remaining underdeveloped and under-theorised (King & Stevenson 2017; Torrance 2013). Acknowledging the dearth of literature exploring the development of teacher leadership at preservice level, this article reports on results from a qualitative study which employed Bond’s (2011) theoretical framework for preparing preservice teachers in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) to become teacher leaders for inclusion. This study adopted a self-study approach (Vanassche & Kelchtermans 2015) involving two teacher educators, in the ROI, where the researcher, being relatively new to teacher education, was supported by a critical friend in the design, implementation and evaluation of the modules. Results strongly indicate that student teachers felt prepared to exercise leadership for inclusion through lived experiences of leadership, understanding change, being research informed and having many opportunities for reflection. This article argues for unlocking the potential for leadership for inclusion to begin with student teachers and concludes by suggesting that this article may help to address the paucity of literature around teacher leadership at preservice level and in particular teacher leadership for inclusion

Widening access to higher education: admissions (SPICe Briefing; 11/07)

"This paper describes the recruitment and selection processes of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and explains what is meant by 'contextualised admissions'. It summarises existing research, reports on the use of contextual data for the development of admissions processes and explains the roles of various bodies in developing good practice for HEIs admissions policies. Finally, it provides a brief overview of current Scottish Funding Council activity related to contextualised admissions and 'Widening access to the Professions'." - Cover

Examining the Relative Competitiveness of Irish Agriculture (1996 – 2003/4)

End of Project ReportThis paper examines the competitiveness of Irish agriculture compared to that of other EU and non-EU countries. The analysis was based on two main data sources – the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for years 1996-2003 and the International Farm Comparisons Network (IFCN) for 2003 for beef production and for 2004 for milk production. Results showed that the Irish competitive position compared to other EU and non-EU countries was positive when total cash costs were considered indicating a positive outlook for Irish milk production in the short to medium term. However, as the opportunity costs of owned resources are not included in ‘cash cost’ calculations, total economic costs which include imputed charges for owned resources were considered to examine the longer term outlook for the competitiveness of the sector. Using this measure, the competitive ranking for Irish agriculture slipped relative to the other countries. It was found that the main reason for the relatively high economic costs on Irish farms was due to the high imputed land and labour costs. These findings could be considered as a warning signal for the future competitive performance for the average sized Irish farm. However, based on FADN data the competitive position of ‘larger’ Irish dairy farms (in the 50-99 dairy cow size category) did manage to maintain their competitive position within Europe even when total economic costs were considered. Hence, it could be concluded that part of the explanation of the deterioration of competitive ranking for the average Irish dairy farm when total economic costs are considered relates to the relatively low scale of primary agricultural activity in Ireland during this period