‘Unfettered expression of thought’? Experiences of anonymous online role play

Advocates suggest that anonymity allows all learners to have an equal voice in a learning environment, and that it encourages participation. This paper explores tutors’ and learners’ experiences of an anonymous, synchronous role play activity conducted using online discussion forums. A qualitative study was undertaken to investigate the experiences of five groups of learners and four tutors. Data were obtained from an online questionnaire and interviews with students and tutors. The findings reveal a huge diversity in responses to the activity. Learners’ emotions before the activity ranged from ‘confident’ to ‘panic’. Afterwards many stated that ‘anonymity’ was the best thing about the activity, suggesting that it ‘loosened inhibitions’ and allowed ‘unfettered expression of thought’. At the same time, some respondents admitted trying to guess the identity of participants, and played their roles with varying degrees of conviction and engagement. Some participants may even have refrained from playing any part in the activity, hiding behind their anonymity. For tutors issues of control were significant and issues of facilitation were raised, although inappropriate behaviour was rare. This study has revealed the diversity of learners’ responses to online role play, and the generally positive attitude towards anonymity. It also highlights the potential for anonymity to contribute to inequality in participation and raises the question of whether genuine anonymity can be useful or achievable. Key findings with significance for future implementation of similar role play activities are presented here

Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) Version 2.2 User Manual

The Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) is a computer model that simulates many soil and vegetation processes. This document describes how to run version 2.2 of JULES. It primarily describes the format of the input and output files, and does not include detailed descriptions of the science and representation of the processes in the model. The first version of JULES was based on the Met Office Surface Exchange System (MOSES), the land surface model used in the Unified Model (UM) of the UK Met Office. After that initial split, the MOSES and JULES code bases evolved separately, but with JULES2.1 these differences were reconciled, so that all versions since v2.1 have had identical code in both the standalone version (as described here) and in the UM

George Eliot: Elegies and Eulogies

The death of George Eliot on 22 December 1880 occasioned many prose obituaries and also a number of verse tributes.\u27 I have located eleven of these in all, along with a twelfth poem published in her lifetime: nine poets are represented, of whom four are women and five men (assuming J. S. Dawson and \u27K. G.\u27 to be male). Together, the poems provide a sidelight on her reputation. Elegy frequently mourns dead poets and establishes poetic genealogies: while George Eliot\u27s fame depends on her fiction rather than her poetry, her eminence in letters as well as her moral and intellectual stature are commonly praised in these poems. As a group they are studiously \u27 poetic \u27, working with traditional elements of lament, praise and consolation while for the most part remaining scrupulously secular. They offer standard elegiac sentiments using a particular range of imagery (light and darkness, the seasons, the tides), in some cases drawing on arcane and inflated vocabulary. There are also of course individual differences among the poems on which I will comment presently. There is a preponderance of sonnets (eight of the twelve), with four of them presented in linked pairs. Three of the remaining poems are short - sixteen, eighteen and twenty-three lines respectively: one is longer, at seventy-three lines. The formality of the sonnet probably recommended it to these diverse poets, who deploy a number of variations mainly on the Petrarchan form (only two of them use the closure by a couplet characteristic of the Shakespearian sonnet). The revival of the sonnet in the late eighteenth century issued in new currency and status for the form in the nineteenth century because of Wordsworth\u27s interest in and extensive practice of it. The vogue for the sonnet of sensibility in the 1780s, and in particular the influence of Charlotte Smith\u27s immensely popular Elegiac Sonnets (1784), may have suggested a mode of moral reflection adopted in some of the elegies for George Eliot. A. C. Swinburne (1837-1909) is the best-known of the poets who eulogized George Eliot. His sonnet on \u27The Deaths of Thomas Carlyle and George Eliot\u27 first appeared in the Athenaeum on 30 April 1881 (Carlyle died 5 February 1881). Swinburne was no devotee of George Eliot, famously describing her as \u27an Amazon thrown sprawling over the crupper of her spavined and spur-galled Pegasus\u27. 2 In A Note on Charlotte Bronte (1877), he compared her unfavorably, and at length, with Charlotte Bronte: in essence, George Eliot had intellect but lacked genius. His accusation that she had plagiarized Elizabeth Gaskell\u27s The Moorland Cottage in The Mill on the Floss rankled with George Eliot, who as it happened admired at least some of Swinburne\u27s poetry.\u27 Swinburne did allow her a dimension of superiority to \u27[t]he fiery-hearted Vestal of Haworth\u27 : \u27No man or woman ... outside the order of poets, has ever written of children with such adorable fidelity of affection as the spiritual mother of Totty, of Eppie, and of Lillo.\u274 In his valedictory sonnet he develops a less hostile but quite consistent attitude. After five lines on Carlyle, The stormy sophist\u27, the poem moves on to \u27one whose eye could smite the night in sunder\u27 in quest of the light of loving-kindness. George Eliot\u27s sternness in pursuit of duty and righteousness is softened by \u27The light of little children, and their love\u27. The poem\u27s quasi-Christian orientaton is strongest in this closing allusion to the Jesus who would \u27[s]uffer little children . . . to come unto me\u27 (Matthew 19: 14) to whom George Eliot appears to be analogous

The experiences of high school teachers in Massachusetts with the History and social science curriculum framework.

In response to the current educational reform movement that has ensued as a result of the publication of A Nation at Risk (1983), the Massachusetts legislature passed the Educational Reform Act in 1993. From this Act, an educational reform plan was developed for all public schools, and curriculum frameworks were written for the major academic areas. The frameworks recommend what should be taught, and they encourage teachers to align their curriculum with the frameworks. This dissertation describes a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with 15 teachers throughout the state of Massachusetts, from the fall of 1999 through the fall of 2001. The study investigated the experiences these teachers had with the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum framework . The teachers who were interviewed represent a cross-section of teachers diverse in geographic location, number of years teaching, gender, ethnicity, and experience with curriculum development. The extensive responses to the interviews were analyzed in light of the research questions in this study. Through the literature review, documents, and the interviews, I was able to analyze teachers\u27 experiences working specifically with the history and social science framework, and to assess the impact that the framework was having on their teaching, curriculum development, and student learning. This analysis revealed consistent patterns and themes. These included teachers\u27 common school experiences of not having an organized school curriculum prior to the framework; their perception of the lack of multiculturalism in the framework; and their concerns about the exclusion of teachers from the framework process. The information analyzed from the interviews can be used to guide school systems in the development of educational policies, as well as in the creation of curriculum. This study has the potential to assist those interested in both professional development and teacher education

George Eliot\u27s Afterlife: Dinitia Smith\u27s The Honeymoon and Diana Souhami\u27s Gwendolen

In Middlemarch, chapter 20, as Dorothea Casubon sits musing in Rome, George Eliot presents one of the most traumatic honeymoons in fiction . With decorum, but unmistakably, Dorothea\u27s sexual confusion is conveyed: however, she will live through widowhood to fulfilment as Dorothea Ladislaw. In contrast, George Eliot denies such fulfilment to Gwendolen Grandcourt in her next novel, Daniel Deronda. Where Dorothea\u27s acceptance of Casaubon\u27s proposal arises from idealistic ignorance, Gwendolen\u27s decision to marry Grandcourt is morally flawed because of her awareness of his liaison with Lydia Glasher. There is no question about the physical consummation of the Grandcourt marriage, unlike that of the Casaubons: Grandcourt\u27s sadistic brutality in and out of bed is apparent. Gwendolen experiences even deeper guilt than Dorothea in her release into widowhood, although her consciousness of the murderous thoughts she has harboured is tempered by contritio

The work and organisation of local churches and synagogues: four English congregations in the 1990s

This thesis is about the work and organisation of local religious congregations in England. It focuses on the congregation of two religions- Christianity and Judaism; that is, on 'churches' and 'synagogues'. In Chapter One, the study is positioned within the academic field of social policy and administration. Chapters Two, Three and Four review literature on the historical and societal context within which churches and synagogues operate, the role of religious functionaries and organisational features of congregations. Four organisational themes cutting across denominational and religious boundaries are identified: purposes and goals; roles and role relationships; organisational change; and denominational institutions. Chapter Five develops an approach for an empirical study and gives an account of fieldwork in an inner-city Roman Catholic church; a black-led Pentecostal church in an industrial town; an Anglican church on a housing estate; and a suburban Reform synagogue. Organisational features of the four case congregations are presented in Chapter Six. In the following four chapters the organisational issues which arise in the Congregations are described and analysed. Chapter Seven presents the perceived Issues in congregations around setting and implementing goals. Chapter Eight looks at clerical roles and Chapter Nine at the roles of lay employees and volunteers. Chapter Ten discusses organisational change, the links between congregations and their denominational institutions, and organisational structures. Finally, in Chapter Eleven, the study findings are drawn together and re-examined in the light of the earlier literature. The way in which the case studies elucidate and develop knowledge about the work and organisation of congregations is discussed. It is suggested that further progress towards the development of theory on congregation organisation could be made by conceptualising congregations as voluntary organisations

Wichita: A Diverse Adult Basic Education Program in an Urban Center

Wichita, incorporated in 1870 as a village, is the largest city in Kansas. It is the county seat of Sedgwick County, located at the junction of the Arkansas Rivers in south central Kansas. Westward expansion and financial rewards attracted the first White settlers to the area in the 1850s and 1860s looking to profit from hunting and trapping wildlife and to trade with the native American population, the Wichita Indians, who had moved north from Oklahoma and built a permanent settlement in 1863

J.W. Cross Defends G.H. Lewes

Early in 1881, John Cross, widowed after only seven months of married life, set about the task of preparing a biography of his famous wife. He faced a number of challenges. The most daunting were the various sensitivities inherent in the life story of the woman best known as George Eliot. Two events were particularly confronting: Mary Ann Evans\u27s loss of faith in the 1840s, and Marian Evans\u27s decision in 1854 to live with George Henry Lewes although they could not marry. For Cross, in effect George Eliot\u27s second husband, the treatment of Lewes and her relationship with him was naturally of particular concern. From the time of the eventual publication of George Eliot\u27s Life as related in her letters and journals in January 1885, many readers have been frustrated by its blandness.\u27 Prime Minister Gladstone\u27s candid verdict has become famous: \u27It is not a Life at all. It is a Reticence in three volumes.,2 But Cross\u27s caution was intelligible, and this paper offers insight into some of his decisions as he worked on the Life, notably those about the portrayal of Lewes. It had been a chance meeting that introduced the Leweses to the Cross family. In October 1867, George Lewes was on a short walking holiday with Herbert Spencer, ironically another significant figure in George Eliot\u27s emotional history, when they encountered Mrs. Anna Cross and several of her daughters in Weybridge. The family was already known to Spencer. It was not until 1869 that the Leweses met John Cross, the second son, in Rome, and from that time a friendship developed. Cross made himself useful in many ways to the Leweses, both of whom addressed to him as \u27Nephew\u27. He was instrumental in the purchase of their country home at Witley, advised them on investments, organized outings to places like the Bank of England, and introduced them to tennis and badminton. He provided considerable emotional and practical support to George Eliot after Lewes\u27s death in November 1878, but the ways in which their relationship intensified into marriage remain obscure, as to some extent does the nature of the short-lived marriage, celebrated on 6 May 1880. Cross\u27s account is in all senses partial, cast in terms of her \u27want of close companionship\u27 which enabled the formation of a \u27bond of mutual dependence\u27 (Life, Ill, 387).4 In writing George Eliot\u27s Life, he was resolute though self-effacing in the role of champion, developing the image of a romantic artist and vulnerable woman that was not much challenged for over a century. As Barbara Hardy points out, \u27It was a labour of love, and he edited character, life, and language to construct his image.\u2

London's Olympic ambassadors:a legacy for public policy implementation

As a contribution to current discussions about securing a legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, this article considers whether there are lessons for public policy implementation around volunteer involvement. Drawing on the case of the Team London Ambassadors Programme which encompassed 8,000 volunteers during the Games period, the article considers the scope for an expanded role for UK public sector organisations in the recruitment, training and management of volunteers in the future