Exploring the Anti-bullying Role of a Befriending Peer Support Programme: A Case Study within the Primary School Setting in Northern Ireland

Academic Foundation Programme (AFP) trainees face challenges in making the most of the research opportunities available to them. Improved support for trainees throughout the AFP may result in improved outcomes and increase retention of clinical academic trainees. Peer support may address some of the challenges faced by AFP trainees at this early stage of their careers. A Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) approach was used to design and implement a peer support programme for AFP trainees in paediatrics. Feedback from recent AFP graduates was used to identify challenges and possible solutions, which were then incorporated into the programme. Trainee views informed the format of the support offered, especially the role of trainee coordinator and importance of regular meetings. The PDSA approach facilitated constant re-evaluation of the programme, which continued to evolve over several years. Peer support is highly valued by AFP trainees, who use the network to obtain information, as well as concrete assistance, and emotional support from their peers. Such networks are not self-perpetuating, and a significant commitment is required from fellow trainees to ensure the success of the network.

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Statistical investigations in primary school – the role of contextual expectations for data analysis

Mathematics Education Research Journal ◽

10.1007/s13394-021-00396-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Frischemeier ◽

Susanne Schnell

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Primary School ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Contextual Knowledge ◽

Specific Context ◽

Interpretative Analysis ◽

Young Students

AbstractAs data are ‘numbers with context’ (Cobb & Moore, 1997), contextual knowledge plays a prominent role in dealing with statistics. While insights about a specific context can further the depth of interpreting and evaluating outcomes of data analysis, research shows how it can also hinder relying on data especially if results differ from expectations. In this article, the aim is to investigate how young students informally deal with empirical evidence, which differs from their initial expectations in a specific context. We present a case study with three pairs of students at the age of 9 to 10 who compare groups in survey datasets. The interpretative analysis shows how conjectures of varying degrees of confidence shape the students’ statistical expectations and can play different roles in interpreting results from data analysis.

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Religion and Politics: The Case of Northern Ireland

Peace and Conflict Studies ◽

10.46743/1082-7307/2007.1083 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Brian Walker

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Western Europe ◽

Religion And Politics ◽

Independent Factor ◽

Considerable Influence ◽

Academic Literature ◽

The Subject ◽

Role Of Religion

This article looks at the role of religion in politics. Northern Ireland provides not only a good case study for this issue but also an opportunity to see how the subject has been approached in academic literature over the last forty years. It is argued here that religion can be a modern day, independent factor of considerable influence in politics. This has been important not only in Northern Ireland but also elsewhere in Western Europe in the twentieth century. This reality has been largely ignored until recently, partly because the situation in Northern Ireland has often been studied in a limited comparative context, and partly because of restrictive intellectual assumptions about the role of religion in politics.

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