Young children, learning and ICT: a case study in the UK maintained sector

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark O’Hara
Keyword(s):  
1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
Nigel Hall ◽  
Anne Robinson

In the UK very young children's experience of ‘work’ (as in adult paid activity) in school is usually restricted to activities which focus on the more concrete manifestations of a task: the police officer arrests, the baker bakes and the nurse takes temperatures. Learning about work as a socially situated activity is usually felt to be too difficult for children aged as young as five years. However, recent studies in childhood and literacy are showing that young children are able to exert agency and understanding in many complex situations. This papers details part of a case study focusing on five-year-olds in which through a series of activities related to sociodramatic play experiences they gained experience of work and bureaucracy, work and community, and work and economic transaction. Instead of finding these too difficult it was clear that the complexity fully engaged the children and that they began to understand that work was not simply a physical activity but was a social phenomenon which involved regulation, community relationships, and economic understanding.


Author(s):  
David Whetham

Between 2007 and 2011, Wootton Bassett, a small Wiltshire town in the UK, became the focus of national attention as its residents responded to the regular repatriations of dead soldiers through its High Street. The town’s response came to symbolize the way that broader attitudes developed and changed over that period. As such, it is a fascinating case study in civil–military relations in the twenty-first century. Success may be the same as victory, but victory, at least as it has been traditionally understood, is not a realistic goal in many types of contemporary conflict. Discretionary wars—conflicts in which national survival is not an issue and even vital national interests may not be at stake—pose particular challenges for any government which does not explain why the cost being paid in blood and treasure is ‘worth it’.


Author(s):  
Donald Houston ◽  
Georgiana Varna ◽  
Iain Docherty

Abstract The concept of ‘inclusive growth’ (IG) is discussed in a political economy framework. The article reports comparative analysis of economic and planning policy documents from Scotland, England and the UK and findings from expert workshops held in Scotland, which identify four key policy areas for ‘inclusive growth’: skills, transport and housing for young people; city-regional governance; childcare; and place-making. These policies share with the ‘Foundational Economy’ an emphasis on everyday infrastructure and services, but add an emphasis on inter-generational justice and stress the importance of community empowerment as much as re-municipalisation. Factors enabling IG policy development include: the necessary political powers; a unifying political discourse and civic institutions; and inclusive governance and participatory democracy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Pugh ◽  
M. M. Stack

AbstractErosion rates of wind turbine blades are not constant, and they depend on many external factors including meteorological differences relating to global weather patterns. In order to track the degradation of the turbine blades, it is important to analyse the distribution and change in weather conditions across the country. This case study addresses rainfall in Western Europe using the UK and Ireland data to create a relationship between the erosion rate of wind turbine blades and rainfall for both countries. In order to match the appropriate erosion data to the meteorological data, 2 months of the annual rainfall were chosen, and the differences were analysed. The month of highest rain, January and month of least rain, May were selected for the study. The two variables were then combined with other data including hailstorm events and locations of wind turbine farms to create a general overview of erosion with relation to wind turbine blades.


2020 ◽  
pp. injuryprev-2020-043909
Author(s):  
Laura Elizabeth Cowley ◽  
C Verity Bennett ◽  
Isabelle Brown ◽  
Alan Emond ◽  
Alison Mary Kemp

ObjectivesSafeTea is a multifaceted intervention delivered by community practitioners to prevent hot drink scalds to young children and improve parents’ knowledge of appropriate burn first aid. We adapted SafeTea for a national multimedia campaign, and present a mixed-methods process evaluation of the campaign.MethodsWe used social media, a website hosting downloadable materials and media publicity to disseminate key messages to parents/caregivers of young children and professionals working with these families across the UK. The SafeTea campaign was launched on National Burns Awareness Day (NBAD), October 2019, and ran for 3 months. Process evaluation measurements included social media metrics, Google Analytics, and quantitative and qualitative results from a survey of professionals who requested hard copies of the materials via the website.ResultsFindings were summarised under four themes: ‘reach’, ‘engagement’, ‘acceptability’ and ‘impact/behavioural change’. The launch on NBAD generated widespread publicity. The campaign reached a greater number of the target audience than anticipated, with over 400 000 views of the SafeTea educational videos. Parents and professionals engaged with SafeTea and expressed positive opinions of the campaign and materials. SafeTea encouraged parents to consider how to change their behaviours to minimise the risks associated with hot drinks. Reach and engagement steadily declined after the first month due to reduced publicity and social media promotion.ConclusionThe SafeTea campaign was successful in terms of reach and engagement. The launch on NBAD was essential for generating media interest. Future campaigns could be shorter, with more funding for additional social media content and promotion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 205979912110085
Author(s):  
Jane Richardson ◽  
Barry Godfrey ◽  
Sandra Walklate

In March 2020, the UK Research and Innovation announced an emergency call for research to inform policy and practice responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This call implicitly and explicitly required researchers to work rapidly, remotely and responsively. In this article, we briefly review how rapid response methods developed in health research can be used in other social science fields. After outlining the literature in this area, we use the early stages of our applied research into criminal justice responses to domestic abuse during COVID-19 as a case study to illustrate some of the practical challenges we faced in responding to this rapid funding call. We review our use of and experience with remote research methods and describe how we used and adapted these methods in our research, from data gathering through to transcription and analysis. We reflect on our experiences to date of what it means to be responsive in fast-changing research situations. Finally, we make some practical recommendations for conducting applied research in a ‘nimble’ way to meet the demands of working rapidly, remotely, responsively and, most importantly, responsibly.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 260
Author(s):  
James Ellis ◽  
David John Edwards ◽  
Wellington Didibhuku Thwala ◽  
Obuks Ejohwomu ◽  
Ernest Effah Ameyaw ◽  
...  

This research explores the failure of competitively tendered projects in the UK construction industry to procure the most suited contractor(s) to conduct the works. Such work may have equal relevance for other developed nations globally. This research seeks to teach clients and their representatives that “lowest price” does not mean “best value”, by presenting a case study of a successfully negotiated tender undertaken by a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) contractor; SME studies are relatively scant in academic literature. By applying the “lessons learnt” principle, this study seeks to improve future practice through the development of a novel alternative procurement option (i.e., negotiation). A mixed philosophical stance combining interpretivism and pragmatism was used—interpretivism to critically review literature in order to form the basis of inductive research to discuss negotiation as a viable procurement route, and pragmatism to analyse perceptions of tendering and procurement. The methods used follow a three-stage waterfall process including: (1) literature review and pilot study; (2) quantitative analysis of case study data; and (3) qualitative data collection via a focus group. Our research underscores the need to advise clients and their representatives of the importance of understanding the scope of works allowed within a tender submission before discounting it based solely on price. In addition, we highlight the failings of competitive tendering, which results in increased costs and project duration once the works commence on site. These findings provide new contemporary insight into procurement and tendering in the construction industry, with emphasis on SME contractors, existing relationships, and open-book negotiation. This research illustrates the adverse effects of early cost estimates produced without first securing a true understanding of project buildability and programming. Our work concludes with a novel insight into an alternative procurement option that involves early SME contractor involvement in an open-book environment, without the need for a third-party cost control.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-86
Author(s):  
Paul Custance ◽  
Keith Walley ◽  
Gaynor Tate ◽  
Goksel Armagan

The purpose of the article is to provide insight into care farming and the role that it may play in agriltural multifunctionality. The paper outlines three case studies of care farming in the UK to compare and contrast the roles that such organizations may play in multifunctional agriculture. Although the work has the obvious limitation of being based on case-study care farms that are based in the UK, the findings are sufficiently generic to serve as valuable learning material for those interested in the subject and located anywhere in the world. The main finding from this study is that care farming can take many different forms but still contribute to agricultural multifunctionality. The study also confirms the important roles that economic support and favourable legislation play in successful care farming. The paper concludes that care farming is a legitimate form of agricultural multifunctionality but reminds those interested in setting up or promoting care farms of the need for a supportive economic and legislative environment. The paper provides contemporary insight into the concept of care farming as a form of agricultural multifunctionality. A number of generic points are made that should be of value to an international audience of academics researching in this area as well as students studying care farming and agricultural multifunctionality, farmers considering diversifying into care farming and politicians working to create a political and economic environment that may support care farms.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document