Suchergebnisse

'Now again I live in a river-mirrored house, the house a cottage, and the river that mirrors it broadening out twice a day into an estuary lake fished by otters and herons and, when the salmon are running, by a sole old seal. One of the herons I know. Screeching and croaking an angelus that announces only himself, he comes in flying low over the water and, the rhetoric of his wingfolding perfect, he stands there, outstandingly, poised for the kill. Young though he is in this lifetime, he is old in incarnations. Night not in them even when he closes them, his eyes are for opening outwards only

Intro -- An Introduction -- Chronology -- Storytelling and Personal Journey -- The Mystical Voice -- Walking Beautifully on the Earth -- The Everlasting Hymn of Praise & -- God I Am -- A Walkabout in Dreamtime Ireland -- An Illumination: Coda -- John Moriarty Publications and Related Works -- Copyright.

ObjectivesThis study examined the individual and collective impacts of socio-demographics and school-level factors on GCSE outcomes in Northern Ireland, using linked administrative data. A pupil's sex, religious affiliation and socio-economic background (measured by eight measures) were examined, along with parental socio-economic background, attended school type (grammar/non-grammar) and school management structure.
MethodThis study used the first linked administrative dataset for education in Northern Ireland. The dataset linked the 2011 household Census, School Leavers Survey (2010-2014) and School Census (2010-2014) for the first time. Data were provided for three pupil cohorts who completed their GCSE examinations in consecutive academic years (2010/2011 – 2012/2013).
The study conducted multilevel models to understand the nested effects of pupil-, household- and school-level factors on GCSE attainment outcomes. Interaction models were also executed to examine the multiplicative effects of a pupil's sex, religious affiliation and socio-economic background on their educational attainment.
ResultsThe findings of this study highlight that the impact of socio-economic status is multidimensional, with some measures having a greater impact on GCSE attainment than others. For example, a mother's education qualifications had the largest impact of socio-economic measures included in the multilevel models. The analysis also found that Free School Meal Eligibility remains an important predictor of attainment outcomes. When considering pupils' sex, females had higher GCSE attainment scores than males. However, religious affiliation had a varied influence on GCSE outcomes, indicating the need for a more nuanced approach when considering this factor. The importance of interaction terms to gain an in-depth understanding of the multiplicative effect of factors on attainment outcomes was also highlighted in the analysis.
ConclusionThrough the use of linked administrative data, this study highlights the hierarchy of socio-economic effects on GCSE attainment outcomes in Northern Ireland. It also highlights the importance of collectively considering the factors that make up a pupil's demographic profile to garner a holistic understanding of attainment trends in Northern Ireland.

Educational attainment disparities across social groups remain at the forefront of contemporary UK society. Despite this, Northern Ireland reflects a somewhat different context to the rest of the UK due to its transition to a post-conflict society and its dually selective education system (academically and religiously). In Northern Ireland, post-primary (GCSE) attainment differences are often reported according to gender, religious affiliation and socio-economic background. However, due to the lack of available education data that encompasses a wide range of pupil- and school-level factors, discourse informed by the statistical testing of such factors has been limited. This study aims to overcome this current gap by examining the effects of socio-demographics, namely gender, religious affiliation and socio-economic background (through eight measures), and school-level factors on GCSE attainment, using the first linked administrative dataset for education in Northern Ireland. The data combined the household Census (2011) with the School Census (2010-2014) and School Leavers Survey (2010-2014) for the first time in Northern Ireland. To this end, this paper discusses data analytics of the study including data linkage, cohort size, constructed GCSE attainment measures, socio-demographic measures and school-level factors. The multilevel modelling (including interaction models) construction, execution and results will also be discussed. The paper concludes with a reflection upon whether the results of this analysis support existing literature in the Northern Ireland context and wider UK GCSE attainment trends.

The ageing of the population is pressurising frontline health and social service professionals in two respects: demands are increasing need in the population; and expectations for the length of their working life are changing. For some people the prospect of working longer represents an opportunity for continued social connectivity and meaning; for others, it represents continuation of demanding work patterns which do not support health and wellbeing. In this presentation, we explore some potential consequences of moves to postpone retirement and prolong working lives and challenges in forecasting who might benefit from various policy responses. We present data from a survey of 1300 UK social workers who were asked about their perception of late career and retirement, about their levels of wellbeing and their intentions to leave work. The survey contained open text fields in which participants could describe their perceptions in their own words. Plans and expectations around retirement varied greatly across the sample. Many have no immediate plans to retire, with one participant anticipating dropping to "four days per week in my 70s and three in my 80s", while others had availed of early or flexible retirement schemes. We show patterning in retirement planning by sex, work pattern, area of work and personal circumstances. We found strong associations between some of the reasons identified for retirement and wellbeing indicators in both directions. There was also patterning around the type of organisational provisions which people favoured and those same wellbeing indicators. For example, respondents who favoured retraining for a new role towards the end of their career were more likely to have had sickness absence of up to 20 days in the previous year. We also describe a counterfactual schema for imagining groupings within the population based on the relationship between retirement and wellbeing and test how the data support detection of such groupings. Findings are discussed in terms of the array of policy options available either to government or to employer organisations to safeguard wellbeing on.

This paper considers the production of an audio-visual presentation of the experience of three students who participated in an exchange with a social work programme in Pune, India. We also describe the use of the video in a classroom setting with a year group of 53 students from a younger cohort. This exercise was intended to stimulate students' curiosity about the international dimensions of social work and add to their awareness of poverty, social justice, cultural competence and community social work as global issues. Written classroom feedback informs our discussion of the technical as well as the pedagogical benefits and challenges of this approach. We conclude that the audio-visual presentation to some degree helped students connect with diverse cultural contexts, but that a complementary discussion challenging stereotyped viewpoints and unconscious professional imperialism is also crucial.