Education Health and Community

T his paper offers an analysis of the changing role of cooperative credit unions in tackling poverty and promoting financial inclusion in Britain. It examines the reality of poverty in low income communities and endeavours to critique the actions, methodologies and initiatives currently being adopted by credit unions to achieve financial inclusion. It examines the role of the UK government in its support for credit unions and offers an early analysis of HM T reasury's Financial Inclusion Fund. T he paper argues that credit unions are best placed within the financial services industry to make an impact within financially excluded communities. Purchase Export Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution.

This article reports on developments in new headteacher/principal training in England and New Zealand and argues that there are policy similarities between the two countries. The authors suggest that the creation and implementation of comparable school leadership training programmes has formed part of an increasing governmental interest in the importance of leadership development in the two countries that is welcome. There are inherent tensions, dilemmas and dangers in these developments since such centralised initiatives can create an 'orthodoxy' of leadership development practices since both governments have created the expectation that those who undertake leadership training for headship or principalship will comply with mandated requirements in order to conform to centrally defined norms. We suggest that fundamental questions concerning the nature of leadership and the knowledge base of professional leadership, leadership training and professional development remain about that should be posited in order to better inform the practice of leadership preparation in both locations.

This paper is intended to describe the roles and responsibilities of the small school head and is based on the personal experiences of a serving headteacher. It seems an accepted element of academic discourse that recent governmental initiatives have impacted on the leadership and management of educational institutions in such a way that they have offered both opportunities and challenges for school leaders. It is the central contention of this paper that the impact of these opportunities and challenges has nowhere been greater than in the leading of small schools.

The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,

HIV/AIDS can no longer be regarded solely as a public health issue as its impact extends well into all spheres of life, sectors of society and levels of the education system. This paper argues that not only is it paramount to draw on children's understanding of the impact of AIDS on their lives, but it is equally important to draw on their solutions in order to foster their agency. Using the 'draw and write' methods, this research explores children's perception of the impact of HIV/AIDS and their understanding of the capabilities needed in order for them to become active change agents. The findings indicate that short-term intervention programmes are insufficient in curbing the HIV trends and in mitigating its impact. The authors argue that there is now a paramount need to re-evaluate the role and goal of education to allow it to serve as a prophylaxis for HIV/AIDS.

This article reports on outcomes from a study funded by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) designed to explore leadership talent identification, development, succession and retention in contextually different primary and secondary schools in England. Focus groups and a questionnaire were used to secure perceptions of heads, middle leaders and classroom teachers about leadership talent identification and development. Twenty characteristics indicative of leadership talent were identified. Agreement and disjuncture were recorded concerning the importance of characteristics among respondent groups. The implications of these findings for leadership development and succession, in the face of a potential leadership crisis in the UK and internationally, are discussed. The longer-term career planning of staff, the place of needs analysis, self-disclosure and senior leadership decision-making are examined with respect to leadership talent identification and development. The article offers a basis upon which schools can reflect on their role in providing a good training ground for future leaders. School-based changes are recommended so that individual school's longer-term leadership requirements may be better addressed.

The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &

Recent years have seen a greatly enhanced focus on the learning needs of schools leaders. This paper examines the perceptions of such leaders about the best ways of enhancing leadership skills. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with 34 headteacher respondents in 18 schools. Findings reveal that most respondents expressed a preference for forms of mentoring and experiential leadership development rather than formal courses. More specifically, results suggested that headteachers should be encouraged to take increased responsibilities for developing new and future leaders in the context of individual schools and through more informal and experiential learning. It is also suggested that future empirical investigation focus on headteachers’ contribution to the stimulation of school leaders’ professional learning.

Background and Aim: One of the greatest challenges in restoration practice is to develop completion targets based on flora and vegetation data that represents local plant community types while acknowledging limitations to plant recovery in disturbed habitats. This presentation describes how data from flora surveys were used to set targets for and monitor outcomes from restoration of vegetation and large-scale weed management. This work is part of an offset-funded restoration project targeting banksia woodlands on Bassendean Dunes on the Swan Coastal Plain, Perth, Western Australia. Materials and Methods: Flora surveys in the topsoil source site and local reference areas were used to determine species richness and the relative abundance, dominance and frequency of occurrence of native and weed species. Vegetation maps were used to match completion targets to soil and hydrology variations within sites. Species area relationships were investigated using plots varying from 1 to 2500 m2 ...

This article reports on developments in new headteacher/principal training in England and New Zealand and argues that there are policy similarities between the two countries. The authors suggest that the creation and implementation of comparable school leadership training programmes has formed part of an increasing governmental interest in the importance of leadership development in the two countries that is welcome. There are inherent tensions, dilemmas and dangers in these developments since such centralised initiatives can create an 'orthodoxy' of leadership development practices since both governments have created the expectation that those who undertake leadership training for headship or principalship will comply with mandated requirements in order to conform to centrally defined norms. We suggest that fundamental questions concerning the nature of leadership and the knowledge base of professional leadership, leadership training and professional development remain about that should be posited in order to better inform the practice of leadership preparation in both locations.

The study reported in this paper examines the challenges of developing an in-service training programme for early years teachers in a school in Thailand relating to the topic of enhancing young children's selfdiscipline. It is argued that in-service training in Thailand has tended to focus on knowledge acquisition through direct instruction during short courses. By contrast, the training programme developed during the project employed the Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination and Internalisation (SECI) Model, first developed in Japan, that integrates knowledge acquisition with social learning activities. A mixed-methods approach was employed to examine the efficacy of the SECI approach that included interviews with teachers and school leaders, classroom observation, questionnaires and behavior checklists. Findings suggest that an adapted SECI model is effective in the education of teachers in Thailand and may have relevance more widely in the field of teacher education in other nations.

This paper focuses on the review and subsequent revision of the primary curriculum that took place between 2010 and 2014. Three central contentions are made about the review process: (1) it ignored the need for dialogue and consensus among the various parties that make up the delicate and interlocking set of relationships in the English education system; (2) it at first purported to integrate the views of higher education and then ignored, marginalized, and dismissed them; and (3) despite claiming to be based on best practice in other 'jurisdictions', it failed to take account of alternative views about approaches to curriculum innovation and instead focused on a limited and instrumentalist view that was treated as being uncontestable.

The authors have for some years studied the concept of 'possibility thinking', or 'what if' and as if thinking in children aged three to eleven, which generates novelty-and the pedagogical strategies which foster it. They have argued, on the basis of previous qualitative studies, that 'possibility thinking' (PT) is at the core of creativity in education. Having begun as a conceptual study for seven years this team has undertaken empirical studies of PT in classrooms. This paper discusses findings from the third phase of empirical work focusing on nine to eleven year olds. The particular research question addressed here is 'What characterises possibility thinking as manifest in the learning engagement of children aged 9-11?' A small-scale qualitative study, involving co-participation with teachers, the paper features episode analysis of naturalistic video data featuring children aged 9-11 in two schools. It focuses on possibility thinking evidenced by children engaged in a range of classroom activities, some established as individual activities and others as group work. The study reveals some features of PT in both sites (question-posing, questionresponding, self-determination, intentional action, development, being imaginative, play/playfulness, immersion and innovation) to differing degrees of strength. Risk-taking was absent in both and a new feature, collaboration, evident in both. Differences were documented in how question-posing and question-responding manifest, compared with earlier studies with younger children. This study seeks to make an evidence-based contribution to the characterisation of PT as driving creativity in the classroom, with implications for research and practice.

This paper considers how empowering teachers to reach for success in partnership with a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the North West of England can affect learning in the classroom. Evidence based research is the focus of this study which focuses on working with teachers engaging in their own research beyond initial teacher education. The paper presents the views of senior managers and teacher researchers engaged in a one year professional learning programme to consider impact in the classroom. Partnerships with mentors and partnership schools enable us to consider the key implications for the professional development of teachers and call upon the evidence through both reflections and evidence of classroom practice. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how collaboration has encouraged professional practice to support classroom based teaching and teacher efficacy and effective practice. Three areas are considered, firstly the nature and views of educational research, secon...

Introduced house mice Mus musculus have recently been discovered to be significant predators of chicks of Tristan albatrosses Diomedea dabbenena and several burrowing petrels at Gough Island. We summarize evidence for mouse attacks on albatross chicks at sub-Antarctic Marion Island, where mice are also the only introduced mammal following the eradication of feral cats Felis catus in the early 1990s. Wounds consistent with mouse attacks have been found on wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans since 2003 and dark-mantled sooty albatrosses Phoebetria fusca in 2009. To date, attacks on wandering albatross chicks have been infrequent, affecting ,1% of chicks in study colonies, and only about half of the attacks have been fatal. Small chicks may also die when mouse burrows collapse under chicks, trapping them. Mouse attacks appear to be a recent phenomenon, supporting the contention that mice pose a significant threat when they are the only introduced mammal species. Ongoing monitoring is needed to assess whether the impacts of mice increase over time. Our observations add impetus to calls for the eradication of mice from Marion Island.