‘ … and now it’s over to you’: recognising and supporting the role of careers leaders in schools in England

ABSTRACT

There is a long history of teachers and schools being involved in the delivery of career education and guidance. As the breadth of career education and guidance activity in English schools grew throughout the twentieth century it became increasingly necessary to have an individual within the school responsible for leading and managing this activity (the careers leader). The transfer of responsibility for career guidance from local authorities to schools following the Education Act 2011 has intensified the need for this role. There have been various attempts to conceptualise and professionalise the role of careers leader and to develop appropriate training and support. This article defines the role and the rationale for the role, sets out its history and makes recommendations for the future professionalisation of the role. It is argued that this will include recognition of the role by policy, professionalisation and the development of a career structure and the development of appropriate training and CPD.     

Motivational–cognitive profiles of learners: Cluster movement

The present study was designed to identify the motivational–cognitive profiles of students in Singapore secondary schools using cluster movement. Five distinct motivated strategies for learning (MSL) profiles based on a sample of 304 students were revealed: those with low levels of motivational beliefs and cognition but high anxiety (Poor MSL); high motivational beliefs and cognition but low anxiety (Good MSL); moderate high motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (Average MSL); high motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (High MSL); and low motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (Low MSL). Findings of this study also showed cluster movement across two time points, revealing the shifts in cluster membership in terms of motivational–cognitive profiles over time. Students in Good MSL demonstrated the most adaptive learning profile and achieved the highest grades than other clusters. Our findings contributed to practical underpinnings of educational research as well as provided meaningful insights to both researchers and practitioners.     

Predictors of treatment outcome for youth receiving intensive residential treatment for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the predictors of outcome from intensive residential treatment of OCD. This study aimed to examine age, gender, and baseline OCD severity, as well as measures of comorbid anxiety and depressive, internalizing/externalizing, and inattention symptoms, as predictors of treatment outcome in adolescents receiving intensive residential treatment for OCD.

The sample comprised 314 adolescents aged 13–17 years with treatment-resistant OCD and a Children’s Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale Self-Report (CY-BOCS-SR) total score ≥16. Bivariate and multiple regression models were used to evaluate the predictors of continuous OCD severity outcome and treatment response.

Results of the bivariate regression analyses of predictors demonstrated that length of treatment, pre-treatment OCD severity, and symptoms of anxiety and depression significantly predicted post-treatment OCD severity, while only symptoms of depression and anxiety predicted treatment response. When including all predictors in the same model, only baseline OCD severity remained a significant predictor of post-treatment OCD severity, and none of the assessed variables significantly predicted treatment response.

Results indicate that low pre-treatment OCD severity predicts lower OCD severity following treatment, although it did not predict treatment response.     

Decreasing Adolescent Drug Use and School Failure:

Behavioral analyses of 3 adolescents show that 3 months of targeted family problem-solving training can decrease drug use and school failure by the end of a 1 1/4 year follow-up while control behaviors remain stable. Some findings, however, reflected incomplete understanding of the controlling variables: (a) lengthy delays before behavioral improvement, (b) recurrences of the problem behavior and subsequent recoveries during follow-up, and (c) correlated changes in the home and school environments. It is suggested that systematic study of relevant variables in the intervention could reduce behavioral variability and further increase understanding of adolescent drug use.     

Teacher pilgrims at World Youth Day: a preliminary examination

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the experiences of six teachers from a regional, Australian diocese who attended World Youth Day (WYD). It also reports on aspects of their worldview and their experience working in Catholic schools. Overall participants were very positive about working in Catholic schools, and though not connected in an ongoing way with parish communities, they were happy to support the religious dimension of Catholic schools and were often involved in parish-based programmes when there was a connection with school activities. Their worldview could be characterised as having much in common with dominant cultural paradigms that sees religion in moral terms along with a deistic sense of God. Established social networks supported them in these views. Teacher pilgrims reported that WYD gave them the opportunity to experience a broader, more diverse Catholicism as well as the experience of going overseas and being part of a large gathering. Participation in WYD may open up opportunities for reflective discernment on the part of teacher pilgrims and a result has implications for the formation of teachers working in Catholic schools.     

全真道人居理念及其当代价值

全真道内丹修炼得以进行,需要满足法、财、侣、地四个方面的条件,其中"地"即是指修道场所,而全真道的人居理念主要体现在其对修道场所的选择上。其在选择修道场所时所体现出来的崇阳、择静、取便和尚简的理念,对于当代社会合理而科学的择居具有重要启示价值。