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In recent decades the doctorate and its purposes have undergone fundamental change. The scholarly model has evolved from one of 'apprentice' to independent, supported learner and the doctoral training process has been revolutionised; many candidates now experience cohort-based, structured research. The UK's final PhD examination, however, has changed little in response and as a result has been called into question: does the current model – thesis evaluation followed by a viva voce examination – adequately assess the candidate, their achievements and their potential? This article includes data from a larger study that included live observations of viva examinations and interviews with candidates, supervisors and examiners. In the article, we explore the developments that have transformed the UK PhD from an elite 'licence to practise' for a minority to a mainstream qualification increasingly used to enhance career prospects. We consider the fitness for purpose of the examination by analysing the attributes assessed through the thesis and the viva. The article concludes by questioning whether the examination process enables examiners to communicate the attributes on which judgements are based: the candidate's ability to conduct research independently, their professional and personal characteristics, and their potential career prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discusses the education in Great Britain. It raised on the public opinion if education in Scotland can survive alone or Great Britain can survive without Scotland during the Scottish independence referendum debate on September 2014. The authors explores the distinctive history, principle, and current policies of each country based on the papers they are written.

The article presents an introduction in which the editors discuss the history of the journal and introduce the special issue's topic of educational inequality in Great Britain.

This paper explores ways in which examiners, supervisors and others interpret the concept of ‘originality’ when evaluating candidates’ achievements in the final Ph.D. examination. It is based on institutional responses to a question in a 2006 discussion paper on doctoral assessment about how universities define originality for the purpose of Ph.D. assessment and what other criteria are used to guide examiners in making judgements in the final examination. The paper also includes emerging findings from the first stages of data generation for a Ph.D. study about how examiners assess the Ph.D. This study involves viva observations and interviews with candidates, examiners, supervisors and independent chairs of vivas. Most participants, irrespective of role, discipline or field, confirmed that ‘originality’ or ‘a contribution to knowledge’ is required for a candidate to pass the Ph.D. examination, and that this criterion is interpreted in a subject-specific context by examiners. The studies suggest that the discipline or field in which the candidate’s topic is situated influences the examiners’ interpretation of ‘originality’ and their expectations of the candidate. However, ‘originality’ is not the only criterion for the Ph.D., and students are also required to demonstrate other achievements to pass the doctorate. The studies show that there is some degree of consistency among examiners in the general criteria used to evaluate the candidate’s thesis and performance in the viva. These findings are discussed in the light of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the authors discusses articles in the issue on topics related to the work of professor John Furlong and the sociology of education.

This paper explores the changing relationships between the UK government, its research councils and universities, focusing on the governing, funding and organisation of doctoral training. We use the Doctoral Training Centres (DTCs) funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as a prism through which to study the shifting nature of university governance more broadly. Taking up ministerial policy ‘steers’ around research selectivity, knowledge exchange and collaboration, the national research councils position themselves as active partners to universities, working closely with their selected institutional ‘investments’. Drawing on interviews with directors of these DTCs, we document the range of ways in which universities are responding to these dynamic and sometimes unpredictable governance practices. This paper also highlights the growing number of collaborations between universities that are emerging. We use recent work in science governance to argue that, through the Doctoral Training Centres, these ‘lively’ Research Council bureaucracies are reshaping the social sciences and universities more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aims to investigate the association between social support variables and healthy lifestyle for asthma management among early adolescents (ages 9-14 years). Questionnaires were completed by 86 parent-adolescent dyads. Healthy lifestyle was associated with social support variables. The association with peer acceptance was stronger among adolescents who received less asthma-specific support from peers. Age was negatively associated with healthy lifestyle, but the association was attenuated after adjustment for asthma-specific peer support. The findings of this study suggest recognizing the developmental change of social support during early adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The findings discussed here are based on five case studies and a small survey (n = 46) of how secondary schools are responding to demands that they collaborate with other services to intervene to prevent the social exclusion of children and young people. The case studies revealed a new space of action opening up around schools where practices were being shaped by 'welfare managers' who were employed by schools and were undertaking responsive work with vulnerable children and young people and the other services who were also supporting them. At the same time heads of year and/or heads of school and form tutors were increasingly focusing on children's achievement in school. The changes in roles and responsibilities were encouraged by workforce remodelling and changes in criteria for teachers' salaries. However, focusing primarily on the work undertaken by the welfare managers, the article draws on cultural-historical activity theory analyses of relational agency and distributed expertise to question whether welfare managers can undertake the work required in the new space of action without attention to the development of their core expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing asthma around peers can be stressful for young adolescents (age 9-14). However, the contexualised coping activities under asthma management-related peer stress is under-investigated. The study aims to explore the peer stress-related coping strategies young adolescents adopt in asthma management. Thirty-four young adolescents were interviewed with semi-structured storytelling protocols. Young adolescents expressed their opinions about four scenarios where the characters had difficulties managing asthma among peers. Interviews were transcribed, and qualitative data were analysed with analytical induction and constant comparison to generate themes that described the coping activities young adolescents adopted in four asthma management scenarios. Young adolescents' responses in each scenario were summarised. The coping activities adolescents adopted were cognitive justifying, explaining, outsourcing and undisclosing. Despite the limitations in a scenario-based qualitative study, the results may be useful for teachers and health professionals in social skill interventions for asthma management in early adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the 2008 Advanced Research Training Seminars (ARTS) program held in Germany is presented. The ARTS, which involved about 50 participants from various countries, were aimed at supporting younger psychologists. It provided intensive training in research methodologies and directions in psychology science. Information on the accommodation support extended to the scholars as well as the organizations supporting the event is provided.

Although the famous Blair mantra 'education, education, education' was applied by his government mainly to the compulsory education sector, there was no shortage of initiatives in Higher Education (HE). The scene was set by the Dearing Report in 1997 which effectively determined the direction of Blair's first term. The second term enabled Blair to pursue further an agenda of public sector reform, yet the simultaneous commitment to market principles of choice and diversity and to social inclusion created major tensions and dilemmas. Funding the expanded HE was the stimulus which led to Dearing, and has continued to be the major challenge of the ten-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 10 years a European standard for psychology education and training (EuroPsy) in Europe has been developed through two European Union (EU)-funded projects. This development has been supported by political initiatives within Europe, in particular the so-called Bologna process and the new EU Directive on qualifications, which is intended to facilitate professional mobility. The EuroPsy standard applies to professional psychologists at the initial qualification level, namely, independent practice. It requires 6 years of education and training, which include 1 year of supervised practice. The article describes these developments and some critical issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuing professional development (CPD) doctorate programmes may not be the only learning and development opportunities which universities and other organisations can provide for educational psychology practitioners (EPs). However, as Morris and Brightman pointed out in 2006, they are likely to continue as important sources for professional development for some years to come. Such programmes serve the purposes of providing continuing professional development for individuals, conferring higher status on the professional group and, for some, developing specialist skills and knowledge. This paper reports on two studies carried out nearly a decade apart. The first involved the collation of data from eight focus groups in London and the Home Counties who discussed the costs and benefits of setting up part-time doctoral programmes for experienced practitioners in 1998, as discussed by Cameron in 1999, and the other was a small-scale follow-up survey in 2007 using a questionnaire which was based on the issues arising from the earlier focus group discussions and which was designed to explore consistent, changed and evolving views and opinions of practitioner EPs towards this extended form of EP professional training. While both studies uncovered evidence of the research-practice divide which has been a feature of EP practice for many decades, it was clear from the 2007 survey that much of the ambivalence of practitioners to the “academic dimension” of training, present in the first investigation, had dissipated and that national doctorate programmes for experienced practitioners had become a familiar feature of the educational and child psychology landscape. Some theory/research versus practice tensions still remain, however, and these, together with their likely implications for current and future developments in the profession, are also considered. Finally, some key issues arising from both the 1998 and the 2007 studies are used to illuminate the potential role of CPD doctorates in enabling EPs to address future challenges in the practice context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EdD (Doctor in Education) is a professional doctorate that provides a framework for experienced professionals to examine and develop their practice through research and engagement with relevant theoretical perspectives and professional academic literature. This type of doctorate provides the opportunity for professionals to develop their capacity for critical, professional agency, often achieved through the use of reflection for the integration of academic and professional knowledge. This paper explores doctoral students' perspectives on the nature and value of reflective statements in terms of a product of learning and a process of reflection. The analysis of EdD students' responses from one university in the UK reveals a connection between the process of reflection and the development of professional knowledge and contribution to practice - major goals of professional doctorate programmes. This small-scale study has highlighted implications for the role of reflection in EdD programmes for the development of critical, professional agency. At the metacognitive level of the EdD student clarity is lacking regarding the process of reflection - the nature, scope, object, purpose, value and development - which raises the very important question of 'what counts as adequate reflection and on what grounds'. This study has identified the need to build capacity, first, in the reflective practice of EdD students and second, in the pedagogic demands of the tutors and supervisors and, third, the assessment demands required of examiners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the 2006 Advanced Research and Training Seminars (ARTS) program. ARTS program aims to improve the research skills and knowledge of psychologists. In 2006, ARTS program has offered three workshops in Greece which include design and methods in cross-cultural psychology, stress and well-being in the face of trauma, and couple patterns. Details related to assessments for the 2006 ARTS program and its challenges are discussed.

Empirical data on the life experiences of contemporary school-age lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) young people in Britain remains somewhat sparse. This paper reports the preliminary findings of a study conducted at a recently-initiated LGB youth Summer School. To further an appreciation of issues of concern to today's LGB teenagers, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 Summer School participants (five female and five male, aged 15-18 years). The aim was to elicit their views and experiences relating to their need for support such as that offered by the Summer School. Themes drawn from participants' interviews are presented. Key issues included: being positioned as different by their majority heterosexual peers; feelings of isolation and loneliness in their peer groups and families; difficulties in finding others like themselves for companionship; and the importance of meeting more LGB people of their own age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education in the early years is a key element in the Government's current strategy. Recently, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) funded a major study of Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE). The Early Years Transition and Special Educational Needs (EYTSEN) Project developed from the EPPE research and was also funded by the DfES. The authors of this article, Brenda Taggart, Pam Sammons, Rebecca Smees, Kathy Sylva, Edward Melhuish, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Karen Elliott and Ingrid Lunt, all worked on the EYTSEN Project, based at the Institute of Education, University of London. In this article, they provide a summary of the findings from the EYTSEN Project, reviewing the impact of pre-school provision on children said to be ‘at risk’ of developing special educational needs. They suggest that pre-school experience has a positive impact on cognitive attainment and social or behavioural development and that integrated centres (where education and care are fully combined) and nursery schools have the most positive influence among the different f o rms of pre-school provision. This paper also discusses the identification of special educational needs; quality in pre-school centres; parents' perspectives; and future developments. The article closes with a call for improved training for practitioners working in early years settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights several seminars on psychology. Topics discussed; Programs and activities; Keynote speakers.

This article considers the development of a global training curriculum and qualification in professional psychology, with particular emphasis on the Combined-Integrated (C-I) model. The C-I model exposes professional psychology trainees to two or more of the practice areas (i.e., clinical, counseling, school/educational). The authors argue that the C-I approach is one that is well suited to the development of a global training curriculum due to its emphasis on broadly training psychologists as well as its respect for diversity and integration of various theoretical and professional orientations. A survey of training programs in 16 countries/regions on six continents found significant variation in training, minimal qualifications, and roles of the professional psychologist. The authors recommend that an international group of psychologists develop a regionally flexible, but common, training curriculum and qualification that would include a five- to six-year competency-based qualification. Ways in which the C-I training model may serve to integrate and globalize professional psychology are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a recognition of the importance of values in leadership, in education, and particularly in educational leadership is not new, there have been recent demands for further empirical research into the nature and influence of school leaders' values and leadership and the impact of related processes and outcomes within schools. This article is based on interviews with six school leaders in England about their values and leadership. While there have been concerns about the impact on school leaders of shifts in education policy discourse and practice involving market forces and managerialism in England, it is apparent that the school leaders we spoke to remain committed to their personal, professional and educational values. These values influenced the school leaders' perceptions of their leadership and how they articulated their relationships with students, staff and the local community and their aspirations and expectations for their schools. Such values emphasized educational and social justice concerns and the capacity for school leaders to be active and influential rather than passive recipients of educational policy changes and government discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 10 years there has been a growing impetus worldwide towards 'full inclusion'. More recently this has been balanced by desires to ensure 'responsible inclusion' and an awareness that there may be some pupils for whom 'inclusive' schools are inappropriate, at least at some stage in their school career. The study aimed to find out the views of a range of professionals in relation to 'inclusion'. A questionnaire was sent to Principal Educational Psychologists in England and Wales, and focus group discussions of mixed groups of professionals were arranged to address questions of 'inclusive education'. The study suggests that there are considerable obstacles in the way of 'full inclusion' and that schools as currently organised frequently find it difficult to meet the wide range of individual needs. The apparent conflicts in government policy between the 'standards' and 'league tables' discourse and the 'inclusive schools' discourse make it difficult for schools to become more inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we discuss the growing professionalisation of educational psychology practice and highlight the need to give further thought to the theory base of educational psychologists' (EP) practice. We consider the notion of educational psychology as a profession and its relationship with other professional groups. We then describe some of the aspects of EP practice which challenge this notion. The paper presents an account of the knowledge base and the relationship between theory and practice. It concludes by emphasising the importance of a clear knowledge base to future development of the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the future of training in educational and school psychology as we move towards the end of the 20th century? Are we adequately preparing trainees for the rapidly changing demands that face them? Is there a common core of knowledge and skills in applied psychology which should be reflected in a generic pattern of training across the different disciplines in applied psychology? As links between countries become closer, particularly in Europe, how can we ensure that professional training is 'equivalent'? In this article we review the training and role of educational psychologists in England and Wales and suggest some options for the future. We believe that, despite the considerable and well-documented achievements in educational psychology research and practice, radical changes to the current system of training in the UK are needed in order to prevent educational psychology as a profession from becoming increasingly marginalized. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including debates about education, education of teachers, and education & equality.

The article reviews the book "Developing Qualifications Frameworks in EU Partner Countries" by Jean-Marc Castejon, Borhène Chakroun, Mike Coles, Arje Deij and Vincent McBride.