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Through historically oriented critical discourse analysis this article considers how the messages regarding the purpose of higher education, as presented in prospectuses of four case study institutions, have been impacted by massification and marketisation in England between 1977 and 2018. The prospectuses of four higher education institutions of different status were analysed to trace how discourses relating to the value of an undergraduate degree could be identified in the prospectuses. The findings suggest that while the prospectuses presented multiple rationales as to why students should undertake degrees, there was a significant increase in focus on graduate transitions to employment and a parallel hollowing-out of information relating to course content. The study found that over the period the vocabularies drawn on to present the value of a degree have become homogenised, yet the rationales given for undertaking tertiary study became more numerous and complex, making diversity of institutional offers difficult for prospective students to differentiate.

Based on the life and educational histories of sixteen high-achieving, working-class girls applying to high-tariff universities, this paper rekindles debates about the role of agency within the decision-making process of young people who might not otherwise be expected to apply to such institutions. It draws on Margaret Archer's theorising to tease out the interplay between structure and agency in the form of reflexivity and show how this shapes the girls' educational trajectories, rather than pre-determining them. The paper highlights how social class powerfully influences working-class applicants' university plans, in the form of constraints and enablements, but also argues that the girls in this paper are not simply passive young women to whom things happen. As active agents, they are instead becoming increasingly skilled in reflexively navigating their own pathways through education and advance their applications to high-tariff universities in strategic and deliberative ways.

Chinese students studying abroad have been increasing rapidly in the past decades and become a significant financial contribution to receiving countries. Accordingly, understanding their enrollment choice is essential to facilitate college marketing and admission strategies. Though the decision process is believed to be different from domestic students, empirical analysis of Chinese students' enrollment choices is still lacking. This paper fills the void by examining the influential factors of Chinese students' enrollment choice with novel student-level data. We find that in addition to factors domestic students typically consider, such as financial aid and academic quality, Chinese students particularly emphasize college ranking, reputation, and location in their decision process. Furthermore, unlike domestic students who usually prefer colleges with proximity to home, Chinese students' location preference is linked to job prosperity. We also find that the impact of the factors varies for students from different regions of China, which can be attributable to uneven economic development within the country.

Research in the UK is increasingly regulated by ethics review committees (RECs) which require researchers to seek ethics approval before commencing research. These RECs routinely expect researchers to anonymise data as part of standard ethical research practice. However, the anonymisation of data may sit in tension with participatory approaches to research which prioritise shared ownership of the research. In particular, the need to make decisions relating to ethics prior to the start of research makes it difficult for researchers to meaningfully share decision-making power with their participants--a fundamental principle of participatory approaches. This paper uses a participatory research study as a case study to explore this tension. In the study, the decision to anonymise data was made as part of the ethics approval process. However, over the course of the study, the researcher questioned whether this was the correct decision for this study. In order to afford researchers the flexibility required to involve participants in decision making, this paper argues for a dialogic and situational approach to ethics regulation. Allowing researchers to delay key decisions would mean that researchers could involve participants in the decision-making process rather than purely informing them of the results of decisions made on their behalf.

This paper examines the importance of educational psychology influence on UK Government education policy and school practice between the 1930s and the present time. It focuses on: the lead up to the 1944 Education Act; the 1967 Plowden Report on primary education; the 1973 Bullock Report on literacy; the 1978 Warnock Report on special education; the 1989 Elton Report on behaviour in schools; Every Child Matters, 2003; and on the 2007 Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL). The paper considers the extent that research by educational psychologists may have influenced both the decisions of Governments but also school practice. It concludes that, despite the small size of the profession, EPs' influence has been considerable.

This paper examines the PhD by publication in the humanities and social sciences in US, UK, Canadian and Australian universities. A set of PhDs by publication from each of these countries were collected for the study. The theses were analysed to see to what extent they fitted, or not, with discussions of thesis types described in previous research into the PhD by publication. Interviews with students and supervisors were carried out to investigate the choices that students made in their writing. University rules for the submission of PhDs by publication and related policy documents are also examined. The study found that there seems to be a preference for different types of PhD by publication in each of the countries. In the US they were all prospective PhDs with the work being especially written for the thesis. In the UK, by contrast, retrospective PhDs, the PhD by published work, largely dominate. Canada was similar to the US, at least in the area of study where the data were collected for the paper, Education. In Australia, both prospective and retrospective PhDs were found, although it was the former, the prospective PhD, which dominated.

This paper aims to stimulate debate and prompt further research regarding the training, development and Higher Education (HE) of aspiring adventure professionals (AP's). The design of the paper draws on 10 years of observations and trends within the HE outdoor degree teaching sector, in tandem with the authors' own extensive professional outdoor careers. Initial findings indicate the role and significance of Professional Judgement and Decision Making (PJDM) in professional practice within adventure sports (AS) coaching and leadership. Consequently, PJDM is found to be a vital element of the education of the AP. The training and practice of these PJDM skills is a situated cognition that is conspicuous in its absence within many coach and leader education programmes where the AP is required to balance pedagogical and welfare demands in consequential environments. A cognitive apprenticeship approach is advocated which builds on recent articles highlighting the importance of PJDM in such domains.

Purpose: This paper aims to stimulate the nascent research agenda on the environmental sustainability of the ongoing mushrooming of international student mobility (ISM). The higher education (HE) system in the UK and elsewhere is increasingly predicated upon the hosting of international students. Whilst this drive towards internationalisation undoubtably has multiple benefits, little attention thus far has been paid to its potentially very considerable environmental impact. The drive for internationalisation within HE thus potentially sits at odds with ambitions and strategies to promote sustainability within the sector and beyond. Design/methodology/approach: In-depth interviews with 21 students and representatives of 14 university international offices offer insights into how the environment features in the decisions that young people and HE institutions make with regards to partaking in and promoting education-related mobility. Findings: The results find that students take environmental considerations into account when undertaking education-related mobility, but these aspirations are often secondary to logistical issues concerning the financial cost and longer travel times associated with greener travel options. At the institutional scale, vociferously championed university sustainability agendas have yet to be reconciled with the financial imperative to recruit evermore international students. Originality/value: This paper identifies a thus far neglected contradiction within HE whereby the sustainability agenda that it so rightly espouses is potentially undermined by the drive towards internationalisation. The paper uses the anthropause concept to consider the future environmental sustainability of ISM.

The development of child and youth advocacy has been informed by varying theoretical perspectives and in the last decade has been increasingly incorporated into policy and legislation for young people in receipt of welfare services. Through examining the varying perspectives of young people, advocates and commissioners of advocacy services it can be seen that although there is some consensus about how advocacy should be provided, the construction of advocacy by adults may have a significant impact on how it is experienced by young people. This paper draws on material from five advocacy projects to examine how advocacy is constructed by those involved in the provision and receipt of services. It argues that there is a danger that the construction of advocacy in an adult proceduralised way is likely to compromise its potential to challenge the structures that deny young people opportunities to participate in decision making about their lives.

The last 25 years have witnessed the emergence of the International Branch Campus (IBC) as a means of providing Transnational Higher Education (TNE). The growth in the number of IBCs has not been without examples of failure and in some cases controversy, necessitating informed decision-making on the part of university leaders contemplating such a venture. Based on a systematic review of literature concerning the motivations for establishing IBCs; the drivers of sustainability and longevity; and case studies of successful and unsuccessful ventures by UK universities, this paper identifies key characteristics of successful IBCs. It proposes a framework -- combining strategic, leadership, academic, financial and operational factors -- for use by decision-makers in determining whether to establish and how to manage an IBC.

In recent years, increased interest in the Professional judgment and Decision Making (PJDM) of outdoor instructors has focused on experts. This paper builds on earlier work, exploring the components and development of PJDM in mid-career outdoor instructors. The study conducted and thematically analysed semi-structured interviews with nine senior instructors working for Outward Bound Trust (the Trust) in the UK. Findings included two over-arching themes: (1) a Hahnian approach to development, in line with the philosophies that underpin the Trust's work; and (2) practical wisdom: the synergy of contextual comprehension and appropriate options. We conclude that these mid-career outdoor instructors' decision making is dependent on high levels of situational awareness, situational demands, and availability of appropriate options as a course of action. We further identify a philosophical chain between the Trust's ethos, instructor development, and adaptive expertise. These skills develop through a process akin to a cognitive apprenticeship within the Trust's community of practice.

This paper provides a critical analysis of the United Kingdom's higher education Key Information Set (KIS), which was implemented following the 2011 UK White Paper 'Students at the Heart of the System'. It argues that one of the central tenets of the KIS -- providing information that students within a free market can make an informed choice and, through this process of consumer choice improve the quality of teaching, is untenable because a central component of the KIS, the National Student Survey (NSS), is unreliable when used for comparing university courses. Further, it argues that the KIS reified a neoliberal perspective about the worth and value of higher education qualification, positioning it as a commodity of value only to the paying individual rather than being something of value to society as a whole. It will be of particular interest to academics and policy makers from outside of the United Kingdom, where governmental and regulatory agencies may be implementing similar policies.

The approach that students take in their studies at university is critical not only for their academic success but is equally important in life-long learning for their career and professional development. Heutagogy is the study of self-determined learning and it is important that we appraise how students in higher education are developing their metacognitive awareness in how they learn and study effectively. Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary research area that involves the scientific study of the human mind. It helps provide new knowledge in relation to areas such as memory, problem solving, knowledge transfer and understanding of complex topics. Cognitive science has demonstrated that re-testing oneself on material when learning, enhances and promotes greater retention of knowledge compared to re-reading the material. Learning that is distributed or spaced out over multiple study sessions also allows for greater retention of knowledge in the longer-term compared to 'cramming' of information. To evaluate the use of effective study approaches and habits across three different levels of study in an undergraduate pharmacy programme, a survey study was employed. A paper-based survey was completed by first-, second- and third-year undergraduate pharmacy students (n=192) during class sessions. Although there was some evidence of metacognitive awareness such as using testing (retrieval practice) with practice problems; across all years, suboptimal study approaches such as rereading, copying notes and cramming were endorsed. A schedule of deadlines shaped the organisation of study and time management for most students. Self-testing was predominantly used to test learning rather than an approach used during learning. There was evidence of a difference between the cohorts in relation to decisions for prioritizing studying, returning to review course material and re-reading. The evidence from this study demonstrates that learners would require training on metacognitive awareness and effective study strategies to enable their self-determined learning capabilities to evolve. The linear progression through a programme of study alone will not achieve this. There is a need to embed and emphasize effective strategies for learning into curricula and for faculty to utilise metacognitive awareness in their teaching.

This paper considers how teachers, psychologists and policymakers can respect the rights of all school students, through methods that are principled, humane, cost-effective and democratic. It examines how special educational needs and disability (SEND) services affect all school students and teachers, and their rights. The paper considers the history of rights, their meaning and purpose, and how and why they are important. Respect for rights can grow in several ways: in understanding the social and medical models of disability; in choices about SEND services; in educational psychology services; in the way 'normal' and 'special needs' students learn to live and work together, or else to live separate lives when it is then harder for disabled people to join in mainstream society as children and adults. The conclusion relates inclusive and special school policies to larger political concerns.

This specially themed ""Getting of Wisdom," Learning in Later Life" Edition of the "Australian Journal of Adult Learning" ("AJAL") is not so much concerned with the issue of ageing itself, but more about quality of life regardless of age. It is about taking, but also giving back as best as possible at any age. This special issue is a result of the one week "The Getting of Wisdom Exchange", a collaboration between around 100 adult education practitioners and researchers from ten countries from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe. In this issue, papers are presented from Sweden, Ireland, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Slovenia, Poland, Germany, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Papers cover different topics and open questions about various issues in older people's learning.

The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 places a specific duty on clearly identified actors to prevent terrorism. This paper adopts a poststructuralist approach to deconstruct the Prevent Duty's ideology and discourse. Using Foucauldian terminology, Prevent is conceptualised as a proactive "dispositif" to manage the risk of extremism in the UK, in that it is an 'ensemble of discourses,' 'regulatory decisions' and 'moral positions' (Foucault, 1980: 194) that constitute a complex system of response to the threat of terrorism. A globalised state of (in)security is posited as a major influence for Prevent's inception. The formulation of the policy text is underpinned by the neoliberal "governmentality" of the Big Society. The paper problematises its implementation in the education sector through the analysis of the 'duty' to promote British values in the classroom and the expectation of 'preventing people from being drawn into terrorism' (HM Government, 2011; 2019). It concludes that the "dispositif" is driven by principles of human rights and proactivity, however, it has been largely misinterpreted due to lack of clarity and the assumption of shared values.

Background: There has been little applied learning from organisations engaged in making evidence useful for decision makers. More focus has been given either to the work of individuals as knowledge brokers or to theoretical frameworks on embedding evidence. More intelligence is needed on the practice of knowledge intermediation. Aims and objectives: This paper describes the evolution of approaches by one UK Centre to promote and embed evidence in health and care services. This is not a formal evaluation, given the lack of critical distance by authors who led work at the Centre, but a reflective analysis which may be helpful for other evidence intermediary bodies. Conclusions: We analyse the founding conditions and theoretical context at the start of our activity and describe four activities we developed over time. These were filter (screening research for relevance and quality); forge (engaging stakeholders in interpreting evidence); fuse (knowledge brokering with hybrid teams); and fulfil (sustained interaction with implementation partners). We reflect on the tensions between rigour and relevance in the evidence we shared and the way in which our approaches evolved from a programme of evidence outputs to greater focus on sustained engagement and deliberative activities to make sense of evidence and reach wider audiences. Over the lifetime of the Centre, we moved from linear and relational modes towards systems type approaches to embed and mobilise evidence.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how COVID-19 impacted overseas students' decision to apply for an undergraduate degree at UK universities. Design/methodology/approach: This study compares the number of university applications from overseas students in summer and autumn 2020 with those in the period 2011-2019. Multivariate analysis techniques are used. Findings: The results show that the pandemic has led to a drop in university applications from foreign students by 11-14%. Such decline has been driven by a reduction in the number of applicants from high-income countries as opposed to those from middle-lower income countries. Two explanations may account for this finding. First, students from affluent countries, compared to those from poorer countries, may be more likely to find a good alternative to the UK where to carry out their studies (including their home country). Second, the option of deferring study abroad plans due to the pandemic may be more affordable for applicants from high-income countries. Originality/value: While understanding how COVID-19 has impacted international student mobility is an emerging issue in the literature, not only are there few studies providing evidence on this, but these are based on qualitative analysis. This paper uses quantitative methods that allow to separate the effect of COVID-19 from that associated with other factors affecting the flow of international students.

Over the course of the previous two decades, successive governments have attempted to attract students from diverse backgrounds as part of an overarching ambition to widen participation in Higher Education (HE). As part of those efforts, there has been a proliferation of Further Education Colleges (FECs) utilised to meet those ends. In 2021, approximately 10% of -- or c.137,000 -- Higher Education (HE) students were enrolled at FECs which represents an important research area under the broad umbrella of UK HE. Based on semi-structured interviews with prospective first year student-participants, this paper sought to examine the reasons behind students' decisions to study College Based Higher Education (CBHE) so as to better-understand and inform student recruitment, retention and success in this area. Twelve participants were selected from two FECs where those students were intent on studying for their HE. The findings revealed that students place substantial value in teaching standards and in the lecturers with whom they build relationships. These features are inextricably linked with broader feelings of community, belongingness and accessibility on the part of students which attracts them to study CBHE.

Student voice in governance and decision-making has become ubiquitous in higher education, evolving from buzzword to orthodoxy. Student engagement measures have become instruments of quality control, with students expected to take an active role in shaping institutional policy and practice. In this paper, we argue that this ubiquity of demands for student engagement has served to hollow-out and depoliticise student voice practices--drawing upon Cooke and Kothari's seminal (2001) work in development studies we ask whether student voice has become a new tyranny of participation? In developing this argument, we identify how students are expected to be both strategic, instrumental consumers and active citizens of their university. This results in the paradox of the strategic active student-citizen.

Young people are key stakeholders in the future, but their stake is rarely considered in decision making and policy development. In this paper we explore how climate change education can allow the voices of young people to be listened to and help young people imagine desirable futures and develop agency to address the steps, both personal and policy based, that are needed to achieve this. Initially reporting on the findings of a survey of 985 young people (aged 7-18 years from across the UK), we explore what young people currently know about climate change. Informed by this data, we then present a creative approach to backcasting, using a participatory action pedagogical approach to explore the desired futures that 150 young people aged 8-11 years have about the fast fashion industry. We suggest that within the context of fast fashion and other climate related industries, such a methodology could enable educators to address climate change without provoking eco-anxiety and provide a way that decision makers in industry and government can listen to young people's voices.

This paper attends to the educational narratives of South Asian Muslim women who grew up in an inner city area. Using walking interviews, each individual took me around the neighbourhood where they grew up, identifying places of educational encounter on the way. There was a pertinent sense of a past that was in many ways, still present. Their memories transcended a place abandoned by the state and its residents by adopting a hauntological perspective and decolonial feminist inquiry. The work of "rememory" illuminates narratives that uncover some unsettling truths about how the intersection of race, gender and migratory settlement have provided more than voice and agency. Despite deficit stereotyping, a notable and rooted choice prevails from participants. There is a will to remain in what is externally framed as a place of social and economic deprivation. There follows a critique of how adult and community education has anchored and provided a foundation for agency, creativity and a commitment to future forming an informed community.

This paper investigates the role of interpreters in addressing cultural differences in the context of a cross-cultural collaborative teacher professional development project. Based on positioning theory, this study employed interpreter-mediated interactions and interviews to reveal the complex roles that interpreters played when interpreting culture-related terms. Findings revealed that interpreters' roles were shifting between those of transmitters of information, cultural insiders and constructors of shared understandings between interlocutors. Notably, the lack of training in this specialised field obliged interpreters to rely mainly on their personal experiences to judge which role they should play in the face of cultural differences.

In recent decades, increasing participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has emerged as a globally shared policy objective in higher education. This policy objective is underpinned by a commitment to the economic framework of the knowledge economy and the belief that STEM education, knowledge and innovation are prerequisites for economic growth. This paper is concerned with doctoral scientists, who occupy a position of considerable privilege according to knowledge economy discourse: expertly knowledgeable, highly skilled and sought by elite employers. This paper assesses these policy claims against the experiences of recent doctoral scientists studying in the UK. Data from a 3-year mixed-method study are subjected to a novel, game theory informed analysis of students' values, decision-making behaviour and career ambitions. While all doctoral scientists engage in career-oriented strategizing, the game strategies employed by students are diverse and reveal conflicted understandings of knowledge economy policy. Implications of these findings and the analytical merits of game theory are discussed.

Background: The development of a set of questions is a central element of examination development, with the validity of an examination resting to a large extent on the quality of the questions that it comprises. This paper reports on the methods and findings of a project that explores how educational examination question writers engage in the practice of question setting. Although the practice of examination question writing is ubiquitous, limited research has been carried out on how writers actually draft individual examination questions when writing complete examination papers. Purpose: The main aim of this study was to understand more deeply the process of examination question writing. Sample: The study involved 12 experienced educational examination question writers. Design and methods: The first data collection phase involved observing writers whilst they wrote the first draft of a question paper (using a 'think aloud' process). Following the observation, the writers took part in an hour-long interview. This led to the construction of a model of question writing. Phase 2 of the data collection process involved validating the proposed question writing model with six additional question writers by means of telephone interviews. Analysis and findings: A model was developed that outlined the key stages of writing that all of the writers moved through in the completion of their question writing task. The question writing model situates the process of writing individual questions in relation to the broader cognitive tasks required in writing a complete paper. It also situates the writing process within the social dimensions of question writing. Conclusions: Iteration in the writing process appears to have an important function. These iterations represent a form of decision-making that is common to the examination question writing culture and appears to be logical and rule bound. Whilst the recognition of iterative behaviour reveals a highly personalised element of question writing, it also reveals a common expectation that the ideas across a subject area are highly inter-related, and that an examination paper should reflect this.

Under-developed social and emotional learning (SEL) skills limit educational progress and make it difficult for children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) to form effective relationships with peers and ADULTS. This paper focuses on an SEL intervention set within an outdoor learning context. The research was practitioner led and used an action research (AR) approach to implement and evaluate the SEL intervention. Research participants (aged 12-13 years) were recruited from a UK special school and were all considered to have SEBD. The paper provides evidence for the specific SEL skills that participation in outdoor learning can enhance. The evidence suggests that outdoor learning can be an effective approach for educators wishing to augment the SEL skills of young people with SEBD.

Background: Co-creation in policymaking is of increasing interest to national governments, and designers play a significant role in its introduction. Aims and objectives: We discuss instances from our fieldwork that demonstrated how UK Policy Lab used design methods to gain insight into the design-oriented methods introduced to policymakers' practices, and how these may influence conventional policy design processes. Methods: This paper reports on the learnings from a two-month participant observation at UK Policy Lab conducted in early 2019. Findings: We found that, beyond human-centred and future-oriented practices, the designers working at this unit appropriate "design as a reflective practice" for the context of policymaking. We discuss how the use of visual and creative methods of design are utilised by "policy designers" to facilitate co-creative reflective practices, and how these make a valuable contribution to policymaking practices in UK Government. Discussion and conclusions: As deliberation and decision making is influenced both by "what is thought about" as well as "who" is doing the thinking, reflective practices allow notions and assumptions to be unpicked. Moreover, when done as a group activity, reflection leads to a co-production of a deepened understanding of policy challenges. Consequently, we argue, the reflective practices introduced by Policy Lab are an essential contribution to developing a co-creation tradition in evidence-informed policymaking processes.

This paper presents a constructivist grounded theory on the decision-making process that UK home and alternative educators undertake and the related influencing factors. Twenty-one participants from a diverse range of backgrounds were interviewed between one and three times over a two-year period. Some were current home and alternative educators and others were undecided, or had changed their minds about home educating. The core process is entitled 'Stepping out of the system?' It was constructed from three main categories: attitudinal direction, surveying the landscape and negotiating obstacles. Parents have opinions of school that developed before they began to consider how to educate their child; attitudes which are affect laden and guide the process of information gathering. The surveying the landscape stage involves both formal research and informal methods such as hearing the views of others and acting upon their own feelings. The final stage, negotiating obstacles, involves finding practical solutions to barriers they may face. The grounded theory is enriched and deepened by Reddy's (2010) concept of emotional refuges.

Conceptually and practically, feedback typically sits within a pedagogical, rather than a philosophical, framework. Drawing on a longitudinal study with student teachers seeks, this paper seeks to critically reframe feedback beyond the pedagogical by considering the moral tensions and ethical dilemmas within feedback, thereby revealing an inherent duality in feedback as a phenomenon. Specifically, the study followed a group of student teachers through their three-year teacher education programme in order to explore their experiences and conceptions of feedback as these developed during their degree. Key to the study is the unique situation of student teachers as givers and receivers of feedback; but it also arises from their unique exposure to the neoliberal policy climate, as a consequence of the penetration of initial teacher education by high stakes regulatory mechanisms that may be at odds with the student teachers' emerging professional judgement. As such, what we are calling the 'double indemnity' of feedback is partly informed by the participants' dual and conflicted experiences as a learner and teacher but also by losses of innocence, optimism and sense of efficacy they experience as part of their development within the moral economies of feedback.

In the high-stakes accountability English educational system, decisions made by government and agencies about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment drive school planning and actions. This paper analyses the drivers for the recent change to French German and Spanish GCSEs and highlights particular areas of the new specification which may damage the experience of language learners in the secondary school environment. After describing the context for the revisions we question why GCSE subject content has been revised when there is no evidence that a revision would improve uptake or grades. Our detailed comparison of the 2015 and 2022 subject content shows how the emphasis has shifted considerably from the requirement to demonstrate skills needed in realistic, authentic contexts, to demonstrating productive knowledge of a tightly prescribed list of vocabulary, grammar and phonics. We then identify the likely impact on schools of the new subject content. While the ostensible justification of change is to make more accessible and motivating, our view is that it will demotivate and will not reward broader skills which the whole spectrum of ability could demonstrate. We conclude by suggesting the real reason for the changes is part of a concerted government policy to reorientate the teaching of languages.

Formal consent for children's research participation legally resides with adults, and guidelines typically recommend consulting children about their participation only from 7 years of age. How can researchers support younger children's informed decision-making about their research participation, particularly in larger-scale studies without extended researcher-participant engagement? In this paper, we share our experience of four studies (270 children) using drawings, observations, interviews, and biological and anthropometric measures and the visual information booklets we devised to support young children's informed agreement. Critically evaluating the notion that 'evolving capacities' necessarily increase with age, we consider young children's contextualised decision-making capacity. Reflecting on process and outcomes, we conclude that simple visual information booklets benefit not only children but all actors in the research process, functioning as material artefacts that remind adults as well as children of young children's right to choice about research participation.

Suellen Shay's work on higher education curricula foregrounds the importance of professional curricula which face inwards to disciplines and outwards to practice. This paper builds on her framing of professional curricula, distinctive in the differentiated knowledge base and the social relations which legitimate them. I extend Shay's work deeper into the internal governance structures underpinning curriculum decisions in engineering. Two dimensions of governance are explored: central control from the Faculty of Engineering over its departments; and the authority of individuals in department-level curriculum and accreditation roles over their colleagues. The empirical focus is on curricula reform towards 'graduate attributes' in engineering education, through a comparative study of eight universities in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, and Australia. The findings show that research-intensive universities are shielded from the full implications of accreditation requirements, while teaching-intensive universities are more likely to invest in developing the governance processes and systems demanded by professional bodies.

Researching ethically is an institutional requirement and cornerstone of good everyday practice in conducting research, adopting a mindful consideration for participants and resisting the temptation to use methodological approaches which may exploit participants or their trust in the research process or researcher. In the context of outdoor studies and framed by Kantian ethical and moral principles, this paper describes the "procedural ethics" of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and how our own moral and ethical positioning influences the planning for the opportunities, dilemmas and challenges of fieldwork, shaping the "ethics in practice" during research and in post-study reporting. From a sail training study, I describe the ethical and methodological dilemmas and the decisions made in respect of audio recording and the use of photo-elicitation; and the sense of uncertainty and unease stimulated by reflective and reflexive practice.

There is a strong focus on the importance of student engagement in higher education, with increasing attention on how students can participate in their university's decision-making processes. Yet, although the concept appears to be almost universally accepted, it is rarely problematised. This has led some commentators to conclude that student engagement lacks theoretical clarity. Consequently, an increasing number of authors have sought to address this. This paper adds to those efforts by proposing a model for student engagement that recognises the importance of institutional action in facilitating different types of participation. These are aligned with expectations for student activity, but the key message is that the university shapes its students' engagement. This reinforces arguments that engagement needs to be cognisant of the power dynamics of higher education. In line with this, the paper borrows from debates around public participation to enhance understanding of student engagement in institutional governance.

Product Design in the modern world is a complex multifaceted discipline comprising of many skills and applications. It also operates in broader cross-disciplinary contexts within direct teams, while also contributing to the strategic business processes of commercial enterprises, government/councils and not for profit organizations. It is no longer a purely creative problem-solving activity where a good idea or innovation is enough to push forward a new product. For the majority of the design profession the days of design on the back of an envelope are gone. Today design is a structured activity with recognizable and repeatable methodologies and processes. Within this the profession is acknowledging and aligning with the principles of business management. A consequence of this is that designers are being asked to undertake increasingly complex challenges where the consequences of making good or bad decisions have far reaching implications for the future of an organization. Education needs to train designers to recognize and operate in these complex situations. As a response Universities now include project or design management within curriculum. "The new program should equip the students with not only the ability to design, manufacture and test design solutions; but also with a firm knowledge of business strategy" (Guo, 2015). However the authors have recognized a gap within the profession and education for a more structured and validated approach to decision making within the design process (Norman, 2010). This paper outlines a pilot study within a student project whereby professional decision making tools are introduced to final year students and used to validate selection of appropriate designs from initial feasibility concepts against a hierarchy of criteria. Would designers see the value or would they perceive it as an intrusive addition to what they believe should be an intuitive process?

Background: Liver disease is an increasing cause of morbidity and mortality in the United Kingdom and can be challenging to live with in the advanced stages. There has been little research exploring the healthcare experiences of UK individuals with decompensated disease when the liver cannot carry out its functions properly. A PhD research project was developed with people who have liver disease to explore care experiences in decompensated advanced liver disease. Public involvement (PI) is an essential aspect of meaningful health research, and this paper reports on the progression of our PI approach in this ongoing study. Objective: To embed PI throughout the research project to ensure that the study is meaningful to individuals with liver disease and the people who support them. Methods: The research adopts a Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology to develop a theory of care experience. Various PI approaches were considered in developing the PI strategy for this qualitative study. Initially, Embedded consultation was the preferred model, which has evolved to include aspects of collaboration and coproduction. A PI group was set up to oversee the project through the national public engagement website VOICE, and reflections on PI from three members of the group are included in this paper to illuminate the PI process. Results: Six individuals with liver disease and three carers from across the United Kingdom are part of an ongoing PI group. Their role includes commenting on the findings of the systematic literature review for this project and contributing to decisions about recruitment, data collection and data analysis. Additionally, they had a direct impact on changing the focus of the research. The PI group will continue involvement until the completion of the project. Conclusion: Successfully embedding PI into doctoral research, as demonstrated in this project, requires commitment, planning and dedication to reciprocal working for the benefit of PI contributors as well as the research. This approach could be adopted by other postgraduate researchers. Patient or Public Contribution: This project is overseen by the PI group, whose contribution is described throughout, including reflections from three PI group members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why personality tests are used in workplace training. This research paper is guided by three research questions that inquire about the role of external and internal stakeholders, the value of psychometric and practical considerations in test selection, and the purpose of personality test use in workplace training. Design/methodology/approach: This research paper uses multiple-case study analysis. Interviews, test reports, product flyers and email correspondence were collected and analyzed from publishers, associations, psychologists and human resource development (HRD) practitioners in Germany, the UK and The Netherlands between 2012 and 2016. Findings: Themes emerge around industry tensions among practitioners and professional associations, psychologists and non-psychologists. Ease of use is a more important factor than psychometrics in the decision-making process. Also, practitioners welcome publishers that offer free coaching support. In the process of using tests for development rather than assessment, re-labeling takes place when practitioners and publishers use positive terms for personality tests as tools for personal stocktaking and development. Research limitations/implications: Despite extensive data collection and analysis efforts, this study is limited by its focus on a relatively small number of country cases and stakeholders per case. Practical implications: By combining scientific evidence with practical application, stakeholders can take first steps toward more evidence-based HRD practice around personality testing in workplace training. Originality/value: Little academic literature exists on the use of personality testing in workplace training. Without a clear understanding of the use of personality testing outside personnel selection, the current practice of personality tests for developmental purposes could raise ethical concerns about the rights and responsibilities of test takers.

The fiercely competitive HE market has led HEIs to invest significant resources in building a distinct identity. An HEI's location forms an inherent part of its identity and the uniqueness of location offers an opportunity to differentiate. However there has been limited examination of how location is used by HEIs and little consideration of how location can provide an effective means of differentiation. Through the lens of place marketing, this exploratory paper provides insight into the way HEIs portray location and discusses whether location can offer a source of differentiation.Using a content analysis of prospectuses and interviews with marketing decision makers, this paper contributes a deeper understanding of the way in which a place brand is constructed by a stakeholder. The study reveals that HEIs portray a location to simultaneously excite and reassure the student which ultimately leads to the commodification of location. As such, differentiation is not possible.

This paper explores ethical challenges encountered when conducting research about, and telling, the stories of individuals who had died before the research began. Cases were explored where individuals who lived alone had died alone at home and where their bodies had been undiscovered for an extended period. The ethical review process had not had anything significant to say about the deceased 'participants'. As social researchers we considered whether it was ethical to involve deceased people in research when they had no opportunity to decline, and we were concerned about how to report such research. The idea that the dead can be harmed did not help our decision-making processes, but the notion of the dead having limited human rights conferred upon them was useful and aided us in clarifying how to conduct our research and disseminate our findings.

Background: Virtual fracture clinics (VFCs) have become widely adopted, aiming to improve efficiency, standardise patient care and reduce clinic appointments for injuries that can be managed conservatively. A variety of means exist to manage VFC referrals and assessment, including paper-based and digital methods. This study assesses VFC referral quality and outcomes before and after implementation of a digital VFC referral and management system. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of all VFC referrals and assessments from July 2017–March 2020 in a large UK district general hospital. All referrals and assessments were analysed for quality and completeness of referral information, grade of assessor, outcome of assessment, referral-to-assessment time, and assessment-to-surgery time (for those requiring operative management). Results: 3038 paper and 9,228 digital referrals were analysed by 2 separate reviewers. Quality and completeness of referral information showed significant improvement in 11 predetermined key data points with the digital referral system (p < 0.001). Date and mechanism of injury were the most commonly missing data criteria (67.5% and 68.2%, respectively) with paper referrals. Significant improvements were noted in the proportion of Consultant delivered VFC assessments (84.2% vs 71.0%; p < 0.001), VFC discharge rate (20.8% vs 13.1%; p < 0.001) and patients recalled for urgent review (6.2% vs 0.8%; p < 0.001) with digital referrals. Mean referral-to-assessment (31.2 vs 49.9 h; p < 0.001) and assessment-to-surgery (9.2 vs 13.0 days; p = 0.01) times also reduced significantly with referral digitisation. Conclusion: Improvements in virtual referral quality and completeness directly lead to facilitation of more thorough, detailed and appropriate virtual assessments; improving timely decision-making, reducing unnecessary appointments, and permitting better prioritisation of workload and earlier surgery for patients requiring operative treatment. Purpose-built digital solutions are an excellent means of achieving these aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a methodology to support the Curriculum Design and Development (CDD) process with the aim of aligning competences provided by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with the ones required by companies. The proposed methodology stems from the identification of companies' training needs and aims at classifying a set of specific competences that are derived through a desk analysis of the existing academic offer. The novelty of the proposed methodology is represented by the introduction of quantitative indicators used for competences' classification which may support decision-makers in the individuation of the expected learning objectives of the curriculum. The proposed approach has been developed and tested in the context of a European Project (TrainERGY -- Training for Energy Efficient Operations) involving four European countries (Italy, Poland, UK and Greece), whose objective was the definition of a transnational curriculum oriented to qualify better practitioners involved in energy efficiency operations in SMEs.

This paper expands work on professional judgment and decision-making and examines the coping strategies used by adventure sports professionals to manage the cognitive loads of decision-making. A mixed methodology was employed in which a sample of participants completed a Pro Active Coping Inventory and a sub-group then completed an Applied Cognitive Task Analysis of atypical coaching scenario. The study determines that the participants manage their cognitive load utilising a range of heuristics, avoidance strategies and instrumental support that. This includes their communities of practice, anticipation of acute cognitive loads and the development of adaptable plans based on anticipated environmental conditions and client abilities. That plan is modified in response to the actual conditions and client abilities as observed. These strategies reduce the depletion of the coaches' own cognitive resources by managing the demands. We conclude that the professionals are aware of their cognitive resources and manage its expenditure.

For the past two decades, Chinese students have formed a substantial component of many business-related postgraduate degrees in UK Universities. However, there has been little research into what motivates Chinese students to choose one type of business degree over another. In this paper, we use student record data to analyze the choices made by Chinese students between more mathematically demanding and more literary pathways within one master's degree in international business.

The paper reflects on the use by the UK central government of statistical evidence in educational policy matters. Particular attention is given to school league tables. The paper is generally critical of government attitudes, but suggests that progress towards rational decision-making does occur. (Contains 5 notes.)

This paper reflects the impact of policy and legislation in the context of how adults with learning disabilities make choices. Following an overview of policies which have improved choice for people with learning disability in the United Kingdom, this paper reviews "choice" in current Irish policy and legislation. This paper, while making comparisons with capacity legislation in the United Kingdom, presents a discussion on the perceived impact of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill (2013) based on submissions from the Citizens Information Board (2013a), Mental Health Reform (2014), and Quinn (2013). Further choice making challenges such as direct payments and information sharing which confront adults with learning disabilities are highlighted and overall conclusions are drawn.

This paper explores the ways in which information about course pedagogy has been represented to potential students through national descriptors and specifications such as the United Kingdom's Key Information Set. It examines the extent to which such descriptors provide helpful information about pedagogy, for example innovative uses of technology. The paper starts by exploring the wider context within which these descriptors have been developed, including a comparison of similar descriptions internationally. This is followed by a comparative analysis, in which two courses (one single honours undergraduate degree, one Massive Open Online Course) are classified and compared. This serves to illustrate the blind spots in classifications such as the Key Information Set. The paper concludes by arguing that further work is needed to develop classification schemes that both address explicitly the interests of potential students and are able to represent the pedagogic decisions that differentiate teaching in contemporary higher education.

Employment subsidies are important active labour market policy (ALMP) tools, suited to a variety of labour market challenges. This paper engages with recent ALMP categorisation debates by appraising Cronert's (2019) recent typology of employment subsidies. It uses empirical material to assess the typology's explanatory power and produce insights to inform further typological development. The illustrative case of the British ' Wage Incentive' (2012-2014) is used to assess the typology's analytical purchase. Cronert's typology helpfully identifies key distinctions in the distributional profiles of employment subsidies, but further understanding of the category is impeded by the practice of defining them as demand-side interventions. The paper argues for a reappraisal of their supply-side characteristics, maintaining that the (potential) worker should be included in the analysis, and that employment subsidies' relationship with training and job creation should be acknowledged. It proposes a redefinition of employment subsidies reflecting their real-world use, and suggests a framework for further exploring varieties of employment subsidy design from the perspective of beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This paper describes the application of a clinical cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention with an adolescent in a further education setting who was experiencing low mood and anxiety. Method: A retrospective single case study design was used based on data collected from outcomes and systematic feedback measures previously administered throughout the course of therapy. Qualitative data were also gathered including: reflections within a therapeutic diary, case notes, materials from the therapy, and a narrative summary detailing the implementation of therapy. This information was triangulated with records of session by session feedback measures to examine the relationship between the process of implementation in therapy and the young person's idiographic responses. Findings: Outcome measures derived from the intervention suggest that it was of limited effect in improving the young person's symptoms of low mood and anxiety. Variability in markers of progress between sessions was associated with factors of change, including divergences in expectancy between the educational psychologist (EP) in the role of therapist, motivational factors, systemic and extra-therapeutic factors. Conclusions: Findings underscore the importance of considering factors for change such as therapist, expectancy, relationship, technique, and extra-therapeutic based factors in the implementation of therapy with post-16 populations. This supports implementation research indicating that there is considerable room to engage individuals with the process of CBT and integrate motivational and systemic factors into decision making about therapy. Implications for research and educational psychology practice are discussed.

This paper presents findings from a recent study on choice-making among teachers, school leaders and parents in a for-profit British international school in Kuwait. Using a Bourdieusian field analysis, the choice-making of the various stakeholders is investigated to reveal their positionality within the school's social space, to examine the resources they hold and the capitals in which they are willing to invest. We find that choices made by, and within, an international school reveal symbolic violence, and a 'taken-for-granted understanding' that this form of schooling (British- rather than American-style international schooling) is superior. Participants in the study included teachers, parents, graduating class students and school leaders. Teachers and parents were a representative mix of local (both Arab and non-Arab) and expatriate. The study makes an important contribution to the body of knowledge relating to international schools, in its theoretical framework and its inclusion of the wider stakeholder population, which together generate a deeper understanding of professional practice in the international school context.

This paper examines the coaching behaviours of different paddlesport coaches (n = 17). A sample of coaches specialising in non-competitive paddlesport from professional, club and educational contexts are examined utilising a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews. The three groups are shown to share common aspect such the importance of interpersonal skills within their coaching, the development of their coaching skill set via experiential learning and effective reflection and the importance of effective Professional Judgment and Decision making. However, the groups differ in respect to how they view their coaching role, the role of personal performance skills within their coaching and the impact of formal coach education in their development. The implication for coach education is that coaches working in an educational setting may be better served by a coach educational process that focusses more specifically on their skill set requirements and less on performance development.