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The COVID-19 pandemic brought abrupt changes and disruption to the lives of children and young people. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to explore how participants navigated national lockdowns (including school closures), social restrictions, and the reintegration back into pre-pandemic routines. Twenty children, young people and parents were purposively sampled from the Mental Health of Children and Young People's Survey, 2020. We identified three major themes through thematic analysis, with participants discussing (1) learning experiences, (2) emotions and coping, and (3) decompression and discovery. Experiences during the pandemic were highly variable. Participants emphasised the importance of social and familial connections, access to engaging learning environments, and structure/routine in promoting health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How shall we distinguish religious delusion from sane religious belief? Making this determination is not usually found to be difficult in clinical practice – but what shall be our theoretical rationale? Attempts to answer this question often try to provide differentiating principles by which the religious “sheep” may be separated from the delusional “goats.” As we shall see, none of these attempts work. We may, however, ask whether the assumption underlying the search for a differentiating principle – that religious beliefs and religious delusions can usefully be considered species of a common genus – is a good one. In this paper, we outline an alternative, “disjunctive,” understanding of religious belief and religious delusion. By reminding ourselves both of what is central to any delusion and of what distinguishes bona fide religious claims from their pretenders, we show how to resolve our reflective puzzlement about religious delusion without recourse to differentiating principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of romantic relationships is associated with mental health and wellbeing throughout the life course. A number of programmes have been developed to support young people in navigating healthy relationships, and a larger role for relationship education was recently formalised in statutory guidance in England. This study aimed to systematically review the evidence base for relationship education programmes. Evaluations of relationship education programmes for young people, including charting of outcome domains and measures, were reviewed, followed by a focussed synthesis of data from studies that included outcome domains of relevance to healthy relationships. Thirty-six studies of seven programmes were found that focussed on one or more outcomes relating to healthy relationship skills, knowledge and attitudes, none of which were assessed as high quality. All evaluated programmes were developed in the US, and only one evaluation was conducted in the UK. The evaluations had a diverse set of outcome domains and outcome measures, few had longitudinal measures. No evidence was found for young people's involvement in programme or evaluation development. High-quality longitudinal evaluations and a core set of validated outcome measures are needed. This research also highlights the need to co-create programmes with young people, teachers and relationship experts that are feasible, acceptable and integrated into a mental health-informed curriculum [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of disadvantages in education at all levels in Ireland is a well-researched field (Doyle and Keane 2019; Fleming and Harford 2021; Kellaghan 1995; Skerritt 2017; Tormey 2010). A variety of research approaches have been used by those involved in the endeavour to provide a range of valuable associated insights. We offer this paper at a time when other approaches yet again are called for as Ireland, like many other European countries, is hosting Ukranian children in schools as they seek to gain refuge from atrocities at home. In particular, we offer it as a response to an invitation to indicate how those insights can be enriched through the provision of expositions of a comparative nature so that Irish educationists can gain an international perspective on the national situation. Such expositions can be of various types, including those relating to the situation in other OECD nations. Expositions that provide stark contrasts are also helpful in that they can indicate where one's own circumstances are situated on a spectrum between those demonstrating extreme egalitarianism and those of extreme deprivation. This paper provides an exposition of the latter variety by detailing the results of a long-running research project orchestrated by the present authors on issues related to school leadership by school principals, deputy principals and local school-board members, in three such situations, namely, post-conflict contexts, extremely remote developing world contexts and disadvantaged post-communist societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within political philosophy and particularly in the work of Chantal Mouffe and Hannah Arendt, "agonism" has been described as representing the notion of being able to challenge and dissent in a productive way. However, little is known about how agonism is used in the educational literature, other than some applications relevant to democratic education. This paper considers the use of agonism in the educational literature drawing on the findings of a systematic scoping review exploring how it has been used in the context of education. Five databases were searched for literature published using agonism within the context of education to map the existing body of work in a systematic fashion, and to explore how agonism has been differently conceptualised and utilised by researchers in the field of education. The findings suggest that there have been a range of attempts to apply agonistic principles in different educational sub-fields (including, citizenship education, early years education, initial teacher training, arts education and international education), and different interpretations of such principles into education based on different philosophical underpinnings (dissociative and associative approaches). As agonism is mostly explored in a theoretical way, we also discuss the potential of abstract theoretical agonistic principles from different philosophical traditions to be translated into meaningful practical applications for education in order to inform curriculum development, infuse democratic principles into classroom practice, and help to negotiate deep-running tensions amongst key stakeholders in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition. As such most schools, Further Education colleges, vocational training and Higher Education settings will need to support affected children and young people. When young people who require ongoing treatment for ADHD are around 18 years of age, they must transition from child to adult mental health services. However, only a small proportion successfully transition. As significant educational transitions are often happening at the same time, there is a need to consider how education and health service transitions may impact on one another. This paper presents findings from a large UK qualitative study involving 144 semi-structured interviews with young people who had ADHD, parents and health professionals. Two themes were identified which support the notion that education transition can impact health transition. Firstly, transition to adult health services typically requires continued prescription of ADHD medication, yet many young people stop taking their medication due to a belief that it is only needed for education-based learning. Secondly, if a young person is continuing education post-18, a lack of joined-up planning between education and health (outside of special schools) or consistent support in Higher/Further Education can leave young people with ADHD in limbo between health services and struggling within education. Given these findings, we recommend regarding multi-agency service statutory health care transition, educational staff training and ongoing oversight of child to adult health service and adult to adult health service transition effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are practical questions about how inclusive schools can enable quality teaching and teachers' professional development that are relevant to students with special educational needs (SEN). In moves towards inclusive education, teachers are confronted with issues about their knowledge, skills and perceived efficacy to adopt inclusive teaching approaches. Based on an explicit approach to inclusive teaching, this paper illustrates how Lesson Study (LS) and Lesson Study related professional development practices embody the values of inclusive teaching and reflective practice. Peer-reviewed academic papers about LS and LS related practices were reviewed. This found that these practices were predominantly used in continuing professional development and evaluated with a focus on their contexts, processes and outcomes in ordinary and specialist settings. The extent to which LS and LS related practices have been evaluated in these settings with different kinds of SEN is also examined. Based on this review increased use and evaluation of lesson study and lesson study related practices are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper's commentary is guided by Gramsci's distinction between, on one hand, the pessimism of the intellect and, on the other, optimism of the will. Accordingly, we seek initially to convey some of the intractable challenges that tend to be encountered by school leaders in the contemporary education context. In doing so, we argue that these leaders can no longer rely exclusively on codified knowledge, but require more flexible approaches to leadership engendering new ways of learning, dispositions and behaviours. In keeping with the optimism of the will, we then examine ways in which professional learning for school leaders may be enhanced to deal with the complexities identified. For this purpose, we describe a more personalised approach to school leaders' professional learning than has been customary, harnessing knowledge, dispositions, and performance deemed valuable for leadership in more complex circumstances. In particular, the importance of school leaders developing self-agency in their learning is emphasised. Contiguously, attention is devoted to ways in which metacognitive awareness may be acquired so that experiences present opportunities for learning. This agenda, we argue, encourages school leaders to take responsibility for, and ownership of, their own professional learning, undoubtedly an essential backdrop to the learning of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses about the articles in the issue including notion of teacher agency, importance of roles in promoting efficacy of learning in collaborative settings and facilitator, in promoting learning within teacher educators' professional communities.

This article presents an autoethnography in the form of a short story of the experiences of a mental breakdown, and subsequent involuntary detainment, alongside the experiences of conducting PhD research outside the mainstream of the discipline of psychology. In response to criticisms of narrative approaches that they are methodologically solipsistic and present a socially atomised self, this narrative combines patient medical records with narrative recollections and reflections on the research process from a contemporary perspective. In doing so, the narrative explores and interrogates themes relevant to creative practice in psychological research, including the notion of authenticity, methodological issues of researching personal experience, the problem of subjectivity and, ultimately, the nature of madness and psychological distress, including its nonlinearity and otherness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amount of empirical research on leadership of educational organisations, and especially of schools, which has stressed the importance of being sensitive to context, is not great. This paper seeks to highlight the challenge presented by this situation. First, context is defined. Second, attention is drawn to what can be learned in the area of school leadership from the emphasis in other bodies of scholarship within the broad field of education studies on paying attention to matters of context. Third, an overview is provided of some of the key considerations arising out of the small body of work undertaken in the field by those researchers who have focussed on the broad range of issues that can arise for school leaders in distinctive contexts. Finally, five key and interconnected propositions to guide practice with regard to leadership in diverse contexts that have been generated from an analysis of the latter body of work are presented. In doing so, it is recognised that these are tentative in the absence of a much larger corpus of work. Overall, we hope that, along with providing intellectual sustenance, each of the four areas considered will also stimulate discussion on areas for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives: The aim was to evaluate an Acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) intervention for people with knee or hip osteoarthritis; a related aim was to compare treatment effects from Rasch-transformed and standard scales. Methods: Participants were recruited from a research database and outpatient rheumatology and orthopaedic clinics at two hospitals. Eligible participants were randomly allocated to either intervention or usual care. Intervention comprised six-sessions of group ACT. Outcomes were assessed two and four months after randomization. Rasch-transformed and standard self-report measures were compared. Qualitative interviews also explored the acceptability of the intervention. Results: Of 87 people assessed for eligibility, 31 (36%) were randomized. The main reason for non-randomization was that participants received surgery. Of the 16 participants randomized to intervention, 64% completed ≥50% of the scheduled group sessions. Follow-up data was complete for 84% participants at two months and 68% at four months. Outcome analysis demonstrated important differences between the Rasch-transformed and standard scales. There were significant differences between the groups in pain. Qualitative interviews with seven participants suggested the intervention was acceptable. Conclusions: ACT for osteoarthritis is likely to be an acceptable treatment option for people with osteoarthritis. Progress to a definitive trial is warranted. Rasch-transformed outcome scales are preferable in clinical trials where possible. Implications for Rehabilitation: Acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) is an effective treatment for many pain conditions andcould be a useful intervention for people with osteoarthritis who have high levels of pain. Rasch analysis is a measurement technique that may enable greater precision in detectingmeaningful treatment effects in routine clinical outcomes. The ACT intervention was successful in reducing pain and sleep difficulties and there werenotable differences in effects between standard and Rasch-transformed scales. In a relatively small trial, ACT may to be an acceptable intervention for people with osteoarthritisand progress to a definitive trial is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been recognised that relationships are key to good mental health service delivery and yet the quality of the relational context remains poorly understood. This article brings together three studies that utilize very different methodologies to explore the various ways in which a process of therapeutic change can be aided or prevented by relational factors. All three studies took place within the context of therapeutic communities. The first study uses narrative ethnography and interaction ritual theory to explain how the mechanisms of everyday encounters in two therapeutic communities transform negative feeling into a sense of belonging and positive emotions such as confidence. The second study uses grounded theory to explore how the relational setting and the altered context of the researcher in a therapeutic faith community environment induces either a positive or negative quality of relationships. The final study uses a novel autoethnographic methodology to inform understanding of the relational experience of mental health treatment by comparing and contrasting multiple perspectives of different treatment environments. The paper concludes by identifying the expression and containment of affect in a congruent environment, belonging and hope, and fluid hierarchies of relational structures as key aspects of the relational context informing change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented which discusses articles within the issue on topics including mentoring of early career teachers in Wales, early childhood education, and role of facilitator in a government-funded programme of teacher development.

This paper begins from the premise that the challenges characterising the contemporary education environment call for more flexible approaches to leadership than the traditional reliance on codified knowledge. These more flexible approaches are likely to involve new ways of learning, dispositions and behaviours, which enable educational leadership to progress from ‘best practice’ to ‘next practice’. The paper, therefore, has two main aims. First, it seeks to illuminate a potentialmodus operandifor contending with the complex challenges that have become integral to the landscape of educational leadership. Second, it seeks to encourage consideration of the implications of thismodus operandifor processes of leadership thinking, learning and development. For this purpose, the nature of the challenges purported to define the landscape of educational leadership now and into the future is first discussed. This is followed by an examination of three interrelated leadership concepts in enabling appropriate judgements to be made in dealing effectively with highly complex circumstances, namely, ‘phronesis’, ‘contextual intelligence’ and ‘negative capability’. The paper concludes by discussing the circumstances within the professional milieu that either constrain or promote the kind of educational leadership that is deemed to be required for embracing the three concepts in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 10 years, research into schools facing challenging circumstances has attracted the attention of researchers around the world. The aim of this study was to understand the challenges that school leaders face as they per form their work, the nature of the context in which these challenges arise, the strategies school leaders adopt to deal with the complexities of their work and the reasons behind these strategies. For this purpose, we investigated a single case study of a Chilean K8 school achieving extraordinary success despite its adverse circumstances. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with the principal, the vice-principal, the teachers, the students and the management team of the school. The interviews were focused on the challenges experienced by the school community, and on the strategies implemented in order to face them. The findings are organized around three key themes: first, the importance of nurturing high expectations among students and staff; secondly, the importance of enhancing teachers’ morale; thirdly, the importance of setting and sharing a common vision for a preferred future. These key themes have been instrumental to the success of the school may be enlightening to other schools, that are facing comparable challenging circumstances, especially in Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition of unknown aetiology characterised by widespread pain, fatigue, joint stiffness, and tenderness. Research in long-term conditions traditionally focuses on negative aspects of coping. The objective of this study therefore was to investigate the role of positive factors such as self-efficacy and acceptance in the context of adjustment to fibromyalgia. Method The study employed a cross-sectional design using online questionnaires measuring self-efficacy, acceptance, kinesiophobia, coping, catastrophising, pain intensity, and fibromyalgia impact. A total of 117 participants with fibromyalgia (99 female) were recruited from fibromyalgia support-groups, organisations, and online forums. Results Data were analysed using multiple regression analysis. After controlling for other cognitive and demographic variables, pain self-efficacy remained a significant predictor of pain intensity ( p = .003); symptom self-efficacy remained the best predictor of psychological fibromyalgia impact ( p = .001); and function self-efficacy remained the best predictor of functional ( p < .001) and total fibromyalgia impact ( p < .001). However, the contribution of acceptance upon pain intensity and fibromyalgia impact was not significant. Conclusions The results highlight the impact of different self-efficacy domains on pain intensity in terms functional, psychological, and total adjustment to fibromyalgia, but suggest that the role of acceptance on these domains is less salient. The implications of these findings for future studies in self-efficacy and fibromyalgia are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the turbulence of the contemporary education environment this paper argues it is necessary to adopt more flexible approaches to leadership than has traditionally been the case and involving new ways of learning and behaviours. In this regard, the paper investigates the paradoxical concept of ‘negative capability’ and its potential value for enhancing school leadership in circumstances of uncertainty, change and complexity. First, the nature of the challenges purported to permeate the school leaders’ world and which are likely to escalate into the future is described. Attention is then given to the concept of negative capability and its usefulness for one approach to leadership that might be appropriate in dealing effectively with highly complex contexts. Finally, some practical ways in which individuals’ sense of negative capability may be enriched, especially through promoting the ‘inner leader’ rather than observable competencies in school leadership development, are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Attentional bias (AB) for alcohol-related stimuli has been consistently demonstrated in social and problem drinkers. The aims of this study were to: investigate whether AB for alcohol-related stimuli could be described as a slow effect as well as a fast effect; how these effects relate to drinking behaviour; and the influence of the experimental procedure on priming effects. Two experiments were designed. In experiment 1, problem drinkers in treatment at a community alcohol service ( N = 62) and a group of social drinking controls ( N = 60) were assessed using the modified Stroop task with alcohol, negative emotion and neutral words. Drinking patterns were also recorded on the Khavari Alcohol Test. In experiment 2, social drinking controls ( N = 40) completed the same procedure but were blinded to the study's aims. In experiment 1, both groups demonstrated slower response times to alcohol-related than neutral stimuli in both fast and slow processes. Difference scores for alcohol compared to neutral words in the slow process were positively correlated with increases in drinking levels for both groups. In experiment 2, AB to alcohol-related stimuli disappeared when participants were unprimed. The findings highlight the importance of investigating the role of fast and slow processes in continued and problem drinking, alongside priming effects from the experimental procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents of young people with mental illness use a variety of strategies to try to positively influence young people's mental health-related behaviours. Evidence suggests that these parents can influence young people's well-being and mental health trajectories. However little is known about how young people perceive and are affected by the strategies parents use. In-depth qualitative interviews focussing on parental involvement in mental health were conducted with 26 young people with mental illness. The data were analysed using constant comparative analysis. Young people described parents as directly influencing their mental health-related behaviour through facilitative, persuasive and controlling practices. Young people's behavioural and emotional responses to these practices were influenced by when the incident occurred; what they believed about the attitudes and motives behind their parents' actions; whether they agreed in principle with the practices; the degree to which they accepted their parents' authority and anticipated their own increasing autonomy; and whether other support was provided alongside the behavioural practices. Understanding how young people view their parents' influence on their mental health-related behaviour under different circumstances is a vital step towards promoting the best possible parental support for these young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which evaluated skinfold anthropometry and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to estimate the percentage of body fat (%BF) among adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). The study obtained the reference values for %BF of the same participants, and then compared the different methods to assess %BF with Bland-Altman analysis of agreement. It was found that the Deurenberg skinfold model and DXA were similar in performance.

The article presents a discussion on Pan-Africanism, adapted from the book "Communicating Pan-Africanism: Caribbean Leadership and Global Impact," guest edited by Hopeton S. Dunn and Rupert Lewis.

This article presents a case study of one very small school in a remote location of Western Australia. The study is part of a larger programme, International Study of Principal Preparation, investigating the challenges facing novice principals in the first 3 years of appointment and the extent to which they felt they were adequately prepared to deal with the challenges they faced. The international study, of which this is part, involves cross-cultural comparisons of the experiences of novice principals in 13 different countries. The research described in this article addresses the question: What are the distinctive challenges facing leaders of small schools in bringing about changes to school cultures to improve student learning achievements? Two theoretical constructs were used as the lens through which to examine the culture of this small and isolated school: a culture of acceptance and a culture of inquiry. Using an interpretivist approach, data from interviews and observations were constructed into narrative accounts. These accounts demonstrate how the culture of this small remote school can be characterised as having low expectations of student learning low; staffing profiles that were likely to limit the potential of students to achieve at an national age-equivalent level; fragmented parent engagement with student learning and little evidence of innovative practice to challenge the culture of acceptance of low student achievement. The study indicates that close attention to processes devoted to the professional formation of school leaders is vital to promoting a culture of inquiry rather than one of acceptance for informing school improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including early childhood in Australia, the issues faced by education providers in remote areas and student learning and achievement in low socio-economic status communities.

This essay subjects Adorno's historical dialectic of musical material, as it pertains to instrumentation, to Bataille's economic reading of dialectics (and latterly, to Derrida's reading of Bataille). There is a certain excess, an accumulation of waste, that cannot be jettisoned in Adorno's musicology; the problems that arise pertain directly to a musical work's ontological status as transcendental 'thing in itself', score, and/or performance. The implications of this reading point to a radical discontinuity between score and performance that cannot easily be reconciled by recourse to some fictive notion of the 'work' itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the theories of organisation that have informed our understanding of schools as complex social worlds and the practice of school leadership that seems to be required in such environments. This understanding has, in turn, determined the research approach we have adopted for investigating principals' work and for ascertaining the utility of existing approaches to their initial preparation. The paper argues that the extent to which preparation processes align with principals' professional needs will depend on the extent to which they are able to connect with the realities of workplaces found in schools as well as the environments in which they are located. For this purpose, it is desirable to pursue the kind of enquiry that is capable of revealing what schools leaders know and brings them to a new stage in their thinking about practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political, market and historical forces within Australia have produced a supportive environment for creating a new marketplace for schools, including those that are affiliated with a range of different faiths. Indeed, this sector has now become a significant feature of the Australian educational landscape. This article argues that the increasing significance of faith-based schools in combination with their complexity, distinctiveness and controversy makes them a particularly fertile setting for research endeavour; an endeavour which seems to have become an imperative, given that current understandings of these schools are heavily influenced by the media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind power is seen by many as a key industry for the future: an environmentally benign renewable energy to replace fossil fuels. The Northern and Western Isles, with their high average wind speeds, would seem to be well placed to exploit this rapidly emerging demand. As well as meeting a global need, to reduce output of greenhouse gases and a national need for security of supply into the twenty-first century, wind power promises an economic future for rural regions whose prospects are otherwise uncertain. However, this benign scenario is marred by potentially serious negative consequences for local environmental systems, landscape aesthetics and archaeology, which are themselves often of national and international importance. With particular reference to proposed projects in Lewis and Shetland, this paper will consider the competing demands from national and local policy on the location of wind farms, and weaknesses in the current planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the implications of party leadership for the ability of trade unions to represent the interests of their members by comparing the cases of China and Vietnam, where the trade unions are under the leadership of the Communist Party, with that of Russia, where the trade unions have been politically independent for almost two decades. The article examines the changing role of trade unions in the transition from a command to a capitalist economy and the pressures for trade union reform from above and below. The key finding is that the form and extent of independent worker activism, and the response of the state to such activism, are a much more significant determinant of trade union development than is the legal and institutional framework of industrial relations, while the main barriers to trade union reform are the inertia of the trade union apparatus and the dependence of primary union organisations on management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the complex matter of initial principal preparation in a context where traditionally beginning principals have learned their role from experience, on the job. Using data from both novice and experienced primary principals it was found that while what was needed in the job was agreed upon - how to deal with place, with people, with the system and with the sense of self - there was little understanding of what would constitute an appropriate or suitable way of learning the skills or mastering the knowledge to be able to meet these challenges as effectively as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents' encounters with health professionals can influence their ability to cope with having a daughter with anorexia nervosa. Using qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 24 parents, we examine the question "What support do parents of teenage girls with anorexia want from clinicians?" The analysis shows that parents wanted clinicians to include them in treatment, support and guide them in their daughters' care, and demonstrate positive attitudes toward them. The implications for clinicians are discussed, including being sensitive to parents' vulnerability, ensuring congruence between clinicians' and parents' expectations about treatment, and strengthening formal channels of communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnam introduced mechanisms for the resolution of collective disputes under the 1994 Labour Code, which provided for the use of the strike weapon as a last resort. Since then, Vietnam has seen around 100 reported strikes a year, not one of which has been called in accordance with the legal procedure, with a sharp increase in strike activity at the beginning of 2006. The character of strikes is also changing and the government is anxious to address the problem. Vietnamese discussion has focused on legislative reforms, but this is to ignore the fundamental substantive issue underlying the prevalence of wildcat strikes, which is the failure to develop a system of industrial relations within which the Vietnamese trade unions can effectively represent their members. This issue is coming to a head as a tight labour market encourages workers to press their interests beyond the rights embodied in the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines recent Australian progress in the advancement of a national agenda for developing the quality of school leadership. The article falls into three main sections. First, the reasons for the unprecedented attention devoted to the quality of school leadership in this country are discussed. Secondly, the article describes the logistics of promoting a national approach to the quality of school leadership according to the complex sharing of responsibilities for education that exists between the Federal level of government and the States and Territories. Thirdly, the article reports some promising initiatives in shaping a national agenda for enhancing school leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the nature of novice teaching principals’ interactions in Queensland rural communities. Stories selected from case accounts are used to provide insights into the teaching principals’ interrelationship with the community. The article concludes with a discussion of some implications for practice suggested by these insights into the experience of rural teaching principals in the context of their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the familiar issue of parental (non-)involvement in schools. More specifically, it examines the language of selected texts in one school context and finds initially that the roles of parents are not discursively constructed in these texts as their being involved in the school. Rather, a close reading of the texts' discourse displays parents as the deficit half of a contrastive pair (parents vs the school). The issue of parental involvement at this school, first highlighted in a survey analysis as significant, gains a complementary and extended interpretation through the application of discourse analysis to interviews with the school leaders and a section of the school's web page. Further analysis of interview data referring to the implementation of activities designed to increase parental involvement highlights movement towards the discursive reconstruction of parents as standard relational pairs with school leaders. The findings highlight the importance of the use of discourse analysis as a tool for understanding and implementing change in school culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a market economy in Russia did not initially lead to significant changes in the social organisation of production, leading some to doubt that Russia was in transition to capitalism at all. Since the 1998 devaluation, Russian capitalist holding companies have invested in industrial enterprises. This article reviews the impact of such investment on the management structure of Russian companies on the basis of a series of intensive case studies. The case studies show a very consistent pattern of strictly centralised hierarchical management, which reproduces many features of the traditional Soviet system of administrative control, using financial rather than physical indicators, with production subordinate to projected sales, but very limited change in the traditional forms of personnel and production management. In conclusion, the question is raised whether this represents a distinctively Russian form of capitalism or is merely a transitional stage of capitalist development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research commissioned for the UK's Health & Safety Executive (HSE) supports the view that a preventative, risk-assessment based approach would be more effective than case-based methods in achieving a nationwide reduction in work-related stress. The background to this approach is described and discussed in a companion paper in this issue ( Mackay, Cousins, Kelly, Lee, & McCaig, 2004 ). The present paper describes the development of HSE's new stress Management Standards--which offer organizations continuous improvement through a three-phase stress preventative process--and the development of a supporting 'Indicator Tool' (a two-phase questionnaire to assess employee perceptions of working conditions). The Management Standards comprise a series of 'states to be achieved', which are statements of good practice in six key stressor areas: demands, control, support, relationships, role and organizational change. For each stressor area there is also a 'platform statement' that outlines the main aims to be achieved by the organization. This statement may include a target percentage of employees finding that the organization meets the standard: this matter will be settled after the standards have been assessed in a public consultation campaign. To use the new process, an organization's state can first be assessed using the Indicator Tool; liaising with workers in focus groups enables a further exploration of issues raised; finally, there may be formulation of interventions and subsequent review. It is not intended that the standards will be legally enforceable. HSE's aim is that they and the associated methodology will enable organizations to effectively tackle work-related stress, and subsequently reduce both its incidence and prevalence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paradoxically, the more powerful the USA has become the more that paranoia seems to mark its relation to itself and to others. In this article we argue that there is a connection between its denial of its own destructiveness, self-idealization expressed in the belief that America represents the end point of the civilizing process towards which all other societies are drawn, and the paranoid conviction that an enemy Other (communism, Islam) aims to corrupt or destroy 'God's chosen people'. First Vietnam and now September 11th inflicted grievous injuries upon this narcissism and we suggest that the invasion of Iraq can be considered as an indication that the USA has failed to 'work through' this trauma, instead it has sought to reassert an imaginary omniscience. Just as the destruction of the Twin Towers was the breaking through of the Real upon the Imaginary, so the 'Real' war in Iraq has begun after the 'Imaginary' war was declared 'over' by Bush. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade has witnessed a period of endemic reform within educational systems and schools. In particular, changes have been implemented that may entail different configurations of decision‐making at the site level with significant reverberations for the workplace environment of the school. This paper suggests that because of the ubiquity of reform, rich opportunities have been provided for researching educational change. Nevertheless, in order to develop a holistic understanding of the effect of change in schools a perspective is required that takes Into account the socio‐political and cultural context of an organisation. For this purpose, the micro‐political perspective may be able to convey a more realistic depiction organisational behaviour than conventional theory has been able to offer. Therefore, this paper elucidates the major ideas of some prominent micro‐political theorists and makes recommendations for future research into aspects of life in schools. It is hoped that the paper may contribute to a revival of the micro‐political perspective in conducting educational research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Assess how far China has progressed in developing 'true social dialogue.' Overview of the tripartite consultation system; Limits of tripartism in China; Discussion on the pace of change of labor and employment relations in China.

This paper explores the interface between sociology and psychoanalysis using Zygmunt Bauman's notion of the 'stranger' as a conceptual tool to investigate the possibility of developing a sociology of the imagination. The aim of this paper is to explore the way in which we can look at human emotion without resorting to some form of cognitive science model and to understand the way in which we perceive and act in relation to others using some psychoanalytic ideas. In other words, how we can imagine how the imagination works in an interpretive, subjective and hermeneutic way and the specific implication this has for the basic human rights of individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I define paternalism in the following way. X behaves paternalistically towards y: (1) only if x aims to close an option that would otherwise be open to y, or x chooses for y in the event that y is unable to choose for himself; and (2) to the extent that x does so in order to promote y's good. Paternalism covers both acts and omissions and may be successful or unsuccessful, and I distinguish it from benevolence. This definition is contrasted with some alternatives offered by others, including Gerald Dworkin, John Kleinig and David Archard. On my account, paternalism need not be coercive, nor restrict freedom. Paternalism need not be against the will, nor need it limit the autonomy, of the person paternalised, nor involve the violation of any moral rule. Finally, a paternalist may believe both that paternalistic intervention is for the good of the target and that the target shares this view. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Examines the psychodynamics and psychoanalytic explanations of racism. Analysis on the work of Frantz Fannon entitled 'Black Skin White Masks'; Influences of the theories of Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Lacan on Fannon's writings; Synthesis of the works of several authors to explain the problem with racism.

This paper reports on recent research on the job search and placement strategies of Russian employees. Wage differentials have increased enormously in Russia, which would lead a labour economist to expect that informal methods of job search would have declined as people have to widen their search to get better jobs while employers open up competition to reduce wages. In fact the data clearly show that it has become increasingly important to have the help of personal and family connections to get a job. This closure of the labour market is on the initiative of employers, who take the opportunity of easier labour market conditions not so much to reduce wages, as to pursue much more selective hiring policies. This helps to explain why very high wage differentials persist, despite the high rate of labour mobility in Russia. Hiring through personal connections not only provides a firmer guarantee of the professional, social and personal qualities of the applicant, but also worsens job matches, and reinforces the 'feudalization' and criminalization of post-soviet management and the social exclusion of those not embedded in appropriate networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of the new private sector in Russia has been associated with the expansion of trade and services, requiring a labour force with different occupational and skill characteristics from those of the Soviet economy. This paper reports on the first research ever undertaken on training practices in the new private sector in Russia. The analysis is based on forty case studies of new private enterprises and a large-scale household survey in four relatively prosperous Russian cities carried out in the first half of 1998. The paper shows that the old system of vocational retraining has largely collapsed, but very little has arisen to take its place. The majority of new private employers make little provision for the training of their employees, relying heavily on training provided by previous state employers or on the motivation of their own employees or prospective employees to undertake training on their own initiative, at their own expense and in their own time. At the same time, the availability of appropriate training is limited and it is extremely expensive in relation to the resources available to new private employers. Nevertheless, those who undertake training experience significant increases in earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which examined 40 private business enterprises in urban labor markets in Russia. Characteristics of private sector employment; Employment strategies and labor turnover in the private sector; Level of pay and qualifications in the private sector; Conclusions.

Explores the changing character of internal mobility at Russian industrial enterprises over the period of reform under the Soviet Union. Discussion on the dualistic character of the Soviet labor market; Reviews on qualitative data to characterize the changing forms of internal mobility from the perspective of employees; Contention that the increase employment insecurity has reinforce the dualism of the Russian labor market.