Search results

Change should not occur in a vacuum, but should be part of the strategic management process of an organization. In other words, change should be directed towards the achievement of an organization′s objectives. Examines some of the variables involved in implementing strategic change.

This chapter examines the inauguration of the university study of Education in Scotland and its relation to teacher education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The chapter outlines moves to establish Education as a disciplinary field in higher education and the junctures at which this movement aligns with and is in tension with concurrent moves to advance teaching as a profession. Academisation and professionalisation are the twin poles of this debate. This is not a parochial or obsolete debate. The place of teacher preparation in higher education has been the focus of sustained discussion across Anglophone nations. Three examples – the inauguration of chairs and lectureships, the governance of teacher education and deliberation on the content and purpose of a degree in Education – are used to help explain the apparent paradox between the historic place of education in Scottish culture and identity and the relatively recent full involvement of Scotland's universities in the professional preparation of teachers. Investigating the activities of the first academic community of educationists in Scotland may help to understand continuing struggles over jurisdiction and authority in this contested and yet neglected field.

The purpose of this paper is to foreground and analyse the views of people in custody about the management of the COVID-19 pandemic within the Scottish Prison Estate. The project is unique in using a correspondence participatory action methodology to engage with a group of people in custody at one Scottish prison.

At the time of ethical approval (early April 2020), all face-to-face research projects facilitated by the Scottish Prison Service were paused. In response to these methodological challenges, a participatory correspondence methodology was designed to allow people in custody to influence the direction of this project by suggesting research questions and themes. Eight participants were selected due to previous participation in research projects at one Scottish prison. All participants were adult males and serving long-term sentences. After consent was given via post, eight letters were distributed to participants with questions about their COVID-19 experiences. Methodologically, this project illustrates the potential for correspondence methods to facilitate insights into life in custody during what emerges as a particularly challenging time.

Participant suggested questions were used across six subsequent letters to elicit unique insights into the COVID-19 pandemic, of lockdown and subsequent easing of lockdown conditions in custody. The main project findings relate to challenges that the participants faced in relation to communication, feelings of heightened isolation and detachment from family, friends and the normal rhythms of life in prison. Analysis of letters provides unique insights into the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic in custody enhanced the pains of imprisonment, increasing the “tightness”, “depth” and “weight” of participants’ time in custody.

This paper is methodologically, epistemologically and theoretically original in foregrounding the views of people in custody about the management of COVID-19 in prison and using a correspondence participatory action research method. The conclusion considers the extent to which views from what might be considered the bottom of hierarchies of power within prison settings are able to influence the direction of prison policy around the management of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

The racial diversity of the Caribbean stemmed directly from the historical processes of colonialism, imperialism, slavery, and indentureship. Since the early 17th century, slaves have been imported from Africa to work in the Caribbean. In the British West Indies, slavery was abolished in 1834 but these African slaves worked on the sugar estates until the apprenticeship was abolished on August 1, 1838. Even before 1838, planters frequently complained of labor shortages and appealed to Britain for the approval of imported labor. Thus, there were attempts by the planters in colonies, such as Trinidad, to introduce Chinese labor to the plantations. As early as 1806, there was the importation of 192 Chinese from Macao and Penang into Trinidad. However, this experiment soon failed. In 1834 and 1839, laborers from Portugal were imported into Trinidad. This soon ended as Portuguese workers could not withstand the rigorous conditions of the contract labor system.

Yoga practice has become increasingly popular around the world for the benefits it can bring for physical and mental health. However, little research has been done regarding the use of yoga as a therapy for elderly people with mental health problems. This literature review will therefore attempt to answer the questions: what research has been done to look into the use of yoga as therapy for elderly people with a diagnosis of mental health problems, what does this research show and what future directions may this work take in the future.

The review describes four research studies that have been done looking at the use of yoga as an intervention in older people with diagnosed mental health problems and one upcoming larger study.

Therefore, it is shown that the research in this area is so far still in its infancy, but that yoga has potential to be a useful potential treatment for older people with mental health problems.

As with all research into treatments for mental health problems, involvement of patients and their carers will be vital to ensure that the direction of the research is one that will be valuable, and that the traditions of yoga that have been of so much benefit to so many can be used to help a group of people who are often vulnerable and who sometimes do not receive all the treatment that they deserve.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the physical, chemical and thermal characteristics of paraffin-blended fuels to determine their suitability as fuel in hybrid rockets.

Wax fuels are viable and efficient alternatives to conventional rocket fuels, having excellent structural strength and thermal and mechanical properties. The authors report a study of the morphological, chemical and thermal properties of paraffin wax with and without additives for use as fuels in hybrid rockets. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used for the morphological and chemical characterizations of the fuel blends. The thermal stability and combustion characteristics were assessed under an atmosphere of nitrogen by the simultaneous application of thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry techniques.

The melting temperatures for pure paraffin and other formulations were around 61°C as seen in differential scanning calorimetry experiments. Variations in the compositions of monoesters, n-alkanes, fatty acids, carboxylic acids methyl and hydroxyl esters in the fuel samples were assessed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The assessment criterion was chosen as the relative content of carbonyl groups, and the ratio of the stretching vibration of the C–C bonds to the deformation vibration of the aliphatic carbon–hydrogen bonds was taken as the basis for the quantitative calibration. The crystal phases identified by X-ray diffraction were used to identify nonlinear chemicals and alkane lengths. Scanning electron microscopy validated homogeneity in the paraffin-blended samples.

This study presents the thermal stability and other relevant characteristics of fuel formulations comprising unconventional blends.