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The purpose of this paper is to survey and consider the implications of the literature justifying the value of teaching poetry. There has been a long tradition of literature education in the English departments of Chinese universities. English Poetry courses are offered within optional literature modules in senior stages of a BA in English language and literature. In 2000, the new national syllabus for tertiary English majors was issued. This syllabus has brought the teaching of English into line with the perceived practical needs of society. As a result, poetry courses have been under threat within the degree. A substantial number of university teachers have responded to this threat with articles arguing the value of teaching of poetry.

The China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the largest database of academic journals in China, reveals that from 2000 to 2013, 102 articles about teaching English poetry to Chinese people learning English as a foreign language were published in Chinese academic journals, of which 67 are concerned with English majors. This literature examines these 67 articles.

These articles justify the purpose of teaching English poetry, evaluate the content of poetry courses and share pedagogical strategies. The issues within this discussion fall into three categories: why teach poetry; what to teach in poetry courses; and how to teach poetry. Because the commitment of Chinese teachers to sharing their beliefs about teaching English poetry is positioned in the context of increased advocacy for the creation of inter-disciplinary market-orientated graduates, discomfort, uncertainty and the desire for change emerge in this discussion. On the other hand, teachers looking for change express caution about the costs of changing pedagogical approaches on the development of the skills of close reading and analysis of poetical texts.

This investigation of the local Chinese context resonates with and contributes to the wider discussion of the challenges faced by English literature teachers in both second- (L2) and first-language (L1) contexts and warrants examination. It is difficult to say in advance how far such knowledge could contribute to any policy decisions that may be made in the future, but it is important that the voice of teachers contributes to the larger international debate about the value of humanities in tertiary-level education.

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the ethical and practical dilemmas faced by an experienced researcher in undertaking research with a person with dementia (whom we have called Amy). Amy died shortly after a period of observation had ended and the family subsequently consented to the data being shared.

This individual case study presentation was nested within a larger study conducted in England and Scotland between 2013 and 2014. The overall aim of the main study was to investigate how healthcare professionals and informal carers recognised, assessed and managed pain in patients living with dementia in a range of acute settings.

The presented case study of Amy raises three critical reflection points: (i) Researcher providing care, i.e. the place and positioning of compassion in research observation; (ii) What do the stories mean? i.e. the reframing of Amy's words, gestures and behaviours as (end of) life review, potentially highlights unresolved personal conflicts and reflections on loss; and (iii) Communication is embodied, i.e. the need to move beyond the recording of words to represent lived experience and into more multi-sensory methods of data capture.

Researcher guidance and training about end of life observations in dementia is presently absent in the literature and this case study stimulates debate in a much overlooked area, including the role of ethics committees.

The purpose of the paper is to explore how education workers position themselves with an organisational culture and fashion a workplace identity. The research involved both professionally qualified teachers and support staff in an inclusive approach and drew theoretical concepts from Structuralist approaches such as labour process theory to Foucauldian post-structuralism and Habermasian critical theory on the nature of identity, power and control. This paper also sought to establish whether there was any difference in the positions taken by teaching and support staff.

The methodology used a mixed methods approach. Following on from a pilot questionnaire, a series of research conversations was conducted drawing on Habermas’s interpretation of phenomenology and the co-construction of knowledge.

The findings suggest that there are clear differences in the way teaching and support staff construct their workplace identity. In general, teachers were more critical of Central Government policy, as well as the practices of senior management, than was the case for support staff that tended to be more deferential.

As a case study of a single institution, there are inherent limitations in the generalisability of such research. However, as a snap shot of organisational life, the research provides a useful insight into the complexities of workplace relationships and the identities workers take.

This paper, albeit on a small scale, provides an insight into two areas not often reported on. First, on reporting on a Sixth Form College, the research aims to address the paucity of published research on this particular organisation type in the English educational system. Second, in placing teaching and support staff alongside each other, it provides a deeper insight into organisational life from differing positions.

This paper aims to describe the content and import of a conference held in partnership between Staffordshire University and The National Spirituality and Mental Health Forum on the importance of considering life in the context of human mortality, and the meaning and purpose of our lives. It was one of a series of conferences on the theme of health and multi‐belief systems; other conferences were on mental health and civic regeneration. A fourth conference is planned for 2012 on dementia and beliefs.

The conference and its format, including case studies is placed within the intense debate concerning the meaning of life in the context of death and what might be beyond “the grave”. With this conversation, and the issue of assisted dying becoming more prevalent, it was felt important to bring into the paper not just philosophical writings but examples from novels and “popular culture” which highlight the intensity of the dialogue.

Considering the perspectives of a variety of major belief systems assists in relating to and caring for the increasing diversity of older people and their carers when the ultimate challenge of dying is being faced.

As the discourse around assisted dying, belief systems and dignity come more to the fore, staff in health and social care will need time to discuss what are crucial issues for those they serve.

As religion and other belief systems come back into focus, partly through equalities legislation and increased demographic diversity, the Staffordshire University/National Spirituality and Mental Health Forum conference series has been an innovative way of meeting this renewed need.

During the last two decennia ‘disability’ increasingly has been considered by various academic disciplines like sociology, literature, social sciences, geography and history as a fresh and innovative analytical category with the transformative potential of race, gender, class and sexuality. At the heart of this development is a comprehensive transformation of what is understood by ‘disability’. Traditionally, ‘disability’ was considered to be nothing more than an objective and invariable part of the human body. Nowadays ‘disability’ is primarily presented as the contingent result of the complex and manifold interactions between an individual’s body and its surrounding multilayered reality. This new meaning of ‘disability’ especially has been put forward by what has come to be known as Disability Studies.