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Even before the pandemic, several major UK news platforms had begun engaging in news literacy education. Against a backdrop of declining levels of trust in the news media (Newman et al. 2019) as well as concerns about the rise of mis- and disinformation, providers of news including the BBC; News UK; the Guardian and the Economist (the latter two via their linked foundations) were expanding their own remit as educators about news. In summer 2021 the authors carried out case studies on five of these projects as part of a wider ongoing project mapping the UK news literacy landscape. This paper draws from these case studies, focusing on one key strand: the role of news organisations in the teaching of news literacy to children, and attitudes among those involved in these projects towards these media organisations. It finds that news literacy projects tend to teach a normative version of professional news content as untainted by bias and framing, or accusations of a lowering of standards driven by tough economic circumstances. At the same time, there was a widespread perception from those interviewed that only certain parts of the news media industry were acceptable participants in news literacy education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK's nascent news literacy movement features a range of voices, including regulators, educationalists and journalists, but those of journalism educators working in higher education are largely absent. This study, based on a survey and semi-structured interviews with senior journalism educators from across UK universities, seeks to address this gap. This study's key research questions examined the extent to which news literacy is taught on UK undergraduate journalism programmes and the appetite of lecturers for increasing that teaching. It found that news literacy concepts are widely taught on UK journalism undergraduate programmes even if they are not named as such. Participants understand news literacy as encompassing instrumental skills alongside a critical approach to the news industry itself. It found little engagement between journalism educators in universities and the growing number of external news literacy projects. The study ends with a series of recommendations; chiefly, that journalism educators should be part of the development of material used in news literacy education for schools, libraries and elsewhere, and that journalism educators should consider offering short courses, seminars or online resources about news literacy within their own institutions that are applicable to students of other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on UK data from an international, comparative project involving eight countries. The study examined how social workers' conceptions and definitions of family impact on the way they engage with complex families, and how social policies that frame social work context impact on the way social workers engage with families. Focus groups were held in which social workers from four service areas (child welfare, addictions, mental health and migration) were asked to discuss a case vignette. Several factors were embedded in the vignette to represent a realistic situation a social worker may come across in their day-to-day work. Social workers clearly identified the complexity of the family's situation in terms of the range of issues identified and candidate 'causes'. However, typical first responses were institutional, looking for triggers that would signify certainty about their, or other agencies' involvement. This resulted in a complicated story, through which the family was disaggregated into individual problem-service categories. This paper argues that understanding these processes and their consequences is critical for exploring the ways in which we might develop alternative, supportive professional responses with families with complex needs. It also demonstrates how organisational systems manifest themselves in everyday reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work change programmes rooted in a particular practice theory and design are increasingly a fixture of UK local authority social work and the focus of a small but developing body of research. However, in this research to date, there has been a lack of engagement with the perspectives of families. In this article, we detail findings from 23 family interviews undertaken as part of an independent evaluation of a social work change programme in a single local authority. These findings afford insight into the positive influence change programmes can have on engaging families and re-routing practitioners to work in a relationship-based way. They also illustrate the limitations for reshaping practice in the context of rising levels of need, a paucity of supportive provision, and administrative burdens remaining the same as before the introduction of a change programme. As part of the article, we offer some brief reflections on the recruitment of families for evaluative study to assist other researchers and local authority professionals who may be involved in comparable evaluations in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines representations of colonialism in contemporary Indigenous art. Various artists are discussed include Kent Monkman, Rebecca Belmore and Nadia Myre. Details relating to victimism, trauma and individual life story and how they can be depicted in art through symbolism and other means are also offered.

An introduction is presented in which the authors discuss reports within the issue on topics including Indigenous art practices and movements, Inuit art history and the Anthropocene.

Long-term storage of banked sperm, especially when it is not needed, for reproductive purposes, is costly and poses practical problems for sperm banks. For sperm banks to function efficiently, men must understand the implications of unnecessary storage, and make timely decisions about disposal of their own samples. Men who bank sperm prior to cancer treatment are routinely offered follow-up consultations to test their fertility, update consent and, where necessary, expedite referral for Assisted Conception. Yet sperm banks report that men do not respond to letters, suggesting samples are stored needlessly. We conducted semi-structured interviews with six men with a history of not responding to letters, to document reasons for non-response. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Men's reasons for not responding are a complex interplay between past, present and future perspectives. In terms of their past, information is important on diagnosis, because men must understand that fertility can change after treatment. Present and future concerns focus on fears of being told fertility has not recovered and being pressured to dispose of banked sperm. The challenge is to devise invitation letters that address men's concerns while offering them tangible benefits and peace of mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current policy in the UK recommends that men bank sperm prior to cancer treatment, but very few return to use it for reproductive purposes or agree to elective disposal even when their fertility recovers and their families are complete. We assessed the demographic, medical and psychological variables that influence the decision to dispose by contacting men ( n = 499) who banked sperm more than five years previously, and asked them to complete questionnaires about their views on sperm banking, fertility and disposal. From 193 responses (38.7% response rate), 19 men (9.8%) requested disposal within four months of completing the questionnaire. Compared with men who wanted their sperm to remain in storage, they were significantly more confident that their fertility had recovered (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.05-3.03, p = 0.034), saw fertility monitoring (semen analysis) as less important (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.39-0.94, p = 0.026), held more positive attitudes to disposal (OR = 5.71, 95% CI = 2.89-11.27, p < 0.001), were more likely to have experienced adverse treatment side-effects (OR = 4.37, CI = 1.61-11.85, p = 0.004) and had less desire for children in the future (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.26-0.64, p < 0.001). Information about men's reasons to dispose of banked sperm may be helpful in devising new strategies to encourage men to engage with sperm banking clinics and make timely decisions about the fate of their samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate important aspects of the policy implementation process in UK welfare organizations. We draw on two evaluations in which we were each involved — those of the Integrated Children's System and the Children's Fund. Our interpretive frameworks share a concern to foreground the significance of the local, informal, and ground level, but do so in ways that acknowledge the encompassing governmental and policy contexts. We illustrate and assess the significance of multiple policy aspirations, the significance of local implementation contexts, the diverse ways in which practitioners gain and subsequently develop knowledge of how policy works, and how such knowledge moves about in organizations. We indicate the kinds of expertise that social service workers bring to and achieve as actors within policy innovations, and how they may manage and in some cases seek to control knowledge shifts between providers and users of services. We infer the inadequacy of conventional top-down models of implementing policy innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Nikki Ward on social exclusion and another by Fabio Folgheraiter and Annalisa Pasini on self-help group therapy.

Notions of user involvement may be clearly embedded in relevant social care legislation and plans for the new social work degree. However, it is less clear how social workers are trained to do this, or how they integrate theoretical frameworks within their direct work with users, a body of interactive, relational and process skills referred to as ‘social’ work in this paper. A brief rationale for involving users in training and review of the research on involvement in social work qualifying training is given. Findings from this research review are then integrated with theoretical perspectives on notions of ‘good practice’ in working with users to develop a framework for setting suitable learning outcomes and evaluative criteria. The ways and means of involving users in teaching will be dependent on the sensitivity of issues and the size of the training group. We consider two very different case studies of training initiatives requiring different approaches—child protection and adult assessment. Evaluation suggested that learning together in such ways advances transferable skills in developing participation, inclusiveness, respect for users' point of view and trust, and that these were positive steps toward user managed participation in training. In conclusion, the current implications of this work for stakeholders putting plans together for the new social work degree, which will replace the Diploma in Social Work (DipSW), are drawn out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the changing context for preventative services, and the involvement of children and families in developing these services. Using emerging findings from national evaluations of preventative initiatives, the move to address the needs of children at risk of social exclusion is considered. The challenges faced in implementing previous needs-led approaches to children are set against the current intentions to achieve change for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the challenges of social work education in Great Britain and discusses three themes that she thinks will be of importance as Great Britain enters a period of change in its higher education system, including the future of social sciences within higher education, how collective responsibilities within the social work education community are understood and responded to, and the celebration of achievements in social work education during difficult times.

Recounts the United Kingdom Independence Party's political election broadcasts for the country's 1997 general election. Reason for the concentration of media attention on UKIP and the British Referendum Party; UKIP's criteria for choosing actor Leo McKern to star in its campaign; Message intended by UKIP to deliver with its campaigns.

Introduces articles related to prevention and preventative services for children and young people, published in the June 2005 issue of "Practice."

A preface is presented for the April 2009 issue of the journal "Social Work Education."