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Introduction: Deaths in care homes and "at home" are anticipated to account for a third of UK deaths by 2040. Currently, palliative and end of life care are not part of statutory training in care homes. Reflective practice is a tool that can facilitate practice‐based learning and support. Following a feasibly study to test "online" supportive conversations and reflection sessions (OSCaRS) to support care home staff in relation to death/dying during the first months of the COVID pandemic, a one‐year practice development follow‐up project was undertaken with the aim to create a team of NHS/specialist palliative care (SPC)‐based facilitators to lead and support OSCaRS provision in up to 50 care homes in one region in Scotland—the focus of this paper. Methods: Forty care home managers attended an on‐line session explaining the project, with a similar session held for 19 NHS/SPC‐based nurses external to care homes. Those interested in facilitating OSCaRS then attended three education sessions. Data collected: records of all activities; reflective notes on OSCaRS organised/delivered; a summary of each OSCaRS reflection/learning points; final interviews with NHS/SPC trainee facilitators. Results: A total of 19 NHS/SPC facilitators delivered one or more OSCaRS in 22 participating care homes. However, as of January 2022 only six trained facilitators remained active. Out of the 158 OSCaRS arranged, 96 took place with a total of 262 staff attending. There were three important aspects that emerged: the role, remit, and resources of NHS/SPC supporting OSCaRS; requirements within care homes for establishing OSCaRS; and, the practice‐based learning topics discussed at each OSCaRS. Conclusion: Attempts to establish a team of NHS/SPC facilitators to lead OSCaRS highlights that end of life care education in care homes does not clearly fall within the contractual remit of either group or risks being missed due to more pressing priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The operative and non-technical skills exposure of urology trainees has reduced due to a number of factors, including the European Working Time Directive, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Simulation-based education (SBE) is an innovative addition to clinical experience which can begin to address the skills-based learning deficiency in order to help trainees meet their curriculum requirements and optimise the exposure required for a trainee to become a competent general urology consultant. Surgical simulation is an effective training tool but has a complex implementation process, requiring considerable planning tailored to specific educational targets, to ensure it is sustainable and reproducible. Methodology from the field of implementation science offers an invaluable approach to design an effective simulation-based training adjunct, as exemplified by the example of the UK Urology Simulation Boot Camp (USBC), a comprehensive training course which incorporates core technical and non-technical skills based on the current Joint Committee on Surgical Training (JCST) urological training curriculum to equip newly appointed urology trainees to work as competent junior registrars. Delivered annually in Leeds since 2015, the course has had excellent feedback and results in improving the urological knowledge of trainees, as well as increases in trainees' confidence. This paper will provide a summary of how the course was designed, delivered, reproduced, sustained and evaluated. Its success is demonstrated by its incorporation into the UK urology training programme, and since 2018, it is now recommended to all new urology residents in the UK. The course implementation model would be applicable to other surgical specialties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a dearth of research examining what parents in MENA region know about children's brain development and the type of activities they engage their young children at home to promote their cognitive development. This article describes and compares the views and behaviors of parents with children 0–6 years old from Casablanca, Morocco, the US, and the UK on early parental engagement. Seventy-eight Moroccan parents were compared to 1066 US/UK parents. The study utilizes survey data and explores parents' understanding of and support for their children's early cognitive development. Results reveal that more than fifty percent of Moroccan parents do not see themselves as having an impact on brain development until after the first year of their child's life compared to 10% of US parents, in part because they believe that babies' capacity for learning in the earliest years is limited. Yet Moroccan parents reported higher frequencies of teaching their young children letters and numbers and reading a book to them than US parents. These differences in at-home teaching practices may reflect the higher percentage of US/UK children who participate in early learning programs outside their own homes; such programs are not culturally accepted in Morocco. The belief that there is little capacity for learning in children's earliest years among Moroccan parents may minimize parents' motivation to function as their child's first teacher in the absence of early education programs. Policy implications and interventions are discussed concerning ways to change parents' knowledge and beliefs to motivate early learning activities. Highlights: Moroccan parents view themselves as having limited impact on their children's cognitive development in the early years compared to US parents. Moroccan parents reported higher frequencies of teaching their young children numbers and reading compared to UK parents. Sending very young children to early education centers is less acceptable in Morocco than in the US/UK. Moroccan parents turn to their extended family more than US parents do for guidance on child-rearing. Interventions should be culturally relevant and target sources to whom parents turn for support; home visits are promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports on a study at a research intensive University in the North of the UK exploring academics'' perceptions of the potential of Web 2.0 for their teaching and any influences shaping those perceptions. It looks at the perceptions of academics ‘on the ground’ as well as those leading teaching and learning strategies at the University. The study identifies a range of perceptions among academics. These are influenced predominantly by academics'' beliefs of what constitutes good teaching in their contexts. The paper concludes with an exploration of ways in which the range of perceptions evidenced may inform discussion of Web 2.0, arguing that academics'' perceptions are crucial to context-based understandings of its potential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reflective practice has been criticised for having become a standardised method in teacher education and on-the-job training, oftentimes following routines that more likely turn out to be self-affirming than to actually foster change. Also, reflective practice is still widely understood as an individual process. Both aspects are considered problematic and are addressed by employing an activity-theoretical approach that is suggested to be essentially compatible with an existentialist perspective on reflective practice as offered by Thompson and Pascal. Utilising the theory of expansive learning, formative interventionist methodology is proposed to provide a robust framework for developing collaborative and critical reflective practice, which in turn reveals the transformative potential of teachers’ agency, as illustrated by a study accompanying and supporting the development of an Austrian secondary school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, guest writers Sonya Lipczynska and Clare Crowley from King's College London discuss the learning that occurred when they undertook a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in Higher Education ( PGCAPHE). In particular, they identify how their exploration of relevant learning and teaching theory on the course helped them to evaluate their library instruction teaching practice with medical and dental students. They highlight how they made changes and improvements to the delivery of these sessions based on greater consideration of inclusivity and the characteristics of both individuals and broader student groups. They also discuss the successes of new teaching practices that they experimented with, and reflect on how they have developed as educators as a result of this. H.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Today's medical students have grown up in a technological world, with access to a wide variety of educational resources for their personal study. Although there is some evidence from the USA that students prefer the internet to textbooks, there is little evidence of UK students' preferences, particularly during their primary care attachments. Aims To identify what educational resources medical students are using for their personal study during primary care attachments and why they make these choices. Methods We held two focus groups, one with five, and one with seven fifth-year UK medical students after their primary care attachment. We analysed the transcripts using thematic analysis to identify the educational resources used, and identified themes to describe why the students made these choices. Results Textbooks remain students' resource of choice for personal study. The most popular textbook was The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine and internet sites were Google and GP Notebook. The choice of resource was influenced by convenience, purpose, recommendation, exam focus, reliability and learning styles. Two further overarching themes influencing their choices were the broad nature of general practice and the use of GP tutors as an important learning resource. Discussion In contrast to the USA, textbooks remain the most popular resource for these UK students. Students felt that the style of learning within general practice was fundamentally different to other specialities due to the breadth of the subject matter and this influenced the resources used. This research could help inform the development of educational resources tailored to the learners, and provides further evidence for the need to develop a more structured curriculum for students in primary care. Further research could explore the ideal role of GP tutors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite national requirements for accredited teaching qualifications, there is a lack of literature on disciplinary differences in student learning in higher education. Academics at a UK research-intensive university were asked to report on the existence of literature or knowledge concerned with how students learnt in their subject. No relevant literature or folklore was identified, but responses did demonstrate a discourse in which the academics constructed their discipline as 'better' than other disciplines: the finding with which the present article is concerned. The discourse of the distinctiveness and superiority of one's own discipline can be understood as a form of 'Orientalism'. A post-colonial analysis of the discourse of disciplinary relationships offers a partial explanation for challenges made to the validity of cross-university activities, such as postgraduate certificates in learning and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]