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The Educational Doctorate (EdD) at the University of Wolverhampton offers educational practitioners the opportunity to design a research enquiry based in, on or around their professional work. The cohort, reported on here, embarked upon their EdD studies during the 2007/08 academic year. This study reports on seven participants' learning experiences. It was anticipated that for these teacher educators, reflecting on others' studies and engaging with developing their own particular enquiries on, with or through their practice has significantly impacted upon their understandings of the research process "and" supported development of their research identities. Transformative personal and professional learning was evidenced by the Enquiry Design module outcomes. Dilemmas relating to the professional identity of the participants arising through reflection on existing perceptions of practice and pedagogy, evolving knowledge, understanding and constructs of research and associated ethical issues were anticipated and supported by social constructivist processes. The findings of the study indicate how a social constructivist approach to teaching research design can support teacher enquiries focused on a range of issues including developing the nature of reflectivity, enhancing professional learning, emancipating practice, enhancing constructive collaborative discussions, improving problem-solving pedagogy, making judgements about effectiveness of training and supporting affective accreditation. This article provides an ethnographic insight to the nature of these teacher educators' research-led learning journeys. Applying interpretative lenses to reflective narratives, including the use of visual metaphors, illuminates the meanings made of and through research endeavours, whilst also revealing the development of researcher identity. Analysis of the metaphors and other textual artefacts uncovered aspects of, and progress in, personal and professional learning related to research. The article argues that shared meaning-making processes supported teacher educators whilst endeavouring to achieve parallel research goals when embarking on a research learning journey. Development of beliefs about research and researcher identity were transactional rather than transmissional, subjectively complex and dynamic rather than technical, and paid much more attention to the process rather than the "end product". (Contains 1 table and 5 figures.)

ABSTRACT This paper considers the academic literature suggesting that the governance and management of charities is far from perfect, a problem that is frequently attributed to the difficulty charities have in recruiting suitable people to act as trustees. The paper raises the question of whether charity governance has a value -- and a price worth paying for. The paper describes research carried out to test the attitude of a section of potentially suitable managers to charity trusteeship and to remuneration for such responsibilities. It concludes that there are substantial numbers of able trustees willing to serve on a voluntary basis; the perceived shortage is more likely to arise from charities' own recruitment failings than flora a shortage of supply. But it also concludes that the supply of suitable trustees could be doubled if reasonable remuneration were offered, and there is some evidence that existing trustees might give higher priority to their duties if they were paid. Results are based on a sample of just over 100 responses, but a further survey is in progress. Initial results broadly confirm the results reported here. Further research to explore the desirability and practicality of paying charity trustees is indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on medical issues in Great Britain. Query on the access of computer files as a legal right; Need for change in recommendations on pertussis immunization; Function of an ophthalmic accident and emergency department.

The article comments on the Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech about the employment in Great Britain. The author does not conform to the theory implied by the chancellor in his speech: that workers who prefer to price themselves into jobs are a powerful regime of employment. Nevertheless, the theory is different in practical setting — there is a little evidence of employees negotiating with employers for smaller wage increases in return for increase employment. Most companies usually budget for wages and salaries costs in the previous year plus provision for expected increases. The author establishes his contention that the there is need for the government to prove that link between labor cost and employment can be used create jobs, to strengthen employee-employer relationship, and that the government has control over employment policy.