Category / REF Subjects

Islam and Social Work: Culturally sensitive practice in a diverse world

Fusion, Women's Academic Network

islam%20and%20social%20work-pbk_qcThe complexities of multiculturalism as a social ontology and as a political discourse have taken a rapid and alarming turn to the right in a political moment of increasing social turbulence on issues that revolve around national identity, ethnicity and religion. It is therefore timely, if regrettably so, that the second edition of Islam and Social Work makes its debut this month.

The first volume went to press in 2008, in my first year at BU, and my co-authors and I were overwhelmed when the book was showered with positive reviews. Regarded as not only the best, but the sole European text on this conspicuously important topic, it was also viewed as having no counterpart in the Global North (where the subject of social work and minority ethnic groups has been a dominant theme in the social work literature for decades). Since then it has been regularly cited and I been privileged to have anonymously reviewed dozens of papers on Islamic interpretations of social work practice. I have learned that Western social work is no longer the epicentre of practice – there are other worlds out there. I feel that this earlier book was, if nothing else, pivotal to opening the door much wider to be able to hear from our Muslim social work colleagues around the world, whose practice can challenge the restrictive, bureaucratised and therefore often inhuman professional processes in the UK

Strangely, however, over the years, despite the world having changed so very much since in terms of the shifting geo-political axes of power, the rise and fall of despotic regimes, the call for accountability of Western leaders implicated in invasion of Gulf nations, the Arab Spring, global terrorism, Al-Qaeda and later the monstrous birth of imploding Daesh – no one has produced a text to supersede the old first edition. And so, reader, we, Fatima Husain, Basia Spalek and I decided to produce the 2nd edition, which has been fully revised and updated, rewritten virtually from scratch, and I believe we have produced a book that is specific in detail, expansive in scope and completely international in outlook.

We hope that this will be a text that is the first port of call for all social work students across the globe who are interested in learning more about competent and sensitive practice with Muslim service user and client groups across the lifespan, as well as discovering the many beauties and wise profundities that are embedded, but often overlooked, in the youngest of the Abrahamic religions, Islam.

Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

Professor of Social & Cultural Diversity

Brick-henge at the Jewell Academy, Bournemouth

staff profile pages

Pupils at the Jewell Academy in Bournemouth have built a scale-model of Stonehenge in the school grounds using 80 house-bricks. The work was as part of an outreach visit by Professor Tim Darvill from the Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science to introduce young scholars to the results of recent research at Stonehenge. Orientated on the mid-winter sunset the model should survive long enough to help celebrate the end of term and the start of the winter festival in six weeks time!

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BU excavations at Cotswold long barrow reported in Current Archaeology

Current Archaeology, the UK’s best-selling archaeological magazine, features news of BU’s discovery of a previously unrecorded Neolithic long barrow in the Cotswolds in its December issue that goes on sale today. The excavations, directed by Professor Tim Darvill and Dr Martin Smith from the Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science, revealed a large stone-built mound dating to around 3800 BC. Such mounds served as territorial markers as well as burial places for communities living in the area. The work forms part of a larger study looking at the history and development of the Cotswold landscape since prehistoric times and includes collaboration with staff from the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin.

Royal Academy of Engineering – SME Leaders Programme

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Training

Royal Academy Engineering

 

Are you working with engineering companies that would be interested in this funding opportunity?

Why not send them this information in order that they can consider making an application ?

The Royal Academy of Engineering, sponsored through the Enterprise Hub, invites applications for its small- and medium-sized enterprises leaders programme. This supports promising leaders of high growth engineering SMEs. Recipients receive a grant of between £10,000 to £15,000 towards the cost of training courses and executive education for themselves.

This scheme is open for applications  by SMEs until 4pm on 24 November 2016. For further details on the scheme click on this link.

 

 

 

Stern review of the REF – what next?

Guidance, REF Subjects

ref-logoThe Stern review of the REF was published in July 2016. The government have accepted the main recommendations, and we are expecting in November a HEFCE technical consultation on implementation – to affect the next REF exercise (probably in 2021). It is expected that the new arrangements will be settled by the summer of 2017.

So what did Stern recommend – and what is likely to be in the consultation?

  1. The main thing that Stern might have done, but did not do – following widespread concern in the sector – was move to a metrics-based approach for the REF. Peer review and case studies will remain and there will be an opportunity to celebrate success wherever it is found in the REF – not a metrics based ranking. There may be new metrics, and a new Forum for Responsible Research Metrics has been launched, but the key is that these metrics should be used responsibly and carefully.
  2. All research active staff should be returned in the REF (and allocated to a unit of assessment).
  3. Outputs should be submitted at Unit of Assessment level with a set average number per FTE, but with flexibility for some faculty members to submit more and others less than the average. A total cap should be set based upon two outputs on average per FTE with an individual cap (e.g. six) and a minimum per FTE (potentially 0).
    There has been some concern expressed about these changes – Maddalaine Ansell (University Alliance) via Wonkhe and James Wilsdon in The Guardian, 29th July 2016. At BU, our strategy is that all academic staff should be active in research as part of Fusion, so we will not be moving towards teaching only contracts. We hope the sector will not do so either – we will consider pressing for all staff to be included and remove any risks around the definition of “research active” to avoid this
  1. The total number of outputs per UoA should be adjusted so that it does not significantly exceed the 190,000 reviewed in REF2014. This may require the average number of outputs submitted per faculty member to be below two.
  2. Outputs should not be portable. The review proposes that outputs should be submitted by the HEI where the output was demonstrably generated and that work should be allocated to the HEI where they were based when work accepted for publication. There may be some flexibility around maximum numbers when staff have moved- e.g. maximum three outputs from those who have left.
    Concern has been expressed that this will restrict employment options for early career researchers, e.g. Paul Kirby. James Wilsdon again “the broader move to reduce output numbers and decouple them from individuals should reduce pressure on those at the start of their career, or who take time out of research because of childcare, illness or caring responsibilities” Other views: – it might be fairer to early career researchers who will be recruited on potential not previous publications
  1. Institutions should be given more flexibility to showcase their interdisciplinary and collaborative impacts by submitting institutional level impact case studies
  2. Impact should be based on research of demonstrable quality. However, case studies could be linked to a research activity and a body of work as well as to a broad range of research outputs
  3. Guidance on the REF should make it clear that impact case studies should not be narrowly interpreted, need not solely focus on socioeconomic impacts but should also include impact on government policy, public engagement and understanding, cultural life, academic impacts outside the field and impacts on teaching – the report recommends that research leading to impact on curricula and/ or pedagogy should be included. BU welcomes these changes and we look forward to seeing more details of these plans.

So watch this space – once the consultation is launched the Research and Knowledge Exchange team will be working with the policy team to prepare a BU response. You can read more about BU’s policy and public affairs work on our intranet pages.

InsideBU – Out Now

Student Engagement, student research

insidebu-front-cover-useThe latest issue of InsideBU, the magazine for BU staff and students, is out now.

This issue brings the concept of Fusion to life through a range of features and articles including:

  • Celebrating undergraduate research through hosting the prestigious British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) next year
  • National research into the scale and impact of financial scamming in the UK, headed by BU’s National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice
  • The research stories behind the Fusion mural on Talbot Campus.

Hard copies are available across both campuses and you can also read it online – simply click the arrows on the bottom right of the screen to expand it to a full page size.

If you use a screen-reader, Word and PDF versions are also available. The current issue – and all back issues – can also now be found on the Staff Intranet, under ‘Find’ on the bottom right of the homepage.

Please email insidebu@bournemouth.ac.uk if you would like hard copies sent directly to you.

We appreciate all feedback and suggestions for future issues. If you have a story for the next issue of InsideBU, email insidebu@bournemouth.ac.uk.

A Cloud Based Intelligent Safety Transport Framework for Schools

PG research

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.mano

 

Speaker: Manoharan Ramachandran (PhD student within the Creative Technology Department).

 

Title:     A Cloud Based Intelligent Safety Transport Framework for Schools

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 26th October 2016

Room: PG11, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: Safety in school transportation systems is a critical issue which involves children who are the most vulnerable users of them. Statistics show that in Great Britain (GB) alone 1191 children were injured in 371 coach crashes between 2005 and 2015. Though coach journeys are considered as the safest mode of transport for children, the coach accidents are the one which resulted in a high number of fatalities per accident. England has more than 25000 schools and each school at least make 2 trips per year which is equivalent to 50000+ trips made every year. Schools rely on coach operators to provide vehicles for school trips and home to school services. In the last eight months alone (Jan – Sept 2016), 102 coach operators’ licenses have been revoked without public inquiry in England due to operator’s non compliance. Around 8.3 million pupils are enrolled in England schools. There are no specific safety models available to ensure the safety of children who travelling through coaches. Parents have to spend a considerable amount of time on the streets and making phone calls seeking information about the coach whilst waiting for it, due to the unpredictable nature of the traffic, particularly during the winter months. Proper selection of coach operator, vehicle and real time vehicle tracking & monitoring can considerably mitigate safety risks and the problems of school transport. Most of the existing literature so far has focused on the economy and the shortest routes to transport children, but they do not consider the safety aspects of the coach operator, vehicle and the driver. In this research, two case studies have been conducted in four sectors of stakeholders to identify their problems and needs in school transportation. The outcome will be discussed at this seminar.

 

 

We hope to see you there.

BU Researcher Dr Firend Al Rasch has released a book: Asian Case Studies- Lessons from Malaysian Industries

BU’s Dr Firend Al Rasch has recently published a book around his research into Asian industry and their significance to the world of trade and commerce. The book ‘Lessons from Malaysian Industries’ is one of a series of Asian case studies and explains how these industries can stay relevant among other key players in the Asian market.

This section of the series explores Malaysia which is relatively small in comparison to its other Asian-Pacific neighbours, such as India and China. In 2010, the country set a target to become a high-income nation by 2020. Dr Rasch analysed a number of Malaysian companies from a number of industries, including palm oil, electrical, electronics, business services, oil and gas etc. He discusses how Malaysia is at a disadvantage as it’s unable to compete with its larger neighbours, nor is it able to grow to the high-end market value of Singapore.

In the wake of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) the economic landscape is becoming ever more competitive and has the potential to force many businesses to become non-existent.  The study recognises how Malaysia needs to identify its strongest market niche and use this to maximise its income in order to remain relevant in the global market.

The book has used research methods that enable the reader to understand the reasoning of how Malaysian companies build their company structure and how they discuss moving forward. For example, Dr Rasch, has examined case studies such as VADS Berhad, a fully integrated Connectivity/ICT/BPO Solutions Provider which represents the issues a typical Malaysian company faces.

As well as this, the book has analysed financial data, to present the importance of financial structure. He has also looked at a breakdown of the company’s marketing strategies, to understand how they sell themselves. The methods of data collection of real companies, give the reader real-life perspective of how companies run and how the industry can survive in such a diverse and important trade region.

To get yourself a copy of the book head over to Amazon

If you’d like to ask Dr Rasch anything, then get in touch.