Social inclusion through employment: the marketisation of employment support for people with learning disabilities in the United Kingdom

Employment for people with learning difficulties is considered key to their social inclusion. This contradicts the perceived un-employability of people with learning difficulties that has been part of their social identities throughout their history hitherto. The national rate of employment for people with learning difficulties remains extremely low and has barely changed in the 20?years between 1990 and 2010. This paper investigates links between learning disabilities and employment, drawing on interview-based research. It analyses the quality of experience of the minority in employment to consider whether employment can serve the inclusive purpose expected of it.     

Generalised K-S confidence regions: some exact results

One-sided confidence regions for continuous cumulative distribution function are constructed using empirical cumulative distribution functions and the generalized Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance. The band width of such regions becomes narrower in the right or left tail of the distribution. Significance levels necessary for implementation are given. Some other K-S type distances useful in constructing a confidence region with nonconstant width are also included.     

Impact of a Homonegativity Awareness Workshop on Attitudes Toward Homosexuality

The current study evaluated the effects of a homonegativity awareness workshop on attitudes toward homosexuality and examined individual difference variables associated with attitude change. Participants included 71 female and 43 male students (approximate mean age?=?23). Compared to a control group of introductory psychology students, participants were less homonegative and erotophobic (F(1, 359)?=?62.47 and 15.92, ps?<?.001) after the workshop. Implications for contact with gay and lesbian persons through structured intervention programs on attitudes toward homosexuality are discussed in terms of both the practice and theory of reducing prejudice and discrimination.     

‘Queen of the world’: experiences of ‘at-risk’ young people participating in equine-assisted learning/therapy

There is a significant body of research into the benefits of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) but less into the fields known as equine-assisted learning and therapy (EAL/EAT) where horses are incorporated in therapeutic and learning interventions. This paper explores the experiences of seven ‘at-risk’ young people who participated in a therapeutic horsemanship (TH) programme. The study followed a practice-near approach seeking to capture the young people's experiences within a participative ethnography. Themes related to the risk and resilience literature such as self-confidence, self-esteem, self-efficacy and a sense of mastery, empathy and the opening of positive opportunities are explored in this paper.     

基于中外合作办学学生特点的教学管理策略研究

中外合作办学能够较好地满足我国社会对高等教育多样化的需求，提高高等院校人才培养的质量，但因中外合作办学的独特性，其招收的学生也是特点鲜明，文章在全面剖析中外合作办学学生特点和学习现状的基础上，提出了配套教学管理策略。     

Optimal control strategies for dividend payments and capital injections in compound Markov binomial risk model with penalties for deficits

We consider the compound Markov binomial risk model. The company controls the amount of dividends paid to the shareholders as well as the capital injections in order to maximize the cumulative expected discounted dividends minus the discounted capital injections and the discounted penalties for deficits prior to ruin. We show that the optimal value function is the unique solution of an HJB equation, and the optimal control strategy is a two-barriers strategy given the current state of the Markov chain. We obtain some properties of the optimal strategy and the optimal condition for ruining the company. We offer a high-efficiency algorithm for obtaining the optimal strategy and the optimal value function. In addition, we also discuss the optimal control problem under a restriction of bounded dividend rates. Numerical results are provided to illustrate the algorithm and the impact of the penalties.     

Social capital of entrepreneurs in a developing country: The effect of gender on access to and requests for resources

This paper addresses gender differences in the social capital of entrepreneurs in a developing country. Social networks are often an important asset for accessing resources; however, they may also be a liability in developing countries, since entrepreneurs are often expected to support their contacts. Using a recent survey among urban and rural Ugandan entrepreneurs, we focus on the financial resources that entrepreneurs can obtain from their contacts on the one hand, and requests for financial support made to the entrepreneurs from these contacts on the other hand. Our results show that there are gender differences associated with access to, and requests for, financial resources.     

高等院校职业化教育培养要素及其差异探究

我国高等院校开展职业化教育的重要性已被国内高等教育研究者广泛关注,但缺乏职业化教育培养体系的研究。高等院校职业化教育应以职业化的评判标准为基础,其核心是职业综合素质的培养。职业素质培养是高等院校职业化教育的最终目标,职业素养培养是高等教育职业素质培养的重要环节。可以根据不同类型高等院校的学生特点和培养目标开展适宜的职业化教育。     

发生主义二语习得观及其应用

发生主义语言观认为,语言是动态的、发展的复杂系统,它采用连接主义的运算工具来建立人类学习机制进行语言习得的模型。文章首先用发生主义和连接主义理性关联学习理论阐释二语习得,然后用注意假设帮助解释二语习得理性关联学习中出现的非理性现象,最后,把上述理论应用到中国环境下的二语习得的实际中,提出重视和提高目标语输入数量和质量、调节二语习得者选择性注意、用目标语语言形式难度预测突显性等建议。     

All that is solid melts into work: self‐work,the ‘learning ethic’ and the work ethic

In this paper I examine the intersections between a general commitment to education and learning and the moral and ethical dimensions of the work ethic under contemporary capitalism. Drawing on Kathi Weeks' (2011) recent exploration of the work ethic in The Problem with Work, I suggest there is a relationship between the form and function of the work ethic‐ and what I term the ‘learning ethic’. I suggest that commitment to a learning ethic, to the unreserved power of learning and education‐ may reiterate a moral commitment to the personal characteristics that define the work ethic under capitalism. As a consequence, consideration of the form and function of these moral character ideals in the continuation of unequal social relations across educational and workspaces, become obfuscated by a generalized celebration of learning, education and self‐work.