Job Services Australia: …

design and implementation lessons for the British Context

New research has been published by the Department for Work and Pensions on the Australian system for designing and implementing contracted employment provision. Australia has more than a decade of experience in contracting out employment services. This research summarises that experience and identifies design and implementation lessons for the British context.

DWP Research Report 752 by Dan Finn (University of Portsmouth and Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion(CESI)) was published on 30 June 2011
ISBN: 9-781-84712-986-4
Full report (PDF 49pp)

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Flexible New Deal evaluation: …

customer survey and qualitative research findings

A new report that documents evaluation of the Flexible New Deal (FND) between November 2009 and January 2011 has been published by the Department for Work and Pensions. This research includes findings from:

• qualitative research conducted with FND jobseekers and providers; and
• a survey to compare the outcomes and experiences of customers experiencing FND with those experiencing the former JSA regime and New Deals to assess whether jobseekers felt the support they received through FND was as effective in helping them find or move closer to work.

The research consisted of qualitative research into customer and provider experiences of FND delivery and a quantitative survey of customer experiences of FND in Phase 1 areas compared with customers at the same point in their claims experiencing the former Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) regime and New Deals in Phase 2 areas. Comparisons between the two areas provide an indication of FND services in contrast to JSA/New Deal services but they do not constitute an impact assessment.

This is the fourth in a series of evaluation reports aiming to understand experiences of the Jobseekers Regime and Flexible New Deal (JRFND) from the point of view of customers, Jobcentre Plus staff and provider staff, and establish the extent to which JRFND leads to additional customer employment outcomes.

DWP Research Report 758 by Sandra Vegeris et al was published 30 June 2011

ISBN: 9-781-84712-994-9

Full report (PDF 240pp)

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I couldn't have made it up

I found this lurking right at the bottom of an electronic pile of “stories I might use one day”, most of which, needless to say, I never actually use (rather like the all-to0-real sewing/mending pile).

I really could not resist the USB-powered eyelash curler!!

Check it out at http://www.geekstuff4u.com/thanko-usb-heater-eyelash-curler.html (costs 2,980 Yen).

WHY you would want one is a bit of a mystery but hey …

Thanks to PopGadget, Akihabara News and Unclutterer (among others) for providing information on this, to me, totally useless gadget.

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The development of a lifelong guidance system in Hungary

an article by AG Watts (International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby)and Bors Borbély-Pecze (National Lifelong Guidance System Development Unit, National Employment Office, Budapest) published in International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance (Volume 11 Number 1 (March 2011))

Abstract
Systematic work is currently being undertaken in Hungary to develop a lifelong guidance system, in line with principles outlined by leading international organisations. The origins of career guidance in Hungary, and the nature of the current career guidance system, are outlined. The main features of the current development programme, supported by the European Social Fund, are presented, alongside the strategic work of the National Lifelong Guidance Council. Key issues relating to these developments are discussed.

There is also an article giving details of the 2008-2010 programme of work on the cedefop website http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/articles/17599.aspx

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Supervision to enhance educational and vocational guidance practice: …

a review

an article by Hazel L Reid (Canterbury Christchurch University) published in International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance (Volume 10 Number 3 (October 2010))

Abstract
Supervision to support the work of career practitioners is evident in many countries, but is not universal. The author presents a literature review, intending to emphasise the prime importance of developing supervision for guidance work. The author also considers the issues facing those training to develop the role of supervisors in southeast England. It is hoped the issues discussed will be pertinent for educational and vocational guidance services in other countries where supervision is a marginal or developing activity.

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… parents’ career interests and the career interests of young adults

An exploratory study on the relationship between … parents’ career interests and the career interests of young adults

An article by Chi Sum Wong, Ping Man Wong and Kelly Z Peng published in the International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance (Volume 11 Number 1 (March 2011))

In this study, we attempt to investigate the potential effects of parents’ career interests on young adults’ career interests. Using a sample of 113 freshmen in Hong Kong, results indicated that after controlling for personality, gender, general mental abilities and emotional intelligence, some of the parents’ career interests were still related to the young adults’ respective career interests. For some types of interests, the extent of influences is found to be contingent on the gender of the respondents. Implications are discussed.

Hazel’s comment:

I don’t think that this abstract provides you with enough information to be moved to read the whole article but it is, believe me, worth reading. I probably wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been in the full text version of the journal. As I glanced at the screen whilst scrolling through, not really reading the words, I noticed one or two pertinent points and slowed down.

It is really amazing to discover just how much influence parents’ ideas have on their offspring at an age when young people rebel against anything parents say!

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10 non-work-related items that I found fun or interesting

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate

Plutarch claimed, "There is nothing useful" about graffiti. Wrong. Those doodles of genitalia now bring the ancient world alive... more

Forget the sniggers – this is serious stuff but … it does make the ancients Greek more interesting as people!

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate

Beyond branded tchotchkes. Big Pharma is putting its marketing muscle toward something more valuable: the contents of medical journals... more
This one doesn't even make me want to snigger – it’s serious from the first thought.

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
No doubting Charles Darwin was the greatest biologist of the 19th century. A shame, however, that his star has obscured another bright mind of the time: Richard Owen... more

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Opera’s styles come and go, but its core of music, text, drama, and spectacle is still there. Opera is about pleasure and power... more

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate

Thomas Jefferson opposed ball games, but the wise Abe Lincoln had a baseball diamond built behind the White House and joined his sons in playing ball... more

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
As agriculture spread into neolithic Europe, it gave hunter gatherers more than wheat, barley, and beer: it gave them a white revolution: milk... more

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate

Germanness long predates an all-German state. Protestantism, literacy, universities, and Jewish citizens devoted to high culture all played a role... more

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate

Taxidermy, the chemistry of the morgue, is a cult obsession with contemporary artists, observes Simon Schama. Yet how much in this idea is really new?... more

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was nearly called Alice’s Hour in Elfland – by Edgar U C Westhill. And that's not all... more

Friday Fun: Nanaca Crash via the How-To Geek by Asian Angel
Today’s game lets you conduct a sneak attack using a bicycle and it’s very easy to play – your goal is to crash into the boy with your bicycle and send him flying as far as possible distance-wise.
To start click in the angle/percentage setting area (highlighted in blue). Keep in mind that the arrow moves up and down very quickly, so you will need to be ready to click when it reaches the desired angle.
Once you have hit the boy with the bicycle he will be launched into the air. On the right side you can see the distance travelled and speed he is traveling. Just below that you will also notice small pictures representing upcoming characters our poor boy is going to encounter in his flight.
... and so it goes on!
Play Nanaca Crash

via Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
His father had been hacked to death with an axe; his mother left for dead. The son – the prime suspect – took his seat in Ellen Laird's classroom... more

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