wordcount 48232 This article examines the relationship between confidence and risk in relation to the initial education and continuing professional development of teachers. The context for this examination is the Lifelong Learning sector in England, which sits between secondary schools and universities, and the discussion is illustrated with data gathered from trainee teachers in this sector. Understandings of confidence are considered and it is argued that the inculcation of confidence through risk-taking is important for new teachers in their journey to praxis. Confidence, whether seen as imbued in the self or as inculcated through professional training and development, correlates with both the new teacher's vulnerability and their capacity to take risks. Central to the inculcation of confidence are the opportunities available to teachers as they develop, which are circumscribed by the conditions and expectations of their teacher education course and their workplace. The article concludes by arguing that the transformative potential of critical engagement with professional knowledge on teacher education courses and through work-based learning should be balanced with the need for the good and appropriate time necessary for the risky political act of reflection, not merely the immediate technical evaluation of practice. (ref A-1)

Using a bi-dimensional, fourfold model as a thinking tool to contemplate acculturation strategies we analyse the intercultural experience of international academic staff (IAS) in the United Kingdom higher education. The literature suggests that IAS feel undervalued as a professional group and that institutions do not capitalise on their diverse contributions. We position IAS within the strategic sphere of ethnocultural groups and the institution within the larger society. In a single case study, we analyse IAS acculturation strategies and their perceptions of how their institution accepts diversity. Findings show that IAS are willing to integrate, but do not aim to remove all traces of their own culture and values, adopting integration strategies. Their 2 perceptions are that the larger society does not seek to segregate IAS; however, it does not provide the conditions for IAS to flourish in professional practice, especially at the early stage of transition.

This article explores why a group of young people living within traditionally workingclass communities choose not to participate in higher education (HE), even though they have the necessary entry qualifications, and the influence that debt has on their decisions. The research proposes that any strategies devised by the young people were about not owing money and that, at times, the amount of debt appeared to be inconsequential; being in debt was just not the accepted way of doing things. In conjunction with a general fear of debt, this paper highlights subtle and hidden disadvantages that moved beyond the question of whether the young people should participate in HE. A case study approach is adopted; with findings being drawn from a set of semi-structured interviews with 36 young people. The case study is framed by the work of Pierre Bourdieu. A particularly complex attitude to debt was highlighted; not incurring debt appeared to be a cultural rule, particularly when there was no guaranteed employment-related benefit to participation. This paper argues that similar outlooks, backgrounds, interests, lifestyles and opportunities resulted in the adoption of shared practices, common patterns of reactions and accepted ways of doing things when it came to debt.

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