There is widespread concern over the high levels of reported work-related stress, job dissatisfaction and psychological distress associated with teaching and the effects of stress on teacher's sense of well-being and their willingness to stay in the profession (Borg, 1990; MSLAT, 1996; Troman, 1998; Schonfeld, 1990; Wilson, 2002). Much of the traditional research on teacher stress has been carried out by external 'experts' using quantitative survey type approaches to analyze occupational stress levels resulting in restrictive data analysis unrepresentative of the true picture of stress in the teaching profession. Researchers have advocated a more holistic approach incorporating mixed methods combining both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to gain subjective teacher reports of stress and coping mechanisms resulting in a fuller picture on teacher stress with future recommendations grounded in research. Recently, the reflective practice movement in healthcare (eg:-Boswell, 2007) has suggested using a more integrative approach to advance practitioner knowledge and empower them to improve practice through reflection to create an understanding ofthe issues within a local context. My research was particularly interested in the issues relating to teacher stress including the way teacher stress was being measured and the effectiveness of qualitative over quantitative methods, the inclusion and exclusion practices of disruptive students and the use of practitioner research to encourage teacher collaboration as a way of dealing with teacher stress. Practitioner-Research methodology has been successfully adopted in Nursing and Health-Care and has recently been used in Education with mixed findings some successfully advocating p-r while other research was hampered by bureaucracy and top-down managerial agendas. In relation to this a single UK Secondary school was researched as a case study by the investigator who taught Sixth formers A'level Psychology at the school. The research was conducted in phases using a qualitative multimethod approach incorporating triangulation to include staff, students and researcher reflections about practice in order to encourage staff collaboration, empowerment and meta-cognition. A reflexive stance was thus adopted to underpin the research methodology. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted on 20 teachers (varying levels, ages and mixed gender) to assess the proposed research objectives. Classroom observations and student interviews were carried out for a year 10 class to complete the data collection. The findings revealed how students felt caught up in a selffulfilling prophecy with teachers seeing them negatively, leading to a spiral of failure and lack of motivation and the teacher interviews with both newly qualified and experienced teachers, uncovered how different coping strategies were used to deal with disruption, classroom and task management in general. The most important findings came from middle managers who claimed there was poor communication between senior tiers and lower teaching tiers with a strong sense of bureaucracy ruling their decisions. In order to bridge this gap, the practice development phase of the research tried to establish collaborative meetings in order to encourage teachers from all levels to self-reflect, deal with problematic issues and action research solutions of teaching practices. The Senior Management Team (SMT, including the Head) did not encourage staff or the researcher to proceed further with the final phase and the research was abruptly halted. Despite this, I believe that practitioner-research is a viable methodology in education research as it gives 'ownership of knowledge' to the practitioner using a self-reflexive stance to increasing their evidence-based practice resulting in a growth in meta-cognition to make improvements in practice. I feel, we need to increase insider research and use Action Research spirals and collegial collaboration as a wayforward.

Background: Breastfeeding is recognised as the optimal feeding method, conferring short and long term benefits to infants and their mothers. In the UK some women do not initiate breastfeeding. Many commence formula milk feeding at birth or after a brief period of breastfeeding. Often women have decided how to feed their infants before conception or even during adolescence, prior to when infant feeding education has traditionally been provided. Negative attitudes to breastfeeding amongst some social groups, and lack of familiarity with the practice appear to contributing factors. This research has explored infant feeding awareness of children in primary schools as a first step towards informing appropriate health education interventions. Methods: Fifty six children aged 5/6, 7/8 and 10/11 years were recruited to the study from 3 schools in rural and urban areas of Southern England. Children were shown a series of drawings, and read a story about a hungry baby. They were asked to finish the story, showing how they thought the baby was fed, using the ‘draw, write and tell’ method, developed as an adaptation of ‘draw and write’. The children produced one or more pictures, often with text, and were offered the opportunity to talk about their work; the data were united in a ‘commentary’. Codes emerged, which were combined into categories. Mapping and charting techniques were used to identify five key areas for discussion. Results: The development, and flexibility, in children’s ideas regarding infant feeding was noted. Whilst breastfeeding was identified by some children, breastfeeding terminology and imagery were problematic for many. The prevalence of feeding bottles and references to formula milk were striking, with children identifying these as equivalent to breastfeeding. Solid foods were frequently referred to by children, and seemed to be identified with formula milk feeding rather than breastfeeding. Conclusions: For the first time this study identified primary school children’s awareness of different feeding methods and the inter-relationships between these methods. It appeared difficult for children to view breastfeeding as normal, perhaps because it is rarely seen or discussed, and formula milk feeding is so prevalent. The children were interested in the subject and it is anticipated that infant feeding education with these age groups would be beneficial. Introducing children to breastfeeding needs to be achieved with care and sensitivity, using language and imagery with which they are confident. In addition, the efficacy of ‘draw, write and tell’ and the challenges of using this method are discussed.

The approaches taken in teaching reflection to adult student nurses varies across the UK despite national curriculum outcomes from the professional statutory and regulatory body, The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). This study highlights pertinent aspects of the various approaches to teaching, the inclusion of theory and the roles of the student, mentor and nurse lecturers in the utilisation of reflection to develop professional knowledge from experiences. Ethical approval was gained to conduct the study, utilising a case study approach, including nurse lecturers and curriculum documentation from a range of NMC accredited Higher Education Institutes across the UK. Semi structured interviews were conducted face to face with all participants in their home sites. Curriculum documentation used with students such as lecture notes, slides, module and programme handbooks and practice assessment documents were also collated in order to understand and analyse the approaches taken to teaching reflection. These two main data sources (interviews and curriculum documents) were also complemented by the use of field notes and a researcher journal in order to gain deeper understanding of the detail during data collection. A thematic analysis of the interview data and curriculum documents was undertaken to highlight and explore patterns and assist in the emergence of a theme and subthemes. Following in depth data analysis, the findings of this study detail an overarching theme of safe and caring practices, alongside three subthemes: II  Personal and Professional Dimensions of Reflection  Dimensions of Reflection in Nurse Education  Articulation of Practice Although the publication of the Francis Inquiry (2013) was unanticipated at the inception of this research, it has shown to be a very important factor in analysing the data. The issue of patient safety that arose during data collection and became evident during analysis align closely to the publication of this significant report. The findings from this study are timely as the review of standards for nurse education and mentoring are underway. The findings from this study will also contribute to strengthening the student nurse role in assuring the best standards of care in the practice setting are achieved in order to improve patient safety through thoughtful approaches.