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Are you involved in student supervision or other ways of helping people learn? If so, Neil Thompson’s The Learning from Practice Manual is for you. Neil has been involved in supporting practice learning for over four decades. This hands-on manual of practice guidance encapsulates his experience and expertise in a way that readers will find very helpful. Available for purchase along with many other books by Neil here or from the Avenue Learning Centre here.

Communication goes awry quite regularly, which is not surprising when you think about how much of it we do in any given day. One common way in which communication breaks down is when what is said (or written) does not cover both topic and comment. The topic is what we are talking about and the comment is what we are saying about it. They can be articulated separately (‘You know that book on stress I lent you? I will need it back soon if that’s OK ’) or together (‘Can you please let me have that book on stress I lent you back soon?’). Either is fine when both are covered, but often, there is a topic identified, but it…

At JRF, we want to inspire action and change to solve UK poverty, but we know there’s a lot of work to do if more people are to understand it and call more loudly for solutions. To help with this challenge, we’re changing the story we tell about poverty, using framing recommendations from the FrameWorks Institute’s research into public attitudes to poverty in the UK, involving 20,000 people. Click here to read more

Paul Williams, who has a mild learning disability, was a champion runner in his youth. After many years in institutional care, however, he rarely mentioned his athletic past. But staff at the south Londoner’s sheltered housing scheme encouraged him to dig out his medals and handwritten race records. Williams opened up and his confidence grew. Just over a year ago, he gave a motivational talk at a community centre and displayed his medals. He is now working on his life story with a local journalist who volunteers to spend time with Williams. Williams, his care organisation and volunteer are part of the Time to Connect community inclusion project. This encourages stronger links between people using care services and their neighbourhoods, and…

Neurodiversity refers to the different ways the brain can work and interpret information. It highlights that people naturally think about things differently. We have different interests and motivations, and are naturally better at some things and poorer at others. Most people are neurotypical, meaning that the brain functions and processes information in the way society expects. However it is estimated that around 1 in 7 people (more than 15% of people in the UK) are neurodivergent, meaning that the brain functions, learns and processes information differently. Neurodivergence includes Attention Deficit Disorders, Autism, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. Click here to read more

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