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BackgroundThat there is a relationship between human rights and health is well established and frequently discussed. However, actions intended to take account of the relationship between human rights and social determinants of health have often been limited by lack of clarity and ambiguity concerning how these rights and determinants may interact and affect each other. It is difficult to know what to do when you do not understand how things work. As our own understanding of this consideration is founded on perspectives provided by the critical realist paradigm, we present an account of and commentary on our application of these perspectives in an investigation of this relationship.FindingsWe define the concept of paradigm and review critical realism and related implications for construction of knowledge concerning this relationship. Those implications include the need to theorise possible entities involved in the relationship together with their distinctive properties and consequential power to affect one another through exercise of their respective mechanisms (ways of working). This theorising work enabled us identify a complex, multi-layered assembly of entities involved in the relationship and some of the array of causal mechanisms that may be in play. These are presented in a summary framework.ConclusionResearchers’ views about the nature of knowledge and its construction inevitably influence their research aims, approaches and outcomes. We demonstrate that by attending to these views, which are founded in their paradigm positioning, researchers can make more progress in understanding the relationship between human rights and the social determinants of health, in particular when engaged in theorizing work. The same approaches could be drawn on when other significant relationships in health environments are investigated.

In many institutions increasing priority is being given to the educational goal of intellectual independence with course objectives placing more emphasis on the processes of learning and less on course content. While such objectives are readily achieved in the small class setting, this remains difficult in large class settings. In this paper we describe an attempt to pursue the student-independence agenda in a large, first year management course and discuss the processes used, outcomes achieved and critical success factors perceived. While results to date show a pleasing increase in the use of effective learning strategies for independent learning by students, a significant minority of students have not responded positively to the independence goal. Concluding comments develop this aspect.

This paper questions the purpose of contemporary accounting education for society and reflects on what accounting academics are attempting to achieve in universities today. The authors suggest that a number of extant educational issues and beliefs (and the associated underlying assumptions) concerning the purpose and practice of tertiary education in accounting need to be challenged if we are to progress. The authors suggest the adoption of an alternative approach to educational practices in accounting in order to provide 'holistic education'. We believe that in our fast changing society we must produce graduates who have learned how to learn, and who are capable of continuously adapting themselves to help in the ongoing development of society. We outline an integrated accounting course that was developed to provide an holistic educational experience within an accounting context.Understanding Learning Holistic Independent Student-CENTRED,

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