Sing a song please: Musical contexts and language learning

Abstract

Language for children who have special educational needs is generally recognised to be an educational objective in its own right. In the last decade, the pragmatic perspective has currently focussed attention on the contexts within which the structures of language develop and are used. It is suggested that naturalistic interactions between children and adults provide appropriate contexts for language learning. The focus of the present study was to examine the possible relationship between a musical context and language learning. A group of six language‐impaired children was studied in two routinized contexts, a lesson‐without‐music and a singing session. Child‐teacher talk in the musical and non‐musical contexts was analysed using a conversational participation coding system, which included measures of turn‐taking, initiation and imitation. The findings suggest that the addition of music to a routinized context has the potential to increase the language‐impaired child's ability to interact non‐verbally.     

Disparate faculty perspectives on system changes in higher education

Higher education (HE) systems around the world have experienced profound structural changes, particularly since the late 1960s to early 1970s, essentially driven by the need to expand access to tertiary education. This has resulted in a diversity of HE institutions (HEI) with different roles, missions and statuses, as well as academic staff with diverse perspectives and motivations. The present study is based on a survey undertaken in Portugal by a trade union, which aimed to collect faculty perspectives on a proposed HE reform sent out for public discussion by the government. Questions addressed the reorganization of the HEI network, the internal restructuring of HEI, the funding system and the binary divide of HEI (universities and polytechnics). The survey results showed a disparity of faculty perspectives about the proposed reform, closely related to the diversity of HEI. Respondents from lower academic categories and from smaller HEI were more opposed to reorganizing the HEI network. This reorganization was more widely accepted by university staff, who were also more in favour of a binary system than were polytechnic respondents. Although there was general agreement about the need to change the funding system, polytechnic respondents were strongly against a funding differentiation between universities and polytechnics. Despite an overall reformist trend, the enthusiasm for reforms declined substantially when the questions had a direct reference to the respondent’s region or institution. It is argued that HE expansion has driven the diversification of HEI, leading to a range of perspectives about the HE system and the way it should be changed. These conclusions may contribute to insights into other HE systems around the world where institutional diversification has been sought by public policies.     

‘Power to empower’: conceptions of teaching and learning in a pedagogical co-design partnership

ABSTRACT

This study is an autoethnographic reflection on power and expertise in an evolving student/staff partnership. The partnership was initiated as pedagogical co-design in the development and implementation of a peer-assisted learning programme. Through a process of critical reflection that linked our partnership experience with themes from relevant literature, we (the staff and student authors) became co-researchers of our practice. The evolution of the partnership provided a unique perspective from which to compare our experiences of power and expertise across both contexts. We characterised our pedagogical co-design partnership as a shift from the more traditional ‘power over’ model of delivery towards ‘power to empower’ where both student and staff partners had agency and voice. Key to this important transition was a shared philosophy of student-centred teaching. As the partnership transformed from co-teaching to co-researching we needed to re-negotiate power dynamics; while our different pathways had converged on a common view of student-centred learning, our research expertise remained disparate. We were able to negotiate this challenge by drawing on our existing relationship based on respect, reciprocity and responsibility, reinforcing views of partnership that value equality of opportunity and a focus on learning and process, rather than equality of contributions and outcomes.     

La formation des enseignants au Portugal

The author analyses the current situation of teacher education in Portugal. The structure of the education system is described, as is the training of teachers for the compulsory secondary cycle, special education, technical and vocational education and Higher education. The author then goes on to recall the changes which took place during the 70s and the context of discussion and reform of that time.

Changes in the school population have brought about an imbalance between pupil numbers and the availability of properly trained teachers. Untrained teachers have been recruited on a massive scale. Special measures have had to be taken in respect of teacher education, particularly for Secondary level. The article focuses on a recent and innovatory change model originally based on an inservice training model.

Despite current developments, it is the view of the author that a great deal remains to be done.     

Venture capital investment strategies under financing constraints: Evidence from the 2008 financial crisis

This paper employs the 2008 financial crisis as an empirical setting to examine how investment strategies of venture capitalists (VCs) vary in the presence of a liquidity supply shock, and what the performance implications of these strategies are for their portfolio startups. We show that while, on aggregate, funded startups receive no less financing during the financial crisis than in non-crisis times, VCs allocate relatively more resources to startups operating in the VCs’ core sectors. We show that this skew allocation follows from VCs choosing to double down on their core-sector investing, rather than by a changed mix of investors or startups during the financial crisis. These effects are strongest for early-stage startups, for which information problems are most severe. Furthermore, these results are driven by the investment strategies of more-experienced VCs. Building on these findings, we find superior ex post performance among crisis-funded portfolio startups operating in more-experienced VCs’ core sectors.