Preventing radicalisation to extreme positions in children and young people. What does the literature tell us and should educational psychology respond?

Over the last five years the radicalisation of children and young people to extreme ideologies is fast developing as a new and important safeguarding issue for Local Authorities. Despite many high profile cases, there has yet to be a response from the educational psychology profession. This article seeks to explore the possible role for educational psychologists (EPs) in this area. This article sets out the findings of a recent literature review in which the authors propose Reactive Approach Motivation theory as a possible way in which EPs might formulate their understanding and response to this issue. Insights derived from the review are then discussed in light of the EP role in this new domain. Particular attention is paid to the PREVENT Agenda and some of the ethical considerations facing EPs seeking to undertake work in this area.     

Reading in multilingual learners of Urdu (L1), English (L2) and Arabic (L3)

The present study examined the language and literacy skills and their relations to each other in multilingual children, who have a broad range of oral and written language proficiency in each language that they “know”. Reading and vocabulary skills were tested in 50 Canadian children (ages 6–10 years) who were Urdu–English speakers, learning Arabic. Reading skills were related to within-language oral proficiency and across languages with similar and different orthographies. The results suggest the need for hybrid models of language acquisition that combine language-general and language-specific components. The results also are discussed in terms of the need to consider the language and literacy skills of multilingual individuals in current theories of language and literacy acquisition.     

Development of “down the road”: An interactive toolkit about driving cessation for dementia caregivers

Concerns about safe driving practices in individuals with dementia often fall to caregivers, who are frequently faced with the difficult task of initiating the conversation about driving and driving cessation with their loved ones. This is a topic that can be a very emotional and sensitive for older adults. Several print-based resources are currently available to caregivers; however, emerging research suggests that disseminating information through applied theater, a genre of theater typically based on research that addresses a social issue, may be more effective in changing attitudes than these traditional print-based methods. Applied theater touches upon the emotional complexities involved in decision-making about driving, deepening a viewer’s experience with the content. This work used research obtained from focus groups and individual interviews with 17 (eight informal and nine formal) dementia caregivers as a foundation for the development of a toolkit called Down the Road, which consists of an applied theater production about driving safety called No Particular Place to Go (in DVD-format), an accompanying viewer guidebook, and supplemental information cards. The content of Down the Road centers around eight main themes identified by dementia caregivers, including (1) the importance of driving, (2) the assessment process, (3) information about refresher courses and driving schools, (4) risk factors and warning signs, (5) starting the conversation, (6) dealing with resistance, (7) the need for support, and (8) alternative transportation options. Down the Road incorporates the expressed needs of dementia caregivers to translate knowledge into an effective, research-based toolkit that can provide caregivers with an interactive resource for use individually or in facilitated groups.     

“The Enchanted Palace” at Kensington

Abstract Kensington Palace, London, has been home to kings and queens, dukes and princesses for 300 years. It was the focus for the tremendous public outpouring of grief following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. Recently, the historic building was transformed into “The Enchanted Palace at Kensington,” which sent visitors on a quest through the sumptuous rooms to find seven of the palace’s princesses. On their journey, visitors discovered fantastical, fairy‐tale‐like installations, some of them by the best British fashion designers, and inspired by Kensington Palace’s incredible history.     

Networks in Education: An Analysis of Selected Discourses

‘Network’ is a fashionable and current term in every field of contemporary society and education is no exception. In this paper, the concept of network (and other associated concepts, such as partnership and collaboration) is reviewed. Such revision regards selected theoretical contributions and is explored in terms of the use of the concepts in legal documents and in the discourses of aldermen and educational officers from Portuguese municipalities, offering a critical and multi-layered perspective. The analysis reveals the various layers of the network concept, often appearing vague and diffuse. It is a floating signifier disputed by different discourses and embodied by different meanings. This, in turn, brings major research problems linked to the use of the concept of network in education.     

The identification of special educational needs and the month of birth: differential effects of category of need and level of assessment

The processes around the identification of special educational needs (SEN) should mean that those pupils who need most help receive it. However, there are concerns that this process is not working and there is an over-identification of pupils with SEN. Previous international research has shown that summer-born children are more likely to be identified as having SEN. However, these studies tend to treat SEN as a homogenous group. In this paper, we explore the extent to which the month-of-birth effect can be seen in subgroups of SEN. A survey of 450 schools in England was undertaken to explore the levels of provision and categories of SEN for 15,640 pupils. This led to differential month-of-birth effects being noted in category of SEN, with moderate learning difficulties being most susceptible. We hypothesise that teachers may be labelling younger children within the year group on the basis of political aspirations of attainments to be reached by the end of the academic year. When more thorough, multiprofessional assessments are undertaken, the month-of-birth effect is no longer evident. This has clear implications for assessment; identification; allocation of scarce educational resources; for educational policy on monitoring school performance and initial teacher training.     

Brokering educational opportunity for homeless students and their families

This qualitative study in a Midwestern US city examines how school and community-based organizations support homeless students’ connections to education-related resources and relationships. Drawing from organizational brokerage theory, which delineates how individuals’ chances to thrive are shaped by the organizations in which they participate, the study finds that brokerage practice unfolds and is affected by variables at three specific levels. First, social workers, teachers, and principals at the individual school level arranged for registration, enrollment, and other immediate connections for students. Second, school district-level actors played key roles in orchestrating homeless students’ transportation and educators’ professional development across the city. Third, a range of neighborhood factors – including immigration and housing trends – affected the ways and extents to which organizations identified and supported homeless students. The study concludes by presenting several implications for research and practice.     

How achievement emotions impact students' decisions for online learning,and what precedes those emotions

This empirical study investigates students' learning choices for mathematics and statistics in a blended learning environment, composed of both online and face-to-face learning components. The students (N = 730) were university freshmen with a strong diversity in prior schooling and a wide range of proficiency in quantitative subjects. In this context, we investigated the impact that individual differences in achievement emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, boredom, hopelessness) had on students' learning choices, in terms of the intensity of using the online learning mode versus the face-to-face mode. Unlike the general level of learning activities, which is only minimally influenced by achievement emotions, these emotions appear to have a moderately strong effect on a student's preference for online learning. Following this, we explored the antecedents of achievement emotions. Through the use of path-modeling, we conclude that while goal setting behavior only marginally impacts achievement emotions, effort views—a crucial component of the social-cognitive model of implicit theories of intelligence—have a substantial impact on achievement emotions.     

Rethinking our mobility: supporting our patrons where they live

This article describes initiatives undertaken by one academic medical library to support patrons using handheld mobile devices. These initiatives included efforts to assist patrons with installation and use of mobile information resources, educate librarians regarding content and navigation of mobile apps and websites, and leverage tools to promote the library in a mobile environment.     

Development and validation of a low cost blood filtration element separating plasma from undiluted whole blood

Clinical point of care testing often needs plasma instead of whole blood. As centrifugation is labor intensive and not always accessible, filtration is a more appropriate separation technique. The complexity of whole blood is such that there is still no commercially available filtration system capable of separating small sample volumes (10-100 μl) at the point of care. The microfluidics research in blood filtration is very active but to date nobody has validated a low cost device that simultaneously filtrates small samples of whole blood and reproducibly recovers clinically relevant biomarkers, and all this in a limited amount of time with undiluted raw samples. In this paper, we show first that plasma filtration from undiluted whole blood is feasible and reproducible in a low-cost microfluidic device. This novel microfluidic blood filtration element (BFE) extracts 12 μl of plasma from 100 μl of whole blood in less than 10 min. Then, we demonstrate that our device is valid for clinical studies by measuring the adsorption of interleukins through our system. This adsorption is reproducible for interleukins IL6, IL8, and IL10 but not for TNFα. Hence, our BFE is valid for clinical diagnostics with simple calibration prior to performing any measurement.