Collaborative learning processes in the context of a public health professional development program: a case study

The health promotion laboratory (HPL – Canada) is a public health professional development program building on a collaborative learning approach in order to support long-term practice change in local health services teams. This study aims to analyse the collaborative learning processes of two teams involved in the program during the first year of implementation. Based on a multiple case study design involving observations, interviews, and documentary sources, the study: (1) describes the learning process by which each team built a common understanding of the problem at hand and developed an intervention to address it; (2) identifies factors that facilitated or hindered these processes; and (3) proposes a cross-case explanation of the collaborative learning process in the HPL. The results demonstrate that the two teams learned by expanding their repertoire of actions, albeit experiencing different processes. Results point to the central role of shared mental models and key influencing factors, such as commitment and participation (team cohesion), team climate (psychological safety), and leadership style. Unlike previous studies on team learning that concentrated on existing teams in organisations, the current research studied purposely created teams working at transforming their practices and showed that they can successfully learn if specific conditions are achieved.     

III. ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN INSTITUTIONAL CARE: CHARACTERISTICS AND CATCH UP

Attachment has been assessed in the extreme environment of orphanages, but an important issue to be addressed in this chapter is whether in addition to standard assessment procedures, such as the Strange Situation, the lack of a specific attachment in some institutionalized children should be taken into account given the limits to the development of stable relationships in institutionalized care. In addition, this chapter discusses disinhibited or indiscriminately friendly behavior that is often seen in institutionalized children. Enhanced caregiving quality alone appears to be insufficient to diminish indiscriminate behavior, at least in some children, as evidenced by the persistence of indiscriminate behavior in children adopted out of institutions into adoptive families. We suggest that the etiology and function of indiscriminate, “friendly” behavior may be different for institutionalized versus not‐institutionalized children. In the first case it may reflect a distortion or disruption of early attachment relationships; in the latter case it is likely to result from the lack of expected input in the form of contingent interactions with a stable caregiver in early life. We try to delineate infant and caregiver characteristics that are associated with secure attachment in institutional settings, given the inevitable fact that large numbers of infants worldwide are being raised, and will be raised, in contexts of institutional care. We conclude that much further study is needed of the development of children's attachments following adoption out of an institutional setting.     

The effect of immigrant concentration in schools on native and immigrant children's reading and math skills

Using a unique and very rich PISA dataset from Denmark, we show that the immigrant concentration in the school influences reading and math skills for both immigrant children and native children. Overall, children in schools with a high immigrant concentration score lower on reading and math test scores. The negative effects associated with attending a school with a high immigrant concentration are fairly robust across estimation methods. IV estimates, taking into consideration that parental sorting across neighborhoods might bias the OLS estimates, indicate that immigrant concentration in schools is still important in determining children's math test scores. The estimates are less precise regarding the effect of immigrant concentration on reading test scores. The immigrant concentration in the school has a stronger effect for native children than for immigrant children, but the differences are more pronounced for the math test.     

Balancing tensions in educational policy reforms: large-scale implementation of Assessment for Learning in Norway

This study investigates how different stakeholders in Norway experienced a government-initiated, large-scale policy implementation programme on Assessment for Learning (AfL). Data were collected through 58 interviews with stakeholders in charge of the policy; Ministers of Education and members of the Directorate of Education and Training in Norway, and the main actors such as municipality leaders, teachers, school leaders and students. Successful implementation of AfL processes was found in municipalities where there were dialogue and trust between the municipality level, school leaders, teachers and students and where the programme was adapted to the local context. Implementation was challenged when the policy was interpreted as a way of controlling the schools. Despite the successful implementation in some municipalities, the programme did not have any effect upon students’ learning outcome, as measured on national tests in reading and mathematics. The results are discussed in relation to how local assessment cultures with particular characteristics influence governing, accountability and trust.     

Gendered education in a gendered world: looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science

Young people in countries considered to be at the forefront of gender equity still tend to choose very traditional science subjects and careers. This is particularly the case in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects (STEM), which are largely male dominated. This article uses feminist critiques of science and science education to explore the underlying gendered assumptions of a research project aiming to contribute to improving recruitment, retention and gender equity patterns in STEM educations and careers. Much research has been carried out to understand this gender gap phenomenon as well as to suggest measures to reduce its occurrence. A significant portion of this research has focused on detecting the typical “female” and “male” interest in science and has consequently suggested that adjustments be made to science education to cater for these interests. This article argues that adjusting science subjects to match perceived typical girls’ and boys’ interests risks being ineffective, as it contributes to the imposition of stereotyped gender identity formation thereby also imposing the gender differences that these adjustments were intended to overcome. This article also argues that different ways of addressing gender issues in science education themselves reflects different notions of gender and science. Thus in order to reduce gender inequities in science these implicit notions of gender and science have to be made explicit. The article begins with an overview of the current situation regarding gender equity in some so- called gender equal countries. We then present three perspectives from feminist critiques of science on how gender can be seen to impact on science and science education. Thereafter we analyze recommendations from a contemporary research project to explore which of these perspectives is most prevalent.     

Short-term memory for haptic cues in monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

Short-term memory (STM) for haptic information was examined in a delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) task. Three rhesus monkeys were tested in DMTS with all possible combinations of different-size spheres and cubes as the sample and comparison stimuli. The results showed that the decrease in percentage correct as a function of the retention intervals was relatively independent of the size and shape of the sample and comparison stimuli. In general, at each retention interval, percentage correct was higher when the (1) comparison stimuli differed in both size and shape than when the comparison stimuli differed in only size or shape, (2) size differences between the comparison stimuli increased, and (3) samples were spheres rather than cubes. This pattern of results suggests that dimensions of the haptic stimuli influenced discrimination but had little effect on the animals’ STM. In Experiment 2, the same three monkeys responded to the sample and comparison stimuli with the same hand or responded to the sample with one hand and the comparison stimuli with the opposite hand. The decrease in percentage correct across retention intervals was comparable for all possible hand combinations. These results suggest that the loss of information from STM is comparable when the sample and comparison stimuli are both felt with the same hand or with opposite hands.     

Fitness,Fun and Friends through Participation in Preferred Physical Activities: Achievable for Children with Disabilities?

This study investigates the preferences for actual participation in and enjoyment of physical out-of-school activities in children with physical disabilities, including what particular activities they are actually participating in, how often, with whom, where, and how enjoyable they find these activities. The data are based on structured interviews with 149 children (67 girls (45%) and 82 boys (55%) from 6 to 17 years) who were attending three weeks of intensive rehabilitation at Beitostølen Healthsports Centre in Norway. The Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment and Preferences for Activities of Children scales were administered at the start of their rehabilitation stays. The study reveals a quite high level of participation in physical activity and a high degree of enjoyment in participating, but the children want to be even more active than they already are. They have clear preferences for activities, and these activities are to a large extent consistent with what they actually do during their leisure time. The children are most frequently active with family members, but they would prefer to be more active with peers. A prerequisite would therefore be to acquire better basic skills and competencies in a few chosen activities rather than having some experiences in a broad range of different activities. There are more similarities than differences between boys and girls and between age groups on the parameters investigated in this study.