Leading multi‐ethnic schools: adjustments in concepts and practices for engaging with diversity 1

The student population across world is increasingly reflective of diverse cultures, religions and ethnicities. This rich diversity may become a challenge for educational leaders, teachers, and policy‐makers in the absence of an understanding of diverse sources of knowledge people draw on for directing their beliefs and daily practices. This paper explores the multi‐ethnic context in Britain with a focus on Muslim students in English secondary schools, and argues for drawing on diverse ethnic knowledge sources to inform and enrich approaches towards managing diversity. It discusses the concept of Adab derived from Muslim ethics and philosophy, and debates possible contributions of such conceptual adaptations towards improving educational engagement and performance.     

Problems of Illiteracy in a Literate Developing Society: Sri Lanka

With 87.0% of its population literate, Sri Lanka occupies a high ranking position among South and South-East Asian nations in educational development. The high percentage of literacy achieved through progressive measures in education spanning half a century, however, has led to a state of complacency and less priority being given to efforts at eradicating illiteracy. This paper will focus on a recent study conducted on the incidence of illiteracy in specific disadvantaged communities in the country which indicated that in the present era of technological advancement, lack of literacy will continue to affect the life-chances of people in these communities where the rate of literacy remains much lower than the national average. The study investigates into the factors associated with illiteracy, and the attitudes and perceptions of the communities themselves towards literacy programmes and regarding the modalities and strategies of providing literacy. The implications of the study and the final recommendations drawn up in consultation with the policy makers at national and provincial levels in governmental and non-governmental sectors are also discussed in the paper.     

How do Teachers View Their Teaching and the Use of Teaching Resources?

This paper looks briefly at teachers' views and opinions of their use of various teaching methods and teaching resources. The study was limited to a single secondary school where a questionnaire was given to a small sample of 15 teachers in four departments. What was found was that in the Ideal World (where everything that was needed was available), the reasons given for various teaching methods used were mainly pupil dominated, but when it came to the actual methods being used, the reasons were mainly personal constraints of the teacher or organizational constraints. This dichotomy widened from the humanities field to the sciences field. With respect to the resources used, it could be hypothesised that most teachers felt they were not prepared to use new types of resources especially if they entailed acquiring new technical skills, more preparation, and a change of roles played by the teacher.     

开展机构协作发展远程教育

[译者按]本文原文发表于"学习联邦"(Com-monwea]th of Learning)网站<知识系列>(Know]-edge Series)栏目(2003年).学习联邦是英联邦各成员国的政府首脑倡议成立的政府间组织,其宗旨是鼓励开发和共享开放学习和远程教育的知识、资源和技术.目前我国远程教育机构也正在开展各种形式的协作,既有电大之间的协作,也有电大与其他教育机构的协作,还有国际间的协作,但毕竟一切刚刚起步,许多地方有待于进一步完善.因此,我们认为这篇经验之谈的文章所提出的一些原则、建议、指南等对我们有一定指导意义和借鉴价值.现将其译成中文,以飨读者,并向印度甘地国立开放大学Sharma高级讲师和Chaudhary教授以及学习联邦组织致谢!     

Field Experiences in High-Need,Urban Settings: Analysis of Current Practice and Insights for Change

High-need urban districts face many challenges in their efforts to overcome the large gaps in achievement demonstrated by their students. This study focuses on a strategy to overcome these challenges by better preparing future teachers for service in urban schools through quality field experiences at these sites. Teacher educators and urban school teachers who host teacher candidates during field experiences completed a questionnaire regarding their views about placements in high-need urban districts. A thematic analysis of their responses summarizes their beliefs about the most and least beneficial forms of field experiences, the most prevalent challenges in establishing quality field experiences, and the most successful strategies that facilitate the development of quality field experiences. The discussion compares the views of teacher educators with practicing teachers and recommends strategies to enhance field experiences in high-need, urban schools.     

Assessment of Oxidative Stress Markers and Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness in Elderly Patients Without and with Coronary Artery Disease

We aimed to assess whether measuring carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and oxidative stress markers such as protein carbonyls, malondialdehyde, nitrate and glutathione in plasma of elderly patients without and with coronary artery disease (CAD) identifies early risk for CAD. A total of 50 cases with cardiovascular risk factors over the age of 60 years without CAD, and 50 patients with angiographically documented CAD over the age of 60 years were included in the study. Control group consists of 200 healthy individuals without the risk factors. Demographic details were obtained from all the subjects and CIMT measured by high frequency ultrasound and oxidative stress markers such protein carbonyls, malondialdehyde and total glutathione were determined in plasma by spectrophotometric methods. The distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in without CAD and CAD cases were smokers (16 vs 56 %), hypertension (26 vs 64 %), diabetes (16 vs 56 %) and dyslipidemia (18 vs 58 %) and positive family history (4 vs 38 %). None of the control group had any cardiovascular risk factors. Among the CAD cases, 16 % had single vessel disease, 44 % had double vessel disease and 40 % had triple vessel disease. The CIMT was significantly increased in CAD cases as compared to cases without CAD and healthy controls. On the other hand, CIMT was significantly increased in cases without CAD as compared to healthy controls. CIMT also increased with the duration of diabetes in patients without CAD and severity of disease in CAD cases. The levels of oxidants like plasma malondialdehyde, protein carbonyls, were significantly elevated and antioxidant glutathione levels and nitrate levels were significantly reduced in cases with and without CAD as compared to healthy controls. Oxidative stress markers and CIMT was found to be significantly increased in patients with cardiovascular risk factors like diabetes, family history of CAD, dyslipidemia, hypertension and smoking when compared to patients without risk factors. In patients with diabetes, CIMT increased as duration of disease increases and also in poorly controlled diabetes. In CAD group, when number of vessel involvement (severity of coronary disease) increases, the CIMT also increases confirming that CIMT is a quantifiable risk factor for CAD.     

Involvement of endothelial progenitor cells in the formation of plexiform lesions in broiler chickens: possible role of local immune/inflammatory response

Plexiform lesions (PLs), which are often accompanied by perivascular infiltrates of mononuclear cells, represent the hallmark lesions of pulmonary arteries in humans suffering from severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been recently implicated in the formation of PLs in human patients. PLs rarely develop in rodent animal models of PAH but can develop spontaneously in broiler chickens. The aim of the present study was to confirm the presence of EPCs in the PLs in broilers. The immune mechanisms involved in EPC dysfunction were also evaluated. Lungs were collected from commercial broilers at 1 to 4 weeks of age. The right/total ventricle ratios indicated normal pulmonary arterial pressures for all sampled birds. Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine the expressions of EPC markers (CD133 and VEGFR-2) and proangiogenic molecule hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in the lung samples. An EPC/lymphocyte co-culture system was used to investigate the functional changes of EPCs under the challenge of immune cells. PLs with different cellular composition were detected in the lungs of broilers regardless of age, and they were commonly surrounded by moderate to dense perivascular mononuclear cell infiltrates. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed the presence of CD133⁺ and VEGFR-2⁺ cells in PLs. These structures also exhibited a strong expression of HGF. Lymphocyte co-culture enhanced EPC apoptosis and completely blocked HGF-stimulated EPC survival and in vitro tube formation. Taken together, this work provides evidence for the involvement of EPCs in the development of PLs in broilers. It is suggested that the local immune cell infiltrate might serve as a contributor to EPC dysfunction by inducing EPC death and limiting their response to angiogenic stimuli. Broiler chickens may be valuable for investigating reversibility of plexogenic arteriopathy using genemodified inflammation-resistant EPCs.     

Leading Differentiated Learning for the Gifted

This study examined similarities and differences in the perceptions of principals and teachers about the use of differentiated strategies for gifted learners and studied principals’ perceptions about schoolwide differentiation. Comparisons of these perceptions have been undoc-umented to date. Participants included 867 teachers and 120 principals from government schools in Sydney, Australia. A mixed methods approach was used, including online questionnaires and case studies of principals. Results revealed significant differences between the perceptions of principals and teachers about differentiated practices. The case studies demonstrate that exemplary principals continually enhance their understanding of differentiated learning and build their teachers’ collective capacity for educating gifted learners. The findings indicate the need for stronger pedagogical congruence between principals and teachers in educating the gifted, ongoing professional education of principals and teachers in gifted education, and effective leadership actions for schoolwide differentiated learning.     

Making sense of double number lines in professional development: exploring teachers’ understandings of proportional relationships

This study presents a qualitative analysis of the knowledge teachers in one professional development course used to reason about proportional relationships with double number lines. We work from the knowledge-in-pieces perspective to consider the existing knowledge the participants did or did not invoke when learning to reason with this new-to-them representation. We analyzed videotaped sessions of a group of urban middle-grade teachers across five class meetings. Our findings include discussion of the two pieces of knowledge that emerged as important for reasoning about proportions with the representation and three knowledge pieces that deterred meaning making. Implications for professional development are discussed as are the implications for conceptualizing teachers’ understanding through a knowledge-in-pieces lens.