Blue or Red? Why Do Categories Attract?

A group of Roma and non-Roma participants worked on the topic of ethnicity and its influence on individuals’ lives, using the Theatre of the Oppressed method. The group process was analyzed by means of ethnographic research and was perceived by the researchers as a process of formulating the research question. Interaction between the audience and the actors was recorded and analyzed using qualitative methods and was perceived as answering this research question. The article presents a debate about the influence of ethnicity on individuals’ lives and how the difficulties it causes in society can be overcome.     

Are abusive fractures in young children becoming less common? Changes over 24 years

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the proportion of fractures rated as abusive in children <36 months of age evaluated at a regional pediatric hospital increased over a 24-year period from 1979 to 2002. Fractures were chosen as an example of serious injuries in young children. METHODS: Medical records were abstracted for all children <36 months of age who were seen at a single pediatric hospital with a fracture during three time periods: 1979-1983, 1991-1994, and 1999-2002. After reviewing the abstracted and radiographic information, two clinicians (one an expert on child abuse) and two pediatric radiologists each rated the likelihood of abuse using explicit criteria and a seven-point scale from definite abuse to definite unintentional injury. Ratings were done independently; when disagreements occurred, the case was discussed, and a joint rating was agreed upon, if possible. The proportions of cases rated as abuse were compared over the three time periods, and logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR). RESULTS: In the early, middle, and late samples, there were 200, 240, and 232 children, respectively, with fractures. The proportion of cases rated as abuse decreased from 22.5% in the early period to 10.0% in the middle period and was 10.8% in the late period (p<.001). When comparing the odds of abuse in the middle and late groups to the odds of abuse in the early group (controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, type of medical insurance, and site of pediatric care), the adjusted ORs were .31 (95% CI=.15, .62) for the middle group and .45 (95% CI=.23, .86) for the late group. Thus, the odds of a given case being rated as abuse decreased by over 50% from the early period to the middle and late time periods. No statistically significant difference was found when comparing the odds of abuse for the middle group to those of the late group, OR: 1.46 (95% CI=.69, 3.08). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of abusive fractures in young children decreased substantially from 1979-1983 to 1991-1994 and 1999-2002 at a major pediatric hospital. We speculate that this decrease may reflect early recognition of less serious forms of maltreatment and the availability of services to high-risk families.     

Preparing teacher leaders: Perceptions of the impact of a cohort-based, job embedded, blended teacher leadership program

This qualitative study was designed to examine teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of the impact of a graduate program designed to prepare teacher leaders. Impact was investigated through interviews with 20 graduates and 6 principals. Using Mezirow’s concept of transformational learning, the study documents perceived transformation of teachers’ frames of reference: two related to teaching (adopt an inquiry stance; learn to view oneself as an autonomous professional), and two related to leadership (adopt a leadership stance; view student learning as a communal responsibility). The study includes implications for the design of graduate level teacher education programs to enhance their impact and effectiveness.     

Rethinking resources and hybridity

This review explores Alfred Schademan??s ??What does playing cards have to do with science? A resource-rich view of African American young men?? by examining how he uses two key concepts??hybridity and resources??to propose an approach to science education that counters enduring deficit notions associated with this population. Our response to Schademan??s work expands upon his definition of hybridity and its purpose in the science classroom and highlights the tensions inherent in the appropriation of student resources in classroom spaces. This conversation points also to the need for research analyses and pedagogical approaches that simultaneously valorize student resources, allow student opportunities to learn the dominant codes, and provide teacher and student opportunities to transform them. Carol Lee??s notion of ??cultural modeling?? is discussed as a possible framing device to facilitate this kind of research.     

A Surgical View of Anatomy: Perspectives from Students and Instructors

As curricular emphasis on anatomy in undergraduate medical education continues to evolve, new approaches to anatomical education are urgently needed to prepare medical students for residency. A surgical anatomy class was designed for third- and fourth-year medical students to explore important anatomical relationships by performing realistic surgical procedures on anatomical donors. Under the guidance of both surgeons and anatomists, students in this month-long elective course explored key anatomical relationships through performing surgical approaches, with the secondary benefit of practicing basic surgical techniques. Procedures, such as left nephrectomy, first rib resection for thoracic outlet syndrome, and carotid endarterectomy, were adapted from those used clinically by multiple surgical subspecialties. This viewpoint commentary highlights perspectives from students and instructors that suggest the value of a surgical approach to anatomical education for medical students preparing for procedure-oriented residencies, with the goals of: (1) describing the elective at the authors' institution, (2) promoting similar efforts across different institutions, and (3) encouraging future qualitative and quantitative studies of similar pedagogic efforts.     

Exploring novice and experienced elementary teachers' science teaching and learning referents through videocases

In recent years, science educators have become increasingly interested in the use of classroom cases as instructional material, vehicles for inservice education and as raw data for research on teacher cognition (e.g., Abell et al., 1996; Colburn & Tillotson, 1998; Fetters, 1997). Although wide-spread interest in classroom videocases is a relatively new phenomena, case-based instruction has been a tradition in fields such as law, medicine and business for many years (Christensen, 1987; Neufeld & Chong, 1984). In teacher education, classroom cases have been used for more than 50 years. An early text by Waples (1927),Problems in Classroom Method, consisted of 40 cases highlighting classroom problems with solutions proposed by inservice teachers. As the use of classroom cases in teacher education have evolved over the past 50 years, a variety of formats have emerged to illustrate problems or dilemmas in teaching and learning. These formats have included the critical incident, protocols, vignettes, simulations, and more recently, videocases.     

Meeting the Challenge of Professional Development: Design and Evaluation of a Telecommunications Mediated Course in Science,Mathematics, and Technology Education

Journal of Science Teacher Education -