Transnational Mothers and School Related Decisions

The Urban Review - This article addresses the question of how transnational Mexican mothers negotiate and participate in the educational trajectories of children in the United States and in Mexico....     

Science at the Center: An Emergent, Standards-Based, Child-Centered Framework for Early Learners

This article will describe an approach to planning and assessment that is designed to support an emergent, play-based curriculum while helping teachers make informed instructional decisions. Using assessment that supports curriculum allows early childhood professionals to infuse early learning content standards into meaningful, relevant and connected topics of study. Through a combined effort among teachers, administrators and university faculty, one demonstration school developed a method of integrating and evaluating content standards and developmental skills into an emergent curriculum model. While this remains a work in progress, it does show promise for being an effective way to address state standards while maintaining recommended developmentally appropriate practices.     

A qualitative study of student responses to body painting

One hundred and thirty‐three preclinical medical students participated in 24 focus groups over the period 2007–2009 at Durham University. Focus groups were conducted to ascertain whether or not medical students found body painting anatomical structures to be an educationally beneficial learning activity. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Five principal themes emerged: (1) body painting as a fun learning activity, (2) body painting promoting retention of knowledge, (3) factors contributing to the memorability of body painting, (4) removal from comfort zone, and (5) the impact of body painting on students' future clinical practice. Students perceive body painting to be a fun learning activity, which aids their retention of the anatomical knowledge acquired during the session. Sensory factors, such as visual stimuli, especially color, and the tactile nature of the activity, promote recall. Students' preference for painting a peer or being painted is often dependent upon their learning style, but there are educational benefits for both roles. The moderate amounts of undressing involved encouraging students to consider issues surrounding body image; this informs their attitudes towards future patients. Body painting is a useful adjunct to traditional anatomy and clinical skills teaching. The fun element involved in the delivery of this teaching defuses the often formal academic context, which in turn promotes a positive learning environment. Anat Sci Educ 3:33–38, 2010. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

The Future of English

This article begins with a brief résumé of three selected texts which have, in different ways, been influential in setting the agenda for thinking about the long‐term future of English. Discussions held at the 1999 NATE conference in a ‘Future of English’ commission were a response to a challenge by Gunther Kress (1995) to try to say what English is for. The working definitions which were achieved are used as a basis for beginning to consider, rather more briefly and tentatively, how the content of English should be defined, what progression would look like in the proposed curriculum, how it should be assessed and what the implications would be for teachers. Finally, the article puts forward some suggestions for a strategy which would aim to ensure that the challenge for a radical review of the English curriculum is addressed in time for 2005.     

Negotiating contradictions: educación among Dominican transnational mothers in New York City

This paper examines how a transnational orientation shapes Dominican mothers’ contradictory attitudes towards education in New York City. Through this ethnographic study, which draws on 36 interviews, community walkabouts, and participant observations in community-led adult education classes, we show how Dominican mothers struggle with conflicting values; on the one hand, they embrace the idea of schooling for individual advancement, integration in the US, and critical thinking, while on the other hand, they regret the diminution of a collective, family orientation and respect for parents. Overall, this study shows that contradictions are not a sign of confusion or denial, but rather a struggle to transform cultural practices that satisfy multiple worlds. A deeper understanding of these contradictions could help educators and educational institutions consider how these transnational tensions motivate parent engagement and their hopes for their children’s education.     

To Whom It May Concern: Epistolary political philosophies and the production of racial counterpublic knowledge in the United States

This article explores the philosophical underpinnings and implications of the idea of the public in the US state processes of knowledge production and control. In it we take up questions of public and counterpublic political philosophical knowledge production and mediation in relation to an expanding state. Specifically, we examine the political philosophies of racialized counterpublics since the 1960s, considering the particular knowledge production genre of the political prison letter. We suggest that the philosophical principles of the dominant public in the US have a proclivity to merge with state mechanisms of domination and to thwart counterpublics and their modes of political knowledge production.