English language teaching in public primary schools in Mexico: the practices and challenges of implementing a national language education program

Over the past 15?years, many state governments in Mexico have initiated local programs to introduce English at the primary school level. In 2009, the Mexican Ministry of Education formalized the Programa Nacional de Inglés en Educación Básica (PNIEB) as part of the national curriculum, based on the argument that increasing the number of English speakers in Mexico is necessary for the country to be globally competitive and to follow the trend in other developing economies of augmenting English instruction in public education. This paper focuses on the implementation of PNIEB and the state programs that preceded it. The authors document the practices and challenges associated with the program based on data collected from interviews with the main stakeholders involved (students and parents, teachers, school principals, and program coordinators) and from classroom observations. The total data-set consisted of over 200 interviews and classroom observations spread over several years from 2008 to 2012. Several challenges are described, including the development of materials, the role of English in relation to other subject areas, and the training of teachers who often speak English but have uneven formal preparation. The status of the teachers, both as second-class citizens within the schools and the instability and irregularities with their contracts, was identified as the most significant challenge to the successful implementation of the programs.     

哲学诠释学的实用性

对哲学无用的指控可以追溯到西方哲学的源头,然而哲学有着其自身的实用性。伽达默尔哲学诠释学的实用性主要体现在:可以为人文科学辩护;导致了宽容;批评了科学方法并指出其局限性;对技术的有限性进行批判;探讨了对话的前提和本质。     

Laboratory policies and practices for thyroid function tests in Croatia: survey on behalf of Working Group for Laboratory Endocrinology of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine

IntroductionLaboratory plays important part in screening, diagnosis, and management of thyroid disorders. The aim of this study was to estimate current laboratory preanalytical, analytical and postanalytical practices and policies in Croatia.Materials and methodsWorking Group for Laboratory Endocrinology of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine designed a questionnaire with 27 questions and statements regarding practices and protocols in measuring thyroid function tests. The survey was sent to 111 medical biochemistry laboratories participating in external quality assurance scheme for thyroid hormones organized by Croatian Centre for Quality Assessment in Laboratory Medicine. Data is presented as absolute numbers and proportions.ResultsFifty-three participants returned the questionnaire. Response rate varied depending on question, yielding a total survey response rate of 46-48%. All respondents perform thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). From all other thyroid tests, most performed is free thyroxine (37/53) and least TSH-stimulating immunoglobulin (1/53). Laboratories are using nine different immunoassay methods. One tenth of laboratories is verifying manufacturer’s declared limit of quantification for TSH and one third is verifying implemented reference intervals for all performed tests. Most of laboratories (91%) adopt the manufacturer’s reference interval for adult population. Reference intervals for TSH are reported with different percentiles (90, 95 or 99 percentiles).ConclusionThis survey showed current practices and policies in Croatian laboratories regarding thyroid testing. The results identified some critical spots and will serve as a foundation in creating national guidelines in order to harmonize laboratory procedures in thyroid testing in Croatia.