Txt msg n school literacy: does texting and knowledge of text abbreviations adversely affect children's literacy attainment?

This paper reports on two studies which investigated the relationship between children's texting behaviour, their knowledge of text abbreviations and their school attainment in written language skills. In Study One, 11–12‐year‐old children provided information on their texting behaviour. They were also asked to translate a standard English sentence into a text message and vice versa. The children's standardised verbal and non‐verbal reasoning scores were also obtained. Children who used their mobiles to send three or more text messages a day had significantly lower scores than children who sent none. However, the children who, when asked to write a text message, showed greater use of text abbreviations (‘textisms’) tended to have better performance on a measure of verbal reasoning ability, which is highly associated with Key Stage 2 (KS2) and 3 English scores. In Study Two, children's performance on writing measures was examined more specifically. Ten to eleven‐year‐old children were asked to complete another English to text message translation exercise. Spelling proficiency was also assessed, and KS2 Writing scores were obtained. Positive correlations between spelling ability and performance on the translation exercise were found, and group‐based comparisons based on the children's writing scores also showed that good writing attainment was associated with greater use of textisms, although the direction of this association is nor clear. Overall, these findings suggest that children's knowledge of textisms is not associated with poor written language outcomes for children in this age range.     

Building Relationships through Communities of Practice: Museums and Indigenous People

Abstract This paper explores the theory of “communities of practice” and how the ideas contained in it could be applied to museums, by demonstrating how a key stakeholder group, Indigenous people, have been involved with and engaged in the work of the Australian Museum, Sydney, over the past 30 years. It is suggested that the processes museums have developed in building relationships with Indigenous people, particularly at the practitioner level, could form a template for how museums make themselves relevant to broader communities through active engagement with multiple communities of practice.     

Education for transformation: an evaluative framework to guide student voice work in schools

In the context of neoliberal and neoconservative educational reforms, student voice work is faced with a number of potential difficulties in creating the conditions, skills and dispositions necessary for student empowerment. One of the key challenges is evaluating whether student voice initiatives are effective, relevant and transformative. Through a systematic literature review of contemporary student voice literature from the past 10 years, the article proposes an evaluative framework to measure the extent to which student voice contributes to socially transformative educational practices in primary and secondary schools This framework suggests that transformative voice work should be dialogic, intergenerational, collective and inclusive, and transgressive. It argues that the interaction of these four themes forms a set of principles or building blocks which collectively underpin transformative student voice work. The purpose of such an evaluative framework is not to provide a normative benchmarking tool, but rather, to serve as a reflective dialogical tool that could guide teachers and students towards genuine transformation of institutional structures and individual practices as well as informing policy makers, practitioners and researchers.     

Quantum pharmacology

Quantum chemistry is based on the solution of the Schrödinger equation for a molecule. From starting data on the positions and nature of constituent atoms information is provided about the energy of the molecule and its electronic properties. The former can indicate what shapes drugs can adopt in binding to pharmacological receptors whilst electronic details, when compared using computer graphics, may highlight the factors responsible for biological activity. These techniques are beginning to show real successes in the design of drug molecules.     

Social anxiety in learning: stages of change in a sample of UK undergraduates

Social anxiety in learning is prevalent amongst traditional-age students and has a marked effect on their engagement with higher education. It receives little attention from academic or support services and there is a presumption that students will manage their anxieties. Yet it is unclear what psychosocial resources they might bring to this task and how these may develop through the undergraduate years. This study sought to identify possible change processes in student social anxiety by analysing qualitative responses obtained from Level 2 undergraduate students (n=39) in relation to their experience of learning situations such as lectures, seminars and group presentations. Thematic analysis suggested a four-stage developmental progression for students in terms of their experience and orientation to coping with social anxiety. Implications for staff development and student support are outlined.     

Pre-figurative practice and the educational leadership of Sir Alec Clegg in the West Riding of Yorkshire,England (1945–1974)

ABSTRACT

This article recalls a time when local government infrastructure was strong and a Chief Education Officer's (CEO) vision could be realised across a region, in Clegg's case the West Riding of Yorkshire, one of the largest of the pre-1974 counties in England. It is timely to revisit Clegg's educational leadership and practice from 1945 to 1974, as a valuable source of learning, and challenge to the current ideologically-informed policy rhetoric which has undermined the framework of democratic educational decision-making. The authors identify four possible areas to learn from Clegg's work. Firstly, the need for CEOs or their modern-day equivalents or successors, to consider their potential as political and community leaders; secondly, Clegg's leadership style prefigures some of the recent discussion about the leadership of public services in uncertain times; thirdly a re-evaluation of administration and bureaucracy; and lastly the need for supportive partnerships to enable schools to thrive.     

Equipping Leaders to Capitalise on the Outcomes of Quality Assessment in Higher Education

Has the quality movement in universities become so sophisticated that it has outpaced the capacity of academic leaders to respond? The authors of this paper argue that this has been their experience within the context of New Zealand universities. In response, the University of Otago has developed an innovative programme to provide academic and administrative leaders with an opportunity to enhance those skills and attributes needed to meet the challenges of change arising from audit and other reforms.