Affect: a tool to support pedagogical change

In the early childhood education field, the way children are conceptualised has substantially shifted in recent times. Child development theory has been unsettled as the single canon of early childhood practice. This has in turn challenged constructions of educators as keepers of a universal knowledge base, and as apolitical, non-interventionist facilitators of the natural unfolding development of individuals. While reconceptualising the early childhood knowledge base has oriented theorists and activists towards equity, unsettling educator subjectivities requires careful consideration in a feminised profession such as early childhood education. There is a need for greater discussion about how educators experience the uncertainties that accompany profound changes in teaching practice and identities and how educators can harness these uncertainties in ways that strengthen the profession. In this paper, I offer excerpts from teacher research that show how theories of affect support practitioners to engage productively the reflexivity needed to reconceptualise their roles as educators. I use affect theory to consider how the intra- and inter-personal dimensions of critically reflective practice can bolster the democratic and collectivist orientations in the teaching profession.     

Collaborative practitioner research: opening a third space for local knowledge production

Early childhood education and care is currently experiencing unprecedented policy interest and expansion. This policy and practice landscape requires new forms of adaptive leadership, new spaces for production of the knowledge necessary for this changing context, and tools that can support the development of leadership qualities. This paper examines the potential of practitioner research to produce contextually relevant knowledge and to develop leadership capacity. Our findings show that collaborative practitioner research groups provide a relatively safe environment for the sharing of dilemmas and critical reflections. The practitioners who participated in this research wanted access to narratives of change in typically resourced early childhood contexts as well as in the more highly resourced settings that are more often reflected in academic research and literature. This suggests there is a need for much more of this work to be publicly available. These groups can generate the courage required to open practice based research to public critique. This, we argue is an important element of activist leadership. Collaborative practitioner research opens up the possibility for practitioners to position themselves as knowledge producers and to revitalize the knowledge base that informs teacher education in the academy. In supporting this move, academics need to position themselves as resource gathers and co-learners thus opening a third space for knowledge production. The challenges for the profession are how to fund and effectively disseminate collaborative practitioner research and how to draw it into dialogue with other forms of research.     

An insulator-based dielectrophoretic microdevice for the simultaneous filtration and focusing of biological cells

Manipulating and discriminating biological cells of interest using microfluidic and micro total analysis system (μTAS) devices have potential applications in clinical diagnosis and medicine. Cellular focusing in microfluidic devices is a prerequisite for medical applications, such as cell sorting, cell counting, or flow cytometry. In the present study, an insulator-based dielectrophoretic microdevice is designed for the simultaneous filtration and focusing of biological cells. The cells are introduced into the microchannel and hydrodynamically pre-confined by funnel-shaped insulating structures close to the inlet. There are ten sets of X-patterned insulating structures in the microfluidic channel. The main function of the first five sets of insulating structures is to guide the cells by negative dielectrophoretic responses (viable HeLa cells) into the center region of the microchannel. The positive dielectrophoretic cells (dead HeLa cells) are attracted to regions with a high electric-field gradient generated at the edges of the insulating structures. The remaining five sets of insulating structures are mainly used to focus negative dielectrophoretic cells that have escaped from the upstream region. Experiments employing a mixture of dead and viable HeLa cells are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design. The results indicate that the performance of both filtration and focusing improves with the increasing strength of the applied electric field and a decreasing inlet sample flow rate, which agrees with the trend predicted by the numerical simulations. The filtration efficiency, which is quantitatively investigated, is up to 88% at an applied voltage of 50 V peak-to-peak (1 kHz) and a sample flow rate of 0.5 μl/min. The proposed device can focus viable cells into a single file using a voltage of 35 V peak-to-peak (1 kHz) at a sample flow rate of 1.0 μl/min.     

Librarians' experiences of the teaching role: Grounded in campus relationships

Analyses of information literacy instruction practices have neglected, until now, in-depth exploration of librarians' experiences in their teaching roles. That gap was addressed by this study, which explored Canadian academic librarians' self-perceptions as teachers. Semistructured interviews with 48 participants revealed that they experience complex relationships with teaching faculty. Data are analyzed using symbolic interactionism, Erving Goffman's concepts of deference and ceremonial rules, and work on gifting and reciprocity. The relationships are discussed as unequal in terms of power, where power is ceded to the teaching faculty. Study participants discuss this unequal balance of power by referring to their own self-positioning and the institutional culture of their workplaces. These results suggest areas of challenge to full realization of instructional goals, which merit attention by managers and by those charged with preparing librarians for instructional work.     

Faculty and student engagement in the Argentine grassroots rebellion: toward a democratic and emancipatory vision of the university

Following Argentina’s economic collapse of December 2001, the authors examine the engagement of university faculty and students in various grassroots movements. Based on a qualitative study involving 24 formal structured interviews, 18 informal interviews, observation-based field work, and document analysis, the authors identify key forms of faculty and student engagement as well as the manner in which individuals discussed the relationship between universities and society. Findings are used to advance the idea of a more democratic and emancipatory vision of the contemporary university and build on the work of Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Throughout the article, the authors ground their discussion in international/comparative literature addressing globalization, neoliberalism, university reform, and social movements.

LGBTQ parents’ experiences of community youth sport: Change your forms,change your (hetero) norms

This interpretive study sought to critically examine lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) parents’ experiences of community organized youth sport. Using a constant comparative method of data analysis, the authors examined perspectives of participants from Australia, Canada, and the United States. Three emergent themes best reflected the parents’ experiences: (a) anticipating sexual stigma and finding accepting communities; (b) confronting assumptions of heterosexuality; and (c) educating but not flag waving. Emphasis is placed on the parents intersecting social identities and notions of privilege (e.g., socio-economic resources and the ability to live in socially progressive areas), and how it altered their experiences within the community youth sport context. The findings call attention to the responsibility of youth sport organisations to create a climate of social change through inclusive language, behaviours, and program design.     

An investigation of attitudes of students and teachers about participating in a context‐aware ubiquitous learning activity

In recent years, digital learning has been converting from e‐learning to m‐learning because of the significant growth of wireless and mobile computing technologies. Students can learn any time and any where with mobile devices. Consequently, context‐aware ubiquitous learning (u‐learning) is emerging as a new research area. It integrates wireless, mobile and context awareness technologies in order to detect the situation of the learners and provide more seamless adaptive support in the learning process. In this paper, a context‐aware u‐learning environment is developed for learning about campus vegetation in elementary schools based on an innovative approach by employing repertory grid method in designing learning content. In addition, we probe the feasibility of context‐aware u‐learning in courses by soliciting feedback from the students and teachers through interviews and questionnaires. The findings reveal that the environment is capable of enhancing students’ motivation and learning effectiveness. Moreover, it is also capable of reducing the teaching load while enabling better control of class order.     

Factors Influencing Interest in Research among Criminal Justice Students

This study explores factors influencing research interest (RI) among criminal justice students. The participants were 328 students at a mid‐western university. Results of a path analysis indicated that quantitative and computer skills and writing skills were significant predictors of RI. Statistics anxiety was a significant negative predictor of research design skills, practical research skills, and quantitative and computer skills. It also indirectly predicted RI via quantitative and computer skills. Statistics self‐efficacy was a significant predictor of research design skills, practical research skills, quantitative and computer skills, and writing skills, and also indirectly predicted RI via quantitative and computer skills as well as writing skills.     

An ontology of RPL: improving non-traditional learners' access to the recognition of prior learning through a philosophy of recognition

This article considers the underachievement of RPL in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system, in terms of its apparent failure to reach and achieve outcomes for marginalised groups. It notes a range of analyses that are currently used to address this concern and draws on doctoral research in progress to highlight ontological questions that are brought to the process by RPL candidates. Axel Honneth's theory of recognition is then introduced as a means to shed light on these issues. Viewing RPL through the lens of a philosophy of recognition and the concept of ontological security the article asks questions about the nature and effects of the assessor–candidate relationship, inviting consideration of this relationship as an intersubjective exchange within a wider, more fundamental ‘struggle for recognition’. It is argued that a more ontological perspective could provide a framework for increasing access to and successful completion of RPL by non-traditional learners.     

Pre-service primary teachers’ shame experiences during their schooling time: characteristics and effects on their subject-choices at university

Educational Studies in Mathematics - Emotions play an essential role in pre-service teachers’ competence development, particularly in mathematics. However, the emotion of shame in mathematics...