Recipients, agents, or partners?: The contradictions of teacher participation in Mexican secondary education reform

The countries of Latin America have been no exception to global calls for educational transformation and teacher professionalization at the secondary level. One of the newest of these reforms is Mexico’s Reforma de la Educación Secundaria (RS) (Reform of Secondary Education), launched in 2006. This article examines portrayals by various actors of the nature and extent of the participation of both teachers and the teachers’ union in the different phases of the RS, beginning with the initial formulation of the reform through the implementation and the “follow-up.” Findings indicate that in spite of efforts to provide more transparency and opportunities for teacher participation, for the most part secondary teachers in Mexico neither felt like agents nor partners in the RS, nor did they function as such in the reform process. As in previous reform efforts, teachers mostly felt that they were recipients of plans formulated by government officials, and as a result many have evidenced neither complete compliance nor full commitment to the reform. The national teachers’ union, meanwhile, claims to represent teachers’ voices and thus a form of teacher participation, but this claim is denied in the findings. The discussion and conclusions emphasize the multiple significations of teacher “participation” and the need to overcome system-wide contradictions, while drawing on theory about the conditioned state, bureaucracy, and democratizing civil society to help situate and explain the findings.     

The Evolution of Business Models and Marketing Strategies in the Music Industry

This article provides a strategic analysis using a services marketing framework of 3 business models in the music industry: the traditional music industry; renegade peer-to-peer music file trading; and new, legitimate online downloading services. Key recommendations are made on how new, legitimate services can succeed using convergent marketing strategies. Finally, a conclusion is provided addressing the future of the music industry and other media-related industries.     

Thriving at the Intersection: Integrating Social Determinants of Health and Sexual Health Education to Achieve Positive Outcomes for Youth

Abstract

Social determinants of health are the key to understanding and addressing persistent disparities in adolescent pregnancy in the United States. However, there is little guidance on what concrete steps organizations can take to work at the intersection of social determinants of health (SDoH) and sexual and reproductive health (SH). Two community-based organizations completed a case study using a structured interview guide to illustrate their transition working at this intersection. The Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy and Identity, Inc. arrived at the intersection of SDoH and SH from opposite ends of the road. Despite clear differences in their trajectory, their experiences share four key elements that marked their success in expanding their core work: (a) both organizations enjoyed ample community and political support, (b) they used data to drive strategic decisions, (c) they used funding opportunities to move toward the intersection of sexual health and social determinants, and (d) they leveraged existing programs to sustain their efforts. Organizations working at the intersection must continuously leverage community, political, and financial capital to pursue partners, expand services, and change policies that sustain a holistic approach to youth health and well-being.     

Ting,tang, tong: Emergent bilingual students investigating and constructing evidence-based explanations about sound production

There is a significant amount of research literature on the importance of identifying and building on students' experiences and ideas for making sense of the natural world, especially when engaging in science practices. Simultaneously, approaches to creating justice-oriented science education promote the need to focus on the diverse sense-making repertoires that students, especially those from historically marginalized communities, bring to science classrooms. However, when it comes to emergent bi/multilingual students, science education has favored narrow definitions of what ways of communicating are seen as productive for figuring out natural phenomena, privileging English-based academic vocabulary. In this article, we investigate the myriad conceptual and semiotic resources that third-grade emergent bilingual students developed and used when explaining sound production. Additionally, we explore how students investigated the sounds produced by a string instrument and unpacked the how and whys that give rise to the pitch of the sounds they heard. Our analyses indicate that: (1) students created mechanistic explanations that identified how changes to the salient physical features of strings affected the pitch of the sounds; (2) students created and laminated multiple semiotic resources when sharing their observations and explanations, particularly sound symbolisms; and (3) students navigated both semiotic convergence and divergence as they worked toward conceptual convergence. Based on our findings, we argue that justice-oriented science learning environments must become spaces where emergent bilingual students can build on all their conceptual, semiotic, and cultural resources, without being policed, as they engage science practices.     

History of abuse and neglect in patients with schizophrenia who have a history of violence

Objective

To determine the prevalence of five forms of abuse/neglect during childhood and adolescence in a group of schizophrenic patients with a history of violence.

Methods

Twenty-eight patients hospitalized in a highly secured psychiatric unit were included. Abuse and neglect during patients’ growth were evaluated with the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ). History of substance abuse (consumption of cannabis, and/or alcohol, and/or heroin, and/or cocaine during the year that preceded the hospitalization), incarceration, and death of a close parent were also collected.

Results

We found that 46.4% of patients experienced at least 1 form of abuse and/or neglect during childhood and 21.4% of them had experienced more than 2 forms of abuse and/or neglect. The 2 most frequent forms of neglect and abuse were physical abuse (39.3%) and emotional neglect (17.9%). History of substance abuse was found for cannabis (57.1%), alcohol (57.1%), and cocaine and/or heroin (35.7%). We found that 42.8% of patients had 1 close relative who had died during their growth and that 41.6% of these deaths were violent.

Conclusion

It appears important to systematically search for and assess a history of abuse and neglect during growth in schizophrenic patients with a history of violence, in order to offer specific treatments for this group of patients.     

The construction of academic time: sub/contracting academic labour in research

In 2009, the South African Department of Education extended tuition fee abolition to schools serving the poorest 60% of students, increased from 40% in 2007. This policy intends to increase access to and longevity in school for the poorest households by removing fees as a barrier and replacing private revenue with increased state funds. Despite this progressive expansion of fee-free schooling, the reported frequency of non-attendance attributable to school fees increased from 2008 to 2009, particularly among poor females and primary-aged children. This paper attempts to explain this phenomenon by presenting three constraints that hamper the potential benefits of fee abolition: (1) the rationalization of educational expenditures; (2) perverse incentives for schools to exclude non-paying children; and (3) the poor targeting mechanisms of fee abolition and government spending. As a result, we find significant lags in the implementation of fee elimination and that many poor households are still required to pay user fees. Several finance policy options are recommended for the South African schooling system. Data originate from South Africa’s National Treasury and General Household Survey.     

Pupils' Perceptions of the Efficacy of Target Setting and How it can be Made More Effective

This article explores some of the substantive issues that arose from a qualitative research study into individual pupil target setting in a secondary school. A multiple case study approach was employed in order to reveal the experiences and perceptions of some 'middle ability' Key Stage 3 pupils. The benefits of the process of setting highly individualized targets are discussed from the pupils' perspective. Therelationship between target setting and Academic Tutoring is examined and the potential for pastoral staff to use target setting as part of a learning discourse is highlighted.