Supporting ‘Best Research for Best Health’ with best information

Background: This article describes the potential role for National Health Service (NHS) libraries in supporting health research. The content is partly based on the proceedings of the ‘Best Information for Best Research for Best Health’ event at University of Leicester in November 2006. Objectives: With reference to the UK Department of Health's Research and Development (R&D) strategy, Best Research for Best Health and the Cooksey Review of public funding of health research, the article seeks to identify areas where NHS library and information staff can become involved in supporting the research process. Methods: The authors examined the challenges and opportunities that these reports offer and looked at two areas where library and information services (LIS) staff can potentially expand their services‐supporting researchers at every stage of the research process and transferring research into practice. Results: Staff in NHS libraries need to create an environment in which their role in the research process is recognized and valued. LIS staff can develop roles within the research process and thereby improve the robustness and validity of research outputs. Training and development of LIS staff is a key priority and can be taken forward despite the limitations of budgets and staffing levels. Conclusions: A proactive and assertive approach is needed to achieve a cultural shift within NHS library practice from supporting research from the outside, to being fully integrated within the research process.     

Novice teachers' encounter with national science education reform: Entanglements or intelligent interconnections?

This study centers on developing a structure and forum for novice teachers to explore science education reform documents and to link them to practice. To date, science education reform efforts have focused mainly on intended curricula (goals, standards, frameworks, etc.) and outcome-based measures (assessments). The implemented curriculum—the way teachers plan to teach—has received less attention. Moreover, the literature indicates that the gap between reform goals and practice can be attributed to the lack of attention to the implemented curriculum. In this project, 25 preservice and recently inducted science teachers analyzed the materials of Project 2061 or the National Research Council standards. A series of structured and interconnected activities allowed them to create summaries and an evaluation instrument, teachers' criteria, parallel to reform goals. Teams developed 10-day teaching units based on reform principles, then analyzed the products using the criteria they had developed. The study suggests some methods to help new teachers understand science education reform and create products that can be used for planning, teaching, and evaluation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34 : 3–17, 1997.     

BUILDING BRIDGES AND TEARING DOWN WALLS: CONSTRUCTING AN EARLY CHILDHOOD CAREER LADDER THROUGH UNIVERSITY‐HEAD START COLLABORATION

The purpose of this study was to explore child care teachers' perceptions of their initial preservice and in-service training experiences. Eighteen child care teachers working in six for-profit centers were interviewed. Based on the participants' responses, the findings are organized in two themes. First, because many of them entered the field without significant training and education, received little or no preservice training, and then participated in minimal amounts of in-service training, these teachers described their experience as being “thrown into the classroom.” Second, due to this lack of training, the teachers discussed the ways in which they were “figuring out how to do it” in terms of using their own natural abilities, learning by experience, and learning from other teachers by watching and asking questions. The findings of this study have implications for the field in terms of designing and structuring professional development opportunities for child care teachers to better meet their needs within particular contexts.     

Culturally responsive pedagogy: A New Zealand case study

Abstract

This paper examines the justification for a culturally responsive educational initiative to raise the educational underachievement of Māori students in New Zealand. The initiative is justified by claims that the recognition in the classroom of a student’s cultural identity will lead to the student’s educational achievement. Using an account of a small study of teachers and their beliefs regarding New Zealand’s culturally responsive educational policy Kia Eke Panuku, we argue that such a claim is not established and it is the development of an epistemic identity which is more likely to be the means for Māori to attain educational success.