Designing a Bridging Discourse: Re-Mediation of a Mathematical Learning Disability

Students with disabilities present a unique instructional design challenge. These students often have qualitatively different ways of processing information, meaning that standard instructional approaches may not be effective. In this study I present a case study of a student with a mathematical learning disability for whom standard instruction on fractions had been ineffective. With regard to theory, I draw on Lev Vygotsky’s framing of disability and then use Anna Sfard’s conceptualization of mathematics as a discourse to design a fraction re-mediation that provided a bridge from the student’s discourse to the canonical mathematics discourse. This bridging discourse was used in 5 videotaped re-mediation sessions with the case study student. A fine-grained analysis of the re-mediation sessions traced the ways in which the student’s discourse shifted over time, which enabled her to solve problems she had previously been unable to solve. This study provides a proof of concept for reconceptualizing remediation and illustrates the potential utility of a bridging discourse to help students who have a history of failure gain access to the canonical mathematics discourse and content.     

KANT'S CONCEPTION OF RESPECT AND AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATION RIGHTS

Immanuel Kant envisioned a kind of respect in which one recognizes each human (1) as being not fully comprehensible by any human understanding, (2) as being an end in him‐ or herself, and (3) as being a potential source of moral law. In this essay, Gregory Lewis Bynum uses this conception of respect as a lens with which to examine African American education rights on three levels: the individual level (the level of individual persons' moral experience and moral significance), the community level (the level of the formation and sustaining of social groups that have value for humanity), and the global level (the level of a universal community of humanity). Bynum's goal in this examination is to strengthen our practical understanding of African Americans' right to education defined, in accordance with international human rights documents, as the right to an education that supports the full development of the human personality in a manner that respects students' “cultural identity, language, and values.”     

White working class achievement: an ethnographic study of barriers to learning in schools

This study aims to examine the key barriers to learning to raise achievement of White British pupils with low‐income backgrounds. The main findings suggest that the worryingly low‐achievement levels of many White working class pupils have been masked by the middle class success in the English school system and government statistics that fail to distinguish the White British ethnic group by social background. The empirical data confirm that one of the biggest groups of underachievers is the White British working class and their outcomes at each key stage are considerably below those achieved by all other ethnic groups. One of the main reasons for pupil underachievement, identified in the case study schools and focus groups, is parental low aspirations of their children’s education and social deprivation. It is also perpetuated by factors such as low‐literacy levels, feelings of marginalisation within the community exacerbated by housing allocation, a lack of community and school engagement, low levels of parental engagement and lack of targeted support to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage, a legacy of low aspiration that prevents pupils from fulfilling their potential across a range of areas. The study concludes that the main obstacle in raising achievement is the government’s failure to recognise that this group has particular needs that are not being met by the school system. The government needs to recognise that the underachievement of White British working class pupils is not only a problem facing educational services but profoundly a serious challenge. Policy implications and recommendations are discussed in the final section.     

Issues in the development of children’s centres on nursery and primary school sites

This paper explores the development of children’s centres in England between 2004 and 2008, focusing on the newly created centres that have been located on primary and nursery school sites. Using both an analysis of policy documents and interview data from three urban local authorities, we examine the use of premises and the differing priorities of centre staff and school heads, particularly in relation to the balance of services between early years education, childcare and family support. We also explore governance issues, focusing especially on patterns of accountability. In so doing, we also examine the tensions that exist between children’s centres located on primary and on nursery school sites and the schools themselves.     

传统制造业集群协同演进机制探析——天津自行车集群纵向案例研究

产业集群对区域乃至国家经济发展具有重要的作用,然而产业集群发展过程中的影响因素及其相互作用机制至今仍未得到系统的阐述.从协同演进理论视角,结合组织生态学、制度理论、战略管理理论和社会网络理论等,对天津自行车产业集群的发展历程展开多层次、时间序列的分析,以深入挖掘产业集群发展过程中各种要素的相互作用、协同演进机制,提出产业集群的发展是企业战略、产业环境以及制度环境协同演进的过程,同时集群发展过程中创业者的社会资本发挥重要作用.这种将多维理论视角相结合起来进行分析的方法,有利于更好地理解产业集群的演进机制.