Life Securitisation,the Event Object of Insurance and the Strategisation of Time

Understanding the matter of insurability as a problem of governing uncertainty has led to thinking ‘the event’ as the object of insurance. How the event is understood and conceptualized determines to a great extent the ways in which its related uncertainty will be rendered. This, in turn, will determine how such uncertainty will be managed. Although this idea has been widely explored with important nuances by various scholars, what has not been discussed in great detail is the problematic idea of temporality and the role time plays in helping constitute the event object of insurance. Such a problem is of great relevance for pushing forward the debate on the limits of insurability. The empirical cases used in this article, Swiss Re's Vita and Kortis, launched and developed during the last decade, relate to hedging the exposure of life and health insurance portfolios to events that would generate excess mortality and excess vitality. The schemes, as explored here, are not simply actuarial, although actuarial practice still figures prominently in their crafting. They involve the strategic articulation of varied forms of knowledge that enshrine particular understandings of time and produce the truth-base of insurable events.     

Inter-rater reliability assessment for the new-born screening quality assurance

IntroductionTo ensure the quality of the new-born screening (NBS), our laboratory reviewed the analytical procedure to detect subjective steps that may represent a risk to the patient. Two subjective activities were identified in the extra-analytical phases: the classification of dried blood spots (DBS) according to their quality and the assignment of haemoglobin patterns. To keep these activities under control, inter-rater studies were implemented. This study aimed to evaluate the inter-rater reliability and the effectiveness of the measures taken to improve the agreement between observers, to assure NBS results’ quality.Materials and methodsDried blood spots specimens were used for the inter-rater studies. Ten studies were performed to assess DBS quality classification, and four to assess the assignment of haemoglobin patterns. Krippendorff’s alpha test was used to estimate inter-rater reliability. Causes were investigated when alpha values were below 0.80.ResultsFor both activities, the reliability obtained in the first studies was inadequate. After investigation, we detected that the criterion to classify a DBS as scant was not consolidated, and also a lack of consensus on whether or not to report Bart’s haemoglobin depending on its percentage. Alpha estimates became higher once the training was reinforced and a consensus about the appropriate criteria to be applied was reached.ConclusionInter-rater reliability assessment helped us to ensure the quality of subjective activities that could add variability to NBS results. Furthermore, the evolution of the alpha value over time allowed us to verify the effectiveness of the measures adopted.     

Alienation in mathematics education: a problem considered from neo-Vygotskian approaches

In a recent article published in this journal, Williams (Educational Studies in Mathematics, 92, 59–72, 2016) offers a critique of neo-Vygotskian perspectives exemplified in recent work on the funds of knowledge and on cultural-historical activity theoretic perspectives. The critique has great value in that it asks interesting questions that often go unnoticed and fail to be discussed in mathematics education research—e.g., the question of alienation or the role of agency in Vygotsky’s notion of the zone of proximal development. Despite the great value of the questions raised, the critique fails because its idealist theoretical epistemological underpinning is at odds with Vygotsky’s thought and cultural-historical activity research in general. The critique falls short especially on the point of realizing the materialist dialectical method Vygotsky employed. The goal of this article is to address Williams’ critique by (a) revisiting the main argument of the critique, (b) articulating the departures of the critique from the materialist dialectical method, (c) conceptualizing development along the theoretical lines of the late (Spinozist-Marxian) Vygotsky, and (d) formulating a materialist dialectical approach to alienation. We conclude by summarizing three main problems of the critique.     

Reasons and mediators in the development and communication of personal digital stories

The expansion of access to devices, as well as the production and publication options in social networks requires a broader definition of the traditional notion of personal digital storytelling. To get a deeper understanding of these practices in the group of adolescents, the objective of this article is to analyze what are the reasons that direct the publications of personal stories and what kind of filters, agents and consequences are articulated in these stories. To do this, the most qualitative part of an investigation on teenagers’ internet publication guidelines is synthesized. Specifically, the results of a semi-structured interview with 12 adolescents between 12 and 20 years are shown. The answers show that the interviewees’ perspective on what a digital story is goes beyond the format and varies depending on the network where it is published and the type of content. Thus, the emphasis and motivation of the publication has shifted from the digital - which has been incorporated with something normal and not differential - towards the personal, focusing the publications on the daily life of young people. An extension and refinement of the public-private dichotomy has been identified, maintaining general privacy guidelines above the dissemination of publications. As for filters, publications are preceded by the widespread use of image modification tools. Finally, the answers show the influence of personal agents, mostly friends and brothers, and technology agents, which determine the relationship between the type of story and the network where it is published.

     

Emergent curriculum in basic education for the new normality in Peru: orientations proposed from mathematics education

Educational Studies in Mathematics - The Peruvian basic education and its curriculum have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, certain trends and phenomena have emerged, which shape...     

Davydov’s concept of the concept and its dialectical materialist background

Educational Studies in Mathematics - The goal of this article is to investigate Davydov’s concept of the concept against the backdrop of its philosophical system, namely, dialectical...     

Scholar commentary

ABSTRACT

This commentary reflects upon the articles and purposes of this special issue, in the context of, growing numbers of students of color (SOCs) in K-12 schools who continue to be modally placed in classrooms with White teachers (e.g., Berry and Pour-Khorshid papers of this issue). Few institutional programs of Teacher Education seem able to effectually address this longstanding demographic challenge (e.g., Whitaker, et al. paper). Fewer still, impactfully retain SOCs for careers in K-12 settings (e.g., Morales paper). Nevertheless, second wave teacher identity studies are encouraging nuanced professional learning for White and other, K-12, candidates and teachers that encourages: critical consciousness about race and whiteness, metalogic talk about colorblindness, and closing the gap between rhetoric and genuinely antiracist actions in praxis with SOCs (e.g., Alvarez & Milner; Caldas; McManimon & Casey papers. Demonstrably, second-wave analyses are revealing much about evidentiary approaches for teacher education/learning that emphasize differential capacities for teaching SOCs. Nonetheless, further research is needed on strategies for addressing formidable challenges, such as those of defensiveness and White Fragility (e.g., Blaisedell paper). The papers of this special issue indicate that combining such research with ground-breaking approaches to race-visible education offers a promising path to the knowledge and praxis needed.