Developing Transformative Leaders to Support Everyday Antiracism Practices

Mr. Frank is the principal of Ridgeview School and is concerned with the increase of racially connected bullying in his school. This case illustrates the importance of transformative leadership in promoting antiracism practices. It focuses on transformative learning that supports a deep change of self. The activities are aimed at empowering educators to deconstruct self and “cultures of power” that affect marginalized students and prevent real antiracism practices. This supports transformative leadership theory: critical reflection of self and society to lead everyday antiracism practices in schools

Humorous instruction about the dangling introductory modifier in active, passive, and possessive sentences

The effect on upper-level university students of humorous versus serious instruction was studied by presenting students with sentences having introductory modifiers and asking them to edit incorrect or recognize incorrect and correct sentences. Sentences varied in the main clause, a third having active verbs, a third having passive verbs, and a third having the implied subject of the introductory modifier a possessive modifying the main clause\u27s subject. Uninstructed groups were controls. To determine the relationship between treatment effectiveness and student English background, units of Iowa State English and grade point in that English were examined. All groups were given a pretest during the term\u27s first week, instruction (if any) and a posttest the next day, and the posttest as a followup three months later. The editing instructed group was asked to rewrite 30 incorrent sentences; the recognition instructed group was given the same 30 incorrect sentences and 30 correct sentences to recognize as correct or incorrect. In both editing and recognition experiments, instructed groups were more effective, and type of sentence made a difference. The instructed groups best recognized correct sentences with active or passive main clauses and found the distracting possessive more difficult. Yet student edited passives best and worked equally well with actives and possessives. The recognition group was most effective with actives and passives if instructed and more effective with possessives if taught with serious rather than humorous examples. In the editing study, there was no effect of varied instruction on performance with differing types of sentences. Background variables, alone, had no effect in either experiment. In the editing study, those with many units of Iowa State English performed better than the low group with active sentences; unexpectedly, the low group performed better with possessives and best with passives. The low grade point editing group was more effective if taught with humor, whereas the high grade point group was more effective if taught with serious examples. The high grade point editing group was least effective with possessives if taught with humor, yet the low group was most effective with possessives if taught with humor

School Principals\u27 Understandings of Student Difference and Diversity and How it Influences Their Work

This article explores how Ontario principals make sense of difference within student populations and how this sensemaking influences how they do their work. The article reports on a qualitative study in Ontario, Canada that included 59 semistructured interviews with school principals from English Public, secular school districts in Southern Ontario. Four themes emerged in principals’ descriptions of student populations: (a) perceiving everyone as the same, or homogeneous; (b) perceiving visible differences associated with particular religions, race, and cultures; (c) perceiving invisible or less visible differences, such as academic differences, socioeconomic status, mental health issues, gender identity, and sexual orientation; and (d) perceiving both visible and less visible differences through an inclusive lens. When asked about how their understanding of difference influenced how they did their work, principals’ responses varied from not influencing their work at all to influencing practices and activities. Participants’ context—both personal and local—influenced some of the work they did in their role as school principal. Lastly, multiple sources of disconnect emerged between how principals understood difference and the practices that they engage in at their school site; between their sensemaking about difference and diversity and preparing students for 21st century competencies as global citizens; and between principals’ understanding of difference and diversity and existing provincial policy. Study insights contribute to an existing body of literature that examines principals’ sensemaking around difference, but also extend this line of inquiry to consider how this sensemaking influences their professional practice. These findings pose additional research questions about how to approach principal professional learning for inclusive and equitable education. For example, even though principals are contractually responsible for students in their care, why is it that their efforts toward equitable and inclusive schooling appear to be limited to the school site and not the wider community? Study findings can be used to inform principal preparation programs and professional learning opportunities. Namely, these programs should provide the skill development required as well as the time needed for principals to reflect on their local context and beliefs, and to consider how their local context and beliefs are connected to larger societal efforts to create a more inclusive and equitable society. Although other articles have examined how principals make sense of difference and diversity in student bodies, this article also explores how this sensemaking influences how school leaders do their work

Fixing the Plane While It’s in the Air: Managing a Principal’s Energy

In this case, Peter, an experienced principal in a new school board and school, is struggling to keep up with the day-to-day challenges at his school and to achieve work–life balance. Challenges include: (a) the small changes in a school can demand of his time; (b) daily unintended interruptions are draining his time and energy; (c) he feels overwhelmed, which causes feelings of hopelessness and despair; and (d) the demands of long daily work hours and are affecting his family life and his ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The case includes teaching notes and two activities—exploring the difference between time and energy management; completing an energy management audit and devising a plan and strategies to restore and replenish energy—that instructors can use in graduate level courses and professional development workshops

Turning Leadership Upside-Down and Outside-In During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has led many to question how education and schooling are supposed to continue in a world of uncertainty. This case follows the journey of Mariam, an Ontario elementary school principal, as she pivoted her leadership while transitioning between in-person and virtual schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case narrative describes the events that turned Mariam’s leadership upside-down and required her to adapt to meet the needs of the school community; in the process, however, she forgot about her own needs. Crisis leadership forced her to learn, unlearn, and relearn her beliefs about her leadership choices and purpose. The case includes teaching notes and two activities: (a) using a crisis leadership framework for reflecting on the learning, unlearning, and relearning of education, schooling, and the purpose of educational leadership during a pandemic, and (b) strategies to help leaders refocus from the outside in using self-care. Instructors can use this case in graduate-level leadership courses and for professional development

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The Regulation of Mitogen-Stimulated Phospholipase D Activity in Swiss 3T3 Fibroblasts

The work in this thesis aimed to characterise the regulation of phospholipase D (PLD) activity by receptor occupancy in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts. Bombesin-stimulated PLD activity had previously been found to be partially dependent on protein kinase C (PKC) suggesting that activation of PLD was to some extent down stream of the G-protein coupled receptor activated phosphatidylinositol 4,5, bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) hydrolysis (Cook et al., 1992). Using a permeabilised cell system to introduce non-hydrolysable analogues of guanine-nucleotides, bombesin-stimulated PLD activity was found to be indirectly regulated by a G-protein. The phosphorylation of proteins on tyrosine was determined using immunoblotting with a monoclonal anti-phosphotyrosine antibody. The elevation of tyrosine phosphorylation using pervanadate, an inhibitor of tyrosine phosphatases, was found to activate PLD activity. PLD activity was found to be reduced by pretreatment with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor Genistein. Pretreatment with both Genistein and the selective PKC inhibitor Ro-31-8220 reduced bombesin-stimulated PLD activity to basal. Elevation of Ca2+ from intracellular pools using thapsigargin, an inhibitor of the Ca2+-ATPase on the intracellular stores was found to be insufficient to activate PLD alone nor did it affect bombesin-stimulated PLD activity. Elevation of cyclic AMP using forskolin and dibutyrylcyclicAMP did not affect bombesin-stimulated PLD activity nor did it alone affect the enzyme. A common event in cells exposed to agonist is a loss of responsiveness to the stimulant, referred to as desensitisation. Bombesin-stimulated PLD activity was found to desensitise rapidly with a complete loss in the response after a 40 second agonist exposure. Desensitisation was reversible and occurred within 4.5 minutes of agonist removal, however was never complete. In the continuous presence of agonist resensitisation of PLD activity occurred. The resensitised rate was reduced from that generated in response to the initial stimulus but activity continued over a period of an hour. The recovery of bombesin-stimulated total inositol phosphate generation commenced later than that of bombesin-stimulated PLD activation and reached completion within 11.5 minutes after removal of the desensitising stimulus. Radio-receptor binding studies showed that there was a transient loss of binding sites from the cell surface which was due to internalisation and recycling of the receptor. Although the rate of receptor loss and recovery paralleled that of the desensitisation and resensitisation of PLD activity, differences were observed in the extent of the two processes. Readdition of bombesin was essential for a stimulation of PLD activity to be observed on resensitisation of the enzyme. Hence degradation of the ligand was occurring before the receptor was recycled. Desensitisation and resensitisation was independent of PKC activation and a desensitising pretreatment with bombesin did not affect the PMA- stimulated PLD activity. A23187-stimulated PLD activity also underwent homologous desensitisation and could not stimulate enzyme activity after prior desensitisation by bombesin pretreatment. Thus desensitisation was not due to a decrease in intracellular Ca2+ levels. Bombesin also induced heterologous desensitisation. Pretreatment with bombesin or vasopressin reduced a subsequent stimulation with the other agonist by approximately 70%. A desensitising pretreatment with either agonist attenuated the GTP?S-stimulated PLD activity in permeabilised cells by approximately 50%. It was thus proposed that desensitisation not only affected the cell surface receptors but also occurred at or distal to the receptor-coupled G-protein. These findings support a role for PLD-derived PtdOH in mitogenic signalling, in view of the resensitisation and subsequent maintenance of PLD activity in an early mitogenic situation when the agonist is continually present. The kinetics of the agonist-stimulated PLD activity are discussed with relation to the regulatory pathways of PLD activation and mitogenic signalling

The (Non) Influence of Monetary Incentives on Teacher Job Performance in Edo Central Senatorial District, Nigeria

In many developing countries Performance-Based Pay rewards (PBP) are a solution for improving teacher motivation. This study tested examines how teachers in Edo State, Nigeria felt about monetary incentives to increase job performance. Random sampling was used selecting a 20% sample of 164 of 820 teachers. Participants completed a questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The study confirms no significant relationship between monetary incentives and teacher performance. Some possible explanations are provided and conclude that the use of monetary incentives in education in the state of Edo, Nigeria should be further reviewed