This is my truth, tell me yours. Positioning children as authors of knowledge through facilitation of narratives in dialogic interactions

The article discusses data from educational workshops in English and Italian classrooms, in the context of an research project funded by the European Union. The research promoted children’s work on personal memories and the dialogical exchange in the classroom of narratives related to memories. Facilitation was utilised to foster children’s contributions to interactions, empowering children epistemic status as authors of valid knowledge to create favourable conditions for dialogue in the classroom. The article discusses a facilitative action that impacted on the promotion of children’s narratives: facilitators’ comments on narratives. Facilitators’ comments take form as: 1) personal stories; 2) displacements. Both types of comments proved particularly effective in supporting children’s agency as authorship of narratives during workshops as a component of dialogic learning

Distance, Proximity and Hannah Höch's radical imagination

In her pioneering photomontage Hannah Hoch demonstrates her ambition to transform the viewer's perception through imagination, both hers and theirs. In the process of making photomontage complex relationships between the artist, viewer, and original source material arise in which the displacements involved create distance. Her use of the idea of the cross-section by contrast allows otherwise disparate elements to be brought into close proximity. This paper explores Höch's use of the spatial metaphors of the bridge and the abyss in relation to Salomo Friedländer's concept of Creative Indifference, the Die Brücke group and the influence of Nietzsche's use of the bridge metaphor and his use of the idea of polarity. What's metaphorical use of the image of the abyss could imply spatial relationships but these begin to breakdown and are replaced instead by irreducible and unbridgeable differences in conceptions of reality that imagination allows to coexist simultaneously

Re-thinking pedagogies: New immigrants in Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood settings

This chapter examines the importance of teacher orientations towards immigrant children, families, and teachers in early childhood education settings in Aotearoa New Zealand. Informed by a critical literature review and analysis,I highlight the complexity of cultural “otherness”and some tensions, risks, and dangers of superficial, simple interpretations of curriculum aspirations and guidelines. I argue that an orientation towards committed, sensitive, and accepting engagements is required to promote ethical and just practices. Following this, I argue that critical attention must be paid to interpretations of policy documents and guidelines for practice, and that ongoing questioning of possibilities for socially just professional practices are crucial to support diverse immigrants in early childhood settings

State and trait characteristics of anterior insula time-varying functional connectivity.

The human anterior insula (aINS) is a topographically organized brain region, in which ventral portions contribute to socio-emotional function through limbic and autonomic connections, whereas the dorsal aINS contributes to cognitive processes through frontal and parietal connections. Open questions remain, however, regarding how aINS connectivity varies over time. We implemented a novel approach combining seed-to-whole-brain sliding-window functional connectivity MRI and k-means clustering to assess time-varying functional connectivity of aINS subregions. We studied three independent large samples of healthy participants and longitudinal datasets to assess inter- and intra-subject stability, and related aINS time-varying functional connectivity profiles to dispositional empathy. We identified four robust aINS time-varying functional connectivity modes that displayed both "state" and "trait" characteristics: while modes featuring connectivity to sensory regions were modulated by eye closure, modes featuring connectivity to higher cognitive and emotional processing regions were stable over time and related to empathy measures

How are the health needs of internally displaced persons adressed by international actors?

The number of internal displacements has doubled over the last decade, as conflicts and climate related disasters have increasingly triggered movement within countries borders. Due to the lack of a legally binding framework and international agency dedicated for the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs), the needs of IDPs are underprioritized by international actors. Evidence suggests that IDPs face worse health outcomes than any other crisis-affected population group. This leads to a policy analysis on the involvement of international actors on addressing the health needs of IDPs. The concept of humanitarianism will be utilized as the theoretical foundation and is the underlying motive of humanitarian action worldwide. As an altruistic desire to reduce suffering, humanitarianism aims to provide relief to victims of conflicts or disasters while adhering to the humanitarian principles. Assessing the humanitarian concept helps to conceptualize the role of international actors in the humanitarian assistance of IDPs. For the methodology, a description of the literature search and the selection of certain material has been provided. It also examined why documents by international organizations like the UNHCR, the OCHA, the WHO and the IASC were used for this policy analysis. The first part of the findings identified the legal protection frameworks for IDPs. International law and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement represent the most suitable legal tools for IDPs. Guiding concepts regarding the realization of health rights have also been developed by international organizations and national authorities. The second part of the results concentrated on the humanitarian coordination mechanisms for IDPs. Although the UNHCR does not hold an exclusive mandate for IDPs, the protection and assistance of IDPs relies mainly on the UNHCR. The humanitarian coordination mechanism applicable in internal displacement settings is the IASC Cluster approach. The Cluster approach spreads accountability of UN agencies across various sectors, including shelter, food security or health. Despite individual interventions of NGOs on the health of IDPs, the Health Cluster remains the most suitable tool for coordinating an emergency health response. Health cluster country operations have targeted the health needs of IDPs through provision of essential health care. The country cluster operations have contributed to an effective humanitarian relief coordination for IDPs. Due to the lack of an international legally binding framework, the lack of health funding for IDPs and limited accountabilities for IDPs, the issue of internal displacement will remain. Strengthening humanitarian engagement in all sectors concerning the well-being of IDPs can be achieved through a holistic approach

Sixth annual Julius Nyerere memorial lecture presented by Catherine A. Odora Hoppers in 2009

Sixth Annual Julius Nyerere Memorial Lecture Presented by Catherine A. Odora Hoppers in 200