BERA-TACTYC Early Childhood Research Review 2003-2017

BERA/TACTYC Review of Early Childhood Education and Care in the UK, 2003-2017 has involved a wide range of early childhood specialists, both in the early consultation stages, and in writing the five main sections of the Review. Teams of authors and their reference groups came together from TACTYC – the Association for Professional Development in Early Years, and the BERA Early Childhood Education and Care SIG. Using specific questions to interrogate the literature, each team worked on one of five main themes: Professionalism; Parenting and Family; Play and Pedagogy; Learning, Development and Curriculum, and Assessment and School Readiness. These themes are contextualised within broad policy issues in the UK. The Introduction shows the working methods for the Review, and the Conclusion brings together key messages and suggestions for future research. We hope that the Review will prove useful to a range of early childhood specialists, including students, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and teachers in further and higher education. We intend to create a User Review that will be aimed at practitioners and to engage other stakeholders in current trends and debates. The Review is being launched at a time of change and uncertainty within early childhood education and care, and we hope that the Review will provide a focal point for discussions about future directions in the four UK policy frameworks, the importance of research, and how we use research evidence to inform provision and practice

Communicating Multiplicative Reasoning Through Semiotic Resources

The importance of fostering in students the requisite language to understand what is being communicated and how to communicate their understanding requires educators to conceptualize themselves as teachers of language and content. It is possible to engage in activities of the mathematics classroom and through that participation engage in language practices and mathematical practices simultaneously. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of semiotic resources, and modality, with a student-generated tool on students’ communication of multiplicative reasoning. The study design was a qualitative case study that included a single third-grade class with an in-depth look at six students of varying knowledge levels. Two students, one male and one female, were randomly selected from Beyond, On, and Approaching levels. Discourse analysis served dual purposes for the data collected: first, it explored a socially constructed multi-modal tool utilized as an activity to enhance language use individually and interactively during mathematical discourse; second, it supported investigating the language used by participants during the studied activities and how they relate to Communication About and Communication In multiplication. The findings support the utilization of semiotic resources, inclusive of visual representations, signs, symbolic notations, and receptive and expressive language elements as fundamental to the learning and communication we are asking of our students. Through the interplay of semiotic resources, a multimodal student-generated tool can support students in summarizing their learning, individually and interactively, enhancing their means of communicating discursively in mathematics

Neurocognitive Informatics Manifesto.

Informatics studies all aspects of the structure of natural and artificial information systems. Theoretical and abstract approaches to information have made great advances, but human information processing is still unmatched in many areas, including information management, representation and understanding. Neurocognitive informatics is a new, emerging field that should help to improve the matching of artificial and natural systems, and inspire better computational algorithms to solve problems that are still beyond the reach of machines. In this position paper examples of neurocognitive inspirations and promising directions in this area are given

Who needs what from a national health research system: Lessons from reforms to the English Department of Health's R&D system

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Health research systems consist of diverse groups who have some role in health research, but the boundaries around such a system are not clear-cut. To explore what various stakeholders need we reviewed the literature including that on the history of English health R&D reforms, and we also applied some relevant conceptual frameworks. We first describe the needs and capabilities of the main groups of stakeholders in health research systems, and explain key features of policymaking systems within which these stakeholders operate in the UK. The five groups are policymakers (and health care managers), health professionals, patients and the general public, industry, and researchers. As individuals and as organisations they have a range of needs from the health research system, but should also develop specific capabilities in order to contribute effectively to the system and benefit from it. Second, we discuss key phases of reform in the development of the English health research system over four decades - especially that of the English Department of Health's R&D system - and identify how far legitimate demands of key stakeholder interests were addressed. Third, in drawing lessons we highlight points emerging from contemporary reports, but also attempt to identify issues through application of relevant conceptual frameworks. The main lessons are: the importance of comprehensively addressing the diverse needs of various interacting institutions and stakeholders; the desirability of developing facilitating mechanisms at interfaces between the health research system and its various stakeholders; and the importance of additional money in being able to expand the scope of the health research system whilst maintaining support for basic science. We conclude that the latest health R&D strategy in England builds on recent progress and tackles acknowledged weaknesses. The strategy goes a considerable way to identifying and more effectively meeting the needs of key groups such as medical academics, patients and industry, and has been remarkably successful in increasing the funding for health research. There are still areas that might benefit from further recognition and resourcing, but the lessons identified, and progress made by the reforms are relevant for the design and coordination of national health research systems beyond England.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

A Review of the "Digital Turn" in the New Literacy Studies

Digital communication has transformed literacy practices and assumed great importance in the functioning of workplace, recreational, and community contexts. This article reviews a decade of empirical work of the New Literacy Studies, identifying the shift toward research of digital literacy applications. The article engages with the central theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic challenges in the tradition of New Literacy Studies, while highlighting the distinctive trends in the digital strand. It identifies common patterns across new literacy practices through cross-comparisons of ethnographic research in digital media environments. It examines ways in which this research is taking into account power and pedagogy in normative contexts of literacy learning using the new media. Recommendations are given to strengthen the links between New Literacy Studies research and literacy curriculum, assessment, and accountability in the 21st century