Active music

We are a group of eleven young people with intellectual disability and three music therapists. We did action research at a university. We wanted to find out how a music group might be helpful for young people with intellectual disabilities. We wanted to tell our own story and use our own words because we have a lot to say. We wanted people to read our story and to use our ideas to help young people with intellectual disabilities to have good lives. We went to twenty sessions of music research, and five more sessions of research analysis. We also did a lot of research work in between sessions. We found out that music groups can be fun. They can also be hard work. They help us develop skills like listening and waiting. They are places where we can be independent. But music groups are also good places to practice working as a team. They can be safe places for people to express emotions. Music helps us to know people. It brings us together. Playing musical instruments can also help physical development. A good life for us would include having the chance to play music with others or to have music lessons. But it is not always easy for us to go to ordinary lessons or music groups. It might be important for young people with intellectual disability to have support from people who understand them at first. We want to be independent but we need help to develop our dreams in practical ways. We found that doing research is fun and interesting. We were all researchers but we had different things to do. The adults had to be the organisers, setting up the research. We knew from the start the research would be about what young people think about music. The adults had done their reading and had written the literature review. The young people decided on other questions, and gathered data in lots of different ways. They also did some of the analysis, and decided on the findings of each cycle. The findings of each cycle, with more of the young people’s words, are in the appendices. Later, the adults wrote the main findings, the discussion and conclusion. We all discussed the things we wrote along the way and at the end of the research. The adults have tried to help the young people understand what has been written. The research took a lot of time and it was hard work for everybody. To be a good researcher you need to learn research skills. It is important that young people with intellectual disabilities are not exhausted by research. They need to be able to enjoy the things they are doing. We all liked being involved in research even though it was hard work. We think that research is important and helpful. Young people should be involved in research that is about them. We learnt that young people with intellectual disabilities can go to university. Going to university was scary at first but we got used to it and we started to enjoy it. We need to do more research to make sure universities are ready to welcome students with intellectual disabilities. We can use our research to show universities that it can be a good idea to support people with intellectual disabilities to go to university. We can also use our research show people what we can do; what we like to do; and what we want to do in the future. Most of us would like to do more music and research in future

Early Years Developmental Journal

The Early Years Developmental Journal is based on extensive analysis of a wide range of developmental assessment tools. It is a resource for families and practitioners working closely with them to record a child’s developments to better aid the identification of areas where additional help may be required. It is designed to support key working and foster communication between all those involved in a child’s development. While its primary use is for families, it is also intended that the Journal will be a useful resource for the 24-30 month statutory EYFS progress assessment as well as supporting child health monitoring

Teacher educators beliefs on EFL pre-service teachers willingness to communicate in the L2

Tesis (Profesor de Inglés para la Enseñanza Básica y Media y al grado académico de Licenciado en Educación)This qualitative study is set up on the perceptions that four English teachers, from a private university in Santiago, have regarding their beliefs on EFL pre-service teachers’ willingness to communicate. In order to discover their beliefs, semi-structured interviews and observations were carried out. The motivation of this study is to contribute with information regarding willingness to communicate in the Chilean context, especially concerning higher education, also add to the reflection of teachers on their practices inside the classroom. Based on that information, the aims of this study were the following. Firstly, to explore teacher educators’ beliefs about their influence in developing EFL pre-service teachers’ willingness to communicate. Secondly, to investigate teacher educators’ beliefs about the factors that influence EFL pre-service teachers’ willingness to communicate. Thirdly, to understand teacher educators’ beliefs about the practices that can best help EFL pre-service teachers to develop willingness to communicate. Lastly, to explore to what extent the beliefs of teacher educators are reflected in their classroom practices. The main results showed that most of the beliefs that teachers mentioned to hold, matched with what they actually do in their lessons.Este estudio cualitativo se basa en las percepciones que tienen cuatro profesores de inglés de una universidad privada en Santiago con respecto a sus creencias sobre la disposición de los estudiantes de la carrera de Pedagogía en inglés para comunicarse en una segunda lengua. Para descubrir sus creencias, se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas y observaciones. La motivación de este estudio es contribuir con información sobre la voluntad de comunicarse en el contexto chileno, especialmente en lo que respecta a la educación superior, además de aumentar la reflexión de los profesores sobre sus prácticas dentro del aula. Con base en esa información, los objetivos de este estudio son los siguientes. Primero, explorar las creencias de los educadores de docentes acerca de su influencia en el desarrollo de la disposición de los futuros profesores de inglés para comunicarse en una segunda lengua. En segundo lugar, investigar las creencias de los educadores de docentes sobre los factores que influyen en la disposición de los futuros profesores de inglés a comunicarse. En tercer lugar, para comprender las creencias de los educadores de docentes sobre las prácticas que pueden ayudar mejor a los futuros profesores de inglés a desarrollar la voluntad de comunicarse. Por último, explorar hasta qué punto las creencias de los educadores de docentes se refleja en sus prácticas en el aula. Los principales resultados arrojan que la mayoría de las creencias que los maestros mencionaron que tienen a lo largo de las entrevistas, coinciden con lo que realmente hacen en sus clases

What Students Tell Us About School If We Ask

This article examines what school climate factors students perceive as helping them be successful in school, and what school administrators can do to aid the process. Specifically, the questions that drove this inquiry were How does sociocultural theory impact student voice and student engagement in the classroom? How does caring pedagogy impact student voice and student engagement in the classroom? What school climate factors do students perceive as helping them to be successful in school

Life on two continents: understanding different roles of Chinese grandparents who have grandchildren born in the U.S.

Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014The present research explored the roles Chinese grandparents play regarding their grandchildren born in the United States. Due to the differences in language, cultures and family values in China and the U.S., these Chinese grandparents balance their lives between two continents and experience possible disconnect in communication with their U.S.-born grandchildren. In order to understand the lived experiences of these Chinese grandparents and to develop co-constructed meaning of their intercultural interactions, this research employs qualitative narrative analysis as the primary method. Eight conversational interviews were conducted and four emergent themes were discussed. This research shows that Chinese grandparents do encounter difficulties, cultural conflicts and disconnect with their grandchildren because they split their time between living in China and the U.S. There are insights provided to mitigate these problems

Keys to academic success for under-represented minority young investigators: recommendations from the Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID) National Advisory Committee.

BackgroundAlthough Latinos, African-Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives comprise 34% of Americans, these under-represented minorities (URMs) account for only 7% of US medical-school faculty. Even when URMs become faculty, they face many substantial challenges to success. Little has been published, however, on keys to academic success for URM young faculty investigators.MethodsThe Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID) goal is to enhance the professional advancement of URM junior faculty pursuing research careers in general academic pediatrics. One important RAPID component is the annual mentoring/career-development conference, which targets URM residents, fellows, and junior faculty, and has included 62 URM participants since its 2013 inception. A conference highlight is the panel discussion on keys to academic success for URM young investigators, conducted by the RAPID National Advisory Committee, a diverse group of leading senior researchers. The article aim was to provide a guide to academic success for URM young investigators using the 2018 RAPID Conference panel discussion. A modified Delphi technique was used to provide a systematic approach to obtaining answers to six key questions using an expert panel: the single most important key to success for URM young investigators; ensuring optimal mentorship; how to respond when patients/families say, "I don't want you to see my child because you are ____"; best strategies for maximizing funding success; how to balance serving on time-consuming committees with enough time to advance research/career objectives; and the single thing you wish someone had told you which would have substantially enhanced your success early on.Results/conclusionsThis is the first published practical guide on keys to academic success for URM young investigators. Identified keys to success included having multiple mentors, writing prolifically, being tenaciously persistent, having mentors who are invested in you, dealing with families who do not want you to care for their child because of your race/ethnicity by seeking to understand the reasons and debriefing with colleagues, seeking non-traditional funding streams, balancing committee work with having enough time to advance one's research and career by using these opportunities to generate scholarly products, and asking for all needed resources when negotiating for new jobs

Building Resident Power and Capacity for Change

An "on the ground" reflection about what it takes for funders to work effective with low-income communities. This report is a set of reflections that began with conversations among fifty people who gathered in Chicago in September of 2008 for Grassroots Grantmakers first "on the ground" learning gathering, and extended over the following several months.The idea for this report came from an interest in doing more than generating proceedings or a report on a meeting.  Our interest was in promoting and supporting reflection about what it takes to work effective in the grassroots grantmaking domain, and in sharing those reflections as a spark for further conversations

Films That Make a Difference

As part of the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival -- the largest and most-highly attended festival in the United States -- Vulcan Productions hosted a forum examining how filmmakers are using innovative campaigns to deepen the impact of their work titled, Films that Make a Difference. The event was held at the SIFF Film Center on June 3, 2012.The forum was moderated by Warren Etheredge, founder of the Warren Report (www.thewarrenreport.com), and included Johanna Blakley, Managing Director, The Norman Lear Center; Bonnie Benjamin-Phariss, Director, Vulcan Productions; Ted Richane, Vice President, Cause + Affect; and Holly Gordon, Executive Director, 10x10, a Multi-platform Initiative about girls' education. The forum examined ways to maximize the effect of film projects through various social impact initiatives