Knowing schooling, identity and pedagogy visually

This research produced in one region in Ghana examines the production of educational practices, relations of power and student experiences within teaching and non-teaching spaces in junior secondary settings. The strength of the visual approach in interrogating school cultural norms and the problematising of the tangled complexities of knowing about schooling, identity and pedagogy are outlined. An important aspect of the study is the foregrounding of educational practice as a social act occurring in response to historical circumstances and changing social contexts (Brown &amp; Jones, 2001). We see this work as an important step towards democratization of the research relationship and empowerment of students to contribute to the way they are educated. But also we are wary of how representation through visual methods also can \u27frame\u27 participants and the researchers. We recognise that one way to uncover how school practices are exemplified in Ghana is to put students in the middle of researching their experiences. In this way, our research moved from constructing students as simply consumers of adult designed and managed products to practices based on democratic participation (Thomson &amp; Gunter, 2007). Throughout the research journey we were guided by the fact that knowledge is not neutral or to be discovered. Culture and communicative processes are essential determinants of reality. In this study the students as researchers, produced photographs that trigger dialectical conversations of students&rsquo; perspectives that foreground their experiences at school. This enabled us to digress from dominant positivistic empiricism to a more legitimate ethical practice, and understanding of the intricacies of educational practice, the norms and structures that underpin everyday actions in schools.<br /

Exploring Thai Teachers’ Perspectives on Evidence-informed Practices in Inclusive Early Childhood Education

Evidence-informed practices play vital roles in teaching and learning in inclusive schools; however, limited research has been conducted to explore inclusive early childhood teachers’ perspectives on research-informed teaching. This study, which was informed by the Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory (CAT), used structured and online focus groups to explore the views of 26 inclusive early childhood teachers in Thailand regarding their understanding and value for evidence-informed practice, how they source, analyse and use evidence to inform their professional practice and the factors supporting or inhibiting evidence-informed practices in their schools. A combination of framework and descriptive data analysis identified findings suggesting teachers value evidence-informed teaching. Still, they need to gain more skills in identifying, analysing and using evidence from relevant academic journals in their professional context. In addition, teachers’ endeavours to access and use scholarly resources were also inhibited by a lack of professional skills, time, and support from school leadership. The findings validate Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory suggesting the need for research skills training and including teachers as co-constructors of research knowledge. These processes can lead schools to better integrate research into practice in early childhood educational settings

Theorizing Rural Transformation Through Bourdieuian Lenses: Trumping Dominant Models With Sustainable Indigenous Practices

Education for rural transformation requires a critical analysis and appraisal of policies and education programmes, and skills development that can lead to the creation of sustainable jobs for rural people. This paper will examine and analyze how inclusion or exclusion manifests for rural people, and will do so with Pierre Bourdieu’s socio-critical theoretical framework that provides a three pronged (Habitus, Capital and Field), but unified approach that can be utilized to theories education for rural transformation. Bourdieu draws our attention to three interactive ways of conceptualizing and understanding inclusion, exclusion, marginalization, disadvantage and transformation via:1) the objective, physical, outright rejection in community due to the ways individuals are positioned and named in that community (field); 2) overt or covert denial of social, economic and cultural goods (capital), and 3) the inside subjective world, the space of thought, mind, attitudes, idea and interiority, which Bourdieu referred to as habitus (Bourdieu, 1990, 1996, 1998 & 1999).  The paper provides a socio-critical framework for educators of how to work with rural people to enhance their living standards

Transitioning from Face-Face to Online Learning: Creating Safe Spaces for Academic Advisement in the Face of a Global Pandemic

 Abstract: The recent COVID -19 pandemic has forced many institutes of higher learning across the globe to consider alternative modes of providing quality learning for students. However, developing and implementing safe spaces for academic advisement in online platforms that allow college students to explore their environment in an open and curious manner is challenging. The view that unsafe spaces put college students at risk for departure if they experience disengagement and a lack of support led this paper to explore how college students make sense of safe and unsafe advisement spaces, and how this understanding affects the ways they achieve academic success. Utilizing the PALEO framework, this paper contributes to existing knowledge on academic advisement by theorizing and offering practical ways to create tools that extend the capacity to solve problems during a global pandemic. The implications for re-imagining and coping with this new normal is discussed.

Leading for Educational Change: How Can We Disrupt the Colonial Legacy?

There are various ways school leadership is understood and practised in education systems worldwide. Any act of leadership that gives rise to something new is a creative leadership. Drawing on complex dynamical systems critical social theory perspective of Pierre Bourdieu, the chapter analyses the views of selected teachers and school leaders in five basic schools in Ghana to explicate the ways leadership is conceptualized and enacted in practice in their schools. Doing so, the chapter argues that leadership evolves from human habitus in the interaction of capital within fields of practice. This view allows us to envision the non-linearity of leadership and to move away from reproductive or colonial leadership

Central Nervous System Virus Infection in African Children with Cerebral Malaria

We aimed to identify the contribution of central nervous system (CNS) viral coinfection to illness in African children with retinopathy-negative or retinopathy-positive cerebral malaria (CM). We collected cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 272 children with retinopathy-negative or retinopathy-positive CM and selected CSF from 111 of these children (38 retinopathy positive, 71 retinopathy negative, 2 retinopathy unknown) for analysis by metagenomic next-generation sequencing. We found CSF viral coinfections in 7/38 (18.4%) retinopathy-positive children and in 18/71 (25.4%) retinopathy-negative children. Excluding HIV-1, human herpesviruses (HHV) represented 61% of viruses identified. Excluding HIV-1, CNS viral coinfection was equally likely in children who were retinopathy positive and retinopathy negative (P = 0.1431). Neither mortality nor neurological morbidity was associated with the presence of virus (odds ratio [OR] = 0.276, 95% CI: 0.056-1.363). Retinopathy-negative children with a higher temperature, lower white blood cell count, or being dehydrated were more likely to have viral coinfection. Level of consciousness at admission was not associated with CNS viral coinfection in retinopathy-negative children. Viral CNS coinfection is unlikely to contribute to coma in children with CM. The herpesviruses other than herpes simplex virus may represent incidental bystanders in CM, reactivating during acute malaria infection

Transforming Thai Preschool Teachers\u27 Knowledge on Inclusive Practice: A Collaborative Inquiry

Educating children with disabilities alongside their peers in mainstream preschools has increased intensely over the past few years, affecting all aspects of early childhood education. Many children who previously would have been educated in segregated special centres are now being included in inclusive preschools. This research paper discusses how Thai preschool teachers’ professional knowledge in inclusive education influence the ways they practice within preschool classrooms. Qualitative data obtained through observations and collaborative inquiry with teachers drawn from four preschool in Bangkok, Thailand showed that the lack of adequate teacher preparation for inclusive practice rendered the teachers helpless and unable to deliver curriculum that caters for the learning needs of children with disabilities. This paper contributes to the growing body of research to inform the usefulness of collaborative inquiry in helping teachers explore educational issues in systematic ways and determine solutions through reflection and dialogic inquiry

Theorizing Rural Transformation Through Bourdieuian Lenses: Trumping Dominant Models With Sustainable Indigenous Practices

Education for rural transformation requires a critical analysis and appraisal ofpolicies and education programmes, and skills development that can lead to thecreation of sustainable jobs for rural people. This paper will examine and analyzehow inclusion or exclusion manifests for rural people, and will do so with PierreBourdieu’s socio-critical theoretical framework that provides a three pronged(Habitus, Capital and Field), but unified approach that can be utilized to theorizeeducation for rural transformation. Bourdieu draws our attention to three interactiveways of conceptualizing and understanding inclusion, exclusion, marginalization,disadvantage and transformation via:1) the objective, physical, outright rejection incommunity due to the ways individuals are positioned and named in that community(field); 2) overt or covert denial of social, economic and cultural goods (capital),and 3) the inside subjective world, the space of thought, mind, attitudes, idea andinteriority, which Bourdieu referred to as habitus (Bourdieu, 1990, 1996, 1998 &1999). The paper provides a socio-critical framework for educators of how to workwith rural people to enhance their living standards

Building new identities in teacher preparation for inclusive education in Ghana

âWe want our classrooms to be just and caring, full of various conceptions of the good. We want them to be articulate, with the dialogue involving as many persons as possible, opening to one another, opening to the worldâ (Greene 1993 as cited in Nieto &amp; Bode, 2008). These words sum up inclusive education as a multifaceted practice that deals with value and belief systems, invites and celebrates diversity and difference arising from family background, social class, gender, language, socio-economic background, cultural origin or ability with human rights and social justice at its core. In this paper we reflect critically on current pedagogical practices in Ghana in relation to inclusive education. Using a critical post-colonial discursive framework the paper takes up the challenge to problematise the existing pedagogical practices, which are intensely oppressive. It examines the impact of colonial and cultural practices (beliefs, values, norms) on teaching and learning, using data obtained from three focus groups with 21 student teachers, a total of 42 hours of non-participant observation of their classroom teaching and existing research commentaries. We found that current pedagogical practices are prescriptive, mechanistic, and do not value student diversity and different learning styles. We conclude with new directions for teacher education programs in Ghana that value and celebrate diversity, and difference