Culturally Disruptive Research: A Critical (Re)Engagement with Research Processes and Teaching Practices

Purpose As scholars, educators and policymakers recognize the impact of partnership-based research, there is a growing need for more in-depth understanding of how to conduct this work, especially with and in diverse project teams. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical examination of adopting a culturally disruptive approach in a research–practice partnership (RPP) that includes Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, designers and educators who worked together to collaboratively design culturally situated experiences for sixth graders. Design/methodology/approach Following a design-based implementation research methodology, data from design and implementation are presented as two case studies to illustrate key findings. Findings Leveraging the frame of culturally disruptive pedagogy, key tensions, disruptions, self-discoveries and resulting pedagogical innovations are outlined. While the authors experienced multiple forms of disruptions as researchers, designers and educators, they focused on tracing two powerful cases of how culturally disruptive research directly and immediately resulted in pedagogical innovations. Together the cases illustrate a broader shift toward interdependence that the team experienced over the course of the school year. Research limitations/implications A new frame for conducting culturally disruptive research is presented. Both the theoretical application and practical implementation of this frame demonstrate its usefulness in conceptualizing culturally situated research through cultivating an uncomfortable yet generative interdependence. Practical implications Findings include examples and strategies for how to practically conduct multi-sector, interdisciplinary research and teaching. Scholars and educators share their stories which illustrate the practical impact of this work. Originality/value Critical insights presented in this paper build on and contribute to the growing body of work around RPPs, community-based research and other critical partnership methods

The shape of my thoughts

An immersive multimedia Installation consisting of multi-channel Ambisonics surround-sound audio and animated 3D projection. Our intention was to produce a multimedia installation incorporating the animation of avian-like murmuration events synchronised to sound and music. The primary objective was to construct an audio/visual experience that loosely expresses an absent narrative. We wanted to explore the dynamics of multidisciplinary collaboration observing and recording the exchanges and expressive negotiations between composers and animators to produce an immersive expressive design. The piece employed large-scale digital projection and ambisonic surround sound. The installation was also displayed as part of the at ‘Nature Connections’ Festival in September 2015 and was featured on BBC’s Autumn Watch red button content. More recently, the piece was presented at the The International Festival for Innovations in Music Production and Composition at Leeds College of Music. The piece is the first installment of a planned trilogy of works that will extend and develop the collaborative experimentation with animation and sound in the production of immersive installation and performance

Track D Social Science, Human Rights and Political Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138414/1/jia218442.pd

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Developing Sixth Graders’ Cultural Competence Across the Curriculum: A Collaborative Redesign Process

This paper shares our in-progress collaborative process of redesigning sixth grade curriculum to develop sixth graders’ cultural competence by shifting from disciplinary-bounded knowledge to culturally-bounded knowledge. As a team of researchers, designers, and educators, we seek to connect students with diverse cultural perspectives across social studies, science, math, and language arts. The redesign focuses on curricula connected to the River Trip Field Experience, a five-day rafting trip on a river that functions as a natural border with tribal lands. Taking a design-based implementation research approach, we iteratively design, implement, and evaluate culturally-centered lessons throughout the year. In this paper, we specifically present our collaborative design and implementation decisions for one shared goal: building students’ cultural awareness of others. Findings elucidate the complexities and tensions of centering culture as a critical aspect of learning in K-12 schooling

Debating the Bears Ears: Employing Culturally Disruptive Pedagogy for Curriculum Redesign

In this study, we employed culturally disruptive pedagogy to collaboratively redesign a sixth grade argumentative writing unit with the aim of engaging students with diverse ways of knowing, being, and doing. Taking a design-based implementation research approach, we iteratively designed, implemented, and evaluated a new curricular unit that both built students’ cultural awareness and met english language arts standards. Our work has practical implications for designing culturally-situated learning in K-12 schooling

Toward a Culturally Disruptive Framework in Partnership-Based Research and Design

To contribute understanding of how to cultivate and sustain equitable community partnerships, we share our culturally-situated research approach that supports both Western and Indigenous knowledge systems. As a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, designers, and educators, we propose a culturally disruptive framework, which demands identification and disruption of tensions in underlying knowledge systems, values, and beliefs and leads to self-discoveries and innovation in our research, design, and teaching processes and practices