Reading Aloud with an Octogenarian: Journeys into a Liminal Space Created by Shared-Reading During the 2020 Pandemic

This qualitative retrospective self-study, framed by reflexive inquiriy, explores the context of telephone shared-reading during the worldwide pandemic of 2020. Findings extend into benefits for the researcher related to relationship-building and self-reflection within the liminal space of the shared-reading context

Returning to the Novel Planet of Death : A Chronotopic Exploration

A rereading of Robert Silverberg\u27s (1967) young adult novel Planet of Death, occurring as part of a qualitative self-study four decades after this book had been a site of independent repeated reading over the course of my Grade Five school year, offers a chronotopic perspective of the literary motivations and habits in one young girl. Mikhail Bakhtin\u27s conceptualization of the literary chronotope is used to identify elements of time and space related to my transaction with Silverberg\u27s book. Seen through a chronotopic lens, reading appears as a compelling travel opportunity in terms of gender, culture, ability, and age. Rather than developing deeper insights through rereading, it is argued that the threshold of understanding that was reached in an initial reading of this novel was replicated through a series of time-travel experiences that were otherwise rewarding across a span of at least 12 readings during a single school year. Rereading is identified here as an internal chronotope that operates as a mechanism for cruise-controlled intellectual travel through which to safely observe, enjoy and repeatedly entertain perspectives other than one\u27s own. Rereading is also identified here as an opportunity to access an external chronotope that presents earlier versions of the reader, increasing motivation for reading as well as providing material to support identity studies. Implications from this self-study relate to the importance of offering opportunities for in-school rereading and deeper understandings about the value of this activity

Book Review: Inspiration and Innovation in Teaching and Teacher Education

Inspiration and Innovation in Teaching and Teacher Education is an edited book by Karen Goodnough, Gerald Galway, Cecile Badenhorst, and Rob Kelly (2013) presenting a collection of 13 chapters, with three overview chapters in sections titled: “The Essence of Teacher Education”, “Innovative Practices in Teacher Education”, and “Emerging Issues in Teacher Education”. The book serves to remind readers of the history of teacher education as a landscape for new and future endeavors in the field, and it offers current research to address provocative questions related to a profession whose first responsibilities are presented as both political, in terms of the future of democracy, and personal, in terms of students who demonstrate particular values such as a sense of responsibility for themselves, others and the land through sustainability, as well as the skills to live those values. This text is a comprehensive and contemporary read and, as such, is highly recommended for Canadian curriculum scholars and students as well as others interested in the field of Education

Characters With Exceptionalities Portrayed in Contemporary Canadian Children’s Books

This article examines the ways in which exceptionality is addressed in Canadian children’s literature, offering critical literacy as an avenue toward social justice. A content analysis (Berg, 2009) of 134 Canadian children’s books offers a wide scope of contemporary titles to include in classrooms. We developed conceptual categories to explore patterns and trends through a qualitative interpretive stance (Seidman, 2006). Our findings include the following results:• ethnically diverse characters with exceptionalities,• authentic characters with real-world challenges,• fantasy blended with other genres.As narratives that include exceptionalities become more authentic and abundant, we can become more appreciative of diversity, further affecting inclusive schools and communities

Strengths and Challenges: A Young Adult Pictures FASD Through Photovoice

We initiated an individual case study with one young adult in Canada about everyday life with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Using Photovoice, we explored his experiences through photography and interviews. Findings highlight his multi-faceted identity based around ability and challenge negative stereotypes. The study supports Photovoice as a strategy to explore FASD experiences

Genetic contributors to risk of schizophrenia in the presence of a 22q11.2 deletion

Schizophrenia occurs in about one in four individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS). The aim of this International Brain and Behavior 22q11.2DS Consortium (IBBC) study was to identify genetic factors that contribute to schizophrenia, in addition to the ~20-fold increased risk conveyed by the 22q11.2 deletion. Using whole-genome sequencing data from 519 unrelated individuals with 22q11.2DS, we conducted genome-wide comparisons of common and rare variants between those with schizophrenia and those with no psychotic disorder at age ≥25 years. Available microarray data enabled direct comparison of polygenic risk for schizophrenia between 22q11.2DS and independent population samples with no 22q11.2 deletion, with and without schizophrenia (total n = 35,182). Polygenic risk for schizophrenia within 22q11.2DS was significantly greater for those with schizophrenia (padj = 6.73 × 10−6). Novel reciprocal case–control comparisons between the 22q11.2DS and population-based cohorts showed that polygenic risk score was significantly greater in individuals with psychotic illness, regardless of the presence of the 22q11.2 deletion. Within the 22q11.2DS cohort, results of gene-set analyses showed some support for rare variants affecting synaptic genes. No common or rare variants within the 22q11.2 deletion region were significantly associated with schizophrenia. These findings suggest that in addition to the deletion conferring a greatly increased risk to schizophrenia, the risk is higher when the 22q11.2 deletion and common polygenic risk factors that contribute to schizophrenia in the general population are both present

Patterns and Themes in Canadian Picture Books Published in 2017: A Content Analysis of 132 Titles Using Dresang’s Lens of Radical Change

This comprehensive examination of 132 picture books originally published by Canadian publishers in 2017, and written and/or illustrated by at least one creator living in Canada, offers qualitative and quantitative findings that demonstrate patterns and themes in relation to number of titles, authors, illustrators, characters, genres, audiences, and readability characteristics, while addressing  particular elements of Dresang’s (1999) notion of Radical Change. Books were identified from multiple sources with results compared to a previous study (Author 3), demonstrating a marginal increase of titles since 2015 where 120 books were identified, and a continued increase from 2005 where 57 books were identified. Of particular note in the current sample were the 13 books created by Indigenous authors and/or illustrators and presenting Canadian Indigenous content and perspectives, calculated at 9.8 % of the study sample, compared to previous results where books by Indigenous authors and/or illustrators comprised 3.5 % of the sample in 2005 and 10% in 2015. These findings, and other patterns, themes and possible trends, are suggested as underpinnings for future research involving further changes in the field of Canadian children’s literature in education as well as further research into reader response regarding contemporary titles. While this paper does address aspects of diversity present in this study sample, a second article disseminates detailed findings related to representations of ethnicity.