How can K12 Education reduce prejudice?

This thesis investigates how K-12 education can reduce prejudice. Firstly, I define what I mean by prejudice and explain what my research methodology is for the study. Through a conceptual examination of existing research, including theories on why people are prejudiced and what we know about prejudice reduction from social psychology, I go on to propose four areas of individual cognitive and social development in which educational strategies can act on prejudicial thinking and lessen it. These are: - Understanding beyond the other; - Critical Thinking; - Metacognitive thought; - Empathy. I also synthesise findings into two institutional approaches that are effective. These are: - The contact hypothesis; - Specific pedagogical principles that are embedded in international education. These six areas are brought together in a multi-facetted response to the problem of prejudice. The thesis problematises the construct of prejudice reduction by grappling with its complexity through a critical account of the substantial literature on the subject. This means not only contextualising studies according to the parameters of their method but also engaging with prominent discourses in associated fields in a reflexive manner. The thesis is an original contribution to knowledge in that it builds a bridge between work on prejudice in the schools of social psychology, cognitive psychology and neurobiology and K-12 education. My study offers a framework synthesising effective classroom interventions that can be adapted and adopted in a variety of contexts to combat the central operating system of prejudice formation

The treatment of the body in the fiction of JM Coetzee

Abstract My overarching argument, that Coetzee’s treatment of the body is a defamiliarisation of it, is supported by more focussed textual commentary and substantiated argument, divided into nine chapters. Chapter 1, by means of an introduction, first explains the thesis’ argument and then discusses the treatment of the body in past and current Coetzee criticism with emphasis on findings that help to elucidate my own position. From here on, each chapter shows how the body is central as a source of meaning and agency, but in different ways and through different forms. Chapter 2 focusses on how Coetzee distorts the reader’s perspective of the body and plunges him/her into what I call a kinetic poetics. The central argument in this chapter is that Coetzee uses a viewpoint in such a way that the body is reinvented poetically. Chapter 3 looks at the historical embeddedness of the body and the body as a response to the discourse of history. Coetzee’s philosophical positioning on the relationship between literature and history dramatises itself, I will argue, in his depiction of the body. Chapter 4 argues for the centrality of the body as generator of plot in the fiction – hence creating storylines that are unusual - whilst chapter 5 shows how Coetzee’s treatment of the body in its relationship to space has a significant effect on the atmosphere in the fiction. These first five chapters, therefore, have as purpose the study of the body in Coetzee in relation to pertinent body criticism and to then show how Coetzee’s stylistic attributes and philosophical positioning (chapters 2 and 3) create a writing that has a unique morphology of plot (chapter 4) and creates an entirely new atmosphere (chapter 5). A recurrent finding throughout these chapters is that Coetzee challenges conventions whilst creating a type of strangeness or defamiliarisation through the description of the body: this is my overarching thesis statement to which subsidiary points will lead. Once these bases have been established, the remaining four chapters will continue to focus on the body in four different modes: the sexual (chapter 6), in relation to animals (chapter 7), through eating (chapter 8) and through death (chapter 9)

Simultaneous host and parasite expression profiling identifies tissue-specific transcriptional programs associated with susceptibility or resistance to experimental cerebral malaria

BACKGROUND: The development and outcome of cerebral malaria (CM) reflects a complex interplay between parasite-expressed virulence factors and host response to infection. The murine CM model, Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbA), which simulates many of the features of human CM, provides an excellent system to study this host/parasite interface. We designed "combination" microarrays that concurrently detect genome-wide transcripts of both PbA and mouse, and examined parasite and host transcriptional programs during infection of CM-susceptible (C57BL/6) and CM-resistant (BALB/c) mice. RESULTS: Analysis of expression data from brain, lung, liver, and spleen of PbA infected mice showed that both host and parasite gene expression can be examined using a single microarray, and parasite transcripts can be detected within whole organs at a time when peripheral blood parasitemia is low. Parasites display a unique transcriptional signature in each tissue, and lung appears to be a large reservoir for metabolically active parasites. In comparisons of susceptible versus resistant animals, both host and parasite display distinct, organ-specific transcriptional profiles. Differentially expressed mouse genes were related to humoral immune response, complement activation, or cell-cell interactions. PbA displayed differential expression of genes related to biosynthetic activities. CONCLUSION: These data show that host and parasite gene expression profiles can be simultaneously analysed using a single "combination" microarray, and that both the mouse and malaria parasite display distinct tissue- and strain-specific responses during infection. This technology facilitates the dissection of host-pathogen interactions in experimental cerebral malaria and could be extended to other disease models

Guiding Principles for Learning in the Twentyfirst Century

The purpose of this booklet is to offer guiding principles about learning in the twenty-first century. It is intended for teachers, curriculum designers, school leaders, and others involved in all levels of school education and can be used for any age group, as the principles it contains are general enough to be applied in different contexts. The guide offers a bridge between classroom practice, educational theory, and academic research. It draws on theories developed by researchers and teachers, and on an article of the same title published in Prospects (2014), along with the expertise of educational organizations. Historically, theories of learning, ideas about what we should teach, examples of practice, and suggested models have been developed separately by different organizations. The result has been a lack of unity, with little cumulative knowledge and an absence of cooperation on research. This guide attempts to address this lack of unity by responding to the question: What is it that students should be learning in the twenty-first century? This challenge takes us back to a fundamental question about the purposes of education: What is education for? The subject areas traditionally taught in school (languages, humanities, natural sciences, mathematics, technology, the arts, religious and physical education) are required by universities and are still relevant. However, there is increasing understanding that new areas of knowledge, competences, and behaviours need to be integrated into curricula if young people are going to function well in an increasingly complex global society. In the future, they may be faced with enormous challenges associated with poverty, overpopulation, and declining bio-capacity

Older people and medication taking behaviour: A review of the literature

Background: Older people represent a sizeable population of the UK. Many older people receive drug treatment for long term conditions. Adherence with medication is therefore an important clinical, financial and resource intensive concern. Objectives: This review aimed to examine patient’s beliefs, perceptions and views in relation to adherence with medication. Design: A comprehensive search of the literature was undertaken using numerous approaches. The search of revealed 30 research papers. Findings: Articles were initially evaluated using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme principles to identify those relevant to the review. Relevant studies were then subjected to a narrative analysis to assist the development of relevant themes. Four themes were identified; experience of adherence; perceptions and attitudes to medication adherence and non-adherence; patients acceptance of their illness and impact on medication taking behaviour and shared decision making. Conclusions: The findings of this review imply that there is a need for more emphasis on shared decision making between the older patient and the prescriber. Using this approach adherence with medication may improve. There is also a need to develop a standardized measure of medication adherence

Phenology determines seasonal variation in ectoparasite loads in a natural insect population

1. The extent to which individuals are parasitised is a function of exposure to parasites and the immune response, which in ectotherms may be associated with temperature. 2. We test the hypothesis that seasonal variation in ectoparasite burden is driven by temperature using an extensive mark-release-recapture study of adult Coenagrion puella (L.) (Zygoptera) as a model system. Mite counts were taken both at capture and on a subset of subsequent recaptures over two entire, consecutive breeding seasons. 3. Emergence date was the most significant factor in determining individual differences in mite burden, and mean counts for individuals emerging on the same days showed strong unimodal relationships with time of season. Subsequent recounting of mites on a subset of individuals showed that patterns of loss of mites were similar between seasons. 4. While temperature did not significantly affect mite burdens within seasons and ectoparasite prevalence was very similar across the two seasons, intensity of infection and rate of mite gain in unparasitised individuals were significantly higher in the cooler season. 5. We demonstrate that, while temperature may modulate the invertebrate immune response, this modulation does not manifest in variations in mite burdens in natural populations