Success in Diversity: Culture, Knowledge and Learning in Ethnically Diverse Classrooms

The thesis is a longitudinal, critical ethnographic study of interaction in ethnically diverse classrooms. It tracks the mainstream school experiences of a small group of successful bilingual learners from Year 3 to Year 6. It examines the structural and contextual factors which influence children’s success in learning. A model of concentric layers of interaction is proposed to illustrate the children's intersecting experiences in school, home and community. Analysis of chosen samples of teacher- teacher, teacher-child and child-child talk in classrooms using a critical discourse framework indicates the importance of talk for children's learning, and the need for models of language and learning to underpin pedagogies which reflect the complexities of the children's experience. A key element of the theoretical stance and methodology is the attempt to valorise the viewpoints of all participants in the classroom and other contexts. The use of semi-structured interviews and other forms of data collection elicited evidence of these from the children's teachers and their parents in home contexts. These are analysed using the same frameworks as those suggested above. The findings are positioned in the historical and political contexts from which they arise and to which they contribute. The contradictions and tensions inherent in the various contexts are thus revealed. The study reveals a very complex picture of interaction in ethnically diverse classrooms with children and teachers involved in mutual negotiation and culture-creating to construct curriculum knowledge, as well as what it means to be a pupil. The conclusions of the thesis argue for the urgent need to take such evidence into account when developing policy and curricula for primary children's learning and the education of teachers. It questions the adequacy of current centrally developed models to prepare both teachers and learners to become full participants in a genuinely diverse, multicultural society

Large-scale delivery of seasonal malaria chemoprevention to children under 10 in Senegal: an economic analysis.

Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) is recommended for children under 5 in the Sahel and sub-Sahel. The burden in older children may justify extending the age range, as has been done effectively in Senegal. We examine costs of door-to-door SMC delivery to children up to 10 years by community health workers (CHWs). We analysed incremental financial and economic costs at district level and below from a health service perspective. We examined project accounts and prospectively collected data from 405 CHWs, 46 health posts, and 4 district headquarters by introducing questionnaires in advance and completing them after each monthly implementation round. Affordability was explored by comparing financial costs of SMC to relevant existing health expenditure levels. Costs were disaggregated by administration month and by health service level. We used linear regression models to identify factors associated with cost variation between health posts. The financial cost to administer SMC to 180 000 children over one malaria season, reaching ∼93% of children with all three intended courses of SMC was $234 549 (constant 2010 USD) or$0.50 per monthly course administered. Excluding research-participation incentives, the financial cost was $0.32 per resident (all ages) in the catchment area, which is 1.2$278 922 or $0.59 per course administered and varied widely between health posts, from$0.38 to $2.74 per course administered. Substantial economies of scale across health posts were found, with the smallest health posts incurring highest average costs per monthly course administered. SMC for children up to 10 is likely to be affordable, particularly where it averts substantial curative care costs. Estimates of likely costs and cost-effectiveness of SMC in other contexts must account for variation in average costs across delivery months and health posts

Where two worlds meet: language policing in mainstream and complementary schools in England

We compare language policing in two educational contexts in England: mainstream schools and complementary schools. We draw on a varied dataset (policy documents, in-class observations, interviews) collected from mainstream schools and Greek complementary schools in London. We find similarities in how the two types of schools control, regulate, monitor and suppress the language of school students. Both settings hierarchise standardised and non-standardised varieties in institutional policies that delegitimise the non-standardised varieties. Teachers become vehicles for language ideologies in enacting monovarietal policies drawing on discourses around academic success and the primacy of written language over spoken language, including regional varieties such as Cypriot Greek. Our findings suggest that multilingual and multidialectal students in England who attend both mainstream and complementary schools are exposed to similar kinds of prescriptive discourses across the whole spectrum of their educational experiences, which can have a range of negative effects on their learning and the construction of their self-image. We argue that more links need to be forged between the two educational settings and that these should include the development of integrated pedagogies and policies that legitimise students’ whole linguistic repertoires, encompassing both their standardised and their non-standardised varieties as well as their other linguistic resources

Large-scale delivery of seasonal malaria chemoprevention to children under 10 in Senegal: an economic analysis

Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) is recommended for children under 5 in the Sahel and sub-Sahel. The burden in older children may justify extending the age range, as has been done effectively in Senegal. We examine costs of door-To-door SMC delivery to children up to 10 years by community health workers (CHWs). We analysed incremental financial and economic costs at district level and below from a health service perspective. We examined project accounts and prospectively collected data from 405 CHWs, 46 health posts, and 4 district headquarters by introducing questionnaires in advance and completing them after each monthly implementation round. Affordability was explored by comparing financial costs of SMC to relevant existing health expenditure levels. Costs were disaggregated by administration month and by health service level. We used linear regression models to identify factors associated with cost variation between health posts. The financial cost to administer SMC to 180 000 children over one malaria season, reaching â 1/493% of children with all three intended courses of SMC was 234 549 (constant 2010 USD) or 0.50 per monthly course administered. Excluding research-participation incentives, the financial cost was 0.32 per resident (all ages) in the catchment area, which is 1.2% of Senegal's general government expenditure on health per capita. Economic costs were 18.7% higher than financial costs at 278 922 or 0.59 per course administered and varied widely between health posts, from 0.38 to 2.74 per course administered. Substantial economies of scale across health posts were found, with the smallest health posts incurring highest average costs per monthly course administered. SMC for children up to 10 is likely to be affordable, particularly where it averts substantial curative care costs. Estimates of likely costs and cost-effectiveness of SMC in other contexts must account for variation in average costs across delivery months and health posts

Exposure Patterns Driving Ebola Transmission in West Africa:A Retrospective Observational Study

BackgroundThe ongoing West African Ebola epidemic began in December 2013 in Guinea, probably from a single zoonotic introduction. As a result of ineffective initial control efforts, an Ebola outbreak of unprecedented scale emerged. As of 4 May 2015, it had resulted in more than 19,000 probable and confirmed Ebola cases, mainly in Guinea (3,529), Liberia (5,343), and Sierra Leone (10,746). Here, we present analyses of data collected during the outbreak identifying drivers of transmission and highlighting areas where control could be improved.Methods and findingsOver 19,000 confirmed and probable Ebola cases were reported in West Africa by 4 May 2015. Individuals with confirmed or probable Ebola ("cases") were asked if they had exposure to other potential Ebola cases ("potential source contacts") in a funeral or non-funeral context prior to becoming ill. We performed retrospective analyses of a case line-list, collated from national databases of case investigation forms that have been reported to WHO. These analyses were initially performed to assist WHO's response during the epidemic, and have been updated for publication. We analysed data from 3,529 cases in Guinea, 5,343 in Liberia, and 10,746 in Sierra Leone; exposures were reported by 33% of cases. The proportion of cases reporting a funeral exposure decreased over time. We found a positive correlation (r = 0.35, p ConclusionsAchieving elimination of Ebola is challenging, partly because of super-spreading. Safe funeral practices and fast hospitalisation contributed to the containment of this Ebola epidemic. Continued real-time data capture, reporting, and analysis are vital to track transmission patterns, inform resource deployment, and thus hasten and maintain elimination of the virus from the human population

Ebola virus disease in West Africa — the first 9 Months of the epidemic and forward projections

BACKGROUND On March 23, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea. On August 8, the WHO declared the epidemic to be a "public health emergency of international concern." METHODS By September 14, 2014, a total of 4507 probable and confirmed cases, including 2296 deaths from EVD (Zaire species) had been reported from five countries in West Africa - Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. We analyzed a detailed subset of data on 3343 confirmed and 667 probable Ebola cases collected in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone as of September 14. RESULTS The majority of patients are 15 to 44 years of age (49.9% male), and we estimate that the case fatality rate is 70.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 69 to 73) among persons with known clinical outcome of infection. The course of infection, including signs and symptoms, incubation period (11.4 days), and serial interval (15.3 days), is similar to that reported in previous outbreaks of EVD. On the basis of the initial periods of exponential growth, the estimated basic reproduction numbers (R-0) are 1.71 (95% CI, 1.44 to 2.01) for Guinea, 1.83 (95% CI, 1.72 to 1.94) for Liberia, and 2.02 (95% CI, 1.79 to 2.26) for Sierra Leone. The estimated current reproduction numbers (R) are 1.81 (95% CI, 1.60 to 2.03) for Guinea, 1.51 (95% CI, 1.41 to 1.60) for Liberia, and 1.38 (95% CI, 1.27 to 1.51) for Sierra Leone; the corresponding doubling times are 15.7 days (95% CI, 12.9 to 20.3) for Guinea, 23.6 days (95% CI, 20.2 to 28.2) for Liberia, and 30.2 days (95% CI, 23.6 to 42.3) for Sierra Leone. Assuming no change in the control measures for this epidemic, by November 2, 2014, the cumulative reported numbers of confirmed and probable cases are predicted to be 5740 in Guinea, 9890 in Liberia, and 5000 in Sierra Leone, exceeding 20,000 in total. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that without drastic improvements in control measures, the numbers of cases of and deaths from EVD are expected to continue increasing from hundreds to thousands per week in the coming months

Tropical Data: Approach and Methodology as Applied to Trachoma Prevalence Surveys

PURPOSE: Population-based prevalence surveys are essential for decision-making on interventions to achieve trachoma elimination as a public health problem. This paper outlines the methodologies of Tropical Data, which supports work to undertake those surveys. METHODS: Tropical Data is a consortium of partners that supports health ministries worldwide to conduct globally standardised prevalence surveys that conform to World Health Organization recommendations. Founding principles are health ministry ownership, partnership and collaboration, and quality assurance and quality control at every step of the survey process. Support covers survey planning, survey design, training, electronic data collection and fieldwork, and data management, analysis and dissemination. Methods are adapted to meet local context and needs. Customisations, operational research and integration of other diseases into routine trachoma surveys have also been supported. RESULTS: Between 29th February 2016 and 24th April 2023, 3373 trachoma surveys across 50 countries have been supported, resulting in 10,818,502 people being examined for trachoma. CONCLUSION: This health ministry-led, standardised approach, with support from the start to the end of the survey process, has helped all trachoma elimination stakeholders to know where interventions are needed, where interventions can be stopped, and when elimination as a public health problem has been achieved. Flexibility to meet specific country contexts, adaptation to changes in global guidance and adjustments in response to user feedback have facilitated innovation in evidence-based methodologies, and supported health ministries to strive for global disease control targets

Success in diversity Culture, knowledge and learning in ethnically diverse primary classrooms

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