Teaching technologies for immigrant children: an exploratory study of elementary school teachers in Russia*

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Educational institutions are an important setting where psychological, pedagogical, sociocultural, and language adaptation of immigrant children occurs. A number of teaching strategies, practices, approaches, and methods have been described in the literature. In the Russian context, such strategies have been called ‘technologies’. The purpose of the present exploratory study was to describe teaching technologies used by teachers in Russia when working with immigrant students in elementary schools. Responses of forty-five elementary school teachers to open-ended questions describing technologies they use when teaching children with migration backgrounds were analyzed using content analysis. Findings suggest that Russian elementary school teachers used ethno-cultural group, communicative technologies, games, individualized instruction, and differentiated teaching. Many approaches mentioned can be used inclusively with groups of immigrant and non-immigrant students. Importantly, while teachers supplemented classroom instruction with additional Russian language lessons, none mentioned specific techniques for teaching Russian as a non-native language. These findings are discussed in relation to teaching strategies described in the international literature focused on migrant students. Finally, implications for further research are discussed

Teaching technologies for immigrant children: an exploratory study of elementary school teachers in Russia*

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Educational institutions are an important setting where psychological, pedagogical, sociocultural, and language adaptation of immigrant children occurs. A number of teaching strategies, practices, approaches, and methods have been described in the literature. In the Russian context, such strategies have been called ‘technologies’. The purpose of the present exploratory study was to describe teaching technologies used by teachers in Russia when working with immigrant students in elementary schools. Responses of forty-five elementary school teachers to open-ended questions describing technologies they use when teaching children with migration backgrounds were analyzed using content analysis. Findings suggest that Russian elementary school teachers used ethno-cultural group, communicative technologies, games, individualized instruction, and differentiated teaching. Many approaches mentioned can be used inclusively with groups of immigrant and non-immigrant students. Importantly, while teachers supplemented classroom instruction with additional Russian language lessons, none mentioned specific techniques for teaching Russian as a non-native language. These findings are discussed in relation to teaching strategies described in the international literature focused on migrant students. Finally, implications for further research are discussed

Educational practices for immigrant children in elementary schools in Russia

Teachers have a pivotal role in the acculturation and adjustment of immigrant children. Practices are an important but an insufficiently explored part of teachers’ work in a multicultural classroom. The purpose of the present research was to identify educational practices that elementary school teachers in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, use in their work with immigrant children to provide language and academic support and promote a welcoming atmosphere in the classroom that fosters psychological adjustment of the child. Data were collected through interviews with twenty elementary school teachers working with immigrant children. Interviews were analyzed using inductive and deductive content analysis methods. Findings suggest that in the absence of institutionalized structures, teachers take the initiative to adapt their teaching and instruction methods when working with immigrant children. Teachers primarily rely on individual (one-on-one) tutoring methods to provide language and academic support. Approaches to creating a favorable climate in the classroom and the child’s psychological adjustment include practices of promoting respect for different ethnic groups and developing cross-cultural communication skills. Inclusion of parents in the educational process is used in conjunction with all practices with immigrant children used by teachers. In addition, teachers often rely on Tatar language as an intermediary between the migrant children’s heritage language and Russian when communicating with them. Most children of immigrants are from Central Asian countries where the languages spoken are Turkic in origin and similar to Tatar—the indigenous language spoken in the Republic of Tatarstan

Attitudes toward cultural diversity: A study of Russian teachers

© SACRI. The paper presents results of an exploratory study of teachers’ social attitudes toward ethnic and religious diversity, and variables influencing such attitudes. The study was conducted in Russia and is focused on school teachers in culturally diverse modern societies. Using the social distance scale we sampled 355 school teachers from two Russian regions known for their high cultural diversity (Moscow region and Republic of Tatarstan), measured teacher attitudes toward large religious and ethnic groups (including migrants). The findings showed that teachers hold mostly tolerant attitudes with respect to members belonging to culturally and religiously diverse groups. The social distance between respondents and native residents of their region was minimal. Social distance was larger with respect to such ethnic groups as migrants from the Caucasian and Central Asian countries. The analysis of perception of different religious groups also showed positive attitudes toward these groups and readiness to interact with them. Teacher attitudes were not related to their age or ethnicity. There was a significant correlation between social distance and the region of residence, and between social distance and the degree of social interaction. The results of this study will be used to develop a large-scale study to contribute to a better understanding of teacher attitudes toward immigrant students in public schools

Роль дефицита магния в развитии психологического стресса у женщин с репродуктивными проблемами в анамнезе

The present study is undertaken to study the role of magnesium deficiency in the development of psychological distress in women with reproductive problems in history subjected to Questioning of 58 women with reproductive problems (infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss) and 23 women who had no pregnancy, somatic and gynecology healthy. To determine the severity of stress used hospital scale of anxiety and depression HADS, the scale of Spielberg Charles D. and Y. L. Hanin, a test to determine the level of stress Shcherbatykh Yu. For the assessment of magnesium deficiency test was used for preliminary diagnosis of magnesium deficiency, developed by the RIC of the trace element Institute for UNESCO. The state of psychological distress identified in the vast majority of women with reproductive problems in history, with a pronounced stress occurred in 33%, moderate stress at 30%. Moderate magnesium deficiency correlated with the severity of psychological distress in women with reproductive problems in history and revealed revealed at 64.4% of women in this group. The identification of moderate magnesium deficiency requires medical correction with the use of magnesium preparations. The risk of magnesium deficiency occurred in 35.6% of women 1 group and 66.6% of women in the control group.Настоящее исследование предпринято с целью изучения роли дефицита магния в развитии психологического стресса у женщин с репродуктивными проблемами в анамнезе. Анкетированию подвергнуты 58 женщин с репродуктивными проблемами (бесплодие, привычное невынашивание) и 23 женщины, не имевшие беременности, соматически и гинекологически здоровые. Для определения выраженности стресса использовали госпитальную шкалу тревоги и депрессии HADS, шкалу Спилберга Ч.Д. и Ханина Ю.Л., тест на определение уровня стресса Щербатых Ю.В. Для оценки дефицита магния использовали тест для предварительной диагностики дефицита магния, разработанный РСЦ института Микроэлементов ЮНЕСКО. Состояние психологического стресса выявлено у подавляющего большинства женщин с репродуктивными проблемами в анамнезе, при этом выраженный стресс имел место у 33%, умеренный стресс – у 30%. Умеренный дефицит магния коррелировал со степенью выраженности психологического неблагополучия у женщин с репродуктивными проблемами в анамнезе и выявлен у 64,4% женщин этой группы.Выявление умеренного дефицита магния требует проведения медикаментозной коррекции с использованием препаратов магния. Риск дефицита магния имел место у 35,6% женщин1 группы и у 66,6% женщин контрольной группы. Корреляции между риском дефицита магния и степенью выраженности стресса не выявлено

Rivaroxaban or aspirin for patent foramen ovale and embolic stroke of undetermined source: a prespecified subgroup analysis from the NAVIGATE ESUS trial

Background: Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a contributor to embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS). Subgroup analyses from previous studies suggest that anticoagulation could reduce recurrent stroke compared with antiplatelet therapy. We hypothesised that anticoagulant treatment with rivaroxaban, an oral factor Xa inhibitor, would reduce the risk of recurrent ischaemic stroke compared with aspirin among patients with PFO enrolled in the NAVIGATE ESUS trial. Methods: NAVIGATE ESUS was a double-blinded, randomised, phase 3 trial done at 459 centres in 31 countries that assessed the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban versus aspirin for secondary stroke prevention in patients with ESUS. For this prespecified subgroup analysis, cohorts with and without PFO were defined on the basis of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE). The primary efficacy outcome was time to recurrent ischaemic stroke between treatment groups. The primary safety outcome was major bleeding, according to the criteria of the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. The primary analyses were based on the intention-to-treat population. Additionally, we did a systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of studies in which patients with cryptogenic stroke and PFO were randomly assigned to receive anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy. Findings: Between Dec 23, 2014, and Sept 20, 2017, 7213 participants were enrolled and assigned to receive rivaroxaban (n=3609) or aspirin (n=3604). Patients were followed up for a mean of 11 months because of early trial termination. PFO was reported as present in 534 (7·4%) patients on the basis of either TTE or TOE. Patients with PFO assigned to receive aspirin had a recurrent ischaemic stroke rate of 4·8 events per 100 person-years compared with 2·6 events per 100 person-years in those treated with rivaroxaban. Among patients with known PFO, there was insufficient evidence to support a difference in risk of recurrent ischaemic stroke between rivaroxaban and aspirin (hazard ratio [HR] 0·54; 95% CI 0·22–1·36), and the risk was similar for those without known PFO (1·06; 0·84–1·33; pinteraction=0·18). The risks of major bleeding with rivaroxaban versus aspirin were similar in patients with PFO detected (HR 2·05; 95% CI 0·51–8·18) and in those without PFO detected (HR 2·82; 95% CI 1·69–4·70; pinteraction=0·68). The random-effects meta-analysis combined data from NAVIGATE ESUS with data from two previous trials (PICSS and CLOSE) and yielded a summary odds ratio of 0·48 (95% CI 0·24–0·96; p=0·04) for ischaemic stroke in favour of anticoagulation, without evidence of heterogeneity. Interpretation: Among patients with ESUS who have PFO, anticoagulation might reduce the risk of recurrent stroke by about half, although substantial imprecision remains. Dedicated trials of anticoagulation versus antiplatelet therapy or PFO closure, or both, are warranted. Funding: Bayer and Janssen