Socially responsive classrooms for students with special educational needs and disabilities

This mixed-methods study examined the social networks of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to understand how the degree of a socially responsive classroom may have an impact on the inclusion and participation of these students and their peers. A critical case study design grounded in social capital theory drove the study. Data were collected from two Grade 4 classrooms, where 41 students participated in the social network questionnaire and 31 students took part in semi-structured interviews. One of the two classrooms appeared to be more socially responsive and its results have indicated that SEND students were well connected to their classmates, were as popular and had as many friends as their non-SEND peers

A qualitative examination of barriers against effective medical education and practices related to breastfeeding promotion and support in Lebanon.

Background: Insufficient breastfeeding promotion and support by physicians contribute to suboptimal breastfeeding rates globally. Understanding setting-specific barriers against breastfeeding promotion and support from the perspective of medical students and addressing those that can be modified through undergraduate medical education may help improve learning outcomes, medical practice, and ultimately health outcomes associated with breastfeeding.Objectives: We selected the underserved and under-supported public medical school in Lebanon to explore psychosocial, institutional, and societal barriers hindering effective preventative medicine practices using breastfeeding promotion and support as an exemplar case.Methods: One-on-one semi-structured interviews, each lasting around 60 min, were conducted with medical interns (in Med III and Med IV) at their training hospitals. Interviews were voice-recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed thematically based on Theory of Planned Behavior.Results: Interns (n= 49; 96% response rate) completed the study. Five major themes emerged addressing barriers at various levels. At the health care system level at large, interns identified the predominant focus on pathophysiology and treatment rather than on disease prevention and health promotion as a barrier. At the level of trainees and their education experiences, interns reported limited and optional clerkship training in obstetrics/gynecology and in neonatology which contributes to their insufficient knowledge and low self-efficacy. Competing financial interests from infant formula companies and social pressures to promote infant formula were identified as two main barriers at the level of physicians and clinical practice.Conclusions: Our work using breastfeeding as an exemplary case highlights how undergraduate medical education and its learning outcomes and how medical practices and patient behavior are highly intertwined with psychosocial, institutional, and social drivers and constraints. Re-evaluating the success of undergraduate medical curricula in light of overcoming these constraints and not only based on meeting national accreditation and certification guidelines might prove helpful in improving medical education and ultimately clinical practice

Exploring the space between: Social networks, trust, and urban school district leaders

Una serie de académicos han estudiado el contexto del distrito en el que se encuentran inmersos los centros educativos. Estos estudios sugieren la importancia de las oficinas municipales como apoyo o limitación del trabajo de los centros educativos ofreciendo estrategias para construir las relaciones entre los distritos y los líderes locales. Esta es una tarea importante y, sin embargo, frecuentemente se pasa por alto que las mejoras de los esfuerzos organizativos se construyen socialmente. Por ello, el análisis de las redes sociales y la confianza entre los líderes del distrito y de los centros educativos puede proporcionar una visión desde dentro respecto a los apoyos y limitaciones relacionados con la mejora. En este estudio de caso se utiliza una red social y datos sobre la confianza para explorar las mejores prácticas relacionadas con los líderes, en un distrito escolar de tamaño medio con bajo rendimiento. Los resultados sugieren unos lazos sociales de la red débiles, bajos niveles de confianza y una previsible relación entre la confianza y los intercambios recíprocos con las mejores prácticas relacionadas con la mejoraA number of scholars are exploring the district context in which schools are embedded. These studies suggest the importance of the district office as a support or constraint to the work of schools and offer strategies for building relations between district and site leaders. While this is an important task, what is frequently overlooked is that organizational improvement efforts are often socially constructed. Therefore, an analysis of social networks and trust between district and site leaders may provide additional insights into supports and constraints related to improvement. This case study uses social network and trust data to explore the underlying best practice relations between leaders in a midsize underperforming urban school district. Results suggest weak network ties, low levels of trust, and a predictive relationship between trust and the reciprocal exchange of best practices related to improvementEsta investigación ha sido apoyada por una financiación de la W.T. Grant Foundation (Grant, nº 10174

Exploring the latitude of attitude: Intentions to breastfeed among adolescents in Lebanese schools.

School-based breastfeeding education (SBBE) may help improve breastfeeding rates in the long-term by targeting children and adolescents' knowledge, attitudes, skills, and intentions. Breastfeeding rates in Lebanon are suboptimal. Psychosocial drivers of breastfeeding intention among the youth are unknown. We administered a survey to 658 high school students (448 females; 210 males) at two large Lebanese schools to understand intentions, intention drivers, and views on SBBE as means to guide SBBE programme design on the basis of the theory of planned behaviour. We collected information on demographics, intention to breastfeed/support wife to breastfeed future. Intention was predicted by attitude related to breastfeeding health outcomes and family normative beliefs-χ2 (25) = 115, P < .001 for males, and χ2 (39.3) = 186, P < .001 for females. Among females, intention was also positively associated with being breastfed, higher socio-economic status, and being more accepting of public breastfeeding. Seventy-eight per cent of students felt they were not learning enough about breastfeeding in school but were interested in SBBE through didactic teaching methods and interactive experiences. Findings indicate that breastfeeding intention among adolescent students is not merely influenced by the extent of knowledge but by more complicated psychosocial drivers that may differ by gender. Our findings also suggest a misalignment exists between what schools are providing with what students feel they need, thereby opening up a potential space for intervention

#commoncore Project: How Social Media Is Changing the Politics of Education

The Common Core has become a flashpoint at the nexus of education politics and policy, fueled by ardent social media activists. To explore this phenomenon, this innovative and interactive website examines the Common Core debate through the lens of the influential social media site Twitter. Using a social network perspective that examines the relationships among actors, we focus on the most highly used Twitter hashtag about the Common Core: #commoncore. The central question of our investigation is: How are social media-enabled social networks changing the discourse in American politics that produces and sustains social policy? To join a conversation about this research in an open forum, tweet using #htagcommoncore

#CommonCore: Methods

This section provides a detailed discussion of the methods used to arrive at the conclusions in #CommonCore: How social media is changing the politics of education

Learning, friendship and social contexts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce a social network analysis (SNA) toolkit aiming to enable leaders, educators and researchers work together to deepen their understanding of classroom social network dynamics. In doing so, the authors provide both theoretical and practical steps in building a bridge between theory and practice and a step-by-step introduction to designing and implementing SNA to understand socially responsive classrooms. To make the case, the authors present data that were collected through an SNA survey completed by eighth graders in two highly diverse classrooms in Southern California. Design/methodology/approach Driven by an SNA perspective, the authors highlight the potential value of examining social interdependencies and interconnectedness among students in a classroom network. The SNA toolkit was employed to calculate social network measures and develop network maps for each classroom. Findings The toolkit has shown to provide a comprehensive platform in gaining important insights into students’ social relationships, particularly those who are underserved and at higher risk of exclusion. The findings have shown that some of the students in the two classrooms were more likely to remain on the periphery of their social networks, particularly those who are traditionally more likely to be marginalized including students with disabilities as well as racially and linguistically diverse students. Originality/value The toolkit in the hands of leaders and teachers may provide a powerful tool for personalized professional development and act as a catalyst in bridging the gap between research and practice

Netværksforståelse fremover – Forskning og praksis for uddannelsesmæssig forandring

Uddannelsessystemer over hele verden opererer som uafhængige enheder, hvor individer ikke nødvendigvis betragter sig selv som en del af større fællesskaber og netværk. Undersøgelser viser, at netværk kan have betydning for menneskers helbred, lykke og verdenssyn, og har ligeledes indflydelse på forskellige typer af læringsfællesskaber i uddannelse.  Forfatterne fremhæver vigtigheden af at undersøge kvaliteten og kvantiteten af sociale bånd mellem aktører i uddannelsessektorer for at forstå, hvordan interaktioner påvirker uddannelse med hensyn til relationer, engagement og resilliens. Netværksrelationer er nu mere end nogensinde vigtige at afdække og forstå i både uddannelsespraksis og i uddannelsesforskningen, for at bidrage til fremtidens globale uddannelsesdagsordner – ikke mindst i lyset af den seneste verdensomspændende sundhedskrise såvel som efter at have gennemstået mange år med talrige uddannelsesreformer

Promoting Equitable Educational Outcomes for High-Risk College Students: The Roles of Social Capital and Resilience

Ensuring the success of high-risk college students is important for individuals, universities, and society at large. To ensure degree attainment, educational leaders must identify and understand the factors that contribute to student retention to degree. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the personal and campus related supports described by high-risk students. The research was conducted at a large, public, doctoral intensive university in Southern California that admits freshmen under two different admissions criteria. Eight students admitted in the university’s lower admissions cohort were interviewed. The interplay between student resilience and self-efficacy, with engagement and acquisition of social capital were identified as critical factors in student retention and degree attainment