EAL and English: subjects and language across the curriculum

English is a core subject of the National Curriculum, and English is also the oral and written medium of instruction for the whole curriculum. ‘English across the curriculum’ conceptualises pupils applying their knowledge of these strands to other domains of subject knowledge. Subject English is highly politicised and contested; no other curriculum area undergoes such continuous scrutiny and revision. English as an Additional Language (EAL) is, in contrast, a ‘diffuse’ curriculum area which is not articulated as a distinct subject or a controversial domain of learning although, like English, EAL crosses all curriculum subjects. Part of an online series on EAL and curriculum subjects, the article discusses how pupils learning EAL apply their developing knowledge of English as well as their other languages in this particular subject area and how the curriculum in English can create additional linguistic and cultural demands on pupils learning EAL, making subject knowledge and understanding more challenging. Funded by TDA

The Storytelling Revival in England and Wales and Its Contribution to the Education of Primary Age.

This research investigated the contemporary storytelling revival in England and Wales, arising from my involvement in the revival as a teacher-storyteller. It aimed to discover skills and working methods used by tellers of traditional tales, and to offer a context for their craft. It asked whether this craft has anything to offer to the education of primary age children, and sought to determine ways children work with stories. The research began by defining the oral tradition with particular reference to storytelling, through a literature review and a chronology of the oral tradition in a theoretical context, with a focus on the educational importance of storytelling. An empirical study of contemporary practice in the storytelling revival was conducted through a questionnaire survey of professional storytellers. Further empirical research consisted of three case records of storytelling residencies, presenting evidence of children's work with stories, in which the stance of participant observer was adopted. An interplay between the storytelling revival and the oral tradition was identified, showing that contemporary storytellers are grounded in a living tradition resulting from the experiential rediscovery of a body of craft knowledge, comparable to storytellers' working methods in ancient oral cultures. Storytelling was defined as performance art, and revival practice connected to traditional strands of bardic, fireside and educational storytelling, taking a feminist perspective on the role of women storytellers. The research identified storytellers' techniques for working with stories which could enhance children's learning, particularly mnemonic strategies and graphic and inner imaging. It presented a new conceptualisation of Vygotskian scaffolding, suggesting that metaphoric scaffolding created by previous storytellers exists in the structure and pattern of a traditional story. The need for a praxis of storytelling was identified, and the following framework was proposed: i) knowledge of the oral tradition's history ii) understanding of revival storytelling crafts iii) a metalanguage for storytelling drawing on narrative, poetry and metaphor

Can God Only Exist in the Present Moment?

In this paper, I will argue that presentism is inconsistent with the belief that God exists in time. The defence of my argument will be split into two sections. The first will show that if God exists in time and presentism is true, there are some true propositions about the future. The second will use truthmaker theory to show that these propositions require an existing future entity to be made true. As the first section states that some propositions about the future are true, it is the case that some future entities exist. Hence, if God exists in time then some future entities exist. This conclusion goes directly against presentism’s fundamental claim, proving it is inconsistent with the belief that God exists in time

Ballot paper photographs and low-information elections in Ireland

In an attempt to facilitate greater voting participation in the Republic of Ireland, photographs of candidates have been placed on the ballot paper for local, national and European elections. Limited research undertaken in advance of the implementation of the photograph policy advised that the measure would assist people with literacy problems. However, social psychology research has long demonstrated that people are willing to make considerable judgements about a person when shown a photograph. The advent of ballot paper photographs allows candidates to be evaluated on the basis of their appearance. This article will explore how photographs could have become a factor in voter decision-making. Providing additional knowledge to encourage greater participation and engagement has introduced a possible new level of superficiality into the voter decision-making process

Interprofessional working : cultures, identities and conceptualisations of practice

The relationship between poor interprofessional working and child tragedies has been made apparent by numerous inquiries into child deaths. In seeking to address the well documented problems of professional communication, cooperation and collaboration; transformation in the structure (Children's Trusts) and delivery of services (integrated teams) for children and young people was initiated under the UK New Labour government (DfES, 2004). Focused on early interventions to meet the additional needs of children, the Common Assessment Framework brings together professionally and vocationally qualified practitioners from statutory, public and voluntary agencies. This research charts the origins and evolution of interprofessional practice in the context of children and young people highlighting historically important cases. Key developments in the legislative, social and cultural contexts and the effects of their interactions are scrutinised to aid further understanding of present day structures and practice. Semi-structured interview data was analysed to generate themes at individual and practitioner group level. Utilisation of the qualitative methodology Interpretative Phenomenological Analyses supported identification of three super-ordinate themes: Roles, Identities and Relationships, Change and Adaptation and Conflict and Contradictions. Theoretical connections with the literature on identity are explored providing insight into objectives, learning and new forms of practice. Drawing on ideas from Cultural Historical Activity Theory the implications for policy and practice are assessed. The thesis answers the call for the greater application of theory to interprofessional working (IPW) and education (IPE) contexts. Furthermore the research prioritises the perspective of the practitioner generating greater understanding of what it means to work collaboratively. Research findings pertain to the double binds experienced by practitioners which impeded collaboration but also generated unexpected innovations in practice and the identification of different practice orientations amongst professionally and vocationally qualified practitioners. The research concludes by asserting that partnership and child centred practice are being distorted by a performance culture.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Structural and magnetic study of Yb3+ in the perovskites Sr2YbMO6 (M = Nb, Ta, Sb)

The compounds Sr2YbNbO6, Sr2YbTaO6 and Sr2YbSbO6 have been prepared using solid state methods by heating pelleted reagents in air at temperatures up to 1400°C. Rietveld refinement against room temperature neutron powder diffraction data show that all three compounds crystallise with a cationordered variant of the perovskite structure in the P21/n space group. Complete cation ordering occurs between M5+ and Yb3+ over two octahedrally-coordinated sites in the structure and all compounds are stoichiometric in oxygen. The Sb-O bond lengths are similar to related perovskite compounds but differ slightly from those indicated by bond valence sums. Magnetic susceptibility data resemble Curie-Weiss paramagnetic behaviour, but can be better understood as arising from the effect of the octahedral crystal field on the 2F5/2 ground state of Yb3+ leading to a temperature dependent magnetic moment on this ion below 100 K

The Plasmodium falciparum pseudoprotease SERA5 regulates the kinetics and efficiency of malaria parasite egress from host erythrocytes.

Egress of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum from its host red blood cell is a rapid, highly regulated event that is essential for maintenance and completion of the parasite life cycle. Egress is protease-dependent and is temporally associated with extensive proteolytic modification of parasite proteins, including a family of papain-like proteins called SERA that are expressed in the parasite parasitophorous vacuole. Previous work has shown that the most abundant SERA, SERA5, plays an important but non-enzymatic role in asexual blood stages. SERA5 is extensively proteolytically processed by a parasite serine protease called SUB1 as well as an unidentified cysteine protease just prior to egress. However, neither the function of SERA5 nor the role of its processing is known. Here we show that conditional disruption of the SERA5 gene, or of both the SERA5 and related SERA4 genes simultaneously, results in a dramatic egress and replication defect characterised by premature host cell rupture and the failure of daughter merozoites to efficiently disseminate, instead being transiently retained within residual bounding membranes. SERA5 is not required for poration (permeabilization) or vesiculation of the host cell membrane at egress, but the premature rupture phenotype requires the activity of a parasite or host cell cysteine protease. Complementation of SERA5 null parasites by ectopic expression of wild-type SERA5 reversed the egress defect, whereas expression of a SERA5 mutant refractory to processing failed to rescue the phenotype. Our findings implicate SERA5 as an important regulator of the kinetics and efficiency of egress and suggest that proteolytic modification is required for SERA5 function. In addition, our study reveals that efficient egress requires tight control of the timing of membrane rupture

Identifying, building and sustaining leadership capacity for communities of practice in higher education

Executive summary The Leadership project LE10-1734, ‘Identifying, building and sustaining leadership capacity for communities of practice in higher education’, used an iterative, reflective, action learning approach to identify and address the leadership needs and challenges for those facilitating learning and teaching communities of practice (CoPs). CoPs are increasingly established in higher education to provide opportunities for staff to form a peer learning community and to allocate dedicated time to build knowledge of learning and teaching and to share their practice, ultimately leading to improvement and innovation. An analysis of the academic literature identified confusion around the understanding of CoPs, a dearth of literature specifically on higher education, and a gap regarding the leadership role within CoPs. The leadership role within CoPs can be challenging as the CoP may have an uneasy fit within the context of higher education institutions. Often CoPs are not aligned with formal structures, and the leadership role/s within CoPs can differ significantly from those of the familiar ‘corporate’ roles of committee chair, department head or unit/course leader. Often CoP members will be from different disciplines and may include both professional and academic staff. The dynamics of collaboration within such diversity will require significant leadership skill to manage personalities and power dynamics, cultivate a supportive receptive context and provide outcomes useful for both members and institutions. Thus, for this project, the ‘leadership’ role in the CoP is designated the ‘facilitator.’ The project team’s action research methodology is detailed in Chapter 2 of this report. Data to inform a leadership needs analysis were obtained through a literature review, a broad quantitative survey of the higher education sector, as well as from in-depth qualitative investigation with key informants. The triangulation of these sources, plus input from the reference group and evaluator, provided a deep understanding of the leadership needs and challenges for those facilitating learning and teaching CoPs in higher education. Data identified most CoPs are situated within university faculties among practitioners and are, therefore, close to where student learning takes place. In evaluating how best to support and develop capability for facilitators of CoPs in the Australian context, the project team concluded that “[r]esearch … indicates that there is no one definitive set of ‘traits’ or ‘behaviours’ that characterises leaders” and there are many diverse types of successful leader with a range of qualities, skills and attributes (Jameson 2008, p. 9). Therefore, the project’s methodology highlighted a need to engage strongly with the target end users to identify their needs; this featured throughout the project. To facilitate this approach, early, continuous engagement with a stakeholder network of individuals in Australia and overseas known to facilitate or be interested in facilitating CoPs, ensured strong involvement in the project by stakeholders. Additionally, the project team developed linkages with a number of groups working in the same area overseas and with other OLT projects in Australia. Through the stakeholder network, and other interested groups, a targeted survey and in-depth interviews informed a needs analysis for CoP facilitators in the sector, which led into development of resources from the project. These resources were derived after a comprehensive literature review, survey and interviews, as depicted in Figure 2 below, as well as engagement with the stakeholder network. A rich set of Australian, higher education-specific resources designed explicitly for those who facilitate higher education communities of practice is the key outcome of the project. Based on feedback from the project survey, interviews and the stakeholder network, the resources were developed as a ’just in time, just for me‘ integrated online package aimed at disciplinary academics who were found to be the key facilitators of CoPs in the Australian setting. The resources are framed and constructed around the development phases through which CoPs typically move, as shown in Figure 3 below. Figure 2: Identifying CoP leadership needs for development and capacity building: A triangulated/iterative approach Figure 3: Phases of Communities of Practice The introductory explanations to the resources note that the need for particular skills may be more pronounced in some phases of the CoP than others and, also, that each facilitator has a separate development journey, and, thus, completes a self-audit to assess their development needs. For each phase of CoP development, there are key leadership skills, capabilities or competencies that are needed to contribute to successful leadership by the facilitator. The resources, therefore, cover a range of skills, capabilities and competencies, in each phase of CoP development. Each individual resource is constructed to be short and sharp and to stand alone, but sits within the overall framework outlined above. These resources have been tested and reviewed with target academics at Australian-based conferences and workshops and are available for free distribution via the project website . The independent evaluation of the project highlighted that the project team displayed significant strengths including a tight project design, joint leadership, a strong approach to working together that worked with the team’s strengths and the continuous engagement model through the stakeholder network. The evaluator concludes that these strengths ensured the project stayed on time and on budget to produce excellent outcomes. In particular, the project demonstrated clear value through the identification of and engagement with end users, its articulation of the strengths and use of the CoP approach in higher education, and ultimately, through its contribution to the development of CoP facilitators.

Cook like a Boss Online: an adapted intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic that effectively improved children’s perceived cooking competence, movement competence and wellbeing

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated physical inactivity, poor dietary intake and reduced mental wellbeing, contributing factors to non-communicable diseases in children. Cooking interventions are proposed as having a positive influence on children’s diet quality. Motor skills have been highlighted as essential for performance of cooking skills, and this movement may contribute to wellbeing. Additionally, perceived competence is a motivator for behaviour performance and thus important for understanding intervention effectiveness. Therefore, this research aimed to assess the effectiveness of an adapted virtual theory-based cooking intervention on perceived cooking competence, perceived movement competence and wellbeing. METHODS: The effective theory-driven and co-created ‘Cook Like A Boss’ was adapted to a virtual five day camp-styled intervention, with 248 children across the island of Ireland participating during the pandemic. Pre- and post-intervention assessments of perceived cooking competence, perceived movement competence and wellbeing using validated measurements were completed through online surveys. Bivariate Correlations, paired samples t-tests and Hierarchical multiple regression modelling was conducted using SPSS to understand the relationships between the variables and the effect of the intervention. RESULTS: 210 participants had matched survey data and were included in analysis. Significant positive correlations were shown between perceived cooking competence, perceived movement competence and wellbeing (P < 0.05). Children’s perceived cooking competence (P < 0.001, medium to large effect size), perceived movement competence (P < 0.001, small to medium effect size) and wellbeing (P = 0.013, small effect size) all significantly increased from pre to post intervention. For the Hierarchical regression, the final model explained 57% of the total variance in participants’ post-intervention perceived cooking competence. Each model explained a significant amount of variance (P < 0.05). Pre-intervention perceived cooking competence, wellbeing, age and perceived movement competence were significant predictors for post-intervention perceived cooking competence in the final model. CONCLUSION: The ‘Cook Like A Boss’ Online intervention was an adapted virtual outreach intervention. It provides initial evidence for the associations between perceived cooking competence, perceived movement and wellbeing as well as being effective in their improvement. This research shows the potential for cooking to be used as a mechanism for targeting improvements in not only diet quality but also movement and wellbeing. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT05395234. Retrospectively registered on 26th May 2022. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12966-022-01378-x