Enterprise pedagogy in music: an exploration of multiple pedagogies

This article investigates the nature of enterprise pedagogy in music. It presents the results of a research project that applied the practices of enterprise learning developed in the post-compulsory music curriculum in England to the teaching of the National Curriculum for music for 11-to-14-year-olds. In doing so, the article explores the nature of enterprise learning and the nature of pedagogy, in order to consider whether enterprise pedagogy offers an effective way to teach the National Curriculum. Enterprise pedagogy was found to have a positive effect on the motivation of students and on the potential to match learning to the needs of students of different abilities. Crucially, it was found that, to be effective, not only did the teacher’s practice need to be congruent with the beliefs and theories on which it rests, but that the students also needed to share in these underlying assumptions through their learning. The study has implications for the way in which teachers work multiple pedagogies in the process of developing their pedagogical identity

Beyond a constructivist curriculum : a critique of competing paradigms in music education

The distinction between learning to perform on an instrument or voice and learning music in a wider sense is one that is made in many countries, and is especially pertinent in England in the context of recent policy developments. This article argues that, whilst this distinction has come to represent curricula based on the opposing paradigms of behaviourist and constructivist approaches to learning, this opposition does not necessarily extend to the pedagogy through which the curricula are taught. A case study of the National Curriculum in England highlights the characteristics of a curriculum based on constructivist principles, along with the impact this has when taught in a behaviourist way. It is argued that conceiving the curriculum in terms of musical competencies and pedagogy in terms of musical understanding would provide a basis for greater continuity and higher quality in the music education experienced by young people

Enabling teachers to promote incremental theories of intelligence in young children: an intervention and an instrument

The primary focus of this thesis was to translate the rich ‘implicit theories of intelligence’ framework into an accessible intervention to allow teachers to promote growth mindsets in their pupils. A growth mindset is an implicit belief that one can grow one’s intelligence through learning and effort. Research suggests that those with a growth mindset will seek out challenges, are focussed on their learning rather than their results, and have a more positive response to failure. Previous research has linked these behaviours with increased educational attainment, especially for pupils at risk of not achieving their educational potential. This project was completed in partnership with the Stoke Reads programme from the City of Stoke-on-Trent Council. The goal was to provide young learners in the City with the best possible literacy learning environment. The toolkit developed in this thesis is called the ‘Stoke Reads Mindset Kit’ and was developed utilising a co-creation approach, this meant working in parallel with a group of experts in early years literacy education to develop the intervention. To explore whether the intervention was successful in its aims, an instrument to measure mindsets in young children was developed – the Mindset Measure for Young Children (MMYC). The first version of the instrument was trialled with adults to ensure the instrument had convergent validity with existing constructs (N=89). Following revisions, a trial was carried out with Reception pupils - the same age as those participating in the intervention. This was to assess if the instrument was sufficiently accessible for young children (N=51) and to evaluate test re-test reliability. Finally, to investigate the structure of the implicit theories framework the instrument was then trialled with a sample of adult participants, alongside existing instruments for every component of the implicit theories framework, e.g. response to failure, learning goals etc. (N = 125). The results suggested that the MMYC had convergent validity with existing instruments. However, a different structure to the framework as described in the literature was found, for example, a mastery response to failure did not clearly relate to a growth mindset. Finally, the ‘Stoke Reads Mindset Kit’ was evaluated in a quasi-experimental design in schools across the City for one academic year (Npupils = 443, Kschools = 9). The findings suggest that key behaviours (e.g. positive response to failure) which the intervention was designed to promote were successfully increased, but pupil’s mindsets did not always change. In line with previous research, it was found that pupils at risk of academic underachievement benefitted the most from a growth mindset. However, there was no evidence to support the hypothesis that a growth mindset would help raise pupil aspirations. Finally, teacher feedback about the intervention was positive and data suggested that they had a more positive view of their pupils’ potential following their engagement with the Stoke Reads Mindset Kit. The key contributions of this thesis are: the development of a novel psychometric instrument to measure mindsets in young children; that it is possible to translate the rich theoretical framework into a ‘light-touch’ intervention; and that the structure of the implicit theories framework may not be as previously described

Spacelab- The First Mission & Beyond

The recent successful flight of Spacelab 1 while being the culmination of over 10 years of international cooperation is seen as just the start of a new era in manned scientific operations in orbit. This paper highlights the objectives and results of that first mission, as well as describing the international Spacelab program, its concept, and its history. Then looking to the future, the plans for utilizing Spacelab, its versatility and potential to the science community and its continuing evolution are discussed. Plans for substantially improving the cost effectiveness of Spacelab are examined including the use of dedicated discipline laboratories and small payload carriers. Finally, the paper evaluates the importance of incorporating Spacelab technology, concepts, lessons learned, and methodology into the development and utilization of an international Space Station over the next decade

COMPARING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR BEEF CATTLE BACKGROUNDING: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

Livestock Production/Industries,

Parental Rights and Religious Liberty: Examining New Conflicts Between Parents and the State

The Supreme Court has articulated that parents have the unenumerated right rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment to direct the care, custody, and upbringing of their children since the 1920s in such cases as Pierce v. Society of Sisters, Meyer v. Nebraska, Parham v. J.R. and Troxel v. Granville. However, the precise contours of the right have long been uncertain, as has the level of scrutiny to be applied. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court established a clear threshold for unenumerated rights, that they must be rooted in history and tradition and essential to ordered liberty. The Court noted that its decision does not call into question its line of cases on parental rights. Nevertheless, the question remains: do parental rights meet the Court’s threshold? Are there reasons to believe that parental rights will be affected by the Dobbs decision? The Dobbs decision comes as a new series of conflicts between parents and the state are arising in education and healthcare around the country. Many of these conflicts over ideas about gender and race. These new conflicts implicate parental rights and are raising questions for courts such as: Who has the primary responsibility for the formation of a child’s identity and values? Do parental rights extend beyond the schoolhouse gate to include instruction and policies in schools? And who gets to decide the treatment of a child’s mental health, including gender distress? These questions and more have been raised in a series of recent lawsuits against school districts over policies concerning race and gender-based curriculum and policies where challengers have invoked parental rights theories. How do those arguments square with existing doctrine? How might they extend existing doctrine

Metformin reduces airway glucose permeability and hyperglycaemia-induced Staphylococcus aureus load independently of effects on blood glucose

Background Diabetes is a risk factor for respiratory infection, and hyperglycaemia is associated with increased glucose in airway surface liquid and risk of Staphylococcus aureus infection. Objectives To investigate whether elevation of basolateral/blood glucose concentration promotes airway Staphylococcus aureus growth and whether pretreatment with the antidiabetic drug metformin affects this relationship. Methods Human airway epithelial cells grown at air–liquid interface (±18 h pre-treatment, 30 μM–1 mM metformin) were inoculated with 5×105 colony-forming units (CFU)/cm2 S aureus 8325-4 or JE2 or Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 on the apical surface and incubated for 7 h. Wild-type C57BL/6 or db/db (leptin receptor-deficient) mice, 6–10 weeks old, were treated with intraperitoneal phosphate-buffered saline or 40 mg/kg metformin for 2 days before intranasal inoculation with 1×107 CFU S aureus. Mice were culled 24 h after infection and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid collected. Results Apical S aureus growth increased with basolateral glucose concentration in an in vitro airway epithelia–bacteria co-culture model. S aureus reduced transepithelial electrical resistance (RT) and increased paracellular glucose flux. Metformin inhibited the glucose-induced growth of S aureus, increased RT and decreased glucose flux. Diabetic (db/db) mice infected with S aureus exhibited a higher bacterial load in their airways than control mice after 2 days and metformin treatment reversed this effect. Metformin did not decrease blood glucose but reduced paracellular flux across ex vivo murine tracheas. Conclusions Hyperglycaemia promotes respiratory S aureus infection, and metformin modifies glucose flux across the airway epithelium to limit hyperglycaemia-induced bacterial growth. Metformin might, therefore, be of additional benefit in the prevention and treatment of respiratory infection