Fusion or Friction? UK Teachers’ Experiences of Cross-Cultural Teaching in China.

Cultural exchanges between the UK and China have gained in popularity in recent years due to the success of East Asian countries in international tests such as PISA. Chinese 15-year-olds outperform their British counterparts in mathematics, and many practitioners are travelling to China to learn teaching techniques in the hope of raising standards back home. Twenty-six undergraduate trainee-teachers and eleven fully-trained teachers travelled to the South of China to observe mathematics teaching in primary schools. They also took part in the teaching of English, Mathematics, and Science. The aim of the trip was to observe the phenomenon of ‘teaching for mastery’ as advocated by the National Centre for the Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM). After the trip, four participants were interviewed via email on their experiences in China. The researcher found that the three trainee teachers and one qualified teacher felt that what was being implemented in the UK as ‘teaching for mastery’ had little to do with the actual practices in China, where the concept supposedly originated. The participants commented that they had witnessed several teaching methods they would bring back to their own classrooms, but that the UK should be wary of adopting practices without seeing them in the context from which they came. Additionally, participants found many differences in terms of behaviour, class structure and teaching experience, which will be discussed along with the questions: Can we transfer Chinese teaching directly to the UK? And: Is teaching for mastery actually a British construct

Neurotype-Matching, but Not Being Autistic, Influences Self and Observer Ratings of Interpersonal Rapport

The Double Empathy Problem suggests that communicative difficulties between autistic and non-autistic people are due to bi-directional differences in communicative style and a reciprocal lack of understanding. If true, there should be increased similarity in interaction style, resulting in higher rapport during interactions between pairs of the same neurotype. Here, we provide two empirical tests of rapport, with data revealing whether self- and observer- rated rapport varies depending on the match or mismatch in autism status within a pair. An additional opportunity afforded by these data is to examine the effect of the autism status of the rater on the perceived rapport between matched and mismatched pairs. In Study 1 72 participants were allocated to one of three dyad conditions: autistic pairs (n = 24), non-autistic pairs (n = 24) and mixed pairs (n = 12 autistic; n = 12 non-autistic). Each participant completed three semi-structured interactions with their partner, rating rapport after each interaction. Non-autistic pairs experienced higher self-rated rapport than mixed and autistic pairs, and autistic pairs experienced higher rapport than mixed pairs. In Study 2 (n = 80) autistic and non-autistic observers rated interactional rapport while watching videoed interactions between autistic pairs, non-autistic pairs, and mixed pairs (n = 18, a subset of participants in Study 1). Mixed pairs were rated significantly lower on rapport than autistic and non-autistic pairs, and autistic pairs were rated more highly for rapport than non-autistic pairs. Both autistic and non-autistic observers show similar patterns in how they rate the rapport of autistic, non-autistic, and mixed pairs. In summary, autistic people experience high interactional rapport when interacting with other autistic people, and this is also detected by external observers. Rather than autistic people experiencing low rapport in all contexts, their rapport ratings are influenced by a mismatch of diagnosis. These findings suggest that autistic people possess a distinct mode of social interaction style, rather than demonstrating social skills deficits. These data are considered in terms of their implications for psychological theories of autism, as well as practical impact on educational and clinical practice

Innovation through neurodiversity: Diversity is beneficial

Those experiencing high rapport or strong social connection are more likely to copy each other, or emulate each other’s ideas, either consciously or sub-consciously. In this study, we use this phenomenon to examine whether neurotype match or mismatch impacts degree of imitation in a creative task. We asked 71 participants in neurodiverse pairs (including both autistic and non-autistic participants) and single-neurotype pairs (both autistic or both non-autistic), where one participant builds and one observes, to build the tallest possible tower from dried spaghetti and plasticine. We measured the height of each tower and photographed them to create a stimulus set. We then asked independent raters (n = 351, 62 autistic) to rate towers for degree of similarity. We hypothesised that lower similarity scores would be generated for towers created by people in neurodiverse pairs, showing positive innovation. Results showed towers built in the neurodiverse condition had least similarity, whereas towers built in the autistic and non-autistic conditions were significantly more similar. There was no difference in performance (height of tower) based on condition. Our results are the first to examine creativity within single-neurotype and neurodiverse pairs; they indicate that neurological diversity may be beneficial within a group setting. Subsequent research is required to examine how this interacts with divergent communication styles

Neurotypical interventions : a neurodiverse approach to school-based social communication support

Working within a neurodiversity paradigm, this project will investigate potential differences in how autistic and neurotypical (NT) children interact with each other (A-A and NT-NT), and between-groups (A-NT). It will also consider whether autistic and NT individuals perceive these social interactions differently. Interactions will be coded while children recount a social scenario story, and jointly complete a spaghetti tower task along a diffusion chain. A diffusion chain design will be used as it allows cumulative effects of transmission, which are not always apparent in dyadic settings, to be examined. Ten NT and ten autistic adults will code the interactions to see if there are differences in how they are perceived depending on the autistic diagnosis. Autistic and NT children within the interactions will also be asked about their experiences of the interaction to examine synergies and differences from alternative perspectives. The information from these studies will inform the production of a resource for use in the classroom to support the social and emotional development of autistic and NT children. This resource will help autistic children develop an understanding of NT children’s thoughts and behaviours, and assist NT children in their understanding of these in autistic children

‘Normal People’? An Autistic analysis into neurodiverse communication, and innovation through diversity.

Interactions form a major part of our lives, and how successful or not these are deemed to be can affect not only our own and others’ happiness, but also our health and life outcomes. The Autistic community have had a long and difficult history, with changing diagnoses over the past 100 years confusing and manipulating what we define as ‘normal’. Where previously Autism was framed within deficit models, with Autistic people lacking a ‘Theory of Mind’ (TOM), the ability to ‘read minds’, Autism is now being understood within the neurodiversity framework and the double empathy problem. These suggest that Autistic people are not deficient in social abilities, but that they merely interact differently to their not-Autistic, oft-described as ‘neurotypical’, peers. Not-Autistic people struggle to understand Autistic ways of thinking and communicating, described in this thesis as an ‘Autistic Theory of Mind’ (ATOM). This thesis examined secondary data, in the form of interactions between Autistic and not-Autistic pairs within diffusion chains, for similarities and differences in the length and number of silences, as well as the output of success from a tower-building task. Findings suggest the longest and most numerous instances of silences between people occurred in mixed-neurotype (neurodiverse) pairs, suggesting a potential lack of rapport between these social actors. There were no significant differences in task success across conditions. A content analysis also showed no significant differences in the topics of conversation between pairs across conditions, or in the instances of offering or help to a partner. Photos of the towers were then analysed for similarity by 351 independent raters (62 Autistic) in an online task, to explore whether replication or innovation were more common depending on the neurotype match or mismatch within the interaction. Outputs were judged as significantly more varied in the neurodiverse groups, showing that participants were less likely to replicate from a participant with a different neurotype to themselves. There were no significant differences in similarity judgements between the Autistic and not-Autistic participants. This is a small-scale study, and future replication of these results is needed to make larger inferences about what this could mean for creativity within groups of neurodiverse people. Further research could explore replication and innovation on a larger scale, looking at group dynamics as opposed to pairs within a diffusion chain

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in UK higher education: examining the impact of EAP’s position within the academy on service delivery, identity and quality.

This paper will outline a forthcoming PhD project exploring the provision of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) services in UK higher education institutions. Neoliberalism in UK universities has contributed to the extent and importance of EAP, but has also led to many challenges for staff and service delivery, including where EAP is located in HE structures. The study will examine EAP’s position, focusing on questions relating to its role, how EAP practitioners operate, the impact of the position of EAP, and improvement strategies. Three EAP units in different structural positions in higher education will be examined and data will be considered in the light of Bourdieu’s theories of ‘field’, ‘habitus’, ‘capital’ and 'symbolic violence'. It is hoped that the study will shed light on why EAP services are positioned as they are, how this impacts on quality, and how they can reposition to provide more benefit to the academy

Task-based Language Teaching in Thai Context: a Call for Robust Evidence.

The task-based language teaching (TBLT) is a learner-cantered pedagogical approach which promotes learners’ engagement in communicative tasks. TBLT has been implemented widely including in Thailand where English is used as a foreign language. However, the evidence of its effectiveness remains equivocal. This review was conducted to examine and synthesize the evidence of TBLT benefits in EFL contexts. However, it was found that most TBLT research in EFL contexts aiming to draw the effects of TBLT intervention tends to be predominated by low rigorous designs. For Thailand in particular, most studies report students’ positive perceptions about the TBLT interventions while the claims to improve language competences are vaguely proved due to the low evidence-based rigor. From such review-based findings, the paper proposes a call for design-based research to evaluate the impact of TBLT on language competences and learning skills. Adopting rigorous designs which provide counterfactuals would produce a more secure evidence for policy and practices of the TBLT implementation in the Thai EFL context

Participatory Longitudinal Qualitative Interview Study to Understand Autistic Gynaecological and Obstetric Health: the Autism from Menstruation to Menopause Study Protocol

Autism is a lifelong minority neurotype present from birth. There is a dearth of credible evidence to suggest gender variation in Autism prevalence, despite historical under-diagnosis of women. Autistic people Assigned Female At Birth (AFAB) have worse physical and mental health compared with non-Autistic peers. To date, the reproductive health experiences of Autistic AFAB people have been under-investigated.Methods and analysis This study aims to co-develop a quality improvement intervention to improve the reproductive health of Autistic people. The study uses Community Partnered Participatory Research (an approach similar to Community-Based Participatory Research), largely through a Community Council that co-governs the study. To understand reproductive health needs, a longitudinal qualitative investigation using creative methods will be undertaken with 100 Autistic AFAB people with 10 waves of data collection over 5 years (interview n=500–1000). Participants will be purposively selected to include harder-to-reach members of the Autistic community, including those who are non-speaking or semi-speaking, have a learning disability and those from marginalised ethnicities. Data will be analysed thematically with Community Council involvement. Intervention development will be undertaken from 2029 onwards.Ethics and dissemination We are an Autistic-led team that adopts a social model of disability. However, this study raises ethical issues relating to sensitive topics and marginalised populations. Accordingly, we have robust procedures in place to assess capacity to ensure informed consent and to allow participants to take part without opting into data sharing. Ethical approval has been awarded by the Swansea University School of Health and Social Care Research Ethics Committee. We will publish our findings as open access articles in peer-reviewed journals