Performativity, fabrication and trust: exploring computer-mediated moderation

Based on research conducted in an English secondary school, this paper explores computer mediated moderation as a performative tool. The Module Assessment Meeting (MAM) was the moderation approach under investigation. I mobilise ethnographic data generated by a key informant, and triangulated with that from other actors in the setting, in order to examine some of the meanings underpinning moderation within a performative environment. Drawing on the work of Ball (2003), Lyotard (1979) and Foucault (1977, 1979), I argue that in this particular case performativity has become entrenched in teachers’ day-to-day practices, and not only affects those practices but also teachers’ sense of self. I suggest that MAM represented performative and fabricated conditions and (re)defined what the key participant experienced as a vital constituent of her educational identities - trust. From examining the case in point, I hope to have illustrated for those interested in teachers’ work some of the implications of the interface between technology and performativity

Changing times in England: the influence on geography teachers’ professional practice

School geography in England has been characterised as a pendulum swinging between policies that emphasise curriculum and pedagogy alternately. In this paper, I illustrate the influence of these shifts on geography teacher's professional practice, by drawing on three “moments” from my experience as a student, teacher and teacher educator. Barnett's description of teacher professionalism as a continuous project of “being” illuminates how geography teachers can adapt to competing influences. It reflects teacher professionalism as an unfinished project, which is responsive, but not beholden, to shifting trends, and is informed by how teachers frame and enact policies. I argue that recognising these contextual factors is key to supporting geography teachers in “being” geography education professionals. As education becomes increasingly competitive on a global scale, individual governments are looking internationally for “solutions” to improve educational rankings. In this climate, the future of geography education will rest on how teachers react locally to international trends. Geography teacher educators can support this process by continuing to inform the field through meaningful geography education research, in particular in making the contextual factors of their research explicit. This can be supported through continued successful international collaboration in geography education research

Recommendations for Medical Management of Adult Lead Exposure

Research conducted in recent years has increased public health concern about the toxicity of lead at low dose and has supported a reappraisal of the levels of lead exposure that may be safely tolerated in the workplace. In this article, which appears as part of a mini-monograph on adult lead exposure, we summarize a body of published literature that establishes the potential for hypertension, effects on renal function, cognitive dysfunction, and adverse female reproductive outcome in adults with whole-blood lead concentrations < 40 μg/dL. Based on this literature, and our collective experience in evaluating lead-exposed adults, we recommend that individuals be removed from occupational lead exposure if a single blood lead concentration exceeds 30 μg/dL or if two successive blood lead concentrations measured over a 4-week interval are ≥ 20 μg/dL. Removal of individuals from lead exposure should be considered to avoid long-term risk to health if exposure control measures over an extended period do not decrease blood lead concentrations to < 10 μg/dL or if selected medical conditions exist that would increase the risk of continued exposure. Recommended medical surveillance for all lead-exposed workers should include quarterly blood lead measurements for individuals with blood lead concentrations between 10 and 19 μg/dL, and semiannual blood lead measurements when sustained blood lead concentrations are < 10 μg/dL. It is advisable for pregnant women to avoid occupational or avocational lead exposure that would result in blood lead concentrations > 5 μg/dL. Chelation may have an adjunctive role in the medical management of highly exposed adults with symptomatic lead intoxication but is not recommended for asymptomatic individuals with low blood lead concentrations

Learning to learn: improving attainment, closing the gap at Key Stage 3

In 2010, a comprehensive secondary school in the south of England implemented a whole-school approach to ‘learning to learn’ (L2L). Drawing on a range of evidence-based practices, a team of teachers worked collaboratively to design and deliver a taught L2L curriculum to all students throughout Key Stage 3. In total, the first cohort of students (n = 118) received more than 400 taught lessons throughout years 7–9. The impact of L2L on student attainment at Sea View was evaluated over those 3 years, using the pre-L2L cohort as a matched control group (n = 148). By the end of year 9, a significantly higher proportion of L2L students were either hitting or exceeding their target grades, compared with the control group. There was also a significant closing of the attainment gap between students eligible for the pupil premium and their peers (2%, vs. 25% in the control group). Key features of the L2L approach at Sea View are considered in terms of similarities and differences with other L2L approaches. Conclusions are drawn that the success of this approach lies in the combination of multiple effective practices. Recommendations for further research and development of the field are proposed

Research Strategies to Facilitate Public Participation in Discussion of Genetic Testing and Biobanking: A Summary Research Report No. 2

This paper summarises the development and implementation of the research methodology that was primarily used in Phase One of the Constructive Conversations/ Korero Whakaaetanga project – the first eighteen months of work on the project. It outlines the methodology piloted in twenty-five focus groups/ contact groups on genetic testing and biobanking that were facilitated in late 2003 and early 2004. This is followed by a discussion of some issues which emerged as this methodology was developed and employed. A description of the characteristics of the groups who participated in this stage of the project is provided. This is followed by a summary of the strategies used in preliminary analysis of the transcripts of these interviews. Proposed plans for the next stages of the contact group process are outlined, followed by a brief discussion of some issues that have arisen during the year that are relevant to the objective of achieving greater public participation in technological decision making – one of three key objectives of this research programme. This chapter was mainly written by Rosemary Hipkins with some assistance from Rosemary Du Plessis. It draws on a more detailed paper by Rosemary Hipkins (Hipkins, 2004)

Teen Identity, Affect and Sex in Rome: Italian teen girl audiences and the dissonant pleasures of Netflix’s underage prostitution drama Baby

This is the author accepted manuscript.The controversial Italian Netflix original TV series Baby (2018-2020) is based on the real-life events of an underage female prostitution scandal in Italy. This article examines the significance of this TV series for Italian teen girl audiences in the context of broader transnational discourses of girlhood, questions of «girlpower» and its limits, female friendship, and particularly sexuality and sexualisation. We use audience research to pay particular attention to the ways in which Italian female teens understand the series. Our research shows how for young audiences the dramatic news story acts as a hook and a point of departure to address a much wider range of concerns about the pressures of girlhood in an Italian context. We find that the shifting identities of the two lead characters allow audiences to imagine themselves in permanent «becoming», rather than as progressing towards a fixed goal. Viewers’ responses show how affective and aesthetic strategies used in the series create a series of dissonant viewing pleasures in exploring the often unspoken difficulties of Italian teen female experience, particularly in relation to the expression of sexuality.Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC