Commercialisation and Privatisation in/of education in the context of Covid-19

The Covid-19 emergency has affected education systems worldwide. The\ua0‘pivot’ to ‘online learning’ and ‘emergency remote teaching’ has positioned\ua0educational technology (edtech) as an integral component of education\ua0globally, bringing private sector and commercial organisations into the\ua0centre of essential educational services. The effects are likely to persist for\ua0some time, first of all in temporary ‘blended’ models of ‘socially distanced’\ua0schooling during the period of pandemic recovery, and perhaps for\ua0longer in ‘hybrid’ approaches in which edtech is embedded in curriculum,\ua0pedagogy, assessment, and school management. This report explores\ua0how privatisation and commercialisation of education have advanced\ua0during the 2020 pandemic, with a particular focus on edtech

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While concern for ‘publicness’ can take many forms, such as media reports of educational crises or concerns regarding patient waiting times in hospitals, public institutions are still widely considered to be important foundations of democratic societies. The public good and the demos have been trumped by private positional good, as demonstrated by increased competition between schools for particular clientele, and the ways that families now buy-in to schooling markets literally and optimistically. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book approaches issues of school privatisation in different contexts, and shed light on the contours of this reorganisation and the implications this has for public education systems. It collectively argues for a new consideration of how the readers understand the forces changing the publicness of schooling, whether the readers should move beyond the public/private distinction in regards to schooling.</p

Consensus Statement of the International Summit on Intellectual Disability and Dementia on Valuing the Perspectives of Persons with Intellectual Disability

The International Summit on Intellectual Disability and Dementia held in Scotland in 2016 covered a range of issues related to dementia and intellectual disability, including the dearth of personal reflections of persons with intellectual disability affected by dementia. This paper reflects on this deficiency and explores some of the personal perspectives gleaned from the literature, from Summit attendees, and from the experiences of persons with intellectual disability recorded or scribed in advance of the two-day Summit meeting. Omission of the perspectives of persons with intellectual disability in both policy and practice limits understanding of the experience of dementia. It leads to an overreliance on proxy reporting; something considered by the Summit to be a backwards step in person-centred work. The Summit recognised that the perspectives of persons with intellectual disability must be considered whenever interventions and supports are discussed with planning required at an earlier stage for advance directives that guide medical treatment, and for advice or counselling around relationships, the continuity of social networks, and when securing dementia-friendly housing. Systemic recommendations included reinforcing the value of the involvement of persons with intellectual disability in (a) research alongside removing barriers to inclusion posed by institutional/ethics review boards, (b) planning groups that establish services and supports for dementia, and (c) peer support efforts that help adults with intellectual disability who are affected by dementia (either directly or indirectly). Practice recommendations included (a) valuing personal perspectives in decision-making, (b) enabling peer-to-peer support models, (c) supporting choice in community dwelling arrangements, and (d) wider availability of materials for persons with intellectual disability that would promote understanding of dementia

Dying well with an intellectual disability and dementia?

As more people with intellectual disabilities live into old age, the prevalence of dementia in this group is increasing. Kathryn Service and colleagues examine the challenges to dementia practice presented by intellectual disabilit

The Beginning of the End of the Anthropic Principle

We argue that if string theory as an approach to the fundamental laws of physics is correct, then there is almost no room for anthropic arguments in cosmology. The quark and lepton masses and interaction strengths are determined.Comment: 12 page

Electrochemical detection and capillary electrophoresis: Comparative studies for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) release from living cells

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is one of the main biomarkers that is clinically detected in bone and liver disorders using optical assays. The electrochemical principle is important because point-of-care testing is increasing dramatically and absorbance techniques hardly compete with the medical revolution that is occurring. The detection of ALP using electrochemical detection is contributing to the integration systems field, and hence enhancing the detection of biological targets for pharmaceutical research and design systems. Moreover, in vitro electrochemical measurements use cost effective materials and simple techniques. Graphite screen-printed electrodes and linear sweep voltammetry were used to optimize the electrochemistry of the enzymatic product p-aminophenol using the enzyme kinetic assay. ALP release from embryonic and cancer cells was determined from adhesion cell culture. Additionally, capillary electrophoresis and colorimetric methods were applied for comparison assays. The resulting assays showed a dynamic range of ALP ranging from 1.5 to 1500 U/L, and limit of detection of 0.043 U/L. This was achieved by using 70 μL of the sample and an incubation time of 10 min at an optimal substrate concentration of 9.6 mM of p-aminophenol phosphate. A significant difference (p < 0.05) was measured between the absorbance assays. This paper demonstrates the advantages of the electrochemical assay for ALP release from cells, which is in line with recent trends in gene expression systems using microelectrode array technologies and devices for monitoring electrophysiological activity

Commercial Activity in Pacific Education

This research has been commissioned by Education International, in partnership with the Council of Pacific Education (COPE) – a regional organisation of education unions from the South Pacific and a sub- branch of Education International – to map the trends of privatisation and commercialisation in education throughout the Pacific Islands. Union leaders and union members from COPE affiliated unions, including the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu participated in this project. The study recruited participants from these nations to provide a preliminary understanding of education reform in COPE-affiliated systems and schools, and the impact this has on schools’ and teachers’ work. This is a scoping study, and as such, we have not designed narrowly focused research questions and consequently, cannot provide in-depth analysis of the data collected. Instead, the purpose of scoping studies is to document the available data to suggest areas for further investigation and actio

Perspectives on family caregiving of people aging with intellectual disability affected by dementia: Commentary from the International Summit on Intellectual Disability and Dementia

This article, an output of the 2016 International Summit on Intellectual Disability and Dementia, examines familial caregiving situations within the context of a support-staging model for adults with intellectual disability (ID) affected by dementia. Seven narratives offer context to this support-staging model to interpret situations experienced by caregivers. The multi-dimensional model has two fundamental aspects: identifying the role and nature of caregiving as either primary (direct) or secondary (supportive); and defining how caregiving is influenced by stage of dementia. We propose staging can affect caregiving via different expressions: (1) the ‘diagnostic phase’, (2) the ‘explorative phase’, (3) the ‘adaptive phase’, and (4) the ‘closure phase’. The international narratives illustrate direct and indirect caregiving with commonality being extent of caregiver involvement and attention to the needs of an adult with ID. We conclude that the model is the first to empirically formalise the variability of caregiving within families of people with ID that is distinct from other caregiving groups, and that many of these caregivers have idiosyncratic needs. A support-staging model that recognises the changing roles and demands of carers of people with intellectual disability and dementia can be useful in constructing research, defining family-based support services, and setting public policy