In Pursuit of Professional Knowledge and Practice: Some Experiences of Lifelong Learning Sector Trainee Teachers in England 2008 - 10

This thesis explores the participation of student teachers during their part time in-service initial teacher education course based on the campus of a higher education institution in the North West of England. It investigates the extent to which initial teacher education prepares teachers as professional practitioners in the lifelong learning sector. The research was conducted in a university campus forming part of a higher education institution, using a qualitative, reflexive methodology. The data is derived from naturally-occurring class discussions, a range of course-related artefacts and semi-structured interviews with participants. The fieldwork took place in during the period 2008-2010. The participation of student teachers is examined within the context of work-based learning (WBL) in the lifelong learning sector (LLS), drawing upon the work of John Dewey and a Bourdieusian concept of habitus. The study broadly contributes to debates about the nature of professional knowledge and practice in work based learning. The literature review presents a picture of a sector struggling to define itself and of initial teacher education (the focus of the research) buffeted by external regulation and control. It concludes that restrictive notions of confidence, a contested notion of what constitutes excellence, and routinised practices restrict and constrain the participation, experiences and development of teachers. The data suggests that participants experienced funnelled and routinised practices, resulting not only from initial teacher education curricula, but also from evidence-based practices and workplace regulation. It argues that time and space are crucial elements of the development of professional knowledge and practice, recommending that both the teacher education curricula and the workplace should work more closely to inculcate the processes and practices of an expansive educational experience for developing teacher

Confidence, risk, and the journey into praxis: work-based learning and the teacher education curriculum

Aim: This paper aims to explore notions of confidence and risk in the context of professional knowledge and practice for trainee teachers in the lifelong learning sector. It will argue that the inculcation of confidence through risk-taking is an imperative for an emancipatory journey into praxis. Content: This paper explores notions of confidence and risk in the context of professional knowledge and practice for teachers in the lifelong learning sector. It draws upon Marianna Papastephanou’s (2006 and forthcoming), work on school teachers and discourse, who argues for the “accommodation of risk in the teacher–pupil relationship and against the managerial narrowing of educational endeavour to the sphere of the secure and the predictable” (2006: p48). She also raises important points about risk in education more generally, “What is missing from such discourses is the acknowledgement of unpredictability and non-calculability (true risk, that is) as an inherent, disruptive and creative force of teaching and learning, as many educational philosophers have convincingly pointed out” (2006: p50). In this respect confidence, whether imbued in the self or inculcated by the processes and products of continuing professional development, correlates with both the developing teacher’s capacity to take risks and their vulnerability when submitting to both course assessment and work-based audits of practice. The paper suggests a tension between learner participation in a higher education course of study, and corresponding participation in skills development in the workplace for trainee teachers, whether on placement or in-service. In this respect the nature of professional knowledge and practice, confidence, and work based learning (WBL) are discussed. This paper will argue that the inculcation of confidence through risk-taking is an imperative for the journey into praxis. The role of HE in teacher education: It explores the tension between learner participation in a higher education course of study, and corresponding participation in skills development in the workplace. While the focus is on teacher education in the Lifelong Learning sector, colleagues in the school sector will recognise these tensions, and the discussions relating to confidence and risk for trainee teachers and their journey into praxis. Hoped for impact on practice: It is hoped that the discussions will cause colleagues to strive for a greater emphasis on the inculcation of confidence and risk-taking between the workplace (placement or in-service), and the teacher education curriculum as an imperative for an emancipatory journey into praxis. The country/ies to which the presentation relates: England and Wale

Bone marrow injection stimulates hepatic ductular reactions in the absence of injury via macrophage-mediated TWEAK signaling

Tissue progenitor cells are an attractive target for regenerative therapy. In various organs, bone marrow cell (BMC) therapy has shown promising preliminary results, but to date no definite mechanism has been demonstrated to account for the observed benefit in organ regeneration. Tissue injury and regeneration is invariably accompanied by macrophage infiltration, but their influence upon the progenitor cells is incompletely understood, and direct signaling pathways may be obscured by the multiple roles of macrophages during organ injury. We therefore examined a model without injury; a single i.v. injection of unfractionated BMCs in healthy mice. This induced ductular reactions (DRs) in healthy mice. We demonstrate that macrophages within the unfractionated BMCs are responsible for the production of DRs, engrafting in the recipient liver and localizing to the DRs. Engrafted macrophages produce the cytokine TWEAK (TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis) in situ. We go on to show that recombinant TWEAK activates DRs and that BMC mediated DRs are TWEAK dependent. DRs are accompanied by liver growth, occur in the absence of liver tissue injury and hepatic progenitor cells can be isolated from the livers of mice with DRs. Overall these results reveal a hitherto undescribed mechanism linking macrophage infiltration to DRs in the liver and highlight a rationale for macrophage derived cell therapy in regenerative medicine

Characterisation of a stereotypical cellular and extracellular adult liver progenitor cell niche in rodents and diseased human liver

Background Stem/progenitor cell niches in tissues regulate stem/progenitor cell differentiation and proliferation through local signalling. Objective To examine the composition and formation of stem progenitor cell niches. Methods The composition of the hepatic progenitor cell niche in independent models of liver injury and hepatic progenitor cell activation in rodents and humans was studied. To identify the origin of the progenitor and niche cells, sex-mismatched bone marrow transplants in mice, who had received the cholineeethionine-deficient-diet to induce liver injury and progenitor cell activation, were used. The matrix surrounding the progenitor cells was described by immunohistochemical staining and its functional role controlling progenitor cell behaviour was studied in cell culture experiments using different matrix layers. Results The progenitor cell response in liver injury is intimately surrounded by myofibroblasts and macrophages, and to a lesser extent by endothelial cells. Hepatic progenitor cells are not of bone marrow origin; however, bone marrow-derived cells associate intimately with these cells and are macrophages. Laminin always surrounds the progenitor cells. In vitro studies showed that laminin aids maintenance of progenitor and biliary cell phenotype and promotes their gene expression (Dlk1, Aquaporin 1, γGT) while inhibiting hepatocyte differentiation and gene expression (CEPB/α). Conclusions During liver damage in rodents and humans a stereotypical cellular and laminin niche forms around hepatic progenitor cells. Laminin helps maintenance of undifferentiated progenitor cells. The niche links the intrahepatic progenitor cells with bone marrow-derived cells and links tissue damage with progenitor cell-mediated tissue repai

A review and synthesis of the use of social media in Initial Teacher Education

Several previous studies have reviewed the literature surrounding the use of technology in teacher education. This literature review takes a specific focus as it addresses the use of social media in initial teacher education. It seeks to explore what constitutes effective use of social media in supporting the development of new teachers in all sectors of initial teacher education (ITE), including Primary, Secondary, English Language Teaching (ELT) and Lifelong Learning. We seek to develop and share a deeper understanding of the relationship between social media and the participation and collaboration of pre-service teachers in initial teacher education. The findings of the review include issues surrounding community, pedagogy and design, and this synthesis provides a significant exploratory contribution to the development of effective teacher education and training across the UK curriculum

Proteinase Activated Receptor 1 Mediated Fibrosis in a Mouse Model of Liver Injury: A Role for Bone Marrow Derived Macrophages

Published onlineJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tThis is the final version of the article. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record.Liver fibrosis results from the co-ordinated actions of myofibroblasts and macrophages, a proportion of which are of bone marrow origin. The functional effect of such bone marrow-derived cells on liver fibrosis is unclear. We examine whether changing bone marrow genotype can down-regulate the liver's fibrotic response to injury and investigate mechanisms involved. Proteinase activated receptor 1 (PAR1) is up-regulated in fibrotic liver disease in humans, and deficiency of PAR1 is associated with reduced liver fibrosis in rodent models. In this study, recipient mice received bone marrow transplantation from PAR1-deficient or wild-type donors prior to carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis. Bone marrow transplantation alone from PAR1-deficient mice was able to confer significant reductions in hepatic collagen content and activated myofibroblast expansion on wild-type recipients. This effect was associated with a decrease in hepatic scar-associated macrophages and a reduction in macrophage recruitment from the bone marrow. In vitro, PAR1 signalling on bone marrow-derived macrophages directly induced their chemotaxis but did not stimulate proliferation. These data suggest that the bone marrow can modulate the fibrotic response of the liver to recurrent injury. PAR1 signalling can contribute to this response by mechanisms that include the regulation of macrophage recruitment.Funding for YNK SJF came from the MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship (G0500428), www.mrc.ac.uk. For CJS RCC: Wellcome Trust Programme Grant (071124), www.wellcome.ac.uk. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Hepatic progenitor cells of biliary origin with liver repopulation capacity

Hepatocytes and cholangiocytes self-renew following liver injury. Following severe injury hepatocytes are increasingly senescent, but whether hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) then contribute to liver regeneration is unclear. Here, we describe a mouse model where the E3 ubiquitin ligase Mdm2 is inducibly deleted in more than 98% of hepatocytes, causing apoptosis, necrosis and senescence with nearly all hepatocytes expressing p21. This results in florid HPC activation, which is necessary for survival, followed by complete, functional liver reconstitution. HPCs isolated from genetically normal mice, using cell surface markers, were highly expandable and phenotypically stable in vitro. These HPCs were transplanted into adult mouse livers where hepatocyte Mdm2 was repeatedly deleted, creating a non-competitive repopulation assay. Transplanted HPCs contributed significantly to restoration of liver parenchyma, regenerating hepatocytes and biliary epithelia, highlighting their in vivo lineage potency. HPCs are therefore a potential future alternative to hepatocyte or liver transplantation for liver disease