New Teachers’ Career Intentions: Factors Influencing New Teachers’ Decisions to Stay or to Leave the Profession

This study examines the relationship between the reported career intentions and perceptions of preparedness of graduating secondary teachers in Quebec, across a two- year period, in an effort to identify factors which contribute to growing attrition rates among beginning teachers. The study reveals that those beginning teachers most concerned with their lack of preparation in the areas of classroom management and assessment of students’ learning are more likely to consider leaving the profession. While evidence suggests that beginning teachers do develop increasing confidence in terms of classroom management in their second year of teaching, their challenges with effectively assessing student learning endure through the first two years of teaching. Findings from this mixed method study suggest that both initial teacher education and employers have a shared responsibility to give greater attention to the ways in which teachers are introduced to and have experience with strategies for the assessment of student learning. Cette étude porte sur le rapport entre les intentions de carrière et les perceptions qu’ont les finissants en enseignement secondaire au Québec quant à leur niveau de préparation. La recherche s’est étalée sur deux ans et visait à identifier les facteurs qui contribuent au taux grandissant d’attrition chez les enseignants débutants. L’étude a révélé que les enseignants débutants qui sont les plus préoccupés par leur manque de préparation en matière de gestion de classe et en évaluation des apprentissages sont également susceptibles de penser à quitter la profession. Bien que les résultats montrent que les enseignants débutants tendent à devenir plus confiants en gestion de classe pendant leur deuxième année d’enseignement, leur défis quant à l’évaluation des apprentissages persistent tout au long de leur deuxième année d’enseignement. Les résultats de cette étude qui reposent sur une méthode mixte indiquent également que, tant la formation initiale des enseignants que les employeurs, doivent porter attention à la présentation des notions relatives à l’évaluation des apprentissages et aux expériences qui sont offertes aux enseignants en début de carrière

A retrospective comparison of waterbirth outcomes in two United States hospital settings

BackgroundWater immersion during labor is an effective comfort measure; however, outcomes for waterbirth in the hospital setting have not been well documented. Our objective was to report the outcomes from two nurse‐midwifery services that provide waterbirth within a tertiary care hospital setting in the United States.MethodsThis study is a retrospective, observational, matched comparison design. Data were collected from two large midwifery practices in tertiary care centers using information recorded at the time of birth for quality assurance purposes. Land birth cases were excluded if events would have precluded them from waterbirth (epidural, meconium stained fluid, chorioamnionitis, estimated gestational age  40). Neonatal outcomes included Apgar score and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Maternal outcomes included perineal lacerations and postpartum hemorrhage.ResultsA total of 397 waterbirths and 2025 land births were included in the analysis. There were no differences in outcomes between waterbirth and land birth for Apgar scores or neonatal intensive care admissions (1.8% vs 2.5%). Women in the waterbirth group were less likely to sustain a first‐ or second‐degree laceration. Postpartum hemorrhage rates were similar for both groups. Similar results were obtained using a land birth subset matched on insurance, hospital location, and parity using propensity scores.DiscussionIn this study, waterbirth was not associated with increased risk to neonates, extensive perineal lacerations, or postpartum hemorrhage. Fewer women in the waterbirth group sustained first‐ or second‐degree lacerations requiring sutures.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154290/1/birt12473.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154290/2/birt12473_am.pd

Facilitando a mobilização de redes de conhecimento: as reformas políticas, parcerias e formação de professores

Educational researchers and policy-makers are now expected by funding agencies and their institutions to innovate the multidirectional ways in which our production of knowledge can impact the classrooms of teachers (practitioners), while also integrating their experiential knowledge into the landscape of our research. In this article, we draw on the curriculum implementation literature to complicate our understandings of knowledge mobilization (KMb). Policy implementation, we suggest, can be understood as one specific type of KMb. We draw on different models for KMb and curriculum implementation and develop a relational model for KMb. Utilizing our model we critically reflect on the specific successes and challenges encountered while establishing, building, and sustaining the capacity of our KMb network. Our findings suggest that faculties of education are uniquely positioned to act as secondary brokers for the implementation of policy reforms within public education systems. To this end, we discuss how a relational KMb network is a “best practice” for establishing and sustaining partnerships among policy makers, educational researchers, and public school practitioners.Los organismos de financiación y sus instituciones esperan que investigadores educativos y responsables de decisiones políticas en el área innoven  la forma multidireccional en la que la producción de conocimiento puede afectar a las aulas de los docentes, y al mismo tiempo integrar su conocimiento experiencial en el modelo de la investigación. En este artículo, nos basamos en la literatura la implementación del currículo de reflexionar sobre nuestro entendimiento de la movilización de los conocimientos (por su sigla en inglés KMB). La implementación de políticas, se sugiere, se puede entender como un tipo específico de KMB. Nos basamos en diferentes modelos para la aplicación KMB e implementación curricular y desarrollamos un modelo relacional para KMB. Utilizando nuestro modelo reflexionamos críticamente sobre los éxitos y desafíos específicos encontrados mientras se establece, la construcción y el mantenimiento de la capacidad de nuestra red de KMB. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que las facultades de educación están en una posición única para actuar como agentes secundarios en la implementación de reformas de política dentro de los sistemas de educación pública. Con este fin, se discute cómo una red KMB relacional es una "mejor práctica" para el establecimiento y mantenimiento de alianzas entre responsables políticos, los investigadores de la educación, y los profesionales de las escuelas públicas. Agências de fomento e instituições de ensino esperam que os pesquisadores em educação assim como os que decidem políticas na área inovem na forma multidirecional  que a produção de conhecimento na pode afetar o professor em sala de aula, e ao mesmo tempo integrar os conhecimentos experienciais no modelo de pesquisa. Neste artigo, nós confiamos na implementação do currículo literatura para refletir sobre a nossa compreensão da mobilização de conhecimentos (a sigla KMB). Implementação de políticas, sugere-se, pode ser entendida como um tipo específico de KMB. Contamos com diferentes modelos de candidatura e curriculum implementação KMB e desenvolver um modelo relacional para KMB. Usando nosso modelo, para refletir criticamente sobre os sucessos e desafios específicos encontrados ao estabelecer, construir e manter a capacidade de nossa rede de KMB. Nossos resultados sugerem que as escolas de educação estão em uma posição única para atuar como agentes secundários na aplicação de reformas políticas no seio das redes públicas de ensino. Para este fim, discutimos como uma rede relacional KMB é um "melhores práticas" para a criação e manutenção de parcerias entre os que decidem políticas, investigadores e profissionais de educação nas escolas públicas

Evaluating Telesupervision as a Support for Clinical Learning: an Action Research Project

Telesupervision is a process whereby distant supervision is provided using electronic information and communication technologies. This study aimed to investigate whether telesupervision can be used as an effective method of supervision to complement traditional face-to-face clinical supervision in physiotherapy, speech pathology and occupational therapy education.Three action research cycles were undertaken between July 2010 and December 2012 in Queensland, Australia. A shared supervisory model was employed whereby telesupervision was used as an adjunct to face-to-face supervision in a variety of clinical contexts. Phase 1 was undertaken as a metropolitan pilot while Phase 2 was conducted in a regional city and Phase 3 in a geographically isolated rural town. Participants included 30 students from entry-level programmes in Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology and five remote clinical educators (CE), and five on-site CEs. Evaluation consisted of clinical educator and researcher observations, a student satisfaction survey and a student learning survey. In later phases, data were collected from individual semi-structured interviews with students, remote and on-site CEs.Results demonstrate that student learning is not compromised when telesupervision is used to complement face-to-face supervision. Further, when used with small educator to student ratios (1:4), students were satisfied with the process. Many of the benefits of the telesupervision experience appeared to be due to the shared supervisory model. Limitations were low bandwidth and unreliable connectivity that interrupted learning; however, cyclical problem solving by educators and students improved the telesupervision learning experience

Wearable activity technology and action-planning (WATAAP) to promote physical activity in cancer survivors: Randomised controlled trial protocol

Background/Objective: Colorectal and gynecologic cancer survivors are at cardiovascular risk due to comorbidities and sedentary behaviour, warranting a feasible intervention to increase physical activity. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) is a promising theoretical frame-work for health behaviour change, and wearable physical activity trackers offer a novel means of self-monitoring physical activity for cancer survivors. Method: Sixty-eight survivors of colorectal and gynecologic cancer will be randomised into 12- week intervention and control groups. Intervention group participants will receive: a Fitbit AltaTM to monitor physical activity, HAPA-based group sessions, booklet, and support phone-call. Participants in the control group will only receive the HAPA-based booklet. Physical activity (using accelerometers), blood pressure, BMI, and HAPA constructs will be assessed at baseline, 12-weeks (post-intervention) and 24-weeks (follow-up). Data analysis will use the Group x Time interaction from a General Linear Mixed Model analysis. Conclusions: Physical activity interventions that are acceptable and have robust theoretical underpinnings show promise for improving the health of cancer survivors

The Closure of Rideau High School: A Case Study in the Political Economy of Urban Education in Ontario

In 2017, school board trustees in Ottawa, Ontario, voted to close Rideau High School, an urban secondary school in a historically marginalized neighbourhood. The school board had consistently argued that low enrolment at Rideau HS, and the resultant inability of the school to offer a full range of course choices, made closure the only viable option. To many people in the affected communities, however, the closure decision was seen as a form of discrimination against the school’s marginalized student population, which included many new immigrants, refugees, and Indigenous students. This article draws upon research from the US and the UK that emphasizes the spatial dimensions of urban education, along with the existing research on school closures in Ontario, in order to explore this particular school closure decision from an urban, political, socioeconomic, and historical perspective. Focusing on a case study area in eastern Ottawa, this article presents both a narrative history of Ottawa school board policies and a quantitative analysis of local demographic data. It is argued that the closure of Rideau HS should be understood in the context of a series of interconnected challenges faced by the school, including a marginalized student population, a negative reputation, and low student enrolment. In turn, these challenges should be understood in the context of socioeconomic disparities between neighbourhoods in the area and a history of ineffective policies at the school-board level, including relatively lax student transfer policies. These findings indicate the inadequacy of the narrow economic measures that Ontario school boards use to determine school closure decisions, and suggest that school boards should engage in more robust community engagement before closing marginalized urban schools. A proposal to establish an official “community hub” within the active high school is examined as a concrete alternative to closure that was supported by the community but not by the school board

Shared Lives: Cancer – Developing an online resource to support people affected by cancer through making academic research publicly accessible.

Background: Shared Lives: Cancer (SL:C) is an innovative approach to making qualitative research data publically available. SL:C aims to support people living with and affected by cancer and cancer professionals. Developed collaboratively by the University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group, and Macmillan Cancer Support. SL:C comprises a library of over anonymised 3000 quotes pertaining to people’s cancer experience. Ten anonymised patient stories, further support the quote database. Signposting to existing support and resources, are provided to help facilitate engagement with self-management. Methods: SLC has been developed using the data from 3 independent research studies (2017-2019) undertaken with people living with and affected by cancer, which resulted in 34 interview transcripts and 183 survey free-text comments. All studies were subject to the appropriate ethical and research governance approvals. The 217 participant contributions were consolidated and thematically coded as a single data-set. The project is defined as dissemination, therefore, no analysis was performed. Results: Coding resulted in the identification of 870 unique quotes that are searchable by 40 broad themes and over 70 keywords that can be filtered by age, gender, cancer type, and treatment received. For example, someone might wish to search by ‘exercise’, ‘fatigue and tiredness’ ‘chemotherapy’ or ‘prostate cancer’, and quotes that have been assigned to these themes/keywords will be displayed. Conclusion: SL:C is a new and innovative approach to the dissemination of academic research. SL:C has the potential to support people living with and affected by cancer at all stages of the cancer journey, as well as helping professionals, researchers, and the general public to better understand the cancer experience, which consequently, could improve care outcomes for people living with cancer. Impact Statement: SL:C, will continually evolve through collaboration and an independent associated project that will enable users to share their stories, therefore, SL:C has the potential to reach people living with cancer at a national and international level

Disease-related factors affecting timely lymphoma diagnosis : a qualitative study exploring patient experiences

Background Expediting cancer diagnosis is widely perceived as one way to improve patient outcomes. Evidence indicates that lymphoma diagnosis is often delayed, yet understanding of issues influencing this is incomplete. Aim To explore patients' and their relatives' perceptions of disease-related factors affecting time to diagnosis of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Design and setting Qualitative UK study involving patients with indolent and aggressive lymphomas, and their relatives, from an established population-based cohort in the north of England. Method Semi-structured interviews with 35 patients and 15 of their relatives. Interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed, and qualitative descriptive analysis was undertaken. Results Participant accounts suggest that certain features of lymphoma can impact on patients' and healthcare providers' (HCPs) responses to disease onset. Three characteristics stand out: disease occurrence (rare), manifestation (varied), and investigative options (often inconclusive). Interviewees described how they, and some HCPs, lacked familiarity with lymphoma, seldom considering it a likely explanation for their symptoms. Symptoms reported were highly variable, frequently non-specific, and often initially thought to be associated with various benign, self-limiting causes. Blood tests and other investigations, while frequently able to detect abnormalities, did not reliably indicate malignancy. Interviewees reported the potential for improvements among HCPs in information gathering, communication of uncertainty, and re-presentation advice for non-resolving/ progressive health changes. Conclusion This study demonstrates the complex characteristics of lymphoma, perceived by patients as prolonging time to diagnosis, often despite significant effort by themselves, their relatives, and HCPs to expedite this process. The findings also illustrate why simple solutions to delayed diagnosis of lymphoma are lacking

Profiling of transcriptional and epigenetic changes during directed endothelial differentiation of human embryonic stem cells identifies FOXA2 as a marker of early mesoderm commitment

Introduction: Differentiation of vascular endothelial cells (ECs) in clinically relevant numbers for injection into ischaemic areas could offer therapeutic potential in the treatment of cardiovascular conditions, including myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease and stroke. While we and others have demonstrated successful generation of functional endothelial-like cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), little is understood regarding the complex transcriptional and epigenetic changes that occur during differentiation, in particular during early commitment to a mesodermal lineage. Methods: We performed the first gene expression microarray study of hESCs undergoing directed differentiation to ECs using a monolayer-based, feeder-free and serum-free protocol. Microarray results were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-PCR analysis was utilised to determine the bivalent status of differentially expressed genes. Results: We identified 22 transcription factors specific to early mesoderm commitment. Among these factors, FOXA2 was observed to be the most significantly differentially expressed at the hESC–EC day 2 timepoint. ChIP-PCR analysis revealed that the FOXA2 transcription start site is bivalently marked with histone modifications for both gene activation (H3K4me3) and repression (H3K27me3) in hESCs, suggesting the transcription factor may be a key regulator of hESC differentiation. Conclusion: This enhanced knowledge of the lineage commitment process will help improve the design of directed differentiation protocols, increasing the yield of endothelial-like cells for regenerative medicine therapies in cardiovascular disease

Initial Teacher Education Policy and Practice

The purpose of this study was to generate a systematic description of policy and practice across qualifications of initial teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand. The study was conducted in two phases. Data from publicly-available documentation of the 27 providers of initial teacher education were recorded in an electronic data base as a means of compiling individual profiles of each qualification. Subsequently, twenty-five providers participated in interviews to ensure that profiles accurately reflected the policy and practice of the qualification. Qualification profiles were reviewed to identify common and distinctive characteristics of initial teacher education according to sector (early childhood, primary and secondary), type of qualification and type of provider. Findings were considered within a framework of contemporary national and international research and implications identified for future research, policy and practice in initial teacher education. This project confirms that initial teacher education is incredibly complex and multi-faceted and that New Zealand qualifications reflect many of the achievements and the challenges of implementing quality teacher education that are experienced internationally. The official documentation reveals that there is a general lack of explicit coherence among components of many qualifications, that in some cases there is no clearly articulated conceptual or theoretical base underpinning qualifications, and, that, in the documentation of many qualifications, there are conspicuous silences surrounding aspects of initial teacher education critical to the New Zealand context. There is also evidence that the regulatory and compliance environment within which providers operate is sometimes perceived as distracting, rather than ensuring quality. This national project has enabled us to identify key areas for further and ongoing attention both by individual providers of initial teacher education and, more importantly, by the professional community of teacher education in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the New Zealand Teachers Council and others. We need to determine, and thence articulate more clearly, the fundamental goals of initial teacher education and to demonstrate how programmes of ITE are coherent in their underlying values, goals, design, curriculum, pedagogy and implementation. There is a need also to consider how current external quality assurance processes can be made more coherent with fundamental goals of initial teacher education and the research on theory and practice that underpins these goals