Futurs enseignants en stage au pays des Massaïs : from Me to We ?

Cet article rend compte de l’expérience de mobilité vécue par 14 étudiants en éducation canadiens, partis enseigner dans une école du Massaï Mara, dans le cadre d’un stage encadré par les organismes humanitaires Free the Children/Me to We. L’enquête comprend des entretiens auprès des étudiants stagiaires avant le départ, sur place, et de retour au Canada. Elle comprend également les notes de terrain issues de l’observation participante et de l’observation directe de classes. Les données permettent d’interroger l’impact d’une telle expérience en termes d’éducation interculturelle et de citoyenneté globale. Comment la rencontre avec les enseignants, les élèves mais aussi plus largement la communauté massaï permet-elle aux stagiaires de déplier la notion complexe de culture ? Comment le regard porté sur l’Autre et sur les cultures éducatives réciproques des uns et des autres est-il amené à évoluer ? L’analyse met en relief des discours ambivalents entre volonté de respecter une culture éducative posée comme Autre, désir d’apporter un changement par l’apport de pratiques éducatives différentes et minoration des variations interculturelles. L’article interroge le risque de culturalisation des zones de tension, quand les difficultés d’enseignement peuvent être attribuées à un décalage culturel mais aussi possiblement aux tâtonnements d’enseignants stagiaires faisant sur place leur toute première expérience d’enseignement. Les données collectées rendent finalement compte d’un impact variable sur les futurs enseignants en termes d’éducation à la citoyenneté globale et de formation à la communication interculturelle ; ce qui permet de souligner l’importance de la formation en la matière, au-delà des aspects expérientiels mobilisés.This article is based on the international training practicum program experienced by 14 Canadian students specializing in Education, as they taught in a Maasai school, in partnership with two NGOs, namely Free the Children and Me to We. In terms of methodology, this research is grounded in data derived from (1) semi-directed interviews with the students before departure, during the practicum, and back home in Canada, and (2) data derived from field notes and class observation in Kenya. The study explores how this experience abroad enhances students’ engagement in terms of intercultural and global citizenship education. To what extent does encountering local students, teachers and the community at large foster a more complex understanding of the concept of “culture” ? How does cross-cultural teaching challenge students’ perceptions of educational culture ? The article emphasizes the challenges students face as they try to implement a cross-cultural learning space. It highlights the difficulty in balancing respect for their Kenyan counterparts’ culture, a desire to implement change by presenting new teaching methods and a willingness to minimize cultural variance. This article also questions the risk of misinterpretation when students face struggles with their teaching, putting the onus of this struggle on cultural issues when their lack of experience in teaching might be involved, as this practicum is often their first teaching experience. Finally, this study indicates how this program has had a different impact on the students involved in terms of intercultural and global citizenship education, stressing the importance of formal knowledge teaching beyond the experiential aspects of this program

Jeux de rôle et réconciliation avec les peuples autochtones

Dans cet écrit, nous proposons une réflexion sur le jeu de rôles comme pratique de classe inspirée de la formation interculturelle mais revisitée à l’aune des perspectives et pédagogies autochtones, dans le contexte particulier de l’éducation en vue de la réconciliation avec les Premières Nations, Métis et Inuits. Cette recherche, qui s’appuie sur une démarche de praticien-chercheur, repose principalement sur une collecte de données auprès de 45 étudiants en éducation en formation initiale. L’article discute l’intérêt d’une approche pédagogique holistique qui, à travers le jeu de rôle, convoque raison, mais aussi émotion, corps et spiritualité et qui permet de déconstruire et reconstruire le rapport des étudiants aux cultures autochtones, invitant les futurs enseignants à se (re)positionner comme agent de changement face à un modèle sociétal en crise.In this paper, we propose a reflection on role-playing as a classroom practice inspired by intercultural education but revisited in light of Indigenous perspectives and pedagogies, in the particular context of the reconciliation with First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples. This research, based on a practitioner-researcher approach, is mainly based on a data collection driven from 45 students completing their bachelor of Education. The article discusses the value of a holistic pedagogical approach, convening reason, but also emotion, body and spirituality that helps deconstruct and rebuild students’representations of indigenous cultures, inviting future teachers to situate themselves as agents of change in the face of a societal model in crisis

Pourquoi, quoi, comment… et après ? Regards de chercheure et d’enseignant sur un projet collaboratif en éducation autochtone

Dans cet article, ancré dans le contexte canadien de la réconciliation avec les peuples autochtones, nous détaillons un projet de recherche-action-formation impliquant à la fois, en amont, une aînée métisse et, en aval, un groupe de 4 enseignants œuvrant à l’élémentaire. Nous nous arrêtons sur les pratiques entre la chercheure et un enseignant spécifique d’une part et sur, d’autre part, la posture de la chercheure qui, à travers le projet de recherche proposé, crée un pont entre les communautés scolaires et les communautés autochtones concernées. Ce texte entend ainsi mettre en évidence quelques-unes des articulations complexes entre savoirs enseignants et savoirs académiques, mais aussi entre postures occidentales et autochtones, l’accent étant mis sur la complémentarité mais aussi sur l’éthique.In this article, grounded into the Canadian context and into the ongoing reconciliation process between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples, our intent is to discuss a collaborative research involving both a Métis Elder and a group of school teachers. On the one hand, we discuss the complementarities and practicalities implied by the collaboration between the researcher and a specific teacher involved in the research. On the other end, we discuss how the researcher can support building a bridge between local school and Indigenous communities. This text aims to highlight a few complex articulations between teacher and academic knowledge, as well as between Western and Indigenous postures, emphasizing the principle of complementarity and the importance of ethical practices

Exploiting synergistic effects in organozinc chemistry for direct stereoselective C‐glycosylation reactions at room temperature

Pairing a range of bis(aryl) zinc reagents ZnAr2 with the stronger Lewis acidic [(ZnArF2)] (ArF = C6F5), enables highly stereoselective cross‐coupling between glycosyl bromides and ZnAr2 without the use of a transition metal. Reactions occur at room temperature with excellent levels of stereoselectivity, where ZnArF2 acts as a non‐coupling partner although its presence is crucial for the execution of the C(sp2)‐C(sp3) bond formation process. Mechanistic studies have uncovered a unique synergistic partnership between the two zinc reagents, which circumvents the need for transition‐metal catalysis or forcing reaction conditions. Key to the success of the coupling is the avoidance of solvents that act as Lewis bases vs. diarylzinc compounds (e.g. THF

A Multicassette Gateway Vector Set for High Throughput and Comparative Analyses in Ciona and Vertebrate Embryos

BACKGROUND: The past few years have seen a vast increase in the amount of genomic data available for a growing number of taxa, including sets of full length cDNA clones and cis-regulatory sequences. Large scale cross-species comparisons of protein function and cis-regulatory sequences may help to understand the emergence of specific traits during evolution. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To facilitate such comparisons, we developed a Gateway compatible vector set, which can be used to systematically dissect cis-regulatory sequences, and overexpress wild type or tagged proteins in a variety of chordate systems. It was developed and first characterised in the embryos of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, in which large scale analyses are easier to perform than in vertebrates, owing to the very efficient embryo electroporation protocol available in this organism. Its use was then extended to fish embryos and cultured mammalian cells. CONCLUSION: This versatile vector set opens the way to the mid- to large-scale comparative analyses of protein function and cis-regulatory sequences across chordate evolution. A complete user manual is provided as supplemental material

Common variation in PHACTR1 is associated with susceptibility to cervical artery dissection

Cervical artery dissection (CeAD), a mural hematoma in a carotid or vertebral artery, is a major cause of ischemic stroke in young adults although relatively uncommon in the general population (incidence of 2.6/100,000 per year). Minor cervical traumas, infection, migraine and hypertension are putative risk factors, and inverse associations with obesity and hypercholesterolemia are described. No confirmed genetic susceptibility factors have been identified using candidate gene approaches. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in 1,393 CeAD cases and 14,416 controls. The rs9349379[G] allele (PHACTR1) was associated with lower CeAD risk (odds ratio (OR) = 0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.69-0.82; P = 4.46 × 10(-10)), with confirmation in independent follow-up samples (659 CeAD cases and 2,648 controls; P = 3.91 × 10(-3); combined P = 1.00 × 10(-11)). The rs9349379[G] allele was previously shown to be associated with lower risk of migraine and increased risk of myocardial infarction. Deciphering the mechanisms underlying this pleiotropy might provide important information on the biological underpinnings of these disabling conditions

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation