The ‘insider/outsider’ dilemma of ethnography: Working with young children and their families in cross-cultural contexts

In this article we unravel the difficulty of being researchers in the homes and classrooms of children and their families whose origins are, for one of us, very different and, for the other, very similar to our own. We first situate our work within theories of early socialization and literacy teaching which underpin our understanding of how young children in cross-cultural contexts learn. We then turn to the question of working with the families and teachers of these children which poses dilemmas not explained by the theories presented. We illustrate these through a series of vignettes typifying both the ‘Outsider’ and the ‘Insider’ role. The stories highlight paradigmatic moments of complexity, clashes or collusion which we unpick in terms of their generalizability for others working in the field. Finally, we extend theories of dialogue in our search for a methodology for collaborative work in future cross-cultural ethnographic studies

Teacher partnerships between mainstream and complementary schools: from parallel worlds to connected curricula

This article describes how partnerships were set up between primary schools and complementary (community language) schools in East London. Teachers visited each other's settings and exchanged ideas on teaching and learning strategies. They planned topic-based lessons together, adapted to each context. In this way, mainstream teachers gained understanding of their pupils' linguistic and cultural competences and their lives outside school. The partnership work began to build a creative and inclusive curriculum in both settings

Intergenerational learning between children and grandparents in East London

The study set out to investigate learning events taking place between young children and grandparents in London's East End, both in activities where older people have traditionally provided support (such as storytelling) and in the newer areas of information and communication technology where children have competences which their grandparents would like to access. This area of family learning is growing in significance as grandparents are increasingly taking on a childcare role in different extended family structures. Grandparents’ own learning needs must also be taken into account in the government’s lifelong learning agenda

Developing bilingual learning strategies in mainstream and community contexts

This study set out to enhance theoretical understanding of bilingual learning and devise ways in which it can be built into classroom practice, through action research with children, mainstream teachers and bilingual assistants participating in the Primary National Strategy Pilot for EAL (English as an Additional Language) in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Teachers from the children’s Bengali after-school classes were involved via partnership with Tower Hamlets Community Languages Service, since community classes are sites where children already use both mother tongue and English for language and literacy learning (Robertson, 2002; Martin et al, 2004). Previous studies on bilingual learning have mostly been conducted with first generation children and/or in countries where there is mainstream bilingual education. A unique aspect of this study is that the children involved were second or third generation British Bangladeshi, mostly more fluent in English than in their mother tongue, who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to use their full language repertoire within the mainstream curriculum. Our research examined whether and how the cognitive and cultural benefits of bilingual learning found in other contexts might apply in this particular setting

Intergenerational Learning Events Around the Computer: A Site for Linguistic and Cultural Exchange

The computer is widely recognised as a cultural tool with the potential to enhance learning, and children are considered to develop ICT skills with particular facility. However, young children still require assistance in order to gain the maximum educational benefit. This study investigates how such assistance was given to 3–6 year olds by their grandparents in Sylheti/Bengali-speaking families and monolingual Englishspeaking families living in East London. A multimodal analysis of video-recorded computer activities reveals the reciprocity of teaching and learning taking place between the generations. In each case, grandparents and grandchildren combined their resources in order to negotiate the activity, with adults usually providing knowledge of literacy and numeracy whilst children helpedwith computer skills. The intergenerational exchange was especially evident in Sylheti/Bengali-speaking families, where grandparents were less familiarwith English orwith the computer and operated bilingually with their grandchildren to co-construct learning. However, the support offered by grandparents was found to have common elements in all families, as they helped children to structure the learning event, maintain concentration and accomplish tasks relying on linguistic and cultural knowledge

The Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder With Auditory Neurofeedback: A Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial Using the Mente Autism Device

Introduction: Children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have impairment of social interaction and demonstrate difficulty with emotional communication, display of posture and facial expression, with recognized relationships between postural control mechanisms and cognitive functions. Beside standard biomedical interventions and psychopharmacological treatments, there is increasing interest in the use of alternative non-invasive treatments such as neurofeedback (NFB) that could potentially modulate brain activity resulting in behavioral modification.Methods: Eighty-three ASD subjects were randomized to an Active group receiving NFB using the Mente device and a Control group using a Sham device. Both groups used the device each morning for 45 minutes over a 12 week home based trial without any other clinical interventions. Pre and Post standard ASD questionnaires, qEEG and posturography were used to measure the effectiveness of the treatment.Results: Thirty-four subjects (17 Active and 17 Control) completed the study. Statistically and substantively significant changes were found in several outcome measures for subjects that received the treatment. Similar changes were not detected in the Control group.Conclusions: Our results show that a short 12 week course of NFB using the Mente Autism device can lead to significant changes in brain activity (qEEG), sensorimotor behavior (posturography), and behavior (standardized questionnaires) in ASD children

Bilingual Learning for Second and Third Generation Children

Throughout the English-speaking world, children from bilingual backgrounds are being educated in mainstream classrooms where they have little or no opportunity to use their mother tongue. Second and third generation children, in particular, are assumed to be learning sufficiently through English only. This study investigated how British Bangladeshi children, learning Bengali in after-school classes but mostly more fluent in English than in their mother tongue, responded when able to use their full language repertoire within the mainstream curriculum. Through action research with mainstream and community language class teachers, bilingual literacy and numeracy tasks were devised and carried out with pupils aged seven to eleven in two East London primary schools. The bilingual activities were videorecorded and analysed qualitatively to identify the strategies used. The following cognitive and cultural benefits of bilingual learning discovered by researchers in other contexts were also found to apply in this particular setting: conceptual transfer, enriched understanding through translation, metalinguistic awareness, bicultural knowledge and building bilingual learner identities. The findings suggest that second and third generation children should be enabled to learn bilingually, and appropriate strategies are put forward for use in the mainstream classroom

Co-constructing bilingual learning: an equal exchange of strategies between complementary and mainstream teachers

Teachers in complementary schools are often assumed to be using outmoded teaching strategies and an authoritarian approach to discipline. However, it is rare for mainstream teachers to have visited these community-run after-school or weekend classes, which remain on the margins of educational provision. This paper argues that complementary teachers’ knowledge has been ‘doubly devalued’: firstly because of their location in the informal learning sector, and secondly because their work focuses on languages and cultures that are ignored or viewed negatively by the wider society. Our action research study with complementary teachers in East London challenges mainstream preconceptions in showing the creative range of teaching strategies devised to meet the needs of multi-level, mixed-age classes in under-resourced conditions. Uniquely, the research set up partnerships between these complementary teachers and local primary school teachers, in which they visited each other's settings and jointly planned topic-based lessons adapted to each context. Findings demonstrate that mainstream teachers had much to learn from their complementary colleagues about negotiating teacher–student relationships, the child as independent learner and as leader within a learning community, and the use of bilingual strategies. Partnership teaching created mutual respect for each other's expertise, crucial to the equal valuing of shared knowledge

Gardening with grandparents: an early engagement with the science curriculum

In many cultures, elders are revered within the extended family as a source of wisdom gained from long experience. In Western societies, this role has been marginalised by changes in family structure, and grandparents' significant contribution to children's upbringing often goes unacknowledged. A research study with families of three- to six-year-olds in East London reveals how grandparents from a variety of cultural backgrounds passed on knowledge about growing fruit and vegetables to their grandchildren through joint gardening activities. Children learned to identify different plants, and to understand conditions and stages of plant growth. Grandparents from Bangladesh introduced children to a wide range of fruits and vegetables, and concepts were reinforced through bilingual communication. Analysis shows that these intergenerational learning encounters fostered children's scientific knowledge in ways that supported and extended curriculum work in the early years