Leading international students' communities of learning within departmental extra-curricular activities: a case study in a Russell Group University in England

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Instructional leadership in Greek and English outstanding schools

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine instructional leadership (IL) in outstanding secondary schools within a centralised (Greece) and a partially decentralised (England) education context. Design/methodology/approach – Since the purpose of the study is exploratory, the researchers adopt a qualitative approach, employing a series of four qualitative case studies with the purpose of examining the impact of IL on student learning, teachers’ professional growth and school improvement, using the interpretivist paradigm. Semi-structured interviews with various data sets (stakeholders) within and outside the school, observation of leadership practices and meetings, and scrutiny of relevant macro and micro policy documents are employed to enhance methodological and respondent triangulation. Findings – Recognising that IL is not confined to the principals’ leadership domain, a sense of shared and distributed leadership prevails in schools, while its implementation is inevitably linked to system constraints. The findings from the Greek schools link to the official expectations that principals operate as administrative rather than instructional leaders, while an unofficial instructional “teacher leadership” culture suggests potential for reconsidering leadership in Greek state schools. In contrast, the decentralisation of school activities creates the platform for the emergence of shared and distributed leadership within the English context, where school actors enact direct and indirect IL roles. Originality/value – This cross-country comparative study demonstrates theoretical significance in its focus on the collaborative and reciprocal nature of IL, while its empirical contribution lies in generating new knowledge on how IL is contextually bounded

Coexistence of Plasma Cell Dyscrasia with Prefibrotic Stage of Primary Myelofibrosis: A Case Report

Introduction. Coexistence of myeloproliferative neoplasms with lymphoproliferative syndromes has been described in the past, whereas plasma cell dyscrasias seem to be the most common cases. Case Presentation. We present a case of a 59-year-old Caucasian female of Greek origin who presented with thrombocytosis. Clinical and laboratory investigation disclosed the presence of a smoldering myeloma with coexisting histological and molecular characteristics of primary myelofibrosis. The patient had the acquired point mutation V617F in the JAK2 gene but not the bcr-abl rearrangement and was treated for myelofibrosis with subsequent improvement of all haematological parameters without evidence of myelomatic evolution. Conclusion. We present the first case in the literature of a smoldering myeloma coexisting with primary myelofibrosis. The underlying pathogenetic mechanism could be either related to the presence of a pluripotent neoplastic stem cell capable to differentiate into both lymphoid and myeloid cells or be related to two separate nosologic entities

School leadership theories and the Malaysia education blueprint: findings from a systematic literature review

PurposeThis paper provides a systematic review of the Malaysian literature on three prominent leadership models (instructional, distributed and transformational), linked to a major educational reform initiative captured in the Ministry of Education's Malaysia Education Blueprint.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is a systematic review of all relevant Malaysianliterature, in English and Bahasa Malaysia, on instructional, distributed and transformational leadership, and alternative terms linked to these models.FindingsThe findings show that there is an emerging literature on these leadership models and their prevalence in Malaysian schools but that they have been interpreted in ways that are distinctive to the highly centralised Malaysian context. For example, instructional leadership is prescribed, so there is some evidence of its practice, notably in respect of monitoring. Similarly, distributed leadership is allocative, rather than emergent, as suggested in Western literature.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings show that, while research on these models is emerging, much more research is required to establish whether and how leadership practice in Malaysia differs from that outlined in the normative Western literature.Practical implicationsThere is emerging evidence to suggest that instructional and distributed leadership, if enacted carefully, can have a positive impact on student outcomesOriginality/valueThis is believed to be the first systematic review of the Malaysian literature on school leadership models, linked to the Malaysia Education Blueprint. It is also distinctive in including both English language, and Bahasa Malaysia, sources

Instructional leadership in centralised systems: evidence from Greek high-performing secondary schools

This paper examines the enactment of instructional leadership (IL) in high-performing secondary schools (HPSS), and the relationship between leadership and learning in raising student outcomes and encouraging teachers’ professional learning in the highly centralised context of Greece. It reports part of a comparative research study focused on whether, and to what extent, IL has been embraced by Greek school leaders. The study is exploratory, using a qualitative multiple case design to examine two HPSS in Athens. The research design involved a qualitative approach using several different methods, including semi-structured interviews with school principals, deputy heads, subject teachers and subject advisers, plus observation of leadership practice and meetings and scrutiny of relevant policy documents. The findings show that IL is conceptualised as an informal collaborative leadership practice, interwoven with the official multi-dimension role of Greek principals and their ‘semi-IL’ role. In the absence of official IL ‘actors’, teachers’ leadership has been expanding

Instructional leadership in a cross-country comparative context : case studies in English and Greek high performing secondary schools

This thesis focuses on the application of the model of instructional leadership at high-performing secondary schools in England and Greece. This helped the researcher to develop a model of instructional leadership in a centralised context. A qualitative multiple case design allowed detailed data to be collected on four high performing secondary schools, using the interpretivist paradigm. The enquiry was conducted using mixed methods, including semi-structured interviews with various data sets (stakeholders) within and outside the school, observation of leadership practice and meetings, and scrutiny of relevant macro and micro policy documents. The three-layer comparative framework designed to identify the similarities and differences in leadership variables within and across the countries, shed light on the cross-case analysis of the case studies within a centralised (Greece) and a partially decentralised (England) education context. The empirical lessons from this study show that instructional leadership is implemented in different ways in diverse contexts. The findings from the two Greek case study schools are interwoven with the official multi-dimensional role of Greek headteachers, which leaves little space for undertaking instructional leadership dimensions. In the absence of such official instructional leadership 'actors', teachers' leadership has been expanding, and the research identifies aspects of informal collaborative leadership practices in Greece. In contrast, the decentralization of school activities creates the platform for the emergence of shared and distributed leadership within the English context, while various school actors have direct and indirect involvement in pedagogical leadership for school improvement. This cross-country comparative study provides new evidence about how instructional leadership is contextually bounded and inevitably influenced by the extent and nature of centralisation or decentralisation in the education system

Invisible barriers: the career progress of women secondary school principals in Greece

This paper examines the career progress of female principals in Greek secondary schools and the under?representation of women in management positions. Drawing on in?depth interviews with six women principals in Athens, the paper considers the factors affecting women's participation in school management. The findings demonstrate that women are greatly under?represented in secondary school management positions. The main reasons for this disadvantage are personal factors, covert discrimination, gender stereotypes and constraints experienced through their socially defined role

Glass production, technology and trade in the Late Bronze Age Peloponnese

This study presents unpublished material from seventy-seven chamber tombs of LBIIB as LBIIIC from the cemetery of Vounteni, near Patras. The findings attest the wealth and prosperity of the region as well as its cultural and commercial relations with other important areas in the Late Bronze Age Peloponnese, but also with Crete, Italy and the Syrian-Palestinian zone. The collection of retrieved glass artifacts was studied technologically via the combined use of LED Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Infrared Spectroscopy (IR) and Raman Spectroscopy. The assemblage was set against parallel collections from the area of ​​Argolid (Palaia Epidavros, Ancient Asini, Mycenae) and Pylos, broadly dated to LBII- LBIIIC and LBI- LBIIIC respectively. The main objectives of the research comprise the acknowledgement of this material and the attempt to allocate Voudeni in the context of the flourishing production of the Mycenaean glass industry. Furthermore, in addition to the necessary presentation of Mycenaean glass in its historical context with reference to the parallel civilizations where it flourished, the study attempts to present concisely, but sufficiently the necessary knowledge concerning its construction and technology.Η παρούσα μελέτη αφορά αδημοσίευτο υλικό από εβδομήντα επτά θαλαμοειδείς τάφους της ΥΕΙΙΒ ως ΥΕΙΙΙΓ από το νεκροταφείο της Βούντενης, πλησίον της Πάτρας. Τα ευρήματα καταδεικνύουν τον πλούτο και την ευημερία της περιοχής, καθώς και τις πολιτισμικές και εμπορικές της σχέσεις με άλλες σημαντικές θέσεις στην Πελοπόννησο της Ύστερης Εποχής του Χαλκού, αλλά και με την Κρήτη, την Ιταλία και τη Συρο-παλαιστινιακή ζώνη. Η συλλογή τεχνέργων από ύαλο που ανασύρθηκε μελετήθηκε τεχνολογικά με συνδυασμένη χρήση Φορητής Οπτικής Μικροσκοπίας (LED Microscopy), Ηλεκτρονικής Μικροσκοπίας Σάρωσης (SEM), Φθορισμομετρίας Ακτίνων- Χ (XRF) και Φασματοσκοπίας Υπερύθρου (IR) και Raman. Η συλλογή αντιπαραβλήθηκε με αντίστοιχες συλλογές από την περιοχή της Αργολίδας (Παλαιά Επίδαυρος, Αρχαία Ασίνη, Μυκήνες) και της Πύλου, που χρονολογούνται ευρέως στην ΥΕΙΙ-ΥΕΙΙΙΓ και ΥΕΙ-ΥΕΙΙΙΓ αντίστοιχα. Στους κύριους στόχους της έρευνας εντάσσονται η γνωστοποίηση των εν λόγω συλλογών και η απόπειρα κατανόησης της θέσης της υαλουργίας της Βούντενης στο πλαίσιο της ανθηρής παραγωγής της βιοτεχνίας υάλου του μυκηναϊκού κόσμου ευρύτερα. H μελέτη, επιπλέον, πέραν της απαραίτητης παρουσίασης του μυκηναϊκού γυαλιού στο ιστορικό του πλαίσιο με αναφορά στους παράλληλους πολιτισμούς που άκμασε, επιχειρεί να συνοψίσει με επάρκεια την απαραίτητη γνώση που αφορά την κατασκευή και τεχνολογία του

Study of the role of apoptosis of neoplastic cells in pediatric haematological malignancies

Introduction: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for nearly 1/3 of all pediatric malignancies and 75% of all childhood leukemias. The annual incidence of ALL has been estimated to 30 cases per million, with a peak incidence in children aged two to five years. Progress in the diagnosis with novel molecular techniques, risk classification, and treatment strategy in ALL has led to cure rates that now exceed 80%. However, a significant proportion (20%) of patients fails to respond to therapy, and treatment failure can occur even in patients with favorable prognostic features. It has been suggested that leukemia is characterized by impaired balance between proliferation of blood cells and their capacity to undergo apoptosis. The aim of this study was to assess the expression of the apoptosis-related genes bcl-2 and bax in childhood ALL, both at the time of diagnosis and at remission achieved post induction treatment. In addition, we measured the levels of the apoptotic receptors Fas, FasLigand, and their co-expression on patients’ leukemic cells. To explore the prognostic significance of apoptosis-related genes in childhood ALL, we examined associations between expression levels and established clinical and cytogenetic disease parameters.Materials-Methods: The study included 26 children (eighteen boys, eight girls) with newly diagnosed ALL (twenty-three B-ALL, three T-ALL). The mean age was 7.1 ± 1.2 years, the mean white blood cell count was 27.5 ± 10.6 K/μL and the mean hemoglobin was 9.1 ± 0.6 g/dL. All patients were diagnosed, treated and followed at the Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, University Hospital of Heraklion - Crete, and they received chemotherapy according to the ALL BFM 2000 protocol. There were 34 age-matched children who served as controls (20 children with benign blood diseases -12 with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, 8 with Autoimmune Neutropenias- and 14 children with solid tumors without bone marrow infiltration). Bone marrow specimens were obtained from all children, under informed consent signed by the parents/guardians. Cytogenetic abnormalities were examined with conventional karyotype and FISH. Disease remission following induction therapy was assessed by bone marrow microscopic evaluation and flow cytometry. Measurement of bcl-2 and bax mRNA was performed by quantitative real-time PCR, and membrane expression of Fas and Fas-L was assessed by flow cytometry in bone marrow mononuclear cells, both at diagnosis and at remission following induction chemotherapy.Results: At diagnosis, increased level of the apoptotic bax/bcl-2 ratio was observed in children older than 10 years and with higher white blood cell count. DNA index <1,16 was associated with increased bax/bcl-2 both at diagnosis and at remission, and the del(9p) abnormality with increased bax/bcl-2 at remission. Expression of the apoptotic receptor Fas was significantly higher at remission compared to diagnosis, which might reflect enhanced sensitivity of the leukemic clone to apoptosis and response to treatment. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study highlights the association between the apoptotic bax/bcl-2 ratio with high-risk features in children with ALL, such as older age, white blood cell count, the del(9p) abnormality and DNA index <1.16. The increase in Fas expression once remission has been achieved after induction treatment, could represent a prognostic factor of favorable response to chemotherapy and deserves further investigation. Delineation of the role of apoptosis in pathogenesis and prognosis of pediatric ALL should enable the design of novel targeted therapies