Performance over professional learning and the complexity puzzle: lesson observation in England’s further education sector

Attempts to measure the quality of teaching and learning have resulted in an overreliance on quantitative performance data and the normalisation of a set of reductionist practices in England’s further education sector in recent years. Focusing on lesson observation as an illustrative example and drawing on data from a national study, this article examines the application of observation and its impact on further education teachers’ practice. In viewing lesson observation through a complexity theory lens and contextualising it against the wider neoliberal backdrop of the marketisation of education, we seek to critique the inadequacies of current reductionist approaches to teacher evaluation, whilst simultaneously opening up a debate regarding the consequences of seeing classrooms as complex adaptive systems. In focusing on performative models of lesson observation in particular, the article exposes what we perceive as some of the epistemological and methodological shortcomings of neoliberalism in practice, but also offers an alternative way forward in dealing with the contested practice of evaluating the quality of teaching and learning

The state of professional practice and policy in the English further education system: a view from below

This paper addresses a recurring theme regarding the UK’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) policy in which Further Education (FE) and training are primarily driven by employer demand. It explores the tensions associated with this process on the everyday working practices of FE practitioners and institutions and its impact on FE’s contribution to the wider processes of social and economic inclusion. At a time when Ofsted and employer-led organisations have cast doubt on the contribution of FE, we explore pedagogies of practice that are often unacknowledged by the current audit demands of officialdom. We argue that such practice provides a more enlightened view of the sector and the challenges it faces in addressing wider issues of social justice, employability and civic regeneration. At the same time, the irony of introducing laissez-faire initiatives designed to remove statutory qualifications for FE teachers ignores the progress made over the past decade in raising the professional profile and status of teachers and trainers in the sector. In addressing such issues, the paper explores the limits and possibilities of constructing professional and vocational knowledge from networks and communities of practice, schools, universities, business, employers and local authorities, in which FE already operates

Surveillance, performativity and normalised practice: the use and impact of graded lesson observations in Further Education colleges

In little over a decade, the observation of teaching and learning (OTL) has become the cornerstone of Further Education (FE) colleges’ quality systems for assuring and improving the professional skills and knowledge base of tutors. Yet OTL remains an under-researched area of inquiry with little known about the impact of its use on the professional identity, learning and development of FE tutors. This paper examines the specific practice of graded OTL and in so doing discusses findings from a mixed-methods study conducted in 10 colleges situated across the West Midlands region of England. Data from a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were analysed within a theoretical framework that drew largely on aspects of Foucauldian theory as well as the twin phenomena of new managerialism and performativity. This analysis revealed how OTL has become normalised as a performative tool of managerialist systems designed to assure and improve standards, performance and accountability in teaching and learning. It is argued that FE has now outgrown graded OTL and it is time for a moratorium on its use. Colleges and tutors need to be given greater professional autonomy with regard to OTL and be allowed to develop their own systems that place professional learning and development at the forefront, rather than the requirements of performance management systems

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Space, Resistance and Identities: University-based Teacher Educators Developing a Community of Practice.

This series: The aim of this set of books is to combine the best of current academic research into the use of Communities of Practice in education with "hands on" practitioner experience in order to provide teachers and academics with a convenient source of guidance and an incentive to work with and develop in their own Communities of Practice. Volume 1 deals principally with the issues found in co-located Communities of Practice, while Volume 2 deal principally with distributed Communities of Practice

PARTICLE, a triplex-forming long ncRNA, regulates locus-specific methylation in response to low-dose irradiation

Exposure to low-dose irradiation causes transiently elevated expression of the long ncRNA PARTICLE (gene PARTICLE, promoter of MAT2A-antisense radiation-induced circulating lncRNA). PARTICLE affords both a cytosolic scaffold for the tumor suppressor methionine adenosyltransferase (. MAT2A) and a nuclear genetic platform for transcriptional repression. In situ hybridization discloses that PARTICLE and MAT2A associate together following irradiation. Bromouridine tracing and presence in exosomes indicate intercellular transport, and this is supported by exvivo data from radiotherapy-treated patients. Surface plasmon resonance indicates that PARTICLE forms a DNA-lncRNA triplex upstream of a MAT2A promoter CpG island. We show that PARTICLE represses MAT2A via methylation and demonstrate that the radiation-induced PARTICLE interacts withthe transcription-repressive complex proteins G9a and SUZ12 (subunit of PRC2). The interplay of PARTICLE with MAT2A implicates this lncRNA in intercellular communication and as a recruitment platform for gene-silencing machineries through triplex formation in response to irradiation

Liquid Biopsy Snapshots of Key Phosphoproteomic Pathways in Lung Cancer Patients for Diagnosis and Therapy Monitoring

Phosphorylation is a post-translational modification in proteins that changes protein conformation and activity for regulating signal transduction pathways. This mechanism is frequently impaired in lung cancer, resulting in permanently active constitutive phosphorylation to initiate tumor growth and/or reactivate pathways in response to therapy. We developed a multiplexed phosphoprotein analyzer chip (MPAC) that enables rapid (detection time: 5 min) and sensitive (LOD: 2 pg/μL) detection of protein phosphorylation and presents phosphoproteomic profiling of major phosphorylation pathways in lung cancer. We monitored phosphorylated receptors and downstream proteins involved in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways in lung cancer cell line models and patient-derived extracellular vesicles (EV). Using kinase inhibitor drugs in cell line models, we found that the drug can inhibit the phosphorylation and/or activation of the kinase pathway. We then generated a phosphorylation heatmap by EV phosphoproteomic profiling of plasma samples isolated from 36 lung cancer patients and 8 noncancer individuals. The heatmap showed a clear difference between the noncancer and cancer samples and identify the specific proteins that are activated in the cancer samples. Our data also showed that MPAC could monitor immunotherapy responses by assessment of the phosphorylation states of the proteins, particularly for PD-L1. Finally, with a longitudinal study, we found that the phosphorylation levels of the proteins were indicative of a positive response to therapy. We believe that this study will lead to personalized treatment by providing a better understanding of the active and resistant pathways and will provide a tool for selecting combined and targeted therapies for precision medicine.<p/

Raising the stakes: classroom observation in the further education sector in England

Successive governments in England have regarded classroom observation as an essential tool for monitoring and improving teacher performance. Despite its importance in national policy for teacher development, the impact of classroom observation on individual teachers, and on improving quality and standards in teaching and learning, remain under-researched areas. Further education (FE) in general, and FE teachers in particular, have received sparse attention. This paper adopts a theoretical framework grounded in aspects of assessment theory to explore some of the consequences of using observation to assess, monitor and raise standards of classroom performance in the FE workforce. It draws on findings from a mixed-methods study, involving questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, conducted in 10 FE colleges situated across the West Midlands region of England. The paper concludes by situating the findings against the broader backdrop of research into teachers’ continuing professional development and, in so doing, raises questions about the fitness for purpose of prevailing observation assessment regimes in FE and the extent to which these systems are able to achieve their purported goals

From the Bottom Up Rethinking U.S. Development Assistance

Created as part of the 2009 Jackson School for International Studies SIS 495: Task Force. Wolfram Latsch, Task Force Advisor; Megan Bowman, Evaluator; Alison O'Leary, Coordinator; Stephanie Arbogast