'Scaffolding': learning in the classroom

Recent interest in talk and learning in the classroom has encouraged a new metaphorical use for the term 'scaffolding'. This term is increasingly used to describe certain kinds of support which learners receive in their interaction with parents, teachers and other 'mentors' as they move towards new skills, concepts or levels of understanding. It is a term which helps to portray the temporary, but essential, nature of the mentor's assistance as the learner advances in knowledge and understanding

Children's voices: The contribution of informal language practices to the negotiation of knowledge and identity amongst 10-12 year old school pupils

This research addresses the ways in which children's informal language practices contribute to their negotiations of knowledge and identity. An ethnographic study of 10-12 year olds' talk in and around school was carried out, which included the collection of continuous tape-recordings of talk across the school day, observation and recording of literacy activities, and interviews with thirty four children. Using an ethnography of communication framework together with ideas from the Russian socio-historical writers, this data is analysed and features of children's talk examined in relation to their negotiations of knowledge and identity. In particular, analysis focusses on children's collaborative linguistic strategies, their uses of narrative and literacy, and their taking on of other people's voices. Attention is also paid to the ways in which different aspects of context are involved in the constitution of meaning within dialogue. It is argued that a more dialogic model of communication needs to be developed in order to understand. the function and meaning of children's talk and literacy activities. In relation to this, it is suggested that Bakhtin and Volosinov's ideas about dialogic, heteroglossic and intertextual. aspects of language use provide an important way of extending current thinking about the role -of language in children's construction of knowledge and identity, in relation to more constructivist conceptions of culture, social activity and the self

How proximity and trust are key factors in getting research to feed into policymaking

Policymakers frequently fail to use research evidence in their work. Academia moves too slowly for the policy world and its findings do not translate easily into policy solutions. Using the Department of Health as a case study, Jo Maybin outlines how research most likely has an impact as a result of personal interactions between individual researchers and policymakers. But this can limit the range of knowledge being used to inform policy and be problematic when individuals change or leave jobs

Knowledge and knowing in policy work: a case study of civil servants in England’s Department of Health

Contemporary English health policy is saturated with claims about what the world is like and how it might be otherwise. These claims span the wide range of subject matters covered by health policy, from hospital waiting times to our preparedness for major disease outbreaks; from structures for the planning and purchasing of healthcare to requirements around the sharing of patient records. Despite this, empirical studies of health policymakers working at the national level in the UK suggest that research evidence plays only a very limited role in policy development (Lavis et al. 2005; Dash 2003; Dash et al. 2003; Innvær et al. 2002; Petticrew et al. 2008). This apparent contradiction was the starting-­‐point for this project. If civil servants are not drawing on research knowledge in their work, how is it that they are able to devise policy about such complex and technical policy issues? Policy-­‐making requires knowing the world in some way in order to act upon it. My research asks, what kinds of knowledge are civil servants in England’s Department of Health using in their work, and what forms does this use take? This thesis is situated in an emerging field of interpretive policy analysis which treats policymaking as realised in the daily work practices of communities of individuals (Wagenaar & Cook 2003; Wagenaar 2004; Colebatch 2006; Colebatch et al. 2010; Freeman et al. 2011). I have adopted an ethnographic approach, conducting 60 hours of original data collection in the form of interviews and meeting observations among mostly mid-­‐ranking civil servants working on various high-­‐profile health policies in 2010-­‐11. By analysing my fieldwork experiences and the resulting data, and by relating these to insights from theoretical resources in sociology, psychology and philosophy, I offer an account of the different forms of knowing and knowledge entailed in the practice of policy-­‐making. I identify three forms of knowledge and knowing that were integral to the work of the civil servants I studied: the ‘practices of knowing’ by which they came to understand the objects of their policies and think through the possibilities for their reform; the ‘pragmatic use of knowledge claims’ in which facts, figures and stories were invoked to generate support for policies and to defend decisions taken; and the ‘know-­‐how of policymaking’, which was the most important form of knowledge for the civil servants’ professional identities. In the conclusion, I reflect on the aspects of knowledge and knowing which are shared by the civil servants’ practices and my own work in producing this thesis

Epidemiology of Cancers in Zambia: A significant variation in Cancer incidence and prevalence across the nation

BackgroundCancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. More than two-thirds of deaths due to cancers occur in low- and middle-income countries where Zambia belongs. This study, therefore, sought to assess the epidemiology of various types of cancers in Zambia.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective observational study using the Zambia National Cancer Registry (ZNCR) population based data from 2007 to 2014. Zambia Central Statistics Office (CSO) demographic data were used to determine catchment area denominator used to calculate prevalence and incidence rates of cancers. Age-adjusted rates and case fatality rates were estimated using standard methods. We used a Poisson Approximation for calculating 95% confidence intervals (CI). ResultsThe seven most cancer prevalent districts in Zambia were Luangwa, Kabwe, Lusaka, Monze, Mongu, Katete and Chipata. Cervical cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer and Kaposi’s sarcoma were the four most prevalent cancers as well as major causes of cancer related deaths in Zambia. Age adjusted rates and 95% CI for these cancers were: cervix uteri (186.3; CI = 181.77 – 190.83), prostate (60.03; CI = 57.03 – 63.03), breast (38.08; CI = 36.0 – 40.16) and Kaposi’s sarcoma (26.18; CI = 25.14 – 27.22). CFR were: Leukaemia (38.1%); pancreatic cancer (36.3%); lung cancer (33.3%); and brain, nervous system (30.2%). The cancer population was associated with HIV with p- value of 0.000 and a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.818.ConclusionsThe widespread distribution of cancers with high prevalence observed in the southern zone may have been perpetrated by lifestyle and sexual culture (traditional male circumcision known to prevent STIs is practiced in the northern belt) as well as geography. Intensifying cancer screening and early detection countrywide as well as changing the lifestyle and sexual culture would greatly help in the reduction of cancer cases in Zambia