Disrupting cisnormativity: Decentering gender in families

Within the last decade, emerging research and activism in the sphere of transgender and gender non-binary (TGNB) persons has necessitated new vocabulary and perspectives. Families of TGNB are often challenged to reevaluate understandings of gender, of sexuality, and the family unit itself. Gender binaries are perpetuated and reinforced in Western culture through our gender “performances” (Butler, 2004), and children are judged on their performances (Wahlig, 2015). The conceptual model of decentering cisnormativity allows researchers to analyze when tensions grow taut when society members are confronted with gender nonconformity. Parents often undergo transformation when they choose to explore these tensions, deconstruct their assumptions about gender, and critically reflect on their underlying biases, belief systems, values, and understandings. In this way, it is not only TGNB children who transition, but those around them (Malpas, 2017) as their belief systems and social constructions of gender are called into question

Functional analysis of bovine TLR5 and association with IgA responses of cattle following systemic immunisation with H7 flagella

International audienceFlagellin subunits are important inducers of host immune responses through activation of TLR5 when extracellular and the inflammasome if cytosolic. Our previous work demonstrated that systemic immunization of cattle with flagella generates systemic and mucosal IgA responses. The IgA response in mice is TLR5-dependent and TLR5 can impact on the general magnitude of the adaptive response. However, due to sequence differences between bovine and human/murine TLR5 sequences, it is not clear whether bovine TLR5 (bTLR5) is able to stimulate an inflammatory response following interaction with flagellin. To address this we have examined the innate responses of both human and bovine cells containing bTLR5 to H7 flagellin from E. coli O157:H7. Both HEK293 (human origin) and embryonic bovine lung (EBL) cells transfected with bTLR5 responded to addition of H7 flagellin compared to non-transfected controls. Responses were significantly reduced when mutations were introduced into the TLR5-binding regions of H7 flagellin, including an R90T substitution. In bovine primary macrophages, flagellin-stimulated CXCL8 mRNA and secreted protein levels were significantly reduced when TLR5 transcript levels were suppressed by specific siRNAs and stimulation was reduced with the R90T-H7 variant. While these results indicate that the bTLR5 sequence produces a functional flagellin-recognition receptor, cattle immunized with R90T-H7 flagella also demonstrated systemic IgA responses to the flagellin in comparison to adjuvant only controls. This presumably either reflects our findings that R90T-H7 still activates bTLR5, albeit with reduced efficiency compared to WT H7 flagellin, or that other flagellin recognition pathways may play a role in this mucosal response

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Reframing families: Transforming meaning in families with transgender and gender non-binary members

Although studies have been conducted on the experiences of transgender and non-binary children, limited research has looked at the parents of these children. This qualitative study explored the transformative learning (Mezirow, 1978) of the parents of transgender and non-binary children by employing the concepts of biographical learning (Alheit, 1994) and holistic learning (Illeris, 2003) as its conceptual framework. The research questions asked: to what extent the parents experienced transformative learning, how they made the cognitive-affective shift in learning, how their own gender identity development informed their interpretations of their child’s gender transition, and how they navigated any tensions created within a family. Applying life history methods and methodology, I conducted 2 to 3 interviews with 16 parents of children aged 6 to 29, most of whom recorded their thoughts in journals, and I wrote an autoethnography as a parent of a non-binary child myself. The findings showed that for many parents, holistic learning took place in two phases. First, parents experienced a private phase of transformative learning through a cognitive reframing of the meaning of gender and a relinquishing of the emotions that were attached to gender (such as losing your daughter). Then began a public phase where parents learned to advocate for their children in schools, medical offices, or courtrooms. Parents of non-binary children may take longer working through these stages and many participants benefitted from lingering at a particular place of learning as they processed their thoughts or emotions. Furthermore, a parent’s personal sense of gender identity did not play a salient role for most parents; rather, their value in authenticity or the ability to be yourself influenced their commitment to their child. A parent’s gender identity did play a notable role for two mothers who identified as feminist who found it necessary to revisit their definition of woman at the time of their children’s transition. These findings provide a better understanding of the transformative learning of parents of transgender and non-binary children who often need support on this personal and public journey towards championing their children, challenging societal norms, and promoting inclusivity

Getting Radical: Collaborative Design-based Thinking

What does it mean to engage in radical collaboration? In this session, instructors who participated in a weekly Design-based Thinking community of practice shared some perspectives on how radical collaboration and design thinking work in tandem to resolve teaching and learning challenges. Design-based thinking and radical collaboration are approaches that incorporate common principles and strategies such as understanding people’s needs and issues, gathering diverse perspectives, prototyping and testing solutions, and reflecting on and engaging in iterative processes that lead to viable outcomes. Session participants were invited to engage in an experiential, design-thinking activity where they discussed obstacles that they or their students have had in collaborative teams and brainstormed ideas on possible solutions

Getting Radical: Using Design thinking to Tackle Collaboration Issues

Design Thinking (DT) has recently been adopted in some higher education disciplines as an effective pedagogical approach to enable students to acquire the skills needed for solving real world problems. As a human-centered, iterative process, design thinking is characterized by working with others to understand, define and solve problems using empathy, creativity, and radical collaboration. Many university courses also stress collaboration as a learning approach. However, not all students function well in collaborative environments. Based on their work in the Design-based Thinking course at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, the authors asked, “could the design thinking process be used to foster collaboration among students and encourage radical collaboration”? In this paper the authors present a brief overview of the literature in this area and propose some parallels between the design thinking and collaborative team building processes

Aligning Goals for Certification and Professional Growth: Building Cooperation Among Bachelor of Education Programs in Alberta

This article chronicles a provincial collaboration between ten Bachelor of Education degree-granting universities in Alberta, Canada. This collaboration focused on the newly implemented Teaching Quality Standard (2018) in Alberta and its impact on preservice teacher practicums. Data were collected through curriculum mapping and interviews at each institution. Each institution analyzed their own data and shared themes at a number of group meetings. Two common themes arose: (a) the interconnectedness of practicum and teacher education courses and (b) the role of the Teaching Quality Standard as a development tool within practicum. Key words: teacher education, practicum, teaching quality standard, postsecondary collaboration Cet article relate une collaboration provinciale entre dix universités de l'Alberta, au Canada, qui décernent des baccalauréats en éducation. Cette collaboration s'est concentrée sur la nouvelle norme de qualité de l'enseignement (2018) en Alberta et son impact sur les stages des enseignants en formation initiale. Les données ont été recueillies par le biais de la cartographie des programmes d'études et d'entretiens dans chaque établissement. Chaque établissement a analysé ses propres données et a partagé les thèmes lors de plusieurs réunions de groupe. Deux thèmes communs sont apparus : (a) l'interconnexion des stages et des cours de formation des enseignants et (b) le rôle de la norme de qualité de l'enseignement comme outil de développement dans le cadre des stages. Mots clés: formation des enseignants, stage, norme de qualité de l'enseignement, collaboration postsecondair