Developing creative learning through possibility thinking with children aged 3-7

Abstract not available

12-An Archaeological Survey of the Thornapple River Basin in Hastings and Castleton Townships, Barry County, Michigan

When the Thornapple Basin Survey program commenced in 1979, the Barry County site files indicated the presence of only 64 archaeological sites in this area of the state. However, it was also quite apparent from the available data in the site files as well as from information provided by the Michigan History Division that no program of systematic archaeological research had ever been conducted in the county. And, clearly, this was a situation that the MHD desired to have remedied. Aside from the interest expressed by the State Archaeologist, Dr. John Halsey, and his staff in having a program of systematic site location survey initiated in the Thornapple River Basin, the senior author, Dr. William Cremin of Western Michigan University, also was anxious to expand WMU\u27s survey activities beyond the nearby Kalamazoo River Basin. After four years of systematic survey in portions of this drainage, Cremin recognized the need for creating a data set for comparison with the growing body of information generated by the Kalamazoo Basin Survey a need which has only increased with the recent completion of this survey program. Now, with a data set derived from more than 350 prehistoric sites occurring in 135 km of the basin surveyed, it has become absolutely essential that comparative information from other drainages in southern Lower Michigan be made available in order that predictive models of prehistoric settlement and subsistence behavior emerging for this universe (and other areas in this portion of the state) might be rigorously tested. With this thought in mind, and responding to the request of MHD that a proposal be submitted for initiating site survey in the Thornapple River Valley, Cremin and his associates began a literature/documents search and examination of the Barry County site files, evaluated the available information, and established a series of research objectives to guide TBS Phase I activities in 1979 as well as to provide a basis for long term systematic survey in this universe in future years

Languages and Learning at Key Stage 2: A Longitudinal Study Final Report

In 2006, The Open University, the University of Southampton and Canterbury Christ Church University were commissioned by the then Department for Education and Skills (DfES), now Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to conduct a three-year longitudinal study of languages learning at Key Stage 2 (KS2). The qualitative study was designed to explore provision, practice and developments over three school years between 2006/07 and 2008/09 in a sample of primary schools and explore children’s achievement in oracy and literacy, as well as the possible broader cross-curricular impact of languages learning

“I think it fits in”: Using Process Drama to Promote Agentic Writing with Primary School Children

Set against the backdrop of children being “alienated” from their writing (Lambirth 2016), this paper is taken from a UKLA sponsored project where primary school teachers were trained to use process drama in order to give children more agency in their writing across the curriculum. Here we use discourse analysis (Gee 2010) to think about the children’s historical creative writing in relation to the drama lessons which are differently framed (Bernstein 2000) by the teachers. Building upon a theoretical model of drama as “blended space” (Duffy 2014) and writing as problem-solving (Bereiter and Scardamalia 1986), a case is made that process drama can lead to what we term ‘agentic writing’. Agentic writing, we demonstrate, involves children actively translating their embodied experience of the blended space into writing by making a range of intertextual borrowings. These borrowing serve both to capture and transform their embodied experience as the children gain agency by “standing outside language” to achieve “double voicedness” (Bakthin 1986). Seeing the relationship between process drama and writing in this light, we argue, provides a means of reconnecting children to the act of writing

Teachers as writers: a systematic review

This paper is a critical literature review of empirical work from 1990-2015 on teachers as writers. It interrogates the evidence on teachers’ attitudes to writing, their sense of themselves as writers and the potential impact of teacher writing on pedagogy or student outcomes in writing. The methodology was carried out in four stages. Firstly, educational databases keyword searches located 438 papers. Secondly, initial screening identified 159 for further scrutiny, 43 of which were found to specifically address teachers’ writing identities and practices. Thirdly, these sources were screened further using inclusion/exclusion criteria. Fourthly, the 22 papers judged to satisfy the criteria were subject to in-depth analysis and synthesis. The findings reveal that the evidence base in relation to teachers as writers is not strong, particularly with regard to the impact of teachers’ writing on student outcomes. The review indicates that teachers have narrow conceptions of what counts as writing and being a writer and that multiple tensions exist, relating to low self-confidence, negative writing histories, and the challenge of composing and enacting teacher and writer positions in school. However, initial training and professional development programmes do appear to afford opportunities for reformulation of attitudes and sense of self as writer

Antiretroviral Therapy outcomes among adolescents and youth in rural Zimbabwe

Around 2 million adolescents and 3 million youth are estimated to be living with HIV worldwide. Antiretroviral outcomes for this group appear to be worse compared to adults. We report antiretroviral therapy outcomes from a rural setting in Zimbabwe among patients aged 10-30 years who were initiated on ART between 2005 and 2008. The cohort was stratified into four age groups: 10-15 (young adolescents) 15.1-19 years (adolescents), 19.1-24 years (young adults) and 24.1-29.9 years (older adults). Survival analysis was used to estimate rates of deaths and loss to follow-up stratified by age group. Endpoints were time from ART initiation to death or loss to follow-up. Follow-up of patients on continuous therapy was censored at date of transfer, or study end (31 December 2008). Sex-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios for different age groups. 898 patients were included in the analysis; median duration on ART was 468 days. The risk of death were highest in adults compared to young adolescents (aHR 2.25, 95%CI 1.17-4.35). Young adults and adolescents had a 2-3 times higher risk of loss to follow-up compared to young adolescents. When estimating the risk of attrition combining loss to follow-up and death, young adults had the highest risk (aHR 2.70, 95%CI 1.62-4.52). This study highlights the need for adapted adherence support and service delivery models for both adolescents and young adults

Patterns of self-reported behaviour change associated with receiving voluntary counselling and testing in a longitudinal study from Manicaland, Zimbabwe.

Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) is promoted as a potential HIV prevention measure. We describe trends in uptake of VCT for HIV, and patterns of subsequent behaviour change associated with receiving VCT in a population-based open cohort in Manicaland, Zimbabwe. The relationship between receipt of VCT and subsequent reported behaviour was analysed using generalized linear models with random effects. At the third survey, 8.6% of participants (1,079/12,533), had previously received VCT. Women who received VCT, both those positive and negative, reduced their reported number of new partners. Among those testing positive, this risk reduction was enhanced with time since testing. Among men, no behavioural risk reduction associated with VCT was observed. Significant increases in consistent condom use, with regular or non-regular partners, following VCT, were not observed. This study suggests that, among women, particularly those who are infected, behavioural risk reduction does occur following VCT

Including PrEP for key populations in combination HIV prevention: a mathematical modelling analysis of Nairobi as a case-study

Background: The role of PrEP in combination HIV prevention remains uncertain. We aimed to identify an optimal portfolio of interventions to reduce HIV incidence for a given budget, and to identify the circumstances in which PrEP could be used in Nairobi, Kenya. Methods: A mathematical model was developed to represent HIV transmission among specific key populations (female sex workers (FSW), male sex workers (MSW), and men who have sex with men (MSM)) and among the wider population of Nairobi. The scale-up of existing interventions (condom promotion, anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and male circumcision) for key populations and the wider population as have occurred in Nairobi is represented. The model includes a detailed representation of a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) intervention and is calibrated to prevalence and incidence estimates specific to key populations and the wider population. Findings: In the context of a declining epidemic overall but with a large sub-epidemic among MSM and MSW, an optimal prevention portfolio for Nairobi should focus on condom promotion for MSW and MSM in particular, followed by improved ART retention, earlier ART, and male circumcision as the budget allows. PrEP for MSW could enter an optimal portfolio at similar levels of spending to when earlier ART is included, however PrEP for MSM and FSW would be included only at much higher budgets. If PrEP for MSW cost as much $500, average annual spending on the interventions modelled would need to be less than$3·27 million for PrEP for MSW to be excluded from an optimal portfolio. Estimated costs per infection averted when providing PrEP to all FSW regardless of their risk of infection, and to high risk FSW only, are $65,160 (95$43,520 - $90,250) and$10,920 (95% credible interval: $4,700 -$51,560) respectively. Interpretation: PrEP could be a useful contribution to combination prevention, especially for underserved key populations in Nairobi. An ongoing demonstration project will provide important information regarding practical aspects of implementing PrEP for key populations in this setting

Collaborative writing with young people with disabilities: raising new questions of authorship and agency

The process of communication between author and reader is a critical issue in examining any text. When considering the communication of ideas from young people whose voices are seldom heard, the journey from author to audience has particular significance. The construction of children and young people as ‘authors’ is important, especially for those with learning difficulties or who struggle to comply with the current emphasis on spelling, punctuation and grammar. This article relates to a UK Research-Council-funded three-year collaborative research project involving the co-creation of fictional stories with young people with disabilities to represent aspects of their lives. Drawing on frameworks from narratology, I analyse the co-creation of one of the stories, and present an interpretation and elaboration of the discourse structure of narrative fiction to illustrate the complexities of the relationship between the multi-faceted ‘author’ and community ‘reader’ of these stories. The combination of qualitative research and fictional prose has particular characteristics and implications for the dissemination and communication of research findings; while extending feminist critique of Barthes’ claim for the death of the author provides new insights for engaging children in writing with their own voice