21 research outputs found
Professional learning for distributed leadership:Primary headteachers’ perspectives
This article draws from a small-scale study of headteachers motivated to positively impact on the quality of pupil experience by involving all staff in a distributed perspective on leadership. Each headteacher perceived leadership as involving learned processes requiring support and experience, expending considerable effort in providing a fertile environment for learning about its practice. This perspective developed from their personal experience of challenging established leadership orthodoxies prior to and since appointment to headship. The article explores the impact of formal work-based postgraduate leadership preparation and experiential professional learning on each headteacher’s understandings of distributed leadership and its practice. It then explores the ways in which they supported the professional learning of staff. The article concludes by suggesting that headteachers and staff encounter a range of challenges in developing school practices inherent in distributed leadership and can benefit from ongoing support with informed reflection on practice beyond initial preparation for headship
Let's face the music: A behavioral and electrophysiological exploration of score reading
Activation of the medial preoptic area (MPOA) ameliorates loss of maternal behavior in a Shank2 mouse model for autism
Impairments in social relationships and awareness are features
observed in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, the under lying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Shank2 is a high-confi dence ASD candidate gene and localizes primarily to postsynaptic
densities (PSDs) of excitatory synapses in the central nervous system
(CNS). We show here that loss of Shank2 in mice leads to a lack of
social attachment and bonding behavior towards pubs independent
of hormonal, cognitive, or sensitive deficits. Shank2 / mice display
functional changes in nuclei of the social attachment circuit that
were most prominent in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of the
hypothalamus. Selective enhancement of MPOA activity by DREADD
technology re-established social bonding behavior in Shank2 /
mice, providing evidence that the identified circuit might be crucial
for explaining how social deficits in ASD can arise