The juxtaposition of rights and responsibilities: children’s experiences and perceptions

Rights and responsibilities are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa but are disregarded in many ways in the education of young children. This article focuses on comparing the experiences and perceptions of Grade 3 children of their rights and responsibilities across diverse school settings. The comparison of data sets highlighted reciprocity in children’s experiences and showed challenges and gaps in children’s education of rights and responsibilities. This research was qualitative in nature, using a multiple case study design with ninety-six (n=96) participating children. Data gathering occurred through interviews, observation, documents, field notes and visual artefacts made by the participating children. The findings were that education firstly advances children’s understanding and knowledge of their rights and responsibilities. Secondly, basic needs of children have a significant effect on their understanding of their rights and responsibilities with the emphasis on rights. Children’s perceptions of their rights and responsibilities were juxtaposed to assist in finding similarities and differences in their perceptions. Thirdly, the participant children understood that people have needs and rights; they communicated that these rights must be recognised to safeguard a sustainable standard of life

Outcomes of an English literacy intervention on non-mother tongue teaching practices of teachers in rural schools

In Suid-Afrika word niemoedertaalonderrig op hoërskoolvlak bemoeilik deur leerders se beperkte vaardigheid in Engels as kognitiewe akademiese taal. Taalonderwysers aan hoërskole beskik nie oor die kundigheid om leerders by te staan wat nie op laerskoolvlak voldoende kerngeletterdheidsvaardighede in Engels verwerf het nie, omdat hulle opgelei is om Engels as skoolvak te onderrig eerder as om Engels as onderrigtaal te gebruik. Hierdie verkennende studie se aanvanklike doel was om hoërskoolonderwysers met dié probleem by te staan. Die versoek van ses taalonderwysers in 'n plattelandse hoërskool om hulle te help om leerders meer effektief te ondersteun het tot hierdie kwalitatiewe gevallestudie aanleiding gegee. Ons het 'n geletterdheidsintervensie gegrond op die teorieë van sosiale leer en sosiale ontwikkeling en gebaseer op fonetiese beginsels ontwikkel en geïmplementeer. Die vloeibaarheid van ons deelnemende aksienavorsingsontwerp binne 'n konstruktivistiese paradigma het ruimte vir uitbreiding gedurende die intervensie gebied. Die groep het deur deelnemergeleide sneeubalseleksie uitgebrei met vyf onderwysers van twee naburige laerskole. Deur die uitgebreide fokus kon ons die aandag vestig op 'n moontlike dieperliggende wortel van die probleem, naamlik dat laerskoolonderwysers eweneens nie toereikend opgelei word vir die uitdagings van niemoedertaal-geletterdheidsonderrig in 'n landelike gebied nie. Tematiese analise voor en na die intervensie van data wat deur fokusgroepe, observasie en deelnemende observasie bekom is, het getoon dat beide hoër- en laerskoolonderwysers hul niemoedertaal-onderrigpraktyke suksesvol kon aanpas, met goeie gevolge vir leerlingdeelname en verbeterde prestasie. Daar bestaan 'n wederkerige interaksie tussen onderwysers se sienings van hulle eie effektiwiteit, motivering en trots enersyds en leerders se entoesiasme en sukses andersyds.In South Africa teachers' and learners' mother tongues are often different from the language of learning and teaching, which is mostly English. Non-mother tongue teaching and learning in high schools are impeded by learners' limited proficiency in English as a cognitive academic language. In addition, secondary school English language teachers lack competency to support learners who have failed to acquire core literacy skills in English during their primary school years, because they have been trained to teach English as a school subject rather than to use English as language of teaching and learning. A request to assist six English language teachers regarding this problem in a rural high school initiated this qualitative case study. Data were obtained by way of focus groups, observation and participant observation and were recorded in field notes and photographs. Pre-intervention thematic analysis of the problem of teachers' experiences and emotional state regarding their language of teaching practices revealed themes of 1) inadequate training; 2) scarce resources; 3) learners' passivity and 4) extremely limited core literacy skills. These limitations were reflected in 1) teachers' feelings of incompetency; 2) powerlessness; 3) confusion and 4) despair regarding learners' inability to read English. We designed and implemented a literacy intervention framed by theories of social learning and social development and based on phonetic principles. In designing the literacy intervention, we took teachers' and learners' previous knowledge of phonics as the baseline of their zone of proximal development. Vygotsky's emancipatory concepts of a more knowledgeable other, as well as teaching by way of instruction and modelling conceptualised as scaffolding, were guiding principles. In addition, we incorporated Bandura's ideas about the value of motivation and self-efficacy expectations into our facilitation of the programme.The fluidity of our participatory action research design, framed by a constructivist paradigm, allowed our sample to snowball by way of participant-driven selection and thus to include five additional teachers from two neighbouring primary schools. Our expanded focus revealed a deeper root of the problem we were attempting to address, namely that the primary school teachers were not adequately trained for the challenges of non-mother tongue literacy education in a rural area either. Post-intervention thematic analysis of the data revealed that both secondary and primary school teachers were able to successfully adjust their non-mother tongue teaching practices, with positive outcomes in terms of learners' participation and achievement. Teachers' new experiences were manifested in 1) their utilisation of new techniques; 2) new resources, 3) learners' more confident participation and 4) academic improvement. Learners' changed interaction with teachers in turn seemed to have a positive effect on teachers' attitudes towards them. Teachers' new emotional state was expressed in 1) feelings of excitement; 2) empowerment; 3) inspiration and 4) pride. There exists a reciprocal interaction between teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy, motivation and pride on the one hand and learners' enthusiasm and success on the other. Pursuant to the results of this study, we recommend that all teachers should be better trained to implement the best strategies for teaching non-mother tongue literacy. In-service training could be provided by way of distance learning. Because cognitive academic language proficiency is inseparable from successful learning in school, all teachers are in fact language teachers. The challenge to provide the circumstances and practices for acquiring core literacy skills in English is particularly daunting in rural schools. Support of teachers and learners should be ecologically sensitive and should build on existing competencies; such as knowledge of the phonetic foundations of English, as a useful basis for a literacy intervention. Adequate resources, empowerment of teachers, strategies that enhance learners' participation and guaranteed success for both teachers and learners by way of simple incremental objectives are important considerations. Our purpose with this study was exploratory. In action research, a new cycle would be initiated at this point. However, we hope that this report serves as a point of departure for further discussion and research. The far-reaching implications of the disadvantage faced by rural learners whose language of learning and teaching is not their mother tongue should be urgently addressed.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_akgees.htmlam201

Play-based pedagogy for oral communication in early grade and preschool classrooms

Note: Special Collection: Early Childhood Development in Theory and Practice.BACKGROUND : Teachers are responsible for developing and enhancing communication skills amongst young learners. Unfortunately, the overly structured pedagogy which many teachers adopt inhibits the optimal development of oral communication skills. Hence, the researchers investigated ways of strengthening group-work play-based pedagogy to stimulate oral communication. AIM : This research aimed to find out (1) what prior knowledge, skills and classroom practice teachers have and how they demonstrate their competence in implementing group play-based pedagogy; and (2) how a professional development programme assists teachers to implement play-based group pedagogy to develop oral communication skills in young learners. SETTING : The study took place in the Owerri Education Zone in the eastern part of Nigeria. METHODS : The researchers implemented a participatory action research (PAR) design. Nine participants were purposively selected from a cohort of teachers who taught the 5–9-year age group. Teacher participants responded to the semistructured interviews and observational schedules used as tools for data collection. The researchers used inductive thematic data analysis techniques to make sense of the data. This was performed in three phases: sorting the data and organising them in data sets, after which the analysis process commenced. RESULTS : Findings from the study showed that although the participants had a fair understanding of play-based pedagogy, they did not know how to operationalise their understanding of play-based pedagogy directed at oral communication CONCLUSION : The participants gained expert knowledge of play pedagogies that require children to increase oral language use in interaction with each other, using vocabulary and phrases introduced by the teacher as scaffolding for their communication.http://www.sajce.co.zaam2023Early Childhood Educatio

PROVE-Pre-Eclampsia Obstetric Adverse Events:Establishment of a Biobank and Database for Pre-Eclampsia

Pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The burden of disease lies mainly in low-middle income countries. The aim of this project is to establish a pre-eclampsia biobank in South Africa to facilitate research in the field of pre-eclampsia with a focus on phenotyping severe disease.The approach of our biobank is to collect biological specimens, detailed clinical data, tests, and biophysical examinations, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, MRI of the heart, transcranial Doppler, echocardiography, and cognitive function tests.Women diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and normotensive controls are enrolled in the biobank at admission to Tygerberg University Hospital (Cape Town, South Africa). Biological samples and clinical data are collected at inclusion/delivery and during the hospital stay. Special investigations as per above are performed in a subset of women. After two months, women are followed up by telephonic interviews. This project aims to establish a biobank and database for severe organ complications of pre-eclampsia in a low-middle income country where the incidence of pre-eclampsia with organ complications is high. The study integrates different methods to investigate pre-eclampsia, focusing on improved understanding of pathophysiology, prediction of organ complications, and potentially future drug evaluation and discovery

A One Medicine Mission for an Effective Rabies Therapy

Despite the disease's long history, little progress has been made toward a treatment for rabies. The prognosis for patient recovery remains dire. For any prospect of survival, patients require aggressive critical care, which physicians in rabies endemic areas may be reluctant or unable to provide given the cost, clinical expertise required, and uncertain outcome. Systematic clinical research into combination therapies is further hampered by sporadic occurrence of cases. In this Perspective, we examine the case for a One Medicine approach to accelerate development of an effective therapy for rabies through the veterinary care and investigational treatment of naturally infected dogs in appropriate circumstances. We review the pathogenesis of rabies virus in humans and dogs, including recent advances in our understanding of the molecular basis for the severe neurological dysfunction. We propose that four categories of disease process need to be managed in patients: viral propagation, neuronal degeneration, inflammation and systemic compromise. Compassionate critical care and investigational treatment of naturally infected dogs receiving supportive therapy that mimics the human clinical scenario could increase opportunities to study combination therapies that address these processes, and to identify biomarkers for prognosis and therapeutic response. We discuss the safety and ethics of this approach, and introduce the Canine Rabies Treatment Initiative, a non-profit organization with the mission to apply a One Medicine approach to the investigation of diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic options for rabies in naturally infected dogs, to accelerate transformation of rabies into a treatable disease for all patients

450K epigenome-wide scan identifies differential DNA methylation in newborns related to maternal smoking during pregnancy

Background: Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, due to in utero exposures may play a critical role in early programming for childhood and adult illness. Maternal smoking is a major risk factor for multiple adverse health outcomes in children, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Objective: We investigated epigenome-wide methylation in cord blood of newborns in relation to maternal smoking during pregnancy. Methods: We examined maternal plasma cotinine (an objective biomarker of smoking) measured during pregnancy in relation to DNA methylation at 473, 844 CpG sites (CpGs) in 1, 062 newborn cord blood samples from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (450K). Results: We found differential DNA methylation at epigenome-wide statistical significance (p-value < 1.06 × 10–7) for 26 CpGs mapped to 10 genes. We replicated findings for CpGs in AHRR, CYP1A1, and GFI1 at strict Bonferroni-corrected statistical significance in a U.S. birth cohort. AHRR and CYP1A1 play a key role in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling pathway, which mediates the detoxification of the components of tobacco smoke. GFI1 is involved in diverse developmental processes but has not previously been implicated in responses to tobacco smoke. Conclusions: We identified a set of genes with methylation changes present at birth in children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. This is the first study of differential methylation across the genome in relation to maternal smoking during pregnancy using the 450K platform. Our findings implicate epigenetic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of the adverse health outcomes associated with this important in utero exposure.publishedVersio

The continuum of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in a community in South Africa: Prevalence and characteristics in a fifth sample

The prevalence and characteristics of the continuum of diagnoses within fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) were researched in a fifth sample in a South African community

Breastfeeding and maternal alcohol use: Prevalence and effects on child outcomes and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Determine any effects that maternal alcohol consumption during the breastfeeding period has on child outcomes

Large-scale genome-wide association studies and meta-analyses of longitudinal change in adult lung function.

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous loci influencing cross-sectional lung function, but less is known about genes influencing longitudinal change in lung function. METHODS: We performed GWAS of the rate of change in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) in 14 longitudinal, population-based cohort studies comprising 27,249 adults of European ancestry using linear mixed effects model and combined cohort-specific results using fixed effect meta-analysis to identify novel genetic loci associated with longitudinal change in lung function. Gene expression analyses were subsequently performed for identified genetic loci. As a secondary aim, we estimated the mean rate of decline in FEV1 by smoking pattern, irrespective of genotypes, across these 14 studies using meta-analysis. RESULTS: The overall meta-analysis produced suggestive evidence for association at the novel IL16/STARD5/TMC3 locus on chromosome 15 (P  =  5.71 × 10(-7)). In addition, meta-analysis using the five cohorts with ≥3 FEV1 measurements per participant identified the novel ME3 locus on chromosome 11 (P  =  2.18 × 10(-8)) at genome-wide significance. Neither locus was associated with FEV1 decline in two additional cohort studies. We confirmed gene expression of IL16, STARD5, and ME3 in multiple lung tissues. Publicly available microarray data confirmed differential expression of all three genes in lung samples from COPD patients compared with controls. Irrespective of genotypes, the combined estimate for FEV1 decline was 26.9, 29.2 and 35.7 mL/year in never, former, and persistent smokers, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this large-scale GWAS, we identified two novel genetic loci in association with the rate of change in FEV1 that harbor candidate genes with biologically plausible functional links to lung function