Changing practice in Malaysian primary schools: learning from student teachers’ reports of using action, reflection and modelling (ARM)

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Education for Teaching on 15 March 2018, available online at doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2018.1433468. Under embargo until 1 August 2019.Curricular and pedagogical reforms are complex inter-linked processes such that curricular reform can only be enacted through teachers teaching differently. This article reports the perspective of emergent Malaysian primary teachers who were expected to implement a Government reform that promoted active learning. The 120 student teachers were members of a single cohort completing a new B.Ed. degree programme in Primary Mathematics designed by teacher educators from Malaysia and the UK. They were taught to use a tripartite pedagogical framework involving action or active learning, supported in practice through reflection and modelling. Drawing on findings from surveys carried out with the student teachers at the end of their first and final placements this article examines evidence for the premise that the student teachers were teaching differently; illustrates how they reported using active learning strategies; and identifies factors that enabled and constrained pedagogic change in the primary classroom. The students’ accounts of using action, reflection and modelling are critiqued in order to learn about changing learning and teaching practice and to contribute to understanding teacher education and early teacher development. The students’ reports suggest diversity of understanding that emphasises the need to challenge assumptions when working internationally and within national and local cultures.Peer reviewe

Neighbourhood effects and endogeneity issues

A recent body of research suggests that the spatial structure of cities might influence the socioeconomic characteristics and outcomes of their residents. In particular, the literature on neighbourhood effects emphasizes the potential influence of the socioeconomic composition of neighbourhoods in shaping individual’s behaviours and outcomes, through social networks, peer influences or socialization effects. However, empirical work still has not reached a consensus regarding the existence and magnitude of such effects. This is mainly because the study of neighbourhood effects raises important methodological concerns that have not often been taken into account. Notably, as individuals with similar socio-economic characteristics tend to sort themselves into certain parts of the city, the estimation of neighbourhood effects raises the issue of location choice endogeneity. Indeed, it is difficult to distinguish between neighbourhood effects and correlated effects, i.e. similarities in behaviours and outcomes arising from individuals having similar characteristics. This problem, if not dequately corrected for, may yield biased results. In the first part of this paper, neighbourhood effects are defined and some methodological problems involved in measuring such effects are identified. Particular attention is paid to the endogeneity issue, giving a formal definition of the problem and reviewing the main methods that have been used in the literature to try to solve it. The second part is devoted to an empirical illustration of the study of neighbourhood effects, in the case of labour-market outcomes of young adults in Brussels. The effect of living in a deprived neighbourhood on the unemployment probability of young adults residing in Brussels is estimated using logistic regressions. The endogeneity of neighbourhood is addressed by restricting the sample to young adults residing with their parents. Then, a ensitivity analysis is used to assess the robustness of the results to the presence of both observed and unobserved parental covariates.neighbourhood effects, endogeneity, self-selection, sensitivity analysis, Brussels

NetEvo: A computational framework for the evolution of dynamical complex networks

NetEvo is a computational framework designed to help understand the evolution of dynamical complex networks. It provides flexible tools for the simulation of dynamical processes on networks and methods for the evolution of underlying topological structures. The concept of a supervisor is used to bring together both these aspects in a coherent way. It is the job of the supervisor to rewire the network topology and alter model parameters such that a user specified performance measure is minimised. This performance measure can make use of current topological information and simulated dynamical output from the system. Such an abstraction provides a suitable basis in which to study many outstanding questions related to complex system design and evolution

THE OTHER REFUGEE CRISIS

This post originally appeared at https://wafmag.org/2017/08/the-other-refugee-crisis

Rapid Syllable Transition treatment for Childhood Apraxia of Speech: exploring treatment efficacy in three service-delivery contexts

Many children are unable to access speech pathology treatment at the recommended intensity. To address this problem, clinicians use a range of strategies: modifying treatment intensity, mode or delivery agent. Accessing sufficient speech pathology treatment for children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is particularly difficult because treatment should be delivered face-to-face, by a clinician, 3–5 times per week. One relatively new treatment for CAS, rapid syllable transition (ReST) treatment has demonstrated significant acquisition and generalisation effects when delivered intensively, face-to-face, by a clinician. This thesis uses three separate single-case experimental studies to investigate the efficacy of ReST treatment when provided via alternative service-delivery approaches. Lower dose-frequency, telehealth delivery, and a combined clinician–parent delivery model were explored. The studies showed that both lower dose-frequency and telehealth delivery were efficacious. Combined clinician–parent delivery was efficacious for fewer than half the children. Parental experiences of telehealth and of the combined clinician–parent delivery models were investigated qualitatively. The parents reported positive experiences of telehealth, finding it convenient and time-efficient. They had concerns about the combined clinician-parent delivery model, reporting discomfort in the role of therapist, and low levels of confidence and competence in delivering treatment. This thesis supports implementation of both lower dose-frequency and telehealth delivery of ReST treatment. Despite the intuitive appeal of parent-delivered treatment for overcoming access barriers, this thesis does not support clinical application of parent-delivered ReST treatment. This thesis argues for further investigation of intensity variables in CAS treatment and methods for improving parent-delivered treatment efficacy, and the need to ensure clients receive sufficient service provisio

Airport Lawyering

This post first appeared in https://wafmag.org/2017/03/airport-lawyering

The Invisible Wall: Public Charge Policy Impacts on Immigrant Families

The purpose of this essay is to debunk the notion that the Trump administration followed historical precedent in creating a vastly more exclusionary public charge rule and to assert that the over four hundred changes made to immigration law since January 2017, whether currently in effect or not, separate immigrant families and prevent low- and middle-income people from immigrating to the United States. In Part II of this essay, I briefly explore the history of public charge as a basis for inadmissibility to the United States. Next, in Part III, I highlight a few of the over four hundred changes to U.S. immigration law that the Trump administration made, focusing on those that seek to criminalize, target, and exclude immigrant families. In Part IV, I address how — despite federal court orders stopping some of these changes, either temporarily or permanently — the “invisible wall” these changes created instills fear in immigrant communities and results in consequences such as disenrollment from healthcare insurance benefits and reluctance to engage in public social services. I assert that in formulating a significantly more exclusionary definition of public charge, the Trump administration sought to make it impossible for low and middle-income individuals to immigrate to the United States through the family visa process, thereby preventing ordinary people — much like my great-grandfather — from starting a new life in the United States. Finally, in Part V, as we move into the Biden administration, I posit that comprehensive immigration reform must rescind this exclusionary definition of public charge in order to welcome newcomers with dignity and create a fair and humane immigration system