Art and the development of dialogic skills: an ethnography of art in Waldorf teacher training

Waldorf Schools emphasise the use of art in education. This interdisciplinary dissertation demonstrates how Waldorf teacher trainees are prepared to work with art in the school classroom. It does that by documenting the ways that three different art media are introduced to students in a Waldorf teacher training programme in Cape Town, and those students' responses and experiences in working with those media - relying quite heavily on students' oral and written comments about those experiences. The data presented come from the writer's own involvement as a teacher trainer cum researcher who has adopted an ethnographic-style approach to data collection and analysis. The data show that a primary goal of introducing Waldorf teacher trainees to art is to develop what is here described as a dialogic capacity - an ability to be able simultaneously to immerse oneself in the teaching process and to stand back and reflect on everything that that process involves so that, as teachers, they are able to be flexible and open to change. That this can be done through cultivating a teacher's feeling for art through requiring its practice, it is argued, helps to bridge an apparent paradox in Rudolf Steiner's work between his call for practising art for its own sake and his recognition that art should be practised in schools to facilitate the development of the individual

Erythropoietic Defect Associated with Reduced Cell Proliferation in Mice Lacking the 26S Proteasome Shuttling Factor Rad23b

<p>Rad23a and Rad23b proteins are linked to nucleotide excision DNA repair (NER) via association with the DNA damage recognition protein xeroderma pigmentosum group C (XPC) are and known to be implicated in protein turnover by the 26S proteasome. Rad23b-null mice are NER proficient, likely due to the redundant function of the Rad23b paralogue, Rad23a. However, Rad23b-null midgestation embryos are anemic, and most embryos die before birth. Using an unbiased proteomics approach, we found that the majority of Rad23b-interacting partners are associated with the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). We tested the requirement for Rad23b-dependent UPS activity in cellular proliferation and more specifically in the process of erythropoiesis. In cultured fibroblasts derived from embryos lacking Rad23b, proliferation rates were reduced. In fetal livers of Rad23b-null embryos, we observed reduced proliferation, accumulation of early erythroid progenitors, and a block during erythroid maturation. In primary wild-type (WT) erythroid cells, knockdown of Rad23b or chemical inhibition of the proteasome reduced survival and differentiation capability. Finally, the defects linked to Rad23b loss specifically affected fetal definitive erythropoiesis and stress erythropoiesis in adult mice. Together, these data indicate a previously unappreciated requirement for Rad23b and the UPS in regulation of proliferation in different cell types.</p>

Inside the Visible : An Elliptical Traverse of 20th Century Art in, of, and from the Feminine

This exhibition catalogue, edited by the curator, De Zheger, surveys the contribution of women to 20th century art through the work of 37 artists, splitting the contents into four thematic sections, each of which are divided into three periods: the 1930s-40s, the 1960s-70s, and the 1990s. The four sections address, respectively, feminine plurality and difference, the poetics of alterity, the interweaving of language and space, and finally, materiality and embodiment. Index, 4 p. List of works. Biographical notes. Bibliography 8 p. Circa 660 bibl. ref

Differential effects of Foxp2 disruption in distinct motor circuits

Disruptions of the FOXP2 gene cause a speech and language disorder involving difficulties in sequencing orofacial movements. FOXP2 is expressed in cortico-striatal and cortico-cerebellar circuits important for fine motor skills, and affected individuals show abnormalities in these brain regions. We selectively disrupted Foxp2 in the cerebellar Purkinje cells, striatum or cortex of mice and assessed the effects on skilled motor behaviour using an operant lever-pressing task. Foxp2 loss in each region impacted behaviour differently, with striatal and Purkinje cell disruptions affecting the variability and the speed of lever-press sequences, respectively. Mice lacking Foxp2 in Purkinje cells showed a prominent phenotype involving slowed lever pressing as well as deficits in skilled locomotion. In vivo recordings from Purkinje cells uncovered an increased simple spike firing rate and decreased modulation of firing during limb movements. This was caused by increased intrinsic excitability rather than changes in excitatory or inhibitory inputs. Our findings show that Foxp2 can modulate different aspects of motor behaviour in distinct brain regions, and uncover an unknown role for Foxp2 in the modulation of Purkinje cell activity that severely impacts skilled movements