Тенденції розвитку системи професійної підготовки вчителів США

У статті досліджуються тенденції та суперечності в професійній діяльності американських вчителів; глобалізація професійної підготовки вчителів; проблема міжкультурної освіти; питання вдосконалення школи і якості освіти; шляхи і засоби визначення й оцінювання ефективності школи

On the origin of trisomy 21 Down syndrome

Background: Down syndrome, characterized by an extra chromosome 21 is the most common genetic cause for congenital malformations and learning disability. It is well known that the extra chromosome 21 most often originates from the mother, the incidence increases with maternal age, there may be aberrant maternal chromosome 21 recombination and there is a higher recurrence in young women. In spite of intensive efforts to understand the underlying reason(s) for these characteristics, the origin still remains unknown. We hypothesize that maternal trisomy 21 ovarian mosaicism might provide the major causative factor. Results: We used fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with two chromosome 21-specific probes to determine the copy number of chromosome 21 in ovarian cells from eight female foetuses at gestational age 14–22 weeks. All eight phenotypically normal female foetuses were found to be mosaics, containing ovarian cells with an extra chromosome 21. Trisomy 21 occurred with about the same frequency in cells that had entered meiosis as in pre-meiotic and ovarian mesenchymal stroma cells. Conclusion: We suggest that most normal female foetuses are trisomy 21 ovarian mosaics and the maternal age effect is caused by differential selection of these cells during foetal and postnatal development until ovulation. The exceptional occurrence of high-grade ovarian mosaicism may explain why some women have a child with Down syndrome already at young age as well as the associated increased incidence at subsequent conceptions. We also propose that our findings may explain the aberrant maternal recombination patterns previously found by family linkage analysis

Supramodal sentence processing in the human brain: fMRI evidence for the influence of syntactic complexity in more than 200 participants

This study investigated two questions. One is: To what degree is sentence processing beyond single words independent of the input modality (speech vs. reading)? The second question is: Which parts of the network recruited by both modalities is sensitive to syntactic complexity? These questions were investigated by having more than 200 participants read or listen to well-formed sentences or series of unconnected words. A largely left-hemisphere frontotemporoparietal network was found to be supramodal in nature, i.e., independent of input modality. In addition, the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LpMTG) were most clearly associated with left-branching complexity. The left anterior temporal lobe (LaTL) showed the greatest sensitivity to sentences that differed in right-branching complexity. Moreover, activity in LIFG and LpMTG increased from sentence onset to end, in parallel with an increase of the left-branching complexity. While LIFG, bilateral anterior temporal lobe, posterior MTG, and left inferior parietal lobe (LIPL) all contribute to the supramodal unification processes, the results suggest that these regions differ in their respective contributions to syntactic complexity related processing. The consequences of these findings for neurobiological models of language processing are discussed

Supramodal Sentence Processing in the Human Brain: fMRI Evidence for the Influence of Syntactic Complexity in More Than 200 Participants

This study investigated two questions. One is: To what degree is sentence processing beyond single words independent of the input modality (speech vs. reading)? The second question is: Which parts of the network recruited by both modalities is sensitive to syntactic complexity? These questions were investigated by having more than 200 participants read or listen to well-formed sentences or series of unconnected words. A largely left-hemisphere frontotemporoparietal network was found to be supramodal in nature, i.e., independent of input modality. In addition, the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LpMTG) were most clearly associated with left-branching complexity. The left anterior temporal lobe showed the greatest sensitivity to sentences that differed in right-branching complexity. Moreover, activity in LIFG and LpMTG increased from sentence onset to end, in parallel with an increase of the left-branching complexity. While LIFG, bilateral anterior temporal lobe, posterior MTG, and left inferior parietal lobe all contribute to the supramodal unification processes, the results suggest that these regions differ in their respective contributions to syntactic complexity related processing. The consequences of these findings for neurobiological models of language processing are discussed

Nature's Canon : The Formation and Change of the Science Curriculum in Swedish Compulsory School 1842–2007

This dissertation analyses the science curriculum in Swedish compulsory school 1842–2007. National curricula, textbooks, textbook adverts, and handbooks are analysed. These all have a strong position in defining the school curricula and their contents, methods and aims, and can therefore be called canonic texts. What contents, methods and aims have dominated the curricula? How have these changed? The aim of the study is to contribute to the understanding of what ideologies have dominated compulsory school science texts and how these ideologies have been shaped by social, pedagogical and cultural currents in society. The start of this study is set by the issuing of the first Statute on Common Schools in Sweden, June 18, 1842. In this statute a natural science based subject was present. Even though the subject wasn’t new to the public school system, the year 1842 marked an important step in the formation of a “science for the people” in Sweden. Six different canons are discerned in the history of the science subject in compulsory school: God’s canon (1842–1900); The canon of the physical environment (1900–1919); The canon of the national landscape (1919–1936); The canon of the citizen (1936–1962); The canon of science (1962–1980); and The canon of the bricoleur (1980–2007). On a broad scale, these canons have been shaped by on the one hand natural science and on the other hand broad social, cultural and pedagogic currents in society. While researchers have mainly focused on the first source of influence, the latter have to a large extent been neglected. In the thesis I show that there have been major changes in the curriculum genre over time and that these changes first and foremost must be understood as shaped by pedagogic, social and cultural forces

Nature's Canon : The Formation and Change of the Science Curriculum in Swedish Compulsory School 1842–2007

This dissertation analyses the science curriculum in Swedish compulsory school 1842–2007. National curricula, textbooks, textbook adverts, and handbooks are analysed. These all have a strong position in defining the school curricula and their contents, methods and aims, and can therefore be called canonic texts. What contents, methods and aims have dominated the curricula? How have these changed? The aim of the study is to contribute to the understanding of what ideologies have dominated compulsory school science texts and how these ideologies have been shaped by social, pedagogical and cultural currents in society. The start of this study is set by the issuing of the first Statute on Common Schools in Sweden, June 18, 1842. In this statute a natural science based subject was present. Even though the subject wasn’t new to the public school system, the year 1842 marked an important step in the formation of a “science for the people” in Sweden. Six different canons are discerned in the history of the science subject in compulsory school: God’s canon (1842–1900); The canon of the physical environment (1900–1919); The canon of the national landscape (1919–1936); The canon of the citizen (1936–1962); The canon of science (1962–1980); and The canon of the bricoleur (1980–2007). On a broad scale, these canons have been shaped by on the one hand natural science and on the other hand broad social, cultural and pedagogic currents in society. While researchers have mainly focused on the first source of influence, the latter have to a large extent been neglected. In the thesis I show that there have been major changes in the curriculum genre over time and that these changes first and foremost must be understood as shaped by pedagogic, social and cultural forces

Scientists, teachers and the 'scientific' textbook : Interprofessional relations and the modernisation of elementary science textbooks in 19th century Sweden

In research on the development of a nineteenth-century ‘science for the people’, initiatives by scientists or people well-trained in science has been emphasised, while the writings, roles and initiatives of elementary teachers are normally just mentioned in passing. In this study the development of nineteenth-century elementary science textbooks is analysed. While practitioners and popularisers of science established the genre as such, writing the first textbooks on elementary science and arguing for its place in elementary education, elementary teachers were prime movers in developing the genre both pedagogically and scientifically. In doing this they not only contributed to further strengthening the cultural status of science in late nineteenth-century Sweden but most probably strengthened the elementary teaching profession as a whole, formulating the expertise of the teacher in relation to elementary science

Technology for all: turning a keyword into a school subject in post-war Sweden

The decades following the Second World War saw strong technological development and economic growth. They also saw the advent of technology education, a period of extensive curriculum development in this field. But what was done and why? In order to obtain a better understanding of the historical roots of technology education, in this study the mid-century school reforms in Sweden are examined and, more specifically, the birth of the new subject of Technology (Teknik) in compulsory schools. In this article, the political forces driving the introduction and shaping of this new subject are emphasised. In a time of rapid transformations of educational systems and labour markets, the term Teknik proved to be a useful concept for policy-makers and reform technocrats. However, the subject came to re-create the inequalities of the earlier differentiated school system, despite its presence within the framework of a school for all

Nature's Canon : The Formation and Change of the Science Curriculum in Swedish Compulsory School 1842–2007

This dissertation analyses the science curriculum in Swedish compulsory school 1842–2007. National curricula, textbooks, textbook adverts, and handbooks are analysed. These all have a strong position in defining the school curricula and their contents, methods and aims, and can therefore be called canonic texts. What contents, methods and aims have dominated the curricula? How have these changed? The aim of the study is to contribute to the understanding of what ideologies have dominated compulsory school science texts and how these ideologies have been shaped by social, pedagogical and cultural currents in society. The start of this study is set by the issuing of the first Statute on Common Schools in Sweden, June 18, 1842. In this statute a natural science based subject was present. Even though the subject wasn’t new to the public school system, the year 1842 marked an important step in the formation of a “science for the people” in Sweden. Six different canons are discerned in the history of the science subject in compulsory school: God’s canon (1842–1900); The canon of the physical environment (1900–1919); The canon of the national landscape (1919–1936); The canon of the citizen (1936–1962); The canon of science (1962–1980); and The canon of the bricoleur (1980–2007). On a broad scale, these canons have been shaped by on the one hand natural science and on the other hand broad social, cultural and pedagogic currents in society. While researchers have mainly focused on the first source of influence, the latter have to a large extent been neglected. In the thesis I show that there have been major changes in the curriculum genre over time and that these changes first and foremost must be understood as shaped by pedagogic, social and cultural forces