Being a peer educator: Perspectives from young women working with Home-Start and some reflections on the role

This paper focusses on young women working as peer educators through the charity Home-Start in the north of England. The paper is conceptual whilst incorporating findings from a small-scale empirical study undertaken in 2016. It holds relevance to the following SCUTREA conference themes: active citizenship; families and communities; formal and informal learning; social inclusion in times of austerity. The peer educators who participated are undertaking their work in a context where educational achievement is increasingly measured by certification and at a time when occupational hierarchies have been ‘professionalised’ whilst notions of what it is to be a professional have been drained of meaning in ways which can be seen as potentially democratising. State educational imperatives in the UK have focussed on academic excellence (for ‘the gifted few’) and the promotion of vocational opportunities (intended for those from ‘hard working families’) such as ‘apprenticeships’. Deeper and more critical understandings of learning, commitment and achievement are generally unrecognised and largely not valued by the state, remaining in the relatively invisible domain of third sector organisations, and at the level of community activism. Our conception of peer education is based on a democratic ethos which does not privilege the peer educator and which does not set the role in contradistinction to work undertaken by ‘high quality educated professionals’. We see the peer educator as generally similar to the individuals with whom and the groups with which they are working. They are likely to share characteristics including some (but not all) of the following: age, gender, ethnicity, social class, educational attainment, parental status, and specific social categories which may be applicable in relation to sexual orientation, and the use of alcohol and substances. The peer educators who participated in this study have worked together in circumstances that lead to mutual benefits which stand largely outside the educational mainstream. This paper considers the motivations for involvement as a peer educator, peer educators’ perspectives on the benefits/value of their involvement in this work, the impact of being a peer educator as well as discussing the peer educators’ experiences in relation to their engagements with professionals. The paper is informed by thinking on the power of informal learning, on citizenship and co-production, and by issues relating to recognition and empowerment arising from informal learning through the peer educator role. It briefly considers the potential power of peer education in an age of connectivity through communications technology

Renewed Commitment to Democratic Schools. A Book Review of \u3cem\u3eThese Schools Belong to You and Me: Why We Can’t Afford to Abandon Our Public Schools\u3c/em\u3e

In These Schools Belong to You and Me, renowned educator Deborah Meier partners with a younger former colleague, Emily Gasoi, to offer both a multigenerational perspective of their successful work in small, autonomous, democratic schools and a rich commentary on the evolution of the small schools movement in light of the recent press for high-stakes accountability. Writing in alternating chapters and reflecting on their decades of experience, MacArthur award winner Meier and Gasoi present a compelling argument for renewed support for democracy and equity in all our public schools

A New Imperative for Detracking Schools. A Book Review of \u3cem\u3eOn the Same Track:How Schools Can Join the Twenty-First-Century Struggle Against Resegregation\u3c/em\u3e

In her 2014 book, On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the Twenty-First-Century Struggle Against Resegregation, Burris builds upon the compelling case made for detracking put forth by Oakes and others in the 1970s and ’80s. Today, decades after the pioneers in detracking schools, Burris revisits the tracking practices still prevalent in America’s public schools through the lenses of those who are in the racial or ethnic minority and who are poor and at a time when school accountability often drives school practice and school choice to additional layers of sorting

Oncology Section Task Force on Breast Cancer Outcomes: An Introduction to the EDGE Task Force and Clinical Measures of Upper Extremity Function

With the proliferation of outcome measures in the literature, many of which lack documentation of sufficient psychometric properties to justify use, it is difficult to document patient change or demonstrate effectiveness of interventions. The goal of the Section on Research’s EDGE (Evaluation Database to Guide Effectiveness) Task Force is to facilitate identification of valid and reliable tests and measures that reflect clinically important outcomes and are responsive to change for standard use across selected patient groups. This paper lays the groundwork for understanding the work of the Oncology Section’s Breast Cancer EDGE Task Force on clinical measures of shoulder function including range of motion and muscle length, upper extremity function, and scapular position and movement, as reported in the 3 papers that follow

Oncology Section Task Force on Breast Cancer Outcomes: Scapular Assessment

Background: Functional deficits and changes in scapular mechanics following breast cancer (BC) treatments have been documented. Scapular assessment is important when examining the shoulder in survivors of breast cancer to document the need for or effectiveness of physical therapy intervention. The Oncology Section Task Force on Breast Cancer Outcomes sought to identify scapular examination tools that can be recommended for routine use in individuals treated for BC. Methods: A systematic review of the literature on scapular measures was conducted. Relevant studies were examined for psychometric properties and clinical usefulness. Each method was given a recommendation score based on the Breast Cancer EDGE (Evidence Database to Guide Effectiveness) criteria. Results: Only Dynamic Motion Assessment was recommended for clinical use. The remaining tools lacked either good psychometric properties or clinical usefulness. Conclusions: Measurement of scapular motion remains a challenge and reliable and valid measures must precede further research into scapular problems among survivors of breast cancer

Advances in the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are a rare and heterogeneous class of neoplasms. While surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment, non-surgical therapies play a role in the setting of unresectable and metastatic disease. The goals of medical therapy are directed both at alleviating symptoms of peptide release and shrinking tumor mass. Biotherapies such as somatostatin analogs and interferon can decrease the secretion of peptides and inhibit their end-organ effects. A second objective for treatment of unresectable GEP-NETs is limiting tumor growth. Options for limiting tumor growth include somatostatin analogs, systemic chemotherapy, locoregional therapies, ionizing radiation, external beam radiation, and newer targeted agents. In particular, angiogenesis inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and mTOR inhibitors have shown early promising results. The rarity of these tumors, their resistance to standard chemotherapy, and the excellent performance status of most of these patients, make a strong argument for consideration of novel therapeutic trials

Leveraging Infrastructure as an Economic Development Tool

Most communities don’t realize the value of their existing infrastructure (roads, utilities, etc.) in terms of economic development. Understanding your infrastructure is key to pursuing and competing for economic development projects in your community. This presentation discusses the role of infrastructure in economic development and how to position your community for future success

Bleaching in foraminifera with algal symbionts: implications for reef monitoring and risk assessment

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