A social justice perspective on strengths-based approaches: Exploring educators’ perceptions and practices

What does it mean to engage in strengths-based (SB) approaches from a social justice perspective? In this paper we explore the accounts of educators who work with youth experiencing social and educational barriers to describe what it might mean to engage in SB practices from a social justice perspective. Using data generated from interviews, we draw on educators’ perspectives and reported practices to inform our conceptual understanding of a SB social justice approach. We propose that a social justice perspective of SB educational work involves at least four interconnecting sets of practices: recognizing students-in-context, critically engaging strengths and positivity, nurturing democratic relations, and enacting creative and flexible pedagogies. We contend that these interrelated sets of practices are necessary for youth to engage more fully in schooling.Key words: Social justice; strengths, youth, students deemed to be ‘at risk’, educator perspectivesQue cela signifie-t-il de s'engager dans des approches basées sur les points forts du point de vue de la justice sociale ? Dans cet article, nous étudions les récits d'éducateurs qui travaillent avec des jeunes et qui se confrontent à des barrières sociales et éducatives, pour décrire ce que pourrait signifier de s'engager dans des pratiques basées sur les point forts dans une perspective de justice sociale. En utilisant les données générées à partir d'entrevues, nous nous appuyons sur les perspectives de ces éducateurs et faisons état des pratiques pour renseigner notre compréhension conceptuelle d'une approche basée sur les points forts du point de vue de la justice sociale. Nous proposons que dans une perspective de justice sociale tout travail éducatif basé sur les points forts implique au moins quatre ensembles de pratiques interconnectés : la reconnaissance des élèves en contexte, l'engagement critique du potentiel et de la positivité, le maintien de relations démocratiques, et la promulgation de pédagogies créatives et flexibles. Nous soutenons que ces ensembles interdépendants de pratiques sont nécessaires pour que les jeunes s'engagent pleinement dans leur scolarité.Mots-clés : La justice sociale, les points forts, les jeunes, les élèves considérés comme «à risque», les perspectives des éducateurs

Emotional engagements predict and enhance social cognition in young chimpanzees

Social cognition in infancy is evident in coordinated triadic engagements, that is, infants attending jointly with social partners and objects. Current evolutionary theories of primate social cognition tend to highlight species differences in cognition based on human-unique cooperative motives. We consider a developmental model in which engagement experiences produce differential outcomes. We conducted a 10-year-long study in which two groups of laboratory-raised chimpanzee infants were given quantifiably different engagement experiences. Joint attention, cooperativeness, affect, and different levels of cognition were measured in 5- to 12-month-old chimpanzees, and compared to outcomes derived from a normative human database. We found that joint attention skills significantly improved across development for all infants, but by 12 months, the humans significantly surpassed the chimpanzees. We found that cooperativeness was stable in the humans, but by 12 months, the chimpanzee group given enriched engagement experiences significantly surpassed the humans. Past engagement experiences and concurrent affect were significant unique predictors of both joint attention and cooperativeness in 5- to 12-month-old chimpanzees. When engagement experiences and concurrent affect were statistically controlled, joint attention and cooperation were not associated. We explain differential social cognition outcomes in terms of the significant influences of previous engagement experiences and affect, in addition to cognition. Our study highlights developmental processes that underpin the emergence of social cognition in support of evolutionary continuity

Leaves from a Manichaean Codex

Papyrologie in contex

The landscape of gifted and talented education in England and Wales: How are teachers implementing policy?

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Research Papers in Education, 27(2), 167-186, 2012, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02671522.2010.509514.This paper explores the evidence relating to how primary schools are responding to the ‘gifted and talented’ initiative in England and Wales. A questionnaire survey which invited both closed and open-ended responses was carried out with a national sample of primary schools. The survey indicated an increasing proportion of coordinators, compared with a survey carried out in 1996, were identifying their gifted and talented children as well as having associated school policies. However, the survey also highlighted a number of issues which need addressing if the initiative is to achieve its objective of providing the best possible educational opportunities for children. For example, it was found that a significant number of practitioners were not aware of the existence of the National Quality Standards for gifted and talented education, provided by the UK government in 2007, and the subject-specific criteria provided by the UK’s Curriculum Authority for identification and provision have been largely ignored. The process of identifying children to be placed on the ‘gifted and talented’ register seems haphazard and based on pragmatic reasons. Analysis of teachers’ responses also revealed a range of views and theoretical positioning held by them, which have implications for classroom practice. As the ‘gifted and talented’ initiative in the UK is entering a second decade, and yet more significant changes in policy are introduced, pertinent questions need to be raised and given consideration

Women, men and coronary heart disease: a review of the qualitative literature

Aim. This paper presents a review of the qualitative literature which examines the experiences of patients with coronary heart disease. The paper also assesses whether the experiences of both female and male patients are reflected in the literature and summarizes key themes. Background. Understanding patients' experiences of their illness is important for coronary heart disease prevention and education. Qualitative methods are particularly suited to eliciting patients' detailed understandings and perceptions of illness. As much previous research has been 'gender neutral', this review pays particular attention to gender. Methods. Published papers from 60 qualitative studies were identified for the review through searches in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PREMEDLINE, PsychINFO, Social Sciences Citation Index and Web of Science using keywords related to coronary heart disease. Findings. Early qualitative studies of patients with coronary heart disease were conducted almost exclusively with men, and tended to generalize from 'male' experience to 'human' experience. By the late 1990s this pattern had changed, with the majority of studies including women and many being conducted with solely female samples. However, many studies that include both male and female coronary heart disease patients still do not have a specific gender focus. Key themes in the literature include interpreting symptoms and seeking help, belief about coronary 'candidates' and relationships with health professionals. The influence of social roles is important: many female patients have difficulties reconciling family responsibilities and medical advice, while male patients worry about being absent from work. Conclusions. There is a need for studies that compare the experiences of men and women. There is also an urgent need for work that takes masculinity and gender roles into account when exploring the experiences of men with coronary heart disease

On the isoperimetric problem in the Heisenberg group \u210dn

It has been recently conjectured that, in the context of the Heisenberg groupHn endowed with its Carnot\u2013Carath\ue9odory metric and Haar measure, the isoperimetricsets (i.e., minimizers of the H-perimeter among sets of constant Haar measure) couldcoincide with the solutions to a \u201crestricted\u201d isoperimetric problem within the class ofsets having finite perimeter, smooth boundary, and cylindrical symmetry. In this paper,we derive new properties of these restricted isoperimetric sets, which we call Heisenbergbubbles. In particular, we show that their boundary has constant mean H-curvature and, quitesurprisingly, that it is foliated by the family of minimal geodesics connecting two specialpoints. In view of a possible strategy for proving that Heisenberg bubbles are actuallyisoperimetric among the whole class of measurable subsets of Hn, we turn our attentionto the relationship between volume, perimeter, and -enlargements. In particular, we provea Brunn\u2013Minkowski inequality with topological exponent as well as the fact that the Hperimeterof a bounded, open set F 82 Hn of class C2 can be computed via a generalizedMinkowski content, defined by means of any bounded set whose horizontal projection is the2n-dimensional unit disc. Some consequences of these properties are discussed

Cosmological Variation of the Fine Structure Constant from an Ultra-Light Scalar Field: The Effects of Mass

Cosmological variation of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ due to the evolution of a spatially homogeneous ultra-light scalar field ($m \sim H_0$) during the matter and $\Lambda$ dominated eras is analyzed. Agreement of $\Delta \alpha/\alpha$ with the value suggested by recent observations of quasar absorption lines is obtained by adjusting a single parameter, the coupling of the scalar field to matter. Asymptotically $\alpha(t)$ in this model goes to a constant value $\bar{\alpha} \approx \alpha_0$ in the early radiation and the late $\Lambda$ dominated eras. The coupling of the scalar field to (nonrelativistic) matter drives $\alpha$ slightly away from $\bar{\alpha}$ in the epochs when the density of matter is important. Simultaneous agreement with the more restrictive bounds on the variation $|\Delta \alpha/\alpha|$ from the Oklo natural fission reactor and from meteorite samples can be achieved if the mass of the scalar field is on the order of 0.5--0.6 $H_\Lambda$, where $H_\Lambda = \Omega_\Lambda^{1/2} H_0$. Depending on the scalar field mass, $\alpha$ may be slightly smaller or larger than $\alpha_0$ at the times of big bang nucleosynthesis, the emission of the cosmic microwave background, the formation of early solar system meteorites, and the Oklo reactor. The effects on the evolution of $\alpha$ due to nonzero mass for the scalar field are emphasized. An order of magnitude improvement in the laboratory technique could lead to a detection of $(\dot{\alpha}/\alpha)_0$.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures Version 2: The Oklo event is now considered as localized in time. The initial conditions for the scalar field have been refined. The numbers in the Table have been recomputed. Added Ref

Polyurethane Elastomers as Maxillofacial Prosthetic Materials

A series of polyurethane elastomers based on an aliphatic diisocyanate and a polyether macroglycol was polymerized with various crosslink densities and OH/NCO ratios. Stoichiometries yielding between 8,600 and 12,900 gm/ mole/crosslink and an OH/NCO ratio of 1.1 resulted in polymers with the low modulus, yet high strength and elongation necessary for maxillofacial applications.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68299/2/10.1177_00220345780570040501.pd

Modeling pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis by epithelial deletion of the Npt2b sodium phosphate cotransporter reveals putative biomarkers and strategies for treatment

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare, autosomal recessive lung disorder associated with progressive accumulation of calcium phosphate microliths. Inactivating mutations in SLC34A2, which encodes the NPT2b sodiumdependent phosphate cotransporter, has been proposed as a cause of PAM.Weshow that epithelial deletion ofNpt2b in mice results in a progressive pulmonary process characterized by diffuse alveolar microlith accumulation, radiographic opacification, restrictive physiology, inflammation, fibrosis, and an unexpected alveolar phospholipidosis. Cytokine and surfactant protein elevations in the alveolar lavage and serum of PAM mice and confirmed in serum from PAM patients identify serum MCP-1 (monocyte chemotactic protein 1) and SP-D (surfactant protein D) as potential biomarkers.Microliths introduced by adoptive transfer into the lungs of wild-typemice produce markedmacrophagerich inflammation and elevation of serum MCP-1 that peaks at 1 week and resolves at 1 month, concomitant with clearance of stones. Microliths isolated by bronchoalveolar lavage readily dissolve in EDTA, and therapeutic wholelung EDTA lavage reduces the burden of stones in the lungs. A low-phosphate diet prevents microlith formation in young animals and reduces lung injury on the basis of reduction in serum SP-D. The burden of pulmonary calcium deposits in established PAM is also diminished within 4 weeks by a low-phosphate diet challenge. These data support a causative role for Npt2b in the pathogenesis of PAM and the use of the PAMmouse model as a preclinical platform for the development of biomarkers and therapeutic strategies