A case study evaluating the experience of a tutor co-teaching with students on a teacher education placement

In the UK, teacher education often includes more formal sessions facilitated by a university-based tutor and placement-based learning supported by a school-based mentor. Recent English government policy seeks the expansion of school-led teacher education. This suggests a shift in emphasis from current practice. The relationship between centre and placement-based provision therefore comes into focus. Through the implementation of a ‘co-teaching model’ and an interpretive theoretical perspective, this study seeks to explore how the practice of co-teaching supports students to make links between university and placement-based learning and how it can support continuing professional development for university and placementbased colleagues. The study also considers what preparation needs to take place in order for co-teaching to be successful. A critical review of literature provided a framework for conceptualising ‘co-teaching’. Drawing on Parsloe and Leedham’s (2009) coaching model and Neubert and Bratton’s (1987) mentoring model, a cyclical model of ‘co-teaching’ was developed. The model was evaluated through my intervention as a member of a student team on a week’s school placement. Data was collected through a reflective diary, questionnaires and focus group discussion with school-based staff, the student team and questionnaires from the whole student group. Findings extrapolated from the research through analysis of experiences demonstrated that all involved in the process needed to have a shared understanding of co-teaching. Also, it was important for the tutor and students to have a shared experience where the relationship between the tutor and students was one of openness

Exploring connections between creative thinking and higher attaining writing

This paper explores writing pedagogy in the primary classroom and connections between children thinking creatively and their achievement in writing. Initially ‘continuing professional development’ for teachers, I designed and facilitated a two-day writing workshop with a class of children around the theme of a Victorian murder mystery. This was observed by primary teachers and then deconstructed. Set within the context of a National Curriculum for English, which focuses more explicitly on the skills of transcription as indicators of quality writing, this paper explores initial findings from a pilot project considering the contribution creative thinking makes to the writing process

Going through the mirror: enactment, reflection and community of practice

Aim: This paper reports on an enactment model of teaching, and the impact it has had on students’ learning, reflection and practice. It aims to show how this approach can create a community of practice and pedagogy between tutor and students within which the learning and understanding of both parties develops. Content: The presentation will begin by outlining the context of the ‘enactment approach’ and the concept of ‘going through the mirror’ (Bolton, 2010). In this example, the presenter showed an unedited one-hour film of him teaching a class of children to a group of 24 Primary PgCE students. Each sub group of six students watched the clip through one of Brookfield’s (1995) reflective lenses; autobiographical, children’s, peers and literature. Each group then discussed responses through those lenses, asked any questions and shared learning gained. The presentation will go on to explore how the approach has begun to develop a community of practice between tutor and students. It will then explore how taking a risk, ‘going through the mirror’ and laying their own classroom teaching open for their students impacted upon relationship between tutor and students and students’ developments as teachers. The presentation will go on to discuss how this approach has moved this group of students on in their learning, and will examine how the presenter has also developed as a teacher as a result. The presentation will conclude by looking at wider implications of this approach, the importance of the reflective model as a framework for observation and discussion and some of the challenges for ITE tutors taking this approach. Attendees will be invited to evaluate the ideas with respect to their own contexts and share current examples of practice relating to the discussion

Exploring stories of autistic adolescents

Narrative identity proposes that personal narratives are formed over time with the telling and re-telling of stories. The aim of this review was to explore the stories of identity development in autistic adolescents by synthesising the relevant qualitative literature. A systematic literature search and meta-ethnographic synthesis of 15 qualitative studies was conducted. Seven third-order constructs were developed from 25 underlying second-order constructs identified within the research. These were, meaning-making - my autistic identity; personal processes; self in time; meaning making - stories of those around me; social connection and relationships; navigating autism in a ‘neurotypical’ world; and societal narratives. The findings indicate how autistic adolescents develop and co-construct their identity through their stories of themselves and the stories of those around them and wider society. The review proposes a framework for future identity research

Microbial biopesticides for integrated crop management : an assessment of environmental and regulatory sustainability

Herbivorous insects and mites, plant diseases and weeds are major impediments to the production of food crops and are increasingly difficult to control with conventional chemicals. This paper focuses on microbial control agents with an emphasis on augmentation. There are marked differences in the availability of products in different countries which can be explained in terms of differences in their regulatory systems. Regulatory failure arises from the application of an inappropriate synthetic pesticides model. An understanding of regulatory innovation is necessary to overcome these problems. Two attempts at remedying regulatory failure in the UK and the Netherlands are assessed. Scientific advances can feed directly into the regulatory process and foster regulatory innovation

Translational outcomes in a full gene deletion of ubiquitin protein ligase E3A rat model of Angelman syndrome.

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by developmental delay, impaired communication, motor deficits and ataxia, intellectual disabilities, microcephaly, and seizures. The genetic cause of AS is the loss of expression of UBE3A (ubiquitin protein ligase E6-AP) in the brain, typically due to a deletion of the maternal 15q11-q13 region. Previous studies have been performed using a mouse model with a deletion of a single exon of Ube3a. Since three splice variants of Ube3a exist, this has led to a lack of consistent reports and the theory that perhaps not all mouse studies were assessing the effects of an absence of all functional UBE3A. Herein, we report the generation and functional characterization of a novel model of Angelman syndrome by deleting the entire Ube3a gene in the rat. We validated that this resulted in the first comprehensive gene deletion rodent model. Ultrasonic vocalizations from newborn Ube3am-/p+ were reduced in the maternal inherited deletion group with no observable change in the Ube3am+/p- paternal transmission cohort. We also discovered Ube3am-/p+ exhibited delayed reflex development, motor deficits in rearing and fine motor skills, aberrant social communication, and impaired touchscreen learning and memory in young adults. These behavioral deficits were large in effect size and easily apparent in the larger rodent species. Low social communication was detected using a playback task that is unique to rats. Structural imaging illustrated decreased brain volume in Ube3am-/p+ and a variety of intriguing neuroanatomical phenotypes while Ube3am+/p- did not exhibit altered neuroanatomy. Our report identifies, for the first time, unique AS relevant functional phenotypes and anatomical markers as preclinical outcomes to test various strategies for gene and molecular therapies in AS

Gender differences in violence and aggression

Perhaps the most ubiquitous finding across multiple research disciplines regarding aggression and violence is that of consistent gender differences, with the male of the species exhibiting greater levels of these behaviors than the female. In this chapter, evidence relating to gender differences in violence and aggression within our own species is reviewed. Similarities displayed between men and women in terms of their age profile and underlying etiology are briefly outlined before documenting recent research highlighting gender differences across multiple measures and types of aggression. Two of the most comprehensively documented perspectives purporting to explain these differences (sexual selection theory and social role theory) are then compared. Finally, gender differences in aggression and violence are explored in relation to potential psychological mediators such as risk taking and fear in order to explain why males and females may differ in relation to this species-universal behavior