Inclusion and Equity in Australian Secondary Schools

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Paterson ◽  
Lorraine Graham ◽  
Robert Stevens

Abstract This paper presents findings from a large-scale, in-depth study of secondary schools in one Australian state that were achieving exceptional outcomes. The element of that study on which this paper focuses is equity and inclusion. We examine the Equity programs operating in seven sites where schools were including students experiencing some form of disadvantages significant enough to hinder their engagement with the school curriculum. These forms of disadvantage included students with intellectual disabilities as well as students from Aboriginal, non English-speaking and low socio-economic status backgrounds. At these sites, schools implemented equity programs targeting a range of student needs. It was noted that the success of those programs was largely dependent on the relationships between teachers and students and between teachers and their colleagues. Four themes emerged from analysis of interview and observational data; i) teachers focused on students' learning needs, ii) teachers worked collaboratively in effective teams in communities, iii) programs had adequate and well-managed resources and, iv) programs were developed to meet students' needs. Central to all of these themes was the learning needs of students. Rather than paying ‘lip service' to aspects of disadvantage, students in these schools were actually being included in the process of learning and programs had as their central focus the learning needs of individual students.

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Michael C. Reichert ◽  
Richard Hawley

In a large-scale survey of effective teaching practices with boys conducted in 2008 across 18 schools in 6 different English-speaking countries, we collected lessons in a wide variety of subject areas (math, literature, science, art) shaped to fit boys’ particular learning needs and preferences. At a time of widely-published claims about boys’ relative failure to thrive in contemporary school settings, we surveyed schools dedicated to boys in particular—boys’ schools—in hopes of discovering the outlines of a pedagogy that might have broader relevance for boys everywhere. Nearly 1,000 teachers responded with detailed descriptions of teaching approaches that succeeded in engaging boys. Boys themselves—1,500 of them, aged 12-19—corroborated the features of effective instruction reported by their teachers. We suggest that the practices identified were “chafed” into being by sustained interactions between teachers and their male students. In this mutually-attuned, coordinated interaction between boy learner and adult instructor, we found qualities of responsiveness and connection echoing regulatory communication commonly associated with earlier periods in child development. Given current concerns about widespread gaps in many boys’ school performance, these stories affirming educational relationships could point the way to a clearer understanding of how best to engage boys in scholastic endeavor.


Author(s):  
Timothy Mandila Chikati

This study investigated implementation of integrated environmental education in the secondary school curriculum for managing environmental degradation in Machakos Sub-County. The study was thus informed by Fullan’s theory of educational change (2007). The theory views the implementation of IEE programme through lenses of four independent variables identified as need; clarity; complexity; quality and practicality on the one hand and teachers’ and students’ levels of environmental awareness, knowledge, skills, attitudes and participation as dependent variables on the other hand. These variables network with local factors and external factors as intervening variables to determine the IEE implementation process. The study employed cross-section survey design under the quantitative approach. Probability sampling designs were used to select participants for the study. The target population of this study was public secondary schools, teachers and form 4 students from Machakos Sub-County. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were employed in sampling secondary schools, teachers and students.  Questionnaires were used for data collection. Quantitative data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics. Overall study findings demonstrated that both teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards integrated environmental education in the secondary school curriculum were fairly positive though not adequate enough for effective implementation of IEE in the school curriculum hence, the unyielding environmental degradation in Machakos Sub-County. The study recommended that The Ministry of Education and the relevant urgencies such as KICD, DQAS and KNEC work jointly with school managers to draw an action plan to reinforce and intensify teachers’ and students’ levels of environmental attitudes through pre-service and in-service training, workshops and seminars on contemporary environmental issues. It is also recommended that studies are undertaken to understand those impediments that impede change in teachers’ and students’ environmental attitudes so that useful and practical interventions can be identified.


Author(s):  
Timothy Mandila Chikati ◽  
Evans Ogoti Okendo (Phd)

This study investigated implementation of integrated environmental education in the secondary school curriculum for managing environmental degradation in Machakos Sub-County. The study was thus informed by Fullan’s theory of educational change (1991, revised 2006, 2007). The theory views educational implementation as a model of interactions between characteristics of change (need clarity, complexity, quality & practicality) as independent variables on the one hand and teachers’ and students’ environmental literacy (awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills, participation) as dependent variables. The study employed cross-section survey design under the quantitative approach. Probability sampling designs were used to select participants of the study. The target population of this study included public secondary schools, principals, and teachers and form 4 students from public secondary schools in Machakos Sub-County. Instruments for data collection included questionnaires and document analysis schedules. Quantitative analysis techniques were used to analyse data. The t- test statistic was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05significance level. Study findings demonstrated that both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the integrated environmental education in the secondary school curriculum were generally weak hence little attention was paid to adequate integration of EE in the school curriculum.  This negatively impacted teachers’ and students’ involvement in and commitment to implementation of EE in the school curriculum hence the persistence of environmental degradation in Machakos Sub County.  The study confirmed that some elements of environmental education were integrated in the subjects that were taught in the secondary school curriculum albeit inadequately and unevenly distributed, apparently marginalizing particularly climate change and land degradation hence reducing the crosscutting nature of EE.  The study recommended that KICD should include a given percentage of EE topics in the curriculum; The Ministry of Education should clearly define environmental policies and prescribe them for schools.


2021 ◽  
pp. 101-109
Author(s):  
O. Kripak

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the concert-piano style of A. Karamanov, an outstanding Ukrainian composer, whose works have only recently become the subject of musicological discourse. The “curve” of style and language evolution is outlined, the stages of which are marked by three large-scale concerts of the composer, the last of which called “Ave Maria” has already gained worldwide popularity and entered the repertoire of outstanding performers both in Ukraine and abroad. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the genre-stylistic complex of the phenomenon of “piano concert”, a definition of the concept of “concert-piano style” is offered, which is extrapolated to the author’s style of A. Karamanov in this genre. The characteristic features of the composer’s three piano concerts are highlighted and generalized, a kind of triptych cycle, in which through the work of A. Karamanov as a composer-pianist, constant and individually innovative features of the genre are embodied, which became symphonic conceptual model not only in his work, but also in the styles of other authors of the late XX — early XXI centuries. The relevance of the chosen topic is determined by the need for a systematic consideration of the triptych of piano concerts by A. Karamanov as a significant phenomenon of Ukrainian and world pianism at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries. The purpose of the research is to reveal the peculiarities of the style and language evolution of A. Karamanov’s work, the stages of which are represented by his three piano concerts. The methodology is a combination of general scientific and special musicological approaches to the disclosure of the stated topic. Among them are: the method of deduction, which determines the movement of research from the general (concert as a principle of musical thinking) to special (piano concert) and specific phenomenon (triptych piano concerts by A. Karamanov); methods of genre and stylistic analysis used in considering the drama and form of all three concerts; methods of performance and texture analysis aimed at identifying the features of Karamanov’s concert pianism. The results of the research reveal the combination of traditions and innovations in the interpretation of the genre in the concert-piano style of A. Karamanov. All three of his piano concertos are based on different models of drama and form, but common to them is the attraction to the symphonic concept, which brings the concert forms in his music closer to the symphony as a genre of “high generalizations” (Asafiev, 1971). The scientific topicality of this research is determined by the fact that for the first time In Ukrainian musicology it presents a comprehensive review of the aesthetics and poetics of three piano concerts by A. Karamanov, which reflect the characteristics of modern interpretation of the genre with a tendency to symphonization. The practical significance of this scientific research is determined by the possibility of applying its provisions and conclusions in the further study of the laws of modern concert-piano style in the works of other composers. The article can be useful for performers who turn to interpretations of Karamanov’s piano concerts, as well as for teachers and students of piano departments and branches of art universities of Ukraine. Conclusions. The review carried out in this article showed that the concert-piano style of A. Karamanov is an original phenomenon of world piano culture, and therefore requires more in-depth study and performance attention. After all, it embodies the characteristics of a new worldview paradigm, formed on the basis of classical traditions and it is considered as a “bridge” between them and modernity.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Apurva Badkas ◽  
Thanh-Phuong Nguyen ◽  
Laura Caberlotto ◽  
Jochen G. Schneider ◽  
Sébastien De Landtsheer ◽  
...  

A large percentage of the global population is currently afflicted by metabolic diseases (MD), and the incidence is likely to double in the next decades. MD associated co-morbidities such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and cardiomyopathy contribute significantly to impaired health. MD are complex, polygenic, with many genes involved in its aetiology. A popular approach to investigate genetic contributions to disease aetiology is biological network analysis. However, data dependence introduces a bias (noise, false positives, over-publication) in the outcome. While several approaches have been proposed to overcome these biases, many of them have constraints, including data integration issues, dependence on arbitrary parameters, database dependent outcomes, and computational complexity. Network topology is also a critical factor affecting the outcomes. Here, we propose a simple, parameter-free method, that takes into account database dependence and network topology, to identify central genes in the MD network. Among them, we infer novel candidates that have not yet been annotated as MD genes and show their relevance by highlighting their differential expression in public datasets and carefully examining the literature. The method contributes to uncovering connections in the MD mechanisms and highlights several candidates for in-depth study of their contribution to MD and its co-morbidities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Munday ◽  
◽  
Katharine Sherratt ◽  
Sophie Meakin ◽  
Akira Endo ◽  
...  

AbstractIn early 2020 many countries closed schools to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Since then, governments have sought to relax the closures, engendering a need to understand associated risks. Using address records, we construct a network of schools in England connected through pupils who share households. We evaluate the risk of transmission between schools under different reopening scenarios. We show that whilst reopening select year-groups causes low risk of large-scale transmission, reopening secondary schools could result in outbreaks affecting up to 2.5 million households if unmitigated, highlighting the importance of careful monitoring and within-school infection control to avoid further school closures or other restrictions.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Ciancio

Powered toothbrushes were first introduced on a large scale in the early 1960s. However, because of a clear lack of superiority compared with manual brushes, and problems with mechanical breakdowns, their sales decreased significantly. However, recommendation for their use continued in special populations with dexterity and cognition problems. The 1990s ushered in an era of new technology, and studies began to suggest superiority of some powered brushes, particularly those using oscillating-rotating or counter-rotational actions. Some studies have shown interproximal cleansing abilities superior to those of manual brushes and yielding results similar to those achieved with the use of a manual brush and floss. Both controlled and open-labeled studies have suggested that electric brushes improve gingival health with patients who routinely used manual brushes prior to using these new powered brushes, and safety has been clearly established. In recommending powered toothbrushes, practitioners should familiarize themselves with the products available, with the clinical studies supporting their benefits compared with manual brushes, their safety and ease of use, and the patient's economic status.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Ngo Phan Trong

This study was conducted on 1170 students at 10 secondary schools in 5 provinces in Vietnam. Survey results determined student's clarity on others at medium level. The Clarity to others of surveyed students was correlated with factors such as: communication style, communication trends and temperament of students in communicating and learning from others. The results of multiple linear regresion model of factors have been determined the prediction of the effects of the above factors. The predictive discovered models in the study have been useful suggestions for parents, teachers and students, helping them to improve Clarity in social intelligence of secondary school students.


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