International STEM pre-service teachers’ intercultural competence

Purpose The author is interested in how international (migrant) pre-service teachers use their educational background knowledge and worldviews to make sense of the educational system, the pedagogy and of power relations between staff members in the hosting country. The author seeks to unveil their understanding of successful intellectual integration and their strategies to navigate social, conceptual and pedagogical obstacles. Design/methodology/approach The author draws on the concept of “intercultural competence” to analyse how international STEM pre-service teachers respond to the challenges and opportunities of integration in the English system. A total of 18 participants were interviewed in focus groups in London to find out about their perceptions of the course and attitudes during their training journey. Five hours of audio recording were transcribed and a thematic analysis was carried out. Findings International STEM pre-service teachers experience challenges to intellectual integration, including understanding the new school culture, school structure, teaching methodologies and the use of specialist terminologies. However, they show little concern about networking and relations of power. Practical implications Mentors and tutors should not assume school systems are the same everywhere. Support from university tutors and school mentors must take into consideration that international students will very likely hold ethnocentric views. Mentors, tutors and pre-service teachers would benefit very much from bespoke support to help international students to integrate in a new educational system. Originality/value Very little has been reported on the experience of international STEM pre-service teachers in England, particularly those with no previous teaching experience. The objective of this study is to address this gap and contribute to the internationalisation of teacher training curricula.

We Cannot Return to “Normal”: A Post-COVID Call for a Systems Approach to Implementing Restorative Justice in Education (RJE)

Given the collective trauma caused by COVID-19 global pandemic, it is more important than ever that schools look for ways to create safe, trauma-sensitive, and restorative learning environments. This article presents implementation science, readiness assessments, and ongoing evaluation as central and integral to all efforts that seek to transform punitive schools into restorative schools. The author first presents five elements of a school’s relational ecology as a framework for comparing a punitive school to a restorative school: structure, leadership, staff, students, and response to behavioral incidents. Then, the author calls upon school administrators, as well as restorative justice trainers who work with schools, to utilize a systems change approach that supports whole-school change. Without a full commitment to systems change, restorative justice in education (RJE) will continue to fall short of expectations and the educational system itself will continue to cause the same harm to marginalized students as it did prior to the pandemic.

Somali Immigrant Mothers’ Experiences of School Engagement: Implications for School Leaders

Purpose: This critical phenomenology study examines the experiences of Somali mothers’ involvement with an urban school in London, United Kingdom. Specifically, the study explores Somali mothers’ experiences and responses in navigating the coloniality of gender discourses imbedded in school structure and culture. The research questions that guided the study concerned the gender-based tools that Somali mothers use to navigate the school structure and culture and how school leaders can recognize and tap into parental knowledge and ways of being to serve these communities. Methods: This study is based on the stories of five Somali immigrant mothers. Data collection included focus groups, field memos, site observations, and school archival data. Data were analyzed through hermeneutic interpretation of whole-part-whole. Findings: Somali mothers use three important elements—identity, resistance, and traditions—to respond to coloniality of gender in school as they negotiate tensions between the Somali conception of motherhood and western notions of gender. The findings emphasize the practices rooted in Indigenous Somali culture and gender roles as assets. Implications: This research argues that the matripotent leadership practices of Somali mothers can inform theory, practice, and policy, as these practices offer a more collective and humanizing approach to leadership centered in ideals connected to a non-Western conception of motherhood, gender, and gender dynamics.

Understanding Caregiver Experiences: Examining the Transition Out of the Educational System for Children With Cognitive Disabilities

Date Presented 04/13/21 Researchers examined caregiver experiences surrounding the transition out of the educational system for children with cognitive disabilities. Researchers analyzed 66 survey responses to the UW Caregiver Stress Scale and open-ended questions. Results suggest caregiver stress is constant throughout the transition, and perceived supports are strongly lacking. Meaningful occupational engagement outside the school structure was an overwhelming concern, substantiating a critical role for intervention. Primary Author and Speaker: Elizabeth Brooke Preble Contributing Authors: Diane Long, Tina Caswell

Sonderung als Hilfe?

Separation as an Aid? Considerations on Inclusion and Exclusion in the School System against the Background of the Historical Development of Special Needs Schools This article looks into the connections between special needs schools and mainstream schools regarding the homogeneity and heterogeneity of the students. First of all, the current school structure effects are discussed. Then it is shown which line of tradition opens up the history of the so called auxiliary school with regard to inclusion and exclusion and which consequences result from taking the well-being of the child seriously.

Flow Field Inside and Around a Square Fish Cage Considering Fish School Swimming Pattern

The interaction between fluid and fish cage with stocked fish is extremely complex, including fluid and structure, as well as fluid and fish swimming behavior. The on-current swimming pattern of fish schools was found toward the incoming flow in the previous laboratory studies, which is different from the circular swimming pattern commonly observed in the farming site. In this study, a pseudo fish school structure model (PFS) was proposed to reproduce the five circular swimming patterns of farmed yellowtail, and to investigate the influence of fish school behaviors on the flow field inside and around a model square fish cage in laboratory experiments. The results showed that the drag force acting on the square fish cage increased with the increase of the current speed for all fish school swimming patterns, but no clear difference was observed between the fish school swimming behavior patterns. Overall, the drag force of the square fish cage considering the farmed fish behavior decreased by 11.8%, compared to the drag force of the fish cage without PFS. The current speeds inside and downstream of the fish cage increased almost linearly with increasing current velocities. Compared with the case of the fish cage without PFS, the current speed inside the cage under motionless closely PFS (C0), revolving closely PFS (CR), motionless loosely PFS (L0) and revolving loosely PFS (LR) conditions changed by 10.8%, 9.4%, 65.8% and 39.7%, respectively. In addition, compared to the case of the fish cage without PFS, the current speeds under C0, CR, L0 and LR conditions decreased by 89.8%, 16.3%, 58.2%, and 31.9%, respectively, at 16.0cm downstream from the fish cage, and decreased by 69.2%, 19.4%, 62.7% and 26.3%, respectively, at 63.6cm downstream from the fish cage. Furthermore, the current speed distribution and relative horizontal turbulence intensity distribution inside and around the fish cage under different fish school swimming pattern was discussed. In the future, we will use live fish to conduct experiments to evaluate fish school models.

The predictive powers of organizational trust and justice on enabling school structure: A structural equation modelling approach

Organizational structures are an important organizational variable affecting organizational behaviours and individuals' relationships with each other. The structural dimension of schools in terms of educational management is evaluated under two groups in the literature, namely, enabling and hindering school structures. Enabling school structures provide a healthy school climate and help schools be more effective. Individuals' perceptions of organizational trust and justice are also effective in ensuring a healthy school climate and school effectiveness. The aim of this study is to examine the predictive power of teachers' perceptions of organizational trust and justice on their perceptions of the enabling school structure. The structural equation model was used in the study, which is designed in the descriptive survey method. The study group is composed of 1187 teachers working at primary, secondary and high schools. Data were collected through Enabling School Structure Scale (Form-ESS), Organizational Justice Scale, Organizational Trust Scale and a Personal Information Form. The findings revealed that teachers' perceptions of organizational justice and organizational trust predict their perceptions about enabling school structure.

Effectiveness of isolation policies in schools: evidence from a mathematical model of influenza and COVID-19

Background Non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, school closures and travel restrictions are often implemented to control outbreaks of infectious diseases. For influenza in schools, the Center of Disease Control (CDC) recommends that febrile students remain isolated at home until they have been fever-free for at least one day and a related policy is recommended for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Other authors proposed using a school week of four or fewer days of in-person instruction for all students to reduce transmission. However, there is limited evidence supporting the effectiveness of these interventions. Methods We introduced a mathematical model of school outbreaks that considers both intervention methods. Our model accounts for the school structure and schedule, as well as the time-progression of fever symptoms and viral shedding. The model was validated on outbreaks of seasonal and pandemic influenza and COVID-19 in schools. It was then used to estimate the outbreak curves and the proportion of the population infected (attack rate) under the proposed interventions. Results For influenza, the CDC-recommended one day of post-fever isolation can reduce the attack rate by a median (interquartile range) of 29 (13–59)%. With 2 days of post-fever isolation the attack rate could be reduced by 70 (55–85)%. Alternatively, shortening the school week to 4 and 3 days reduces the attack rate by 73 (64–88)% and 93 (91–97)%, respectively. For COVID-19, application of post-fever isolation policy was found to be less effective and reduced the attack rate by 10 (5–17)% for a 2-day isolation policy and by 14 (5–26)% for 14 days. A 4-day school week would reduce the median attack rate in a COVID-19 outbreak by 57 (52–64)%, while a 3-day school week would reduce it by 81 (79–83)%. In both infections, shortening the school week significantly reduced the duration of outbreaks. Conclusions Shortening the school week could be an important tool for controlling influenza and COVID-19 in schools and similar settings. Additionally, the CDC-recommended post-fever isolation policy for influenza could be enhanced by requiring two days of isolation instead of one.

Relationship between Mindfulness and Enabling School Structure in Secondary School Teachers of Punjab

This quantitative research was undertaken with the purpose to explore the relationship between enabling school structure (ESS) and mindfulness in secondary school teachers of Punjab. The population for this research study was comprised of 48652 SSTs working in 662 government high schools spread across the province of Punjab. Using a two-stage random sampling technique, 1266 secondary SSTs were selected from 216 government high schools out of 18 districts. The response rate was 74.47%. Form-ESS and M-Scale were adapted with prior permission. A pilot study was conducted to confirm the validity as well as reliability of the instrument. Necessary changes were made in the light of pilot testing. It was correlational research, and data were collected through a cross-sectional survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the data. Perceptions of teachers were also aggregated at the school level. A positive relationship was observed between enabling school structure and mindfulness