The use of an uncontrolled vocabulary or natural language as it is sometimes called, has long been the traditional method of assigning a title to a file.
Jennifer Farrar and Kelly Stone
Critical literacy foregrounds the relationship between language and power by focusing on how texts work and in whose interests (Luke, 2012, p. 5). It is highlighted as an…
Abstract
Purpose
Critical literacy foregrounds the relationship between language and power by focusing on how texts work and in whose interests (Luke, 2012, p. 5). It is highlighted as an “important skill” within Scotland’s national educational framework for 3-18 year olds, the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), yet, as this paper aims to show, what the concept means is far from clear for policy users (Scottish Government, 2009e).
Design/methodology/approach
Using a lens that draws from critical discourse analysis, critical content analysis (Luke, 2001; Beach et al., 2009; Fairclough, 2010) and Ball’s method of policy analysis (2015), the authors find that the term “critical literacy” has been applied incoherently within key CfE documentation, including the frequent conflation of critical literacy with critical reading and critical thinking.
Findings
The authors argue that the CfE’s use of “critical literacy” is a misnomer, given that the version presented is an amalgamation of literacy-related competences drawing largely from psychological and not socio-political perspectives of literacy.
Social implications
This is a missed opportunity, given the Scottish Government’s stated commitment to social justice in policy terms (Scottish Executive, 2000; Scottish Government, 2016), not forgetting the powerful benefits that a critically literate stance could bring to Scotland’s learners at this time of communicative change and challenge.
Originality/value
While the authors offer a contextualized view of the ways in which the term “critical literacy” has been incorporated into Scottish educational policy, they propose that its implications go beyond national boundaries.
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Scott Comber, Kyle Clayton Crawford and Lisette Wilson
Emerging evidence correlates increased physician leadership effectiveness with improved patient and healthcare system outcomes. To maximize this benefit, it is critical to…
Abstract
Purpose
Emerging evidence correlates increased physician leadership effectiveness with improved patient and healthcare system outcomes. To maximize this benefit, it is critical to understand current physician leadership needs. The purpose of this study is to understand, through physicians’ self-reporting, their own and others’ most effective and weakest leadership skills in relation to the LEADS leadership capabilities framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed 209 Canadian physician leaders about their perceptions of their own and other physicians’ leadership abilities. Thematic analysis was used, and the results were coded deductively into the five LEADS categories, and new categories emerging from inductive coding were added.
Findings
The authors found that leaders need more skills in the areas of Engage Others and Lead Self, and an emergent category of Business Skills, which includes financial competency, budgeting, facilitation, etc. Further, Achieve Results, Develop Coalitions and Systems Transformation are skills least reported as needed in both self and others.
Originality/value
The authors conclude that LEADS, in its current form, has a gap in the competencies prescribed, namely, “Business Skills”. They recommend the development of a more comprehensive LEADS framework that includes such skills as financial literacy/competency, budgeting, facilitation, etc. The authors also found that certain dimensions of LEADS are being overlooked by physicians in terms of importance (Systems Transformation, Achieve Results, Develop Coalitions), and this warrants greater investigation into the reasons why these skills are not as important as the others (Engage Others and Lead Self).
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In terms of education attainment in the United Kingdom, the white working class remains the lowest performing ethnic group, and their academic underperformance has ominous…
Abstract
In terms of education attainment in the United Kingdom, the white working class remains the lowest performing ethnic group, and their academic underperformance has ominous implications for their long-term life chances. This chapter investigates how white working-class boys experience pathologization and deficit discourses in their schooling as they negotiate the discipline structures in three educational sites in South London (two state comprehensive schools and one Pupil Referral Unit). Drawing upon empirical data from an in-depth sociological study of 23 white working-class boys (Stahl, 2015), this chapter makes theoretical connections between how pathologization – both within the school and wider society – contributes to how these young men become constructed with and through deficit discourses contributing significantly toward low academic achievement. Where whiteness often equates to power and entitlement, in the schooling contexts of this study whiteness was often socially constructed as undesirable and equated with low aspirations, stagnation, and antieducational stances.
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Chih Sin, Nina Mguni, Chloe Cook, Natasha Comber and Annie Hedges
The fear and experience of violence, harassment and abuse of those with learning disabilities are significant barriers to full social inclusion. The patchy evidence base and the…
Abstract
The fear and experience of violence, harassment and abuse of those with learning disabilities are significant barriers to full social inclusion. The patchy evidence base and the confusing, and sometimes contradictory, array of policy and legislative instruments hamper efforts to tackle the issues. This article draws on the findings from an extensive review of literature looking into disabled people's experiences of targeted violence, harassment and abuse. The review found that people with learning disabilities and/or mental health conditions are at higher risk, and experience greater levels, of violence, harassment and abuse, not only than non‐disabled people but also than other disabled people. Situational vulnerabilities mean that the probability and experience of violence, harassment and abuse are due not simply to any inherent characteristics of those with learning disabilities. Under‐reporting and lack of appropriate response and support from criminal justice agencies compromise access to justice. People with learning disabilities are also found to have a propensity to report to third parties instead of to criminal justice agencies. However, the evidence points to lack of joined‐up working in various agencies, which hampers efforts at redress. There are particular concerns over a vacuum of responsibility as a result of confusion about the No Secrets guidance.
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The question has been recently raised as to how far the operation of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts of 1875, 1879, and 1899, and the Margarine Act, 1887, is affected by the Act…
Abstract
The question has been recently raised as to how far the operation of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts of 1875, 1879, and 1899, and the Margarine Act, 1887, is affected by the Act 29 Charles II., cap. 7, “for the better observation of the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday.” At first sight it would seem a palpable absurdity to suppose that a man could escape the penalties of one offence because he has committed another breach of the law at the same time, and in this respect law and common‐sense are, broadly speaking, in agreement; yet there are one or two cases in which at least some show of argument can be brought forward in favour of the opposite contention.
This chapter addresses the outcomes of a six-year school–university partnership between a public liberal arts college and a large urban school district. It explores ways that…
Abstract
This chapter addresses the outcomes of a six-year school–university partnership between a public liberal arts college and a large urban school district. It explores ways that partnerships can support teachers and communities to confront assumptions and take ownership of learning. This paper traces the trajectory of teachers and professors engaged in a longitudinal ongoing professional development initiative focused on “Meeting the Needs of Urban Learners” to identify practices that supported the collaboration, and the outcomes of the school–university partnership.
Betty Onyura, Sara Crann, Risa Freeman, Mary-Kay Whittaker and David Tannenbaum
This paper aims to review a decade of evidence on physician participation in health system leadership with the view to better understand the current state of scholarship on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review a decade of evidence on physician participation in health system leadership with the view to better understand the current state of scholarship on physician leadership activity in health systems. This includes examining the available evidence on both physicians’ experiences of health systems leadership (HSL) and the impact of physician leadership on health system reform.
Design/methodology/approach
A state-of-the-art review of studies (between 2007 and 2017); 51 papers were identified, analyzed thematically and synthesized narratively.
Findings
Six main themes were identified in the literature as follows: (De)motivation for leadership, leadership readiness and career development, work demands and rewards, identity matters: acceptance of self (and other) as leader, leadership processes and relationships across health systems and leadership in relation to health system outcomes. There were seemingly contradictory findings across some studies, pointing to the influence of regional and cultural contextual variation on leadership practices as well entrenched paradoxical tensions in health system organizations.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should examine the influence of varying structural and psychological empowerment on physician leadership practices. Empirical attention to paradoxical tensions (e.g. between empowerment and control) in HSL is needed, with specific attention to questions on how such tensions influence leaders’ decision-making about system reform.
Originality/value
This review provides a broad synthesis of diverse papers about physician participation in health system leadership. Thus, it offers a comprehensive empirical synthesis of contemporary concerns and identifies important avenues for future research.
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This study looks at the development of critical literacy for three pre-service teacher participants, relevant support systems, and pedagogies. It considers how pre-service teacher…
Abstract
This study looks at the development of critical literacy for three pre-service teacher participants, relevant support systems, and pedagogies. It considers how pre-service teacher participants construct knowledge on critical literacy within the methods course. The participants started with their own literacy histories in order to began developing internalization and critical consciousness within the methods and field experience course. Throughout the course, the participants took social action by using some of the critical literacy approaches that were presented as instructional strategies in the methods course. However, the participants were still internalizing two essential components of critical pedagogy in their own teaching: problem posing and dialogue. They acknowledged the value of problem posing and dialogue in their own learning but had some difficulty using these methods in their own teaching. The implications from this study suggest that teacher educators and future teachers take a stance on critical education and push for structural changes in common teaching practices and school curriculum mandates.
Appolonia Masunungure and Mbulaheni O. Maguvhe
The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore barriers to cultural and linguistic diversity teaching in mainstream secondary schools in South Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore barriers to cultural and linguistic diversity teaching in mainstream secondary schools in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was underpinned by the culturally responsive pedagogy theory as a framework. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to explore the barriers to teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) classrooms.
Findings
The authors found that teachers experience a plethora of challenges in teaching CLD learners. The findings show that culturally responsive practices, collaboration with relevant stakeholders and seeking professional development opportunities may advance the productive engagement of CLD learners in secondary schools.
Practical implications
Pre-service and in-service teachers should be conscientious about CLD teaching and learning through professional development. Teachers should be trained and retrained to accommodate CLD learners.
Originality/value
This study highlights significant aspects that hinder the inclusion of CLD learners and encourages the Department of Higher Education (tertiary institutions) and the Department of Basic Education Curriculum Developers to reconsider aspects of CLD in curriculum planning.