Disorganizing educational tropes: Conceptions of dis/ability and curriculum

A study examined the politics of dis/ability and curriculum. Data were obtained from a review of the new disability studies literature, focusing on the areas of history, sociology, anthropology, and critical legal theory. The results indicate that this new literature challenges popular psychoeducational models that assume disability as an objective medical, individual, and pathological deficiency, effectively restricting the systematic study of dis/ability as relational, external, shifting, and socially constituted. The findings suggest ways in which perceptions of “school problems” have to be adjusted to understand how the constant refiguration of normativities in everyday activities creates perceptions of disability-negative ontologies, generates experiences that incite efforts to modify those perceptions in multiple ways, and produces unintended effects from well-intended approaches that in the end remain irreducible to simplistic definitions for the one “ethical” or “politically correct” strategy.

Interrupting the child/adult dichotomy: A genealogy of genius as an administrative object in educational discourse

Part of a special issue on childhood and cultural studies. The writer provides a genealogy of genius that interrupt the child/adult dichotomy and disrupts the notion of child as subject. Tracing the evolution of the notion of “genius,” she notes that although conceptualizations of genius have changed considerably over the years, it has continually been a concept that distinguishes the haves from the have-nots. The writer maintains that the idea of genius consistently invokes images of both maleness and whiteness and marginalizes the experiences of women and other groups.

Senior House Operations in Finland

This article analyzes the operations of a sample of rental independent living senior apartments in Tampere, Finland. We compare 10 properties containing 421 units owned by one nonprofit and two for-profit housing providers. We examine costs and revenues across properties using data collected through interviews and a survey of company representatives and property managers. The results indicate that until the recent economic downturn, these senior houses generally experienced fast initial lease-up and low turnover but relatively long vacancies for some units when re-leasing. Performance varies among properties.

Awareness and attitudes toward age-restricted communities in Finland

The average population age has been increasing for decades. In the U.S., the history of retirement communities in some states is relatively long, reaching back to the 1920s. In Finland, with one of the fastest-growing elderly population and highest total dependency ratios, seniors housing is a relatively new market within the residential housing business. Some studies have reported that only a small percentage of seniors are willing to move into age-restricted communities in Finland. This study analyzes awareness and attitudes of Finnish people toward age-restricted housing for seniors and toward seniors living in these communities. The results show that the majority of Finns were undecided if “senior houses” were the same as assisted living facilities. The respondents associated age-restricted communities with institutional housing for lonely elderly people with illnesses. The results of this study will help investors and developers understand how potential customers see age-restricted housing for seniors. Also, managers of senior houses can use the results for clarifying the idea of senior houses.

Shared genetics underlying epidemiological association between endometriosis and ovarian cancer

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated associations between endometriosis and certain histotypes of ovarian cancer, including clear cell, low-grade serous and endometrioid carcinomas. We aimed to determine whether the observed associations might be due to shared genetic aetiology. To address this, we used two endometriosis datasets genotyped on common arrays with full-genome coverage (3194 cases and 7060 controls) and a large ovarian cancer dataset genotyped on the customized Illumina Infinium iSelect (iCOGS) arrays (10 065 cases and 21 663 controls). Previous work has suggested that a large number of genetic variants contribute to endometriosis and ovarian cancer (all histotypes combined) susceptibility. Here, using the iCOGS data, we confirmed polygenic architecture for most histotypes of ovarian cancer. This led us to evaluate if the polygenic effects are shared across diseases. We found evidence for shared genetic risks between endometriosis and all histotypes of ovarian cancer, except for the intestinal mucinous type. Clear cell carcinoma showed the strongest genetic correlation with endometriosis (0.51, 95% CI = 0.18–0.84). Endometrioid and low-grade serous carcinomas had similar correlation coefficients (0.48, 95% CI = 0.07–0.89 and 0.40, 95% CI = 0.05–0.75, respectively). High-grade serous carcinoma, which often arises from the fallopian tubes, showed a weaker genetic correlation with endometriosis (0.25, 95% CI = 0.11–0.39), despite the absence of a known epidemiological association. These results suggest that the epidemiological association between endometriosis and ovarian adenocarcinoma may be attributable to shared genetic susceptibility loci.

More equal than others?: Meeting the professional development needs of rural primary and secondary science teachers

It is often assumed that teachers in rural and remote schools are at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing professional development. But is there sufficient evidence to support this assumption? This paper reports findings from two national surveys comparing the professional development priorities of primary and secondary science teachers from metropolitan, provincial and remote schools. The research found that while teachers' unmet needs for some PD opportunities increased significantly with school remoteness, this was not the case for all opportunities. In teasing out the different PD priorities of primary and secondary science teachers, the paper provides evidence to help education authorities and professional organisations address the specific needs of teachers in different locations.

An introduction to science education in rural Australia

Here's a challenge. Try searching Google for the phrase 'rural science teachers' in Australian web content. Surprisingly, my attempts returned only two hits, neither of which actually referred to Australian teachers. Searches for 'rural science education' fare little better. On this evidence one could be forgiven for wondering whether the concept of a rural science teacher actually exists in the Australian consciousness. OK, so Google is not (yet) the arbiter of our conceptions, and to be fair, there aren't many hits for 'urban science teacher' either. The point I'm making is that in Australia we don't tend to conceptualise science teachers or science education as rural or urban. As a profession we are quite mobile, and throughout our careers many of us have worked in both city and country schools. But that's not to say that rural science teaching isn't conceptually or practically different to teaching in the city.

Whole-genome sequencing identifies EN1 as a determinant of bone density and fracture

The extent to which low-frequency (minor allele frequency (MAF) between 1-5%) and rare (MAF

The inside story: A survey of social work students' supervision and learning opportunities on placement

Practice learning accounts for half of the content of the bachelor of social work degree course requirements in Northern Ireland in their field education programmes and share a professional and ethical responsibility with practice teachers to provide appropriate learning environments to prepare students as competent and professional practitioners. The accreditation standards for practice learning require the placement to provide students with regular supervision and exposure to a range of learning strategies, but there is little research that actually identifies the types of placements offering this learning and the key activities provided. This paper builds on an Australian study and surveys social work students in two programmes in Northern Ireland about their exposure to a range of learning activities, how frequently they were provided and how it compares to what is required by the Northern Ireland practice standards. The results indicated that, although most students were satisfied with the supervision and support they received during their placement, the frequency of supervision and type of learning activities varied according to different settings, year levels and who provided the learning opportunities.