Relación entre la lateralidad y los aprendizajes escolares

Muchos son los autores que relacionan los problemas de aprendizaje de un niño con su lateralidad, achacando a la lateralidad contrariada, cruzada o no definida los problemas en la adquisición, entre otras, de habilidades lecto-escritoras. En el presente trabajo hemos pasado un test de lateralidad a 170 niños de entre 6 y 7 años (primero y segundo de primaria) con pruebas de miembro superior, miembro inferior y ojo, así como de discriminación de derecha-izquierda y de orientación espacial. A su vez, los profesores tutores han valorado varios ítems del aprendizaje escolar de los niños, con cuestiones sobre su comprensión lectora, su razonamiento matemático y su atención en clase, entre otras. Según nuestros resultados, los niños con lateralidad homogénea diestra son los que obtienen mejores valoraciones en todos los ítems de aprendizaje con respecto a los homogéneos zurdos, los cruzados y los no confirmados, siendo los pocos casos que tenemos de homogéneos zurdos (un 3% de la muestra) los que tienen peores valoraciones. Además, los niños que discriminan entre derecha e izquierda también tienen mejor sus aprendizajes con respecto a los que no lo hacen, así como los que se orientan bien en el espacio con respecto a los que se orientan mal.

Le burnout de l'élève : validation du School Burnout Inventory, identification de facteurs de risque et de protection et exploration des liens avec la consomation de substances

Syndrome de stress scolaire chronique, le bumout de l'élève ou bumout scolaire suscite un intérêt grandissant mais ses déterminants sont encore peu connus. De plus, ce phénomène est rarement étudié chez les adolescents francophones et aucune recherche n'a encore été menée en Suisse. Par conséquent, au travers de ce travail de thèse, nous proposons d'étendre la recherche sur le bumout scolaire aux adolescents de Suisse francophone et d'apporter des précisions sur ses facteurs de risque ou de protection. Pour ce faire, nous avons mené deux recherches empiriques impliquant 861 adolescents âgés de 14 à 18 ans et scolarisés en Suisse francophone. Ces adolescents ont répondu à une série d'échelles évaluant notamment le burnout scolaire, le stress scolaire, le soutien social, la consommation de substances et le parcours scolaire. Les résultats montrent tout d'abord que l'inventaire de Burnout Scolaire, version française du School Burnout lnventory, est un outil fiable et valide. Ensuite, il apparaît que le burnout scolaire touche jusqu'à 24% des adolescents de Suisse francophone et que ce dernier se caractérise par une perte d'intérêt pour l'école, une grande remise en question du sens du travail scolaire ainsi qu'un sentiment élevé d'insuffisance à l'école. Il apparaît également que le stress scolaire lié au succès et à l'avenir scolaire augmente le risque de bumout alors que le soutien des parents et des enseignants le diminue. Par ailleurs, nous mettons en évidence que l'effet du soutien social sur le burnout scolaire est médiatisé par le stress scolaire, ce qui souligne d'autant plus le rôle protecteur du soutien social. Nos résultats montrent également que les niveaux de bumout scolaire varient en fonction, d'une part de certaines caractéristiques du contexte scolaire et d'autre part en fonction de la sévérité de la consommation de substances des adolescents. Enfin, les connaissances accumulées dans ce travail et leur mise en perspective dans un modèle d'intervention précoce permettent d'insister sur le rôle de l'école et des professionnels de l'école dans la prévention du burnout scolaire. -- Syndrome of chronic school stress, pupil 's bumout or school bumout is of growing interest. However, little is known about its determinants. Moreover, this phenomenon is rarely studied in French speaking adolescents and no research has yet been conducted in Switzerland. Therefore, through this thesis, we propose to extend the research on school bumout to Swiss French speaking adolescents and to clarify its risk and protective factors. To achieve this, we conducted two empirical research involving 861 adolescents aged 14 to 18 and enrolled in the French part of Switzerland. These adolescents were asked to answer a questionnaire about school bumout, academic stress, social support, substance use and schooling. Results first show, that the French version of the School Bumout Inventory is a reliable and valid tool. lt then appears that school bumout affects up to 24% of adolescents in the French speaking part of Switzerland and that this phenomenon is characterized by a loss of interest in school, a great challenge to the sense of school work and a high sense of insufissance school. lt also appears that stress related to school success and academic future increases the risk of bumout while parents and teachers support decreases it. Moreover, we highlight that the effect of social support on school bumout is mediated by school stress, which further underscores the protective role of social support. Our results also show that school bumout levels vary depending on characteristics of the school context and on the severity of substance use of adolecents. Finally, the knowledge accumulated in this work and putting it onto perspective within early intervention model enable to insist on the role of school and school professionals in the prevention of school bumout

Intervals between response choices on a single-item measure of quality of life.

BACKGROUND: A single overall rating of quality of life (QoL) is a sensitive method that is often used in population surveys. However, the exact meaning of response choices is unclear. In particular, uneven spacing may affect the way QoL ratings should be analyzed and interpreted. This study aimed to determine the intervals between response choices to a single-item QoL assessment. METHODS: A secondary analysis was conducted on data from the Lc65+ cohort study and two additional, population-based, stratified random samples of older people (N = 5,300). Overall QoL was rated as excellent, very good, good, fair or poor. A QoL score (range 0-100) was derived from participants' answers to a 28-item QoL assessment tool. A transformed QoL score ranging from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) was calculated. The same procedure was repeated to compute seven domain-specific QoL subscores (Feeling of safety; Health and mobility; Autonomy; Close entourage; Material resources; Esteem and recognition; Social and cultural life). RESULTS: Mean (95 % confidence intervals) QoL scores were 96.23 (95.81-96.65) for excellent, 93.09 (92.74-93.45) for very good, 81.45 (80.63-82.27) for good, 65.44 (62.67-68.20) for fair and 54.52 (45.31-63.73) for poor overall QoL, corresponding to transformed QoL scores of respectively 5.00, 4.70, 3.58, 2.05, and 1.00. Ordinality of the categories excellent to poor was preserved in all seven QoL subscores. CONCLUSIONS: The excellent-to-poor rating scale provides an ordinal measure of overall QoL. The intervals between response choices are unequal, but an interval scale can be obtained after adequate recoding of excellent, very good, good, fair and poor.

Monitoring of the training load and recovery parameters in competitive swimmers

Nombreux sont les groupes de recherche qui se sont intéressés, ces dernières années, à la manière de monitorer l'entraînement des sportifs de haut niveau afin d'optimaliser le rendement de ce dernier tout en préservant la santé des athlètes. Un des problèmes cardinaux d'un entraînement sportif mal conduit est le syndrome du surentraînement. La définition du syndrome susmentionné proposée par Kreider et al. est celle qui est actuellement acceptée par le « European College of Sport Science » ainsi que par le « American College of Sports Medicine», à savoir : « An accumulation of training and/or non-training stress resulting in long-term decrement in performance capacity with or without related physiological and psychological signs and symptoms of maladaptation in which restoration of performance capacity may take several weeks or months. » « Une accumulation de stress lié, ou non, à l'entraînement, résultant en une diminution à long terme de la capacité de performance. Cette dernière est associée ou non avec des signes et des symptômes physiologiques et psychologiques d'inadaptation de l'athlète à l'entraînement. La restauration de ladite capacité de performance peut prendre plusieurs semaines ou mois. » Les recommandations actuelles, concernant le monitoring de l'entraînement et la détection précoce du syndrome du surentrainement, préconisent, entre autre, un suivi psychologique à l'aide de questionnaires (tel que le Profile of Mood State (POMS)), un suivi de la charge d'entraînement perçue par l'athlète (p.ex. avec la session rating of perceived exertion (RPE) method selon C. Foster), un suivi des performances des athlètes et des charges d'entraînement effectuées ainsi qu'un suivi des problèmes de santé (blessures et maladies). Le suivi de paramètres sanguins et hormonaux n'est pas recommandé d'une part pour des questions de coût et de faisabilité, d'autre part car la littérature scientifique n'a, jusqu'ici, pas été en mesure de dégager des évidences à ce sujet. A ce jour, peu d'études ont suivi ces paramètres de manière rigoureuse, sur une longue période et chez un nombre d'athlète important. Ceci est précisément le but de notre étude.

Brain Dopamine and Serotonin Receptors in the Perception of Pain. Positron Emission Tomography Studies in Healthy Subjects

The role of dopamine and serotonin in spinal pain regulation is well established. However, little is known concerning the role of brain dopamine and serotonin in the perception of pain in humans. The aim of this study was to assess the potential role of brain dopamine and serotonin in determining experimental pain sensitivity in humans using positron emission tomography (PET) and psychophysical methods. A total of 39 healthy subjects participated in the study, and PET imaging was performed to assess brain dopamine D2/D3 and serotonin 5-HT_1A receptor availability. In a separate session, sensitivity to pain and touch was assessed with traditional psychophysical methods, allowing the evaluation of potential associations between D2/D3 and 5-HT_1A binding and psychophysical responses. The subjects’ responses were also analyzed according to Signal Detection Theory, which enables separate assessment of the subject’s discriminative capacity (sensory factor) and response criterion (non-sensory factor). The study found that the D2/D3 receptor binding in the right putamen was inversely correlated with pain threshold and response criterion. 5-HT_1A binding in cingulate cortex, inferior temporal gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex was inversely correlated with discriminative capacity for touch. Additionally, the response criterion for pain and intensity rating of suprathreshold pain were inversely correlated with 5-HT_1A binding in multiple brain areas. The results suggest that brain D2/D3 receptors and 5-HT_1A receptors modulate sensitivity to pain and that the pain modulatory effects may, at least partly, be attributed to influences on the response criterion. 5-HT_1A receptors are also involved in the regulation of touch by having an effect on discriminative capacity.

Kielikylpydidaktiikkaa kehittämässä : 3-6-vuotiaiden kielikylpylasten kielellinen kehitys ja kielikylpydidaktiikan kehittäminen päiväkodissa

The goal of this study is to determine the naming ability in Finnish and Swedish of nursery school-aged children participating in a language immersion programme, as well as their command of both languages. The study also aims to describe factors reflecting language immersion teaching in nursery schools based on action research and a literature survey. The longitudinal study, conducted in 2003–2005, comprised 133 native Finnish three- to six-year-old children in language immersion programmes. A total of four measurements were carried out over two and a half years. In each measurement, four separate tests were given to each child (totally 1134 measurements). Research material was collected using survey tools that measured the children’s naming ability and command of language. The tools had been translated into both Finnish and Swedish. The material also includes taped responses related to the tool for naming ability. Didactic approaches were developed on the basis of material from action research and the literature survey. The material was examined using methodological triangulation, and a quantitative analysis was made of each survey tool. Furthermore, a content analysis of the children’s taped responses gave further depth to the description of language development. The theoretical framework of the study is mainly based on modern sociocultural theories of second language development and acquisition. Thus, the approach is both linguistic and pedagogic, with emphasis lying on the latter. The socioculturally-oriented framework of this study is mainly influenced by the theorists Vygotski, Spolsky, van Lier and Cummins. According to the results, the language skills of children in language immersion programmes develop as expected from age three to six in the fields studied. In the field of language command, the children acquired excellent skills in listening comprehension. Their naming ability was not as good. In each test, the children showed weaker skills in Swedish than in Finnish. However, based on the assumption that the two languages have a shared cognitive field, the skills in Swedish catch up with the skills in Finnish at an annual rate of 6–7 per cent. The study indicates that children meet a language development threshold one year earlier in their native language than they do in the immersion language. As for the naming ability in Swedish, problems arose from the fact that the deviation in results increases with age. Children showed creativity in their use of naming strategies. Judging by the research results, children begin to use the immersion language as a tool for thought at a very early phase. The research results, action research and literature survey were also used to create a general educational model for language immersion.

Professional development among educators pursuing a B.Ed. program in special education in Tanzania : a study of motives and perceived outcomes

Implementation of different policies and plans aiming at providing education for all is a challenge in Tanzania. The need for educators and professionals with relevant knowledge and qualifications in special education is substantial. Teacher education does not equip educators with sufficient knowledge and skills in special education and professional development programs in special education are few in number. Up to 2005 no degree programs in special education at university level were available in Tanzania. The B.Ed. Special Education program offered by the Open University of Tanzania in collaboration with Åbo Akademi University in Finland was one of the efforts aimed at addressing the big national need for teachers and other professionals with degree qualifications in special education. This pilot program offered unique possibilities to study professional development in Tanzania. The research group in this study consisted of the group of students who participated in the degree program 2005-2007. The study is guided by three theoretical perspectives: individual, social and societal. The individual perspective emphasizes psychological factors as motives, motivation, achievement, self-directed behavior and personal growth. Within social perspective, professional development is viewed as situated within the social and cultural context. The third perspective, the societal, focuses on change, reforms, innovations and transformation of school systems and societies. Accordingly, professional development is viewed as an individual, social and societal phenomenon. The overall aim of the study is to explore the participants’ motives for participating in a B.Ed. Special Education program and the perceived outcomes of the program in terms of professional development. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a case study approach was adopted. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were administered in three waves between January 2007 and February 2009 to the 35 educators participating in the B.Ed. Special Education program. The findings of the study reveal that the participants expressed motives which were related to job performance, knowledge, skills, academic degree and career. Also altruistic motives were expressed by the participants in terms of helping and supporting students with special needs and their communities. The perceived outcomes of the program were in line with the expressed motives. However, the results indicate that the participants also learned new skills, as interaction skills and guidance and counseling skills. Increased self-confidence was also mentioned as an outcome. The participants also got deepened understanding of disability issues. In addition, they learned strategies for creating awareness of persons with disability in the communities. Thus the findings of the study indicate positive outcomes of the program in terms of professional development. The conclusion of the study is that individual, social and societal factors interact when it comes to explaining why Tanzanian educators in special education choose to pursue a degree program in special education. The individual motives, as increased knowledge and better prospects of career development interact with the social and societal motives to help and support vulnerable student groups. The study contributes to increased understanding of the complexity of professional development and of the realities educators meet when educational reforms are implemented in a developing country.

The Influence of Education and Depression on Autonomy of Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Cross-sectional Study

Objective Patient autonomy has great importance for a valid informed consent in clinical practice. Our objectives were to quantify thedomains of patient autonomy and to evaluate the variables that can affect patient autonomy in women with chronic pelvic pain. Methods This study is a cross sectional survey performed in a tertiary care University Hospital. Fifty-two consecutive women scheduled for laparoscopic management of chronic pelvic were included. Three major components of autonomy (competence, information or freedom) were evaluated using a Likert scale with 24 validated affirmatives. Results Competence scores (0.85 vs 0.92; p = 0.006) and information scores (0.90 vs 0.93; p = 0.02) were low for women with less than eight years of school attendance. Information scores were low in the presence of anxiety (0.91 vs 0.93; p = 0.05) or depression (0.90 vs 0.93; p = 0.01). Conclusions Our data show that systematic evaluation of patient autonomy can provide clinical relevant information in gynecology. Low educational level, anxiety and depression might reduce the patient autonomy in women with chronic pelvic pain.

Conceptions of mathematics teacher education : thoughts among teacher educators in Tanzania

This study addresses the question of teacher educators’ conceptions of mathematics teacher education (MTE) in teacher colleges in Tanzania, and their thoughts on how to further develop it. The tension between exponents of content as opposed to pedagogy has continued to cause challenging conceptual differences, which also influences what teacher educators conceive as desirable in the development of this domain. This tension is connected to the dissatisfaction of parents and teachers with the failure of school mathematics. From this point of view, the overall aim was to identify and describe teacher educators’ various conceptions of MTE. Inspired by the debate among teacher educators about what the balance should be between subject matter and pedagogical knowledge, it was important to look at the theoretical faces of MTE. The theoretical background involved the review of what is visible in MTE, what is yet to be known and the challenges within the practice. This task revealed meanings, perspectives in MTE, professional development and assessment. To do this, two questions were asked, to which no clear solutions satisfactorily existed. The questions to guide the investigation were, firstly, what are teacher educators’ conceptions of MTE, and secondly, what are teacher educators’ thoughts on the development of MTE? The two questions led to the choice of phenomenography as the methodological approach. Against the guiding questions, 27 mathematics teacher educators were interviewed in relation to the first question, while 32 responded to an open-ended questionnaire regarding question two. The interview statements as well as the questionnaire responses were coded and analysed (classified). The process of classification generated patterns of qualitatively different ways of seeing MTE. The results indicate that MTE is conceived as a process of learning through investigation, fostering inspiration, an approach to learning with an emphasis on problem solving, and a focus on pedagogical knowledge and skills in the process of teaching and learning. In addition, the teaching and learning of mathematics is seen as subject didactics with a focus on subject matter and as an organized integration of subject matter, pedagogical knowledge and some school practice; and also as academic content knowledge in which assessment is inherent. The respondents also saw the need to build learner-educator relationships. Finally, they emphasized taking advantage of teacher educators’ neighbourhood learning groups, networking and collaboration as sustainable knowledge and skills sharing strategies in professional development. Regarding desirable development, teacher educators’ thoughts emphasised enhancing pedagogical knowledge and subject matter, and to be determined by them as opposed to conventional top-down seminars and workshops. This study has revealed various conceptions and thoughts about MTE based on teacher educators´ diverse history of professional development in mathematics. It has been reasonably substantiated that some teacher educators teach school mathematics in the name of MTE, hardly distinguishing between the role and purpose of the two in developing a mathematics teacher. What teacher educators conceive as MTE and what they do regarding the education of teachers of mathematics revealed variations in terms of seeing the phenomenon of interest. Within limits, desirable thoughts shed light on solutions to phobias, and in the same way low self-esteem and stigmatization call for the building of teacher educator-student teacher relationships.

Modeling and Parameter Estimation of Double-Star Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines

The power rating of wind turbines is constantly increasing; however, keeping the voltage rating at the low-voltage level results in high kilo-ampere currents. An alternative for increasing the power levels without raising the voltage level is provided by multiphase machines. Multiphase machines are used for instance in ship propulsion systems, aerospace applications, electric vehicles, and in other high-power applications including wind energy conversion systems. A machine model in an appropriate reference frame is required in order to design an efficient control for the electric drive. Modeling of multiphase machines poses a challenge because of the mutual couplings between the phases. Mutual couplings degrade the drive performance unless they are properly considered. In certain multiphase machines there is also a problem of high current harmonics, which are easily generated because of the small current path impedance of the harmonic components. However, multiphase machines provide special characteristics compared with the three-phase counterparts: Multiphase machines have a better fault tolerance, and are thus more robust. In addition, the controlled power can be divided among more inverter legs by increasing the number of phases. Moreover, the torque pulsation can be decreased and the harmonic frequency of the torque ripple increased by an appropriate multiphase configuration. By increasing the number of phases it is also possible to obtain more torque per RMS ampere for the same volume, and thus, increase the power density. In this doctoral thesis, a decoupled d–q model of double-star permanent-magnet (PM) synchronous machines is derived based on the inductance matrix diagonalization. The double-star machine is a special type of multiphase machines. Its armature consists of two three-phase winding sets, which are commonly displaced by 30 electrical degrees. In this study, the displacement angle between the sets is considered a parameter. The diagonalization of the inductance matrix results in a simplified model structure, in which the mutual couplings between the reference frames are eliminated. Moreover, the current harmonics are mapped into a reference frame, in which they can be easily controlled. The work also presents methods to determine the machine inductances by a finite-element analysis and by voltage-source inverters on-site. The derived model is validated by experimental results obtained with an example double-star interior PM (IPM) synchronous machine having the sets displaced by 30 electrical degrees. The derived transformation, and consequently, the decoupled d–q machine model, are shown to model the behavior of an actual machine with an acceptable accuracy. Thus, the proposed model is suitable to be used for the model-based control design of electric drives consisting of double-star IPM synchronous machines.

Effects of caffeine on time to exhaustion in exercise performed below and above the anaerobic threshold

Controversy still exists concerning the potential ergogenic benefit of caffeine (CAF) for exercise performance. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of CAF ingestion on endurance performance during exercise on a bicycle ergometer at two different intensities, i.e., approximately 10% below and 10% above the anaerobic threshold (AT). Eight untrained males, non-regular consumers of CAF, participated in this study. AT, defined as the intensity (watts) corresponding to a lactate concentration of 4 mM, was determined during an incremental exercise test from rest to exhaustion on an electrically braked cycle ergometer. On the basis of these measurements, the subjects were asked to cycle until exhaustion at two different intensities, i.e., approximately 10% below and 10% above AT. Each intensity was performed twice in a double-blind randomized order by ingesting either CAF (5 mg/kg) or a placebo (PLA) 60 min prior to the test. Venous blood was analyzed for free fatty acid, glucose, and lactate, before, during, and immediately after exercise. Rating of perceived exertion and time to exhaustion were also measured during each trial. There were no differences in free fatty acids or lactate levels between CAF and PLA during and immediately after exercise for either intensity. Immediately after exercise glucose increased in the CAF trial at both intensities. Rating of perceived exertion was significantly lower (CAF = 14.1 ± 2.5 vs PLA = 16.6 ± 2.4) and time to exhaustion was significantly higher (CAF = 46.54 ± 8.05 min vs PLA = 32.42 ± 14.81 min) during exercise below AT with CAF. However, there was no effect of CAF treatment on rating of perceived exertion (CAF = 18.0 ± 2.7 vs PLA = 17.6 ± 2.3) and time to exhaustion (CAF = 18.45 ± 7.28 min vs PLA = 19.17 ± 4.37 min) during exercise above AT. We conclude that in untrained subjects caffeine can improve endurance performance during prolonged exercise performed below AT and that the decrease of perceived exertion can be involved in this process

Role of the hippocampus in contextual memory after classical aversive conditioning in pigeons (C. livia)

We investigated the effects of hippocampal lesions with ibotenic acid (IBO) on the memory of the sound-context-shock association during reexposure to the conditioning context. Twenty-nine adult pigeons were assigned to a non-lesioned control group (CG, N = 7), a sham-lesioned group (SG, N = 7), a hippocampus-lesioned experimental group (EG, N = 7), and to an unpaired nonlesioned group (tone-alone exposure) (NG, N = 8). All pigeons were submitted to a 20-min session in the conditioning chamber with three associations of sound (1000 Hz, 85 dB, 1 s) and shock (10 mA, 1 s). Experimental and sham lesions were performed 24 h later (EG and SG) when EG birds received three bilateral injections (anteroposterior (A), 4.5, 5.25 and 7.0) of IBO (1 µl and 1 µg/µl) and SG received one bilateral injection (A, 5.25) of PBS. The animals were reexposed to the training context 5 days after the lesion. Behavior was videotaped for 20 min and analyzed at 30-s intervals. A significantly higher percent rating of immobility was observed for CG (median, 95.1; range, 79.2 to 100.0) and SG (median, 90.0; range, 69.6 to 95.0) compared to EG (median, 11.62; range, 3.83 to 50.1) and NG (median, 7.33; range, 6.2 to 28.1) (P<0.001) in the training context. These results suggest impairment of contextual fear in birds who received lesions one day after conditioning and a role for the hippocampus in the modulation of emotional aversive memories in pigeons.

Changing teachers´ practices in regular schools enrolling children with visual impairment

The number of persons with visual impairment in Tanzania is estimated to over 1.6 million. About half a million of these persons are children aged 7-13. Only about 1% of these children are enrolled in schools. The special schools and units are too few and in most cases they are far away from the children’s homes. More and more regular schools are enrolling children with visual impairment, but the schools lack financial resources, tactile teaching materials and trained special education teachers. Children with visual impairment enrolled in regular schools seldom get enough support and often fail in examinations. The general aim of this study was to contribute to increased knowledge and understanding about how teachers can change their teaching practices and thus facilitate the learning of children with visual impairment included in regular classrooms as they participate in an action research project. The project was conducted in a primary school in a poor rural region with a high frequency of blindness and visual impairment. The school was poorly resourced and the average number of pupils per class was 90. The teachers who participated in the collaborative action research project were the 14 teachers who taught blind or visually impaired pupils in grades 4 and 6, in total 6 pupils. The action research project was conducted during a period of 6 months and was carried out in five cycles. The teachers were actively involved in all the project activities; identifying challenges, planning solutions, producing teaching materials, reflecting on outcomes, collaborating and evaluating. Empirical data was collected with questionnaires, interviews, observations and focus group discussions. The findings of the study show that the teachers managed to change their teaching practices through systematic reflection, analysis and collaboration. The teachers produced a variety of tactile teaching materials, which facilitated the learning of the pupils with visual impairment. The pupils learned better and felt more included in the regular classes. The teachers gained new knowledge and skills. They grew professionally and started to collaborate with each other. The study contributes to new knowledge of how collaborative action research can be conducted in the area of special education in a Tanzanian school context. The study has also relevance to the planning of school-based professional development programs and teacher education programs in Tanzania and in other low-income countries. The results also point at strategies which can promote inclusion of children with disabilities in regular schools.

Peruskoulun yläkouluvalinnat Turussa. Perheiden yläkouluvalintojen rakentuminen äitien puheissa ja toimissa

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan peruskoulun yläkouluvalintoja Turussa. Tarkastelun keskiössä ovat vuonna 1997 syntyneiden turkulaislasten vanhempien yläkouluvalintaa koskeva yleinen sekä omaan lapseen kiinnittyvä puhe ja toimijuus paikallisessa institutionaalisessa kouluvalintatilassa sekä vanhempien lapsen koulutukseen ja kouluvalintaan liittämät perustelut, merkitykset, arvot ja arvostukset. Tämän lisäksi tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan puheesta ja toimista rakentuvia perheiden kouluvalintastrategioita, joita peilataan äitien koulutuksellisiin ja sosiaalisiin resursseihin sekä paikalliseen toimintapolitiikkaan. Tutkimus ei kerro ainoastaan paikallisessa kontekstissa tapahtuvista kouluvalinnoista, vaan laajemmin yhteiskunnassa vallitsevista hierarkioista ja arvoista sekä koulutukseen ja sosioekonomiseen asemaan linkittyvistä normatiivisista toimintatavoista. Tutkimuksessa käytetään haastattelu- ja kyselyaineistoja. Aineistot kerättiin osana kahta laajempaa Suomen Akatemian rahoittamaa Helsingin ja Turun yliopistojen kanssa yhteistyössä tehtyä tutkimusprojektia Vanhemmat ja kouluvalinta – Perheiden koulutusstrategiat, eriarvoistuminen ja paikalliset koulupolitiikat suomalaisessa peruskoulussa (VAKOVA) 2009–2012 sekä Parents and School Choice. Family Strategies, Segregation and School Policies in Chilean and Finnish Basic Schooling (PASC) 2010–2013. Tutkimusaineistot koostuvat 87 turkulaisäidin haastattelusta ja kyselyaineistosta. Kyselyaineiston analyysissä on käytetty kuvailevia tilastollisia menetelmiä, ja sitä käytetään ensisijaisesti taustoittamaan haastatteluaineistoa. Haastatteluaineiston analyysi perustuu pääasiallisesti teema-analyysiin, mutta toimija-asema-analyysin osalta myös diskursiiviseen lähestymistapaan. Haastatteluaineiston pohjalta esiin nousseiden lasten koulutusta ja kouluvalintoja koskevien kuvausten perusteella perheiden yläkouluvalinnat jaettiin kolmeen erityyppiseen valintastrategiaan: perinteiseen lähikouluvalintastrategiaan (n=41), ambivalenttiseen kouluvalintastrategiaan (n=23) ja päämäärätietoiseen kouluvalintastrategiaan (n=23). Jokainen kolmesta strategiasta piti sisällään kahdenlaista toimijuutta kouluvalintakentällä. Ryhmittely kouluvalintastrategioittain ja toimija-asemittain perustui äitien puhetapaan kouluvalinnoista ja yleisemmin koulutukseen liitetyistä merkityksistä ja arvoista sekä konkreettiseen toimintaan kouluvalinnan suhteen. Lähikouluvalintastrategiaa suosivien jälkeläiset siirtyivät koulunsa yleisluokalle. Perheet toimivat valintakentällä kaupungin rajaavan toimintapolitiikan ohjaamina, jolloin kouluvalinta näytti passiiviselta. Osoitteenmukaiseen kouluun siirtymistä perusteltiin praktisilla syillä; koulumatkan pituudella, kulkuyhteyksillä ja lapsen kaverisuhteilla. Hyvinvointivaltion edellytykseksi nähtiin kaikille taattu samanvertainen koulutus ja edelleen luotettiin perinteistä peruskoulua määrittävään mahdollisuuksien tasa-arvoon. Koulutuksen yhdeksi tärkeäksi tehtäväksi nähtiin lapsen kasvattaminen hyvinvoivaksi ja onnelliseksi. Vanhempien toiminta oli perinteisen kouluvalintastrategian mukaista. Ambivalenttista kouluvalintastrategiaa käyttävistä perheistä toiminta kouluvalintakentällä oli kahtalaista. Äidit joko harkitsivat kouluvalintoja tai vertailivat kouluja ja niihin pääsymahdollisuuksia realistisesti tasapainoillen ohjaavan ja mahdollistavan toimintapolitiikan välimaastossa. Tärkeintä oli olla tietoinen kaupungin kouluvalintapolitiikasta sekä siitä, että valinnoilla voi olla merkitystä jälkikasvun koulupolulle. Eri vaihtoehtojen punnitsemisen jälkeen päädyttiin useimmin lähikoulun painotettuun opetukseen. Lapsen peruskoulutusta haluttiin rikastaa painotetulla opetuksella ja hänen toivottiin pääsevän motivoituneeseen ja oppimismyönteiseen koululuokkaan. Valintoja tehtiin paikallisen toimintapolitiikan puitteissa lapsen parasta toivoen. Koulutuksen tehtäväksi nähtiin lapsen intellektuaalinen kasvu kiedottuna koulutuksen tuottamaan hyvinvointiin ja onnellisuuteen. Perheiden valintastrategiaksi muodostui ambivalenttinen strategia motivoituneen oppimisympäristön löytämiseksi. Päämäärätietoista kouluvalintastrategiaa käyttävät vanhemmat hyödynsivät aktiivisesti erilaisia reittejä tiettyihin yläkouluihin pääsemiseksi. Ennakoivien perheiden lapset olivat opiskelleet sellaisessa alakoulussa, joka ei kuulunut yläkoulun oppilasalueelle, mutta takasi lapselle reitin suosittuun yläkouluun. Määrätietoisten perheissä havahduttiin valintoihin puolestaan yläkouluun siirryttäessä, jolloin koulupaikkaa haettiin sopivimman painotetun opetuksen ja koulun maineen mukaan pois lähiyläkoulusta. Lähikoulu -periaate koettiin epäoikeudenmukaiseksi, sillä lapsella tulee olla oikeus toteuttaa omia kykyjään ja lahjakkuuttaan valikoidussa oppilasryhmässä ja perheillä mahdollisuus valita lapsen koulu. Paikallinen toimintapolitiikka ei näyttänyt rajaavan vanhempien kouluvalintoja. Koulutuksen tarkoitukseksi nähtiin intellektuaalinen kasvu ja akateemissivistävä tehtävä. Päämäärätietoisen kouluvalintavalintastrategian tavoitteena oli perheelle sopivan habituksen takaaminen. Paikallinen toimintapolitiikka mahdollisti vanhempien erilaisten kouluvalintastrategioiden rakentumisen ohjaten ensisijaisesti lähiyläkouluun, mutta samalla mahdollistaen koulun valinnan toissijaisen haun kriteerein. Kouluvalintastrategioihin ja toimintatapaan kouluvalintakentällä kytkeytyi vanhempien koulutukseen liittämät arvot sekä kulttuuriset ja sosiaaliset resurssit ja se, miten niitä käytettiin.

Are birth weight and maternal smoking during pregnancy associated with malnutrition and excess weight among school age children?

In the late 1980's child malnutrition was still prevalent in Brazil, and child obesity was beginning to rise in the richest regions of the country. To assess the extent of the nutritional transition during the period and the influence of birth weight and maternal smoking on the nutritional condition of schoolchildren, we estimated the prevalence of excess weight and malnutrition in a cohort of Brazilian schoolchildren from 1987 to 1989. We calculated the body mass index (BMI) of 8- to 10-year-old schoolchildren born in Ribeirão Preto in 1978/79. We considered children with a BMI <5th percentile (P5) to be malnourished, children with P5³BMIof these nutritional disorders with birth factors (infant weight, sex, preterm delivery, number of pregnancies, maternal smoking during pregnancy, marital status, and schooling) and type of school using nominal logistic regression. A total of 2797 schoolchildren were evaluated. There was a significant prevalence of malnutrition (9.5%) and excess weight already tended to increase (15.7%), while 6.4% of the children were obese. Excess weight was more prevalent among children attending private schools (odds ratio, OR = 2.27) and firstborn children (OR = 1.69). Maternal smoking during pregnancy protected against malnutrition (OR = 0.56), while children with lower birth weight were at higher risk for malnutrition (OR = 4.23). We conclude that a nutritional transition was under way while malnutrition was still present, but excess weight and related factors were already emerging.