Issues in language and development in multilingual settings: a case-study of knowledge exchange and teacher education in South Africa

The quality of a country’s human-resource base can be said to determine its level of success in social and economic development. This study focuses on some␣of the major human-resource development issues that surround the implementation of South Africa’s policy of multilingualism in education. It begins by discussing the relationship between knowledge, language, and human-resource, social and economic development within the global cultural economy. It then considers the situation in South Africa and, in particular, the implications of that country’s colonial and neo-colonial past for attempts to implement the new policy. Drawing on the linguistic-diversity-in-education debate in the United Kingdom of the past three decades, it assesses the first phase of an in-service teacher-education programme that was carried out at the Project for Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA) based at the University of Cape Town. The authors identify key short- and long-term issues related to knowledge exchange in education in multilingual societies, especially concerning the use of African languages as mediums for teaching and learning.

The status of literature: English teaching and the condition of literature teaching in schools

Although the curriculum subject of English is continually reviewed and revised in all English speaking countries, the status of literature is rarely questioned i.e. that it is of high cultural value and all students should be taught about it. The concerns of any review, in any country, are typically about what counts as literature, especially in terms of national heritage and then how much of the curriculum should it occupy. This article reports on three inter-related pieces of research that examine the views of in-service, and pre-service, English teachers about their experiences of teaching literature and their perceptions of its ‘status’ and significance at official level and in the actual classroom; it draws attention to how England compares to some other English speaking countries and draws attention to the need to learn from the negative outcomes of political policy in England. The findings suggest that the nature of engagement with literature for teachers and their students has been distorted by official rhetorics and assessment regimes and that English teachers are deeply concerned to reverse this pattern.

Livestock and learning: evaluation of a prototype 3D virtual learning environment for livestock practitioners in India and Bolivia

Livestock are a key asset for the global poor. However, access to relevant information is a critical issue for both the poor and the practitioners who serve them. Therefore, the authors describe a web-based Virtual Learning Environment to disseminate educational materials on priority animal health constraints in Bolivia and India. The aim was to explore demand for 3D among development practitioners in the South. Two wider arguments from the ICT4D literature framed the analysis: the concept of 3D as a ‘lead technology’ and the relevance of Internet skills to the adoption of a 3D format. The results illustrated that neither construct influenced demand. Rather, study participants were ready adopters but desired greater levels of interaction and thereby, a more collaborative learning environment. Therefore, 3D has a number of potential benefits to enhance knowledge sharing among community practitioners in the Global South.

Flavonoids as modulators of memory and learning: molecular interactions resulting in behavioural effects

There is considerable interest in the potential of a group of dietary-derived phytochemicals known as flavonoids in modulating neuronal function and thereby influencing memory, learning and cognitive function. The present review begins by detailing the molecular events that underlie the acquisition and consolidation of new memories in the brain in order to provide a critical background to understanding the impact of flavonoid-rich diets or pure flavonoids on memory. Data suggests that despite limited brain bioavailability, dietary supplementation with flavonoid-rich foods, such as blueberry, green tea and Ginkgo biloba lead to significant reversals of age-related deficits on spatial memory and learning. Furthermore, animal and cellular studies suggest that the mechanisms underpinning their ability to induce improvements in memory are linked to the potential of absorbed flavonoids and their metabolites to interact with and modulate critical signalling pathways, transcription factors and gene and/or protein expression which control memory and learning processes in the hippocampus; the brain structure where spatial learning occurs. Overall, current evidence suggests that human translation of these animal investigations are warranted, as are further studies, to better understand the precise cause-and-effect relationship between flavonoid intake and cognitive outputs.

Incorporating creativity into teachers practice and self-concept of professional identity

The study explores what happens to teachers practice and ’ professional identity when they adopt a collaborative action research approach to teaching and involve external creative partners and a university mentor. The teachers aim to nurture and develop the creative potential of their learners through empowering them to make decisions for themselves about their own progress and learning directions. The teachers worked creatively and collaboratively designing creative teaching and learning methods in support of pupils with language and communication difficulties. The respondents are from an English special school, primary school and girls secondary school. A mixed methods methodology is adopted. Gains in teacher confidence and capability were identified in addition to shifts in values that impacted directly on their self-concept of what it is to be an effective teacher promoting effective learning. The development of their professional identities within a team ethos included them being able to make decisions about learning that are based on the educational potential of learners that they proved resulted in elevated standards achieved by this group of learners. They were able to justify their actions on established educational principles. Tensions however were revealed between what they perceived as their normal required professionalism imposed by external agencies and the enhanced professionalism experienced working through the project where they were able to integrate theory and practice.

Enhancing fieldwork learning with technology: practitioner's perspectives

This research paper reports the findings from an international survey of fieldwork practitioners on their use of technology to enhance fieldwork teaching and learning. It was found that there was high information technology usage before and after time in the field, but some were also using portable devices such as smartphones and global positioning system whilst out in the field. The main pedagogic reasons cited for the use of technology were the need for efficient data processing and to develop students' technological skills. The influencing factors and barriers to the use of technology as well as the importance of emerging technologies are discussed.

A digital ecosystems model of assessment feedback on student learning

The term ecosystem has been used to describe complex interactions between living organisms and the physical world. The principles underlying ecosystems can also be applied to complex human interactions in the digital world. As internet technologies make an increasing contribution to teaching and learning practice in higher education, the principles of digital ecosystems may help us understand how to maximise technology to benefit active, self-regulated learning especially among groups of learners. Here, feedback on student learning is presented within a conceptual digital ecosystems model of learning. Additionally, we have developed a Web 2.0-based system, called ASSET, which incorporates multimedia and social networking features to deliver assessment feedback within the functionality of the digital ecosystems model. Both the digital ecosystems model and the ASSET system are described and their implications for enhancing feedback on student learning are discussed.

Educational reforms, cultural clashes and classroom practices

This article presents an ongoing study of educational policy enactment in Singapore lower primary English classrooms. It explores how teachers react to and interpret educational reforms in their classroom practices against a backdrop ofvtraditional cultural values. Using a prescribed coding scheme, the article presents the instructional organisational patterns and participation structures of the lessons.Through a systematic analysis of the enacted curricula, the paper examines classroom practices as well as teaching and learning activities in Primary 1 (7–8 years) and Primary 2 (8–9 years) English lessons in Singapore. The results suggest that there are cultural clashes between major educational reforms which emphasise independent/critical thinking and ‘Asian values’ which promote respect for authority and conformity.

A genome wide association study of mathematical ability reveals an association at chromosome 3q29, a locus associated with autism and learning difficulties: a preliminary study

Mathematical ability is heritable, but few studies have directly investigated its molecular genetic basis. Here we aimed to identify specific genetic contributions to variation in mathematical ability. We carried out a genome wide association scan using pooled DNA in two groups of U.K. samples, based on end of secondary/high school national academic exam achievement: high (n = 419) versus low (n = 183) mathematical ability while controlling for their verbal ability. Significant differences in allele frequencies between these groups were searched for in 906,600 SNPs using the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Mapping version 6.0 array. After meeting a threshold of p<1.5×10-5, 12 SNPs from the pooled association analysis were individually genotyped in 542 of the participants and analyzed to validate the initial associations (lowest p-value 1.14 ×10-6). In this analysis, one of the SNPs (rs789859) showed significant association after Bonferroni correction, and four (rs10873824, rs4144887, rs12130910 rs2809115) were nominally significant (lowest p-value 3.278 × 10-4). Three of the SNPs of interest are located within, or near to, known genes (FAM43A, SFT2D1, C14orf64). The SNP that showed the strongest association, rs789859, is located in a region on chromosome 3q29 that has been previously linked to learning difficulties and autism. rs789859 lies 1.3 kbp downstream of LSG1, and 700 bp upstream of FAM43A, mapping within the potential promoter/regulatory region of the latter. To our knowledge, this is only the second study to investigate the association of genetic variants with mathematical ability, and it highlights a number of interesting markers for future study.