Turning a Bourdieuian lens on English teaching in primary schools: linguistic field, linguistic habitus and linguistic capital

The research project used to frame discussion in this chapter was a doctoral study of the experiences of English primary school teachers teaching pupils whose home language was not English in their previously monolingual classrooms. They taught in a region in the south of England which experienced a significant rise in the population of non-native English speakers following Eastern European member states’ accession to the EU in 2004 and 2007. The study focussed principally on the teachers’ responses to their newly arrived Polish children because Polish families were arriving in far greater numbers than those from other countries. The research aims focussed on exploring and analysing the pedagogical experiences of teachers managing the acquisition of English language for their Polish children. Critical engagement with their experiences and the ways in which they did or did not adapt their pedagogy for teaching English was channelled through Bourdieuian constructs of linguistic field, capital and habitus. The following sections explore my reasons for adopting Bourdieu’s work as a theoretical lens, the practicalities and challenges of incorporating Bourdieu’s tools for thinking in data analysis, and the subsequent impact on my research activity.

The experience of the hidden curriculum for autistic girls at mainstream primary schools

This article presents the findings of ethnographic case studies of three girls on the autistic spectrum attending mainstream primary schools and illustrates the difficulties they experience and the ways in which these are often unrecognised. The observations of the girls and subsequent individual interviews with their mothers, class teachers, SENCO’s and ultimately themselves, reveal the personal adjustments the girls make in response to the hidden curriculum and the ways in which these go unnoticed, effectively masking their need for support, and contributing to their underachievement in school. The research also identifies a misunderstanding of autism in girls by some teachers that contributes to a lack of support for their needs, despite their diagnosis. Teachers need to understand how autistic girls present, and how they learn, if they are to recognise the need to illuminate the hidden curriculum. The implications of these findings are that without this awareness autistic girls in mainstream settings are also at risk of limited access to the known curriculum and of social isolation.

Supporting schools in identifying and safeguarding the needs of disabled children: the challenges for data collection

Conceptualisations of disability that emphasise the contextual and cultural nature of disability and the embodiment of these within a national system of data collection present a number of challenges especially where this process is devolved to schools. The requirement for measures based on contextual and subjective experiences gives rise to particular difficulties in achieving parity in the way data is analysed and reported. This paper presents an account of the testing of a tool intended for use by schools as they collect data from parents to identify children who meet the criteria of disability established in Disability Discrimination Acts (DDAs). Data were validated through interviews with parents and teachers and observations of children and highlighted the pivotal role of the criterion of impact. The findings are set in the context of schools meeting their legal duties to identify disabled children and their support needs in a way that captures the complexity of disabled children’s school lives and provides useful and useable data.

The use and usefulness of a parent questionnaire to help schools identify disability

The Equality Act 2010 will be implemented in full in 2011, and schools in the UK will have to provide special aids or services for children with disabilities where this provision is considered reasonable. This paper reports on staff perspectives on the use and usefulness of a parental questionnaire on disability from a sample of 49 schools (mainstream and special) located in 12 local authorities. Most schools found the process of administering the parent questionnaire undemanding; just under half of the sample indicated that they would take some action as a result of the data collected from the parental questionnaire (e.g., to inform plans for targeting or monitoring support for children, and to contact parents and follow-up issues they had mentioned); and about one-third of schools recorded unanticipated findings from the parental questionnaire, that is, the identification of children whose disabilities were not previously known to the school. Implications for schools are discussed.

Testing of disability identification tool for schools

There has been an ongoing concern about the lack of reliable data on disabled children in schools. To date there has been no consistent way of identifying and categorising disabilities. Schools in England are currentlyrequired to collect data on children with Special Educational Need (SEN), but this does not capture information about all disabled children. The lack of this information may seriously restrict capacity at all levels of policy and practice to understand and respond to the needs of disabled children and their families in line with Disability Discrimination Act (2005) and the single Equality Act (2010). The aim of the project was to test the draft tools for identifying disability and accompanying guidance in a sample of all types of maintained schools in order to assess their usability and reliability and whether they resulted in the generation of robust and consistent data that could reliably inform school returns for the annual School Census.

Protocol for a feasibility study of a self help cognitive behavioural therapy resource for the reduction of dental anxiety in young people

Background Childhood dental anxiety is very common, with 10–20 % of children and young people reporting high levels of dental anxiety. It is distressing and has a negative impact on the quality of life of young people and their parents as well as being associated with poor oral health. Affected individuals may develop a lifelong reliance on general anaesthetic or sedation for necessary dental treatment thus requiring the support of specialist dental services. Children and young people with dental anxiety therefore require additional clinical time and can be costly to treat in the long term. The reduction of dental anxiety through the use of effective psychological techniques is, therefore, of high importance. However, there is a lack of high-quality research investigating the impact of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) approaches when applied to young people’s dental anxiety. Methods/design The first part of the study will develop a profile of dentally anxious young people using a prospective questionnaire sent to a consecutive sample of 100 young people referred to the Paediatric Dentistry Department, Charles Clifford Dental Hospital, in Sheffield. The second part will involve interviewing a purposive sample of 15–20 dental team members on their perceptions of a CBT self-help resource for dental anxiety, their opinions on whether they might use such a resource with patients, and their willingness to recruit participants to a future randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the resource. The third part of the study will investigate the most appropriate outcome measures to include in a trial, the acceptability of the resource, and retention and completion rates of treatment with a sample of 60 dentally anxious young people using the CBT resource. Discussion This study will provide information on the profile of dentally anxious young people who could potentially be helped by a guided self-help CBT resource. It will gain the perceptions of dental care team members of guided self-help CBT for dental anxiety in young people and their willingness to recruit participants to a trial. Acceptability of the resource to participants and retention and completion rates will also be investigated to inform a future RCT.

Use of checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization to evaluate the internal contamination of dental implants and comparison of bacterial leakage with cast or pre-machined abutments

To evaluate the checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization method for detection and quantitation of bacteria from the internal parts of dental implants and to compare bacterial leakage from implants connected either to cast or to pre-machined abutments. Nine plastic abutments cast in a Ni-Cr alloy and nine pre-machined Co-Cr alloy abutments with plastic sleeves cast in Ni-Cr were connected to Branemark-compatible implants. A group of nine implants was used as control. The implants were inoculated with 3 mu l of a solution containing 10(8) cells/ml of Streptococcus sobrinus. Bacterial samples were immediately collected from the control implants while assemblies were completely immersed in 5 ml of sterile Tripty Soy Broth (TSB) medium. After 14 days of anaerobic incubation, occurrence of leakage at the implant-abutment interface was evaluated by assessing contamination of the TSB medium. Internal contamination of the implants was evaluated with the checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization method. DNA-DNA hybridization was sensitive enough to detect and quantify the microorganism from the internal parts of the implants. No differences in leakage and in internal contamination were found between cast and pre-machined abutments. Bacterial scores in the control group were significantly higher than in the other groups (P < 0.05). Bacterial leakage through the implant-abutment interface does not significantly differ when cast or pre-machined abutments are used. The checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization technique is suitable for the evaluation of the internal contamination of dental implants although further studies are necessary to validate the use of computational methods for the improvement of the test accuracy. To cite this article:do Nascimento C, Barbosa RES, Issa JPM, Watanabe E, Ito IY, Albuquerque Junior RF. Use of checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization to evaluate the internal contamination of dental implants and comparison of bacterial leakage with cast or pre-machined abutments.Clin. Oral Impl. Res. 20, 2009; 571-577.doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0501.2008.01663.x.

Replacement of Hopeless Retained Primary Teeth by Immediate Dental Implants: A Case Report

Hopeless retained primary teeth without permanent successors represent a restorative challenge for clinicians, along with esthetic and functional problems for patients. While various treatment approaches for congenitally missing teeth have been proposed, the replacement of a missing tooth with a dental implant offers specific advantages, such as preservation of the alveolar crest and elimination of the need to restore the adjacent teeth, over other options for tooth replacement. The aim of this article was to illustrate the surgical and prosthetic treatment with implants of a patient with primary teeth without permanent successors. INT J ORAL MAXILLOFAC IMPLANTS 2009;24:151-154

In vitro cytotoxicity of dental alloys and cpTi obtained by casting

Background: This study aimed to compare the cytotoxicity of base-metal dental alloys and to evaluate if the casting method could influence their cytotoxicity. Methods: Disks of base-metal dental alloys were cast by two methods: plasma, under argon atmosphere, injected by vacuum-pressure; and oxygen-gas flame, injected by centrifugation, except Ti-6Al-4V and commercially pure titanium (cpTi), cast only by plasma. SCC9 cells were cultured in culture media D-MEM/Ham`s F12 supplemented, at 37 degrees C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide and 95% air, on the previously prepared disks. At subconfluence in wells without disks (control), cell number and viability were evaluated. Results: In plasma method, cpTi and Ti-6Al-4V were similar to control and presented higher number of cells than all other alloys, followed by Ni-Cr. In oxygen-gas name method, all alloys presented fewer cells than control. Ni-Cr presented more cells than any other alloy, followed by Co-Cr-Mo-W which presented more cells than Ni-Cr-Ti, Co-Cr-Mo, and Ni-Cr-Be. There were no significant differences between casting methods related to cell number. Cell viability was not affected by either chemical composition or casting methods. Conclusion: cpTi and Ti-6Al-4V were not cytotoxic while Ni-Cr-Be was the most cytotoxic among tested alloys. The casting method did not affect cytotoxicity of the alloys. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Equicrestal and Subcrestal Dental Implants: A Histologic and Histomorphometric Evaluation of Nine Retrieved Human Implants

Background: Stability of pen-implant crestal bone plays a relevant role relative to the presence or absence of interdental papilla. Several factors can contribute to the crestal bone resorption observed around two-piece implants, such as the presence of a microgap at the level of the implant abutment junction, the type of connection between implant and prosthetic components, the implant positioning relative to the alveolar crest, and the interimplant distance. Subcrestal positioning of dental implants has been proposed to decrease the risk of exposure of the metal of the top of the implant or of the abutment margin, and to get enough space in a vertical dimension to create a harmoniously esthetic emergence profile. Methods: The present retrospective histologic study was performed to evaluate dental implants retrieved from human jaws that had been inserted in an equicrestal or subcrestal position. A total of nine implants were evaluated: five of these had been inserted in an equicrestal position, whereas the other four had been positioned subcrestally (1 to 3 mm). Results: In all subcrestally placed implants, preexisting and newly formed bone was found over the implant shoulder. In the equicrestal implants, crestal bone resorption (0.5 to 1.5 mm) was present around all implants. Conclusion: The subcrestal position of the implants resulted in bone located above the implant shoulder. J Periodontol 2011;82:708-715.

Osteocyte Density in the Peri-Implant Bone of Immediately Loaded and Submerged Dental Implants

Background: The role of osteocytes in bone structure and function remains partially unresolved. Their participation in mechanotransduction, i.e., the conversion of a physical stimulus into a cellular response, has been hypothesized. The present study was an evaluation of the osteocyte density in the peri-implant bone of immediately loaded and submerged dental implants. Methods: Fourteen male patients were included in the study; all of them were partially edentulous and needed a posterior mandibular restoration. Implants were inserted in these areas; half of the sample was loaded immediately (included in a fixed provisional prosthesis on the same day as implant surgery), whereas the other half was left to heal submerged. Fourteen implants (seven immediately loaded and seven unloaded) were retrieved with a trephine after a healing period of 8 weeks. The specimens were treated to obtain thin ground sections, and histomorphometry was used to evaluate the osteocyte index in the peri-implant bone. Results: A higher and statistically significant number of osteocytes was found in the peri-implant bone around immediately loaded implants (P=0.0081). A correlation between the percentage of bone-implant contact and osteocyte density was found for immediately loaded implants (P=0.0480) but not for submerged implants (P=0.2667). Conclusion: The higher number of osteocytes in the peri-implant bone around immediately loaded implants could be related to the functional adaptation required by the loading stimulus, which also explains the hypothesized involvement of the osteocytes in the maintenance of the bone matrix. J Periodontol 2009;80:499-504.

Balancing the role of the dental school in teaching, research and patient care; including care for underserved areas

Inequalities within dentistry are common and are reflected in wide differences in the levels of oral health and the standard of care available both within and between countries and communities. Furthermore there are patients, particularly those with special treatment needs, who do not have the same access to dental services as the general public. The dental school should aim to recruit students from varied backgrounds into all areas covered by the oral healthcare team and to train students to treat the full spectrum of patients including those with special needs. It is essential, however, that the dental student achieves a high standard of clinical competence and this cannot be gained by treating only those patients with low expectations for care. Balancing these aspects of clinical education is difficult. Research is an important stimulus to better teaching and better clinical care. It is recognized that dental school staff should be active in research, teaching, clinical work and frequently administration. Maintaining a balance between the commitments to clinical care, teaching and research while also taking account of underserved areas in each of these categories is a difficult challenge but one that has to be met to a high degree in a successful, modern dental school.