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In this multiple case study, we apply sense-making theory to examine and compare how middle school special and general educators perceive and respond to teacher evaluation reform, including formal classroom observations, informal walk-throughs, and student growth measures. Our findings reveal that special educators experience conflict between the policy's main elements and their understandings of how to effectively teach students with disabilities. Furthermore, special and general educators held contrasting beliefs regarding the appropriateness of evaluation. Our findings illustrate the importance of acknowledging differences in special and general educators' roles and responsibilities and encourage policymakers to reconsider uniform teacher evaluation policies.

This article applies a postcolonial analytical framework to critically review empirical literature on study abroad for preservice teachers (PSTs). Our systematic search of scholarly databases identified 47 empirical studies of study abroad programs for PSTs in the 2000-2019 time period. Our analysis of these 47 studies is driven by the objectives to (a) understand geographic patterns in study abroad of PSTs, (b) examine the topics, conceptual frames, and implementation of study abroad of PSTs, (c) explore how study abroad for PSTs is currently being conceptualized and studied, and (d) critically analyze how these geographic patterns and study abroad programmatic and research trends are situated within broader North-South relations (Major & Santoro, 2016). Using geovisualizations we illustrate patterns in the countries of origin of PSTs and the countries in which they study abroad. We find that the majority of PSTs are from the United States and are traveling to countries in the North. When examining the content and programming of study abroad, we find many programs focus on cultivating professional skills for PSTs such as language fluency for foreign language teachers and intercultural competence. After establishing these patterns, we pay particular attention to the 23 studies in our sample that examine PSTs traveling to regions in the Global South. We conclude by offering considerations for future research and highlighting practices for program design that encourage PSTs to reflect upon global power differentials and complexities.

While limited research on inclusive education in sub-Saharan Africa and Tanzania focuses on the perspectives of preservice and practicing teachers, this case study features those of governmental and non-governmental national policy actors. To analyse these influential voices shaping inclusive education, key education sector policy actors working in the national government and non-governmental organisations were interviewed about their perspectives on inclusive education progress. Beyond documenting the presence of barriers to Tanzania's inclusive education policy process, this study generates nuances in relation to multifaceted contextual influences by applying a policy environment systems theoretical model. Improved understanding of policy actor perspectives and the nuanced role of context is invaluable to inform future policy directions.

This article examines the experiences of students with mobility disabilities accessing higher education institutions in the Accra metropolis of Ghana. To capture the accessibility issues that people with disabilities encounter in their daily lives as postsecondary students first hand, this study used PhotoVoice methodology, which uses a combination of photographs and corresponding narrations. Themes identified in the photographs and narrations highlight the emotional and academic impact of participant encounters with an inaccessible postsecondary environment. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Objective: Most youth in Sub-Saharan Africa are not enrolled in school. Although more youth are enrolling in school, they are increasingly less likely to complete their primary and secondary schooling. Similarly to many other African nations, Tanzania has an estimated out-of-school population of 49% of youth despite massive post-millennium investments which have significantly raised enrollment rates. Due to a high unemployment rate, rural youth commonly opt to pursue employment in cities or carry out agricultural work at home. However, their ability to procure formal employment is hindered by competition due to a high youth population density. This study sought to understand how youth with different levels of formal educational attainment (no schooling, primary schooling, secondary schooling) learn information in their community and formal schooling to improve their livelihoods and develop sustainable practices for generating income. Methods: Through semi-structured qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, the study examines differences between the groups in what they seek to understand and the different pathways they use to learn. Results: Although there were positive effects of schooling among the participants in this study in terms of boosting their self-confidence and self-esteem, youth dropouts with schooling experience overwhelmingly reported that they did not learn approaches and information in their schools that were beneficial for improving their livelihoods. Conclusions: Since the majority of Tanzanian students, and particularly those from rural areas, will be unable to study in higher education institutions, educational programs for youth in school and for school dropouts are more effective which center on methods for learning new information that are applicable to their intended occupation within their community and which also prepare them for participating in the workforce.

This paper is an inquiry into where the topic of disability falls within the vast field of comparative education research. It explores the extent to which disability is present in comparative education literature, and in what ways it is represented. A review of literature across the core comparative education peer-reviewed journals was conducted. Findings show that a limited number of studies in comparative education have examined students with disabilities, but numbers have increased in recent years. Additionally, two major themes emerged from the literature: (1) social interpretations of disability, and (2) global versus local. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for inclusive education and future research.

The Brucella species is the causative agent of brucellosis in humans and animals. So far, brucellosis has caused considerable economic losses and serious public health threats. Furthermore, Brucella is classified as a category B bioterrorism agent. Although the mortality of brucellosis is low, the pathogens are persistent in mammalian hosts and result in chronic infection. Brucella is a facultative intracellular bacterium; hence, it has to invade different professional and non-professional phagocytes through the host phagocytosis mechanism to establish its lifecycle. The phagocytosis of Brucella into the host cells undergoes several phases including Brucella detection, formation of Brucella-containing vacuoles, and Brucella survival via intracellular growth or being killed by host-specific bactericidal activities. Different host surface receptors contribute effectively to recognize Brucella including non-opsonic receptors (toll-like receptors and scavenger receptor A) or opsonic receptors (Fc receptors and complement system receptors). Brucella lacks classical virulence factors such as exotoxin, spores, cytolysins, exoenzymes, virulence plasmid, and capsules. However, once internalized, Brucella expresses various virulence factors to avoid phagolysosome fusion, bypass harsh environments, and establish a replicative niche. This review provides general and updated information regarding Brucella phagocytosis mediated by pathogen-host interactions and their intracellular survival in host cells.

Newcomers to Austria and Germany are obliged to learn German, as both of the nation states define themselves as monolingual -- although millions of citizens speak more than one language. The demand to learn the national language is promoted by the shaky promise that it is an entrance ticket to the labour market and also a sine qua non to be respected by German and Austrian citizens. The main research questions of this qualitative study on language courses for migrants and refugees in Germany and Austria are as follows. Which normative knowledge is conveyed to students? How is it conveyed? How do students resist, and sometimes even subvert the (hidden) endeavours of the courses? Through participatory observation, interviews with teachers and a discourse analysis of the state accredited teaching materials, I demonstrate how Eurocentric norms are reproduced and stabilized. The first results highlight the reproduction of mainstream norms and the production of three different interwoven subject types: a) the economic subject who responds appropriately to the needs of a national neoliberal labour market; b) the submissive subject who agrees to norms and rules without the power to fully politically participate; c) the othered subject who forms the pleasing 'constitutive outside' of the national body.

The effects of Cobalt (II) chloride (CoCl2) in the context of Brucella abortus (B. abortus) infection have not been evaluated so far. Firstly, we found that CoCl2 treatment inhibited the phagocytosis of B. abortus into RAW 264.7 cells. The inhibition of bacterial invasion was regulated by F-actin formation and associated with a reduction in the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and HIF-1α expression. Secondly, the activation of trafficking regulators LAMP1, LAMP2, and lysosomal enzyme GLA at the transcriptional level activated immune responses, weakening the B. abortus growth at 4 h post-infection (pi). The silencing of HIF-1α increased bacterial survival at 24 h pi. At the same time, CoCl2 treatment showed a significant increase in the transcripts of lysosomal enzyme HEXB and cytokine TNF-α and an attenuation of the bacterial survival. Moreover, the enhancement at the protein level of HIF-1α was induced in the CoCl2 treatment at both 4 and 24 h pi. Finally, our results demonstrated that CoCl2 administration induced the production of serum cytokines IFN-γ and IL-6, which is accompanied by dampened Brucella proliferation in the spleen and liver of treated mice, and reduced the splenomegaly and hepatomegaly. Altogether, CoCl2 treatment contributed to host resistance against B. abortus infection with immunomodulatory effects.

In this multiple case study, we apply sensemaking theory to examine and compare how middle school special and general educators perceive and respond to teacher evaluation reform, including formal classroom observations, informal walkthroughs, and student growth measures. Our findings reveal that special educators experience conflict between the policy’s main elements and their understandings of how to effectively teach students with disabilities. Furthermore, special and general educators held contrasting beliefs regarding the appropriateness of evaluation. Our findings illustrate the importance of acknowledging differences in special and general educators’ roles and responsibilities and encourage policymakers to reconsider uniform teacher evaluation policies.

Abstract In the present European context migrants and refugees are represented as a threat to security in the first place. Adult Education, especially when subsidised by the state, finds itself in a double-bind. On the one hand it has to offer a place for “Bildung” for all adults, where they can develop themselves according to their interests, capabilities and needs. Unequal chances are to be reduced and the humanistic ideal of development and expression of one’s personality shall be met. On the other hand—institutions of adult education are turned to adjuncts of the state apparatus by misusing them for monitoring and controlling the migrant participants. To maintain a critical, reflexive and resistant attitude in such a dilemma, time and space for a self-reflexive approach is needed. Time and space, which is too often insufficiently available in daily practice. On the basis of interviews with educational staff, responsible for the organisation of German Courses for migrants and refugees, the power lines running through present pedagogical practice are expounded. Following, vestiges of rooms, where resistance still is possible, are delineated. Rooms, where inherent goals of adult education, still can be achieved and questions concerning a change of given societal relations can be asked.

Hala, Brown, McKay, and San Juan (2013) found that children as young as 2.5 years of age demonstrated high levels of accuracy when asked to recall whether they or the experimenter had carried out a particular action. In the research reported here, we examined the relation of early-emerging source monitoring to executive function abilities. Participants were children aged 2.5- to 3-years-old. For the source-monitoring procedure, we used the Hala et al. (2013) task in which children and the experimenter took turns placing a total of 20 items on a model farm (encoding phase). For the source memory test, children were asked who had placed each item (retrieval phase). Executive function measures included assessments of working memory, delay-inhibitory control, and conflict-inhibitory control. The main finding was that inhibitory control measures were significantly related to performance on the source-monitoring task. This relation held for the conflict-inhibitory control measures even when controlling for age and vocabulary. The findings of this research suggest that even at the early age of 2.5 years, development of executive control is linked to the emergence of source-monitoring ability.

Access to primary and secondary education in Tanzania has drastically expanded in the past two decades. In response to this success, its ministry is now targeting improvements in educational quality through additional reform. Yet teacher absenteeism, physical abuse, overcrowding, lecture-based pedagogy and a system of accountability based primarily on state and district examinations centered on rote memorization impose great obstacles to students being prepared for future employment and further education. This study draws insights into how traditional teaching and learning methods in one rural village in Tanzania can be changed through examining a collaboratively created intensive after-school program that focused on three content areas and used a participatory action research approach centered on cooperative inquiry. The key elements of the participatory action research approach drawn upon were using a participatory model to create a community of co-learners, designing the curriculum collectively, students collecting data in their communities about identified problems, requiring all participants to contribute, student groups disseminating their findings through presentations and an ongoing support system for teacher development in applying a student-centered pedagogy. Students responded through increased school attendance, confidence, self-esteem and active engagement while teachers incorporated participatory methods of instruction in their classrooms. The factors accounting for the consensus of support by villagers and school and government leaders for the program include community and government buy-in, the creation of a community of learners, consistent follow-up support for teachers and reinforcement of expectations.

The cellular oncogene c-Fos (c-Fos) is a component of activator protein 1 (AP1), a master transcriptional regulator of cells. The suppression of c-Fos signaling by siRNA treatment resulted in significant induction of TLR4, which subsequently activates p38 and ERK1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and enhances F-actin polymerization, leading to an increase in B. abortus phagocytosis. During B. abortus infection, c-Fos signaling is induced, which activates the downstream innate-immunity signaling cascade for bacterial clearance. The inhibition of c-Fos signaling led to increased production of interleukin 10 (IL-10), which partially suppressed lysosome-mediated killing, resulting in increased survival of B. abortus inside macrophages. We present evidence of the regulatory role played by the c-Fos pathway in proliferation during B. abortus infection; however, this was independent of the anti-Brucella effect of this pathway. Another finding is the essential contribution of c-Fos/TRAIL to infected-cell necrosis, which is a key event in bacterial dissemination. These data provide the mechanism via which c-Fos participates in host defense mechanisms against Brucella infection and in bacterial dissemination by macrophages.

This research examines the early emergence of source-monitoring abilities. Previous research has consistently demonstrated that children as young as 3 to 4 years of age do well on simple versions of action-based source-monitoring tasks. Research on even younger children, however, remains lacking. In this study we examined whether 2 1/2-year-olds could accurately recall source on a simplified task. For the procedure, we used an action-based task in which children collaborate with an experimenter to build a model farm. During construction, the child and the experimenter took turns placing items on the farm. After construction, children were administered a source memory test in which they were asked to recall who had placed each item. To more closely examine factors that influence source accuracy in this young population, we included two conditions that varied in terms of contextual support. In the no-context-cues condition, in line with typical source-monitoring tasks, children were asked the source test question while items were presented individually and the farm was not in view. In the context-cues condition, the original spatial array of farm items was left intact to provide additional cues for children's source decisions. The main finding was that children in both conditions showed high levels of source accuracy at test indicating a surprisingly early age of emergence for this ability. Also, as predicted, children in the context-cues condition were the most accurate in attributing source. (Contains 1 table.)

In this study, we explore the regulatory roles of pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) in the innate immunity of macrophages against B. abortus infection. We show that infection of macrophage with B. abortus induces marked expression and secretion of TNF which subsequently binds to TNF receptor 1 (TNFR-1) and activates a downstream signaling cascade of the innate immunity. Blocking of TNF signaling resulted in a notable increase of B. abortus survival which was associated with an increase of anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10), a beneficial effector of Brucella survival, as well as remarkable decrease of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), antibrucella molecules. However, surprisingly, the interference of TNF did not show any influence on phagolysosome and cell death events. Furthermore, the transcriptional factor NF-kB was found to be a main mediator of TNF signaling when blocking of NF-kB pathway drastically suppressed the TNF-induced brucellacidal effect. Taken together, these findings clearly indicate that the immune cascade activated by TNF/TNFR-1 is required for the sufficient resistance to B. abortus survival in macrophages.

This paper is an inquiry into where the topic of disability falls within the vast field of comparative education research. It explores the extent to which disability is present in comparative education literature, and in what ways it is represented. A review of literature across the core comparative education peer-reviewed journals was conducted. Findings show that a limited number of studies in comparative education have examined students with disabilities, though numbers have increased in recent years. Additionally, two major themes emerged from the literature: (1) social interpretations of disability, and (2) global versus local. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for inclusive education and future research.

To assess whether the policy window opened by White Paper Six (WP6) has closed, this article traces the historical path of the policy and reviews pertinent policy documents and research to date on inclusive education in South Africa. Two research questions are explored: 1. What is the present state of inclusive education for students with disabilities in South Africa? 2. What factors facilitate or inhibit the understanding and implementation of WP6? Results reveal a negative state of inclusion in present day South Africa based on teacher, student, and parent attitudes towards the policy and disability. Furthermore, many barriers and few facilitators of inclusion were found. The analysis concludes by making policy recommendations and posing alternatives.

Purpose: This article illustrates the power of collaboration in the spirit of Ujamaa to build curricular materials that can engage and support the learning of a diverse group of students in under-resourced environments. The authors reflect on their personal experience overseeing collaborative service learning projects with Tanzanian partners through a study abroad programme. Method: The service learning project took place in a rural primary school in northern Tanzania, characterised by large class sizes and the unavailability of teaching and learning materials. Tactile curricular materials were collaboratively developed by Tanzanian student teachers, practising teachers, and American undergraduate students. Locally available and recyclable materials were used, such as plastic water bottles, tubing, plastic bags and cardboard boxes. Results: Examples of curricular materials that were developed are presented, and lessons learned through the experience are shared. Conclusion: The use of locally available, recyclable materials enhanced sustainability. Having sustainable curricular materials that are accessible to a diverse range of students in under-resourced educational settings has the potential to foster learning for all. The underlying cultural concept of interconnectedness or Ujamaa strengthened the collaborative relationship between participating teachers and students, and can be drawn upon to enhance future service learning and international development efforts in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brucellosis is an emerging infectious disease affecting humans and animals. In this study, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo effects of tannic acid (TA) against Brucella abortus infection. After infection, F-actin polymerization and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) (ERK 1/2 and p38α) phosphorylation were reduced in TA-treated cells compared with that in control cells. The mice were infected via an intraperitoneal route and were orally given TA or phosphate-buffered saline for 14 days. Spleen weights of the TA-treated and control mice were not different; however, splenic proliferation of B. abortus was significantly reduced in the TA-treated group. Immune response analysis showed that, compared with the control group, non-infected TA-treated mice displayed increased levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and interleukin-10 at 3 days post-infection and a further increase in IFN-γ and MCP-1 at 14 days post-infection. In contrast, compared with the control group, infected TA-treated mice displayed elevated levels of IFN-γ at 3 days post-infection, which continued to increase at 14 days post-infection, as was also observed for tumor necrosis factor. Taken together, the results showing TA activation of cytokine production and inhibition of bacterial proliferation in the host highlight a potential use of TA treatment in the control of Brucella infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the presence of Escherichia (E.) coli in the intestines of Philippine bats. The presence of bacteria in the bats collected from Laguna and Quezon City in the Philippines was detected through the application of conventional isolation and polymerase chain reaction. The study reveals that E. coli was present in all bat species collected except in Pipistrellus javanicus.