Search

The Maternal and Child Health workforce, public health practitioners, researchers, and other groups need clear, practical guidance on how to promote health equity in the communities they serve. The National Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development Center's Health Equity Team synthesized eight approaches for promoting health equity that drew on their experience working with public health practitioners and communities. The approaches are to: Expand the understanding of the drivers of health and work across sectors; Take a systems approach; Reflect on your own organization; Follow the lead of communities who experience injustices; Work with community members, decision-makers, and other stakeholders to prioritize action; Foster agency within individuals and collective action within groups; Identify and collect data to show where health inequities currently exist to inform equitable investment of resources; and Be accountable to outcomes that reflect real improvements in people's lives. The fields of maternal and child health and public health more broadly is already engaged in the complex work of promoting equity and social justice, and in doing so, should refine, challenge, add to, and build upon these approaches., Author(s): Larissa Calancie [sup.1] , Ann Batdorf-Barnes [sup.2] , Sarah Verbiest [sup.3] , Nevillene White [sup.4] , Kristen Hassmiller Lich [sup.5] , Giselle Corbie [sup.6] , Amy Mullenix [sup.7] , [...]

The "MustLearnIT" European-funded research project with partners in Greece, Poland, Cyprus, Finland and the UK aimed to investigate ways of teaching and learning modern foreign languages (MFL) to early learners in small/remote primary schools where there were no specialist MFL teachers. This was to be carried out through new technologies such as videoconferencing. In the UK, distance was less of a problem, whereas lack of linguistic expertise (subject knowledge and pedagogy) for primary school teachers was likely to prove more challenging, given the government's plan for all pupils in England to study a foreign language throughout Key Stage 2 (ages seven to 11) from 2010. This article firstly examines a number of background issues in teaching MFL in primary schools in England and reviews two UK-based projects from the emerging literature on videoconferencing. It then reports on the "MustLearnIT" project conducted in the UK, which investigated the use of secondary teachers to teach French to primary school children through videoconferencing, and explores the perceived benefits in terms of pupil learning and staff development. The "MustLearnIT" project findings suggested that this approach, making expert subject and pedagogical knowledge available through current technologies, can be effective. The article ends by considering implications for the future. (Contains 3 notes.)

The objectives of this article are, first, to describe a collaborative project between teacher educators and a foreign languages (FL) department in a specialist language college and, second, to evaluate its success. The project focuses on Year 9 pupils across the ability range (in four groups) and involves staff in both institutions working together to plan and produce stimulating homework tasks in French, integrated into the spring term scheme of work. Pupils' work and progress were evaluated and their views sought as well as those of participating staff. A classroom-based action research approach was adopted for the project. The article concludes with outcomes, which include recommendations and ideas to increase the effectiveness of FL homework.

Europe's commitment to language learning has resulted in higher percentages of pupils studying foreign languages during primary education. In England, recent policy decisions to expand foreign language learning at primary level by 2010 create major implications for transition to secondary. This paper presents findings on transition issues from case studies of a DfES-funded project evaluating 19 local authority Pathfinders piloting the introduction of foreign language learning at primary level. Research on transition in other countries sets these findings in context. Finally, it investigates the challenges England faces for transition in the light of this expansion and discusses future implications.

This article explores student teachers' perceptions and experiences over the course of the training year. It discusses five important themes to emerge from responses at intervals during the year; themes which, although in some respects contradictory, combine to create a picture of the conflicting feelings experienced by student teachers. This tracking of student teachers' perceptions represents a synthesis of experiences to illustrate feelings and responses, demonstrated by student teachers at various points, in order to give a flavour of their experience. Over 140 students of modern foreign languages (MFL) from two separate higher education institutions in England participated in this longitudinal cohort study, which combined both quantitative and qualitative techniques (the qualitative data serve as the basis for this paper). Although the students were all specialising in modern foreign languages, this paper does not focus primarily on subject specific issues. Whilst some aspects, such as the pressures of course and teaching workloads, are to be predicted in such a study, other issues are more surprising, such as future-wishing and fantasising, which contrast sharply with the student teachers strong desire to be "real" teachers. It is, however, this desire to be "real" which appears to fuel the future-wishing and fantasies. (Contains 2 tables.)

The ever increasing explosion of highly attractive multimedia resources on offer has boosted the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the teaching and learning of modern languages. The use of ICT to assess languages is less frequent, however, although online testing is starting to develop. This paper examines the national context for the assessment of modern foreign language proficiency in England, outlines the kinds of assessment currently available and the development of electronic forms of assessment and compares the above with the survey results of a European Union (EU) funded project on current good practice in online assessment of languages in other European countries. The findings indicate that speaking is inadequately served by online testing as tests currently focus primarily on receptive language skills. The implications for future successful online testing include the incorporation of interactive skills and effective formative feedback. (Contains 14 tables.)

How beginning teachers learn to teach has been the focus of a substantial amount of research. The process is complex, and a number of theories and models have been put forward. For example, Fuller and Bown's (1975) well-known classification of beginning teachers' concerns into self, task and impact (and the sequential nature of these categories) has been tested, modified and developed by a number of researchers (Calderhead, 1987; Guillaume and Rudney, 1993; Capel, 2001; Burn et al 2003). Because of the subsequent research, it is now generally felt that the concerns identified by Fuller and Bown are actually not sequential, but that their significance varies as beginning teachers develop and that there is evidence of impact concerns (initially identified as the final stage in the sequence) even at early stages of the process. Investigations by researchers into teachers' concerns link closely with those on stages or phases in learning-to-teach. This paper considers the nature of these concerns and the possibility of identifiable stages for beginning modern foreign language (MFL) teachers, a group not frequently studied. Data were collected over a total of eight cohorts and the study involved over 200 student teachers from two separate institutions. Results concur with those of more recent research: there is no evidence in this study for discrete or sequential stages of development or concern, and beginning MFL teachers place a great deal of emphasis on subject knowledge (i.e. their linguistic competence and confidence) from the start. (Contains 4 figures, 1 table, and 1 note.)

As readers of this journal will know, 2010 will see all KS2 (ages 7-11) pupils in England entitled to learn a modern foreign language in normal curriculum time. This development of the commitment to primary language learning should provide an excellent opportunity and experience for pupils, while at the same time requiring some radical changes for many teachers, schools, and much of the wider language learning community. Recent research shows general trends suggesting an increase in primary languages already, in anticipation of this development. Teachers involved in primary foreign languages need support in order to provide an opportunity and experience for pupils. One possible source of support for teachers is through published material. This article focuses on the "Young Pathfinder" series published by CILT, the National Centre for Languages, which provides a valuable source of help, support, and advice for the specialist and non-specialist alike in the primary languages arena. The authors discuss seven key themes that are relevant in reviewing the series as a whole. These are: (1) planning and managing primary foreign language learning; (2) engaging young learners in foreign language learning; (3) foreign language methodology and pedagogy; (4) linguistic competence and confidence for non-specialist teachers of young learners; (5) foreign languages and the wider primary curriculum; (6) progression and transition to KS3; and (7) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary foreign language learning. (Contains 1 note.)

The beginning of the 21st century in England has seen a rapid growth in interest in foreign languages for primary age learners. This article presents an alternative approach to primary school languages based on a Nuffield-funded pilot in Coventry LEA. A brief overview of recent developments in primary MFL is provided, followed by an account of the approach. The pilot project draws upon language awareness and develops it towards a multilingual approach to foreign languages for primary learners. The approach fosters links with the literacy hour and citizenship, and has the aim of raising pupils' awareness of the diversity of languages and the challenges and rewards of language learning. The article includes some practical examples of activities for primary age children and is interspersed with comments from MFL PGCE trainees who were involved in one aspect of the project (a language encounter) as well as primary teachers' views.

Near the turn of the 20th century, the body of scientific knowledge surrounding diabetes was formidable enough to enable a major discovery. It is important to place yourself in that [...]