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Evidence-informed practices play vital roles in teaching and learning in inclusive schools; however, limited research has been conducted to explore inclusive early childhood teachers' perspectives on research-informed teaching. This study, which was informed by the Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory (CAT), used structured and online focus groups to explore the views of 26 inclusive early childhood teachers in Thailand regarding their understanding and value for evidence-informed practice, how they source, analyse and use evidence to inform their professional practice and the factors supporting or inhibiting evidence-informed practices in their schools. A combination of framework and descriptive data analysis identified findings suggesting teachers value evidence-informed teaching. Still, they need to gain more skills in identifying, analysing and using evidence from relevant academic journals in their professional context. In addition, teachers' endeavours to access and use scholarly resources were also inhibited by a lack of professional skills, time, and support from school leadership. The findings validate Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory suggesting the need for research skills training and including teachers as co-constructors of research knowledge. These processes can lead schools to better integrate research into practice in early childhood educational settings.

International research findings offer inclusive education teachers various pedagogical tools to support student diversity in inclusive classrooms to counter educational disadvantages. However, according to previous research, embedding research evidence in pedagogical practice at the classroom level is rare in schools. Our study explored Ghanaian teachers' perspectives in 10 purposively selected inclusive Basic Schools in Ghana. The study focused on teachers' frequency of use of Research-Based Information (RBI), the type of use of RBI, opinions about RBI, awareness of useful activities that facilitate the use of RBI, individual expertise, or skills necessary for RBI use in everyday practice, organizational factors that influence the use of RBI. The study identified non-use and minimal to moderate use of RBI in professional practice. Sources of RBI were mostly from non-scholarly journals because the schools did not subscribe to peer-reviewed journals, and teachers were not willing to use their financial resources to access close-ended journal articles. An independent t-test was not significant between female and male participants. However, a Pearson product-moment correlation to assess the relationship between the various factors about RBI use found positive associations between organizational factors and expertise and between awareness factors and expertise to use RBI. Education must promote increased adoption of RBI in professional practice to enhance educational quality for all students. This can be accomplished by building ongoing solid school-university partnerships to develop context-specific frameworks that support inclusive teachers to conduct and use more research in their practice.

Findings from child development research support inclusive practice in early childhood education to enable full participation of all children in learning activities and build their core capabilities for life. However, the implementation of inclusive practices in early childhood is often constrained by boundary-crossing barriers. This paper reports a quantitative study that investigated and analysed the inclusive practice experiences of 344 pre-school teachers across the six regions of Thailand. The study identified positive experiences of inclusive practices linked to effective collaboration with minimal barriers related to time, increased workload and lack of resources to help teachers cater to the needs of all children. The findings offer direction for developing teachers as leaders to work effectively across professional boundaries so that Thailand can achieve the goals of inclusive education for all children.

Differentiated instruction (DI) is an inclusive teaching approach that recognises and values student differences. Teachers teaching in inclusive schools practise DI to accommodate students with special educational needs and disabilities. However, no research has yet been conducted to explore teachers' perceptions of DI in Bhutan. The purpose of this quantitative study is to explore teachers' perceptions of DI and the differences in their perceptions based on demographic variables. Data were collected via an online survey from 185 teachers in 19 inclusive schools and were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that the majority of teachers had favourable perceptions of DI. No significant perceptual differences were found on qualifications and teaching experiences. However, special education teachers' perceptions of DI were significantly higher than general education teachers (M = 4.14, SD = 0.37), (M = 3.89, SD = 0.41), respectively, t(183) = 4.194, p = 0.000, and trained teachers' perceptions of DI were also found to be significantly higher than untrained teachers (M = 4.09, SD = 0.39), (M = 3.81, SD = 0.40), respectively, t(183) = 4.090, p = 0.000. The implications of the research findings are discussed with recommendations for further research in this area.

Despite extensive changes in early childhood inclusive education policy and practice, various barriers continue to inhibit access and participation of children with special needs in inclusive schools. Often mentioned barriers include negative beliefs, lack of understanding of inclusive pedagogy and the effectiveness of professional development to improve teacher knowledge to reduce these barriers. This study reports on a Thai Bureau of Special Education professional development partnership program with an Australian inclusive school in which 16 early childhood teachers from Thailand participated. This community of practice inquiry project generated qualitative data from pre- and post-professional workshops semi-structured interviews and analysis of teachers' professional learning journals during the inquiry phases of the project. Thematic analysis of the data showed that the international professional learning immersion program exerted an influential impact on the teachers who participated suggesting; teachers developed better understandings of children with special education needs by creating a mindset for change.

Despite the presence of inclusive education policies in many countries, its implementation continues to raise concerns for many teachers. In this study, we utilised a 22-item questionnaire to assess 344 early childhood teachers' concerns about inclusive education in the six regions in Thailand. The findings showed that limited support from school administrators, time to design educational programmes for students with disabilities and inadequate capacity in respect of therapists were perceived as hampering teachers' ability to meet the needs of all children. One-way ANOVA indicated the impact of teachers' geographical location, work experience and professional roles on some of the items they highlighted for concern about inclusive education. The application of a t-test also showed teachers' concerns about some items differed between those working in private schools and those working in government schools. Results suggest that the teachers' concerns have led to workplace stress. We conclude from the data that policies introduced to promote inclusive practices in early childhood settings in Thailand should factor in support for teachers to increase their competency and the effectiveness of inclusive practice.

Inclusive practice in early childhood education has a critical impact on the overall development and future prospects of all children. However, early childhood teachers' understanding and delivery of inclusive teaching have been a persistent problem. In this qualitative study, we collected data through interviews and handwritten notes from seven early childhood teachers teaching Kindergarten 3 in three different public kindergartens in one province of Thailand to explore and describe their inclusive teaching experiences. A thematic analysis of the data identified three themes: grappling with the meaning and implementation of inclusion, searching for critical support and a great desire for a transformative practice. Moreover, difficulty understanding and implementing inclusive teaching, and lack of support from school administrators led to some children being marginalised by the teachers' pedagogical practices. Recommendations are provided for how preschool teachers' capabilities for inclusive teaching can be developed to work effectively within the new Thai inclusive policy context.

Educating children with disabilities alongside their peers in mainstream preschools has increased intensely over the past few years, affecting all aspects of early childhood education. Many children who previously would have been educated in segregated special centres are now being included in inclusive preschools. This research paper discusses how Thai preschool teachers' professional knowledge in inclusive education influence the ways they practice within preschool classrooms. Qualitative data obtained through observations and collaborative inquiry with teachers drawn from four preschool in Bangkok, Thailand showed that the lack of adequate teacher preparation for inclusive practice rendered the teachers helpless and unable to deliver curriculum that caters for the learning needs of children with disabilities. This paper contributes to the growing body of research to inform the usefulness of collaborative inquiry in helping teachers explore educational issues in systematic ways and determine solutions through reflection and dialogic inquiry.

Infants in an orphanage who live in an underprivileged environment show delayed gross motor development; however longitudinal investigations of gross motor development in orphaned infants are limited. This study aimed to assess the variability of gross motor development of orphaned infants using a longitudinal observation. The gross motor development of 11 infants aged 1.5 months was assessed monthly until 11.5 months of age using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale. Infants showed instability of gross motor development. The total mean range of gross motor percentile was 55.4 (SD, 18.6; 95% confidence interval = 42.9-68.0). Thirty-six per cent of infants had little fluctuation of gross motor percentile that was below the 50th percentile across 11 assessments. Infants in orphanages display less instability of gross motor percentile. Orphaned infants, especially those with biological risk factors, should have their gross motor development monitored longitudinally during the first year of life.

Drawing on the social theory concepts of Bourdieu (Field, Capital and Habitus) we explored and gained insights into the perspectives of sub-Saharan African refugee families and preschool educators regarding inclusive education of young children in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The study is informed by two curriculum frameworks: The Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework [(VEYLDF) (0-8 years)]. These documents support a whole school approach to early childhood inclusive education and professional relationship with families to achieve common outcomes for all children in Australia. The findings point to marginalized identities which are induced by capital, field and habitus differentials, and have resulted in putting astray the achievement of successful early childhood inclusive education for the children of these families. We concluded with a call for teacher educators to engage preservice educators in what Freire called an "epistemological curiosity" to help them reconstruct their profession to facilitate the empowerment and development of all children and their families.

This article discusses critical issues related to the development and practice of inclusive education of young children, from the perspective of Bourdieu's conceptual lenses of habitus, capital and field. The target question is: How can Bourdieu's lenses of critical social theory be applied to the development and implementation of early childhood inclusive education? Under this question, I situate early childhood inclusive education in four components (active learning environment, involvement, relationships and wellbeing), and critically analyse these in terms of Bourdieu's three conceptual lenses. I argue that effective inclusive education of young children must not conform to modernist epistemology, which locates knowledge exclusively in teachers and that, Bourdieuian conceptual tools offer refreshing epistemological and reflective radars for re-imagining and enacting pedagogical practices that contribute to all children's holistic development.

This research utilised a "stimulated recall" methodology [Calderhead, J. 1981. "Stimulated Recall: A Method for Research on Teaching." "British Journal of Educational Psychology" 51: 211-217] to explore the potential of African folklore, specifically Ghanaian folk stories in the development of children's reflective thinking about social life. The research was based on Ghanaian folklore for children, which is popularly known as "By the Fireside Stories", encapsulated traditionally as "Anansesem" or "Spider stories" among the Akan of Ghana. Data were collected through storytelling to a group of children and inviting them to recall their concurrent thinking during and after the storytelling. The children's cognitive recall processes were stimulated by questions and story character dramatisation recorded on a digital video recorder and played back to the children. Findings showed major contributions to children's learning and development related to imagination, concept formation and thinking, and beyond the self in social relationship. This paper draws attention to how traditional oral storytelling can be an important part of early childhood education to develop children's reflective thinking about social life.

An ever-increasing number of children with and without disabilities are attending early childhood programmes and learning together. Early childhood inclusion considers all children with and without disabilities, and their families as full members of the early childhood community. Although many early childhood teachers accept the educational rights of children with disabilities and the core principle of inclusion--that early childhood learning programmes should provide for the needs of all the children in their centres, regardless of ability and disability, there remain significant barriers in terms of teacher professional knowledge in achieving these goals. In this article, we report a study on Thai preschool teachers' knowledge of inclusive early childhood education. Quantitative data obtained through a questionnaire were supplemented by teacher interviews. Both the quantitative and qualitative data focused on the teachers' assessment of their professional knowledge. Findings from this study can inform effective professional development programmes in preparing early childhood teachers for successful inclusive practices.

This study focuses on the role of interpersonal interaction in early literacy development in one public preschool school in Bangkok, Thailand. Specifically, it explores and analyses the nature of interpersonal interaction and collaborative activities the teachers employ in teaching literacy to children. The study involves observation of 82 children in literacy activities and interviews with three teachers. Framed and analysed in Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory, the results show interpersonal activities to be related to collaborative writing, collaborative storyreading, collaborative dialogic inquiry, collaborative meaning-making and child-child partnerships. The paper concludes that raising professional knowledge of the significance of interpersonal interaction, and focused professional development which builds and maintains teacher awareness of their teaching of literacy, would enhance children's literacy development in Thailand.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to make the case for organizing teaching and learning in early childhood around the concept of inclusion rather than transmission of pedagogy through fear and domination. The study explored final-year early childhood pre-service teachers' curriculum planning and evaluation processes, professional education experiences and pedagogical practices, including teacher-child relationships in three kindergartens in Cape Coast, Ghana. A blend of critical postcolonial discursive and framework analysis of data produced three themes: "curriculum visibility and invisibility", "children as colonized bodies" and "pre-service teachers as voiceless identities". The article concludes that by clarifying and establishing a realistic postcolonial identity for teacher education, positive concepts of teaching and a new image of teachers and outcomes can emerge.

Many students perform extraction experiments without connecting relevant molecular features to corresponding macroscopic features. Two versions of an Organic Extraction Simulation, one with text "captions" and the other with "narration" accompanying the animation, were developed based on a cognitive view of multimedia learning. This instructional module was intended to help students to visualize extraction concepts at the molecular level, and to connect these concepts with corresponding macroscopic procedure. "Organic Chemistry I" students (N = 106) were randomly assigned to use one of two versions of the simulation (with text or narration). They completed a spatial ability test, and a pre-test and a post-test on organic extraction concepts. Post-test scores for both versions were significantly higher than pre-test scores. MANCOVA with a pre-test score covariate indicated that simulation version had a significant effect on lower-order cognitive questions (p = 0.036), while spatial ability was significantly correlated with higher-order cognitive questions (p = 0.004). Students in the narration group had significantly more positive attitudes towards the effectiveness of the simulation than did those in the text group. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)

There is a trend toward abandoning traditional parametric approaches to data analysis, with all their restrictive assumptions, in favor of computer-intensive nonparametric inferential statistical procedures, such as the jackknife and the bootstrap that are based on resampling of the sample data. These techniques are compared with the parametric approach, emphasizing inferences regarding correlation coefficients. (Author/SV)

The craft beer movement and craft beer tourism are a new global phenomenon that has reached various parts of the world. However, the literature on craft beer tourism mostly focuses on traditional origins of craft beer in Western countries—the US, Australia, and European countries. This research note illustrates how a study of the Thai craft beer movement and craft beer tourism could contribute to the existing body of knowledge. The consumption of non-Western people in non-Western places has been underrepresented in the literature of food and beverage tourism. The craft beer movement has spread to Thailand via urban middle-class Thais who brought the passion for and knowledge of home brewing from the West to Thailand. Brewing lessons, brewery visits, and craft beer events/ festivals have functioned as community building activities for Thai craft beer enthusiasts as well as the main craft beer distribution channel. Craft beer consumption continues to grow despite the Thai alcoholic production law that prohibits home brewing. For future studies, different craft beer tourism activities in Thailand should be analyzed for 1) the adoption of the experience economy framework, 2) the formation of the consumption community, 3) the roles of various stakeholders who differentially contribute to and benefit from craft beer tourism activities, and 4) the role of foreign tourists in the development of craft beer tourism in Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to investigate the gendered economy of ethnic minority souvenir vending in Thailand’s urban and coastal tourist areas. Increasing numbers of the Akha minority group have migrated towards tourist hotspots to engage in urban souvenir vending. Ethnographic research shows that according to the Akha gender division of labour, souvenir production and distribution are considered women’s work. Peddling on foot, female Akha souvenir vendors are at the bottom of the informal tourism economy. It is shown that urban ethnic tourism primarily reproduces gender asymmetry in the division of work and that contestations of gender roles prove to be difficult. Mobile street vending enables ethnic minority women to become breadwinners of households but simultaneously reinforces gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on the effect of PCL on crystalline morphology, isothermally crystallization of PLA in PLA/PCL blends using POM on investigation. The blend with Pluronic used as a plasticizer was also studied. The blends were prepared by melt blending in an internal mixer. The contents of PCL incorporated were varied from 0-30% by weight. The content of Pluronic used in this study was at 2.5, 5 and 7.5 phr. The blends were characterized for their morphology, crystallization and mechanical properties. Melt strength of the blends was also investigated. The morphology of the blends confirmed immiscibility of two polymer phases. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) of PLA/PCL blends indicated larger particle size of PCL dispersed in PLA with the increase of PCL contents. T g of PLA in the blend could not be observed on Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) traces. This was due to the overlapping with T m of PCL. The presence of Pluronic in PLA/PCL blends resulted in T m s shifting to slightly lower temperatures. The crystallinity of PLA was also decreased. The spherulitic growth of PLA in blends was followed by polarized optical microscope using isothermal condition at 141 °C. The spherulite structure was found affected by the presence of Pluronic hence effect on crystallization of PLA. Tensile properties of PLA/PCL blend were suffered with PCL content except for elongation at break which seems to be enhanced. It was found that the presence of pluronic in PLA/PCL blend increased ductility of the blends. At Plurunic of 2.5 phr and PCL content of 10-20% by weight, tensile strength of these blends was increased. This was explained by the fine dispersed PCL particles facilitated orientation of PLA chain after proportional limit and hence increased tensile strength. With higher content both PCL and Pluronic, large PCL particle size was disadvantaged for tensile properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past three decades have witnessed an upsurge in inclusive education research and practice informed by a variety of epistemologies. This chapter is set against the backdrop of contemporary theorising of inclusive education research and practice. The key focus is to discuss the habitus, capital, doxa and field concepts of Pierre Bourdieu and their place in previous, present and future inclusive education scholarship. In the light of this undertaking, the chapter makes contribution to knowledge in terms of making theory visible through practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of tamarind seed coat extract (TSCE) on normal human skin fibroblast CCD-1064Sk cells under normal and oxidative stress conditions induced by hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). Methods Tamarind seed coats were extracted with boiling water and then partitioned with ethyl acetate before the cell analysis. Effect of TSCE on intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione (GSH) level, antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase activity including antioxidant protein expression was investigated. Results TSCE significantly attenuated intracellular ROS in the absence and presence of H 2 O 2 by increasing GSH level. In the absence of H 2 O 2 , TSCE significantly enhanced SOD and catalase activity but did not affected on GPx. Meanwhile, TSCE significantly increased the protein expression of SOD and GPx in H 2 O 2 -treated cells. Conclusions TSCE exhibited antioxidant activities by scavenging ROS, attenuating GSH level that could protect human skin fibroblast cells from oxidative stress. Our results highlight the antioxidant mechanism of tamarind seed coat through an antioxidant enzyme system, the extract potentially benefits for health food and cosmeceutical application of tamarind seed coat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptosporidium parvum is the most frequent parasitic agent that causes diarrhoea in AIDS patients in Thailand. Cryptosporidiosis outbreaks in humans may be attributed to contamination of their drinking water from infected dairy pastures. A 23-kDa glycoprotein of C. parvum (CpP23) is a sporozoite surface protein that is geographically conserved among C. parvum isolates. This glycoprotein is a potentially useful candidate antigen for the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Therefore, we investigated the seroprevalence of C. parvum infection in dairy cows in northern Thailand using an ELISA based on recombinant CpP23 antigen. Sera were randomly collected from 642 dairy cows of 42 small-holder farmers, which had the top three highest number of the dairy cows' population in Northern Thailand, that included Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Lumpang provinces. The overall seroprevalence of the infection was 4.4 %, and the seropositive rates for the three provinces were 3.3 % in Chiang Mai, 5.1 % in Chiang Rai and 3 % in Lumpang. These results suggest that cattle could play a role in zoonotic cryptosporidiosis in Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]