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This paper examines the self-reported culturally responsive practices of curriculum leaders (n = 53) and teachers (n = 105) from six state funded secondary schools in New Zealand. Participants were surveyed to examine the relationship between middle leader self-reporting of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) for improving Maori student engagement and teacher perceptions of those practices. School contextual factors and student academic achievement were also compared with the response ratings to understand any association between culturally responsive middle leadership and student academic outcomes. The study found that middle leaders with more experience generally reported greater confidence in their leadership of CRP. Furthermore, there was some indication that teacher perceptions of middle leader's use of CRP practices may be higher in schools with more experienced middle leaders. However, despite the crucial role middle leaders have in supporting the use of CRP in their departments, no relation was found between the confidence of middle leaders regarding CRP and student academic achievement (155).

This paper provides a review of recent empirical research investigating middle leadership practices in New Zealand secondary schools. Eight academic articles and one report are included to establish an analysis of the recent evidence of practices of curriculum middle leaders. The majority of the research utilises mixed methodology and aligns middle leadership practices within a paradigm of instructional leadership practice. Researchers found that effective middle leadership practices are associated with higher academic achievement and more equitable student outcomes. Effective middle leadership includes practices such as capability in instructional leadership, the ability to undertake problem-solving conversations with teachers and goal setting skills. Research reveals middle leaders found managing problems and conflicts challenging especially when they were concerned with teacher performance. They were required to coach and mentor staff with minimal leadership preparation, despite often being leaders of large teams of people with responsibility for considerable budgets and resources.

Critical thinking (CT) is increasingly included within education curriculum policy development to support students' intellectual progress. Teachers who embed CT learning and are cognisant of students cultural identity increase their ability and aptitude to think critically. This paper reports results from an anonymous survey administered to 490 teacher participants, designed to investigate teacher beliefs regarding the impact of students cultural identity on their ability to think critically. The results of the study found a diversity of teacher opinion, including negative attitudes (53%) regarding students' abilities and the requirement for a culturally responsive teaching approach. The study highlights the complexities of implementing CT, and the need for policy makers to consider the impact of teachers' beliefs about student cultural identity before effective delivery of CT in secondary schools is likely to occur.

This article considers the realm of knowledge in early childhood education (ECE); what knowledge is valued, and how different types of knowledge position children and educators. To this end, two different examples of practice informed by different types of knowledge are provided: one from an educator working in a long day care service (Duncan) and a second, a national assessment of young children's development, the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). The two examples reflect practices that one might see in Australian ECE settings, and due to governance and regulations, both illustrations could be evident in the same context. Using a dialogic approach we provide an insight into the requirements of the everyday work of educators and the disparate and often irreconcilable understandings of knowledge that inform their everyday work. We conclude with some suggestions for more equitable approaches and identify some of the challenges of attempting to do this.

Background: Although widely accessible digital technology (DT) provided multiple opportunities for young children's play, learning, and development, it also raised parents and professionals' concerns regarding its impact on children's physical activity. This study aimed to identify practices involving DT that were valued by parents in helping their young child to be physically active. Methods: Participants were parents of ambulatory young children (less than 5 y of age) engaged with a playgroup. The study involved representatives from 3 service organizations, who compiled a list of digital resources related to using DT to promote children's physical activity that were suitable to be shared and trialed by parents and young children. During a pretrial workshop, researchers, participants, and organization representatives collaboratively developed the intervention, which involved the delivery of selected resources by weekly email, over a 12-week period. Participants provided weekly feedback about their experiences and participated in a postintervention semistructured qualitative interview. Results: Thirteen families, with children aged between 15 and 36 months, completed the trial. Participants reported several valued practices to promote their children's physical activity, including those where the child was active while engaging with DT, where child engagement with DT acted as a prompt for later physical activity, where DT assisted parents in planning physical activity, where DT assisted parents in integrating movement with learning and play, and where DT was used to reinforce the child's enthusiasm for physical activity. Conclusions: Parents reported several valued practices where children were physically active, rather than sedentary, while using digital technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective implementation of entrepreneurship education requires more than government policy to enable teachers and leaders to implement the content and pedagogy required for successful and innovative programmes to occur in schools. This paper provides an up-to-date literature review of research into the characteristics of teachers and school leaders who have intentionally implemented entrepreneurship education. This review was conducted in order to gain insight into the attitudes and values of teachers, the role of leadership and the enablers and barriers to success. This systematic review of the literature found 61 studies relating to the approach teachers and leaders took when implementing entrepreneurship education and factors that enabled successful implementation. Six enablers, which support effective implementation of entrepreneurship education were identified: consensus between teachers on methods, support from leadership, an entrepreneurial school culture, prioritisation, professional development, and teacher networking. Implications of the review included the need for research into how to support leaders to seek professional development in entrepreneurship education and strategies to implement the approach. A comparison of the effectiveness of different pedagogical methods provides an opportunity to measure the relevance of the approach, which the authors argue begins to address social and employment-related issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Society requires education to prepare students with the tools and ability to navigate and find success for unknown futures. Entrepreneurship education has the potential to deliver the relevant curriculum and competencies to support young people to develop resilience, independence, innovation and ability to recognise opportunities to live productive and rewarding lives in this new post COVID-19 environment. Entrepreneurship has been encouraged by government initiatives to address rapidly evolving challenges due to economic disruption. The purpose of this study was to conduct a literature review of entrepreneurship education pedagogy in order to understand the growing evidence of the effectiveness of programmes that support students to act on opportunities that address social, economic, and environmental issues that have arisen in their communities. An analysis of 45 studies across nine countries suggests that although these types of learning opportunities are written into curricula, students rarely experience this type of learning in their schooling. Sustained interest in entrepreneurship through effective methods such as assistance from external trainers and value creation throughout schooling develops students' intent for continued study of entrepreneurship at university. Teachers need opportunities to build confidence, knowledge and capacity to develop effective entrepreneurship education learning experiences that are relevant to today's students' future life challenges.

Abstract City living is the new normal as more than half of the world's population resides in urban areas. How has this transition affected public health and urban planning departments, and how, if at all, are they recognizing its effects in their strategic planning documents? Using publicly available strategic planning documents from public health and urban planning departments among rapidly growing U.S. cities, keyword frequency and keywords‐in‐context/code frequency analyses were performed to address this question. The results indicated that urban planning departments recognize their city's growth and associated effects more frequently than public health departments. Although not all cities included in the study referenced their rapid population growth in their materials, those that did commonly noted its effects on demographic transition, infrastructure planning, and service delivery. Thus, indicating rapid population growth may impact these areas pertinent to public health and urban planning. Regardless of department, the areas least connected to rapid growth in the documents were budgeting and data; two topics indicated by the literature are important tools to address the effects of rapid population growth, signifying, among other things, the need to better utilize smart city initiatives such as real‐time data sharing.

Abstract Intrusive memories (IMs) after traumatic events can be distressing and disrupt mental health and functioning. We evaluated the impact of a brief remotely-delivered digital imagery-competing task intervention on the number of IMs for intensive care unit (ICU) staff who faced repeated trauma exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic using a two-arm, parallel-group, single-blind randomised controlled trial, with the comparator arm receiving delayed access to active treatment (crossover). Eligible participants worked clinically in a UK NHS ICU during the pandemic and had at least 3 IMs of work-related traumatic events in the week before recruitment. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to immediate (weeks 1–4) or delayed (weeks 5–8) intervention access. Sequential Bayesian analyses to optimise the intervention and increase trial efficiency are reported elsewhere [1]. The primary endpoint for the pre-specified frequentist analysis of the final study population compared the number of IMs experienced in week 4 between the immediate and delayed access arms. Secondary outcomes included clinical symptoms, work functioning and wellbeing. Safety was assessed throughout the trial by scheduled questions and free report. All analyses were undertaken on an intention-to-treat basis (86 randomised participants). There were significantly fewer intrusive memories during week 4 in the immediate (median = 1, IQR = 0–3, n = 43), compared to the comparator delayed arm (median = 10, IQR = 6–17, n = 43), IRR 0.31, 95% CI: 0.20–0.48, p

Critical thinking (CT) is increasingly included within education curriculum policy development to support students’ intellectual progress. Teachers who embed CT learning and are cognisant of students cultural identity increase their ability and aptitude to think critically. This paper reports results from an anonymous survey administered to 490 teacher participants, designed to investigate teacher beliefs regarding the impact of students cultural identity on their ability to think critically. The results of the study found a diversity of teacher opinion, including negative attitudes (53%) regarding students’ abilities and the requirement for a culturally responsive teaching approach. The study highlights the complexities of implementing CT, and the need for policy makers to consider the impact of teachers’ beliefs about student cultural identity before effective delivery of CT in secondary schools is likely to occur.

This study reports the quantitative results of middle leaders’ self-reported practices and compares their responses to the perceptions of the teachers who report to them (n = 158). Likert scale questionnaires were used to measure the extent to which middle leaders focused on goal orientation, professional collaboration, effective instructional practices, and supporting teacher development within their department. The analysis provides insight into this phenomenon within six different state-funded secondary schools, with results showing middle leaders almost always rate their practices more effectively than the teachers who report to them. Common areas identified as requiring increased effectiveness were middle leaders’ use of resources to support learning, use of data to support the instructional programme, and identification of effective professional learning opportunities for teachers. Reported levels of effectiveness compared with student academic achievement in the senior secondary school setting align with agreement ratings and the socio-economic status of students who attend the school. This paper highlights the need for the ongoing support of middle leaders to be provided with deliberate support and development for leading teachers.

BackgroundMany intensive care unit (ICU) staff experience intrusive memories following work-related traumatic events, which can lead to long-term mental health outcomes and impact work functioning. There is a need for interventions that target intrusive memories in this population; however, factors such as mental health stigma and difficulty in fitting interventions into busy schedules can pose barriers. The Brief Gameplay Intervention For National Health Service Intensive Care Unit Staff Affected By COVID-19 Trauma (GAINS) study tested a brief, digital imagery-competing task intervention (including computer gameplay) with the aim of reducing the recurrence of intrusive memories, which holds promise for overcoming some of these barriers. ObjectiveThis substudy aims to explore barriers and facilitators to the uptake and practical use of the intervention by ICU staff, along with its acceptability, and iteratively explore the impact of intervention optimizations to further refine the intervention. MethodsThe GAINS study is a randomized controlled trial comparing access to a brief digital imagery-competing task intervention for 4 weeks with usual care followed by delayed access to the intervention. The participants were ICU staff who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced intrusive memories. All participants were sent a questionnaire at 4 weeks to gather data about intervention acceptability. Nested within the randomized controlled trial, a subset of 16 participants was interviewed, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis drawing from a framework approach. ResultsBoth quantitative and qualitative data indicated high acceptability of the intervention. Intervention use data show that, on average, staff were able to target approximately 73% (3.64/4.88) of their intrusive memories and engaged with the Tetris component for the full 20 minutes per session. Overall, on the acceptability questionnaire, staff found the intervention easy to use, helpful, and highly acceptable. The interviews generated four themes: approach to the intervention, positives of the intervention, negatives of the intervention, and improvements and optimizations. Findings highlighted barriers that ICU staff experienced: stigma, feeling weak for seeking help, not wanting colleagues to know they were struggling, and skepticism. However, they provided suggestions on how barriers could be overcome and discussed the advantages of the intervention when compared with other treatments. Although participants described many positive aspects of the intervention, such as being easy to use, enjoyable, and leading to a reduction in the frequency or intensity of intrusive memories, they also raised practical issues for implementation. ConclusionsThe intervention has the potential to overcome stigma and reduce the frequency of intrusive memories after traumatic events among ICU staff. Further refinement is needed to improve the adoption and reach of this intervention. A limitation is that we could not interview the National Health Service staff who were unable or unwilling to take part in the trial.

Abstract Introduction: The focus on social determinants of health (SDOH) and their impact on health outcomes is evident in U.S. federal actions by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on minorities and communities of color heightened awareness of health inequities and the need for more robust SDOH data collection. Four Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) hubs comprising the Texas Regional CTSA Consortium (TRCC) undertook an inventory to understand what contextual-level SDOH datasets are offered centrally and which individual-level SDOH are collected in structured fields in each electronic health record (EHR) system potentially for all patients. Methods: Hub teams identified American Community Survey (ACS) datasets available via their enterprise data warehouses for research. Each hub’s EHR analyst team identified structured fields available in their EHR for SDOH using a collection instrument based on a 2021 PCORnet survey and conducted an SDOH field completion rate analysis. Results: One hub offered ACS datasets centrally. All hubs collected eleven SDOH elements in structured EHR fields. Two collected Homeless and Veteran statuses. Completeness at four hubs was 80%–98%: Ethnicity, Race; < 10%: Education, Financial Strain, Food Insecurity, Housing Security/Stability, Interpersonal Violence, Social Isolation, Stress, Transportation. Conclusion: Completeness levels for SDOH data in EHR at TRCC hubs varied and were low for most measures. Multiple system-level discussions may be necessary to increase standardized SDOH EHR-based data collection and harmonization to drive effective value-based care, health disparities research, translational interventions, and evidence-based policy.

Introduction Post-traumatic symptoms are common among patients discharged from intensive care units (ICUs), adversely affecting well-being, increasing healthcare utilisation and delaying return to work. Non-pharmacological approaches (eg, music, therapeutic touch and patient diaries) have been suggested as candidate interventions and trauma-focused psychological interventions have been endorsed by international bodies. Neither category of intervention is supported by definitive evidence of long-term clinical effectiveness in patients who have been critically ill. This study assesses the feasibility and acceptability of using eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) to improve the mental health of ICU survivors.Methods and analysis EMERALD is a multicentre, two-part consent, pilot feasibility study, recruiting discharged ICU survivors from three hospitals in the UK. We are gathering demographics and measuring post-traumatic symptoms, anxiety, depression and quality of life at baseline. Two months after discharge, participants are screened for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R). Patients with IES-R scores

Diverse microbial ecosystems underpin life in the sea. Among these microbes are many unicellular eukaryotes that span the diversity of the eukaryotic tree of life. However, genetic tractability has been limited to a few species, which do not represent eukaryotic diversity or environmentally relevant taxa. Here, we report on the development of genetic tools in a range of protists primarily from marine environments. We present evidence for foreign DNA delivery and expression in 13 species never before transformed and for advancement of tools for eight other species, as well as potential reasons for why transformation of yet another 17 species tested was not achieved. Our resource in genetic manipulation will provide insights into the ancestral eukaryotic lifeforms, general eukaryote cell biology, protein diversification and the evolution of cellular pathways.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

This paper describes findings related to the effectiveness of secondary school middle leaders as a contributor to within-school variation in academic results for students at department level in urban high schools. The 'high-stakes' academic assessment results for students in 10 urban high schools in New Zealand in English, mathematics and science were collated over three years. The analyses revealed variable subject department performance by 16- to 18-year-old students in the national qualification within these schools. The extent of the effectiveness of the middle leadership practices in these departments was investigated using individual questionnaires for each middle leader and the teachers who reported to them. This paper reports the results of the statistical analyses of the questionnaire compared with the aggregated academic results for students by department and finds specific middle leadership practices that were strongly associated with improved academic results. In schools where students were socially disadvantaged, the statistical significance of the results was greater. This study contributes to the previous schooling improvement literature on department effectiveness by enhancing our understanding of why students in departments in the same high school perform differently and how effective middle leaders can impact positively the student academic outcomes.

This paper describes the background, methods and key findings from a research project conducted in one Kahui Ako (Community of Learning) in a city in New Zealand. All 12 schools had significant numbers of Indigenous Maori students whose iwi (tribal) ancestry connected to the region over centuries. Using a mixed methods approach, the study investigated the specific 'across and within' school interventions that positively impacted Maori student engagement in learning. Evidence was collected by seeking the views and opinions of students, teachers and whanau (family). Interventions and strategies included collaboration between Maori teachers and across-school leaders, positive school culture focused on the health and well-being of students, localised curricula, and substantial use of te reo Maori and tikanga in most schools. School principals reported limited collaboration with each other due to perceived competition between schools for student enrollments, which is counter to the policy drivers for the Kahui Ako initiative. Results indicated that culturally inclusive leaders and teachers must deliberately focus on motivating students for their positive futures. This is key to improving the academic and social outcomes for Maori students.

The idea of computational thinking as skills and universal competence which every child should possess emerged last decade and has been gaining traction ever since. This raises a number of questions, including how to integrate computational thinking into the curriculum, whether teachers have computational thinking pedagogical capabilities to teach children, and the important professional development and training areas for teachers. The aim of this paper is to address the strategic issues by illustrating a series of computational thinking workshops for Foundation to Year 8 teachers held at an Australian university. Data indicated that teachers' computational thinking understanding, pedagogical capabilities, technological know-how and confidence can be improved in a relatively short period of time through targeted professional learning.

Middle leaders are important conduits for school policy and are often required to lead, champion and monitor change initiatives in their departments. This paper examines secondary school middle leaders’ self-reported theories, promotion and leadership of culturally responsive teaching approaches for student equity. The study participants (n = 170) are curriculum leaders in state secondary schools throughout New Zealand, serving a range of diverse populations, including Indigenous Māori students. The quantitative and qualitative data for this project were thematically analysed to inquire into middle leaders’ articulation of their culturally responsive theories, practices, and pedagogical and curriculum leadership to assist members of their departments in supporting Māori student educational success. The study found that although middle leaders could clearly articulate culturally responsive, sustaining and revitalising pedagogies and leadership in alignment with government policies and expectations, they were less clear about the measures they used to evidence these practices. In addition, less than 30% of the middle leader participants mentioned academic achievement as an element of Māori student success, and few mentioned the importance of systematic monitoring of achievement data, or using them to support better learning outcomes for Māori students (184).

Abstract It is presumed that rapidly growing ‘hot cities’ adapt their planning and operations to meet their evolving population's needs. These presumptions inspired the development of the following mixed‐method, convergent parallel study. Data from urban planning officials across nine rapidly growing ‘hot cities’ were collected through pre‐interview surveys and qualitative key‐informant interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify salient issues regarding awareness and perception of rapid population growth and the resulting response from their departments. Results indicate two main themes; Multidimensional Strain and Mitigation Strategies describe city experiences with rapid population growth effects and response. Across cities, urban planners expressed similar experiences of stress on land usage, housing, transportation, programing, and service delivery. Similar response patterns included evaluation and innovation of growth management strategies, enhanced collaboration, and equity considerations. This snapshot of rapid population growth repercussions and current city mitigation strategies may have future implications for public health and urban planning administrators in practice. Results shared also indicate how population data use and sharing can support Mitigation Strategies and impact community health.

This strengths-based paper draws on the qualitative and quantitative survey results from whānau (family members) of tamariki (children) attending 12 schools in an urban area in New Zealand with a high proportion of Māori people. The paper describes the positive impact of effective family engagement on tamariki, from the perspectives of whānau, paying particular interest to the differences between Māori and non-Māori whānau. The views of all whānau who participated in the project support the importance of relational and culturally sustaining aspects of teaching, and challenge commonly held stereotypes about indigenous parents’ low expectations in relation to their children’s education. The paper amplifies whānau voice about their children’s school enjoyment, perceptions of teacher support and future career aspirations for their tamariki.

This paper describes a study investigating the effectiveness of an online group supervision model developed to respond to the plight of postgraduate students forced to complete their research theses in China due to the COVID-19 pandemic border closures in 2020-2022. The supervisory group included academics with variable supervision experience who identified with diverse ethnicities and academic identities. Selected data collection methods were employed to investigate the student experience, including interviews, video analysis of supervision sessions, reflective writing, and collaborative autoethnography. Relational learning, culturally responsive approaches, and care ethics were deployed to provide rich insights into academics' deliberate strategies to support students in achieving their academic goals. The findings revealed that group supervision provided students with opportunities to participate within a dynamic team that was relationship and knowledge-rich. Academics developed greater intercultural understandings of the important research contexts in which students operated and valued their students' positioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the self-reported culturally responsive practices of curriculum leaders (n = 53) and teachers (n = 105) from six state funded secondary schools in New Zealand. Partcipants were surveyed to examine the relationship between middle leader self-reporting of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) for improving Māori student engagement and teacher perceptions of those practices. School contextual factors and student academic achievement were also compared with the response ratings to understand any association between culturally responsive middle leadership and student academic outcomes. The study found that middle leaders with more experience generally reported greater confidence in their leadership of CRP. Furthermore, there was some indication that teacher perceptions of middle leader's use of CRP practices may be higher in schools with more experienced middle leaders. However, despite the crucial role middle leaders have in supporting the use of CRP in their departments, no relation was found between the confidence of middle leaders regarding CRP and student academic achievement (155). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]