Tuesday, December 05, 2023

ECNU review of education highlights network ethnography in researching global education policy

A special issue of the journal showcases papers that used network ethnography to map global education policy networks.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CACTUS COMMUNICATIONS

ECNU Review of Education Highlights Network Ethnography in Researching Global Education Policy — VIDEO:
*A SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL SHOWCASES PAPERS THAT USED NETWORK ETHNOGRAPHY TO MAP GLOBAL EDUCATION POLICY NETWORKS.*
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CREDIT: ECNU REVIEW OF EDUCATION

The word “mobility” conjures up images and ideas of the movement of people, capital, and things from one place to another. The globalized world of the 21st century has ushered in an era of “new mobility” studies fronted by sociology researchers and human geography scholars. It encompasses not only the diverse movements of people, including tourists and corporate elites, and the associated regulatory policies like border control but also the flow of finances across various sectors and the transportation of goods and services, spanning from waste disposal to organ transport.

In an article published on September 10, 2023, for a special issue of the ECNU Review of Education, Dr. Diego Santori from the School of Education, Communication and Society at King’s College London and Dr. Jin Jin from the School of Education at East China Normal University charted the landscape of network ethnography in education policy studies and highlighted the researchers breaking new ground in the field.

What exactly is network ethnography? It is a method that combines ethnographic methods with social network analysis to understand mobilities and dynamics in a policy network. The interactions within the network, their evolution, and their movement are analyzed to determine how policy shapes and changes.

The two main elements in a social network include the nodes and the edges—the nodes include individuals and organizations, and the edges link them together. The researchers focus on exploring what is shared through the networks, such as schemes, programs, artifacts, techniques, or technologies. Thus, network ethnography requires extensive internet searches on the actors, organizations, events, and their connections, sifting through material such as newsletters, press releases, videos, and speeches, among others, and attending conferences where network participants often come together.

For Dr. Santori and Dr. Jin, defining what is included and excluded in the policy network is a critical challenge for conducting network ethnography. “When conducting this searches on key organizations, we usually look at ‘about us’ tabs to access information about the governance structure of the organization, as well as ‘our partners’ tabs, which generally include information about associated organizations and business,” they say. “Thus, it is often difficult to make decisions about what nodes are beyond the scope of the network ethnography and hence to draw the boundary around the network.”

Another challenge for conducting network ethnography is their ever-changing nature. The time between recording and transcribing patterns of interaction and their dynamics, followed by the subsequent analysis and discussion in publications, might mean that the information has become outdated as policymakers and organizations change priorities. Dr. Santori and Dr. Jin suggest that improvising and planning simultaneously can help mitigate some of these effects. “Network ethnography requires space for the unknown and the flexibility to navigate emerging data collection opportunities without diverting from the research aims and objectives,” they say. “Those opportunities can look like accessing a partner organization that was not originally included in the research design or attending a network-related event that was not apparent when the project was conceived.”

For Dr. Santori and Dr. Jin, shedding light on the varied relationships between policy mobilities and moorings in different contexts will propel the field forward. The researchers of this special issue by the ECNU Review of Education are grappling with unique and varied questions, such as “the structure and dynamics of the global education policy field, the divergences of policy networks in traditionally different policy spaces, the politics within policy networks and possibilities of reflexivity and resistance,” they say.

In summary, the authors in this special issue deployed network ethnography in different countries. They also addressed different kinds of policy actors and investigated the effects of the related labor and social relations in shaping policy networks and education reforms. This work will potentially spark new ideas and conversations among researchers and stakeholders.

Global education

A new study from the ECNU Review of Education highlights the use of network ethnography in global education policy research, demonstrating how it combines ethnographic studies with social network analysis to trace the interconnected and fast-paced dynamics of the 21st-century world.

CREDIT

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Reference

DOI: https:doi.org/10.1177/20965311231198254

Authors: Diego Santori1 and Jin Jin2

Affiliations

1King’s College London
2East China Normal University

About ECNU Review of Education

The ECNU Review of Education (ROE) is an international, peer-reviewed journal established by the East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai, China. This open-access journal seeks to facilitate in-depth dialogue among various stakeholders and build a global community of scholars. The journal accepts empirical and conceptual papers, integrated research reviews, scoping reviews, policy reviews, and voices. It is interested in scholarship that theorizes educational experiences in non-English speaking contexts and education-related research, policies, and issues.

About Dr. Diego Santori

Dr. Diego Santori is a senior lecturer in education and society at King’s College London, the United Kingdom. His research is in policy sociology, especially on how policy structures and assumptions shape or bind the social imaginary. Currently, he is interested in the role of high-stakes testing and school performance data in contemporary education systems and how they produce new cultural forms and practices. He is also interested in policy networks in education and how they mobilize resources (both material and symbolic) and eventually legitimize related initiatives, discourses, and practices.

About Dr. Jin Jin

Dr. Jin Jin is an Associate Professor at the School of Education at East China Normal University. Her research interest is in the sociology of education, especially the relationships between social structures and human agency. Currently, she is working on a research project following three cases of education innovations in Shanghai to understand the effects of policy networks and the shapes of education governance in China.

JOURNAL

ECNU Review of Education

DOI

10.1177/20965311231198254

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Globalization, Policy Mobilities, and the Method of Network Ethnography

New Alzheimer Europe publication highlights continuing inequalities in access to dementia care and treatment across Europe

Reports and Proceedings

ALZHEIMER EUROPE

Brussels, 5 December 2023 – In a report launched today at a lunch debate hosted by Deirdre Clune MEP (Ireland), Alzheimer Europe highlighted the continuing inequalities in access to dementia care and treatment across Europe.

The objective of the report entitled “European Dementia Monitor” was to provide a benchmark of national dementia policies in order to compare and rate the responses of European countries to the dementia challenge. The survey covered all Member States of the European Union (with the exception of Latvia), as well as Armenia, Iceland, Israel, Jersey, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom (both England and Scotland) and Ukraine.

Jean Georges, Executive Director of Alzheimer Europe, stated:

“Our organisation has consistently called upon European governments to recognise dementia as a national public health and research priority, and to develop national dementia strategies. The aim of the European Dementia Monitor is to assess which countries provide the most dementia-inclusive policies and guarantee the best support and treatment of people with dementia and their carers. This third edition of our report shows continuing inequalities between European countries, and we hope that national governments will use this report to improve the lives of people with dementia and their carers in those areas where they are currently lagging behind.”

The European Dementia Monitor compares countries on 10 different categories:
1.   The availability of care services
2.   The affordability of care services
3.   The reimbursement of medicines and other medical interventions
4.   The availability of clinical trials
5.   The involvement of the country in European dementia research initiatives
6.   The recognition of dementia as a policy and research priority
7.   The development of dementia-friendly initiatives
8.   The recognition of legal rights
9.   The ratification of International and European human rights treaties
10.   Care and employment rights

According to the findings of the European Dementia Monitor, no country excelled in all 10 categories and there were significant differences between European countries. Some of the key findings were:
•   Luxembourg scored highest on care availability with most services rated as sufficiently available, whereas Norway scored highest on care affordability as it ensured that these services were accessible and affordable for people with dementia and their carers. On both care availability and care affordability, Bulgaria ranked last.
•   On the availability and reimbursement of medical interventions, Sweden scored highest as all included medical interventions (with the exception of Fortasyn Connect) were covered by the national reimbursement system. Armenia ranked last in this category as none of the medical interventions were reimbursed.
•   As Europe is waiting for the authorisation by the European Medicines Agency of new anti-amyloid treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, only Greece, Ireland, Slovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom (England) had set up a working group or strategy to prepare for the introduction of these new treatments.
•   France scored highest in the category of clinical trials as the only country where it was possible for people with dementia to take part in eight of the 10 phase III clinical trials which were studied for the report. The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom came second, with seven clinical trials active in these countries. Armenia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and North Macedonia were on the other end of the scale, with no clinical trials available for people with dementia in those countries.
•   France, Germany and the Netherlands were the countries that were the most active in European dementia research collaborations scoring 100% in that category, whereas Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, Iceland, Lithuania, Malta, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine were not involved in the Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Diseases Research (JPND) or any of the calls for European research collaboration.
•   For recognition of dementia as a national policy and research priority, the United Kingdom (Scotland) came first with full marks whereas North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine did not score any points in this category.
•   The United Kingdom (England and Scotland) had the most dementia-inclusive initiatives and communities, but Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Portugal and Serbia did not score any points in this category.
•   Regarding the protection of the legal rights of people with dementia, a growing number of countries complied with Alzheimer Europe’s five recommendations in this field (Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jersey, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom (England)). However, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Poland and Romania scored no points in this category.
•   In relation to International and European Human Rights Conventions, there has been progress since earlier editions of the Monitor (2017 and 2020), with an increasing number of countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece and Portugal) having signed and ratified all of the treaties. Israel was the country with the least number of conventions signed and ratified.
•   The Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (Scotland) were the three countries where all care and employment rights were recognised, whereas Armenia, Cyprus and Ukraine came last in this category with none of these rights recognised in legislation.

Deirdre Clune MEP (Ireland) welcomed the findings of the European Dementia Monitor:

“As a Member of the European Parliament and as Vice-Chairperson of the European Alzheimer’s Alliance, I am interested in how European countries differ in their approaches to dementia care and treatment, and I hope that reports like this one can help identify good practices to be implemented in countries lagging behind. As an Irish MEP, I was happy to see that Ireland excelled in some key areas with the development of our national dementia strategy, the Irish Dementia Working Group and the recognition of legal rights. However, my country has some catching up to do in other areas, and more efforts need to be made to provide more accessible and affordable care services. Similarly, I would hope that more clinical trials will be conducted in Ireland to allow people with dementia to participate in research for the development of new and better treatments.”

On the basis of the findings in the 10 identified categories, Alzheimer Europe established a ranking of countries (with each category contributing 10% to the overall score), with the Netherlands coming first with an overall score of 77.6%, followed by the United Kingdom (Scotland) (74.5%), the Czech Republic (74.2%), Germany (72.7%) and Sweden (70.7%). Compared to the 2020 edition of the Dementia Monitor, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic improved their scores and ranking the most, moving up from seventh to first and from 19th place to third place respectively. The United Kingdom (Scotland) and Germany also slightly improved their scores, but Scotland stayed in second place while Germany moved from fifth to fourth place. Sweden moved down from first to fifth place in this year’s ranking, whereas the United Kingdom (England) and Belgium dropped out of the top five and moved to eighth and ninth place respectively.

Gerjoke Wilmink, CEO of Alzheimer Nederland, welcomed the findings:

“I was delighted to see that the Netherlands came first in this extensive survey of Alzheimer Europe. There has been a very strong commitment in my country to finding practical solutions and concrete support for the many people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. We are happy to continue sharing our experiences and good practices with our partner organisations within Alzheimer Europe, and look forward to learning from those countries in categories where the Netherlands did less well.”

Jean Georges, Executive Director of Alzheimer Europe, concluded:

“It was great to see that a number of countries were able to improve the situation of people with dementia and their carers. However, as in our previous editions, we can see that progress is not the same across all European regions. Our Monitor shows that there is still a clear East/West divide in Europe with most of the Western and Northern European countries scoring significantly higher than Eastern European countries. As a rule, countries with national dementia strategies scored better. It is time therefore that all European countries and in particular those in Eastern Europe recognise dementia as a national priority and develop national dementia strategies.”

When looking at this map of Europe (map 16), we can see that there are significant differences across Europe with countries in Northern and Central Europe scoring much better than countries in Southern and Eastern Europe.

The full report “European Dementia Monitor 2023: Comparing and benchmarking national dementia strategies and policies” can be downloaded for free: https://www.alzheimer-europe.org/resources/publications/european-dementia-monitor-comparing-and-benchmarking-national-dementia

Notes to editors:

Alzheimer Europe is the umbrella organisation of national Alzheimer associations and currently has 42 member organisations in 37 European countries. Our mission is to change perceptions, policy and practice in order to improve the lives of people affected by dementia.

Aston University scientists explore more sustainable method of separating contaminants from water using bio-inspired membranes

Grant and Award Announcement

ASTON UNIVERSITY

Dr Matt Derry — IMAGE:
DR MATT DERRY
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CREDIT: ASTON UNIVERSITY

•   Contaminated water is responsible for around 500,000 deaths a year
•   New transmembrane proteins will allow selective removal of single contaminant from water
•   Will use tiny transport channels around one million times smaller than an ant.

Aston University scientists are to explore a more sustainable method of separating contaminants from water.
The method will use exquisite molecular selectivity, which means that just a single chemical or molecular species will be able to pass through the membrane, allowing scientists to selectively remove a single contaminant from water.

The World Health Organization estimates that microbiologically contaminated water is responsible for almost 500,000 deaths a year and current filtration technologies aren’t effective enough.

The University has received a grant of £165,999 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to research the use of bioinspired membranes to selectively remove contaminants from water, while using minimal energy.
The membranes will be made from plastic but will have transmembrane proteins embedded within them, made possible thanks to new polymers developed by the University.

The transmembrane proteins enable the selective removal of specific contaminants using transport channels measuring approximately 4-10 nanometres - around one million times smaller than an ant.

The Aston University team led by Dr Matt Derry, lecturer in chemistry, will be developing bio-inspired membranes which selectively remove contaminants with minimal energy.

Working with Dr Alan Goddard, reader in biochemistry at Aston University, the team’s design is based on solutions found in biological evolution and refinement which has occurred over millions of years.

Dr Derry, who is based in the University’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. said: “Polluted water is a complex global socioeconomic issue that affects human and animal health, and greatly impacts industries such as agriculture and fishing, recreational activities and transport.

“Current filtration technologies are ineffective and their manufacture often requires complex and expensive multi-step processes with high associated energy costs.

“We are going to use advanced polymer synthesis to develop new bespoke polymers which will both extract transmembrane proteins and immobilise them within artificial separation membranes.

“This will create water purification membranes which remove impurities with greater selectivity and specificity.”

The new membrane technology developed in this project will advance and evolve membrane science. The platform materials and approaches used can be applied to other membrane filtration and water purification applications such as selective phosphate removal from agricultural wastewater.

Dr Derry added: “We are hoping that the new membranes will lead to high-performance devices that can contribute to a circular economy.

“The need for such new systems is recognised by the UN with Sustainable Development Goal six on clean water and sanitation.”

The research will begin in April 2024 and will end in May 2026.

Photoswitchable bactericide

Nanomaterial with “light switch” kills gram-negative or gram-positive bacteria

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

Healthcare-associated infections are a common problem in suppurating wound care, as is the rise in multi-drug resistant bacteria. In order to effectively and selectively combat bacterial infections, a team of researchers have developed a bactericidal nanomaterial equipped with a photochemical “light switch” that can be directed either against Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria. As the team report in their study published in Angewandte Chemie, its effectivity against MRSA can be extended to other selective bacterial infections.

Antibiotic-resistant infections have become an urgent public health concern, particularly in hospital settings. Many of the bacterial species in question are widespread in nature, but can cause much more serious, sometimes untreatable, infections in immunocompromised patients. Bactericidal materials offer a new approach to combating healthcare-associated infections that does not rely on antibiotics. Mrinmoy De and colleagues from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, India, have now succeeded in producing a UV-visible-light-responsive nanomaterial that can be switched to target either Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria.

Both bacteria types have very different outer membrane structures and composition. Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), have a bacterial membrane majorly composed of peptidoglycans. In contrast, Gram-negative bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, another healthcare-associated bacterium with problematic resistance to broadband antibiotics, has both inner and outer membrane mainly composed of phospholipids with a thin peptidoglycan layer. “It is important to achieve strain-selective bactericidal activity,” says De.

To achieve a bactericidal agent that could selectively interact with both chemical surfaces, the team designed a functionalized nanomaterial made of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with azobenzene moieties to which positively charged quaternary amino groups were attached. While MoS2 is a bactericide and the quaternary amino groups allow membrane depolarization, the azobenzene moieties introduce a light-driven switch in the nanostructure from an elongated trans into a curved cis form to create selective surface interactions.

The team used several chemical probes and optical measurements to determine that both the cis and trans forms of the nanomaterial killed bacteria, albeit in very different ways. For the Gram-negative P. aeruginosa, the trans form depolarized the bacterial membrane and pierced it thoroughly. This allowed the MoS2 nanomaterial to generate intracellular reactive oxygen species and kill the bacteria. Conversely, the Gram-positive MRSA strain responded to the cis form more effectively. In this case, the cell wall was damaged and ruptured by specific interactions.

By simply “flipping” the UV switch from the trans ground state to the cis state, the team were able to control selectivity for either bacterial type. They demonstrated the efficacy of their nanomaterial by successfully healing MRSA-infected wounds in mice models. The wounds completely closed after 10 days when treated with the cis reagent, while usual antibiotic treatment with vancomycin was not healing fast.

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About the Author

Dr. Mrinmoy De is an Associate Professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry, Chemical Science Division, Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. His group is interested in the synthesis of laterally size controlled 2D single or thin-layer molecular assemblies by chemical synthesis or processing from their corresponding precursor to explore the various supramolecular applications including molecular recognition, antimicrobial activity, sensing and catalytic applications.