title: Capitalism: Some disassembly required

authors: Pepperell, Nicole

abstract: Capital’s critical standpoint relies on keeping rmly in view this vast reservoir of internal social variability. It refuses to look through this complex, chaotic content, in order to reductively grasp capitalism as a system de ned only by the reproduction of a small set of social forms. Instead, it sees the reproduction of capital as dependent on a vast assemblage of social practices that possesses high internal variability. rough a process of selective inheritance, it is possible to mobilize this internal variability, adaptively improvising new forms of collective life. Communism would be capitalism, some disassembly required: a speciation from our existing form of social life, which would creatively adapt existing social potentials to emancipatory ends.

text: Capitalism: Some disassembly required Capital’s critical standpoint relies on keeping rmly in view this vast reservoir of internal social variability. It refuses to look through this complex, chaotic content, in order to reductively grasp capitalism as a system de ned only by the reproduction of a small set of social forms. Instead, it sees the reproduction of capital as dependent on a vast assemblage of social practices that possesses high internal variability. rough a process of selective inheritance, it is possible to mobilize this internal variability, adaptively improvising new forms of collective life. Communism would be capitalism, some disassembly required: a speciation from our existing form of social life, which would creatively adapt existing social potentials to emancipatory ends.

year: 2011

title: The effect of santicipatory behaviours, generated by Pavlovian conditioning, on the development of play in early and normally weaned rats.

authors: Guadarrama-Maillot, Veronica

subjects: Rattus norvegicus

abstract: Since the classic studies of Pavlov, a wide variety of researchers have investigated the
process of classical conditioning and used it to investigate animal behaviour.
Recently, researchers in animal behaviour have discovered important new benefits
associated with classical conditioning, now being applied as a way of enhancing
 well-being . Pavlovian conditioning occurs when an association between two
stimuli, a neutral stimulus and a biologically relevant stimulus, is created by repeated
paired presentations of both stimuli. When the presentation of the neutral stimulus is
followed by a delay, before the biological stimulus is presented,  expectation  or
 anticipatory behaviour  is generated. Anticipatory behaviour is known to elicit the
release of dopamine. As play behaviour is also known to result in the release of
dopamine, and correlates with positive welfare state, studies of the relationship
between anticipatory behaviour and play may generate important new insights for
animal welfare.
In this study I assessed if (i) early weaning influenced the development of playful
attacks and  pinning  behaviour in rats and (ii) the effects of a Pavlovian conditioning
paradigm on the occurrence of play in both early - and normally - weaned rats. Male
pups were assigned to one of the following treatment groups: (1) an early weaned
(EW) group without exposure to conditioning, (2) a normally weaned (NW) group
without exposure to conditioning, (3) an EW group with a conditional stimulus (CS)
paired to an unconditional stimulus (US) to generate anticipatory behaviour (CS-US),
(4) an EW group with CS-US unpaired, (5) an EW group with US only and (6) a NW
group with US only. Animals in each group were observed for one hour each week
from 4 to 7 weeks of life to record the frequency of playful attacks and pinning
behaviour. EW pups that were not exposed to any form of conditioning had a
significant reduction in the frequency of playful attacks relative to the NW pups
without conditioning; pinning frequencies were low, but the effect was not
statistically significant. The difference in frequencies of playful attacks between the
NW group without exposure to conditioning and all the EW groups was statistically
significant, with the NW groups displaying the highest frequencies of playful
behaviour; pinning changes across those same treatment groups were not significant.
Interestingly, the EW group under Pavlovian conditioning had a higher mean
frequency of playful attacks and pinning behaviour relative to the EW control groups
(i.e. EW with CS-US unpaired and EW with US only). Eliciting anticipatory
behaviour may explain the increased levels of play behaviour in the EW conditioned
group. Weight increases were similar across all EW and NW groups.
The results of this study are discussed in relation to the effects that early weaning has
on behavioural development, the potential benefits of using anticipatory behaviour to
reduce the impacts of stressful events, and its positive effects in the development of
play behaviour in rats. The findings support the idea that a Pavlovian conditioning
paradigm can be used to enhance the welfare of animals and that the expectation for
the reward has a greater effect than the reward itself.

text: The effect of santicipatory behaviours, generated by Pavlovian conditioning, on the development of play in early and normally weaned rats. Since the classic studies of Pavlov, a wide variety of researchers have investigated the
process of classical conditioning and used it to investigate animal behaviour.
Recently, researchers in animal behaviour have discovered important new benefits
associated with classical conditioning, now being applied as a way of enhancing
 well-being . Pavlovian conditioning occurs when an association between two
stimuli, a neutral stimulus and a biologically relevant stimulus, is created by repeated
paired presentations of both stimuli. When the presentation of the neutral stimulus is
followed by a delay, before the biological stimulus is presented,  expectation  or
 anticipatory behaviour  is generated. Anticipatory behaviour is known to elicit the
release of dopamine. As play behaviour is also known to result in the release of
dopamine, and correlates with positive welfare state, studies of the relationship
between anticipatory behaviour and play may generate important new insights for
animal welfare.
In this study I assessed if (i) early weaning influenced the development of playful
attacks and  pinning  behaviour in rats and (ii) the effects of a Pavlovian conditioning
paradigm on the occurrence of play in both early - and normally - weaned rats. Male
pups were assigned to one of the following treatment groups: (1) an early weaned
(EW) group without exposure to conditioning, (2) a normally weaned (NW) group
without exposure to conditioning, (3) an EW group with a conditional stimulus (CS)
paired to an unconditional stimulus (US) to generate anticipatory behaviour (CS-US),
(4) an EW group with CS-US unpaired, (5) an EW group with US only and (6) a NW
group with US only. Animals in each group were observed for one hour each week
from 4 to 7 weeks of life to record the frequency of playful attacks and pinning
behaviour. EW pups that were not exposed to any form of conditioning had a
significant reduction in the frequency of playful attacks relative to the NW pups
without conditioning; pinning frequencies were low, but the effect was not
statistically significant. The difference in frequencies of playful attacks between the
NW group without exposure to conditioning and all the EW groups was statistically
significant, with the NW groups displaying the highest frequencies of playful
behaviour; pinning changes across those same treatment groups were not significant.
Interestingly, the EW group under Pavlovian conditioning had a higher mean
frequency of playful attacks and pinning behaviour relative to the EW control groups
(i.e. EW with CS-US unpaired and EW with US only). Eliciting anticipatory
behaviour may explain the increased levels of play behaviour in the EW conditioned
group. Weight increases were similar across all EW and NW groups.
The results of this study are discussed in relation to the effects that early weaning has
on behavioural development, the potential benefits of using anticipatory behaviour to
reduce the impacts of stressful events, and its positive effects in the development of
play behaviour in rats. The findings support the idea that a Pavlovian conditioning
paradigm can be used to enhance the welfare of animals and that the expectation for
the reward has a greater effect than the reward itself.

year: 2009

title: Fanning the divine spark: Gaining understandings of micro-interactions in New Zealand classrooms

authors: Eley, Elizabeth Martha Ann

subjects: micro-interactions

abstract: New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi was signed by representatives of Iwi Māori (Indigenous tribal groups) and the British Crown.  Inherent in the heritages of both signatory groups is the ontological positioning that children are born of greatness; carriers of the divine spark from Tama-nui-te-rā (the central sun) and created in the image of God.  Almost all New Zealand children attend school.  For some, their ongoing classroom experiences with educators fans their divine spark and works towards the realisation of their innate potential.  For others, schooling is not a positive experience and their divine spark may be neither recognised nor celebrated.  

This research explores the relationships and pedagogical practices that underpin the classroom micro-interactions experienced by children.  Children’s schooling experience is made up of small interactions in classrooms that are situated in the social, political and legal contexts of schooling.  Therefore, this research applies both a centripetal and a centrifugal examination of the macro and micro contexts of classroom interactions.  

In examining the macro-context, ontological views of the child and the theoretical frameworks that guide pedagogy are considered.  The Education Acts governing New Zealand schooling have successively contained an ontological contradiction that enforces both a factory model as the preferred means of schooling for New Zealand and a requirement to honour the Treaty of Waitangi, including the worldviews of both signatories.  I conclude that educators within the compulsory schooling sector are not provided with specific guidance on how to navigate these contradictory worldviews.  Neither ontological views of how children are perceived within the system, nor theoretical frameworks that could and should inform views of knowledge and how learning occurs, are made explicit for educators.  

At the micro-context level, relationships and pedagogical practices are explored through case studies in three different New Zealand classrooms.  In each case, from video-recordings of classroom interactions, critical incidents were extracted and used to support interviews with participating teachers, students, parents and members of the wider school community.  Employing culturally responsive research methodologies, the interactions with participants were relational and dialogic.  The research found that classroom micro-interactions are pervasive and complex.  All participants, students, teachers and whānau, draw from the knowledge, understandings and positionings of the individual’s own cultural toolkits in classroom interactions.  Their cultural toolkits contain a range of factors to support learning, all of which were necessary and interdependent.  

The thesis calls for all children to receive an education that fans their inherent divine spark.  While this experience is not yet the case for all, there is opportunity in the rhetoric and structures already within New Zealand’s education system for this to occur.  Some schools and communities have begun to successfully challenge and address the prevailing theoretical and pedagogical status quo.  Therefore, there is reason for radical hope for a system-wide fanning of the divine spark in every child.

text: Fanning the divine spark: Gaining understandings of micro-interactions in New Zealand classrooms New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi was signed by representatives of Iwi Māori (Indigenous tribal groups) and the British Crown.  Inherent in the heritages of both signatory groups is the ontological positioning that children are born of greatness; carriers of the divine spark from Tama-nui-te-rā (the central sun) and created in the image of God.  Almost all New Zealand children attend school.  For some, their ongoing classroom experiences with educators fans their divine spark and works towards the realisation of their innate potential.  For others, schooling is not a positive experience and their divine spark may be neither recognised nor celebrated.  

This research explores the relationships and pedagogical practices that underpin the classroom micro-interactions experienced by children.  Children’s schooling experience is made up of small interactions in classrooms that are situated in the social, political and legal contexts of schooling.  Therefore, this research applies both a centripetal and a centrifugal examination of the macro and micro contexts of classroom interactions.  

In examining the macro-context, ontological views of the child and the theoretical frameworks that guide pedagogy are considered.  The Education Acts governing New Zealand schooling have successively contained an ontological contradiction that enforces both a factory model as the preferred means of schooling for New Zealand and a requirement to honour the Treaty of Waitangi, including the worldviews of both signatories.  I conclude that educators within the compulsory schooling sector are not provided with specific guidance on how to navigate these contradictory worldviews.  Neither ontological views of how children are perceived within the system, nor theoretical frameworks that could and should inform views of knowledge and how learning occurs, are made explicit for educators.  

At the micro-context level, relationships and pedagogical practices are explored through case studies in three different New Zealand classrooms.  In each case, from video-recordings of classroom interactions, critical incidents were extracted and used to support interviews with participating teachers, students, parents and members of the wider school community.  Employing culturally responsive research methodologies, the interactions with participants were relational and dialogic.  The research found that classroom micro-interactions are pervasive and complex.  All participants, students, teachers and whānau, draw from the knowledge, understandings and positionings of the individual’s own cultural toolkits in classroom interactions.  Their cultural toolkits contain a range of factors to support learning, all of which were necessary and interdependent.  

The thesis calls for all children to receive an education that fans their inherent divine spark.  While this experience is not yet the case for all, there is opportunity in the rhetoric and structures already within New Zealand’s education system for this to occur.  Some schools and communities have begun to successfully challenge and address the prevailing theoretical and pedagogical status quo.  Therefore, there is reason for radical hope for a system-wide fanning of the divine spark in every child.

year: 2020