Pupil involvement in special educational needs disagreement resolution: a parental perspective

Recent international and Governmental policy has identified the need for all public services and professionals involved with children to take into account the children's views, needs and wishes, when making decisions about their care and educational provision. This is of particular importance in the context of special educational needs disagreement resolution. This article reports on a small scale preliminary study carried out in January 2004, focusing upon parental perspectives of pupil involvement in SEN disagreement resolution. Ten parents of children with SEN were interviewed using a semi‐structured interview schedule, addressing their experience of the disagreement resolution process and the extent and nature to which their child was involved. Whilst it is acknowledged that the sample in this study was small, and thus may be regarded as tentative and preliminary, a thematic analysis of the content of the interviews indicated that children are not directly involved in informal disagreement resolution meetings. Most notably the parents report that they are unclear about the process and rules about directly involving children. Where children are involved, their views are given indirectly and in most cases their views are only presented by the parents. The authors make several recommendations for enhancing pupil participation in SEN mediation arrangements including, making the overall process more transparent and perhaps having a child advocate who could ensure that the child's views are represented in a way that is suitable to the particular needs of each child.     

Parental Involvement in Children’s Learning: The Case of Cochlear Implantation—Parents as Educators?

Extensive research emphasises the importance of parental involvement for children’s learning and academic achievement. This paper reports from a Norwegian study researching parents’ experiences on follow-up after their child’s cochlear implantation. Within this context, parental involvement is suggested to be of major importance for the child’s language learning. The study explores the parents’ talk on their involvement in the child’s language after implantation. Data consist of 27 written parental accounts and interviews with 14 of these parents. The analysis shows the parents’ extensive involvement in the child’s language learning. The study brings into conversation how understandings of learning influence parental involvement, leading to implications for the parents and children involved. It addresses a need for debate on how parents can support children’s learning, whilst avoiding parenthood becoming a series of educational tasks.     

What comes after compulsory education? A follow‐up study on parental expectations of their child’s future education

This paper examines the contribution of parents’ education and children’s gender on parental expectations of their children’s future education and the role of parental perceptions of their child’s competencies in the formation of their expectations. A group of university and vocationally educated parents (N = 418) were asked to estimate the probability of their child entering gymnasium (high school) or vocational education and assess the child’s competencies, first in preschool, and then at the end of the third school year. It was found that the education and gender‐bound differences in the parental expectations were established before the child entered school, and by the end of the third school year the relationships between expectations and competence assessments strengthened and were more uniform among the parents. The findings suggested that the parental assessments of their child’s abilities can be regarded as a potentially important social‐psychological process through which social differences are transformed into the individualized interpretations of the child’s educational prospects.     

Parental educational involvement conceived as the arrangement of contingency operations

This study explored the utility of a conception of parental educational involvement as the arrangement of contingency operations that normatively change: the frequency of children’s school‐related behaviour, the reinforcing potency of stimuli produced by studying, and children’s tendencies to request parental intervention. A child‐report measure of parental contingency use was developed and administered to 1520 schoolchildren (Grades Four to Six). An exploratory factor analysis revealed three internally consistent dimensions of parental practices: use of punishment and negative reinforcement contingencies; use of positive reinforcement contingencies; and non‐responsiveness to children’s requests for educational intervention. Frequencies of use of punishment/negative reinforcement contingencies and of parental non‐responsiveness were inversely correlated with use of positive reinforcement contingencies and with teacher’s reports of children’s achievement. These scales might therefore identify parents whose current educational practices are likely to be less than optimally effective, so that they might be helped to intervene more beneficially in their children’s academic affairs.     

Will my child ever go to a university? The link between school segregation practices and Norwegian parents’ expectations for their physically disabled child

How parents perceive their children's educational prospects can reveal a great deal about how their children will progress in the educational system. The paper examines the consequences of variations in inclusive education practices by investigating determinants of parents’ educational expectations for their child. All parents included in the study had children with physical disabilities in primary school (mainly cerebral palsy and spina bifida). The empirical material includes results from a survey (Net sample = 491), in combination with information merged from a range of official registers. The results showed that the more the child is segregated from ordinary classroom education, the lower parental expectations are for their children's educational attainments. Other factors also significantly influencing parents’ educational expectations include how parents’ view their child's school performance, as well as various measures of the severity of the child's physical disability. However, these secondary factors could not account for the empirically strong association between segregation practices and parental expectations. Parental expectations were also significantly related to parental income and education. The findings indicate that the expectations of parents with higher income and education are less affected by school segregation practices.     

Peter’s story: reconceptualising the UK SEN system

This paper addresses the broad question of whether or not the UK SEN system works from the perspective of the parent and the child, at the moment when a need first becomes apparent. The sparse literature on this topic suggests parental experiences may differ substantially, but there is growing evidence from small‐scale studies that parents are unhappy with the situation and children’s needs are not being met. The findings of a longitudinal participant observation study are presented. It is argued that current conceptualisations of the SEN system are located exclusively or primarily within the educational domain and fail to take into account the full complexity of the system. To access support via the SEN system, a child and his/her parents have to interact within three distinct domains: educational, legal and medical, and in each of which the child occupies a qualitatively different space as “pupil”, “case” and “patient”. There is scope for errors and failings to occur within each domain, at multiple levels, and in the interstices between domains. Furthermore, at all levels, the system has both formal and informal dimensions. We argue that this alternative “whole systems” perspective on the SEN system transcends current conceptualisations and that existing “solutions” proposed to improve the SEN system will not work unless they take into account these complex dynamics.     

Enriching intimacy: the role of the emotional in the ‘resourcing’ of middle‐class children

This paper analyses qualitative interviews conducted with Norwegian middle‐class parents. It explores how a particular type of intimacy – an enriching intimacy – is produced as part of everyday parent–child interactions and considers the notion of the social self that spurs middle‐class parents to seek this very type of intimacy with their child. By so doing it adds to the growing field of research on middle‐class parents’ child‐rearing strategies and the role these strategies play in the ‘resourcing’ of middle‐class children. The relevance of the dimension of intimacy for studies on the parental effect on children’s school achievement is discussed.     

Boys as only‐children and girls as only‐children—parental gendered expectations of the only‐child in the nuclear Chinese family in present‐day China

Studies on the effect of only‐child status on girls’ education indicate that the only‐child policy has had an unintended consequence of engendering a child‐centered culture with a strong belief and shared interest among the urban community in educating the only‐child regardless of the child’s sex. As the distribution of education by sex is frequently argued to be a key determinant for gender inequality, this finding seems to carry an unquestioned message that gender equality has been largely achieved for the only‐child generation. So far, however, few studies have examined parental gender‐specific expectations for their only children as an important factor in preparing boys and girls for their different school and social experiences. Based on data collected through semi‐structured interviews with 20 families in north China, this paper explores parental gender‐specific expectations of their only‐children. Parents’ SES is also considered in order to see how class may interact with gender in parents’ expectations for boys and girls as only‐children. The study reveals patterns of differences in parental expectations based on gender, and to a lesser degree, class. The author argues that it would be over‐optimistic to believe that only‐child status and the equally high academic aspirations parents hold for boys and girls have done away with all the deep‐rooted factors against gender equality in Chinese society. Drawing on Bourdieu’s social theory, the author discusses the implications of the findings and provides suggestions for policy efforts and further research.     

Attitudes of Greek parents of primary school children without special educational needs to inclusion

Successful inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN) in school settings depends largely on the attitudes of parents of peers without SEN. The purpose of the present study was to explore the attitudes of Greek parents of primary school children without SEN towards inclusion. The participants were 338 parents (182 fathers, 156 mothers), aged 27 to 58 years (mean age = 39 years and 5 months). They were asked to complete the My thinking about inclusion scale and a further short questionnaire. The findings revealed that Greek parents of primary school children not identified as having SEN had an overall positive attitude towards inclusion. Gender differences were also established—fathers held more positive attitudes towards inclusion than mothers, even when controlling for age, educational level and the presence of a child with SEN in their child’s classroom. However, mothers were overall more willing than fathers to engage themselves and their child in interaction with a child with SEN.     

Home-based parental involvement amongst Pakistani families in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

Ethnic minority parents often appear to be less involved in school functions and activities than their culturally dominant counterparts. Their invisibility is usually assumed due to a lack of either interest or parental capacity to oversee their children’s education. However, the simplistic equation between parental involvement in children’s education and their participation in school is largely informed by middle-class cultural norms that ignore diversity. Data drawn from home visits and in-depth, semi-structured interviews amongst Pakistani parents and children in Hong Kong reveals that the involvement of these parents only seems less visible because it is largely based at home rather than in schools. The parental involvement of this ethnic minority is influenced by socio-economic and cultural factors that separate school from home, divide parental responsibilities by gender, and set expectations for children with primary reference to the parents’ own experiences. These research findings on how such characteristics shape the outcomes of parental involvement can inform school practices to build more effective home-school collaboration and enhance children’s academic achievement.     

Psychosocial Determinants of Parental Support Behaviours Enabling Sport Participation among Children with a Physical Impairment: A literature review and research agenda

Children with physical impairments have low rates of physical activity when compared to children without impairments. Given the benefits that result from sport, improving participation rates among children with physical impairments is essential. Parents have a critical role in supporting their child’s involvement in sport. The purpose of this article was to review research regarding psychosocial factors that determine parental support of sport participation for their child with a physical impairment, and present recommendations for future research. This will be done in two parts: first, a critical investigation of current literature using the Health Action Process Approach as a framework; and second, the presentation of a research agenda. By meeting our recommendations and developing knowledge on the determinants of parents’ decision to promote sport for their child with a physical impairment, researchers could fill gaps in the literature and may aid in improving sport participation for children with physical impairments.     

Parents’ perceptions of their child’s resilience and competencies

This study examined parental views of their child’s educability through the parents’ perceptions of their child’s resilience. The purposes of the study were: (1) to examine psychometric properties of the rating scale created to measure parental views of their child’s educational and psychological resilience, (2) to explore whether the parents’ views of the child’s resilience were related to their notions of the child’s competencies and (3) to examine how parents’ perceptions of their child’s resilience were related to the parent’s social position and the child’s gender. Data were collected by questionnaire from the parents of fifth-grade children (N=391). The parental rating scale consisted of three dimensions of resilience, all with satisfactory reliability. Parents’ views of their child’s resilience were related to their perceptions of child’s abilities and school success, suggesting that the parental rating scale had concurrent validity. The results also indicated that parents’ views of their child’s resilience were related to their gender and education and to the child’s gender. Furthermore, parents’ views of their child’s educational resilience, based on parents’ trust in their child’s internal capacities, were related to the parental definition of their child’s cognitive-verbal competencies, in particular.     

The Home Literacy Environment and Preschool Children's Reading Skills and Interest

Research Findings: This study explored the association between the home literacy environment (HLE), conceptualized as comprising parents’ reading beliefs and home literacy practices, and preschoolers’ reading skills and reading interest. It also identified factors in the HLE that predict emerging reading competence and motivation to read. A total of 193 children age 6 years from 14 preschools across Singapore and their parents participated in the study. The parents completed a reading belief inventory, a family literacy activity inventory, and a demographic questionnaire that surveyed the child's reading interest. The children were administered a battery of standardized literacy tests. The study found a moderate relationship between the HLE and children's reading competencies and a strong relationship between the HLE and children's reading interest. When parents’ education level and children's age were controlled, hierarchical multiple regression analyses found that family literacy activities contributed more unique variance to children's reading outcomes and reading interest than did parents’ reading beliefs. Active parental involvement was the strongest component of the HLE, with parent–child engagement in reading and writing emerging as the best predictor of both the child's emerging reading skills and reading interest. With respect to reading beliefs, parents’ efficacy in supporting literacy development before their child attended school positively predicted reading competence, as did parents’ affect and verbal participation in fostering reading interest. However, verbal participation negatively predicted Singapore children's reading competence. Practice or Policy: The implications of the results were discussed.     

Parental Influence on Physical Activity of Children with Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to identify parental influences on physical activity behaviours of children with disabilities. One hundred and forty-eight parents of children with disabilities responded to a survey about factors related to parent and child physical activity, parental support and belief in their child’s abilities regarding physical activity. The results of multiple regression revealed that parents’ perceived competence of their child’s physical ability and parental support were the key factors of promoting physical activity behaviours of children with disabilities. Findings from this study should be utilised to inform parents on the ways that they can be most helpful for improving the physical activity experiences of their children.     

Evaluating Children’s Participation in SEN Procedures: Lessons for educational psychologists

This paper reports the findings from a study of the participation of children with special educational needs (SEN) in decision‐making about their needs in a sample of mainstream schools which were self‐selected for having promising practices. The findings show promising practices in eliciting views, the importance of a school participation ethos and inconsistencies between policy and practices. The study also illustrates the complexity and challenge of consulting and sharing decision making with children and young people. The outcomes are discussed in terms of educational psychologists becoming involved in research and in supporting whole school developments of participation practices.     

Perceptions of school: parents of children enrolled and not enrolled in the Swedish special education programme—a longitudinal approach

The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of parents in Sweden of children with special education needs, including whether perceptions varied with regard to the child’s age, diagnosis or placement. The parents’ general perception of their degree of effort to influence their child’s education, as well as their perceived degree of influence, were analysed. The findings demonstrated relationships between child’s age and parental perceptions, suggesting that parents of older children with special education needs, regardless of diagnosis or placement, do not want to disengage themselves from their child’s education. The results also revealed that placement affected parental perceptions of their child’s school situation, with parents of children enrolled in the special education programme being more satisfied with their relationship to school and the teachers’ knowledge than parents whose children were not enrolled. Findings also revealed positive correlations between parents’ perceived degree of effort and their perception of having influenced their child’s school situation. The results are discussed in terms of improving family–school linkages within a systems framework.     

Children’s risk‐taking behaviour: implications for early childhood policy and practice

The safety of children as they learn and develop is of prime concern for parents, teachers and legislators alike. Legislation governing the provision of early childhood services provides guidelines and procedures for reducing the likelihood of children being exposed to injuries and unsafe environments. Such strategies, however, only take account of aspects of the physical environment that can be manipulated to ensure the safety of children and do not consider those aspects of the individual child’s behaviour that may contribute to unintentional injury. One such factor is children’s risk‐taking behaviour. The paper presents a critical review of current risk‐taking literature. Components of risk taking, including sensation seeking and optimism bias, and contributory factors such as gender, temperament, and parent socialization practices are examined in light of the current legislative and accountability documents relating to the provision of early childhood services in the Australian state of New South Wales. The aim is to explore the role that these factors play in reducing children’s exposure to risk and to identify directions for future research.     

The influence of child,family, home factors and pre‐school education on the identification of special educational needs at age 10

The early identification of young children's special educational needs (SEN), as well as the development of specific strategies to support those children identified with special needs, are increasingly recognised as crucial to facilitating good adjustment to school and to ensuring that such children are helped to reach their full potential in education. Using a large national sample of young children in England whose developmental progress was followed up from pre‐school, this study investigates which child, family, home and pre‐school factors can be viewed as risk or protective factors for later SEN‐status at age 10. The experience of high‐quality pre‐school education is shown to reduce the likelihood of a child being identified as experiencing SEN in the long run. Teachers’ assessments of SEN are found to be strongly related to children's reading and mathematics attainment, but other factors also predict SEN, including a child's age within a year group.