A developing educational psychology service work-allocation model

As UK governments continue with the economic policy of deficit reduction from 2010, many Local Authorities’ (LAs) Educational Psychology Services (EPSs) have begun to develop “traded” models of service delivery in order to maintain jobs and secure services. Nevertheless, EPSs still provide a core service delivery to schools, settings and geographical patches for statutory and pre-statutory work, which needs to be equitably distributed within the team to apportion demands and workloads. This article will discuss how a work-allocation model has developed in recent years, with reference to case studies from three diverse LAs.     

From Dual-mode to Flexible Delivery; Paradoxical Transitions in Australian Open and Distance Education

Distance education has been a fundamental element of Australian education from early in the 20th century. The prevailing practice in higher education has been to have dual-mode organizations. This has led to some paradoxes unfolding in the recent history of Australian distance education that are grounded in the history and politics of the development of educational institutions and systems. Dual-mode institutions developed in Australia only partly because they suited the geographical and demographic circumstances of a new and developing nation. Rather, distance education often was added as a means of supporting the viability of small, on-campus institutions that had been established for party political expediency in favored rural towns. Attempts by governments in recent years to “rationalize” distance education provision have produced a paradoxical position where “distance education” and “dual-mode” are less frequently used terms, and yet the practices and systems embedded in both terms have flourished under the guise of “flexible delivery.” “Flexible delivery” brings with it some new connotations and practices that reflect the domination of economic rationalist ideologies.     

Evaluation of special service delivery systems: An organizational domain-referenced approach

An organizational, domain-referenced approach to evaluation of public school special service delivery systems is offered. Derived from organizational and systems theory, related research in these areas, and the author's experience in special service delivery system evaluation, the framework focuses on the process of service delivery and is seen as useful to the improvement of service delivery within the context of Public Law 94–142. The paper delineates an organizational conception of a “School-Based Special Service Delivery System,” identifies several “Systemic Domains” in which evaluation can occur, outlines evaluation questions, methods, and procedures relative to each domain, and specifies evaluation information derived from evaluation in each domain. The paper is presented for consideration by school professionals with the hope that it can be adapted by them to their local circumstances.     

Using Peers as Trainers to Increase an Autistic Child's Social Interactions

This report presents a data‐based intervention designed t o increase the social interactions between an autistic boy and his nondisabled peers. A “loose training” prompting tactic was used to teach the child to initiate to the peers. After several training sessions the autistic child increased his spontaneous interactions (a) with the training peers in non‐training, generalizationsessions and (b) with non‐training peersin the generalization sessions. The results show promise for the discovery and implementation of generalization tactics that promote the social integration of disabled and nondisabled children.     

The Regular Education Initiative in the U.S.: What Is Its Relevance to the Integration Movement in Australia?

A NEW THRUST for the integration of students with a mild disability has been initiated by special education scholars and Federal government officials in the U.S. The “regular education initiative” is based upon the assumption that mildly disabled students’ educational and social needs can be better served in regular education settings. Proponents of the regular education initiative are seeking “waivers for performance” that would allow school districts to experiment with alternative service delivery models and the allocation of resources without being Financially penalized under the current funding systems. Critics argue that the strength of the research base used to support REI is insufficient to warrant wholesale changes in current service delivery systems. They are sceptical of the argument that REI type programs can eliminate the effects of labeling by better integrating students who need supplemental educational resources. An analysis of the REI proposals and their conceptual relevance to the Australian context is presented.     

Reinforcing the Empty Fortress: an examination of recent research into the treatment of autism

Infantile autism was first diagnosed by Kanner, when he described a group of children as having “autistic disturbances of affective contact”. His 12 characteristics of autism are still influential today. There is little agreement among professionals of an aetiology for autism or of an appropriate treatment. Different schools of thought have dominated autistic research in the past, although behaviour modification has become more influential during the last 20 years and it is arguably the most effective form of intervention. The different approaches towards an aetiology and subsequent treatment for autism have all encountered problems. The existence of so many different approaches could be evidence for the lack of success in any one area. Behaviour modification is one approach which can claim consistent successes in terms of the treatment of autistic children. It may not be a permanent answer but, in the absence of further research, behaviour modification could provide the best method of alleviation for the symptoms of autism and can be put to good use in intervention programmes.     

How classmates interact with an autistic child in a mainstream class

ABSTRACT

In Italy, Law 517 has since 1977 sanctioned the right for all children to attend ordinary schools in normal classes, reduced in number (maximum 20). Integration has been particularly difficult with children affected by various forms of autistic behaviour. In this paper, we shall study the interactive process that has gone on in two of the ten classes of a primary school where ten autistic children have been integrated, each in a different class. The study has been conducted through observation of interaction in the classes, Moreno's sociometric approach and the psycholinguistic analysis of fairy tales written by classmates on the autistic child, compared with ones written on a classmate of their own choice. The autistic child has an average sociometric status (i.e. he is chosen by an average number of classmates who are very popular in the group). Moreover, observation shows that very vulnerable children with fear of confusion of their own identity reject or imitate the autistic children, while bright, well‐adapted and emotionally rich children interact with them in different ways (listening, teaching). These last children in fact observe their autistic schoolmate and try to explain his symptoms and to propose therapies for the disorder. They have also a clear representation of the disorder and its symptoms.     

基于移动互联网的图书借阅新模式

“移动图书馆+”图书借阅服务是跨界融合移动检索、移动阅读、移动借还和图书配送业务,重构和优化图书检索、移动阅读、图书借还服务流程,实现图书线上移动阅读和借还,线下快速配送的图书借阅O2O服务。另外,还提出建立内容丰富的微书库、提高线下图书配送效率、提升馆员和用户的信息素养,保障“移动图书馆+”图书借阅服务顺利开展。     

Migrants and the language of instruction: Is the EU policy deficit driving new innovations in social inclusion?

Language learning has long been seen as an important tool for achieving European Union (EU) targets for social inclusion. However, “mainstream” policy instruments like the Action Plan on Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity and the European Charter for Minority Languages have been undermined in recent years by the effects of the global financial crisis, which has contributed to the widespread decimation of welfare budgets in many EU member states. This has been accompanied by the increasing influence of a “neo-liberal” discourse in welfare and social service policies and practices, leading to the delegation of responsibility for service provision from central, regional and local government to commercial enterprises, civil society and, ultimately, to citizens themselves. At the same time, the gaps in service provision that have resulted from this “financial crisis” have opened up new opportunities for social innovators. New kinds of organisations are beginning to develop and apply new approaches using language learning to deliver innovative services aimed, for example, at supporting the integration of immigrants in society. Using case study analysis, this paper explores how these new approaches have developed, what kinds of innovation are being delivered and the contribution these social innovations are making to broader EU social inclusion objectives.     

Neuroqueerness as Fugitive Practice: Reading Against the Grain of Applied Behavioral Analysis Scholarship

In its relatively short lifespan, applied behavioral analysis—the shaping of human behavior through operant conditioning—has risen to a state of eminence in the teaching and treatment of autistic children. This article reads the archive of behaviorist scholarship with and against the grain to two ends. First, I argue that behaviorism is a prevailing form of what gender studies scholar Kyla Schuller terms biophilanthropy, a form of biopolitics in which the technologies of control are rebranded as philanthropic ventures. I use biopolitics to demonstrate how inclusion into the capitalist society marks some (the includable) for life and some (the nonincludable) for (social) death, and some for violence aimed at recuperating the normative future. I use a case study from the corpus of behaviorist scholarship, “Effects of Punishment Procedures on the Self-Stimulatory Behavior of an Autistic Child,” to demonstrate how futurity is leveraged to seduce the teacher into the biopolitical project. My second use of this archive is to engage in a critical rereading of the text, locating moments of embodied resistance by the subject of the experiment. I make critical connections between the overlooked resistances within the archive of behaviorism and place these fugitive practices in continuity with contemporary notions of “neuroqueer(ing)” theorized by autistic scholars and activists.     

A GROUP FAMILY HOLIDAY : AN INNOVATION IN THE THERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE AUTISTIC CHILD

Three “family holiday workshop” projects which are thought to be unique, have been described. In each instance the participants were eleven families, each having an autistic child, a professional consultant, and voluntary helpers. It would seem from follow‐up investigations that the family holiday workshop served the purpose for which it was originally designed, namely, to bring together families of autistic children in an effort to dispel the feeling of isolation and futility in coping with the problem of their bewildering handicapped child; to meet those needs which cannot appropriately be handled in a clinic‐‐such as providing a holiday for all members of the family; and to make available advice and assistance about their child's needs and practical ways of management. The project is evaluation in the light of its relevance in the overall management of any handicapped child.     

Case Study on the Implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in an Alternative Educational Setting

School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) can effectively reduce problem behaviors and simultaneously increase pro-social behaviors in general education settings. SW-PBIS is not a “packaged” intervention, but a framework through which schools create systemic changes for promoting expected behaviors, while also monitoring and intervening with students who have behavior concerns through a tiered model of service delivery. A case study documenting the SW-PBIS implementation process in an alternative educational setting is presented. Alternative schools typically serve students who qualify to receive special education services, have a lower staff-to-student ratio, and often warrant more intensive student interventions as compared to general education settings. These differences from traditional environments pose unique challenges to the SW-PBIS implementation process. Suggestions for neutralizing these challenges such as providing enhanced Tier 1 supports and extensive staff training are explained in depth in this case study.     

Stichwort: Familie, Peers und (informelle) Bildung im Kindes- und Jugendalter

The importance of non-school educational stimuli which arise in “normal” everyday life (mainly through experience and “learning from life”) and the contribution of such stimuli to the educational development of young people are often underestimated. The educational value of the widely differing casual educational structures in family and peer relationships is often not fully appreciated in educational research until such structures are combined with formal school education. So far, researchers have only just begun to explore the value of informal education and to venture beyond the “traditional” limitation of empirical educational research in Germany to formal, institutionally organised education and competence acquisition processes for pupils. In recent years, attention has not only been directed towards the family as an independent place of education—studies have also focused on real life informal interaction situations in peer relationships and their importance as significant educational factors in the context of unsupervised child daytime activities. The researchers tend to regard the family as a “different type of educational sphere” and peer relationships as social interactions between equals with considerable educational potential, involving social and cultural exchange processes which constitute “everyday education” and which differ in their effects depending on the milieu. In view of the enormous differences in the way in which children and young people are integrated into family and peer-based everyday situations, it is important to point out the high educational significance of family and peer relationships for informal education, and this must always be analysed in relation to the social milieu of the family of origin and the type of school attended by the young people. The existing research initiatives and results are discussed here in relation to various research questions. The varied considerations in relation to the significance and impact of peer relationships and the existing approaches adopted in research serve as a starting point for further suggestions for future research, and these desirable new directions in research are then discussed from a theoretical and methodological perspective.     

常用词“疾病”的历史来源考辨

“疾”、“病”和“疾病”的各种意义在先秦文献中都已出现,没有时间上的明显先后。“疾”和“病”在表示“疾病”义时也无意义上的差别,同义并列不构成句法上的并列关系,即“疾病”不能构成并列短语。“病”由“困苦”引申为引发困苦之一的“疾病”义,二者的意义联系也很紧密。因此,名词“疾病”是通过词法途径并列两个同义单音词形成的,与同形的主谓短语不具有衍生关系。     

Degree Upgrades: A New Service,a New Market and a New Strategy for Higher Education

ABSTRACT

A proposed new educational service, the degree upgrade, is targeted toward a new market segment for higher education, graduates who are not seeking advanced degrees. The degree upgrade is accompanied by a new marketing strategy that attempts to build a continuing relationship with the new segment of graduates. Several advantages are achieved by the combined targeting strategy and the upgrade concept, (1) In combination, degree upgrades and the new targeting strategy aim at a sizable market segment that has not been effectively targeted in the past. (2) Economic benefits are strong because the service and strategy builds a continuous and increasing demand for educational services from a market segment that steadily increases in size. (3) The service and strategy redefines traditional concepts of “Lifelong Learning” and “Continuing Education” and suggests the upgrade concept creates more urgency among target market members. The purpose of this discussion is to initiate dialogue about the new service and strategy. Many questions are raised; some are unanswered.     

大学与中小学伙伴合作的百年历程与时代审视

我国大学与中小学伙伴合作可追溯至20世纪初,大学以"附属中小学校"形式开展的合作,历经了萌芽期、缓慢发展期、稳步发展期、本土探索期以及转型深化期的百年历程,促使学校发展方式从"各自为政"走向"伙伴合作"、教师专业发展从"数量扩张"走向"质量提升"、课程建设由"固守传统"走向"推陈出新"、课堂变革从"教学中心"走向"研究中心"。同时,也面临着大学与中小学不同文化取向的冲突、不同生态取向的冲突以及不同利益需求的冲突等衍生的困境。从新时代赋予学校发展的使命来看,走向"创生"是伙伴合作的生态模式、文化融合是伙伴合作的发展取向、跨界合作是伙伴合作的行动路径、构建共同愿景是伙伴合作的时代价值。     

The Knowledge Arena as an Extension to the Concept Map: Reflection in Action

The concept map is becoming a ubiquitous tool in education. In recent years there has been a growing interest in “diagramming” or “mapping” ideas to be learned (e.g., Jonassen et al., 1998). The approach has been championed by study skills proponents such as Buzan (1993). Maps of concepts and relationships have been used by many researchers and practitioners to help diagnose misunderstanding, improve study methods and glimpse how learners come to know. In other areas, the representation of knowledge in formalisms such as the Net greatly assisted the development of intelligent tutoring systems (e.g., Sowa, 1983). In order to better understand the claims made for its efficacy, reference to how concept maps have been used and defined will lead to a plausible explanation of the process of “off–loading” of concepts during learning or study (McAleese, 1994, 1998). In order to demonstrate the widespread application of supporting learn ers with external “learning spaces” (c.f. ISLEs/ and REALs—Grabinger et al., 1998; Grabinger & Dunlap, 1995; MacFarlane, 1993), consideration will be given in this paper to techniques that formally represent knowledge in Concept–Relationship–Concept “instances” (Fisher et al., 1990). Other techniques such as reflection journals draw on the same process but are not considered in detail here. The importance of self regulation (Zimmerman, 1990) and self-confrontation (McAleese, 1985) is highlighted in this framework. The map as a mirror or an assistant to learners is well documented (e.g., Vizcarro & Leon, 1998); the question of an external representation of thinking, in the form of a map determining what can be learned as well as what might be learned, is not yet fully known.     

‘THOMAS’ Training: An early years intervention for children with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)

The ‘THOMAS’ course (The Hampshire Outline for Meeting the needs of under fives on the Autistic Spectrum) is a four‐day training programme to enhance the learning of young children with impairments in social understanding, communication and play by increasing the use of appropriate interventions. It has been supporting families and professionals in the early years settings for over five years and feedback has been exceptionally positive. This article reviews the extent to which training skills have been embedded in the long‐term. Results indicate that the training is still as effective a year on, with many techniques, including visual structure and behaviour management, seen as highly effective interventions. Furthermore, there is an indication that course participants may experience an increase in confidence that enables them to become more independent and generate their own solutions as skills and knowledge become embedded over time.     

Globalization or re-colonization: higher education reforms in Hong Kong

Over the past few decades, the process of globalization had unquestionably caused a paradigm shift in the philosophy of governance. The shift from the welfare state to competitive state has enabled the government to rollback as a service provider and to control the services rendered by various service providers by “steering at a distance”. With the emphasis given to accountability, effectiveness, efficiency and economy, the core elements of “New Public Management” or “corporate managerialism”, the public sector is now managed in line with such notions. Higher education, similar to other major public policies, is now governed by market ideologies and the corporate discourse of efficiency and effectiveness. This paper discusses the theme of “globalization or re-colonization” by examining how three major areas of higher education reforms in Hong Kong, namely, teaching, research and management, have been affected by the global tide of managerialism. It is argued that instead of being “hollowed out”, states will continue to respond to globalization in different ways that ensure their ability to govern the public service sectors like higher education. The authors believe that if we solely follow the global practices and ideologies without developing our own unique systems, we would be entering an era of “re-colonization”.     

Experiences of parents whose children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are starting primary school

Starting school is a critical event in a child’s life and successful transitions to school have been posited as key indicators for future academic achievement. For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the process is complicated by difficulties in social communication and social interaction. Parents of children with ASD can experience their child’s transition to school as a stressful and challenging time. In this study a qualitative methodology, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), was used to elicit the experiences and perceptions of six parents whose children with ASD were starting school in Ireland. Semi-structured interviews were carried out and a cross-case analysis was conducted. Three common overarching themes were identified which reflected participants’ experiences of the transition process; these were (a) “I think they need to believe, believe what we’re telling them”, (b) “Experience of ASD/it’s a very labelling thing”, and (c) “Preparing for school and feelings about the future”. Implications from the research are discussed with reference to the role of the educational psychologist (EP) in supporting parents of children with ASD in the transition process.