Muslim learners in English schools: a challenge for school leaders

Faith identity is emerging as significant for Muslim students in the post 9/11 scenario, with implications for their education and wider social cohesion. This poses challenges to school leaders, raising issues not only linked to student achievement and performance, but also with regard to students’ identity constructions and their educational engagement. The paper draws on data collected from a small number of teachers and Muslim students from two secondary schools in England, looking at how Muslim students experience their identity in the school context and with what implications for their educational engagement. It also discusses the challenges for educational leaders/teachers in managing ‘Muslimness’ on educational sites. The data indicate that the increasing engagement with faith identity can be a response to experiences of discrimination, marginalisation and negative media. The paper highlights the need for communication and understanding across differences, underpinned by an equally pressing need for the recognition of religious and cultural diversity.     

Application of Bourdieuian theory to the inclusion of students with learning/physical challenges in multicultural school settings

Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has contributed much to the way the field of sociology understands the social rules and structures that guide human interaction and self‐understanding. Bourdieu’s work has also been applied to education, and disability issues. In this paper Bourdieu’s social theory is presented and applied to the notion of inclusion in a multicultural school. This Bourdieuian perspective is applied to the literature surrounding the development of a theory of inclusion in multicultural schools. Questions and implications suggest further research into the relationship between cultural and disability issues in inclusion.     

The nature and incidence of barriers to learning among Grade Three learners in Tshwane

Abstract

A questionnaire designed to investigate the epidemiology of barriers to learning was given to the parents of 800 Grade 3 learners from 11 schools in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng Province, South Africa. This article reports on only the frequency and nature of problems as experienced by the 634 learners whose families completed the questionnaire. A differentiation was made between developmental problems noted in the pre-school stage and learning barriers identified after Grade 1 entry. Results show that 50.5 per cent of Foundation Phase learners experienced barriers described as moderate to severe difficulties or disabilities, with a fairly even gender distribution. The most commonly experienced difficulty in pre-school is concentration. While concentration and task completion are the most frequently experienced barrier in formal schooling. Attention Deficit Disorder (inattentive type) is the most frequently diagnosed disorder.     

Opportunities for inclusion? The education of learners with special educational needs and disabilities in special schools in Uganda

The Government of Uganda aims to provide good quality education for all learners in inclusive schools. However, some learners who have severe disabilities, including those who are deaf, will, for some time, continue to receive their education in special schools. In this article, Kirsten Kristensen, consultant in inclusive and special needs education for many countries in East Africa, Martin Omagor-Loican, Commissioner for Special Needs Education, Negris Onen, Principal Education Officer for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, both at the Ministry of Education in Sports in Uganda, and Daniel Okot, co-ordinator for the Diploma in Special Needs Education at Kyambogo University, provide an account of their study of 15 such schools. The findings from the study indicate a striking need for reform and transformation. While Uganda has an advanced structure for training teachers in special needs education, the quality of education and educational materials in special schools, is poor. Often children are admitted to special schools without proper assessment of their educational needs and the resources are not available to provide them with an appropriate range of experiences. The authors of this article call for a thoroughgoing review of provision and make a series of coherent and persuasive recommendations for developments in policy and practice focused on enabling special schools in Uganda to play an essential role in future as resource centres supporting an inclusive education system.     

Measuring perceptions of school learning environments for younger learners

Learning Environments Research - Students’ perceptions of the learning environment play an important role in their academic achievement and social lives. While most measures of school...     

BE COOL! a digital learning environment to challenge and socially include gifted learners

Educational technology research and development - This paper describes the development of the BE COOL! learning environment that gives all children, gifted and non-gifted, the opportunity to learn...     

From exclusion to inclusion: Collaborative work contributions to more inclusive learning settings

There have been deep changes in societies during the last decade. As a result, schools face new challenges, such as avoiding exclusion by promoting inclusion. In this paper we present the findings of our efforts to use collaborative work as a mediation tool in order to achieve more inclusive learning settings. This work starts from the assumption that learning should be seen as a communicative process. This builds on the ideas of Vygotsky, who stressed the importance of social interactions in the development of complex functions and of working in the zone of proximal development in order to promote children’s development. The study used a critical and ethnographic approach and thus peer interactions were implemented as a daily practice. Data were collected through participant observation (audio and videotaped), questionnaires, tasks inspired in projective techniques, interviews, reports, and sets of materials gathered by the teachers. The findings illuminate the role of collaboration in facilitating more positive attitudes towards academic learning and mathematics, promoting students’ socialisation, their socio-cognitive and affective development, and their school achievement.     

The collaborative apprenticeship model: Situated professional development within school settings

Professional learning is a social enterprise where peers rely on the expertise and support of one another to adopt innovative practices. Reciprocal interactions in a community of practice, where teachers take responsibility for each other's learning and development, may provide an effective means of supporting situated professional learning. We propose a collaborative apprenticeship model featuring reciprocal interactions as an approach to promote professional development, encouraging peer-teachers to serve as modelers and coaches of strategies and ideas aimed at improving instruction. collaborative apprenticeship is designed to help teachers learn and implement new teaching skills and strategies through four development phases, beginning with implementation of best practices from a mentor to the development of their own. Teachers, in turn, contribute new ideas to their teaching environment and become future mentors in order to sustain skills and strategies across a community of teachers. In addition to the model, we discuss various influences related to affect, beliefs, environment, culture, cognition, and personality that characterize the nature of reciprocal interactions in order to stimulate collaborative apprenticeship.     

Ambiguous belonging and the challenge of inclusion: parent perspectives on school membership

Boundary ambiguity occurs when members of a family are confused or uncertain regarding roles, responsibilities and subsystem configurations within the family. Research suggests that perception of boundary ambiguity is associated with family stress despite internal and external resource availability. It has been suggested that research on family boundary ambiguity be broadened beyond the family unit to the interface between family and community. This study utilised boundary ambiguity, and paradoxical dilemma as sensitising concepts to guide a secondary analysis of narrative data from interviews conducted with 28 parents of children with a range of disabilities pertaining to the interface between home and school. Findings confirmed evidence of boundary ambiguity and boundary intrusion in parents’ perception of whether the child and family were considered valued members of the school community, and in ambiguous parental role assignments, such as information gatherer, child advocate and teacher. In addition, ambiguous situations often triggered paradoxical dilemmas that affected home–school relationships.     

我省学习化乡村建设中成人开放教育学习策略

对学习者的研究是农村远程教育领域最基础、最重要的一项工作。本文在对我省农民学习需求、现代远程开放教育在农村的的发展和作用调查的基础上,对农民的学习动机、学习条件、心理特征、学习习惯等方面进行了分析,提出应采取政策导向、情感调节、资源吸引等策略使农民朋友有效利用现代远程开放教育教学平台来满足对学历教育的需求,并不断提高和改善农民的学习效果。     

The challenge of promoting self-regulated learning among primary school children with a low socioeconomic and immigrant background

The authors explore the effects of student tutoring as an approach to provide support on self-regulated learning (SRL) to fifth- and sixth-grade students with a low socioeconomic or immigrant background. In total, 401 Flemish (Belgium) students participated. A quasi-experimental study with pretest, posttest, and retention test control group design was used, combining teacher ratings, self-report questionnaires, and think-aloud protocols. The teacher rating results show a significantly positive effect from pretest to posttest for the experimental condition, but this was not maintained at the retention test. The questionnaire and think-aloud results reveal no significant effects on students’ SRL. However, differential effects depending on students’ motivational profile were found. This study illustrates the complexity of promoting SRL among primary school children with a low socioeconomic or immigrant background, recommending further research into conditions and factors influencing the effectiveness of student tutoring programs promoting SRL.     

Transfer of learning: paradoxes for learners

There are three kinds of transfer: from prior knowledge to learning, from learning to new learning, and from learning to application. The central thesis of this chapter is that all three should start from the dilemmas or paradoxes learners may have when trying to reach transfer. Six of these are described. They are finding relevant prior knowledge; the paradox of tacit knowledge; using relevant prior knowledge while learning; recognizing relevant situations and conditions; the paradox of near transfer and far transfer; and the paradoxical “what” of transfer, including learning to learn. In order to optimize transfer one needs to help learners solve the problems they encounter and to find ways out of the various dilemmas and paradoxes. For the three kinds of transfer exemplary studies are described that illustrate the kinds of solutions developed and their effectiveness.     

Perceptions of the barriers to effective inclusion in one primary school: voices of teachers and teaching assistants

This study examined the barriers to inclusion in one primary school in the north of England. Qualitative data were collected from teachers and teaching assistants through the use of a focus group. The evidence suggested that practices within the school were varied and ranged from highly inclusive to highly exclusive. Some teachers worked in good faith to develop effective inclusion for learners with special educational needs. Conversely, other teachers displayed negative attitudes towards these pupils and this impacted negatively on the school's commitment to inclusion. Lack of funding, resources and training were identified as key barriers to inclusion. Parental resistance to inclusion was also evident within the context of this school and there was a strong feeling that the inclusion agenda was problematic in the context of the standards agenda. Despite these issues there was a strong sense that practitioners should be willing to commit to the principles of inclusive education and the study considers some ways in which schools can advance their practice in this respect. Within this study the term ‘practitioner’ is used to represent teachers and teaching assistants.     

Beyond school inclusion: secondary school and preparing for labour market inclusion for young people with disabilities in Spain

Research analysing good practices in the area of labour market inclusion for people with disabilities shows that the role of the secondary school is fundamental in improving employment opportunities. The aim of this article is to analyse to what extent secondary education in Spain prepares young people with learning difficulties for later inclusion in society and the labour market. Results from studies into good practices in secondary education have established which educational characteristics to take into account for pupils' transition to working life and the need for the school to lead this process. We contrast these results with the current situation in Spain by comprehensively analysing how current secondary education is facing up to the challenges of labour market inclusion for young people with disabilities. Following this, we propose guidelines for the improvement of educational practices in secondary education so as to foster opportunities for labour market participation, from an inclusive viewpoint, for young people with learning disabilities.     

Attitudes and coping practices of using mobile phones for teaching and learning in a Uganda secondary school

This study investigated the opportunities for learning afforded by access to mobile phones, and the associated challenges created by their use in a peri-urban private secondary school in Uganda. The study was motivated by availability of phones with facilities to connect to the Internet and to access free open education resources (OERs), which if used appropriately, could support changes in pedagogy required to promote learning in rural schools in Uganda. Information was collected using interviews, observations and focus group discussions with parents, students and their teachers between June 2014 and July 2015. Results show a slow positive change in attitude amongst teachers and parents that phones are useful in learning; an increased enthusiasm and eagerness among students, and more engaging and interactive lessons. Some teachers found challenges in accessing education resources due to poor Internet connectivity, while others required skills and knowledge about appropriate OERs that promote interactive learning. The study recommends re-skilling of teachers to use mobile phones to access the Internet, use of OERs and ICT interactive pedagogies especially in schools with limited access to computers and Internet connectivity.     

Measures for inclusion: coping with the challenge of visual impairment and blindness in university undergraduate level language learning

This paper develops from previous research ( Orsini‐Jones et al., 2005 ) and reports on the experience of three students, two visually impaired and one blind, reading languages at Coventry University, on the adjustments made to meet their needs and on the challenges encountered on their learning journey both from their point of view and from the point of view of the staff involved. It focuses on three students' experience of their languages course and considers the challenges they met in each of their years of study. It concludes by evaluating these students' language learning journey at Coventry University, reporting on their feedback on their experience and on whether or not they feel that staff have successfully catered for their individual needs. It is argued here, as in the previous related work ( Orsini‐Jones, et al., 2005 ) that ‘there still exists some tension between the reasonable anticipatory adjustments that lecturers can put in place and the necessary ad hoc ones that will be needed for a disabled student with very specific needs’.     

Leadership and inclusion: a special school perspective

In July 2002, the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) held a 'Leading Edge' seminar focused on the contribution that leaders in special schools can make to the development of Inclusive policies and practices. The day gave colleagues working in specialist contexts an opportunity to share examples and experiences of current initiatives and to speculate about future trends and developments in inclusive education. In this article, Robin Attfield and Chris Williams, Assistant Directors in Programmes and Research respectively at the NCSL, explore the context in which the seminar took place and some of the themes and issues that emerged from discussion on the day. At the end of their paper, they summarise the key messages that the special school leaders who attended the seminar wished to communicate to a wider audience and articulate a further role for leaders in special schools in the development of inclusion.     

Autistic spectrum disorders: a challenge and a model for inclusion in education

Rita Jordan, Professor in Autism Studies at the School of Education, University of Birmingham, gave last year's Gulliford Lecture at the University of Birmingham on 4 October 2007. This article is based upon that lecture. In it, Professor Jordan discusses the role of education in the lives of people with autistic spectrum disorders. She traces the growth in our knowledge about autistic spectrum disorders and the development of a variety of ways of responding to autism, from the highly specialised, and frequently strictly segregated, to the explicitly inclusive. She uses her analysis to draw distinctions between 'therapeutic' models of education and education as 'entitlement'– and identifies problems with either paradigm. Professor Jordan closes her article by setting out her vision for a future in which there is greater flexibility and diversity and in which specialisation has a key role to play in making inclusion a working reality. The challenge of teaching pupils with autistic spectrum disorders will, argues Professor Jordan, help us all to imagine a truly inclusive model for education in which equity is achieved by treating all learners differently.