Towards new understandings of learning disability

Abstract

This article highlights inherent difficulties in defining learning disability, particularly in South Africa. It traces the evolution of the category from ‘minimal brain damage’ through to the more current ‘learners with special educational needs’ and ‘learners with barriers to learning.’ Different definitions or attempts to describe the phenomenon ‘learning disability’ are reviewed. An overview of the current international research in the field is provided with particular reference to research that attempts to define learning disability. Much of this research is framed within the medical model, which has as its foundation positivism and empiricism. This results in research which is deficit-focused; in other words the focus is on pathology. A second reductionist model fragments the phenomenon of learning disability into discrete units, each of which is researched. It is suggested that, in re-thinking learning disability, the focus shifts away from the deficit, pathology based, reductionist focus currently held across disciplines.

The problem inherent in including the notion of ‘discrepancy between potential and performance’ in any definition is discussed, with particular reference to the measurement of ‘potential in South Africa's multicultural and multilingual learner population. The article ends with a proposal that there be a shift in focus to a panoptic view of the child: a view that takes in his strengths and talents. In so doing, the country may be better able to serve this growing population.

With the national shift towards inclusive education, there is a renewed focus on learners euphemistically called learners with special educational needs or the more ‘in vogue’ learners with barriers to learning. Yet what we mean when we bandy these terms about, how well we understand these learners, is questionable. The focus of this article is that sub-group of learners that educators and parents think are just not achieving as they should be achieving, despite themselves, that sub-group we identify as having ‘potential’ but not ‘performance’; that sub-group that we just cannot quite explain, we just cannot quite understand; that sub-group for whom support ranges from placement to pills to punishment!

This article critically evaluates the current understanding of the phenomenon of learning disability as it is understood in the South African context. It begins with an overview of the international research, with particular reference to the notion of definition. Thereafter, it makes comments on the term as it is used in South Africa. In conclusion, the article proposes the need for an alternative understanding of this group of learners.     

Research and policy in lifelong learning

It has long been acknowledged that adult and lifelong educators have exercised little influence over national education policies. This article addresses the issue, with particular reference to the research elements of policy advocacy. Researchers and policy‐makers are distinguished and related as communities of practice and intellectual categories of social function. It is argued that the concept ‘policy‐maker’ is too ambiguous to be of either theoretical or practical use, especially since the focus has shifted over the years away from the advocacy of adult education to the implementation of lifelong learning. Also, the concepts of both ‘policy’ and ‘research’ have undergone significant shifts of meaning, so that traditional ideas of the relation between research and policy are now outdated. We live in an age of public scepticism about the political uses to which research is put, and this also needs to be taken into account in the case of lifelong learning. Thus, the relation between research and the policy process needs to be reconceptualised in a future beyond lifelong learning in order to be meaningful, with the focus much more upon process than outcome. Only in this way could adult and lifelong educators expect to have any influence upon national policies.     

The Artist‐Led Pedagogic Process in the Contemporary Art Gallery: Developing a Meaning Making Framework

Drawing on recent research which examined how selected artist educators perceive themselves as arts practitioners and analysed how these constructions inform their pedagogy, this article proposes a framework of meaning making in the art gallery. Art practice is defined as a process of conceptual and experiential enquiry which embraces inspiration, looking, questioning, making, reflective thinking and the building of meanings. The pedagogic process instigated in the gallery resembles art practice in that artists seek to ‘teach’ skills including questioning and critical reflection and promote experiential learning. Hence artist educators function as facilitators enabling learners to engage directly with art works (which are seen to embody the knowledge of the artist creator and contribute actively to the construction of meaning), whilst sharing their knowledge through dialogic exchange. The devised Meaning Making in the Gallery (MMG) framework encapsulates the pedagogic relation‐ship between artist, learners and artworks in the gallery and proposes a model of creative teaching and learning which has potential application within cultural institutions and beyond.     

Nurturing Creativity in Education

Across continents, creativity is a priority for education and is central to the discourse on 21^st century learning. In this article, we explore how a greater focus on ‘everyday creativity’ in schools changes the dynamics of teaching and learning. We look briefly at the main concepts in the literature on creativity in education. We then focus on examples from the Centre for Creative Education's creative partnerships, which bring together educators, learners and creative professionals. This is followed by a discussion on how teachers assess learners’ creative dispositions, as well as the quality of creative processes and products. We conclude with recommendations for school-level strategies and policy and research to support learner and teacher creativity.     

Insights into teacher learning about pedagogy from an international group of teachers of students with severe intellectual disabilities

This article examines teacher professional learning about pedagogy for teachers of students with severe intellectual disabilities within broader teacher education and pedagogical frameworks for this group of learners. The article presents and discusses findings from a USA–England research project, involving classroom observations and interviews with nine teachers of students with severe intellectual disabilities from four specialist public school settings, intended to explore teachers’ pedagogical decision-making and learning. The theoretical lens of situated learning and the conceptual lens of evidence-based practice are used to contextualise and examine the teachers’ views about the what, how and when they learn about pedagogical approaches and strategies. Teachers emphasised the situated and interactional nature of their learning, particularly highlighting the personal responses of students and their relationship with these students. They use this knowledge and understanding to adapt evidence-based strategies and programmes and inform their pedagogical decisions. This affords the concepts of ‘situated generalization’ and ‘practice based evidence’ an influential role in how teachers engage in the process of pedagogical decision-making. An implication for teacher educators is the need to support teachers in making connections of new pedagogical understandings and skills with the individual learning profiles and responses of their students with severe intellectual disabilities.     

‘Learning Careers’ or ‘Assessment Careers’? The Impact of Assessment Systems on Learning

Two increasingly important strands in current educational thinking are reflected in growing interest amongst researchers, policy‐makers and qualification designers in formative assessment strategies that motivate learners and enhance their educational attainment. In addition, a body of research suggests that learners develop ‘learning careers’ from primary education, through the National Curriculum into post‐compulsory education and beyond. This article engages with this work in order to highlight some key factors in ‘learning careers’, particularly in relation to the impact of formative assessment practices. It aims to relate findings from research on formative assessment in primary and further education, carried out by the authors, to studies which use Bourdieu's notions of ‘habitus’, ‘field’, ‘cultural capital’ and ‘social capital’ to explore learning careers and learning identities in different sectors of education. The article evaluates whether the concept of ‘assessment careers’ illuminates a specific strand within young people's ‘learning careers’. In particular, it asks whether the concept might offer more precise insights about how practices produced by different assessment systems, particularly those purporting to promote formative assessment, affect learners' identities and dispositions for learning.     

Exploring the lives of non‐native speaking English educators in Sri Lanka

This paper uses in‐depth interview data to explore aspects of the lives of non‐native speaking English educators working in the state education system in Sri Lanka. In so doing the research focus is on the educators themselves and the paper will discuss such issues as: careers as English teachers—motives for entering teaching, career progression, becoming a teacher educator; professional self‐development; beliefs about teaching, learning and teacher education; and the wider socio‐educational context of English teaching in Sri Lanka. It is hoped that the paper will offer insights into the development of non‐native speaking TESOL teachers—by making more visible features of practice in particular contexts—as well as providing ‘snapshots’ of teaching and learning in state systems beyond the western world which may inform thinking more broadly about international English language teaching and learning.     

‘This baby…it isn't alive.’ Towards a community of learners for vocational orientation

The aim of this study is to contribute to the innovation of pre‐vocational education, in particular, students' orientation at possible future occupations. From our theoretical understanding, vocational orientation that makes sense to students requires them to be part of a ‘community of learners for vocational orientation’. In such a community, students are stimulated to learn deliberately while participating in vocational practices. In this article we distinguish four parameters to define a community of learners for vocational orientation. We then present the results of a collective instrumental case study into teaching‐learning processes in four classes in two pre‐vocational secondary schools. Data were collected through classroom observations, a series of interviews with teachers and students. The interviews focused on eight ‘critical incidents’ recorded during classroom observations. The results show that the parameters ‘shared learning’ and ‘meaningful learning’ are more manifest in the teaching‐learning process than ‘reflective learning’ and ‘a focus on transferable learning outcomes’. The article concludes with a discussion of the limits of working in simulated work situations in school for realizing effective pre‐vocational education.     

The problems with a ‘fact’-focused approach in environmental communication: the case of environmental risk information about tidal flat developments in Japan

One of the main approaches used in communicating environmental issues to citizens is conveying ‘factual’ information about a particular environment. However, despite previous research and recommendations made by critical environmental educators, there still seems to be a belief that the more ‘factual’ information one can convey, the more citizens will become aware of the issue, and this will prompt them to change their behaviours. In this article, I will argue that continuing with a ‘fact’-focused practice in Japan and elsewhere could be problematic for three key reasons: (1) it ignores diversity in the ‘facts’ provided to people; (2) it reinforces the ‘hierarchy of knowledge’; and (3) it ignores the ‘myth of nature’ among information receivers and senders. Key recommendations for incorporating a critical environmental education approach include utilising locally available environmental information on contentious environmental issues; investigating particular terminology used and missing information (including tacit knowledge); and encouraging critical learning about statistics and pictorial representations.     

Neoliberalism,lifelong learning,and the homeplace: problematizing the boundaries of ‘public’ and ‘private’ to explore women's learning experiences

This paper develops a critical feminist theoretical analysis of the significance of the homeplace in explaining the experiences of adult women learners. It argues that current discourses in lifelong learning are shaped by neoliberal influences that emphasize individualism, competition, and connections to the marketplace. Critical educators, drawing upon a Habermasian analysis, make some valid critiques of problems with developing an educational agenda shaped by neoliberal values, but their assessment is insufficient for explaining the persistence of gender inequalities within adult education. This is because critical theory does not adequately take up other ‘medias’ of power, such as patriarchy. A feminist lens is used to explore and complicate the perceptual divisions between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres through an examination of three focal points in the homeplace; identity, relationships, and labour. Drawing upon a social science and humanities (SSHRC) research study that looks at women's learning trajectories in Canada, and a Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) grant on women and active citizenship, examples are brought in to support the discussion. From this analysis, recommendations are made for educators, administrators, and policy makers to challenge a neoliberal agenda in lifelong learning and develop a more holistic and gender inclusive approach that troubles commonly accepted parameters of ‘public’ and ‘private’ by exploring the significance of the homeplace on adult learning experiences.     

Challenges for self‐assessment in religious education

This article explores the place of self‐assessment in religious education in the light of general research into self‐assessment, particularly as part of assessment for learning. In particular, it analyses the problems of ‘enculturation’ of learners into classroom assessment practice in religious education. The distinction between assessment of learning and assessment for learning is described and, applied to the distinction between learning about religions and learning from religion. The four types of self‐assessment are set out, with an analysis of the challenges facing teachers in getting pupils to apply common current assessment criteria to their own work. Overall, four problems arise from pupils using current assessment criteria. They are identified as: (i) the issue of ‘plasticity’, (ii) the timing of self‐assessment processes, (iii) the problem of assessment of affective qualities, and (iv) the confusion between self‐assessment and learning from religion. Finally, the implications of these problems for both further research and for pedagogy are discussed.     

Integrating teaching practice with developmental norms: the case of phonological teaching in L2

This paper highlights the crucial role of phonological instruction in early second language English learning. Although older learners can acquire grammar and vocabulary efficiently, younger learners appear to have a greater facility with the learning of sounds. Thus, it makes good sense to focus on articulatory skills for these early learners. By comparing the developmental norms in phonology between an L1 (Cantonese in this study) and an L2, detailed predictions can be provided to guide the process of early phonological instruction. It is important that the teaching of articulation should not be reduced to non‐engaging lessons that can be characterised as ‘drill and kill’. Instead, a framework for improving the articulation of children learning English as a second language is proposed. What is unique about this proposal is that it represents the first attempt in Hong Kong to specify and integrate research findings concerning developmental speech norms with existing teaching practice.     

A third approach beyond the false dichotomy between teacher- and student-centred approaches in the engineering classroom

ABSTRACT

Most of the contemporary critiques of university teaching are variants of a central argument that sets up a polarity between socalled ‘traditional’ teaching, often termed ‘teacher-centred’ and ‘transmissive’, and approaches that by contrast are considered ‘student-centred’, often also referred to with the phrase ‘active learning’. This editorial argues that it is important for engineering educators to be able to interrogate these calls for change, drawing on an informed sense of ‘evidence-based practice’ in education. Drawing on scholarship from higher education research, it is suggested that the polarity typical to these debates is actually a false dichotomy, and what is needed to foster high-quality student learning is a third approach to teaching that skillfully combines a focus on knowledge with pedagogical strategies that foster student engagement.     

Threshold concepts,systems and learning for sustainability

This paper presents a framework for understanding the role that systems theory might play in education for sustainability (EfS). It offers a sketch and critique of Land and Meyer’s notion of a ‘threshold concept’, to argue that seeing systems as a threshold concept for sustainability is useful for understanding the processes of learning for sustainability. With an understanding of systems approaches as a key part of the practice of sustainability, educators do well to focus on ways to facilitate learners’ internalisation of systems thinking through EfS. This is particularly relevant given that sustainable development requires learners to go out into the world and apply sustainability theory to create change. The capacity to do this, it is argued, depends on learners’ understanding and internalisation of the core concepts of sustainability, such as systems.     

双重乐感能力培养中的音乐教育本质认识

"双重乐感"培养在学校音乐教育中的实施,必须以教育者对学校音乐教育的本质的正确认识为首要前提条件。中国音乐教育中"双重乐感"教学,在内容方面应主要侧重于对中国各民族传统音乐文化资源(包括其中极其多元的"乐感")的重新获取,其次是对欧洲和北美以外的"非欧音乐"资源的获取。在方法论方面应主要侧重于课程设置和教材建设的本土化与特色化,对文化(音乐)人类学的"田野工作"(Field Work)方法的采纳,和大力加强学习者的多元音乐行为实践。     

Utilising creative methodologies to elicit the views of young learners with additional needs in literacy

The research described in this article aimed to explore and examine the dominant ‘assessment’ and ‘participation’ stories of upper‐primary pupils with long‐standing and marked literacy learning needs, their views on how their level of participation in the assessment and remediation of their additional needs might be increased and also how they perceive themselves as literacy learners. This qualitative small‐scale study adopted a case study approach and utilised creative methodologies in the context of focus groups to investigate sensitively the views and experiences of Key Stage 2 pupils with additional needs in literacy. The findings discussed here are based on the outcomes from the four Northern Irish schools that participated in the original cross‐border (Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland) study. Findings are discussed in the context of strategies for promoting holistic and empowering pathways for learners with additional needs in literacy.     

What is distinctive about museum pedagogy and how can museums best support learning in schools? An action research inquiry into the practice of three regional museums

It seems uncontroversial to claim that museums are unique places of interest with the potential to inspire learners, yet what this means and how it is managed are complex questions. Museum educators’ work is currently shaped by accountability requirements typically expressed as visitor targets. Centralised teaching and learning initiatives are presented as ‘good practice’. In opposition to these factors, the action research inquiry discussed here set out to enable the participants to research and reflect upon the challenges of their individual contexts, and to develop ideas for practice that were ‘bespoke’. Deliberation on particular predicaments raised important issues, such as the relationship between schools and museums; the educational value of museums to schools; and the distinctive nature of museum pedagogy. A group of museum educators began with the question: ‘How can we support teachers in integrating learning in a museum, with the school curriculum, to help raise pupil attainment’? The paper tells the story of the project and includes reflections on the use of action research as a method of personal professional development and organisational problem-solving.     

Tightrope walkers and solidarity sisters: critical workplace educators in the garment industry

This article focuses on the complex negotiations of critical workplace educators positioned amongst contradictory agendas and discourses in the workplace. While philosophically aligned with critical pedagogical agendas of transformation and collective action for workplace change, these educators perform an array of pedagogic articulations in everyday practice to secure their continued presence in the workplace. What becomes evident in these seemingly opposing articulations are various strategic political positionings of educators alongside their juggling of demands, attachments and inter‐identifications with both learners and managers. The pedagogy that emerges challenges conventional binaries of ‘transformative’ and ‘reproductive’ learning. Dynamics of transformation and liberation as well as reproduction and subjugation appear to be interlinked, along with expanding nets of social relations that blur power hierarchies and spatial boundaries, in a pedagogy that ultimately appears to mobilise hope and agency among workers. The workplace educator works a delicate balance of these dynamics to survive. The argument is based on a case study of a garment factory in Canada in which an adult education programme managed to thrive for 17 years: both workers and educators were interviewed in depth.     

Continuing professional development designed as second-order action research: work-in-progress

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to describe how Lesson Study as second-order action research can be applied and how we planned to evaluate and improve course design, learners’ progress, team members’ roles and learning objectives of a 2-year university course for English as a Second Language teachers. The article describes the concept of a Lesson Study conducted in a course for teachers with a minimum of 3 years of teaching experience, rather than for students or undergraduates as in traditional concepts of the Lesson Study approach. PFL (‘Pedagogy and Subject Didactics Programme’) is a 2-year programme consisting of three seminars and five groups meetings in which the participants focus on the reflection of their professional practice in their specific school situation. All participants are required to plan, carry out and document their own action research project. The team provides input on action research and current topics in language teaching and learning, and advises participants. The methodology follows a mixed-method approach based on action research methodologies including questionnaires, interviews and observations. Analyses are conducted qualitatively and quantitatively. The article presents the concept of the project but not yet findings at this stage due to curriculum development and approval issues.