Perceptions of competence: How parents and teachers view each other

The home-school relationship typically has been described from the perspective of mothers and teachers, disregarding fathers, and there is usually no reference to the child involved. A 22-item Parent and Teacher Attitude Questionnaire (PTAQ) was completed by the mothers (N = 150), fathers (N = 114), and teachers (N = 127) of children in grades kindergarten through five in relation to vignettes of an overreactive and underreactive child. The gender and grade in the vignettes also were varied. A factor analysis of the PTAQ demonstrated that the most salient dimensions were Teacher Competence and Parent Competence. Parent and teacher attitudes on these dimensions were compared as a function of vignette behavior type, gender, and grade, using an analysis of variance with repeated measures. The results showed that parent and teacher perceptions did not vary according to child characteristics, but there was a significant interaction between parents and teachers on the PTAQ dimensions.     

Perceptions of learning-support teachers and resource teachers of each other's role in Irish primary schools

This article reports findings from an exploratory study of how learning support and resource teachers perceive each other's role. The study was conducted during the debate on the proposed changes to allocation and deployment of support teachers, following the publication of Circular 24/03 by the Department of Education and Science. It sought to test the hypothesis that learning-support and resource teachers perceive each other's roles differently in terms of their distinctiveness, type of children they support, working arrangements and training. The findings confirmed this and the implications of this for more whole-school collaborative models of support are discussed.     

RESEARCH SECTION: Multi‐agency working: what are the perspectives of SENCos and parents regarding its development and implementation?

With a national drive in England for the development and restructuring of services encouraging interdisciplinary approaches and multi‐agency working, the question remains as to how services should be developed and why it is perceived as so important. This study by Pearl Barnes, who is an Every Child Counts Teacher Leader and a member of the Specialist Advisory Board for nasen and the Child and Family Public Education Board at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, explores the perspectives of special educational needs co‐ordinators (SENCos) and parents regarding the rationale for multi‐agency working and explores what an effective service might look like. The interviews revealed overwhelming support for multi‐agency activity. Although no single rationale was identified, the general consensus was that a multi‐agency approach can provide a child‐centred pedagogical response, tailored to the individual needs of the child. Multi‐agency working was perceived as enabling and enhancing inclusive education by providing an early and holistic assessment of individual needs through identification of all individual barriers to achievement. No specific set of protocols was identified as offering the most suitable way forward within the project region. However, there was general agreement that a multi‐agency teamwork approach, accessed directly by schools and intervening proactively within the community, was an effective way forward.     

Consultation,negotiation and compromise: the relationship between SENCos,parents and pupils with SEN

One outcome of the UK Government's commitment to inclusive educational policies was an increase in the number of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) being taught in mainstream schools. From the perspective of SENCos, this article analyses whether parents and pupils are able and willing to influence the development of SEN provision and distribution of SEN resources, both of which aim to ensure that pupils have more meaningful experiences of mainstream education. The findings of the study cast light on the power and influence of parents when it comes to SEN provision and resources, the importance of consulting parents and the ways in which parents empower SENCos to make decisions on behalf of themselves and their children. The importance of negotiating and attempting to seek a compromise with pupils was another key issue identified in the article. Ultimately, however, the power to decide where resources go and what is done with them appears to reside with SENCos.     

Seeing play for what it is: parents and professional workers together

Play is an umbrella word, which causes a serious lack of agreed focus. Amongst early childhood workers, play is thought to be of central importance. In contrast, parents and those outside this specialist field often see it as recreation, relaxation and fun. It may well not be thought to contribute anything much to the learning process.

In this article, play is seen as part of a whole network for learning. It is argued that when parents and professionals help children to activate this network, the learning is broad, deep and relevant.     

关于民族声乐发展的几点思考

目前,我国的民族声乐在快速发展的同时,也出现了中西混杂、特色模糊等问题。形成这些问题的主要原因可以归结为:民族音乐理论的边缘化,民歌在现代社会的式微,声乐教育的技术本位,对中国传统民族声乐的科学性缺乏系统总结,民间与音乐院校缺乏和谐有效的协作等。     

Assessments – and Issues – for 1992

Since last year's first full run of standard assessment tasks at Key Stage 1 was reviewed in the September 1991 issue of the journal some improvements have been made in the assessment arrangements for pupils with special educational needs but other problems remain. David Bartlett, assessment coordinator, Birmingham Education Department, who wrote last year's review and Nick Peacey, SENJIT coordinator, report the findings from a questionnaire survey and a series of conferences. They make proposals for changes.     

Mental constructions and constructions of web sites: learner and teacher points of view

This research focuses on knowledge and ways in which knowledge may be constructed in the learner's mind. Specifically, it addresses the Web as a cognitive supporter for learning, organising and constructing a new domain of knowledge. In particular, the research analyses student reflection on constructing web sites. The analysis is based on an ongoing reflection of 40 prospective and in‐service teachers who took a course on educational computational environments. The students were asked to choose a complex topic and to document the process of constructing a web site that would present their chosen topic. They were to reflect upon the process with regard to their decision making, difficulties encountered, ways of thinking, considerations and insights. Student reflection is analysed from two perspectives: the first perspective examines how the task of constructing a web site contributes to student learning of complex topics, the second perspective views the students as teachers who explore how constructing a web site contributes to their understanding of learning processes.     

Towards a model of effective school feedback: School heads' points of view

Current educational policies show a growing tendency towards giving schools more autonomy and internal quality control. Accurate and comparable data on school performances are thus needed. In Flanders, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and TIMSS-R (Third International Mathematics and Science Study – Repeat) have provided participating schools with information on their individual performances. This article begins by describing the rationale behind these school reports and their content. Based on interviews with school heads, a model for school feedback is developed, the main aim of which is to consider the conditions that have to be in place in order to make sure that a particular set of indicators can contribute effectively to quality control and improvement by the individual school. We will argue that, in order to successfully achieve that goal, the model has to meet six requirements.     

Gifted –and Handicapped?

The 'Slow learner is handicapped if left to fend for himself in the ordinary curriculum of a school' but a clever child may also be handicapped and need special provision, argues Professor N. R. Tempest, Emeritus Professor of Education, Liverpool University     

The relative importance of teaching evaluation criteria from the points of view of students and faculty

Abstract

The student evaluation of teaching (SET) tool is widely used to measure student satisfaction in institutions of higher education. A SET typically includes several criteria, which are assigned equal weights. The motivation for this research is to examine student and lecturer perceptions and the behaviour of the students (i.e. ratings given by them to lecturers) of various criteria on a SET. To this end, an analytic hierarchy process methodology was used to capture the importance (weights) of SET criteria from the points of view of students and lecturers; the students' actual ratings on the SET were then analysed. Results revealed statistically significant differences in the weights of the SET criteria; those weights differ for students and lecturers. However, analysis of 1436 SET forms of the same population revealed that, although students typically rate instructors very similarly on all criteria, they rate instructors higher on the criteria that are more important to them. The practical implications of this research is the reduction of the number of criteria on the SETs used for personnel decisions, while identifying for instructors and administrators those criteria that are perceived by students to be more important.