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.     

Students with special needs and 1:1 computing: a teacher's perspective

To better understand the growing trend of 1:1 learning, researchers conducted an evaluation of a laptop initiative in 18 North Carolina high schools. The goal of the study was to provide information about the value of the initiative to enhance student learning, as well as to identify challenges to the successful implementation of 1:1 programs, strategies for meeting those challenges, and services and supports needed to enable successful programs throughout the state. This paper focuses on ways in which the initiative enhanced the learning experiences of students with disabilities in areas such as communication, reading ability, assessment, organisation and confidence. Data sources include teacher, student and administrator focus groups, which enable scholars to gain an array of insight regarding technology initiatives and students with special needs. Implications for educators and administrators are discussed.     

需求分析视域下大学英语教学改革研究

随着经济全球化的迅猛发展,国内的合资、外资企业的数量越来越多,它们对中国经济的快速增长作出了巨大的贡献。转型发展背景下,如何根据社会用人需求和高校发展需求进行大学英语教学改革,以满足社会对应用技术型人才的需求是迫切需要解决的问题,也是本课题要探究的问题。本文将在需求分析理论指导下,结合当前社会对应用技术型人才的需求和高校转型发展的实际情况,旨在创新出一套能改变大学英语教学中普遍存在的重应试结果、轻交际能力,重语言知识、轻实用能力的英语教学现状,探索研究一套适合经济发展、适应市场需求的大学英语教学新模式,为目前正在进行的大学英语教学改革做出贡献。     

The practices of dealing with children with special needs in school: a Norwegian perspective

The article has two parts. Part one deals with some historical developments in the field of special education in Norway. There has been a change in formulated policy from a clearly segregated system, then integration and mainstreaming and now intentions about inclusion as an ideal. The second part is about children with behavioural difficulties and especially children diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders) and how they are treated within the education system. Knowledge about these children’s situation is not very well developed or widespread in the Norwegian education system. The numbers of children with an ADHD diagnosis vary a lot between schools. Both diagnosis and treatment connected to ADHD have been highly controversial in Norway, as in many other countries. The gap between ideals and realities is a striking element in special education in Norway and also for these children. The inclusion criteria have not been met. The reasons for this are discussed.     

Justice and Equality in Education: A capability perspective on disability and special educational needs

Student engagement, a student’s emotional, behavioural and cognitive connection to their study, is widely recognized as important for student achievement. Influenced by a wide range of personal, structural and sociocultural factors, engagement is both unique and subjective. One important structural factor shown in past research to be a barrier for distance students is access to quality space and time. This qualitative study followed 19 mature-aged distance students and their families, exploring how they learned to manage their space and time throughout their first semester at university. Institutions often claim that distance study and the increased use of technology overcomes barriers of space and time; however, the findings from this study suggest it merely changes the nature of those barriers. The ideal space and time for these students was individual and lay at the intersection of three, sometimes competing, demands: study, self and family. A critical influence on success is family support, as is access to financial resources. Learning what constitutes ideal space and time for engagement is an important part of the transition to university. The institution has a vital role to play in aiding this process by ensuring flexibility of course design is maintained, providing more flexible advice and targeting support at this important issue.     

基于需求层次理论视角下的独立学院大学英语发展模式初探

独立学院在人才培养目标上具有培养应用型技术人才的特点,但现行单一的大学通用英语教学模式已与其办学目标相冲突。本文以马斯洛的需求层次理论客观分析了在独立学院实施EOP型职场英语的必要性,重点以笔者在武汉设计工程学院以"职场英语"实训项目为依托进行教学改革为例,详细阐述了本次教学研究的创新点。     

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.     

Modelling inclusive special needs education: insights from Dutch secondary schools

Inclusive special needs education is prominent on the international education agenda. Research on the characteristics of inclusive education for students with special needs and schools providing this is scarce, however. Our aim in the present study was therefore to further theory-building with regard to inclusive special needs education. On the basis of the relevant literature, we identified three core aspects of inclusivity: the learning environment, the guidance provided by teachers and the general care structure. With the help of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses conducted on data obtained from school professionals in 79 secondary schools in the Netherlands, we were able to identify 12 underlying characteristics for a conceptual framework to further research on the inclusive nature of schools and education. Multilevel structural equation modelling of the judgments of school professionals at the level of the school also showed that the inclusive special needs education in at least secondary schools can be characterised by two main factors: (1) learning environment and (2) guidance and care. The analyses showed considerable agreement on the important aspects of inclusivity for schools and thus how differences between schools can be explained. The results further showed the work of the care coordinator – which includes cooperation with external partners and teachers with mentoring roles – to be the clearest indicator of the extent of the inclusive special needs education within schools. This finding is interpreted as suggesting that the recommended teaching practices and student care for adequate included special needs education have not yet been integrated into teachers’ thinking and acting. Follow-up research drawing upon the developed framework is therefore called for to not only more generally validate the framework but also determine if the situation in school has changed, now that the policy and practices for inclusive education have become more familiar.     

从“中国英语”的视角对国内大学英语教学的几点思考

作为一种英语变体,“中国英语”可以为当前大学英语教学存在的问题提供反思和解决的思路.从“中国英语”的视角对国内大学英语教学在语音、词汇和文化3个层面存在的问题进行了思考,并提出了相应的解决思路;认为在国内大学英语教学中不妨教点“中国英语”,学生也不妨学点“中国英语”.     

Staff development in information technology for special needs: a new, distance-learning course at Keele University

Whilst information technology has much to offer people with special needs, the availability of staff training in the use of special-needs IT in the UK and Europe is sparse. Keele University, with over a decade of experience in research and in supporting and training staff in the use of information technology, has launched a new, distance-learning course. This article describes the course background, its structure, and feedback from the first cohort of students. Results suggest that the course strikes an effective balance between the need of distance-learning students for face-to-face contact with peers and tutors, and the difficulties faced by students wishing to attend training whilst in full-time employment who are geographically distant. The course structure appears appropriate for a wide range of special-needs settings and the curriculum seems to have an appropriate mix of background theory and practical application. Difficulties faced with computer conferencing became apparent, which need to be addressed in future. The course could be a model for further staff development opportunities in IT for special-needs professionals.     

Martians in the playground: researching special educational needs

This article offers a critique of what has become known as ‘inclusive education’ under the New Labour administration. The initial impetus for the article was a research project designed to ascertain the impact of the ‘presumption of mainstreaming’ contained in Section 15 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000. This stipulates that the needs of disabled children and others with ‘additional support needs’ should be met in mainstream schools. The authors reflect on the implications of this change in terminology, and examine the consequences of the attendant ‘disappearance of disability’. They also explore how ‘inclusion’ became a largely self‐referential concept that has generally failed to attract critical scrutiny. The authors argue that a highly politicised and ideologically‐charged ‘mission inclusion’ has had the unfortunate effect of tightening the boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’. This, they argue, is demonstrated by the emergence of a significant new ‘‐ism’—disabilism—at a time when inclusion was already firmly embedded in New Labour policy.

Take me to the station

And put me on a train

I’ve got no expectation

To pass through here again.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 1968, from the album Beggars Banquet

     

Scaffold instruction at the workplace from a situated perspective

This article proposes the need to address scaffold instructions from a situated learning perspective. Based on an empirical study of how apprentice bakers learn their trade, it is claimed that studies of learning at the workplace yield important insights into our understanding of scaffold instructions. Seen from the perspective of the apprentices, scaffold instruction represents access to more responsibility in practice, it supports their identities as future bakers and they learn bodily know-how. When scaffold instruction failed, it was often in relation to situations where the apprentices were placed in marginal positions in the community of practice or in relation to a central workplace situation.     

Welcoming the child with special needs

Mara Jambor is a kindergarten teacher with the Jefferson County School System, Jefferson County, AL.     

The law and special educational needs in Ireland: perspectives from the legal profession

This article outlines parents’ struggle to secure adequate educational resources for their child(ren) with special educational needs within the Irish State system. The authors challenge the view that legislation facilitates practical advances that are meaningful to individual families. This small-scale exploratory study reports the findings from five in-depth interviews with experienced legal practitioners in the area of special educational needs in Ireland. These were selected due to their involvement in a number of high profile cases taken against the State. The findings underline the challenges faced by parents pursuing the legal route and the need for supportive structures to be put in place prior to the ligation process.