‘Over To You’: Group work to help pupils avoid school exclusion

This paper describes the support of secondary pupils at risk of school exclusion through a course of group work designed to promote individual responsibility for behaviour. Following self‐reflection the young people are encouraged to write their own behavioural targets and consider their progress in working towards them throughout the six‐session course. The results of a study involving a mixed group of five Year 8 pupils are reported. All the pupils increased their self‐rating scores on a social skills assessment form completed before and after the course, and were also rated more highly by their teachers. Seven months later the five pupils had maintained behavioural improvements and had not been excluded.     

A right to be heard: learning from learners with additional needs in literacy

This study aimed to explore the consultation experiences of pupils who have additional needs in literacy. An opportunistic sample of eight schools – four in Northern Ireland and four in the Republic of Ireland – were chosen by the researchers; selected pupils were receiving additional literacy support. Focus group discussions and arts‐based creative methodologies were used through which visual and verbal stimuli supported and extended the narratives of the children. The findings showed that pupils have a capacity for self‐reflection and metacognitive talk around literacy. They had a keen awareness of their specific difficulties and the reading strategies they use. However, they wished for greater choice in how literacy support is organised and for more information about individual reading targets and scores. There was a great desire among pupils for consultation at meetings concerning their progress. Involving pupils in planning and evaluating their literacy learning needs as a fundamental right raises questions about teachers’ current protectiveness of pupils with additional needs.     

Sixth‐formers reading ‘the troubles’: A cross‐community investigation

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a one‐year (2002–2003) action research project conducted in a representative number of post‐primary schools across the sectarian divide in Belfast. The research investigated the responses of sixth‐form students to a number of carefully chosen texts focused on ‘The Troubles’. In analysing the pupils’ responses, it was discovered that, although inherited sectarian tensions persist, it is possible in many cases to encourage pupils to critically examine their attitudes and even abandon some prejudices. The key elements are the choice of texts and the need to provide ample and skilfully directed opportunity for dialogue and reflection. These findings are particularly relevant in the current climate of curriculum change, with the new emphasis on ‘diversity’ as well as ‘local and global citizenship’.     

Alternative education sites and marginalised young people: ‘I wish there were more schools like this one’

Following a long history of religiously segregated schooling in Northern Ireland, a contested society characterised by division and conflict, pioneering parents set up the first integrated school 28 years ago to educate together pupils from the two main cultural traditions. Integrated schools generate an ethos whereby opportunities are afforded to pupils and teachers alike to engage with, and take seriously, all forms of difference, rather than retreat into a culture of silence. Moreover, inclusive practices are firmly enshrined within the principles of such schools, supported by their anti‐bias philosophy. This paper reports the views of head teachers and pupils in primary and post‐primary integrated schools on the model of inclusion that, respectively, they espouse and experience. Through interviews, the heads spoke of embedding a culture of tolerance and respect for difference through teamwork and reflection, whilst recognising that there was still work to be done to develop further their interpretation of inclusion within an integrated environment. For their part, the pupils had clear perceptions of the ethos of integration, felt that they ‘fitted in’ at different levels, and could confront diversity in a ‘safe’ atmosphere.     

Media Literacy in Support of Critical Thinking

One of the main aims of the Education agenda in the last decade has been to develop critical thinking (C. T.) in children, in order to educate them to be active, involved citizens in democratic society. Different Media Literacy (M.L.) studies explore C.T. towards media texts by cultivating the pupils’ ability to respond critically to both surface and underlying media messages. This paper discusses partial results of a research study designed to examine the support provided by an M.L. program in the development of C.T. of pupils aged 10‐12 years in northern Israel. The resulting data demonstrate that M.L. programmatic intervention and its long‐term cumulative effect were two important factors underlying the significant differences found among the test groups. An interesting variable was also found which explained the superior results of the low achievements pupils (as evaluated by their teachers) compared with the less pronounced gains found among the high achievement pupils. Finally the paper asks theoretical questions about the extent to which a young critical thinker is capable of skeptical reflection towards media texts.     

Teacher Talk and Pupil Thought

Classroom activities were observed and audiotaped in four schools for pupils with moderate learning difficulties. Teacher talk which encouraged reflection by pupils was identified and categorised. Characteristic teacher styles emerged which differed mainly in the extent to which they encouraged pupils to reflect, by justification, explanation and metacognition, for example. Teacher styles in classroom interaction were related to their views on the nature and source of their pupils’ learning difficulties and on the role of cognitive challenge in helping their school achievement.     

British‐Chinese pupils’ constructions of gender and learning

British‐Chinese pupils are the highest achieving ethnic group in the British education system, and British‐Chinese boys’ performance equals that of girls. This paper investigates aspects of British‐Chinese pupils’ constructions of learning, focusing particularly on subject preferences and their constructions of themselves as pupils. The results are analysed according to gender as well as social class, and demonstrate that British‐Chinese pupils’ constructions of gender, subject preference and self‐image as pupils differ in some respects from those of pupils from other ethnic groups. Reasons for such differences are considered, and the paper also reflects on the implications of these findings in relation to broader findings concerning the stereotyping and ‘othering’ of the British‐Chinese within the British education system.     

Teacher Verbal Feedback Directed Towards Secondary Pupils with Challenging Behaviour and its Relationship to their Behaviour

There is a body of evidence that has linked teachers’ verbal feedback to pupils with pupil behaviour. In this study teacher verbal behaviour that was directed towards those pupils that the teachers had nominated as being especially difficult to teach was examined. A series of lessons was observed in a secondary school. The quality and quantity of teacher verbal feedback directed to the class as a whole and to the designated pupils was recorded, as was the on‐task behaviour of the pupils. It was found that the designated pupils were less on‐task than their peers and were more likely to ‘shout‐out’ in lessons. However, they were found to behave appropriately in well run lessons, where on‐task rates were high for all pupils. Teachers tended to give more attention to the designated pupils in the form of positive feedback directed towards their work, but also negative attention directed towards their behaviour. A positive relationship was found between teachers’ use of positive feedback and on‐task rates of the designated pupils. The results are discussed both in terms of the strategies used by teachers but also the effect that labelling of the pupils might have on the behaviour of the teachers and the pupils themselves.     

Cooperative group,risk‐taking and inclusion of pupils with learning disabilities in physical education

The aim of this research was to study the impact of cooperative learning on changes in cooperative behaviours and acceptance amongst pupils with learning disabilities related to risk‐taking. One hundred and sixty‐eight French first year middle school pupils participated in this study. Thirty‐six pupils with learning disabilities were mainstreamed in six ordinary classes during seven two‐hour gymnastic lessons. Three classes practised under low risk conditions and three classes performed under high risk conditions. The helping behaviours of the SEGPA pupils were observed and the acceptance of pupils was measured thanks to a sociometric questionnaire during the first and last lessons. The results showed that risk‐taking affected the helping behaviours and the acceptance of pupils with learning disabilities. These results lead us to think about the factors that could have an impact on the influence of cooperative learning structures when mainstreaming pupils with learning disabilities in physical education.     

Special educational needs and inclusion,moving forward but standing still? A critical reframing of some key issues

This article draws together my thinking in relation to special educational needs and inclusion that have dominated my practice. The article, through the concept of embodiment, revisits, reviews and reframes the key issues of the construction of special educational needs, inclusion and the ideology that binds them together. Through this exploration, I argue we often seem to move forward with policy while in reality standing still in ensuring the ‘success’ of all of our pupils. By critiquing and reframing taken‐for‐granted assumptions and the sacred words ‘success’ and ‘achievement’, this article maps out the future directions of inclusive education. It concludes with a reflection on my first days as a ‘teacher of special educational needs’ and my work to support Kenny, a student with cerebral palsy. This personal reflection maps out a different form of educational success that perhaps could provide a forward momentum to develop more successful inclusive education policy and practice.     

A biological basis for generative learning in technology-and-science Part II: Implications for technology-and-science education

Young pupils’ reactions to electricity are likely to have been formed more through social than school channels. In most cases these backgrounds will be approximately the same throughout the age‐group, although personal reflection and disposition will then be likely to diversify individual responses. This paper looks particularly to the differences produced and tries to identify influences which might be due to parental license, to age‐related factors, to cognitive growth, and verbal development. The paper concludes with some speculation on the interaction between these social and cognitive factors using new and broader categories of intelligence and work on the social development of children.

     

Effect of single‐sex education on progress in GCSE

Multilevel modelling was carried out on national value‐added data to study the effects of single‐sex education on the progress of pupils from 2002 Key Stage 3 to 2004 GCSE. The analysis suggests that pupils in a selective environment achieve higher progress in single‐sex schools; however, the advantage of single‐sex schooling seems to decrease with increasing pupils' prior attainment (for girls) or with increasing school ‘selectiveness’ (for boys). These phenomena might be a result of a ceiling effect, as pupils with high prior attainment at Key Stage 3 cannot improve as much as pupils with lower initial attainment. There was also strong evidence suggesting that pupils achieve higher progress in the independent sector compared to grammar education. On the other hand, in a non‐selective environment only pupils with lower prior attainment and those attending schools with a full range of abilities seem to benefit from single‐sex education.     

Eight‐year‐old‐pupils’ Problem‐solving Processes within a LOGO Learning Environment

A LOGO teaching period was arranged for 38 eight‐year‐old Finnish pupils. After the teaching period the pupils’ problem‐solving processes were videotaped in an open LOGO problem‐solving situation. The data analysis focused on the occurrence of the pupils’ social problem solving, effectance motivation and information processing. Cluster analysis was used to identify three clusters which are based on the variables present in the problem‐solving processes. The different clusters’ associations with school readiness and school achievement were analysed. The results indicated that during the problem solving the passive pupils (n = 16) needed a lot of teacher support, the independent pupils (n= 10) displayed considerable self‐directivity and rule making, and impulsive pupils (n = 12) had an off‐task behaviour. The school‐readiness and school‐achievement scores were highest among the independent group, moderate among the impulsive group and lowest among the passive group. The results suggest that LOGO promotes the development of problem‐solving skills, if each pupil receives sufficient support from the teacher.     

A Comparison of Science Performance and Uptake by Fifteen‐year‐old Boys and Girls in Co‐educational and Single‐sex schools—APU survey findings

A naive analysis of the science performance of pupils attending single‐sex and mixed schools shows that, on average, pupils attending the former achieved higher scores. However, since many of the pupils in single‐sex schools attend either independent or grammar schools, the performance difference may have little to do with the attendance at single‐sex schools but more to do with the preselection by ability of pupils in these schools. When comprehensives only are considered, there are no statistically significant differences in the mean performance on the APU tests between single‐sex and mixed schools for either boys or girls. Also there is no evidence that there was a large increase in the take‐up of science subjects for girls attending single‐sex schools. The paper describes why it is not sensible to attribute differences directly to the separation of pupils in schools by sex.     

Class‐size and Learning: the Tennessee experiment — what follows?

Abstract

The exceptionally large ‘Tennessee experiment’ — involving 7000 pupils — to elucidate the effects of class‐size on primary school pupils’ rate of learning has been widely interpreted as showing convincingly that classes of 15 pupils learn more rapidly, in an important sense, than classes of 24 pupils. The present re‐analysis in terms of value‐added in learning — the annual increase in SAT scores (rather than the absolute levels of those scores) — indicates that the benefits to average children resulting simply from a lowering of class‐size, while positive, are negligible in magnitude and not justifiable in relation to the additional economic resources required. The paper suggests that benefits are more likely to result from targeting additional resources to improved teaching styles, improved teaching materials and providing small classes for pupils with recognised learning difficulties; further research on class‐size needs to concentrate on the correct proportion of low‐attaining pupils that would benefit from attending small classes, the optimal size of such classes, and the fractions of the day which pupils with varying difficulties should attend small and normal‐sized classes.     

Discrepancies in judging social inclusion and bullying of pupils with behaviour problems

This study focuses on the social position and the degree of being bullied of pupils with behaviour problems fully included in regular education and on their teachers’ assessments on social integration and bullying. The study sample consisted of 25 9–12‐year‐old pupils with behaviour problems and their peers without special needs participating in full‐time regular education in the north of The Netherlands. Data gathering was performed using pupil and teacher questionnaires and a sociometric test. Results indicate that compared to their peers without special educational needs (SEN), the pupils with behaviour problems in this study were included less socially. The study further shows that about half the teachers participating in the study have a too positive view on the social position of these pupils. These teachers tend to seriously underestimate both the frequency with which pupils are being bullied and the frequency with which these pupils actively bully their peers.     

School type and academic culture: evidence for the differentiation–polarization theory

Several decades ago it was shown that the differentiation of pupils into tracks and streams led to a polarization into ‘anti‐school’ and ‘pro‐school’ cultures. Support for this differentiation–polarization theory is mainly based on case studies. This paper presents findings of a quantitative study in Belgium (Flanders). Attention is given to the conceptualization of the polarization component of the differentiation–polarization theory. The findings suggest that the culture of pupils is less study‐oriented in technical/vocational schools than in general (grammar) schools. The differentiation–polarization theory also applies to school staffs: the staff culture is less academically‐oriented in technical/vocational schools than in general schools. Moreover, staffs' attitudes towards pupils—their judgements on the teachability of pupils and the trust they place in pupils—are different.