Collaborative classroom practice for inclusion: perspectives of classroom teachers and learning support/resource teachers

Collaborative practice is integral to effective inclusion. Within schools, teacher collaboration can foster communities of practice through a series of professional relationships that enhance the educational experience and learning outcomes of pupils with special educational needs (SEN). In Ireland, Learning Support Teachers (LSTs) and Resource Teachers (RTs) provide additional support to the increasing numbers of children with SEN in mainstream classrooms. Working alongside Classroom Teachers (CTs), this tripartite of teaching expertise represents an opportunity for whole-school and classroom-based approaches to successful collaborative, inclusive practice.

This article describes the perceptions and experiences of collaborative practice between primary CTs, RTs and LSTs in a cohort of primary schools in the West of Ireland. Using a mixed methods approach, the study sought to establish the nature and extent of collaboration amongst these teachers and to identify the benefits and barriers to implementation.

The findings suggest that whilst teachers are increasingly aware of the value of collaboration, its implementation is largely aspirational, with a series of challenges relating to time constraints, ad hoc planning and limited professional development opportunities most commonly identified as constraints to a consistent approach. The article considers the consequences of this shortfall and options for improved engagement between teachers are identified.     

Video material as a support to developing effective collaboration between teachers and teaching assistants

At a time of rapid development in the role of teaching assistants and of corresponding increase in their numbers, studies of how TAs and teachers collaborate are particularly welcome. In this article, Sue Pearson, Gary Chambers and Ken Hall explore the potential of video recordings as a tool in joint professional development.     

对教师给予学生支持重要性的探讨和建议

文章通过对社会支持理论、师生关系与青少年心理健康的关系研究 ,发现教师给予学生支持在促进青少年的心理健康方面有十分重要的作用。因此在以后的教育活动中 ,对教师提出一些如何给予学生支持的建议 ,以此来促进青少年的心理健康发展。     

高校思想政治教育的情感引导与技术支撑

作为高等教育的前沿阵地和基石,思想政治教育的体系及制度构建已经较为完善,思想政治教育在高等教育体系当中所扮演的角色也形成了较为一致的定位,但随着社会环境与大学生特质的变化,其功能与价值的发挥也在不断变化,完整的体系与制度是否就是高校思想政治教育的全部,在高校思想政治教育这块前沿阵地如何能够更好的冲锋陷阵成为现今高校思想政治教育工作者必须思考的问题。     

Social education for teachers in Ceylon

Conclusion The problems of teacher education have not only been subjects of study for a long period, but have been so in the recent past, in reviews sponsored by Unesco, the International Bureau of Education and other bodies, official or voluntary and national or international. There has been, in these reports and reviews, an increasing attention to the social aspects of education, but there have also been two other features. Firstly, most of the studies have related to the non-graduate teacher, and secondly they have been discussions of principles, with suggestions for content, but with little if any attention to procedures.In this article the concern has been with graduate teachers, whose training is of such importance, not merely because they are responsible for secondary education, but because they are the cadre from which principals, inspectors and adminstrators come. Moreover, in addition to discussing some of the theoretical aspects of the situation, the practical procedures involved have been described and there has been some attempt to evaluate the work done.It is not claimed that this programme of social education for teachers is free from shortcomings, nor that it cannot be improved, nor that it is relevant, without modification, to places other than Ceylon. Nor is it suggested that the many and desirable changes, which are so marked a feature of educational progress in Ceylon, result only from this single factor.It can however be presented as an attempt to develop a rationale and apply a procedure in the social education of graduate teachers which has aroused the interests of its students and has flowed over into action and study which have contributed to educational improvement. It certainly has acted as an integrating factor in the work of the Department and has stimulated no little activity. Such success as it has achieved is due to the co-operative efforts of all engaged in it, both as students and staff — and their contributions are very gratefully acknowledged by the writer.

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Soziologie im Rahmen der Lehrerausbildung auf Ceylon

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Formation sociale des maitres à Ceylan

     

National study of master teachers in deaf education: implications for teacher education

After an extensive review of relevant literature, the investigators developed a questionnaire on teacher characteristics and behaviors in relation to master teachers and distributed it electronically to deaf education professionals. The questionnaire recipients represented administrators, experienced teachers (e.g., those with 3 or more years' experience), and college and university faculty responsible for preparing teachers of the deaf. Follow-up interactive interviews were conducted with representatives of each constituency. Considerable similarities were noted in the priorities assigned across the three different constituencies, including a value placed on strong communication skills, having a passion about teaching, being collaborative, remaining current in the field, helping students become independent learners, and employing cognitive strategies. Analyses of responses by constituency are provided, along with recommendations for action, particularly for teacher education programs that are intent on graduating more teachers with master teacher potential.     

Developing a smart classroom infrastructure to support real-time student collaboration and inquiry: a 4-year design study

Instructional Science - K-12 classroom settings are not yet incorporating emerging technologies such as ubiquitous computing, augmented reality, nor even touch surfaces, despite the significant...     

Putting textbooks to work: empowering religious education teachers

In 2002 a paper entitled Writing Church‐sponsored Religious Education Textbooks by Engebretson was published in the British Journal of Religious Education. This paper reported on and analysed some aspects of the development, by the Catholic Archdiocese in Melbourne, Victoria, of a series of religious education textbooks to be used in all Catholic schools in the Archdiocese. The paper contextualised the series, entitled To Know, Worship and Love, in the field of literature on textbooks in the classroom. It discussed some local issues that had led to the decision to produce religious education textbooks, explained and justified the choice of content for the middle secondary books, and discussed the presentation of the books. In the final section of the paper, it was indicated that future papers would report on the evaluation of the series and its implementation, as a three‐stage research project was completed. The first stage of the research project collected responses from teachers and Religious Education Co‐ordinators (RECs) to the Years 7 and 9 books, that is those books written for students of 12 and 14 years respectively. This paper discusses a significant finding that emerged from this stage of the research, that is the relationship between textbook use and level of qualifications and experience in the teaching of religious education. This major finding is of interest in relation to a range of educational issues in religious education, including the role and use of resources, the mandation of resources by Church hierarchies, creativity and flexibility in teaching religious education, teacher confidence and experience and the important issue of content knowledge. Further papers will explore evaluations of the Years 8 and 10 books, and overall issues that have emerged from this Archdiocesan curriculum project.     

Texting as a channel for personalized youth support: participatory design research by city youth and teachers

Most school districts are out to regulate and restrict student texting and fear student–teacher texting as particularly inappropriate. But might this youth-dominated channel in fact be a twenty-first century portal to personalized support for youth struggling in school? This article shares first findings from participatory design research on texting, conducted by youth and teachers in the diverse, immigrant-heavy city of Somerville, MA. In a design research project welcomed by Somerville district and school administration, teachers and students at the district's alternative high and middle school have been testing how one-to-one texting might support students, teachers, and mentors to communicate rapidly about students' personal and academic needs. Their work raises deep questions for city schools considering how to forge supportive student–teacher relationships in the digital age.     

Integrating design science research and design based research frameworks for developing education support systems

Education and Information Technologies - This paper proposes an integrated research framework that takes advantage of the similarities of design science research (DSR) and Design-based research...     

Conceptions of inclusion and inclusive education: a critical examination of the perspectives and practices of teachers in Poland

This small‐scale study details the development and execution of a system of inclusive education in 20th and 21st century in Poland. A detailed review of the literature and employment of in‐depth semi‐structured interviews aimed to establish how inclusion is defined and operationalised in Poland. In addition, the study sought to establish how the teachers' levels of professional development and personal attitudes towards inclusion were influencing the evolution of this important educational initiative. The data from the study detail that the concept of inclusion is not well known in Poland, and that integrative education still dominates educational thinking. The study provides data to suggest integration in Poland works well in the early stages of education, but that it struggles to provide for and integrate older children into the mainstream educational settings. The research concludes that Poland has taken an important but perhaps faltering step towards educating all children in the mainstream schools.     

Refugees and online education: student perspectives on need and support in the context of (online) higher education

ABSTRACT

Online education and in particular Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are often regarded as a way to solve global educational challenges. In this article, we highlight the students’ uptake of such a ‘digital solution’. Presenting initial findings from a research project in Germany, we situate our investigation in the specific context of digital educational offers for refugees, using Kiron Open Higher Education as an example. Kiron has designed an innovative academic model, with MOOCs at its core, to ease refugees’ access into higher education. Drawing from student data of 1375 Kiron students we look at students’ actual usage of the offer and the accompanying support services as well as the difficulties refugee students face while navigating online higher education. Results show, amongst others, rather low completion rates in the online courses and point to a much more nuanced picture of how students make use of the offer – putting online education as an easy, straightforward formula to the integration of disadvantaged students into question.