Learning from experience: towards inclusive educational research in Cambodia

Aimed at contributing to the literature related to inclusive educational research in the context of a developing country, this article looks at the power relations between researchers and the researched by critically analysing the approaches and methods used. Drawing on the author’s personal experience conducting research with people with disabilities in Cambodia, it has been argued that researchers’ self-consciousness of their privileges vis-à-vis the researched with disabilities in the knowledge production process alone does not ensure that their research is ethical, unless actions are taken to address those power differences. This, the article argues, may be somewhat impractical in certain contexts due to resource and institutional constraints. The article also draws attention to some context-specific issues in Cambodia that may lead researchers to unconsciously ignore the knowledge and experiences of people with disabilities in the process of conducting research on inclusive education.     

Towards inclusive education: the case of Finland

The article examines the Finnish system of basic education and the means it employs to support good learning and healthy growth and development for all students. The excellent learning outcomes of the Finnish comprehensive school indicate that it is possible to develop a system with both quality teaching and learning, and equity and equality for students. Throughout the article, special needs education is seen as an important, but not dominant, aspect of Finland’s inclusive policies. The article concludes with five theses central to a working model of inclusive education.     

Participatory action research as pedagogy: investigating social and ecological justice learning within a teacher education program

A research collective comprised of teacher candidates, graduate students, and faculty set out to investigate the role and impact of social and ecological justice learning in a teacher education program. Amidst the tensions, negotiations, and articulations of the research design, the collective came to recognize the spaces of participatory action research as sites of growth and efficacy toward justice learning. And, each began to perceive themselves as both impacted by educational structures and as agents enacting their own visions of professional practice. These outcomes are discussed in the context of the growing body of participatory action research, emphasizing the dynamic learning precipitated within the intersections of the research collective. The empirical analysis, involving survey and interview data, brought to bear the rarity of events participants (teacher candidates) recognized as invoking meaningful social and ecological justice learning, and goes some way to describe such learning in terms of embodied experience. The paper closes with a selection of testimonials provided by members of the research collective, offering personal accounts of what was gained through participating in the research process.     

Research Active Programme: A pilot inclusive research curriculum in higher education

Participation of people with disabilities in producing and using research is critical for monitoring the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Research Active Programme (RAP) is a module designed to build research capacity of students with intellectual disabilities. RAP was implemented over 11 weeks in 2 Irish universities. The mixed methods programme evaluation was completed from the students' perspectives, attending to curriculum content, pedagogical approach, the research knowledge and skills acquired by students. Twenty-five students completed interviews before and after engaging in RAP. Focus groups and quizzes were held after sessions to assess learning outcomes. Content analysis was used to interpret student perspectives. RAP was an effective approach for supporting students with intellectual disabilities to develop introductory research knowledge and skills; however, across the cohort, there were differences in demonstrated learning. Student expectations with respect to overall curriculum design, learning outcomes and delivery were reviewed. Specifically, learning outcomes, module delivery and assessment strategies were critiqued. Overall, the RAP curriculum supported research skill development in students. This module prepared people with intellectual disabilities to engage more fully as research partners in monitoring the implementation of the CRPD.     

混合方法研究:美国教育研究中的新范式

混合方法研究是指研究者在同一研究中综合调配或混合定量研究和质性研究的技术、方法、手段、概念或语言的研究类别。它是在美国质性、定量两种研究方法范式的争论中产生的。其理论基础是实用主义和系统哲学。混合方法研究程序设计包括确定研究问题、确定研究目的、选择研究方法、收集资料、分析资料、解释资料、使数据合法化、得出结论并撰写最终报告等步骤。其突出优势是在研究中能增加交叉性优势,压缩非重叠性弱势,提高研究的效度与信度。     

Developing a material-dialogic approach to pedagogy to guide science teacher education

Abstract

Dialogic pedagogy is being promoted in science teacher education but the literature on dialogic pedagogy tends to focus on explicit voices, and so runs the risk of overlooking the important role that material objects often play in science education. In this paper we use the findings of a teacher survey and classroom case study to argue that there is a gap in the way that science teachers think about the role of materials and that this could be addressed by changes in the theory base of teacher training, augmenting the current constructivist and dialogic theory with the addition of new materialism in the form of Barad’s ‘Agential Realism’. Our findings suggests that science teachers do not regularly explicitly consider the relationship between the material resources they deploy and the dialogic learning taking place. We argue that science teacher training and professional development should pay more attention to the material-dialogic relationships in the learning that emerges in science classrooms.     

The inclusive practice project in Scotland: Teacher education for inclusive education

While differences in national contexts are associated with variations in how teachers are trained and school systems are organised, the conceptual and philosophical problems of equity and inclusion in schooling are shared concerns. This paper describes how the structure and content of an initial teacher education programme for primary and secondary teachers has been revised to ensure that social and educational inclusion is addressed within the core programme. A rationale is presented for the development of ‘inclusive practice’, followed by a discussion of the reforms and an outline of the effects that are expected in the classroom practices of teachers in schools.     

School-level facilitators of inclusive education: the case of Serbia

Relying on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, this paper attempts to identify school-level factors that contribute to effective implementation of inclusive education. We also explored how government policy, with emphasis on individual education plans, school teams, Roma assistants and inter-sectorial committees, is implemented at the school level. Qualitative data were collected from various informants (students, parents, teachers, school associates, Roma assistants and local community representatives) in five schools selected on the basis of regional distribution and success in supporting diverse student needs. Two core categories of school-level facilitators were generated: inclusive practices and inclusive culture. Within the first category, which refers to concrete actions and relationships in the school and local community, five themes emerged: individualisation and use of individual education plans; cooperation between teachers and school inclusive education expert team; cooperation with internal and external specialists; cooperation with parents, and cooperation with the local community. The second category, which reflects beliefs, values and implicit school norms, was further divided into five subcategories: willingness for life-long learning; proactive stance; sense of teamwork; sophisticated personal philosophies of development and learning; and acceptance of difference. We concluded that successful schools have developed into professional learning communities. Finally, recommendations for improving relevant practices were provided.     

A synthesis of the literature on research methods education

The purpose of this research synthesis is to examine the current research on teaching and learning research methods. The aims are to understand the themes present in the current literature and identify gaps in our understanding of how we teach, and how students learn, research methods. A synthesis of 89 studies generated three themes: (1) characteristics of students taking a research methods course, (2) teaching methods and techniques, and (3) content and course goals. Gaps identified include a lack of research on assessment and on what and how students learn in research methods courses. The majority of studies reviewed were teacher reports of attempted teaching strategies so that an additional need exists for other types of research into the teaching and learning of research methods such as case studies of students' learning or experimental studies of assessment techniques. Suggestions for instructors and future research are considered.     

Bringing the social into pedagogy: unsafe learning in an uncertain world

The paper describes a collaborative curriculum development project implemented over 3 years at 2 universities in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The project involved a short module in which students in their fourth year of study interacted and learnt collaboratively across the boundaries of institution, discipline, race and social class, about the concepts of community, self and identity. The pedagogic approach adopted is described, as well as the responses of the students, and a brief reflection on some of the learning outcomes attained. The paper considers the learning processes which the curriculum development team experienced, and suggests that in order to facilitate learning for an ‘uncertain world’, the curriculum designers, too, need to engage in learning processes in which they make themselves vulnerable, mirroring some of the learning processes they expect the students to undergo.     

Action research and the assemblage: engaging Deleuzian pedagogy and inquiry beyond the constraints of the individual and the group in education settings

Drawing upon the author’s previous attempts to engage the work of Deleuze and Deleuze and Guattari with contemporary pedagogic practices and research, this paper offers a conceptually tentative reworking of the theory and practice of action research, both as a means of challenging antecedent positions and as a way of proposing a volatile and incisive approach that, it will be argued, can help in generating a more plural, reflexive and methodologically relevant pedagogy/research praxis. In this, it is hoped that the mobilisation of a Deleuzian conceptualisation of assemblage as a form of inquiry will open up the animation of revitalisation as event.     

Intensive Interaction in the inclusive classroom: using interactive pedagogy to connect with students who are hardest to reach

This paper examines the role of Intensive Interaction in interactive pedagogy for students with severe and complex learning difficulties. It begins with an overview of the theoretical context for interactive pedagogy and then goes on to describe how one particular approach, Intensive Interaction, can, within a flexible curriculum, support sociability and communication development for pupils who are hardest to reach because they have not yet learned the fundamentals of early communication. Findings from one case study are drawn upon to illustrate the efficacy of this and to discuss how teamwork can affect optimal outcomes. The paper argues for more pupil‐centred, flexible curricula and the wider adoption of approaches such as Intensive Interaction in inclusive mainstream schools.     

Enhancing the contribution of visual methods to inclusive education

This paper examines the use of visual methods in studies of inclusive education. Visual methods have been applied to/with pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in the past but the application has tended to be outside rather than inside schools. We argue that understanding contextual reflexivity is important if visual methods are to be successfully adapted to meet the needs of inclusive research. A case study is used to provide an insight into the strengths, weaknesses and difficulties of mixed method visual research. The final section of the paper explores potential applications, strategies and techniques for including visual methods in inclusivity research.     

论思政学科教学的研究方法

随着社会的发展和时代的进步,教育领域对实用型和综合型人才呼声越来越高。思政学科教学旨在培育研究型教师,适应了社会对人才的要求。但思政学科教学主要指向思政教育,其研究对象是思政教育实践活动,在目前研究领域中存在不少问题,本文就思政学科教学研究方法存在的问题和发展趋势进行阐述,希望能起到抛砖引玉的作用。     

Scaffolding teachers to foster inclusive pedagogy and presence through collaborative action research

Teachers can be influential change agents in transforming their schools if they regularly reflect on their pedagogical practices, looking for improvements that will help all learners reach their full potential. However, in many sub-Saharan African countries, teachers seldom get an opportunity to collaboratively reflect on their practices. Action research, as an in-service professional development strategy, can be an ideal means of empowering teachers to collaboratively reflect on and improve their pedagogy to be more inclusive. Drawing from collaborative action research projects conducted by teachers in two primary schools in Zanzibar, Tanzania, this article explores the role of collaborative action research in developing the capacity of teachers to inform improvements in their pedagogical practices. The findings show how the participating teachers, with scaffolding influence from a critical friend (research facilitator), developed professionally along their zones of proximal development by promoting their pedagogical and research skills to enhance the presence, participation and achievement of all learners in their schools. Based on the findings, the article shows both the advantages and disadvantages of using collaborative action research in teacher professional development in the study context. The article also discusses the significance of organisational learning in in-service professional development in order to foster inclusive pedagogy through collaborative inquiry among teachers.     

Racially liberatory pedagogy: a Black Lives Matter approach to education

Abstract

In this study, we sought to understand how Black lives matter (BLM) epistemology, as displayed through six months of social media content from official accounts, can inform a racially liberatory pedagogy in higher education for Black and other racially minoritized students. We found BLM, through Facebook and Twitter, situated intersectional Black culture in the contemporary struggle for liberation. BLM also offered information that can raise its followers’ intersectional critical consciousness. Additionally, BLM content highlighted actions that can support Black liberation. Lastly, BLM content supported the building of relationships and naming of emotions as Black people work toward their liberation. In this sense, BLM connected with elements of a racially liberatory pedagogy and offered nuances that advanced the framework. We discuss the implications of this framework for teaching in higher education.     

繁荣背后的反思:中国的教育学本土化

In the past 20 years, China has seen an influx of foreign pedagogies that emphasize Western concepts such as dualistic opposition and linear development. As educational studies have become localized to China’s environment, there has been a tendency to substitute transplanted ideas for methods based on local research. As such Chinese educational theory has arbitrarily been replaced by Western theory and practice as the standard. Therefore, there is now a need for restructuring methodology with more theoretical wisdom based on the localization of pedagogy in China. __________ Translated from Jiaoyu Lilun Yu Shijian 教育理论与实践 (Theory and Practice of Education), 2007, 27(5): 1–5     

Inclusive pedagogy and knowledge in special education: addressing the tension

There has been an increasing focus in policy and practice on adopting inclusive pedagogy as a way of reconceptualising how schools work with children with special educational needs (SEN). The paper considers the split between knowledge and pedagogy inherent in some dominant strains of inclusive pedagogy. Drawing on the ‘knowledge turn’ in curriculum studies, we argue that although an analytical distinction between knowledge and pedagogy may be useful, too strong a delineation between the two fails to best serve the needs of children with special needs. Specific implications for teacher education in relation to SEN in England are considered.     

Stakeholder perspectives on barriers and facilitators of inclusive education in the Solomon Islands

This paper reports perceived barriers and facilitators of disability‐inclusive education, and outcomes of an effective system of inclusive education in the Solomon Islands. Data were gathered from a variety of stakeholder group participants (n = 10) and individual key informants (n = 2), ranging from parents of children with disabilities to government representatives. The results revealed a unique perspective on disability‐inclusive education in this context, and provided insight into possible directions towards a more inclusive system.     

Linking critical pedagogy practice to higher education in Malaysia: insights from English language teachers

This study explores whether critical pedagogy is viable for meeting the goals of the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) 2015–2025. The MEB has a particular focus on societal improvement and the authors suggest that critical pedagogy should be considered as a way of teaching as it specifically aligns with the aims of government policy. However, there is uncertainty about how critical pedagogy might be enacted in the Malaysian higher education context because it is difficult to understand and practise. The authors interviewed English language critical pedagogues from various countries about their experiences and found four common themes across all cultures. These were: co-construction of knowledge between teacher and student; new levels of trust; the use of problem-posing techniques; and evaluation of teaching and the student experience. These findings provide a guide to practice and the authors conclude that for critical pedagogy to gain acceptance across Malaysia, consideration needs to be given to changing prevailing cultural norms, the strict social order, as well as the political landscape of the country.