New understandings of communities and ourselves: community-based participatory research with Alaska Native and Lower 48 youth

In the summer of 2014, students from universities in the contiguous United States (Lower 48) and Inupiat youth from Alaska carried out a pilot project as participants/co-researchers in a process called Intergenerational Dialog, Exchange, and Action (IDEA). This action-oriented, community-based, and participatory research method was first developed in 2008, as a platform for structuring dialog between adults, Elders and youth within a community, and for extending resonant ideas emerging from these discussions through Photovoice and digital storytelling amongst youth participants. This pilot study was designed to investigate the feasibility and potential of university students from the Lower 48 and Indigenous youth from Alaska to carry out the IDEA process together as co-researchers. The results of the pilot suggest that it is both possible and meaningful for IDEA to be conducted by a team of youth co-researchers. We found that participation in IDEA expanded the perspectives of youth co-researchers from both Alaska and the Lower 48 in parallel, yet different ways. Exploring the strengths of older community members, being exposed to different ways of living and being, and having opportunities to reflect on and build narratives around these ideas, allowed all the co-researchers to develop a new understanding of their own communities and their roles and responsibilities within them. This paper shares youth co-researcher reflections of the process and the ways in which the process prompted these new perspectives about themselves, their respective communities and their roles within them.     

Education without a shared language: dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in Norwegian introductory classes for newly arrived minority language students

Based upon fieldwork in two upper secondary schools in Norway, this article offers an analysis of inclusion and exclusion processes for newly arrived minority language students. Minority language students are defined by policy as students who have a different mother tongue than the Norwegian and Sami languages, and students who are newly arrived in Norway are considered especially at risk for marginalisation. This article explores processes of inclusion and exclusion in two schools with segregated classes for this group, called introductory classes. The analytical framework is Niklas Luhmann’s theory of autopoietic social systems, where inclusion is defined as the requirements for participation set by a system, and exclusion accordingly as being unable to meet these requirements. The article displays different constellations of inclusions and exclusions for newly arrived students in the educational system: in school organisations, organisation-based interactions and informal networks of students. It will be showed that introductory classes erect several barriers towards newly arrived students’ inclusion, especially towards those students who are placed at the basic level of the schools’ hierarchy of performances. As a consequence of multiple educational exclusions, informal networks emerge as alternative socialities that include and exclude students on the basis of mother tongue.     

Participatory Action Research as Change Strategy: A Case of Developing Inclusive Teaching and Learning Practices in an Adult Education Centre in Gauteng East District of South Africa

Adult education is one of the platforms of skills development for the mostly disadvantaged people of South Africa who did not get formal education owing to past segregation and apartheid laws. Recently this sector has implemented inclusive education and is in the process of transforming and changing to achieve inclusion. This interpretative-qualitative case study within participatory action research explored the role of participatory action research as a change strategy to develop inclusive teaching practices and enhance adult student learning in an adult education context. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observations, documentary analysis, focus group interviews and group interpretative meetings in all four phases, i.e. planning, observation, action and reflection. After the group data analysis with co-researchers during group interpretative meetings and the researcher’s analysis using an interpretative-thematic inductive qualitative data analysis framework, the study found that participatory action research is viable as an educational change strategy, as it enhances collaboration among adult education teachers and improves their ability to be reflective and critical in their practice, which is fundamental in the development of inclusive teaching practices.

     

A Foucauldian perspective on student experiences of family discourses in post-primary schools

This work involves researching normative family discourses which are mediated through post-primary settings. The traditional family, consisting of father, mother and children all living together in one house (nuclear) is no longer reflective of the home situation of many Irish students [Lunn, P., and T. Fahey. 2012. Households and Family Structures in Ireland: A Detailed Statistical Analysis of Census 2006. Dublin: ESRI]. My study problematises micro practices involving families as reported by students in three post-primary schools, to report how family differences are managed and (mis)recognised from their lens. The influence of the dominant educational discourses (contextual and textual), are also considered. A framework using Foucauldian post-structural critical analysis traces family profiling through normalising discourses such as notes home which presume two parents together. Teacher assumptions about heterosexual two-parent families make it difficult for students to be open about a family set-up that is constructed as ‘different’ to the rest of the schools. My findings will be of interest to educational research and policy-makers because they highlight how changing demographics such as family compositions are mis-conceptualised in schools, leading to issues of injustice such as bullying and isolation for the students involved.     

How schools can move beyond exclusion

Healthy learning environments for young people are underpinned by respectful relationships. Unfortunately, Australian students who do not form reasonable relationships with peers and staff are unlikely to benefit from being at school. These students tend to disengage and are often excluded. However, a growing number of Australian schools have moved beyond exclusion as their default response in dealing with such students. In asking themselves After exclusion what? some Australian schools have found that one answer is to create an onsite enabling space as an integral part of their student well-being practice. Drawing on an Australian Research Council-funded research project involving the University of Melbourne, Hands On Learning Australia and a wider team of partners, this paper introduces the conceptual framework of enabling spaces to explore respectful relationships through the tripartite lens of connection, control and meaning. Enabling spaces, built on respectful relationships, foster a sense of belonging in students, encourage and develop self-efficacy, and provide a context for students to derive a sense of purpose. In this way, they can help young – often disadvantaged – people maintain their connection with mainstream schooling. We argue that these elements are common features of all enabling spaces, and discuss the Hands On Learning method as an illustrative case study.     

The Implementation of School Inclusion Practices for Students with Special Needs in Israel: Teachers’ Perceptions

The research examined how school inclusion practices for students with special needs in Israel are perceived by teachers. Participating in the study were 121 elementary and secondary teachers in 10 schools around the country. The instrument was the 50-item ‘Implementation of inclusion practices in schools for students with special needs’ questionnaire, developed by the author together with seminar students. The findings indicate that inclusion practice as a whole was perceived to be implemented in the schools to a moderate degree. When testing the five components of inclusion separately, moral obligation was perceived to be implemented to a significantly greater degree and the knowledge component to a significantly lesser degree than the others. Inclusion practice was found to be implemented more in schools with medium-high socio-economic-level students than in those with low socio-economic-level students, and to a greater degree in the Jewish sector than in the Arab.     

Inclusive education in accelerated and professional development schools: a case-based study of two school reform efforts in the USA

This case-based study of two school reform efforts in the USA examines how the process of inclusive education works for SEN students and the extent to which these students and their teachers feel as though they are an integral part of school reform. At its heart, this study focuses on three central questions. Do the philosophy, process, practices and organizational structures of these school reform movements promote inclusion for all students? What is the impact of the schools' practices and principles on individual students? What conditions and contexts best promote inclusion, and which ones act as barriers to successful inclusion? The schools in these two school reform movements provide powerful examples of how changes in school organization, climate, curriculum and instructional strategies build on the strengths of students, staff and community to create optimal learning results for all students. In this study, the perception of pedagogical and political ‘gaps’ between school effectiveness reform agendas and inclusive education reveal a narrow, rational-technical view of reform. The hope for the future is that the growing efforts in support of inclusive education within the broader socio-political and constructivist school reform movements, exemplified by the schools in this case study, will become an influential counter-force for social justice and disability-rights' action in schools everywhere.     

A tripartite framework for extending university-student co-creation to include workplace partners in the work-integrated learning context

ABSTRACT

While at university, students increasingly have opportunities to play roles as consultants, student representatives, co-researchers or curriculum co-designers, and co-creation between university staff and students has received considerable attention in recent literature. While there is some evidence of co-creation with industry and community partners, workplace partners are not conceptualised as stakeholders in the co-creation process. This gap is particularly challenging in the work-integrated learning (WIL) context where students engage in authentic professional experiences, such as placements or projects, as part of their learning. We draw on reflections and the processes for producing resources in two co-creation activities to explore the phenomenon of co-creation between workplace partners and both university staff and students. Based on the analysis, we propose an extended tripartite co-creation framework. The framework outlines workplace partner, student and university staff contributions as planners, contributors, creators and reviewers, acknowledging the value of contributions consistent with each participant’s expertise, perspectives and time availability. Further, the proposed framework simultaneously reflects the ability for participants to engage in co-creation equitably, while acknowledging the university staff role in curating learning resources. In this way, the model acknowledges the potential for redistributing power through co-creation, while recognising university responsibility for learning outcomes and assurance of learning.     

Developing a university contribution to teacher education: creating an analytical space for learning narratives

What might a distinct university contribution to teacher education look like? This paper tracks a group of prospective teachers making the transition from undergraduate to teacher on a one-year school-based postgraduate course. The study employs a practitioner research methodological framework where teacher learning is understood as a process of developing and evaluating self-representations. Students persistently revised a story of ‘Who I am becoming’, referenced to evolving notions of pedagogic subject knowledge. University sessions provided a platform for students to share and discuss their experiences in schools and reflect upon the research process as it occurred. Our findings suggest this approach enables student teachers to account for their learning in more nuanced and sophisticated ways where time for university-based reflection is restricted. The theoretical perspective draws on the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan. Subjectivity is conceptualized not as fixed but persistently re-produced in an increasingly analytical developmental perspective. Data comprise reflective and analytical material produced by students at successive stages of the course, where this material provides temporal reference points for them in tracking and asserting their own development. The paper provides a methodological framework for teacher education informed by critically reflective constructions of the process through which individuals become teachers.     

School Processes That Can Drive Scaling-Up of an Innovation or Contribute to Its Abandonment

This five-year study focused on school processes that promoted the scaling-up of a high school academic literacy framework, Reading Apprenticeship, developed by WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI). Implementing an innovative strategy for scaling-up involving school-based cross-disciplinary teacher teams, SLI brought the framework to 274 schools across five states. Our study was guided by research literature that viewed scale-up as increasing local ownership and depth of commitment. Our goal was to measure SLI's success in terms of the numbers of students, teachers, and schools reached, and to evaluate the success of SLI's innovation through metrics that would be indicative of the program taking hold in schools, and ultimately, its scalability.

We developed a longitudinal data set based on teacher and principal surveys, participant records, and school demographics that allowed us to measure implementation over time and to identify program and school characteristics that predicted the increase or decrease in participation. We found early indications of uptake and enthusiasm for Reading Apprenticeship, but greater variation in responses across schools by the third year. Using regression analysis, we found that initial teacher participation in team meetings and schoolwide commitment predicted “scaling-in” within a school. We hypothesized that a process, consistent with SLI's use of cross-disciplinary teacher teams, led to increased and sustained program participation. This study contributes to the field of scale-up research through identifying intermediate teacher outcomes that predict scaling-in and that were not as prevalent in an RCT conducted in parallel, illustrating the weakness of large-scale RCTs as an appropriate context for measuring impact of an innovation that is being scaled up.     

A review of research into stakeholder perspectives on inclusion of students with autism in mainstream schools

Increasing numbers of students with autism are being educated in mainstream schools. However, outcomes for students with autism are poor when compared to typical students and students with other developmental disabilities. In order to better understand facilitators and barriers to success at school for students with autism, research into the attitudes of key stakeholders, educators, parents, people with autism, to inclusion in mainstream schools for students with autism, was reviewed. Key themes emerging included attitudes to inclusion, the characteristics of autism and social communication in particular and interaction with the school environment, and consequent student problem behaviour. Level of knowledge and understanding of school staff emerged as the primary issue with all stakeholders identifying the need for more training. Other support needs identified included the need for structural support, resources and funding. Parents, in particular, identified the need for a collaborative approach to the education process. The findings highlight the need to translate theory into practice to increase capacity in schools to provide effective educational programmes for students with autism.     

浅析学生参与课程实施及其研究

学生是课程实施及其研究中的一个弱势群体。为改善课程实施的成效,有必要把学生纳入课程实施及其研究中。学生参与课程实施有利于促进课程变革走向成功;学生参与课程实施及其研究具有三种形式,即学生作为数据来源、学生作为积极反应者、学生作为共同研究者。在新的课程实施及其研究中应该加强对学生的关注。     

Methodological considerations in child-centered research about social difference and children experiencing difficulties at school

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ethical and methodological significance for children and university researchers to participate together in data collection and research interpretation. We examine this process in the context of a three-year study with the aim of understanding how children become identified as having difficulties in a diverse, semi-urban minority French-speaking Catholic elementary school in Ontario (Canada). First, we review the literature on child informed consent. Then, we describe the setting and the process of how children in this study became informed participants. We describe how the children became active in exercising their discretionary consent to be observed during the data collection process, then how they progressively became engaged in observing their social context in terms of their own sense-making of the research project. We discuss how the children gave a new direction to the original project proposed by the university research team investigating on identification and special needs children. Lastly, we revisit the ways in which we addressed the various subject positions that became possible for us and for the children as co-researchers within the social relations of the classroom-based research team in a French minority language school. It became apparent throughout the research that informing consent was more than an act on the part of researchers to explain and thus establish a research framework in which collecting data from children would take place. Rather, we found that our research with children involved children's active participation as co-researchers informing the project from its design to its data analysis.     

“You have to do something beyond containing”: developing inclusive systems in a partnership of primary schools

Reducing fixed term exclusions (FTE) in primary schools is a difficult proposition. This research discusses how a partnership of primary schools developed more inclusive systems to support students previously given FTEs for disciplinary purposes. Longitudinal data from interviews and documentary sources trace the development of an approach amongst primary schools with previously high levels of FTE. The process of developing a model of transferred inclusion (TI) within the partnership led to schools changing practices around behaviour management, thus developing more inclusive systems. The paper elaborates on partnership work around the TI project that opened up discussion and questioning of practice around behaviour, leading to schools thinking about their systemic practice. The benefits of TI, therefore, were a prompt for development, rather than just an intervention to reduce exclusions. Changes in practice supported through the TI process lead to claims that substantive change would not have happened without the TI project.     

The action in action research: mediating and developing inclusive intentions

The authors of this article reflect on their experiences as facilitators of an action research network aiming to provide a context for participating schools to identify and address barriers to pupils' learning and participation. Within the network, action research is seen to have different meanings for individuals within and between schools in terms of the relationship between action, data and changes at the personal, group and institutional levels. In nearly all schools in the study, however, it importantly signifies a measure of autonomy over the direction of development, in an era of strongly imposed external agendas. The relationship between the action research process and the values associated with inclusion is explored with the use of school-level data, and interpreted through attention to the actions developing in the schools. Some of the consequences of these actions are described, both intentional and unintentional, and the possible significance of developing rhetoric within and between schools is suggested. The article concludes that action research as described in this network may sustain the development of more inclusive schools, by creating possibilities for critical reflection on the relationship between values and practice within the institution.     

A peer-mentoring scheme for immigrant students in English secondary schools: a support mechanism for promoting inclusion?

Immigration in Europe has increased rapidly over the last years. As a result, schools are accepting students arriving from other countries at various stages of the school year. This can be a challenging process both for students and for schools. This paper describes the introduction of a peer-mentoring scheme to support immigrant students in three English schools, which took part in a European Union funded project that involved five countries. Data from semi-structured interviews with mentors, mentees and facilitators were analysed and highlighted a number of positive impacts, such as getting support from mentors, making new friends and increased confidence both for mentors and mentees. However, it seems that the way that the programme was implemented in the English schools, focused only on the individual students, rather than having an impact on the whole school. The implications of such an approach in relation to inclusion are discussed.     

以学校课程创新为突破 推进创新人才的早期培育

在我国从教育大国向教育强国的转型过程中,高中阶段大力推进创新人才的早期培育成为应有之义。为此,聚焦于优秀学生的培育,借鉴世界一流名校的课程体系,形成学校自身有个性的、整体的课程框架,并付诸实施,就是教育内涵发展的一个重要课题。上海中学在对国际主流课程的实践与比较研究的基础上,注重把握中国特色与学生的优势,从2003年开始致力于构建学校课程图谱并付诸系统实施,突显了可供同类学校借鉴的、推进创新人才早期培育的五个要素：促进学生的个性化知识构成,注重学生志存高远与意志磨砺,推进学生兴趣与潜能的匹配,不断激发学生成长的飞跃期,激励学生基于专门知识领域与数字技术整合的创新。     

Insiders’ perspectives: a children's rights approach to involving children in advising on adult-initiated research

Consulting with children is widely recognised as an essential element in building understanding about children's lives. From a children's rights perspective, it is also a legal requirement on professionals working with children. However, translating the rhetoric into research and practice is still evolving. Previous studies report on working with children as co-researchers where children are involved in different phases of the research process in a bid to provide their unique perspectives. This small-scale study takes the view that children not only have the right to be involved in the research process but they also have the right to be informed and have their understanding developed about the issues being researched. This allows for a more apprised view which can enhance children's participation in advising on the research and interpreting data. Therefore, this small-scale study reports on working with a children's research advisory group in developing their understanding about popular culture and writing in the primary classroom before involving these children as advisors in the research process.     

Consulting with students: evaluating a mainstream inclusion centre

The Government Standards Fund made resources available to schools in 2000 to help reduce the number of exclusions and, as a result, many schools established inclusion centres with this purpose in mind. In this article Dawn Preece and Paul Timmins describe literature and research that support the value of these centres and identify features of a support centre that students felt contributed to their inclusion in school. The results of an evaluation canvassing the perceptions of students attending one such centre are presented and discussed.     

Head teachers’ spirituality and inclusive education: a perspective from critical realism

ABSTRACT

Spiritual leadership gains attention amongst researchers for closing the gap between achieving personal and organisational goals. Despite documentations that spirituality undergirds head teacher’s actions leading inclusive schools, research still remains thin in understanding how spirituality underpins leadership for inclusive education. This paper draws on the philosophy of critical realism to offer a conceptual tool that identifies head teachers’ spiritual actions in their efforts to include ethnic minority students. This is done through multiple qualitative methods collection from an in-depth case study at a multicultural primary school in Cyprus. The critical realist framework helps uncover head teacher’s spiritual actions in a more systematic, structured and holistic way. It reveals that head teachers’ spirituality supports the goals of inclusion and occurs in at least four interrelated and emergent ontological levels (psychological, social, cultural and policy levels) which are set in four scaler levels from microscopic to macroscopic (sub-individual, micro, meso and macro levels). This framework problematises mono-dimensional and reductionist understandings of spirituality in leadership. The paper concludes by suggesting solutions to enrich leadership programmes for inclusive education with fostering leaders’ spirituality at different ontological levels.