Research in Special Education

Professor Jack Tizard of the Thomas Coram Research Unit, London University Institute of Education, reflects on the Warnock Committee's recommendations on research and the discussion of research and development in special education contained in the report's penultimate chapter     

Education and conflict: Essay review

This review essay looks at three recent publications in the emerging field of ‘education and conflict’ and explores an apparent gap between theory and practice in the field. Recent works by educationalists Lynn Davies, ‘Education and conflict: complexity and chaos’ (2004) and Tony Gallagher, ‘Education in divided societies (2004)’ are contrasted with the World Bank's 2005 ‘Reshaping the future: education and postconflict reconstruction’, and similarities between the publications are highlighted. Davies’ work uses complexity theory to illuminate the relationships between education and conflict and to establish an argument for ‘complex-adaptive schools’, which would use conflict positively to engage students in the creation of peaceful communities. Gallagher, using a number of well-developed case studies, examines the way education systems have been structured to respond to and operate in divided societies, concluding that classroom agency and flexibility are crucial. The calls, by Davies and Gallagher, for educational re-creation are explored in contrast to the World Bank's publication, which offers best practice lessons to support post-conflict educational reconstruction. The article probes these differences and points to areas where the practitioner-directed Bank publication and the more academic works do and do not intersect, attempting to indicate areas where bridges may be built.     

Special Education Research in Norway: An Update

Norwegian special education research in the 1990s, as guided by a major governmental initiative, investigated a wide variety of topics and issues from a number of perspectives. Traditional disability areas were studied across a range of school levels, although mostly at the primary and lower secondary levels, with some research also occurring in preschools and kindergartens but relatively little in upper secondary settings. The focus of most of this research was on the disabilities of the individual and ways of meeting special needs and not on schools as institutions and learning environments. Such an emphasis that neglects the interactive aspect of education not only contrasts with governmental policies and the perspectives of the community of special education practitioners, but also can only produce partial answers at best.     

关于特殊教育研究哲学化的思考

深化理论研究、提升理论水平是特殊教育理论建设亟待解决的一项重要任务。特殊教育研究需要一个对特殊教育本身进行反思的“哲学化”过程。“哲学化”的关键在于:关注价值论应然研究,使特殊教育研究根植于深厚的理论基础;重视概念逻辑方法,使特殊教育达到真正有深度的理论研究,进而对特殊教育做出本质的、逻辑的归纳和概括。     

特殊需要视野中对特殊教育研究的思考

"特殊需要"已成为当代特殊教育的核心概念,关注并建立基于"特殊需要"的特殊教育研究具有重要的理论价值和实践价值,它既为批判和审视以往传统教育实践中对残疾、障碍现象的歧视倾向和根源提供新视角,同时也为实现"满足学生的特殊教育需要"目标、反思特殊教育理论研究、加快特殊教育学科建设提供理论依据和方法论启示。     

特殊教育师资发展现状研究

为顺应时代与社会的发展趋势,需要大力发展培智教育,而教育的有效性最终受制于师资力量。为此．我们展开了有关培智教育师资发展现状的研究,通过问卷与访谈的形式开展广泛而具体地调查研究．针对目前存在的问题。提出相应的对策与建议。     

特殊教育和谐课程探新

特殊教育和谐课程以生活为核心,是教学双方领悟生态与存在的根本,也是共同探索生命成长导向和谐的过程。本文对该课程的产生、特点、由此引发的教育改革以及该课程观念与实践所激发的特教思考等方面进行了论述。     

特殊教育教师的职业认同调查研究

通过问卷调查,了解到性别、教龄、学校类型、应对方式、社会支持等因子,对特殊教育教师职业认同水平造成显著差异.应根据特殊教育教师职业生涯的不同阶段特点开展教师教育;促进教师的职业认同;引导特殊教育教师采用积极的应对方式;增强对特殊教育教师的社会支持,以促进特殊教育教师队伍专业化的发展.     

Considering Social Validity in Special Education Research

This article is part of a special LDRP research-to-practice series introducing key concepts to enable special education practitioners and other nonresearchers to be more informed research consumers. In the article, we explore how social validity is assessed in special education research and how to interpret social validity assessments. Rather than focusing on measuring intervention effects, social validity involves assessing the social importance of the goals, procedures, and outcomes of interventions and programs. We define social validity, provide questions to consider when examining assessments of social validity in research papers, review approaches commonly used to assess social validity with examples from the research literature, and make recommendations for reconciling findings of positive intervention effects on targeted outcomes but absent or negative findings related to social validity in a study. Our take-home message is that considering social validity assessments helps research consumers interpret study findings and informs how to apply findings in practice.     

信息技术在特殊教育中的应用探析

如何利用信息技术为有特殊教育需求人群提供相关服务支持,正在成为我国特殊教育实践中一个值得探讨的问题。就特殊教育发展中存在的问题及信息技术在特殊教育中的应用原则和实施模式等方面进行探讨。     

Using Qualitative Methods in Special Education Research

During the past two decades researchers have increasingly used qualitative research methods to access traditionally unavailable data. In this article, I discuss the usefulness and implementation of qualitative methods in special education research. I present five pitfalls future qualitative researchers should be aware of, and I discuss w.hat I believe the future holds for qualitative methods in special education research.