Avoiding communication barriers in the classroom: the APEINTA project

Education is a fundamental human right, however unfortunately not everybody has the same learning opportunities. For instance, if a student has hearing impairments, s/he could face communications barriers in the classroom, which could affect his/her learning process. APEINTA is a Spanish educational project that aims for inclusive education for all. This project proposes two main accessible initiatives: (1) real-time captioning and text-to-speech (TTS) services in the classroom and (2) accessible Web-learning platform out of the classroom with accessible digital resources. This paper presents the inclusive initiatives of APEINTA. Also an evaluation of the into-the-classroom initiative (real-time captioning and TTS services) is presented. This evaluation has been conducted during a regular undergraduate course at a university and during a seminar at an integration school for deaf children. Forty-five hearing students, 1 foreign student, 3 experts in captioning, usability and accessibility, and 20 students with hearing impairments evaluated these services in the classroom. Evaluation results show that these initiatives are adequate to be used in the classroom and that students are satisfied with them.     

Inclusion of primary school children with hearing impairments in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The focus of this study was to explore the opinions, knowledge and requirements of regular primary school teachers who taught in schools where children with hearing impairments were included. A questionnaire which covered the four aspects, was used to collect data on a sample of 104 regular school teachers. Results indicate that teachers who taught these children had more knowledge about hearing impairment than those who did not. The majority of teachers expressed a positive attitude towards inclusion and there was no difference in the opinions of teachers concerning inclusion. On seeking teachers' views on their requirements when helping children with hearing impairments, seminars and short courses, full-time in-service training, sign language and equipment were the four major factors suggested. The implementation of the results was discussed in relation to the INSET requirements of teachers and the education of the children with hearing impairments in included settings.     

Integration and Segregation in Mainstreaming Programs for Children and Adolescents with Hearing Impairments

This article describes an investigation of 26 mainstreaming programs for students with hearing impairments from pre‐kindergarten through high school. The purpose of the study was to examine selection criteria, quality and quantity of mainstreaming time, and available support services. Students were found to be mainstreamed according to a number of criteria reported in the literature such as academic performance, hearing loss, and interpersonal skills, but also were affected by the willingness of regular education teachers to accept them into their classrooms. Academic mainstreaming was infrequent, and classroom observations showed that children with hearing impairments often appeared to be not well integrated into classroom activities. Programs varied considerably on all variables examined, including support services; in particular sign language interpreting was offered in some programs, available to a limited extent in others, but in many cases not at all. Clearer definitions of mainstreaming are a necessity and regular education teachers need to be informed of the special requirements of children with hearing impairments.     

Senior High School Education in the 21st Century

Educators in senior high schools are used to hearing, “Senior high schools today look the same as they did a hundred years ago.” Though the author has heard this and similar comments, she also has heard a great number of high school students talking with excitement about their learning experiences. She has worked with teachers and administrators who are passionately committed to ensuring that secondary-level students receive a high-quality education, and she has reveled in hearing parents sing the praises of the high school their children attend. So is senior high school education unjustly receiving a bad rap? This article describes a Change Practice Initiative implemented by a school district in Canada to ensure that structures and practices at its high schools are geared to the changing needs of students and educators, and the outcomes of this endeavor.     

Fostering Social Participation in Inclusive Classrooms of Students who are Deaf

ABSTRACT

Research indicates that children with hearing impairment are at higher risk regarding their social participation in school compared to their hearing peers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social participation of 7th Grade students with hearing impairment in inclusive classrooms. Data from 62 7th Grade students across three classrooms and teachers were collected via paper-and-pencil questionnaires and from regular and special needs teachers via interviews. Results from the single case studies in three classrooms indicate that students with hearing impairment feel less socially integrated and less accepted by their peers. They do, however, interact more with other students with special needs and most students with hearing impairment have friends in their class. Teachers evaluated social integration, acceptance, interaction and friendships of their students with hearing impairment as average or as above average. The teachers’ evaluations only partly correspond to the self-perceptions of the students. Factors that either promote or hinder participation on an institutional, teacher, teaching and student level were exposed, which may have important practice and policy implications.     

Understanding inclusive education practices in schools under local government jurisdiction: a study of Khon Kaen Municipality in Thailand

This article investigates inclusive education practices in schools under the jurisdiction of Thai local government through a study of schools in Khon Kaen Municipality in Northeastern Thailand. Thailand’s 1997 Constitution and 1999 National Education Act both legislated that the educational system must become inclusive, and under these laws schools are required to admit all groups of children, including children with special educational needs (SEN). This study sheds light on the situation of inclusive education in schools with regard to administrators’ policy implementation, teachers’ practices, and parents’ perception of inclusive education management. The findings derive from a survey of 11 school administrators, 114 teachers, and 274 parents (of 137 regular and 137 students with SEN), together with six focus groups with administrators and teachers from six schools. The results demonstrate that most school leaders support inclusive classrooms, most teachers are willing to work with SEN students, and parents of regular students accept the concept of inclusion. Actual practices of inclusive education vary, however, depending upon the perception of administrators and the will of the teachers to implement inclusive education. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the policy of the municipality may have resulted in the development of inclusive practices in schools under its jurisdiction.     

The marketization of education in Singapore: prospects for inclusive education

The marketization of education in Singapore has produced features within the regular education system that emphasize school autonomy and competition among schools. While the intention of these initiatives is to foster educational excellence, there is evidence that schools are under increasing pressure to attract students who are assets in terms of contributing to higher rankings in school league tables. At the same time, current government rhetoric claims to emphasize a valuing of difference, the ability to relate to diversity and social cohesion. This paper discusses key features of the marketization of education in Singapore and the associated prospects for inclusive education. It concludes by suggesting several policy changes that are needed before any progress can be made towards a more inclusive education system.     

Inclusive school leadership: Examining the experiences of Canadian school principals in supporting students with special education needs

As school systems strive to support students with special education needs in inclusive schools, there has been a persistent lack of scholarly literature that addresses the ways in which school principals are engaged in this process. This article is a response to this gap and aims to examine the question: What types of experiences do school principals identify as formational in their support of students with special education needs and fostering inclusive schools? Based on the analysis of data collected from 285 school principals from six provinces in Canada, four key themes are identified including: relationships, modelling behaviours, communication and principal isolation and lack of preparation. These themes are examined with consideration for how to support principals’ professional leadership in fostering inclusive schools. As a result, this article’s significance is in its examination of the experiences of principals and how these influence their leadership practice for supporting students with special education needs and fostering inclusive schools.     

Learning for Everyday Life: Students’ standpoints on loud sounds and use of hearing protectors before and after a teaching–learning intervention

Researchers have highlighted the increasing problem of loud sounds among young people in leisure-time environments, recently even emphasizing portable music players, because of the risk of suffering from hearing impairments such as tinnitus. However, there is a lack of studies investigating compulsory-school students’ standpoints and explanations in connection with teaching interventions integrating school subject content with auditory health. In addition, there are few health-related studies in the international science education literature. This paper explores students’ standpoints on loud sounds including the use of hearing-protection devices in connection with a teaching intervention based on a teaching–learning sequence about sound, hearing and auditory health. Questionnaire data from 199 students, in grades 4, 7 and 8 (aged 10–14), from pre-, post- and delayed post-tests were analysed. Additionally, information on their experiences of tinnitus as well as their listening habits regarding portable music players was collected. The results show that more students make healthier choices in questions of loud sounds after the intervention, and especially among the older ones this result remains or is further improved one year later. There are also signs of positive behavioural change in relation to loud sounds. Significant gender differences are found; generally, the girls show more healthy standpoints and expressions than boys do. If this can be considered to be an outcome of students’ improved and integrated knowledge about sound, hearing and health, then this emphasizes the importance of integrating health issues into regular school science.     

Academic and Social Benefits of a Co-enrollment Model of Inclusive Education for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (d/hh) students are traditionally educated within self-contained programs at residential or special day schools, within self-contained or resource classrooms in public schools, or within regular education classrooms with support provided by an itinerant teacher. The co-enrollment model offers a promising alternative in which these students are educated within a regular education classroom composed of both d/hh and hearing students and team-taught by a teacher of the deaf and a regular education teacher. This article examines the development of one such program and the social and academic performance of the d/hh students within the program. Data on social interaction between d/hh and hearing classmates suggest that specific instructional strategies that promoted students' sign language development, identified d/hh students as "sign language specialists" and grouped d/hh and hearing students during academic activities resulted in increased interaction between these two groups of students. Stanford Achievement Test scores in the areas of reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, mathematical problem solving and procedures indicate that although d/hh students scored below the national normative hearing group, reading comprehension levels exceeded the national normative sample of d/hh students during both years two and three of the program. We discuss the challenges of implementing a co-enrollment program.     

COMMENTARY ON NIND AND KELLETT 2002

This study had three objectives. One was to compare the needs, resources and supports perceived as available and needed by 32 parents of children with mild to moderate intellectual impairments, educated in self-contained special education classes (SCS), and 46 parents of children with general special needs educated in regular classes. A second objective was to compare these perceptions to the rated degree of pupil impairment. The third objective was to examine the applicability of two surveys. Results revealed that parents perceived strong informational needs regardless of educational setting, though the parents of children in the SCS group expressed stronger informational needs. Parents of children in the SCS group tended to be more satisfied with their relationship with schools than parents in the comparison group. Child impairments in the areas of social skills, behaviour, communication, and thinking and reasoning were highly correlated with parental needs and parental perception of school supports and resources. Factors influencing parental self-efficacy are discussed and recommendations are made for enhancing parental involvement in the child's education. Suggestions are also made for utilizing information derived from this study when planning the implementation of inclusive schools.     

Disability,curriculum and integration in China

ABSTRACT

Current data indicate that there are six million young people of school age with disabilities in China. Of these, only about 50 per cent attend any form of schooling, with approximately 220,000 of them enrolled in special schools and classes. The remainder attend regular classrooms. This means that there are about three million students with disabilities who at present lack any access to education. In May 1996 it was declared that in order to improve this situation, over the next five years, China plans to provide school places for 80 per cent of its disabled youngsters. In order to achieve this goal, the Chinese central education authorities have announced a significant change in policy direction towards integration. Instead of their previous commitment to the establishment of increasing numbers of special schools, it is now planned that the current number of about 1,400 special schools will be increased to 2,000, so that all regions of the country have access to at least one. At that point, no more special schools will be built. The extra places needed to increase the school attendance rate of youngsters with disabilities will be created in regular classes in regular schools. This paper gives an overview of the curriculum arrangements in China's four types of special schools, including their historical development, subjects taught, teaching arrangements and management. A number of difficulties confronting China's special education policy‐makers are canvassed and reasons suggested for their increasing commitment to a strategy of integration. It is proposed that China enjoys three advantages in the pursuit of an integrated school system.     

The practicum experiences of English Language Major student teachers during a period of profound curriculum reform in China

This paper provides an analysis of the issues faced by Chinese student teachers and, by extension, their supervisors, when curriculum reform challenges existing practices in schools and universities. The paper draws on the experiences of 10 English Language Major student teachers as they think about, make sense of, and undertake their extended practicum in the fourth year of their teacher education program. The students, from the School of Foreign Languages at a major teacher education university in the northeast region of Mainland China are challenged by the complexity of the practicum as they attempt to negotiate the differing expectations of their school advisors and university supervisor. The analysis highlights two related issues: the difficulties faced by reform efforts in China and the disjuncture between school and university expectations for practicum students in light of these initiatives. Importantly, these results add to and prompt further development of the nascent literature on the student teacher practicum in China.     

随班就读学校残疾学生发展状况研究

本研究目的是了解目前在随班就读学校特殊学生的生态状况,并试图发现对随班就读学校特殊学生发展产生积极影响的因素。本研究以问卷调查、访谈、实地观察等方法进行调查,选取北京、上海、江苏、湖北、贵州、四川、云南、广西、福建等地的47所学校收集数据,最后获得有效教师问卷331份,有效家长问卷165份;获得34名特殊学生、75名普通学生、35名教师、21名家长的访谈记录;获得10所学校的观察记录。结果发现：在被调查随班就读学校中：（1）特殊学生属于轻中度残疾学生,以自闭症、听力残疾、智力残疾学生居多。（2）特殊学生的学业成就、自信心、社会交往能力状况良好,特殊学生对学校满意度高;在各类残疾学生中,听力残疾和智力残疾学生在校适应状况最好,而自闭症学生适应状况最差;轻度残疾学生比中度残疾学生适应状况更好。（3）影响特殊学生发展的最主要的积极因素是：教师和学生能够获得专业支持,学校营造的平等和互助的氛围,减轻教师工作负担。     

Education for sustainable development in initial teacher training: issues for interdisciplinary collaboration

This article considers interdisciplinary approaches to education for sustainable development (ESD) in initial teacher training (ITT) partnerships in the light of recent national policy initiatives. In identifying challenges for interdisciplinary innovation, it brings to bear research evidence from three sources: questionnaires sent to ITT partnership schools; questionnaire surveys of geography and science graduate student teachers; and questionnaire surveys of their school mentors. Key findings are that: schools are not yet well developed as sites for student teacher learning in the domain; student teachers generally have greater understanding of sustainable development than their mentors; geography mentors perceive themselves to be better prepared for mentoring in this area than their science counterparts (who feel ill‐prepared); for both students and mentors, there are significant gaps in understanding of ESD compared with representations found in the literature. Some implications and possible ways forward for interdisciplinary ESD in teacher education partnerships are discussed.     

The Education of Students with Immigrant Background in Iceland: Parents’ and Teachers’ Voices

In recent years Icelandic schools have seen an increase in students with immigrant background. These changes require schools and teachers to respond to the educational needs these students may have. The aim of this article is to examine these changes by looking at the experience of teachers and parents of immigrant students regarding their education. As part of this qualitative research, 38 teachers were interviewed in focus groups with a view to the challenges and experiences of teaching immigrant students. Ten parents were also interviewed individually about their experiences of Icelandic schools and their children’s education. The findings revealed that teachers are unsupported in their quest for understanding and managing multicultural education and that the Icelandic school system challenges foreign parents’ understanding of school as a traditional place for learning. It is suggested that addressing the lack of collaboration and discussion between both parties on students’ needs and parents’ expectations could improve the education of immigrant students.     

Itinerant teaching: the inside story

The number of students who are deaf or hard of hearing attending local neighborhood schools has increased steadily over the past 20 years (Holden-Pitt & Diaz, 1998). This increase has led to larger numbers of teachers serving these students as itinerant teachers. However, little research has been conducted to examine the efficacy of this model of service delivery (Brelje, 1992; Luckner & Miller, 1994). Qualitative research methods were used to investigate itinerant teachers' perceptions of their responsibilities, job satisfaction, and effectiveness. Individual interviews were conducted with 10 itinerant teachers. Participants reported they preferred working directly with students rather than consulting with general education teachers and families. They noted the primary advantages of working as an itinerant teacher were variety, autonomy, time for reflection, and the diversity of students with whom they worked. Some of the most significant disadvantages they cited were isolation, time and budget constraints, and the distances required to travel from school to school. Essential skills and challenges to being an effective itinerant teacher are identified, recommendations for future itinerant teachers are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented.     

School placement and classroom participation among children with disabilities in primary school in Norway: a longitudinal study

The purpose of this paper is to address changes in school placement and classroom participation with respect to children with disabilities of primary school age in Norway, as well as examining the factors which explain variation in school placement and classroom participation. School placement refers to whether children with disabilities attend regular school, while classroom participation refers to time spent in regular classrooms at regular schools. The analysis is based on longitudinal data drawn from surveys undertaken in 2003 and 2006, of parents of children with disabilities. Present findings suggest there are no major changes in school placement during primary school years, which is contrary to earlier findings. However, the amount of time children with disability are absent from regular classes does increase significantly as the children become older. Size of municipality population, type of disability and degree of impairment are the main factors which have an impact on school placement. In addition to these, the amount of special education also has an impact on classroom participation. There are small changes in mechanisms that lead children out of both regular schools and classrooms, during their primary school years. However, some of the identified factors strengthen in importance as the children become older. The apparent policy change for older children, from special school placement to an “out of class” practice, is discussed. It could be seen as regular schools’ adaptation to the tension between the prevailing ideology of inclusion and schools’ maintenance of existing practice.     

Collaborative consultation: a method for improving educational services for mainstreamed students who are hearing impaired

As a result of well-known recent federal mandates for appropriate special education to all disabled students, the majority of children who are hearing impaired currently are educated in public school settings, along with hearing students. Consequently, teachers of students who are hearing impaired have expanded their role to include the provision of ongoing support to regular classroom teachers, speech-language pathologists, paraprofessionals and administrators. One model for delivery of these services is that of collaborative consultation. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of collaborative consultation, and to delineate some principles that merit consideration by regular and special educators who are involved in the education of students who are hearing impaired.