A Drama Project about Older People's Intimacy and Sexuality

This paper describes an intergenerational project developed in partnership between a social work degree program and an Older People's Theatre group. Bringing together a small group of students, older actors, and film makers, methods from drama and the arts were utilised to explore the topic of intimacy and sexuality in later life. The project produced digital stimulus learning materials. Formal evaluation identified beneficial outcomes for participants highlighting the advantages of older people's leadership in social work education and the transformative potential of the dramatic learning methods used. Such pedagogical approaches are essential to achieve genuine quality personalized outcomes for older people in contact with care services.     

Tracing spectres of whiteness: discourse and the construction of teaching subjects in urban Aboriginal education

The author traces how discourse functions in the context of a school-based, urban Aboriginal education initiative, with a focus on the construction and organization of teaching subjects. Critical discourse analysis that traces spectres reveals some of the ways that whiteness and Eurocentrism create the possibilities for, and the conditions in which teachers take up, the positions: victim of racism, arbiter of authenticity, and rescuer. Consideration of the multiple, complex, and shifting positions teachers occupy within whiteness in general, and in colonial systems of education in particular, offers unique possibilities when untangling and reconfiguring teachers' constructions of Aboriginality/Indigeneity and responses to Aboriginal/Indigenous education. This theory building also contributes to the larger field of curriculum studies by demonstrating how consideration of ‘unheroic tales’ can aid in theorizing teacher identity and difference, both within and beyond the markers Indigenous/non-Indigenous.     

Integrating evidence-based reading practices into middle-school content instruction: exploring a facet of sustainability

Reading comprehension models are being implemented in content-area settings to boost reading achievement. Yet, little research explores how such models are incorporated into teachers’ daily instructional practice. The authors used extended observations and interviews to examine the integration of Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), an evidence-based reading comprehension model, into the instructional practices of 15 middle school science, social studies, and language arts teachers. Findings indicated that high-integration teachers embedded CSR lessons into their curriculum and reinforced CSR strategy use throughout the week. These teachers also felt supported in their efforts by colleagues and school administrators. There is much to be learned from the ways in which teachers engage in the art of integrating new methods into their teaching.     

Exploration of a Blended Learning Approach to Reading Instruction for Low SES Students in Early Elementary Grades

This study investigated the potential benefits of a blended learning approach on the reading skills of low socioeconomic status students in Grades 1 and 2. Treatment students received English language arts instruction that was both teacher-led and technology-based. Comparisons were made with control students who received the same English language arts instruction without the blended learning component. Results showed significantly greater pretest/posttest gains on a standardized reading assessment for the treatment students compared to the control students. The greatest discrepancy occurred in reading comprehension. A sub-analysis of low-performing English language learner students in the treatment group revealed the largest reading gains. At posttest, these students performed at the level of non-English language learner students in the control group. Results indicated a blended learning approach can be effective in enhancing the reading skills of low socioeconomic students.