Northern Ireland head teachers’ perceptions of inclusion

Inclusion has been a central educational issue for well over a quarter of a century, with continuing emphasis worldwide on initiatives by governments, Higher Education Institutions and schools that respond to the needs of children and young people with learning difficulties, disabilities or other disadvantage. This paper reports how Northern Ireland head teachers interpret inclusion in the nursery, primary, post‐primary and special sectors. Those in mainstream schools showed whole‐hearted commitment to the philosophy and practice of inclusion, and could critically examine what they have achieved so far. However, they recognized persistent and varied constraints both within and beyond their schools. Head teachers in the special sector perceived their schools to have a multiple role in providing for pupils with the greatest need, reintegrating those on placement into their regular schools, and offering outreach support to mainstream colleagues. The implications for all aspects of teacher education were identified, for beginning teachers, for more experienced practitioners and for the head teachers themselves. A number of key factors were suggested to make inclusion work.     

Match: The Report of the School

Schools are currently suffering from considerable ‘innovation overload’ with multiple changes being demanded by the Education Reform Act and other sources. Tom Peters (1988) has argued that a similar turbulent situation exists in US business and industry and suggests that the most successful companies are those which are able to ‘Thrive on Chaos’. LEAs and schools need knowledge and skills about school improvement and this article attempts to provide research‐based information to help them cope with innovation and improve teaching and learning.

School improvement is seen as a combination of previous research on the management of change and school effectiveness. Eight factors which seem to be related to effective schools are listed and knowledge about the change process is used to consider how a school could be improved. In order to offer practical help to LEAs and schools a set of guidelines is provided and recent research findings are discussed under each heading. The article concludes with an outline of a possible LEA school improvement project, involving a set of stages.     

Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning Constructs

Demographic variables, findings from the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Schraw & Dennison, 1994), the Learning Strategies Survey (Kardash & Amlund, 1991), and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991), as well as accuracy ratings of test performance, were examined in 2 studies. Findings indicated convergence of self-report measures of metacognition, significant correlations between metacognition and academic monitoring, negative correlations between self-reported metacognition and accuracy ratings, and positive correlations between metacognition and strategy use and metacognition and motivation. Limitations of the studies and implications for theory development and future research are discussed.     

Effects of Individualized Instruction on Control Expectancy: A Field Test

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to determine whether or not one semester of individualized instruction is enough time to create in students an increased sense of being able to control payoffs in life and to lead students to develop a more realistic appraisal of their ability to control payoffs in an academic environment. Paradoxically, the converse may occur. When first confronted with a success-oriented instructional process and opportunities for self-pacing, students with failure histories may become more external, anxious, or uncertain. In order to examine these notions, a sample of 126 educationally deficient students who were beginning their first semester of study in a community college were selected from 18 different sections of math, English, and history and tested twice—once at the beginning of the term and again late in the term just prior to finals.     

CORRECTIONAL POST‐SECONDARY EDUCATION: THE EXPANDING ROLE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES

More than 75 percent of post‐secondary institutions offering education programs in prisons are community and vocational/ technical colleges. The predominance of community colleges among correctional education providers is a major change from the early 1970's when two‐thirds of such programs were provided by four‐year institutions.

Over 260 community colleges provide programs and services to the 26,000 inmates participating in higher education. Results of a survey on correctional post‐secondary education indicate that these programs are in many ways different from those educational institutions provide on their own campuses. For example, they generally, have different admission standards, are administered by part‐time staff, and rely upon part‐time and adjunct faculty.

Community and junior college administrators are urged to closely examine the operation and quality of their correctional programs and the need for evaluative research on the long‐term effects of these programs is also stressed.     

Dissecting through Barriers: A Follow-up Study on the Long-Term Effects of Interprofessional Education in a Dissection Course with Healthcare Professional Students

Several studies have shown significant improvements in the attitudes and perceptions of healthcare professional students toward interprofessional education (IPE) immediately following intervention with IPE courses. However, there remains little evidence on the lasting effects of IPE courses and the long-term influences of these IPE experiences are poorly documented. The purpose of this study is to assess the long-term effects of an intensive, ten-week interprofessional gross anatomy dissection course at McMaster University. Attitudes and perceptions of past participants towards interprofessional learning were evaluated, now that they have started working with other healthcare professionals outside of the IPE course setting. Thirty-four past participants who have clinical experience working in interprofessional settings or are currently working in the healthcare field completed a follow-up questionnaire consisting of a modified Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and open-ended questions. Quantitative analysis revealed a significant decrease in their attitude towards teamwork and collaboration and respect for other health professions, but a significant improvement in their understanding of roles and responsibilities compared to their results immediately after the IPE intervention. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions revealed several themes such as developing interprofessional competencies, developing relationships, and remembering the strengths of the IPE dissection course. The results of this study indicate that the IPE experience in anatomy was highly valued by the students and that past participants maintain a clear understanding of their scope of practice, but the reality of clinical practice may have eroded gains made in the program. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

Thriving in the Age of Accelerations: A Brief Look at the Societal Effects of Artificial Intelligence and the Opportunities for Libraries

Fifty years of the compounding effects of Moore's Law have led to enormous advances in computer processing power. Increased network speeds, the availability of big data, and machine learning techniques have accelerated the development of artificial intelligence; this promises to dramatically change many industries, including libraries. This article offers some thoughts on the effects of automation on employment, the social and political fallout, and the threats and opportunities for academic and public libraries.     

Pointing to parallels in ability-related differences in the use of metacognition in academic and psychomotor tasks

This paper offers a brief review of the use of metacognition by proficient and poor performers in academic and psychomotor tasks as well as highlights the parallels and provides directions for future research. Metacognition is knowledge about one's own cognitive processes [Flavell, J.H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906–911.]. To date, the study of the use of metacognition by children with different levels of abilities (from those having a learning disability to those identified as gifted) has been mostly restricted to the cognitive abilities in academic areas such as reading, writing, or mathematics. The structure of knowledge has been more extensively explored in the expertise literature in the performance of both academic and psychomotor tasks. Similarities have been noted in the characteristic differences between experts and novices in both these types of tasks. Studies have begun to explore the use of metacognition in psychomotor tasks such as key strokes, ball throwing–catching, and running. It seems that, as with the structure of knowledge, parallels also exist in the use of metacognition by poor and proficient performers in academic and psychomotor tasks.