Progress in Literacy Coaching Success—A Dozen Years on

Literacy coaches are most successful when they: develop strong, trusting relationships; provide clarity about their roles; communicate well; spend much of their time in coaching conversations; and monitor their perspectives about their work and those with whom they work. However, challenges still persist for literacy coaches, particularly in relation to administrators' understanding of literacy coaching, training for literacy coaches, and the amount of time allocated for literacy coaching. This article describes each of these successful practices and each of these challenges, based upon the author's experience over more than 12 years as an international consultant on literacy coaching and supported by research from the literature on coaching, with the goals of summarizing current knowledge, providing practical suggestions for improvement, and encouraging forward movement in the field of coaching.     

Treadmill Adaptation and Verification of Self-Selected Walking Speed

Abstract

Eighty-two male college students were divided into three equal-size groups for the purpose of testing the transfer effects between motor skills judged similar in perceptual components but different in motor components.

Criterion measures of gross movement ability and static balance were analyzed and practice tasks similar to these criterion measures in perceptual components but different in motor components were developed. All subjects were pretested on the criterion measures, after which groups 1 and 2 practiced 3 min. per day for 28 days on the practice tasks while group 3 performed unrelated isometric exercises. On the post-test, the experimental groups were found to be significantly superior to the control group on gross movement accuracy and static balance. It was implied that the transfer resulted from the similarity in perceptual components of the two motor skills, and that perceptual abilities were subject to improvement through practice.     

Respecting and fulfilling the right of post-primary pupils to consent to participate in trials and evaluative research: a discussion paper

This paper provides an introduction to issues surrounding the participation rights of young people in research and the implications of their growing involvement in research as well as providing a discourse on the ethical implications related to consent. The unique contribution of this paper is that it considers children’s rights in respect to the increasing opportunities for young people to take part in evaluation research. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to acknowledge the growing involvement for young people in research and the implications of ensuring that their rights of participation are respected. Secondly, we will consider the children’s rights legislation and our obligations as researchers to implement this. Finally, we will explore consent as an issue in its own right as well as the practicalities of accessing participants. This paper will postulate that any research about young people should involve and prioritize at all stages of the research process; including participation in decision-making. We conclude by identifying five key principles, which we believe can help to facilitate the fulfilment of post-primary pupils’ ability to consent to participate in trials and evaluative research.     

‘Trying to find the extra choices’: migrant parents and secondary school choice in Greater Manchester

This article, based on qualitative research in Greater Manchester, examines the experience of migrants in navigating the education system, and in particular in choosing secondary schools for their children. There has been extensive research on the process of choosing schools since the policy reforms of the 1980s, but none has examined how the process of choosing a secondary school is impacted by the material and affective impact of migration. The article argues that migrants’ experience is embedded in gendered, classed and racialised processes and that, despite the heterogeneity of the category, migrants often face particular barriers in negotiating the school system. Nonetheless it also explores the importance put on education by the migrants who were interviewed and the active labour they engage in to try and achieve the best results for their children.     

Transformation for adults in an Internet‐based learning environment—is it necessary to be self‐directed?

This research explores the relationships between self‐directed learning readiness and transformative learning theory (TLT) reflected by the Constructivist Internet‐based Learning Environment Scale (CILES). A questionnaire survey about adult learner's perceptions of Internet‐based learning was administered to adults enrolled in classes in community colleges in Taiwan. A total of 593 valid questionnaires were used for the structural equation modeling analysis. The findings confirmed a second‐order hierarchical factor relationship of TLT (technical, dialectical and emancipatory learning interests) from CILES. Moreover, the three domains of learning interests of transformative learning were proved to have a developmental relationship, moderated by the readiness of self‐directed learning for adult learners in Internet‐based learning.     

The small group subtlety of using ICT for participatory governance: A South African experience

The greater number of government efforts to stimulate participative governance in communities using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) often fall short of expectations. In South Africa extending e-government to communities has been in the form of more and/or better equipped ICT-enabled community centres, called Thusong Service Centres. In this paper, based on action research experiences, we report outcomes of interpretive research into ICT-enabled approaches to participative governance in communities. Using the Diffusion of Innovations theory as an analytic lens, the findings reveal a subtlety that is not often mentioned in the call for participative e-governance; people from communities prefer to work in groups rather than individually. The collectiveness inclination is a common denominator of many developing countries where people choose to come together to leverage the few available resources. Individuals become apprehensive when made to work on their own using the ICT. The research reveals the necessity to re-design ICT to suit small groups as part of participative e-governance rather than the normative ICT design that suits individual work styles. Additionally, the research reveals that by working in groups, communities are more willing to accept the government initiatives that are being energised with the use of ICT. Methodologically, the research revealed the ethical issue that arises from action research in its raising of unrealistic expectations in a community.