Therapeutic support for young people with learning difficulties: what enables effective practice?

Supporting children and young people’s mental health is a central aim of the UK government policy, with those with learning difficulties a particularly vulnerable group. This systematic review of research uses published literature to explore how access and participation in therapy might be facilitated for young people with learning difficulties. Twelve studies published 2000-2019 were identified, which described the experiences of access to, and participation in therapy for people with learning difficulties, although notably most of these involved adults. Findings indicated eight themes: pre-therapy, careful contracting, therapy is hard, idiosyncratic needs, therapeutic relationship, group therapy, reviewing therapy and it changed my life. These were organized into three chronological stages: setting up of therapy; therapeutic processes; and therapeutic outcomes. A number of strategies that can promote access and participation are suggested for professionals working therapeutically with young people with learning difficulties, around contracting, clear communication, the therapeutic alliance and the ending of therapy.     

The effects of parental involvement on students’ academic self‐efficacy,engagement and intrinsic motivation

This research examined whether various dimensions of parental involvement predicted 10th‐grade students’ motivation (engagement, self‐efficacy towards maths and English, intrinsic motivation towards maths and English) using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS 2002). Results showed that both parents’ educational aspiration for their children and school‐initiated contact with parents on benign school issues had strong positive effects on all five motivational outcomes. On the contrary, parent–school contact concerning students’ school problems was negatively related to all five motivational outcomes investigated in the study. Additionally, parental advising positively predicted students’ academic self‐efficacy in English as well as intrinsic motivation towards English, and family rules for watching television were positively linked to students’ engagement and intrinsic motivation towards both English and maths.     

Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the 2003 Science Teacher Preparation Standards for NCATE Accreditation or State Approval

The 2003 National Science Teachers Association Standards for Science Teacher Preparation (NSTA-SSTP) were developed to provide guidelines and expectations for science teacher preparation programs. This article is the fourth in a special JSTE series on accreditation written to assist science teacher educators in meeting the NSTA-SSTP. In this article, the authors discuss pedagogical content knowledge and how this is expressed in the NSTA-SSTP. Included are competencies and examples needed for a science teacher preparation program to document developing pedagogical content knowledge in preservice science teachers.     

Fathers' involvement in young children's literacy development: Implications for family literacy programmes

Relatively few studies of family literacy programmes have investigated parents' experiences and whilst a number of such programmes have been specifically aimed at fathers, little is known about the involvement of fathers in programmes which target both mothers and fathers. This article reports fathers' involvement in a family literacy programme and their home literacy practices with their young children. The article provides a definition of family literacy and describes the context of the study, which was carried out in socio‐economically disadvantaged communities in a northern English city. Fathers' participation in their children's literacy was investigated through interviews at the beginning and end of the programme (n = 85) and home visit records made by teachers throughout the programme. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of these data indicate that, while fathers' participation in the family literacy programme was not easily visible, almost all fathers were involved to some extent in home literacy events with their children. During the programme, teachers shared information about literacy activities and the importance of children having opportunities to share literacy activities with their parents. Data indicate that fathers who were not mentioned by mothers as having been involved in their children's literacy were significantly more likely to be on a low income than those who were reported as being engaged with their children in home literacy activities. Fathers in the study were involved in providing literacy opportunities, showing recognition of their children's achievements, interacting with their children around literacy and being a model of a literacy user. Although involved in all four of these key roles, fathers tended to be less involved in providing literacy opportunities than mothers. While fathers and sons engaged in what might be described as traditionally ‘masculine’ literacy activities, fathers were more often reported to be involved with their children in less obviously gendered home literacy activities. The article concludes with discussion of implications for involving fathers in future family literacy programmes.     

How EPs record the voice of the child

Legislation, literature and research have recently advocated the importance of establishing and representing the views of children and young people. This study aimed to establish how Educational Psychologists (EPs) in one authority ascertain and present children's views in written reports. Content analysis was undertaken on the pupils' view section of 30 Year nine transition reports to determine the themes represented. Additionally focus group interviews helped identify EPs' methods for collecting, selecting and reporting pupils' views, indicating a wide variety of practice. EPs are challenged to explore report writing practices, in terms of representing the voice of the child, within their professional contexts.     

Citizenship and inclusion in the early years: understanding and responding to children’s perspectives on ‘belonging’

This paper argues for, and demonstrates the effectiveness of, including young children in commenting on and improving their learning environments. It reports the experiences gathered from of 16 setting‐based, small‐scale, practitioner‐led projects. Taking a view of citizenship as ‘participation’ the paper shows how practitioner‐research can support the evolution of inclusive environments for all children. Following a critical review of the literature on citizenship, young children, and ‘inclusion’ the paper considers the usefulness of the participant methodology of practitioner action research and the concept of ‘voice’ in educational research and report. Examples of practitioner‐research projects involving children aged three to six years identify and illustrate key themes from the data. Thus, they demonstrate: (1) the range of factors which excited or worried the children; and (2) the ways in which children’s concerns and ideas were listened to and action for change was developed. The children’s ideas and extracts from their comments are included alongside the practitioners’ responses in the cases which are discussed. Four main points are considered in conclusion: (1) children’s views can contribute to the development of inclusive practices; (2) children’s voices are central to studies of their perspectives and the methodological challenges of listening to children’s voices in research must be addressed; (3) identity and self esteem are key to the successful promotion of young children’s positive sense of inclusivity and belonging in their early years settings; and (4) supported practitioner‐research can enhance inclusive early years practices. The paper argues that including children in the identification and exploration of issues important to them promotes a positive sense of inclusivity and that such approaches to developing pedagogies of citizenship and belonging constitute a practical enacting of ‘voice’.     

远景分析：互联网时代

8年前,我和我的同事完成了OCLC第一篇会员报告《审视发展环境认清前景趋势》,当时我们的目的是了解正在增长的网络信息消费者的态度和习惯。报告中我们探寻在早期互联网信息环境下的三个主题：自助服务、用户满意度和无缝连接。该报告的研究还是非常肤浅的,但是它引发了大量的讨论,OCLC也出现了对信息消费者的一系列研究。     

The performance of Asian S&T journals in international citation indicators

This research explores the performance of Asian S&T journals based on the outcomes of various citation indicators. Indexed by Journal Citation Reports – Science Citation Index Expanded (JCR‐SCIE), journals published in China, Japan, India, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan between the years 2008 and 2012 are collected and analysed using bibliometrics and statistics methods. Results showed that the mean impact factor (IF) value of the journals from all countries was less than 1.3 throughout the period. Only journals from China and Japan had a mean IF or 5‐year IF (5Y‐IF) value exceeding 1. The self‐cited rate of the journals from South Korea remained the highest among selected countries but showed a declining trend every year. The self‐cited rates among journals from all the six Asian countries did not considerably affect the journals’ IF values. The results revealed that the IF‐based ranking factor (IF‐RF) of Chinese and Japanese journals in various subject fields constantly improved from 2008 to 2012, but this improvement trend was not observed in journals from the other four countries. Overall, the journals from Japan and China demonstrated stronger impacts than those from the other countries.     

Effective delivery of therapeutic interventions: findings from four site visits

This project follows a survey into the role of UK educational psychologists (EPs) in delivering therapeutic interventions to children and young people. Four educational psychology services (EPSs) that identified themselves as providing effective therapeutic practice were selected on the basis of their qualitative responses to the survey. Site visits included analysis of service documentation, an interview with the Principal Educational Psychologist (PEP) and focus groups with EPs and with stakeholders, multi-agency partners and commissioners of EPSs. Thematic analysis yielded a number of key themes. Those relating to how the service context can support the delivery of therapeutic interventions included: contracting and promoting; leadership; opportunities to practice; supervision; time and resources; and training.