Exploring elementary students’ perceptions of disabilities using children's literature

The portrayal of characters in children's literature can be a very powerful influence on young children. Teachers have a responsibility to expose children to characters of all types, including those with disabilities. The goal of this study was to explore how third and fourth grade students responded to characters with disabilities in children's books. We read a total of 12 books that included characters with disabilities to students in two third‐grade and one fourth‐grade class at three elementary schools. We video‐recorded discussions about the books and identified the following four themes, all of which related to influences on students’ responses to the character with a disability: (a) societal messages, (b) academic responses, (c) teacher influence and (d) portrayal of disability. We recommend that teachers carefully select books featuring characters with disabilities based on the way the disability is portrayed in the book, and, after the read‐aloud, use questioning strategies that encourage students to make thoughtful, deep comments rather than giving ‘expected’ responses.     

EUROPEAN DISSERTATION SUMMARIES

To alleviate teachers’ reluctance toward practical work, there has been much discussion on teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, teaching materials, and failsafe strategies for practical work. Despite these efforts, practical work is still regarded as a challenging task for many elementary science teachers. To understand the complexity of teachers’ conflicts in practical work, this study examines teachers’ ideas about teaching and learning that influence teachers’ decision‐making and action on teaching practical work. More important than knowing technical–rational aspects of practical work is to understand the internal contradictions that teachers have to resolve within themselves regarding their capabilities and beliefs about science teaching and practical work. Using stories and experiences of 38 third‐year university students in a science method course in Korea, we seek to understand the conflicts and negotiations that they experience as they make decisions regarding practical work throughout their course. Reflective writings and group discussions on their lived experiences and concerns were used to probe participants’ ideas on teaching using practical work. From written and verbal data, themes were saturated in terms of the aspects which could (dis)encourage their practice. Results suggest that there are multifactorial challenges in pre‐service teachers’ understandings and concerns in practical work. Besides time, materials, and curriculum, pedagogical assumptions and values also compositely challenge the minds of teachers. As the pre‐service elementary teachers negotiated within themselves the importance of science in classroom and social levels, the question is raised about their identities as pre‐service elementary teachers to appreciate the balance between science teaching and practical work.     

Addressing the Persistence and Retention of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education: Incorporating Key Strategies and Supports on Campus

This article explores the key characteristics of postsecondary education programs that help youth and young adults with disabilities persist and remain in college. Student support factors include services that develop stronger self-determination skills, teach and support young adults' self-management skills, expose students to assistive technology, and promote career development by providing internships or other career-related experiences. In conjunction with student support services there are two professional development emphases for instructional faculty that contribute to the institutional support needed by college students with disabilities. Students benefit when faculty have an increased awareness and knowledge of the characteristics and needs of students with disabilities and when faculty incorporate concepts of universal design into their instruction and curriculum.     

Nomadic inquiry in the smooth spaces of the field: A preface

Framing this essay as a preface to a return to the field in order to collect more data for her study of the older, white southern women of her hometown, this researcher uses Laurel Richardson's (1994) concept of ''writing as a method of inquiry'' in order to revisit some of the places in which she has already done field work. By employing Deleuze and Guattari's (1980 1987) image of the nomad deterritorializing space, she revisits some of those spaces- mental space, the space of the text, and the space of theory- in order to work out of the failure of her received understanding of fieldwork and to think differently about the spaces and places in which her research takes place.     

农村留守儿童问题研究:现状与前瞻

近年来，农村留守儿童问题已逐渐成为媒体和学术界关注的焦点。然而，目前的研究无论理论上还是实践中均显不足。本文梳理了不同学科在这一问题上的研究成果，揭示尚待研究的问题域。     

论人的全面发展与健全人格教育

人格是一个人的无价宝，是任何代价都不能换取的。健全的人格，主要是后天铸就的。它是人的全面发展的基础，又是人的全面发展的重要表现。健全人格教育是当代大学生全面发展的金钥匙。     

Disrupting White Privilege: Diving beneath Shame and Guilt

Abstract

The persistence of white privilege and escalating racism in the United States challenges religious educators to analyze the roots and destructive potential of both. This article draws on historical and contemporary analyses in dialogue with personal reflection and the oral histories of two leaders who seek to recognize and live beyond their own privilege. The purpose of the study is to describe the landscape of white privilege and analyze the intersections of public and personal dynamics. The analysis reveals the educational potential of personal narratives and structural analysis in understanding and transforming white privilege into humble work for justice.     

黄州城区中学学生对体质健康测试认知与态度的调查与研究

通过文献资料法、问卷调查法和数理统计法等方法,对黄州城区部分中学学生的体质健康测试的认知及态度进行了调查与研究,结果表明:大部分学生参加体质健康测试的目的较明确,能够认识到自身健康的重要性,测试后愿意加强身体锻炼。但同时也存在一些问题,如部分学生对测试的成绩有一定的质疑,体质较差的学生对测试的抵触及耐力测试项目不受学生欢迎等,并提出了相应的对策。