Pedagogies for inclusion of junior primary students with disabilities in PE

Background: Laws and legislation have prompted movement from special education towards inclusive education, whereby students with disabilities are included in mainstream physical education (PE) classes. It is widely acknowledged that including students with disabilities in PE presents significant challenges in relation to meeting the diverse needs of all students. Significantly, little is known about how teachers include junior primary students with a disability in PE.

Aims: This paper aims to explore pedagogical practices for the inclusion of junior primary students with disabilities in PE as well as environmental accommodations teachers make. In order to address these aims, the research undertaking was guided by the question: ‘What pedagogies do teachers draw upon to include junior primary students with disabilities in PE’?

Methods: This qualitative research undertaking incorporated a critical case study approach, which utilised semi-structured interviews and field observations as data collection tools. Three teachers of PE in primary schools located in Adelaide, South Australia, participated in the research undertaking. Given this small sample group we make no claims for generalisability, but seek to provide connections for others teaching in PE.

Results: Findings are presented in three general themes of: Relationships for inclusion, Practices of Inclusion and Complexity and inclusion. Participants’ statements are used to illuminate discussions about discourses drawn on and to make links between previous research and theoretical perspectives. In general terms, findings revealed that despite barriers, such as catering for multiple forms of disabilities with minimal assistance from support staff and negotiating school environments, participants embraced inclusion and made pedagogical modifications to ensure meaningful involvement in PE lessons for all students. This research also identified the important role teachers play in terms of relationships, adaptations and safe learning environments, which collectively enable the inclusion of junior primary students with disabilities.

Conclusion: Students with disabilities warrant specific recognition and access to educational resources including within the field of PE.     

Barriers and facilitators to using digital technologies in the Cooperative Learning model in physical education

Background: The influence of technology on children’s everyday lives is significant in today’s society, with children described as digital natives and/or the iGeneration. There are also a range of digital technologies available for use in education and a number of pedagogical approaches reported to support technology integration and pupil learning in physical education contexts. The use of technology by practitioners at present, however, is far from omnipresent. Consequently, the mechanisms that can support practitioners to use digital technologies to help pupils learn optimally in physical education requires further attention.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers and facilitators to purposeful technology integration when using the Cooperative Learning model in physical education.

Research design: Data are presented from an action research project that focussed on how a teacher-researcher used iPads (tablet personal computers) within the Cooperative Learning model to support pupil learning. An athletics (track and field) unit was taught to 2 separate classes (36 pupils in total) using the key features of the Cooperative Learning model. The teacher-researcher used action research as a professional learning mechanism to refine her practice through gathering data from focus groups interviews with pupils, teacher-researcher reflections and a colleague’s observation.

Data analysis: Data analysis was ongoing throughout the athletics units as part of the action research design. Following the unit, data were analysed through inductive analysis and constant comparison and the authors engaged in a peer examination process.

Findings: Unfamiliarity with technology and poor group cooperation were identified as initial barriers to pupil learning when integrating technology. Action research, however, and the process of reflection and collaborative inquiry acted as key facilitators for the teacher-researcher to learn how to use digital technology to support learning.

Conclusion: Findings challenge existing literature which position the ‘digital natives’ or iGeneration of today’s society as competent and able to use digital technologies to learn in formal educational contexts. Moreover, this study shows that selecting a well-defined pedagogical approach that has been previously reported to support technology use, such as Cooperative Learning, will not automatically result in positive learning experiences for pupils. If practitioners are to purposefully integrate digital technologies into physical education and ensure technology can help students to learn optimally, practitioners should engage with a reflexive process of learning, such as action research, to refine and develop their practices.     

‘A Million Little Bonds’: Infidelity,Divorce and the Emotional Worlds of Marriage in British Women’s Magazines of the 1930s

This article examines infidelity discourse within women's magazines of the 1930s. Marking a departure from existing studies that have explored representations of ideal marriage, it uses discussions of marital breakdown as a lens through which to consider conceptualisations of love within marriage. It demonstrates how, in the interwar period, notions of mutual emotional investment were used to reinforce marriages that were deemed to be in breakdown. Muddying the perceived binary between individuals and the institution of marriage, this research highlights how the latter could be bolstered, rather than challenged, by recourse to the emotional worlds of spouses.     

Building cultural empathy and deconstructing Whiteness in counselor education

Counselor training that does not attend to dynamics of cultural differences and oppression can run the risk of promoting false empathy that serves the voyeuristic purpose of the counselor rather than achieving accurate empathy for the client. In this article, we discuss the differences between true and false empathy and how Whiteness, racial identity and culture, and classroom dynamics can impact the ability to engage in cultural empathy development. We present a model for cultural empathy training that attends to each of these dynamics.     

Use and value of information sources by parents of child psychiatric patients

Objective: With Web 2.0, the variety of information sources for parents of paediatric psychiatric patients has increased dramatically. Information use theory suggests newer sources supplement rather than supplant traditional sources of health information. This study sought to determine the use and value of traditional and emerging sources of information and whether the subjects had access to highly valued sources of information. Methods: One hundred parents indicated the use and value of six sources of information on the child’s symptoms, diagnoses and treatment. The data were analyzed to determine if significant relationships existed between type of source and the use and value of the information sources. Results: Ninety‐four percent of the subjects had access to the Internet and almost half of those reported using the Social Web. Eighty‐five percent had at least one high‐value information source. The psychiatrist in the clinic, the Internet and the primary care physician were the most highly used and valued sources. Conclusion: Use of digital information sources was greater than found in other studies of similar populations. This use appears to complement rather than supplant more traditional sources. Further studies are needed to see if the negative impact of lack of Internet access is replicated.     

Correction to: The effects of a web-based learning environment on student motivation in a high school earth science course

Educational technology research and development - This article was unintentionally published twice in this journal, by the same authors.