Textual Authority in Bram Stoker's Dracula; or,What's Really at Stake in Action Research?

In a previous issue of Educational Action Research, Jean‐Claude Couture revisited his involvement in a university action research project with particular reference to his complicity in – and, eventually, resistance to – working for the interests of the university. In his essay, entitled ‘Dracula as action researcher’. Couture uses the 1992 movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula, as a source of metaphors and analogies for rewriting the story of his involvement in the project. In this response to Couture. I suggest that the movie offers fewer textual resources for the deconstruction he attempts than does Bram Stoker's original novel and, more importantly, that Couture may have thus overlooked important resources for resisting his positioning as an accomplice of the university. I also suggest that juxtaposing Couture's story of action research with Bram Stoker's version of the Dracula legend highlights crucial questions about the mobilisation of textual authority in educational action research.     

An exploration of the perceived health,life skill and academic benefits of dinghy sailing for 9–13-year-old school children

Research evidence suggests that outdoor education offers significant potential in priming healthy physical activity behaviors, developing life skills, enhancing self-esteem and promoting improved academic performance. The aim of the current study was to explore from a cross-sectional perspective the perceived benefits of a dinghy sailing program on 9–13-year-old school children. Participants (n = 38) were drawn from a diverse range of relevant participation and stakeholder groups, including school children, teachers and sailing instructors. Semi-structured interviews (adults) and focus groups (children) were used to collect data, with inductive data analysis methods applied. Six superordinate themes arose from the data highlighting physical and mental health benefits as well as the potential to development key life skills, self-esteem and the possible interaction with other aspects of the school curriculum to enhance student learning.     

Developing a generic review framework to assure capstone quality

Within the higher education context, capstone units can be viewed as a significant means of assuring intended learning outcomes for programmes. They provide students with the opportunity to consolidate and apply prior and new disciplinary learning, as well as employability skills and graduate attributes. This paper describes the first stage of an initiative in a regional, Australian university to develop a capstone quality review framework that can be applied across disciplines. A deductive, thematic analysis of relevant literature, guides and institutional strategic documents using a constant comparison method was used to develop a collectively agreed upon set of capstone quality domains and related criteria. These would enable reviewers to assess whether capstone curricula were fit-for-purpose. Capstone domains and criteria were validated and revised using a multi-stage, moderated review of 10 capstone units. This validation process affirmed that to avoid issues with reviewer inter-rater reliability, future use of our framework should emphasise calibrating reviewer interpretation to ensure greater levels of shared understanding of underlying concepts. It further suggested the desirability of incorporating aspects of teacher self-assessment, teacher feedback and student results. Provided these findings are accounted for, we conclude that the proposed capstone review domains and criteria could be used for quality review and enhancement, or capstone benchmarking processes, regardless of discipline area.     

Implementing the Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs

Abstract

This article explores the provenance and features of the new Code of Practice for special educational needs and then reports on research on the implementation of the Code in one Local Education Authority. It is argued that the Code has managerial, curricular and consumer dimensions, all of which have a number of implications for policy and practice, for both LEAs and schools. In particular, the Code can be seen as a mechanism for controlling and targeting resource allocation as well as a means of increasing accountability in relation to provision and partnership with parents. The Code is also closely linked to the changing role of LEAs and is therefore likely to affect the relationship between LEAs and schools.     

Measuring the Diversity Awareness of Social Work Students: The Dual Perspective Inventory

The Dual Perspective Inventory was implemented to measure the diversity awareness of first‐year MSW students at a university in the western U.S. Data were collected at the beginning of the first semester from students who enrolled in a course on diversity, and again at the end of the semester when the students were about to complete the course. The mean scores of both the before and after surveys indicated that the average MSW student had an acceptable level of diversity awareness and that their awareness increased during the semester. Findings also showed that students who were racial minorities, GLBT, disabled, and/or of non‐U.S. origin had a higher level of awareness than students from the dominant culture (white heterosexual nondisabled and U.S. native) in the after survey, as well as a greater increase in awareness level over the course of the semester.