A coactive sign system for children who are dual-sensory impaired.

The SKI*HI Institute developed a system of coactive signing to help alleviate communication and instructional barriers for children who are dual-sensory impaired (deaf and blind). The system also can be used to help children who are severely multihandicapped learn how to communicate. The system includes optimized coactive signs that are functional, easy to feel, easy to relate to the referent, and easy to make, and it also includes techniques related to effective coactive sign use. The coactive sign system is illustrated on a series of video tapes that has been field tested and produced and is being disseminated throughout the United States and Canada.     

‘Surprise Me!’ The (im)possibilities of agency and creativity within the standards framework of history education

Abstract

In the current culture of regulation in higher education and, in turn, the history discipline, it is timely to problematize discipline standards in relation to student agency and creativity. This article argues that through the inclusion of a critical orientation and engaged pedagogy, historians have the opportunity to bring a more agentic dimension to the disciplinary conversation. Discipline standards privilege that arrogant historical moment in the higher education sector when certain skills development and knowledge creation becomes a hegemonic discourse. As a result, there is less emphasis on creativity, agency, and individual opportunities for the demonstration of the historical imagination at work. We need to ensure that the insights gained from teaching and learning practice and research are not lost in the rush to meet discipline standards through compliance.     

Examining preservice teacher content and pedagogical content knowledge needed to teach reading in elementary school

Recently, increased attention has been placed on the importance of having knowledgeable and skilled teachers in order to influence reading achievement. Yet many international reports suggest that large numbers of children are not learning to read. How can we better prepare teachers with the necessary knowledge to teach reading? The current study examined the reading instructional knowledge of elementary education preservice teachers (N = 87) from two teacher education programmes. Programme A required five reading methods courses and Programme B required two methods courses. Findings indicate that the preservice teachers presented fairly robust levels of knowledge in the areas of phonological awareness, phonics, comprehension and vocabulary. However, we found statistically significant differences in knowledge based on the programme attended and the number of courses completed. Suggestions for improving reading teacher education are provided.     

Evaluating the impact of an academic teacher development program: practical realities of an evidence-based study

This study aimed to assess the impact of an entire academic teacher development programme at a Midwestern masters comprehensive university in the United States over a period of five years by examining changes in teaching and student outcomes of nine randomly selected programme participants. Researchers analysed syllabi, course evaluations, grade distributions, programme activity reports, interviews and vita, and concluded that the centre’s impact was greatest on tenure-track faculty who struggled with their teaching. Far more useful to future improvement, however, were the insights gained from reflection on study methods, the researchers’ emotional responses to their findings, their struggle to make sense of the data and grappling with the definition of ‘impact’. In this paper, the researchers share useful lessons learned and illustrate the difficulties inherent in evaluating academic development programmes, with a view to qualifying recommendations currently prevailing in the literature.     

Planting Poetry: Sowing Seeds of Creativity in a Year 5 Class

This article offers a case study account of a garden-themed poetry writing project run by a creative writing organisation in partnership with a class of 9–10-year-old children from a London primary school. I explore the concept of creativity which framed the five-week project and analyse the different ways in which the creative practitioner worked collaboratively with the class teacher to develop children’s writing, not least by adopting an open, inclusive pedagogy. Despite the obvious successes of this project, I raise questions about the role of creative practitioners working in schools and the ways in which special projects locate creativity on the margins of the mainstream curriculum.     

High Possibility Classrooms as a pedagogical framework for technology integration in classrooms: an inquiry in two Australian secondary schools*

Understanding how well teachers integrate digital technology in learning is the subject of considerable debate in education. High Possibility Classrooms (HPC) is a pedagogical framework drawn from research on exemplary teachers’ knowledge of technology integration in Australian school classrooms. The framework is being used to support teachers who teach various stages of schooling to take ‘pedagogical steps’ in their practice with technology. This article focuses on the use of the HPC conceptual framework in a study of seven teachers and their students at two secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia. Analysis confirms the practicality of this conceptual framework for technology integration in secondary school classrooms. This inquiry has implications for addressing the reluctance of teachers to integrate technology in curriculum. The article concludes by suggesting that more schools might consider using conceptual frameworks like HPC to support secondary school teachers to enhance student learning with technology.     

Science,technology and regional economic development

In recent years it has become clear that a firm's competitive position is significantly influenced by its capacity to innovate. This paper explores the hypothesis that if there are factors operating at the regional level which inhibit this capacity, then firms located in particular regions may suffer. One such factor might be a lack of centralized scientific services. Regions under-represented in terms of a viable scientific infrastructure may find difficulty in attrating new science-based firms, and firms already in the region may find themselves at a comparative disavantage compared with firms located elsewhere. Social forces of this kind might be playing an important part in enhancing the social and economic problems of underdeveloped regions.