School placement and conductive education: the experiences of education administrators

A placement at the National Institute of Conductive Education (NICE) in Birmingham for children with motor disorders is strongly preferred over mainstream or special schools by some parents, but it has been noted that this is usually refused following the current statementing process. Although funding constraints have been articulated, Angela Morgan, a Research Fellow at the Wolverhampton University Policy Research Institute, and Kevin Hogan, also at the University of Wolverhampton, contend in this article that other explanations are possible, as variability remains in placement decisions. The experiences of education administrators working within the special educational needs departments of local education authorities who make the ultimate decision regarding school placement have hitherto been unexplored. This study offers findings from an exploratory qualitative study, which suggests that administrators are working from disparate understandings of conductive education within an arena fraught with conflict. Recommendations derived from the study include further in-service training for education administrators and prior training for individuals seeking a career in education administration to enhance collaborative working partnerships between administrators and parents.     

A tool instead of a chore: Measuring student learning gains in order to improve instruction

Assessment is often treated as an unwelcome and time-consuming university or departmental requirement. This project proposes that assessment is actually an opportunity that communication faculty should embrace. Beginning with the end in mind, this study used stated course learning outcomes to construct a pre-/posttest instrument, administering those assessments in order to find out whether students were really learning what they were supposed to be learning. This article explains how the assessment instruments were constructed and administered, demonstrates clear and significant learning gains across three semesters, and identifies learning outcomes in need of instructional improvement. It also finds that by separating assessment from grading, pretests can identify concepts that need not be retaught, and posttests can reveal that an instructor’s perception of a successful instructional day does not necessarily match the reality of student learning for that day.     

The information needs of occupational therapy students: a case study

This article summarises a case study on the information needs of Masters level Occupational Therapy 5 (OT) students at one English university. A mixed methods questionnaire was used to explore motivators for information‐seeking, preferred information resources and barriers inhibiting the satisfaction of information needs. Thirteen recommendations for practice were formulated, focusing on how information professionals can best facilitate OT students’ learning and evidence‐based research skills in preparation for clinical practice. The study was completed by Jane Morgan‐Daniel, who received a Distinction for her work from Aberystwyth University, where she graduated with an MSC in Information and Library Studies in December 2016. She has written this article together with her dissertation supervisor, Hugh Preston. A. M.     

Differentiation and its Problems: the views of primary teachers and curriculum support staff in Northern Ireland

This paper identifies a range of problems associated with putting differentiation into practice. The opinions of head teachers, subject co‐ordinators, and teachers were sought, as well as those of the curriculum support staff in the Education and Library Boards on the extent to which these problems affected primary schools in Northern Ireland, and case‐studies illuminated these views. The results showed that the curriculum support staff regarded most problems in differentiation in a more serious light than the schools themselves did, but there was agreement on the acute lack of time to deliver a differentiated curriculum, on the shortage of human resources and on the difficulties with new assessment methods.     

Improving health-related fitness in adolescents: the CrossFit Teens™ randomised controlled trial

The aim of this study was to evaluate the preliminary efficacy and feasibility of the CrossFit Teens? resistance training programme for improving health-related fitness and resistance training skill competency in adolescents. This assessor-blinded randomised controlled trial was conducted in one secondary school in the Hunter Region, Australia, from July to September 2013. Ninety-six (96) students (age = 15.4 (.5) years, 51.5% female) were randomised into intervention (n = 51) or control (n = 45) conditions for 8-weeks (60 min twice per week). Waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), BMI-Z score (primary outcomes), cardiorespiratory fitness (shuttle run test), muscular fitness (standing jump, push-up, handgrip, curl-up test), flexibility (sit and reach) and resistance training skill competency were measured at baseline and immediate post-intervention. Feasibility measures of recruitment, retention, adherence and satisfaction were assessed. Significant group-by-time intervention effects were found for waist circumference [?3.1 cm, P < 0.001], BMI [?1.38 kg · m^?2, P < 0.001], BMI-Z [?0.5 z-scores, P < 0.001], sit and reach [+3.0 cm, P < 0.001], standing jump [+0.1 m, P = 0.021] and shuttle run [+10.3 laps, P = 0.019]. Retention rate was 82.3%. All programme sessions were delivered and participants’ mean satisfaction scores ranged from 4.2 to 4.6 out of 5. The findings demonstrate that CrossFit Teens? is a feasible and efficacious programme for improving health-related fitness in adolescents.     

Buddhism and Autonomy‐Facilitating Education

This article argues that Buddhists can consistently support autonomy as an educational ideal. The article defines autonomy as a matter of thinking and acting according to principles that one has oneself endorsed, showing the relationship between this ideal and the possession of an enduring self. Three central Buddhist doctrines of conditioned arising, impermanence and anatman are examined, showing a prima facie conflict between autonomy and Buddhist philosophy. Drawing on the ‘two truths’ theory of Nagarjuna, it is then shown that the prima facie conflict can be defused by noting that the self has reality at one level, but is a fiction at another level. This approach allows us a new way of seeing autonomy as an extrinsic value—as a step in the journey towards nirvana, but of no value once one has achieved nirvana.     

Community colleges in the United States: are they a model for Britain?

The article examines US community colleges from a comparative public policy perspective and asks: are they a model for Britain? The introduction provides the context for this question, stating that, while systems of education and training are recognized as vital to a nation's economic and social development, there has been a long standing lack of confidence in the effectiveness of that in Britain, especially in the intermediate post-school sector. A brief section on comparative education and public policy, is followed by a series of questions and answers aimed at providing an answer to the central question, are US community colleges a model for Britain? There follows a comprehensive review of their history, ideology, patterns of development and effectiveness. The conclusion is that, despite criticisms and shortcomings, the ‘multiple mission’ of the community colleges and their service to millions of ordinary citizens, make them a useful guide for British further education colleges.