Northern Ireland Special Educational Needs Coordinators creating inclusive environments: an epic struggle

A key role in the development of inclusive practices in schools and classrooms is that of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), a role that has changed most radically since the introduction of the Code of Practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Through interviews with SENCOs in primary and post‐primary schools in Northern Ireland, the present study sought to examine the extent to which they created inclusive environments. Specifically, it investigated the scope and main challenges of their work, the support received and how far initial teacher education and in‐service training underpin inclusion and, thereby, the SENCO’s role. The findings showed that the responsibilities, skills and attributes expected of the SENCO were numerous and that it was a core position, yet carried a substantial teaching load, that the role was strongly managerial and that there was fragmented support in practical terms. Despite expectations that the SENCO would initiate and implement improved inclusive strategies, many significant obstacles persisted and progress could be slow considering, for example, teacher knowledge of, and attitudes towards, special needs. A much sharper focus is needed on all phases of the teacher education continuum as they impact on inclusive cultures at whole‐school and classroom level. The SENCOs identified their own perceptions of key factors to make inclusion work.     

Will the ‘good’ [working] mother please stand up? Professional and maternal concerns about education,care and love

The purposes of this article are to understand the factors that women are likely to take into consideration when making employment decisions and childcare choices while their babies are young, and to identify their choices, beliefs and dilemmas: the focus is on the experiences of working mothers in England. These choices are problematised in the context of mothers placing their babies with carers in day care settings who ‘love’ their children. Drawing from a larger study, the focus is on the narrative and experience of Ayesha in order to illuminate the tensions of being a mother responsible for, and making decisions about her child's care and education, coupled with her working role as an early years education advisor. Issues about gender and education are enmeshed in Ayesha's narrative through these two roles and the subject positions which they created. Ayesha's narrative illustrates the ways in which such decisions can be fuelled by contradictory political messages which are sensationalised by the media in relation to the role of a ‘good’ mother. The findings suggest there is a need to discuss the impact of media sensualisation on mothers' decision-making and to highlight the importance mothers place on close, loving relationships between the carer and the baby.     

Staff involvement in the design of a key skills curriculum model: a case-study

This case-study follows a school as it struggles to prepare for the changes brought about by Curriculum 2000 and the new key skills qualification. It describes the curriculum debate within the senior management team as it balanced the conflicting needs of subject popularity and necessity. It relates how inherent structural flaws were uncovered in the proposed curriculum strategy, how this very failure was used as an opportunity to initiate staff involvement in the design of curriculum structures and how success was subsequently fashioned from the process. It is a story of failure, consideration, reflection and improvement, and offers some insight into the lessons learned by management and teaching staff as they reflect on the process of change and their own participation in it.     

The didactics tradition in South Africa: a reply to Richard Krüger

There has been a growing interest in the European Didaktik tradition as part of a process of ‘internationalizing’ curriculum studies. Krüger provides useful insights into some aspects of Didaktiek in South Africa. However, the essay does not contextualize this tradition within the broader history of South African education. This reply contends that Didaktiek was interwoven with ‘fundamental pedagogics’ and as a consequence played a role in reproducing apartheid ideology—it did not provide a language of critique or possibility. This is one reason why the tradition has seen its demise in post‐apartheid South Africa. I argue that curriculum theory, which crucially deals with the relationship between schooling and society and highlights the socially constructed nature of schooling, offers a more useful alternative for critiquing apartheid education policy and for charting a process of transformation of education in South Africa.     

Practical Knowledge,Performance, and Physical Education

This paper is based on the premise that physical education as a practical subject on an educational curriculum is often undervalued because the concept of practical knowledge is not sufficiently understood. Explanations that rely on either propositional knowledge or on practical reasoning are inadequate. A critique is given that exposes “knowing how” as an ambiguous concept. It is argued that the performance itself counts, judged against the public standards of excellence that a particular physical education activity demands. Practical knowledge, it is concluded, is a legitimate kind of knowledge where there will be evidence of intentional action and learning and where there will be an implicit, as well as an explicit, dimension.     

Participation Patterns in Higher Education: a comparative welfare and production régime perspective

This article considers the counter-intuitive observation that some of the wealthiest nations can feature low tertiary graduation rates (e.g. Austria, Germany, and Switzerland). It also considers the observation that many countries with high tertiary graduation rates show low levels of social equity, while many countries with low tertiary graduation rates show high levels of social equity. These observations are considered through the lenses of institutional perspectives, and specifically welfare and production régime theories. The analysis elaborates on educational attainment, patterns and key aspects of economic functioning and development, and educational attainment patterns and their relationship to social inequality.     

Quality Teaching and Learning in Australian and South African Universities: Comparing policies and practices

Over the last decade universities across the world have been grappling with quality and quality assurance issues. In several countries national policies on higher education quality assurance have been evolving, mostly with the purpose of putting external systems of quality assurance in place. In many instances, these policies and systems had less effect on the quality of teaching and learning than had been expected. This paper serves as a comparison of national quality policy developments in two countries, Australia and South Africa, and goes on to investigate the emerging tensions in quality policy processes in these countries. Whereas a number of similarities were discerned, differences were as evident, verifying the underlying assumption of the authors that notions of quality, and quality policies and their implementation are very much dependent on the particular localised contexts in which they exist.     

Curriculum reform and choice of science: Consequences for balanced and equitable participation and achievement

In 1988, most schools in Western Australia adopted a Unit Curriculum structure in the first three years of high school, following piloting of the scheme in seven schools in 1987. The goais of the Unit Curriculum are stated to be excellence, equity, and relevance, and one of its key features is the increased flexibility students have in making their subject selection. This article reviews the science enrollment and achievement patterns of males and females studying in the pilot schools in 1987, and for the first three years of the operation of the Unit Curriculum in 1988, 1989, and 1990. The data indicate that lowering the age for subject choice is associated with a reduction in the amount of science studies, especially by females, and with the early manifestation of sex-stereotyped subject selection. It appears that if early sex stereotyping is to be avoided, then students need to be provided with more structure in their selection of units. This article emphasizes the need for all involved in system-wide curriculum change to be fully informed of the potential benefits and dangers of curriculum models which allow wide flexibility, especially where curriculum change affects students' “choice point”.