Pupil involvement in special educational needs disagreement resolution: some perceived barriers to including children in mediation

Recent legislation in England has encouraged the use of disagreement resolution and mediation and emphasised the need to involve pupils in their own schooling. These policies apply in the educational system generally, but are particularly significant in the area of special educational needs (SEN). Kirstie Soar, a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of East London; Katie Burke, a PhD student at Salford University, Manchester; Katia Herbst, an independent researcher offering research and development services to the not-for- profit sector; and Professor Irvine Gersch, Director of the MSc educational psychology programme at the University of East London, set out to examine how pupil involvement in informal disagreement resolution has developed across 11 English regions since its introduction. The research consisted of 12 in-depth interviews with local education authority (LEA) SEN officers, mediators and parent partnership officers (PPOs) involved in informal special educational needs disagreement resolution. The aims of the study were to determine how far children were actually involved in mediation and what, if any, barriers existed which were seen to restrict such pupil involvement. A thematic analysis of interview content was conducted. Four major themes emerged, including: the distinction between direct and indirect pupil involvement; the importance of the child's view and how it is elicited; the role of other agencies; and other barriers to pupil involvement in informal disagreement resolution. Direct pupil involvement was found to be limited and variable, but indirect pupil involvement was more prevalent. In this article, the authors note a series of recommendations concerning pupil involvement in the mediation process and, in conclusion, put forward the implications of their work for future policy, practice and research.     

The development of subjective group dynamics: children's judgments of normative and deviant in-group and out-group individuals

A developmental model of subjective group dynamics suggests that social identity is sustained first by intergroup biases and later by intragroup biases. In this study 476 English children 5 to 11 years old evaluated the English and German soccer teams, and judged in-group or out-group members whose attitudes toward the teams was normative versus antinormative. Children of all ages expressed intergroup bias. Differential evaluation against in-group deviants and in favor of out-group deviants strengthened with age. Understanding of targets' relative acceptability (differential inclusion) among in-group and out-group members mediated the effects of age and intergroup bias on intragroup bias. Identification with the in-group moderated the effects only among older children.     

Science concept learning by English as second language junior secondary students

Recent Chinese migrant students from Taiwan studying science in two Australian secondary schools were found to explain the meanings of selected science concept labels in English by translating from Chinese. The research strategy involved interviewing the students concerning their recognition and comprehension of the science concept labels firstly in Chinese and then in English. Mean recognition and comprehension scores were higher in Chinese than in English, with indications that Chinese language and science knowledge learnt in Chinese deteriorated with increasing time of residence in Australia. Rudimentary signs of the students being able to switch between Chinese and English knowledge bases in science were also found. Implications for teaching science to ESL students and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Youth Voice,Civic Engagement and Failure in Participatory Action Research

In this article, we tell the story of a changing urban landscape through the eyes of the youth we work with in an ongoing after-school program and community-based research project rooted in Photovoice methodology. In particular, we focus on the work that, over the 6 years of our time with youth, has “ended up on the cutting room floor” (Paris and Winn (eds) Humanizing research: decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities. SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, 2014, p. xix). This attention to the work that has fallen through the cracks is a move to engage the central tenets of Humanizing Research, but it’s also a call to think critically with and through the failures that emerge in work with youth. We attend specifically to an ongoing failure in our work as a way to think about the kinds of promises that are often made and broken in participatory action research. In doing so, we tease out the implications of our work with youth and the steps community-based researchers can take to navigate the challenges that can impede the goals of fostering meaningful change.     

The future of higher education in Ireland: a postcolonial perspective

The transformation that Irish higher education (HE) has undergone since the mid-2000s has been particularly rapid and unidirectional. Following the Global Financial Crisis, the Irish Government sought to take control of tertiary education in an attempt to shield the country from future economic shocks. This paper succinctly discusses the circumstances leading to the current policy position and what these changes have meant for Irish HE. A postulation that neoliberalism will inevitably deepen further within Irish HE will be explored through the lens of Postcolonial theory. In conclusion, I will show that the application of this theoretical stance may succeed in buffering many of the effects of neoliberalism to ensure ample space in HE for all subject areas and disciplines.     

Predictors of academic success in medical school

This study was designed to determine the predictive validity of selected admissions variables used by the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Data for the study were collected from 586 students admitted to the M.D. program from 1961 to 1968. These students were categorized into one of three groups (Successful [SUCC], Successful with Extended Study [SWES], and Lost to Medicine [LTM]) based upon their performance in medical school. A two-way analysis of variance and the use of a post hoc Scheffé method of multiple comparisons indicated significant differences between the SUCC group and the combined SWES and LTM groups. Therefore, the data revealed the predictive ability of two admissions variables and suggested the need for additional research into the subjective variables used in the admissions process.     

“I'm just not that great at science”: Science self-efficacy in arts and communication students

Research in science education confirms the importance of self-efficacy in students' persistence and success in the sciences. The current study examined the role of science self-efficacy in nonspecialist, arts and communication-oriented students encountering science in a general education context. Participants (N = 275) completed a beginning- and end-of-semester survey including a Science Self-Efficacy Scale, a “connection to science” measure—the Inclusion of Science in Self Scale—and a Science Anxiety Scale. Participants also responded to two open-ended “sources of science efficacy” questions, and provided background/demographic information and access to their academic records. Results showed a significant increase in science self-efficacy and connection to science—although no change in science anxiety—over the course of the semester. The observed shift in self-efficacy for minority and international students was of particular note. These students started the course with lower confidence but, by the end of the semester, reported comparable science self-efficacy, and achieved similar grades to their White/Non-Hispanic and US resident classmates. Contrary to expectations, science self-efficacy did not predict performance in the class. However, students' self-reported sources of efficacy indicated increased confidence in using science in daily life, and confirmed the value of mastery experiences and of personally meaningful, student-centered course design in scaffolding student confidence. Results are discussed in terms of the individual and instructional factors that support science self-efficacy and student success in this unique, general education science environment.     

Strategies for using feedback students bring to higher education

This article explores strategies for acting on feedback that students bring to their higher education, by exploring student perceptions on the guidance they received from their teachers in school or college. Whilst assessment issues have been the subject of a range of research studies, it is the contention of this article that little research has been undertaken to identify the strategies that students possess for ‘using’ feedback. This small‐scale research study was stimulated by M.R. Weaver’s 2006 Weaver, M.R. 2006. Do students value feedback? Student perceptions of tutors’ written response. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(3): 379–394. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar] finding that only a quarter of students had received guidance on how to use feedback prior to university. This exploration identifies the guidance for using feedback that 350 students in Humanities brought to their degree course. Analysis of responses revealed the strategies that students had been introduced to, identifying nine indigenous categories. Whilst almost 40% of these students indicated they had received guidance for using feedback, scrutiny of responses showed that many of these students confused ‘actual feedback’ with ‘guidance on how to use’ feedback. The implications of such starting positions for students and staff are considered: questioning the adequacy of such a foundation for students to be able to make effective use of the feedback they will receive in their degree course, and finally suggesting initiatives by which staff could enable students to get more out of feedback.     

Learning by analogy: Discriminating between potential analogs

The ability to successfully discriminate between multiple potentially relevant source analogs when solving new problems is crucial to proficiency in a mathematics domain. Experimental findings in two different mathematical contexts demonstrate that providing cues to support comparative reasoning during an initial instructional analogy, relative to teaching the same analogs and solution strategies without such cues, led to increased ability to discriminate between relevant analogs at a later test. Specifically, providing comparative gestures and visibly aligned source and target problems during initial learning led to higher rates of positive extension of learning to new contexts, and lower rates of susceptibility to misleading contextual features, both immediately and after a week delay.     

Dietary nitrate supplementation does not improve cycling time-trial performance in the heat

This investigation examined the effect of beetroot juice (BR) supplementation, a source of dietary nitrate (NO₃^?), on cycling time-trial (TT) performance and thermoregulation in the heat. In a double-blind, repeated-measures design, 12 male cyclists (age 26.6 ± 4.4 years, VO_2peak 65.8 ± 5.5 mL.kg^?1.min^?1) completed four cycling TTs (14 kJ.kg^?1) in hot (35°C, 48% relative humidity) and euthermic (21°C, 52%) conditions, following 3 days supplementation with BR (6.5 mmol NO₃^? for 2 days and 13 mmol NO₃^? on the final day), or NO₃^–depleted placebo (PLA). Salivary NO₃^? and nitrite, core (T_c) and mean skin temperature (T_sk) were measured. Salivary NO₃^? and nitrite increased significantly post-BR supplementation (p < 0.001). Average TT completion time (mm:ss) in hot conditions was 56:50 ± 05:08 with BR, compared with 58:30 ± 04:48 with PLA (p = 0.178). In euthermic conditions, average completion time was 53:09 ± 04:35 with BR, compared with 54:01 ± 04:05 with PLA (p = 0.380). The TT performance decreased (p < 0.001), and T_c (p < 0.001) and T_sk (p < 0.001) were higher in hot compared with euthermic conditions. In summary, BR supplementation has no significant effect on cycling TT performance in the heat.