What can national data sets tell us about inclusion and pupil achievement?

Recent developments in the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) have produced a national pupil database (NPD) that contains information about the attainments of individual pupils. Every child in the country has been allocated a unique pupil number (UPN), which means that the academic progress of individuals can be tracked over time. It is possible to combine data on attainment with the demographic information which is obtained from the pupil level annual schools census (PLASC). These innovations make it possible to combine 'value added' information about pupil progress from one key stage of education to the next with data from the PLASC, which contains pupil background information, to produce a single matched data set. Thus the NPD and the PLASC are able to provide much of the necessary information to explore issues of individual pupil performance over their school careers. Notably, more specific information about the academic achievement of pupils who are described as having 'special educational needs' is now available. Lani Florian, lecturer in inclusion and special educational needs, Martyn Rouse, senior lecturer in inclusion and special educational needs, Kristine Black-Hawkins, senior research associate, and Stephen Jull, research associate, are all based at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education. In this article, drawing on their work in the 'Inclusion and Achievement Project', they explore the problems and possibilities for researching issues of pupil achievement and inclusion through the use of these new national data sets.     

Estimated maturity status and perceptions of adult autonomy support in youth soccer players

In this study, we examined the relations between biological maturity status, body mass index, age, and perceptions of adult autonomy support in the context of youth soccer. A total of 70 female and 43 male soccer players, aged 9 - 15 years, completed three adult-specific versions (i.e. mother, father, coach) of the perceived autonomy support subscale from the Interpersonal Style Scale. The participants' percent predicted adult stature was used as an estimate of biological maturity status. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that advanced maturity status in male players predicted lower perceptions of autonomy support from the coach. Maturity status was unrelated to perceptions of autonomy support from the coach in female soccer players, and paternal and maternal autonomy support in male and female players. Age and body mass index were unrelated to perceptions of adult (i.e. coach, mother, father) autonomy support in male and female players.     

What is ethnography? Can it survive? Should it?

This paper notes that, in the field of education and beyond, the term ‘ethnography’ has acquired a range of meanings, and comes in many different versions, these often reflecting sharply divergent orientations. I argue that this is a major problem that requires attention; particularly since today there are some serious threats to the practice of ethnographic work, on almost any definition. However, while we need to forge greater agreement about the meaning of the term, this is a challenging task. Indeed, if we take ‘ethnography’ to refer to a whole methodological approach little agreement will be possible. I argue that it may be feasible if we treat ethnography as one methodological strategy among others, each having varying advantages and disadvantages for the purposes of investigating particular topics. However, the fundamental disagreements among ethnographers today about ontological, epistemological, and axiological matters render even this by no means unproblematic.     

Development of expertise in elite and sub-elite British rugby league players: A comparison of practice experiences

Previous studies have investigated how individuals reach an expert level by counting the number of hours engaged in specific practice types. Here we sought to understand and compare the microstructure (e.g. practice tasks undertaken) of these practice hours experienced by elite and sub-elite British rugby league players. Semi-structured interviews explored the practice experiences of eight international and eight domestic level players. A two-staged thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. The analysis revealed that both player groups experienced a rich and narrow landscape of affordances and were exposed to early diversification of sports experiences during childhood. Differences were identified in domestic level players’ experiences of amateur and professional sports, where episodes of negative developmental environments were reported. International players’ practice experiences revealed differences in their professional careers, where exposure to scenario-based practice and dynamic learning environments were reported. The findings suggest that insights from ecological dynamics provide a suitable theoretical framework to guide coaches in the design of practice environments that should consider the physical, psychological, emotional and social dimensions of expertise acquisition.     

Assessment and special educational needs: teachers' dilemmas

Martyn Rouse, Lecturer in Special Education, and Richard Agbenu, a former research student, in the University of Cambridge School of Education, consider teachers' assessments of special educational needs in the light of the massive changes introduced during the last decade. They describe the teachers' understanding of the nature and purpose of assessment and examine how judgements about children's learning needs are being made.     

Towards a framework for creative online collaboration: A research on challenges and context

The OnCreate project was initiated by ten universities with expertise in collaborative work in online-based learning environments and explores the specific challenges of implementing university courses in creative disciplines in such an environment. The first research phase comprises a literature search on creativity and its contextual factors in online collaboration in an educational setting. From this research a first set of possible key challenges and contextual key factors has been selected and applied to categorize the results of interviews and surveys on current good practice in creative online collaboration among experienced online teachers from the partner universities. From the key findings we formulate hypotheses to guide future research towards a framework for creative online collaboration. At the same time, the results can serve as inspiration for the educational practice. Notable observations of the good practice research among the partner universities are that they realise innovative collaboration concepts usually on mashed-up environments of state-of-the-art web services rather than on the omnipresent learning management systems (such as Moodle or Blackboard). Also, they show a paradigm shift from teaching to coaching and promotion of an open peer-review culture among the students.