Metacognition of young readers in an early intervention programme

This qualitative study was designed to investigate the metacognitive behaviour displayed by young children during their involvement in a reading intervention program, using videotapes of both intervention sessions and stimulated recall to access metacognition. The children demonstrated a wide range of metacognitive behaviour consistent with models of metacognition for older children proposed by researchers such as Flavell (1979) and Paris (Cross and Paris, 1988). Most metacognitive responses during intervention sessions involved self-regulation whereas responses during stimulated recall tended to reflect metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. Results support the need to use multiple measures of metacognition with young children as well as the need for further research on the relationship between metacognition and reading achievement of children in reading intervention programmes.     

Effects of GO FASTER on Morpheme Definition Fluency for High School Students with High‐Incidence Disabilities

Although vocabulary plays an important role in literacy and content instruction, there is a paucity of research identifying effective methods for teaching vocabulary. One promising strategy is morphemic analysis, which involves breaking words into morphemes, the smallest meaningful parts of words, and teaching students the meanings of those parts. The current study used a multiple probe across morphemes experimental design to determine the effects of an intervention package, GO FASTER (G raphic O rganizers; F lashcards A dded up and S elf‐graphed to T rack progress; E rrors R eviewed). Findings showed that with three to four instructional sessions, three high school students with high‐incidence disabilities successfully defined morphemes at a predetermined fluency rate and generalized these definitions to untaught words. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Working towards inclusive physical education in a primary school: ‘some days I just don’t get it right’

Background: In Aotearoa New Zealand, as it is internationally, there is a desire to ensure physical education is inclusive of all students regardless of their abilities. Yet, medical discourses associated with disability continue to position students who are perceived as not having the capacity to participate fully in traditional physical education programmes as the teacher’s ‘helper’, ‘helped’, or ‘helpless’. As a result, these students may have negative experiences of physical education and this can impact on future involvement in movement-related activities within school and community settings.

Methodology: Drawing on the data from a larger critical participatory action research project, we explore how one primary school teacher, Joel, attempted to work more inclusively within physical education. Specifically, we draw from personal journaling, student work and records of dialogical conversations to shed light on Joel’s experiences.

Conclusion: Joel’s experience demonstrates that there is not one singular solution to inclusion within physical education and it is a combination of actions that support this process. In Joel’s case, this included becoming a reflexive practitioner, getting to know his students, being receptive as opposed to respective to difference in positive ways rather than seeing this as limiting, working imaginatively to reconsider what constitutes learning in physical education, and sharing ownership for curriculum design and learning with his students. Working in this way illustrates how a multi-layered approach can make a difference to how all the students in a class experience inclusion, including students positioned as disabled.     

Experiences in the internationalization of education: Strategies to promote equality of opportunity at Monterrey Tech

This article provides an analysis of the reasons why educational institutions choose to internationalize the services they offer, how universities are internationalizing and to explore who is participating in the internationalization process. It not only addresses the theory surrounding the internationalization of education but also the practical issues of implementing it and making it accessible to students from a wide range of socio-economic situations. A case study of a summer study program in Poland for students from the Monterrey Tech (in Spanish El Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, ITESM), Cd. Juarez Campus, Chihuahua, Mexico, is used to explore two theoretical questions: can equality of opportunity be achieved for all students in the process of the internationalization of education and what are the characteristics of the internationalization of education which affect development? These issues take on concrete forms when an educational institution attempts to internationalize the education it offers. At that time, organizations and the people in them must confront questions such as: what strategies can be implemented to internationalize the education offered and how can students of fewer economic means be included in the international opportunities available? My focus is on the benefits and costs to the undergraduate student with an emphasis on examining equality of opportunity for each student.     

Home Education in Europe and the Implementation of Changes to the Law

This paper discusses the various definitions of home education and how the term can give rise to misinterpretations. In addition it covers recent changes to legislation and policy relating to home education in some European countries, such as France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Belgium. These changes have been based on a misunderstanding of the nature of home education. Little attention has been paid to the difference between children who are absconding from school and those who are being conscientiously educated by their parents at home. By contrast, there has been a slight but positive change in attitudes towards home education in some of the Länder (regions) of Germany. The author argues that governments should conduct well reasoned, objective research before considering measures to limit home education in any way.     

Mapping pre-service teachers’ evolving information and communication technologies pedagogy

The research examined the nature and scope of e-portfolio reflective writing by primary pre-service teachers about their classroom implementation of information and communication technologies. Familiar and new technologies require a teacher to be able to confidently identify the pedagogical potential for effective learning and teaching. With the author as a teacher educator, uncovering of aspects of commonality and patterns of emphasis in pre-service teachers’ reflective writing prompted reconsideration of established education practice. A qualitative thematic coding approach was adopted using an initial stimulus of Mezirow et al.’s notions of transformational learning: content, process and premise reflection. Extracts were coded by case, structurally and thematically using qualitative analysis software. Distinct categories emerged from cycles of analysis and a comprehensive typological map was created that provided insights into pre-service teachers’ emergent pedagogic thinking in relation to their use of technology whilst on school placements. The research led to revised scaffolding prompts, particularly in relation to premise reflection, for pre-service teachers engaged in reflective writing as a tool to transform and enrich their pedagogical understanding of the interplay between technology, teaching and learning.