The psychology of containment: (mis) representing emotional and behavioural difficulties in Australian schools

The number of students in special schools has increased at a rapid rate in some Australian states, due in part to increased enrolment under the categories of emotional disturbance (ED) and behaviour disorder (BD). Nonetheless, diagnostic distinctions between ED and BD are unclear. Moreover, despite international findings that students with particular backgrounds are over-represented in special schools, little is known about the backgrounds of students entering such settings in Australia. This study examined the government school enrolment data from New South Wales, the most populous of the Australian states. Linear and quadratic trends were used to describe the numbers and ages of students enrolled in special schools in the ED and BD categories. Changes between 1997 and 2007 were observed. Results showed an over-representation of boys that increased across the decade and a different pattern across age for boys and girls. Consistent with international findings, these results indicate that trends in special school placements are unrelated to disability prevalence in the population. Rather, it is suggested that schools act to preserve time and resources for others by removing their more challenging students: most typically, boys.     

Community-based environmental monitoring goes to school: translations,detours and escapes

Community-school partnerships are an established practice within environmental science education, where a focus on how local phenomena articulate with broader environmental issues and concerns brings potential benefits for schools, community organisations and local communities. This paper contributes to our understanding of such educational practices by tracing the diverse socio-material flows that constitute a community environmental monitoring project, where Australian school students became investigators of and advocates for particular sites in their neighbourhood. The theoretical resources of actor-network theory are drawn upon to describe how the project – as conceptualised by its initiators – was enacted as both human and non-human actors sought to progress their own agendas thus translating the concept-project into multiple project realities. We conclude by identifying implications for sustaining educational innovations of this kind.     

Teachers and Polish children: capturing changes in the linguistic field

This article presents original insights into the English learning experiences of Polish children and contributes a longitudinal perspective on teachers’ relationships with them. Data from interviews conducted in 2016 with primary school teachers, Polish children and their parents are compared with outcomes from an earlier study ending in 2009, in order to examine whether teachers’ practice for their Polish children has persisted or changed. Previously, findings suggested that teachers in England are constrained by a monolingually-oriented curriculum and that they identify Polish children as a ‘model minority’. In the current study, interviews with teachers, parents and children were used to develop and question these findings. Using Bourdieuian notions of linguistic field, habitus and capital, data analysis illuminates: the changing responses of teachers to migration; the ways in which teachers’ pedagogy has adapted for children who have English as an additional language; and the fluid nature of children’s linguistic identities.     

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky: examining the effectiveness of authentic scientific research on high school students’ science skills and interest

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky is an environmental science outreach/education program that incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 8 Practices with the goal of promoting knowledge and understanding of authentic scientific research in high school classrooms through air quality research. This research explored: (1) how the program affects student understanding of scientific inquiry and research and (2) how the open-inquiry learning opportunities provided by the program increase student interest in science as a career path. Treatment students received instruction related to air pollution (airborne particulate matter), associated health concerns, and training on how to operate air quality testing equipment. They then participated in a yearlong scientific research project in which they developed and tested hypotheses through research of their own design regarding the sources and concentrations of air pollution in their homes and communities. Results from an external evaluation revealed that treatment students developed a deeper understanding of scientific research than did comparison students, as measured by their ability to generate good hypotheses and research designs, and equally expressed an increased interest in pursuing a career in science. These results emphasize the value of and need for authentic science learning opportunities in the modern science classroom.     

Mainstream Experiences for Learning Disabled students (Project MELD): preliminary report

Mainstream Experiences for the Learning Disabled (MELD) was developed to accommodate students with learning disabilities in the mainstream. This article reports the progress of 13 students at the end of 1 year of planning and 1 year of implementing the MELD model in one urban elementary school. Observational and school adjustment data from the implementation year suggest that although the MELD model was not fully incorporated into the mainstream classes, students with learning disabilities adjusted well to a less individualized and more demanding mainstream program. They came to school regularly, did not present serious behavior problems, and spent as much of reading class and more of math class on task as they had in special education. These students in the mainstream were assigned more opportunities to work with text materials rather than workbooks in reading and spent significantly more reading time in teacher-directed lessions. Nevertheless, the students made no significant progress in reading or math and earned lower grades during the implementation year. The authors suggest that students with learning disabilities will not succeed in the mainstream if teachers continue "business as usual" in mainstream classes.     

Bilingual education for majority english-speaking children

A variety of second-language program options are available to anglophone children in Montreal’s public schools: French-as-a second-language (FSL), delayed and early French immersion, and full French-medium schooling. In this research, the achievement in French, English, and mathematics of two cohorts of anglophone students in each of these program options was evaluated longitudinally through grade 6 (12 years of age). The performance of these students was compared to that of comparable anglophone and francophone control groups who were attending conventional all-English and all-French schools, respectively. In terms of approximations to native-like command of French, the French-medium option was the most effective followed by the early immersion option: students in these programs were generally indistinguishable from the French Controls on all written French language tests and in mathematics. On tests of French oral skills, however, they scored below the French Controls, the extent of disparity depending on the opportunities available for social interaction with francophones. As well, no retardation in English language development was found for any of the options, even those that provided little instruction time in English. To the contrary, anglophone students scored significantly higher than English Controls on tests of English and mathematics, and in general the more concentrated the second language component, the better they performed relative to the controls on first language skills and mathematics. The apparent transfer of competence from second language to first and the bilingual advantages involved in these results are discussed in terms of time spent on the target language, the mode of instruction, and the opportunities provided for interaction with native-speaking peers.     

Three- to Four-Year-Old Children Rapidly Adapt Their Predictions and Use Them to Learn Novel Word Meanings

Adults create and update predictions about what speakers will say next. This study asks whether prediction can drive language acquisition, by testing whether 3- to 4-year-old children (n = 45) adapt to recent information when learning novel words. The study used a syntactic context which can precede both nouns and verbs to manipulate children's predictions about what syntactic category will follow. Children for whom the syntactic context predicted verbs were more likely to infer that a novel word appearing in this context referred to an action, than children for whom it predicted nouns. This suggests that children make rapid changes to their predictions, and use this information to learn novel information, supporting the role of prediction in language acquisition.     

A review of handwriting research: Progress and prospects from 1980 to 1994

Contemporary handwriting research has focused on skilled performance, the developing capabilities of children, atypical development, the effectiveness of various letter forms, instructional techniques, and the construction and evaluation of assessment instruments. This paper critically reviews and synthesizes research conducted between 1980 and 1994 in each of these areas, providing suggestions for future research. Considerable progress was made during this time period in understanding the processes involved in handwriting control and development as well as in teaching students with handwriting difficulties. In addition, advances in theory, experimental procedures, on-line recording devices, and computerized instructional programs resulted in an increased level of sophistication. Thus, the prospects for future research in this area are promising.