Exploring teachers’ perceptions on physical activity engagement for children and young people with intellectual disabilities

Aim: To explore teacher’s perceptions of barriers and facilitators to physical activity (PA), including enabling, reinforcing and predisposing factors amongst children and young people (CYP) with intellectual disabilities (ID). Method and procedures: The Youth Physical Activity Promotion (YPAP) Model was used to inform semi-structured focus groups to explore PA of CYP with ID. Participants were 23 (9 male) teachers and teaching assistants, from three special educational needs (SEN) schools (1?=?Primary, 2?=?Secondary) within North West England. Three focus groups were held with between six and eight participants, audio and video recorded and data transcribed. Data were inductively and deductively analysed using Nvivo and represented through pen profiles. Results: Three pen profiles were developed and structured around YPAP Model to display themes within the data. Enabling factors (facilities (n?=?23) and activity type (n?=?39)); reinforcing factors (influences of peers (n?=?23), family (n?=?10) and teachers (n?=?19) to PA engagement); and predisposing factors (healthy lifestyle (n?=?15), enjoyment of PA (n?=?14), adaptations for PA (n?=?10), structured play (n?=?10), effects of disability on PA (n?=?8) and the CYPs attitudes towards PA (n?=?8)). Conclusion: CYP with ID enjoy engaging in PA, particularly activities that are of a fun and unstructured nature which allow for progression of skills and promote independence. Participants recognised that they, as teachers, had an influence on the CYP’s PA engagement, however suggested that parents have the most influential role. Similar to previous research, participants noted that CYP with ID had a lack of understanding as regards the importance of PA engagement and its benefits to health. It is suggested a strong home–school link for CYP within SEN schools could prove to be a key facilitator for active and healthy lifestyles education and choices.     

Ability tracking and social trust in China’s rural secondary school system

ABSTRACT

The goal of this paper is to describe and analyze the relationship between ability tracking and student social trust, in the context of low-income students in developing countries. Drawing on the results from a longitudinal study among 1,436 low-income students across 132 schools in rural China, we found a significant lack of interpersonal trust and confidence in public institutions among poor rural young adults. We also found that slow-tracked students have a significantly lower level of social trust, comprised of interpersonal trust and confidence in public institutions, relative to their fast-tracked peers. This disparity might further widen the gap between relatively privileged students who stay in school and less privileged students who drop out of school. These results suggest that making high school accessible to more students may improve social trust among rural low-income young adults.     

Educational Vouchers: A Primer

Advancements in technology have changed the day to day operation of society. The ways in which we teach and learn have begun the same process. For this reason, we must reexamine instruction. In this article, the author analyzes the changing environment of educational technology and how to incorporate the theory of multiple intelligences. The teaching strategies presented outline how to enhance student performance by blending new technologies with time-tested pedagogy. The author explains and matches up each intelligence with an effective technology tool. He also provides examples from scholarly publications and actual classroom practice.     

Why Might Distance Make the Heart Grow Fonder?: A Relational Turbulence Model Investigation of the Maintenance of Long Distance and Geographically Close Romantic Relationships

Following the relational turbulence model, we examined the extent to which relational uncertainty and partner interference mediate distance and relational maintenance, here assessed as relational continuity constructional units (RCCUs), as predictors of relational turbulence. Results were consistent with and extend the relational turbulence model, with relational uncertainty mediating RCCUs and partner interference mediating distance. In addition to highlighting RCCUs as a communicative buffer against relational uncertainty, the results reveal a complex picture of geographic distance. Addressing mixed findings in previous research, it appears distance may foster relational turbulence yet also predict reduced turbulence when accompanied by diminished partner interference.     

Book reviews and notes

THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL ATTITUDES IN CHILDREN by Robert D. Hess and Judith V. Torney, Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1967. xviii + 288 pp. $9.75.

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION by Kenneth P. Langton, New York: Oxford University Press, 1969. xvii + 215 pp. $2.50, paperback.

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION edited by Edward S. Greenberg. New York: Atherton Press, 1970. x + 199 pp. $6.95.

AGAINST THE ODDS: THE HIGH RISK STUDENT IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE by William Moore, Jr. San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass, Inc., 1970. xii + 244 pp. $8.50.

HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE NATION'S HEALTH: POLICIES FOR MEDICAL AND DENTAL EDUCATION by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education. New Jersey: McGraw‐Hill Book Company, 1970. 128 pp. $2.95.

FREE‐ACCESS HIGHER EDUCATION by Warren W. Willingham. New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 1970. x + 240 pp. $6.50.

EDUCATION IN AMERICA, 1960–1969, THE EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT OF THE SATURDAY REVIEW. New York: Arno Press, 1971. 4 vols., 2,790 pp. $175.00.     

What helps children in a pupil referral unit (PRU)? An exploration into the potential protective factors of a PRU as identified by children and staff

Previous studies have focused on the views of excluded children or those finding themselves in Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Few, however, have focused on exploring views from a resilience perspective. Studies linked to resilience have tended to focus on exploring factors through quantitative rather than qualitative measures. This piece of research aimed to explore the potential protective factors of one PRU through the valuable voices of children and staff. The views of six children aged between 9 and 13 years, all with varying forms of behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, and partway through a PRU placement, were explored through semi-structured interviews supported by the use of tools and techniques to facilitate discussion. The views of four staff members were also obtained. Findings reveal the powerful perspectives that children and young people can bring in relation to what might be helping them within a particular environment. A number of potential protective factors, both within the environment and within-child factors that may operate as mechanisms in fostering positive social and academic outcomes, are identified. Implications of these findings for professional practice, and for children finding themselves in PRU provision, are discussed, with a focus on reintegration and the potential impact of changing environments for these children.     

An exploration of teachers' current perceptions of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

Difficulties exist in identifying and providing services for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). As teacher referral is an essential link in service delivery this study investigated teachers' current perceptions of SEBD by examining characteristics of children nominated by their teachers as having SEBD. While the majority of children were nominated for externalizing behaviours, teachers rated girls as having more severe externalizing difficulties than boys. In contrast, there was no significant difference between teachers' internalizing ratings of boys and girls, despite the fact that girls reported more severe depressive symptomatology. Moreover, teachers rated gender‐contrary behaviours more severely than gender‐consistent behaviours. Consistent with achievement results, teachers rated the majority of children as having moderate to severe academic difficulties. Little agreement was found between characteristics reported by teachers and children. Implications are discussed within the context of the school psychologist's role in working with teachers to increase awareness of the profile of these children.     

Comprehensive sexuality education,culture and gender: the effect of the cultural setting on a sexuality education programme in Ethiopia

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is recognised as an effective method of sexual health education, with the school identified as a fitting site of implementation. Its holistic and participatory nature endeavours to develop the knowledge, attitudes and life-skills of students to help them secure their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This qualitative study aimed to better understand aspects of CSE implementation in one context. Specifically, it focuses on the effects of the cultural setting, considering how gender and sexuality norms influence teacher and student implementation strategies. The research was carried out in one secondary school in Ethiopia, which delivered a Dutch-developed programme throughout 2013. Over 50 in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers and students, influential community members and experts in SRHR. Data were also gathered through focus group discussions and classroom observations. Results show that CSE teachers and students, both male and female, were able to discuss issues of sexuality. However, the cultural context was seen to affect interpretation of programme information, influencing the nature of this discussion. For an impactful implementation, it is recommended that sexuality education aims to engage with and involve the wider community, to reduce contradictory messages and increase programme support. Furthermore, teachers should undergo extensive and comprehensive pre-programme training that addresses their attitudes and values, not just their knowledge.     

Information-Seeking Outcomes of Representational,Structural, and Political Intersectionality Among Health Media Consumers

Although the segmentation of publics is a standard practice in public relations programming, practitioners face challenges in using traditional approaches to identify and engage vastly different publics. Responding to the need for new approaches that consider global, cultural, and technological trends in consumer publics, this study provides evidence to a proposed intersectional approach to the segmentation of publics. Thirty-one women of different racial, socioeconomic, age, and relationship backgrounds were interviewed to explore how they perceived their multiple, overlapping identities influence their health decision making. Findings suggest that publics experience co-occurring oppression and privilege in varying contexts: in representations of them, in policies that affect them, and in structures that enable or hinder their ability to improve their health. The findings suggest that intersecting social structures shape disparate health public relations, intersecting policies widen the policymaker–public gap, and intersecting representations reflect a paradox of segmentation.     

Executive function skills of 6–8 year olds: Brain and behavioral evidence and implications for school achievement

Academic and social success in school has been linked to children’s self-regulation. This study investigated the assessment of the executive function (EF) component of self-regulation using a low-cost, easily administered measure to determine whether scores obtained from the behavioral task would agree with those obtained using a laboratory-based neuropsychological measure of EF skills. The sample included 74 children (37 females; M = 86.2 months) who participated in two assessments of working memory and inhibitory control: Knock–Tap (NEPSY: Korkman, Kirk, & Kemp, 1998), and participated in event-related potential (ERP) testing that included the directional stroop test ( DST, Davidson, Cruess, Diamond, O’Craven, and Savoy (1999)). Three main findings emerged. First, children grouped as high vs. low performing on the NEPSY Knock–Tap Task were found to perform differently on the more difficult conditions of the DST (the Incongruent and Mixed Conditions), suggesting that the Knock–Tap Task as a low-cost and easy to administer assessment of EF skills may be one way for teachers to identify students with poor inhibitory control skills. Second, children’s performance on the DST was strongly related to their ERP responses, adding to evidence that differences in behavioral performance on the DST as a measure of EF skills reflect corresponding differences in brain processing. Finally, differences in brain processing on the DST task also were found when the children were grouped based on Knock–Tap performance. Simple screening procedures can enable teachers to identify children whose distractibility, inattentiveness, or poor attention spans may interfere with classroom learning.