Capturing the world of physical education through the eyes of children with autism spectrum disorders

The potential benefits of physical education (PE) are universal for all pupils. However, facilitating such benefits in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) requires careful planning. This paper reports on a small-scale case study at one school in eastern England, exploring physical education through the eyes of children (n = 5), aged 12–16, with autistic spectrum disorders. Photo-elicitation was adopted as the research tool to accord authority to the voices of the pupils, empowering them to share their feelings towards the subject by capturing significant aspects of physical education. The photographs provided prompts for greater exploration during unstructured interviews. Using the concepts of Bourdieu's reflexive sociology, the paper draws attention to how pupil's embodied dispositions interacted with what may be illustrated as the delimited spaces of the physical education field—physical education changing rooms, physical education corridors, the physical education teacher's office and physical education activities in the development of positive and negative positions and practices. The teacher's office was regarded positively as were activities that provided opportunities for engagement with peers. Opportunities to be heroic, such as scoring a goal for their team or being given an official role were important factors as was the opportunity to engage in some team sports. However, pupils' interaction with the changing rooms and physical education corridors were viewed with trepidation, worry and fear. The paper concludes by highlighting that both positive and negative interactions with the spaces of physical education develop forms of social and symbolic capital shaping the physical education experiences for pupils with ASD. Anticipating barriers presented within these integral fields of physical education space can help in preparing a rich and inclusive experience for pupils with ASD. Teachers may be better informed in providing strategies to facilitate communication and social interaction whilst allowing all pupils to engage positively with physical education.     

Science for early adolescence teachers (science FEAT): A program for research and learning

This article is based on a paper which received the “Innovations in Teaching Science Teachers” award at the 1995 meeting of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science. The award is made possible by Delta Education. This material is based upon work supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. 9253170). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.     

Towards a Learning Profession: changing codes of occupational practice within the new management of education

Professionals were once considered to be the civic leaders, the deliverers of the good society. However, the old order has cracked under the pressure of social change, leaving a very different relation between professionals and their publics. This paper addresses some of the questions occasioned by these changes: Where does the altered power relation between parents, students and teachers leave the notion of teacher professionalism? What is the role of professionals within the emergent order? The paper is a product of the ESRC‐funded New Forms of Education Management Project (Local Governance Programme). It argues that, within the new management of education, the professional codes and practices point to a changing relation between teachers and what has traditionally been seen as their specialist knowledge. An outcome of this altered relation is the empowerment of parents and students in relation to teachers. However, the new relation depends upon new shared understandings and new sets of agreements; and these in turn depend upon new processes of agreement‐making and a radically altered power relation between parents, students and teachers as they jointly develop these processes. The paper reviews the changing purposes of professionalism during the second half of the 20th century and outlines a new version of teacher professionality based upon the enabling of learning, the accommodation of difference, and the practice of agreement. Agreement is then ‘theorised’ in terms of the nature of agreement and the institutional structuring of agreement.     

5×5×5 = Creativity in the Early Years

5×5×5 ? Creativity in the Early Years has involved five early years' settings, five artists and five cultural centres working in partnership to support young children (3–6 years) in their exploration, communication and expression of creative ideas. This year‐long research project has been inspired by the approach to education and the creative arts in early years' settings in Reggio Emilia, Northern Italy. The three aims have been evaluated; they were: to demonstrate ways in which creativity and innovation can be fostered in and with young children; to influence early years' educational practice by establishing creativity as an essential foundation of early learning; and to share findings as widely as possible, creating a legacy for the future. This article examines the collaborative processes between artists, educators and cultural centres as they worked with young children using a creative and reflective cycle. The underpinning principles and the role of professional development have been essential to the success of the project. Findings show that careful observations and documentation of children's words will provide insight into their ideas and understandings. As adults it is our role to facilitate and support children's depth of learning. By respecting children and taking time to make observations and connections with the children's thinking, we can refine our own efforts in supporting their learning more effectively.     

Challenging ESP teacher beliefs about active learning in a Vietnamese university

This article provides insights into how participating in an action research study challenged traditional beliefs about teaching practices and led to more active learning strategies being included in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Science classes at a Vietnamese university. Recent reforms in higher education teaching and learning by the Vietnamese government have placed increased demands on universities to employ more active learning approaches to meet future global needs. In Vietnam, university teaching has generally been based upon traditional lecturing, whereas active learning requires a more student-centred approach whereby students engage cognitively in learning through increased participation and take greater responsibility for inquiring into new knowledge in meaningful and critical ways. Using a participatory action research approach, interviews, observations and planning meetings were undertaken with eight Science lecturers who were currently teaching ESP. The findings revealed how the lecturers underwent positive pedagogical shifts from traditional lecturing to more constructivist approaches to teaching and learning over the time of the study.     

Once a nurse always a nurse — Unless you are a patient

The problems which arise between a disabled or chronically ill nurse and her nursing colleagues are explored. Ways of recognising and resolving some of the difficulties are suggested. Recommendations are made that the findings should be incorporated into the future training of nurses, and that sufficient staff Counsellors should be appointed to Hospitals to enable the nurses, both disabled and nondisabled to deal creatively with the stress which affects their professional and personal relationships.     

Sharing designer and user perspectives of web site evaluation: a cross-campus collaborative learning experience

In this paper we present an online, collaborative process that facilitates usability evaluation of web sites. The online workspace consists of simple and effective proformas and computer–mediated discussion space to support usability evaluation. The system was designed and used by staff and students at two universities. Students, working in small teams, at each university, developed web sites and then evaluated the usability of web sites developed at the other university, using the results to improve their own sites. Our project evaluations show that the process provides valuable feedback on web site usability and provides students with the experience of usability evaluation from two important perspectives: those of a user and of a developer. Further, students develop important generic skills: the ability to participate in and critique computer supported cooperative work environments.     

Teacher‐Pupil Discourse in Classrooms for Hearing‐Impaired Children

Early studies of teacher‐pupil discourse in classrooms for the hearing‐impaired showed that it is systematic, teacher‐controlled and interlaced with language content. Discourse analysis, based on qualitative methods of study, augments and qualifies these views by providing a technique for examining multiple levels of interaction. Discourse material excerpted from a language lesson conducted by an experienced primary teacher with five hearing‐impaired pupils suggests that teacher‐pupil interaction is organized on several levels of structure. A hierarchy of lesson interaction is demonstrated through the illustrative discourse samples; hierarchical levels of roles, tasks, phrases, topics, sequences, turns, and utterances are identified and discussed. Educational implications about the learning structure of the classroom for the hearing‐impaired are offered.     

Helping students understand their learning styles: Effects on study self‐efficacy,preference for group work,and group climate

Small tutorial groups in higher education are often composed without regard to students’ gender or broad knowledge background, for example, yet research indicates that composing groups on the basis of gender and prior qualifications may have significant effects on assessment outcomes. Previous studies have also investigated the effects of composing groups on the basis of learning style preference and found no effects. The effect of combining group composition with training in learning styles is unclear, however. In this study we report on the effects of workshop training in learning styles on balanced group members’ study self‐efficacy, preference for group work, group climate, and assessment performance. Although we found no effects, students reported greater self‐awareness of their own learning and acceptance of others’ styles. We conclude that in collaborative learning environments, training may need to go beyond facilitating growth in students’ self‐awareness to include a focus on how to apply this understanding to improving group function and helping others to learn.