Subject English as citizenship education

This article is equal parts educational history and political philosophy. We aim to remind readers that subject English (SE) and indeed state education emerge from the contradictory impulses of classical liberalism, and that, more than simply resembling citizenship education, SE emerges in the first instance as a form of highly normativising citizenship education. We further argue that, following England's recent educational reforms initiated by former Education Secretary Michael Gove, SE continues to be framed in moral terms consistent with citizenship education—again, of a highly normativising sort. England's current educational policy generally, and specifically the framing of SE, employs the language of liberal possibility, while ultimately espousing an invidious exclusionary and assimilationist politics. The framing of SE, moreover, is one that misrepresents the supposedly ‘rich and varied literary heritage’ it is supposed to exemplify and promote. The current political landscape in which the study of literature takes place is one where a crisis of liberalism is manifest (in terms of populism, radicalisation or apathy). However, we do not believe the answer is to retreat into a sealed, hermetic canon that excludes the reality that England and English literature are fundamentally multicultural and polyethnic. SE will be the poorer for not fully acknowledging and embodying this, for not enabling students to imaginatively and critically engage with characters and experiences that reflect both the present and long-standing diversity of English society, as well as its present and long-standing inequalities.     

What does ‘inclusion’ mean for pupils on the autistic spectrum in mainstream secondary schools?

The last decade has seen a groundswell of developments in educational policy in the UK relating to inclusive education for students with special educational needs (SEN). However, whether government policy has been fully implemented in schools remains a concern. The experience of students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) provides an excellent case in point. An increasing number of such students are now educated in mainstream schools, but the limited research in this area has indicated that their experience of school is often marked by bullying, social isolation and anxiety. In light of this, the aim of the current study was to examine the extent to which inclusive educational policy was actually reflected in the practices of four mainstream secondary schools. An exploratory case study approach was adopted, utilising interviews with pupils, teachers, other school staff (e.g., senior managers, learning support assistants) and parents, observations of lessons and other contexts (e.g., lunch time), and document analysis. Our findings highlighted a number of school practices which acted as facilitators or barriers to students’ learning and participation, some of which were generic to SEN provision, and some of which appeared to be specific to those on the autistic spectrum. A discussion of these is presented to enable further understanding of, and inform practice relating to, the inclusion process for students with ASDs.     

Teaching bovine abdominal anatomy: Use of a haptic simulator

Traditional methods of teaching anatomy to undergraduate medical and veterinary students are being challenged and need to adapt to modern concerns and requirements. There is a move away from the use of cadavers to new technologies as a way of complementing the traditional approaches and addressing resource and ethical problems. Haptic (touch) technology, which allows the student to feel a 3D computer‐generated virtual environment, provides a novel way to address some of these challenges. To evaluate the practicalities and usefulness of a haptic simulator, first year veterinary students at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, were taught basic bovine abdominal anatomy using a rectal palpation simulator: “The Haptic Cow.” Over two days, 186 students were taught in small groups and 184 provided feedback via a questionnaire. The results were positive; the majority of students considered that the simulator had been useful for appreciating both the feel and location of key internal anatomical structures, had helped with their understanding of bovine abdominal anatomy and 3D visualization, and the tutorial had been enjoyable. The students were mostly in favor of the small group tutorial format, but some requested more time on the simulator. The findings indicate that the haptic simulator is an engaging way of teaching bovine abdominal anatomy to a large number of students in an efficient manner without using cadavers, thereby addressing some of the current challenges in anatomy teaching. Anat Sci Educ 2: 280–285, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists     

The individual family service plan: Unresolved problems

The federal requirement to develop an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) for all infants and toddlers with special needs has a major conceptual difficulty that has, to date, been inadequately addressed in the literature. That problem stems from the linkage of family service to family assessment. Many authorities, attracted to parental “empowerment” theory, advocate that parents should be the authors rather than (or as well as) the objects of assessment, and that professionals and parents should be partners in assessing needs and planning services. When there is disagreement, professionals should defer to parents, who are in the best position to assess their own needs. We question the wisdom of conducting assessments with, or on, families of targeted children. But, if there are to be assessments, we argue that families are better served, and mutual respect better preserved, by a traditional complementary relationship: The professional controls the evaluation process, determines the problems (with the input of the family), and makes recommendations, which parents are then free to reject.     

Linguistic analysis and reading skills of first graders in partial French and Hebrew immersion programs

This study compared the performance of 45 first graders in partial French immersion, partial Hebrew immersion, and traditional English programs on measures of linguistic analysis ability and early reading skills in English. A modified version of the Auditory Analysis Test (Rosner and Simon, 1971) established that both French and Hebrew immersion children were more proficient than their English program peers at explicity analyzing the internal structure of spoken words. Subjects in the Hebrew program read non-words more successfully than either of the other two groups, and read orthographically regular real words better than the control subjects. These results suggest that second language learning, even in a partial immersion setting, enhances linguistic awareness. The potential implications for reading skill acquisition are discussed.This research was funded by Grant A2008 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.     

Age, Gender, and Ethnicity of Counsellor Trainees and Corresponding Counselling Self-Efficacy: Research Findings and Implications for Counsellor Educators

This study explored the counselling self-efficacy of students in a counsellor education programme, in regard to age, gender, and ethnicity characteristics. To assess counselling self-efficacy, the Counselling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE) of Larson et al. (Counsellor Education & Supervision 41: 120–130, 1992) was administered at the end of a semester to counselling students engaged in different stages of a counsellor training program. No significant differences were found in regard to gender and age-group categories, but significant differences were found among ethnic groups. It was found that Asian and White students generally had similar and also lower counselling self-efficacy means than the other ethnic groups in the sample in regard to several counselling-specific categories. Implications for counsellor educators in training counselling students of diverse characteristics are discussed.     

Central Coherence Theory and the interpretation of picture materials: toward an assessment of autistic spectrum disorder

Central Coherence Theory ( Frith, 1989 ; Happe, 1994a ) may account for the piecemeal style of information processing characteristic of people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). This style of processing was observed during language and communication assessments of pupils with ASD. A consistent pattern in the types of these responses emerged, such that it was possible to devise a framework to categorise them.
This article investigates the responses of two groups of eight pupils matched on the basis of gender and verbal ability: i) pupils with a diagnosis of ASD, and ii) pupils without identified difficulties. They were presented with a range of picture materials and their responses were placed within a framework of seven response categories. It was felt that the types of errors made by the two groups differed both quantitatively and qualitatively, and that the type and extent of the errors made by the pupils with ASD were largely attributable to the presence of weak central coherence.
Despite the presence of some limitations in the way the investigation was conducted, it was concluded that these methods might contribute toward the assessment and differential diagnosis of ASD.