Inclusion: Culture,Policy and Practice: A Queensland Perspective

Schools are currently undergoing a process of reconstructed educational thinking and practice in Queensland. They are being challenged to review their organisational structures, the curriculum they teach and their pedagogical practices with the intention of transforming their structures, curriculum and pedagogies to ensure that all students are truly included in the school community. This paper reviews the background research that has informed the inclusion movement and the role schools play in developing inclusive education and outlines the specific initiatives that have been undertaken in Queensland, Australia.     

The Schooling Experience of Adolescent Boys with AD/HD: An Australian Case Study

This study explored the experience of schooling of six adolescent boys diagnosed with AD/HD from the perspectives of the boys, their mothers and their teachers. The study utilised social constructionism as the theoretical orientation and the Dynamic Developmental Theory (DDT) of AD/HD as the explanatory framework. Utilising a multiple, instrumental case-study, data were collected by means of semi-structured individual and focus group interviews as well as a review of school reports across a two year period. Findings of the study suggest that taking medication as prescribed together with supporting the students to make and manage friendships, utilising classroom strategies that support learning, and providing an engaging classroom environment are important considerations to promote a positive schooling experience for adolescents with AD/HD.     

Experiential learning and values education at a school youth camp: Maintaining Jewish culture and heritage

In our post-modern, globalised world, there is a risk of unique cultural heritages being lost. This loss contributes to the detriment of civilization, because individuals need to be rooted in their own specific identity in order to actively participate in community life. This article discusses a longitudinal case study of the efforts being made by Australian Jewish schools to maintain Jewish heritage through annual experiential religious education camps, coordinated in a programme called Counterpoint. The researchers’ aim was to analyse how a school youth camp can serve as a site for socialisation and education into a cultural and religious heritage through experiential learning and informal education. During research trips which took place over several years, interviews enabling insights into the process of experiential education were conducted with a total of three different Directors of Informal Jewish Education, two Jewish Studies heads, five participating teachers, seven youth leaders, as well as seven student focus groups. In their analysis of the semi-structured interviews, the authors of this article employed a grounded theory approach using a constant comparative method, which enabled a more nuanced understanding of the main phenomenon investigated. Over the years, they were able to observe two philosophical approaches, one of which focused more on socialisation, with immersion into experience, while the other focused on education, with immersion into Jewish knowledge. Their findings reveal that some educators aim to “transmit” knowledge through “evocation”, with the students involved in active learning; while others focus more on students’ “acquisition” of knowledge through transmission. Experiential learning activities were found to be more meaningful and powerful if they combined both approaches, leading to growth.     

The Conceptual Framework for the Development of a Mathematics Performance Assessment Instrument

How can you align instruction, learning, and assessment in an educationally sound way? How can you define and measure competence in mathematics? What areas of competence do you need to specify and how? How can one evaluate the validity and consequences of using a particular assessment instrument or technique?     

Preschool teachers' and students' attitudes towards playful preschool activities: a cross-cultural comparison between Germany and the Netherlands

This study compares the attitudes of preschool teachers and students between the Netherlands and Germany towards typical play activities in preschool. The data were responses to short video clips of preschool children's play and elicited the respondents’ attitudes through questionnaires. The data were analysed by classifying the written responses into four categories. The frequencies of the categories were tested with MANOVA with regard to expert–novice position and country. Differences between professionals and novices were found, and for professionals only, the four categories were interrelated, showing a stronger holistic view of early childhood activities. Differences were also found between the countries, and two of the categories seemed especially sensitive to cultural differences. We discuss how reflection on activities can add to a higher degree of professionalism, as well as a more profound understanding of ways to improve preschool teacher training.     

A cultural lens on Yucatec Maya families’ COVID-19 experiences

Health guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic led families around the world to spend more time isolated together, disrupting leisure activities, schooling, social interactions, and family work (UNICEF, 2021). Using the lens of Yucatec Maya families’ cultural values and practices, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 Yucatec Maya rural women in Mexico (M_age = 32; and for comparison, 13 middle-class European-American women (M_age = 41)), with children 6–7 years old, to analyze families’ experiences during the pandemic. Faced with the same isolation as in the United States, our exploratory analysis revealed Maya families experienced external stresses but at the same time were generally comfortable with their children's everyday activities and their social-emotional well-being, illuminating consequences of the communities’ cultural theories about development.     

Moral perception, situatedness, and learning to listen

This article examines the moral dimensions of listening, paying special attention to the ways in which individuals’ particular situation bears on their perception. Listening, on the account offered here, is a moral endeavor, with consequences for the listener, as well as for those listened to.