Distinctiveness of curriculum provision at 14 to 16 for students with learning difficulties: opportunities and challenges

In this article, Hazel Lawson, principal lecturer in education at the University of Plymouth, Sue Waite, a researcher at the University of Plymouth, and Christopher Robertson, lecturer in special and inclusive education at the University of Birmingham, discuss the curriculum for students with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties at ages 14 to 16. This phase of schooling, referred to as Key Stage 4 in the English system, is characterised, in mainstream settings, by examination processes. Drawing upon research work carried out for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, they argue that developing a distinctive curriculum offer for students with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties in Key Stage 4 presents both opportunities and challenges. Setting their argument in the context of current proposals for the reform of education between the ages of 14 and 19 in England, they highlight issues including the desire to maintain breadth and balance while meeting individual needs and preferences; progression towards more facilitative pedagogies and a diversity of contexts for learning; and tensions between providing continuity and introducing change intended to promote increased student autonomy. This article will be of direct interest to policy makers and practitioners in mainstream and specialist settings.     

Supporting students’ mental health in schools: what do teachers want and need?

There is a growing expectation in the UK for teachers to have an understanding of common mental health problems in young people. This study aims to identify the training needs of secondary school teachers to enable them to adequately support and educate their students around mental health. Nine focus groups, each with between four to eight participants, were conducted with secondary school teachers in the UK. Discussions were centred on the needs and wants of teachers in terms of mental health training, provision and advice. Participants were also shown three online resources as an example of existing training. Thematic analysis was used to structure the data. Participants wanted training on how to identify and provide early support for students who are struggling, without taking on the perceived role of a therapist. Participants also emphasised the strong need for practical, interactive and expert-led training that provides resources that can be adapted to individual settings. Implications and recommendations are discussed.     

Falling into LINE: school strategies for overcoming challenges associated with learning in natural environments (LINE)

As the benefits of outdoor learning have become of increasing interest to the education sector, so the importance of understanding and overcoming challenges associated with this pedagogy has gained greater significance. The Natural Connections Demonstration Project recruited primary, secondary, and special schools across south-west England with a view to stimulating and supporting ‘learning in the natural environment’ across the region. This research paper examines qualitative data obtained from case study visits to 12 of these schools. The results from teaching staff interviews and focus groups show that schools face many and varied challenges to embedding outdoor learning, and a raft of strategies are presented for tackling these challenges and integrating learning in the natural environment into much of the current curriculum.     

Writing in/of/and educational leadership: reflections of a journal editor

In this article, I deal with a journal’s relation to its field and issues involved in writing and publishing, especially in educational administration and educational leadership. Some issues discussed include: the social construction of the field; the conservatism of educational administration and, later, educational leadership; status hierarchies in the field; the false dichotomy of theory/practice; and the hegemony of the quantitative.     

MUSEpad: Supporting Information Accessibility Through Mobile Location-Based Technology

Conclusion Since performing this testing in 2003, there have already been great advancements in computer technologies. For example, OQO has developed a new computer that is as powerful as the Tablet PC that we used and as small as a PDA (http://www.oqo.com). It has a retractable tactile keyboard that would facilitate use by low vision users and has built in 802.11b wireless and Bluetooth capability. It also has a shock mounted hard drive to protect against accidental drops. Still the cost of this device may be prohibitive for many small museums to loan freely to patrons visiting their museum. There have also been great advancements in cellular technology. It is now common for cell phones to have the ability to access the Internet. Many have built-in cameras and others have been combined with PDAs. It is quite likely that in the next few years these devices may provide the ideal platform for achieving the aims of this research. By designing software to deliver content to such devices, the museums would be free of the cost of purchasing mobile computing devices for patrons to use. Museums wishing to support the diverse information needs of their patrons would simply develop the digital content that could be delivered to these mobile devices. Furthermore, this information could serve multiple purposes such as electronically documenting the museum’s collection and populating the museums Web site with a rich set of content that could be used to attract visitors to their museum, while at the same time increasing the accessibility of their online presence     

From little acorns..: environmental action as a source of well-being for schoolchildren

Pastoral care in education may take many forms but increasing emphasis on education for sustainable development (ESD) and concern about children’s disconnection from nature suggests that our understanding of care should perhaps encompass the more than human world. The study described in this article examines longer term perspectives on well-being and looks at the possible benefits of environmental action for happiness and positive functioning. Considering the role of memory in the reconstruction of a past experience of tree planting, we suggest that well-being is constantly being reframed within the flux of life course and education. From survey responses and subsequent discussion groups in secondary schools exploring such memories, a deeper understanding of what well-being and connectedness to nature mean to young people within this case study is achieved. We note interdependencies between personal and planetary well-being within respondents’ reflections and consider whether experiences of environmental action and its positioning as an act of altruism for the greater good might provide a source of positive feelings for young people not only at the time, but through subsequent recollection.     

'Living in Different Worlds': Gender differences in the developing sexual values and attitudes of primary school children

A small-scale study into the developing sexual values and attitudes of 35 9 and 10 year-old children found a number of important gender differences. The girls were more willing to offer detailed, serious reflections, whereas the boys' contributions were shorter and more jokey, with a greater use of sexual slang. The family was the main source of sexual information for the girls, but friends and the media for the boys. The boys were more interested in contraception, abortion and the mechanics of intercourse and childbirth, whereas the girls were more interested in relationships and more aware of the pain that could be caused by loss of children and early pregnancy. The girls had clearer and more realistic aspirations than the boys in terms of both career and family life, and understood the dangers which drugs, alcohol and violence could pose to relationships; the boys, on the other hand, sometimes appeared insecure in their self-image, and tended, albeit in a joking manner, to link violence and sex. These findings are rich in implications both for policy and practice in sex education and more generally for an understanding of the way that a differentiated sexual identity develops in boys and girls.