Families of children on the autism spectrum: experience of daily life and impact of parent education

Information and support for families of children on the autism spectrum is limited in south-east Europe. A three-year project, Equity and Social Inclusion Through Positive Parenting (ESIPP), was established to develop and provide parent education (PE) in autism for families in Croatia, Cyprus and North Macedonia. This paper presents findings from Croatia regarding family life and the impact of PE. Data were collected via pre- and post-PE questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Participants discussed the impact of autism on family life, the difficulty of obtaining a diagnosis, the importance of family support (and varying experience of formal support), common experiences of stigma and social exclusion and concerns for the future. The value and benefit of PE is identified, and recognition of its impact within Croatia has ensured its ongoing provision.     

Forced Disruption of Anatomy Education in Australia and New Zealand: An Acute Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

Australian and New Zealand universities commenced a new academic year in February/March 2020 largely with “business as usual.” The subsequent Covid-19 pandemic imposed unexpected disruptions to anatomical educational practice. Rapid change occurred due to government-imposed physical distancing regulations from March 2020 that increasingly restricted anatomy laboratory teaching practices. Anatomy educators in both these countries were mobilized to adjust their teaching approaches. This study on anatomy education disruption at pandemic onset within Australia and New Zealand adopts a social constructivist lens. The research question was “What are the perceived disruptions and changes made to anatomy education in Australia and New Zealand during the initial period of the Covid-19 pandemic, as reflected on by anatomy educators?.” Thematic analysis to elucidate “the what and why” of anatomy education was applied to these reflections. About 18 anatomy academics from ten institutions participated in this exercise. The analysis revealed loss of integrated “hands-on” experiences, and impacts on workload, traditional roles, students, pedagogy, and anatomists' personal educational philosophies. The key opportunities recognized for anatomy education included: enabling synchronous teaching across remote sites, expanding offerings into the remote learning space, and embracing new pedagogies. In managing anatomy education's transition in response to the pandemic, six critical elements were identified: community care, clear communications, clarified expectations, constructive alignment, community of practice, ability to compromise, and adapt and continuity planning. There is no doubt that anatomy education has stepped into a yet unknown future in the island countries of Australia and New Zealand.     

EFFECTS OF A MULTIFOCUSED PREVENTION PROGRAM ON PRESCHOOL CHILDREN'S COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a multifocused (child‐, teacher‐ and parent‐focused) prevention program for Romanian preschoolers, targeting social–emotional competence development, as well as reduction of behavior problems. Fourteen classrooms were randomly assigned to the intervention and control conditions. Subsequent hierarchical linear analyses indicated that intervention‐group children performed better on experimental tasks measuring emotion knowledge and social problem‐solving strategies, and received higher assessments by their teachers and parents on measures of social–emotional competencies and externalizing problems. These results indicate that a prevention program combining intervention strategies for both high‐ and low‐risk children is effective across a wide range of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors. Moreover, a short four‐session parent group training employed to attract parent participation elicited an acceptable overall attendance rate (54%), indicating the sustainability of parent intervention in the context of community‐based interventions.     

Gymnastics

Abstract

The aim of our research was to study the relationships between performance variables in a support backward swing (SBS), which was used as a progressive step in the learning procedure for a 1#fr1/4> straddle‐piked front somersault and the swing prior to a 1#fr1/4> straddle‐piked front somersault from support to bent arm support on the parallel bars (5/4S). Mitja Petkov?ek, parallel bars gold medallist at the 2000 EC in Bremen, performed these elements. Kinematic analysis involved CMAS software (Praha, 1993), and the Suskana body segment model that has 17 points and 15 segments. Kinetic variables were estimated using 2D IMGIM software, which has 8 points and 6 segments (Colja and ?uk, 1994). The results indicated that some kinematic aspects of the two types of swings were similar but there were important differences in kinetic aspects of the motion. During the swing for the 5/4S, force and torque were higher than in the SBS.     

Musculoskeletal anatomy knowledge in Australian chiropractors

Anatomy is a key knowledge area in chiropractic and is formally offered in the undergraduate component of chiropractic education. There is the potential for loss of anatomy knowledge before the opportunity to apply it in a clinical setting. This study aimed to determine whether chiropractic clinicians retain a level of anatomy knowledge comparable to that of chiropractic students and to compare chiropractors' self-rating of their anatomical knowledge against an objective knowledge assessment tool. A previously validated multiple-choice test was utilized to measure retention of limb musculoskeletal (MSK) knowledge in Australian chiropractors. One hundred and one registered chiropractors completed the questionnaire and responses were scored, analyzed, and compared to scores attained by undergraduate and postgraduate chiropractic students who had previously completed the same questionnaire. The results indicated that practitioners retained their anatomy knowledge, with a significantly higher total mean score than the undergraduate group [total mean score = 36.5% (±SD 13.6%); P < 0.01] but not significantly different to the postgraduate group [total mean score = 52.2% (±SD 14.1%); P = 0.74]. There was a weak positive correlation between chiropractors' self-rated knowledge and test performance scores indicating the effectiveness of this Australian chiropractic group in self-assessing their anatomy knowledge. This study found that Australian chiropractors' knowledge of MSK anatomy was retained during the transition from university to clinical practice and they accurately evaluated their own test performance.     

Handbook of Asian education: A cultural perspective

International Review of Education -     

Teacher and parental views on inclusive education policy lending in the Czech Republic

In international education policy articulations by organisations such as the UNESCO, inclusive education is defined rather vaguely, usually in terms of human rights. Yet, national reception it is more or less taken for granted. Analyses of policy lending show that when national education traditions are not respected, the lack of clarity about the concrete form of inclusion is further augmented by resistance to a foreign import. Taking the example of the implementation of inclusive education in the Czech Republic, a secondary analysis of survey results on responses from teachers and parents is presented. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of the reactions of two groups of actors who have had only a marginal involvement in preparing the implementation of inclusion; specifically, teachers at ordinary schools and parents of pupils with special education needs. Teachers are critical of inclusion, which they regard as special care for individual pupils with special education needs. It is only in schools which have lengthy experience with integration that a transformation of the school culture and the teaching profession in the direction of greater teamwork has taken place. The imperative of inclusion coming from above is regarded more as interference with what is a spontaneous development. The view of parents to pupils with special education needs was that systemic support to inclusion was lacking. Parents are forced to be intermediaries between other actors, but often do not have enough information and are not respected by teachers as experts on their children.     

Training and Education for Conducting Physical Education Classes in Croatia since 1875

This research analyzed the activities and events that enabled the establishment of an education and training system for physical education (PE) teachers in Croatia. The beginning of professional PE education in Croatia is related to its introduction as an obligatory subject in the elementary school curriculum of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in 1874. Most elementary school teachers did not have the knowledge needed to conduct PE classes. We recognized two parallel systems of training introduced in 1875: the first consisted of short training courses, and the second was the introduction of gymnastics as an obligatory course at teacher-training colleges. Twenty years after these obligatory PE classes were introduced to Croatian schools, Franjo Bu?ar organized and managed a two-year course for secondary school gymnastics teachers (1894–1896) after his return from a two-year educational programme at the Royal Central Gymnastic College in Stockholm (Sweden). This high school was the first for PE training not only in Croatia but also this region of Europe. In 1959, the first Croatian institution for PE education was established: the High School for Physical Culture in Zagreb.     

Pupils’ humour directed at teachers: its types and functions

Based on an analysis of 137 texts written by pupils, this paper examines pupils’ humour directed at teachers, its types and social functions. The collected data are divided into three categories that describe different modes of teachers as targets of pupils’ humour. The first mode describes teachers as unintentionally comical, the second as duped by their pupils and the third as intentional users of humour. The analysis focuses on different functions that pupils’ humour directed at teachers fulfils in the social life of the classroom. The paper concludes by showing how key functions of social humour (such as creation of solidarity, negotiation of power and realisation of personal needs) are connected to the three modes of pupils’ humour directed at teachers.