Multicultural Education through Meditation

This paper is based on the outcomes of a 6‐month study in a multicultural inner‐city primary school and involved twenty‐four pupils representing seventeen nationalities. The object of the study was to explore how imagination and concentration might promote language awareness and cultural pluralism. Among other techniques, the children used meditation as a way of exploring themselves and others. The study suggested that the children were open to new ways of learning, imagination being for them a meaningful medium for making sense of their world. The results supported the idea that for these children meditation could be an instrument of self‐knowledge and knowledge of others.     

Promoting handwriting fluency in fifth graders with slow handwriting: a single-subject design study

This study used a multiple-probe design across three participants to test the effectiveness of a handwriting intervention for fifth graders (age 10–11) displaying less handwriting fluency than their peers, but without spelling disorders. The 5-h handwriting intervention provided students with explicit instruction and intensive practice in writing cursive letters, words, and sentences, through fast-paced alphabet and copying activities. Intervention effects were examined on handwriting fluency, written composition (i.e., text length, clause extension, and story elements), and self-efficacy beliefs. Results showed that the handwriting intervention was highly effective in increasing students’ handwriting fluency. There were also improvements in written composition in terms of clause extension and number of story elements. After the intervention, students also reported strengthened self-efficacy beliefs for grammar and usage skills. Overall, this study showed that handwriting interventions can effectively help students with limited handwriting skills to become fluent handwriters. Critically, findings are in line with the proposition that achieving handwriting fluency is important to support the development of writing.     

Attitudes towards inclusion in higher education in a Portuguese university

In this article, we present data concerning the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education (HE) at a Portuguese university. This research is part of a wider project designed to understand the trajectories and experiences of students with disabilities at the University of Algarve. This exploratory study raises questions about inclusion and discusses this concept based on the perspectives of academic and non-academic staff. A qualitative approach was used to provide an informative exploration of attitudes towards inclusive education and recommendations for promoting best practices therein. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. We found positive perceptions of university staff members about the inclusion of the students with disabilities. However, more effort is needed to provide these students with opportunities to continue their academic career in HE and to promote inclusion, personal development and participation in social and economic life. Although inclusive education is on political and educational agendas, the perception of disabilities as deficits prevails. The findings of this study, therefore, reveal that changes must be implemented to effectively adopt the social and educational model of disability.     

Thinking about engineering practice: a change in technological activity

The following paper puts forward a distinction in the way of understanding the idea of the ‘technological phenomenon’ from a vision of the concept considered as a traditional artefact and seen as a tool, machines, processes and efficient transformations, to a global view that can serve the technical, organizational and cultural aspects of technology. On the other hand, it puts forward a series of proposals pointing to the incorporation of this new conceptual approach to the engineer formation so that he/she can be aware with a critical and responsible sense of the implications that the technological work bears passing from a technological activity to a technological practice as such.     

Teachers as writers: learning together

This paper reports upon the insights gained through working with teachers as writers at their own level. As part of a two‐year research project into the development of children's voice and verve in writing, a group of fourteen teachers' reflective journeys as writers were documented. Two other groups of teachers and one group of student teachers also took part in writers' workshops across the same period. The data encompassed: questionnaires, observations and teacher commentaries on their own writing, as well as interviews. A number of issues emerged, including: the tension between public and private writing and the security of the writing environment; authenticity in modelling writing; the importance of re‐reading writing at the point of composition; the significance of choice and autonomy in writing and the potency of drama as an ideational and reflective tool. The consequences for classroom practice are also considered. It is argued that in order to enhance the teaching of writing, teachers and student teachers need real opportunities to write at their own level and reflect upon the process.     

PRACTICING ASSESSMENT IN THE CLASSROOM: THE LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY ASSESSMENT PROJECT

Abstract

Drawing from an array of theoretical and experiential sources ranging from policy studies to ethnographies, this essay frames a number of public policy issues related to children, families, and early childhood education. These issues provide a brief genealogy of multiple contexts in which early childhood teacher education operates in the United States. Issues addressed include: welfare reform, “No Child Left Behind” legislation, the crimi‐nalization of children, language policies, and recently proposed changes in Head Start. The author draws from her teaching, research, and community organizing experiences to recommend ways to strengthen public policy awareness and advocacy engagement in the field of early childhood teacher education.