The Limerick Reading Initiative: a reading intervention targeted at struggling readers in primary school

In this study we examined the effectiveness of a reading intervention targeting a group of 24 struggling readers in ten primary schools in Ireland. The intervention consisted of two components; component one consisted of 15‐20 minutes delivery of the Toe‐by‐Toe programme (a well established systematic synthetic phonics programme) and the second component consisted of 15‐20 minutes guided oral reading using levelled texts. Using standardised measures of word reading, reading fluency, reading comprehension, word attack skills and spelling, we found that after five months of the intervention, the majority of the pupils made significant improvements in reading and reading fluency. The reading comprehension improvements were more varied with almost a quarter of participants showing remarkable progress, while the remainder recorded considerably less impressive gains. These results are very encouraging for classroom practitioners and demonstrate that research validated approaches can help at‐risk readers close the gap with their typically developing peers.     

A PUPIL WITH EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL DIFFICULTIES PERSPECTIVE: DOES JOHN FEEL THAT HIS BEHAVIOUR IS AFFECTING HIS LEARNING?

This paper has been written from the perspective of John, a year 9 pupil with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The intention of the research was to gain a clearer understanding of the factors affecting John's behaviour, and consequently, his learning. The research indicates that it is primarily the breakdown of the teacher‐pupil relationship that affects John's behaviour. Other factors include his need to communicate with peers and his poor concentration span. The research demonstrates the importance of gaining pupil perception and acting on this information when differentiating in the learning environment to include pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties.     

Suggestions for staff development in teaching critical thinking

Trends towards the devolution of responsibility for decision‐making to the school level are evident in education systems throughout the world. Underpinning policies of devolution are assumptions that school communities will work collaboratively to make decisions appropriate to the local context. However, collaborative processes do not occur automatically. In this paper, a case study of one school committee is presented to outline the processes used and to highlight the difficulties experienced in working collaboratively to develop a school behaviour management policy.     

General psychiatric management: An evidence-based treatment for borderline personality disorder in the college setting

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a prevalent psychiatric illness that often first presents at college. If left untreated, BPD can lead to severe disability or fatality. While multiple evidence-based treatments for BPD exist, most are resource intensive and, therefore, difficult to implement at the typical college mental health center. However, general psychiatric management (GPM) is an evidence-based intervention for BPD that can be flexibly implemented in nonspecialized, resource-constrained environments. This principle-driven alternative to more intensive BPD-focused treatments provides a practical framework for treating college students with BPD. The aim of this article is to provide an introduction to the techniques of GPM within the college mental health setting. With a case vignette, we illustrate how GPM techniques might be brought to bear on such a treatment.     

Establishing the need for health communication research: best practices model for building transdisciplinary collaborations

The benefits of transdisciplinary collaboration for addressing complex health problems are widely accepted; however, acknowledging the bumps and twists along the road that are inherent in those collaborations is often considered taboo. Academic norms that prevent open discussion of these challenges can have counter-productive results. This essay describes the major education efforts, milestones, and footfalls in the development of an effective partnership between communication-trained researchers in a College of Journalism and Communications and medical researchers in a College of Medicine. We hope it can serve as “best practice” for understanding the value of team science and interdisciplinary research collaborations.     

In the Service of Technocratic Managerialism? History in UK Universities

Abstract

This article discusses the conceptualisation, organisation and philosophical orientation of academic history culture in UK higher education. It problematises the extent to which a dominant history culture in UK universities implies and uncritically reproduces normative understandings about the subject; about its epistemological standing, sociopolitical functions, and the presumed cultural value of the discipline practices that students learn to perform. We suggest that current conceptions of history degree curricula are overly thin and organised around a dominant managerialist discourse of skills, personal development and learning outcomes. In a historicised world, in which history-focused behaviour has a crucial, ideological, affirmatory role, and in which historical narratives have a privileged cognitive function, we argue that it is critical for university history students to be able to deconstruct the processes by which history legitimises itself, and reinforces matrices of power in our societies. The positioning of history in higher education as a form of technocratic managerialism closes down spaces in which students can explore the potential of historical practices as a means of engaging with issues of current sociopolitical and ethical concern. We ask in this article, is this what we want an academic history culture to do?