Architectures of oppression: Perceptions of individuals with Asperger's syndrome in the Republic of Armenia

This paper presents a phenomenographic analysis of perceptions of individuals with Asperger's syndrome in the Republic of Armenia. The primary objective was to apply and develop existing theory in a unique national context and across a broader respondent group than in previous studies. As such, the research compares and contrasts the views expressed by individuals with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEN/D), the parents of individuals with SEN/D and lay members of the public. Social comparison models developed by Hedley and Young (2006), Huws and Jones (2015) and Locke (2014) are utilised as lenses through which to analyse the conceptions, attitudes and beliefs of each respondent group. The particular social, cultural and political history of Armenia offers an insight into the challenges of, and opportunities for, autism research in the former Soviet Union.     

The teacher as co-creator of drama: a phenomenological study of the experiences and reflections of Irish primary school teachers

Classroom drama in the Irish primary school context remains a relatively new endeavour and is largely under-researched. The knowledge base for all aspects of teacher education should be informed by rigorous reflection on teachers’ experiences in the classroom. This paper reports on a phenomenological study conducted with seven Irish primary school teachers which focused on their experiences of co-creating drama with their students. Co-creating drama is held in this work to be the coming together of teacher and students in a collective creative enterprise during the drama lesson. The term proposes a partnership whereby they operate as co-participants and co-artists in the drama experience. The ‘creating’ aspect of co-creating can be considered the artistic enterprise of making drama in a way that is new and unique to the group. In considering the teacher as a potential co-creator of drama, the paper probes the emergent and changing ontological attitudes of the participants throughout the process: the values, attitudes and perspectives that informed their teaching. The paper illuminates the phenomenon of teachers co-creating drama in all its complexity, and seeks to reflect on the meaning of this for the teachers.     

Exploring the nature and implications of student teacher engagement with development education initiatives

In this article, the authors outline and discuss the findings of a research study, which explored student teacher engagement with development education (DE) interventions implemented within Professional Master of Education (PME) programmes across eight Irish Higher Education Institutions. Interpretivist methods were employed incorporating questionnaires administered to 536 student teachers pre and post the DE intervention and 6 focus group discussions conducted with 26 student teachers. Findings indicate that the capacity of PME students to engage with development issues and integrate DE into their teaching has strengthened considerably because of their participation in the intervention. However, in order to build upon this more must be done with respect to: strengthening student teachers’ knowledge of development issues; embedding DE further across PME programmes; enhancing practical engagement with DE on School Placement and prioritising DE-related research and reflection. Findings align with a conceptual understanding of DE as a complex system.     

Children’s transitions to school: ‘so what about the parents’? or ‘so,what about the parents’?

Children progress through a number of life transitions and each is a pivotal point of development and growth for them, their parents and family members. Through a review of the literature, the Bioecological Model will be used to frame childhood transitions as highly social, contextualised and political. This paper will assert that governments, schools and educators have an increased role in supporting parents with their changing roles, responsibilities and relationships as their child transitions to school and that schools need to provide space for parents to share their own transition to school narratives in order to better understand the effect these stories may have on the transition process for them and their children. Finally, schools and systems will be challenged to engage in a strengths-based approach to support parents at this pivotal time in their own and their child’s growth and development and call for increased research to identify ways in which this can occur within respectful, collaborative and agentic relationships.     

Assessing the Relevance of Statistics and Crime Analysis Courses for Working Crime Analysts

Crime analysts study criminal activity and police function to improve performance. Analysts inform operations, aid resource allocation, and evaluate programs. These tasks require high levels of statistical literacy. Given that most analysts are college-educated civilians, college coursework in statistics and/or crime analysis may represent the foundational knowledgebase within the profession. However, little research has attempted to determine if coursework teaches the skills needed by analysts. Underlying this issue is a limited understanding about what technical skills crime analysts regularly use. Analyzing parallel surveys of 98 criminal justice educators and 146 crime analysts, this study compares the skills taught in undergraduate-level statistics and crime analysis courses to those used by analysts. Comparisons are made between perceptions of the value of coursework. Results indicate discrepancies between the orientation of coursework and the needs of analysts which underscore differences in the perceived relevance of statistics education. Recommendations are discussed.     

Using interactive nonfiction narrative to enhance competence in the informed consent process with 3-year-old children

ABSTRACT

Ensuring young children’s competence to participate meaningfully in the informed consent process is a troublesome ethical issue. Evolving recognition of the influence of context and relationship, researcher perspective, and researcher responsibility to provide adequate support has advanced understanding of how this might be achieved. Here, we report the findings of the pilot trial of a new approach that used an ‘interactive nonfiction narrative’ to enhance young children’s capacity to provide meaningful informed consent. This innovative approach employs (re)telling strategies and technology (interactive) to convey factual information about the research (nonfiction) via a story (narrative) to promote participant understanding. Case studies of two 3-year-old boys and their mothers captured participants’ understanding of the informing and consent process. Data collection in the child’s home took place over 11 weeks and included conversations with children and semi-structured interviews with parents on three occasions, together with videos of children interacting with the informing story. We found that children understood many of the key concepts, including the research problem and how they could ‘help’ (participate). Children also understood that they could cease their participation, with one boy exercising his right to opt out towards the end of the study.     

"They like me, they like me not": popularity and adolescents' perceptions of acceptance predicting social functioning over time

This study examined the dual roles of adolescents' perceptions of social acceptance and sociometric popularity in predicting relative changes over time in adolescents' social functioning. Observational, self-report, and peer report data were obtained from 164 adolescents who were interviewed at age 13 years and then again at age 14 years, as well as their same-sex close friends. Adolescents who felt positively about their own social standing fared well over time, regardless of their level of sociometric popularity. Further, low popularity was particularly problematic for adolescents who failed to see themselves as fitting in. Results suggest that during adolescence, when it becomes increasingly possible for teens to choose their own social niches, it is possible to be socially successful without being broadly popular.     

Children's sensitivity to intraword redundancy in spoken words.

Kindergarten, third-grade and fifth-grade children were tested on a same-different auditory discrimination task. Stimuli consisted of familiar and unfamiliar 3-letter words which were subdivided into high and low positional frequency word pairs. Analysis of correct same and different judgments supported the hypothesis that prereaders who have had normal language experiences develop sensitivities to intraword-redundancy relations. Children made significantly more correct same or different judgments when word pairs were high rather than low in summed positional frequency.     

TPC Program Snapshots: Developing Curricula and Addressing Challenges

This article reports results from a survey of US technical and professional communication undergraduate programs concerning core concepts emphasized and most commonly taught procedures, skills, and tools. Snapshot views of current programs are derived from the results, and the developmental processes and directions of four new programs are described in more detail. The article concludes with challenges for programs to maintain humanistic concerns while also providing effective professional and technical preparation.     

Student assessment of teaching in higher education

Plans to introduce campus-wide assessments of college or university teaching which are largely dependent on student ratings are seen as a threat to academic freedom in those institutions with little or no experience of this form of evaluation. While regular student evaluations of teaching are very common in North America, their introduction is only now being considered in colleges and universities in a number of other countries. Research on the reliability and validity of student ratings indicate that they are capable of providing valuable information about the quality of teaching. Depending on the survey used, this type of evaluation may be used to provide evidence of teaching ability to staffing committees or to suggest ways of improving teaching. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for higher education institutions which are considering the regular assessment of all teachers by their students.