Developing student voice and participatory pedagogy: a case study in a Spanish primary school

This article describes a case study that is part of a broader research project in which schools set up processes of school improvement inspired by the proposals put forward by students. The project furthers the initiatives of the student voice movement and seeks to implement more participative pedagogical models. This as a whole represents a novel opportunity in the context of Spanish schools. Specifically, in the text we describe an experience in which students work as researchers (SAR) and in which we describe and discuss this process carried out in a primary school through ethnographic tools. The findings allow us to discover in this experience a learning opportunity for the members of the school community and for the school itself. Likewise, the research permits us to verify the existence of certain changes in the preexisting practice architectures that affect the cultural–discursive dimension, the material–economic dimension and the social–political dimension of schools.     

Going Down the Rabbit-hole: Teachers’ Engagements with ‘Dialectical Images’ in Canadian Children’s Literature on Social Justice

This article explores the attraction of Canadian elementary teachers to children’s stories that narrate trauma, particularly the trauma associated with First Nations peoples’ experiences in Canadian residential schools as told by Indigenous authors. The teachers’ responses to these texts are conceived of as occurring within a ‘contact zone,’ situated between dominant white culture (the culture shared by the teachers) and the historically marginalized cultures represented in the stories. An interpretative lens of critical nostalgia is developed, placing the question of contact zones within the context of memory studies, trauma studies, curriculum theory and critical pedagogies related to remembrance. The paper identifies the need for developing critical nostalgia as a productive form of pedagogical remembrance, drawing on Roger Simon’s adaptation to an educational context of Walter Benjamin’s notion of the dialectical image.     

Things Fall Apart and Come Together: Using the Visual for Reflection in Alternative Teacher Education Programmes

In this article, we focus on the use of the visual for reflection in ‘alternative’ pre‐service teacher education and, in particular, we address the question: How and what can we learn about teacher education using the visual? By way of illustration, we focus on the use of pre‐service teachers’ photographs in a public exhibition, participatory video documentary production and pre‐service teachers’ use of photographs in their professional teaching portfolios. The article draws from research done in relation to three alternative pre‐service teacher education projects based at McGill University in Canada and the University of KwaZulu‐Natal in South Africa.     

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.     

The learning and teaching of algebra. Ideas,insights, and activities: Abraham Arcavi,Paul Drjvers,and Kaye Stacey (2017)

Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education -     

Interpreting young people's self-expression through characters and relationships in collaborative creative writing

White Water Writers is an intervention that offers school pupils the opportunity to collaboratively write a novel in a week. The current study uses thematic analysis to interpret the voices of young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities through the characters and relationships created in this fictional writing. The main themes derived from the data were: heroism and villainy, associated with characteristics such as responsibility and control; fictional powers, linking to personal agency; social relations, including positive relationships with peers and authority figures; and anthropomorphism, for exploring new emotions and interactions between humans and animals. This suggests that creative writing may be a useful lens through which to explore young people's views of their lived experiences.     

Perception of online feedback and its impact on cognitive and emotional engagement with feedback

Education and Information Technologies - Online feedback plays a key role in learning, but this requires that students engage with feedback. Some authors identify students’ perception of...