Engagement versus participation: A difference that matters

The kind of engagement that transforms a person is more than mere participation. It is risk‐taking, spontaneous, socially supported, heart‐pounding co‐creation. Some campuses, the University of Maryland Baltimore County for one, are taking small steps to foster this kind of engagement. They've found that it's good, hard work.     

Problems in the Perception of Perspective in Drawing

It is well known that the shape and size of objects visually changes if the object's distance from the viewer and the position of the object changes. For these reasons, drawing three-dimensional objects on a picture plane demands not only knowledge of their external peculiarities, but also skills in matching the shape of objects to the peculiarities of visual perception which allows us to represent objects ‘truthfully’. However, this is one of the hardest tasks in drawing. It needs specific theoretical training in the construction of perspective. A review of textbooks and resource books on drawing published in different countries during the last 30 years reveals that a body of rules for linear perspective has evolved which is stable and interpreted similarly. However, explanations of the practical implementation of one-point perspective are not quite logical. This article covers some of the problems of the perception of perspective, and offers methodical recommendations for implementing perspective in training for drawing.     

The Supporting Effective Teaching (SET) project: The relationship of inclusive teaching practices to teachers' beliefs about disability and ability,and about their roles as teachers

The Supporting Effective Teaching (SET) project consists of studies that examine the relationship between elementary general education teachers' beliefs about disability and ability and their roles in inclusive classrooms, and how these are related to teaching practices. Teaching effectiveness is operationally defined as multiple dimensions of teaching practices observed in inclusive classrooms. This paper examines previously reported and newly completed studies that investigate the characteristics of teachers in inclusive classroom settings, what they believe about their roles and responsibilities and about their students' learning, and how their beliefs relate to their teaching effectiveness with students both with and without disabilities.     

The integration experience of hearing impaired elementary school students in separated and integrated school settings

Integration experiences of hearing impaired German elementary school students in separate educational settings (n = 31) were compared with those of counterparts at the same level in integrated settings (n = 26), and evaluated in regard to psychosocial behavior, semantic-lexical abilities, and communicative skills. Analysis of questionnaire responses and intelligence subtests showed that the only difference between the samples concerned perceived well-being in school, and favored the integrated students. Other percentages of variance are explainable by school type (10%), parents' hearing status (12%), and use of bimodal communication (11%). The integrated students demonstrated a higher level of integration experience, associated with fewer psychosocial abnormalities and better communicative skills. The results indicate that educational setting is not the only factor influencing students' perceived well-being. Other contextual factors, e.g., hearing status of parents and communicative skills, have a similar positive impact on integration experiences     

Charlie's Birth Story: Two Unique Perspectives

In this column feature, a father and a mother each share their unique point of view of their son''s birth.     

Preparing teachers for inclusive classrooms

Effective teaching skills consist of high levels of student engagement based on good classroom and time management skills; the ability to scaffold learning that is adapted to students' current levels of understanding; cognitively engaging students in higher-order thinking; and encouraging and supporting success. The research reported here suggests that in elementary classrooms, effective teaching skills are effective for all students, both with and without special education needs.