A review of research into stakeholder perspectives on inclusion of students with autism in mainstream schools

Increasing numbers of students with autism are being educated in mainstream schools. However, outcomes for students with autism are poor when compared to typical students and students with other developmental disabilities. In order to better understand facilitators and barriers to success at school for students with autism, research into the attitudes of key stakeholders, educators, parents, people with autism, to inclusion in mainstream schools for students with autism, was reviewed. Key themes emerging included attitudes to inclusion, the characteristics of autism and social communication in particular and interaction with the school environment, and consequent student problem behaviour. Level of knowledge and understanding of school staff emerged as the primary issue with all stakeholders identifying the need for more training. Other support needs identified included the need for structural support, resources and funding. Parents, in particular, identified the need for a collaborative approach to the education process. The findings highlight the need to translate theory into practice to increase capacity in schools to provide effective educational programmes for students with autism.     

Digi-teens: Media Literacies and Digital Technologies in the Secondary Classroom

This article explores the impact on learning of digital technologies and media practices across the secondary curriculum, with a particular emphasis on non-linear video editing in a specialist media technology school. It observes the making of a trailer for Psycho by a group of Year 11 girls, asking how the advent of this very new technology enables new kinds of reading of visual texts, as well as new kinds of textual production dependent upon new IT-based literacies. It suggests that we need to find an adequate language of the visual, and to understand how this relates to other ‘grammars’ and semiotic systems; to understand how these competencies are rooted in wide-ranging cultural allegiances and pleasures, embracing popular as well as ‘classic’ texts; and to understand the classroom as a site both of encounter with popular culture, and of increasingly professional audiovisual production.     

Expanding horizons for students with dyslexia in the 21st century: universal design and mobile technology

This paper discusses the role of mobile technology in supporting people with dyslexia within the theoretical framework of Universal Design for Learning. The authors discuss how students with dyslexia can use mobile technology to address a diverse range of academic needs (such as reading, composing text, notetaking, metacognition and studying skills). Curriculum issues and teacher training are also examined.     

Similarities and differences in collegiality/managerialism in Irish and Australian universities

In the collegial model the basis for appointment to senior management in the collegial model is nomination by a community of scholars, whereas it is by line management in the managerial one. This article focuses on the basis of appointments in universities and the gendering of such structures. Data are drawn from qualitative interviews with both men and women senior manager-academics at Dean level and above in Ireland and Australia (N = 44). In both countries the power of the President/Vice-Chancellor (VC) was very much as a Chief Executive Officer in the managerialist model, rather than the ‘primus inter pares’ of the collegial model. Moreover, Presidents/VCs controlled the appointments of Vice-Presidents/Deputy VCs and Deans and were seen as being able to affect the gender profile of senior management. However, in the Australian system (in contrast to the Irish one) there was no ambivalence about the VC actively rectifying gender inequalities in management. In a context where hybrid forms of management are emerging, this article questions the relevance of collegial/managerialist models in understanding the gendering of universities.     

Capturing visual metaphors and tales: innovative or elusive?*

Despite the exponential growth of visual research in the social sciences in the last three decades, continuing empirical enquiries are arguably more relevant than ever. Earlier research employed visual methods primarily to investigate distinct cultural practices, often seeking the views of marginalized, challenging or hard-to-reach participants. In this study, non-British postdoctoral academics took photographs that visually or symbolically represented the highlights of their academic acculturation experience as international PhD students in the UK. The semi-structured interviews of academic and non-academic related experiences that made a significant impression revolved around participants’ visual metaphors. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, a widely employed inductive qualitative technique, was utilized, with visual data complementing the narrative evidence. This innovative method both aesthetically and insightfully enhanced the representation of participants’ lived experiences and was instrumental in validating participants’ narratives. Additionally, this article examines the pragmatic utility of employing metaphors in a photo elicitation technique (also critically reflected upon by the participants who are academic researchers themselves). The paper therefore offers a collective reflection not only on the features and advantages of this approach, but also on the key challenges and some recommendations to inform contemporary visual methods practice.     

THE SECRET AGENT SOCIETY SOCIAL SKILLS PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN WITH HIGH‐FUNCTIONING AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS: A COMPARISON OF TWO SCHOOL VARIANTS

School is often considered an ideal setting for child social skills training due to the opportunities it provides for skills teaching, modeling, and practice. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of two variants of the Secret Agent Society social skills program for children with high‐functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) in a mainstream school context. Sixty‐nine students aged 7–12 took part in one of two different 10‐week versions of the program (structured versus unstructured) to determine their relative effectiveness. Results suggested that both program variants led to improvements in emotion regulation abilities, social skills, and behavior at school and home, maintained at 6‐week follow‐up. However, the structured intervention generally led to superior treatment outcomes. These results suggest that improvements in social–emotional functioning can be achieved for students with HFASD through time‐limited school‐based interventions. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.     

Teachers as metacognitive role models

This paper draws on data collected during a longitudinal collaborative project with teachers in England from schools and further education colleges. The project investigated ‘Learning to Learn’ in partnership with teacher–researchers with a focus on how metacognitive awareness can be improved by enquiring into creative combinations of pedagogy, environment and learners’ dispositions. The paper is an attempt to make clear the theoretical underpinnings of our belief that the project teachers were enacting something different, something metacognitive. We present a pragmatic model of metacognition development based on ideas collaboratively produced across the project. The five cycles of development are exemplified from the pedagogic and the professional learning perspective with quotes, vignettes and case study excerpts. We show a catalytic relationship between the pedagogies used by the teachers to develop their students’ metacognition and the teachers’ own learning and metacognitive knowledge and skilfulness.