Collaborative classroom practice for inclusion: perspectives of classroom teachers and learning support/resource teachers

Collaborative practice is integral to effective inclusion. Within schools, teacher collaboration can foster communities of practice through a series of professional relationships that enhance the educational experience and learning outcomes of pupils with special educational needs (SEN). In Ireland, Learning Support Teachers (LSTs) and Resource Teachers (RTs) provide additional support to the increasing numbers of children with SEN in mainstream classrooms. Working alongside Classroom Teachers (CTs), this tripartite of teaching expertise represents an opportunity for whole-school and classroom-based approaches to successful collaborative, inclusive practice.

This article describes the perceptions and experiences of collaborative practice between primary CTs, RTs and LSTs in a cohort of primary schools in the West of Ireland. Using a mixed methods approach, the study sought to establish the nature and extent of collaboration amongst these teachers and to identify the benefits and barriers to implementation.

The findings suggest that whilst teachers are increasingly aware of the value of collaboration, its implementation is largely aspirational, with a series of challenges relating to time constraints, ad hoc planning and limited professional development opportunities most commonly identified as constraints to a consistent approach. The article considers the consequences of this shortfall and options for improved engagement between teachers are identified.     

Communist education as modernisation strategy? The swings of the globalisation pendulum in Eastern Europe (1947–1989)

This article engages with the influence of Soviet educational models and Western European contacts, mediated by historical institutional and cultural legacies in producing specifically Eastern educational variants. A first level of analysis will identify the reasons behind the emergence of these variations. A second and higher level of analysis will question the use of global models in the modernisation processes. The Soviet influence in education is conceptualised as initially both an imperialist force and a voluntary borrowing, followed by internationalisation with local adaptation. It cannot be conceived of as a coherent model. In fact, Soviet education was transformed over time and incorporated both Western and elitist elements. Nevertheless, a historical and comparative analysis indicates that, while not divergent on educational grounds, the Soviet and the Western European educational patterns at times intermingled. These countries looked increasingly to the West in search of models and to reposition themselves in the global arena.     

Creating Peace by Confronting Prejudice: Examining the Effects of a Multicultural Communication Skills Group Intervention

This study investigated the effects of a Multicultural Relationship Enhancement Workshop on American education majors' ability to confront prejudice in order to create more peaceful communities in school settings. Due to the diverse group membership, participants were provided an opportunity to practice communication skills in a multicultural context that emphasized a social justice perspective. A repeated measures design with random assignment of participants to experimental (n = 26) and wait-list control (n = 22) groups was employed. Participants were studied at three different points in time, in five-week intervals, with the experimental group participating in the workshop during the first five-week interval and the control group receiving the treatment during the second five-week interval. The repeated measures analysis of variance revealed significant time by treatment interaction effects between Times 1 and 2 on a measure of communication skills in multicultural situations. The intervention is discussed in the context of policies that promote cultures of peace.     

Metalinguistic Awareness,Reading and Spelling: Roots and Branches of Literacy

Studies on the role of metalinguistic awareness in emerging literacy have established that metalinguistic abilities at phonological, syntactic, print and pragmatic levels are linked to later attainments in literacy. Few have examined the interplay among these skills and developing reading and spelling. Using time-reversed path analyses, this study explores the possibility that metalinguistic awareness registers stronger direct effects on literacy than early pre-conventional reading and invented spelling skills. Sixty children aged 54 months (initially) were given measures of metalinguistic abilities, pre-conventional reading and invented spelling on three occasions. This allowed the exploration of reciprocal relationships between pre-conventional reading, invented spelling and metalinguistic abilities. On the fourth occasion, standardised tests of reading and spelling were administered. Results from time-reversed path analysis show that pre-conventional reading and invented spelling influenced each other across development and had stronger direct effects on subsequent literacy than did aspects of metalinguistic awareness. Pre-literate metalinguistic abilities were shown to affect pre-conventional reading and invented spelling skills and combine with these to influence further growth in literacy. The study’s results have implications for current models of literacy development.     

Identity Processes and Parent–Child and Sibling Relationships in Adolescence: A Five‐Wave Multi‐Informant Longitudinal Study

The purpose of this study was to examine reciprocal associations between identity processes (commitment, in‐depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment) and dimensions (support, negative interaction, and power) of maternal, paternal, and sibling relationships. A total of 497 Dutch families including 14‐years‐old adolescents (56.9% males), their fathers, mothers, and siblings, for a total of 1,988 respondents, participated in a five‐wave longitudinal study. Cross‐lagged analyses indicated that commitment and in‐depth exploration predicted improvements in family relationships (unidirectional effects), whereas reconsideration of commitment was predicted by low levels of maternal support and worsened the quality of the paternal relationship (reciprocal effects). These results were not moderated by adolescents' gender and sibling characteristics. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Early Predictors of Later Attainment in Reading and Spelling

A good deal of research has tried to establish the precursors of literacy in terms of the abilities in children which are most likely to lead to good progress in reading and writing. As Monica Lazo and Peter Pumfrey point out, several aspects of metalinguistic ability have been identified as important and in their research, reported here, they found that three aspects of this ability were particularly significant to children's literacy development. These aspects, phonological awareness, print awareness and semantic/syntactic awareness seem to play crucial roles in children's reading and spelling but not in isolation. It is the combination of these which seems to make the difference, a finding with important implications for teachers of early literacy.     

Perinatal complications and child abuse in a poverty sample

OBJECTIVE: Perinatal medical illness has been associated with child maltreatment. Using a Child Protective Service (CPS) report as the defining event, this study explores to what extent perinatal morbidity is a risk factor for maltreatment. METHOD: Medical charts of 206 children ages 0-3 years were reviewed. Data regarding birth history were collected and analyzed in three groups of children: children whose medical record indicated a report to CPS based on prenatal findings (Early Maternal Inadequacy group [EMI]), children whose medical record indicated a report to CPS based only on postnatal findings (Child Maltreatment group [CM]), and a control group without CPS report (NM). RESULTS: Compared to the CM and the NM groups, children in the EMI group showed significantly lower birth weight and higher neonatal morbidity as measured by Apgar scores, frequency of oxygen requirement and intubation at birth, frequency of admission to Neonatal Intensive Care unit, and frequency of neonatal medical problems. There was no significant difference between the CM and the NM groups in birth weight, gestational age, and other measures of morbidity. CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest that perinatal complications are associated with prenatal maltreatment. Previously reported strong associations between neonatal morbidity and child abuse are more likely a result of antecedent prenatal maternal behaviors (early maternal inadequacy). Early maternal inadequacy, a clinically and demographically distinct phenomenon, is important due to serious health, development and financial implications and deserves further exploration.