Teachers' instruction of noncategorically grouped handicapped children

Abstract

The sample for this study consisted of 46 noncategorically identified handicapped students who had been assigned to functionally grouped self‐contained classes. For purposes of this research, only a child study team reevaluated the students and supplied a label, learning disabled or emotionally disturbed. We observed all students on at least nine occasions on three behaviors: teachers' academic questions directed toward them, extended feedback from teachers, and dyadic work interactions. Although the special education classroom teachers did not know the labeled identity of any student in the class, they instructed the two groups differently. They instructed the emotionally disturbed children with fewer instances of academic questioning, less extended feedback for their responses, and fewer dyadic work interactions.     

Lifelong education and transnational migration

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and through what mechanisms vulnerable adults are empowered through a second-chance education programme. At the same time, the paper aims at unveiling the obstacles hindering learners’ empowerment process and making suggestions for the improvement of the educational programme fostering further empowerment of the learners. To achieve the objectives set by the research, a hybrid methodological design was applied combining hermeneutic phenomenology and critical discourse analysis. Data collection was performed using three tools: semi-structured interviews, reflective journals and document analysis. The results led to the emergence of a multilevel empowerment scheme of vulnerable adults in the programme. The empowerment mechanisms that emerged were as follows: (a) empowerment through participation as a self-value, (b) empowerment through the reconstruction of past experiences, (c) empowerment through the strengthening of their social capital and (d) empowerment through literacy skills. At the same time, the study shed light on a number of factors that inhibit the process of learners’ empowerment, which unveil structural and operational weaknesses of the programme as well as of the policies pursued by the State.     

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN GERIATRIC EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR FACULTY

The demographic imperative for geriatric training and care is well documented and comes as no surprise to health care professionals working in the field (see National Institutes of Health, 1987). The dramatic increase in the numbers of elderly, particularly those age 75 and older, suggests that geriatric health care will grow in importance throughout the next decade. This article briefly examines strategies for geriatric education that may have relevance for attempts to formalize and institutionalize geriatric content in academic institutions, and suggests strategies for implementation.

The domains of geriatrics and gerontology have continued to overlap as models of training and health care delivery have evolved. Distinctions between these two perspectives remain important, particularly as they pertain to the emphasis on training related to normal versus pathological aging. For purposes of simplicity, the term geriatric is used in a broad context that includes gerontological education as well. The reality of our educational experiences suggests that a balance between normal and pathological aging content in our curriculum is one of the first crucial variables that needs to be addressed.     

Towards a renaissance in urban parks

Public parks have been a familiar and popular feature of our towns and cities since their appearance throughout the 19th century. They arose out of social concern over public health and happiness and as a reaction to the squalid conditions endured by the masses. Civic pride determined that they were maintained to a very high standard as symbols of municipal power and excellence. Public parks were the first resort for local communities, especially children, to have fun and to relieve the pressures of modern life. As well as providing an urban pastoral they also provided for the exuberance of amatuer sport and lively play. They continued and strengthened the British fascination with horticultural magnificence ‐council apprenticeships provided the head gardeners for the National Trust and private estates as well as the men who competed with their peers in ever more imaginative and technically accomplished picture‐and carpet‐bedding displays which adorned the nation's premier public parks.

All this has sadly passed. The decline of parks can be traced back to the removal of railings for the War effort and consequent loss of sense of place, but the real damage became cumulative from the mid‐1970s. Local government reorganisation, political struggle between local and central government, privatisation of local services, year‐on‐year cuts in capital and revenue budgets and a shift of emphasis to foreign holidays and car‐borne countryside recreation all contributed to the downfall of urban parks into the dismal, neglected and vandalised landscapes which have become so familiar today. Responding to the concerns of voluntary and professional bodies, the Heritage Lottery Fund launched the Urban Parks Programme in 1996 to begin to address the issues. The Urban Parks Programme experience has highlighted how seriously underfunded parks have been and has committed far more money than intended to tackle the massive backlog of repairs to essential park infrastructure. It has also tried to address the causes of decline in partnership with local authorities and other bodies in the field ‐ loss of management structure and skills, lack of political support and understanding, and dearth of relevant data concerning parks.

This article traces the fortunes of public parks from their inception to their decline and documents the stirring of a potential renaissance as the government shows its concern with quality of life issues, with social exclusion, with multiple deprivation and with regeneration of the economic vitality and social coherence of urban areas. A government Select Committee has recently examined the state of the nation's parks and declared itself shocked and appalled at the extent of the problems that parks have faced in the last 30 years. There is now a chance that the long downward trend in the status and condition of urban parks can be reversed if a vigorous lead is given by government.     

Analyzing e-government research: Perspectives,philosophies, theories,methods, and practice

In recent years, there has been rapid growth in the volume of research output on the topic of e-government. To understand this research better, we used content analysis of eighty-four papers in e-government-specific research outlets (two journals and one conference series). Our analytical focus took in five main aspects: perspectives on the impacts of e-government, research philosophy, use of theory, methodology and method, and practical recommendations. Normative evaluation identified some positive features, such as recognition of contextual factors beyond technology, and a diversity of referent domains and ideas. Alongside this, though, research draws mainly from a weak or confused positivism and is dominated by over-optimistic, a-theoretical work that has done little to accumulate either knowledge or practical guidance for e-government. Worse, there is a lack of clarity and lack of rigor about research methods alongside poor treatment of generalization. We suggest ways of strengthening e-government research but also draw out some deeper issues, such as the role of research philosophy and theory, and the institutional factors – particularly pressures of competition and time – that may constrain development of e-government as a research field.