Special educational needs and inclusion,moving forward but standing still? A critical reframing of some key issues

This article draws together my thinking in relation to special educational needs and inclusion that have dominated my practice. The article, through the concept of embodiment, revisits, reviews and reframes the key issues of the construction of special educational needs, inclusion and the ideology that binds them together. Through this exploration, I argue we often seem to move forward with policy while in reality standing still in ensuring the ‘success’ of all of our pupils. By critiquing and reframing taken‐for‐granted assumptions and the sacred words ‘success’ and ‘achievement’, this article maps out the future directions of inclusive education. It concludes with a reflection on my first days as a ‘teacher of special educational needs’ and my work to support Kenny, a student with cerebral palsy. This personal reflection maps out a different form of educational success that perhaps could provide a forward momentum to develop more successful inclusive education policy and practice.     

Blended learning in higher education: professional development in a Hong Kong university

ABSTRACT

Online learning has become a ubiquitous part of the educational landscape and how teachers are supported in developing approaches to teaching online is a fundamental aspect of the students’ learning experience. Based on the implementation of a professional development course on becoming an online teacher offered in a blended learning mode at one university in Hong Kong, this article proposes that offering this type of professional development in a blended mode is very effective in facilitating enhanced usage of the university’s learning management system. In a blended mode, teachers are actively engaged with blended learning and were found to make more extensive use of features/tools in Blackboard after they attended the professional development course. Results support that offering professional development in a blended mode provides teachers with an authentic student perspective, at the same time as they take guided steps in the teacher’s role in blended learning.     

“生命·实践”教育学的突围

中国教育成为了众矢之的,教育研究失去了独立性,如何回应蓬勃发展的教育,解决、回答丛生的教育问题,这就是教育理论的需求。叶澜老师秉承华东师范大学的学术传统、乡土的血统,身体力行、率先垂范,走出了自己的路,通过实实在在的努力、实实在在地思考教育问题,试图去回答这些问题,把对这些问题回答形成了以理论为骨架的思考。     

‘Nowhere that fits’: the dilemmas of school choice for parents of children with Statements of special educational needs (SEN) in England

Giving parents a choice with regard to their children's education has been central to the political discourse of school reform at least since the 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA). With regard to children with a Statement of special educational needs (SSEN), a plethora of policies and laws have given parents the right not only to choose a school, but also to appeal to decisions in the best interest of their children. Yet, despite the discourse of school choice, the implementation and practice of such reforms is neither assured nor simple. Participants in this study indicated that they have little choice of suitable provision and are having to compromise either the academic or the social aspects of their child's schooling. This article argues that for many parents whose children have a Statement of SEN, the choice of a school is often a dilemma, as ‘nowhere seems to fit’.     

动词make的一词多义关系模式初探

一词多义是各种语言中普遍存在的现象。英语中除了术语以外,单义词是很少的,多数的词都是多义词。本文从认知语义学的视角,运用认知语言学的＂原型范畴理论＂以及＂基于理论的多义词分析法＂对动词make进行认知研究,探索构建make一词多义的意义关系模式。     

政府购买教育服务何以可能

我国政府购买教育服务的试行和有效实践,需要在理论上对教育服务何以可"购买"、政府何以要"购买"、政府在何处"购买"以及如何购买等问题进行深入思考,并形成科学的认识与判断,以帮助我们更清晰地认识政府购买教育服务所需的理论环境、政策环境和市场环境,为政府购买教育服务实践提供相应的理论支持与实践指导.     

江西省学前教育事业发展研究——基于1995-2008年数据

自1995年以来,受国家宏观教育政策等因素影响,江西省学前教育事业发展也经历了起伏。与湘鄂皖三省相比,江西省学前教育事业发展相对平稳,在每万人拥有幼儿园数量、生师比和3-6岁适龄儿童毛入学率几个方面取得了较大进步,但也存在学前教育供给不足、师资力量薄弱、学前教育普及与公平相冲突及教育功能退化等新矛盾和新问题。     

初中英语过程写作法教学模式探究

在单元教学中,指导学生围绕词块、句群以及篇章结构,运用所学知识,就同一主题不同角度进行写作练习,掌握写作策略和技能,充分发挥评价的激励作用,提高学生写作水平。     

Change management and the SENCo role: developing key performance indicators in the strategic development of inclusivity

This article follows an earlier publication highlighting the changing role of special educational needs co‐ordinators (SENCos) in England. SENCos are now required to manage change strategically and deliver inclusive school cultures. School‐based action research undertaken by a teacher studying for the postgraduate National Award for SEN Co‐ordination (NASENCO) is featured in the article; a strategic review of resource allocation increased the availability and quality of interventions for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The commentary which frames the study acknowledges that many SENCos are not yet members of a senior school management team (SMT) despite their mandated strategic whole‐school remit. Featuring the process through which one SENCo has strived to enhance SEND provision and develop context‐specific key performance indicators brings official guidance on the SENCo's role in strategic change management into sharp focus, raising questions that should concern both SMTs and non‐SMT SENCos.     

Assessment in special schools: national early assessment procedures and pupils attending special schools in England

An implicit assumption that fostering inclusion means having shared systems encompassing the needs of all children is evident in many aspects of policy development over the past decade. Reflecting this, the implementation of ‘baseline assessment’ schemes (i.e. testing at around age 5 years) is a statutory requirement on all state-maintained special and mainstream schools in England since 1998. Our argument is that the enthusiasm for commonality has obscured the need to question the value and validity of baseline assessment schemes for children with special educational needs (and possibly some others such as children having English as an additional language). We illustrate this position with reference to data from our recent study on baseline assessment in England. The study encompassed survey data from a national sample of 982 schools, of which 107 were special schools. Between them, these special schools used 42 different baseline assessment schemes. Comparisons between our mainstream and special school respondents indicated that there were similarities in the nature and perceived value of the schemes used. However, special schools were less satisfied with their schemes. We suggest that a reappraisal of the nature and purpose of baseline assessment for pupils with special educational needs warrants greater critical debate. Without this, there is a danger that a stress on commonality, veiling an inclusion orthodoxy, will ultimately be counterproductive.