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Innovative learning environments and spaces of belonging for special education teachers
Abstract
According to the OECD definition of innovative learning environments (ILEs), inclusion is considered a pillar of its design. The depiction of an inclusive ILE from the OECD outlines the importance of including students in ILEs. We wish to argue, however, that the successful implementation of inclusion also needs to address the location of special education teachers within these spaces. Our research provides a ‘spaces of belonging’ framework that offers support for the successful inclusion of special education teachers within an ILE. Results from our ILE project and interviews with special education teachers in Australia and New Zealand will illustrate the three concepts of ‘spaces of belonging’, using studies from a range of schools. We hope that the findings will inform future planning and design processes that will promote effective inclusive teaching practices in Australia and New Zealand.
At the time of writing, the largest state in Australia is once more in full lockdown because of surging cases from the new variant strain of COVID-19. During the last lockdown in early 2020, we conducted a study analyzing the efficacy of mapping best-practice face-to-face university teaching into the online space. This article reports on the results of a survey from the perspective of student belonging. Isolation was the most prevalent theme recorded by students despite not being one of the research questions asked. The importance of adopting the model in online university courses in the current/post-COVID-19 world is presented.
This article discusses the justification for inclusive education in Australia, whilst being cognisant of the wider international landscape. Separate educational provision is increasing in many countries including Australia. Inclusive education has plateaued to a degree with demand increasing for non-inclusive settings. There are three main components to the argument for and against inclusive education and these are the educational, social, and the economic justification. The authors find that there is clear evidence that inclusive education in Australia can be justified across these areas. There is a dearth of evidence that inclusive education is less than beneficial for all students in mainstream schools. In fact, studies show that there is an economic advantage to being fully inclusive but this should not be seen as an opportunity for cost saving in the education sector but the proper deployment of resources to ensure effective education for all students no matter their background. The evidence for social and educational benefits is vast with both parents and students reporting positive outcomes. Inclusive education can be fraught with difficulties but this article clearly shows the positive justification for inclusive educational environments.
In adolescence, humans begin to establish their adult identities. Their teachers are important in this development, but increasing work and accountability demands on teachers mean teacher–student relations suffer, negatively impacting adolescents’ sense of school belonging and behavioural, psychological, and academic development. We used ecological systems theory to study affect, power, and reciprocity dimensions of the student–teacher relationship at school level in the United Arab Emirates. Observations and semi-structured interviews with female eleventh-graders and their teachers showed that adolescents believed teachers tried their best, but their lecture-based teaching style was boring, and that teachers rarely engaged students in group work or considered their opinions. Additionally, not all teachers supported or respected students. Teacher–student power imbalance exacerbated these issues and led students to disobey or skip classes. Relationships based on care, trust, respect, affect, openness, and cooperation can foster student achievement, identity development, and school belonging and teacher accountability.
The idea that the New Zealand education system will cater to all students, regardless of ability, and support them in developing their full potential to the best of their abilities, is enshrined in the famous 1939 Beeby/Fraser statement. Equality of access policy discourse has shifted to emphasise equitable outcomes, focussed increasingly on preparing students for success in the globalised, 21st century knowledge economy. In this context, the design and development of innovative new school buildings and refurbishments of existing facilities have been promoted as a policy that will enable, even bring about, modern pedagogical practices that, in turn, will achieve the stated aim of preparing students for the 21st century global economy. Arguments against retaining traditional single-cell classrooms include their perpetuation of traditional, mainstream (‘one-size-fits-all’) approaches to teaching and learning, while new, radical building designs hold the promise of enabling the desired ‘new’ pedagogies. Flexible learning environments encourage and enable teachers to exchange ‘front-of-the-room’, single teacher presentational approaches for collaborative, dispersed and facilitative styles, often in teams, working with multiple students in shared, common learning spaces. The New Zealand Curriculum has ensured inclusion as an educational principle, and current Ministry of Education policy discourse reminds schools of their commitment to this principle, and specifically links building design and design processes to ensuring inclusivity. So it should be asked whether non-traditional, flexible learning spaces can be inclusive. This article places this question in the context of the historically evolving approach to inclusion in the New Zealand context, and with reference to the ‘spatial turn’ in recent New Zealand education policy. This turn to enhanced flexibility and innovation has implications for inclusivity, reflected in both Ministry of Education policy discourse and critiques suggesting the exclusionary effects of flexibility. It is argued with reference to Lefebvre that notions of inclusion and exclusion are inherent in social practices that are both superimposed upon material space as much as they are influenced by the design features of that space.
Proponents highlight the potential of flexible and technology-rich spaces, referred to as innovative learning environments (ILEs), to shape activities and behaviours able to affect a desired pedagogical change. With much of the attention on the design of the physical learning environment, there has been a limited interrogation of what happens in the transition from traditional spaces to ILEs. As a result, this study applied the Linking Pedagogy, Technology, and Space (LPTS) observational metric through a single subject research design (SSRD) to understand how teachers, and their students, transitioned from traditional spaces to occupy an ILE. The application of statistical and visual analysis ascertained the degree of short-and longer-term pedagogical changes made by individual teachers and correlated these to effects on learning experiences. Corroboration with the thematic analysis of teacher focus group presents an account of the spatial transition between and the pedagogical return of different learning spaces.
The competencies that have to be achieved by the Special Needs Education students of FKIP Lambung Mangkurat UniversityBanjarmasin with the enactment of curriculum based on KKNI are to develop science and technology, skills, attitude and behavior as professional education teachers. Guided inquiry study method gives the opportunity to Special Needs Education students to be actively involved in solving the problem. The aims of the research are (1) to understand about guided inquiry learning method, lecturers’ needs for HOTS level assessment instrument (antecedent phase). (2) to analyze learning implementation and students’learning difficulties (transaction phase), and (3) to know about students’ ability on HOTS level assessment (outcome phase). This research used descriptive method with Stake’s evaluation model. The research was conducted in the special needs education program of FKIP Lambung Mangkurat University Banjarmasin, with the subject of 50 students and 2 lecturers. Questionnaires were used as data collection. The results: (1) the lecturers have understood the guided inquiry method, but the learning implementation is still concentrated to the lecturers, the students are passive (2) in arranging assessment, the lecturers have not fully used the case study model to reach HOTS level, and (3) the students’ ability in completing assessment in high level (27%), moderate (42%) and low (31%). The conclusions are the lecturers have not been able to implement the real learning inquiry. It is required to review the questions together and train the students to be active so that they are able to accomplish the assessment with HOTS level.
https://library.iated.org/view/ZAFIROVAMALCHEVA2018OPE
Every research project begins with the wish to address a pressing need, and then hopefully transits into a well-resourced active project. ILETC has been fortunate in making the journey from discussions between a few academics, to a successful grant, to the establishment of an extraordinarily skilled and enthusiastic team operating across a number of countries.
A vital component of making such research ‘happen’ is to logically and progressively build from what we know to what we must find out. Only then can our research effectively address the most pressing questions. ILETC has enjoyed the luxury of an initial ‘exploratory’ stage where the assumptions and beliefs carried into the project could be tested for their accuracy and relevance. For example, and in reference to ILETC’s focus, we assumed that ‘innovative learning environments’ actually existed in large numbers, and there was some common understanding of their construct and use. We assumed from anecdotal evidence that teachers were tending not to use these spaces as effectively as they could. We assumed that a traditional ‘teacher-centric’ teaching style was the predominant approach. We assumed that students were continuing to learn ‘superficially’ as opposed to engaging in the deep learning activities, characteristic
of decades of progressive educational theorising and governmental policy aspirations.
These were massive assumptions. We asked ourselves, ’what evidence exists to inform their accuracy?’. During the Phase 1 (exploratory) stage of ILETC, a range of approaches were used to test such assumptions. These included three systematic reviews of the literature, a suite of teacher workshops across Australia and New Zealand, a large survey of primary and secondary school principals, six research events run in Australasia, Europe, and North America, and a series of case studies involving more than 30
schools and other educational sites and 120 teachers, principals, architects and other educators. What this document is intended to do The ILETC team collectively set out to define our key terms. If we were to research independently but also within a team of 22 researchers, could we own (as much as is possible) a common understanding of our
key terms, and how they were defined? On the surface this appeared to be a reasonably simple task – ask for a literature review from each PhD candidate, and through negotiation conflate the answers. In practice, it proved far more challenging. Our multi-disciplinary team (spread across teachers, museum educators, statisticians, designers and architects) each carried their own conceptual understanding of terms such as spatial design, affordances, effective teaching, good learning, and many more. This immersion
into our common understanding of terms fostered complex team workshop discussions that addressed many research quandaries hidden in our project; for example: what constitutes evidence?, what actually is ‘pedagogy’?, how can we measure for effect?, and
how does one understand an individual’s ‘practice’?. Thus, this report lays out for the team, and interested partners in and consumers of our research, not only stipulative definitions of our key terms, but also how our team determined the critical epistemological foundation required for the next two phases of our project.
When young people at ‘alternative’ school sites speak about their previous, mainstream schooling experiences, they frequently cite feelings of alienation, marginalisation and disengagement that affected their capacity to learn and placed them at risk of dropping out of schooling. However, they viewed their current, ‘alternative’ places of schooling as spaces of belonging, framed through analogies of ‘family’ and discourses associated with a ‘home’. This chapter explores these young peoples’ perspectives and experiences of belonging using Soja’s concept of spatial justice. The research was conducted over six months with students and staff involved in a documentary film-making project at an alternative school in Queensland. The analysis identified three key spaces of belonging: relational, material, and pedagogical. The relational spaces provided care, supportive relationships, and acceptance that young people associated with a family and that enhanced their capacity to succeed in the pedagogical space. The material space often resembled the environment and structures found in homes and complemented the pedagogical space by providing a safe environment for learning. Finally, the pedagogical space was characterised by structures that enabled students to be supported and guided through meaningful learning experiences they often chose themselves. We propose that such inclusive spaces of belonging are necessary to engage marginalised young people in their education and schooling.
This article examines Innovative Learning Environments (ILE’s) in terms of its promise to deliver an inclusive environment. While ILE’s underpinning philosophy is to be inclusive for all, it appears that inclusion serves the needs of a wider mainstream audience. The article considers the research in this area critically, with a focus on the inclusive needs of students with disabilities and asks - whose inclusive needs are best served in an ILE context? This article argues that inclusion in an ILE which addresses the needs of students with disabilities has yet to be fully realised, and that an alternative inclusive education (IE) paradigm is required that aligns itself with the new ILE pedagogical environment.
Educational change is known to be challenging and therefore research exploring the conditions that seem to facilitate change is important. The literature relating to school level change shows some awareness of the part played by the physical school environment, but the role of the school premises in change is rarely the focus of research rooted within this literature. This is a notable omission. The history of innovation in school design parallels the recognised challenges of school reform and change. Educational leadership practice and certain historic policy initiatives suggest awareness of how the physical environment may encourage or constrain, and so is potentially an important part of a change process, but this understanding is not developed. This paper brings together our research concerning school environments and our work with schools attempting pedagogical change to develop such an understanding of the place of the physical setting in initiating, supporting and sustaining school level change. It is a conceptual exploration of the role of the physical environment in enacting change using an empirical base to illustrate our argument. We present a narrative account of two schools’ approaches to change and use the theoretical framework of culture, structure and individual action, where the physical environment is part of the structure within which change is attempted. It becomes clear that although the physical setting is intimately related to other school structures, particularly certain organisational features, there is a qualitative difference in the way the physical setting, as a tangible and visible entity, contributes to change processes. As well as contributing to the development of conceptualisations of educational change, our exploration has implications for the wider understanding of structures within human society, and their relationship to culture and individual agency.
Inclusion is Dead is a provocative polemic against the widely held notion that inclusion for all children and young people with SEN is both possible and desirable. For those with severe learning difficulties (SLD) and profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), the authors argue, it is neither. Imray and Colley assert that the dominance of inclusion has meant that there has been no serious attempt to look at the educational difficulties faced by learners with PMLD and SLD. As a vision of egalitarianism and equality for all, they say, inclusion is dead. The authors controversially believe that unless education changes, it will remain as a disabling institution that does the exact opposite of its intention. The book presents the argument that theorists of inclusion have failed to provide practical solutions on how inclusion can be achieved when SLD and PMLD learners are involved, as well as discussing the drawbacks of the 'inclusion for all argument'. With up-to-date references throughout, Inclusion is Dead will be an insightful read for teachers and SENCO trainers, as well as postgraduates and undergraduates studying courses on politics, philosophy and society.
A resurgence in interest in classroom and school design has highlighted how little we know about the impact of learning environments on student and teacher performance. This is partly because of a lack of research methods capable of controlling the complex variables inherent to space and education. In a unique study that overcame such difficulties by using a single-subject research design in one Queensland school, open and flexible classroom arrangements, together with an infusion of one-on-one technologies, improved student perceptions of the quality of teaching and students’ levels of engagement. Separate statistical analysis also indicated significant differences in these students’ performance in mathematics when compared to like peers in more ‘traditional’ classrooms. The paper ends with a caution; on these measures, the classroom design is certainly one, but probably not the only, influence.
Many countries in the world signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) in order to ensure inclusive education at all levels. Nevertheless, dealing with differences in the classroom is seen as one of the biggest challenges teachers – also science teachers – face at the moment. Additionally , there is a lack of research in science education how to foster students appropriately in regard to their diverse preconditions. Research studies often recommend carefully scaffolded inquiry-based teaching approaches. This article is divided in two parts. The first part attempts to sum up what is known about the inclusion of students with special needs in science classes teaching them inquiry-based. The second part introduces a case study which investigates an open inquiry-based learning environment in an inclusive middle school. The learning environment is videotaped and reflected with the teachers. Ideas for change are developed. Conclusions are drawn for the facilitated competence gain for students with and without special needs.
The purpose of this article is to offer critical notes on inclusive education research in the U.S. We discuss issues germane to conceptual clarity and the ways in which inclusive education interacts with reforms that share equity goals, noting disruptions and unintended consequences that arise at the nexus of these reforms. In addition, we identify enduring challenges and paradoxes in this research literature. These include sampling issues, an emphasis on where students are placed as a proxy for inclusive education vis-à-vis inclusive education as the transformation of educational systems, the ways in which outcome measures have been examined in this research, and the need for and challenges of building strategic alliances that could advance an inclusive education agenda. We conclude with reflections and suggestions for a future research program that include sharpening inclusion’s identity, attending to the fluid nature of ability differences and students’ multiple identities, broadening the unit of analysis to systems of activities, and documenting processes and outcomes.
The chapter explores the role and significance of space in rural education, with specific reference to the relationship between space, equity and policy. It explores relevant literature in geography and other fields pertaining to what has been called a new spatial turn, and considers these with regard to rural schooling in the Australian state of New South Wales. It argues that education policy generally is effectively space-blind, and that this is especially evident in the history of Australian education.
Globally, student populations in government-run schools are becoming increasingly diverse (see Gonski, 2011; Rashid & Tikly, 2010; Voltz, Sims & Nelson, 2010). Simultaneously, students are being excluded from schools, or placed into segregated educational settings in increasing numbers. Both the social and economic costs of disengagement and exclusion from, and inequalities within, education systems have been well documented (see OECD, 2010; Snow & Powell, 2012; Wilkinson & Pickett, 2010).
In this article, Alfredo Artiles identifies "paradoxes and dilemmas" faced by special education researchers and practitioners who are seeking to create socially just education systems in a democratic society that is currently marked by an increasing complexity of difference. He argues that the two primary discourse communities - inclusion and overrepresentation - must engage in a fuller dialogue and recognize the "troubling silences" within and between their respective literatures. Placing his analysis within the larger political context of current efforts and debates over educational reform, the author gives readers a broad overview of the literature on inclusion and overrepresentation. He then presents a multilayered analysis of culture and space that identifies the limitations of current research, while offering new possibilities and directions for the field. Artiles concludes that unless researchers and practitioners surface their assumptions about difference, as well as culture and space, the special education field will continue to perpetuate the silences that threaten the educational and life needs of historically marginalized students.
While many policies, pieces of legislation and educational discourse focus on the concept of inclusion, or inclusive education, the field of education as a whole lacks a clear, precise and comprehensive definition that is both globally sensitive and based in social justice. Even international efforts including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Education for All action merely reproduce efforts in the West, especially those of the United States and the United Kingdom. The current article proposes a definition for inclusive education that is both globally sensitive and centred around social justice for individuals with exceptionalities.
Belonging is an ambiguous concept that has tended to escape the rigorous theorization of other key concepts in geography. Rather than viewing this as a weakness, I turn to weak theory to consider belonging in generative ways, to reflect on the texture of how it is felt, used and practised. I particularly consider its emotional aspects and the ways it is performed by myriad humans and more-than-humans. I conclude with an ontological consideration. Understanding belonging as emergent co-becoming may allow for hopeful and inclusive geographies that are diversely care-ing and careful.
bell hooks relaciona as opressões veiculadas pela apologia ao inglês padrão com os usos das variantes da língua inglesa nos Estados Unidos. A autora discute o lugar da linguagem nas relações de poder, especificamente nas hierarquias raciais, e propõe a ressignificação dos usos lingüísticos para a emancipação dos oprimidos.bell hooks relates the oppressions, which are caused by the apology to the standard English, to the uses of the varieties from English language in the USA. The author discusses the place of language in the power relations, specifically in the racial hierarchies, and she proposes the resignification of the linguistic uses aiming at the emancipation of the oppressors.
Assessed problems confronting beginning special education teachers, noting whether contextual factors facilitated or impeded their efforts to solve these problems. Teacher surveys indicated that the most common problems related to insufficient curricular material, handling student behavior, and obstacles in collaboration with general educators. The most significant sources of support were from other special educators. Respondents felt segregated from the general education community, their general education peers, and administrative staff. (SM)
School connectedness refers to students’ beliefs that their peers and adults at school care about their learning and themselves as individuals. School connectedness has been widely documented as a significant predictor for positive student outcomes, yet little is known about factors associated with it as an outcome variable. Guided by the advocating student-within-environment framework situated with the social development model, this study explored individual and contextual factors associated with school connectedness among 1,201 students in Grades 4 to 8. Gender, ethnicity, grade level, and social skills were found to be significant individual factors, whereas school support for learning and acceptance of diversity were significant contextual factors. Together, the individual and contextual factors explained 47% of the variance in school connectedness. Our findings also revealed grade-related variability concerning associations between the factors and school connectedness. These findings provide further insights into fostering connectedness in the context of counseling in schools with consideration to students’ developmental needs.
Poor school connectedness (SC), defined as students’ feelings of belonging, safety, and fairness at school, is a risk factor for negative psychosocial outcomes. Few studies have examined the specific relationship between SC and anxiety. This study examined the relation between SC and anxiety within a group of 114 clinically anxious youth (mean age =10.82; SD = 2.93; 48.2% female; 70.2% White, non-Hispanic); age differences were also examined. Results indicated that SC was significantly negatively associated with age but unrelated to gender, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, parent education, or presence of a comorbid disorder. Findings generally revealed that low SC was associated with greater total and domain specific anxiety. SC may play a unique role in the maintenance of global and domain specific anxiety symptoms.
In this article we review the medical, human rights, social and social interactionist models of disability, and consider how these differing perspectives have influenced the provision of educational services to students with disability in Australia. We contend that the shift in educational policy and provision, from supporting to including students with disability, has engendered a need for targeted professional development for both general and special education teachers. A model illustrating the unique skills of special educators and the common skills, knowledge and attitudes required by all teachers to implement effective inclusive education is presented and priorities for future research discussed.
Critical approaches to inclusive education seek to transform educational systems to increase access, participation, and achievement for students at the intersections of multiple markers of difference. Yet, the role of space in inclusive education remains under explored as a social and political construct. We know that space matters for the production and maintenance of student identities; however, little is known about its interaction with teacher and specifically special educator identity. This qualitative study takes a ‘spatial turn’ in inclusive education by exploring how the existing geographies of exclusion within schools mediated special educators’ identity construction. Through interactions with their sociocultural contexts, special educators’ engaged in the co-construction of gatekeeper identities and participated systems of ableism that perpetuated and justified exclusion. Recommendations will be made for how school communities can critically interrogate space as a means for increased equity and inclusion.
While many distinctions between ‘special’ and ‘inclusive’ education have been made and continue to be forcefully debated, the two concepts remain strongly evident in policy and practice in many countries. This paper discusses the interrelated history of these concepts. It explores how conceptualisations of them have changed since Salamanca and reflects on whether inclusive education has, can or should replace special education. It considers the extent to which ‘special’ and ‘inclusive’ education are understood as the same or different today. The paper argues for clear a distinction to be made between how special educators can work in support of inclusive education and the task of inclusive education which addresses the barriers to participation faced by members marginalised groups.
School architecture is often taken for granted both in use (where it is naturalized) and in writing on education policy (tending to feature simply as policy setting.) Built policy instead points up the active and ongoing role of the material environment in shaping education. From financing and procurement to the design of individual classrooms, the paper works across architecture, sociology and policy studies to clarify the relationship between different dimensions of physical and social space and so provide a useful theoretical ground for future work. What is special about school-building and architecture that enables them to do policy? How are they used to do it? By whom? From city planners to students, a range of actors use different space-organizing resources to attempt the instantiation of (and challenges to) policy in built form. These processes are explored first theoretically, then empirically through a new Academy school in England. The paper deepens understanding of what policy is, emphasizing its intimate if taken for granted spatial characteristics, its ongoing-ness in built form and its travel by means of circulating images of buildings and spaces.
In the design and development of new school buildings, areas equipped with state-of-the-art technology and large, flexible spaces intended for collaborative teaching and learning are becoming increasingly common. This is in line with an understanding that this kind of learning environment reflects the contexts for work young learners are likely to meet and that such contexts enhance their learning experiences. By exploring teachers’ thinking about the Inspiring Learning Space created in one school in Scotland, this paper explores how the space has invited teachers to consider their pedagogies in new ways, as well as some of the obstacles that have problematised their use of the space. Findings show that one of the key successes of the space has been in raising consciousness amongst teachers in relation to the ambitions and expectations of a skills-focussed curriculum, whilst allowing those who have chosen to use the space to explore the most meaningful and effective ways to engage learners there.
Positing inclusive education as a cornerstone of democracy, social equality and effective education, this unique book offers a timely response to the recent conservative backlash which has dismissed inclusive education as a field of research and practice which has become outdated and unfit for purpose.
Inclusive education isn't dead, it just smells funny delves deep into the architecture of modern-day schooling to show how inclusive education has been misappropriated and subverted, manifesting itself in a culture of ableism, an ethic of competitive individualism and the illusion of special educational needs. The book is unique in both form and content, the author draws on music and art theory, on real-life observations and global experience, contemporary education policy and practice to reject calls for a return to segregated schooling, and put forward a compelling counterargument for schooling which models the kind of world we want our children to live in – a world of authentic, rather than divided communities.
Including students with disabilities in general education when appropriate is an important goal of special education. However, inclusion is not as important as effective instruction, which must be the first concern of education, general or special. Full inclusion, the claim that all students with disabilities are best placed in general education with needed supports, is a world-wide issue. Full inclusion does not serve the best interests of all students with disabilities. Including all students in the common enterprise of learning is more important than where students are taught.
The expanding interest in social constructionist, symbolic, and representational approaches reflects a shift in emphasis away from narrowly framed pre-given, structural conceptions of community. In general constructionist terms, community can be viewed as a social product of meaning-making processes that endow it with obdurate social reality. Recent discussions of relational constructionism focus on the role of language and discursive practices in the continuous (trans)formation of relatively fluid and contingent local realities. Also, community can be thought of as a collectively built narrative or symbolically constructed representation “in the mind.” This chapter explores the idea that community is a discursively constituted socio-symbolic construction that is talked and acted into existence in and through everyday lived relation.
In 2014 a new policy for special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision was introduced in England. As it has been the case in countries where SEND reforms were introduced, these changes raised challenges and opportunities for the professionals supporting children with SEND. However, to date, little systematic and large-scale evidence has been made available on how professionals perceive these changes. In this study, the views of 349 professionals were ascertained using a semi-structured online survey. The results revealed that although many professionals agreed in principle with some of the key changes introduced, several constraints were reported including tight timelines, budget cuts, and difficulties in the collaboration between education, health and care, suggesting a rather fragmented implementation of the new policy. No significant differences were found between groups of professionals for most items, however educational psychologists and special needs co-ordinators disagree on the extension of the provision age range, on how well the children’s needs are described in the education, health and care plans, and on the professional requirements of this process. The findings are discussed in light of their implications for meeting children’s needs and in comparison with other policy changes worldwide.
This study focused on primary teachers’ views of co-teaching approaches in addressing the learning needs of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in multi-grade classrooms in Irish primary schools. A case study incorporating a mixed methods approach was chosen. Views of 22 multi-grade and special education teachers (SET) were ascertained through self-administered questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that while teachers believe the learning needs of pupils with SEN can be met through co-teaching approaches, the withdrawal of pupils for supplementary support remains the dominant approach. Teachers indicate that they would prefer a combination of withdrawal and in-class support as opposed to choosing one approach over the other. Teachers refer to the challenges posed by co-teaching in delivering instruction for pupils with SEN including planning time, teaching personalities and teaching styles in the multi-grade context. When co-teaching does occur, the most common form used is station teaching. The data demonstrate that teachers lack a clear understanding of the various in-class approaches available and what exactly they entail, and point to teachers’ desire for continuing professional development (CPD) specific to co-teaching.
In this paper we present the findings of an investigation into the ways in which the discourses and practices of school design produce educational spaces which influence the discourses and practices of teaching and learning when the building is occupied. It expands notions of post occupancy evaluation (POE) research by exploring how the objects/motives of an educational vision which informed an initial school design, those of the final build, and those of the people who occupy that building interact in a way which influences experiences of the end users. Crucially we looked at the social interactions that arose within a building as it was used over time. The focus is on the changing relationships between design and practice through time.
Mainstreaming and inclusion of students with special educational needs in regular education, challenge traditional concepts and common practices. Traditionally, special education has been a parallel yet separate educational system. Even though there is almost universal agreement on the goals of inclusion and mainstreaming, special education schools have proved to be resilient and still exist in many countries. One approach to promoting the goal of inclusion is the establishment of collaborative partnerships between special and mainstream schools. This paper will discuss models of such partnerships based on a literature review and visits to partner special and mainstream schools in Israel. Positive elements of these partnerships as well as challenges involved are presented.
The impetus to move to new generation learning environments places a spotlight on the relational dynamics of classroom spaces. A key feature is the notion of learner agency. A complex notion, learner agency involves both compliance with and resistance to classroom norms and therefore is far more sophisticated than acquiescence with classroom norms and protocols. This article traces a taxonomy of agency in education settings. To date agency has been theorised extensively in a range of ways. Firstly there is agency of the sovereign self, an autonomous learner that has emerged from self-determination theory. Secondly, relational agency is produced through sociocultural influences and linked with the ‘relational turn’. Thirdly, we have ecological agency, a temporally embedded process of social engagement where young people shape their actions in response to their context. Finally, there is an emerging new material conception of agency that is starting to gain traction in Education research and is yet to be explicitly recognised as an important consideration for educational practice. Consideration is given to this typology in light of case study data from school leaders who comment regarding learner agency in the context of new generation learning environments.
Inclusive education does not happen within the confines of an educational institution, whether that be pre- school, a school or a university. It is a social construct and relies on relationships between people and factors, and therefore research into or practice of the construct should be considered in this way.
What does redesigning schools and schooling through innovation mean in practice? How might it be brought about? These questions have inspired an influential international reflection on "Innovative Learning Environments" (ILE) led by the OECD. This reflection has already resulted in publications on core design principles and frameworks and on learning leadership. Now the focus extends from exceptional examples towards wider initiatives and system transformation. The report draws as core material on analyses of initiatives specially submitted by some 25 countries, regions and networks. It describes common strengths around a series of Cs: Culture change, Clarifying focus, Capacity creation, Collaboration & Co-operation, Communication technologies & platforms, and Change agents. It suggests that growing innovative learning at scale needs approaches rooted in the complexity of 21st century society and "learning eco-systems". It argues that a flourishing middle level of change around networks and learning communities provides the platform on which broader transformation can be built.
This report is not a compendium of "best practices" but a succinct analysis presenting original concepts and approaches, illustrated by concrete cases from around the world. It will be especially useful for those designing, researching or engaging in educational change, whether in schools, policy, communities or wider networks.
"The OECD’s ILE work has mobilised and generated profoundly important knowledge about the nature of learning and opened understandings of learning environments within and beyond school. The ILE Framework has already proved to be an invaluable tool for the emerging future of learning leadership and systems development."
Professor Michael Schratz, Dean, School of Education, University of Innsbruck, Austria; President of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI)
"Innovation and creativity are the lifeblood of learning. Schooling Redesigned summarises beautifully one of the OECD's most fascinating projects - an attempt to look at the DNA of innovation in schools. Using a global range of actual examples it describes the conditions that education systems have to create if children and their parents, teachers and communities are to feel confident and optimistic about the future. For teachers, the messages are inspiring. Education systems have to focus on enhancing teachers' capacity and motivation. Standardisation cannot do that. Its messages to the profession and its organisations are profound. Teacher unions are, can and should be at the centre of creating the conditions for innovation."
John Bangs, Special consultant at Education International; Chair of TUAC’s international group on Education, Training and Employment Policy
The central issue of this article is the coordination between special and general education in curriculum planning for pupils with special educational needs. The focus is on individual education plans (IEPs) in special education and work plans in general education. This is also viewed in relation to how special and general education teachers cooperate on planning. The analysis is based on a qualitative interview study with special and general education teachers in four primary and lower secondary schools in two municipalities. A clear pattern is shown in the study, where curriculum planning for special and general education is not very coordinated and cooperation between special and general education teachers is often very limited. Thus, curriculum planning within special and general education appears to be more separated than coordinated. The two groups of teachers appear to adopt traditional and partly separate roles, and tend to plan individually rather than together. Responsibility for the education of pupils with special needs seems to be more divided than shared.
I examine special educators’ professional identity emergence and tensions within a researcher-facilitated teacher learning community. I introduced tools to evoke and challenge inequities in educational systems and via which participants examined and planned general education instruction for students with dis/abilities. Initially, professional identity, or figured world, emerged as performance of pathologising and relatedly, remediating students. Over time, participants expressed tensions as they engaged tools to examine structural limitations and design more universally accessible instruction; figured worlds shifted to critical sense-making about their positioning by general education colleagues and school structural barriers, and procedural identity performance tied to investigating student assets. Findings suggest potential for purposefully designed artefacts to mediate special educators’ development as (more) inclusive educators.
This chapter takes the reader on a step-by-step journey through the process of conducting a qualitative research study using research conducted with Traditional Healers (THs) in Malaysia and how they diagnose and treat cancer. Upwards of 80% of Malaysians consult traditional healers before seeing a medical doctor, resulting in late-stage diagnoses and thus higher mortality rates. However, prior to our research, little was known about the role of healers and their willingness to work with, rather than outside, the Western medical system. Within this context, the theoretical framework, the specific research problem and the research questions were identified. Next, the author discusses purposive sampling and data collection strategies, which included interviews, documents, and observations. She then presents a data analysis exhibit showing how they captured specific data from the interviews to address the research questions. Finally, the author discusses writing and publishing the results of the research.
The lack of qualified special education teachers threatens the quality of education that students with disabilities receive. Attrition plays a part in the teacher shortage problem, and efforts to improve retention must be informed by an understanding of the factors that contribute to attrition. Specifically, the author provides a thematic analysis of studies investigating factors that contribute to special education teacher attrition and retention. She addresses four major themes: teacher characteristics and personal factors, teacher qualifications, work environments, and teachers' affective reactions to work. Following this thematic review, a critique of definitional, conceptual, and methodological approaches used to study special education attrition is provided, as are priorities for future research.
Since the Dakar Framework for Action, governments around the world, especially in Western societies, have reaffirmed their commitment to a quality education for all in an inclusive environment. The purpose of this paper is to understand the barriers that prevent an education system from guaranteeing an inclusive education for all and for children with learning difficulties and disabilities, in particular. It is based upon the assumption that bringing about the shift envisioned within the UN CRPD requires societal changes in attitudes, beliefs and assumptions about disability, diversity and difference. It is suggested that societal values form the bedrock of an education system. In order to bring about the changes envisioned by the UN CRPD, it is necessary to reflect upon these values and their impact on educational discourse, policy and practice. This paper examines whether a correlation exists between the values underlying a society and its approach to inclusive education for children with learning difficulties and disabilities. Put another way, assessing the influence of societal values on the design of an education system, and on its approach to special education, may clarify the barriers to, and changes required for, the implementation of an inclusive education system.
In the latter parts of the twentieth century social theory took a spatial turn, one that education has yet to undertake, at least in any concerted way. Nonetheless, this paper aims to demonstrate that there could be, and perhaps is, a more decided turn towards unraveling spatial questions underpinning educational processes and practices. In this paper, we briefly set out the key ‘trajectories’ of space in social theory. We also examine what happens when spatial theories ‘escape’ traditional disciplinary confines and ask, in a rudimentary way: to what extent education is education any longer when spatial dimensions are added to its fields of concern? This paper concludes by ‘mapping’ various spatial foci in critical educational studies.