STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THEIR LEARNING EXPERIENCES WITHIN AN INCLUSIVE SECONDARY MATHEMATICS SETTING

Students’ perspectives in learning mathematics are important considerations in education yet few studies document their insights. The current investigation used a case-study design and interviews, drawings, clarifying discussions, and focus group interview data collection methods to capture detailed perspectives of high school students with disabilities while learning mathematics. Document data was used to substantiate students’ achievement information and the impact of their disability, if any, on their experiences in learning mathematics. The sample of participants consisted of four self-selected high school students, from two inclusive Advanced Algebra classrooms. Three major tenets of Vygotsky’s (1978) framework were used to analyze the results of the study, namely the zone of proximal development, the internalization of socio-cultural-historical factors, and the compensatory re-organization of brain functions, all as mediated through socio-cultural-historical processes. Findings suggest secondary students with disabilities 1) are heterogeneous in ability levels, strengths, achievement, interests, and needs; 2) exhibit learning and growth as impacted by socio-cultural-historical supports; 3) are frequently offered limited class selections and reduced standards of excellence; 4) are rarely exposed to varied pedagogical strategies in learning mathematics, including real-world and digital technology applications, and team-work integration; and 5) are often viewed by teachers and school personnel through deficit-based lenses. As positive implications, the participants perceived disability as a difference, part of human diversity, showed constructive transformations over time, were successful as measured by multiple criteria of achievement, and revealed unique insights about the role of the special education teacher and of a team of teachers in their learning and growth

Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

Academia in Crisis

Academia is standing at a junction in time. Behind lies the community of the curious, ahead the mass and the market. This book joins in a growing stream of works that explore the vicissitudes of present-day European universities in what Bauman coined as liquid times. Here, a number of concerned (engaged) European scholars attempt to defend and brush up academic core values and practices, starting from their own life worlds and positions in higher education. They share the view that there is no point in turning back, nor in mechanically marching straight on. Above all, they uphold that there is no alternative to treasuring academia as a space for thinking together. Hopefully the fruit of this sine qua non invites to think with, and envision academic activism

Academia in Crisis

Academia is standing at a junction in time. Behind lies the community of the curious, ahead the mass and the market. This book joins in a growing stream of works that explore the vicissitudes of present-day European universities in what Bauman coined as liquid times. Here, a number of concerned (engaged) European scholars attempt to defend and brush up academic core values and practices, starting from their own life worlds and positions in higher education. They share the view that there is no point in turning back, nor in mechanically marching straight on. Above all, they uphold that there is no alternative to treasuring academia as a space for thinking together. Hopefully the fruit of this sine qua non invites to think with, and envision academic activism

Academia in Crisis

This book dissects current commercial, capitalist and fast cultures in universities. It argues that there is no turning back, nor marching on. Under the present regimes ruling universities, all that is left is reflection on academic qualities and opting in, or out. Readership: All interested in contemporary developments in higher education, be it from a didactic, and international (European), or a human rights’ perspective

Biomedical ethics and communications in health service

УЧЕБНО-МЕТОДИЧЕСКИЕ ПОСОБИЯЭТИКА МЕДИЦИНСКАЯВРАЧ-БОЛЬНОЙ ОТНОШЕНИЯЭТИКА ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНАЯЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЕОБЩЕНИЕБИОМЕДИЦИНАДЕОНТОЛОГИЯИНОСТРАННЫЕ СТУДЕНТЫПособие предназначено для студентов 1 курса факультета подготовки иностранных граждан высших медицинских учреждений образования, изучающих биомедицинскую этику и коммуникации в здравоохранении на английском языке

Problem space of modern society: philosophical-communicative and pedagogical interpretations. Part I

This collective monograph offers the description of philosophical bases of definition of communicative competence and pedagogical conditions for the formation of communication skills. The authors of individual chapters have chosen such point of view for the topic which they considered as the most important and specific for their field of study using the methods of logical and semantic analysis of concepts, the method of reflection, textual reconstruction and comparative analysis. The theoretical and applied problems of modern society are investigated in the context of philosophical, communicative and pedagogical interpretations