4,520 research outputs found
Responding to Reading Difficulties: An Exploration from Different Professional Perspectives
The study was designed to explore educatorsâ perspectives on reading difficulties and their choice of teaching strategies for students with reading difficulties. The study aimed to understand how educators form their professional perspectives on reading difficulties, how this relates to their understanding of the concept of âdyslexiaâ and how this informs their teaching methods. Furthermore, the study has explored the extent to which these chosen teaching strategies are inclusive and meet the needs of all students. A qualitative case study was used to generate data to address the research questions and achieve the aims of this study. Data were generated from semi-structured interviews with thirteen educators from different contexts and career stages, classroom observations in two primary schools in England, and a dyslexia training session online.
Thematic data analysis was used to interpret the data and identify themes related to the educatorsâ understanding of the reading difficulty and pedagogy for students with reading difficulty (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Braun and Clarke's six steps were followed for analysing the data. Furthermore, multi-layer analysis (Robbins, 2007) was used to incorporate findings from three aspects of my theoretical framework: Rogoffâs (1995) three planes of analysis, Tobinâs (1999) comparative classroom ethnography, and models of disability.
My study suggests that teachersâ understanding of reading difficulties is influenced by different models of disability at different levels of their thinking, which then also influences their choice of teaching strategies to respond to reading difficulties. My study findings also suggest that students with reading difficulties are not given enough opportunities to voice their needs and feelings, and it is recommended that spaces be provided for individuals to reflect and for all stakeholders to talk and share their reflections. In addition, my study recommends that student teachers should be prepared for working with students who have reading difficulties in their future classrooms by developing an understanding and knowledge of inclusive pedagogy and how this relates to teaching children how to read. This can also be extended to teachers who are currently working in schools to develop a better understanding of how to support all children to learn to read.
Physiological responses and cognitive behaviours: Measures of heart rate variability index language knowledge
Over the past decades, focus has been on developing methods that allow tapping into aspects of cognition that are not directly observable. This includes linguistic knowledge and skills which develop largely without awareness and may therefore be difficult or impossible to articulate. Building on the relation between language cognition and the nervous system, we examine whether Heart Rate Variability (HRV), a cardiovascular measure that indexes Autonomic Nervous System activity, can be used to assess implicit language knowledge. We test the potential of HRV to detect whether individuals possess grammatical knowledge and explore how sensitive the cardiovascular response is.
41 healthy, British English-speaking adults listened to 40 English speech samples, half of which contained grammatical errors. Thought Technology's 5-channel ProComp 5 encoder tracked heart rate via a BVP-Flex/Pro sensor attached to the middle finger of the non-dominant hand, at a rate of 2048 samples per second. A Generalised Additive Mixed Effects Model confirmed a cardiovascular response to grammatical violations: there is a statistically significant reduction in HRV as indexed by NN50 in response to stimuli that contain errors. The cardiovascular response reflects the extent of the linguistic violations, and NN50 decreases linearly with an increase in the number of errors, up to a certain level, after which HRV remains constant.
This observation brings into focus a new dimension of the intricate relationship between physiology and cognition. Being able to use a highly portable and non-intrusive technique with language stimuli also creates exciting possibilities for assessing the language knowledge of individuals from a range of populations in their natural environment and in authentic communicative situations
Examining systemic and dispositional factors impacting historically disenfranchised schools across North Carolina
This mixed method sequential explanatory study provided analysis of North Carolina (NC) school leadersâ dispositions in eliminating opportunity gaps, outlined in NCâs strategic plan. The studyâs quantitative phase used descriptive and correlation analysis of eight Likert subscales around four tenets of transformative leadership (Shields, 2011) and aspects of critical race theory (Bell, 1992; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 2006) to understand systemic inequities and leadership attitudes.
The qualitative phase comprised three analyses of education leadership dispositions and systemic factors in NC schools. The first analysis of State Board of Education meeting minutes from 2018â2023 quantified and analyzed utterances of racism and critical race, outlined the sociopolitical context of such utterances, and identified systemic patterns and state leader dispositions. The second analysis of five interviews of Kâ12 graduates identified persistent and systemic factors influencing NC education 3 decades after Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and within the context of Leandro v. State of NC (1997), where the NC Supreme Court recognized the state constitutional right for every student to access a âsound basic education.â The final qualitative analysis consisted of five interviews of current NC public school system leaders, for personal narratives of the state of NC schools compared to patterns from lived experiences of NC Kâ12 graduates.
The studyâs findings suggested NC school and state education leaders experience a racialized dichotomy between willingness for change (equity intentions) and execution of transformative action (practice). Although leaders at the board and school levels recognize the need for inclusivity and equity, a struggle to transcend systemic challenges, especially rooted in racial biases and power dynamics is evident. This study may identify leadership qualities needed for change in NC to address systemic inequities for improving educational access and inform policy to uphold all studentsâ constitutional right to a sound, basic education
Safe passage for attachment systems:Can attachment security at international schools be measured, and is it at risk?
Relocations challenge attachment networks. Regardless of whether a person moves or is moved away from, relocation produces separation and loss. When such losses are repeatedly experienced without being adequately processed, a defensive shutting down of the attachment system could result, particularly when such experiences occur during or across the developmental years. At schools with substantial turnover, this possibility could be shaping youth in ways that compromise attachment security and young peopleâs willingness or ability to develop and maintain deep long-term relationships. Given the well-documented associations between attachment security, social support, and long-term physical and mental health, the hypothesis that mobility could erode attachment and relational health warrants exploration. International schools are logical settings to test such a hypothesis, given their frequently high turnover without confounding factors (e.g. war trauma or refugee experiences). In addition, repeated experiences of separation and loss in international school settings would seem likely to create mental associations for the young people involved regarding how they and others tend to respond to such situations in such settings, raising the possibility that people at such schools, or even the school itself, could collectively be represented as an attachment figure. Questions like these have received scant attention in the literature. They warrant consideration because of their potential to shape young peopleâs most general convictions regarding attachment, which could, in turn, have implications for young peopleâs ability to experience meaning in their lives
Neue ErzÀhlformen in dynamischen Bildtechnologien - Formprobleme zwischen PopulÀrkommunikation und autonomer Kunst
Jeder Fortschritt, jede Neuerung gröĂeren AusmaĂes in verschiedenen Medien provoziert nach einer kurzen Phase spielerischen Experiments eine erneute Konsolidierung wie deren Ă€sthetische Reflexion: Diese DualitĂ€t kennen wir spĂ€testens seit den Tagen industrieller Kommunikation als eine Trennung zwischen Massenkommunikation und Kunst. Dies lĂ€sst sich gleichermaĂen bei der Entwicklung des zentralperspektivischen Bildes, der frĂŒhen Fotografie oder ganz besonders der Kinematografie beobachten. Nach einer ersten Phase des Kinos der Attraktionen entwickelte sich eine neue und einzigartige Formensprache des Classical Style als konventionalisierte Gestaltungsregel des Films, die zugleich und teilweise in scharfer Opposition verschiedene Gegenbewegungen auslöste oder als deren explizite Reflexion durch individuelle kĂŒnstlerische Formensprachen ĂŒberformt wurde. Aktuell stehen wir vor einer Ă€hnlichen Situation, der Erfindung und Verbreitung dreidimensionaler dynamischer Techniken mit Datenbrille und anderen Technologien, die neue Formen der Virtual Production und damit des ErzĂ€hlens ermöglichen - sogenanntes 'spatial' oder 'environmental storytelling'. Der Band widmet sich diesem neuen ErzĂ€hlen auf drei Ebenen: Raumbild und -ton (Film), Bewegung im Raum (Computerspiel und VR) und Raum als Kontext (AR)
HOW LEADERSHIP EMERGED AS AN ISSUE FOR SCHOOLS â AND SOME REFLECTIONS ON SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TODAY
This paper complements the article elsewhere in the journal by Mick Waters. It traces the origins of the present focus within the UK on school leadership, outlines the importance of applying well-judged approaches to Appreciative Inquiry, Problem Solving and Ensuring Compliance to leadership practices in establishing organisational cultures and managing complex change and briefly suggests a re-setting of schooling purposes and aims for a new age in schooling better adjusted to our citizensâ present and future needs
Exploring perceptions of inclusion in higher education
This research took place at one Irish Higher Education Institute and explored
the perceptions of staff in a variety of roles with regard to inclusive education. The
purpose of this research is to explore attitudes toward inclusive education, as well as
how inclusion manifests in teaching and learning practice within the Institute. The
selected institute recorded the highest rate of participation of students with disabilities
at 10.2% (AHEAD, 2018) and thus is a compelling site for this study.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 staff members. The staff
represented management, lecturers and support services. Staff were asked about their
understanding of inclusive education, how it is represented within the institute, and to
discuss how they perceive supports for and barriers to fostering inclusion within the
Institute. The results of these interviews were analysed in the context of the most
recently published institutional strategic plan. The conceptual framework for the study
is Rouseâs (2006) knowing, believing and doing related to inclusion and inclusive
practice. Specifically, the framework provides that inclusion depends on educators
âknowingâ about theory, policy and legislation; âdoingâ being the application of that
knowledge; and âbelievingâ in the role in the inclusive practice to support learners in
their education.
The study finds that staff have an inconsistent understanding of inclusive
education which leads to challenges in teaching and learning applications. Whilst there
is an appetite for professional development in this area there are concerns as to the
efficacy of offered supports and the scale by which such support will be utilized by
staff. Analysis of the strategic plan, together with interview data, reveals a perceived
mismatch in the pursuit of higher education elitism versus true inclusion. The strategic
planâs advocacy for policy and action to promote inclusion is perceived to be
inconsistent with the perceptions of staff as to how policy is formed and implemented
within the institute
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