Good Faith and Effort? Perspectives on educational inclusion

This paper considers what might ‘count’ as educational inclusion from the perspectives of six women who are both mothers of and teachers of children with special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. The mother-teachers draw on their own personal and professional experiences to consider meanings of inclusion in relation to ‘their’ children. Their voices suggest that it is the detail of daily interaction and the commitment to ‘good faith and effort’ on the part of both parents and educational professionals that matters. For the purposes of this paper I shall consider the discourses of SEN, learning difficulties and disability together, although I am aware of the danger of reductionism in doing so

Costs, compromises and opportunities : the experiences of mature women students in flexible delivered teacher education : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University

This case study research examines the factors that shaped the distance study experiences of eight mature women students who completed a three-year teacher education qualification through flexible delivery at a New Zealand tertiary institution. To obtain perspectives on their experiences as mature students, individual semistructured interviews were conducted with the women following their completion of three years of study. The women encountered challenges in their dual contexts of study and family. Study was a cost to the women's family situations, particularly family relationships. The results convey the compromises the women made in their personal and academic spheres. Overwhelmingly the findings confirm personal and professional opportunities gained from the study experience, including positive outcomes for self and family. Support and connectedness generated new meanings for the women. Experiencing academic success, self-growth and transformation of identity were considered ultimate outcomes of the study experience. This research enhances understanding of the intersecting aspects of family and study for women distance students. Recommendations have been made for addressing the specific needs and supporting the study experiences of mature women students

Futures planning, parental expectations and sibling concern for people who have a learning disability

The aim of this questionnaire was to explore the existence of future plans, parental expectation and sibling concern regarding people who have a learning disability. A questionnaire was sent via email to siblings of people who have a learning disability. 21 completed questionnaires were returned and responses were anaylsed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. A full discussion regarding sibling support was reported to have taken place by 12 (57%) of respondents, 7 (33%) stated this discussion had not taken place and 2 (9%) were unsure. 12 (57%) of participants reported no clear future plan however where a plan did exist, 7 (33%) of respondents claimed it was fully agreeable to both them and their parents. 11 (52%) of respondents reported no difference between their wishes regarding their future role and parental wishes. Key themes generated were; satisfaction with services, parental influence, sibling concern about the future, futures planning, the impact of the disabled person upon sibling lives and siblings needs. Further qualitative exploration into the personal wishes, reality and parental expectations for future support of siblings of adults who have a learning disability is required. Keywords: adult siblings, futures planning, learning disability, parental expectatio

Negotiating the Maze: Case based, Collaborative Distance Learning in Dentistry

The module was developed as an elective to give motivated senior dental students an opportunity to expand their horizons in planning oral rehabilitation. It comprised one tutor and 12 students, from five universities world-wide, communicating on the World Wide Web (WWW), to develop oral rehabilitation plans for simulated patients. Trigger material came from one of two Case Profiles and consisted of diagnostic casts and details of the clinical and radiographic examination in WWW/CD-ROM form. No background material was supplied as to the "patient's" age, sex, history or main concern(s). Students worked in groups of three, each student from a different location. Individual students were given a role within the group: "Patient", who developed a "personal background" belonging to the trigger examination material, "Academic" who identified state-of-the-art treatment options available for the dental treatment needs identified by the group and "General Practitioner" who tailored these options to the "patient's" needs and wants. Student feedback focused on their perception of their experience with the program in response to a questionnaire comprising 11 structured and four "open" questions. All students felt that the program increased their confidence in planning oral rehabilitation. Ten students felt that the "best thing about the program" was the interaction with students from other universities and the exposure to different philosophies from the different schools. Eight students mentioned their increased awareness of the importance of patient input into holistic planning. Under the heading "What was the worst thing", students cited some technical hitches and the snowball effect of two sluggish students who were not identified early enough and thus impacted negatively on the working of their groups. Student feedback showed that the module succeeded in its aims but needed modification to improve the logistics of working with an extended campu

A hermeneutic phenomenological study of community nurses' CPD

Continuing professional development (CPD) is a mandatory aspect of nurse registration. In the NHS, more demanding professional roles compel nurses to develop and update their knowledge and skills through CPD. Even though CPD is an essential component of nurse education, research investigating community practitioners’ views, experiences and perceptions of the link between reflection and CPD is limited. This phenomenological study explored community health practitioners’ experiences of CPD and perceptions of the link between CPD and reflection. Ten community practitioners who specialized in district or school nursing and health visiting were interviewed using an in-depth approach. Data was analysed using thematic networks as a tool (Attride-Stirling, 2001). Findings revealed that community practitioners viewed CPD positively, perceived the benefits as both professional and personal development. Development needs were identified through reflective practice and appraisal. Even though significant barriers were apparent, the organization provided opportunities to access formal and self-directed learning events. There is a need for organizations to invest in CPD of the workforce, consider cheaper alternatives for meeting CPD needs and for further research to assess the impact of CPD on clinical practice

A qualitative study of the health experience of gypsy travellers in the UK with a focus on terminal illness

Aim To understand the experience of terminal care and health care access for Gypsy Travellers, to inform palliative and primary care service provision. Background Little contemporary research of UK English Romany Gypsy Travellers is available. This ethnic group is often overlooked in ethnic minority health research. Methods Access to Gypsy Traveller communities was through non-health care channels and required the development of trust through repeated contact over time. English Romany Gypsy Travellers at two Traveller sites participated in face-to-face contacts. Data collection was through field observation and seven semistructured interviews with Gypsy Traveller women who had experience of caring for relatives who were dying. In addition, data were collected over two years through discussion in a members-only Gypsy and Traveller interest e-mail forum. Findings The culture of Gypsy Travellers is distinct but diverse. Hygiene is important as is discretion and sensitivity to the information requirements of the patient and family. Gypsy Travellers are aware that their mobility (voluntary or enforced) can negatively impact on health care. Home care for the terminally ill is often preferred to hospital care often due to poor understanding of their cultural and personal needs by health care professionals and due to an aversion to ‘bricks and mortar’. Care may be provided by the extended family. Palliative care provision should consider the needs of Gypsy Travellers including respect for their culture and support for caring at home

Tranquillity, Guided Visualisation and Personal Discovery for Disengaged ‘Dispirited’ Pupils

Swindon Youth Empowerment Project (SYEP) is currently working in six schools in urban disadvantaged areas in Swindon. The project encourages young people with disaffected and challenging behaviour to reflect on their own behaviour, relationships and potential. The particular innovation of SYEP includes guided personal reflection using visualisation, words and music in an ambient environment without distractions (called “the Tranquillity Zone”), followed by focused activities to stimulate personal discovery (called “the Discovery Zone”). The current phase is to train Learning Mentors in schools in the Excellence in Cities initiative in Swindon to run sessions for pupils at risk in their schools, and assess the impact of these programmes. The project team calls these “dispirited pupils” as they have never learnt to reflect on their self-worth and potential. The main education staff involved are two trainers from the Swindon Youth Empowerment Project (SYEP), who are working in partnership with the Excellence in Cities initiative (EiC) to train 9 Learning Mentors. These Learning Mentors organizationally are part of the EiC, and are employed to guide and support challenging pupils (mainly from secondary schools), so that these pupils become more engaged and motivated with their learning and improve their behaviour. The Swindon Youth Empowerment Project team has trained the Learning Mentors in the Tranquillity Zone and Discovery Zone programmes, which are designed to stimulate pupils in a non-authoritarian way to reflect on their attitudes, reactions, relationships and actions, to consider the consequences of these, and devise alternative life strategies. This is described as reflection on and development of their “higher nature” in ways designed to have a positive effect on relationships and self-esteem. The Tranquillity Zone is guided with text and music in an ambient environment and is linked with the Discovery Zone, which inspires young people to move to their higher nature through personal discovery and activities to develop and articulate their understanding and thinking. The project seeks to influence behaviour by addressing the root causes of personal insecurities and open up new possibilities. Within the 18 project elements of personal, moral, social and emotional learning, the organization is non-authoritarian and aims to illuminate staff, pupils and parents with a positive outlook, which helps them to rise above their problems. The project is developing and expanding, and has involved me as researcher as a dynamic part of that developmental process. Feedback from the Excellence in Cities government initiative has been enthusiastic, recognizing it as an innovative new strategy to refocus and re-energize disaffected young people both in primary and secondary schools. The Learning Mentors who operate the project in schools regard it as most effective and have enthusiastic views on their training. Pupils who have been through the project express strong views that it is been personally effective to them and even “turned them round” from failure to success. All concerned have the highest opinion of the effectiveness of this project in terms of increasing the personal confidence of disaffected young people and giving them a sense of direction, agency and aspiration. The relationship between the project team and these young people is crucial to its success, and the process of building capacity through training is beginning. As the project is not funded by mainstream educational funding, it is totally reliant for its survival on marginal funding bids which are currently restricting expansion. For this it needs to follow up the pupils who have benefited from the programme, and their parents – and to create long term evaluation procedures

Mechanism for Protecting Personal Data Against Crimes in Cyber-Space (Cyber Crime)

Protection of personal data is one of the Human Rights (HAM) which is part of personal protection and all of its property needs to be given a legal basis to provide security for the personal data. Besides that, protection of personal data is needed to raise public awareness and guarantee recognition and respect for the importance of protecting personal data. Protection of personal data from hacking actions carried out by irresponsible people who can endanger themselves. By hacking personal data, hackers will be able to enter banking accounts, social media accounts, and others which can cause material losses to victims of hacking. There are so many negative impacts experienced by victims, that criminal law is needed in determining criminal responsibility for hackers because this is a serious crime that can be threatened with criminal sanctions

Turning an Idea into a Valuable Teaching Resource and Research Output

This paper describes the journey of a teacher who became an author in Higher Education. The journey began with a simple idea about a fundamental resource book, designed to improve teaching in design and illustration classes with ever increasing numbers of novice fashion students, back in 1991. This resource was a taxonomy of fashion, designed to increase the awareness of garment shapes, context, proportion, terminology, construction, production and finish with a view to improving student knowledge, design and visual communication skills. The paper reflects upon the subsequent publications that built on the previous resource, as outputs of rigour, significance and integrity in shaping the author‘s approaches to teaching and research in fashion and other disciplines. It describes the development of the original idea and the subsequent acceptance of this for publication and illustrates how this one idea allowed for further opportunities for publications in a partnership with a global publisher. There are resource issues around gathering content for publications of rigour and originality and there have been challenges around communicating in the publications themselves due to technological and economical constraints. There are also practical resource issues around creating and designing the publications as well as the need for the development of personal skills when keeping up with changes in technology and the fashion industry. Each publication requires careful planning and needs to have unique reasons for being‘ that make it different to the competition. It describes the positive aspects of working with a colleague who brings similar skills and understanding, but a different handwriting and point of view to the publications. It looks at the impact of updating original editions and keeping the works contemporary. It also looks at personal and practical insights learned across almost 20 years of being an author with the same publisher

Primary school initiatives for pupils with personal and social development needs

The Scottish Government has highlighted the important role of personal and social development in primary education to promote the social inclusion of children who have poor life experiences (Scottish Office, 1999a). HMIE reports however suggest that there are few opportunities in primary schools in Scotland for pupils with social difficulties to develop personal and social skills (HMIE, 1999, 2001a, 2001b). This study explored the historical development of provision for personal and social development in primary education in Scotland, and carried out a survey of current perceptions and provision for pupils with personal and social needs in primary schools in Scotland. Following this, an investigation of the organisation and impact of three personal and social development initiatives for pupils with personal and social difficulties was carried out. Results of the historical review revealed that in the 1960s teaching methods became increasingly child-centred but it was not until later, in the 1980s, that personal and social development became part of the school curriculum. Results of the survey of primary schools showed that schools introduced a range of personal and social development initiatives but that few of these were intended to specifically meet the needs of individuals with personal and social difficulties. The investigation of three initiatives for pupils with personal and social difficulties revealed that initiatives were generally valued by staff, pupils and parents in those schools and that initiatives had a positive impact on a number of personal and social development factors, such as self-esteem