Conversational uses of the repertory grid for personal learning and the management of change in special educational needs

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 14/07/1994.An action research design, incorporating the repertory grid as a framework for Learning Conversations, is used to examine the management of change for a group of teachers and their schools. The study sets out to analyse how individual, teachers, from twelve primary and middle schools, in three outer London boroughs, learnt about managing change in their schools, in relation to children with Special Educational Needs. To study how the school supported these individuals, Headteachers and Deputy Heads were also included in the research. The sample of teachers was chosen from those who had attended either of two sets of in-service courses on Special Educational Needs in Ordinary Schools. The first set of teachers had recently completed their course; the second had completed courses between five and eight years previously. This gave an opportunity to compare short-term and long-term learning outcomes from these courses. As the study progressed, so did the development of the use of the conversational techniques. Flexible Learning Conversations, which went beyond the repertory grid techniques, were developed, and the evidence showed that this improved individuals' ability to reflect on their work, thus gaining confidence for future action in their schools. It was, also possible to develop a procedure for small groups of participants to share their own constructs, elicited from personal grid conversations. This led, into a Group Learning Conversation, which also included future action planning. The research also examines the interaction of action research and the Learning Conversation using the repertory grid, in helping to develop reflective practitioners and effective schools. As co-ordinating tutor for both sets of in-service courses, as a co-ordinator of LEA support services in two of the LEAs, and in the role as action researcher, my personal learning has formed part of the research outcomes

The Use and Performance of Geogrids in Kentucky

This report will investigate the history and usage of geogrids, a subfamily of geosynthetics, in Kentucky. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM - 1994) has defined a geosynthetic as a planar product manufactured from a polymeric material used with soil, rock, earth, or other geotechnical-related material as an integral part of a civil engineering project, structure, or system. Geogrids, geosynthetics primarily used for reinforcement, are formed by a regular network of tensile elements with apertures of sufficient size to interlock with surrounding fill material. Geogrids are used as reinforcement by adding tensile strength to a soil matrix, thereby providing a more competent structural material. Reinforcement enables embankments to be constructed over very soft foundations and permits the construction of steep slopes and retaining walls

Herding cats or getting heard: the SENCo–teacher dynamic and its impact on teachers’ classroom practice

This article is based on two key findings of doctoral research into the impact that Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCos) in England have on teachers’ skills when addressing the needs of children with SEN in mainstream primary schools. I use data from questionnaires and interviews with SENCos, teachers and headteachers to argue that key indicators for successful teaching of children with SEN include SENCos skilling teachers in their roles as ‘agents of change’ in relation to SENCos’ views of their teaching colleagues, as well as the evolving nature of their own professional identity

"The SEND Code of Practice has given me clout": a phenomenological study illustrating how SENCos managed the introduction of the SEND reforms

The introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms were hailed in 2014, by the then Government, as the most significant change to SEND policy for thirty years. Despite introduced changes, the 2015 Code continued to place responsibility for the co-ordination of provision for children with SEN within the remit of the SENCo. This article forms part of a wider study which examined the role of the SENCo at this time of significant reform; the study aimed to understand the role of the SENCo as a policy actor tasked with policy implementation as well as their perceptions impact during the first year of reform. This article discusses the themes which arose from the in-depth semi-structured interviews carried out with SENCo participants during 2014/ 2015, which explored reflections on the SENCo role, SENCo activities undertaken across the year, and how SENCos facilitated the implementation of the 2015 Code

Wandering Man

The Old West of stories, movies, and folklore is of course a time and place that never existed, yet, over a century, has bloomed into an elaborate, romantic, sometimes tragic fantasy firmly rooted in the collective mythic consciousness of Americans. Wandering Man is a novel that attempts to accentuate the mythic tendencies of the Western subgenre, even at the expense of realism. An attempt to recognize the American fascination with our nineteenth century westward expansion as a construction of myth is endeavored through deliberate parallels with stories universally deemed mythic: Homer\u27s Iliad and Odyssey. The protagonist of Wandering Man is based upon Odysseus, an Odysseus after the homecoming. This version of the Greek hero is similar to Dante\u27s, as seen in the twenty-sixth canto of Inferno. Restless at home, Dante\u27s Odysseus departs again, heading west in a small ship with a small band of men, until he had gone too far and was sucked up by a whirlpool near the mountain of Purgatory. The protagonist of the present work toils himself in Purgatory, a purgatory of never-ending journey, of continuous process without goal. The work explores the paradox of the continuing American focus on expanding westward, an action that the nation can no longer undertake in the physical world, so, instead, endeavors in the dream world. Of course, this act of fancy, of illusory rumination, is one the author undertakes as well

Conversational uses of the repertory grid for personal learning and the management of change in special educational needs

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