The Characteristics of High School Transition Programs That Assist Learning Disabled Students To Succeed at the Post-Secondary Level

When students with learning disabilities (LD) move from a high school environment in which they are often carefully guided to a setting in post-secondary education, where they are expected to achieve on their own, they may encounter transition difficulties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the transition programs in place in high school for six successful students with learning disabilities who were enrolled in an institution on a post-secondary level and to measure the effectiveness of the practices of those programs in conjunction with internal characteristics that students brought with them to that environment. The outcome of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of those transition programs that might have ultimately enhanced participants\u27 transition adjustments including academic, social and personal. The participants were interviewed individually, given three sections of a written questionnaire to fill out taken from a Transition Planning Inventory Student Form developed by PRO-ED, Inc., in 1997, and asked a series of questions formulated by the investigator. High School transition programs were compared to best practices of transition programs, based on former research. The nature of this study was descriptive. The information in this qualitative study provides insight currently lacking in the literature on transition programs. It was observed that one of the most significant factors in the success of LD students transitioning to post-secondary education is each student\u27s own measure of self-determination, along with the transition program experienced in high school. There was no attempt made by this investigator to prove or disprove the literature regarding transition services for LD students in high school. It was this investigator\u27s hope that this study would illuminate some of the realities of transition programs and encourage the giving of credit where credit was due for success -- to the existing transition programs and to the individual students themselves. Research Questions Does the existence of transition services affect the post-secondary education of students with learning disabilities? How do self-determination, the ability to communicate, and interpersonal relations contribute to the success or failure of LD students in post-secondary programs

Nature, Nurture and the Space Between: Lessons from Froebel for the Early Years

In this article, we engage with a question that has occupied the professional, policy, and popular discourse on education and socialization: are a child’s development potential and outcomes contingent on innate abilities (“nature”) or environment (“nurture”) (Plomin, DeFries, & Fulker, 1988; Stiles, 2011; Tabery, 2014; Marley-Payne, 2021)? We explore what a Froebelian perspective can add to this question and how it can be translated into an early years context, focusing on its relevance for policy-making, supporting practitioners, and children’s rights. There is ample neuroscientific evidence (e.g., Miller and Jones, 2014) that it never was a clear-cut dichotomy; both forces interact, with the role of the adult as a key moderating variable between the two. For educators, the question thus becomes what these insights mean for our role in supporting child wellbeing and development. We consider the question through a Froebelian lens, starting with an analysis of Froebel’s own writings and the assemblages of his pedagogy to show the relevance of his approach in supporting practitioners in their role as mediators of the nature/nurture balance. The theoretical discussion is contextualized in contemporary Scottish Early Years policy and practice, highlighting untapped potential in an environment receptive to Froebelian ideals. We offer three propositions for how the engagement with Froebel’s vision can guide those working in the Early Years, and how we frame their interaction with children’s ecosystem. In conclusion, we argue for a more nuanced engagement with the nature/nurture debate, in particular in Early Years policy: rather than focusing on a false dichotomy of nature versus nurture, the article calls for a Froebelian reframing of our perspective on the Early Years.

Finding Froebel in the environmental and economic climate of the 21st Century

This editorial for Part 2 of the Special Issue on the pedagogy of Friedrich Froebel situates the articles in the  context of economic pressures and environmental challenges in the Anthropocene. These different positions include environmental concerns, neoliberalism, and the fragility of how methods and curriculum issues can be interpreted, all which took us towards the complexity of life in the Anthropocene. Education Reform Movement. It highlights the contributions made to contemporary research and practice in early childhood education and advancing understanding of a Froebelian approach

Child-led research with young children:Challenging the ways to do research

Child-led research is gaining increasing attention. Such research involves children leading throughout the research process, from research design to dissemination. Child-led research has tested adult-centric research assumptions, with debates in the literature about researchers’ expertise and responsibilities. If these debates are testing for child-led research undertaken with older children and young people, they are even more so for young children below school-starting age. This article examines child-led research undertaken in a Froebelian early years setting, over 11 months, with 36 children aged between 2 and 5 years, from the adult facilitators’ perspectives. The article utilises the research’s documentation, including mind maps, photographs and story books, songs and video recordings, and an interview undertaken with the facilitating early years practitioner and supporting academic. Learning from this, the article challenges the assumption, in much of the literature on child-led research, that adults need to transmit their knowledge of research methods to children. Instead, a ‘slow pedagogy’ can build on children’s own knowledge, collectively, with time to come to research understandings. The article concludes that child-led research is feasible with young children, but the research process can include or exclude certain forms of children’s communication, making some children more ‘competent’ to undertake research than others

‘Rules, rules, rules and we’re not allowed to skip’

Despite the breadth of research on the educational transition of young children, there has been little evidence, in Scotland, of this knowledge impacting on every day practice. The overall contention that emerges from the literature is that some children positively embrace the experience, while others face challenges and risk failure and regression. There is a need for research into the transition from the early years setting to school, which holds promise that the findings will be disseminated to stakeholders locally, nationally and internationally with the aim that the perspectives of young children are heard. This ethnographic study is an examination of the perspectives of 16 young children as they transition from an early years centre, Lilybank, to four primary schools, Northfield, Southfield, Eastfield and Westfield, in a Scottish city. Seven key qualitative questions were asked which explored how children, parents and professionals experienced this educational transition. Data was gathered from empirical methods such as participant observations, mind–mapping sessions, interviews and documentation – e.g., council procedures and school handbooks. Participant observations took place in the early years setting and the participating schools. Most of the interviews took place in the children’s homes, or in a convenient environment for the family, such as a local cafeteria. An analysis of the data shows that power is a central concept in understanding transitions. The voices of children, and their families, are often silenced by policy-makers, bureaucrats and professionals during the process, or overshadowed and undermined by mainstream procedures. Children are expected to become acquiescent, adjusting to coercive practices used in the school institution. However, the findings also show that some children find ways to creatively resist organisation. Unique life journeys involve differences and from their individual experiences, children construct elaborate knowledge. The views of children can (and do) add nuance to our understanding of how power impacts on their transition experience. Children’s accounts of discipline strategies used by the schools were insightful. The concept of power is under-theorised and under-explored in transitions. This study, therefore, adds to the growing body of transition research. Further, the findings of this study stress the need for policy makers and institutions to reflect on and question the complex role of power in young children’s transitions

Finding Froebel: National and Cross-National Pedagogical Paths in Froebelian Early Childhood Education

This editorial for special issue part 1 on the pedagogy of Friedrich Froebel situates the articles in the context of the Global Education Reform Movement. It highlights the contributions made to contemporary research and practice in early childhood education, and  advancing understanding of a Froebelian approach

Enabling creativity in learning environments: lessons from the CREANOVA project

The paper employs data from a European Union funded project to outline the dif- ferent contexts and factors that enable creativity and innovation. It suggests that creativity and innovation are supported by flexible work settings, adaptable learning environments, collaborative design processes, determined effort, and liberating in- novative relationships. It concludes that learning environments that seek to enable creativity and innovation should encourage collaborative working, offer flexibility for both learners and educators, enable learner-led innovative processes, and recognize that creativity occurs in curriculum areas beyond the creative arts