Capturing the educational experiences of deaf learners in mainstream secondary: Using their voices to inform practice

Deafness is complex and profoundly misunderstood due to the heterogeneity of the deaf population and the dominant hearing society that we inhabit. Most deaf children and young people in the UK attend mainstream schools, yet they are arguably ill-served by the current ideology of inclusive education, and their voices are rarely heard. Research demonstrates that deaf students are at risk of academic and social exclusion at school, impacting their wellbeing and school experience. Few studies have elicited the perspectives of deaf students in mainstream secondary schools in relation to both academic and social inclusion in England. Additionally, there is limited research conducted by deaf researchers in the field of educational psychology. As a deaf researcher myself, the aim of this research was to explore deaf students’ lived experiences of barriers and facilitators to academic and social inclusion in mainstream secondary schools in England. Whilst focusing on deaf students’ individual stories of their lived experiences the aim was to generate rich understandings and provide implications for educational psychologists, school staff and other professionals. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis semi-structured interviews were carried out with 5 deaf students in different mainstream secondary schools within Greater London. Five Group Experiential Themes were generated: effective support and strategies, experiences of difficulties and barriers, difficulties with difference and relatedness, building a positive deaf identity and self-concept, developing deaf awareness and advocacy through co-production. Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) was a useful psychological construct to use as a theoretical lens to frame the facilitation of inclusion of deaf students at school. The findings illustrate that inclusive education for deaf students requires an emphasis on the access to appropriate co-produced support, in order to minimise barriers to academic and social inclusion. As well as the celebration of diversity and difference and supporting sense of belonging

Perspectives of practicing school psychologists during COVID-19: A multi-country, mixed methods investigation

COVID-19 presented a range of challenges to the delivery of school psychology services in countries around the world. The current study aimed to investigate the practices of school psychologists from the United States of America, Australia, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom, including changes to practice and exploration of the factors that supported the delivery of school psychology services during the pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 1,030 school psychologists and analyzed using a mixed methods, multiple case study design. Differing impacts of the pandemic on the working hours of school psychologists were reported across countries. Participants in all countries reported a shift to online working, with an increased focus on consultation and intervention and a reduction in psychoeducational assessments. School psychologists from all nations emphazised the importance of self-care strategies, social connections and physical activity and the role of support via supervision or professional networks. Access to appropriate technology and responsive workplace policies and procedures were also identified as important. Results have implications for the internationalization of the school psychology profession and can inform international school psychology planning in response to future crises

Phylogenetic and functional signals in gymnosperm ovular secretions

Gymnosperm are either wind-pollinated (anemophilous) or wind-insect-pollinated (ambophilous). Regardless of pollination mode, ovular secretions play a key role in pollen capture, germination, and growth; they are likely also involved in pollinator reward. Little is known about the broadscale diversity of ovular secretions across gymnosperms, and how these may relate to various reproductive functions. This study analyses the sugar and amino acid profiles of ovular secretions across a range of ambophilous (cycads and Gnetales) and anemophilous gymnosperms (conifers) to place them in an evolutionary context of their possible functions during reproduction. Ovular secretions from 13 species representing all five main lineages of extant gymnosperms were sampled. HPLC techniques were used to measure sugar and amino acid content. Multivariate statistics were applied to assess whether there are significant differences in the chemical profiles of anemophilous and ambophilous species. Data were compared with published chemical profiles of angiosperm nectar. Chemical profiles were placed in the context of phylogenetic relationships. Total sugar concentrations are significantly higher in ovular secretions of ambophilous species than wind-pollinated taxa such as Pinaceae and Cupressophyta. Ambophilous species have lower amounts of total amino acids, and a higher proportion of non-protein amino acids compared to anemophilous lineages, and are also comparable to angiosperm nectar. Results suggest that early gymnosperms likely had ovular secretion profiles that are a mosaic of those associated with modern anemophilous and ambophilous species. Ginkgo, thought to be anemophilous, has a profile typical of ambophilous taxa, suggesting that insect pollination either exists in Gingko, but is undocumented, or that its ancestral populations were insect pollinated. Chemical profiles of ovular secretions of ambophilous gymnosperms show a clear signal of pollinator-driven selection, including higher levels of carbohydrates than anemophilous taxa, lower levels of amino acids, and the presence of specific amino acids, such as β-alanine, that are known to influence insect feeding behaviour and physiology