Physically fit or physically literate? Children with special educational needs understanding of physical education

The role of physical literacy within physical education (PE) has become a widely debated topic in recent years. Its role in educating children about physicality through embodiment, skill acquisition and reading the environment is argued to be of great benefit to children. However, whether children understand the role of PE in the development of these competencies is not clear, and this is even truer for children who have special educational needs (SEN). Drawing on qualitative phenomenological data from 30 children in key stages 2 and three (7 to 14 years of age) who have SEN, this paper explores notions of physical fitness and physical literacy as understood by children in PE lessons. It aims to gain insight into the ways that children understand the purpose of PE, and places these perceptions within a physical literacy framework, using the National Curriculum for PE (NCPE) as a foundation. Findings demonstrate that children with SEN perceive PE as a means for improving physical fitness, whereas concepts surrounding physical literacy appear to be lost. The paper concludes by making recommendations for factoring physical literacy components more forcibly into the PE curriculum, and through initial teacher training and continued professional development

Multi-sensory storytelling: a tool for teaching or an intervention technique

This article reports on research undertaken to investigate how multisensory storytelling (MSST) was being used within schools for students with profound and multiple learning difficulties and other special educational needs. Semi-structured interviews (n=27) and observations (n=18) were undertaken in five schools in the East Midlands and south-east of England. The study identified that MSST was considered to contribute to the curriculum access, assessment, learning and socialisation of students across a wide range of special educational needs. Key opportunities, applications and barriers to use were identified. Findings from this study indicated that the way these teachers used MSST differed from extant research in this area with regard to both design and delivery. It is suggested that the desire to develop a quantitative evidence base may present unnecessary restrictions which inhibit the recognition of pedagogic issues; and that a more fluid conceptualisation of MSST would be reflective of real-world practice

English and the politics of knowledge

Drawing on observational evidence of two classes working on Romeo and Juliet, one in England and the other in Palestine, this essay explores the nature of knowledge in relation to English as a school subject. It asserts the importance of paying attention to the resources that students, situated in culture and history, bring with them to the reading of a text. It seeks to contest a set of assumptions about ‘powerful’ knowledge as universal and transcendent, insisting that classrooms are places where meanings are made, not merely transmitted

Vocationalism varies (a lot): a 12-country multivariate analysis of participation in formal adult learning

To encourage adult participation in education and training, contemporary policy makers typically encourage education and training provision to have a strongly vocational (employment-related) character, while also stressing individuals’ responsibility for developing their own learning. Adults’ motivation to learn is not, however, purely vocational—it varies substantially, not only between individuals but between populations. This article uses regression analysis to explain motivation among 12,000 learners in formal education and training in 12 European countries. Although vocational motivation is influenced by individual-level characteristics (such as age, gender, education, occupation), it turns out that the country in which the participation takes place is a far stronger explanatory variable. For example, although men’s vocational motivation to participate is higher than women’s in all countries, Eastern European women have significantly higher levels of vocational motivation than men in Western Europe. This supports other research which suggests that, despite globalization, national institutional structures (social, economic) have continuing policy significance

The Development of Language Learning Strategies

This article discusses the strategy repertoires and strategy development of six English children who learned foreign languages at primary school. My study differs from mainstream research in that it focuses on young children and on the development of their strategies, draws on sociocultural theory and uses ethnographic methods. My findings show that the six children developed a range of strategies over the course of a calendar year in spite of receiving no direct strategy instruction. The primary classroom encouraged learner autonomy and stimulated children to reflect on their learning which, in turn, enabled them to refine their strategies

The GENERATE project: curriculum and pedagogical inspiration from parents and their children working together

GENERATE brings together two generations of learners in the context of the visual arts. Twelve artist-parents from the University of the Creative Arts (UCA) have shared the process of art creation with their own young children (3-14 years). Over two years, in their own studios, university workspaces and exhibition venues, artist-parents have made art alongside their children. This has involved the interchange of creative, attitudinal and sometimes technical approaches with them but sometimes involved no more than physical proximity. Much adult work has arisen and will arise from expression of the playful, free flowing, often process-dominant approaches of their children. A series of public and family workshops and two major exhibitions with the Turner Contemporary gallery have already brought this cross-generational but child-centred, child-led practice to communities in east Kent. The GENERATE project however has lessons for education which go far beyond the arts and parent-child relationships. This article uses the evidence of diaries by artists and children and a series of formal discussions to explore the way in which the project challenged established views on children and creativity, intergenerational collaboration and child-led learning. The GENERATE project is jointly funded by Turner Contemporary in Margate and UCA and this report has been supported by research funds from Canterbury Christ Church University. The report concentrates on key issues from the project: 1. Play, creativity and children 2. What motivates us to be creative? 3. Can creativity be taught? 4. How can new knowledge [from the GENERATE project] be applied to the teaching of adults and children