Global Education Review (Mercy College, New York)
Not a member yet
347 research outputs found
Sort by
Implementation and impact of experiential learning in a graduate level teacher education program: An example from a Canadian university
Get PDFTeacher inquiry, in which teachers study their own professional practice, is currently a popular form of experiential learning that is considered a powerful tool to bring about effective change in teaching and learning. Little empirical evidence, however, exists to explain precisely if and how this pedagogical methodology moves teachers toward transformation of practice. Using grounded theory methodology, we examined twelve end of term graduate level learning portfolios and administered a survey to 336 in-service teachers enrolled in a two-year graduate diploma program in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University, Canada. We found powerful evidence that our programs were highly impactful, with 94% of teachers reporting transformative learning within the second year of the program. Using portfolio data we examined the process of the teacher transformations. Our findings revealed that teachersΓÇÖ abilities to interrogate their subjective-objective stance deepened their experiential learning. Using three case studies we exemplify how transformative pathways were formulated and conclude with a discussion of the implications of learning through experience, including the value of student-generated learning goals, continuous interfacing of theory and practice, seeing your ΓÇÿteachingΓÇÖ through the eyes of your students/colleagues or parents, and the power of living your research question in the context of your own classroom and school setting. We end the paper on a cautionary note pointing out the vulnerability of programs of this nature in an era of accountability, standardization, quality control, and risk management all of which eclipse approaches that focus on authentic practical problems and student generated solutions
Free-Operant Field Experiences: Differentially Reinforcing Successive Approximations to Behavior Analysis through a ShaperSpace
Get PDFOver the past few years an increasing number of schools and community organizations have developed transformative learning spaces referred to as ΓÇ£MakerSpacesΓÇ¥ for research and training purposes. MakerSpaces are organizations in which members sharing similar interests in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) gather to work on self-selected projects. Proponents of MakerSpaces highlight the implicit benefits arising from participantsΓÇÖ increased engagement with complex technical content in a voluntary, authentic context. We extend the MakerSpace concept to applications of training special education teachers to address the needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Applied behavior analysis (ABA) has vast empirical support for treating ASD. We believe the MakerSpace model provides a platform for developing a new generation of special education teachers. However, rather than making novel products, the focus is on shaping the behavior-analytic repertoires of special education teachers. In the field of ABA, the term ΓÇ£shapingΓÇ¥ describes the differential reinforcement of successive approximations to a target behavior. Accordingly, we propose the name ShaperSpace to describe a novel clinical training approach to developing special education teachers who employ research-validated interventions for individuals with ASD. The supervision model described in this article is provided, not as a recommendation, but as an exemplar that has developed over four yearsΓÇÖ contingency shaping and continues to be refined. We appeal to the reader to consider the ShaperSpace as a starting point from which skills developed through free-operant field experiences will ultimately be shaped and selected by the naturally occurring contingencies of the environment
A Standards-Based Approach to Assessment
Get PDFBook Review of: ΓÇ£Seven Strategies for the Assessment of LearningΓÇ¥ by Jan Chappui
The Global Context of Disability
Get PDFThis issue of Global Education Review examines the global context of disability and how in different geographic locations, socioeconomic factors, domestic policy, and disability perspectives impact access to special education services, and the types of resources and interventions available to individuals with diverse learning needs.   Practices in countries including India, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Kenya were studied and implications for meeting the special education needs for children and adults with disabilities and their families are discusse
Pedagogy of Poverty: School Choice and Inequalities in Post-Apartheid South Africa
No full textThis paper examines the experiences of Black children in schools with inadequate resources in post-apartheid South Africa. It draws on the perspectives of the parents whose children attend schools that have inadequate resources in poor neighborhoods, known as the townships. I argue that the resource situation in these schools directly contributes to poverty in these childrenΓÇÖs lives. Further, I posit that the challenges of resources in these Black and segregated schools are inextricably connected to the larger neoliberal agenda of privatization and markets that has since influenced the social policy in post-apartheid South Africa. The influence of neoliberal policies in education has encouraged school choice as a way to desegregate schools and reform education. I conclude that the school choice policies have marginalized Black children in poor township schools and this has an adverse impact on the future of these children in terms of their educational opportunities and their rights to quality education
Re-framing Inclusive Education Through the Capability Approach: An Elaboration of the Model of Relational Inclusion
Get PDFScholars have called for the articulation of new frameworks in special education that are responsive to culture and context and that address the limitations of medical and social models of disability. In this article, we advance a theoretical and practical framework for inclusive education based on the integration of a model of relational inclusion with Amartya SenΓÇÖs (1985) Capability Approach. This integrated framework engages children, educators, and families in principled practices that acknowledge differences, rather than deficits, and enable attention to enhancing the capabilities of children with disabilities in inclusive educational environments. Implications include the development of policy that clarifies the process required to negotiate capabilities and valued functionings and the types of resources required to permit children, educators, and families to create relationally inclusive environments
The Use of Video Self-Monitoring Embedded with Mentorship as a Medium to Enhance Experiential Learning Opportunities and Promote Critical Thinking Skills for Educators and Health Science Professionals Working with Children with Autism
Get PDFIncreased prevalence of Autism has generated higher enrollment in educational settings.┬á Teachers must incorporate specialized teaching strategies to address the unique educational and behavioral challenges facing children diagnosed with autism. This is accomplished by providing teachers with educational opportunities that promote such learning. In the academic world, experiential learning opportunities are used to provide a bridge between didactic coursework and on-the-job practice that fosters skill acquisition and critical thinking. Video self-monitoring (VSM) is one type of learning strategy used in experiential learning environments to develop learnerΓÇÖs critical thinking by building on direct experiences, performance feedback (PF), and reflection (R). This study investigates the impact an experiential teacher training framework, consisting of VSM, PF, and R with and without mentoring has on sustained and generalized teacher performance on two dependent variables ΓÇô Learn Unit (LU); Rate of Effective Instruction (ROI). In this exploratory study 6 female teachers instructing 3-5 year-old autistic children participated in the study. Teacher performance on LU and ROI was evaluated after: Phase 1 ΓÇô 2-hour workshop; Phase 2 ΓÇô training: using the VSM. PF, R with and without mentoring; Phase 3 ΓÇô follow-up: VSM. PF, R and mentoring are removed. Findings revealed that while VSM, PF, R appeared to enhance teacher performance and sustainability of procedural integrity, the greatest and most consistent improvement was observed among teachers who received mentoring as opposed those who did not. Practical applications of this experiential learning teacher/educator training framework for the advanced education of teachers and health science professionals working with this population are highlighted.┬
School Choice Policies and Practices in The United States, South Africa, Spain and Canada
Get PDFIntroduction to International Perspectives on School Choice, Volume 3, No. 2 of Global Education Review.  An examination of fundamental questions regarding the purpose of public education and the philosophies that undergird different approaches to school choice in The United States, South Africa, Spain and Canad