1,721,002 research outputs found
The use of critical communicative methodology as a collaborative research approach to enhance co-creation of inclusive practices in schools
No full textThis paper explores the use of Critical Communicative Methodology (CCM) as a collaborative research approach to co-construct knowledge with participants in a research project aimed to enhance the inclusion of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in three mainstream schools in England. The paper discusses how collaboration between researchers and research participants (i.e. school staff, parents and students), based on egalitarian dialogue, created knowledge co-construction through the use of reflective conversations, communicative focus groups and communicative observations. By describing the design of the project and reflecting on the decisions taken with the participants, the paper highlights how CCM supported the researchers and the participants in reconsidering their assumptions towards inclusive practices. The paper also shows how the generation of qualitative findings with the participants led to the co-creation of a toolkit to improve the services schools provide to students with SEND and their families. The main ethical issues, the unique role of CCM, and challenges in its implementation are discussed. It is concluded that CCM can enhance inclusive practices in an inclusive way based on egalitarian dialogue between academic- and practice-based knowledge co-construction
Teaching experiences of students with special educational needs in co-taught and non-co-taught classes
No full textCo-teaching has gained considerable interest as a service delivery model for promoting the inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream classrooms. This study examines whether co-teaching has an effect on the teaching experiences of 12 students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 10 students with intellectual disability (ID) as compared with the experiences of the same students in non-co-taught classes. We implemented 264 structured observations in 22 classes to identify students with SEN grouping arrangements, level of engagement, interactions with teachers and peers, and the nature of the interactions. We also conducted 44 structured interviews with co-teachers to compound their perceptions with our observations.Observational results indicate that co-teaching has a strong effect on students' with SEN level of engagement and on the nature of interactions. The grouping arrangements for these students and their interactions with teachers and peers were slightly different between co-taught and non-co-taught classes. More statistically significant differences were identified between the two conditions for students with ASD than for students with ID. Also, co-teachers reported that co-teaching had a positive effect on students with SEN in all researched variables. Our study concludes that co-teaching has some positive effect on the teaching experiences of students with SEN; nevertheless, there is still scope for improving the employment of co-teaching in Greek mainstream classrooms. Implications of these findings for current practice are discussed
Work engagement of employees with children with disabilities in Singapore: does organizational support matter?
No full textPerceived organizational support and work engagement of employees with children with disabilities
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of organizational support, as it is evidenced by supervisor's support and coworkers' support, in the work engagement levels of employees who are parents of children with special needs and disabilities (SND). Design/methodology/approach: The authors employed a self-administered survey questionnaire in Singapore and collected 224 useable responses. They used moderated hierarchical regression analysis to assess the relationships among organizational support, employees' child disability severity and levels of work engagement. Findings: The research results indicated that higher levels of supervisor's and coworkers' support have a positive impact on work engagement levels of employees with children with SND. In addition, the authors observed that supervisor's support and coworkers' support moderate the relationship between employee’s child's disability severity and work engagement levels. Research limitations/implications: The results contribute to the introduction of a discussion about supportive practices directed toward this diverse group of employees in Singapore. The research findings are country-specific. Practical implications: The authors propose that human resource management practitioners could craft policies that may trigger tangible and emotional support by supervisors and coworkers of employees with children with disabilities, depending on employees’ children's disability severity. Originality/value: This research is the first empirical examination that measures the work engagement levels of employed parents of children with SND in Singapore, considering both organizational and family dimensions.</p
Critical communicative methodology and collaborative research to enhance the education and inclusion of students with SEND in mainstream schools
No full textThe relationship between education practice and education research is a longstanding one. This paper considers the relationship between inclusive research (Nind, 2014) and inclusive education practice and how inclusive research can become more meaningful in influencing practice. We will discuss some methodological reflections on the findings generated in an empirical study on the delivery of resourced provision in mainstream schools for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Based on a collaborative research project with teachers, learning support assistants (LSAs), parents and students in three primary mainstream schools with resourced provisions in one Local Authority, we will describe i) the use of critical communicative methodology (CCM) in generating findings with the participants, and ii) how we used these research findings to create a practical tool to enhance the education and inclusion of students with SEND in mainstream schools. The aim of the empirical study was to describe and evaluate with the participants the effective practices and challenges in educating students with SEND in resourced provision and mainstream classrooms (i.e. mixed provision). Based on the findings, the researchers and the school participants decided to co-create a toolkit with effective practices as a tool for schools to evaluate and transform their practice. The toolkit includes the practices that schools need to consider when educating students in both resourced provision and mainstream classrooms and practical examples that were generated during the collection of data. Having reflected on their practice, the school participants offered specific examples of practices and processes that they consider important to enhance their inclusive provision. The toolkit aims to improve educators’ learning about mixed provision and to increase the collaboration among mainstream and resourced provision staff, parents and carers and external professionals.In this paper, we will describe, though the use of CCM based on the principles of close-to-practice and inclusive research, the main steps in co-constructing the toolkit with the research participants to enhance the education and inclusion of students with SEND in mainstream schools. In particular, we will describe how we approached schools and the roles of the researchers and the research participants. We will discuss how careful consideration of power relations and the collaboration between researchers and research participants created knowledge co-construction to develop both theoretical knowledge and practice. Using practical examples, we will show how the generation of qualitative research data through the use of reflective conversations, communicative focus groups and communicative observations, informed the co-creation of a practical tool (i.e. the toolkit) which aims to improve the services that schools offer to students with SEND in resourced provision and mainstream classrooms. CCM positions dialogue as the basis for understanding and explaining social reality to improve the participants’ situation (Gomez et al., 2011). Based on an egalitarian approach between the researchers and the research participants, the voices of all were heard to consider ways to understand their own social reality and ways to transform it. We will highlight the use of CCM as an ethical and inclusive approach in working with school staff, parents and students with SEND. We will provide the participants’ reflections on the use of CCM with authentic examples to depict how through dialogue the participants reflected and transformed their practice. In addition, we will highlight how some of the main principles of CCM, such as the use of academic knowledge in communicative focus groups, enhanced the dialogue and helped both the participants to transform their practice and the researchers to reconsider their theoretical underpinning about inclusive education. We will discuss the impact that this methodology had on us as researchers and how it shaped our theoretical underpinnings about inclusive education and inclusive research. A distinctive characteristic of the process was the translation of research data into a practical tool that was created with the participants. We will argue that through the use of reflective conversations, communicative focus groups and communicative observations, CCM can enhance inclusive research and the co-construction of knowledge with practice rather than on or about it (Parsons, 2021). <br/
An exploratory study of self- efficacy, school belongingness, and co-teaching perspectives from middle school students and teachers in a mathematics co-taught classroom
No full textIn this exploratory study, self-rated measures from two co-teachers who taught mathematics to a group of students with and without disabilities were gathered to determine perspectives about their co-teaching experiences. Students also completed three measures. Students and co-teachers agreed that the one-teach, one observe or drift co-teaching model was used most frequently. Although students noted the general educator was the instructional lead, they also believed the special educator provided a valid and valuable role in providing help to all students. All students reported high levels of school belongingness and self-efficacy. Some results matched other researchers’ findings that special educators are less frequently the lead teacher, yet our results indicated students appreciated the support received from both co-teachers. Students’ reports may have been influenced by their co-teachers’ mastery approach to instruction, which emphasised students’ individual progress versus a competitive approach. Implications for researchers and co-teachers include examining how supportive co-teaching can be transformed to maximise instructional experiences for students, and how positive co-teacher relationships translate to students’ sense of belonging and increased self-efficacy
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