http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49056 Thu, 20 Jun 2013 04:25:14 GMT 2013-06-20T04:25:14Z http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49097 Title: What difference can we make, and how? Interpreting the challenge of inclusion in secondary schools in England and Wales through participants’ theories of change Authors: Davies, S.M.B; Howes, A Abstract: If schools are to become more inclusive, practitioners need to engage with the assumptions that underpin their practice, and often the school culture as a whole. This is particularly challenging in the large and complex organisation of a secondary school. An examination of the literature finds that there are many reasons why teachers engage with, or resist, educational change in general and the development of inclusive practice in particular. Whether at the level of the individual teacher, or the departmental or pastoral group, becoming more inclusive requires a critical perspective on current practice and can sometimes appear threatening or irrelevant in the light of other priorities. The ESRC TLRP Project ‘Prosiect Dysgu Cydradd’ is co-funded by ESRC and the Welsh Assembly Government, and provides an opportunity to learn more about these issues in the comparative contexts of Wales and England. The project will explore the factors that influence teacher engagement in structured reflective practice towards more inclusive learning for students. Existing groups of secondary school teachers (in departments, for example, or pastoral groups) in schools in Wales and England will engage in a collaborative action research project in the area of pupil attitude, behaviour and learning. Further developing a systemic rather than individual pupil-focused role in schools, educational psychologists will play a key role in facilitating this process. The affordances and hindrances to teacher engagement will be monitored and an evaluation will be made of the effect of teacher engagement on student learning. This paper discusses theory of change methodology, and how the project will be using this to enhance it’s exploration of factors that influence how teachers’ change and develop their inclusive practice. It will present, using this framework, some of the early analysis of data gathered from teacher questionnaires and interviews with key stakeholders. This begins the process of trying to understand the factors that influence teacher engagement in making changes in their practice to develop inclusion. Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49097 2005-09-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49115 Title: What are disabled students' experiences of learning at university Authors: Fuller, M; Healey, M; Bradley, A; Hall, T Description: Despite the growth of interest in supporting the learning of disabled students what the students themselves have to say about their experiences has hardly been heard. This paper explores the barriers to learning faced by ‘disabled’ students in higher education and how these compare with the difficulties encountered by ‘non-disabled’ students. Drawing on selected findings from four different research studies, together covering over 800 students, it concludes that categorising students as ‘disabled’ is problematic as they have an overlapping continuum of needs with those of non-disabled students. Fri, 01 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49115 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49114 Title: Barriers to success? Disability identity in Higher Education Authors: Panting, C; Kelly, K Description: The concept of student success in this paper focuses on access issues for disabled students with hidden impairments. The necessity for these students to adopt a disability identity in order to access teaching and learning support in higher education will be critically theorised with supporting empirical data. This paper discusses students’ concept of a disability identity, with reference to their hidden impairments. Although students who volunteered for this study described themselves as disabled students, their relationship to disability is not so straightforward. Early analysis of interview data from students with hidden impairments show that they tend to conceptualise disability as being physical, supporting Deal’s (2003) theory of hierarchies of impairment. When talking about their own impairments, description focuses on particular support needs or specific issues. This seems to challenge the social model of disability being an holistic identity. These findings support Olney and Brockelman (2003) who argue that disability identity is transient; one is disabled according to the situation, not as a constant state of being. Many of the students only describe themselves as disabled in relation to their teaching and learning support needs. When no support is needed, there is no need for a disability identity. Interestingly, students do not view the label of disability negatively. Though none would chose to describe themselves as disabled, they believe the identity is useful in accessing support and explaining support to their peers. Concluding discussion centres on the possible implications these findings may have on students’ help-seeking behaviour. This support may contribute to higher retention rates of disabled students in higher education. Mon, 01 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49114 2006-05-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49096 Title: Transitions into and out of Higher Education: The experiences of 'disabled' students' Authors: Weedon, E; Riddell, S Description: This paper examines the experiences of two disabled students from a UK university. Data from this four-year longitudinal ESCR/TLRP study explored how these students made the initial transition into university and their progress towards the end point of their university career. These two biographies were selected from groups of 10 to 14 students from four institutions who had been followed for nearly three years with semi-structured interviews augmented with key informant interviews, observations in learning contexts and interviews with academic staff. In turn, these had been selected from an initial sample of 1000 disabled students from the four institutions who were surveyed over a four-year period. There was considerable variety in the type of disability reported. Although these students share the label ‘disabled' they also hold another perspective that they are not disabled. These two students are typical of the sample in that they emphasise the ‘atypicality’ of the average disabled student. The way that these students experienced and managed the transitions both into and out of the institution differs. These differences cannot be accounted for solely by reference to their impairment. Within-institutional differences such as the practices of different departments, attitudes among staff at all levels towards disability and, possibly more importantly, the social and cultural backgrounds of the students also played a role. In examining the differences between the students the paper also considers how transitions in and out of education are becoming increasingly a part of the lifelong learning agenda of policy makers. Higher education in the UK has undergone considerable change in the past two decades (see e.g. Riddell, et al, 2006) with a decrease in resources and an increase in the management of higher education which includes performance targets for specific groups such as disabled students. Institutional transitions from school to university or college to university are thus part of our social system and cannot be seen from a purely individual perspective (Ecclestone, et al, 2006). While transitions in and out of institutions and possibly within them, e.g. progression from the first two years of a university course into the honours part of a degree can be identified, these transitions have to be seen in the perspective of an individual’s overall learning career. Bloomer, (2001) notes that in order to understand the choices a student makes in order to become and continue as a student it is essential to take into account gender differences, family background, prior educational experiences and attainments and institutional cultures. The experiences of these students add to earlier studies (Riddell, et al 2005) and provide institutions and policy-makers with evidence that can be used to enhance the experiences of disabled students in higher education. Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2428/49096 2007-06-01T00:00:00Z