Mainstream Education Research Articles

Teaching in the age of environmental emergencies: a “utopian” exploration of the experiences of teachers committed to environmental education in England

ABSTRACT This paper explores, grounded on life history interviews, the work of a set of fifteen teachers in England who self-identify as actively engaging with environmental issues and action at different school levels and across a wide range of subjects. One of the core aims of this paper was to construct, based on these teachers’ voices and experiences, a different vision for the future of environmental education in this age of environmental emergencies. Drawing on Levitas’ Utopia as a method framework – which proposes a concrete and systematic approach to creating alternative visions to systems that are deemed inadequate to flourishing –, this study then outlines participant teachers’ practices around teaching in an age of environmental emergencies, including supporting young people’s activisation and projects, cross-disciplinary and complexity-thinking, and pushing for long-term school-wide approaches. It also explores the significant professional and emotional labour that goes into supporting their students’ meaningful engagement with this area within the mainstream education sector, also providing us insight into what teaching in an age of environmental emergencies could look like.

An immediate analysis of the interaction topic approach to promoting group performance, knowledge convergence, cognitive engagement, and coregulation in online collaborative learning.

Online collaborative learning (OCL) has been a mainstream pedagogy in the field of higher education. However, learners often produce off-topic information and engage less during online collaborative learning compared to other approaches. In addition, learners often cannot converge in knowledge, and they often do not know how to coregulate with peers. To cope with these problems, this study proposed an immediate analysis of interaction topics (IAIT) approach through deep learning technologies. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the IAIT approach on group performance, knowledge convergence, coregulation, and cognitive engagement in online collaborative learning. In total, 60 undergraduate students participated in this quasi-experimental study. They were assigned to either the experimental or the control groups. The students in the experimental groups conducted online collaborative learning with the IAIT approach, and the students in the control groups conducted online collaborative learning only without any particular approach. The whole study lasted for three months. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were adopted to analyze data. The results indicated that the IAIT approach significantly promoted group performance, knowledge convergence, coregulated behaviors, and cognitive engagement. The IAIT approach did not increase learners' cognitive load. The results, together with the implications for teachers, practitioners and researchers, are also discussed in depth.

Interactive technologies of practical literacy in the digital educational mainstream structure

The article is made in line with the new educational paradigm, replacing the installation of “ready knowledge” with the installation of independent “production of knowledge”, i. e., to “learn to learn”.Digitalization of education has qualitatively changed the content of education, making it informational, and the organization of educational and cognitive activities more effective. This process manifests itself as creativity. The results of the work of teachers, methodologists and scientists are a universal means of education and the subject of training. Continuing education involves the development and expansion of subject learning and the components of its methodological system through interaction with other components of the information and educational environment. This, in turn, requires the search for new organizational forms and means of implementing such educational activities in a modern information and communication environment, which will make it possible to use the didactic capabilities of this environment to a much greater extent.It is noted that the communicative aspect and communication processes, tools and technologies should contribute to the organization of effective dialogue (communication), the perception and assimilation of communicative competencies by students, overcoming illiterate use of the Russian language in cyberspace. As practice shows, the latter has become a real philological disaster. The language of virtual communication is not equal to the language of real communication.The article notes that one of the promising directions in the conditions of digital transformation of education is interactive learning as a special form of organization of cognitive activity and a way of cognition carried out in the process of joint educational and cognitive activity of students, in which all participants interact with each other and exchange information.Digital technologies can be used in teaching Russian at all levels of education. At the same time, the teacher can create educational materials with their own digital interactive content based on the proposed HTML environment programs. On the website “The Power of Knowledge” (EOR “Alphabet”) and on the portal of KubGU (section “Innovative computer didactics”), you can see several examples of such training. The authors believe that the process of digital technologies’ dominance in all spheres of public activity (digital mainstream) should lead to an increase in the general level of practical literacy in the Russian language among the entire population of the country.

Children with autism exhibit similar longitudinal changes in core symptoms when placed in special or mainstream education settings.

Today, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are placed in mainstream or special education settings somewhat arbitrarily with no clear clinical recommendations. Here, we compared changes in core ASD symptoms, as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd edition (ADOS-2) clinical assessment, across ASD preschool children placed in special or mainstream education. Longitudinal changes in ADOS-2 scores did not differ significantly across settings over a 1- to 2-year period. While some children improved in core ASD symptoms, others deteriorated in both settings. This highlights the need to identify specific criteria for establishing meaningful placement recommendations.

Instruments measuring emotional-social competence in preschoolers in South Africa: A review study

South African children still enter mainstream education with their emotional and social well-being compromised. Therefore, an awareness of and emphasis on emotional social competencies as a domain of school readiness is essential. This review aimed to identify and describe instruments measuring emotional and social competency as a domain of school readiness in preschoolers and report on their psychometric properties. The study utilised a systematic review design. Peer-reviewed articles that met the inclusion criteria were identified from six literature databases using Boolean phrases. Grey literature was also considered. The title search yielded 3872 articles. Fifty-four articles were screened based on the abstract. From among these, four articles met the minimum threshold of 80% in the appraisal phase, proceeded to data extraction and were subjected to thematic synthesis in the summation phase. The Emotional Social Screening Tool for School Readiness (E3SR), the Emotional Competence for Screening for Preschoolers (SCE), the Social Competence for Screening for Preschoolers (SCS), the Preschool Behavioural and Emotional Rating Scale (PreBERS) and the School Readiness Screening Instrument for Grade 00 (pre–grade R) were identified as instruments that measure domains of emotional social competence in preschool children. The instruments displayed good psychometric characteristics. The E3SR and the School Readiness Screening Instrument for Grade 00 were locally constructed and deemed contextually appropriate for use in the South African context. The need for locally developed, standardised, cost-effective measures to supplement assessment in the educational environment remains a focus for further research.Contribution: This review contributed to the body of knowledge related to contextually appropriate, psychometrically sound, accessible and affordable screenings available to schools and parents to assess emotional and social competencies in preschoolers in South Africa.

Gender Mapping in Higher Education Systems: A Case in Indonesia

Gender mainstreaming has a very influential foundation in the education sector and controls the quality of development in various regions in Indonesia and other areas. The development of education in the institutional sector in several regions in Indonesia faced various problems, such as (a) the need for mapping opportunities on a policy scale and expanding access; for all genders, (b) The effect of education and quality improvement, very relevant, with competitiveness there is a development and being able to improve the Indonesian economy; (c) improving the quality of higher education to be able to improve the performance of national education also requires a comprehensive reform that has started with the policy of decentralization and educational autonomy as part of the political reform of government. Research objectives a. identify the mapping of gender mainstreaming-based education policies at Malikusaleh University b. reviewing the quality of Gender mainstreaming-based education at Malikusaleh University, and c. improving the quality of Gender mainstreaming education towards higher education transformation & institutions. This study uses a qualitative method. Qualitative methods produce descriptive data. The study results are Gender mainstreaming is an organized strategy in institutions, both internally and externally, based on institutional transformation and influencing organizational culture. The results of this research have changed and given birth to various policies within Malikusaleh University. Education is responsive to the current globalization cycle, including policy requirements, especially for women—advances in science and technology. Gender mainstreaming has produced a new civilization both as a process and an institution. Study findings/gender equality as a common goal can improve the quality of education gradually and have competitiveness both in the territory of Indonesia and in foreign countries.

School grades and educational attainments of adolescents and young adults born preterm

Attendance in special education (SE) is more common among individuals born preterm than among those born at term. Less is known about school grades of those born preterm in mainstream education (ME), and how these grades predict later educational attainment. This population-based register-linkage study assessed (1) attendance in SE, and then focused on those in ME by assessing (2) school grades at 16 year, (3) completed educational level at 25 year, and (4) school grades as predictors for completed education by gestational age (GA) with full-term birth (39–41 completed weeks) as reference. The sample comprised 223,744 individuals (10,521 preterm, 4.7%) born in Finland (1/1987–9/1990). Of the sample, 4.9% attended SE. Those born preterm had up to 5.5-fold rates for SE. In ME, those born extremely preterm (EPT) had marginally lower mathematics grades compared with full-term counterparts, whilst those born late preterm or early term had slightly higher grades. Those born EPT or very preterm had lower physical education grades in ME. However, the minor differences in school grades according to GA appear not to translate into educational differences in young adulthood. The associations between school grades at 16 year and completed education at 25 year did not vary by GA.

Individual behavior support in positive behavior support schools in Finland

One objective in Finnish basic education is for pupils with disabilities or behavioral problems to be able to participate in mainstream education and ordinary classrooms. Positive behavior support (PBS) is an approach that offers multi-tiered behavior support for pupils. In addition to providing support at a universal level, educators need to have the necessary skills to provide more intensive individual support for pupils who need it. Check-in/Check-out (CICO) is a research-based individual support system that is widely used in PBS schools. The Finnish application of CICO includes an individual behavior assessment process for pupils with persistent challenging behaviors. In this article, we examined which pupils in Finnish PBS schools are provided CICO support, and in particular, how many have identified needs for specific pedagogical support or behavior-related disabilities, and whether educators find CICO to be an acceptable way of supporting behavior in an inclusive school setting. CICO support was found to be used the most in the first four grade levels, and support was offered mainly for boys. The number of pupils receiving CICO support in participating schools was much lower than expected, and CICO seemed to be secondary to other pedagogical supports. The social validity of CICO was equally high for all grade levels and pupil groups. The experienced effectiveness was somewhat lower among pupils with a need for pedagogical support in basic academic skills. The results suggest that Finnish schools may have a high threshold for starting structured behavior support despite its high acceptability. Implications for teacher education and the development of the Finnish version of CICO are discussed.

Maintaining ancestral languages through extension schools: the case of telugu in Mauritius

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the role of extension schools in maintaining ancestral languages, specifically Telugu, a minority language in multilingual Mauritius. Extension schools are voluntarily run outside school hours and complement mainstream education. However, in the Mauritian context, these schools focus on Indian languages, which were introduced to Mauritius by indentured labourers in the 1800s who now comprise the majority of the population. The extension schools aim to preserve ancestral languages and cultures and to avoid language and culture loss, as Indian languages were, until recently, not taught in schools. This study aims to define extension schools and their operations and analyse how teaching and learning in extension schools have functioned in language and culture maintenance in multilingual Mauritius. Using a qualitative approach, data were generated through semi-structured interviews with three teachers of Telugu who have been both students and teachers in extension schools and from document analysis of available records.

Measures of Speech Understanding in Noise for Young Children with a Cochlear Implant in Mainstream and Special Education.

The use of two types of speech-in-noise (SPIN) assessment, namely digits-in-noise self-tests and open-set, monosyllabic word tests, to assess the SPIN understanding performance of children with cochlear implants (CI) in mainstream and special education, was investigated. The tests' feasibility and reliability and the influence of specific cognitive abilities on their results were studied. The results of 30 children with CIs in mainstream and special education were compared to those of 60 normal-hearing children in elementary school. Results indicate that the digit triplet test (DTT) was feasible for all children tested in this study, as seen by the familiarity of all the digits, the high stability of the test results (<3 dB SNR), and a small measurement error (≤2 dB SNR). Remembering full triplets did not form a problem and results did not show systematic attention loss. For children with CIs, the performance on the DTT was strongly related to the performance on the open-set monosyllabic word-in-noise task. However, small but significant differences were observed in the performance of children with CIs in mainstream and special education on the monosyllabic word test. Both tests showed little influence of cognitive abilities, making them both useful in situations where the bottom-up auditory aspect of SPIN performance needs to be investigated or in situations where sentence-in-noise tests are too challenging.

Autism and mainstream education: The parental perspective

Malta has one of the highest rates, across Europe, of children with a statement of special educational needs receiving their education in mainstream schools. Research has suggested that to be successful with achieving inclusivity, the contribution of the family must be considered. This study aims to explore the perspectives and experiences of parents of autistic children who attend mainstream education settings in Malta in relation to their perception of educator's knowledge about autism, satisfaction or concerns with their child's progress, perception of support received and their feelings relating to their child's school experience. A mixed methods research design was utilised involving a questionnaire comprising 10 questions, as well as 10 parent interviews to yield qualitative data. Results showed that the majority believed that the teachers did not have the necessary knowledge to effectively adapt and teach their autistic child in a mainstream setting. While positive elements in their experience emerged, there were reports of feelings of anxiety and worry and lack of support. There is work required within the Maltese education system to embrace the parental experience and use it to help guide additional supports to benefit the autistic child's educational placement.

Concerns towards mainstreaming education for students with disabilities in China

Typically, children with unique educational challenges are separated into various learning contexts. Despite the fact that this education strategy has been established for a while, various researchers and analysts have questioned its effectiveness. Recently, inclusion has gained popularity as a universal educational issue. To be specific, according to the inclusive education model, disabled children should get an equitable education opportunity. Most academics agree that engaging kids with special education needs in mainstream classes can improve their learning opportunities. However, in order to successfully implement mainstreaming education in China, lots of challenges are needed to be overcome. In the essay, the following are some of the challenges to providing an inclusive education for students in China with special educational needs: the available technology is inaccessible, mainstream schools neglect their duty to educate students with impairments, and parents of such youngsters are not well equipped for online learning. Furthermore, this paper presents some suggestions to enhance the inclusive education for disabled individuals. Overall, the current inclusive educational pedagogy is the subject of discussion in relation to recent research perspectives on analyzing and overcoming it.

"He's shouting so loud but nobody's hearing him": A multi-informant study of autistic pupils' experiences of school non-attendance and exclusion.

Children and young people on the autism spectrum frequently report a range of negative educational experiences and face disproportionally high rates of school non-attendance, including school avoidance and permanent exclusion, which can have a significant impact on their well-being as well as educational and broader life outcomes. To date, few studies have examined the full range of proximal (child, parent/family, school levels) and distal (community and society levels) barriers to ensuring the school attendance and the inclusion of autistic pupils. The current study sought to do just that by examining autistic young peoples' school non-attendance and exclusion experiences from the perspectives of multiple informants. We recruited 12 autistic pupils, who had previously experienced school avoidance and/or exclusion, from one local authority in England, United Kingdom. We conducted semi-structured interviews with the young people themselves, ten of their parents, eight of their current teachers and nine local authority professionals, including six educational psychologists and three specialist autism teachers. We analyzed interviewees' responses using reflexive thematic analysis. Interviewees gave overwhelmingly negative accounts of autistic pupils' school non-attendance and exclusion experiences. Our analysis identified a range of school-related factors they felt led to, or exacerbated, negative experiences in their former mainstream schools, and which ultimately led to their or their children's school non-attendance. It also went further to identify distal factors, including fragmented educational experiences, parents "fighting" against a complex bureaucratic system to secure appropriate education for their children, and limited professional involvement. Our findings emphasize the importance of examining the broader context in which autistic pupils are embedded and demonstrate that such pupils are able to successfully attend-and even enjoy-school when they receive the appropriate care and support. Schools and local authority professionals should seek to work in partnership with parents and autistic pupils to secure the necessary support for their inclusion in mainstream education. Government policy should support the provision of sufficient local authority professionals to adopt a more proactive approach to mitigate autistic pupils' avoidance of and exclusion from school.

Demand for private coaching: Stakeholder's perspective and consequences

Increased demand for private coaching for students is a global scenario irrespective of the student's achievement level, level of education, parental socio-economic status, and residential locality. But in research literature, there is no such comprehensive framework for scientific conceptualization about the causes and consequences of this high demand for private coaching. The primary target of this paper is to explore the reasons for high demand for private coaching from stakeholders' perspectives and its consequences on mainstream education and society. It is found that though each stakeholder has their own perspective or context for private coaching, their perspectives and contexts are mutually inclusive and come under broad causes of academic, personal, social, cultural and competitive ecology. Though private coaching has both positive and negative socio-educational consequences, these consequences should be considered by policymakers in light of multiple contexts of prevalence.

A Plea for Wild Philosophy

Teaching philosophy online in secondary schools differs from offline teaching. The explanations usually offered for this difference show the cognitivist assumptions of mainstream pre-university philosophy education, meaning that philosophy education assumes that the aim of its practice is the enhancement of internal mental abilities. This paper argues that this view of the goal of education is unwarranted and unnecessarily restrictive, and that it implies an undesirable dichotomy between learning to be competent and being competent. An alternative, based on ecological and enactive views of cognition, is presented as a better conception of philosophical cognitive competence in general, and of the difference between offline and online teaching in particular. This alternative suggests that the difference resembles the difference between life in a zoo and life in the jungle, and that we should teach pupils to do wild philosophy.

Roma Children’s School Segregation As a Persistent Public Educational System Issue in Romania

School segregation of Roma has become one of the most studied disciplines in the field of education in the last 20 years. Even though research mentions its persistence, no studies have shown how it persists, this study aims to fill this gap in the specialized literature. Based on the analysis of several reports, this qualitative study aims to show how the school segregation of Roma in Romania survives in the mainstream education system. Despite the fact that in 2004 the state recognized the seriousness of the problem and introduced Ordinance 1540/2007 prohibiting all forms of school segregation, many public-school units in Romania continue to practice this form of discrimination against Roma children. School segregation is a persistent problem in Romania, and studies show that between 1998 and 2016, the proportion of segregated schools increased significantly, becoming a barrier in the Roma integration process. The recommendations of the study on solutions against the school segregation of Roma children aim to involve Roma civil society in the process of monitoring segregated schools, enrolling Roma children from residentially segregated communities in mixed schools and informing parents about the consequences of segregation on Roma children.

“I’m able to function better when I know there's a beginning and an end time”: Autistic adolescents’ experiences of lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background and Aims Survey research indicates that autistic children and young people experienced high levels of anxiety and isolation during lockdowns in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Meanwhile, qualitative studies suggest that there may have been some benefits in the switch to home learning for this population. However, the majority of evidence to date comes from parent reports; the current study aimed to triangulate the perspectives of autistic youth and their parents in order to more fully understand the impact of periods of lockdown on education, relationships, and wellbeing. Methods Thirteen semistructured interviews were conducted (six with adolescents, seven with parents) to explore the experiences of a group of autistic youth aged 13–14 years (Year 9 of mainstream education in England) during a period of intermittent lockdown. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results Two broad themes capturing commonality and diversity in the adolescents’ experiences of lockdown were developed. (1) “Different stress, not less stress” encapsulates the finding that, despite the enforced removal from the school environment providing short-term relief, new stressors contributed to consistently high levels of anxiety for the young people throughout lockdown periods. Stressors included managing home-school within the family unit, navigating time without boundaries, and anxiety about the virus. (2) “A shrunken world” reflects the heightened impact of losing access to meaningful social relationships, extracurricular pursuits, and health-promoting activities for autistic youth. Discussion The early stages of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused serious disruption to education for many children and young people globally; our findings provide further evidence that the impact was particularly salient for autistic youth in terms of social isolation, lost learning, and heightened anxiety. Implications These findings underscore the necessity of long-term support for the education, social needs, and mental health of autistic young people in the aftermath of lockdowns in response to COVID-19.

A Capabilities Response to the Design and Delivery of Distance Learning for the Most Educationally Marginalized Children during COVID-19

The Transformational Empowerment for Adolescent Marginalised Girls in Malawi (TEAM) project provides complementary basic education to adolescents who have been left behind by the mainstream education system. Its students are primarily girls who face multiple intersecting barriers to learning, including disability, child marriage, motherhood, poverty, and harmful gender norms. Distance learning provided by the Government of Malawi during the COVID-19 pandemic relied on students proactively accessing centrally created lessons through technologies such as radio and the internet. In this field note, I argue that such an approach does not meet the needs of the most educationally marginalized children, who require holistic support to overcome barriers arising from their individual characteristics, available resources, and lived environment. I contrast the mainstream approach with the TEAM Girl Malawi response, which used a capabilities framework that led to three key innovations. First, a paper-based mode of delivery was complemented by in-person support from teachers. Second, the lesson content prioritized resilience and social-emotional skills as the foundation for learning, and teachers adapted a core curriculum to individual students' learning needs. Third, teachers' roles were expanded to include child protection and community engagement. I conclude this field note by identifying learning points based on students' experiences and learning outcomes, which demonstrate how future distance learning responses during a pandemic can be inclusive of all learners.

Child with Developmental Difficulties in Kindergarten

The paper deals with the issue of developmental difficulties in children in the context of mainstream education in kindergarten. It is based on the WHO definition of developmental difficulties. These are conditions that put a child at risk of suboptimal development, which may be social, medical or other disadvantages. From this perspective, it is a diverse range of issues in children that educators may encounter in kindergarten. Such children are often a challenge for educators. This paper presents qualitative research in which six case studies of children with diverse developmental difficulties in kindergarten were processed. It outlines the various challenges these children face. As well as need to focus on the child with developmental difficulties in kindergarten from different aspects: biological, developmental, psychological, pedagogical and social (family, school, community), which requires a non-categorical, multi-disciplinary and coordinated approach.

Influence of Allocated Budget on Implementation of Inclusive Education in Integrated Public Primary Schools in South Rift Region, Kenya

This study investigated the influence of adequacy of allocated budgets by head teachers on the implementation of inclusive education in integrated primary schools in the South Rift Valley region in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised of 25 head teachers, 308 representatives of school management committees, and 308 parents’ association’s representatives from the 25 integrated schools in the South Rift Region, Kenya. The study was guided by Resource Based Theory propounded by Penrose (1959). Data was collected using questionnaires for head teachers and Special Needs Education teachers. Reliability was determined through test-retest method and calculated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient whose reliability was 0.802. Validity was ensured through discussion with the experts (supervisors) and using questions framed in less ambiguous way. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression statistics. The findings showed the existence of a positive relationship between head teachers’ allocated budget and implementation of inclusive education (r=0.759; p&lt;0.05). Most 6(38%) of the head teacher agreed that special needs learning resources are fairly adequate (M=2.18, SD=0.98). Further 7(44%) of the head teachers indicate that infrastructural facilities are very inadequate in enforcement of mainstream education in integrated public primary schools (M=2.25, SD=1.34). The study recommends that the national government should address the budget allocation deficit for in the integrated primary schools and in particular formulate a policy to cater for inclusive education. The government should allocate money to schools to help them purchase specialized equipment and assistive learning devices for learners with special needs, such as talking books, Braille readers, taking calculators, and computers for ICT in education. Additionally, the government ought to allocate more money to schools, especially those in underdeveloped areas. The head teachers should also consider techniques such as in-service coaching of teachers of special needs and also conduct sessions with parents to have them explain the traits of the students and better understand them.