The product of text and “Other” statements : discourse analysis and the critical use of Foucault

Much has been written on Michel Foucault’s reluctance to clearly delineate a research method, particularly with respect to genealogy (Harwood 2000; Meadmore, Hatcher, & McWilliam 2000; Tamboukou 1999). Foucault (1994, p. 288) himself disliked prescription stating, “I take care not to dictate how things should be” and wrote provocatively to disrupt equilibrium and certainty, so that “all those who speak for others or to others” no longer know what to do. It is doubtful, however, that Foucault ever intended for researchers to be stricken by that malaise to the point of being unwilling to make an intellectual commitment to methodological possibilities. Taking criticism of “Foucauldian” discourse analysis as a convenient point of departure to discuss the objectives of poststructural analyses of language, this paper develops what might be called a discursive analytic; a methodological plan to approach the analysis of discourses through the location of statements that function with constitutive effects.

Beyond knowledge : an insight into the practice of a learning support teacher

Increasingly, schools are being asked to meet the challenges of providing inclusive classrooms for all children. Inclusion is no longer about special education for a special group of students. It is about school improvement in order to bring about the changes that are needed to classroom practices to ensure the improvement of student learning outcomes. Inclusion is no longer a policy initiative. Rather it has been transformed to become a process that moves a school towards inclusive practices that will result in school improvement, heightened student learning outcomes and greater opportunities for all students to gain equal access to education. This study focuses on the challenge of diversity as it translates into implementing inclusive practices across two secondary school contexts. I have undertaken this research in my role as a Learning Support Teacher over a period of five years. Central to my research is a constructivist ontology and a practice epistemology that aligns with a practitioner research methodology of action research. Seven generalisable propositions have emerged from this research that inform the strategies I am using to more easily accommodate legislated inclusivitiy. These propositions include: 1. School communities need to share a common understanding of equity. 2. The school principal must provide overt leadership in moving towards an inclusive school culture. 3. A whole-school approach is needed to narrow the gap between inclusion rhetoric and classroom practice. 4. Pedagogical reform is the most effective strategy for catering for diverse student learning needs. 5. Differentiating curriculum is achieved when collaborative planning teams develop appropriate units of work. 6. School communities need to make a commitment to gather, share and manage relevant information concerning students. 7. The Learning Support Teacher needs to be repositioned within a curriculum planning team.

Diversity and Differentiation

New ways of working are being embraced by early childhood educators as they cope with demands from national reforms and changing communities. While reformers are pressing for social equity and improved outcomes for families and children, communities are diverging in terms of ethnicity, culture, language and socioeconomic status. As a consequence, early childhood educators are being challenged to expand their existing repertoire of practices in order to more effectively provide quality learning experiences for every child in their care. Practice enhancement and differentiated pedagogy are needed to address the additional needs of an increasing number of diverse learners. Community expectations are particularly focused on better educational supports for children in five cluster areas: • Culturally diverse and Indigenous backgrounds • ‘at risk’ because of socio-economic and abuse conditions • Communicative, emotional and behavioural disorders • Disabilities and learning difficulties and • Recognised gifts and talents This chapter focuses on some everyday ractices that can be used strategically to better support all children, including those with additional educational needs. All practices are well supported in the literature and are substantiated by either research findings or strong, socially determined values. They also very ‘doable’ and sustainable in today’s dynamic and multifaceted early childhood settings. Seven keys practices will be introduced, together with examples of how they can be applied to both enhance the learning of individual children and to strengthen a sense of group belonging. The practices are: • Having positive beliefs about all children • Learning about each child • Building meaningful relationships around the child • Creating supportive learning environments for the child • Providing engaging learning experiences for the child • Differentiating instruction for the child • Using child progress data to improve learning and teaching

Supporting young children on the autism spectrum

With one in every 100 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), it is highly likely that you may have a child with this diagnosis in your group from year to year.

(De)Constructing ADHD : Critical Guidance for Teachers and Teacher Educators

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has achieved celebrity status in many Western countries, yet despite considerable effort to prove its existence as a “real” disorder, ADHD still suffers from a crisis of legitimacy. Nonetheless, diagnosis and prescription of medication has grown at a phenomenal rate since the late 1980s, particularly in Western culture. Numerous accounts exist explaining how the ADHD diagnosis functions as a convenient administrative loophole, providing schools with a medical explanation for school failure, medication to sedate the “problem” into submission, or the means to eject children from mainstream classrooms. This book provides a more holistic interpretation of how to respond to children who might otherwise be diagnosed with and medicated for “ADHD”—a diagnosis which, whether scientifically valid or not, is unhelpful within the confine of the school. Training teachers to recognise and identify “ADHD symptoms” or to understand the functions of restricted pharmaceuticals will only serve to increase the number of children diagnosed and the sale of psychoactive medications. Research has shown that such activities will not help those children learn, nor will it empower their classroom teachers to take responsibility for teaching such children well. This book seeks to provide school practitioners with knowledge that is useful within the educational context to improve the educational experiences and outcomes for children who might otherwise receive a diagnosis of ADHD.

Gifted students with a reading disability : the impact of lived experience

Gifted students who have a reading disability have learning characteristics that set them apart from their peers. The ability to read impacts upon all areas of the formal curriculum in which print-based texts are common. Therefore, the full intellectual development of gifted students with a reading disability can be repressed because their access to learning opportunities is reduced. When the different learning needs caused by concomitant giftedness and reading disability are not met, it can have serious implications for both academic achievement and the social-emotional wellbeing of these students. In order to develop a deeper understanding of this vulnerable group of students, this study investigated the learning characteristics of gifted students with a reading disability. Furthermore, it investigated how the learning characteristics of these students impact upon their lived experiences. Since achievement and motivation have been shown to be closely linked to self-efficacy, self-efficacy theory underpinned the conceptual framework of the study. The study used a descriptive case study approach to document the lived experiences of gifted students with a reading disability. Nine participants aged between 11 and 18, who were formally identified as gifted with a reading disability, took part in the study. Data sources in the case study database included: cognitive assessments, such as WISC assessments, Stanford Binet 5, or the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices; the WIAT II reading assessment; the Reader Self-Perception Scale; document reviews; parent and teacher checklists designed to gain information about the students' learning characteristics; and semi-structured interviews with students. The study showed that gifted students with a reading disability display a complex profile of learning strengths and weaknesses. As a result, they face a daily struggle of trying to reconcile the confusion of being able to complete some tasks to a high level, while struggling to read. The study sheds light on the myriad of issues faced by the students at school. It revealed that when the particular learning characteristics and needs of gifted students with a reading disability are recognised and met, these students can experience academic success, and avoid the serious social-emotional complications cited in previous studies. Indeed, rather than suffering from depression, disengagement from learning, and demotivation, these students were described as resilient, independent, determined, goal oriented and motivated to learn and persevere. Notably, the students in the study had developed effective coping strategies for dealing with the daily challenges they faced. These strategies are outlined in the thesis together with the advice students offered for helping other gifted students with a reading disability to succeed. Their advice is significant for all teachers who wish to nurture the potential of those students who face the challenge of being gifted with a reading disability, and for the parents of these students. This research advances knowledge pertaining to the theory of self-efficacy, and self-efficacy in reading specifically, by showing that although gifted students with a reading disability have low self-efficacy, the level is not the same for all aspects of reading. Furthermore, despite low self-efficacy in reading these students remained motivated. The study also enhances existing knowledge in the areas of gifted education and special education because it documents the lived experience of gifted students with a specific learning disability in reading from the students' perspectives. Based on a synthesis of the literature and research findings, an Inclusive Pathway Model is proposed that describes a framework to support gifted students with a reading disability so that they might achieve, and remain socially and emotionally well-adjusted. The study highlights the importance of clear identification protocols (such as the use of a range of assessment sources, discussions with students and parents, and an awareness of the characteristics of gifted students with a reading disability) and support mechanisms for assisting students (for example, differentiated reading instruction and the use of assistive technology).

Mastery Motivation in Children with Down Syndrome : Promoting and Sustaining Interest in Learning

Motivation is central to children’s learning. Without persistent effort, especially in the face of failure, and an eagerness to engage in challenging tasks, individuals are unlikely to learn as effectively as they might. Because of their cognitive impairments, children with Down syndrome will almost certainly have difficulties with learning. These difficulties will be ameliorated somewhat by strong engagement with learning activities whereas problems with motivation are likely to further jeopardise their academic progress as well as potentially limiting achievements in other areas of life. In this chapter we begin with a general overview of motivation. Using the framework of mastery motivation, we review the relatively small amount of research about children with Down syndrome. We identify the individual characteristics and features of children’s environments that are likely to be related to lower or higher levels of mastery motivation. In the final section, we consider implications for educators and then draw together the findings to provide a set of recommendations for future research.

Promoting self-determination for better health and wellbeing for adolescents who have an intellectual disability

The focus of this paper is on an Australian research project that evaluated the effectiveness of a resource called the Ask Health Diary, which is used in the school curriculum to promote self-determination for better health and wellbeing for adolescents who have an intellectual disability. Education and health researchers used questionnaires and interviews to gather data from adolescents attending special schools and special education units located in secondary schools in south-east Queensland, their teachers and their parents/carers. This paper reports on two research questions: First, ‘How did the teachers use the Ask Health Diary to promote self-determination in health?’, and second, ‘How did teachers, parents/carers and students perceive the benefits and value of the Ask Health Diary?’ The findings indicate that the Ask Health Diary provides a sound curriculum framework for teachers, adolescents and parents/carers to work together to promote self-determination and better health outcomes for young people who have an intellectual disability.

Experience, recursive awareness and understanding in autism spectrum disorders : insights of parents and teachers in Singapore

Provision of an individually responsive education requires a comprehensive understanding of the inner worlds of learners, such as their feelings and thoughts. However, this is difficult to achieve when learners, such as those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and cognitive difficulties, have problems with communication. To address this issue, the current exploratory descriptive study sought the views of 133 Singaporean parents and teachers of school-age learners with ASD and cognitive difficulties regarding the inner experience of their children and students. The findings highlight the variety of abilities and difficulties found in how these learners experience their own mental states and understand those of others. These abilities and difficulties are characterized according to type of mental state and analysed in line with three qualia, those of experience, recursive awareness and understanding. The findings indicate that learners show a greater awareness of their own mental states compared to their ability to understand these same mental states in others. Educational implications are discussed.

Thinking Pedagogically

Despite the dominancy of medical explanations for difficult child behavior, the shifting sands that lie beneath the ADHD construct provide an unstable foundation for educational practice. It can be somewhat liberating to remember that “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” is a label (one of many, including minimal brain damage and hyperkinetic reaction of childhood) that the medical domain has coined to both group and describe certain challenging behaviors exhibited by children and young people (see Smith, Chapter 2). The label is but one conceptualization of what these behaviors mean and, despite the existence of powerful lobby groups, it may not be the best way forward. In what follows, I present an alternative typology to the medical conceptualization by describing some common issues that bring this group of children to attention. In an effort to introduce educationally useful responses to students who are difficult to teach, I will then outline what classroom teachers need to recognize in order to work with these students and realize their potential. To assist teachers in thinking pedagogically, these observations are coupled with well-known and relevant qualities of good teaching to remind teachers of what they already know and to reacquaint them with the power of that knowledge.

Vulnerability to loneliness in people with intellectual disability: an explanatory model

Research with typically developing groups has identified loneliness as a significant predictor of a range of physical and mental health problems. This paper reviews research about loneliness in children and adults with intellectual disability. Although a considerable body of evidence has highlighted the difficulties individuals with intellectual disability have with friendships, there is a relative scarcity of research focused explicitly on loneliness. The available evidence suggests that up to half of those with intellectual disability are chronically lonely, compared with around 15-30% of people in the general population. The cognitive, physical and mental health problems already associated with intellectual disability are likely to be compounded by experiences of chronic loneliness. We argue that people with intellectual disability are highly vulnerable to loneliness and present a theoretical model of vulnerability that comprises three reciprocally influencing domains: social attitudes and expectations; opportunities and experiences; and skill deficits associated with intellectual disability. We propose that societal views which have traditionally devalued and stigmatised those with intellectual disability limit their opportunities for experiencing social and emotional connectedness with others. Individual skill deficits in areas such as communication, self-regulation and social understanding, as well as functional difficulties associated with intellectual disability, also potentially influence the opportunities and experiences of people with intellectual disability, both directly and via multiple layers of the social context. In turn, limited opportunities will entrench particular skill deficits and reinforce negative attitudes towards intellectual disability. Future research about loneliness and intellectual disability needs to address the difficulties of measuring emotional isolation in this population, as well as the possibility that people with intellectual disability may understand, experience and interpret loneliness somewhat differently from others. The model proposed in this paper provides a starting point for developing a more sophisticated understanding of the experience of loneliness for individuals with intellectual disability.

Mastery motivation in children with intellectual disability : Is there evidence for a Down syndrome behavioural phenotype?

The main purpose of the current study was to provide empirical evidence to support or refute assumptions of phenotypic deficits in motivation for children with Down syndrome. Children with moderate intellectual disability associated with etiologies other than Down syndrome were recruited in an extension of a previous study that involved children with Down syndrome and typically developing children. The participants were 29 children with moderate intellectual disability and 33 children with Down syndrome who were matched on mental age to 33 typically developing children, aged 3 to 8 years. Mastery motivation was assessed on task measures of curiosity, preference for challenge, and persistence, as well as parental reports. There were no significant group differences on the mastery motivation tasks. Parental ratings of mastery motivation differed, with typically developing children generally being rated more highly than each of the disability groups. The view that motivational deficits are part of the Down syndrome behavioural phenotype was not supported.

The development of an intervention to promote the capacity to wait in children with intellectual disability

Aim: Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) often have difficulty with waiting, an important aspect of everyday life. Successful waiting require cognitive, emotional and behavioural self-regulation, and is an essential element in the capacity to delay gratification. Method: We developed an intervention to provide parents with the knowledge and strategies to promote their child’s capacity to wait. The intervention was grounded in previous work about the skills underpinning successful waiting, such as goal-setting, understanding time, and managing frustration. Eleven parents of children with ID (mean CA 9.4 years; mean MA 47 months) participated in an intervention trial. Following pre-testing of their child’s capacity to wait and delay gratification, parents attended a 1 day workshop that was followed by monthly phone discussions with the researchers to monitor progress and provide advice. Post-testing was undertaken 1 year later. Results: Compared with a wait-listed control group, children whose parents had completed the intervention displayed significant improvements in their capacity to wait on a delay of gratification task. Parents reported that their child had become more successful in everyday waiting situations. Conclusion: The results of this pilot study are promising and pave the way for larger-scale interventions to improve self-regulatory skills in people with ID.

Motivation in children with intellectual disabilities

This article addresses the questions of whether there are motivational deficits in children with intellectual disabilities, whether those with Down syndrome are more likely to display motivational deficits, and how motivation might be supported. The available literature that has examined motivation in children with intellectual disabilities was considered and integrated to address the questions outlined above. There is little published research on this vital topic. Reports on motivational problems differ depending upon the method of data collection. Observational studies using structured tasks generally reveal no differences between children with intellectual disabilities and typically developing children matched for mental age. When reports of parents or teachers are used, children with intellectual disabilities appear to have deficits in motivation. No evidence was found for a particular deficit in children with Down syndrome. The results of this review challenge the perception that children with intellectual disabilities will generally have motivational problems, although it is clear that motivation is a complex construct, not easily examined in those with intellectual disabilities. Strategies for addressing problems and for maintaining motivation, based on theory and evidence, are provided. These strategies are applicable across a range of settings including the home, school, and more adult-oriented services.