Pupil participation in school life: an approach from the educational community

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989) is currently the most ratified international treaty. Several authors have highlighted its potential for both a moral education and citizenship. However, paradoxically, different studies report its limited or occasional incorporation into school practices. This article explores experiences of participation in schools,the third P of the CRC, from the plurality of voices and actors of the educational community,by means of 14 discussion groups in 11 autonomous communities in Spain. Discourse analysis evidence low levels of student participation in school life. But, at the same time, a favorable educational environment for the development of projects that contribute to child participation is found, as well as for the incorporation of the CRC as a mover and a referential integrator of the different schools projects. However, it is also an educational background conductive to projects for its development, such as the incorporation of the CRC as a referential integrator of the schools projects.

Making way for change at the Bar: The practical implications of the new Bar Standards Board Handbook

The Legal Services Act 2007 caused a need to change professional conduct rules for lawyers in England and Wales. The Bar Standards Board Handbook brings substantial changes to the way barristers are regulated. Changes include litigation rights, reporting of professional misconduct, an increased focus on chambers, and expansion to include employees of chambers and barristers without practicing certificates (unregistered or non-practicing barristers). The approach to enforcement and supervision moves to include elements of outcome focused, principle based and risk based approaches. These changes have the potential to change the practice of different groups of barristers and the dynamics between them.

Anxiety in the Primary Classroom: A Handbook for Elementary Educators

This project presents a literature review of pediatric anxiety including the prevalence, etiology, and treatment of anxiety disorders in children, presented along with evidence indicating the short- and long-term effects of anxiety in young children, and the important role of the school in first response regarding the early identification and intervention for these children. A needs assessment was conducted using primary elementary school teachers to identify their level of confidence in their ability to identify and support children suffering with anxiety disorders in their classrooms. Results of the assessment indicated a strong need for a resource that provides both information and support for teachers in their interactions with children with anxiety disorders. The assessment results were used to guide the development of a handbook for elementary educators providing current empirical research detailing information about various forms of anxiety disorders commonly affecting young children in primary grades, as well as a list of available resources, and a series of six sequential lesson plans to be implemented for the entire class. Lesson plans are designed to facilitate increased levels of understanding toward the issues confronted by children suffering from anxiety, and fostering strong peer relations and character-building opportunities. Participants were provided with the handbook for evaluation, which indicated a strong support for the effectiveness and usefulness of the resource.

A Home Literacy Handbook for Parents With Preschool Children

The purpose of this project was to provide parents with an awareness of the role that they play in their preschool children's literacy and reading development and to create a practical handbook that parents can use to teach early literacy and reading skills to their preschool children in their home environment. The handbook was created in response to the literature that confirmed that the children benefit from developing emergent literacy skills before they enter school in kindergarten or grade 1. In addition to the information gathered from the academic literature, needs assessments were conducted in order to hear perspectives from multiple stakeholders involved in the context of this project. The needs assessment questionnaires were conducted with 4 Ontario certified grade 1 and 2 teachers, and 4 parents with preschool children or children in kindergarten or grade 1. Data collected from these participants highlighted the needs of parents and were used to create a comprehensive handbook that will hopefully be accessible and useful to a wide parent audience. The results of the research project indicated that parents would, in fact, benefit from having access to a resource such as this handbook to assist in teaching the 4 components of emergent literacy to their preschool children––oral language, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and print awareness––to their preschool children.

Foster Children in Education: Resource Handbook for Elementary Educators

This project is aligned with examining the role of the education system and the foster care context on the learning experiences of young children in the classroom. This project is a study of the literature and research conducted on the life experiences, adverse effects of these experiences (such as attachment disorder), socioemotional development, and resiliency of foster care children. Furthermore, the project explores the literature on how the experiences of these foster children traverse contexts and impact the education setting. This study also outlines specific strategies and practices for teachers and school staff in order to promote students’ resiliency, competency, behaviour management, and overall educational success and positive academic experience. These strategies resulted from a critical review of the literature and translated into the development of an informative handbook intended for teachers. The handbook developed in this study focuses on the understanding of the lives of foster care children, their histories, adverse experiences, socioemotional development, strategies to manage behaviour, unique needs, and encouraging their resiliency and success in school. To ensure the soundness of the handbook, 2 education liaisons at a Family and Child Services agency within Ontario and a former child and service social worker from Manitoba reviewed the first draft and provided comments on the validity of the content and the potential usability of the handbook for educators. Suggestions and comments provided by these experts were used to enhance the final product of the handbook.

The Evolving Mind-Body Alliance: A Handbook for Educators

This study examined anatomical and physiological connections between brain and body in relation to academic, physical, social, emotional, and behavioural benefits of physical activity in elementary schools. A handbook titled The Evolving Mind-Body Alliance: Physical Activities Incorporated Into the Ontario Science Curriculum—A Handbook for Educators, Schools, and School Boards was developed based on evidence that physical activity can benefit students academically, physically, and emotionally. Handbook activities were created for implementation into science lessons, with direct connections to the Ontario Science Curriculum (OSC), based on curriculum expectation goals and vision for science, including a majority of experiential learning and application knowledge, and because of students’ difficulty relating to science’s abstract concepts and terms. A review of literature about brain-body connection and benefits of movement in the classroom revealed that the defining features of the handbook should be (a) incorporation of physical activities that directly relate to the OSC, (b) require minimal resources to implement, and (c) provide a direct link to the OSC. Needs assessments were performed to gather the data from professionals in the field on the OSC and on the mandated daily physical activity. The handbook was reviewed by 3 teaching professionals in order to claim face validity of the document. The results of the project indicate that the handbook which was produced meets its goals of creating a product that is easy to use, practical, and effective for both educators and children in promoting the awareness of the brain-body connection and importance of learning through movement.

Mindfulness Practices and Children’s Emotional and Mental Well-Being: Activities to Build and Strengthen Everyday Resilience Adapted for Primary School Teachers

This project reviewed current research on mental health and Canadian children, and then examined the practice of mindfulness as a means of supporting well-being and circumventing the potential detrimental effects of mental health problems. By contextualizing these findings within the recently released educational vision of the Ontario Ministry of Education (2014), which identifies well-being as one of the core principles of education in Ontario, this project investigated how mindfulness-based practices can be brought into the primary grade classroom. The ultimate purpose of this project is the development of a handbook for Ontario teachers of students in grades 1 to 3 (ages 6 to 8). This resource was developed from a comprehensive literature review and provides educators with easy-to-follow activities to use in the classroom to encourage the development of resilience and emotional well-being through mindfulness. The handbook also includes additional information and resources regarding both mindfulness and mental health that may be helpful to teachers, students, and parents.

ECS Teaching Handbook

This handbook, nominally chapter 3 of the ECS staff handbook, describes ECS educational policy and procedures, as defined and agreed by the school via its various boards and committees. There are sections covering our educational aims and strategy, processes and structures, teaching and learning, pastoral and administrative arrangements, and a glossary. The material here supplements that in the University's quality handbook. (This is the working document which will become our 2009/10 handbook next academic year.)

WSAmacd handbook 2012-13 PDF edition

The story, syllabus and course information handbook for the MA in Communication Design at Winchester School of Art. www.facebook.com/WSAmacd

WSAmacd handbook 2012-2013

The story, syllabus and course information handbook for the MA in Communication Design at Winchester School of Art. www.facebook.com/WSAmacd

WSAmacd handbook 2012-2013 ePub edition

The story, syllabus and course information handbook for the MA in Communication Design at Winchester School of Art. www.facebook.com/WSAmacd

WSAmacd handbook 2012-2013 Kindle edition

The story, syllabus and course information handbook for the MA in Communication Design at Winchester School of Art. www.facebook.com/WSAmacd

Pre-school contributions to future achievements

This paper provides recent evidence about the beneÖts of attending preschool on future performance. A non-parametric matching procedure is used over two outcomes: math and verbal scores at a national mandatory test (Saber11) in Colombia. It is found that students who had the chance of attending preschool obtain higher scores in math (6.7%) and verbal (5.4%) than those who did not. A considerable fraction of these gaps comes from the upper quintiles of studentís performance, suggesting that preschool matters when is done at high quality institutions. When we include the number of years at the preschool, the gap rises up to 12% in verbal and 17% in math.