Resilience through Adversity: A narrative case study of students' experiences of expulsion from school

Expulsion from school is life changing. This single event can alter the trajectory of a student's life--for better or for worse. How life changes is unique for each individual student. Risk and protective factors that impact an individual student's resilience determine the level of positive or negative outcomes experienced as a result of expulsion. Educators have the opportunity to take advantage of this disruption in students' education to improve the trajectory of students' lives. However, without thoughtful intervention from caring educators, this interruption in students' education may have an irreparable destructive impact on students' future. The purpose of this study was to understand the expulsion experience from the point of view of the student in order to represent this critical stakeholder group in future policy and program development, implementation, and decision-making. Students' narratives are a means for members of the educational community to access students' experiences and perceptions in order to understand the impact of expulsion on students' lives. Students' perspectives are presented through thick description in this narrative case study. The experience of these eight students is evidence that expulsion can change students' lives in a positive way. Knowing this, responsible educators must develop interventions for expelled students that channel the positive life-changing potential of this experience. Educators must develop interventions focused on bringing forth protective factors that are documented to increase resilience and to make students less susceptible to the risks inherent in removing them from school. Recommendations for educators and policy-makers are presented to assist educators in preventing expulsion and improving educational and socio-emotional outcomes for expelled students.

Políticas de intervenção prioritária em Portugal: novas políticas, novas práticas?

Em Portugal, no final da década de 90 do século XX, começaram a ser desenvolvidas estratégias de discriminação positiva visando garantir o cumprimento da escolaridade obrigatória e a luta contra a exclusão escolar e social, designadamente nas periferias das grandes cidades. É neste contexto que surgem as escolas e os Territórios Educativos de Intervenção Prioritária (TEIP) pelo Despacho nº147-B/ME/96, de 1 de Agosto de 1996. Este programa, inicialmente inspirado nas zonas de intervenção prioritárias francesas, visava a intervenção de vários parceiros locais (professores, alunos, pessoal não docente, associações de pais, autarquias locais, associações culturais e associações recreativas) na elaboração do Projeto Educativo. Com o XVII Governo Constitucional o programa foi redefinido passando a incluir novas vertentes: necessidade de existência de um projeto educativo próprio; consultadoria externa; avaliação periódica de resultados em diferentes domínios (taxas de insucesso e abandono escolar, assiduidade, comportamento, participação, inovações organizacionais, parcerias educativas estabelecidas no âmbito do Programa, etc.). Foi também alargado a todo o território nacional, envolvendo atualmente cento e cinco agrupamentos escolares. Com esta apresentação visamos analisar se as novas políticas e diretrizes, no domínio da educação prioritária, contribuíram para a emergência de novas estratégias pedagógicas, organizacionais e de envolvimento comunitário. Os elementos em que basearemos a nossa análise serão os seguintes: (i) relatório nacional do programa TEIP (2010-2011); (ii) relatórios do programa de avaliação externa das escolas; (iii) entrevistas realizadas aos atores locais, designadamente a coordenadores e consultores dos projetos TEIP. As conclusões da nossa comunicação centrar-se-ão no papel dos atores locais no desenvolvimento do Programa TEIP e no impacto deste programa na melhoria dos resultados académicos, na diminuição da indisciplina e violência escolar e na construção de percursos de vida que contrariem as tendências para a exclusão escolar e social.

Aprender a ler, aprender a conviver: aprendizagem da leitura como veículo para a socialização

O trabalho apresentado é decorrente do Projeto de Intervenção realizado no âmbito do Curso de 2º Ciclo em Educação Especial – domínio cognitivo e motor, da Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias. Resumo A referida intervenção contempla a minimização das dificuldades apresentadas por uma menina a nível da leitura e escrita e da sua socialização, numa perspetiva inclusiva. M. é o nome fictício da aluna alvo da intervenção. Atualmente, frequenta o 3º ano de escolaridade numa escola pública, em Lisboa área da sua residência. A revisão da literatura vai sustentar e facilitar a compreensão clara e concisa da intervenção realizada e das posições defendidas sobre esta matéria. Deste modo, são tratados temas no âmbito da exclusão social e escolar, da escola Inclusiva e dos obstáculos que ainda encontramos nas escolas, dos preconceitos, dos alunos com necessidades educativas especiais, das adaptações curriculares, da aprendizagem cooperativa e diferenciação pedagógica, referimo-nos ainda às dificuldades de aprendizagem e, por último, à comunicação e à linguagem oral e escrita. Para obter informações sobre a M. e sobre o contexto da intervenção, bem como sobre todo o seu processo de inclusão escolar, utilizamos como suporte metodológico, a pesquisa documental, as entrevistas semi-diretivas à professora titular de turma e à professora de ensino especial, a observação naturalista, a sociometria e as notas de campo para se poder complementar as informações. A planificação global da intervenção foi elaborada a partir do relacionamento/ cruzamento dos dados que resultaram da análise da informação recolhida. Para uma intervenção fundamentada caracterizamos inicialmente o seu contexto escolar e familiar e posteriormente a M. Os princípios orientadores da intervenção realizada, assentam numa perspetiva de investigação para a ação, e tiveram presentes os objetivos definidos para a M. As atividades foram realizadas, numa perspetiva de aprendizagem muito estruturada, muito refletida e avaliada durante todo o processo, implicando todos os intervenientes. Esta intervenção, levou-nos a estimular práticas educativas, diferenciadas e inclusivas na turma, com a professora titular dessa turma e com a professora do ensino especial com os colegas da M.

Relações étnico-raciais e progressão continuada na escola: o difícil diálogo com a inclusão

Pós-graduação em Ciências Sociais - FFC

Investigação sobre representações de professores na perspectiva de ensino e da aprendizagem inclusivos

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

Práticas de exclusão em ambiente escolar

Pós-graduação em Educação Matemática - IGCE

A propósito de un caso de exclusión encubierto de inclusión escolar

En el trabajo se analiza un caso particular relacionado con la problemática de la exclusión escolar. Se propone describir una situación que da cuenta de la cuestión de la patologización de la diferencia y en la cual, bajo la fachada de la inclusión escolar, como el tema de moda en las instituciones escolares y sin una mirada crítica sobre la misma, se producen discursos y prácticas que traen como consecuencias procesos encubiertos de exclusión escolar al interior de la inclusión. Se procura articular situaciones de la práctica con elementos teóricos en busca de una reflexión que permita una construcción de conocimientos críticos.

Jóvenes mujeres con discapacidad en escuelas públicas de la provincia de Buenos Aires : Problematizando los procesos de inclusión y exclusión educativa

El presente estudio tiene como objetivo general problematizar los procesos de inclusión y exclusión escolar de jóvenes mujeres con discapacidad en escuelas públicas del sistema de educación tanto común como especial de la ciudad de La Plata y el Gran La Plata, provincia de Buenos Aires. Las mujeres con discapacidad constituyen uno de los grupos más oprimidos a lo largo de la historia, prueba de ello han sido los obstáculos y limitaciones en su proceso de escolarización. Las investigaciones sobre este grupo tanto en educación como en los estudios de género y de discapacidad resultan todavía escasas, por lo que consideramos relevante el abordaje de esta temática. Desde una perspectiva foucaultiana y feminista de la discapacidad procuraremos comprender e interpretar el punto de vista de las mujeres con discapacidad a fin de lo cual hemos recreado herramientas metodológicas específicas que nos permitan acceder a las voces de las jóvenes. La investigación describe al menos tres formas de incumplimiento del derecho a la educación inclusiva y la vida independiente en la escolarización de las mujeres con discapacidad: exclusión, segregación e integración (o exclusión en la inclusión). Asimismo, analiza diferentes formas en las que la escuela, en oportunidades en alianza con las familias de las jóvenes con discapacidad, actúa, de forma opresiva y deshumanizante, negándoles el derecho a la educación y la vida independiente

Jóvenes mujeres con discapacidad en escuelas públicas de la provincia de Buenos Aires : Problematizando los procesos de inclusión y exclusión educativa

El presente estudio tiene como objetivo general problematizar los procesos de inclusión y exclusión escolar de jóvenes mujeres con discapacidad en escuelas públicas del sistema de educación tanto común como especial de la ciudad de La Plata y el Gran La Plata, provincia de Buenos Aires. Las mujeres con discapacidad constituyen uno de los grupos más oprimidos a lo largo de la historia, prueba de ello han sido los obstáculos y limitaciones en su proceso de escolarización. Las investigaciones sobre este grupo tanto en educación como en los estudios de género y de discapacidad resultan todavía escasas, por lo que consideramos relevante el abordaje de esta temática. Desde una perspectiva foucaultiana y feminista de la discapacidad procuraremos comprender e interpretar el punto de vista de las mujeres con discapacidad a fin de lo cual hemos recreado herramientas metodológicas específicas que nos permitan acceder a las voces de las jóvenes. La investigación describe al menos tres formas de incumplimiento del derecho a la educación inclusiva y la vida independiente en la escolarización de las mujeres con discapacidad: exclusión, segregación e integración (o exclusión en la inclusión). Asimismo, analiza diferentes formas en las que la escuela, en oportunidades en alianza con las familias de las jóvenes con discapacidad, actúa, de forma opresiva y deshumanizante, negándoles el derecho a la educación y la vida independiente

Jóvenes mujeres con discapacidad en escuelas públicas de la provincia de Buenos Aires : Problematizando los procesos de inclusión y exclusión educativa

El presente estudio tiene como objetivo general problematizar los procesos de inclusión y exclusión escolar de jóvenes mujeres con discapacidad en escuelas públicas del sistema de educación tanto común como especial de la ciudad de La Plata y el Gran La Plata, provincia de Buenos Aires. Las mujeres con discapacidad constituyen uno de los grupos más oprimidos a lo largo de la historia, prueba de ello han sido los obstáculos y limitaciones en su proceso de escolarización. Las investigaciones sobre este grupo tanto en educación como en los estudios de género y de discapacidad resultan todavía escasas, por lo que consideramos relevante el abordaje de esta temática. Desde una perspectiva foucaultiana y feminista de la discapacidad procuraremos comprender e interpretar el punto de vista de las mujeres con discapacidad a fin de lo cual hemos recreado herramientas metodológicas específicas que nos permitan acceder a las voces de las jóvenes. La investigación describe al menos tres formas de incumplimiento del derecho a la educación inclusiva y la vida independiente en la escolarización de las mujeres con discapacidad: exclusión, segregación e integración (o exclusión en la inclusión). Asimismo, analiza diferentes formas en las que la escuela, en oportunidades en alianza con las familias de las jóvenes con discapacidad, actúa, de forma opresiva y deshumanizante, negándoles el derecho a la educación y la vida independiente

Pushed to the Edge: Inclusion and Behaviour Support in Schools

While debates rage about educational inequality and the best way to tackle attainment gaps, a pervasive form of inschool segregation is going largely unremarked upon. Internal behaviour support units have become common fixtures in British schools. Young people may be removed from mainstream classrooms for weeks, months or even years to undergo rehabilitative programmes that incur little monitoring or oversight. This original book is the first to provide a detailed insight into the politics and practices of internal school exclusion, highlighted through the experiences of the young people attending the units. Ambitious in its scope, it draws on intensive ethnographic research with pupils, their teachers and parents to address broad questions around social justice, equal opportunities and institutional racism. It will appeal to students, researchers and practitioners in education, social policy, sociology and beyond.

BlueFriends: measuring, analyzing and preventing social exclusion between elementary school students

Social exclusion is a relatively recent term, whose creation is attributed to René Lenoir(Lenoir, 1974). Its concept covers a remarkably wide range of social and economic problems, and can be triggered for various reasons: mentally and physically handicapped, abused children, delinquents, multi-problem households, asocial people, and other social “misfits” (Silver, 1995, pp. 63; Foucault, 1992). With an increasingly multi-cultural population, cultural and social inequalities rapidly ascend, bringing with them the need for educational restructuring. We are living in an evermore diverse world, and children need to be educated to be receptive to the different types of people around them, especially considering social and cultural aspects. It is with these goals that inclusive education has seen an increased trend in today’s academic environment, reminding us that even though children may be taught under the same roof, discriminatory practices might still happen. There are, however, a number of developed tools to assess the various dimensions of social networks. These are mostly based on questionnaires and interviews, which tend to be fastidious and don’t allow for longitudinal, large scale measurement. This thesis introduces BlueFriends, a Bluetooth-based measurement tool for social inclusion/exclusion on elementary school classes. The main goals behind the development of this tool were a) understanding how exclusion manifests in students’ behaviors, and b) motivating pro-social behaviors on children through the use of a persuasive technology. BlueFriends is a distributed application, comprised by an application running on several smartphones, a web-hosted database and a computer providing a visual representation of the data collected on a TV screen, attempting to influence children behaviors. The application makes use of the Bluetooth device present on each phone to continuously sample the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) from other phones, storing the data locally on each phone. All of the stored data is collected, processed and then inserted into the database at the end of each day. At the beginning of each recess, children are reminded of how their behaviors affect others with the help of a visual display, which consists of interactions between dogs. This display illustrates every child’s best friends, as well as which colleagues they don’t interact with as much. Several tips encouraging social interaction and inclusiveness are displayed, inspiring children to change their behaviors towards the colleagues they spend less time with. This thesis documents the process of designing, deploying and analyzing the results of two field studies. On the first study, we assess how the current developed tools are inferior to our measuring tool by deploying a measurement only study, aimed at perceiving how much information can be obtained by the BlueFriends application and attempting to understand how exclusion manifests itself in the school environment. On the second study, we pile on the previous to try and motivate pro-social behaviors on students, with the use of visual cues and recommendations. Ultimately, we confirm that our measurement tool’s results were satisfying towards measuring and changing children’s behaviors, and conclude with our thoughts on possible future work, suggesting a number of possible extensions and improvements.

Outcomes of transient evoked otoacoustic emission testing in 6-year-old school children: A comparison with pure tone screening and tympanometry

Objectives: (1) To establish test performance measures for Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission testing of 6-year-old children in a school setting; (2) To investigate whether Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission testing provides a more accurate and effective alternative to a pure tone screening plus tympanometry protocol. Methods: Pure tone screening, tympanometry and transient evoked otoacoustic emission data were collected from 940 subjects (1880 ears), with a mean age of 6.2 years. Subjects were tested in non-sound-treated rooms within 22 schools. Receiver operating characteristics curves along with specificity, sensitivity, accuracy and efficiency values were determined for a variety of transient evoked otoacoustic emission/pure tone screening/tympanometry comparisons. Results: The Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission failure rate for the group was 20.3%. The failure rate for pure tone screening was found to be 8.9%, whilst 18.6% of subjects failed a protocol consisting of combined pure tone screening and tympanometry results. In essence, findings from the comparison of overall Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission pass/fail with overall pure tone screening pass/fail suggested that use of a modified Rhode Island Hearing Assessment Project criterion would result in a very high probability that a child with a pass result has normal hearing (true negative). However, the hit rate was only moderate. Selection of a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) criterion set at greater than or equal to 1 dB appeared to provide the best test performance measures for the range of SNR values investigated. Test performance measures generally declined when tympanometry results were included, with the exception of lower false alarm rates and higher positive predictive values. The exclusion of low frequency data from the Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission SNR versus pure tone screening analysis resulted in improved performance measures. Conclusions: The present study poses several implications for the clinical implementation of Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission screening for entry level school children. Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission pass/fail criteria will require revision. The findings of the current investigation offer support to the possible replacement of pure tone screening with Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission testing for 6-year-old children. However, they do not suggest the replacement of the pure tone screening plus tympanometry battery. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acute postsurgical suppurative parotitis: current prevalence at Hospital das Clínicas, São Paulo University Medical School

Postsurgical acute suppurative parotitis is a bacterial gland infection that occurs from a few days up to some weeks after abdominal surgical procedures. In this study, the authors analyze the prevalence of this complication in Hospital das Clínicas/São Paulo University Medical School by prospectively reviewing the charts of patients who underwent surgeries performed by the gastroenterological and general surgery staff from 1980 to 2005. Diagnosis of parotitis or sialoadenitis was analyzed. Sialolithiasis and chronic parotitis previous to hospitalization were exclusion criteria. In a total of 100,679 surgeries, 256 patients were diagnosed with parotitis or sialoadenitis. Nevertheless, only three cases of acute postsurgical suppurative parotitis associated with the surgery were identified giving an incidence of 0.0028%. All patients presented with risk factors such as malnutrition, immunosuppression, prolonged immobilization and dehydration. In the past, acute postsurgical suppurative parotitis was a relatively common complication after major abdominal surgeries. Its incidence decreased as a consequence of the improvement of perioperative antibiotic therapy and postoperative support. In spite of the current low incidence, we believe it is important to identify risks and diagnose as quick as possible, in order to introduce prompt and appropriate therapeutic measures and avoid potentially fatal complications with the evolution of the disease.