Assignment Brief
The assignment for this unit is a small research project. You should design, execute and critically analyse a piece of research on learning in a setting of your choice, using an appropriate research methodology.
Briefing: You should design and undertake a small piece of research that investigates a question about diversity and learning andor pedagogy and that interests you. You should frame the research question and the issue you study by drawing upon the literature in the field. You should also and contextualise your study theoretically and conceptually and make sure that you engage with questions regarding the helpfulness (or not) of particular theorisations. Hence, your research should have an empirical and theoretical dimension to it. You should write up your research in the form of an 8000-word report. You should cover: background and context (practically and in terms of the relevant literature); methodology (including design, sampling, methods, epistemological approach, mode of analysis, ethics); an account of your findings; and, a critical reflection on the research. You will need to gain ethical clearance for this project. You will be given guidance on this at the summer school.
Parents’ voices on their perception about dyslexic support in schools: How does the relationship between perception and policy correspond?
To what extent are parents perceptions of Dyslexic support reflected in special education needs (SEN) school policy?
This research is aimed at examining through the BSAK (British School of Khubairat) Learning Support Policy to what extent current practises of supporting learners of dyslexia were shared with parents involved in the parental support group.
To seek and facilitate collaborative relations between parents, learning support, teachers and other stakeholders of learners who have been diagnosed as dyslexic.
To provide insightful data in to the perceptions from parents on dyslexia, school support and the learning support policy.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFO
Title
Special and Inclusive Education : A Research Perspective
Contributors
Day, Therese
Travers, Joseph
Mendicino, Kristina
Publisher
Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Date Published
September 2012
I am interested to reflect and explore any problems, barriers, boundaries (language/ knowledge) with parent’s accessibility and comprehension on the learning support policy for dyslexia.
Does the policy highlight what kinds of learning support / resources are available in school?
Also, the relevance and applicability to policy concerning dyslexia and the constraints of theory to the application of practice (home/ school)
To critically reflect on the theory of philosophy of pedagogy, diversity in school and the wider community of support and the specific recommendations for policy and practice to reflect any principles of any generalisation.
Then Phase 2 is to see if any of the hegemony practices are reflected and practised through learning support, teachers and learning. And explore the power-knowledge relationships of this policy
Is there any explicit values and theories of learning support that is committed to the learning support policy?
LEARNING SUPPORT POLICY BSAK
http://www.britishschool.sch.ae/School-Life-learningsupport
http://www.britishschool.sch.ae/Schoolpolicies
ABSTRACT
(Do this at the end)
INTRODUCTION
Historically, teachers, staff, parents and the community have had very little power at a national level to change or shape policy in education and schools (Mary, 1996). The underrepresented learning groups and stake holders can often fill marginalised (Quote NEEDED) .The involvement of parents is not only a right identified in the education act (******) aimed at providing the policy framework for parents to participate, take responsibility for the process of those school policies and practice which impact both what happens in the school and the community.
Schools and education are as Mary (1996, p. 176) “are part of the fabric of society which can often embody individualistic, competitive and rationalistic values”. Underrepresented learning groups and stake holders, like those learners diagnosed with dyslexia and parents to these learners do not get equal representation.
Henry, ME 1996, Parent-School Collaboration : Feminist Organizational Structures and School Leadership, State University of New York Press, Albany, US. Available from: ProQuest ebrary. [7 September 2016].
Policy Analysis
Chapter 3: Methodology
Review the audio (last ones that are directly related to research topic/ tutorial and assignment)
Review policy and parents perceptions
Organise articles and readings surrounding the research
POLICY interpretation (SEE EDD policy interpretation)
Outline research question
Outline interview questions (Is your child/children been diagnosed as having dyslexia?)
WHY DO WE NEED TO KNOW THIS STUFF?
What is unusual about this?
QUESTIONS REFLECTING:
What
Responding to the POLICY
CONTEXT
: what is different about current ongoing conditions
PARENTS SUPPORT GROUP?
PERCEPTIONS OF DYSLEXIA AND SUPPORT AT SCHOOL (& OUTSIDE SCHOOL)?
Does the psychology report you receive indicate strategies for you, as a parent to assist with helping your child with learning? Are these clear? What does the report recommend for parents to do?
Do you think these learning strategies for dyslexia the same at school? Why/ why not?
Do you think subject teachers use these dyslexia reports in their teaching practise?
How do you know how well your child is being supported at the school and in their classes?
Is the support similar/ different across the school? How?
What concerns you most about your child’s dyslexia and what support (if any) have you sought at school and in the community?
In your experience, are these concerns different or similar in other schools or countries where your child has been taught?
How much does the school support the parents group on dyslexia?
Do the teachers/ learning support use and discuss this report with you? Can teachers and the school do anything that can support dyslexia and your child?
Can you please describe briefly how this support started out?
Why do you think the parent support group for dyslexia is needed?
How does this support group work?
How would you like the support to evolve in the future?
Appendix 1- Participation Information Sheets
PARENTS PARTICIPANT INFORMTAION SHEET
PROJECT TITLE
To what extent are parents perceptions of Dyslexic support reflected in special education school policy?
INVITATION
You are invited and being asked to take part in a research study on parents’ perceptions of dyslexia and their experiences of current British School Al Khubairat (BSAK) and practice relating to Special Educational Needs (SEN), dyslexia specifically. This research is a Doctorate of Education level project, being undertaken by Christopher Blake for University of Bath, UK. It is a pilot study and is aimed to be developed into a future Doctorate thesis which will investigate more parents, school, learning support and teachers’ perceptions of Dyslexia school policy and support for all those stakeholders involved. The research will align itself to the ongoing changes in Special Education Needs (SEN) policy which will revise and reflect the dyslexic support given at school and parental engagement which forms the support group.
This research aims at investigating the SEN parents’ support group understanding at dyslexia and the school policy on SEN, and within the con going changes in SEN policy. You are being asked, as part of a one-to-one interview, about your understanding and experiences of the nature of dyslexia, the backgrounds of the parental support group and your perceptions of the BSAK SEN policy.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN
This study has two phrases
One-to-one interviews with parents and phrase two interviews with the BSAK Learning Support teachers.
In this study, parents will be asked to attend one initial interview session, and then one follow-up interview. The first session of one-to-one interviews will be recorded and be approximately 40 minutes long and will include a short introduction of the study and then questions. The second follow-up interview will be shorter and aimed at exploring deeper responses from the initial interview. The interviews will be organised at a time to suit the participant during the autumn term of 2016. Subsequently, the Learning Support teachers will then be interviewed
PARTICIPANTS’ RIGHTS
You have the right to withdraw participation in the study at any time without consequence. You may request that data gathered within your interviews be removed/ or destroyed at any point during the study without consequence or the need to justify your withdrawal.
You will be provided with a copy of your own transcript and will have the opportunity to comment on it (If you choose to participate in the interview process).
You may ask questions regarding the procedures in the study and if you have any questions following reading this study, you can contact myself, the researcher before the research begins.
Teachers have the right to withdraw from this research at any time without consequence. They do not have to provide any explanation or justify withdrawal.
Teachers can omit or decline to respond to any questions that is asked of them as appropriate and without any consequence to them.
BENEFITS AND RISKS
No physical harm will be experienced during the research and results from this research. Nonetheless, personally and professional issues around dyslexia can be controversial. As such, this research may raise personal as well as professional issues that an interviewee may find difficult to discuss. To minimise uncomfortable feelings the interviews will be conducted will not be conducted in a non-confrontational manner. However, if any uncomfortable feelings and concerns about the study, any participant can discuss how best to address these issues.
The benefits of the study is to provide parents to reflect on their knowledge of dyslexia and related SEN school policy and related policy intervention.
The study has received ethical approval from the University of Bath Department of Social and Policy Sciences and is being undertaken in adherence to ethical guidelines from the Social Research Association which can be viewed at: http://the-sra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ethics03.pdf
CONFIDENTIALITY/ ANONYMITY
Data collected will be stored with regard to the 1998 Data Protection Act and will adhere to the Social Research Association’s ethical guidelines.
I will take responsible steps to ensure confidentiality and anonymity: data will be kept separately from documents which could allow participants to be identified; recorded device, computer systems will be password protected. School sites will be given pseudonyms and teachers’ names will be coded. As teachers from the same school will be familiar with each other, potentially compromising or sensitive data will be treated sensitively and will not from part of the final study without consultation with project supervisors and participant.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
This research study is being undertaken at the University of Bath as part
The task
A small research
LOOK BACK ON THE COMMENTS SECTIONS ON PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENT
Parent’s perceptions (INSPIRE) small research
What works/support do parents do at home?
(Visual methods, creative methods of applying)
Teacher’s perceptions
Student’s perceptions
Future proposal (TENSE)
Past tense (review)
MEET YOU TUTOR
Teaching channel
Learning, diversity
Critical Psychology
To what degree does education promote social justice or injustice for those with dyslexia and for those parents of dyslexic students?
My research aim is to find the perceptions and feelings of parents of dyslexic learners in the British School, in Abu Dhabi regarding the promotion of dyslexia support through school subjects, together with how they support and use strategies to overcome some difficulties at home.
Problem statement
Parents
My aim is to find out the perceptions of parents on how dyslexia is being promoted, supported in a British School in Abu Dhabi.
To understand what methods parents use to assist their children with dyslexic difficulties
The aim is to discover what methods are used by parents of dyslexic students and whether parents have used any cognitive strategies for their dyslexic children (technology, cognitive exercises, Brian Gym).
Using and developing strategies overtime for dyslexic learners may assist with cognitive capacities for those learners. Providing an awareness of these strategies to parents and teachers can also provide the “prolonged and repeated experience of children or adults can form new neuronal connections”
Under pinning this research is Bernstein’s analysis of integration, in the sense of the UK curriculum keeps these learners together, although they have differing ways of accessing learning. (Integration/ mechanical) Mechanical = collective conscience of what dyslexia is and perhaps through what the curriculum holds and the way learners with dyslexia learn and are supported/ or not.
Dyslexia can provide an obstacle on the curriculum (knowledge and the way it is transmitted)
Pedagogy (the methods) of transmission on this knowledge
Evaluation (assessment/testing) is linked and constrained by curriculum and pedagogy
Classification = separate subjects and the boundaries between them (strategies of learning support)
Framing = Strong or weak (do the teachers control the way learning support is used) weak
Strong = following a tight curriculum and the learner has no control over what is taught
How do these concepts work. Are teachers and parents in control (have the power) to the content they teach, the way it is organised and sequenced.
Thus “integrated code” learners with dyslexia may bring a balance of power between the teachers and what they teach and the way they can support learners.
Underpinning Bernstein the thoughts of parents towards how learners are taught and supported provides attitudes and perceptions of how knowledge can control and mould a learners attitudes towards reality and possibly how dyslexia is manifested in education and the curriculum. Thus to value the democracy of education parents and learners, as well as teachers are stake holders:
Bernsteins conditions for democracy:
Enhancement access to critical understanding and new possibilities —-can be possible with confidence at an individual level (dyslexia suffer from this)
Inclusion – the right to be socially part of not being excluded through learning support
Early intervention towards dyslexia is essential towards diagnosis of dyslexia and also the process of getting appropriate support. Parents play a central part towards this process, practice and policy for the support in education. However, parents are often reluctant to seek potential support and communicate with teachers and schools and “find it difficult to openly consult about any difficulties their child may be experiencing” and concerns over the “lack of a diagnosis or a feeling that their child’s educational needs are being recognized or met” (Reid, 2010, p. 157).
Some parents want a label (a sense of being recognised) searching for an answer to a condition which has been an obstacle towards getting the necessary treatment.
Some feel that school needs to be aware of the child’s progress in all aspects of the curriculum and this needs to be discussed, between parents and school to deal with any lack of progress.
Some parents perception is that the school/ educational setting “does not accept dyslexia”
Parents anxieties and potential conflict often arise from individuals and interest groups who may have different ideas towards support needed.
This research is aimed at providing a voice to a group, parents, who can be excluded to the curriculum and the classroom. The use of Bernstein theories of education democracy this study aims at evaluating those ‘voices’ involved with dyslexia support and draw out new voices which often underpin notions of equality and an epistemology of education for social justice (Freire, 1970). This would also mean that all the stakeholders and communities involved with learner and dyslexic a support must collaborate to understand diversity and any discrimination (
Luke, A., Comber, B., & Grant, H
. (2003). Critical
literacies and cultural studies. In G. Bull &
Anstey (Eds.),
The literacy lexicon
(2nd ed., pp. 15–35). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson
Education
The central aim of the collective focus of dyslexic support in education democracy is a commitment to provide “new spaces for collaborative work engaged in productive social change.” (Giroux, H. A., & Shannon, P., 1997. Education and Cultural Studies toward a Performative Practice. Routledge. The engagement of all those involved has the potential to transform not only the support for the dyslexic support, but also teaching practice and school policy.
Learners achievement also depends on the relationships of all those involved and where the support and education takes place. Bronfenbrenner (1997) theories point out that learners do not evolve independently, but also the “larger social contexts, both formal and informal, in which these setting are embedded” (Bronfenbrenner, 1997, p. 513). These settings, as Bronfenbrenner, are two proximal systems, a microsystem and the mesosytem. The microsystem consists of the child’s immediate context e.g. what parents say or do to support the learner’s achievement. Whereas the mesosystem comprises the interactions the learner has in major settings where the learner is developing at a particular point of time. Thus, a learner through the mesosystem can include ‘family’ ‘school’ or any other grouping/ community that individual belongs. Thus, these complex systems and the relationships become critical for developing understanding of parental influence towards supporting dyslexia and identifying “the nature and value of learning and education through their ongoing interactions with their caregivers, teachers, and mentors” (Bempechat & Shernoff, 2012, p. 315). Critically, understanding these relationships and nurturing collaborations can stem not just support, but can work to “stem the tide of underachievement and disengagement” (Bempechat and Shernoff, 212, p. 316) dyslexic may have due to the difficulty accessing the curriculum.
Attitudes, values
Literature review:
Through Bernstein (and others, Bourdieu) drawing on theories of critical pedagogy this research will follow the path of reflection to the development, production and involvement of learning support within the culture of schooling and parental relationships access and engagement to that educational support. The data and findings through pedagogical perspectives will seek to review, reflect and potentially assist with help transform the relationships, and practices that are respond from parent’s perceptions and the policy of learning support in school.
Highlight any Hegemony that may be acted as a social control through a process of policy controlling the practices of how pedagogy is represented within any learning support that is undertaken. It may then challenge teachers to identify within there own practices a responsibility to modify, change, deffereintiate classrooms and practice tied to the hegemony of what the policy states/ not states towards those learners. Importantly, labels of dyslexia may add to a general consciousness of
Social constructionists – (Vivian Burr (1995) often four ideas that social constructionists) http://methods.sagepub.com/book/doing-conversation-discourse-and-document-analysis/n1.xml
A critical perspective on taken-for-granted knowledge and understanding
A perspective that the world is both historically and culturally specific
Knowledge is created, sustained and renewed by social processes
Knowledge and actions are intimately related and reflexively inform each other.
Burr, V.(1995)An Introduction to Social Constructionism. London: Routledge.
Methodology
Conversation analysis
Discursive psychology (how actions and practises are accomplished in and through the talk)
Van Dijk (1999) describes the two positions that those who study discourse can find themselves in. On the one hand, these are those analysts who
are not afraid to make use of their social knowledge that being black, being a woman, being young or being the boss will most likely be evident from the way people write and talk. In other words, they assume that discourse may reproduce social inequality. (1999, p. 460)
The counter-claim, made by another group of analysts, is that
such an approach should not merely presuppose (even plausible) contextualisation, but ‘prove’ it by attending to the details of what social members actually say and do. If not, contextualisation is pointless because of its discursive irrelevance. (1999, p. 460)
Interviews with the Parents in the SEN Support group
Questions raised from the School Policy on SEN
The questions will reflect parent’s assumptions and ideas raised in the policy
Does the parents of dyslexic learners that schools foster the recommendations from their child’ s Psychological and Educational Report?
democratic practises of learning?
Do these rights exist, are conditions met?
Do they apply to all learners, or just some?
Although there are rights for SEN (UNESCO, WARWICK REPORT, SALAMANCA) the challenge as Dewey
Lit review
Bernstein (democratic value and education) how power is placed and works in an educational/ school context (equality: What is it? How does equality work in the context of SEN and dyslexia)
Equality:
Does it mean equal entitlement to access to select a certain type of schooling or curriculum?
Providing equal chances and opportunities to learners to explore and fulfil their learning potentials.
Do dyslexic learners have equality of resources in education?
Are dyslexic children, (also SEN) provided more funding due to claim of equality and does this support differ from national and international systems of education.
What equates as equality when it comes to the distribution or resources to support dyslexic learners?
Bourdieu – habitus and labelling (Dyslexia)
National and International perspectives on SEN and inclusive education
Current developments and legislation
“a democracy – a society in which every member is in process of education for the highest forms of behaviour of which he is capable”
The choices through national and international policy on SEN and inclusion is aimed to “create institutions of liberal education throughout the world so that reason and morality could flourish on a global scale” (Nelson, 2001, p. 257, Education and democracy: The meaning of Alexander Meiklejohn)
Methodology (what do parents feel? Which parts of learning are equal/unequal? Subjects are difficult? Skills are difficult/easy? What parts of learning or subjects are perceived easy/ hard?
Questionnaire
Semi-structured interviews
Semi-structured focus group discussion
Following steps
Teachers
-Kids
Drawings to describe each subject (English, Math, science and looking at metaphors)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Neuroplasticity: Begin to Change A Life with Dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, Autism Today (Video)
From Examiner.com
By Tina Burgess
October 20, 2012
http://www.specialneedsdigest.com/2012/10/neuroplasticity-begin-to-change-life.html
“Because there is a lack of knowledge and facts about neuroplasticity, there is a general trend in education to keep practicing the same instructional remediation methods for children with learning disabilities.” Neuroplasticity helps children with learning disabilities
http://dyslexiauntied.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/neuroplasticity-helps-children-with.html
This notion contrasts with the previous scientific consensus that the brain develops during a critical period in early childhood, then remains relatively unchangeable (or “static”) afterward.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity
Students with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder or autism, however, do not have to be confined to develop new cognitive capacities.
In order for the brains of dyslexics, ADD/ADHD or autistic individuals to change, children or adults need one major component – experience.
Through prolonged and repeated experience, the brains of children or adults can form new neuronal pathways and new neuronal connections.
Does the field promote social justice or injustice for the population of interest or for society at large?
What are parents (of those with dyslexia) perceptions are
This paper presents research findings on the perceptions and feelings of primary school learners with dyslexia in Singapore regarding their learning of school subjects through English, together with how they use strategies to overcome some difficulties.
Seen by many as the best UK curriculum school in the capital, non-profit based British School in Al Khubairat, Abu Dhabi serves approximately 1800 students from 50 nationalities, from the ages of three to eighteen years old. The school was established in 1968, making it one of the oldest schools in the emirate.
1800 students
Sixty-two percent of students are British, Emiratis account for 12% of the school’s population and 4% are Australian. Nearly 10% of students receive some form of learning support.
Theory positions our research in relation to the field
Disabilities affect patterns of participation and success in higher education
The role that dyslexia plays in including and excluding educational access
Bernstein (fixed or ritual)
Instrumental and Expressive
Instrumental – relates to the ‘knowledge’ BSAK wants to transfer (learners are intended to acquire knowledge and specific skills based on UK standards
=Sets up standards and failures
Expressive
Values and norms (acting in a certain way) transmission of values and norms (learners are intended to develop) ways of learning
“stratified” control – being placed in terms of position ability (dyslexia)
“personal” transmission = variable attributes which undergo development by the school (Learning support)
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