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izz aty

Equity, democracy, and neoliberal assaults on teacher education - 1 views

www.sciencedirect.com/...S0742051X08000656

american special ed high-stakes testing neoliberalism education globalisation democracy teacher education

shared by izz aty on 18 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Although in the long run, neoliberalism has a track record of undermining equity and democracy, in the short run it has directed attention to education needs that have been inadequately addressed
  • what teacher education in the US can do to advance equity and democracy in five areas: recruitment and admission, early fieldwork, professional coursework, student teaching, and on-going professional development
  • three neoliberal pressures teacher education: (1) away from explicit equity-oriented teacher preparation, and toward preparing teachers as technicians; (2) away from defining teacher quality in terms of professional knowledge, and toward defining it terms testable content knowledge; and (3) toward shortening university-based teacher education or by-passing it altogether. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of collaborating with underserved communities as a way of pushing back against neoliberalism.
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  • Although in the long run, neoliberalism has a track record of undermining equity and democracy, in the short run it has directed attention to education needs that have been inadequately addressed.
  • neoliberalism has a track record of undermining equity and democracy, in the short run it has directed attention to education needs that have been inadequately addressed
izz aty

OECD (2012), Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Sch... - 0 views

www.oecd.org/...50293148.pdf

OECD education equity school equality

shared by izz aty on 27 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • izz aty on 27 Nov 14
     
    OECD (2012), Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Schools, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264130852-en
izz aty

Evan Hastings: Shadow Puppets for Social Justice - 0 views

evanhastings.blogspot.com/...uppets-for-socail-justice.html

creativity learning lesson plans ideas references language learning social justice justice society education teaching equality equity social issues social phenomenon social problems puppets shadow shadow puppets crafts language esol english

shared by izz aty on 18 Oct 12 - Cached
  • A collaborative shadow puppet performance dialogue, engaged issues including: racism with low expectations for urban youth, gang pressures and influence in elementary school, and the need for safe clean parks and playgrounds.
  • Facilitated by Arzu Mistry & Evan Hastings
  • How can we use the arts as a medium for dialogue?Teachers brought stories and dreams illuminating the space between shadows they navigate on a journey for justice.
  • izz aty on 18 Oct 12
     
    "CREATING EQUITY: INQUIRY & ART MAKING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE"
izz aty

Tanenbaum | The 7 principles for inclusive education (pdf) - 0 views

tanenbaum.org/...ED-Seven-Principles.pdf

inclusive education education special education

shared by izz aty on 16 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • izz aty on 16 Nov 14
     
    The well-researched and accessible pedagogy, Seven Principles for Inclusive Education, is the underpinning for all of Tanenbaum's curricula and teacher training programs (training in the Seven Principles is a core piece of all our teacher training programs). The Seven Principles can be applied to any classroom or lesson plan to increase equity and decrease exclusion. 1. Teaching All Students Educators should take several different approaches to teaching the same material so that information becomes more interesting and tangible to a greater number of students. 2. Exploring Multiple Identities Students who are proud of themselves and excited by the world around them will be more compassionate and understanding people; the same is true for educators. 3. Preventing Prejudice Educators should take a proactive approach to debunking preconceived stereotypes and preventing them from escalating into prejudices and negative biases. 4. Promoting Social Justice Students are good judges of what is fair, especially when they are affirmatively challenged to consider issues of social justice. Educators should talk to them about issues of social justice and injustice in terms of fair versus unfair, respectful versus disrespectful. 5. Choosing Appropriate Materials Inclusive classrooms use books and materials that reflect accurate images of diverse peoples and challenge stereotypes. 6. Teaching and Learning About Cultures and Religions Educators should create curiosity and expand students' horizons by teaching about others in a positive manner. Students should have the opportunity to learn from their peers as well as other cultures. 7. Adapting and Integrating Lessons Appropriately Educators should be flexible when using and adapting lessons in our curricula, as well as in prescribed curricula in general. Many of the most teachable moments are unplanned and unscripted.
izz aty

No child left behind: (Relative) equity in Finnish schools -  Inside classroo... - 0 views

www.insideclassrooms.com/...tive-equity-in-finnish-schools

finnish special ed scandinavian education finnish education

shared by izz aty on 21 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • not only is Finland a top performer in all three subjects tested in PISA, they manage to do so while making schooling equitable.
  • The aim of day-care is to support balanced growth, development and learning as well as promoting the personal well-being of all children, which means that by the time they start formal school at age 7, Finnish children that would have been behind developmentally at age 5 have had the time and the support to catch up. 
  • In Finland, although there is no formal education until age 7, most students attend preschool at 6, and day-care is available to all children under this age. This day-care is provided by the local authority in over 90% of cases, and its cost is dependent on the size and income of the family (bigger families pay less per child, and low income families pay nothing). 
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  • all classes are mixed ability.
  • high expectations of all students, and these are to meet the objectives set out in the national curriculum.
  • These mixed ability classes would be difficult for teachers to handle if it weren't for three things: thorough teacher education - teacher training includes a significant focus on differentiation and how to support students at all levels;small class sizes - the estimated average size is 14.1 (although some research suggests class size doesn't affect student performance); anda well staffed student support system - special teachers that provide in class support and take out small groups are qualified teachers with further qualifications in special education.
  • There are two types of special classes. The type described above is called the E class, and there is one in each year. These classes are smaller than the others, and they have the same teacher for most subjects (who should be a qualified teacher with an extra qualification in special needs, but in practice these are in short supply). Students can move in and out of this class, but in practice they usually stay there for most subjects, occasionally joining another class if they have a strength in a particular area.
  • Those with severe or specific special needs still attend mainstream school, but are in a class of their own somewhere in the district. Each school has its own specialism. This may mean travelling a little while to get there, as only one or two schools will have an autistic class for example. 
  • There isn't really special provision for gifted students
  • brighter students help struggling students in class which enhances their own understanding
  • if students are motivated, you can't stop them learning - gifted students will take the books and teach themselves (one of the teachers who told me this had four degrees but had come from a tiny school in the countryside).
  • Finland has only small differences in performance between schools (a measure closely associated with equality), and most students go to their local schools (to age 15).
  • Selection only happens in two situations: where students are applying to language emersion schools (and the student has to speak the language to a certain level), and where students are applying for a certain class in a school that is the school's specialism, such as Music or Sports (these classes have the same basic curriculum with additional Music or Sports lessons). There are no grammar schools, and very few private schools (and even these have to follow the national curriculum).
izz aty

Grimaldi, E. 2010.Neoliberalism and the marginalisation of social justice: the making o... - 0 views

www.tandfonline.com/...13603116.2010.548105

neoliberalism education social justice

shared by izz aty on 21 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • The study shows how neoliberalism is increasingly re-defining the domains of validity, normativity and actuality according to an economic rationale; within these domains the actors frame the problems of social exclusion and dropout and choose the solutions to address them
  • the overall framework of discourses of human capital, individualisation, school improvement, performativity and standardisation impedes any contextualised, multidimensional and critical approach to social exclusion as well as the pursuing of any egalitarian outcomes, be they (re)distributional, cultural or associational outcomes.
  • izz aty on 21 Nov 14
     
    "The paper analyses how the establishment of neoliberalism, as the new global orthodoxy, in the field of education implies a substantial subjugation and marginalisation of policies and practices informed by the values of social justice and equity"
izz aty

England's Ranking in International League Tables | National Union of Teachers - NUT - 0 views

www.teachers.org.uk/...in-international-league-tables

english education education ESTEkiv state school OECD PISA social problems social phenomenon social justice england united kingdom

shared by izz aty on 17 May 14 - No Cached
  • The Sutton Trust report said that big variations in England’s education rankings in global league tables can be misleading, should be treated with caution and can obscure the true challenges facing schools.
  • apparent differences in performance between different global tables, are the result of three key factors: Different countries are included in the different tables; League tables exaggerate the importance of raw test scores; and Some countries do better on one survey than another, perhaps because the surveys test different aspects of literacy, numeracy and science.
  • Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, said:“Whatever the average ranking of English education, we need to focus on reducing social segregation which is greater in England than almost all other OECD countries
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  • We also need to improve teaching standards across the board and not focus so much on structures if we are to match those countries that consistently outperform the rest of the world – not just places like Hong Kong and Japan, but successful European education systems – and use their achievement as our benchmark
  • School systems that offer parents more school choices are less effective in raising the performance of all children
  • UK state schools outperform private schools;
  • Financial constraints limits school ‘choice’ for low income families
  • PISA 2009 had some interesting things to say on schools systems, choice and equity, finding, for example that: Comprehensive school systems produce better and more equitable results;
  • Exclusions and school transfer of pupils reduces performance.
  • Pisa is unequivocal in saying that: “The bottom line is that the quality of a school system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.”
  • The top ranked countries were Finland and South Korea where, despite huge differences, there was a shared social belief in the importance of education and its “underlying moral purpose”. These countries also had among the lowest levels of school choice and Finland had the lowest levels of school autonomy.
  • The Pearson report concluded that spending on education was important but less so than other factors. For example it said successful countries gave teachers a high status and have a ‘culture’ of education.
  • also emphasised the importance of high-quality teachers and the need to find ways to recruit the best staff – including raising teacher status, professional respect and pay.
  • OECD, PISA 2009 Results: What Makes a School Successful? – Resources, Policies and Practices (Volume IV) (OECD Publishing, 2010)
izz aty

WORLD DECLARATION ON HIGHER EDUCATION FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: VISION AND ACTION - 0 views

www.unesco.org/...declaration_eng.htm

shared by izz aty on 06 Aug 15 - Cached
  • WORLD CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION   Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Vision and Action 9 October 1998   WORLD DECLARATION ON HIGHER EDUCATION FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: VISION AND ACTION
  • Convinced that education is a fundamental pillar of human rights, democracy, sustainable development and peace, and shall therefore become accessible to all throughout life and that measures are required to ensure co-ordination and co-operation across and between the various sectors, particularly between general, technical and professional secondary and post-secondary education as well as between universities, colleges and technical institutions,
  • Article 9 - Innovative educational approaches: critical thinking and creativity
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  • (a) In a world undergoing rapid changes, there is a perceived need for a new vision and paradigm of higher education, which should be student-oriented, calling in most countries for in-depth reforms and an open access policy so as to cater for ever more diversified categories of people, and of its contents, methods, practices and means of delivery, based on new types of links and partnerships with the community and with the broadest sectors of society.
  • (b) Higher education institutions should educate students to become well informed and deeply motivated citizens, who can think critically, analyse problems of society, look for solutions to the problems of society, apply them and accept social responsibilities.
  • (d) New methods of education will also imply new types of teaching-learning materials. These have to be coupled with new methods of testing that will promote not only powers of memory but also powers of comprehension, skills for practical work and creativity.
  • new information technology does not reduce the need for teachers but changes their role in relation to the learning process and that the continuous dialogue that converts information into knowledge and understanding becomes fundamental.
  • Higher education institutions should lead in drawing on the advantages and potential of new information and communication technologies, ensuring quality and maintaining high standards for education practices and outcomes in a spirit of openness, equity and international co-operation by:
izz aty

Inclusive Education In Malaysia Education Essay - 0 views

www.ukessays.com/...n-malaysia-education-essay.php

malaysia malaysian education inclusive education education

shared by izz aty on 26 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • Inclusive education in Malaysia originated from the ‘special education’ agenda as defined in the Education Act 1996 (1998) and its approach is referred to this tradition.
  • These mandates are intended to promote equal rights and access to education for persons with disabilities. The ‘educability’ criterion assumes that there are children who are uneducable within the public school system and thus these children are catered to within community-based rehabilitation (CBR) settings (MOE, 2006). CBR programmes are government-initiated, centre-based programmes at the community level aimed to provide education that emphasises therapy and rehabilitation to children with learning disabilities (Kuno, 2007). CBR programmes are quite detached from the mainstream school system. However, in practice, the division between both provisions is less definite, and students who should benefit from them become victims of bureaucratic procedures (Adnan & Hafiz, 2001).
  • Malaysia embarked on the first stage when the first school for the blind was opened in 1929, followed by a school for the deaf very much later in 1954
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  • These schools were initiated under the programs of the Ministry of Social Welfare with the help of religious missionaries. Malaysia entered its second stage when professional preparation programs for special education were formally established by the Ministry of Education in 1961. Lacking its own expertise and technology, Malaysia entered its third stage when it began importing knowledge and expertise by sending its education professionals abroad for research degrees and in-service attachments in special needs education in the 1980s and 1990s, and attempting to customize what was learned to its national conditions. Malaysia’s participation in international workshops and activities of the UN and UNESCO and subsequent reforms as reflected in the Education Act (1998) describes the active development of policy and changes in practices during this period. In 1993, the first preservice teacher preparation leading to a Bachelor of Education degree program in special needs education was initiated in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The program was developed alongside a collaborative project in curriculum development with three universities in the United Kingdom, namely, the Universities of Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge (Jelas, 1996; 1999).
  • The terms ‘special needs’ introduced in the Education Act 1996 (1998) are defined as follows: “Pupils with special needs’ means pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities” And ‘inclusive education’ is introduced as part of the continuum of services available for children with special needs: “Special education programme” means – A programme which is provided in special schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment; An integrated programme in general schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities; and An inclusive education programme for pupils with special needs and who are able to attend normal classes together with normal pupils” (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 341)
  • However, the eligibility for special education placement is based on the ‘educability’ of children as assessed by a team of professionals. This is documented in the Act, which states: “(1) For government and government-aided schools, pupils with special needs who are educable are eligible to attend the special education programme except for the following pupils: physically handicapped pupils with the mental ability to learn like normal pupils; and pupils with multiple disabilities or with profound physical handicap or severe mental retardation. A pupil with special needs is educable if he is able to manage himself without help and is confirmed by a panel consisting of a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD, as capable of undergoing the national educational programme” (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 342) The eligibility dilemma
  • While the current public policy for children with special educational needs, particularly those categories of children classified as experiencing ‘learning disabilities’ have access to regular schools as stated in the Act, the ‘educability’ criteria contradicts the goals of providing equal education opportunities as stipulated in the United Nation’s Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), The Salamanca Statement (1994) and the Biwako Millenium Framework for Action (UNESCAP, 2002).
  • Foreign experts are initially relied upon to provide the knowledge and to encourage its development prior to the emergence of a profession within a country. The first professionals to provide services are usually trained abroad. The second stage followed this first stage, in which colleges and universities established programs and departments to teach the discipline and prepare the professionals. The second stage leads to the third stage, in which colleges and universities import developed from abroad to achieve standards that characterised the discipline in more developed nations. During this stage, the concepts, theories and models of implementation found in the more developed countries are taught, applied and tested; some of which may transfer more successfully than others.
  • Before special programmes were available, students with special needs were described by their characteristics and by the instructional challenges they presented to teachers. When the education system began to respond to the needs of each emerging group of special needs students, services were established and eligibility criteria determined. From that point on, a child was identified (for school and placement purposes) as having or experiencing a ‘special educational need’ and if he or she is “able to manage him or herself without help” (Education Act 1996, 1998), the child will be eligible for a given programme or service. This process was repeated as each new group of special needs students emerged – for example, children with visual and hearing impairments in the 1960s, children with mild intellectual in the 1980s and 1990s, and more recently, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders and children with dyslexia.
  • in the Education Act 1996 (1998) that the perspectives of professionals (“a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD” p. 342) have the most power in determining the way children are categorised and whether these children are “capable of undergoing the national educational programme” (Education Act 1996, 1998)
  • policy makers and professionals continue to see special schools and classes as well as categories as having an important place in provisions. Responses at the Ministerial level revealed an emphasis on diversity and acceptance of human characteristics as problematic and that learning difficulties are technical problems that require specialised discipline knowledge that cannot be dealt with in the “normal classes with normal children” (Education Act 1996, 1998 p. 341).
  • The National Report on the development of education states: Inclusion in Malaysia subscribed to the concept of placing SEN students into mainstream classes to be educated alongside their peers, either with or without additional support, and within the present school system. This concept of IE (inclusive education) might not be in line with the ideal concept based on “acceptance, belonging and about providing school settings in which all disadvantaged children can be valued equally and be provided with equal educational opportunities … (MOE, 2004, p. 28),
  • Even though inclusive education was implemented at the policy level more than 10 years ago and school participation has rapidly increased quantitatively, Malaysia is far from reaching its goal of providing “a responsive education path for every child and youth with SEN” (MOE, 2004)
  • The emphasis on the ability “to cope with mainstream learning” seemed consistent with the integration models that came about in the 1980s. Integration models mainly focused on placing students with mild disabilities, identified and “diagnosed” as having special needs in mainstream schools. In such models, students must adapt to the norms, expectations, styles, routines and practices of the education system instead of the education system adapting to the learner (UNESCO, 2008). The integrated programme is the dominant format for delivering services to special needs students in Malaysia, then and now.
  • Once placed, few special education students returned to the regular education class on full-time basis. Although the special classroom and special schools continued as options, integrated programmes (placement in regular classrooms) for students with visual and hearing impairments are available with support from the resource teacher
  • Historically, the disenchantment of many special educators and the concern of the efficacy of the prevailing approach (Ainscow, 1994; Meyen & Skrtic, 1995; Sorrells, Rieth & Sindelar, 2004; Stainback & Stainback, 1992) raised questions about how best to assure a quality and equitable education for students with disabilities and spawned the push for a more inclusive approach to special education programming. While these reforms were mandated in the United Nations Declarations and UNESCO’s Framework of Actions on special needs education of which Malaysia’s policy on inclusive education subscribes to, the focus on diagnosis, prescription, and intervention continued to be central to determining eligibility and making placement decisions. Thus, although special education practices had changed, the grounding assumptions of human pathology and organisational rationality (Biklen, 2000; Oliver, 1996; Skrtic, 1991) have not been critically examined. In this context, special education is used to maintain and legitimise exclusion of students with disabilities within a school culture and system characterised by competition and selection (Skrtic, 1995; Corbett, 1999; Slee, 2001; Kearney & Kane, 2006).
  • While the philosophical basis of including SEN students into mainstream schools is accepted as a policy, the continued legitimization of paradigms that exclude SEN students is also acknowledged by rationalising between the “ideal” and the “not-so-ideal” concept of inclusive education. This ambivalence is reinforced by the following statements: Prior to inclusion, especially in the early part of their formal education, SEN students are equipped with relevant basic skills and knowledge to enable them to cope with mainstream learning. Only those who are diagnosed capable to cope with mainstream learning would be included fully or partially. (MOE, 2004, p. 29)
  • In principle, Malaysia is committed to providing education for all with the implementation of compulsory education in 2003 as evident by a high participation rate of 98.49 per cent (MOE, 2004). This statement of intent towards compulsory education for all which was an amendment of the Education Act 1996, however, did not include children with disabilities
  • The radical perspective that leads to a reconceptualisation of special educational needs have been well documented for the past twenty years (Barton, 1988; Lipsky & Gartner, 1989; Ainscow, 1991; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1994; Clark et. al., 1998; Donoghue, 2003) and critiques argued and showed evidence how the education system creates rather than remediate disabilities (Skrtic, 1991; Corbett, 1999; Vlachou, 2004; Carrington & Robinson, 2006). The new perspective on special educational needs is based on the view that the way forward must be to reform schools in ways that will make them respond positively to pupil diversity, seeing individual differences as something to be nurtured. But, as cautioned by Ainscow (1994): This kind of approach is only possible in schools where there exist a respect for individuality and a culture of collaboration that encourages and supports problem-solving. Such cultures are likely to facilitate the learning of all pupils and, alongside them, the professional learning of all teachers. Ultimately, therefore, this line of argument makes the case that increasing equity is the key to improvements in schooling for all. (Ainscow, 1994, p12)
  • Education in Malaysia is driven largely by an examination–oriented system characterised by curriculum rigidity and rote learning rather than critical and independent thinking. Like schools in Singapore and Hong Kong (Poon-McBrayer, 2004), school leadership are in great pressure to compete for the best examination results in terms of the percentages of passes and the number of A’s acquired by students in public school examinations
  • The culture of elitism compels parents to prepare their children to be accepted into high ranking or fully residential schools which usually achieve high scores in examination results.
  • Although the ‘intertwining of the standards and inclusion agenda’ can lead to positive consequences (Ainscow et al, 2006), the emphasis on the preparation and drill for the public examinations therefore, left little or no time for teachers to accommodate individual learning needs of students in general. Media reports on schools’ and students’ performance intensify competition and further marginalise SEN students, who, to a large extent are not expected to compete. Competing priorities make it more difficult for schools to fully include children with SEN.
  • Continued advancement of special needs education in Malaysia will require bifocal perspectives. One focus has an international perspective and requires Malaysians’ awareness of the international body of literature and trends in practice that enables them to take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained by those in other countries. Malaysia may also profit especially from knowledge provided by its Asian neighbours namely Japan, India and China, or other countries that seems to be struggling with many of the same issues.
  • effective special needs education services require awareness of social and educational traditions, social philosophies that manifest in schooling and school culture and ways of resolving conflict that may be unique to one country and the impact these qualities have on general and special needs education services (Peters, 2003).
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