G Dillon

Chasing Dreams and Recognising Realities: Teachers' Responses to ICT

The teaching profession’s response to the inexorable march of new technology into education has been a focus of research for some 30 years. Linked with the impact of ICT on measurable performance outcomes, teacher attitudes to technology and the impact on pedagogic practice have been central to that research, a research that has often seen teachers as a barrier, not a force for change. The current article brings together findings from a decade of studies that have explored the ways in which teaching staff have responded to the growing notion that ICT is a core part of the teaching toolkit. In doing so we question the simplistic stereotyping of Luddite teachers. Drawing on findings from rare, but crucially important, longitudinal projects the article discusses hopes and fears raised by teaching staff when confronted with changes to existing pedagogy, before moving on to explore issues such as the ‘technology dip’, how maturity modelling can inform our understanding of technological change in schools and ways forward for helping teaching staff to embed technology into their teaching. The article concludes with a discussion of why it is important that the educational system meets this challenge from a learner’s perspective.

Capturing Complexity through Maturity Modelling.

Abstract The impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on the process and products of education is difficult to assess for a number of reasons. In brief, education is a complex system of interrelationships, of checks and balances. This context is not a neutral backdrop on which teaching and learning are played out. Rather, it may help, or hinder, the task of embedding an innovation into the educational environment. In addition to this we know that technological innovations are rarely a direct cause of change but rather act as a facilitator or amplifier of existing educational practices. While much thoughtful and illuminating research has been conducted into the impact of ICT on education, the story so far is both confused and confusing. The authors argue that to capture a greater proportion of this complexity, a necessary prerequisite for the development of predictive dynamic models of the impact of ICT on the educational process, then we need to first develop an analytical tool which allows the synthesis of multiple-sourced data. The research framework presented here is being developed for the evaluation of the Department for Education and Skills/British Educational Communications and Technology Agency ‘Test Bed’ project, which seeks to establish the educational costs and benefits of new technologies in environments across primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, when ‘sufficient’ technology is present.

Parental Perspectives of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders Transitioning From Primary to Secondary School in the United Kingdom

Transferring from mainstream primary to secondary school can be especially problematic for children with an autism spectrum disorder. Two groups of parents (nine pretransition and six posttransition parents) contributed to this 15-month-long study. Perceptions of the pretransition group were captured through focus groups and in-depth interviews at three critical times: before transition, one term in, and after a full year of secondary schooling. The posttransition group provided retrospective perceptions. The data, coded using a grounded theory approach, confirmed that transition was problematic in the first year, although there were signs of integration by the second year of secondary school. The establishment of friendship groups and peer acceptance appeared to be the key criteria for successful transition.

Reading the Road: The Influence of Age and Sex on Child Pedestrians' Perceptions of Road Risk

The United Kingdom has one of the highest records of child pedestrian accidents in the European Union, and statistics show boys are particularly vulnerable. This study investigated whether there were identifiable developmental or sex differences in the perception of road risk, which might explain the occurrence of such child pedestrian accidents. The study was a between-participants experimental design with three independent variables: age, sex and task. The sample comprised 119 school children in three age groups (7-8 years; 9-10 years and 11-12 years) with equal sex distribution in each age group. All children, tested individually, completed two sorting tasks. The tasks differed in that children first classified 20 photographs of road scenes on self-selected criteria (free sort) and then reclassified the scenes on the basis of safety of each scene (cued sort). When children operated a free sort, age differences were apparent in both the number and type of categories produced. However, this age variation was not apparent for the cued sort showing that the younger children were strongly influenced by cueing. Younger children exhibited a more personal and idiosyncratic perspective of the road compared to older children, who were able to view the road from global perspectives. Sex differences in assessing safety were limited but interesting, demonstrating that the males focussed on physical attributes of the scene and females on the actors within the scene. The focus of females on the dynamic attributes of the scene may be a partial explanation of their greater safety record compared to their male peers.

Computer mediated imaginative storytelling in children with autism

The imaginative abilities of children on the autistic spectrum are reportedly impaired compared to typically developing children. This study explored computer mediated story construction in children with autism and typically developing peers. The purpose was to explore expressive writing ability, as a measure of imagination. Ten pairs of individually matched children (one typically developing and one child on the autistic spectrum) aged between seven and nine created reality and fantasy based stories using Bubble Dialogue software. The study provided a brief starting point for the stories, relying on the imaginative capabilities of the children to develop the stories beyond the story opening. The study contributes to the literature as an alternative to paper based studies of imagination given the known appeal of technology to most children, particularly children on the autistic spectrum (Gal et al., 2005). This study found that the children with autism were as able as the typically developing children to engage with the task, although qualitative differences in their responses were recorded.

Autism and the U.K. Secondary School Experience

This research investigated the self-reported mainstream school experiences of those diagnosed on the autistic spectrum compared with the typically developing school population. Existing literature identifies four key areas that affect the quality of the school experience for students with autism: social skills, perceived relationships with teaching staff, general school functioning, and interpersonal strengths of the young person. These areas were explored in a mainstream U.K. secondary school with 14 students with autism and 14 age and gender matched students without autism, using self-report questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative analyses showed consistent school experiences for both groups, although content analysis of interview data highlighted some differences in the ways in which the groups perceive group work, peers, and teaching staff within school. Implications for school inclusion are discussed, drawing attention to how staff awareness of autism could improve school experience and success for students with autism attending mainstream schools.

It’s sort of reaffirmed to me that I'm not a monster, I'm not a terrible person: sex offenders’ movements toward desistance via peer-support roles in prison

Individuals incarcerated in prisons across the United Kingdom and abroad are able to volunteer for a variety of peer-support roles, which are characterized by prisoner-to-prisoner helping. Some research has found that such roles can represent turning points in the lives of those who have offended and encourage movements toward desistance. This proposed redemptive influence is argued to result from the prosocial behaviors that such roles appear to elicit in their holders. The present study aims to explore the mechanics of this claimed influence. While a limited amount of research has attempted this on a general offending population, no research has done so with a sample of sexual offenders. Given the intensive treatment programs involved in such contexts, and the requirements for sexual offenders to demonstrate reduced risk, the authors believe those serving time for sexual offenses represent an important sample on which to explore the potentially redemptive properties of peer-support roles. To this end, 13 peer supporters participated in semistructured interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using a phenomenologically oriented thematic analysis. Results suggest that sexual offenders who adopt peer-support roles are able to live up to desired selves by “doing good” in prison, “giving back,” and consequently resisting negative labels. These benefits have been theoretically linked with better reintegration outcomes for sexual offenders, who are publicly denigrated in the extreme and find it especially difficult to (re)integrate. Suggestions regarding the future utility of such schemes are offered.

A prison-model of CoSA: the potential to offer “through the gate” support and accountability

ABSTRACT Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) are an intervention used to support and enable those who have been convicted of a sexual offence (core member), to reintegrate back into society, whilst still holding them accountable for their behaviour (Cesaroni, 2002). The purpose of this study was to introduce a new prison-model of CoSA and to explore the core members’ perceptions of their release from prison, and subsequent future in the community, prior to it starting. Interviews and repertory grids were carried out with those who had accepted a core member place on this initiative (n = 9). The findings derived from the data highlight the core members’ concerns regarding their pending release from prison, along with a potential turning point towards a more pro-social self. A prison-based model of CoSA may provide support and accountability during this transitional stage, thus helping to counter any isolation experienced and capitalise on any cognitive change.