Harry Daniels

Visual Displays as Tacit Relays of the Structure of Pedagogic Practice

Abstract This study considers the visual relay to pupils of aspects of their schools pedagogic practice. Two special schools, catering for pupils with moderate learning difficulties, were described in terms derived from a general model of cultural transmission. A representative sample of textual productions, in this case photographs of wall displays, was collected in each school. These pictures were then used as elements in Personal Construct Analysis interviews conducted with groups of pupils in each school. The results revealed evidence of the relay of aspects of the structure of pedagogic practice as described in terms of the general model. Pupils in the two schools revealed differences in their orientation to the meaning of the displays. Thus, the research suggests that the grammar of the pedagogic practice of the school is both revealed and relayed indirectly by visual representations of significant texts.

Vygotskian Theory and Special Education Practice in Russia.

Summary This paper discusses tensions and dilemmas that arise in the implementation of Vygotskian psychology. It analyses the development of special educational needs (SEN) provision and practice in the former Soviet Union from this perspective and identifies similarities and differences with the changes in emphasis being witnessed in England and Wales. The analysis is illustrated via reference to interviews conducted during recent visits to Russian schools and the Moscow State University.

Report on the ‘European exchange of experiences in school integration’: the intercultural comparison of the quality of life of children and youth with handicaps in Arhus (Denmark), Arezzo (Italy), Greenwich (London, UK) and Reutlingen (Germany)

ABSTRACT This article describes some aspects of a multi‐disciplinary exchange and research programme involving communities in Denmark, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. The major focus of the programme has been on the integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream settings in schools and communities with a specific reference to decision making processes. The point at which extra resources are given by the state and its agencies to an individual in need provides the unifying intercultural point of departure. Local cultures, including legislative and social imperatives, and their implications for research activity are discussed. Common themes in the transition and transformation of the various forms of welfare state provision within the member countries are identified and analysed. The relationship between different forms and levels of service provision and the practice of integration are discussed.

Humanisation in Russian Education: A Transition between state determinism and Individualism

Summary This article is concerned with the development of humanisation in contemporary Russian education where it is regarded as a key factor influencing social change in the country. The authors draw on the proceedings of a seminar held in Moscow in 1994 concerned with the future of Russian education. Through an analysis of past Russian educational development and related psychological theory an argument is developed which suggests that present trends owe more than may be expected to the past. The concept of mediation is a central concern of the authors. They argue that the present discussion in Russia is overly individualistic and takes no account of processes of mediation in pedagogic formulations which render them incomplete and vulnerable to exploitation.

Number Competence and Communication Difficulty: A Vygotskian Analysis.

Summary Summary The first part of this paper consists of a discussion of the implications of a Vygotskian developmental model for teaching mathematics to children with communication difficulties. The second describes an exploratory empirical investigation of mathematical behaviour on the part of children with communication difficulties (CD).