Jenene Burke

‘Some kids climb up; some kids climb down’: culturally constructed play-worlds of children with impairments

In this paper, the author explores how children with impairments can act as self-monitoring, autonomous individuals in their play in a community playground. In addition, the notion of children with impairments as creative agents in their play is examined. The evidence presented in this paper is derived from the views and perspectives of children with impairments as playground users, and was collected from the children’s photographic scrapbooks and the researcher’s own observations of children’s play in a naturalistic playground setting. The theoretical perspective for this paper draws on the emerging ‘social model of childhood disability’ and provides scope to attempt to understand the culturally constructed play-worlds of children with impairments.

Just for the fun of it: making playgrounds accessible to all children.

There seems to be growing interest worldwide in the concept of purpose-built public playground facilities that are intended specifically to provide play experiences for all children, regardless of their abilities. As this article will reveal, the complex principle of inclusion underpins the concept of shared play in inclusive playgrounds. However, despite generally being identified as important, inclusion, particularly for children with impairments within play environments, seems to be often poorly understood and sometimes overlooked in existing literature about childrens play in playgrounds. This article draws attention to the current situation surrounding public playground accessibility and teases out two discernible ways of approaching playground provision for people with impairments. The first is technically driven and mandated by guidelines and legislation. The other is child-centred or community-focused, in which participation in play in a playground is supported as a desirable social activity within a connected, inclusive community. Furthermore, this article will provide an outline of legislation and policies in Australia that are relevant to inclusive playground provision, along with some approaches that have been adopted in some other countries (notably, the United States and the United Kingdom) to provide playground access for children with impairments.

The provision of sexual health education in Australia: primary school teachers' perspectives in rural Victoria

In Australian schools, one significant component of whole-school learning in sexuality education is to provide students with developmentally appropriate curriculum and learning opportunities, with the intention of influencing positive health and well-being. In the situation where the usual classroom teacher is under-prepared or unwilling to teach sexuality education to their students, the use of external providers who are experts in puberty and sexual health is crucial. While the provider is a key influential factor in any sexual health programme, reliance on external providers for the provision of sexuality education in regional Australian cities is not well documented. This mixed-method study aims to address this gap in the literature with a specific focus on Ballarat, where the provision of sexuality education, particularly in primary schools, is heavily reliant on several external providers. Participant schools highlight the need for further positive synergies between the classroom teachers, external agencies and the accessibility of a rigorous curriculum to sustain the delivery of an effective programme to young people in schools.

Teacher Education Research and the Policy Reform Agenda

Research into teacher education is an Australian government high priority and teacher educators are increasingly called to use research to demonstrate the effectiveness and the impact of their teaching, their programs and ultimately, the impact on student learning. While teacher education researchers endeavour to share their research, their work is often critiqued as being self-serving, small-scale and generally not responsive to government policy directions. This chapter specifically examines these three areas: the research policy context; an examination of the current critique of teacher education research and a critical analysis and discussion of the research conducted by teacher educators within this volume. As evidenced within the chapters, many teacher educators have located their research studies within the current Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG, Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers, 2014) reform agenda. What the studies also reveal is how reform agendas are taken up by different institutions and the importance of providing the rich contextual discussion of their findings. While the majority of the studies are small-scale, viewed collectively however, they have much to offer the broader education research community. More opportunities for connected small-scale studies that highlight both macro and micro levels of teacher education are recommended.

Dyslexia and Learning

Personal narratives derived from insider accounts of schooling can illuminate our understanding of how individuals negotiate their learning; and how teachers and schools might empower or marginalise students on the basis of a specific learning disability. This chapter retrospectively examines the lived experience of one of the authors, Alanna, as a student diagnosed with dyslexia.

Not Just for the Fun of it

In Australia, the notion of providing opportunities for children with impairments to access play in purpose-built spaces, and have fun alongside their peers and siblings, has gained momentum, translating into the development of some new and exciting ‘inclusive playspaces’. Previously, very little attention or importance was given to the idea that playspaces might exclude some children and carers with impairments from shared play in community spaces.

First in the Family

American and British academics from working-class backgrounds have eloquently written of the constantly shifting negotiations of their own classed identities. As two female academics and the authors of this chapter, we attempt to describe and map the shifting links and disconnections we have experienced, both collectively and individually, regarding our own working-class backgrounds and our negotiations of middle-class higher education institutions in regional areas of Australia.