Poulomee Datta

An exploration into self concept: A comparative analysis between the adolescents who are sighted and blind in India:

The purpose of this study was to explore the self concept of adolescents who are sighted and blind with respect to gender in India. The sample was made up of 160 participants aged 15 to 18 years: of whom 100 were sighted and 60 were blind. The results of the t-tests illustrated that sighted male adolescents scored higher in the overall self-concept scores as compared to sighted female adolescents. However such significant differences in the self-concept scores were not found between the male and female adolescents who are blind. The sighted adolescents scored higher than the adolescents who are blind in three of the total six dimensions of self concept, thus also scoring higher on the overall self-concept score.

An Exploration into the Support Services for Students with a Mild Intellectual Disability.

Quality support services play a significant role in the overall development of students with an intellectual disability. This qualitative study sought to examine to what extent the support services provided in South Australian schools for students with an intellectual disability influenced these students’ problem-solving skills, family, social and academic lives. Interviews were conducted with students with an intellectual disability, their parents and their teachers. These data reflected a range of viewpoints from which to examine the problem under investigation. Students with an intellectual disability and their parents found that the support services had no real influence on students’ abilities to solve problems, or on their social and family lives. Teachers, on the contrary, considered that students’ problem-solving skills had been helped by the support given, their social lives to a more limited extent and their family lives were not influenced by the support. According to students with an intellectual disability and their teachers, the support influenced the academic lives of students positively; however, parents considered a limited influence of the support on this aspect as well. The interviews were particularly useful in evaluating the support services that students with an intellectual disability received.

The impact of vision impairment on students’ self-concept

ABSTRACT This study investigated the self-concept of students with vision impairment who were placed in specialist and mainstream educational settings in South Australia. Self-Concept was explored across six dimensions, namely Physical, Moral, Personal, Family, Social and Academic Self-Concepts and the Total Self-Concept. The ‘Tennessee Self-Concept Scale: Second Edition’ was administered to 25 students with vision impairment (13 females and 12 males). Participating students’ age ranged between 15 and 25 years and they were included from all levels of vision impairment. The visual acuity of the participants ranged from 6/18 or less (low vision) to 3/60 and less (blindness). Although the majority of the students with vision impairment obtained low scores on all dimensions of self-concept, namely physical, moral, personal, family, social and academic, some students obtained normal scores in relation to family and academic self-concepts. There were no significant differences between female and male students with vision impairment across the six dimensions of self-concept and thus total self-concept. These findings have implications for teachers, special educators, policy-makers and a range of professionals in the education and special education sector in enabling greater understanding of the self-concept accomplishment of the students with vision impairment. However, this study has limited scope for generalisation of the studys conclusions due to the studys small population sample size.

Is Test Anxiety a Peril for Students with Intellectual Disabilities

Test anxiety is one of the most confronting issues in modern times with the increase in the number of standardised and high-stakes testing. Research has established that there is a direct link between test anxiety and cognitive deficits. The aim of this study is to determine the test anxiety scores of the students with intellectual disabilities in South Australia. It also provided insights into the reasons for high-test anxiety in the participants under study. The Spielberger’s Test Anxiety Questionnaire was administered on students with intellectual disabilities in stage 1. Interviews were conducted with participants with intellectual disabilities, parents and teachers in stage 2. Questionnaire findings revealed that the majority of the adolescent females and males and all adult females with intellectual disabilities had high test anxiety scores. However, the majority of adult males with intellectual disabilities obtained moderate test anxiety scores. In the worry and emotionality subscales, it was also found that the majority of adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities were found to score high. The high test anxiety scores have been justified by the interview responses obtained from the three groups of respondents. A number of factors have been identified to be the major predictors of test anxiety in students with intellectual disabilities.

Sex education in South Australia: the past and the present

In South Australia, sex education has been controversial since its inception. The Australasian White Cross league and the Family Planning Association of South Australia were the pioneers of sex education in South Australia. The framing of a national framework and the implementation of the SHARE (Sexual Health and Relationships Education) project in recent years have contributed to the field of sex education; however, not without controversies. This study traces the development and the major incidents in the history of sex education in South Australia to date.

Inclusive Practices in Mainstream Schools: An Australian Perspective

The concept of inclusive education within the Australian context is portrayed. The autoethnographic experiences of the authors presented in the form of case studies provide vivid descriptions of how students with special educational needs and disabilities are supported within mainstream Australian classrooms. In particular, interesting inclusive strategies outline the ways in which students with disabilities are included in mainstream classrooms across the three states in Australia – South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. The total education plan has been taken into consideration while providing deep insights into the inclusive practices undertaken for the case study of students.

The impact of support services on students’ test anxiety and/or their ability to submit assignments: a focus on vision impairment and intellectual disability

ABSTRACT This study investigated the influence of the support services on the test anxiety of students and/or their ability to submit assignments in each of the two disability groups, those with vision impairment and those with intellectual disability, who were placed in specialist and mainstream educational settings in South Australia. Interviews were conducted with 14 students with vision impairment and 9 students with intellectual disability, as well as a total of 10 parents and 8 teachers. The findings unfolded that the support services were found to influence positively the test anxiety experienced by students with vision impairment and/or their ability to submit assignments, but appeared to help students with intellectual disability to a much smaller extent. These findings have implications for mainstream teachers and school support staff working with students with vision impairment and those with intellectual disability, to determine what type and kind of support works for these students and helps them to alleviate their test anxieties.

Analysis of Stage 1 Data: Tennessee Self-Concept Questionnaire

This chapter reports and analyses the self-concept survey questionnaire data for the female and male students with intellectual disabilities. The self-concept analysis is undertaken on the basis of the Tennessee Self-Concept Manual (Fitts and Warren 2003) and follows the six dimensions namely Physical, Moral Personal, Family, Social and Academic Self-Concepts and thus, Total Self-Concept. In addition, the four validity scores namely Inconsistent Responding (INC), Self-Criticism (SC), Faking Good (FG) and Response Distribution (RD) for all students with intellectual disabilities are also provided. The findings reveal that while the majority of the students with intellectual disabilities obtained low scores in Physical, Moral, Personal, Family, Social, Academic and Total Self-Concepts, half of the female students with intellectual disabilities obtained average that is normal scores in Family, Social and Academic Self-Concepts.

Methodology and Research Methods

This chapter delineates the research methods adopted for the two stages of this study. The research questions act as starting points to design an appropriate methodology, which in turn influences the selection of strategies suitable for data collection and generation. Qualitative methodology which is exploratory or interpretative in nature is identified for this study. The use of the methods namely survey questionnaire and interviews are explained and justified in a meaningful way. The pilot study undertaken to test the appropriateness and robustness of the research methods is provided. Finally, the procedure and rigor adopted for administration, respondent recruitment and data analysis for the main study is described in great detail.

Analysis of Stage 2 Interview Responses: Self-Concept

This chapter categorizes and analyses interview narratives into six prominent themes in relation to students with intellectual disabilities. It reports the views of students with intellectual disabilities, their parents’ and their teachers’ accounts of these students’ physical, moral, personal, family, social and academic accomplishments. It identifies a number of reasons for the high or low self-concept of the students with intellectual disabilities. Students’, parents’ and teachers’ views prove to be multidimensional and complex and hence add considerably to understanding how life and school experiences impact on the self-concept of the students concerned.