Tony Cline

The problem of interpretation in vignette methodology in research with young people

In this article, we explore how interpretation is dealt with by researchers using a vignette methodology. Researchers using vignette methodology often struggle with interpretation: how to interpret the responses when participants shift between discussing the vignettes as themselves, taking the perspective of the character in the vignette and commenting on what ‘ought’ to happen. We argue that by foregrounding a consideration of the method with an explicitly articulated theoretical position of dialogicality, issues inherent in interpretation become a valuable addition to the research rather than an obstacle to be overcome. In this article, we discuss ‘Louise’ a young carer, detailing the various positions she takes in her talk about the vignette of Mary, a fictitious young carer, to illustrate how a perspective based in dialogical theory contributed to the analysis of her various moves through different identity positions.

Constructing "Normal Childhoods": Young People Talk about Young Carers.

There has been a great deal of attention paid to young carers in recent research, social policy and service provision. In this paper we report on a survey and interview study of 46 young people aged 15 to 18, nine of whom had experience as young carers, to explore the ways in which young people construct the young carer and their disabled parent. A key theme arising from the interview data analysis is the construction of a series of normative assumptions about ‘normal’ childhood through which young carers and their disabled parent are viewed as non‐normative and deficient. The predominantly negative construction of both parent and child/carer is critically analyzed and alternatives suggested in the discussion of these findings.

Multilingualism and dyslexia: challenges for research and practice

Over the last two decades there has been an expansion of activity and substantial progress in research on dyslexia and research on bilingualism and multilingualism. But the study of dyslexia has generally focused on monolingual learners and the study of bilingualism has tended to focus on speakers who do not have special educational needs. This paper will review the strands of research to date that have a bearing on multilingualism and dyslexia and attempt to identify the major challenges that face researchers and teachers. A satisfactory response cannot be developed without a full understanding of the impact that dyslexia has on language learning and the impact that multilingualism has on literacy learning.

Baseline assessment for school entrants

Abstract In the past, assessment of school entrants has always been an influential process, although it has usually been informal and unrecorded. The provisions for assessment following recent educational reforms in England and Wales lend this process a new importance. Both for individual children and for schools there has been a marked upsurge of interest in establishing a baseline for what is added at school. But assessment on school entry may have other valid purposes. These issues are discussed in the context of a review of six British assessment schemes that are representative of the range of different approaches adopted in recent years ‐‐ All About Me, Bury Infant Check, Buckinghamshire Observation Procedure, Infant Rating Scale, Linguistic Awareness in Reading Readiness, and Profiling, Recording and Observing Competencies and Experiences at the Start of School. The purpose of the review is to establish general principles for evaluating such schemes. Evaluation criteria are proposed under four headi...

The development of concepts of loneliness during the early years in school

Earlier research has confirmed that loneliness is a universal phenomenon, experienced by children and adults. Few reports have been published of investigations of experiences of loneliness among school children in the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to investigate how the ideas about loneliness held by British children develop during the early years in school. Evidence was sought for developmental trends in the content of interview responses about loneliness from 85 children aged between 5- and 10-years-old. Throughout this age range the children who were interviewed demonstrated willingness and ability to discuss and describe loneliness. They portrayed loneliness as a negative experience and a multidimensional phenomenon, experienced in a range of locations including school. There were developmental trends in the consistency with which children differentiated between feeling lonely and simply being alone. The youngest children were less likely than others to attribute a feeling of loneliness at school to being separated or excluded from friendship groups. Evidence was found of children’s ability to describe psychological loneliness, attributing this to feelings of rejection, difference, lack of familiarity, or personal loss. Implications for future research and for teachers and educational psychologists are discussed.

Trilingual families in mainly monolingual societies: working towards a typology

Abstract Trilingualism has often been studied within the framework established for bilingualism. Although there is overlap, the dynamics around trilingualism pose greater variations than is the case with bilingualism. The aim of this study is to analyse the language practices of different groups of trilingual families. Particular attention is paid to the influence of various sociocultural and linguistic factors on whether or not parents used their native languages (NL) with their children. In semi-structured interviews parents in 35 trilingual families in England and 35 in Germany described their language practices with their children. It was found that parental language choices were significantly influenced by their linguistic background. Parents who spoke one NL other than the community language were highly motivated in both countries to pass on their NLs and cultural values to their children. This was mainly related to the effectiveness of the One Person One Language strategy and support from grandparents. In contrast, bilingual/trilingual parents tended to use only one NL with their children, partly because the One Parent One Language was impractical or the beginning of school made it harder to use additional languages. The implications of these findings for typologies of trilingual families are examined in this article.

“Silent” monologues, “loud” dialogues and the emergence of hibernated I-positions in the negotiation of multivoiced cultural identities

Drawing on dialogical self theory (Hermans, 2001) and employing a case study approach, this article aims to provide insights into the dialogical processes through which two British-born siblings of Pakistani background construct and negotiate their cultural identities. The analysis suggests that both young people were moving towards their multivoiced cultural identities through a constant positioning and re-positioning within their communities, which resulted in dialogical negotiation of aspects of differences/similarities and belonging within their majority and minority communities as well as living in a multicultural society. When their negotiation is a struggle shaped by issues of racism and religious discrimination, two opposing processes are constructed, a dynamic dialogical and a monological one. We introduce the notion of hibernated I-positions as a resource to deal with rapid change, threat and uncertainty. I-positions that are inactive, or are in a hibernated state and silenced, are always available to re-emerge and become engaged in a new dialogue to help retain identity continuity. In this article, we challenge linear assumptions which assume that all immigrant groups undergo the same kind of psychological acculturation process.

An evaluation of the preschool PATHS curriculum on the development of preschool children

This study evaluated the efficacy of preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS), an early years curriculum designed to improve children’s social and emotional competence, and reduce problem behaviour. Fifty-seven children aged three to four years took part in the study over one academic year. The control group (Group 1) received no preschool PATHS curriculum, Group 2 received an adapted version, and Group 3 received the full preschool PATHS curriculum. Relevant vocabulary and perspective-taking skills were assessed before and after the intervention alongside behavioural questionnaires completed by preschool staff and parents. Staff views were investigated. Group 3 significantly improved on some measures, but Groups 1 and 2 showed no significant improvements. Children who received the full version of the preschool PATHS curriculum exhibited less problem behaviour, showed better emotional knowledge, better attentional skills, and better prosocial behaviour. The contribution of the local Educational Psychology Service to the initiative is discussed.

The impact of specific language impairment on performance in science and suggested implications for pedagogy

The impact of specific language impairment (SLI) on the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills has been well researched. In contrast little has been written on its impact on the third core subject in the National Curriculum (NC) of science and this article describes a preliminary investigation into the scientific reasoning skills of children with SLI in comparison with those of typically developing (TD) children. In individual assessment sessions 11 pairs of target children with SLI and control TD children in the Key Stage (KS) 2 age span (ages 7–11 years) undertook a series of scientific reasoning tasks appropriate to their age involving receptive and expressive language skills. The children with SLI had for the most part significantly more difficulty with expressive language tasks (ELTs) than the TD children, in spite of the provision of scaffolding, and there was some evidence that they also had greater difficulty with the production of causal connectives, e.g. because, so. However, there was no difference between the two groups on receptive language tasks (RLTs) when scaffolding was used. Some possible implications for pedagogy are considered in light of these findings, and problems in matching children with SLI and TD controls are discussed.

Changing families, changing childhoods: changing schools?

This paper reports key findings from a study of young people’s engagement in ‘atypical’ activities in their families. The project focused on young caring and language brokering as two roles that are not assumed to be ‘normal’ activities for children and young people. The findings presented are from a survey of 1002 young people and from one‐to‐one interviews with a sample selected from the survey sample. The voices of young people in the interview study are used in the paper to illustrate the diverse range of childhood experiences. The paper discusses some of the ways in which pastoral systems in schools can take account of diverse childhoods and family needs more effectively than they have done in the past.