Vianne Timmons

Making it work: teachers' perspectives on inclusion

This qualitative study was designed to investigate teachers’ perceptions of the impact of inclusion of children with special needs on their classes. Twenty participants were randomly selected from the 25 teachers who had volunteered for the study. These teacher participants completed a survey which was composed of 62 items dealing with attitudes and perceptions, incentives for encouraging inclusion, and concerns from a classroom perspective. From these 20 participants, five teachers were then randomly selected for interviews. Findings revealed that some of the teachers’ primary concerns were planning time, meeting the needs of all students, and ongoing professional development to respond effectively to the increasingly diverse needs of students in the classroom.

Impact of a multipronged approach to inclusion: having all partners on side

Canada is a large multicultural counter with ten provinces and two territories. Education is a provincial responsibility and therefore there is no federal office of education. This results in varied approaches to practice. The majority of the provinces in Canada have educational policies that support inclusive education practices. Prince Edward Island is the smallest province in the poorest region in Canada. It has been implementing inclusive education practices for over a decade and has seen significant success. This paper presents the situation in Canada and highlights the success of one province. One significant reason the province has been successful in implementing inclusive education practices has been the commitment of many partners, the province, schools, university and community.

Assessing the Impact of Computer Integration on Students

AbstractThis article reports a study designed to assess the effects of computer integration on students in terms of academic achievement and attitudes toward academic subjects and computers. Computer integration was perceived as a complex instructional system in which student learning is impacted by teachers, students, school administrative and technical support, computer hardware and software resources, and the computer lab and classroom settings. Eight teachers of four subjects at one high school participated in this study for seven months. A quasi-experimental design was used. Student achievement was assessed by teacher-made tests. Attitude was assessed as part of the student survey questionnaire using the instrument developed by Bear, Richards, and Lancaster (1987). In addition, three students from each integration class were interviewed. It was found that there was no significant effect of computer integration on achievement, and although positive attitude toward computers was high both before and af...

Knowledge Translation Case Study: A Rural Community Collaborates with Researchers to Investigate Health Issues

Introduction: Knowledge translation implies the exchange and synthesis of knowledge between researchers and research users, employing a high level of communication and participation, not only to share the knowledge found through research, but also to implement subsequent strategies. Prince Edward Island, a rural province in Canada, provided the setting to exchange knowledge between researchers and a rural community on the health issues affecting children. Methods: A case study reports census data, demographic trends, and information about health issues immediate to the community. These focus groups were held to plan solutions to the communitys health priorities. The process was participatory, characterized by community involvement. Results: Those participating in the focus groups were interested in research findings and literature to solve local problems. Parenting and mental health were determined to be priority issues requiring broader community engagement. The process of translating knowledge into action after the focus groups met lacked widespread involvement of the community. Discussion: Although encouraged to do so, the larger rural community did not participate in examining research findings or in planning interventions. The parents in this community may not have perceived themselves as having influence in the process or goals of the project.

Towards Inclusive Education in Canada

Living in the smallest province in Canada, Prince Edward Island, has its advantages and disadvantages. As a researcher in education, focusing on family literacy and inclusion, it is a privilege to work closely with teachers and families in the province. It is a community built on relationships and respecting relationships is critical if one wishes to research in the community. One of the challenges is that often you work in isolation, as there is not a critical mass of researchers in your field, and you need to depend on community alliances. The alliances are often with the school districts, Department of Education and community groups.

Book review: Cathy Nutbrown, Peter Hannon and Anne Morgan, Early Literacy Work with Families: Policy, Practice and Research. London, Sage Publications, 2005. 216 pp. ISBN 1—4129—0375—0 (pbk)

readers.A critical approach to this work is encouraged.This is a very practical chapter with many examples that could be adapted for classroom use. A list of further children’s literature resources is provided at the end of the book. Chapter 5 although entitled the consumption and production of texts does not provide information on how teachers should go about developing students’ abilities to produce digital and multimodal texts.The focus is on consumption albeit a critical consumption. Understanding how semiotic systems work is important learning for both teachers and students and is well covered in this chapter. However given that students’ abilities to produce multimodal texts often exceeds what many teachers can produce, there is a need for teachers to learn more about the production of these texts. Overall this book has much to offer teachers and pre service teachers in helping them to develop multiliteracies in their classrooms. It could also be useful for those developing teacher professional development programs. However I would have liked to see more emphasis on digital and multimodal texts as examples of the new literacies being consumed and produced by students in the twenty first century.