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Mainstream Education (mainstream + education)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

The impact of language skills on mental health in teenagers with hearing impairments

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 2 2009
J. Fellinger
Objective:, The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of language competence level and mental distress in teenagers with hearing impairments. Method:, 43 pupils were given a battery of linguistic tests and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which was also completed by 40 parents. Comparisons were made between the group of 33 children in mainstream education and 10 who were in a segregated school for the deaf. Results:, The children had impaired language skills relative to published norms, especially marked in segregated schools. Parents rated children as having more distress than published norms. Those with superior level of spoken language had fewer peer relationship problems in mainstream education, but significantly more in segregated schools. The reverse was almost significant for those proficient in signed language. Conclusion:, Peer relationship problems are associated with the language competence levels in the way that children at school communicate with one another. [source]

Sociodynamic relationships between children who stutter and their non-stuttering classmates

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 7 2002
Stephen Davis
Background: Previous research has indicated that children who stutter are more likely to be bullied and to hold a lower social position than their peers who do not stutter. However, the majority of this research has used data from respondents who were in the educational system more than 20 years ago. The current policy on integration of children with severe disabilities into mainstream education and the increased awareness of bullying in schools would indicate that attitudes toward children who stutter might have changed in the intervening period. Method: The study uses a sociometric scale (adapted from Coie, Dodge, & Coppotelli, 1982) to assess children who stutter in classroom groups with fluent peers. The peer relationships between 16 children who stutter and their classmates (403 children in total) were examined. Results: Children who stutter were rejected significantly more often than were their peers and were significantly less likely to be popular. When compared to children who do not stutter, the children who stutter were less likely to be nominated as `leaders' and were more likely to be nominated to the `bullied' and `seeks help' categories. Conclusions: The changes in integration policy and the implementation of anti-bullying policies in many schools appear to have made little impact on the social status of children who stutter. The incidence of bullying and rejection reported in this study has implications for schools and clinicians. [source]

Examining Interactions across Language Modalities: Deaf Children and Hearing Peers at School

ANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2003
Professor Elizabeth Keating
Deaf youth easily become communicatively isolated in public schools, where they are in a small minority among a majority of hearing peers and teachers. This article examines communicative strategies of deaf children in an American "mainstream " school setting to discover how they creatively manage their casual communicative interactions with hearing peers across multimodal communicative channels, visual and auditory. We argue that unshared sociolinguistic practices and hearing-oriented participation frameworks are crucial aspects of communicative failure in these settings. We also show that what look like "successful" conversational interactions between deaf and hearing children actually contain little real language and few of the complex communication skills vital to cognitive and social development. This study contributes to understanding the social production of communicative isolation of deaf students and implications of mainstream education for this minority group. [source]

Progress and challenge in Nurture Groups: evidence from three case studies

BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2005
Paul Cooper
Nurture Groups have come to play a key role in the mainstream education of young children experiencing social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. In this article, Paul Cooper, Professor of Education, and Yonca Tiknaz, EdD Research Associate, both of the School of Education at the University of Leicester, explore the perceptions of mainstream and Nurture Group staff about the nature, purposes and impact of Nurture Group practice. Their analysis is based on data from three case studies, carried out in 2003, of Nurture Groups for pupils in Years 1 and 2 of their primary education. A key feature of this article is its focus on some of the challenges faced by apparently successful Nurture Groups in achieving a coherent and sustained form of intervention in the context of a whole-school approach. The authors show that mainstream and Nurture Group staff value Nurture Groups and see them as making a significant contribution to the progress of pupils, particularly in the areas of social and emotional development and behaviour. These findings are consistent with earlier studies. However, the lack of effective communication between Nurture Group staff and mainstream staff and difficulties over balance in Nurture Groups are highlighted as important factors that may, in some circumstances, inhibit educational progress. This paper helps to extend our understanding of some of the ,opportunity costs' and ,opportunity gains' that might be associated with the Nurture Group approach because of the temporary separation of children in Nurture Groups from mainstream schooling. [source]

Children who have complex health needs: parents' experiences of their child's education

CHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2009
J. Hewitt-Taylor
Abstract Background An increasing number of children have complex and continuing health needs. These children have the same right to a full range of education opportunities as other children. Methods This paper reports on the findings from a small qualitative study of the experiences of parents whose children have complex heath needs, related to their experiences of their child's education. Interviews with parents were used to generate data. Findings Parents encounter a number of challenges to their children achieving equal opportunities in relation to education. The factors which influence their opportunities include: staffing issues, funding issues, the attitudes of individuals and organizations, staff confidence in meeting children's needs, clarity over responsibilities and funding. For parents, what seemed most important is not whether their child accesses mainstream education, but whether the school which they attend assists them to achieve their potential. Children who have complex health needs may have to make a greater effort than their peers to achieve educational goals, and may miss considerable school time. This can impact on their leisure time. Accessing pre-school education can be difficult for children who have complex health needs. Conclusions Inclusion in education should include pre-school provision, and more work in this area would be beneficial. Inclusion in mainstream education is only beneficial if it enables the child to participate fully with their peers. This requires practical and organizational issues to be addressed, services to be well co-ordinated, responsibilities and funding to be clear, and staff to be enabled to be confident in meeting the child's needs. However, it is also vital that individuals and organizations have a positive attitude to children and to inclusion. The additional effort and time which children may have to spend on their school work because of their health needs should also be recognized and supported appropriately. [source]