[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Research & Development Awards Round 3

Preparing Teachers for Management and Leadership of Multi-agency Assessment of Vulnerability: building capacity in ITT

This is a report of a Research and Development project to develop practice based learning materials to support multi-agency working. A third round of Research and Development projects was supported by TDA funding to develop the knowledge base in ITT & CPD and focused on Special Educational Needs (SEN). The projects featured innovative, exploratory and developmental research.

24.06.10

Use Of the Interactive Whiteboard with children and young people with autism and complex learning needs at Sunfield School

In this video, Teresa Whitehurst and Jan Cook of Sunfield school describe their use of Interactive White Boards with children with autism and complex learning difficulties. This is a project that is part of round three of the TDA research and development awards . Sunfield school is exceptional in that it is a residential special school that is open 52 weeks of the year. The children who attend...

11.06.10

Story Links Final Summary Report

The Story Links Project is co-funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and TDA as part of the Research and Development Awards. The aim of the project was to evaluate the impact of the parent-partnership Story Links Programme that supports pupils at risk of exclusion who also have literacy difficulties and involves pupils, parents and teachers in the cooperative production of stories to address...

14.04.10

Research and Development in SEN – The Wider Workforce – TTV

The resource is a Teacher’s TV programme that gives a summary of three TDA research award projects that each aim to investigate the role of the wider school workforce, focusing on the contribution made by educational psychologists, teaching assistants and trainee teachers acting as teaching assistants. It will be of interest to researchers, teacher educators, trainee teachers, classroom teachers...

08.04.10

Research and Development in SEN: Movement (R&DA Awards on TTV)

This Teachers TV programme examines three research projects that focus on different aspects of movement and learning. These projects were funded by the TDA research awards. The first project at Canterbury Christ Church University looks into the importance of good posture and its impact on learning. It involves a partnership between teacher educators and occupational therapists. The second project...

18.03.10

Building Relationships for Learning: effective use of adult support in classrooms for pupils with SEN. (R&DA 3: 16)

The research seeks to develop practical ways in which teachers can be better trained to work effectively with TAs in promoting learning for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN). The project aims to design, pilot and deliver a set of materials that will contribute to improved teacher training for effective joint working between TAs and class and subject teachers. The materials will be...

30.06.08

‘Skills for Primary Schools – Movement and Coordination Resources’ (R&DA 3: 15)

The rationale for this project has been developed as a response to findings from a recent small scale qualitative evaluation entitled 'The Occupational Therapy Into Schools Project (OTIS)' carried out by a local Occupational Therapy Service (OT) and Faculty of Health, Canterbury Christ University.

30.06.08

How might acting as TAs, help trainees develop their understanding of pupils’ learning needs? (R&DA 3: 14)

It is a requirement of the new TDA Standards for QTS that trainees have an informed understanding of how to raise the achievement and promote the well being of pupils with SEN in classrooms and other educational settings. In order to do this, Trainees need to know how to communicate with, and effectively deploy, Teaching Assistants (TAs) and other adults they will meet in their professional work....

30.06.08

Preparing Trainee Teachers and Learning Support Assistants (LSA’s) to Include Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Physical Education (PE) (R&DA 3: 13)

According to authors such as Smith and Green (2004) and Morely et al (2005), PE teachers have reported feelings of constraint caused by an increased presence of LSA’s in lessons in which they are inexperienced in the subject area, and provide impractical support to children with SEN. Smith and Green (2004: 601) suggest that these restrictions are due to a lack of PE and SEN training resulting...

30.06.08

‘Personalised learning for school students with SEN: Ensuring ITT staff and trainees understand the needs of SEN learners’ (R&DA 3: 12)

Reading University IoE currently has established a strong foundation in all ITT programmes which focuses on helping trainees address the needs of students with SEN. Last year, we successfully piloted an innovation in our BA Ed programme which placed third year students in SEN units in mainstream schools. The secondary PGCE currently places a number of trainees in special schools and units in...

30.06.08

Story Links: A parent-partnership intervention to support pupils at risk of exclusion that uses therapeutic storywriting to support pupils’ emotional well-being and reading skills. (R&DA 03: 11)

Story Links uses therapeutic storywriting to engage parents of pupils (6-11 years) at risk of exclusion in the education of their child. For many of these pupils, emotional difficulties in school can be related to attachment difficulties with their parents or carers. Story Links is a solution-focused programme which uses the metaphor in joint storywriting to encourage the parent/carer to think...

30.06.08

Trainee teachers tapping into Paraprofessionals in secondary schools (TaPs) (R&DA 3: 10)

The research rationale recognises that paraprofessionals in secondary schools are repositories of vast stores of knowledge about families in the local population whose secondary aged children have special educational needs, what those individual student needs are and what are appropriate learning styles and motivational tactics for such students. The value of the craft knowledge of such...

30.06.08

Movement As Inclusive Pedagogy In The Early Years (R&DA 3: 09)

Movement education is surprisingly under-used as pedagogy in the early years, despite the widely recognised importance of physical activity as the underpinning for children’s holistic development. An established body of work exists stemming from the work of Laban in the 1930s, and subsequently Veronica Sherborne in the 1980s in relation to people with special needs. With the revival of interest...

30.06.08

Learning about Special Needs in Handwriting (R&DA 3: 08)

Handwriting, and in particular orthographic-motor integration (automaticity of letter production), appears to play a role in facilitating higher order composing processes by freeing up working memory to deal with the complex tasks of planning, organizing, revising and regulating the production of text. In this way, automatic handwriting facilitates composing. Research undertaken into the...

30.06.08

Boy-friendly teaching: using fathers to develop resources to support QTS (R&DA 3: 07)

Aims: The project seeks to: • enhance the awareness and skills of ITT trainees, tutors and school-located mentors regarding the role of fathers in the education of their sons • develop and deepen the knowledge, skills and understanding of each group regarding the crucial role of fathers in education. • Provide case...

30.06.08

Extended Schools: Developing and Enhancing ITT Tutor Capacity (R&DA 3: 06)

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES 2005) described an extended school as one providing activities and services, often beyond the school day to address the needs of its pupils, their families and the wider community. As more schools adopt the principles and practices developed through the extended school approach it becomes increasingly necessary that student teachers are prepared to...

30.06.08

Improving Group Dynamics to support learning and social inclusion (R&DA 3: 05)

This project is based on the premise that students’ motivation to learn and achieve in school can be affected by difficult interpersonal relationships in class. This situation can produce high levels of unacceptable behaviour and possibly lead to students becoming socially excluded.

30.06.08

SEN placement (R&DA 3: 04)

This project aims to increase ITT students’ knowledge, understanding and skills of learners with SEN and disabilities through focused and supported practical experience in a specialist setting. It will provide students with the opportunity to learn from ‘best practice’ and draw on this in their future teaching. The impact of this will be investigated to identify effective strategies for future...

30.06.08

Preparing Teachers for Management and Leadership of Multi-agency Assessment of Vulnerability: building capacity in ITT (R&DA 3: 03)

Teachers are soon to fall under statutory requirements to collaborate in multi-agency procedures for dealing with vulnerable and at-risk children and children with special educational needs. This project aims to help tutors and school-based mentors to support and prepare student teachers with the capacity to take on such roles and to develop the necessary skills necessary to coordinate and manage...

30.06.08

Developing a Model of Pedagogical Best Practice in the Use of Interactive Whiteboards for Children with Autism and Complex Learning Disabilities: Implications for Initial Teacher Training (R&DA 3: 02)

Interactive whiteboards are fast becoming established in schools as a valuable means of engaging pupils, and when used appropriately can have a positive and radical effect on teaching and learning (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), 2003, 2007; Higgins, Beauchamp and Miller, 2007). However, while there is a steadily growing literature on the use of interactive...

30.06.08