Special Education (Peer reviewed publications)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://dspace.mic.ul.ie/handle/10395/20

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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

An exploration of teachers’ perceptions of how the classroom environment can support pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the mainstream primary school (Pre-published)
(Elsevier, 2021) Tynan, Fionnuala; Davy, Kaitlin
This study sought to explore teachers’ perceptions of how the classroom environment can be used to support learners with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). While knowledge about educational interventions for children with ASD is substantial, less is known about the design of supportive classroom environments (Martin, 2016, p.280). A qualitative approach was used, involving interviews with five primary-school teachers. The findings show that teachers viewed the physical and temporal environment as important for supporting learners with ASD. However, no teacher made significant adaptions to the physical structure of the classroom. Instead, adaptions to the design of the environment were made and in particular the use of visual supports in the environment. Teachers were more inclined to seek information and advice from colleagues than from courses or literature.
Exemptions from Irish: an Inclusion dilemma (Pre-published)
(Elsevier, 2018) Tynan, Fionnuala
While exemptions from Irish are periodically reported in the media, they have attracted little academic commentary. Learners with certain special educational needs (SEN) qualify for an exemption from Irish when clear criteria are met (DES1, 1994; DES, 1996), but there appears to be a gap between policy and practice. This paper presents findings on the educational profile of learners with Williams syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental condition that results in an intellectual disability (ID) but an aptitude for language learning. Most of the teacher participants in the study acknowledged the language learning capacity of the learners but some portrayed professional dilemmas of working within the parameters of an exemption from Irish. While this paper primarily aims to open the debate on exemptions from Irish, it also proposes a framework for the teaching of Irish to learners with SEN.
The effects of teacher professional development on rural students’ lexical inferencing skills
(Sage, 2016) Ambrose, Laura M.; Collins, Ginger G.; Goforth, Anisa N.
Rural students are at risk for vocabulary underdevelopment and often have less access to educational resources. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effectiveness of an Internet-based Speech/Language Pathologist (SLP)-teacher consultation to support rural teachers’ vocabulary instruction to improve their students’ lexical inferencing skills. The investigators probed rural fourth-graders’ lexical inferencing skills three times throughout a semester. The experimental group’s teachers participated in SLP-teacher consultation, while the control group’s teachers did not. Although both groups demonstrated increases in lexical inferencing skills, there were significant differences in the groups’ error patterns. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Dissolving boundaries: building communities of practice
(Ablex Publishing Corporation, 2006) Austin, Roger; Mallon, Marie; Rickard, Angela; Metcalfe, Nigel; Quirke-Bolt, Nigel
Dr. Roger Austin and Dr. Aidan Mulkeen in 1999 identified the opportunity that the growth of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) presented to schools and founded the Dissolving Boundaries programme from an initial successful project entitled “This Island we live on” (http://www.ulst.ac.uk/thisisland/). The Dissolving Boundaries programme was designed to promote: the integration of technology in a meaningful way in curricular work, educationally valuable collaborative work in schools and cross-national links promoting cultural awareness. The Dissolving Boundaries programme was developed as a crossborder initiative involving schools in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Department of Education in Northern Ireland and the Department of Education and Science in the Republic of Ireland jointly fund the programme. The programme is now in its fifth year and since its inception has attracted over 170 schools in both the north and south of Ireland. This year (2004-2005) 154 schools were involved, which created 42 partnerships at primary level, 22 between post-primary schools and 13 involving special schools.
Learning Anew – Teaching and Learning for the 21st Century, 2003 - 2007
(NUI Maynooth, 2007) Quirke-Bolt, Nigel; Hogan, Pádraig; Brosnan, Anne; de Róiste, Bernadette; MacAlister, Alec; Malone, Anthony; Smith, Greg; Coolahan, John
Many of the more interesting stories that come to us from ancient times getclouded or distorted by the course of history. For instance it’s said that during the course of his trial, allegedly for corrupting the youth of Athens,Socrates declared that real wisdom is the property of God and that even thebest of human knowledge is worthless by contrast. One common interpretation of this declaration holds that Socrates was essentially criticising the Athenian authorities who used human knowledge as a form of political power in advancing their own interests. Another interpretation concludes that human efforts at learning are a vanity and that Socrates was encouraging youth to renounce them in favour of some kind of ascetic mysticism. If one allows that irony and subtlety didn’t desert Socrates at this most momentous event of his life, a more revealing point can be discerned. This is the suggestion that human knowledge, even in the most esteemedscholars, remains partial, and in both negative senses of the word: incomplete and burdened by bias. The brighter side of this rather sobering suggestion is that inviting critical perspectives from others in our own bestefforts to learn provides a worthy and promising way of addressing thesetwo shortcomings. Thus learning environments are characterised by jointenquiries that remain ever on-the-way, but that never claim to have the full picture, and that remain open to constructive revision. This characteristicis evident in Socrates’ own lifelong commitment to learn ever anew with his students. Such an orientation may be even more important in what is commonly called a ‘knowledge society’ than in a classical age of learning, not leastwhere one’s way of life is that of a teacher. This final report on the TL21project reviews some recent efforts to promote orientations of this kindamong Irish post-primary teachers and students, and also makes some suggestions as to how such orientations might be sustained more widely inthe future.
Dissolving boundaries through technology in education: making a difference with ICT
(Ablex Publishing Corporation, 2008) Quirke-Bolt, Nigel; Rickard, Angela; Metcalfe, Nigel; Austin, Roger; Smyth, Jane; Mallon, Marie
A total of 320 schools have participated in the Dissolving Boundaries programme since its launch in 1999. The number of schools involved increased from 146 in 2006-7 to 170 in 2007-8. All schools in Northern Ireland continue to be recruited through ICT advisors in all 5 area boards, which ensures an even spread of schools. The current cohort of schools in the Republic of Ireland has been recruited through 18 Education Centres, which cover a very large area of the country.
Collaborative digital learning in schools: teacher perceptions of purpose and effectiveness
(Routledge, 2010) Quirke-Bolt, Nigel; Austin, Roger; Smyth, Jane; Rickard, Angela; Metcalfe, Nigel
Research on the place of digital collaborative learning in schools has established its extensive use for the provision of online courses (Stevens, 2007), for learning within schools (Orech, 2009) and as a means of promoting inter-cultural education (Austin, 2006). Given that teachers’ understanding and practice in collaborative learning is critical, the authors examine in this article teachers’ perception of collaboration and collaborative learning in terms of a model for understanding different levels of engagement with digital collaboration. They also seek to explore the reasons for teachers’ perceptions and how this may impact on their participation in online collaborative learning projects.
Report on Educational Provisional for children with Down syndrome in mainstream primary schools in Limerick City and County
(CDU Mary Immaculate College, 2009) Doherty, Ursula; Egan, Margaret
This is a extract from the Report, which includes the Contents, acknowledgements, foreword and Summary.
Strands. Strategies for teachers to respond actively to the needs of children with Down syndrome
(CDU Mary Immaculate College, 2011) Doherty, Ursula; Egan, Margaret; Daly, Patricia; Coady, Monica; Holland, Marty; Kelleher, Deirdre; Long, Stella; McCarthy, Eucharia; O'Sullivan, Siobhan
This is a sample selection from STRANDS, which Includes the Introduction and the Table of Contents.

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