Children with special educational needs included in Austrian mainstream schools are provided with special educational support, which aim to create learning environments, that meet the children’s needs on an individual level. Little is known about what adjustments children with special educational needs in mainstream school classes require to promote participation in school occupations. This is the first study in Austria exploring the student-environment-fit from self-perceived children’s perspective and comparing this to teachers’ perspective by using the School Setting Interview. In this cross-sectional matched pairs study twenty-five children (mean age 12.5 ± 1.4) with special educational needs and twenty-one teachers from six Austrian secondary schools were interviewed. Participants’ ratings were analyzed descriptively and statistically with Wilcoxon-Sign Rank Test. Reported adjustments from the child and teacher perspectives were analyzed with qualitative content analysis and presented using the occupational, social and physical environmental dimensions from the Model of Human Occupation. Results indicate perceived student-environment-fit differs between school activities as well as between children and teachers. Three out of 16 school activities showed a statistically significant difference between children and teacher matched-pair analysis. Children perceive more unmet needs then teachers. Most adjustments are reported in the social environment dimension and inform practitioners what adjustments are perceived to be useful for children with Special Educational Needs and their teachers. Both children’s and teacher’s perspectives provide valuable information. Significantly, children in this study were able to identify required needs and describe adjustments. To increase participation in school occupations, children can and need to be actively included in the decision-making process.
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Background: Goal setting is an essential step in the clinical reasoning process of speech and language therapists (SLTs) who provide care for children, adolescents and adults with communication disorders. In the light of person-centred care, shared or collaborative goal setting between the SLT and client is advised in (inter)national guidelines. SLTs face challenges in implementing (shared) goal setting as theoretical frameworks and practical interventions are scarce and less applicable to use with a wide range of communication vulnerable populations. Aims: A first step in developing theory and practical interventions is to explore first-hand experiences of SLTs and clients about day-to-day goal-setting practice. This study was guided by the following research question:What are the perspectives and needs of SLTs and persons with communication disorders regarding (shared) goal setting in routine SLT services? Methods & Procedures: The qualitative study was carried out in the setting of routine speech–language therapy services in community practices, primary education and neurological rehabilitation in the Netherlands. Data collection followed the principles of video-reflexive ethnography, using video footage of goal-setting conversations to facilitate semi-structured, reflexive interviews.Data analysis was based on reflexive thematic analysis. A total of 12 interviews were conducted with client–SLT dyads, covering perspectives from children, parents and adults with a range of communication difficulties and their SLTs. Outcomes & Results: Data analysis resulted in four themes, of which two contain subthemes. Each theme represents a central organizing concept found in SLT and client interviews. The themes were identified as: (1) goal setting is a complex process; (2) goal talk needs to be communication accessible; (3) communicative participation goals are hard to grasp; and (4) the importance of relationships. Topics such as power imbalance, communication vulnerability, effective communication strategies, and motivation and trust are explored under these themes. Conclusions & Implications: SLTs are encouraged to view shared goal setting as a process that needs to be explicitly planned and communicated with clients regardless of their age or communication vulnerability. SLTs have expert knowledge and skills when it comes to supporting communication and applying these skills during goal talks might strengthen shared goal setting and foster a therapeutic relationship. There is a need to concretely conceptualize and embed shared goal setting in policy and clinical guidelines. The themes reported have tentative clinical implications for developing such policy, and shared goal-setting interventions for SLT practice, under the condition that SLTs and people with communication disorders are continuously involved.
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Over the last two decades, institutions for higher education such as universities and colleges have rapidly expanded and as a result have experienced profound changes in processes of research and organization. However, the rapid expansion and change has fuelled concerns about issues such as educators' technology professional development. Despite the educational value of emerging technologies in schools, the introduction has not yet enjoyed much success. Effective use of information and communication technologies requires a substantial change in pedagogical practice. Traditional training and learning approaches cannot cope with the rising demand on educators to make use of innovative technologies in their teaching. As a result, educational institutions as well as the public are more and more aware of the need for adequate technology professional development. The focus of this paper is to look at action research as a qualitative research methodology for studying technology professional development in HE in order to improve teaching and learning with ICTs at the tertiary level. The data discussed in this paper have been drawn from a cross institutional setting at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. The data were collected and analysed according to a qualitative approach.
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