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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De Nederlandse samenleving verandert in sneltreinvaart. Wat betekent dit voor begeleiders in het onderwijs? En hoe kan de master Educational Needs (EN) hen goed voorbereiden op deze samenleving? Negen collega’s van de Hogeschool Utrecht gingen op zoek naar antwoorden. Eén van hen, Sofie Sergeant, beschrijft in dit artikel wat die zoektocht opleverde.
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De module Leren en Professioneel Handelen is onderdeel van de opleiding Master Educational Needs van het Seminarium voor Orthopedagogiek. Bij aanvang van deze module krijgen de studenten feedback op hun leerkrachtvaardigheden op basis van observatie van hun lesgedrag met het ICALT-observatie instrument. In de loop van de moduleperiode verdiepen de studenten zich in de beschikbare kennis over effectief leergedrag en worden zij in de gelegenheid gesteld om de leerkrachtvaardigheden te oefenen die nog verbetering behoeven. Uit een tweede observatie, aan het eind van de module, blijkt dat gemiddeld alle studenten er in slagen hun lesgedrag betekenisvol te verbeteren. Dit geldt voor zowel studenten met veel en weinig beroepservaring, als voor studenten die werkzaam zijn op verschillende schoolsoorten. We concluderen op basis van deze bevindingen, dat de bij het Seminarium voor Orthopedagogiek gehanteerde werkwijze uiterst effectief is.
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The overall objective of the SPEACH project needs analysis (work package 2, WP2) was to gather input on the needs and wishes of selected target groups within the field of physical education (PE) and Sport Coaching. Both individual and organisational perspectives were represented. Focus has been on how to build Health Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) related modules and/or other substantial study activities into existing educational structures of sport coaching and physical education teacher education (PETE) programs.
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Parental involvement is a crucial force in children’s development, learning and success at school and in life [1]. Participation, defined by the World Health Organization as ‘a person’s involvement in life situations’ [2] for children means involvement in everyday activities, such as recreational, leisure, school and household activities [3]. Several authors use the term social participation emphasising the importance of engagement in social situations [4, 5]. Children’s participation in daily life is vital for healthy development, social and physical competencies, social-emotional well-being, sense of meaning and purpose in life [6]. Through participation in different social contexts, children gather the knowledge and skills needed to interact, play, work, and live with other people [4, 7, 8]. Unfortunately, research shows that children with a physical disability are at risk of lower participation in everyday activities [9]; they participate less frequently in almost all activities compared with children without physical disabilities [10, 11], have fewer friends and often feel socially isolated [12-14]. Parents, in particular, positively influence the participation of their children with a physical disability at school, at home and in the community [15]. They undertake many actions to improve their child’s participation in daily life [15, 16]. However, little information is available about what parents of children with a physical disability do to enable their child’s participation, what they come across and what kind of needs they have. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate parents’ actions, challenges, and needs while enhancing the participation of their school-aged child with a physical disability. In order to achieve this aim, two steps have been made. In the first step, the literature has been examined to explore the topic of this thesis (actions, challenges and needs) and to clarify definitions for the concepts of participation and social participation. Second, for the purposes of giving breadth and depth of understanding of the topic of this thesis a mixed methods approach using three different empirical research methods [17-19], was applied to gather information from parents regarding their actions, challenges and needs.
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In the Netherlands and in the United States, the assessment process is changing for children who present learning and behavioural challenges in school. Evaluations for eligibility determinations and support planning are shifting along with disability models and tensions over the provision of inclusive schooling. Legislative edicts influence the assessment process differently in these two countries while both nations seem to be headed in a similar direction. This paper relates evolving disability models to the changing assessment process in each country and proposes that a solution-focused perspective offers an assessment concept which supports the goal of inclusive education. Specifically discussed are the implications of a solution-focused approach on the identification of disability, the assessment of special educational needs, individualized support planning, and the essential cooperation within evolving schools as well as the environment beyond.
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The academic achievements of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are usually lower than those of their peers. It is therefore important to know what educational professionals need to provide these students with optimal support. To identify these needs, we applied Q methodology, a qualitative method using quantitative techniques. We found four groups of professionals with different needs. The first group emphasized a need for collaboration within school; the second valued practical suggestions to guide their teaching, the third emphasized gaining more confidence to teach students with ASD, and the fourth group focused on enhancing students’ social and communication skills.
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The SEDY2 project is a three-year follow-up project (2020-2022) funded through the European Union (Erasmus+). The goal of the project is to encourage inclusion and equal opportunities in sport for children and youth with disabilities. This toolkit is aimed at people involved in educating students or volunteers on inclusion in sport for young people with disabilities, who are managing, working in a sports club or involved in the development of sports policy. They could be a volunteer, a coach, a club member or a policy maker. Inclusion in its simplest form is defined as the state of being included. In an inclusive club, every participant is welcomed, accepted, and feels that they belong. However, the needs of young people with disabilities are often unmet. Young people with disabilities have fewer opportunities to participate in quality sport activities. The goal of this toolkit is to support educators to facilitate and promote disability inclusion among mainstream sport providers through education, using the educational materials and sharing best practices and inclusive ideas from SEDY2 project.
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Social needs are important basic human needs; when not satisfied, loneliness and social isolation can occur and subsequently sickness or even premature death. For older people social needs can be more difficult to satisfy because of the loss of resources such as health and mobility. Interventions for older people to satisfy social needs are often not evaluated and when evaluated are not proven successful. Technological interventions can be successful, but the relationship between technology and social wellbeing is complex and more research in this area is needed. The aim of this research is to uncover design opportunities for technological interventions to fulfil social needs of older people. Context-mapping sessions are a way to gain more insight into the social needs of older people and to involve them in the design of interventions to fulfil social needs. Participants of the context-mapping sessions were older people and social workers working with older people. Four sessions with a total of 20 participants were held to generate ideas for interventions to satisfy social needs. The results are transcripts from the discussion parts of the context-mapping sessions and collages the participants created. The transcripts were independently analysed and inductive codes were attached to quotations in the transcripts that are relevant to the research question and subsequently thematic analysis took place. Collages made by the participants were independently analysed by the researchers and after discussion consensus was reached about important themes. The following three main themes emerged: ‘connectedness’, ‘independence’ and ‘meaningfulness’. Technology was not identified as a separate theme, but was addressed in relation to the above mentioned themes. Staying active in a meaningful way, for example by engaging in volunteer work, may fulfil the three needs of being connected, independent and meaningful. In addition, interventions can also focus on the need to be and remain independent and to deal with becoming more dependent. The older people in our study have an ambivalent attitude towards technology, which needs to be taken into account when designing an intervention. We conclude this paper by making recommendations for possible technological interventions to fulfil social needs.
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Background: Particulate matter (PM) exposure is an important health risk, both in daily life and in the workplace. It causes respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and results in 800,000 premature deaths per year worldwide. In earlier research, we assessed workers’ information needs regarding workplace PM exposure, the properties and effects of PM, and the rationale behind various means of protection. We also concluded that workers do not always receive appropriate risk communication tools with regards to PM, and that their PM knowledge appears to be fragmented and incomplete. Methods: We considered several concepts for use as an educational material based on evaluation criteria: ease of use, costs, appropriateness for target audiences and goals, interactivity, implementation issues, novelty, and speed. We decided to develop an educational folder, which can be used to inform employees about the properties, effects and prevention methods concerning PM. Furthermore, we decided on a test setup of a more interactive way of visualisation of exposure to PM by means of exposimeters. For the development of the folder, we based the information needs on our earlier mental models-based research. We adjusted the folder based on the results of ten semi-structured interviews evaluating its usability. Results: The semi-structured interviews yielded commentaries and suggestions for further improvement, which resulted in a number of alterations to the folder. However, in most cases the folder was deemed satisfactory. Conclusion: Based on this study, the folder we developed is suitable for a larger-scale experiment and a practical test. Further research is needed to investigate the efficacy of the folder and the application of the exposimeter in a PM risk communication system.
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