Search

Which ideas are central to inclusive education in Canada, and how do educators and researchers build capacity to provide it? Who or what is still missing, and how can international collaboration help us accomplish our goals in inclusive education? This article reports on a discussion among international scholars of inclusive education as they considered these questions together. These scholars, from Canada, Scotland, Finland, and Germany, considered the lessons they (we) have learned from our history of inclusive education in Canada. They drew on their experience with collaborative research to outline some clear benefits of working together, and learning from each other, to find progressive ways forward in inclusive education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our pan-Canadian research study examined the differential impact of teacher induction and mentorship programs on the early-career teachers' retention. Using the results from a pan-Canadian Teacher Induction Survey (N = 1343), we compared ECTs' experiences with induction, mentorship and career development within their first five years. Findings point to a shift in the needs of teachers within the first five years, suggesting that with time career supports and job satisfaction decrease and consideration of leaving the profession increases. Based on convergences and divergences across five years, we offer implications for policy, practice, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of parents in supporting at-home learning increased dramatically in the spring of 2020. Schools in most Canadian provinces closed physically due to COVID-19, and remote-learning options were quickly developed to ensure continued education for students. Many students with special educational needs, who typically benefit from a range of supports from school, became reliant on parents to provide means of access to and participation in remote learning. Using an online survey, we explored the perceptions of 263 Canadian parents of children with special education needs with regard to their self-efficacy and supports from schools. We conducted multiple linear regression analyses for each of three dependent variables (academic supports, parent self-efficacy, and social-emotional supports); independent variables included student grade level, education placement, and total school-provided supports prior to the pandemic. Findings indicated that most parents engaged in remote learning and lacked confidence in their ability to support the learning of their child. Parent self-efficacy was related to social-emotional supports from schools and not to academic supports. Parents of children in elementary grades, and of those who had received more supports from school prior to COVID-19, reported feeling better supported in social-emotional areas by the school. Schools should explore ways of building strong collaborative relationships between educators and parents, as well as continuing to find ways of supporting families and students in both in- and out-of-school places. The pandemic, and school-building closures, have reminded us how partnerships between parents and schools are crucial for the well-being of all involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Language & Literacy: A Canadian Educational E-Journal is the property of Language & Literacy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Students with learning disabilities and other high-incidence hidden exceptionalities (HIHE) can struggle with secondary difficulties including low confidence in their abilities (e.g., Klassen, 2010) along with primary difficulties related to their exceptionality. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the perspective of individuals with hidden exceptionalities with regard to maladaptive beliefs they can form. Using learning disabilities as a platform for discussing HIHE, we unpack two types of maladaptive beliefs--related to generalizations and mindset--and suggest adaptive alternative beliefs that can promote adaptive behaviour. The focus on maladaptive beliefs draws attention to the identification process, and specifically the types of variables that can influence how well aligned parts of the process are for particular students. We present a framework that contextualizes individual beliefs within the identification process, and what other variables determine alignment of parts within the process. The framework can be used to support educators through the identification process, as well as researchers in providing direction for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical interventions have been effective at increasing social skills of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, generalization of those skills to non-clinical environments is often low. To reduce this generalization gap, community-based programs have been designed to help youth develop social skills in naturalistic settings. This paper describes a community-based social-skills intervention for youths with ASD aged 7-12, which was designed to build on the findings of a previous study. In this program, youths with ASD co-operated with siblings and peers in structured and unstructured play over the course of four weeks. The researchers conducted extensive observations of the play by the youths and conducted interviews with the youths with ASD, their parents, and program staff. Both in our observations and in the perceptions of the parents, the youths with ASD increased their play and socialization. Using Vygotsky's (1978) socio-cultural theory as a guiding framework, we describe the components of this intervention that contributed to the changes observed in the youths' play and social interactions. We developed a model that includes components of instruction, interest, playbased learning, and the structure of program, and which provides an explanation of intervention effectiveness to be explored in future research. It is 6:45 on a Wednesday evening in a mid-sized city in Ontario. Clustered on the floor of a large community hall, a group of 17 youths (mostly boys) and several young adults are sprawled out or seated on foam mats. In groups that include three youths and one young adult, the participants form circles around a pile of building blocks, a descriptive manual, and a half-constructed project. The youths are deep in concentration as they lean in closely. The youths talk casually, laugh occasionally, and when disagreements break out, order is restored through calm tones. As one youth shifts position, another unconsciously mirrors the body language of the first. One might not suspect from seeing these youth take turns, negotiate roles, and collaborate that most of them are here because they have difficulty socializing. Most of the youths have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and usually have difficulty co-operating with peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a limited body of research examining how students' beliefs about intelligence and about their abilities relate to different learning environments. As reported here, I examined secondary school students' beliefs, goals, and expectations guided by Zimmerman's (2000) model of self-regulated learning. In this exploratory study, 230 secondary school students reported on their beliefs about learning and intelligence, as well as on their confidence in their self-regulatory abilities. I made comparisons between groups of students on beliefs, goals, and expectations based on their school stream, achievement, learning disability status, and gender. Both self-regulatory efficacy and reading mindset were significantly different for students based on their school stream and their achievement level. The findings of this exploratory study suggest a need for further research that focuses directly on whether at-risk students demonstrate maladaptive motivation and specifically on their beliefs, goals, and expectations of themselves as learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]