bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mental Disorders and Burden of Disease: How was Disability Estimated and is It Valid?
Authors: Sanderson Kristy , Andrews Gavin 
Published: June 2007

Objective: The Global Burden of Disease study found mental disorders to be the world's leading cause of disability. Few studies have examined the validity of the novel approach used to estimate disability, the person trade-off preference method. This paper describes, and examines the validity of, the burden of disease person trade-off protocol. Method: The person trade-off provides preferences for health states (how good or bad you think it is in relation to perfect health). General practitioners (n = 20) with training in mental health provided preferences for 19 mental disorders using the person trade-off method. Descriptions for the mental disorders were derived from the average symptom severity and disability observed in the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Validity was investigated by comparison with two other methods (rating scale and rank order). Results: The general practitioners found the person trade-off complex and affronting. Only a moderate concordance was observed with two validity comparisons, however, validity was significantly increased following the opportunity for group discussion among the clinicians. The disability weights were higher than those used in the global study, a possible consequence of differences in disorder descriptions. Conclusions: The present study is limited by small subject numbers and by using only one type of key informant (clinicians). While this study provided some evidence for the validity of the person trade-off, it also echoes concerns from recent commentaries about the feasibility of this method. These concerns are particularly relevant for mental disorder burden, which relies heavily on the magnitude of the disability weights. Further work is required to ensure that disability burden is validly estimated, and thus can appropriately be used to inform mental health policy.
A First‐class Environment? Working‐class playgroups as preschool experience
Authors: Finch Janet 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article examines the voluntary, non‐profit‐making playgroup as a ‘self‐help’ alternative to nursery education. It is an alternative increasingly favoured by governments as an initiative to accompany cuts in state‐funded services. The article presents data from a small‐scale, longitudinal and qualitative study of self‐help playgroups in inner city areas on council estates. It shows that the form and character which these groups take means that they cannot be regarded as an alternative to nursery schools in the provision of preschool education, which is what parents wish them to be. Working‐class women cannot produce self‐help nursery education when they lack the material and cultural resources, nor should they be expected to do so.
Factors in the Use of Lap‐dissolve Presentation Methods for Teaching the Visualisation of Spatial Transformations
Authors: Seddon G. M. , El Farra A. O. K. , Jusoh I. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractTwo experiments were performed to study the effects of varying the exposure‐time and the dissolve‐time in the use of a lap‐dissolve control unit in presenting programmes intended to teach 14‐15‐year‐old students to visualise the effects of performing reflections and rotations on molecules represented in diagrams. Both experiments employed a two‐dimensional design with three levels for each of the two factors. The Rotations Programme was not effective with any of the combinations of exposure‐ and dissolve‐times. The effectiveness of the Reflections Programme showed a significant U‐shaped relationship as the exposure‐time changed from 5 through 7.5 to 10 seconds. There was no significant effect involving dissolve‐time.
Approaches to Normal Learning Tasks Adopted by Senior Secondary School Pupils
Authors: Selmes Ian P. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe concept of deep and surface approaches to learning, previously described in higher education, was extended to pupils studying a curriculum of Scottish Higher grades or A‐levels. The rationale for employing a qualitative methodology in investigating the process of learning is outlined. Thirteen male pupils were questioned by semi‐structured interview. Transcripts were analysed qualitatively using the rigorous and systematic method pioneered by Marton. Three categories of a deep approach (personal integration, inter‐relationships and meaningfulness) and three categories of a surface approach (isolating, memorisation, and passivity) were described. Functional relationships between the context in which a study task was experienced, personal factors and approach to learning were also established. Subsequent work to facilitate effective learning by pupils is described, for which this paper's findings were the empirical basis. The implications for enhancing effective learning in secondary school are explored.
Young People's Attitudes to YTS: the first two years
Authors: Raffe David , Smith Patten 
Published: June 2007

AbstractData from the Scottish Young Peoples Surveys are used to examine attitudes to YTS among two successive year groups of young people in Scotland. Many of those who had joined YTS said they did so to get jobs or because they did not have jobs. Those who had refused schemes or left them early offered a variety of reasons, although many said they had had jobs or other preferred alternatives to go to. In answer to general questions, young people expressed mixed views of YTS. Many could see benefits with respect to training, interest or employment, but a majority felt it was a source of cheap labour and was just to keep unemployment figures down. YTS trainees were as likely as other young people to express these negative attitudes but their views were more favourable in other respects. Attitudes were also associated with gender, a middle‐class background and the local unemployment rate; they deteriorated slightly between the two year groups. The concluding discussion highlights the instrumentalism of most young people's orientations to YTS, identifies four strands in the folk mythology’ of YTS as exploitative, and attempts to explain why young people do not accept the government's ‘human capital’ justification of a YTS allowance well below current wage rates.
Cases Not Proven: an evaluation of two studies of teacher racism
Authors: Foster Peter 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIn recent years a number of studies conducted in schools have claimed to provide evidence of the existence of racism amongst teachers, and practices within schools which significantly disadvantage many ethnic minority students. Unfortunately, there has been a tendency to accept such studies rather uncritically, without questioning the nature of the evidence they present to support their conclusions. In this paper I examine two such studies from a more critical point of view. I argue that both suffer from a number of serious weaknesses and that their claims should not have been accepted in the way that they have been.
Can Job/Training Projects be Successful? Some Research Results from the Netherlands
Authors: Meijers Frans 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article examines the possibility of motivating unemployed young people for training schemes whose instrumental pay‐off is—at least in the Netherlands—mostly small or very uncertain. Using data from three research projects, it is argued that it is very difficult to motivate youngsters to join training schemes because these schemes do not provide ‘normal’ work. Thus they do not allow young people to realise the life plan they have in mind. Precisely because these life plans are an integral part of a cultural habitus, they are self‐evident and for that reason difficult to change. The only way to make training schemes attractive is to make them offer the participants a training for a ‘real’ profession and, after that training, guarantee them work in that profession.
The Dialectic between Theory and Method in Critical Interpretive Research
Authors: Bartlett Leo 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper focuses on the need for educational researchers to recognise the dialectic between theory and method. A methodology described as quasi‐historical and based on a theory of social action is discussed in the first section. The second section proposes a means whereby the meaning of actions can be understood. A schema for the interpretation of text evidence is then outlined. This schema or methodology draws upon the theoretical work of Giddens, Thompson and Habermas and the interpretation theory of Ricoeur. The proposed schema avoids a theory‐method dichotomy and offers researchers a form of disciplined enquiry.
A Study of Black Students' Perceptions of Racism in Initial Teacher Education
Authors: Siraj‐Blatchford Iram 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe school experiences of black children in Britain are well documented. Concern has recently been shown by the Department of Education and Science and the Commission for Racial Equality about the supply and recruitment of black teachers in our education system. This paper provides an account of black students' perceptions of racism in initial teacher education and reflects on the implications to teacher educators and their institutions. My research suggests that factors as diverse as accommodation, courses and school placements influence the perceptions of students. In conclusion I argue that black students' experiences need to be as positive as those of their white peers and that the institutions and departments within which they are educated have a direct responsibility to set up adequate procedures to deal with racism at all levels.
The Effects of Gender and Attendance Period on Children's Adjustment to Nursery Classes
Authors: Davies Julie , Brember Ivy 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper analyses the effects of gender and attendance period on children's adjustment to nursery classes as measured by the teachers using the Child at School Schedule. The sample consisted of 778 children in 16 nursery classes attached to primary schools in one Local Education Authority. The results of a two‐way analysis of variance showed that boys were perceived to be less well‐adjusted to school than girls (at F 1% level) and the afternoon attenders less well‐adjusted to school than the morning attenders (at F 1% level). The results are discussed in the light of other studies which indicate that boys settle with greater difficulty into school than girls and the effect that parental choice of session has on the composition of the two groups. Strategies to help the less well‐adjusted children to settle into school are discussed in terms of closer home/school liaison to help promote co‐operation between home and school for the benefit of the child.
Teaching as Exposure: the case of good practice in junior school history
Authors: Knight Peter 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIn order to master the English National Curriculum for history it is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition that children be exposed to history topics. However, a study of 28 teachers who were reckoned to be skilled at teaching history in Key Stage 2 suggests that only the necessary condition prevails. What are the implications for the development of history teaching in Key Stage 2 if skilled teachers work on the assumption that ‘doing’ a topic is sufficient, when the curriculum prescribes a set of domain‐specific objectives?
Teacher Research and Educational Change: an empirical study
Authors: Vulliamy Graham , Webb Rosemary 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article reports the findings of a research study, using a combination of questionnaires and in‐depth interviews, designed to investigate in what ways teacher research enquiries, conducted in the context of an award‐bearing course, contribute to the processes of professional development and change within schools. The relationships between case‐study research and evaluation and action research and changes in school and classroom practice are discussed. Factors are identified which facilitate and constrain the change process. The findings are discussed in relation to the wider literature on the effects of inservice education and training (INSET), the professional development of teachers and the nature of educational change.
Underachievers or Underrated? The Experience of Pupils of South Asian Origin in a Secondary School
Authors: Troyna Barry 
Published: June 2007

AbstractResearch into the thorny issue of the educational ‘over/underachieve‐ment’ of white and ethnic minority pupils has assumed greater sophistication and insight in the last few years. However, attention continues to focus on educational outcomes or who gets what. As a corollary, analysis of who goes where in the allocation of pupils to high/low status credentialling courses and who, therefore, takes what, is almost routinely ignored. In this article I explore the allocative and selective procedures of a multiracial comprehensive school in England and argue that such considerations should be fully integrated into future studies on this theme.
The Value of Inservice Degrees: teachers' long‐term perceptions of their impact
Authors: Cope Peter , Inglis Bill , Riddell Sheila , Sulhunt Omar 
Published: June 2007

AbstractTeachers' long‐term perceptions of the impact of two inservice degree courses were surveyed by distributing a questionnaire to those who had graduated between 2 and 11 years previously. The majority of responses indicated that the degree courses had been perceived to have had a significant effect on the thinking, confidence and promotion prospects of the teachers who had participated in them. The value of degree courses of a theoretical rather than an instrumental nature is discussed in the light of restricted funding for INSET. It is concluded that these types of inservice degree may not produce immediately quantifiable effects on the classroom practice of the teachers involved but that their long‐term consequences for the confidence and professionalism of teachers make them a worthwhile investment for the education service.
Community Participation? The Establishment of ‘City's’ Parents' Centre[1]
Authors: Vincent Carol 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThere is a current trend in education, apparent in several Western nations, towards decentralisation and redistribution of power to parents and the wider community. Many such initiatives focus on encouraging school‐based management. This paper, however, examines an area‐based innovation: a Parents' Centre established by a local education authority (LEA) which aims to involve parents more closely in the education service. It explores the nature of that involvement through a careful appraisal of the concept of participation. Those concerned with the Centre's establishment share an apparent consensus over its aims, yet competing priorities are to be found working within that agreement. This paper concludes that these submerged differences stem from varying constraints operating on the different groups involved in the Centre, and on the LEA as a whole. These ensure that the opportunities for participation open to parents are of a limited kind.
Integration, Education and Rights[1]
Authors: Lewis Ann 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe integration into ordinary schools of children with special educational needs (SEN) has been seen as a fundamental right by some writers. This paper examines government statistics relating to the education of children with SEN and looks specifically at attempts to extrapolate measures of integration from these statistics. The limitations to measures of ‘integration’ which focus on end products (e.g. placement or statement decisions) are explored. The focus of the paper then moves to examine more broadly the rights of children with SEN and the rights of those children's parents. Parents' rights are explored under four subheadings: formal assessment, appeals, non‐statemented special provision, and participation in the National Curriculum. One of the strategies that may increase integration is the focus on parental rights concerning school preferences for their children. It is concluded that the exercise of these rights will be counter‐productive unless ordinary schools are willing and able to meet the educational needs of all children.
Side by Side: a more appropriate form of peer interaction for infant pupils?
Authors: Dowrick Nick 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis study explores the possibility that 6 and 7 year‐old pupils might learn more through associative than through collaborative peer interaction. Thirteen dyads worked in both modes at a series of tasks involving the completion and modelling of simple number sentences. High order talk tended to be more frequent in the associative mode, principally as a result of more frequent and more closely monitored disagreement. Task performances were little different in the two modes. Post‐test learning appeared to be greater after associative interaction, particularly for lower attaining dyads, who struggled to cope with the demands of collaboration, and at the simpler tasks, at which partners could interact with more understanding and confidence. It is concluded that associative interaction merits further attention, while suggestions are made for the enhancement of collaboration.
Conceptual and Methodological Flaws in the Evaluation of the ‘First’ British Reading Recovery Programme
Authors: Hall Kathleen 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper is a response to Anna Wright's (1992) evaluation of a Reading Recovery programme in Surrey which was published in a previous issue of British Educational Research Journal. It argues that the evaluation was too narrowly conceived, poorly conducted and insufficiently tentative in its final comment, and, above all, did not produce maximally useful evidence. Some pointers to the way forward are offered.
Some Sink, Some Float: National Curriculum assessment and accountability
Authors: Abbott Dorothy , Broadfoot Patricia , Croll Paul , Osborn Marilyn , Pollard Andrew 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article considers the Government's stated aims of introducing to British primary schools an assessment process which would be simultaneously criterion‐referenced, formative, moderated, related to progression and evaluative. Accountability, which has provided the main rationale for the process, presupposes reliability. In 1991, as part of the Bristol Primary Assessment, Curriculum and Experience (PACE) research, the same Standard Assessment Task (SAT) was observed in use in three Year 2 classrooms in different local education authorities (LEAs), providing a case study through which the reliability of the system is assessed. It is suggested that the variations in the circumstances and experience of teachers and children were so marked that the system is seriously flawed. The SAT discussed, Science 1 (Sinking and Floating), was dropped from the 1992 programme after severe criticism: the article questions whether this was the right response and discusses some of the wider issues raised.
Seven Types of Creativity: looking for insights in data analysis
Authors: Sanger Jack 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper is a preliminary attempt to address the issue of what has been called the ‘research imagination’. It argues that much of what we count as research does little to foster innovative ways of handling the issue of data analysis. It adopts a position of anarchic disenchantment with the rigidity and conservatism which constrain research activity. Research, it is argued, like other forms of literature, can enlighten, destabilise and enhance critical discourse. To do so requires a reflexivity concerning its own operations and frames of reference. Some practical suggestions on how to be more innovative in research are offered as a starting point.It may be said that the business of analysis is to progress from poetical to prosaic, from intuitive to intellectual knowledge; evidently these are just the same sort of opposites, in that each assumes the other is also there. (Empson, 1930)
Learning Mathematics in Groups with Computers: reflections on a research study
Authors: Hoyles Celia , Healy Lulu , Pozzi Stefano 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper traces a methodology for analysing groupwork with computers, together with some of the findings. The theoretical underpinning of the research is outlined along with how this theory informed the design of the study. In order to make explicit the research process, reflections on the project revolve around a detailed description of how the data were analysed and the phases through which the analysis progressed. This includes how decisions were made in order to cope with large qualitative data sets, the choice of appropriate quantitative techniques, and how qualitative and quantitative methods were combined. Advantages and limitations of this analysis are considered, and finally generalisations on the role of groupwork with computers in mathematics education are explored.
Whatever Happened to Good Advice? Service and inspection after the Education Reform Act
Authors: Evans John , Penney Dawn 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA) changed dramatically the relationships between central government, local education authorities (LEAs) and teachers in state schools in England and Wales. This report focuses on the nature of these changes, particularly those between LEAs and teachers, and considers their consequences for the ‘quality’ of the curriculum that schools can provide. Albeit tentatively, the analysis suggests that changes in the relationships between central government, LEAs and schools represent an extension of the central state's ideological powers of surveillance and centralised control over schools, rather than a move towards participatory democracy and the improvement in educational standards in schools. To illustrate this, the report addresses (i) the ‘effects’ of ERA legislation on the ‘dynamic’ of inspection, advice and in‐service education and training (INSET) support, and how this complex relationship is perceived by teachers in schools; and (ii) The Schools Act 1992, and the relationships between the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspections, in‐service support and curriculum provision. The analysis calls on data gathered during the 1992‐93 academic year as part of an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) research project investigating the impact of the ERA on the provision of physical education (PE) and sport in schools.
Gender Issues in Groupwork—a case study involving with with computers
Authors: Pryor John 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe paper reports my work as a teacher researcher on the Economic and Social Research Council funded project, ‘Groupwork with Computers’. It looks at intervention strategies that were adopted to promote gender equality and explores briefly other gender issues that emerged from the study. Data were gathered by interviewing pupils and colleagues and by classroom observation. It addresses the concerns of those teachers who find that despite their sensitivity to gender as an issue, the expected benefits do not necessarily accrue. It suggests that a greater emphasis on collaborative groupwork might in these circumstances be a fruitful path to pursue, in particular by encouraging children, and especially boys, to focus on their partners as well as the task.