This paper reports on a study carried out in Scotland which involved introducing the principles of Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) to 21 mainstream elementary teachers. It considers the effects of developing CGI in classrooms focusing on teacher learning and particularly their capacity to support all learners. The findings demonstrate teachers' awareness of their own learning and how increased understanding of children's mathematical thinking left them better placed to support all learners. The study highlights the importance of developing teachers' knowledge of children's mathematical thinking in order to promote inclusive practices with CGI providing a useful framework for this professional development.
The Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output.
This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of a group of 12 teachers in primary special schools in Scotland for children with moderate learning difficulties. It sets out an analysis of classroom observations and interviews that explored teachers' knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learning in mathematics with children with moderate learning difficulties. The teachers were interviewed pre- and post-intervention; this was a research-based professional development programme in children's mathematical thinking (Cognitively Guided Instruction) which teachers then developed in their classrooms. The findings showed that prior to the professional development, the teachers had a limited knowledge of children's mathematical development with teaching frequently informed by intuitive beliefs and dated and sometimes discredited practices. Most teachers had low expectations of children with learning difficulties. Post-intervention, the teachers reviewed this stance and affirmed that a deeper understanding of children's mathematical thinking provided a more secure knowledge base for instruction. They also recognised the extent to which learners were constrained by existing classroom practices. The paper argues for the commonality of this knowledge base and considers the problematic nature of viewing such knowledge as sector specific
There is a widely held view that learning to play a musical instrument is a valuable experience for all children in terms of their personal growth and development. Although there is no statutory obligation for instrumental music provision in Scottish primary schools there are well-established Instrumental Music Services in Local Education Authorities that have been developed to provide this facility for pupils. This paper presents the findings of a study that aimed to investigate the extent to which the opportunity to undertake instrumental instruction in Scottish primary schools is equitable.The study employed a mixed methods approach. Data were gathered from 21 Scottish primary school, a total pupil population of 5122 pupils of whom 323 pupils were receiving instrumental instruction. The analysis involved an investigation of the academic profile of this group, the representation of children with additional support needs and the nature of their additional support needs. A qualitative analysis of policy and guideline documents and interviews with Heads of Instrumental Services, headteachers and instrumental instructors served to explain and illuminate the quantitative data. The findings showed that particular groups of children with additional support needs were significantly under-represented and offers explanations of the processes by which this occurs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.