Conference Agenda

Worldwide, there is a common-sense acceptance that young people should have equal access and voice to their educational needs. In Norway recent and alarming findings in the “Children and Young people strategy 21” (Norwegian Research Council 2021), concludes that young people contribute too little in the research decisions that concerns them. These findings are considered when the research council now focuses on new research centres and grants for more inclusive research, underlining the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in education, research, and the field as well as listening to the voices of children and youth in vulnerable life situation to solve the challenges in the field. These changes are also implemented from the first of August in Norway through a new education Act, where students will have ensured the right to actively express their opinions and be listened in all matters that concern them, and schools accordingly will have the duty to facilitate students’ empowerment (Education Act, 2023, § 10-2). However, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment found that empowering students through for instance teaching methods in class may be more effective for some students than for others, creating inequality (OECD, 2012). Nonetheless, its operationalisation can become a key aspect for professional development and improving students’ school experiences (Weinberger & Libman, 2018). The act of empowerment is defined as bringing into a state of belief one's capacity to act effectively, emphasising the critical importance of effective relationships between teachers and students; thus empowerment is the ability to influence one’s environment, but it is complex and multidimensional and can affect students differently according to their background (Broom, 2015; Duhon-Haynes, 1996; Freire, 1970). To enact policy demands of empowerment, more research should address its complex, multidimensional characteristics. Therefore, in our study we ask how vocational teachers empower young people in their school environment through “Equality Literacy Framework” (EQL).

In this study we draw on Stuart’s et al. (2021) EQL, a practice and research framework to study all the factors that contribute to empowering learning environments. The framework is rooted in a bio-ecological, systemic view and captures relationships between the individual student and the different contexts at micro and macro level. The EQL Framework considers the concept of equity in relation to equitable chance of success (Chapman and West-Burnham, 2010). This framework is used for both the young people and educators to understand what influences the students in their learning, and what can be done to improve the learning environment for the disadvantaged students. Some commentators point out that it is the education system itself that has quit children, pushed children out and not been fit for young people (Fine, 2018).

At the same time, schools and teachers can pull in young people through for instance relations that are empowering and liberating. With inspiration from Freire, and the Pedagogy of the oppressed, we explore how teachers empower young people in the school and through a critical and dialogue-based relationship. According to Freire (1970), liberating pedagogy aims at empowerment. Belief in and regard for the individual's worth and integrity stems from a humanistic vision of humankind, which values equality, love, hope, mutual respect, and the desire to improve (Freire, 1970). Empowerment is linked to the recognition of the two dimensions of dialogue: reflection and action, which are mutually dependent on each other. For Freire, increasing awareness is the process of engaging individuals in discussion to examine and analyse reality based on such life-like topics.This critical attitude will be able to free the individual and his inherent resources and powers (Lindvig & Mousavi, 2017).

The following paper investigates the question “what are the experiences of four children with a rare developmental disability (DD) attending mainstream primary schools in the Southwest of England, UK?” A critical realist approach is adopted to help understand how the children navigate their experiences of having a disability within a school setting. Critical realism helps acknowledge the different levels of influence that includes physical, medical, social cultural and historical factors of influence (Bhaskar and Danermark, 2006). The research questions the concept of ‘inclusion’ whilst exploring how settings, staff and children negotiate support within the mainstream education system.

In the UK, school staff roles and responsibilities have shifted towards teaching assistants increasingly being used to work directly with children with disabilities (Ravalier et al., 2021). Literature indicates that working closely with a teaching assistant may prevent children from accessing direct teaching from a qualified teacher (Vincett, Cremin & Thomas, 2005). Furthermore, challenges exist in differences in status and training between teachers and teaching assistant roles.

Children attending mainstream primary education have a range of different needs and backgrounds. Therefore, there are various opportunities for children to develop supportive peer roles and helpful attitudes towards children with differences. When there is a child with disabilities in the class, children may develop empathy and patience (Anderson et al., 2011), be more tolerant of differences, to celebrate differences, and most importantly, learn that all children are different, and therefore learn at different paces. Typically developing peers notice that their friendships with children with disabilities are different. Children with disabilities may have difficulties finding similar interests or similar social competence levels; they require a lot of patience, understanding and trust (Woodgate et al., 2020).

Inclusion flourishes when there is a sense of belonging and participation, but social participation relies on relationships, interactions with others, staff and peer perceptions of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEN/D) and acceptance from peers (Bossaert et al., 2013). The increasingly difficult and undefinable inclusion agenda has resulted in children with disabilities attending primary schools with varying levels of success. School staff continue to conflate inclusion with integration, by focussing on the placement of children being inside the classroom or outside the classroom. Hodkinson (2012) refers to the ‘symbiotically intertwined’ absence and presence of inclusion where teachers have the power to decide who could be included and when.

Research has examined the absence of friendships and peer interactions for children with SEN/D in mainstream education (Lyons et al., 2016) and children with differences report feeling lonely and excluded (Woodgate et al., 2020). Opportunities to interact with others can sometimes be inhibited by a constant adult support, and work outside of the classroom which physically takes place away from the rest of the children (Radford et al., 2015). On the other hand, staff can play a significant part in facilitating interactions between peers.

This study examines the experiences of children with DD through the exploration of social involvement as a primary school pupil, as well as relational participation through connections with peers, teaching assistants (TAs) and teachers in different spaces, both inside and outside of the classroom.

For the past six years, I have led a partnership between a teacher education college and a school serving at-risk youth where student-teachers are trained. The current participatory action research focused on examining the pupils' expressions of negativism - a source of tension for teachers of at-risk adolescents – as well as on teacher responsiveness to negativism (Reed, 2017).

Grounding the study in Vygotskian theory (Vygotsky, 1987, p. 127), I adopted the perspective that the negativism of at-risk youth could be a sign of a gateway to learning and development. Instead of referring to it as hostile, anxious, isolating, and disruptive behavior and generally pessimistic outlook, it could be understood as a way of distinguishing their particular identities and finding their own kind of agency. In this theoretical perspective, responsiveness to negativism relates to the ability of teachers to appropriately recognize, understand, and address the needs of these pupils by fostering a supportive learning environment tailored to their unique needs. This presentation will describe and analyze three consecutive sessions that took place during my year-long action research study, in which student-teachers, cooperating teachers, and pupils were invited to engage with the phenomenon of negativism and recognize its positive developmental prospects. Through collaborative, participatory inquiry, I sought to unlock the transformative potential of negativism and promote developmental learning progress.

As an action researcher, I elicited and documented a “double stimulation” intervention. The construct of the double stimulation with the pedagogical goal of enhancing 1) Understanding the connection between negativism and responsiveness; 2) Presenting the concept of “porcupine children” as a psychological tool serving as the first stimulus for all research participants; 3) Inviting the pupils to participate in these sessions. Analysis revealed that the pupils responded by interpreting the metaphoric concept of porcupine children by providing examples of negativism from their lives. It became evident that these pupils identified with it and could link it to their expressions of negativity; 4) Additionally, teachers joined in, filling the neutral stimulus (“porcupine children”) with meaning, transforming it into a new mediating sign, Over the course of the discourse, behaviors characterizing negativism among pupils were located and explicated alongside a spectrum of effective responses by educators to learners at risk, according to the perceptions of student-teachers and the cooperating teachers. 5) I expanded my understanding of the relevance of responsiveness in teacher education. The pupils voiced the need for firm relational boundaries alongside empathic acceptance. In voicing lived experiences, the study facilitated the student-teachers and the teachers' listening and understanding. Bridging multiple voices alleviated tensions, promoting the internalization of context-sensitive practice. Ultimately, it spotlighted the zone of proximal development within this activity system as a collective meaning-making forwarded enhanced conception and application towards impactful and meaningful education.

In my study, the concept of responsiveness was based on data depicting the point of view of the pupils and student-teachers through an exchange maintaining horizontal relationships. Additionally, this study provided a glimpse into the practical meaning of responding to negativism, breaking it down into implementable components, which can be identified, described, comprehended, dialogued about, conceptualized, expanded, and adopted in a practical fashion.

Normally, teacher responses have a broad range. The span of responses can vary between violent and containing empowering, empathic, and encouraging reactions, and student-teachers and teachers need an in-depth examination of this range (Edwards, 2010). In this study, it seemed that the participating pupils seek certain responses within a specific spectrum – that, on the one hand, maintains clear boundaries and, on the other, accepts them as they are.