Amongst academics working with postgraduate students, there has recently been increasing interest in ways of supporting advanced academic literacy (AAL). This is a concern for us at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where we teach a diverse group of postgraduate students, most of whom are subject practitioners in…

This article presents the authors' response to Harman and Sanderson (2008) who address the important question of how person-centred active support is. The authors' intention is not to disagree with Harman and Sanderson's general point that combining active support (AS) with person-centred planning (PCP) is better than either approach being…

This study attempts to reliably measure literature reading and creative writing ability, and subsequently to determine whether a relationship exists between the two abilities. Participants were 19 eleventh-grade students: 11 were known to be good readers of literature, whereas 8 were known to be poor readers of literature. Each participant read 4…

This is the author's response to Barbara and Derek Ball's comments to their three papers. Barbara and Derek believe that the "school run" infantilises children. The author disagrees. The school run does not infantilise children, but reflects officially sanctioned untruths and a systemic avoidance of issues of equity. The school run…

Although there is evidence that the use of picture books affects young children's achievement scores in mathematics, little is known about the cognitive engagement and, in particular, the mathematical thinking that is evoked when young children are read a picture book. The focus of the case study reported in this article is on the cognitive…

Explored through a focus on the behaviour and related experiences of a 9 year old Muslim Somalian boy called Zak, Woods offered a fascinating in-depth case study account of the rewards and sanctions systems in place at a culturally and religiously diverse London primary school. Over a period of 18 months, Woods employed a range of methodological…

This article comments on keynote speeches given by Keith Ajegbo and Audrey Osler. The programme of study for citizenship derived from the Crick report and did not emphasise race equality and national unity for security. Osler argues that the Ajegbo review addressed teaching of ethnic, religious and cultural diversity but did not confront the…

According to an influential view, empathy has, and should have, a role in ethics, but it is by no means clear what is meant by "empathy", and why exactly it is supposed to be morally good. Recently, Peter Goldie has challenged that view. He shows how problematic empathy is, and argues that taking an external perspective is morally…

This book is based on the belief that deep subject knowledge of language and literature provides a foundation for effective teaching and learning. It provides a guide to the range of genres and characteristic features of English language fiction written for children. It is designed to help readers to develop their understanding of literature…

This article is a reply to Gewirtz and Cribb's argument for ethical reflexivity, presented in a previous issue of this journal. These authors compared their views with mine, suggesting a way in which the differences between our positions could be overcome. I argue that, while there is certainly substantial agreement, there are also some…

Evident from the responses to the author's paper is the fact that other researchers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia have had cause to consider the issues that contribute to the complexities of involving people with intellectual disabilities, who may not be able to provide their own consent, in research. Comments by Aman and…

This article presents an interview with Prue Mason about her book "Camel Rider." Prue Mason has written articles for a children's magazine in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and for "The School Magazine" in Australia. Mason also serves as the science and technology editor for an Australian children's magazine. She discusses what…

In the commentary provided by Taskin (2006), he states that the authors' study did not provide valid information regarding the research sample. Taskin implies that it is therefore difficult to generalize findings of this study to Turkish elementary and middle school students. In this article, the author states that in their paper they provide…

The polemical stance of Greville Rumble's paper argues for a "morality of humanity" that would produce a redistribution of material wealth, thus enabling (among other things) free use at point of access for higher education--and distance higher education in particular. The implicit assumption of this moral argument is that allowing such…

The purpose of this study was to design a culturally relevant curriculum that could be used with English language learning, Mexican American, immigrant, fifth grade children and study the responses they might have to that curriculum. The research questions were: What are the issues in developing a culturally relevant curriculum for Mexican…