51. årgang, 2 Juli 2014

Beskrivelse

Holmboe, Alexandra & Skovlund, Henrik (Psychologist and Psychologist, PhD graduate).
Approaches to Successful Inclusion in Primary School. Pædagogisk
Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2014, Vol.51, 2, 3-20. – The article highlights some examples
of successful inclusion in municipal schools from the perspective of the teachers. It
is based upon interviews with teachers and heads from a large municipality in Denmark.
The article summarizes the most basic and common factors for successful inclusion
according to the teachers. It is concluded that successful inclusion cannot be
specified as general educational techniques because the interventions of the teachers
are individual, situated and improvised according to the specific pupils in
question. However, the strategies used reflect common guiding ideals, points of attention,
inter subjective competences and educational goals. These common prerequisites
for inclusion can be conceptualized by virtue of different psychological and
educational theories to accentuate and facilitate their guiding effects upon successful
inclusion. – Alexandre Holmboe and Henrik Skovlund

Damkjær-Olesen, Sebastian (Graduate of educational psychology). Grumbling
and Negative Tales may lead to a Positive Development. Pædagogisk Psykologisk
Tidsskrift, 2014, Vol. 51, 2, 21- 26. – The article is about how complaining
and negative attitudes, potentially may lead to positive development. The article is
based on a school study and uses the narrative and poststructuralist assumptions
(White, 2008) that stories construct the “reality” we find ourselves in. The inspiration
is found in Michael White’s (2006b) formulation of the absent but implicit and in
Kenneth Gergen’s (2004) descriptions of the narrative forms.
What happens when we let language create the reality? The hope is that the article
can open up for reflection and inspiration in order to seek a curious approach
to what normally is experienced as inhibiting. It is often experienced that the management,
CEO etc., only seek positive stories and ignore or hide the negative stories
that live in the organization. When “negative” stories are explored and clarified,
they allow the management and employees to shape new stories, a common understanding,
and set a meaningful direction for the organization. It therefore concludes
that grumbling and negative stories are not just complaints and negativism, but a
potential key to create a common meaningful workplace. – Sebastian Damkjær-Olesen

Grøndahl, Anja (Graduate of educational psychology). Tales of a Chasm and a
Potential Rejection of Inclusion as an Ideology. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift,
2014, Vol.51, 2, 27-38. – The article contains stories about teacher practice,
inclusion, class community and difficulties regarded as ADHD. The aim is to examine
teacher practice in classes at a primary school, in which there is at least one student
with difficulties regarded as ADHD. There are reflections about how concepts
such as diagnoses may appear as truisms and the ambition is to go against the tales
of diagnoses.
It may look as if there is a gap between teachers’ ideas about inclusion and their
experiences of inclusion in their practice. In some narratives, the gap between teachers’
ideas about inclusion and their actual inclusion experiences, seems to be
smaller.
It is concluded that a discourse about saving money, often is a part of the stories
of inclusion in public schools. The original European idea of creating a more inclusive
society therefore appears to be displaced by a focus on the economy instead.
– Anja Grøndahl

Jespersen; Lene, Kiel; Schmidt, Aase & Gydesen, Johnny (School psychologists in
Assens). Creating Chairmanship in the Municipality of Assens. Pædagogisk
Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2014, Vol. 51, 2, 39-51. – The purpose of this article is to explain
a new meeting management model developed by three school psychologists in
the municipality of Assens. It is also the purpose to describe the context in which
the model has emerged , and to describe the work process of the model.
The model consists of five key concepts: ethics, power, confidence, reflection and
production. The article describes how the model can be used as an analytical tool
and as a practical guidance of good meeting management. The five key concepts are
discussed in theory and in relation to the model. On the municipal website there is
a digital I-paper version of the model, which can be used for preparation of meetings
and for evaluation. – Lene Kiel Jespersen, Aase Schmidt og Johnny Gydesen

Andersen; Frans Ørsted & Tidmand, Louise (Lecturer at the University of Aarhus
and educational consultant). How Children Learn new Strategies and Competences
– An Examination of Efforts In Primary Schools, Based on Positive
Psychology. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2014, Vol.51, 2, 52-65. Several
studies1 show that there is a connection between student self-perception and academic
achievement. Students with a positive self-perception perform better academically
than students with poor or negative self-perception. At the same time
there is an increasing focus on the achievements of students in Danish (and indeed
all over the world) primary and secondary schools2, possibly causing stress and
anxiety. More and more students (children and youth) report psychiatric symptoms
(Sørensen & Thomsen, 2006). In this article we present a study that looks closer at
the effects of a new intervention method, dealing with student self-perception,
optimism and well-being, based on positive psychology. The study asked the following
question:
What impact, if any, does applying these specific positive psychology techniques
including happiness-enhancing exercises, have on the well-being, optimism level,
and self-perception of students? The intervention was implemented in eight Danish
3rd-5th grade classes at seven normal schools in Eeastern Denmark (Sjælland) during
the period May to June 2012. The students worked with the material “My Happy
Book – 25 Exercises for Happier Children and Parents” (Tidmand, 2012). Researcher
Frans Ørsted Andersen supervised the impact study, which had some interesting
results, indicating that student well-being increased significantly as a result of the
intervention. The study e.g. shows that espcially students with an initial low or
negative self-perception profited from the intervention. – Frans Ørsted Andersen &
Louise Tidmand
1 (Chapman, 1988), (Guay, 2003), (Harter, 1982).

Nielsen; Anne-Mette, Veber (Ph.d stipendiate at The institute of Nordic Studies
and Linguistics). Orthographic Skills and Early Reading Development. Pædagogisk
Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2014, Vol.51, 2, 66-84. – The article presents and
discusses the concept of orthographic skills. The concept has emerged in the research
literature since well known prerequisites such as phonological skills and
print experience can not fully explain the variation in word reading among beginning
readers. Therefore, several researchers have suggested that a third factor
known as orthographic skills is also involved. The two most prevalent theories
about the development of orthographic skills are presented as well as a number of
definitions from the research literature and it Is shown how orthographic skills are
typically tested. Moreover, the empirical support of orthographic skills are presented
and discussed. Finally, a planned Danish training study based on the research
described is presented. – Anne-Mette Veber Nielsen.

Nissen, Poul (PhD, Lecturer at the University of Aarhus). Identification of Gifted
and Talented Students – How is it Done? Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift,
2014, Vol.51, 2, 85-92. – The terms gifted or gifted and talented are bestowed
students who display a variety of characteristics, including high performance capabilities
in an intellectual, creative or artistic area. Although certain characteristics
can be generalized some gifted students may not possess the same characteristics
as other gifted individuals and they may not appear to have the same observable
differences. Depending on how their giftedness has been dealt with previously, they
even may appear quite “ungifted”. Many gifted students resist routine and exhibit
nonconformist behavior. Others may withdraw, and passively be doing a minimum
of what is required. These students may have developed an undesirable behavior
due to lack of challenges in school being more or less arrested in their intellectual
development. Therefore, it is important to identify these students as early as possible
in order to secure a positive schooling experience. Based on theoretical work on
giftedness and clinical experience (Clark, 2008; Silverman, 1984) a 56-item unipolar
scale was developed. This scale was administrated to 149 gifted and talented
students plus 253 parents and 122 teachers of gifted and talented students. On this
unipolar scale the three groups of informants was asked to mark 0 (not true), 1, (somewhat
or sometimes true) or 2 (very true or often true). Based on this information
three checklists were developed each with the 25 items that received the highest
ranking. One for students, one for parents, and one for teachers. Hereby the checklists
can contribute to a fast identification of gifted and talented students. – Poul
Nissen