Education Thinking, ISSN  2778-777X – Volume 2, Issue 1 – 2022



literature review

The Role and Involvement of Dads in the Lives and Education of Their Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities within an Early Intervention Context

Ke Ren & Conor Mc Guckin

This literature review prefaced a research project that explored dads’ role and involvement in the lives and education of their children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEN/D) within the context of early intervention (EI) (see Ren & Mc Guckin, 2022). We present a comprehensive, critical, and analytical review of the literature regarding the area of dad involvement in EI provided for children with SEN/D and their families. To conduct this review, key terminology was used to search in well-known, widely recognised, and distinguished research databases (e.g., Education Full Text, PsycINFO, Web of Science).

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The search yielded 112 results, from which 21 final articles were selected for inclusion. To begin, the historical perspective of fatherhood and dad involvement in the childbearing family is reviewed. This provides a necessary context for a deeper understanding of the central issues related to this area. To provide an explanation of the ways in which contemporary dads are influential, the review then explores the role and function of dads and their contributions to their child’s developmental outcomes. Such an exploration leads to a necessary critical review of recent research findings related to dads’ involvement in the lives of children with SEN/D and EI. This comprehensive review extends our knowledge in understanding the role and involvement of dads’ contributions to the outcome of their families and their children with SEN/D, particularly within an EI context.

Pages 3–18 / Publication date: 20 April 2022 / View HTML full textDownload full-text PDF


primary literature

Researcher-Expert Collaboration and the Involvement of Education Researchers in the Making of Education Policy

Guy Tchibozo

Compared to what can be seen in such other public policy sectors as health or economy, researchers’ involvement in policymaking is less frequent in education. Given that policymaking is a collaborative process, this article explores how the collaboration rules, as well as differences in professional personalities and cultures among players, may trigger education researchers’ comparatively lesser involvement in the making of education policy. The article focuses on the collaboration between researchers and experts.

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Based on an analytical framework, an international survey of researchers and experts (N=114) with experience in collaboration in education policymaking was conducted. Quantitative analysis (simple descriptive statistics and independence tests) of the data was carried out. The results show that the education researchers who participate in policymaking workgroups may find themselves faced with governance and knowledge-sharing rules they are not accustomed to, unmet expectations, and conflicts. It also appears that education researchers have professional personalities and cultures that significantly contrast with those of experts. It is suggested that such challenges and differences may generate both exclusion and self-exclusion of many education researchers from the making of education policy. More openness and professional changes are called for.

Pages 19–39 / Publication date: 22 April 2022 / View HTML full textDownload full-text PDF


literature review

Evolving Views: Gender Discourses and Young Children

Annabelle Black Delfin

As early childhood education is often approached through learning domains, this narrative review of literature traces some of the background theoretical work of the social/emotional learning domain, specifically looking at theoretical contributions in the area of the self, identity, and gender. Early childhood education is grounded in the developmental perspective. As such, two aspects of children’s early development within the social/emotional domain (the biological and the sociological), are examined. The research question prompting this review asked how adults’ understanding of gender discursively influences young children’s development of gender and identity.

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This narrative review seeks to qualitatively synthesize the chronological progression of theoretical explanations of gender emerging from research since 1966. It is recognized that the literature on gender is wide and that the sources and theories included here may not be exhaustive but do attempt to be comprehensive and provide a thread back over the last six decades spanning to the present that shows the evolving perceptions of gender. In looking at the thread of evolving perceptions about gender, it becomes evident that older generations (i.e., the adults of a given time) theorize and develop explanations and understandings regarding gender, and it is the younger generations (children of the given time) that enact the discursive information in each generation’s evolving perceptions of gender. Thus, how society, and particularly adults in society, view and treat gender has a profound effect on how children take up and enact gender. Future research may emerge out of feminist new materialism, where the materiality of gender signifiers, shared spaces, and embodied presentation stand to be examined as to their place in evolving views of gender.

Pages 41–57 / Publication date: 21/09/2022 / View HTML full textDownload full-text PDF


book review

Book Review of Professional Learning Communities: The Ultimate Blueprint for Academic Success

Megan Marie Jones

A valuable resource for school administrators, school leaders, teachers, paraprofessionals, academic professionals, and others who are interested in the incorporation of new Professional Learning Communities (PLC) or the improvement of existing PLCs in their institution.

Pages 59–61 / Publication date: 22/09/2022 / View HTML full textDownload full-text PDF


literature review

Belonging in School – The Effect of Teacher-Student Relationships: A Systematic Quantitative Review of the Literature

Tracee Nix, Donna Pendergast, Mia O’Brien

The literature reveals that positive teacher-student relationships encourage students’ work habits, engagement, and wellbeing; and create an environment that encourages students to experience a sense of belonging at school. When adolescent students feel a sense of belonging at school, they are more likely to attend school, engage in their learning, and feel like they are included and wanted. This is important because at the core of education is the student. Working with students in a holistic manner has positive implications for their wellbeing and academic performance.

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This study set out to examine the nature of the relationship between teacher and student interactions and student’s experience of the sense of belonging at school, through the lens of Interpersonal Theory in order to examine teacher pedagogical choices. The Systematic Quantitative Literature Review (SQLR) methodology is utilised at the intersections of Teacher-Student Relationships (TSR) and Sense of Belonging at School (SOBAS), and TSR and Interpersonal Theory to review the contemporary literature. Following the SQLR methodology that applies specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, 32 studies were identified for review. The analysis identified fairness, engagement, and achievement as key themes in the TSR and SOBAS literature; and the TSR and Interpersonal Theory literature highlighted the importance of moment-to-moment interactions to improve student engagement and achievement. The findings of the SQLR provide a basis for discussion of teacher choices in pedagogy and school-wide interventions that may promote student SOBAS.

Pages 63–90 / Publication date: 09/12/2022 / View HTML full textDownload full-text PDF

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