1. 1) A CROSS- CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF FAMILY VOICE
IN SPECIAL EDUCATION
SUMMARY
In this cross-case analysis issue of a research study conceptualized and
implemented simultaneously in South Africa and the United States (Engelbrecht,
Oswald,Swart, Kitching, & Eloff, 2005: Hess, Molina &Kozleski, 2006). This issues
began with a shared interest in understanding the context and culture influence which
family’s access and their experience educational when their have children with
disabilities. Vygotsky and other Russian researchers examine how context and adult
played a role in mediating the development of metacognitive skills in young children. As
(Cole, 1996: Rogoff, 2003: Wertsch, 1995), the interplay between internal psychology
characteristics and external mediators was extended to include functional system of
artifacts and participants structures. The work of researches such as Ferguson went on
to persuade family with children disabilities and without disabilities that share more
features which remarked more about families and children with disabilities focused on
disability as the fulcrum around which family dynamic are shaped.( Hary, 1992; Hary &
Klinger, 2006) the narratives of families that are not part of dominant culture are
examined to understand the impact of institutional practices on families and their
capacity to negotiate, educational services for their children. In Nelson, 2004 was
discussed the govern relationship between family and professionals in special education
which particular focus on early childhood that helps them manages or meets goal. In
this article include examined how implicit rules for professionals-family relationships

2. seemed to play out in decision to place children in particular settings. ( Harry & Klinger,
2006; Kozol, 2005 ), the context includes segregation within schools and school
systems, differences in access educational resources and increasing concern with the
disproportionate representation of student from different cultural and linguistically
backgrounds in special education. In United States ( individual With Disabilities
Education Improvement Act, 2004 ) reminds citizens that for more 30 years, the U.S
federal government had a law in effect that requires local public schools to offer free
appropriate public education to student with disabilities. Then, by South Africa
Department of Education, 2001, p.23, the policy concluded that schools, practitioners
and families must work together to ensure that local schools provide the settings,
materials and expertise to engage learners with disabilities and help them become
educated and prepared for productive adult lives. The school districts and states are
given oversight responsibility to ensure that these processes carried out accurately.
They diagnosed disabilities through medical system and use the medical categorization
system. The intersection of race, class and disability are complicated to understand
within a single formal structure. This can examine by ways in which single system may
advantage some individuals or disadvantages others in doing. This way hope can
improve the intended and unintended consequence of the ways things are.
Furthermore, by looking the educational system in two different context hope that will
develop a richer understanding of how race, socioeconomics status and disability
influenced the relationships between families and school professional and the ways in
which they collaborated in educating children with disabilities. In this article use many
variety of method which the fact for their framework, the first point state in fact of

3. participants that were family who recruited in each country. The initial sample included
representatives groups of parents of children with disabilities within inclusive
educational schools in the Western Cape and Gauteng province in South Africa. They
were chosen selected participants who were parents of children with disabilities who
were included inclusive school at the time of the focus group. For instance, school team
in United States identifies children with disabilities to access special education services.
Not only that, only a few provinces in South Africa got database which identify schools
and portions of the student bodies that may have disabilities because the system has
not installed a special education system that relies on eligibility, labeling, and placement
decisions to determine who will receive the special education and services provided.
When the interviewed session began, the interviewer predominantly family from low
income, minority, and lacked of education. The children ages around 8-16 years old
which 12 male and 20 female. They were identified with medical rather than educational
labels and offer little information about the educational and intellectual skills and also
capacities of the student because there is wide variability among individuals with these
diagnoses. In distance, the families will identify from their diverse ethnic background
that had children with disabilities that receiving special education. After that, they will
send home invitation and followed up with phone calls to families secure permission. As
a result, there were 15 Hispanic parents, 10 African American and 2 White parents. The
disabilities that been identified such as learning disabilities, pervasive developmental
disabilities, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, mental retardation, visual and
hearing impairment and speech or language impairments. Ellof et al. (2002) discussed
how basic activities such as deciding which families would be invited to participate in

4. our research that uncovered a variety of cultural differences that were unexpected. The
U.S research about interviewing families of students with learning, intellectual, and
emotional disabilities was critical because those disabilities are subject to social
construction. Another method was interview process that included 3 researchers
conducted 6 groups, each lasting about an hour and a half. At times, the researcher
also asked specific questions about placement process, the adaptation and
accommodations that the school had made for the children and also reactions of the
children’s peers and siblings. (Glaser & Strauss, 1994) to identify initial categories from
their data. Their focused on initial categories of placement process, and concerns that
the impact of inclusion on parents and siblings, the role of school including manner in
which the child was accommodated and supported in school. Other method of facts
was the result that examined these finding using cultural-historical activity theory lens
because comparisons between the lived experiences of families in both countries are so
deeply affected by the systems they navigate to seek the best outcomes for their
children. Whereas the South Africa parents seemed to focus on how they decided to
place their student in inclusive schools while U.S parents seemed to focus on the
placement or negotiation required to keep their children in learning environment.
Moreover, rules also the method of analysis family voice that seemed to be important in
both contexts of family behaviors. In some cases, although families knew that their
children had challenges, they also expected to enroll their children in their neighborhood
schools. The parents had to decide place for their children in general education schools
and then had to negotiate to gain admission and also explaining their student’s
disabilities and their needs for accommodations. Last but not least, division of labor that

5. the last method included in this framework. ( Swart et al.2005) the course of the
investigation was the importance of parents actively working together on the
development of a mutual, supportive, open relationship with the school and teachers.
According nelson et al. (2004) suggested relationships between families and school
professional need to go beyond common place assumptions that families receive the
information and teacher construct. These contribute more positive experiences for
family and their children and create strong connections with families in support of
student learning. In conclusion, the family seemed to respond more fully to educational
planning when they felt welcomed and accepted by teachers and administrator. By
examine how the tools of practice in special education mediate outcomes, the better
able to offer services and supports for students that capitalize on their assets and
capacities. However, this research also help to understand some of challenges in how
families are able to access educational system and the difference due in part of nature
of the children’s disabilities, education and economic status of their family. Without
explicit information about the special education system and assumption about the voice
and contributions of families , the families seemed to intend on the side of caution and
spending time to listening so that they can process information later after meeting had
occurred.

6. 2) RURAL GIFTED CHILDREN EDUCATION:
A COMPREHENSIVE LITERATURE REVIEW
SUMMARY
This literature review ( 1990-2003) to test assumption about educational gifted
rural children and to build a body of knowledge about this important subject.
These studies create foundation blocks for more experimental, longitudinal and
replication studies in other rural places. The issues underlying the education of
gifted children in rural places are problematic and complex. To understand them,
we should consider not only rural strengths of family and community
cohesiveness but also rural biases. Embedded in rural culture may be confusion
between democratic principles and elitism, negative attitudes of gifted children
and for implementation was easiest but not necessarily most effective ways to
educate gifted rural children. Reason of this research is each child deserves the
right to opportunities that challenges his or her abilities and maximize on his or
her potential. Another reason that communities cannot afford to lose the
contributions gifted students can make to rural community, culture and economy.
Many gifted students from rural places want to stay in their communities instead
of leaving to find what they are told is suitable work. In methodology section that
includes the facts provide the useful information concerning between the scope
and applicability of the details and generalities presented. They identified using
quantitative and qualitative methodology and often triangulation with both. T he
important fact in these issues was rural values and culture that was important to

7. recognize the differences among rural places because gifted students their
individual attributes offer different opportunities. Gjetlen’s (1982) gifted students
in stable farming communities face different challenges than those living on the
edge of suburban encroachment. According to C.Howley (1998) contended that
rural schooling often seems to promote goals that destabilize rural communities
such as encouraging students to seek high status jobs require breaking the
bonds. The important suggest reason why rural communities may need to
nurture gifted students. These students understand the value of rural life and
may find new and creative ways to sustain what is valuable in rural places. In this
study, the rural culture and community seemed to be more supportive than is
sometimes the case and the strengths of rural culture helped gifted students do
well. Another method are types of gifted children such as born in any rural
community, families that rich or poor, racial, ethnic or religious and cultural group.
The process of nurturing giftedness into a talent is molded the realities which the
child born, health, wealth, gender, place in family and others that related. All
gifted children face biases coming from the assumption that they differ from other
students not only in terms of intellectual abilities but also the terms of ‘super
power’ that make them easy to navigate through school to engaging careers and
fulfilling lives. Schuler (1999) and Abell and Lennex (1999) gifted children have
heightened sense of intellectual curiosity, strong need to excel and preference to
lead or control. Emotional vulnerability was important fact among rural gifted
students that more to sensitivity and emotional intensity in the psychomotor,
sensual, intellectual, imaginational and emotional domain. Dabrowski, both

8. emotional and intellectual potential are most important but emotional potential
ultimately controls intellectual capacity. Whereas perfectionism can help such
children create high quality of work, it also can become intrusive that it constrains
achievement and creativity. A healthy perfectionist accepts their mistakes,
recognizing their value and appreciates high parental expectation for their
success but in contrast unhealthy perfectionist does it in different ways. From
research in this review showing that gifted children are vulnerable to disengaging
from the school and need more support than they receive presently (Battle &
Grant 1995). Identifying gifted rural students also the method that relate with the
main issues because emphasis on speeded performance which identification
some children are abstract thinkers but not as highly able in speed of their visual
and motor ability. Abell and Lennex (1999) recommended the actual work and
performances rather than scores on standardized test be used as indicators of
the abilities. As a result, many of those who are identified as gifted children are
actually bright average children from educationally enriched backgrounds and
they actually not true gifted and students who do not meet this stereotype are
often overlooked. After concluded to identify rural gifted students from
underrepresented groups might be improved by using information from parents,
teachers and community members as part of assessment process. A finding
suggesting that many parent of young gifted children are aware of their children’s
abilities and therefore can be reliable sources of information about their
children’s needs. Project ARTS, Clark and Zimmerman (2001) offered another
model to identify gifted children are offered one approach to increasing

9. identification of and programming for rural students with artistic talents. They
suggest that teaching them through music, art, drama and dance may be more
critical to their development than many rural educators acknowledge. Another
point is options for educating rural gifted children includes in method for rural
gifted education. Extracurricular opportunities and special programs help keeps
students actively engaged in academic work and providing challenging programs
to gifted students might be one way to support high level work. Not only that,
based on Magnet School by Plucker et al. (1996) examined model for supporting
the needs of rural students with special talent. Creating a magnet school in
science and math for capable student perhaps they become part of the plan to
revitalize the area and use the facilities abandoned by the Air Force. Lastly,
teaching teachers to teach gifted rural children also the most important fact that
teacher play a critical role in helping this gifted children to understand and
appreciate their gifts. According to many who advocates for rural gifted children,
rural teachers needs to be learnt how to differentiated instruction to students
across a wide range of abilities, skills, and interest. Davalos and Griffin (1999)
also described about other model that was Mustard Seed Project that offered
many ideas for teaching gifted and talented rural children in sites of ethnically
diverse and economically. They also explore the impact of the rural environment
on gifted children and their teachers that included strength of school, supportive
from families, good teacher coordination, and extracurricular activities, peer and
family. The conclusion in this review teach a lot about gifted rural children and
the importance of identifying them from the early age, educating well, and

10. creating opportunities for them to lives and work near the communities. This
review also shows the challenges that that they should accepted as gifted
children among the communities. The effect on gifted students of rural school
consolidation and only few studies touch on the impact of widespread policy
changes offering support for distance learning, early college, and home study.

11. UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR
INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL EDUCATION
PPEK 1101
TITLE OF JOURNAL:
1. A CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF FAMILY VOICE IN
SPECIAL EDUCATION.
2. RURAL GIFTED EDUCATION: A COMPREHENSIVE
LITERATURE REVIEW
PREPARED BY:
NURHASYIKIN BT ROZALI ( PEK 090027 )
PREPARED FOR:
PROF. DR. KHADIJAH ROHANI BINTI MOHD YUNUS
SEMESTER 1 09/10