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Disruptive student behavior contributes to poor student outcomes, loss of classroom instructional time, and teacher burnout. Physical movement is an intervention that has been used to target and ameliorate disruptive student behavior for students with learning and behavioral disabilities. A review of two movement-based interventions – Brain Gym® and antecedent bouts of exercise – reveals different levels of research support. Brain Gym®, a commercial movement-based curriculum, is not supported by extant empirical research. Alternatively, a growing body of research empirically supports antecedent bouts of exercise as an effective behavioral intervention. This chapter provides a description and review of research for each intervention. Implications for instructional practice and recommendations are provided.

This chapter examines evidence-based practice in the Australian education system, with particular reference to special education. Initially a brief overview of the Australian education system will be provided, followed by consideration of the incorporation of the concept of evidence-based practice into Australian educational policy at both national and state level. Subsequently, Australian teacher registration and teacher education program accreditation standards will be examined with regard to the adoption of evidence-based practice. We then describe the use of evidence-based practices in teacher education programs, particularly in the area of classroom and behavior management and in special education/inclusion subjects. We will overview several research studies to illustrate the degree of penetration of the concept of evidence-based practice into educational systems and teaching practice. Although we found little evidence of a commitment to evidence-based practice in Australian education systems beyond rhetoric, we are cautiously optimistic that increasing emphasis will be given to the use of empirical evidence in the future.

Neuro‐linguistic programming (NLP) is a popular form of inter‐personal skill and communication training. Originating in the 1970s, the technique made specific claims about the ways in which individuals processed the world about them, and quickly established itself, not only as an aid to communication, but as a form of psychotherapy in its own right. Today, NLP is big business with large numbers of training courses, personal development programmes, therapeutic and educational interventions purporting to be based on the principles of NLP. This paper explores what NLP is, the evidence for it, and issues related to its use. It concludes that after three decades, there is still no credible theoretical basis for NLP, researchers having failed to establish any evidence for its efficacy that is not anecdotal.

With the introduction of the personalisation agenda (Department of Health, 2008) within social care (and health), this paper aims to discursively explore two themes: improving the lives of people with acquired brain injury through the introduction of more personalised services and support; and the impact of the culture shift on Headway Cambridgeshire as a service provider.

The paper presents examples to illustrate how it is possible to plan in a way that is broad enough to meet the needs of the majority whilst being flexible enough to deal with differing individualised circumstances.

The paper highlights the challenges faced by individuals and service provider organisations when introducing personalised services and suggests some approaches that can be taken to overcome them.

Recommendations for good practice in personalised services.

This paper sets out a framework for organisations working with people with acquired brain injury in a social care setting in the community and how the principles embodied by the personalisation agenda can be introduced into existing service provision.

Educators’ decisions regarding what instructional practices they use have significant consequences for the learning and life outcomes of their students. This is especially true for students with learning and behavioral disabilities, who require highly effective instruction to succeed in school and achieve their goals. In this volume of Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities chapter authors provide readers with accessible information on theory, critical elements, and research for instructional practices that are and are not supported by bodies of scientific research as effective in critical outcome areas. Educators can use this content to inform and enhance their instructional decision making. To contextualize subsequent chapters, in this introductory chapter we discuss the research-to-practice gap in special education, the importance of considering scientific research when making instructional decisions and considerations for interpreting and applying research findings on instructional practices. We conclude with a preview of the chapters in the volume.

The aim of this literature review is to summarise and synthesise the research base concerning childhood obesity and physical activity, particularly in relation to teachers and schools and within a policy context of the UK. The review investigates childhood obesity, physical activity, physical education, the role of teachers, the role of schools and physical activity in the classroom.

A literature review was undertaken involving selection of primary research and other systematic reviews. A computer search was performed using a combination of keywords including: obesity, prevention, intervention, preventive, teachers, schools, healthy schools, role models, physical activity, physical education, active school, active classroom. The review also includes samples of media coverage of the issue.

This review highlights the complex and ambiguous nature of the evidence in relation to this important contemporary issue.

A limited understanding of childhood obesity is evident from the review and this precludes definitive conclusions in relation to almost all aspects of the agenda. More quality research is needed in almost all areas of the topic, including areas such as the engagement of schools and teachers.

It is argued that the issues of translating basic science, including knowledge from neuroscience, into relevant teaching are similar to those that have been experienced over a long period by educational psychology. This paper proposes that such a translation might be achieved through lesson study (LS), which is an increasingly used technique to stimulate teacher enquiry. To explore these issues, the purpose of this paper is to present the findings from a modified LS approach that involved psychologists and mathematics lecturers working together with school-based teachers to prepare a series of lessons on mathematics.

The LS team review and planning meetings and subsequent interviews were recorded and analysed for common themes, with reference to patterns of knowledge bridging. Particular attention was paid to translational issues and the kind of knowledge used.

Overall, there was some successful bridging between theory and practice, and evidence of translation of theoretical knowledge into relevant teaching practice. However, the analysis of the team’s interactions showed that relatively little involved a useful applied neuroscience/neuropsychology element, whereas other psychological knowledge from cognitive, developmental, educational and clinical psychology was considered more relevant to planning the LS.

This study illustrates how reference to brain functioning has currently little specific to contribute directly to school teaching, but it can arouse increased interest in psychological processes relevant to teaching and learning. This approach reaffirms the central role of teacher-led research in the relationship between theory and practice. The findings are also discussed in relation to the SECI model of knowledge creation.