Insights beyond neo-liberal educational practices: the value of discourse analysis

This article discusses the nature, power and effects of neo-liberal rationale in educational settings. By introducing discourse analysis of two cases, the influence of neo-liberal ideology on contemporary curricula and school programs were examined. The analysis showed that dominant discourses based on neo-liberal rationale presented themselves as “unquestionable truths” that influenced how educators interacted with others and went about their profession. The dominant discourses relied upon assertions by consensus or common conception and understanding to create an “officially” sanctioned way of thinking about education. Proponents of a particular dominant discourse argued that such sanctions were a necessary feature of an initiative or innovation, and provided a focus for energy and activism, winning teachers’ support, and conveying to the wider community a sense of purpose, action and rational planning; a clear path to salvation. On the other hand, these dominant discourses had a necessary effect in obscuring other perspectives and disallowing critique from taking place. This article argues that discourse analysis provides a platform to interrogate the dominant discourses to reveal alternative or previously unseen perspectives.     

Imperatives in Teaching for Lifelong Learning: moving beyond rhetoric to effective educational practice

Changes wrought by the ongoing technological, economic and social revolutions have once again emphasised the importance of lifelong learning. Current projections are for three or four changes of occupation during a working lifetime. There appears clear evidence of the need for the acquisition of cognitive learning strategies to cope with continuous change and maintain knowledge and skill currency during an entire lifetime. The Australian government commissioned report by Candy, Crebert and O'Leary raised a number of issues at undergraduate level, but failed to address the need for teaching more broadly for genuinely lifelong learning. This paper considers a range of approaches and strategies which it will be necessary to adopt to move beyond rhetoric to effective educational practices. Central to effective teaching of cognitive learning strategies will be adoption of appropriate curricula in teacher education courses.     

Self-presentation bias in surveys of teachers’ educational technology practices

This study investigated self-presentation bias in the self-reports of teachers about their practices in six topic areas in educational technology (Instructional Design, Assessment, Learner-Centered Instruction, Curriculum Alignment, Attitudes about Computers, and Use of Computers with Students). Subjects were 50 middle-school teachers. Data were collected using a 30-item Likert-type survey containing five items per topic area. Teachers responded to items in two forms: “what I do” and “what other teachers do.” Significant differences favoring the “I” form were obtained in three of the six areas (Instructional Design, Learner-Centered Instruction, and Curriculum Alignment) and on nine of the 30 items, indicating a rather strong self-presentation bias. Responses were generally positive across both forms. Results are discussed with implications for working with teachers and for using additional assessment measures that complement teacher self-reports.     

Cruel optimism in edtech: when the digital data practices of educational technology providers inadvertently hinder educational equity

ABSTRACT

As digital data become increasingly central to education, hopes for educational equity are pinned more strongly on educational technology providers. This paper examines the data practices of edtech providers who are not simply making token gestures towards justice and equality. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and Berlant’s notion of cruel optimism, it presents three data stories. The paper suggests that datafication in education provides a showcase of cruel optimism, i.e., when the object of desire is blocking one’s flourishing. The conclusion considers the constitutive paradoxes of datafied education, and implications for the current phase of edu-technical transformation.     

Instructional practices of teachers enrolled in educational technology and general education programs

This study investigated classroom practices of 38 teachers enrolled in university masters' degree programs in educational technology and in other areas of education. The classroom practices related to five key concepts associated with educational technology: (a) learner-centered instruction, (b) instructional design, (c) media and technology, (d) assessment, and (e) instructional alignment. Teachers rated their frequency of use of desirable practices in these five areas on a 30-item Likert type survey. In addition, one class of students per teacher rated its own teacher's frequency of use of the practices on 20 items parallel to items on the teacher survey. The mean overall rating across all teachers for the classroom practice items was very close to Often, or 4.0, on the 5-point scale. There were few reported differences between the teachers enrolled in educational technology programs and those enrolled in other education programs. Student ratings indicated less frequent teacher use of the desirable practices on 16 of the 20 common items, with significantly lower student ratings on 8 of these items. However, there was strong teacher-student agreement on several other comparisons.The study reported in this article was conducted as a doctoral dissertation at Arizona State University.     

Against methodocentrism in educational research

Abstract

This essay defines and critiques ‘methodocentrism’, the belief that predetermined research methods are the determining factor in the validity and importance of educational research. By examining research in science studies and posthumanism, the authors explain how this methodocentrism disenables research from taking account of problems and non-human actants that are presumed to be of no importance or value in existing social science research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative. Building from a critique of these methods as profoundly anthropocentric, the authors examine three crucial problematics in which methodocentrism functions in educational research: the institutionalization of graduate training, a wide-spread privileging of the visual (part and parcel of empiricism), and the seeming necessity of ‘data’ in social scientific research methodologies. Ultimately, this article does not reject the necessity of particular studies having methods—rigorous, philosophically grounded approaches to problems in the world—but it argues that the belief that methods must be selected from existing options and assembled before approaching the ‘objects’ of study is not only a form of bad science, it is also deeply implicated in anthropocentric and colonialist politics. Instead, what research requires today is a thorough rethinking of the very distinction between subject and object and a renewed questioning of how agency functions in specific research settings.     

Thinking outside the box: imagination and empathy beyond story writing

It is sometimes assumed that the strongest opportunities for developing imagination and empathy through children's writing lie in narrative starting points, whereas other less obviously literary writing forms are more readily associated with functional literacy. Consequently, writing regarded as non‐literary is rarely analysed with these qualities in mind. This paper presents an exploratory, textual analysis of children's letter‐writing texts, which aims to identify and describe the uses of imagination and empathy. It is suggested that imaginative strategies were integral to this textual construction and that the significance of imagination and empathy in writing development is worthy of further exploration.     

The physical placement of classroom technology and its influences on educational practices

The purpose of this study was to gain deeper insights into how technology restructures the classroom as a spatial setting and how the positioning of these technologies can be associated with educational practices. The research includes a photographic and schematic representation of 115 classrooms in 12 primary schools in Belgium, resulting in a typology based on structural features of the classrooms. Based on the typology derived and the specific positioning of technology, nine teachers were purposefully selected and interviewed regarding their perceptions concerning the link between the use of technology and the classroom layout. The results indicate that (1) the positioning of technology can be related to specific types of technology use; (2) the classroom layout is in transition from one central display to multiple screens; and (3) because of physical access to technology, the educational practice of individual classes is spatially dispersed over different locations within the school.     

把握教师专业发展特征在实践中提高教师的专业化水平

从全面把握教师专业发展的基本特征入手,分析影响教师专业发展的内在因素和外部条件,探讨基于教育教学实践促进教师专业发展的基本策略,以进一步提高中小学教师的专业化水平。     

The international student safety debate: moving beyond denial

In 2009 international student safety became an issue of immediate concern to Australian international education exporters following a series of demonstrations by Indian students and interventions by concerned foreign governments. With these developments the ‘industry’ became fixated on how best to secure Australia’s share of the international education market in a context in which it was impossible to deny international student safety is a systemic problem. This paper contextualizes this development by utilizing a stigma management framework to review the unfolding debate on international students and safety in the USA, the UK, New Zealand and Australia. We argue that in all four cases it took an exogenous shock to convince education exporters to acknowledge student safety as an issue that needs to be openly debated. We also suggest that Australian officials were slow to make this acknowledgement because they mistakenly believed the industry was shielded by its link to the immigration program.     

The familiar observer: seeing beyond the expected in educational research

Reflection on subjectivity in the qualitative research process is fundamental to the methodology. Although much attention is paid to what to do (identify subjectivities), there is much less emphasis on how one should do this. Furthermore, a researcher engaged in an intimately familiar setting, such as a typical American classroom, faces the unique challenge of sifting through vast stores of prior knowledge and beliefs that influence perceptions of observed instruction, including experiences as a K-12 learner and classroom teacher. As a novice qualitative researcher and former special educator drawn to questions involving instructional practice in reading comprehension, I struggled to balance my emotional responses to observed instruction with my need to understand teachers' decision-making. I begin by sharing my own experiences as a novice researcher, brought forward from artefacts of that time. Moving to the present, I reflect on my early misperceptions, and conclude with recommendations for working with subjectivity in the research process.     

Multilingual educational trends and practices in Lebanon: A case study

This paper reports on the multilingual background, language education policies and practices in Lebanon. Specifically, it shows how the multilingual make-up in the country is translated into language policies in schools. A survey of 30 private school principals, middle managers and teachers was administered online to obtain their views on school policies, problems, successes, concerns and quality ranking. Results showed that a great deal of work has been done to introduce a language of instruction and a third language as decreed by the Ministry of Education and at the same time keep the national language, Arabic, alive. The main concerns of the participants were the need for teacher training programmes and resources. Although the research implies that the school systems, in keeping up with this multilingual milieu, could be contributing to the death of the national language as well as producing students who are not fluent in any of the languages, there continues to be an attempt to keep alive a quality multilingual educational context which contributes to a cohesive society.     

Developing exploratory language in the classroom: moving beyond teacher as expert

In this article the author describes the collaborative research undertaken by a group of high school teachers and an English adviser. The teachers were keen to find ways of breaking the teacher-dominated discourse pattern within their classrooms. They wanted to see whether, when offered a variety of teacher audiences beyond that of ‘expert-examiner’, students would engage in the kind of exploratory talk, described by the National Curriculum Council (1987-93), as a feature of investigative learning. Teachers' belief that discourse patterns are affected by students' understanding of contextual conditions is examined. The author illustrates the importance of students' shared understanding of collaborative discourse, and discusses how their conception of learning contexts is influenced by the kinds of audiences teachers project     

An analysis of excellent early educational practices: Preliminary report

A substantial number of young children seem to reach age six very poorly prepared for future learning experiences, including formal education. This paper is a preliminary report of a large project designed to generate knowledge about how best to rear children during their first six years of life. The strategy has been to systematically and intensively observe how some families manage to do an unusually good job with their young children. Preliminary results are reported on (1) the details of the everyday experiences of well versus poorly developing one- and two-year-old children, (2) their developing competencies, and (3) environmental factors that appear to influence these processes of development in significant ways.

---

Résumé Nombre d'enfants semblent atteindre l'âge de six ans malpréparés pour les expériences futures d'études, comprenant l'éducation formelle. Cet article constitue un rapport préliminaire d'un projet considérable dessiné à développer les connaissances concernant les meilleures méthodes d'élever les enfants pendant leurs premiers six ans. On a observé systématiquement et intensivement comment quelques familles parviennent à bien élever leurs enfants. On fait un rapport sur (1) les expériences courantes des enfants âgés d'un an ou deux qui se développent bien et de ceux qui se développent mal, (2) leurs compétences croissantes, et (3) les facteurs environnementaux que semblent influencer ces procédés du développent d'une manière significative.

---

---

I wish to extend my gratitude to the past and present research staff of the Pre-School Project: Dr. E. R. LaCrosse, Jr., Dr. Patrick C. Lee, Mrs. Frances Litman, Dr. Daniel M. Ogilvie, Dr. Susan S. Stodolsky, Mrs. Jacqueline Allman, Miss Frances Aversa, Mrs. Ellen C. Banks, Mrs. Kitty Riley Clark, Mrs. Virginia Demos, Mrs. Marjorie Elias, Dr. John Guidubaldi, Mrs. Barbara Kaban, Miss Barbara Koslowski, Mrs. Mary Meader Mokler, Mrs. Meredith Stone Pandolfi, Mrs. Barbara Rich Bushell, Mrs. Bernice Shapiro, Mrs. Sylvia Skolnick Staub, Mrs. Jolinda Taylor, Mrs. Eleanor Wasserman, Mrs. Louise Woodhead, Mrs. Cherry Collins, Mrs. Nancy Apfel, Mrs. Itty Barnett, Mrs. Martha Carroll, Mrs. Mary Comita, Miss Christine Halfar, Miss Geraldine Kearse, Miss Maxine Manjos, Mrs. Janice Marmor, Mrs. Ingrid Stocking, Dr. Jean Watts, Mr. Paul Weene, Miss A. Elise Weinrich, Mrs. Martha Bronson, Mr. Andrew Cohn, and Dr. Melvin Zolot. Also the cooperation of several hundred families and many school personnel from nearby public and private institutions made this study possible.

---

The research and development reported herein was performed in part pursuant to a contract (OE 5-10-39) with the U.S. Office of Education, under the provisions of the Cooperative Research Program as a project of the Harvard University Center for Research and Development on Educational Differences; The Carnegie Corporation of New York; and The Office of Economic Opportunity, Head Start Division. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.     

Making a difference: moving beyond the superficial treatment of diversity

As populations in contemporary Western societies grow more diverse, the need for teachers to better understand and work with difference productively becomes increasingly critical (Allard & Santoro, 2006 Allard, A. C. and Santoro, N. 2006. Troubling identities: Teacher education students' constructions of class and ethnicity.. Cambridge Journal of Education, 36(1): 115–129. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]; D'Cruz, 2007 D'Cruz, H. 2007. Working with ‘Diverse Bodies, Diverse Identities’: An approach to professional education about ‘diversity’.. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 11(1): 35–57.  [Google Scholar]). However, the literature on teacher education shows that historically, teacher education programs have aimed to address diversity with add‐on or piecemeal approaches, with little success (McDonald, 2005 McDonald, M. A. 2005. The integration of social justice in teacher education: Dimensions of prospective teachers' opportunities to learn.. Journal of Teacher Education, 56(5): 418–435.  [Google Scholar]). Moreover, some authors (e.g. Lortie, 1975 Lortie, D. 1975. Schoolteacher: A sociological study, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.  [Google Scholar]) have argued that “the predispositions teacher education students bring to teaching are a much more powerful socializing influence than either pre‐service education or later socialization in the workplace” (Johnson, 2002 Johnson, L. 2002. “My eyes have been opened”: White teachers and racial awareness.. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2): 153–167. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar], p. 154). This article explores research and scholarship in this area and argues that we must move beyond the fragmented and superficial treatment of diversity if we are to encourage dispositions in all pre‐service teachers that are more closely aligned with a recognitive view of social justice.     

Developing inclusive practices among educational psychologists: Problems and possibilities

This article discusses some of the problems and possibilities facing educational psychologists (EPs) as they strive to take a proactive role in promoting inclusion in their daily work. It begins by commenting on recent evidence which suggests that, despite exhortations to the contrary, many EPs continue to promote non-inclusive ways of working. It then discusses the possibility that the discipline of psychology can, itself, promote an approach to EP practice which is often construed as actively supporting a segregated system of education. This is followed by a review of the evidence suggesting that EPs are abandoning their traditional routes in psychology and adopting school based consultation as a method or working that is more inclusive. The article concludes by referring in some detail to two examples of projects in which EPs have shown that it is possible for them to work in alternative ways with schools and local authorities to promote inclusion.     

A question of relevance: beyond the domestication of educational definition

This paper examines ways in which we, as teachers, can promote our students' critical awareness of the domesticating power of the very definition of education that is commonplace in contemporary discourse. It highlights how a first-year introduction to philosophy of education module encourages students to begin to ‘read their world’ by challenging not only the conventional renditions of education as simply ‘schooling’ but also those accompanying notions of ‘relevant learning’ that are commonly associated with an institutional and vocational focus. A further purpose of this paper is to highlight how a critical analysis of an individual's own social learning is a necessary prerequisite to personal growth and potential social transformation correspondingly. Such an analysis, it is argued, constitutes a direct assault on a much more invisible form of ‘banking’ educational practice than many Freirean educators have previously acknowledged.