Back to the future? Reflections on three phases of education policy reform in Wales and their implications for teachers

Journal of Educational Change - Wales’ education system is part-way through an extensive journey of reform. This contextual paper explores the evolution of that journey, from the...     

Teachers’ experience of time: Some implications for future research

Abstract

Research has demonstrated that how teachers spend their time is an important educational issue. In this paper it is argued that there is a good case for examining teachers’ personal and professional time simultaneously in order to enhance the quality of teaching, learning and teachers’ lives.     

Practitioners’ perspectives on the purpose of environmental education

Since the 1980s, scholars have suggested that environmental education (EE) has a ‘definitional problem’ represented by a multiplicity of perspectives that have critically impacted its discourse, practices, and outcomes. This study sought to investigate how North American EE practitioners from backgrounds ranging from formal and non-formal institutions think about their work. We focused on folk narratives and emerging urban environmental concerns of community education rather than reliance on academic opinion alone. Using Q methodology, the study identified five distinct perspectives that appear to represent different ways of prioritizing EE outcomes. All five perspectives were concerned with promoting sustainable living and improved human well-being, but the nuances suggest that an individual who adheres strongly to one may feel someone holding a contrasting perspective is working at cross-purposes. The authors suggest that understanding these perspectives can help reduce misunderstanding within the EE field.     

Nature of the Indonesia–United States education relationship

This article discusses the nature of the education relationship between Indonesia and the US. The article examines two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that transnational education constitutes a new type of imperialism by perpetuating knowledge dependency and financial dependency through the transfer of knowledge and foreign aid in education. Of particular interest will be the themes of ‘knowledge dependency’ and ‘financial dependency’. In contrast to the first hypothesis, the second holds that transnational education advances learning about and from other states, and has the potential to improve relationships, and promote international understanding. This article concludes that although the one-way transfer of knowledge from, and dependence on, foreign experts is evident, the Indonesian government has attempted to reduce dependence on foreign countries, whether that reliance was on knowledge or on finance. Although the Indonesia–US education relationship is politically motivated towards serving the interests of each, most respondents believed that any US political agendas were unacceptable. The experiences of both Indonesian and American respondents show that the relationship enhances and improves understanding between Indonesia and the US through academic exchanges and scientific and research links.     

Place-based education for environmental behavior: a ‘funds of knowledge’ and social capital approach

In this paper we suggest that a new theoretical framework is needed within environmental education in the discussion of rural, underserved communities in Latin America. We argue that a community-resources approach, comprised of funds of knowledge and social capital, should be incorporated into contemporary research on place- and community-based education and environmental behavior. The model we present builds upon previous research in the areas of education, anthropology, social capital, and environmental education. These perspectives are discussed in accordance with their relevance to high school students in one of the most bio-diverse regions of Central America: the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. In this context, we suggest that promoting environmental behavior is both contextualized by and dependent upon social and community interactions, or ‘mediations,’ after Lev S. Vygotsky. We believe that the framework presented here may contribute to increased socio-economic, academic, and environmental benefits for underserved, Latin American communities.     

Do parental attitudes toward and expectations for their children's education and future jobs matter for their children's school achievement?

The traditional discourse in the scholarship on cultural capital theory has focused on how exclusive participation in elite status culture by students from higher socioeconomic status families benefits their learning in schools, the effects of which are most evident in linguistic subject areas such as reading achievement. However, some scholars have argued that cultural capital is not restricted to elite status culture but could include parental familiarity with school evaluation standards and job market requirements, and that the effects could transcend languages to include performance domains with more objective evaluation that are susceptible to school influences (e.g. mathematics and science). The present study systematically examines this position using data involving 96,591 15‐year‐old students from 3602 schools in eight countries who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment 2012. Results of three‐level hierarchical linear modelling showed positive relationships between seven cultural capital variables and student mathematics achievement. The cultural variables comprised: home educational resources; parental educational attainment and occupational status; parental expectations of their children's educational attainment, future career in mathematics and school; and parental valuing of mathematics. In particular, the three parental expectations variables had substantively larger effect sizes on student achievement than the other cultural capital variables. The results demonstrated that parental familiarity with school evaluation standards and future job requirements, especially as measured by parental expectations, may constitute cultural capital that privileges student mathematics achievement in schools.     

Assessing pupils’ skills: implications for research in education

The subject of this article is the structure and evolution of skills developed by pupils at primary level. Starting from an analysis of the panel data provided by the French Ministry of Education, the main object of this paper is an original measurement of skills using structural models. The findings of this research raise two complementary issues. The first issue concerns the cross‐curricular nature of skills suggesting a logic of disciplinary interdependence. The acquisition of a skill may be strongly correlated to the acquisition of other skills belonging to the same subject area or to other subject areas. The notion of a set of skills is used to account for the connections between the different aspects of acquired skills. The second issue concerns the evolution of skills over time. Here the aim will be to identify the kinds of skills that are the most predictive of subsequent educational success. This issue is highly relevant for educational policy‐making. It is hoped that the results presented in this paper will improve one’s understanding of the ways in which schools might provide pupils with the best chances of success in the earliest stages of their educational career.     

Behind the façade of fee-free education: shadow education and its implications for social justice

Most governments, at an official level, espouse the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among its statements is that education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Yet while the façade of government education systems presents an image that instruction is free of charge, families across the world increasingly find it necessary to invest in the so-called shadow education system of private supplementary tutoring. The spread of shadow education, which is no longer confined to relatively prosperous families, has far-reaching implications for social inequalities and therefore social justice. It is a hidden form of privatisation behind the façade of public education systems; and the fact that shadow education is seen by many families as unavoidable appears to be incompatible with the spirit of the Universal Declaration. The question then is whether the spirit of the Universal Declaration should be abandoned, or whether it should be protected—and, if so, how.     

Exploitative vs. appreciative use of nature – Two interpretations of utilization and their relevance for environmental education

Environmental attitudes traditionally are measured with quantification of Preservation and, Utilization (2-MEV). With a sample of 308 Irish students, we once again confirmed the 2-MEV model, with several negatively formulated Utilization items loading on the Preservation factor, and negatively, formulated Preservation items loading on the Utilization factor. Exploitative and appreciative Utilization are shown to be distinct by a slightly negative correlation which even disappears when controlled for Preservation. Multiple regression analysis showed positive predictive validity of Preservation in relation to the appreciative use of nature, but negligible predictive validity in relation to exploitative Utilization. Consequently, a clear message exists for educators when planning their environmental programs: The more people appreciate nature for personal benefits, the more they preserve the environment.     

Student teachers’ perceptions of reading and the teaching of reading: the implications for teacher education

This article reports on research which identified perceptions of reading and the teaching of reading held by trainee teachers and the impact on my provision as a teacher educator. It found that students’ past and present experiences of learning to read and being a reader influenced their perceptions of what reading is and of what it means to teach reading. As a teacher educator, I am not able to give students long experience of seeing children becoming readers, but I am able to give them richer experiences of reading in personally and culturally relevant contexts. This has implications for the nature of subject knowledge required by a student teacher of reading and the curriculum and practice of teacher education.     

UNICEF’s lessons learned from the education response to the COVID-19 crisis and reflections on the implications for education policy

COVID-19 triggered mass innovation that grew flexible learning modalities and pathways that can be built upon in future sector plans to make education systems more resilient. These tools must be paired with investments in the people expected to use them and strengthened data systems. To ensure plans are rooted in ever-pressurised budgets, Education Ministers will increasingly need to turn to economic analysis. Expansion of partnerships will be necessary to secure greater and more innovative forms of finance but also affordable digital learning solutions. If these opportunities are seized alongside the disruption wrought by the pandemic, they can equalize opportunities and accelerate progress.     

A study of Korean middle school students’ interests in biology and their implications for biology education

This study analyses middle school students’ interests in biology to provide information on instructional strategies and curriculum development in Korea. An instrument that measures interests was developed based on the middle school biology curriculum. It consists of 64 three‐point Likert‐type items (scores range from 0 to 2). The two components, ‘topic’ and ‘activity’, are composed of 64 items. The topic component and the activity component contain 11 domains and six domains respectively. Data were collected from 267 middle school students in Seoul (male: 169, female: 107). The levels of interest in topic and activity were almost the same and not high. The highest interest domains were ‘genetics’ in topics and ‘observing through a microscope’ in activities. The interest levels in the domain ‘plant morphology’ and ‘plant‐related activity’ were the lowest in each component. The interest level of the eighth graders was the highest found among students. Interest levels of females were lower than those of males in ‘environment and ecosystem’, ‘animal reproduction’ and ‘animal morphology’, but higher in ‘plant morphology’ and ‘plant related activity’ (p < 0.05). Among the topics, the ‘human biology’ domain correlated positively with the domains ‘genetics’, ‘environment and ecosystem’ and ‘respiration of animal and plant’. The correlation between the domains of ‘plant reproduction and nutrition’ and ‘plant development’ was significant in ‘activity’ (r > 0.50, p < 0.001). Consistencies in interests were suggested with respect to instructional strategy and curriculum design.     

University academics’ experience of research and its relationship to their experience of teaching

There has been a growing research debate over the relations between university teaching and research. This paper contributes to that debate by describing the variation in the way university academics’ experience research, then linking that empirical evidence with previous work to explicate the relations between variation in research, teaching, and understanding of the subject matter being taught. Previous investigations have shown that conceptual change/student-focussed approaches to teaching are associated with clear articulation of the important aspects of the subject matter being taught, how those aspects relate to each other, and how the teacher situates their understanding of the subject matter in the field as a whole. However, teachers who were unable to explain their understanding of their subject matter in these ways were more likely to experience their teaching as a process of information transfer from a teacher-focussed perspective. Since the characteristics of the first type of understanding subject matter resemble processes underlying the experience of active researchers, these findings seemed to justify a more intensive search for evidence of the link between effective university teaching and research. Interviews have been conducted with 37 university teachers who had strong publication and grant success records and who were teaching and researching in similar topic areas. They represent a range of disciplines and universities, and from both the UK and Australia. The study methods and results are described and we conclude that qualitative variation in the experience of research is related (a) moderately to experience of teaching and (b) strongly to experience of understanding the subject matter.

A response to Scott's concerns about the relevance of environmental education research: applying social–ecological systems thinking and consilience to defining research goals

In William Scott's plenary address at the World Environmental Education Conference, he expressed concerns about the relevance of environmental education research in a world facing global environmental and demographic change. In responding to Scott's concerns, I argue that addressing challenges related to development and the environment requires examining EE goals at multiple levels as well as bridging diverse disciplines. I further suggest that integrating social‐ecological systems and other approaches in environmental education research may provide a means for consilience among potentially divisive environmental education practice and research traditions. In so doing, I hope to spark debate about possibilities for an environmental education research agenda and learning organisation that spurs action relevant to concerns about the environment, individuals, and their communities.     

Learning for the future: the emergence of lifelong learning and the internationalisation of education as the fourth way?

This article explores the discourse of international educational reform that aims at meeting the various challenges of globalisation and a knowledge-based economy and preparing students for a better future in the twenty-first century. Specifically, it reviews the dominant themes, trends and goals of modern education. It does so by exploring the shared themes of curriculum adaptation, the emerging models of learning and innovation, the trend towards lifelong learning for all and the growing need for the internationalisation of education. It concludes by suggesting an overall trend of the sectorisation and de-sectorisation of education emerging under new social and economic circumstances in the twenty-first century.     

In defense of the “quantoids”: More on the reasons for the quantitative emphasis in criminal justice education and research

This article critiques DiCristina's (1977) JCJE article concerning the quantitative emphasis in criminal justice curriculums. I argue that he (1) overlooked one of the more profound merits associated with quantitative research when he proposed that both methods should receive equal attention, (2) underestimated the contribution quantitative methods have made to policy, and (3) confused theoretical problems with methodological problems when he evaluated the connection between quantitative methodology and crime control policy.     

Wellbeing in school gardens – the case of the Gardens for Bellies food and environmental education program

The article explores the role of the outdoor environment in the Gardens for Bellies Danish school garden program in relation to student wellbeing. It is based on exploratory multiple case study research. The study indicates that the school garden program promotes students’ wellbeing through their positive emotions about being outside in the outdoor environment. Garden activities and their relations with peers, garden educators, and teachers seemed to positively affect students’ self-esteem. Over and above the positive social environment, students’ relations with the natural environment seem also to affect their wellbeing as they develop empathy for animals, insects, and plants. Whether this influences their wellbeing, interpersonal relations, and planetary care in the long run after the program is not, however, documented. Not all students thrive in the open, free, and sometimes chaotic space of the garden. However, the majority of students in the program seem to experience a sense of wellbeing.