What participatory photography can tell us about immigrant and refugee women’s learning in Atlantic Canada

Migration is a gendered phenomenon, embedded within patriarchal structures and social relations that extend beyond State borders. We draw on a transnational feminist framework to explore the gendered dimensions of young refugee and immigrant women’s migration and learning experiences. Ten women were involved in a participatory photography research project over a period of two years in which they took and shared photographs, and engaged in storytelling and self-reflection through writing and dialogue. Through the photo-stories, the women demonstrate the plurality of refugees’ and immigrants’ stories and how these contribute to the larger social analysis of what it is to be an immigrant or refugee woman in Atlantic Canada. We focus this paper on three key themes: (1) formal and informal learning experiences; (2) the essential role relationships play in the women’s migration experiences; and (3) the importance of reflecting on and embracing life’s journeys.     

‘What about us?’ Gypsies,Travellers and ‘White racism’ in secondary schools in England

This article examines the concept of ‘White racism’ in relation to the experiences of Gypsy and Traveller groups in England. It is based on ethnographic research conducted in two secondary schools during the years 2006–2009. Interviews were carried out with pupils attending the secondary schools, their mothers and members of the Traveller Education Service. The research reveals that racism experienced by White Gypsy and Traveller groups is understood differently to that experienced by non-White minority ethnic groups. This is further related to how Gypsy and Traveller groups are perceived inside and outside schools, as ‘others’ and ‘outsiders’. The article considers discourses around racism and discrimination and how they might work to disadvantage Gypsy and Traveller groups in schools.     

Responses to cultural diversity in Botswana’s schools: links between national policy,school actions and students’ civic equality

This article examines nation state policies that have prioritized toleration of diversity over recognition through comparative case studies of three junior secondary schools in Botswana. Through data collected in observations, focus groups, interviews and participatory action research, we demonstrate how the schools, which varied in the ethnic composition of their students, teachers and surrounding communities, responded differently to the reality of their multicultural student bodies. Two followed national policies closely, while the third crafted school-level policies adapted to its student population, yet tightly constricted by national policies and curriculum. In all three schools, students of ethnic minority backgrounds experienced varying degrees of shame, discrimination and a sense of exclusion from the nation and found little recourse to discuss and address these experiences within the structures of their schools. We argue that schools could better develop students’ capacity for equal citizenship were they supported by national education policies and curriculum to recognize the cultural, historical and linguistic diversity of Botswana’s ethnic minorities explicitly in schools.     

What can moment-by-moment learning curves tell about students’ self-regulated learning?

Many students in primary education learn arithmetic using adaptive learning technologies (ALTs) on tablets every day. Driven by developments in the emerging field of learning analytics, these technologies adjust problems based on learners' performance. Yet, until now it is largely unclear how students regulate their learning with ALTs. Hence, we explored how learners regulate their effort, accuracy and learning with an ALT using moment-by-moment learning curves. The results indicated that moment-by-moment learning curves did reflect students’ accuracy and learning, but no associations with effort were found. Immediate drops were associated with high prior knowledge and suboptimal learning. Immediate peaks were associated with robust learning and pointed to effective student regulation. Close multiple spikes showed moderate learning and lower initial levels of accuracy but, with system support, these students seemed able to regulate their learning. Separated multiple spikes indicated reduced learning and accuracy and potentially signal the inability of students to regulate their learning. In this light, moment-by-moment learning curves seem to be valuable indicators of accuracy regulation during learning with ALTs and could potentially be used in interventions to support SRL with personalized visualizations.     

What do second-order judgments tell us about low-performing students’ metacognitive awareness?

According to the unskilled and unaware effect (Kruger and Dunning 1999), low-performing students tend to overestimate their performance. Differentiating the assessment of metacognitive judgments into performance judgments (PJs) and second-order judgments (SOJs), PJs of low-performing students tend to be inflated, while their SOJs are usually lower than those of high-performing students (Händel and Fritzsche 2016; Miller and Geraci 2011). This suggests some level of awareness. The present study investigated whether low-performers’ lower SOJs actually indicate metacognitive awareness. We studied SOJs after adequate and inadequate PJs, and investigated whether low-performers’ lower SOJs are made by default or whether their lower SOJs differ in a similar magnitude compared to those of high-performers (indicating metacognitive awareness). We address this issue by disentangling student and item effects via generalized linear mixed models. Reanalyzing the data of Händel and Fritzsche (2016) from N?=?116 students, we found that SOJs depended on the students who provided the SOJ and on the items on which the SOJ was made. Overall, SOJs depended on the PJs and on the interaction of performance and PJs, but not on the performance itself. Separate analyses for students of different performance levels revealed that low-performing students showed less awareness, indicated by a non-significant interaction effect of performance and PJs. Thus, it takes mixed models to tell the whole story of low-performing students’ lower SOJs.     

Ethnic diversity in schools and bi-ethnic Dutch students’ educational outcomes and social functioning

The present study examined the relationship between ethnic diversity in school and educational outcomes, social-emotional functioning, and citizenship competences for bi-ethnic students. The focus of this study is bi-ethnic children with 1 non-migrant parent (with 2 non-migrant grandparents) and 1 migrant parent (with 2 foreign grandparents). It was found that the educational outcomes, social-emotional functioning, and citizenship competences of bi-ethnic students were not related to ethnic diversity. We also focused on the relationship between ethnic diversity in school and educational outcomes, social-emotional functioning, and citizenship competences for mono-ethnic students to determine whether this relationship is different for bi-ethnic and mono-ethnic students. Whereas the relationship was not significant for mono-ethnic minority students, mono-ethnic majority students’ educational outcomes, social-emotional functioning, and citizenship competences were related to a school’s ethnic diversity. This study indicates that the outcomes and social functioning of bi-ethnic students are not related to attending an ethnically diverse school.     

What Every Educator Needs to Know about America’s Homeless Students

The number of American homeless youth has skyrocketed in the twenty-first century. In 2015, for example, this number reached a record high, becoming twice as high as it was before the recession. Educators should be concerned about this problem because homelessness is more harmful to children than to adults and interferes dramatically with their education. This article offers guidelines for educators on how to deal with this problem effectively. It also includes an example of a policy that would reduce this problem in America.     

What can research into graduate employability tell us about agency and structure?

Traditionally theorists who have written about agency and structure have eschewed empirical research. This article uses the findings of an empirical study into graduate employability to inform the sociological debate on how they relate to each other. The study examined how Dutch and British final-year students approach the labour market right before they graduate. The study revealed that the labour market and education structures are mirrored in how students understand and act within the labour market. It also showed that the interplay between agency and structure is mediated by an intersubjective framework shared by other students. The article argues that previous theoretical views on employability have failed to understand this and suggests how to improve our understanding of agency and structure.     

Patriotism in British schools: teachers’ and students’ perspectives

Because there are good arguments both for and against loving one’s country, patriotism should be taught as a controversial issue in schools. But is this pedagogical approach practically viable in the British educational context? Here we report on a small‐scale survey of teachers and students in secondary schools and show that their perspectives and practices are highly compatible with our recommended approach.     

Making America’s schools great now: reclaiming democracy and activist leadership under Trump

Trump’s vow to ‘make America great again’ seeks to usher in a policy agenda reminiscent of an era that served as a boon to the rich while devastating poor, working-class, Americans, particularly people of color. His education policy and budget blueprint prove no exception, signalling troubling priorities for those who value strong public institutions, civil rights, and investments in public schools. In this essay, I argue that the current political moment requires an educational leadership committed to making America’s schools great now by reclaiming public schools as pillars of democracy through resistance, taking a stand on issues, and actively leading change. I conclude with calls to (a) resist efforts to dismantle education as a public good, (b) reclaim a vision of education grounded in equality, liberation, and justice, and (c) revolutionise how education leadership is conceptualized, practiced, and sustained.     

What can spelling errors tell us about the causes and treatment of dyslexia?

Until recently the majority of research undertaken into dyslexia focused on English‐speaking dyslexics, who tend to make significantly more phonological than visual errors. This led to a major assumption about the possible cause of dyslexia being a lack of phonological awareness. According to the phonological deficit theory, the level of phonological consistency of a language determines not only the reading speed but also the amount and types of reading and spelling errors made by dyslexic people. This theory has been seriously challenged by the results of a number of studies in more phonologically consistent languages, such as Greek, Italian and Japanese, where morphology seemed to play a more crucial role than the phonological structure of a language per se. The 116 dyslexic people who took part in this experiment were matched on age, sex, IQ and psycho‐educational performance. A total of 58 US English‐speaking dyslexic people were compared to 58 Greek dyslexic people. Both groups met the diagnostic criteria. Results demonstrated that Greek dyslexics were found to make significantly fewer phonological errors (11.0%) than the US dyslexics (85.5%, p < .000), but comparatively more visual (66.8% to US 14.0%, P < .000) and grammatical errors (22.2% to US 0.1%, p < .000) than their English‐speaking counterparts. These data showed highly significant quantitative and qualitative spelling differences. Greek dyslexics could be accurately differentiated from the US English dyslexics based on the three types of spelling errors.     

On other people’s terms: schools’ encounters with disabled students

According to Swedish legislation as well as laws pertaining to disabled citizens, Swedish schools are to be accessible for all children and adolescents. This implies that disabilities of any type must not be allowed to prevent students from completing their schooling on their own terms. The purpose of this research was to study the degree to which the Swedish school is accessible for all students. A total 200 professionals and politicians were interviewed alongside more than 30 upper secondary school students. The results show that the ambition level is high with regard to adapting educational programmes for the disabled student group, especially in the rhetoric of politicians and civil servants. However, in practice, teachers and head teachers have considerably more difficulty in delivering to students satisfactory schooling. This is often due to conflict between the striving for inclusion and the difficulty adapting learning environments during everyday classroom instruction. By use of institutional theory the study demonstrates that intentions as described of responsible politicians are altered in the system when confronted with the institutional reality. Schools’ meeting the natural variation of difference in the student group causes complications in educational work in which various solutions are attempted. When educational differentiation is found wanting in attempts to meet students’ various needs, various types of special solutions are sought, which have the objective of reducing heterogeneity among the students. This type of organisational differentiation seems accepted and legitimised where it concerns students having various kinds of school‐related difficulties, while seeming to create a disadvantage for some other students. One should understand this as thought coercion, where pressure from professionals in schools leaves little room for other strategies and in which the concept of the inclusive school is challenged.     

Floating on the fringe: College of education students’ discourse about diversity

Abstract

This phenomenological research study focused on how education students perceived diversity in their academic lives, as well as the language they used when they talked about diversity. Focus groups with 36 undergraduate and graduate students in a college of education were conducted to explore these areas. Three themes were identified through a two-phase analytical approach. These were: (a) limited or inconsistent exposure to diversity at the college; (b) instances of othering and exclusion that took place in various spaces; and (c) divergent ways of talking about the diversity climate. The article concludes with a renewed call for increased attention to diversity in colleges of education.     

Enhancing students’s social and ethical development in schools: An intervention program and its effects

This chapter describes effects on students social and ethical attitudes and behaviors of a comprehensive elementary school program that was implemented in 12 elementary schools in six school districts in the United States over a four-year period, with an additional 12 schools serving as a comparison group. The program as a whole is designed to promote a sense of the school as a community. Data, collected in a baseline year and each of three program years, included classroom observations and student and teacher questionnaires. Data analyses showed variability both within and between schools in teacher changes from baseline to classroom program implementation. Positive effects on students’s sense of community and on several social/ethical variables were found for the five program schools that showed adequate changes in implementation. Structural equations modeling analyses of classroom-level data showed clear support for a model in which program effects on social-ethical outcomes for students were mediated through intervening linkages with program implementation and with the sense of community.