Context matters: primary schools and academies reform in England

There is little conclusive evidence linking academies reform in England with school improvement. While this reform has been effective in improving educational outcomes in some contexts, it has been resoundingly unsuccessful in others. Nevertheless, political faith in autonomous schooling as key to a world-class education remains strong. This paper considers how matters of context impact on approaches to and enactments of this policy. Drawing on case study data from two groups of primary schools from (1) a local authority and (2) an academy chain, the paper examines the particular situated, professional, material and external factors that impact on these schools’ capacities to cope with and respond to academies reform. In light of the continued tendency within policy for schools to be dematerialised, the paper argues the ongoing significance of greater attention to matters of context in understanding how schools are navigating the complex terrain of this reform.     

Enacting whole-school relationships and sexuality education in England: Context matters

Evidence from intervention evaluations suggests that achieving meaningful and lasting social, behavioural and attitudinal change from relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in schools requires more than just a curriculum. Whole-school approaches appear particularly promising since they work at multiple levels. For instance, they may: engage with carers, communities and local services; address iniquitous cultures and norms; change school policies and practices; and actively involve young people themselves. They have also been advocated to tackle sexual harassment and abuse in schools. Currently, however, such approaches have not been rigorously evaluated in the UK. This article focuses on the whole-school elements of two recent RSHE pilot studies conducted in English secondary schools. We describe how these elements were variably enacted in different settings. We analyse contextual factors that help account for these differences, including: teacher and departmental professional identity and autonomy; broader education policy including high-stakes testing and school inspection judgements; the significance of support staff; and staff–student relationships and partnerships. We argue that the likely impact of whole-school approaches and RSHE in schools more generally will depend on attending to all of these factors. The paper contributes firstly to debates about the theory and practice of RSHE by highlighting the significance of processes and cultures beyond the classroom in enabling or constraining positive change. Secondly it contributes to scholarship that elucidates the role of contexts, broadly defined, in understanding the enactment of policy and practice.     

Context matters in educational research and international development: Learning from the small states experience

The article argues that greater attention should be paid to contextual factors in educational research and international development cooperation. The analysis draws upon principles that underpin socio-cultural approaches to comparative education, a critical analysis of the political economy of contemporary educational research, and recent research experience in small states worldwide.     

An interactive learning and course development environment: Context,theoretical and empirical considerations

In this contribution, a theoretical and empirical framework based on work carried out at the Open universiteit (Ou) for a new approach towards the design, production and delivery of flexible, interactive learning materials for distance education is presented.

In the Research and Development centre of the Ou, a project has concentrated on the innovation of current approaches. This framework can also be considered as an advance organizer to reading the remaining articles from the Open universiteit in this issue of Distance Education.

A key feature of the innovation is that during the design phase, course developers have to define ‘models’ of the materials to be developed: a content model, a support model, a student model and the learning path. From a flexibility point of view especially, the ‘student model’ is of importance since it defines the student variables that will be taken into account when developing/ presenting alternative materials (basic content and/or embedded support). A computer‐based system, the ‘Interactive Learning and Course Development Environment (ILCE)’, was developed to support the work of course development teams and tutors on the one hand, and students on the other hand. The development system supports the work of the developers; the delivery system supports the study process of students. The delivery is realised as an on‐line course, on the World Wide Web.

Students start working with the ILCE‐system by following an intake procedure. They can make choices in relation to student variables that have been defined in the student model (profession, study intentions, context, etc.). Next, they can ‘on the fly’ generate a course. Rom the large repository of learning materials only those materials are selected and compiled that are in line with the student model of this specific student Furthermore, they can choose to study the materials on screen and/or make prints of the materials. Of course, in printing the materials they lose the interactive and dynamic possibilities of the computer learning environment     

Context matters: Secondary science teachers' integration of process-based,unplugged computational thinking into science curriculum

There is growing recognition in the education community that the problem-solving practices that comprise computational thinking (CT) are a fundamental component of both life and work in the twenty-first century. Historically, opportunities to learn CT have been confined to computer science (CS) and elective courses that lack racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. To combat this inequity, a number of scholars have proposed integrating CT practices into core curriculum——especially science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum. Successfully achieving the goal of integrated CT, however, depends on frameworks to guide integration, professional development for teachers, exemplars of successful integrations, and identifications of the barriers teachers encounter. Research pertaining to each of these areas is in its infancy. This study addresses these needs through a collective case study of 10 secondary science teachers' implementations of a novel, process-based, unplugged approach to CT/science integration and the factors that supported or hindered their CT/science integration efforts. The results of this work reveal that: (1) an unplugged and process-based approach to CT/science integration shows promise as a vehicle for infusing CT into diverse science classrooms; (2) educators' teaching context exerts a strong influence on their CT-integration efforts and persistence; and (3) special attention is needed to support teachers in their CT/science integrations including algorithm creation. This study also demonstrates the utility of the Fraillon et al.'s CT framework as a guide for CT/science integration efforts and sheds light on the unique affordances of unplugged strategies for implementing CT-integrated science curricula.     

"语境"中的"语境主义":昆廷·斯金纳政治思想史研究发微

"剑桥学派"虽以"历史语境主义"为其鲜明的方法论标识,但其由以孕育、出生及至壮大的"语境"本身,及其方法论背后的现实政治意图,却较少为汉语学界论及.本文拟以其代表人物昆廷·斯金纳为例,力图阐明两方面的问题:"语境主义"兴起的"语境"是什么?以斯金纳为代表的剑桥学派具有怎样的现实政治指向性?     

Case studies using co:Writer

Abstract

This report provides some recent data on the numbers of students with different types and degrees of disability and special educational need placed in mainstream primary classrooms in South Australia and New South Wales. Information was collected from teachers in seventy‐seven classrooms, representing a total enrolment of 1919 students. The authors have computed the overall prevalence rate for students with special educational needs, together with the prevalence rates for different types of disability or difficulty. These rates have been compared with those reported in the national and international literature. The results suggest that the commonly accepted notion of 20% of the school population as the upper limit for students with special educational needs is almost certainly too low. The indications are that up to 32% of students may need some degree of additional short‐term or longer‐term support. Comparisons are made between the two states, and some implications for the planning and funding of support services and resources are briefly discussed.     

Case studies using write:Outloud

The following are segments from three other recent evaluations performed in the Center for Adaptive Technology at Southern CT State University. These students were similar in that they have some type of neurological deficit which affects their ability to handwrite. They are easily overstimulated by sound and visual stimuli. They all experienced a dramatic change in their behavior and their ability to produce writing when introduced to Write:OutLoud and given a choice of voice and color. I think this may be a pattern; I am planning to try to replicate this with other, similar children at a local private school.

For the sake of brevity, I have omitted some parts of the evaluation narrative, and have left off the recommendation part (in which Write:Out Loud was certainly recommended for these students!).     

Cowboys with cameras: an interactive expedition

Utilizing the same technologies pioneered by the embedded journalists in Iraq, the University of Central Florida (UCF) teamed up with TracStar, Inc to create a small-scale, satellite-based expedition transmission package to accompany a university film and digital media professor into parts of Utah and the Moab Desert that had a historical significance to American Western Films. The expedition took the group to many locations where scenes from John Wayne and John Ford movies were filmed. Students along on the trip camped out and suffered similar tough conditions as did the original film crews, experienced the wilderness, and participated in lectures and interviews with locals, who supported the films and acted as extras and stunt persons. The project brought a live experience back to the university campus in which students personally interact firsthand with the people, places, things in as real a manner as what the remote travelers encountered.
This article presents details about the experiences of the first implementation of the live broadcasts from the remote desert and the reactions of focus groups to the experience. One group watched archived broadcast, convinced that they were live. Their impressions and reactions were recorded and analyzed and compared to those who were part of a control group. Conclusions and recommendations for future trips are introduced.     

Sustaining professional learning communities: Case studies

The purpose is to document the ongoing development of two schools in becoming professional learning communities and the effects of meaningful collaboration on teacher learning. The question that guides this research is: How does a school become a sustainable professional learning community? The theoretical framework is based on the work of Senge, Hord, Fullan, Hargreaves and Fink, and Stoll, McMahon and Thomas and includes the areas of professional learning community, change and sustainability. Finally, the study addresses the relationship between professional learning community and school culture. The methodology involves a qualitative case study approach designed to gain information regarding two emerging schools in their journeys toward developing learning community cultures. Findings reveal the stories of each school as they evolved as PLCs and the similarities and differences that emerged. Knowing that sustaining the culture of a PLC is complex, and not to be achieved without determination and growth, we look ahead at challenges to be addressed and further research to be conducted. Finally, we offer some concluding statements and attempt to relate findings to the literature on PLCs. The intent is to identify some of the intricacies in building cultures of learning for adults and students. As we have learned through these two stories, many things happen simultaneously, to greater or lesser degrees, at varying points in time over a period of years that seem to influence the development of a PLC. Such development seems so complex that to be able to describe discrete steps or stages is unlikely. Still we are beginning to see that some categories of activities and issues must be developed before others can emerge.     

使用复合蜕变关系进行软件测试的实例研究

蜕变测试时经常会出现蜕变关系检错能力低下的情况．基于命题逻辑的推理规则,提出了复合蜕变关系的构造方法,该方法对已构造的关系依次进行两两复合最终得到新的蜕变关系．复合蜕变关系可以把原关系的优点综合起来,具有更强的检错能力．此外,由于将蜕变关系复合后关系数量减少,所以当使用它测试程序时,生成测试用例的数量会大幅度降低．通过2个实例对复合蜕变关系的测试性能进行研究,实验结果表明复合关系的性能主要取决于构成它的核心蜕变关系,以及关系复合的顺序．使用复合蜕变关系可以极大地提高测试效率．     

An Examination of Resilience Processes in Context: The Case of Tasha

This research examined resilience processes in context through a narrative case study of Tasha, a young African-American woman who grew up in a poverty-ridden area of a mid-sized city in the Southeast. Personal and external data are analyzed and interpreted in terms of contextually defined themes of adversity (i.e., intersectionality of social identities, lack of attachment to her primary caregiver, and teenage pregnancy); adaptation (i.e., high school graduation, career goal-setting, commitment to her children, and “street” competence); and, protective processes (i.e., individual attributes, natural mentors, and extended family support). The importance of external sources of support and Tasha as an active agent in her development is highlighted. Research and practical implications are discussed.     

Pre-service teachers in an after school program: increasing understanding of students,communities, and teaching

The purpose of the After School Creative Expression Program (ASCEP) was to provide a short-term afterschool program focusing on the visual and written creative arts to a group of elementary school children attending a Title 1 school. Pre-service teachers attending a liberal arts university within the same geographic region developed lessons in writing and photography and served as afterschool educators for ASCEP. The program provided pre-service teachers a valuable experience outside the classroom. Findings demonstrate pre-service educators gained new insights from ASCEP that will impact their teaching practices during school. Overall, results show ASCEP provided future educators with valuable learning experiences and opportunities to connect more deeply with their students and their community.     

Bilingualism in a Canadian Context: The Case of the University of Ottawa

The University of Ottawa was created as a Roman Catholic, private, bilingual institution before Canada was born as a country. Courses were taught in French and English, both to francophone and to anglophone students, and with no duplication of programmes. The College of Bytown, as it was then known, was intended to create a learning milieu that would bring together English-speaking and French-speaking students and foster mutual respect and understanding. When the university was reorganized as a provincially assisted (i.e., subsidized) institution in 1965, its mandate as a bilingual university was reaffirmed, together with its special mission of preserving and developing French culture in Ontario. Over the years, the university has moved toward "institutional" bilingualism and has placed a strong emphasis on the parallel offering of programmes. It is the author's view that, on the whole, bilingualism at the University of Ottawa has delivered positive results. However, bilingualism is not viewed by everyone as a means for preserving the language and the culture of minorities, and some Franco-Ontarians would prefer a French-only institution.     

School Effectiveness and School Improvement in Context: The Case of South Africa

This article explores the issue of whether lists of characteristics constituting the effective school are universally valid. It argues that the effectiveness or otherwise of schools must be understood contextually as there are significant differences between both the material and ideological contexts of schooling. The article uses the example of South Africa to demonstrate the difficulties in judging schools in one context using criteria developed in another. Three examples of schools that can be considered effective in the context of the new South Africa are described and discussed and the article concludes by arguing that education for peace and democracy is an essential feature of school effectiveness in South Africa.     

Positional matters: school leaders engaging with national equity agendas

ABSTRACT

This paper claims a central role for school leaders (principals or head-teachers) in the enactment of social justice policy in schools, who act as key agents or ‘gate keepers’ for what counts as social justice in their contexts of practice. Social justice means different things in different contexts depending on where leaders – who use policy as an opportunity to advance what they think is achievable within the limits of available resources – are positioned in the field and how that defines their stances. Drawing on qualitative data generated through in-depth interviews with ten secondary school principals in two Australian cities, the paper analyses the engagement of school leaders with nationally prescribed equity-related policies. Our analysis shows that, depending on the institutional ethos and resources of schools and their own social justice dispositions, school leaders tend to take different stances towards nationally defined equity agendas. Their responses range from compliance to compromise to contest. The paper suggests that doing social justice in schools can never be unilateral, as policy documents suppose, but is characterised by context-informed policy translation, mediated by a range of interactive forces and interests.     

The Context of Demarcation in Nature of Science Teaching: The Case of Astrology

The aim of developing students?? understanding of the nature of science [NOS] has been considered an important aspect of science education. However, the results of previous research indicate that students of various ages and even teachers possess both inaccurate and inappropriate views of the NOS. Such a failure has been explained by the view that perceptions about the NOS are well assimilated into mental structures and resistant to change. Further, the popularization of pseudoscience by the media and the assimilation of pseudoscience into previously established scientific fields have been presented as possible reasons for erroneous popular perceptions of science. Any teaching intervention designed to teach the NOS should first provoke individuals to expose their current ideas in order to provide them the chance to revise or replace these conceptual frameworks. Based on these assumptions, the aim of this study was to determine whether a teaching context based on the issue of demarcation would provide a suitable opportunity for exposing and further developing the NOS understandings of individuals enrolled in a teacher education course. Results indicate that a learning intervention based on the issue of demarcation of science from pseudoscience (in the specific case of astrology) proved an effective instructional strategy, which a majority of teacher candidates claimed to plan to use in their future teachings.     

Understanding Inquiry Science Teaching in Context: A Case Study of an Elementary Teacher

Journal of Science Teacher Education -