A Panic about School Choice

It is now widely recognised that Britain's comprehensive system was never truly comprehensive. Families with sufficient financial capital were always able to ensure the entry of their children to particularly prestigious ‘comprehensive’ schools by purchasing a home within the appropriate catchment areas. According to government rhetoric, recent legislation established a market of schools, removed catchment areas and gave parents greater choice of school. This case‐study examines the workings of the local quasi‐market of schools within a prosperous town (Sutton Coldfield, England) which is part of the larger metropolitan area of the West Midlands. Because of a change in the age of entry to secondary education, Sutton Coldfield was first plunged into the market in 1992. This case‐study shows that the new situation initially caused confusion and anger. Some Sutton Coldfield residents were denied places for their children within the town and were instead offered places for their children in Birmingham working‐class estate schools. The article describes the formation and activities of a local pressure group which opposed these changes, and reports the results of a small‐scale study of a sample of parents’ choice‐making processes in 1993. It is shown that access to financial and cultural capital had become more, rather than less, important in the process of allocating children to secondary schools.     

The Rise and Decline of Comprehensive Education: Key Factors in the History of Reformed Secondary Education in Belgium, 1969–1989

In answer to economic needs and social demands, a structural innovation was introduced in secondary education in most West European countries, mainly in the 1960s. Contrary to the traditional schools, organized in vertical categories, the so‐called comprehensive schools brought together all branches in one school. There was protest against this type of school from the start but it was mainly in the 1980s and 1990s that comprehensive schools came under siege. In most countries the comprehensive structures have been abandoned or adjusted to a more moderate form.

This paper tries to explain the factors that stimulated innovation in the 1960s, and those that counteracted comprehensive education. As will be shown, these factors were not always related to ideological positions. In fact, the reasons for local educational authorities to “go comprehensive” (or not) were often practically rather than ideologically inspired. Theories of “dominant rationality” by Matthijssen and the “referential” by Jobert succeed in surpassing ideological parameters, and can be interesting tools to explain changing mentalities. However, a satisfying explanation for the history of comprehensive education cannot be offered without paying attention to everyday pragmatics, that – in the author's view – have been decisive for the evolution of comprehensive education.

The paper will be illustrated with examples from the Belgian case. Comprehensive schools were introduced in Belgium in 1969. All state public schools went comprehensive in the 1970s, and the number of comprehensive private schools grew rapidly until growth ceased around 1980. The ongoing struggle between Catholic comprehensive and traditional schools led to a compromise created by the Catholic educational authorities, a fusion of comprehensive and traditional elements. This structure was imposed by the Flemish government as a unitary structure for all secondary schools in the Dutch‐speaking part of Belgium in 1989.     

A survey of current pre‐school education of/for children from urban low‐income families in Beijing

This study investigated the pre‐school education of children from low‐income families in six urban districts of Beijing, using questionnaires and in‐depth interviews with respondents from district educational committees, sub‐district and residents’ committees, nursery schools, and low‐income families. The results indicated that (1) the number of nursery schools in Beijing’s urban districts showed a decreasing trend by year and that these schools were not evenly distributed; and (2) nursery school fees for usage were high, especially for low‐income families. These fees acted as a barrier for many of the children from this socio‐economic background, leaving a number of such children with no opportunity to receive pre‐school education. There was no attempt by the local government and/or communities to provide adequate financial and educational support for low‐income families. Recommendations are made with regard to improving the current situation.     

The Catholic School Ethos: its effect on post‐16 student academic achievement

Recent concern with the academic performance of schools has led a number of local education authorities to develop systems for measuring the ‘added value’ that can be attributed to particular institutions in their control. An analysis of data published by one Midlands shire county on the performance of A level candidates in 1992 raised questions about the relative levels of academic achievement of pupils who remained within the Catholic school system compared to those who transferred to local authority institutions for their full‐time education after the age of 16. A small representative sample of students from a Catholic school who had transferred to a non‐Catholic sixth form college to take A level courses was interviewed. The students’ comments suggested they found significant differences in the college ethos compared to that of their previous Catholic school. Those findings together with the analysis or the available data from the local authority, raise issues that merit further detailed research.     

Primary exclusions: evidence for action

This short report presents the interim findings of an ESRC‐supported study of primary school exclusions. The research to date has involved a questionnaire survey of LEAs nationally and in‐depth case studies, involving schools, parents/carers and children, in two contrasting LEAs. It is first argued that the exclusion from mainstream education of very young children is, in itself, a cause for alarm. Evidence is then presented of rising numbers of exclusions, as well as high levels of unmet educational and/or social need in the majority of cases studied. It is concluded that urgent government action to support children, many of whom were found to be ‘in need’, is not only required under the Children Act 1989, but would actually prove more cost‐effective.     

Implementing a large‐scale reform in secondary schools: the role of the consultant within England’s Secondary National Strategy

This article examines the role of the consultants in secondary schools and local authorities within a large‐scale consultancy‐based reform, the Secondary National Strategy (SNS), in London, UK. The SNS follows a cascade model of implementation in which nationally created initiatives are introduced and supported within local authorities (LA) and schools through LA‐based consultant teams. The article is drawn from a larger interpretive case study that follows the experiences of SNS consultants working within the reform from 2002 to 2006. The article uses semi‐structured interviews to reveal the various and diverse experiences that occur in schools as a result of the introduction of consultants within LAs. The article argues that introducing an SNS consultancy structure to work within LAs and secondary schools created dynamic, complex and shifting effects across secondary schools. While consultants often attempted to create developmental or learning experiences that resonated with teachers’ and departments’ experiences, these activities may also have served to further the institutional control of teachers’ workspaces. These effects are part of the complexities that exist within school change agendas. Exploring these contradictions helps in understanding school change within urban secondary schools.     

Rules,Sanctions and Rewards in Primary Schools

Twenty‐four primary schools were randomly selected from all those listed in a local education authority in the West Midlands of England. Heads or deputy headteachers of 21 of these schools were interviewed using a structured interview schedule very similar to the one used for a recent survey of secondary schools. Data were obtained about the general rule structures of the schools and the system of sanctions and rewards used to maintain them. The findings were then compared with those from the secondary survey. Primary schools were less likely than secondary schools to have written rule structures but most were in the process of producing them in response to new pressures. It was more common for all the teachers in the primary school to be considered responsible for seeing that rules were kept. Generally, primary school headteachers identified fewer sanctions being used to uphold their rules than in secondary schools. The number of rewards used in both types of school was about equal. Comment is made on the difference between sanctions and rewards identified as being used in schools and some observed classroom practice.     

Race relations legislation,ethnicity and disproportionality in school exclusions in England

This paper extends earlier research into the responses of local authorities and schools to the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 (RRAA) in relation to minority ethnic pupils and exclusion practices. The original study drew on evidence from national exclusions data, a wide range of official documentation and visit data from 85 secondary, primary and special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs) in England. It focused on the disproportionality in rates of permanent and fixed term exclusion for minority ethnic pupils, particularly black Caribbean pupils and those from other black backgrounds. One‐quarter of the difference between black Caribbean permanent exclusion rates and the rates for other pupils is explained by factors relating to deprivation. More recent national data available confirm that the disproportionalities continue. This suggests a lack of compliance with the requirements of the RRAA at the level of national agencies, local authorities and schools. The persistence of disproportionalities in exclusions by ethnic group can be considered institutionally racist outcomes.     

Social Exclusion and the Hidden Curriculum: The Schooling Experiences of Chinese Rural Migrant Children in an Urban Public School

Since 2001, the Chinese government had passed a series of policies known as ‘the two primary responsibilities’ to allow the rural migrant children to attend urban public schools. However, what the migrant children actually experienced in and after negotiating access to these schools deserves serious attention from educators, scholars and policymakers. Based on prolonged ethnographic fieldwork in a Beijing public school, this study demonstrated three key aspects of exclusions in migrant children’s schooling experiences, namely, (1) access to school, (2) in-class participations and (3) peer interactions, and examined the ‘hidden curriculum’ in the existing school practices that prevented migrant children from integrating successfully in the urban school settings. We found that academic performance lay at the root of social exclusions, but the local educators’ perceptions of migrant children as outsiders, the urban-oriented school curricular and urban children’s involvement (vis-à-vis migrant children’s little involvement) in the extracurricular activities at school as well as the paid supplementary trainings outside school together formed the ‘hidden curriculum’ that led to the marginalization of migrant students in the urban school system.     

The teaching and learning of pupils in low-attainment sets

This study explored the ways in which schools addressed the needs of pupils in low-attainment class groups, or sets, in the context of multiple and contrary government policy directives and inconclusive research findings about setting. In this article we have focused on school and classroom practices as well as the organisational processes through which low-attaining pupils were identified, grouped and reviewed within schools. The empirical data reported here predominantly refer to case studies involving classroom observations and interviews with teachers, pupils and other staff in 13 schools – both primary and secondary – from four local authorities (LAs).

In the latter part of the article, however, we also draw on survey data collected from a larger sample of schools in 12 LAs in England. Although the study found ample evidence of innovative school practices and efforts by individual teachers aimed at optimising the learning opportunities for children in low-attainment class groups, the findings also raise important questions about some of the processes of set allocation, the lack of mobility between sets, and the over-representation of particular social groups in low-attainment classes. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for equity and inclusion that moves beyond an emphasis on classroom practice to include questions about the in-school processes of social selection and educational mobility for pupils identified as low-attaining.     

Managing Interschool Networks: across the primary/secondary divide

This paper examines how schools in one area of the East Midlands have developed interschool collaboration not to undermine central‐government policy but to make possible the successful implementation of the local management of schools. The study is based on structured interviews carried out with secondary headteachers and headteachers of some of the primary schools which feed pupils into these secondary schools. The time and effort expended by schools on these networks is assessed, and their advantages and disadvantages, as perceived by the headteachers, are summarised. The paper concludes with some suggestions for developing the management of these networks.     

Bridging the Cultural Divide: The role of the home‐school support worker

A three‐year Home Office funded project placed social work trained home‐school support workers on the staff of secondary schools with the aim of reducing school exclusions. Data from the project evaluation enabled an analysis of the possibilities and limitations of social work in school settings. A qualitative evaluation methodology was adopted with extended periods of fieldwork in the seven project schools and the use of a variety of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. It is argued that, if schools are to be successful sites for social work, the tensions arising from the different cultures of teachers and social workers must be recognised and addressed. A number of factors were found to be crucial for assisting social work trained support workers to become accepted in schools. The support worker role resulted in a variety of benefits for teachers, thus enabling the project to act as a bridge between social work and educational cultures.     

The Needs of Secondary School Information Technology Co‐ordinators in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a survey of secondary schools in the West Midlands, England, in 1991 and was conducted to measure the tasks required of information technology co‐ordinators and the training requirement of their schools. The main emphasis of information technology work was still on taught, examination courses and there was a perceived need for information technology awareness courses for all pupils. Many co‐ordinators had no clear perspective of the level of information technology permeation across the curriculum in their schools, and thus demonstrated an urgent need for audits of staff awareness and pupil access. Information technology co‐ordinators also saw a need for further in‐service training for many staff to enable delivery of their pupils’ information technology entitlement. Most staff training was school based and included collaborative teaching and courses run by the school staff. Little use was made of co‐operation with subject staff from other schools or outside specialists. The co‐ordinators defined their needs as being predominantly in the areas of time for co‐ordination duties, assessment of information technology across the curriculum, and training in new developments in the wider aspects of information technology.     

Privatization and sponsorship: the re‐agenting of the school system in England 1

In this article I use the concept of ‘re‐agenting’ to explore and explain the role of non‐state agencies, principally private companies and business entrepreneurs, as key instruments in the government’s transformation of the school system in England. Their role takes both for‐profit and not‐for‐profit forms. The outsourcing to private companies of the implementation of government education policies and the delivery of educational services to schools and local authorities has created a profitable market. Equally significant is the growing involvement of the private sector in schools through the sponsorship of specialist schools and Academies on a non‐profit basis.     

The Impact of Action Research for Professional Development: case studies in two Manchester schools

Teacher professional development has come to be recognised as a major policy tool as part of the UK Government's agenda for raising standards and school improvement. These demands call for new approaches to professional development. We need to reconceptualise what teachers learn while at work as professional development which can complement direct work with children. The study reported on in this article is an attempt to investigate the impact of teacher inquiry as part of an action research project on three teachers involved in the North West Consortium for the Study of Effectiveness in Urban Schools (NWCSEUS). This was a partnership of schools, Manchester and Salford local education authorities, the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University set up with the intention of establishing a research culture in schools in order to improve practice and raise teaching standards. The aim of this particular study was to undertake a critical analysis of the impact of the NWCSEUS project on three teachers’ professional development as well as to provide relevant information on the critical components of teacher inquiry. Using the methodology of a multiple‐case design, a cross‐case analysis was drawn up NUD*IST software was used to aid analysis and category development. The teachers reported on demonstrated the positive impact that teacher inquiry can have on both individual teachers and the school as a whole, as through a teacher inquiry culture, schools can become learning environments where teachers continuously plan and evaluate for school improvement and effectiveness.     

Who Counts; Who Cares? Scottish children's notions of national identity

Compared to the literature on children's racial and ethnic identities, relatively little is known about their understanding of national identity. Such knowledge is necessary if schools are to challenge racism, xenophobia and ethnocentrism effectively. In this paper, we present the findings of a case‐study (undertaken in a mainly‐white Edinburgh primary school) of 9‐11 year‐olds’ understanding of this complex form of collective identity. Particular attention is given to age‐related differences in response. Comparisons are drawn between the Scottish children's conceptions of their national identity and those of a multiethnic cohort drawn from three English primary schools (in a recently‐completed, parallel investigation by the same authors). We conclude by exploring the policy implications of our data.     

‘We're all in this game whether we like it or not to get a number of As to Cs.’ Design and technology teachers' struggles to implement creativity and performativity policies

Education reform in England has seen many policies and initiatives introduced by central government. This article discusses two such policies, performativity and creativity. Performativity has been central to the government's agenda of raising standards and includes monitoring mechanisms such as Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) inspections, performance management and school league tables, all of which are used to measure or judge the value or worth of a school or individual teacher. At the same time as policies on performativity have been implemented, policy makers have introduced a number of policies to encourage creativity in education. This article foregrounds teachers of design and technology (D&T) at secondary level (11–16 years), describing how they struggled to implement both strategies. Teachers valued creativity and thought it was an important part of the subject, but the pressure to be seen to be performing and getting favourable positions in school league tables and Ofsted inspections meant the teaching of D&T became rather formulaic, which allowed very little opportunity for creative learning. Individual interviews were conducted with 14 D&T teachers across six schools and an open‐ended email survey was conducted with a further 17 D&T teachers from 15 schools during the preliminary phase of a research and intervention project. In addition, 69 D&T teachers across eight schools completed a questionnaire at the start of the main intervention period. Data from 126 student interviews across six schools are used to support the teacher data outlined above.     

The influence of socio-cultural factors on leadership practices for instructional improvement in Indonesian schools

Empirical studies have shown that although leadership shares similar practices across East and West, some practices have inherently distinguished socio cultural characteristics. Understanding these characteristics is important in Asian contexts since socio-cultures are a major power in determining the success or failure of a change process. This study sought to explore and identify local leadership practices influenced by socio-cultural factors through in-depth interviews with principals and teachers from six different senior secondary schools in Malang Regency, Indonesia. Key local practices were identified: monitoring learning hours, improving the welfare of teachers, focusing on students’ character building, encouraging students’ participation in extracurricular programmes, increasing standards, and building partnership with stakeholders. Although some of the practices are similar to those recognised by empirical studies done in Western school context, others reflect local leadership practices influenced by school conditions, social practices, and economic factors. The findings imply that in Indonesian schools, practices of leadership are directly and indirectly dictated by the policies regulated by the government. This strong influence of government can be the impediment for school leaders to make necessary initiatives to promote instructional improvements in their schools.     

Searching for good practice in teaching: a comparison of two subject‐based professional learning communities in a secondary school in Shanghai

Since the mid‐1990s, the concept of professional learning communities has arisen in the education field in the West, aiming to improve teachers’ professional competency by using collaborative approaches. Western studies indicate that these strategies help teachers achieve professional growth. Schools in China have had a long history of enhancing the professional competency of teachers by using collaboration in school‐based contexts. But do professional learning communities in Chinese schools, especially in times of change, do the same for Chinese teachers? This study provides empirical data from Chinese teachers to assist global discussions on school‐based professional development. The study uses qualitative data collection methods, including semi‐structured interviews, observations and documentary analysis, to investigate how teachers from two subject departments in a secondary school in Shanghai enhance their knowledge and practice within their subject‐based professional learning communities. Results show that members of these two communities have shared common goals and have developed a sense of collective accountability. The study also found that socio‐cultural factors, such as the collectivist values, authoritarian‐oriented practices and influences of interpersonal relationship, are crucial in the development of Chinese professional learning communities, even though different communities may differ in other respects.