“They would make you feel stupid” - Ability grouping,Children’s friendships and psychosocial Wellbeing in Irish primary school

Increasing international attention on wellbeing places the onus on education systems to support children's positive psychosocial development. Despite broad and rich literature highlighting the limitations of implementing ability grouping as pedagogy and its impact on how children ‘do’ and ‘feel’ learning in school, this practice still persists in systems across the OECD. This Irish study draws on qualitative and sociometric data from 3 case study schools with 100 children. It explores how teachers cast an ‘invisible hand’ over children's peer networks, shaping friendships and patterns of inclusion/exclusion within the classroom. It builds on current literature in the field exploring how peer interaction is influenced by ability group assignment using network analysis. Findings also reveal the psychosocial impact of these dynamics, with children assigned to lower ability groups most impacted by lower social status, exclusion from peers and increased experience of bullying. These experiences evoked feelings of disengagement, anger and isolation.     

‘Nature’ and the ‘environment’ in Jamaica’s primary school curriculum guides

In cases where environmental education is institutionalised within schools, the curriculum can affect what and how students learn about ‘nature’ and the ‘environment’. In Jamaica, schools are considered important settings for environmental education; the curriculum therefore includes environmental issues. Using content analysis, representations of ‘nature’ and the ‘environment’ in the nation’s primary level Curriculum Guides were examined. Findings indicate that although many units emphasise an anthropocentric view of nature, this is tempered by depictions of nature’s fragility and, in some instances, nature’s ‘divine’ dimensions. Several curricular units also facilitate student’s creative engagement with nature, allowing for multiple views of the natural world.     

‘It’s better to learn about your health and things that are going to happen to you than learning things that you just do at school’: findings from a mapping study of PSHE education in primary schools in England

This article reports on recent findings from a mapping study of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education in schools in England, focusing on the data derived from primary school participants. It is based on a nationally representative survey of 923 primary school PSHE education leads, and follow-up in-depth interviews and discussion groups with 171 participants. This included local authority support staff, and from participating primary schools: senior management representatives, PSHE education leads, teaching staff, governors, school improvement partners, parents, and pupils. Results included here primarily relate to two areas: delivery models and curriculum coverage, and pupil views on their experiences and the (potential) value of PSHE education. In examining these areas, the article raises issues about blurred boundaries between PSHE education and Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning and/or pastoral care within school more widely, and particular staff sensitivities about the teaching of certain elements of PSHE education, particularly sex and relationships education and drugs, alcohol and tobacco education. These subject areas were less likely to be included or prioritised within PSHE education than, for example, emotional health and well-being, but were often the areas highlighted as most important by pupils. In conclusion, the article raises questions about the potential links between PSHE education and attainment, and the use of different teaching approaches across the curriculum more broadly.     

‘I am not clever,they are cleverer than us’: children reading in the primary school

This paper examines the experiences of children learning to read in a multi-ethnic London primary school. The data are drawn from doctoral research, based on ethnographic fieldwork, with children aged six to seven years and ten to eleven years. Reading is revealed as a strongly emotional realm for children. The children are weak to resist teacher assessment of themselves, but nonetheless seek to create consoling narratives against what they perceive to be the negative identity of ‘poor reader’. The data are distinctive, as resistance to school hierarchies and strong feelings about educational failure are manifested in the narratives of children as young as six years old.     

Children’s access to pre‐school education in Bangladesh

Using the Education Watch household survey database, this paper explores children’s access to pre‐school education in Bangladesh. Participation in pre‐school education has been increasing in Bangladesh at the rate of 0.6% per year and the net enrolment rate was found to be 13.4% in 2005. Enrolment of over‐aged children in pre‐school education made the gross enrolment ratio as high as 30.5%. However, over half of the four to five year olds at school were actually enrolled in primary school and not in pre‐school. Moreover, 71% of the four‐ to five‐year group were out of school. Only a third of the four‐ to five‐year‐old children enrolled in schools had the opportunity to attend the English‐medium kindergartens or NGO‐run non‐formal schools, both of which provide better quality pre‐school education. Urban children, especially those with educated parents and from more privileged socio‐economic backgrounds, were more likely to have access to pre‐school education. The lack of a common pre‐school curriculum seems to have created further inequity among children at this very early age. An educational policy targeting poor and socially disadvantaged children with support from both the state and current pre‐school providers is urgently needed to provide four‐ to five‐year‐old children appropriate education for their needs.     

‘You’ll see that everywhere’: institutional isomorphism in secondary school subject departments

This paper asks why spatially separated school departments might exhibit, in different ways, very similar practices. Data from an ethnographic study of three secondary school geography departments in England are discussed through a concept of ‘isomorphism’ (homogenising forces), drawn from neo-institutional theory. Similarities across these departments are analysed in terms of coercive isomorphism, including the strong regulatory role played by examination boards and Ofsted; mimetic isomorphism, in which similar approaches are adopted in response to situations of high uncertainty, based on spreading good practice; and normative isomorphism, including the implications of closely guarded educational routes, the professionalisation of teaching, and wider social trends including the increasing use of Google as a source of knowledge for lessons. It is argued that evidence of homogeneity across spatially separated departments raises interesting questions about teachers’ practice, with implications for departmental and school leadership.     

‘Sinigurisha! (You are not for sale!)’: exploring the relationship between access to school,school fees,and sexual abuse in Rwanda

In Rwanda, many victims do not report rape to the police because the perpetrators financially support their basic living needs and/or education. Victims who are impregnated by their perpetrators are even more financially dependent on them, both because of the additional expense of raising a child and because the possibilities of returning to school and increasing job prospects are more limited. Over the course of February–September 2011, qualitative fieldwork in the form of in-depth interviews was conducted in two Eastern Province rural sectors and in Kigali. Interviewees included victims of sexual abuse who were impregnated by their abusers, family members of victims, and NGO workers. In addition, stories written by youth concerning sexual abuse present themes of both financial dependency and forgiveness.     

Children’s transitions to school: ‘so what about the parents’? or ‘so,what about the parents’?

Children progress through a number of life transitions and each is a pivotal point of development and growth for them, their parents and family members. Through a review of the literature, the Bioecological Model will be used to frame childhood transitions as highly social, contextualised and political. This paper will assert that governments, schools and educators have an increased role in supporting parents with their changing roles, responsibilities and relationships as their child transitions to school and that schools need to provide space for parents to share their own transition to school narratives in order to better understand the effect these stories may have on the transition process for them and their children. Finally, schools and systems will be challenged to engage in a strengths-based approach to support parents at this pivotal time in their own and their child’s growth and development and call for increased research to identify ways in which this can occur within respectful, collaborative and agentic relationships.     

Addressing the ‘elephant in the room’. The role of the primary school practitioner in supporting children’s mental well-being

The enthusiasm regarding the school as a place for mental health promotion is powered by a large body of research demonstrating the links between mental health and well-being, academic success and future life opportunities. Despite on-going commitment to mental well-being in the U.K., statistics suggest mental health issues are increasing among children and young people. This small-scale qualitative-exploratory study, undertaken in two primary schools in North Wales, reports on how school practitioners perceive, promote and support the mental health and well-being of pupils. The paper highlights a reluctance by practitioners to address mental health topics due to fear of stigma and a desire to protect children. Issues linked to funding, skills and training, together with over-stretched specialist agencies, are making it difficult for school practitioners to support pupils. There is a pressing need for appropriate training opportunities in order for practitioners to be knowledgeable and to feel confident to discuss mental health with children and young people. Schools have a significant role in supporting children’s mental well-being and reducing the stigma attached to mental illness but only if this important topic is not regarded as an ‘elephant in the room’.     

Developing mathematical ability in primary school through a ‘pull-out’ programme: a case study

This article reports the findings of a case study which examined a pull-out strategy for provision for mathematically able children in a primary school in London. The research investigated how the needs of a group of pupils, identified as able mathematicians, were being met through a special small group that works outside the regular mathematics lessons. Based on the observations of the lessons and the semi-structured interviews with both the pupils and their teacher, this article presents some interesting and useful ways for teaching mathematics to able children through small, pulled-out classes.     

‘You don’t want to come out from the crowd because you are a girl’: gendered differences in young people’s participation in sexuality education in Uganda

Notions of ‘participation’ in sexuality education has gained considerable traction in recent years – with participation being regarded as a fundamental right and a critical means to empower young people. However, the notion has increasingly been subject of debate, with critics problematising the manner in which participation is operationalised, and questioning the assumed impact of participation in relation to sexuality education goals. This paper contributes to these debates by examining the under-researched gendered dimensions of participation of young people in sexuality education. It utilises data from a qualitative study conducted in 2015 on young women and men’s (10–15 years old) perceptions of their participation in the dance4life programme, an in-school sexuality education programme in Jinja district in eastern Uganda. The paper highlights subtle but important differences between young men and women’s participation in the programme, which are arguably reflective of existing gendered hierarchies. We conclude by providing recommendations on how to address gender differences in participation.     

‘Why are you applying there?’: ‘race’, class and the construction of higher education ‘choice’ in the United Kingdom

Despite entering higher education in good numbers, candidates from some black and minority ethnic groups are concentrated in less prestigious institutions. A similar pattern is evident in candidates’ applications, raising important questions about the role of ‘self-exclusion’. Statistical analysis confirms that candidates from some minority ethnic groups tend to target lower-ranking institutions, but these differences are almost entirely explained by other variables, particularly academic attainment, type of school attended, number of A-levels taken and subject mix. It follows that some minority ethnic groups appear to be indirectly disadvantaged by patterns of schooling that do not prepare candidates for elite higher education. Similar processes are evident in relation to social class, although candidates from less privileged family backgrounds remain less likely to target high-status institutions even when other variables are taken into account.     

‘You realise it could happen to you’: the benefits to pupils of young mothers delivering school sex education

This paper presents data from a study of four projects in which young mothers deliver school sex education sessions, with the aim of giving pupils ‘informed choices’ regarding their sexual behaviour. Eleven focus group discussions were carried out with pupils, and semi‐structured interviews were carried out with 14 young mothers in order to assess the extent to which the sessions were of value in this way. The findings show that pupils perceived the sessions to be beneficial, not necessarily through providing new information as implied by the notion of ‘informed choice’, but because they fostered a deeper level of understanding and acceptance of the potential consequences of their decisions regarding sex and contraception. The main reason for this outcome, that is pupils' beliefs that they were hearing the whole truth from their peers, is demonstrated and critically explored in relation to the young mothers' own perceptions of the sessions. The implications of the somewhat different understandings of the sessions that emerged for the key notion of ‘informed choice’ are considered.     

‘It’s not that easy to solve’: edTPA and preservice teacher learning

This three year qualitative study of a university pilot of the edTPA, a performance assessment for preservice teachers, questioned candidates’ learning at the nexus of claims that the edTPA serves a dual role as both a formative assessment for candidates’ ongoing learning as well as a summative assessment of their readiness to teach. The analysis highlighted affordances and constraints of the assessment in the areas of: (1) depth of professional learning, (2) differentiation for diverse learners, (3) focus on school, community and family context, (4) professional reflection within classroom realities, and (5) as an evaluation tool. The discussion positions the findings alongside other published implementation studies of the edTPA in terms of current reforms. It especially problematizes the positioning of preservice teachers as professional learners in light of pressures for compliance and standardization.     

‘Ready for big school’: making the transition to primary school – a Jamaican perspective

The aim of this small-scale, qualitative study is to understand the perspective of varying stakeholders responsible for student transitions from pre-primary to primary school in the Jamaican context. The questions that guided the research are: What factors affect student transitions to primary school? What skills do children need in order to successfully transition? and Who/what is responsible for preparing students to transition from pre-primary to primary school? To answer these questions a representative from the Early Childhood Commission, 13 parents and 16 Grade 1 teachers from 12 schools across the island of Jamaica were interviewed. Findings reveal that student transitions from pre-primary to primary school need systematic attention particularly in light of how this impacts on student success, not only in primary school, but in their secondary years as well. The data also reveal that a major issue affecting student transitions is the quality of pre-primary education and parenting practices in the early years. Also highlighted are the differing perspectives of teachers and parents on the skills needed for success in primary school. Parenting programmes and professional development for both parents and teachers, respectively, are critical if strides are to be made.     

School as ‘survival game’: representations of school in transition from preschool to primary school

In children's lives the start of school is a turning point: compulsory education is their first encounter with civil duties. This important step in the process of becoming individual citizens is permeated with strong emotions and ambivalent expectations. However, the representations of school are created, established and negotiated in educational experiences preceding the start of school. In this article I explore the ways in which school is constructed in a Finnish preschool context. I build on ethnographic data generated in two preschool classes. First, I focus on how school is constructed in the social practices of teaching and in the physical space of preschool. Second, I analyse how children construct themselves as future school children and citizens by taking up available discourses and cultural practices. I argue that in official preschool, an ethos of individual survival characterises representations of school. Psychological, social and physical challenges are emphasised. Although preschool teachers in interviews and informal discussions sometimes problematise the ways in which school operates, in their teaching school practices are represented as natural. However, children actively exhibit their agency by collectively reworking of discourses and cultural practices and by renegotiating their informal relationships.     

‘Mind the Gap’: the influence of assessment criteria in primary school mentoring

This paper considers the signs student teachers on a PGCE Secondary Course display as evidence of a readiness to progress to a higher level of performance. It includes activity types which enable mentors to assess progress in relation to established competence areas. The arguments and proposals are founded on the outcomes of qualitative research methods conducted over a period of time with mentors and student teachers on a PGCE Secondary Modern Foreign Languages programme.     

‘Other’ boys: negotiating non‐hegemonic masculinities in the primary school

Focusing on the experiences of boys who choose not to cultivate their masculinities through hegemonic discourses and practices, this paper seeks to empirically explore and theorize the extent to which it is possible to live out the category ‘boy’ in non‐hegemonic ways in the primary school setting. Drawing upon a year‐long ethnography of children's constructions of their gender and sexual identities in two primary schools, it examines how a minority of 10‐ and 11‐year‐old white working and middle‐class boys create and seek out spaces from which they can resist, subvert and actively challenge prevailing hegemonic (heterosexual) masculinities within a peer group pupil culture which thrives on the daily policing and shaming of Other1 Following the writings of bel hooks (e.g., 1990 hooks b. (1990) Yearning: race, gender and cultural politics (Boston, MA, South End Press)  [Google Scholar]) I am loosely using the term Other to conceptualise those identities located at the margins— those non‐hegemonic identities that are in some ways resistant and order‐transforming (rather than conventional and order‐maintaining) and thus cross and/or blur sex/gender boundaries. View all notes masculinities. The paper attempts to theorize more fully the inter‐relationship of hegemonic and non‐hegemonic masculinities and argues that the ways in which boys inhabit and construct non‐hegemonic masculinities both subverts and reinforces hegemonic gender/sexual relations.     

‘It’s the parents’: re-presenting parents in school bullying research

Public discourse about school bullying is frequently underscored by debates about the relative roles and responsibilities of parents and schools in preventing bullying. Such debates are often characterised by a sense of recrimination, with blame apportioned according to perceived negligence. In this article, I provide a critique of ways in which parents have been represented in school bullying research, and consider how these representations inform public discourse about parents in relation to bullying. I argue that prevailing representations of parents in terms of responsibility and risk are a product of the dominance of psychological conceptualisations of bullying as individual pathological behaviour which stems from child development problems associated with poor parenting. As I show, this is but one of a number of ways in which bullying has been conceptualised in the research literature and provides a limited view of parents in relation to a complex social and cultural problem. I suggest that post-structural approaches to bullying research provide an important opportunity to broaden our understanding of how parents are positioned in the social and institutional systems of power in which bullying, and responses to it, takes place; and to move beyond current counter-productive discourses of responsibility and blame.     

High quality in primary humanities: insights from the UK’s school inspectorates

ABSTRACT

The school inspectorates of the four jurisdictions of the UK are sources of evidence about the quality of humanities teaching, learning and curriculum in primary schools. The term ‘humanities’ usually refers to the subjects of geography, history and Religious Education, but here they are considered holistically, not separately. Discrete subject and inter-subject humanities inspection reports are used to identify what inspectors report to be high-quality practices in this curriculum area. Six themes are presented, which reveal that: the best humanities curricula are based on subject and cross-subject ideas and connections, with subject learning clearly visible; flexible but rigorous approaches to planning enable progression in children’s learning; strong teacher–child and teacher–humanities relationships reflect teachers’ evident enthusiasm, commitment and expectations; teachers use a diverse range of approaches and resources; active and enquiry-based learning approaches engage children in developing their studies; and strong humanities leadership and explicit emphasis in school development priorities underpin high-quality primary humanities. These features reflect the skills and qualities of expert primary teachers.