Collaboration between teacher educators and schools to enhance development

The article focuses on school-based development and how collaboration between teacher educators and leaders and teachers can promote development in teacher education, in school and in the collaboration site in school where both parties meet. The data were collected in Norway through qualitative interviews with groups of teachers and leaders at three schools, and with a group of teacher educators. With the Cultural Historical Activity Theory as the framework, central concepts within this theory have been key elements in the study. The findings reveal that collective collaborative learning is a positive form of enhancing the professional development of teachers and that both structure and culture should interact when fostering development in school. The study also shows that the development of teacher educators’ research competence can enhance development and learning both in teacher education and in school, and also improve the developmental transfer between these two arenas.     

A national survey of social work services in schools for the deaf

The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of school social workers and the services they deliver in schools for the Deaf. A 15-item survey was sent to 101 schools for the Deaf in the United States. The survey consisted of questions relating to personal characteristics, work experience, and job responsibilities of school social workers. A 72% response rate was obtained. Results suggest that, in general, social workers in schools for the Deaf perform functions similar to those of other social workers. However, social workers in schools for the Deaf tend to handle more health and financial concerns of students and their families. Social workers in schools for the Deaf lag behind other school social workers in professional training. Approximately a quarter of the surveyed social workers were deaf or hard of hearing.     

Outcomes approaches to assessment: comparing non-government and government case-study schools in Western Australia

A key feature of recent curriculum reform in post-industrialised liberal economies has been the ascendancy of outcomes-based education policies. A 1995 review conducted in Western Australia (WA) recommended an outcomes-based approach, and in response, the Curriculum Framework (CF) was released in 1998. The same year, the WA State government mandated that all schools, both non-government and government, demonstrate compliance with the outcomes-based CF for Years K–10 by 2004. This article compares case-studies of non-government and government schools in analysing assessment and reporting issues in relation to the enactment of outcomes-based curriculum policy in the mid-2000s. With significantly different localised contexts, including different degrees of institutional autonomy and different approaches to curriculum, assessment and reporting, interesting contrasts and commonalities arose as each school engaged with the new policy. The research draws on a hybrid approach to policy analysis, incorporating both critical theory and post-structuralism with their different conceptualisations of power relationships. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine and analyse the views of participants at each site. Although there is no intention to generalise from individual case-studies, cross-case analysis reveals the emergence of meta-level themes – such as market choice, accountability and teacher professionalism – which are associated with ‘bigger picture’ issues of power and which may well provide insights for explorations of curriculum reform in other contexts.     

Special links? Partners in provision? Collaboration between ordinary and special schools

Link arrangements between special and ordinary schools can provide a base for the full- or part-time integration of pupils with special educational needs and encourage the exchange of those ideas which lead to mutually beneficial curriculum development. A recent research project at the National Foundation for Educational Research has surveyed the current situation. Felicity Fletcher-Campbell, a Senior Research Officer at the NFER, outlines some of the findings and addresses some of the issue arising.     

Relationship between the work of teachers in nonformal settings and in schools

Formal and nonformal education differ more in strategies and administration than in content. This however is not to say that there are not some important distinctions in the nature of content of what is usually done under formal education especially when we are dealing with particular professions and vocations. Recent efforts to integrate formal and nonformal education especially since publication of the report of the International Commission on the Development of Education have highlighted certain challenges in defining the role of the teacher especially in the nonformal sector and in the operation of an integrated system. Examples of efforts at integration may be found in the community schools in many Eastern African countries, the mosque schools or maktabs in Pakistan, the N.A.E.P. in India, the Vocational Skills Improvement unit in Nigeria and the various extramural and extension programmes of tertiary institutions. Among the major implications for a new orientation of teachers are (1) the issue of mobility of individuals between the formal and nonformal systems, (2) the issue of integrating the administration of formal and nonformal education, (3) the issue of appropriate strategies for teacher training and (4) the issue of creating new cadres of teachers besides those currently trained in conventional teachers' colleges. Among the embedded challenges is that of evolving new assessment procedures and establishment of equivalences between practical experience and formal academic instruction. The educational system as a whole still has a considerable way to go in meeting these challenges.

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Zusammenfassung Formale und nicht-formale Erziehung unterscheiden sich mehr durch die Strategien und die Verwaltung als im Inhalt. Dies will jedoch nicht heißen, daß es nicht inhaltlich unterschiedliche Schwerpunkte gibt, wie es normalerweise in der formalen Erziehung besonders dann der Fall ist, wenn es sich um spezielle Berufssparten und Erwerbszweige handelt. In letzter Zeit haben Bemühungen um eine Integration formaler und nicht-formaler Erziehung besonders seit dem Bericht der Internationalen Kommission zur Entwicklung der Erziehung (Faureet al., 1972) bestimmte Herausforderungen bei der Definition der Rolle des Lehrers betont. Dies gilt speziell für den nicht-formalen Bereich und die Handhabung eines integrierten Systems. Als Beispiele solcher Bemühungen um Integration ließen sich dieCommunity Schools in zahlreichen ostafrikanischen Ländern, die Moscheeschulen oder Maktabs in Pakistan, die NAEP (Nationale Erwachsenenbildungsprogramme) in Indien, dieVocational Skills Improvement Unit (Abteilung zur Verbesserung beruflicher Fertigkeiten) in Nigeria und verschiedene außerschulische und Erweiterungsprogramme der tertiären Einrichtungen anführen. Zu den hauptsächlichen Folgen für eine Neuorientierung der Lehrer gehören die Fragen 1) der individuellen Beweglichkeit zwischen formalen und nicht-formalen Systemen, 2) der Integration der Verwaltung formaler und nicht-formaler Erziehung, 3) geeigneter Strategien für die Lehrerausbildung, und 4) der Schaffung neuer Lehrerkadern zusätzlich zu den zur Zeit in konventionellen Lehrerausbildungsanstalten ausgebildeten. Zu den inhärenten Herausforderungen gehört es, daß neue Bewertungsverfahren Äquivalenzen zwischen praktischer Erfahrung und formaler akademischer Lehre entwickeln. Das Erziehungswesen als Ganzes hat noch einen weiten Weg zu gehen, bevor es diesen Herausforderungen gerecht werden kann.

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Résumé Les systèmes d'éducation formelle et non-formelle diffèrent davantage par leurs stratégies et leur administration que par leur contenu. Cependant, cela ne signifie pas qu'il n'y ait pas de distinctions importantes dans la nature du contenu de ce qui est habituellement enseigné dans le cadre de l'éducation formelle, notamment lorsque nous abordons quelques professions et métiers particuliers. Les efforts qui ont été entrepris récemment en vue d'une intégration de l'éducation formelle et non-formelle, en particulier depuis la publication du rapport de la Commission Internationale sur le Développement de l'Education (Faureet al., 1972), ont mis en lumière les obstacles rencontrés lors de la définition du rôle de l'enseignant, en particulier celui chargé du secteur non-formel, et de l'application d'un système intégré. Les écoles communautaires de nombreux pays d'Afrique orientale, les écoles des mosquées ou maktabs au Pakistan, le NAEP en Inde, l'Unité de Perfectionnement des Compétences Professionnelles au Nigéria et les nombreux programmes extramuraux et d'extension des institutions tertiaires offrent divers exemples d'efforts déployés au niveau de l'intégration. Une nouvelle orientation des enseignants implique en particulier (1) la question de la mobilité des individus entre les systèmes formel et non-formel, (2) celle de l'intégration de l'administration de l'éducation formelle et non-formelle, (3) le problème des stratégies appropriées pour la formation des enseignants et (4) la question relative à la création de nouveaux cadres scolaires en sus des enseignants formés actuellement par les écoles normales conventionnelles. Ces défis posés incluent également celui relatif au développement de nouvelles procédures d'évaluation et à l'établissement d'un système d'équivalences entre l'expérience pratique et l'instruction scolaire formelle. Le système d'éducation dans son ensemble devra parcourir un long chemin avant de pouvoir relever ces nombreux défis.

     

Emotion work in Time-out schools

From a sociological perspective, the topic of emotion in schools has been a rather neglected issue. In this article, we present two types of emotion work, namely degradation work and rectification work. We describe how teachers in a special education programme called Time-out class employ feelings to get the work done efficiently. Drawing on an ethnographic study, we present data from field research in two Time-out classes in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Last, we will discuss findings with regard to current educational reforms in the Swiss educational field.     

Complementing the mainstream: an exploration of partnership work between complementary alternative provisions and mainstream schools

In the English context, complementary alternative provisions (APs) can make specific positive contributions for young people at risk of exclusion from mainstream school. Whilst recognising the potential value of all complementary AP that is carefully selected and of high quality, we problematise the ‘repair and return’ rationale that continues to underpin the commissioning of some provisions. Drawing on two case studies, we explicate the nature and value of partnership working between complementary provider and mainstream school. We argue that when a productive partnership happens (1) schools take greater responsibility for young people at risk of exclusion, and (2) there is the potential to encourage wider shifts in the learning context of the mainstream school in ways that are beneficial for a larger group of pupils. Such wider transformations in the mainstream context may be particularly beneficial given the current performative regimes that dominate English education policy, and focus schools’ work on the achievement of key data targets rather than inclusive practice. We reflect on what can be learnt from these cases in relation to the evolving AP policy context in England.     

The BCF-BERA Routledge Prize for joint development work between schools and universities

The Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curriculum requires continuous renewal and constant involvement of stakeholders in the redesign process. Due to a lack of curriculum design expertise, TVET institutions in developing contexts encounter challenges maintaining and advancing the quality and relevance of their programmes to the needs of the labour market. The purpose of this multiple-case study is to describe the potential of teacher collaborative curriculum design (TCCD) in TVET colleges for improving the internal and external consistency of curricula. The study describes how four teams from different TVET college departments redesigned their programmes systematically and relationally to improve their internal and external consistency. The findings indicated that although the teams found the re-design task a challenge, they felt positive about the TCCD experience and its outcomes. The design teams also perceived the consistency of their programmes to have improved. The criticality of the support offered to the teams and the variety of the teams' design work were salient themes captured during the design process. It is concluded that supported TCCD teams, applying a systematic and relational approach, can be an efficient strategy for maintaining the consistency of the TVET curriculum.     

A social cognitive framework for examining the work of Catholic religious education teachers in Australian high schools

Religious education in Australian Catholic High Schools is the raison d’etre for the Catholic education system and religious education teachers are critical to this mission. This paper offers a framework for investigating the self-efficacy of religious education teachers.

We first describe the nature and context of religious education in Australian Catholic schools. We argue that the teaching of religious education presents a set of unique challenges to teachers, compared to teaching other disciplines in the curriculum. Next we review the extant literature on Social Cognitive Theory, and self-efficacy as it may apply in this context. Then we look at likely constructs that may impact upon teacher self-efficacy for teaching religious education: collective efficacy, teachers’ implicit theories about student ability and student faith, and the intrinsic spirituality of religious education teachers.

We present a theoretical framework for examining the self-efficacy of religious education teachers, and we argue for research in this area that has not been studied hitherto, making this a unique contribution to the field of the psychology of religion, and to practitioners.     

Learning social responsibility in schools: a restorative practice

Vygotsky regarded the site of learning to be within a matrix of relational action. From this perspective, learning social responsibility will involve a focus on the learning environments that are made available in schools. Adapting the concept of restorative justice to a school context, restorative practice offers a range of relevant learning opportunities. These learning opportunities relate to episodes of wrong‐doing, and to actions that reflect the values and principles of a socially responsible school culture. The importance of dialogue, respect for “the other” and social collaboration will be evident in school‐based restorative practices.     

The social mediation of learning in multiethnic schools: Introduction

The ethnic diversity within schools is a major challenge for education in most European countries. The diversity of cultural backgrounds of students and parents leads to new transitions, enables new forms of participation, and demands the creation of new concepts, values and practices. Processes of mediation have a vital place in the required developments. The contributions to this issue study the relationship between learning and social mediation on three levels: (1) the mediating role of cultural tools, in particular language and the curriculum, (2) the role of peers and teachers in the appropriation of cultural tools by minority students, and (3) the mediating role of social representations in the shaping of students’ identities at school.     

The social fabric of elementary schools: a network typology of social interaction among teachers

While researchers are currently studying various forms of social network interaction among teachers for their impact on educational policy implementation and practice, knowledge on how various types of networks are interrelated is limited. The goal of this study is to understand the dimensionality that may underlie various types of social networks in schools. We assessed seven types of social interaction using social network data of 775 educators from 53 Dutch elementary schools. The quadratic assignment procedure, multidimensional scaling and network visualisations were used to discern underlying dimensions that may explain the interrelatedness of these seven types of social networks. Findings suggest small to moderate similarity between the seven forms of social interaction. Results support a distinction between instrumental and expressive networks and suggest a second dimension of mutual in(ter)dependence to explain differences in social interaction among teachers. Implications for practice and research on teacher collaboration are discussed.     

Outcomes of synergetic peer assessment: first-year experience

Active participation in learning activities and reviewing assessment activity can facilitate learners engaged in these processes. This case study reports student experiences of the process of peer assessment with teacher guidance in a group project for a first-year nursing course with 153 students. Twenty groups of students were assigned roles in exploring one of the two scenarios: one involved analysing diabetes mellitus and the other considered colorectal carcinoma, in each case covering provision of acute nursing care in hospitals and preparing health promotion strategies in a community. Each group also provided comments to the group that worked on the other scenario, based on prearranged assessment criteria. After receiving comments from their peer group, each group was then allowed to revise their drafts prior to final submission. The teacher’s input would be offered, if the peer feedback was inaccurate or insufficient. A survey was conducted to explore the learning experiences, and three semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted to triangulate findings with the survey. The first-year students expressed the need for both peer feedback and the lecturer’s direct guidance.     

Educational assessment in Danish schools

This profile describes the methods used for assessing pupils in Danish schools. The Danish school system is rooted in traditions going back almost 200 years. The per pupil expenditure is the highest of any country at the level of primary education and at the lower secondary level is only exceeded by three countries. Public satisfaction with the system has generally been high, but international comparisons have shown disappointing results. This may be a result of complacency and possibly also of a weak evaluation culture in a country without a national curriculum, without marking before grade eight, and without national tests of proficiency before the end of grade nine. However, there are changes underway in terms of strengthening the evaluation culture.     

Links between special schools and mainstream schools: a follow-up survey

This article reports the findings from a survey of special schools in England and Wales regarding their links with mainstream schools. This survey was a follow-up of two previous surveys undertaken in mid-1987 and 1993 respectively. Data were elicited about visits made by pupils, teachers and support assistants both from special schools to mainstream schools and from mainstream schools to the special schools. Over two-thirds of special schools in England and Wales responded, the sample reflecting the distribution of types of special schools nationally. Findings indicated that the degree of link activity has been maintained over the years but it is relatively restricted in terms of the number of pupils and staff involved, and there does not seem to be evidence of the strategic use of placements.