Embedding mental health support in schools: learning from the Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TaMHS) national evaluation

The Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TaMHS) programme was a nationwide initiative that funded mental health provision in schools for pupils at risk of or already experiencing mental health problems. The implementation, impact and experience of this programme was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methodology involving three main studies: (1) a 1-year RCT involving 8658 8–10 year olds and 6583 11–13 year olds, (2) a 3-year longitudinal study involving 3346 8–10 year olds and 2647 11–13 year olds and (3) qualitative interviews with 26 TaMHS workers, 31 school staff, 15 parents and 60 pupils. The RCT demonstrated that TaMHS led to reductions in behaviour problems but not emotional problems for 8–10 year olds. No impact was found for 11–13 year olds. The effects on behaviour problems in primary school were enhanced by the provision of evidence based self-help materials, but not by other area level support. The longitudinal study found information giving and good inter-agency working correlated with more positive outcomes for behavioural problems in secondary schools. The qualitative findings indicated that TaMHS was well received by all groups, though challenges to its implementation were noted. Overall, findings indicate the utility of targeted mental health provision in schools, particularly in primary settings. The implications for implementation are discussed.     

Bringing democratic governance into practice: policy enactments responding to neoliberal governance in Spanish public schools*

This article explores different ways in which public primary schools sustain democratic governance structures created beyond those mandated by law in Spain. These new institutional designs, while not opposed to policy text requirements of having a governing body with representatives of parents, teachers and public administration, are being carried out against the grain of the hegemonic neoliberal managerial approach. The objective was to observe the different ways that some schools apply other institutional paths to the current governing bodies by aiming at widening decision-making not only to legal representatives but to all agents. Data come from focus groups, in-depth interviews and observations carried out in four public schools during fieldwork lasting two academic years. The findings show that while some schools are broadening current legal governing bodies, others generate ad hoc bodies transforming legal ones into new institutional arrangements.     

Principals' views on challenges of their school governance roles

Abstract

This article explores principals' views regarding governance challenges they experience at schools. We conducted focus group interviews with primary and secondary school principals, purposely and conveniently selected from township schools in two Gauteng Province's districts. We found that principals were challenged mostly by having to balance their roles as ex officio school governing body members and their roles as bona fide members of school governing bodies (SGBs). Other challenges found were confirmatory of other school governors' views as reported in numerous studies, related to among others, the specialist nature of governance functions, poor training of school governors, difficulties associated with governor recruitment and unwillingness of parents to serve as governors. There is therefore a need for a re-clarification of the principals' roles, in terms of both their ex officio and bona fide SGB membership with regard to governance in the context of the functioning of the schools. This should include a review of the governing body structure, the re-allocation of specialist functions, customized and needs-based training of school governors and aspects relating to the general functioning of SGBs.     

Competition between public supervision and professional management: an ethnographic study of school governance reforms in Switzerland

This article discusses insights from an ethnographic study of local governance practices in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, under changing policy conditions. Recent reforms introduced and strengthened the position of head teachers, enhanced the responsibility of the municipalities and introduced new quality management procedures in local supervision. Long-time participant observation in the meetings of the different local governing bodies in four case studies revealed not only new modes of governance practices but also changing relations between the governing bodies within a municipality. By ‘studying up, down and across’ institutional borders and hierarchies, we recognised that as a consequence of the reforms local school governance emerges as contested field in which head teachers, school boards and municipal councils try to expand their influence and to contain those of related bodies. By their enactments of policy reforms, local bodies negotiate rationalities between traditional public supervision and professional management of schools.     

Primary schools and network governance: A policy analysis of reception baseline assessment

Primary school reception baseline assessment was designed to produce a single ‘baseline’ data figure on the basis of which young children's progress across primary school could be measured and accounted for. This paper suggests that within the context of punitive performativity, head teachers might be considered ‘irresponsible’ if not engaging with the new accountability measure in its voluntary year. Using DfE‐accredited baseline assessment providers blurred the distinctions between not‐for‐profit social enterprises, digital policy innovation labs, edu‐business, and the state. It is argued that through a process of networked governance, these cross‐sectoral organisations successfully enticed some primary schools with the ‘moral economy’ of using baseline assessment. It is argued that baseline's simplistic reductionism allowed for the economisation of early years education assessment and for its commercialisation of comparison. This paper reports on a sample of five head teachers, taken from a much larger study that used a mixed‐methods approach involving a nationwide survey (n=1131) and in‐depth interviews with reception staff and head teachers in five geographically disparate primary schools. Baseline assessment was ‘withdrawn’ by the DfE in April 2016, quite possibly because of campaigns by early years organisations, the government's own report showing that the three separate baseline datasets were incompatible, and national research funded by the teachers’ unions, a small part of which is reported upon here.     

Developing the characteristic spirit of publicly managed schools in a more secular and pluralist Ireland

This discussion paper considers the identification and definition of the ‘characteristic spirit’ of publicly managed schools in the Republic of Ireland. Some international approaches to values in publicly funded schools are introduced along with relevant contextual aspects of Irish education including the cultural diversity and secularisation of modern Irish society. The Irish Education Act (1998) gives ultimate responsibility for school values and ‘characteristic spirit’ to the school ‘patron’, a role legally separate from that of school ownership and school management. The underlying values of privately managed faith-based schools are well established. However, the ‘characteristic spirit’ of publicly managed Education and Training Board schools remains largely undeveloped. Appropriate responses to this challenge are identified and discussed.     

Primary schools and opting out: Some policy implications

Abstract

Significant differences in perceptions between teachers in primary and secondary grant‐maintained schools are reported and analysed. Parents were more frequently involved in promoting opting‐out in primary schools, primary teachers had more favourable attitudes to the grant‐maintained school policy and, in primary schools, grant‐maintained status delivered improvements in classroom conditions, most notably reduced class size and increased para‐professional support in classrooms. The findings are discussed in terms of the management of primary schools, of theorising about reputation management in grant‐maintained schools, and of the explicit objectives of the grant‐maintained policy. It is further suggested that the evidence provided about grant‐maintained primary schools could be used to inject new life into a policy faltering in secondary schools.     

Contested spaces: trans-inclusive school policies and parental sovereignty in Canada

ABSTRACT

This article analyses five public consultation meetings about revisions to an LGBTQ-related school board policy on unceded Coast Salish territory in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. These meetings focused largely on the new provision that students in publicly funded schools be allowed to use the washroom that corresponds with their gender identity. Almost all of the objections to the policy revisions were articulated by parents of non-queer, or not openly queer students. We found that these parental concerns centred around two perennial issues in Canadian educational studies; namely, how schools regulate students’ gender identities and expressions, and the role of the state in publicly funded schooling. We conclude by drawing upon emerging literature on best practices for trans youth in schools to offer alternative visions for how these issues can be better addressed with the public, and parents in particular.     

Education for citizenship in South Australian public schools: a pilot study of senior leader and teacher perceptions

Preparing students for informed and active citizenship is a core goal of education and schooling in Australia. The ways schools educate and prepare young Australians for citizenship involves a range of processes and initiatives central to the work of schools, including school ethos, mission, extracurricular activities and community-based participation. With regard to the formal curriculum, the recent introduction and implementation of the first ever Federal Australian Curriculum includes provision for a new subject – Civics and Citizenship. Research evidence from other nations suggests that schools understand, approach and enact education for citizenship in a multitude of ways, yet how Australian schools construct this aspect of their work is currently under-researched. In this context, and drawing on data from interviews with school leaders and teachers of Years 6–8 (11–14 year olds) students in a small sample of South Australian primary and secondary schools, we explore perceptions and current approaches to education for citizenship. Our findings suggest (1) that while school leaders and teachers value education for citizenship, they do so for different reasons; (2) that schools place values as central to education for citizenship; and (3) that community involvement is typically understood as occurring within rather than beyond the school.     

Principals’ perceptions and experiences of the role parents play in school governing bodies in rural areas

This study investigated the perceptions and experiences of rural school principals in South Africa of the role that parents in the school governing bodies (SGBs) play in improving school management and governance. The study reports on a literature review as well as on the empirical investigation, which was based on a qualitative research paradigm. Semi-structured interviews with the principals of three different rural schools were employed to collect data. The literature findings revealed that including parents as part of the SGB is seen as an essential component for the successful functioning of the school. The empirical study also emphasised the importance of including parents. However, the principals were concerned about the fact that many members of the SGB are illiterate and uncertain of the role they play in school governance. The principals emphasised the need for training of the members of SGBs as regards their working knowledge of school governance activities.     

White Children in a Multi‐cultural School Setting: a valid cause for concern?

This research was carried out as the basis for an M.Ed. thesis for the University of Birmingham during the early part of 1983. Its main aim was to compare the social, emotional and scholastic adjustment of a group of indigenous white children attending a multi‐cultural school with a similar group being educated in a mono‐cultural, predominantly white setting. A secondary aim was to investigate inter‐ethnic differences between the three cultural groups represented. The investigation was carried out amongst pupils in the two top year groups (9‐11‐year‐olds) from two city primary schools, one school being mainly multi‐cultural in background and one mainly mono‐cultural. The schools were matched as closely as possible for ethos, pupil social background, environment, and teaching practice. The results of the study indicated that the primary null hypothesis: that no significant differences would appear between the responses of the group of white pupils attending the multi‐cultural school and those of their counterparts in the control group attending the mono‐cultural school, was sustained. However, some inter‐ethnic differences did emerge from the data, but sex rather than cultural background or type of school attended proved to be the major source of difference in response.     

Changing policy and legislation and its effects on inclusive and special education: a perspective from England

This article, by Brahm Norwich of the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, sets the recent legislative changes in the special education system in England, the Children and Families Act (2014), in the context of wider changes in the school system, such as changes in curriculum–assessment, the governance of schools and inspection arrangements. It also sets out the recent legislative changes in terms of the recent history of the Labour period of government, with its adoption of market principles with social inclusion as key policy commitments. A case study of a secondary school is presented to illustrate some of these points. Despite the new legislative system being described as a radical approach involving aspiration and support for special educational needs, the article argues that proposed changes promise to be marginal and defined by policy commitments to markets and small government. Moreover, there are continuing and unresolved issues from the Labour Government period that are still to be fully addressed. Research is also presented on the distribution of pupils with Statements in secondary schools and the recent rising pattern of special school placement for the first time in 30 years.     

国外中小学学校课程决策的经验与启示

国外中小学在课程决策方面有丰富的实践经验。它们赋予学校一定的决策自主权,充分发挥决策主体的作用,建立基于学生生活经验的个性化学习决策理念,注重实践性课程决策,创建决策团体,发挥集体优势,建立一定的保障措施。这些对我国中小学学校课程决策具有参考价值。     

Modern foreign languages: decision-making,motivation and 14–19 schools

ABSTRACT

This article reports on an exploratory study comparing motivation and student choice in modern foreign language lessons in secondary schools (11–16 or 11–18) and schools for 14–19 year olds in England. The study uses data gathered from 634 Year 10 students (aged 14–15) and uses Self-Determination Theory to compare motivation amongst students in the two types of schools. It finds that student motivation differed significantly in each, with students in 14–19 schools displaying more autonomous motivation. Students in schools in this category were less likely to have been given a choice as to whether or not to take the subject than their peers, suggesting that they may feel autonomous in ways not governed by subject choice. Possible reasons for the differences in motivation in the two kinds of school are discussed and directions for future study proposed.     

Does the Content of Anti-Bullying Policies Inform us About the Prevalence of Direct and Relational Bullying Behaviour in Primary Schools?

The current study investigated whether the quality of school anti-bullying policies allows the drawing of any conclusions about the extent of bullying problems in schools. That is, do schools with a more detailed anti-bullying policy have lower rates of bullying? A total of 2377 children in primary schools (six year olds/year two: 1072; eight year olds/year four: 1305) were individually interviewed using a standard interview about bullying experiences. A detailed content analysis scheme that closely followed the core whole-school intervention approach was carried out on a total of 34 schools: 24.5% of the children reported being directly victimised very frequently and 45.9% reported being relationally victimised frequently or very frequently. No correlation between the content and quality of anti-bullying policies and the prevalence of direct bullying behaviour was found. Conversely, an inverse relationship was found for relational bullying behaviour: schools with the most detailed and comprehensive anti-bullying policies had a higher incidence of relational bullying and victimisation behaviour. Inspection of school anti-bullying policies per se provides little guide to the actual amount of direct bullying behaviour in schools.     

Professionalizing school governance: the disciplinary effects of school autonomy and inspection on the changing role of school governors

Since the 1980s, state schools in England have been required to ensure transparency and accountability through the use of indicators and templates derived from the private sector and, more recently, globally circulating discourses of ‘good governance’ (an appeal to professional standards, technical expertise, and performance evaluation as mechanisms for improving public service delivery). The rise of academies and free schools (‘state-funded independent schools’) has increased demand for good governance, notably as a means by which to discipline schools, in particular school governors – those tasked with the legal responsibility of holding senior leadership to account for the financial and educational performance of schools. A condition and effect of school autonomy, therefore, is increased monitoring and surveillance of all school governing bodies. In this paper, I demonstrate how these twin processes combine to produce a new modality of state power and intervention; a dominant or organizing principle by which government steer the performance of governors through disciplinary tools of professionalization and inspection, with the aim of achieving the ‘control of control’. To explain these trends, I explore how various established and emerging school governing bodies are (re)constituting themselves to meet demands for good governance.     

The size,stability, and consistency of school effects: evidence from Victoria

The bulk of public debate on education focuses on schools and school differences. Ideally, the characteristics of schools that add value to student performance can be identified and implemented for other schools. However, such scenarios assume that school effects are sizable, stable across cohorts, and consistent across subject areas. This study tests these assumptions by analysing school effects in both primary and secondary schools in 5 achievement domains with administrative data from almost all government school students in Victoria, Australia. Gross school effects are reasonably large but show only moderate stability. However, in net progress models which control for prior achievement, school effects are substantially smaller, display only low levels of stability across cohorts, and are not consistent across achievement domains. Therefore, it is difficult to identify schools that consistently increase (or decrease) student performance across subject areas beyond that expected by students’ intake characteristics, most notably prior student performance. Other policy goals are recommended.     

回顾与展望:日本中小学公民教育管窥

尽管日本在"二战"后非常重视学校公民教育的开展,但时至今日,其学校公民教育却发展得仍然不够充分。在回顾日本学校公民教育发展历程的基础上,分析其学校公民教育的政策制定、价值目标、课程实施及地位影响,探究其学校公民教育存在的问题,并展望其未来发展,有助于我们进一步了解日本学校公民教育的特质与局限性,也为我国学校公民教育的开展提供参考与镜鉴。     

我国农村中小学布局调整政策执行的评估研究——基于义务教育均衡发展的视角

农村中小学义务教育均衡发展是一个十分重要的课题.近几年,我国农村中小学布局调整在取得一定成效的同时也引发了诸多问题,如：部分地区就学距离明显增加、寄宿制学校条件落后、农村家庭教育支出负担加重以及由于地方生源向县镇学校集中而出现新的教育资源紧张等.本文基于义务教育均衡发展的视角,从宏观、中观、微观三个层面,对“我国农村中小学布局调整政策”执行情况进行评估,明确目前取得的成效与不足,并根据此政策引发的问题提出合理建议.     

Privatising form or function? Equity,outcomes and influence in American charter schools

The American experiment with charter schools advanced on dual impulses of increasing opportunities for disadvantaged students and unleashing market competition. While critics see these independently managed schools as a form of privatisation, proponents contend that they are public schools because of funding and accountability arrangements and potential benefits, and believe that the economic logic around these schools will produce equitable educational opportunities. This analysis considers how charters are or are not instances of privatisation in education, showing that the marketised environment they are intended to nurture serves as a route for profit-seeking strategies. In reviewing the research on charter school organisational behaviour and outcomes in marketised environments, I find evidence of de facto privatisation in function if not in form. As charter schools often act like profit-seeking entities, but fail to achieve expected academic and equity outcomes, the concluding discussion considers how these schools are placed between conflicting goals, and serve as entry points for private organisations seeking to penetrate the publicly funded education sector. I conclude that perhaps their most important role is in serving as a vehicle for privatising public policy—diminishing the public while enhancing the position and influence of private interests and organisations in education policymaking.