Global citizenship as education for peacebuilding in a divided society: structural and contextual constraints on the development of critical dialogic discourse in schools

In post-conflict and divided societies, global citizenship education has been described as a central element of peacebuilding education, whereby critical pedagogy is seen as a tool to advance students’ thinking, transform their views and promote democratic behaviours. The present study investigates understandings of and attitudes to global citizenship and the challenges faced in its implementation. Teacher interviews highlight lack of time and resources for critical reflection and dialogue. Where opportunities for relevant training are provided, this can benefit critical engagement. Boundaries of educational systems and structures also influence pupils’ understandings of the issues as evidenced in questionnaire findings. We argue that critical pedagogies may be limited unless criticality and activism transcend local and global issues and are applied to schools themselves. Emotional engagement may be required for teachers to claim the space to critically reflect and share with colleagues within and beyond their sectors in order to enable critical discourse amongst pupils.     

Britney,Beyoncé, and me – primary school girls’ role models and constructions of the ‘popular’ girl

This paper looks at the ways in which the gendered social construction of the ‘popular girl’ infuses girls’ ideas as to their role models: those representing who they would like to be when they ‘grow up’. It will look at the ways in which the gendered characteristics that are seen to be of most value to girls (often embodied by ‘celebrities’ such as Britney and Beyoncé) often reflect socially dominant constructions of femininity. These characteristics can in some ways be seen to emphasise passivity rather than agency and power – for an example in an emphasis on attractiveness and appearance rather than activity and accomplishments. However, such desired characteristics are also those considered to characterise the ‘popular’ girl at school – a position of power and influence amongst girls’ peers. Therefore such desires are complexly located within both the constraints of hegemonic femininities and the dynamics of power relations between girls themselves.     

Learning ‘Peace Talk’ in Northern Ireland: Peer Mediation and Some Conceptual Issues Concerning Experiential Social Education

Experiential learning is often seen as a central component of social education and pastoral programmes such as peer mediation; but the precise nature of experience as an educational, social and pedagogic/cultural process in schools is complex. This paper uses the notion of experiential learning to explore the impact of a peer mediation programme in a transforming integrated school in Northern Ireland. The programme was intended to mainstream the involvement of pupils in the process of creating a more integrated school ethos and was implemented by youth workers working as members of the school staff.

The paper begins with a review of the theoretical basis of experience as educational. This is followed by an interpretative review of the results of a survey of pupils' attitudes to peer mediation and semi-structured interviews with pupils and school and project staff about their perception of the impact of the programme on ideas of social learning. One issue is the extent to which developing pupils' capacity for interactive dialogue can be seen as an experiential process, like learning a foreign language – hence ‘peace talk’. Another is the process by which the perception of peer mediation training as ‘experiential’ constituted an enabling ‘pedagogic discourse’ which legitimized the programme for teachers and affirmed its beneficial impact on pupils.     

The ‘spirit of education’ in Indonesian Pesantren

This paper employs Foucauldian theory to consider Islamic boarding school experiences in Indonesia. For some pupils ‘the spirit of education’ – a dimension of pleasure – comes to be highly valued, creating a lifelong passion for the pursuit of knowledge. Two school principals (both pesantren [Islamic boarding school] graduates themselves) articulated strong commitment to the ‘spirit of education’. Yet their respective boarding schools were very poor, not only by western standards but compared with Indonesian public schools, and conditions were austere. The embodiment of pesantren discourse as high academic achievement is illustrated by the example of Khadija – a young female pesantren graduate now studying at doctoral level in the United Kingdom. Explaining the embodied production of the ‘spirit of education’ demands looking at charismatic pedagogy, strict rules, austere conditions and sparse provision of learning resources as regimes of truth and power–knowledge relations that inhere in pesantren as lived experiences of pupils.     

Collaborative epistemic discourse in classroom information-seeking tasks

The authors discuss the relationship between information seeking and epistemic beliefs – beliefs about the source, structure, complexity and stability of knowledge – in the context of collaborative information-seeking discourses. They further suggest that both information seeking, and epistemic cognition research agendas, have suffered from a lack of attention to how information seeking as a collaborative activity is mediated by talk between partners – an area they seek to address in this article. A small-scale observational study using sociocultural discourse analysis was conducted with eight 11-year-old pupils who carried out search engine tasks in small groups. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were performed on their discussions using sociocultural discourse analytic techniques. Extracts of the dialogue are reported, informed by concordance analysis and quantitative coding of dialogue duration. The authors find that: (1) discourse which could be characterised as ‘epistemic’ is identifiable in student talk; (2) it is possible to identify talk which is more or less productive; and (3) epistemic talk is associated with positive learning outcomes.     

History as performance: pupil perspectives on history in the age of ‘pressure to perform’

The development a standard-based curriculum in History can be related to the school reforms where ‘performance’ are crucial principles. The aim is to analyse pupils’ perspectives on the relation between their views on historical knowledge and the national test in History and grading. When the pupils in this study – directly after taking a national test in History – were asked to reason about what historical knowledge is, another subject emerged: a collective memory subject. History as ‘performance’ emerges clearly in connection with the pupils’ discourse on grades and History, which has an emphasis on ‘working’, ‘writing’, and ‘doing homework’ to get a better grade in History. The disciplinary knowledge content specified in the curricula does not correspond to pupils’ experiences of what the central historical knowledge is in national tests and grading. It is apparent that disciplinary knowledge content is ‘under pressure’ in the age of performance.     

Re/theorising gender: female masculinity and male femininity in the classroom?

Recent gender theorising has been enlivened by post‐structuralist accounts of gender as ‘disembodied’; the reading of gender performances as distinct from sexed bodies. However, there has been little application of such theoretical positions to empirical analysis in gender and education. This article employs two such positions – that of ‘female masculinity and male femininity’, and that of ‘gender monoglossia and heteroglossia’ – to data raised from a research project on high‐achieving pupils. It is argued that although cases of female masculinity and male femininity are identified, such labels can usefully be applied to only a very small number of pupils, and even here there are profound problems in the conceptual application. The concept of gender heteroglossia appeared applicable to a far larger number of pupils. It is argued that this latter concept offers a less rigid application, that can incorporate analysis both of continuing patterns of gender inequality (as reflective of gender monoglossia), and of individual, gender‐transgressive (heteroglossic) performances.     

‘Absent fathers’, and children’s social and emotional learning: an exploration of the perceptions of ‘positive male role models’ in the primary school sector

This paper focuses on the testimonies of three male primary school staff members who utilised social and emotional learning (SEL) in their everyday practice within their respective schools. The data, collected through individual interviews, illustrate how these three men interpreted SEL, and their role in the development of children’s social, emotional and behavioural (SEB) skills, in response to their perceptions of pupils’ home-life. In particular, the sample identified the children’s fathers’ perceived ability/inability as a main cause of pupils’ SEB deficiencies. Consequently, the three male staff members maintained that in order to advocate and encourage alternative, appropriate behaviours, they should act as ‘replacement fathers’ and become ‘role models’. The findings contribute to existing debates relating to the notion of ‘positive male role models’ in primary schools and the propensity for staff to engage in parental blame. The implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions that call for a more democratic and cooperative exchange of knowledge between parents and teachers are made.     

Do troublesome pupils impact teacher perception of the behaviour of their classmates?

The widely supported wish for more inclusive education places ever greater expectations on teachers’ abilities to teach all children, including those with special needs and challenging behaviours. The present study aimed at the question whether teachers judge pupil behaviour more negatively if there are more children with difficult behaviour in class. The teachers of 184 classes in 31 regular primary schools were asked to complete the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-L) for 3649 pupils. Six linear mixed models were carried out with as independent variable the number of pupils that teachers perceived to have ‘abnormal behaviour’, and the class mean without these pupils as the dependent variable. For all SDQ-L subscales – emotional problems, behavioural problems, problems with hyperactivity, problems with peers, poor prosocial behaviour and total problems – the number of pupils perceived as problematic was associated with less favourable teacher perceptions of the rest of the class. The results of this study are a plea for a contextual perspective on pupil behaviour in class, both where teachers are asked to report on individual pupils, as well as where interventions are done on emotional and behavioural problems in class.     

Narrative theology in Religious Education

This article advocates a pedagogy of Religious Education (RE) based upon a narratival framework informed by both narrative theology and narrative philosophy. Drawing on the work of narrative theologians including Stanley Hauerwas, the article outlines the nature of the framework, describes the four phases of learning that comprise the pedagogy, and explains how such an approach can overcome existing difficulties in how biblical texts are handled within RE. Working from the narrative assumption that individuals and communities are formed by reading, sharing and living within stories, it suggests that the pedagogy might encourage pupils to think about how the lives of Christians are shaped by their interpretations of biblical narratives, to offer their own interpretations of biblical and other texts, and to consider the stories – religious, non-religious or both – which shape their own lives. In so doing, the article moves away from a ‘proof-texting’ approach to the Bible towards one in which pupils are enabled to think about the significance of biblical narratives for both Christians and themselves.     

Dutch children and their ‘God’: the development of the ‘God’ concept among indigenous and immigrant children in the Netherlands

In the 1980s and 1990s in the Netherlands, as a reaction to the growing number of non‐Christian pupils at Christian schools, religious education and religious development became issues for debate. At some schools, it was the exclusiveness of the Christian tradition that dominated, and at others it was the inclusiveness. Another group specialised in inter‐religious dialogue. Our research studied the religious development of pupils from two primary schools. One is the first and only inter‐religious primary school in the Netherlands, the Juliana van Stolberg primary school. The other is a Christian school, the Prinses Margriet primary school that educates pupils exclusively in the Christian tradition. The research questions focussed on the development of the ‘God’ concept of children confronted with stories from different religious traditions. The ‘God’ concept is seen in our research as a concept that develops in an inductive way from the data. This way of conceptualising ‘development’ is coined as the prospective perspective on development. The results of this comparative research led to the tentative conclusion that pupils in our research population who were involved in inter‐religious learning, demonstrate explorative behaviour concerning their own religion and that of others. Their ‘God’ concept shows hybrid characteristics. These pupils are rooted in their own tradition, and at the same time they are ‘on the move’. This offers points of departure for the development of citizens articulating their commitments and turning imminent conflicts into inter‐religious encounters.     

Diagnosing the learning crisis: What can value-added analysis contribute?

Advocates of teacher value-added modelling (VAM) argue that this technique can provide evidence on teacher effectiveness to inform teacher policies and broader education system reforms. Critics contend that value-added is a poor proxy for teacher quality and as such is of questionable utility, especially where teacher accountability is concerned. In low- and middle-income countries, and especially sub-Saharan Africa, where the challenge of the ‘learning crisis’ is most severe, a lack of longitudinal data has precluded extensive debate on the matter. In this paper we explore the potential of value-added analysis for diagnostic purposes in the context of Ethiopia. We make use of data from the Young Lives longitudinal study – specifically two rounds of school surveys conducted in Ethiopia between 2012 and 2017 when pupils were in grades 4–8. Learning levels in the Young Lives sites in Ethiopia are very considerably below curricular expectations. Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia faces a significant challenge in terms of a ‘learning crisis’ and in terms of the attendant need to develop policies to improve educational effectiveness within the confines of very limited resources. We discuss the background to VAM models and their use, including in relation to the context of Ethiopia. The paper shows that learning progress in primary schools varies widely between classrooms, and between pupils within the same classroom. Some schools and teachers are more successful in raising overall attainment by ‘raising the floor’ of learning and narrowing the dispersion. Others are more successful by ‘raising the roof’. Less effective teachers appear to be particularly ineffective for pupils with higher scores at the start of the year. In contrast, the most effective teachers showed high levels of ‘value-added’ for pupils at all levels of prior performance. Diagnostic analysis of teacher value-added has potential, we argue, to aid understanding of contributors to low levels of learning such as: (i) over-ambitious curricula; (ii) absence of ‘teaching at the right level’; (iii) within class heterogeneity and pupil grouping strategies; and (iv) teaching and learning strategies – such as ‘differentiation’ or ‘mastery’.     

Feedback as a relational concept in the classroom

Abstract

This paper constructs a theoretical argument to frame feedback as a relational concept. It addresses contemporary concern that formative assessment, of which feedback is a part, is under theorised. The arguments presented link to existing theoretical and research evidence. The paper also challenges the dominant policy discourse in high stakes assessment contexts in which feedback is typically seen in technised ways to serve the need to raise measured pupil outcomes. Vygotsky’s notion of the zone of proximal development is explored as a relational space in which both teachers and learners understand differences between learning ‘now’ and learning ‘next’. Extending Vygotsky’s perspective, a socio-cultural perspective is offered, by considering the role of ‘others’, ‘language’, ‘activity’ and ‘identity’, as part of the process of sharing and understanding feedback in classrooms. The work of Holland et al. (1998), Bakhtin (1986) are central to the developing argument. The paper reveals feedback as a complex situated process, requiring mediated dynamic interaction, where feedback is appropriated as a cultural artefact by its participants. The implications of such an articulation demands a greater sense of understanding pupils’ roles in feedback and the importance of teachers enabling pupils to see themselves in new ways as future learners.     

The processual life of neoliberalisation: permutations of value systems and normative commitments in a co-operative trust setting

ABSTRACT

Since 2010 the government in England has committed to accelerating the expansion of academies (‘state-funded independent schools’) through displacing the role of local government as principal manager and overseer of schools. In response increasing numbers of schools are embracing the co-operative trust model to improve economies of scale, facilitate stakeholding and community resilience and resist capture from the monopolising tendencies of some large multi-academy trusts seeking wholesale takeover of certain underperforming schools. Yet there are concerns that co-operative schools do not represent a radical departure from routines of neoliberalism – defined by managerial deference, technocratic efficiency, upward accountability and performativity – despite clear signs that co-operative schools promote themselves as jointly-owned, democratically-controlled enterprises. In this paper, I adopt a ‘processual view of neoliberalisation’ [Peck, J., and A. Tickell. 2002. “Neoliberalizing Space.” Antipode 34 (3): 380–404] to complicate the idea that co-operative schools can be judged in binary terms of ‘either/or’ – neoliberal or democratic, exclusionary or participatory – and instead point to the variegated organisational life of co-operative schools and their messy actualities as they straddle competing and sometimes conflicting sets of interests, motives and demands in their practice of school governance.     

Bullying, ‘cussing’ and ‘mucking about’: complexities in tackling homophobia in three secondary schools in south London,UK

In countries such as the UK, schools have a responsibility to prevent all forms of bullying, including those related to sexual orientation. However, relatively little is known about how schools go about this work successfully. This study aimed to identify how three secondary schools in south London, England, were addressing homophobia. Three different kinds of schools – a co-educational, boys' and girls' school – were selected, each known to have conducted work to counter homophobic bullying. In each school, interviews were conducted with staff and pupils. Work on homophobia and homophobic bullying was said by most staff respondents to be part of a general commitment to countering bullying. Pupils stated that they were keen that homophobic bullying should be tackled – and distinguished bullying from ‘cussing’, ‘taking the mick’ and ‘mucking about’. Work carried out in schools had influenced pupils to consider homophobia and its effects – although the media as well as personal and family relationships were also important in this respect. Findings are discussed with regard to ways in which schools might better align what they do with regard to pupils' own values and understandings about how best to address homophobia and bullying.     

Pupils’ voices about citizenship education: comparative case studies in Finland,Sweden and England

The aim of the article is to present and discuss a study in which Finnish, English and Swedish pupils’ understanding of citizenship education with regard to: (a) political literacy; and (b) attitudes and values was explored. The study was a cross‐national, multiple case study and data were collected through 18 focus group dialogues with 15‐year‐old pupils. Results showed that English pupils were much more well‐informed about rights and responsibilities than their Nordic counterparts and also more skilled rhetorically, but appeared less accustomed to open and confident relationships with adults than the Swedish pupils. Finnish pupils did not seem to be encouraged to talk; instead they kept their thoughts and feelings to themselves. One conclusion, among others, was that the study illuminates conditions for the development of a so‐called key competence – i.e., ‘interpersonal, intercultural, social and civic competence’.     

Cultivating community: detailing school and community engagement under complex conditions

This article reveals the nature of actions, discussions and relationships which helped forge school-community partnerships for engaged student learning and wider community participation for students and families living under difficult socio-economic circumstances. Specifically, the article draws upon interviews with key personnel and staff involved in the establishment and enactment of a ‘Community Partnerships’ programme to help improve the opportunities for students attending a primary school serving a low socio-economic urban community in south-east Queensland, Australia. Drawing upon the notion of educational practice as a product of ongoing interactions between particular actions (doings), discussions (sayings) and relationships (relatings), which both constitute and are responsive to particular conditions or ‘architectures’ for practice, the article reveals how the conceptualisation, establishment and consolidation of the community partnerships programme was dependent upon specific ‘relatings’ between key district and school personnel, the actions/‘doings’ of these personnel and ongoing ‘sayings’/dialogue about their work. Collectively, these ‘doings’, ‘sayings’ and ‘relatings’ all helped to stimulate new conditions – ‘practice architectures’ – for improved opportunities for students and their families. Teacher education informed by such theorising of community partnerships as the product of specific actions, dialogue and relationship-building is vital for developing improved understandings of such interactions and partnerships over time.     

Providing or designing? Constructing models in primary maths education

The goal of this exploratory study was to uncover the construction processes which occur when pupils are taught to work with models in primary maths education. Two approaches were studied: ‘providing models’ versus ‘designing models in co-construction’. A qualitative observational study involved two groups of pupils of a primary school in the Netherlands. A series of lessons involving problem-oriented tasks was given. For this article’s purpose, we studied the learning processes of one pupil per condition in detail. Interpreting the results it is assumed that upper-grade pupils may be able to design models in co-construction as long as they receive sufficient teacher guidance.     

Facilitating democratic professional development: exploring the double role of being an academic action researcher

Abstract

This article focuses on the double role of the academic action researcher working as facilitator and researcher in democratic professional development projects. The inquiry is based on three partnership projects: ‘research circles’ in Sweden, ‘dialogue conferences’ in Norway and ‘tailored professional development’ in Finland. In a self-study and through the lens of practice architectures, we, as action researchers, explore how our practices are enabled and constrained in, as well as are enabling and constraining, professional development partnerships with teachers and educational leaders. A critical perspective is provided on how and what democratic practices evolve. The inquiry opens up understandings about how the academic action researcher’s practices entails multi-faceted ways of working to be able to accomplish different and somehow contradictory objectives, yet at the same time enacting democratic working methods. Furthermore, the act of recognition as a connecting aspect between prefiguring arrangements and evolving practices will be elaborated on to supplement perspectives offered by the theory of practice architectures.