The invisible hand: designing curriculum in the afterward

This paper diffracts a curriculum design workshop via online collaboration of a collective emerging from that event. Through the workshop, involving theory, conceptual art, writing, photography and curriculum planning, and the subsequent sharing of words and images, we move beyond interrogating designs for future subjects to asking how the pedagogical imagination composes both the material and immaterial, the corporeal and incorporeal, within ecologies continually transforming in the process of making. We complicate ‘delivery’ or ‘conduit’ metaphors of education and perceive ‘design’ in co-compositions of human and nonhuman elements, resisting stasis, resisting closure. This workshop paper positions design in the realm of the artist–activist, rather than that of the bureaucrat–technician, and shifts intentionality beyond the invisible and controlling hand of humanism, as curriculum design we might do in the afterwards, rejecting instrumentalism.     

The forgotten minority: examining religious affiliation and university satisfaction

Researchers and practitioners generally discuss disparities in university student satisfaction and graduation rates in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. However, religious affiliation constitutes another important—yet often overlooked—form of identity that may be associated with student outcomes. In the context of Christian privilege in the United States, students from marginalized religions and those who do not identify with any organized religion can face significant challenges on university campuses and throughout society. Using a 4-year longitudinal sample of 3,098 undergraduates at 28 institutions, this study conducted hierarchical linear modeling analyses to examine the extent to which university satisfaction varies as a function of students’ religious affiliation (or lack thereof). Even when controlling for various individual and institutional characteristics, students who do not identify with any religious group have the lowest university satisfaction, whereas Protestant students have the highest satisfaction. Group disparities in satisfaction are also observed for race/ethnicity, gender, parental education, and academic preparation. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

To walk invisible: distance students in a dual-mode university*

Abstract

This paper argues that dual mode provision has a critical role to play in widening participation. The mixed methods study drew on institutional records, an online survey (n = 126) and 17 semi-structured interviews to explore the participation experience of a group of distance graduates (n = 268) from a dual mode university. Derived from the theories of Bourdieu, a social reproduction framework was employed, using the concepts of habitus, field and capital. Findings indicate that graduates shared a predominantly working class background. They chose a dual mode university as they did not want their degree seen in any way as different from those of conventional university graduates. During their participation they experienced a sense of belonging to their peer group, but not to the university. They perceived themselves to have been less important to the university than full-time students and felt excluded from institutional supports. Implications for dual mode provision are drawn from the findings.     

The invisible obstacle to educational equality: gender bias in textbooks

Gender bias in textbooks (GBIT) is a low-profile education issue, given the 72,000,000 children who still have no access to schooling, but this article argues that GBIT is: (1) an important, (2) near-universal, (3) remarkably uniform, (4) quite persistent but (5) virtually invisible obstacle on the road to gender equality in education—an obstacle camouflaged by taken-for-granted stereotypes about gender roles. Specifically, GBIT: (1) is important because (a) textbooks occupy ~80% of classroom time, and (b) it may contribute to lowering girls’ achievements, especially in weak schools in poor countries; (2) has been found worldwide to varying degrees (except, perhaps, Sweden in recent years); (3) involves nearly identical patterns of under-representation of females, plus stereotypes of both genders’ occupational and household roles that overwhelmingly underplay women’s rising worldly importance; (4) is decreasing very slowly, according to “second generation” re-studies; and (5) remains obscured by the “hidden-in-plain-sight” system of gender stratification and roles. Case studies from Syria, India, Romania, China and the US document these points. Other case studies from Sweden and Latin America describe government initiatives to reduce GBIT, with differing levels of success. Totally revising textbooks (and curricula) to eliminate this bias is quite unlikely, partly because it is very costly. The article concludes by presenting inexpensive alternate methods that can combat GBIT.     

Making the invisible visible: a methodological and a substantive issue

This article discusses the issue of ‘making the invisible visible’ from a methodological and a substantive viewpoint. The ideas emerged from a doctoral research study into individual target setting with middle ability students in an English secondary school. The students involved had been identified by assessments as ‘average’ and by their teachers as quiet, unnoticed children. It is suggested that the methods used by the researcher to elicit the students' perceptions could also be used by teachers in order to engage these quiet students in a learning discourse.     

Making the invisible visible: disciplinary literacy in secondary school classrooms

In Ireland, policy on literacy now aims to expand the role that post-primary teachers of all subjects have in developing students' literacy skills. This paper draws on data from a wider research study carried out in secondary schools in 2010 and focuses on the classroom support with disciplinary literacy provided by subject teachers for students who have literacy difficulties. A brief outline is provided of the context and perspectives informing the study as well as the research methods used. Findings are examined against the backdrop of policy developments for literacy at second level and within the context of wider policy change. Teachers' lack of professional knowledge, combined with barriers at wider system level, is identified as a significant challenge to pedagogical change at classroom level. Implications for policy implementation, for initial teacher education and for cultural change at school level are discussed. It is argued that literacy must be repositioned as a central aspect of subject pedagogy and teachers, as subject experts, supported in unpacking and sharing with students, the discourse practices and ways of viewing and communicating about the world that are characteristic of their academic disciplines.     

论历史教科书中女性的缺失与回归

在英国20世纪70、80年代兴起的历史课程改革过程中，历史教科书中女性的缺失现象引起了普遍关注。文章通过分析英国历史教科书中女性缺失的现象及其原因，探讨呼唤女性回归历史教科书的时代因素和基本途径，以期为正在进行的新一轮历史课程改革和面临类似问题的中国历史教育提供借鉴。     

Women learners and their virtual handbags: invisible experiences and everyday contexts in vocational education

As more and more mature women return to vocational learning, the issues facing this group of learners are being acknowledged and attempts made to address these concerns. Many existing strategies, developed to address the needs of other groups of learners, are applied to mature women. These women are drawn into a formal learning environment in which their everyday lives and homeplace experiences are invisible or misunderstood. Based on research into the experiences of 12 mature‐age women learners in Australia, this paper explores some issues for mature women returning to vocational education. I use the notion of women’s virtual handbags to describe how, within the current framework of lifelong learning, women’s homeplace experiences not only continue to be invisible, but can also be misconstrued to effectively create problems for women learners.     

DESCP factors: the ‘invisible’ impediments to reforms in education

ABSTRACT

Policymakers often overestimate the power of agentic players in the system and their own as the causes for the successes and failures of reforms. These are but a small part of the powers in play. The article sheds light on contextual factors that are underestimated when planning and implementing reforms in education. The study utilises a case study method to explore three failed reforms in public education to identify the influence of DESCP (i.e. demographic, economic, social, cultural and political) factors on reform success. The study provides an in-depth understanding of why factors in the action environment are as important as agentic players when aspiring to improve national education. The analysis highlights the impact of DESCP factors on basic capacities toward successful implementation of educational reforms. The DESCP factors are discussed, their relevance to reform success is explicated, and their impact is exemplified with policy cases.     

Examining the invisible loop: Tutors in large scale teacher development programmes

Abstract

The recent curriculum changes in the South African education system have necessitated the development of large scale in-service training programmes for teachers. For some teacher training providers this has resulted in utilizing the services of tutors or facilitators from the various regions to deliver the programme. This article examines the role of the part-time tutors in one such programme (designed to upgrade and retrain Mathematical Literacy (ML) teachers in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN)). The purpose of this qualitative case study was to elicit the tutors' perceptions of the learning offer in the various modules and their reflections about the ways in which their participation in the programme enhanced their professional development. The sample comprised 10 out of a total of 25 tutors. Data was generated from the tutors' detailed reflections as documented in response to questions in an open form questionnaire. The participants reported on specific areas of growth in their professional development, including a deepening of their mathematics content knowledge and pedagogic content knowledge. They were also able to provide detailed recommendations for improving the learning offer. The article concludes by calling for increased involvement by tutors in the development and implementation of these large scale teacher development programmes.     

Inviting discomfort: foregrounding emotional labour in teaching anthropology in post-apartheid South Africa

This article examines the potential and limitations of Megan Boler's ‘pedagogy of discomfort’ in a post-apartheid yet heavily racialised South Africa. Taking an ‘ethnographic sensibility’ to anthropological teaching, this paper sketches the social and historical context of discomfort produced by everyday classroom practices at a historically privileged university. This paper argues that new patterns of thought, if achieved at all in the course of learning through ‘discomfort’, are deeply embedded within uneasy social relationships.     

Mentoring and sponsorship in higher education institutions: men’s invisible advantage in STEM?

ABSTRACT

This article is concerned with the source of men’s invisible advantage in the male-dominated disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It is suggested that this advantage has been obscured by combining sponsorship and mentoring. The research asks: Are men or women most likely to be mentored? Is it possible to distinguish between mentoring and sponsorship? Is there gender variation in either or both of these depending on the source – whether from the academic supervisor, line manager or other senior academics? This qualitative study draws on interview data from 106 respondents (57 men and 48 women) at high, mid and early levels, in four universities: one each in Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, and Turkey. It shows that both men and women received mentoring from their PhD supervisor, albeit with slightly different reported nuances. Men were more likely than women to receive sponsorship in that relationship. Both men and women received sponsorship from the Head of Department, whose wider responsibilities may have reduced homophily. Men were more likely than women to receive sponsorship and mentoring from senior men, with most women indicating a lack of access to such senior academics. By distinguishing between mentoring and sponsorship, this article contributes to our understanding of the way male dominance in STEM is perpetuated and suggests the source of men’s invisible advantage in STEM.     

Remembering the forgotten victims: Child-Related themes in domestic violence fatality reviews

BackgroundThe needs of children exposed to domestic violence have been historically overlooked. One way in which service provision for children exposed to this violence can be explored is through an examination of Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams (DVFRT's), who review cases of fatal domestic violence to identify possible areas for improvement.ObjectiveThis study explored key themes relative to children exposed to domestic violence and homicide published by DVFRT's in order to identify the services that exist for children exposed to domestic violence, barriers to providing these services, and recommendations for improvement.Participants and SettingThis study reviewed annual reports from three DVFRT jurisdictions with regular annual reports from 2004 to 2016.MethodsA generic thematic analysis was performed by the primary author, in consultation with the second author, in order to identify dominant themes present in the DVFRT annual reports. The analysis utilized a codebook that was created beforehand in order to capture pertinent information within the reports. Trustworthiness of the data was established through a consistent application and thorough reporting of the coding procedures.ResultsThe analysis highlighted key barriers to child-specific service provision among agencies involved (e.g., lack of professional training and public awareness), recommendations for enhanced intervention (e.g., enhanced child-specific services) and promising practices (e.g., policy and legislation development).ConclusionsThe three DVFRTs identified several gaps in service provision for children affected by fatal domestic violence that will require increased engagement and resources targeting these vulnerable children.     

Making art invisible: visual education and the cultural stagnation of neo-liberal rationality

The popularity of visual literacy may have resulted, in part, from some school authorities rushing the process of determining school curriculum. This article argues that the haste is reflective of pressure placed on educational discourse to conform to neo-liberal reforms of the sector, and is not the result of a careful and complex debate within the education community. In Australia, such reform has contributed to the erosion of visual art as a discrete subject in the general curriculum. The article accounts for the fact that the lack of careful debate may be due to art educators rehearsing tired arguments for retaining the place occupied by visual art, which smack of sentimentality. The author examines the conceptualisation of visual art at a cultural and theoretical level, and argues that by considering the function art has traditionally played in relation to conceptions of human subjectivity, we may disclose the marginalisation of visual art as a signal of much larger threats to political and economic structures in democratic society. The article considers whether the absorption of ‘art’ within a broader preference for visual communication, graphic design, or design and technology, is symptomatic of a long-term cultural stagnation.