Measuring standards in primary English: The validity of PIRLS—a response to Mary Hilton

Hilton (2006) criticises the PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) tests and the survey conduct, raising questions about the validity of international surveys of reading. Her criticisms fall into four broad areas: cultural validity, methodological issues, construct validity and the survey in England. However, her criticisms are shown to be mistaken. Her claim of forced unidimensionality in the tests is not supported by statistical analyses and her claims of cultural strangeness are contradicted by the involvement of all the countries involved. She is concerned about linguistic diversity but this is actually reflected in the ways countries organise their surveys. Finally, Hilton suggests that the English sample was biased, but fails to recognise the stringent sampling requirements or the monitoring roles of external assessors and the sampling referee. A careful study of the evidence concerning PIRLS shows that it is actually a fair and robust measure of reading attainment in different countries.     

Measuring standards in primary English: issues of validity and accountability with respect to PIRLS and National Curriculum test scores

This article revisits the important issue raised by Peter Tymms where he challenges the official government reports of an impressive rise in standards in mathematics and English in primary schools in England since 1995, suggesting that the rise in scores, particularly since 2000, does not indicate rising standards. In order to substantiate its claim the Government has repeatedly referred to the results of an international study which put England in the top three of the 35 participating countries for achievement in reading, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (2001). Firstly, the nature of an international comparison which uses a single indicator of achievement is critically examined in terms of the fair comparison and resulting commensurability of very different national school populations. Here issues of cultural bias are raised in relation to the unidimensionality of the reading test items and the contrasting wealth, representational sizes, and varied geographic dispersals of the target populations. Secondly, the PIRLS study is analysed for its potential for linguistic bias. Finally, the PIRLS data for England are examined, where it is shown, in comparison with other countries, the sampling and the test itself to have been advantageously organised. The article concludes with a critical discussion of the validity of known results with regard to the testing of English primary‐aged children in literacy.     

‘Approaches to learning’ research in higher education: a response to Haggis

This article responds to the concerns raised by Haggis in 2003 regarding the use of approaches to learning theory in higher education. It is argued that the misrepresentations of the theory observed in the literature are not a reason for discarding the theory entirely. This article reasserts key features of the theory, argues for its relevance to mass higher education, and suggests that the incorporation of other theoretical perspectives would be appropriate.     

Writing is more than ‘exciting’: equipping primary children to become reflective writers

This article describes work undertaken as part of a partnership programme initiated to encourage collaborative research between teachers and university tutors. In the Teaching Reading and Writing Links project (TRAWL) primary school teachers, working as research partners, explored ways of developing children as reflective writers. The research group wanted to know whether, through examining how texts are crafted by expert writers during literacy sessions, children might be encouraged to pay more attention to compositional rather than secretarial aspects of narrative writing during writing workshops. The overall writing achievement of 338 children was monitored over one school year and narrative writing from 60 case study children was evaluated at the beginning and end of the research period. In this article the impact on achievement is illustrated, some examples of writing are analysed and evidence of development in children's metacognition and confidence as writers is discussed.     

Countering the ‘new orthodoxy’ in educational research: a response to Phil Hodkinson

In a previous article, Phil Hodkinson argued that there are currently attempts to impose a methodological orthodoxy on educational research, one that is empiricist in character and privileges quantitative method. While agreeing with much of what he says, I take issue with key elements of his argument. I suggest that he presents too rosy a picture of the existing state of educational research, question his apparent advocacy of a laissez‐faire approach to its governance, and argue that he underplays the significant role that methodological rules can play in shaping the practice of research in desirable ways. I suggest that his approach is likely to reinforce paradigmatic fragmentation in the research community, and that this weakens any attempt to resist the internal and external pressures that currently threaten to damage or destroy educational research in the UK, and elsewhere.     

‘Perceived’ competition and performance in Italian secondary schools: New evidence from OECD—PISA 2006

In this paper, we investigate the effects of competition on the performance of Italian secondary schools as measured by maths achievement scores (PISA 2006 dataset). Competition is measured by an indicator of ‘perceived’ competition (generated from an answer provided by the schools’ principals). The methodology employed is a propensity score matching that is corrected to take into account heteroskedasticity and finite sample bias. The results show a positive effect of competition on school performance. Nevertheless, this effect is quite low (between 3.62% and 4.05% computed at the average score level) and is consistent with previous findings about educational systems in Italy and worldwide. This is relevant for policy‐making because competition appears to impact school performance even in a country like Italy where specific pro‐competitive policies are quite absent.     

‘No Outsiders’: Moving beyond a discourse of tolerance to challenge heteronormativity in primary schools

In this paper we describe a UK‐based participatory action research project that looks beyond the discourse of tolerance to investigate and challenge heteronormative processes in primary schools through reflective action research. This 28‐month ESRC‐funded project supports 15 primary teachers working in schools in three regions of the UK to develop action research projects that address lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in their own schools and classrooms. In this paper we will examine how the original principles on which the project design was based have manifested themselves throughout the course of the project, drawing upon examples of classroom practice and reflective discussions among project team members. We will explore how designing intentionally for collective participation has produced spaces for people to do and think in ways that have not only gone beyond what we imagined but have also challenged and sometimes contradicted our own ways of thinking.     

‘A place of their own’: creating a classroom ‘third space’ to support a continuum of text construction between home and school

This paper uses aspects of ‘third space’ theory to support the use of site‐based classroom role play as a means of ensuring continuity of text construction between home and school. A hypothetical continuum of text construction between home and school is described, and it is suggested that schools wishing to support this continuum might consider incorporating some home‐type contexts and pedagogies into classroom practice. A model of site‐based role play is described that aims to do this by setting up an actual third space in primary classrooms, together with some of the educational outcomes of the model's implementation. Implications for schools and family learning programmes are briefly discussed. In conclusion, the paper argues that if we want curriculum continuity between home and school, we need to create ‘third spaces’ in schools that bring together the experiences and pedagogies of both.     

Headteachers’ readings of and responses to disadvantaged contexts: evidence from English primary schools

Existing research demonstrates the impact of context on school organisation and management, curriculum and pedagogy and on student peer relations. New developments in English education policy will devolve more responsibility for dealing with these issues to headteachers. Headteachers' readings of their contexts and the responses that they make are thus of increasing interest. This paper draws on interviews with eight headteachers of less advantaged English primary schools to explore how they understand and articulate the contexts in which their schools operate and how this knowledge is translated into strategies for organising curriculum, pedagogy and other school processes. These headteachers observed context through the lens of the behaviour of parents and children in relation to school, contrasting it with an assumed middle‐class normality. More critical perspectives on families' social and economic position or on the contribution of school practice to educational exclusion were largely absent. School responses were many and varied but, given the constraints of budgets, market and performative pressures, were unlikely to substantially transform the educational experiences and outcomes of disadvantaged students. We point to the continuing need for more contextualised funding mechanisms and policies to improve schools in disadvantaged areas and also, in the light of devolution to schools, to the need to develop mechanisms of support to headteachers to help them to develop critical understandings of context and to reflect on school process and practices in the light of these understandings.     

‘Bowing from the heart’: An investigation into discourses of professionalism and the work of caring for students in further education

Since their incorporation in 1993, further education (FE) colleges in England have been responsible for their own staffing and, faced with funding constraints as well as recruitment and retention targets, some have introduced a new category of staff referred to here as ‘learning support workers’ (LSWs). Though their employment conditions and specific duties vary considerably, LSWs' work often includes providing individual care for students. In this small‐scale study, using semi‐structured interviews, the perceptions of some teachers and LSWs about the nature of their relationships with each other and with students are investigated. The study is set broadly in the context of debates about the impact of public sector reform on FE colleges and teachers. A discourse analysis approach is adopted in discussion of the data. The authors conclude that although they are differently positioned in relation to traditional discourses of professionalism, both teachers and LSWs are perceived to be carrying out what Hochschild termed ‘emotional labour’. The contradictory nature of emotional labour is also highlighted. Some of the implications of employing a new group of workers in FE are discussed.     

Interpretive responses to images in picture books by primary and secondary school students: Exploring curriculum expectations of a ‘visual grammatics’

As well as maintaining the central role of literature, the new Australian Curriculum: English emphasises the multimodal nature of literacy and requires students in primary and secondary schools to develop explicit knowledge about visual and verbal grammar as a resource for text interpretation and text creation. This study investigated the use of visual grammatics in interpreting picture books by students across Years Four, Five, Seven and Ten following an intensive professional learning programme undertaken by their teachers. A proposed framework describes variation in students' interpretive stance from tactical to diegetic to semiotic. Levels of student semiotic understanding are differentiated and differences between students' oral and written interpretations are discussed in relation the need for explicit teaching of written interpretive responses to multimodal literary texts, drawing on an articulated visual and verbal grammatics appropriate to the teaching of English in primary and secondary schools.     

From ‘bored’ to screen: the use of the interactive whiteboard for literacy in six primary classrooms in England

In recent years, interactive white boards (IWBs) have been introduced into many primary classrooms in England. This enquiry examines the ways in which they are being used in the context of literacy teaching, in six primary classrooms in the south‐west. Drawing on the perspectives of teachers and pupils, this report reflects on the impact of IWB use on the teaching and learning of literacy. It concludes that, while IWB use appears to have some general effects, such as supporting a more cross‐curricular approach to literacy and raising the level of student engagement, their use is not identical in all classrooms. In the classrooms studied, IWBs are used in various ways, according to teachers' technical expertise and experience. To help more teachers towards effective use of the IWB, it is suggested that, rather than the ‘top‐down’ commercial or professional models of transmission training, teachers need a ‘bottom‐up’ approach, that is more practitioner focused.     

In defence of multimodal re‐signification: a response to Håvard Skaar's ‘In defence of writing’

Responding to ‘In defence of writing’ by Håvard Skaar, published in issue 43.1 of this journal (April 2009), the present article argues that (1) compared with text production ‘from scratch’, producing texts through copy‐and‐paste requires a different type of – rather than less – semiotic work, and that (2) digitally produced writing may involve the same amount of semiotic work as texts produced through digitally retrieved images. Supporting the argument with data drawn from the writer's teaching experience in three first‐year graduate courses of Scientific English for the Health Professions, the article discusses the changes in the abilities that are foregrounded/backgrounded (more/less required and developed) in the use of copy‐and‐paste for text production. The results indicate that rather than privileging one mode over another, the learners' semiotic work can be better assessed through a multilayered process of re‐signification and re‐elaboration of texts and contents into multiple modes. The conclusions suggest new priorities for teaching, learning and assessment in the light of the changes in our contemporary semiotic landscape.     

‘I – from dreams to reality’: A Case Study of Developing Youngsters’ Self‐Efficacy and Social Skills through an Arts Educational Project in Schools

This is a case study of a one‐year arts educational project ‘I – from dreams to reality’ in which artists worked at school with teachers and learning at the school was planned through arts‐based, co‐operative teamwork during one extra school year of 10th grade students in Finnish basic education. The theme of the year was ‘I’, and so the project was designed to highlight everyone's own way of thinking and expressing art. The research task was to determine whether long‐term holistic arts pedagogy and artist co‐operation at school have any significant connection to students’ self‐efficacy and social skills. Data has been collected through students’ self‐evaluations before and after the school year. Altogether 40 students from 10th grade participated in this case study. Half of the pupils participated in an arts educational project called ‘I – from dreams to reality’ and half formed the control group. Artists worked with the test group weekly during a period of one school year (altogether nine months). Students’ self‐evaluations concerning their self‐efficacy and social behaviour were collected by e‐questionnaire. The measures used were Likert‐based evaluation scores of pupils’ self‐assessment of their self‐efficacy and social behaviour in everyday situations at school. According to the results, artist–teacher co‐operation and learning through the arts can be worthwhile experiences to develop students’ self‐efficacy and social skills.     

‘I'm just there to ease the burden’: the parent support adviser role in English schools and the question of emotional labour

In 2005, the Department for Education and Skills announced a £40 million investment in a new school support worker role, the parent support adviser (PSA), for 20 English local authorities. A pilot project ran from 2006–2008 and resulted in the establishment of 717 PSAs in 1167 schools. The national evaluation of the project forms the evidential basis of this paper, with interviews conducted with 69 PSAs, 85 PSA line managers and 105 parents and a database recording casework with nearly 21,000 parents. This paper focuses on the nature of the PSA role as the first centrally funded parent support role in English schools. The theoretical framework provided by the concept of ‘emotional labour’ and the development of the concept represented by the 4Ps typology provides the conceptual structure. This paper argues that although the characteristics of the PSA role appear to place it within the category of work requiring emotional labour, PSAs and parents regard that aspect of the role in a positive light. For the PSAs there was little evidence that emotional labour necessary for the role of PSA led to dissonance between role and worker or alienation from the product of PSA labour.     

Teachers' developing ‘practical theories’ of the contribution of information and communication technologies to subject teaching and learning: an analysis of cases from English secondary schools

This article examines teachers' ‘practical theories’ concerning the contribution of information and communications technology (ICT) to teaching and learning, as they are elaborated and refined in action. The study arose from a collaborative programme of 10 small‐scale projects through which participating teacher‐researchers aimed to develop a range of pedagogic strategies involving the use of computer‐based ICTs within their subject areas (Classics, English, Geography, History, Science and Design Technology). Within‐ and cross‐case analyses drew on multiple sources of data and characterised teachers' initial statements of practical theory in terms of five key themes: broadening classroom resources and reference; enhancing working processes and products; fostering more independent pupil activity; mediating subject thinking and learning; and improving pupil motivation towards lessons. Three cases are presented to illustrate how teachers developed their ideas in action, and issues that prompted teachers across cases to adapt their approaches are discussed.     

The impact of the Phonics Screening Check on grouping by ability: A ‘necessary evil’ amid the policy storm

This article examines the impact of a statutory assessment in England, the Phonics Screening Check (PSC), on classroom practices of grouping children by ‘ability’. Bearing in mind the argument that assessment is the rudder that steers the otherwise slow‐moving battleship of educational practice, it is argued that the PSC has altered how teachers organise their classes and curriculum in both the affected year group (Year 1, children aged 5–6) and in earlier and later years. Using data from a nationwide survey of teachers (n = 1,373), focus groups and in‐depth interviews with teachers, the article examines how this relatively new phonics assessment forms part of a ‘policy storm’ of pressures relating to accountability, which encourage teachers to place children in groups on the basis of ability, even when they have doubts about this practice and there is little evidence to suggest grouping improves attainment. Practices include grouping children within classes, across year groups or even across several year groups, by phase of phonics learning, guided by advice from bought‐in private phonics schemes. There is also evidence of ‘educational triage’, where borderline children become the focus, and increased use of interventions which involve withdrawing children. Overall, the article uses the PSC to demonstrate how, in times of multiple policy pressures, assessment can rapidly alter practice, in this case making grouping a ‘necessary evil’, as one teacher respondent argued.     

Body‐Building: A Female Student's Use of the Transitional Spaces of a Painting Degree Course to Explore her Sexual Desirability and Aesthetics as a ‘Grotesque’ Female Body

Whilst a part of the fine art degree course is about teaching technical skills and learning from tutor/peer group crits, a larger part is about the facilitation of a ‘safe’ and structured space in which students gain the confidence to experiment with personal ideas, to hone a self‐critical reflection and understand who they are as individuals, before being cast out into the world as ‘artist’. In this article I examine the thought processes and decision‐making of one undergraduate female painting student. For this student, who struggled to find her own ‘grotesque’ female body image in the canon of art historical works or contemporary popular media, the spaces of the painting degree course created a frame for possible enactments of identity and desire, as well as for playing with roles and practices. Through a mix of interviews with the student, viewing her visual work and written narratives, I analyse how she was able to carve out a space for her visual representation within the institutional frame. My analysis reveals how this student uses the transitional spaces of the degree course to develop creative strategies through which to explore her sexual desirability and aesthetic self. As an individual who felt marginalised from the visual realm of the ‘body beautiful’, the degree course offered an important refuge where she could examine how she felt about her own body and develop a confidence and character to present her body to the world.