Teachers’ perceptions of play fighting and real fighting in primary school

A sample of 30 teachers were given a questionnaire about how they viewed the relationship between playful fighting and real fighting. In addition, these teachers and 20 children aged five to seven were shown a videofilm of 20 fighting episodes, some playful and some real, and asked to make judgements about them; the responses of teachers and children were compared. Teachers reported difficulty in distinguishing playful from real fighting for about one‐third of occasions ‐ sometimes due to false information from children, and sometimes due to missing the whole of a complex sequence. They also thought that play fighting was about twice as frequent as real fighting, with both much more frequent in boys than girls; and that nearly one‐third of play fighting episodes would turn into real fighting (more often for boys than girls). The video analysis showed that the teachers tended to agree with children about the nature of episodes, but verbally reported a wider range of cues in making their judgements. Results are discussed in terms of some apparent areas of disagreement between teachers, children and outside observers concerning the relative frequency of playful and real fights, and the likelihood of the former turning into the latter.     

Teaching methods for modelling problems and students’ task-specific enjoyment, value, interest and self-efficacy expectations

In this study which was part of the DISUM-project, 224 ninth graders from 14 German classes from middle track schools (Realschule) were asked about their enjoyment, interest, value and self-efficacy expectations concerning three types of mathematical problems: intra-mathematical problems, word problems and modelling problems. Enjoyment, interest, value and self-efficacy were assessed before and after a ten-lesson teaching unit promoting modelling competency related to the topics “Pythagoras’ theorem” and “linear functions”. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: (1) Do students’ enjoyment, value, interest and self-efficacy expectations differ depending on the type of task? (2) Does the treatment of modelling problems in classroom instruction influence these variables? (3) Are there any differential effects for different ways of teaching modelling problems, including a “directive”, teacher-centred instruction and an “operative-strategic”, more student-centred instruction emphasising group work and strategic scaffolding by the teacher? The findings show that there were no differences in students’ enjoyment, interest, value and self-efficacy between the three types of tasks. However, teaching oriented towards modelling problems had positive effects on some of the student variables, with the student-centred teaching method producing the most beneficial effects.     

What I ‘Know’: Literary Studies and the Teaching of English

This essay unfolds through a series of juxtapositions, involving storytelling and writing of a more analytical nature. In thinking about what I ‘know’ as an English teacher, my aim has been to present my ideas in a form that might do justice to the contradictions and complexities of my professional life, including my continuing efforts to negotiate a pathway between the rich particularities of the educational settings in which I have worked and my knowledge and values as an English teacher. My primary focus is on how my literary education has shaped and been shaped by my work as an English teacher vis-à-vis a devaluing of teachers’ disciplinary knowledge that has occurred through standards-based reforms. I attempt to make the standpoint from which I am writing an object of scrutiny, thus producing an account of what I ‘know’ that arises out of my work as an English teacher and returns to it as a necessary dimension of a politically committed praxis.     

Between ‘enrichment’ and ‘endangerment’: ‘cultural diversity’ and the politics of belonging in the Berlin school choice discourse

Even though choice is not officially a feature in the German primary school system, some parents intervene in determining which school their child attends. Especially in urban contexts, the informal school market is growing. This demand is based on promises with respect to a certain quality of education as well as on issues that prevail in certain inner city schools. In looking at Berlin, as a global city, this article shows how contrary school choice practices gain traction in the face of ‘cultural differences’ that those practices produce discursively. Cultural semantics are activated with regard to the composition of the student body, when parents chose schools with a bilingual profile, but also when parents engage in the practice of ‘group enrolment’ into schools in inner city hotspots perceived as problematic. Our research shows how school choice practices may become acceptable despite being a public taboo, if parents argue by appeal to ‘cultural differences’.     

Theorising geo-identity and David Harvey’s space: school choices of the geographically bound middle-class

This paper draws on David Harvey’s theories of absolute and relational space in order to critique geographically bound school choices of the gentrified middle-class in the City of Melbourne, Australia. The paper relies on interviews with inner-city school choosers as generated by a longitudinal ethnographic school choice study. I argue that the participants construct their class-identity in relation to their geographical (or residential) positioning and this influences their schooling choices. In the light of this argument, I theorise geo-identity in thinking about how geographies inform and instruct identity and choice. This paper contributes by offering a focused analysis of Harvey’s spatial theories and class-identity in processes of choice.     

Privatization and ‘destatization’: school autonomy as the ‘Anglo neoliberalization’ of Irish education policy

Symbolic of the rise of neoliberal principles in Irish education policy, there is now a move towards advancing school autonomy and decentralizing decision-making to individual schools, possibly emulating the academy model that has become widespread in England. Increasing the freedom and independence of schools may involve using private actors to provide what has traditionally been the service of the state, but it will most definitely involve schools behaving more like private sector organizations. While some of the new powers that would be devolved to schools might seem attractive, especially in how they are presented at an official level, this paper highlights how features of autonomous schools that may initially seem appealing are, in practice, likely to be unsuited to the Irish context. In this regard, this paper advises that school autonomy should not be advanced in Ireland.     

‘Chocolate-covered Broccoli’? Games and the Teaching of Literature

Studies of the way games and gaming align themselves with the pedagogy of the humanities have left behind a key discipline: that of literary studies, as opposed to literacy studies, a far more common concern among scholars who have examined the impact of games on university and secondary teaching. This paper considers the reasons for such a lacuna of the literary and enters into a philosophical critique of the grounds on which games have been advanced as a tool for pedagogy in recent work. Interrogating recent scholars’ use of epistemological and sociological paradigms, the paper advances a more liberal and sophisticated concept of the game that better answers the needs of students and teachers in the literature classroom. It concludes with two examples of worked games that have significant potential to enhance learning.     

Young people and school General Certificate of Secondary Education attainment: looking for the ‘missing middle’

In Britain, educational qualifications gained at school continue to play an important and central role in young people’s educational and employment pathways. Recently there has been growing interest in documenting the lives of ‘ordinary’ young people. In this paper we analyse the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales in order to better document the experiences of those with ‘middle’ levels of school General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) attainment. The overall pattern of school GCSE attainment is one of increasing levels of performance. GCSE attainment is still highly stratified. Girls performed better than boys, and there were some marked differences in attainment for pupils from the main minority ethnic groups. Most notably, parental socio-economic positions are the most important factor. The analyses fail to persuade us that there are clear boundaries that demark a ‘middle’ category of school GCSE attainment. We conclude that sociologists should study ‘ordinary’ young people; however, school GCSE attainment is best understood as a continuum, and measures such as the number of GCSEs or point scores are preferable.     

Teachers’ perceptions of boys’ and girls’ shared activities in the school context: towards a theory of collaborative play

The Finnish educational system and curricula lay emphasis on play, collaboration and equality. Modern educational practices allow the learning environment to be enlarged from indoor classrooms to outdoor playful learning environments (PLEs). PLEs have been constructed in schoolyards in Finland with the goal of increasing learning through play in curriculum‐based education and augmenting collaborative play (ColPlay) between boys and girls. In order to better understand and describe such developments, the author set out to ascertain how teachers perceive mixed‐gender play activities in pre‐primary and basic education. Fourteen teachers were interviewed and the obtained data were analysed using the grounded theory as an analytical approach. The research suggests five premises for ColPlay: (1) the most suitable forms of ColPlay are outdoor games and role‐play, (2) gender roles adjust in contemporary play culture, (3) teachers’ pedagogical thinking on ColPlay includes various practices to promote collaborative relationships between girls and boys, (4) teachers have confidence in ColPlay and (5) learning to collaborate with both genders requires practice and reflection. The study offers useful insights for teachers, teacher educators and designers of game content and learning environments.     

‘Active Citizens’: the case of school governors

ABSTRACT

This article reviews current and historical debates about active, participant citizens and related conceptions of citizenship. In particular it focusses on the prospects for the participation of citizens in the administration of public bodies. It discusses critically the notion of participative citizenship and active citizenship as articulated by Douglas Hurd (when Home Secretary) and also the version contained in the report of the Speaker's Commission on Citizenship. The article then draws upon research conducted for the Volunteer Centre, by the National Foundation for Educational Research and that by Brehony and Deem which is funded by an Economic and Social Research Council Grant (R000 23 1799), on voluntary activity and school governors, respectively. The applicability of the concept of active citizenship to the oversight of schools by school governing bodies is then considered alongside recent work in the United States. The article then considers the constraints upon active citizenship which prevent many governors from participating as much as the role demands and it ends with a reference to the tension between those who see governing bodies as an arena for democratic accountability and the active participation of citizens and those who view them principally as a means by which the local state is weakened and its functions increasingly transferred to the voluntary sector.     

Learners’ Perceptions and Experiences of Two Chemistry MOOCs: Implications for Teaching and Design

ABSTRACT

Most Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) research studies have focused on students’ demographics, surveys, and retention data, while little attention has been paid to the authentic voices of the learners: the expressions of experiences, perceptions, and emotions in the MOOC students’ own words. In this paper, we conducted and analyzed in-depth interviews with learners from two MOOCs on the same subject. Findings confirm that learners enrolled in MOOCs for career and/or personal purposes. Learners’ expressions of feeling a human connection to the instructor in videos had important implications for video editing decisions. Many of the reasons given for dropping out of active participation in MOOCs were related to the learners’ lack of time because of other commitments. We expect the results from this study to provide a new understanding of MOOC learners and their perceptions of the courses; key insights should guide video editing considerations and encourage the use of instructor communication pathways such as regular emails to students in future MOOC offerings.     

Searching for the public: school funding and shifting meanings of ‘the public’ in Australian education

School funding is a principal site of policy reform and contestation in the context of broad global shifts towards private- and market-based funding models. These shifts are transforming not only how schools are funded but also the meanings and practices of public education: that is, shifts in what is ‘public’ about schooling. In this paper, we examine the ways in which different articulations of ‘the public’ are brought to bear in contemporary debates surrounding school funding. Taking the Australian Review of Funding for Schooling (the Gonski Report) as our case, we analyse the policy report and its subsequent media coverage to consider what meanings are made concerning the ‘publicness’ of schooling. Our analysis reveals three broad themes of debate in the report and related media coverage: (1) the primacy of ‘procedural politics’ (i.e. the political imperatives and processes associated with public policy negotiations in the Australian federation); (2) changing relations between what is considered public and private; and (3) a connection of government schooling to concerns surrounding equity and a ‘public in need’. We suggest these three themes contour the debates and understandings that surround the ‘publicness’ of education generally, and school funding more specifically.     

‘Being yourself’: everyday ways of doing and being gender in a ‘rights-respecting’ primary school

This paper engages with some everyday ways of doing and being gender which proceed from a dominant liberal rights policy and practice discourse within one English ‘rights-respecting’ primary school in England. Drawing on three ethnographic vignettes of data from different spaces within the school, it utilises a Butlerian analytic to interrogate the kinds of subjects that children are entitled and obliged to be as they take up different subject positions proposed to them in the school. The paper engages with this empirical data, to foster and ignite critical sensibilities, especially as these relate to ‘taken-for-granted’ discourses of children’s rights which presume the participation of all children regardless of their differently gendered subjectivities. This analysis puts in question the universal, normative and essentialising effects of the category of the rights-respecting child as always unproblematic and forever productive.     

Pair programming and secondary school girls’ enjoyment of programming and the subject Information Technology (IT)

This paper reports on a qualitative study that examined how pair programming shapes the experience of secondary school girls taking IT as a subject, with respect to their enjoyment of programming and the subject itself. The study involved six Grade 11 girls who were doing solo programming in Grade 10 and pair programming in their following Grade. The results showed that the girls enjoyed the subject more when programming in pairs due to improved comprehension of the task. They especially enjoyed the socialization and communication brought about by pair programming. The assistance, support, motivation, focus and encouragement they received from partners when stuck or while fixing errors made the programming experience more enjoyable for them. The increased enjoyment brought about by pair programming resulted in the perception of greater learning in the subject IT and also to greater interest in it. It also led to greater persistence in dealing with problems. Pair programming should be implemented right from the start of Grade 10 since it may lead to greater enjoyment of programming and the subject IT in general. The approach may also lead to more girls being attracted to the subject.     

Teaching in the ‘margins’: rekindling a passion for teaching

The data for this paper are drawn from a qualitative research project involving a number of alternative education sites in Australia and the United Kingdom. In this paper, we focus only on the motives and teaching philosophies of a sample of teachers who have chosen to work in alternative education sites despite, for some, the prospect of uncertain employment conditions and lower salaries. A thematic approach is used with the data so as to structure participant perspectives on a range of teaching-related issues. We argue that the experiences and perceptions of these teachers provide a starting point for reflection about the impact of many current educational policies that have been shaped or influenced by market-driven neo-liberal paradigms emphasising disciplinary accountabilities for teachers.     

Professionalism and Intensification in Teaching: a case study of ‘care’ in teachers’ work

This paper reports a research project in teachers’ work in one secondary school. It takes a labour process perspective to examine how localized notions of professionalism act to both enable and disable teachers in their struggle to exercise control over their work. For the teachers in this study an ‘ethic of care’ appears to inform their practice and relationships. Professionalism as care plays a contradictory role in these teachers’ working lives, at the same time providing the motivation, commitment and conditions that result in the intensification and control of their work.     

Difficulties of Hong Kong teachers’ understanding and implementation of ‘play’ in the curriculum

Play is a characteristic behaviour of young children. It is a vital way through which children reconcile their inner lives with the outside world. It is a central activity in kindergarten and nurseries. ‘Learning through play’ is recommended as the mode of learning and teaching for young children. In Hong Kong, it was documented in an official education report in 1986 and is the key guideline for the implementation of the aims of early childhood education for the next millennium. A case study of two kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong was conducted to investigate the understanding and implementation of play in the kindergarten curriculum. The findings showed immense difficulties in understanding the concept ‘learning through play’ and a gap between the practitioners’ espoused theories and practice. The study reflected the complex nature of learning and teaching and highlighted the core issue for reform, namely, the need for bridging the gap between theory and practice.     

Negotiating and contesting ‘success’: discourses of aspiration in a UK secondary school

The need to ‘raise aspirations’ among young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds has been prominent in UK policy debates over the last decade. This paper examines how this discourse is negotiated and contested by teachers and pupils in a Scottish secondary school. Interviews, group discussions and observations were analysed by drawing on Foucauldian discourse analysis. The analysis exposes contradictions and silences inherent in dominant discourses of aspiration, most notably the tension between the promise and the impossibility of ‘success’ for all. It is argued that attempts to reconcile this tension by calling on young people to maximise individual ‘potential’ through attitude change silence the social construction of ‘success’ and ‘failure’. The paper concludes with suggesting ways in which schools could embrace the contradictions underpinning dominant ‘raising aspiration’ discourses and adopt a more critical-sociological approach in working with young people.