A half‐century of educational research

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is now in its 50th year. Its mission and structure are outlined. The research programme is reviewed, and work in three illustrative areas — testing, programme evaluation and integration of pupils with special educational needs — summarized. Its information and dissemination activities are described. Finally, issues for future concern are addressed.     

The end of anti-oppressive education? A differentialist critique

The article explores the relationship between sociology and sociology of education in the United Kingdom (UK), with specific reference to the development of a sociology of higher education. Though the article is mainly concerned with the UK, the broader issues raised, about the status and location of the sociology of education in relation to sociology, who defines research excellence and research prestige and who collaborates with whom (and why) in social science research, are much more widely relevant. There are three main themes. The first concerns the recent history of sociology of education in the UK and its current location in education departments in higher education institutions. The second theme examines the factors that may have led to or are symptomatic of sociology of education's separation from sociology itself. The third theme is the prospect for the development of the sociology of higher education and its potential for collaborative activity with sociologists and other social scientists. In conclusion, it is argued that the sociology of higher education is well placed to collaborate with sociology and other social sciences, whether in research or in programmes for new academics and professional doctorates.     

A critique of John Hattie’s theory of Visible Learning

In this paper, I work out a five-stringed criticism of John Hattie’s theory of Visible Learning. First, I argue that the theory is a theory of evaluation that denies education as such. Second, I show that there are problems with the dependent variable, learning, i.e. the effect of a given intervention. Thirdly, I show that Hattie's theory belongs to the radical constructivist paradigm. Thus, the problems of constructivism, i.e. problems of normativity and the outside world, walks directly into Hattie’s concept of teaching, resulting in a double breakdown of the essence of teaching. Fourth, I argue that Hattie’s concept of feedback has a centralizing trend which ultimately has the potential to transform the country’s educational activities into a big hierarchical and data-driven organism. Finally, I show that Hattie’s reference to Karl Popper’s theory of “three worlds” is based on a highly problematic reading, where Popper’s objective world is reduced to a subset of a radical subjectivity.     

Reconstructing educational psychology reports: an historic opportunity to change educational psychologists’ advice?

The dynamic between theoretical underpinnings and practical demands of the educational psychologists’ (EPs’) profession is explored with regard to the contrasting explanation of problems along the ‘within child’ to ‘context of child’ dimension. Reference is made to earlier work which provided a paradigm shift away from individual diagnostic and therapeutic work towards EPs’ involvement in research, projects and working with schools as systems. This change has not been closely reflected in the content of educational psychology reports submitted for Statutory Assessments. The opportunity has arisen for a profound review of the content of statutory educational psychology reports via the relevant sections of the Children and Families Act 2014 (Part 3) and the associated Education, Care and Health Plans which replaced Statements of Special Educational Needs. A case is made for the use of references within statutory educational psychology reports to psychological theory including the basis of more holistic conceptualisations.     

Unequal origin,unequal treatment,and unequal educational attainment: Does being first generation still a disadvantage in India?

The Indian higher education system is supposed to be the source of equal opportunities to all students irrespective of their life circumstances. Does it succeed in realizing this ideal? In fact, the system of higher education inadvertently plays a critical role in constructing and recreating the inequalities between groups. The prime victims of inequality are first-generation students, whose disadvantages are unseen, their voices ignored and left on their own. In India, first-generation students are typically confronted with the dynamics of caste-based inequality in addition to their deficiency in the cultural and social capital. In this context, the purpose of this study was to examine if being a first-generation student had a significant influence on educational attainment. The field survey data of 900 senior secondary students was employed for the analysis. For the purpose of analysis, educational attainment was measured in terms of completion of higher secondary school and entry into higher education. The findings of the study confirm the difference in educational attainment between first-generation students and their counterparts. Results of logistic regression indicate that the location, category, family income, academic achievement, stream of education, and social and cultural capital are the pertinent factors which influence the educational attainment of first-generation students.     

Inequality of opportunity for educational achievement in Latin America: Evidence from PISA 2006–2009

We evaluate how far away six Latin American countries stand from a normative goal of equality of opportunity for educational achievement in PISA 2006–2009. We work with alternative characterizations of types: gender, school type (public or private), parental education, and their combinations. Following Checchi–Peragine's (2010) non-parametric method, we find that inequality of opportunity for educational achievement in Latin America ranges from less than 1% to up to 25%, depending on the year, the country, the subject and the specification of circumstances. These magnitudes are substantial with respect to what is found in comparator countries. Parental education and school type prove to be important sources of inequality of opportunity, contrary to gender. By means of sensitivity analyses, while most results show small to moderate variation in terms of magnitudes, in ordinal terms (rankings) they remain quite stable. Brazil stands out as the most opportunity-unequal country of the sample.     

‘Ordinary kids’ navigating geographies of educational opportunity in the context of an Australian ‘place-based intervention’

This paper addresses the vexed educational policy aspects of area-based interventions (ABIs) in neighbourhoods designated as ‘disadvantaged’ in an Australian context. We find that the way in which the policy of ABIs is supposed to operate and impact education is highly problematic. What we present instead in this paper is a much more complex process by which aspirations are formed, sustained, contested and maintained by young people who regard themselves as ‘ordinary’ and as being engaged instead in a process of navigating educational opportunities on the basis of resources available to them.     

New directions in education? A critique of contemporary policy reforms

This paper draws on facets of Foucault's theoretical resources to critique current education policy reform from within the Australian State of Victoria, namely the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's (DEECD) discussion paper New directions for school leadership and the teaching profession. Implicit in the reform effort is decentralization, including penalties for “underperforming” classroom teachers and “ineffective” teacher education courses. Principals will hold a pre-eminent rank in the reforms proposed as they are charged with their oversight and implementation, including intervening in the education and preparation of pre-service teachers.     

Transforming supervisors? A critique of post-liberal approaches to research supervision

Preparation for research supervision has assumed greater importance in academic departments of universities with the increase in the number and diversity of both research candidates and supervisors and the financial incentives for on-time completions. Over the past decade a body of literature by both academics and academic developers has emerged and more recently post-liberal theories and frameworks (feminism, postmodernism and post-colonialism) have been used to problematise the field of postgraduate supervision. Central to the feminist and post-colonial critiques is the belief that supervisors are best equipped for their roles by a process of personal self-transformation which allows them to achieve an appropriate balance between emotional and rational elements in their supervisory practice. We wish to set critical and post-modern approaches in historical perspective. We seek to show that feminist and post-colonial approaches are heir to a form of critique, which was founded upon the assumption that certain institutions and practices of modern society are dehumanising because they fragment human beings’ essential unity. We argue that engaging supervisors in a process of self-transformation reinforces the idea that successful supervision is a function of the supervisor's recovery of a fully integrated and higher self.     

School visits to zoos and museums: a missed educational opportunity?

Recent studies in exhibitions have begun to consider the cognitive content of the ‘dialogue’ between visitor and exhibit designer. Such studies have focused on the leisure visitor and not on organised school visits. The study reported here compares the conversational content of primary school and family visitors at the London Zoo and the Natural History Museum, London. The data show that there are common features to the children's interactions with animal exhibits and that the content of the conversations varies little between family groups and school groups both within an institution and between institutions. The lack of any marked distinction between school and family visitors strongly suggests that schools are failing to make effective use of the educational potential of zoos. Secondly, the findings of this study are important in pointing to the features of animal exhibits to which children, and their accompanying adults, attend. The data suggest that there is a gulf between the level of knowledge and understanding visitors bring to the exhibits and the message that the museums and zoos may wish to communicate. It is suggested that more successful education will only be achieved when museums and zoos give more credence to understanding what the visitor already does, or does not, know.     

Policy makers’ rhetoric of educational change: A critical analysis

Reforms in education often fail due to insufficient time to implement them, too few charismatic leaders, the influence of the preceding culture, scarce resources or an incapacity to comprehend the complexity of the education system. Most studies dealing with the cognitive aspects of educational change investigate the meaning of change through the lens of the educators and principals and there is not as much research available on the perception and interpretation of change by policy makers and the language they use to communicate messages about policy that affect sensemaking–sensegiving during the process of learning about the changes. Guided by the premise that the language of a reform movement is shaped by its ideology, this article illustrates how press releases of the Ministry of Education in Canton Sarajevo in Bosnia–Herzegovina reflect an exploitation-oriented dominant reform logic. The results of frequency analysis, hierarchical clustering and multidimensional scaling imply that MoE is driven by a top-down perspective to educational change, with a focus on the procedural, organizational and collaborational aspects of reforms that primarily alter the structure of the education system but not its internal substance. We end this paper by suggesting that educational system as complex adaptive system cannot be controlled, but effectively managed through distribution of control and creation of few attractors, benefiting from self-organization in the technical core and making change in the official top-down rhetoric.     

Does educational expertise matter for PVCs education? A UK study of PVCs’ educational background and skills

Pro-Vice-Chancellors (PVCs) form the second-tier leadership of UK higher education institutions. However, their role and position remain under-theorised and under-researched. The present article explores the extent to which a PVC Education role requires core expertise in education or generic managerial skills. Using a mixed-methods approach, we first establish the disciplinary backgrounds of PVCs Education in Russell Group (RG) and post-1992 institutions. Fewer than one in five PVCs Education have a disciplinary background or additional formal training in education. Second, we conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with PVCs Education, Heads of Education Departments and Heads of Learning and Teaching units. These interviews suggest the PVC Education role requires managerial skills, usually acquired in previous headships, as well as academic credibility and knowledge of institutional processes rather than particular expertise in education. In sum, generic managerial skills rather than educational expertise are paramount for understanding the profile of PVCs Education in UK universities.     

A discussion of the developing role of educational psychologists within Children’s Services

This paper reflects upon the developing role of educational psychologists (EPs) within the local authority Children’s Services, from the starting point that the EP role has, through numerous reviews, been clearly conceptualised. Detailing the philosophy and framework for the inception of Children’s Services in England, the authors propose two specific directions for EP work within this context. With an illustrative case study of one local authority EP service, it is argued that, whilst the core EP functions remain constant, it is the range and derivation of EP work which is being, and will continue to be, transformed. Reinforcing Stobie’s emphasis from 2002 upon EPs’ ability to respond flexibly to the changing socio‐political context, and the associated challenges for initial professional training, the authors highlight the significance of issues of role specialisation, commissioning of educational psychology services, and evaluation of the outcomes of EP work. A strategy for future EP role reviews is proposed.