Students’ views of environments for learning from the primary to the secondary school

Research on transfer has alerted us to the anxieties that students experience as they move from a smaller school to a bigger school, and how the sudden differences in space, size, and their own position within a large organization can affect their identities as learners. Drawing on interviews with students in their first year in secondary school, this chapter examines the differences that students see as important in moving from the primary school to the secondary school. Three topics are discussed: freedom of movement, seating, and classroom display.     

Bullying/victimization from a family perspective: a qualitative study of secondary school students’ views

The present paper uses a qualitative method in order to study the ways in which bullying is discursively organized among young adolescent students in relation to the family factors related to it. Only a few studies have linked aspects of parenting and family functioning to bullying through the use of students’ discourses despite the fact that family views and policies have a significant impact on bullying and the role the adolescent takes in relation to it, as well as the phenomenon. In the present study, 5 schools with a total number of 90 students in 14 focus groups participated through semistructured interviews. The analysis was facilitated by QSR NVivo, and three themes emerged under the heading of family-related factors of bullying: (a) difficult home environment with many conflicts between the spouses or between the parents and the young adolescents, (b) parenting styles such as parental overprotection, lack of supervision, or excessive control, and (c) domestic abuse. The findings of this study confirm patterns of bullying and its relation to familial factors in the international literature. The implications of the findings are discussed in light of intervention, as well as prevention.     

Examining secondary school students’ views of model evaluation through an integrated framework of personal epistemology

The aim of the study was to investigate students’ views of model evaluation through the lens of personal epistemology. We developed an integrated analytical framework by combining a developmental framework, including absolutist, multiplist, and evaluatist, with a multi-dimensional framework, including limits of knowing, certainty of knowing, and criteria of knowing. Furthermore, we examined the potential influence of the question contexts and the students’ grade levels. A total of 188 secondary school students were surveyed. Students answered two sets of model evaluation questions based on two scientific contexts. After reading the information about the two models, the students had to choose from three epistemic assumptions and then provide written justifications explaining their choice of assumptions. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted for the multiple-choice questions and the written responses. In both contexts there were higher percentages of 11th-grade students choosing the evaluatist assumptions than the eighth-grade students. For students choosing multiplist and evaluatist assumptions, the 11th-grade students were more likely than the eighth-grade students to think in terms of pragmatic and evidential criteria as the criteria of knowing. Different contexts of the questions evoked different views of model evaluation particularly regarding the limits of knowing. Four additional categories of epistemic levels also emerged from the data. This study provides a new framework for understanding students’ thinking about model evaluation. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.

     

Sustaining a non-dominant activity in school: Only a utopia?

This article examines why an initially successful innovative pedagogical practice was not sustained. The innovative practice was a computer-mediated activity known as Fifth Dimension (5D) within a collaborative project between a university and a local elementary school. The analysis identifies conflicts and transitional actions which prevented participants from continuing the 5D and yet reveal that the 5D had an impact on the participants’ dominant activities. The analysis provides grounds for rethinking the sustainability of innovations in school as a process of interplay between dominant and non-dominant activities which includes conflicts and almost unnoticeable transitional actions.

What were the processes and outcomes of involving secondary school pupils transitioning from primary to secondary school in pre-arrival shared-reading? A case study

ABSTRACT

Coombe Boys’ School in New Malden worked with Kingston University to establish a ‘Big Read’, a scheme of pre-arrival shared-reading for boys transitioning from local primary schools into year 7 of the Coombe Boys’ secondary school. A novel was chosen for shared-reading, and all arriving pupils were given a copy at their Induction Day (at the end of the summer term). Copies were also made available to all staff. The book was the basis of group-based activities during the school’s Summer School (three weeks before of the start of the autumn term) and of cross-curricular individual and group-based activities during the early teaching weeks of the new school year. Outcomes were monitored using online surveys of pupils, staff and parents/guardians, and through face to face interviews with individuals from representative groups. Here outcomes are reported, both direct and indirect, comparisons made with similar schemes within higher education, and recommendations are made for how the scheme might be adapted for greater effectiveness in future.     

How Can We Show You,If You Can't See It? Trialing the Use of an Interactive Three-Dimensional Micro-CT Model in Medical Education

Teaching internal structures obscured from direct view is a major challenge of anatomy education. High-fidelity interactive three-dimensional (3D) micro-computed tomography (CT) models with virtual dissection present a possible solution. However, their utility for teaching complex internal structures of the human body is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a realistic 3D micro-CT interactive visualization computer model to teach paranasal sinus anatomy in a laboratory setting during pre-clinical medical training. Year 1 (n = 79) and Year 2 (n = 59) medical students undertook self-directed activities focused on paranasal sinus anatomy in one of two laboratories (traditional laboratory and 3D model). All participants completed pre and posttests before and after the laboratory session. Results of regression analyses predicting post-laboratory knowledge indicate that, when students were inexperienced with the 3D computer technology, use of the model was detrimental to learning for students with greater prior knowledge of the relevant anatomy (P < 0.05). For participants experienced with the 3D computer technology, however, the use of the model was detrimental for students with less prior knowledge of the relevant anatomy (P < 0.001). These results emphasize that several factors need to be considered in the design and effective implementation of such models in the classroom. Under the right conditions, the 3D model is equal to traditional laboratory resources when used as a learning tool. This paper discusses the importance of preparatory training for students and the technical consideration necessary to successfully integrate such models into medical anatomical curricula.     

Ugandan secondary school headteachers’ efficacy: What kind of training for whom?

With increasing pressures from growing demand and for higher quality on secondary schools, headteachers play a crucial role in creating successful school environments. Within Uganda, and across many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, headteachers are not adequately prepared for their roles, and few professional development opportunities exist to provide them with the skills they need. This article reports on a study that assessed headteachers’ efficacy in the areas of leadership, management, instructional supervision, and community relations. One of the policy arguments for educators’ professional development is to create a coherent, cost-effective, and scaleable training program, which often results in a “one-size-fits-all” training. However, the findings from this study suggest the need for designing training to target gaps in specific skill domains and to give attention to the differing roles and responsibilities of head and deputy headteachers, the school size and resources, gender, and the location of the population that the school serves. In effect, training should be contextualized and targeted.     

The transition to secondary school geometry: can there be a “chain of school mathematics”?

Students mainly perceive the transition to secondary school as an opportunity to start their school career anew. Reality often proves them wrong, especially in the case of mathematics. In our paper, we briefly discuss children’s transition to secondary school as both an opportunity and a problem, with reference to the Greek context. In discussions about the transition to secondary school and its effect on the teaching and learning of mathematics, primary and secondary school teachers in Greece often depict school mathematics as a “chain” of concepts and procedures. With this metaphor as our reference point, we discuss how ideologies about the teaching of mathematics are enacted in both school levels. We will base our discussion on the analysis of extracts taken from dialogues in primary and secondary school mathematics classrooms in Greece. In our analysis, we employ a Peircean view of semiotics in an attempt to conceptualize students’ rushed introduction to rigor in justifying mathematical statements in secondary school. These extracts are part of a longitudinal study that aimed, on the one hand, to pinpoint discontinuities and continuities in the teaching of geometry between primary and secondary schools and, on the other, to investigate whether a set of curriculum material that we designed could serve as a link in the teaching of geometry between the two school levels.     

A comparison of high-ability pupils’ views vs. regular ability pupils’ views of characteristics of good primary school teachers

High-ability pupils in primary schools often do not achieve up to their full potential and teachers seem to face difficulties to motivate these pupils. In this study 891 primary school pupils (463 high-ability pupils) were asked about their views on desired characteristics of good teachers by means of an open teacher-spider-questionnaire. The characteristics reported, were analysed using the three “basic needs” from the Self-Determination Theory. The answers of high-ability pupils were compared to answers of pupils from regular primary education. For both groups, teaching characteristics fostering relatedness, followed by competence, were mentioned most. It was autonomy which was mentioned less frequently by both groups. The answers of the two groups of pupils mostly corresponded, although some differences emerged in specific subcategories. High-ability pupils more frequently mentioned characteristics attuning to their needs (understanding) and encouragement (challenge), and mentioned “providing choice” less often. There were also some differences found between characteristics mentioned by (high-ability) boys and girls.     

The language of performativity? A content analysis concerning differing constructions of leadership for secondary school PE departments

The aim of this paper was to analyse how teachers and government may differ in their views regarding the qualities required to be an effective middle manager with responsibility for Physical Education (PE). Lines of inquiry were based upon the practices associated with a performative work culture and how this has affected teacher language. There is a perception that Heads of Physical Education (HoPE) could possibly hold different views to those espoused by government. A content analysis was used to research differences between the language used by HoPE in the form of questionnaire responses and that used by government through OFSTED publications. An analysis of job adverts for middle management positions in PE was also undertaken to provide an extra dimension for comparison. Results showed that OFSTED documents reflecting government ideology used a language of performativity to describe leadership characteristics at a higher rate than that used by HoPE who revealed a preference for more personal, human attributes. However, both the HoPE responses and the school job adverts did use some performative language. A Foucauldian analysis of these findings suggested that middle managers, in particular, may be reluctantly using performative language to ‘play the game’ within differing power networks in order to claim limited resources.     

Who makes it to secondary school? Determinants of transition to secondary schools in rural India

Despite considerable progress made, a significant proportion of children continue to drop out before reaching secondary school in India. This study investigates factors influencing parental decision-making with regard to children's secondary schooling in the context of a rural area of Uttar Pradesh. The study finds that cost, distance to the nearest secondary school, membership in traditionally marginalised social groups, and being a girl child have a significant effect on a child's chance of transition. It also finds that factors influencing participation at the primary level may influence the transition decision, having key implications for education policy formulation across education levels.     

‘You’ll see that everywhere’: institutional isomorphism in secondary school subject departments

This paper asks why spatially separated school departments might exhibit, in different ways, very similar practices. Data from an ethnographic study of three secondary school geography departments in England are discussed through a concept of ‘isomorphism’ (homogenising forces), drawn from neo-institutional theory. Similarities across these departments are analysed in terms of coercive isomorphism, including the strong regulatory role played by examination boards and Ofsted; mimetic isomorphism, in which similar approaches are adopted in response to situations of high uncertainty, based on spreading good practice; and normative isomorphism, including the implications of closely guarded educational routes, the professionalisation of teaching, and wider social trends including the increasing use of Google as a source of knowledge for lessons. It is argued that evidence of homogeneity across spatially separated departments raises interesting questions about teachers’ practice, with implications for departmental and school leadership.     

How can we enhance enjoyment of secondary school? The student view

This paper considers enjoyment of formal education for young people aged 14 to 16, largely from their own perspective, based on the view of around 3000 students in England. The data include documentary analysis, official statistics, interviews and surveys with staff and students. Enjoyment of school tends to be promoted by factors such as successful social relationships, small classes, variation in learning and students having some control of their learning. Enjoyment tends to be inhibited by perceived lack of respect or concern by teaching staff and passive pedagogy. For some disengaged students, a work or college environment with more adult relationships appears to restore enjoyment and enthusiasm. Enjoyment, unlike attainment, for example, is not particularly stratified by the standard student background variables. Nor is there evidence of a clear school effect. This means that enjoyment should be easy to enhance more widely, positively affecting the learner identities of all young people, including the more reluctant learners.