Corporate federalism and the reform of teacher education in Australia

Current Australian commitments to competency‐based teacher reforms have wide acceptance. The key to this has been the affirmative stance adopted by the peak education unions and by ‘progressive’ educationalists, the nominal guarantors of recent professional advances in teaching. Since Australian approaches to ‘competencies’ are part of a more general agenda of industrialization of education, what is clearly indicated are radical changes in the way that nominally independent/critical language of education is currently being interpreted and applied: this is now being used to support an overall restructuring in which substantive (professional) forms of teacher authority are being uncompromisingly targeted. The transformations identified in this paper as having special strategic significance involve the themes of ‘school as community’ and ‘critical practice’. These have been detached from their traditional (robustly anti‐industrial) reference points and redeployed to authorize a more active (because supposedly conflict‐free) regulatory role by newly empowered managers and to advance the claim that ‘the practical’, on its own, can now be revalorized to allow real scope for creative and contextualized interventions by teachers. A strictly managerialist/technicist perspective upon schooling is thus represented as occupying the highest moral and cognitive ground. Correspondingly ruled out is the case for any real measure of educational pluralism or leamercentredness, no matter the sociocultural complexities, thereby licensing the extension to the school site itself of direct (educationally unmediated) political controls over education. As its counterpoint to the new agenda, this paper stresses the need for a robust decision‐making role by educators at all levels of policy formation, and for learner‐centred interventions which are much more than technical, whatever the processes of revalorization supposedly at work.     

Rural young people’s work/study priorities and aspirations: The influence of family social capital

The transition from school to secure work has become more difficult as young people bear the brunt of the restructuring of the Australian labour market. Young people raised in a rural community are over-represented in the most disadvantaged labour market group- those who have not participated in post-school training and who have experienced long periods of unemployment. Rural labour markets feature lower paid, less secure jobs than their urban counterparts. Education is a proven way of accessing the ‘better’ jobs offered by national labour markets. Why then do young people from disadvantaged rural areas not take up education and training opportunities to the same extent as their urban counterparts? The research discussed in this paper investigated ways in which family and school/community social capital influence young people’s work/study values and priorities with regard to post-school pathways. Family networks and information that are limited and concentrated in rural areas tend to be associated with a desire to find a job before completing school, preferably located near to home. Incomplete understanding and lack of trust of educational institutions and labour markets in urban centres based on local experience may be transmitted through advice of family and friends and influence young people toward current work rather than the longer term goal of post-compulsory education. The implications for regional and national programs of educational and community development are discussed.     

Teaching Practice Stasis: racism,sexism and school experience in initial teacher education

This paper is concerned with the school experience component of initial teacher education (ITE). School experience (or teaching practice, as it is more commonly known) is widely recognised as particularly influential in the professional socialisation of student teachers. I draw on recent field‐work which I have carried out in order to explore some of the tensions and contradictions which characterise both my own and others’ experiences of working in ITE. By using aspects of ‘race’ and ‘gender’ as ‘sociological indicators’ I seek to discover the extent to which school experience can play a part in the preparation of teachers who are reflective, critical and enquiring. The conclusions I reach are not encouraging. Teaching practice is characterised by ‘stasis’, a strong tendency for those most closely involved to avoid conflict or confrontation. Even mild criticism of existing classroom practices is avoided. To the extent that approaches to the appraisal of practising teachers are based on similar ‘supervisory’ models, the implication is that the effect will not be the ‘development’ or ‘improvement’ of practice so much as the reinforcement of existing practices, whether good or bad.     

Education,knowledge and the network society

The ‘development of individual capacities’, in addition to the ‘education of responsible citizens’ and the ‘preparation for work’, constitutes one of the most important objectives to be achieved by education systems and, in this sense, makes up one of the main planks of that which Dale terms ‘mandates for the education system’, i.e. projects for education based on ‘conceptions of what it is desirable and legitimate for the education system to bring about’. In a previous work we tried to map out, on the basis of the objectives ‘preparation for work’ and ‘education of responsible citizens’, the outlines of a new mandate for European education policy that appears to be in the making in accord with recent socio‐economic, political and educational developments. In this article, we centre our attention on the ‘development of individual capacities’ in an attempt to map out the effects of the simultaneous pressure, top‐down and bottom‐up, that has been increasingly brought to bear on the nation state and on the education system. With regard to the first, it is argued that what is at stake is the transformation of knowledge itself into money (i.e. pure performance), while with regard to the second, there appears to be taking place a movement of knowledge from the school (national level) to the local community in which this latter is interpreted as the ‘educative city’ (where a ‘transparent’ communicational pedagogy holds sway). This work aims at challenging the dichotomy constructed by way of an analysis of the implications, for both pedagogy and the development of individual capacities, of the development and consolidation of a network state and society.     

Race and ‘Disability Passing’ in a Chicago Public School Art Classroom

Race, history and visibility have a great deal to do with how disability operated socially and educationally in the Chicago public high school art classroom where I taught for ten years. I am severely near‐sighted, and I am also white, educated and often, but not consistently, able to pass for non‐disabled. A large number of my students were identified as having learning, emotional and behavioural disabilities, diagnoses which were certainly conditioned by the institution, but diagnoses which perhaps also underrepresented the amount of socially and historically occasioned impairment or debility that existed in the low‐income majority‐Black community served by my school. In this article I reflect on the overlapping social performances that occurred in terms of ‘disability passing’, a state that can characterise both hidden and exaggerated or invented impairments. My reflections examine my own individual experience in contrast to the long‐term experience of the African diaspora in and beyond the USA, in order to think about other ways to parse the complex factors determining how disability plays out in educational environments.     

Ready for Reception? The advantages and disadvantages of single‐point entry to school

This paper arose out of a research brief undertaken for a UK local education authority that is currently considering the option of introducing a policy of single‐point entry for Reception children. This increasing trend has particular significance in the light of dramatic changes in the early years sector, not least the proposals for a new Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (EYFS). It seems timely to revisit, again, the contentious issue of school starting age in the UK, notably the prevalence of 4‐year‐olds in Reception classes. The paper reviews much of the literature on school starting age, along with related research, and evaluates the findings in the light of the current context. It would seem that an early start to education does appear to be beneficial for young children, but the age at which they start may have potentially negative consequences if they are placed in an environment that is not suited to their developmental needs. The question is not so much ‘Are 4‐year‐olds ready for school?’, but ‘Is the school ready for 4‐year‐olds?’.     

An Aristotelian Model of Moral Development

Despite the Aristotelian renaissance in the philosophy of education, the development of virtue has not received much attention. This is unfortunate, because an attempt to draft an Aristotelian model of moral development can help philosophers to evaluate the contribution Aristotelian virtue ethics can make to our understanding of moral development, provide psychologists with a potentially richer account of morality and its development, and help educators to understand the developmental phase people are in. In the article, it is argued that the Aristotelian categories of the ‘morally indifferent’, ‘un‐self‐controlled’, ‘self‐controlled’ and ‘properly virtuous’ can be interpreted as the successive stages or levels of a comprehensive developmental model. For each stage, it will be made clear whether people are committed to virtue, whether they act virtuously or not, whether they act with pleasure or pain, and which desires and reasons they have for acting. The article closes with suggestions about what needs to be done if the proposed Aristotelian account of moral development is to become psychologically more realistic and educationally useful.     

The Regime of Self-Evaluation: Self-Conception for Teachers and Schools

Self-evaluation in inspection policy has become a global phenomenon. The idea is that it increases levels of teacher and school autonomy, wherein both schools and teachers have more ownership and responsibility over their work. In turn, such a process has allowed for greater accountability, which is then said to provide high quality education and, therefore, greater competitive advantage amongst knowledge-based economies. In both England and Ireland, self-evaluation has become a demanding procedure that is meant to complement external inspections of schools and teachers. In this article, I will argue that self-evaluation, whilst having the potential to become a worthwhile endeavour, does not live up to its name. In the first instance, the criteria used for self-evaluation are not internally generated but externally imposed. Thus, I would like to discuss the extent to which visions of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ education developed by inspecting bodies influence the way in which teachers and schools assess themselves. Furthermore, I will raise questions as to what appropriate criteria for teaching might look like. In doing so, I shall try to show that what is now current is a debased form of self-evaluation that is not only detrimental to the self-perception of teachers, but inadequate to what any coherent notion of the ‘self’ might be. In light of work by the philosopher Charles Taylor in particular, I will argue that the self is not something that can be examined in the way that is imagined in these inspection systems but is rather something dynamic and unfixed, constituted within a wider community of practice and, therefore, not amenable to evaluation in quite the way that is supposed.     

日本小学社会科教科书中的“传统与文化”

日本已将成为一个"文化创造型国家"确立为国家发展的方向。"传统与文化"教育被寄予了创建国际社会、日本社会、区域社会以及学校社会的重任。2008年修订的课程标准新增了有关传统与文化的课程内容。小学社会科教科书中"传统与文化"相关内容通过展现学生自主探究、学习传统与文化的过程来培养学生的民族认同感,这种内容组织方式是值得肯定的。但是,"传统与文化"内容仅限于三年级有关区域社会的变迁和发展单元与六年级的历史单元中,而且缺乏从传统文化在今天和未来的价值、传统文化对国际社会的影响这两个视角来组织,这将是日本"传统与文化"教育亟待解决的课题。     

News in Special Education

ABSTRACT

India has accorded a mission status to ‘Education for All’ over the past decade. Since Independence this goal remains elusive, due to certain disadvantaged groups remaining out of the fold of education. One such group is the ‘disabled’, within which those with severe learning difficulties (SLD) pose even more problems. This paper highlights the need to implement a community‐based model of integration for the SLD, and strongly advocates a holistic, community‐responsive educational approach. The model views the primary school as an integral part of the community environment, placing equal importance on other organizational structures. The role of the community as an active and vital partner in planning and implementation of education and support services seems to hold the key to success in achieving integration and education for all by the year 2000.     

Learning through participation. The potential of school-based teacher education for developing a professional identity

This article deals with the potential of school-based teacher education for creating a professional community of learners. Learning to participate in the social and cultural practices with regard to education is assumed to be crucial for developing a professional identity as a teacher. From the perspective of socio-cultural theory, we have made a retrospective analysis of a project for collaborative school-based teacher education. The main research question was whether there was a stimulating context for student teachers to develop their own professional identity. To what extent were students able to function as ‘legitimate peripheral participants’ in the school, and to what extent has a ‘professional community of learners’ been realized? Finally, we reflect on the conditions in which teacher education can be centred on a specific school innovation project.     

The entrepreneurialisation of school work as a central theme in present educational changes: the Portuguese case

It is assumed in this paper that the main trend in global education policies is based on an entrepreneurial model intended to submit school work to the same logic that prevails in economic systems at large. Thus, I try to recognise such a model in current educational changes in Portugal. Two paths for the entrepreneurialisation of school work were identified, both of which have a strong influence in this country. As it is the rule in a global context, slogans such as ‘educational excellence’, ‘success for all’, ‘lifelong learning’ or ‘acquisition of essential skills’ are the cornerstones of the educational policies nowadays in Portugal. The continuous improvement of school productivity appears to be the main goal of the public education system in these policies.     

So-called giftedness and teacher education: issues of equity and inclusion

The education of students identified as ‘gifted’ has had a highly problematic history, having been judged as conceptually confused, socially and ethnically discriminatory, and educationally exclusive. Despite this, it is argued that contemporary research and scholarship critiquing the concepts of giftedness and gifted education programmes may provide a base for teacher education and development generally, rather than only for those interested in giftedness. It has particular potential for altering teachers’ thinking about students’ ability. Such research has emphasised the developmental nature of intelligence, its multidimensional character and the sociopolitical role of the concept of ability in school systems. It is argued that the appropriate use of this research could contribute to a more equitable and inclusive model for teachers’ thinking and for practice in schooling. Five implications for teacher development are discussed.     

Teaching science in primary schools: What knowledge do teachers need?

Several reviews on science education have lamented the lack of content knowledge of primary teachers and implied that improvements in this area would lead to better teaching and learning. Subject knowledge, however is a complex issue. What knowledge is required and how much? There is knowledge of the ‘content’ and the ‘processes’ of science. An elusive but essential third component has been described as syntactic (Grossman, Wilson &; Shulman, 1989), experiential (Burnard, 1986) or personal knowledge. This paper argues that it is unrealistic to consider the implementation of pre-service primary science courses that will provide potential teachers with all the ‘knowledge’ that they will require to be an effective teacher of science. Science educators, can however, provide effective frameworks from which pre-service students can identify and develop their existing knowledge. If teachers of science have their knowledge of science set within a personal view of science the potential exists for their school science programs to be more comprehensive, dynamic, relevant and contemporary. One perspective that could provide this framework is that offered by ‘Science, Technology and Society’ (S-T-S).     

Contradiction and conflict between ‘leading identities’: becoming an engineer versus becoming a ‘good muslim’ woman

This paper builds on previous work (Black et al., Educational Studies in Mathematics 73(1):55-72, 2010) which developed the notion of a leading identity (derived from Leont’ev’s concept of ‘leading activity’) which, we argued, defined students’ motive for studying during late adolescence. We presented two case studies of students in post-compulsory education (Mary and Lee) and highlighted how the concept of a leading identity might be relevant to understanding motivation in mathematics education and particularly the ‘exchange value’ or ‘use value’ of mathematics for these students. (Lee’s identity was mediated by mathematics’ potential exchange value in becoming a university student, and Mary’s more by its perceived use value to her leading identity as an engineer.) In this paper, we follow up Mary’s story as she progresses to university, and we see how she is now ‘led’ by contradictory motives and identities: Mary’s aspirations and decisions seem to be now as much related to her identity as a Muslim woman as to her identity as an engineer. Therefore, we argue that more than one identity/activity may be considered as ‘leading’ at this point in time—e.g. work versus motherhood/parenting, for instance—and this raises conflicts and tensions. We conclude with a more reflexive account of leading identity which recognises the adolescent’s developing awareness of self—an ongoing process of organisation as they experience contradictions in managing their education, work, domestic, community and other lives.     

Kämpfen gegen Windmühlen und reale Mächte: William Lottigs Tagebuch (1919–1921) als Ausdruck der politischen,pädagogischen und schulinternen Machverhältnisse in einer Hamburger Gemeinschaftsschule zu Beginn der 1920er Jahre

In his daily journal on the founding of the public experimental school, a “community school” at the Berliner Tor in Hamburg between spring 1919 and September 1921, Lottig describes the everyday issues confronting the principal of the “new school” at that time. These concern classroom instruction, teachers, parents, external pressures on the Berliner Tor-School, the relationship with the school administration, political issues prevalent in Hamburg at that time, ideological and philosophical debates as well as personal and family relationship problems, all of which Lottig describes in his journal. Lottig also noted the reasoning underpinning the development of the school experiments: the “old” schools in Hamburg had been closed, and the state had in their place established experimental schools. The journal clearly records the difficulties, issues and successes of a principal of one of the newly established community schools (Lebensgemeinschaftsschulen), which had been established as experimental schools. A perusal of the diary indicates that Jakob Robert Schmid’s sole and up to now only one known analysis of the journal comes off as biased and misleading. Schmid, professor of education at the University of Berne, had, at the beginning of the 1930s, only perused and analysed those portions of Lottig’s journal in which Lottig describes the rather turbulent if inspiring – and yet chaotic – operation of the community school in its first two years. While Schmid analysed these portions, he did not consider Lottig’s other, more favourable and constructive comments. Schmid also did not explain his one-sided selection of journal passages. Schmid brands Lottig and his team of teachers as educational novices and classifies the Berliner Tor-School as an “anti-authoritarian” institution, an experimental school like any other school experiment which overshoots the mark, not being educationally and institutionally meaningful. A more objective and principled approach in examining Lottig’s journal would have revealed that Lottig and his teachers were well aware of the main issue confronting the school, an issue that Schmid would also have found relevant: the relation of freedom and compulsion, within a setting that Lottig wanted to revitalise, to productively equilibrate without employing the customary disciplinary instruments. Lottig furthermore again and again points emphatically to the “growing pains” of all alternative schools (even when regulated by the state as an experimental school), whose goal it had been, to establish, even under difficult circumstances, a “new school-type” not utilising the traditional instruments of discipline, instruction and school management. This proves that Lottig was neither an educational ignoramus nor unaware of the basic issue of classroom instruction: how one can instruct with or without compulsion. Lottig’s goal had always been – and this Schmid also disregarded – to replace traditional, imposed, mandated or even self-imposed rules and regulations by new, commonly worked out rules. Lottig’s journal is a good example of the steadfast, unrelenting and energy-sapping aspiration of a school principal to balance the relation of school management versus a school’s self-development under the given circumstances. In addition, Schmid’s misinterpretation is a good example of how an observer, who hardly knew the Berliner Tor-School, would misuse this historical source by means of a biased interpretation to further his own views on scholastic education, views that Lottig himself would have preferred to provocatively examine – Schmid’s “authoritative pedagogy”, which goes beyond all authoritarian and non-authoritarian educational policies. What, then, would Lottig have recorded in his journal about a meeting with Schmid?     

The Kent Mathematics Project

In bringing together two important contemporary preoccupations, namely the development of new approaches to leadership and the push to ‘personalization’, this paper argues against the poverty of much contemporary work on personalization. In its stead it proposes an approach to leadership and management grounded, firstly, on a particular view of how we become persons and, secondly and commensurately, on a particular view of education and human flourishing. It offers a four-fold typology and practical framework severally identifying ‘impersonal’, ‘affective’, ‘high performance’ and ‘person-centred’ approaches to leadership and management. Having considered the first two it goes on to explore the third and most dangerous organizational type, the high performance learning organization, which currently dominates much of contemporary advocacy and practice. It then argues for what it suggests is a more satisfactory alternative, the person-centred learning community. Having acknowledged the dangers of what it calls ‘the soulful turn’ in leadership and management it then sketches out some of the key features of what it takes a person-centred approach to be.     

Pain without gain?: Impact of school rationalisation in India

Alarmed by declining enrolment in government schools and potentially adverse academic, administrative and fiscal consequences associated with it, policy makers in India have initiated experimenting with closure of government schools with low enrolments (‘small’ schools), an exercise commonly referred to as ‘school rationalisation’. However, the impact of this policy on access to schooling and learning remains empirically unexplored. Utilising ASER 2014 data, this paper asks three key questions: (a) what are the characteristics of villages in which ‘small’ schools are located?, (b) what options would students have if ‘small schools’ were to be closed, and finally (c) what are the differences in characteristics of ‘small’ and non-‘small’ schools? Results indicate that the villages which have ‘small’ schools are more disadvantaged in terms of essential public services such as all-weather roads leading to village, availability of government health facilities or banks and post offices. Additionally, these villages are less likely to have an alternative to the ‘small’ school, either government or private. Results also show that ‘small schools’ are much more likely to have multi-grade teaching. They are less likely to have basic infrastructural facilities. Interestingly, learning levels are unlikely to be different in ‘small’ schools than non- ‘small’ schools even after controlling for child, household and village attributes. Thus, the analysis suggests that school rationalisation can potentially have severe consequences on children’s access to schools without any meaningful impact on learning levels in a ‘business as usual’ scenario.