Change from Within: an account of school‐based collaborative action research in an English secondary school

Abstract

The paper argues that for change in schools to occur, the active collaboration of significant actors within each institution is essential. Attempts to introduce change are more likely to succeed if they: recognise the interdependence of individual actors and their institutional settings; are conducted in language accessible to the participants; start with the work‐a‐day experiences and perceptions of individual actors, both staff and pupils; address the ‘social’ as well as the ‘material’ realities and barriers within the institution's unique culture. In an English secondary school with a tradition of school‐based in‐service activities, a two‐term collaboration between a Norwegian ethnographic researcher, the school's professional tutor, and a voluntary teacher action research group of staff, used a variety of approaches, to attempt to change classroom practice and perceptions about school ‘realities’. The article describes how the collaboration evolved and the highly personal nature of change from within based on self‐help. It presents an alternative to other attempts to bring about change, which are based on the withdrawal of actors from the setting which they are seeking to change.     

In the Web: Internal and External Influences Affecting School Improvement

ABSTRACT

A more theoretical approach to effective schools research is needed, and a political systems model is an appropriate starting‐point since it directs attention to power issues, which are critical to school improvement. The model suggests that both internal and external influences on schools are important. There are four main classes of external influence: administrative; professional; societal; and familial. Each has the potential for strengthening or weakening school effectiveness. Studies of family influence on student learning and attitudes emphasize the potential of collaborative arrangements in which families and schools work together.

We argue that classroom and school improvement cannot be attained without changing the relationships between the three central figures ‐ teacher, student, and parent; this triad model is an ‘inside out’ version of school improvement, in which classroom and school improvement occurs as fundamental relationships between the triad members become more collaborative.

Our web metaphor suggests that those interested in research on effective schools should be sensitive to the impact of external influences; and that effective schools link participants together into a collaborative and responsive mutual influence system, the integrated school environment, the school level version of a political systems model, in which all gain.     

Mathematics in Education and Industry

ABSTRACT

The view that education has a role to play in resolving the conflict in Northern Ireland is examined, first by looking at the notions of reconstructionism and cultural pluralism. The religiously segregated school systems are then examined, and the various attempts at intervention are described under the headings, ‘Curriculum change’, ‘Integration’, and ‘Inter‐school co‐operation’. Finally a new research and development project called Inter‐school links is described.     

A curriculum compromised

Abstract

Business studies has enjoyed a remarkable change of status in the 14‐18 school curriculum since 1986. This change has been interpreted by Williams and Yeomans (1994) as a case of the ‘new vocationalism’ put into practice. It is argued here that this transformation has been rather more complex. If a school subject changes its status in the academic/vocational spectrum it is pertinent to ask whether this is a sign of an overall change in the curriculum (e.g. the ‘new vocationalism') or the development of a single subject title within a broadly static curriculum structure and philosophy. These alternatives are summarized and the recent history of business studies is reviewed. It is suggested that the changing status of business studies reflects the way in which it has successfully responded to the academic values which dominate the secondary school curriculum in England and Wales. However, it has achieved this transformation while, according to a deputy head interviewed in this study, retaining the image of being ‘vaguely vocational’. This ambiguity has enabled the subject to flourish in vocational (GNVQ) as well as academic (A level) contexts, but it leaves it vulnerable in each sphere. GNVQ advanced business¹ teaching in schools can bear a very close resemblance to A level teaching, prompting the question of whether a ‘vocational course’ is really providing a distinctively relevant preparation for future employment. The association of business studies with the vocational curriculum leaves its academic credentials under question.     

Language Codes and Classroom Practice

Abstract

Bernstein has argued, through nearly 30 years of writing about language codes, that there is an ‘opposition’ (or at least a ‘radical discontinuity') between the modes of communication which predominate in schools and those to which many pupils are accustomed. Briefly, he has maintained that schools are ‘predicated upon elaborated codes’. This claim is re‐examined, partly in the light of Paul Atkinson's recent structuralist critique of Bernstein, and mainly by reference to evidence from classroom research which suggests more readily a predominance of restricted (or perhaps quasi‐elaborated) codes. While the processing of ‘decontextualised’ information is undoubtedly a central feature of formal schooling, it is argued that an essential defining feature of elaborated codes as Bernstein himself presents them is that meanings are transmitted in ways which give access to the grounds for accepting them and which are therefore open to being challenged. It remains an unusual classroom in which pupils find opportunities for disturbing a body of received knowledge.

Unlike Bernstein, I do not assume that the classroom is normally ‘predicated upon elaborated codes and their system of social relationships’. Making deliberate reference to his own analysis of open and closed role systems, I would typify meanings in the ‘regulative’ context as being realised largely through imperatives and through positional appeals in a restricted code, and describe pupils as having to ‘step into’ a predetermined set of instructional meanings and ‘leave it relatively undisturbed’. It is surely an unusual classroom in which pupils find frequent opportunities for ‘disturbing or changing’ a body of received knowledge, and so of ‘achieving meaning’ on their own terms.

(Edwards 1981, p. 291)

     

Inequities and Ethical Dilemmas Beyond the Classroom: Joseph’s Story

ABSTRACT

This essay considers school and external factors that influenced a teacher’s decision to pass a high school student, thus allowing him to graduate high school. I explore my role in understanding and then enacting change within the classroom. This article prompts educators to self-reflect on their positionality, moral decision-making, and culturally relevant pedagogies to address inequities within their institutions. This self-study is example of research that informs teachers about the complexities of ethical and moral decision making in the classroom.     

Storylines in the physics teaching content of an upper secondary school classroom

ABSTRACT

Background: Physics is often seen as a discipline with difficult content, and one that is difficult to identify with. Socialisation processes at the upper secondary school level are of particular interest as these may be linked to the subsequent low and uneven participation in university physics. Focusing on how norms are construed in physics classrooms in upper secondary school is therefore relevant.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify discursive patterns in teacher–student interactions in physics classrooms.

Design and methods: Three different physics lessons with one class of students taught by three different teachers in upper secondary school were video-recorded. Positioning theory was used to analyse classroom interaction with a specific focus on how physics was positioned.

Results: We identified seven different storylines. Four of them (‘reaching a solution to textbook problems’, ‘discussing physics concepts in order to gain better understanding’, ‘doing empirical enquiry’ and ‘preparing for the upcoming exam’) represent what teaching physics in an upper secondary school classroom can be. The last three storylines (‘mastering physics’, ‘appreciating physics’ and ‘having a feeling for physics’) all concern how students are supposed to relate to physics and, thus, become ‘insiders’ in the discipline.

Conclusions: The identification and analysis of storylines raises awareness of the choices teachers make in physics education and their potential consequences for students. For example, in the storyline of mastering physics a good physics student is associated with ‘smartness’, which might make the classroom a less secure place in general. Variation and diversity in the storylines construed in teaching can potentially contribute to a more inclusive physics education.     

When the black box springs open: practical work in schools and the nature of science

The aim of this paper is not to bury practical work in school science but to (once again) reconsider it. We draw on three main areas of discussion: accounts of science and ‘school science work'; teachers and others’ views of the nature of science; and our own data on teachers’ reactions to ‘critical incidents’ and practicals which go wrong. We use this as a basis for re‐thinking the role of practicals. An account of practical work is suggested which has as its main feature diversity rather than a single model or template. Within this diversity we believe that teachers should be open and honest with pupils about which type of practical work they are doing and why. We advocate that students should be made aware of the different kinds of practical work they do and the purposes of this practical work. In short, teachers should explain to students what type of practical work they are doing and why. Our second message is that teachers’ views about the nature of science both inform and are informed by their classroom practices and experiences‐‐especially during lab‐work. To encourage, promote and support critical reflection of these classroom practices and experiences is therefore a vital part of teacher professional development; this in time will promote science curriculum development.     

Using the PSSC Laboratory Course in the First Year of College

Summaries

English

In the physical sciences, laboratory instruction has always taken place alongside classroom instruction. Undergraduate physics education has been a mixture of theoretical and experimental instruction, where the theoretical part plays the dominant role. The freshman laboratory holds a prominent role because it is the place where the student acquires the skills and attitudes that will help him understand the advanced subjects.

The freshman laboratory is particularly important in countrieswhere the student's instruction in experimentation is practically non‐existent at the secondary‐school level. In these cases, where the freshman laboratory is the student's first exposure to experimental science, we are particularly concerned that together with learning the ‘right’ things the student should develop the ‘right’ attitudes; as the ‘right’ attitudes can encourage curiosity and motivation for lifelong learning.     

Preparing to transition to secondary education: perceptions of Dutch pupils with migrant backgrounds

Background: The transition from primary school to secondary school is a crucial period of time for children and this may be especially the case for pupils with migrant backgrounds. While there has been considerable research on the transition from primary to secondary school, more needs to be known specifically about the experiences of this group of pupils during their final year of primary school, as they prepare for their transition to secondary school.

Purpose: The study investigated how Dutch children with migrant backgrounds in their final year of primary school perceive the preparatory process for the transition to secondary school. In particular, we were interested in who the children felt were the important ‘actors’ (e.g. pupils, parents, teachers and others) in the preparatory process.

Sample: We collected data from 76 primary school pupils from three schools in an urban city in the Netherlands. The sample included pupils who, according to the Dutch system, were preparing to follow an academic pathway (i.e. the tracks known in this system as ‘HAVO’ or ‘VWO’) and those who were preparing to follow a vocational pathway (i.e. the track known as ‘VMBO’) in secondary education.

Design and methods: We used photo elicitation (N = 76) and also conducted semi-structured interviews with a subsample of the pupils (N = 25) to examine the roles of the important actors in the preparatory process. Data were analysed qualitatively; responses were coded and underwent pattern analysis in order to identify and describe repeating structures in the data. Data were grouped according to whether the pupils received school recommendations for an academic track or a vocational track.

Results: Findings suggested that the pupils perceived the most important actors to be the pupil, the classroom teacher and the parents. Both teachers and parents were considered valuable resources for pupils in the preparatory process. Patterns representing the participants’ perceptions of the roles of three actors – namely, (1) the child, (2) the classroom teacher and (3) the parents, were identified. Six patterns were identified with respect to the child, four with respect to the classroom teacher and two with respect to the parents. For some patterns, it was apparent that the responses of children in the vocational group and the academic group had different emphases.

Conclusions: The study highlights the importance for teachers and parents of children in their final year of primary school to be aware of the pupils’ perceptions of and feelings about their preparation for secondary school, so as to be in the best position to support them collaboratively.     

Planned educational change in Japan: the case of elementary science instruction

Available evidence suggests that Japanese elementary science education has shifted, in recent decades, away from lecture‐style, rote ‘teaching as telling’ toward ‘teaching for understanding’. How has this change been accomplished? Drawing on our ongoing study of innovations in Japanese elementary science instruction, we describe three features of the Japanese system that may facilitate planned change. First, we describe Japan's broad national goals for elementary education and the alignment of textbooks with these goals. We point out that Japan's national goals focus on the whole child (social, ethical and intellectual development), a breadth which, we speculate, may reduce the kind of pendulum swings between goals of academic and social development that have plagued some other countries’ educational policies. In addition, we note that the national goals are abstract and are translated into classroom practice through the collaborative work of teachers. Second, we describe three routes through which the national goals are translated into classroom practice: research lessons, teachers’ research groups, and national elementary schools. Finally, we speculate on some elements of the educational context (for example, collaborative habits and norms, beliefs about the pace and nature of change, and the practice of self‐critical reflection) that may support planned educational change in Japan.     

‘A different kind of reading’: the emergent literacy practices of a school‐based graphic novel club

This paper explores the possibilities for pedagogy inherent in the reading practices which emerged from an extra‐curricular graphic novel reading group set up in a Scottish secondary school. The research is presented within the framework of the new literacy studies and its focus on ‘practices’ and ‘events’ but, more specifically, it uses the framework developed by researchers working on the Literacies for Learning in Further Education Project conducted recently in the United Kingdom. This framework allows a more detailed exploration of ‘events’ by unpacking the fine‐grained aspects that compose a literacy practice. This paper aims to identify, trace and analyse the aspects of the emerging new practice of this reading group. While the framework it employs is based on an opposition between curricular and non‐curricular practices, the data presented in this paper derives from an extra‐curricular activity uniquely positioned inside the school but outside of the official curriculum. By focusing on notions of identity and process in particular, the paper presents a critique of the ways in which literacy practices which take place outside of the classroom have been undervalued or ignored by educational policy and practice.     

Bringing back sweet (and not so sweet) memories: the cultural politics of memory,hip‐hop,and generational identities

This article examines the salience of collective ‘memory’ and ‘remembering’ among a group of students in Hip‐Hop Lit, a hip‐hop centered English literature course that I co‐taught at ‘Howard High School,’ an urban high school in the Northeastern United States. Specifically, this article examines the memory work that occurred within Hip‐Hop Lit in response to the students’ interactions with one of the course texts, Things Done Changed by rapper Notorious B.I.G. From this and other classroom texts, students were able to construct, contest, and reinscribe memories about the past. Through these memories, students were able to reaffirm and challenge particular social identities that informed and reflected their lived experiences.     

Pawns against the devil

Abstract

This article outlines the innovative methodology I have developed for a study of young women, classed‐hybrid‐subjectivities and Australian government policies of ‘mutual obligation’. This methodology further develops and disturbs existing notions of research methods involving young people. I argue that in order for research involving young people to be inclusive it needs to attend to issues of ‘sameness, difference and diversity’. Central to this study are the notions of feminst praxis (Lather ¹; Weiner ²) where the feminist‐researcher as feminist‐teacher grapples with issues of classism, racism, sexism, reflexivity and self‐reflexivity whilst attempting to take on and fulfill the roles of teacher‐researcher, researcher‐teacher in an ‘inclusive’ classroom.     

A Window into the Rural Classroom: interactive television and problem‐based activity in Australian pre‐service teacher education

ABSTRACT

This project incorporated live broadcasts of teaching from small, multi‐graded, rural schools into university lecture halls where pre‐service teacher education students in the last semester of their programmes were able to observe ‘best practice’ in a learning context that they would eventually be responsible for during their final practicum session. Interactive observation sessions were immediately followed with opportunities for students to discuss various aspects of planning, classroom organisation and teaching strategies appropriate to multi‐graded contexts with the remote classroom teacher. These ‘reverse distance education’ sessions followed an intensive lecture and tutorial series centring upon topics relevant to teaching in small rural communities. Tutorial activities placed student teachers in small rural school scenarios containing everyday ‘problems’ requiring diagnosis and the generation and analysis of solutions. At the conclusion of scenario discussions, students had networked, collaborated with colleagues and applied current research findings in generating viable solutions and considered school community reactions to these proposed solutions.

The incorporation of interactive video technology with these problem situations consolidated the concept and skill development of student teachers and increased both their real time involvement in their chosen professions, and their access to best practice. This dual focus upon a problem solving approach to teaching immersed the student teacher in situations derived from real school environments, and so encouraged a collegial and open approach to teaching. Extensive evaluations revealed that pre‐service teachers were more thoroughly prepared for rural teaching experiences, displayed competence in effective multigrade teaching skills, and exhibited control during involvement     

Obituary John Wilson, 1928–2003

ABSTRACT

Much research on school effectiveness has been characterised by largely overstated claims and poor modelling. School effectiveness research (SER) has tended to define ‘effectiveness’ in terms of a restricted and often inappropriate range of outcomes, to overlook the issue of curriculum alignment, to be limited by the absence of longitudinal data, and it has often been characterised by unsupported assumptions about the homogeneity of school ‘effects’. SER needs to provide justification for the interpretation of ‘effectiveness’ defined as the unexplained part of performance in a statistical model, and a much clearer conception of why certain relationships exist is required. SER has yet to demonstrate the extent to which differences among schools in their ‘effectiveness’ are really caused by identifiable factors within the school and, more importantly, factors within the school's control; evaluations of school improvement interventions are generally unconvincing in this respect. Repeated findings of ‘correlates’ associated with ‘effectiveness’ (particularly when the strengths of the associations are not reported) are no substitute for a well grounded understanding of the specific mechanisms by which schools have their effects. A number of recommendations for future research are made.     

Changing times in the classroom: teaching as a ‘crowded profession’

Abstract

This article reports on a study of teachers in New South Wales (Australia) and their practices surrounding outcomes assessment and reporting, which took place in 2003 and 2004 as a follow-up to a major study in 1995. The study explored whether the main focus of a teacher's work involves planning, teaching, assessing, rewarding and sharing in their classroom and with colleagues, and whether this focus suffered many distractions in the flurry of reforms of the past decade. One example of ‘changing times’ in the classroom has been the devolution of school management, which caused a number of diversions of energy and time away from teaching and learning. Yet even in the area of curriculum schools were struggling with a range of issues, many brought on by the advent of outcomes-based curricula. In seeking to change what happens in schools, teachers argued that they needed clear and well-argued reasons to change. This article thus provides an update on the relevant research, beginning with national and international experiences, before a discussion of workload, the place of parents and school organizational effects. One finding is that alongside a ‘crowded curriculum’, teaching has become a ‘crowded profession’. The article concludes with reflections on how changing times in the classroom mean social reform as well as educational reform, in which teaching and learning shape effects and consequences from educational events so that knowledge grows through experiences, measuring possibilities not outcomes.     

Medical and Nursing Students' Development of Conceptions of Science during Three Years of Studies in Higher Education

This article is a presentation of current research on pupils’ experiences in encounters with their classmates in school. The starting point is the narratives of Loffa, a 25‐year‐old nursery teacher, telling us about her school experiences. She gives a picture of herself as a quiet and well‐behaved schoolgirl, and she talks about things such as the limited space she and a group of her classmates had in their classroom, about how they were regarded as ‘nerds’ by the other pupils and therefore had little to say in what went on in their classroom. Seen in the light of the political, social and historical context of the vision of a ‘school for all’ and of the principle of a ‘complex social environment’ this can be interpreted as one version of the specific expression in Lotta ‘s class of the built‐in conflicts of the comprehensive school, the conflicts between groups with different intellectual traditions and needs.     

Some issues arising from an examination of women's experience of university physics

This paper investigates secondary school pupils’ everyday knowledge of the dangers of electricity. It is based on classroom research by a team of teacher‐researchers working with a total of 241 11‐12 and 13‐14 year olds in English comprehensive schools. The initial data were collected by written questionnaires which probed the general meanings pupils had for electricity. When the responses were analyzed, there was a surprisingly high proportion of children (61% of the 11‐12 year olds and 35% of the 13‐14 year olds) who mentioned danger. The pupils were then divided into ‘fearers’ and ‘non‐fearers’, and group interviews were carried out with both in order to explore features of pupil thinking and influences on it. Results of these interviews include pupil quotations around themes such as personal experiences of electric shocks, excitement, the home, socially‐available knowledge and learning about electricity at school. Questions are raised about the possible effect of fear on motivation, participation in practical work and conceptual learning in general; and it is suggested that the pupils’ ideas should be acknowledged and addressed within a supportive classroom environment.