From policy to practice?: the reality of play in primary school classes in Northern Ireland

As more countries align their curricular frameworks with play-based and experiential pedagogies, this paper provides a critical insight into the benefits and challenges that arise in practice when a play-based approach to learning and teaching becomes a political directive in Northern Ireland primary schools. Drawing on socio-constructivist and post-structural thinking, the messages from Foundation Stage teachers and the learning experiences provided are unravelled through the researchers' interpretive lens, exposing for critique two key discourses about the relationship between play as policy and practice – namely play as learning and play as pedagogy. Although this study may have raised more questions than answers about the debate, the authors conclude, in so doing, it has facilitated an original troubling of the established discourse and added to the knowledge base about the politicisation of play as practice in the early years of primary schooling.     

The effect of school‐based practice on student teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in Northern Ireland

This study seeks to discover the attitudes to inclusion of those about to embark on initial teacher education in Northern Ireland and the extent to which an extended teaching practice in a non‐selective placement school can influence attitude change. A cohort of 125 student teachers responded to a survey that explored their attitudes towards a range of issues relating to inclusive education in the context of Northern Ireland. The findings indicate that student teachers in Northern Ireland show positive attitudes towards the principles of inclusion, with teaching practice experience in a non‐selective school appearing to confirm and increase these positive attitudes. However, despite displaying increasingly positive attitudes towards inclusion post‐teaching practice, there are indications that student teachers continue to show strong attachment to current organisational practices strongly related to academic selection.     

Part‐time higher education in Northern Ireland

Previous studies have shown that tutors usually enjoy teaching students and working for the University. During 1985 Reg Melton and colleagues in the Student Research Centre in the Institute of Educational Technology interviewed a number of tutors in depth to ascertain their reactions to the experience of reductions in their teaching. Job satisfaction and goodwill appeared to be under considerable strain.     

Education and school‐to‐work transitions in post‐communist Poland∗

Abstract

Unemployment in Poland rose throughout 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 but the proportion of school‐leavers among the unemployed peaked in 1990. Unlike in most western market economies, the best‐ educated young people in Poland did not prove the least vulnerable to unemployment. This paper uses evidence from studies of young people in Gdansk, Katowice and Suwalki to argue that one reason why young people from professional and vocational secondary schools have not borne a heavier share of Poland's unemployment since 1990 has been the flexibility and responsiveness of these schools to Poland's new labour market conditions. Since the reforms many of these schools have contracted drastically. Some have closed. But others have thrived The latter have often benefited from favourable local labour market conditions, but their success has usually been at least equally due to their own resourcefulness in introducing new courses which teach skills that are in demand, and securing various kinds of sponsorship from employers. Three reasons are offered to explain the responsiveness of education in Poland to the changing labour market conditions: general support for ‘the reforms’, the schools’ experience of making informal deals with employers under communism, and the post‐communist authorities’ willingness to force unsuccessful schools to close and to see teachers made redundant.

     

Student participant‐observation in the contested workplace: the policy dilemmas of in‐school work experience

The study discussed in this paper examines the views on the workplace of year 11 students from an Australian metropolitan post‐primary school before and after they went out of the school into the workplace for two weeks work experience. One of the themes which emerged from the discussions with the students was related to the degree of control exerted by employers on employees and the oppositional response which is sometimes forthcoming from those employees. The views which form this theme are then placed within the context of a current debate on work experience. On the one hand some educationalists are advocating ‘jumping off the work experience bandwagon’, while on the other those scholars with a more critical stance are pointing to the educative potential of work experience.     

The existence of school‐related stress in two grammar schools in Northern Ireland: contributing factors and moderation

Recent educational policies have altered scholastic experience. It is the contention of the authors that contemporary school experience may therefore, for some individuals, be distressing. This study is concerned with the identification of stress‐related behaviours of sixth‐form pupils within female single‐sex, selective, scholastic environments. The sample consisted of 420 girls drawn from two comparable schools. The study was conducted using qualitative and quantitative methods. Administration of a questionnaire at three intervals within one academic year permitted sustained reflection upon responses. The qualitative questionnaire findings permitted generation of themes, later investigated through focus groups. SPSS was used to analyse responses to scaled questions. The keeping of a research diary served to illuminate meaning and to capture anecdotal evidence, which is so easily lost within a busy school environment. In addition, the opinions of a number of relevant professionals were sought. The study concluded that some members of the sample population encounter demands emanating not only from assessment incidents, but also from a range of other sources inherent to the system of sufficient magnitude, duration and intensity to engender school‐related stress. Within the study the ways in which school‐related stress may present are identified; these include, for example, physical effects, subjective effects, effects upon work and effects upon relationships. An evaluation of current relevant support mechanisms is offered and recommendations for change are made.     

A school‐based project in five kindergartens: the case of teacher development and school development

Kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong are blamed for not putting child‐initiated learning theory into practice. Their competence is challenged. An earlier study (Li, 2003 Li, YL. (2003). Roadblocks to educational reform: investigating knowledge and practice of Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. International Journal of Educational Reform, 12(3): 217–229.  [Google Scholar]) suggested that the professional development of kindergarten teachers was limited by their inability to extend thinking beyond their own personal concerns so that the needs of the children were not the major determinant of their classroom practice. It was argued that to confront and modify the teachers' personal beliefs the presence of models, action research and joint collaborative activity were the keys. This report was a follow‐up study of a school‐based project, providing opportunities for teachers to engage in collaborative investigation of school curriculum and of pedagogical innovations. In this study, the practice and belief of a group of around 60 teachers were tracked during their participation in the project and the merits of peer coaching, mentoring and collaborative teamwork were examined. Classroom observations and semi‐structured interviews (40–60 minutes) were adopted as the main research procedure. Teaching records, videoed teaching episodes and feedback on project workshops were sources of data collected for triangulation. The findings of the study suggest that collegiality holds some promise for change in teachers' practice, though questions concerning the constancy of change are of concern.     

An evaluation of Learning Contracts within the context of partnership in school‐based training: implications for school based mentoring

This paper explores parents' expectations and perceptions of effective induction and formative partnership with their child's school during the transition to full‐time statutory education.

Based on fifty case study children from two schools of similar size and catchment area but with different induction practices, it looks at a range of issues including parents' perceptions of home visiting, pre‐entry visits to school and pre‐entry profiles, as well as parents' knowledge about school and their notions of partner ship.

The paper outlines the implications for schools' partnerships with parents, exploring: ways in which schools and parents can begin to understand one another; how schools can help parents to support their children's learning; and ways in which effective schools can create opportunities for parental involvement.     

Why context matters: understanding the material conditions of school‐based caring in Zambia

This study utilized in‐depth interviewing, participant observation, and student diaries completed by participants to examine the quality of teacher–student relationships at a low‐cost private school in the townships of Ndola, Zambia. Amidst economic decline and the HIV/AIDS epidemic facing Zambia today, teachers and students developed strong relationships that differed from those found in government secondary schools and were shaped by the economic and social realities in the larger society. These caring relationships were facilitated by official school policy, deliberative spaces created for caring such as longer school hours and smaller class sizes, and strict oversight of teachers by the school administration. Teachers’ efforts to provide students advice and resources related to the economic and health crises affecting their community resulted in the development of caring relationships that students noted were unique given their experiences in and exposure to government secondary schools. The findings of this study suggest that scholars of caring in the US and internationally should consider the material conditions of both students’ and teachers’ lives beyond the school environment in order to understand how caring relationships are structured, limited, and enabled in distinct moments by larger socioeconomic and political realities.     

Democratising the curriculum or training the children of the poor: school‐based vocational training in Australia

This article examines the views of staff employed in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) about how those institutions are dealing with the impact of recent UK equality legislation and related European employment directives. Assumptions underlying current approaches to equality in UK HEIs are examined, particularly the notion of meritocracy, which advocates job selection and promotion based on normatively and culturally neutral measures of merit. The article is based on a project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, using qualitative case studies of six English, Welsh and Scottish HEIs. The project data suggest that equality policies for staff and students are in tension with each other, that staff policies may clash with other institutional policies, for example on research excellence or enhancing the student experience, and that the rhetoric of equality policies is not always matched by the day‐to‐day experience of staff. The article suggests that the case study UK HEIs, with their continued focus on meritocracy and excellence, have not yet adapted to the new climate of employee equality legislation and perhaps need to consider a different approach than the meritocratic one.     

Industry–school partnerships: boundary crossing to enable school to work transitions

Industry–school partnerships (ISPs) are increasingly being recognised as a new way of providing vocational education opportunities particularly in industries where there are skills shortages. However, there is limited research investigating their impact on school to work transitions. This paper reports on a government-led ISP, the Gateway to Industry Schools Program, established in Queensland, Australia. Central to this initiative is the Resources Academy, a lead organisation for 28 schools and 17 multinational sponsor companies. This research adopted a qualitative case study methodology and draws upon boundary crossing theory as means to understand a Minerals and Energy ISP. We distinguish four types of boundary crossing mechanisms, which partners navigate in ISPs. The main findings were that boundary crossing mechanisms assist ISPs to develop industry-based contextualised curriculum and to prepare school students for employment.     

Children’s education rights at the transition to secondary education: School choice in Northern Ireland

The principles of school choice and diverse provision underpin transition to secondary education in a majority of countries. This article focuses on the potential for structural diversity to constrain rather than promote choice. Although intended to improve equity in access and quality of provision, choice-based systems serve to homogenise school intakes and magnify attainment differences between schools. School choice decisions become high-stakes in such contexts, because eventual school placements influence the future character of children’s schooling. In Northern Ireland, existing community divisions are reflected in the available school types, with a majority of places at either Catholic or de facto Protestant schools, and only a small number at Integrated schools. This results in high levels of homogenisation along community lines. In addition, the provision of separate grammar and non-grammar schools means that intakes are also academically stratified, resulting in the extreme between-school attainment differences characteristic of systems arranged in this way. Drawing on documentary evidence and a survey of transition-age children, this research discusses how school choice within structurally complex systems can be constrained. The main focus is on how children’s education rights, as set down in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, are placed at risk by the interaction of system-level divisions. It concludes that school choice arrangements in Northern Ireland do not operate in compliance with children’s education rights when tested against each of the requirements set out in Tomasevski’s 4-As scheme, namely that education provision must be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable.     

Implementing a play‐based and developmentally appropriate curriculum in Northern Ireland primary schools: what lessons have we learned?

In the United Kingdom tensions have existed for many years between the pedagogical traditions of pre‐school, which tend to adopt developmentally oriented practices, and the more formal or subject‐oriented curriculum framework of primary school. These tensions have been particularly acute in the context of Northern Ireland, which has the earliest school starting age throughout Europe. In response to international research evidence and practice, a play‐based and developmentally appropriate curriculum, known as the Enriched Curriculum (EC), was introduced as a pilot in Year 1 and 2 classes in over 100 primary schools in Northern Ireland between 2000 and 2002 and continued until the Foundation Stage became statutory for all primary schools in 2007. This paper outlines four key lessons that have been learned from the first four years of the evaluation of this experience. These include the value and the meaning of a play‐based curriculum; the importance of teachers’ confidence and knowledge; teaching reading in a play‐based curriculum; and easing transitions in a play‐based curriculum.     

Pupils as partners in education decision‐making: responding to the legislation in England and Ireland

Enabling pupils with special educational needs to participate more fully in the assessment, planning and evaluation of their own learning has become a principle enshrined within the legislation of many countries in recent years. Educational policy in both England and the Republic of Ireland has recognised the desirability of increased pupil involvement, and this is reflected in policy documents and in legislation which highlights the requirement of schools to take greater account of the views of pupils. This paper documents the approaches to increased pupil involvement in decision‐making adopted in England and Ireland and provides an overview of the key challenges that face policy‐makers and educators in ensuring meaningful participation for children and young people with special educational needs.     

‘Bring on the dancers’: reconceptualising the transition from school to work

Our understanding of the transition from school to work has traditionally been underpinned by a three-stage model. This is one in which the first stage is a preparatory one, where the focus is on school, followed by a second transition stage and ending in a third stage, the successful entry to work. This is a model that has been challenged by work from the ‘cultural studies’ school but still informs much contemporary work. The study of freelance dancers’ entry into work reveals a very different experience of the transition. Rather than a sequence of experiences of school, preparation for work and then entry into established employment, the dancer’s experience is one of coterminus experiences of work, vocational training and family life that can start before the entry into primary education. This represents a serious challenge to the three-stage model as a general model for conceptualising transitions. Using the experience of the dancers and building on the work of Becker and Wyn, this paper explores how the concept of belonging points the way forward towards a more comprehensive conceptualisation of the transition.     

How science teachers' concerns about school‐based assessment of practical work vary with time: the Hong Kong experience

School‐based assessment of science students' practical skills has two important roles—as a complement to written papers in public examinations and as a catalyst for enriching the science curriculum in schools. This article describes a quantitative study of the concerns chemistry and biology teachers experience as they engage in the process of implementation of a school‐based assessment scheme for practical work. A 23‐item questionnaire was developed to measure five categories of teacher concern: evaluation, information, management, consequence and refocusing. The nature of each category of teacher concern is discussed in relation to innovation adoption and implementation. Data were collected from 400 chemistry and 412 biology teachers in Hong Kong. Teachers' information and management concerns lessened in intensity when they became experienced users of a school‐based assessment scheme. However, teaching experience alone could not motivate teachers to think more about the impact of school‐based assessment on student learning, their professional development in student assessment and the possible refinements in their school‐based assessment scheme. Concerns‐based interventions are suggested to help teachers grow professionally.     

Mathematically based and practically based explanations in the elementary school: teachers’ preferences

This article focuses on elementary school teachers’ preferences for mathematically based (MB) and practically based (PB) explanations. Using the context of even and odd numbers, it explores the types of explanations teachers generate on their own as well as the types of explanations they prefer after reviewing various explanations. It also investigates the basis for these preferences. Results show that teacher-generated explanations include more MB explanations than PB explanations. However, many still choose to use mostly PB explanations in their classrooms, believing that these explanations will be most convincing to their students. The implications for teacher education are discussed.