The history of secondary education in History of Education

History of Education has published a steady stream of papers on the history of secondary education over the first 40 years of its existence. This corpus of research has been generated in the context of renewed interest in the history of secondary education that has been stimulated by developments in social and historical inquiry as well as by the contemporary onset of intensive reform of secondary education in many countries. History of Education has made a distinguished contribution to this new literature, especially in relation to an understanding of the secondary school curriculum, elite forms of secondary education, and increasingly in relation to secondary education for girls and secondary education policy. Some other key themes and topics have been generally less to the fore and require further detailed investigation.     

Metafiction for beginners: Allan Ahlberg'sTen in a Bed

Margaret Mackey is studying for a master's degree in library and information studies at the University of Alberta in Canada. Previously, in Britain, she taught English language and literature in secondary schools for ten years. She has been secondary editor ofThe Essex Review of Children's Literature and has editedFestival Plays (Longman), a collection of young playwrights.     

Stimulating constructivist teaching styles through use of an observation rubric

One of the difficult transitions for new secondary science teachers is that from novice teacher to master teacher. Often this process involves the novice in adopting survival strategies for teaching rather than those advocated by the National science education standards or the Project 2061 benchmarks. This study reports on an instrument that has been shown to be useful in helping novice teachers reflect on and change their science teaching praxis. Based on the interpretation of this case study, it appears to have the potential to significantly affect the development of secondary science teachers by providing a readily accessible model of instruction that aligns with student‐centered models of instruction advocated by the Standards and Project 2061. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 955–971,1999     

The Process Of Developing a New Curriculum for Lower Secondary Education in Guatemala

The intention of this article is to present the way in which a proposal was put forward for a national basic curriculum for the lower level of secondary education in Guatemala, within a general curricular reform of the education system. In this process, the International Bureau of Education and UNESCO’s national office in the country provided technical advice. The article examines the socio-cultural and educational context, some conceptual foundations for the curricular reform, the construction of the curriculum for lower secondary education, some features of the proposed curriculum and the outlook for the future. The process of curriculum construction included a diagnosis, drawing up a strategy for reforming the first cycle of secondary education and preparation of the proposed curriculum. Likewise, the authors present the steps that must be taken in order for the national basic curriculum to be adopted, subject, amongst other factors, to the availability of funding. Original language: Spanish Linda Asturias de Barrios (Guatemala) Doctorate in Anthropology from the University at Albany, State University of New York. Postgraduate studies in Public Policies and Intercultural Affairs at the Universidad del Valle, Guatemala. She has taught at secondary school and university level. As a researcher, she has published books and articles on ethnology, development and education in Guatemala and Central America. At the Ministry of Education she has worked as Co-ordinator of the National and International Co-operation Unit (1997–1999), Co-ordinator of the Reform of Secondary Education (2004–2006) and Co-ordinator of the Reform of Lower Secondary Education (2007). E-mail: lindaasturias@yahoo.com Verónica Mérida Arellano (Guatemala) Teacher of secondary school language and literature and graduate in Literature and Philosophy at Rafael Landívar University. She completed a master’s degree in education and curriculum at the University del Valle, Guatemala. She has been a university lecturer. She has published books and articles on the teaching of Maya as a mother tongue and Spanish as a second language. She has worked as curriculum specialist at the Ministry of Education (1985–1991) and as Co-ordinator of Teacher-Training Programmes at Rafael Landívar University. From 2005 to 2007 she acted as Curriculum Consultant for Lower Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education. E-mail: vmeridaguate@yahoo.com.mx     

Makabayan Curriculum for Secondary Schools in the Philippines: The Development of Citizenship

The Department of Education in the Philippines has undertaken initiatives to restructure the curriculum for secondary schools as part of its ongoing effort to improve the quality of learning. After a decade of study, the Department produced a new basic education curriculum, as the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum. All public schools in the country were mandated to implement the curriculum at the start of 2002–2003 school year. Makabayan (nationalistic or patriotic) is one of the learning areas in the Basic Education Curriculum along with English, Filipino, Science and Mathematics. Makabayan from First to Fourth Year is designed to develop the personal, social and work special skills of learners especially their interpersonal skills, empathy with other cultures, vocational efficiency, problem-solving, and decision-making in daily life, that is, to develop socio-cultural and politico-economic literacy. This paper describes the context and content of the Makabayan curriculum and the extent to which it develops in learners a sense of citizenship, that is, a healthy personal and national self-concept. To delimit scope, this paper focuses on the study of geography only as one of the components of Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) in the secondary school Makabayan Curriculum, using the results of a study of third year high school students' learning of geographic knowledge and skills as bases of empirical data. Key Words: citizenship, geographic literacy and competency, Makabayan curriculum, secondary education     

Successful secondary school principalship in disadvantaged contexts from a leadership for learning perspective

The paper we present here is part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP), which is designed to analyse the characteristic traits of successful leadership in different contexts and countries [Day, C., and K. Leithwood. 2007. Successful School Leadership in Times of Change. Dordrecht: Springer-Kluwer; Day, C., and D. Gurr. 2014. Leading School Successfully. Stories from the Field. London: Routledge]. One subgroup of the Spanish research team participating in the ISSPP at the University of Granada has contributed to the project by carrying out a comparative study of the type of leadership for learning at four secondary schools in disadvantaged contexts. Following ISSPP data collection protocols and using a category system specially designed to analyse the leadership for learning carried out by the four principals, the results show that four secondary schools have principals with a similar traits, dispositions and value systems; however, the secondary schools with the best academic results employed practices and strategies more closely associated with leadership for learning than schools with poorer academic results. The data provided by this study confirm the traits and strategies that the ISSPP has been identifying in successful principals in disadvantaged contexts in various countries. It also serves as a source of reflection and discussion on the type of leadership for learning present in some disadvantaged secondary schools in Spain.     

Walking the walk: Rasch analysis of an exploratory survey of secondary teachers’ attitudes and understanding of students with learning difficulties

Abstract

This paper describes the use of low stakes Rasch analysis to examine the findings of a 2004 survey focused on secondary teachers’ attitudes and understanding of students with learning difficulties. The responses of 280 secondary teachers from across Queensland have been interpreted in complementary ways. Two sets of quantitative data were subjected to analysis using the Rasch model for rating scale data (Andrich, 1988; Bond & Fox, 2001). Attitudinal data was collected by Liken scale responses while data obtained from statements about student characteristics was analysed for understanding. These results were linked to demographic indicators and to qualitative data of selected teacher groups. This exploratory study revealed a uniformity of teacher attitude and understanding regardless of demographic indicator. This has significant implications for teacher educators, pedagogy, school organisation and culture as well as for the large numbers of students with learning difficulties enrolled in secondary schools.     

A longitudinal study on boys’ and girls’ career aspirations and interest in technology

Background: More young people, boys and girls, are needed in technical studies and professions, as the relative number of students in technology-related studies has been decreasing in most industrialised countries. To overcome this decrease several countries implemented mandatory technology classes in the curriculum of secondary education.

Purpose: This study has two goals: exploring the evolution of pupils’ interest during the year(s) they attend the mandatory technology classes and exploring determining characteristics for differences in boys’ and girls’ attitude change over time.

Sample: This study focuses on data gathered in the first and second grade of the first cycle in general secondary education in the North region of Belgium, Flanders. In a first stage we selected a good representation of geographically spread schools (n = 20), from which over 1300 students participated.

Design and methods: A longitudinal study with eight measurement occasions spread over the course of two years is presented in order to capture the evolution of students’ attitudes, making use of a multilevel growth model analysis.

Results: The results show that students’ interest in technology decreases over time, although at the end of each grade interest is increasing again. Boys’ and girls’ interest in technology also evolves a little different in the first cycle of secondary education. For career aspirations we didn’t see any significant difference between boys and girls. Boys’ and girls’ aspirations decrease over time with a little increase by the end of the second grade. Students with a more technological curriculum also have more career aspirations in the field of technology than their peers with other curricula. Although students’ perceptions about technology as a subject for boys and girls are largely stable.

Conclusions: The evolution of students’ attitude is far from linear, this strengthens us in the choice for a more complex analysis model and the choice for more measuring points than only at the beginning and the end when analysing students’ attitudes towards technology. With this research we found that students interest and aspirations in the field of technology are not stable and do change in the first cycle of secondary education. Overall, we can conclude that if the goal of technology education at school maintains to promote ‘a larger number of students in technological oriented studies and professions’, there is still much to do.     

Poetry for children: a neglected art

In the first section of his article, Michael Benton notes the absence of pieces about poetry in this and most other publications claiming a concern for children's literature. It is an omission the editors ofCle have themselves regretted, and in this issue Mr Benton's article is followed by a contribution from Leonard Clark, a poet himself and a considerable influence for many years as one of Her Majesty's Inspectorate in encouraging the enjoyment of poetry in schools in the U.K. Cle will have, in a forthcoming issue, an article by the poet Michael Rosen, and there is also in preparation, for early publication, a checklist of work by American poets. The Editors would very much welcome further contributions discussing the work of children's poets and the reading and teaching of poetry in schools, in the form of letters or articles.Michael Benton has taught in secondary schools and is now a lecturer in education at the University of Southampton. With his brother Peter, he compiled the successful series of poetry anthologies,Touchstones (for secondary students) andPoetry Workshop) Both are published by Hodder & Stoughton Educational, who will soon bring out three further anthologies by the Bentons,Watchwords, for eight-to-twelve year olds.     

Education and Transcendental Enterprises

Abstract

Teacher careers in secondary schools have been transformed over the last 25 years. Established careers paths, based originally around the distinction between graduate subject‐specialists and non‐graduate teachers, have been progressively eroded and in recent years typical career progressions have given way to idiosyncratic work histories. Careers in teaching are being replaced by ‘careering’ teachers. As well as making it more difficult to plan a career, the ‘disestablishment’ of teacher careers has profound implications for the relations between teachers with different academic backgrounds and for patterns of influence within secondary schools. The progressive disestablishment of teacher careers has helped undermine traditional organisational patterns in secondary schools. It has strengthened still further the powers of patronage available to headteachers and brought particular benefits to the members of the burgeoning management groups who now assist them with their widened responsibilities. This increase in the influence of those with broader curricular and administrative responsibilities is at the expense of heads of traditional subject departments. More generally, the position of traditional subject graduates, with postgraduate teaching certificates, has deteriorated in relation both to those with degrees in education and to non‐graduate teachers.     

Choosing a secondary school for young people on the autism spectrum: a multi-informant study

Deciding on a secondary school for children with autism is notoriously difficult for parents. While current UK legislation emphasises the choice that parents of children with special educational needs should have in educational decision-making, there is a dearth of research in this area, which means that little is known about how parents come to make decisions about secondary school placements and the types of support, if any, they receive from professionals. The present study aimed to determine the factors that immediately influence secondary school choice for young people with autism in one London local authority from the perspectives of multiple informants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of children with autism (n?=?7), young people themselves prior to secondary school entry (n?=?6), parent advisors (n?=?5) and secondary school professionals (n?=?5). Parents emphasised the anxiety and burden of the decision-making process. There was, however, substantial agreement among adult groups on the factors necessary for a successful secondary school placement: a nurturing, flexible and inclusive environment that emphasised both academic and life skills. Few adults, however, mentioned the importance of children's social relationships – a factor that featured prominently in the reports of young people. These findings highlight both the different perceptions of those involved in making decisions about the educational placements of children with autism and the challenges associated with weighing up these potentially conflicting perspectives. More work is needed to ensure both that information is transparent and accessible to all parents and that young people are actively involved in decisions that ultimately affect their lives.     

Educational Research Policies in European Countries 1978-79: Finaland

The development of the Finnish educational system has now reached an important stage. The establishment of the comprehensive [polyvalent] school has been completed. The new school system has been extended to the whole of Finland for the school year 1977-1978. A law defining the modalities of the reform of secondary education in the second cycle and technical and vocational education was promulgated in 1978. The planning of the implementation of this reform of secondary education has begun and will terminate in the middle of 1980. The reform of post-secondary education will be fully achieved by the school year 1988-1989.     

A Follow‐Up of Mathematics Interventions for Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract This article extends a previous review of the literature ( Maccini & Hughes, 1997 ) on mathematics interventions for secondary school students with learning disabilities (LD). A systematic review of the literature from 1995 to 2006 yielded 23 articles that met the criteria for inclusion. It was determined that a number of practices demonstrated significant gains for secondary school students with LD in math, including mnemonic strategy instruction, graduated instructional approach, cognitive strategy instruction involving planning, schema‐based instruction, and contextualized videodisc instruction. We also discuss the nature and focus of math interventions and implications for both research and practice based on the findings.     

Secondary extinction in Pavlovian fear conditioning

Pavlov (1927/1960) reported that following the conditioning of several stimuli, extinction of one conditioned stimulus (CS) attenuated responding to others that had not undergone direct extinction. However, this secondary extinction effect has not been widely replicated in the contemporary literature. In three conditioned suppression experiments with rats, we further explored the phenomenon. In Experiment 1, we asked whether secondary extinction is more likely to occur with target CSs that have themselves undergone some prior extinction. A robust secondary extinction effect was obtained with a nonextinguished target CS. Experiment 2 showed that extinction of one CS was sufficient to reduce renewal of a second CS when it was tested in a neutral (nonextinction) context. In Experiment 3, secondary extinction was observed in groups that initially received intermixed conditioning trials with the target and nontarget CSs, but not in groups that received conditioning of the two CSs in separate sessions. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that CSs must be associated with a common temporal context during conditioning for secondary extinction to occur.     

A preliminary investigation of special needs students' global and mathematics self-concepts

We investigated students' self-concepts within a multidimensional and hierarchical model. Participants were 95 special needs students in grades 3 through 12 who received mathematics instruction in special education classes. Partial support was found for the hierarchical model in special needs students: The relationship between scores on the Piers-Harris self-Concept Scale and Mathematics Achievement (Iowa Tests of Basic Skills) was significantly stronger for elementary students (r =.53) than for secondary students (r =.04). Percent of the school day spent in special education had a negative relationship (p <.05) to scores on Piers-Harris self-Concept Scale and a positive relationship (p <.05) to an investigator-developed mathematics self-concept instrument. The results suggest that special education has a complex relationship to self-concept. Possible implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Facebook group dynamics: an ethnographic study of the teaching and learning potential for secondary school teachers

ABSTRACT

This study examines the role of social networking sites on the learning processes, teaching practices and professional development of secondary school teachers. By conducting observations and in-depth interviews with active participants, we present an ethnographic study of the Facebook group Teaching ideas secondary education [author’s translation], which is hosted and primarily employed by Flemish teachers. By drawing parallels between the study findings and the theory of affinity spaces we aim to gain greater insight into emerging group dynamics and social informal learning processes. According to respondents, the Facebook group has the potential to address teachers’ needs with respect to the exchange of teaching ideas, experiences and materials. The findings point to a number of emerging developments in the educational landscape, highlighting that social media environments present a new source of inspiration, and combined with a collaborative atmosphere are able to stimulate cross-fertilization, social informal learning processes and self-management and -reflection. We hold these findings up to the light of current education discourses.     

Wilson,Eydie (2013) Serious comix ISTE (Washington & Eurospan,London) isbn 978‐1‐56484‐321‐0 96 pp £27.50 https://www.iste.org/store/product?ID=2444%E2%80%8E

Eydie Wilson's book pleads that struggling secondary learners be encouraged to design on‐screen storyboards as a means of planning various kinds of work. The book is short and—especially at this high price—would benefit from being much better illustrated than it is: in particular, it needs sample learners' work and other forms of case study material. Though clearly written and developed, Serious comix therefore remains dry and shows few signs of the author's passion for its subject. Yet the concept is appealing and has potential: if you think it could have some impact on your work, borrow a copy and see what appeals to you. Eric Deeson     

Teaching poetry

The two articles which follow suggest ways in which teachers can encourage young readers to read poetry with greater pleasure and understanding. The articles complement each other, not least because Andrew Stibbs had a hand in both of them. The first piece discusses various approaches with illustrative detail; the second provides a list of suggestions.Andrew Stibbs taught in English secondary schools for fifteen years and is now a Lecturer in Education at the University of Leeds. He has published articles on English teaching and on children's literature (some of them inCle), poems, andAssessing Children's Language (Ward Lock Educational, for the National Association for the Teaching of English).     

Improving Narrative Writing Skills of Secondary Students with Disabilities Using Strategy Instruction

Writing standards and objectives outline complex skills for narrative essay writing at the secondary level. Students with disabilities often produce disorganized narratives with fewer narrative elements than their peers without disabilities. A multiple-probe design was used to examine effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development for the Pick my genre then idea, Organize my notes, Write (POW) + Setting, Tension, rising Action, Climax, Solution (STACS) strategy on narrative essay-writing skills for 6 secondary students with disabilities. Results indicated students improved the quality of their narratives and included a greater number of strategy-specific and story grammar elements following instruction. Students were also able to transfer skills across a history or social studies setting and could more accurately differentiate narrative writing prompts from expository and persuasive writing prompts. Treatment acceptability results indicated students found instruction beneficial.