Classification and Framing of the Curriculum in Evangelical Christian and Muslim Schools in England and The Netherlands

This article examines some of the ways that Muslim and evangelical Christian schools in England and The Netherlands deal with religious education. Various schools take different views about how aspects of religious belief should be taught and how Christian or Muslim belief should be related to the wider curriculum of the school. While some of the schools have attempted to integrate, for example, evangelical Christianity throughout the whole of the curriculum, others have been content to have the religious teaching as a separate component of the curriculum. This paper uses the work of Basil Bernstein to describe and understand the nature of the religious curriculum in these schools. Through a series of case studies of schools and curricula it examines the nature of the curricula and their possible effects on children.     

Dutch children and their ‘God’: the development of the ‘God’ concept among indigenous and immigrant children in the Netherlands

In the 1980s and 1990s in the Netherlands, as a reaction to the growing number of non‐Christian pupils at Christian schools, religious education and religious development became issues for debate. At some schools, it was the exclusiveness of the Christian tradition that dominated, and at others it was the inclusiveness. Another group specialised in inter‐religious dialogue. Our research studied the religious development of pupils from two primary schools. One is the first and only inter‐religious primary school in the Netherlands, the Juliana van Stolberg primary school. The other is a Christian school, the Prinses Margriet primary school that educates pupils exclusively in the Christian tradition. The research questions focussed on the development of the ‘God’ concept of children confronted with stories from different religious traditions. The ‘God’ concept is seen in our research as a concept that develops in an inductive way from the data. This way of conceptualising ‘development’ is coined as the prospective perspective on development. The results of this comparative research led to the tentative conclusion that pupils in our research population who were involved in inter‐religious learning, demonstrate explorative behaviour concerning their own religion and that of others. Their ‘God’ concept shows hybrid characteristics. These pupils are rooted in their own tradition, and at the same time they are ‘on the move’. This offers points of departure for the development of citizens articulating their commitments and turning imminent conflicts into inter‐religious encounters.     

Crossing borders in educational innovation: Framing foreign examples in discussing comprehensive education in the Netherlands, 1969–1979

In the Netherlands, crossing borders to study comprehensive schools was an important strategy in the 1970s, a decisive period for the start and the end of the innovation. According to policy-borrowing theory, actors that engage in debating educational issues are framing foreign examples of comprehensive schooling to convince their audiences. Framing therefore became the leading concept behind our study of the intellectual debate, examined through the leading Dutch scientific journal Pedagogische Studiën (Educational Studies), and the public debate, examined through recordings of television programmes. Assuming that those debates were influential in the political middle school process, our analyses show that foreign examples indeed functioned as a framing device in the form of legitimisation, glorification, sensationalisation and caution. However, the impact of framing differed. In the phase of cross-national attraction, the reform-minded perspective in the scholarly debate had a stimulating effect on the development of the plans, but little influence on the governmental decision-making process. This contrasts with the frames that were brought forward by television programmes. Although the negative frames, such as “a factory-made sausage”, were rejected by the programmes, such frames could linger in people’s minds as a means to interpret ideas about middle schools. At the end of the 1970s, the middle school was reduced to a minor feature of educational policy and, eventually, the middle school experiments were brought to a close. As a result, the foreign solution of introducing comprehensive education was never transferred to the Netherlands.     

Religious education in the context of sub‐Saharan Africa: the Malawian example

The argument in this paper is that in spite of the acknowledgement of plurality, many countries in sub‐Saharan Africa seem reluctant to introduce multi‐faith approaches preferring to maintain Christian confessionalism in religious education. Even in those countries where new approaches are being tried, there is some unwillingness to make wholesale changes throughout the school system. In some instances this state of affairs is precipitated not by educational policy but by the socio‐religious situation, which mirrors Christian ideals. This is better illustrated in the Malawian context where largely due in part to the historical Christian influence and for the fact Christianity is the major religion in the country, multi‐faith religious education introduced in schools was opposed. As a compromise to a difficult situation, government resolved to offer both multi‐faith religious education and the historical Bible knowledge on the school curriculum. Results of a school survey seem to indicate that Bible knowledge as opposed to multi‐faith religious education is still a favoured syllabus in schools, possible reasons of which are suggested. The conclusion is that efforts should be made to interest those still wary about multi‐faith religious education considering the benefits it can bring in a world today where heterogeneity rather than homogeneity is the acceptable reality.     

School bullying in Korea and christian educational approach

The central purpose of this study is to examine approaches for dealing with the problem of bullying (wangtta in Korean) in schools from the Christian educational perspective. There has been much development in both research and practice in the 1990s and 2000s relating to bullying in Korean schools. Most Korean research on bullying, however, has almost exclusively focussed on verification of the facts that bullying or peer rejection is a widespread phenomenon in schools. This study, however, is mainly concerned with how to tackle effectively the bullying problem on the basis of Christian educational philosophy. To do this, this paper suggests a four stage approach to dealing with bullying: namely, clarifying the Christian school ethos, leading to determine the school’s bullying policy. With the bullying policy, school anti-bullying programs could be developed in order to create a bullyingfree school environment.     

Accelerated Christian Education: a case study of the use of race in voucher-funded private Christian schools

President Donald Trump has promised an expansion of voucher programs for private schools in the United States. Private Christian schools are likely beneficiaries of such an expansion, but little research has been conducted about the curricula they use or their suitability for public funds. This article describes and critiques the depiction of race in Accelerated Christian Education, a curriculum used in some voucher-funded schools in the United States, as well as in private schools in 140 countries. It employs content analysis and qualitative documentary analysis of the curriculum workbooks, and builds on Christian Smith and Michael Emerson’s theoretical framework of white evangelicals’ ‘cultural toolkit’ to explain the ideas about race in the curriculum. The paper finds that in addition to some overt racism, the system promulgates a worldview which does not have the capacity to recognize or oppose systemic injustice. It is argued that such a curriculum is not a suitable recipient of federal funding.     

SECURING FIRST‐HAND DATA AS TO THE RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

Ritual theorist Ronald Grimes notes a lack of rites of passage in Western society, yet a parallel longing for them. Although Grimes hesitates to invent new rites, such invention is the interest of this article. Building on research that juxtaposes ritual theory and Evangelical values, this work narrates the invention and implementation of a rite of passage into womanhood for undergraduates. It is based on Grimes’ markers of effectiveness and four relationships that form the essence of an Evangelical woman. Qualitative markers of its efficacy suggest that this is a viable method of encouraging Christian maturity in women.     

The impact of community schools on student dropout in pre-vocational education

Dropout prevention is highly ranked on the political agenda in many countries. It remains unclear, however, how dropout can be effectively reduced, as many different factors determine student dropout. Community schools recognize this and aim to modernize education such that it better accommodates students’ personal needs. As a result these schools cooperate more with external organizations, stimulate parental involvement in the educational process, and organize more extracurricular activities. This study examines the impact of Dutch community schools on student dropout. It focuses in particular on pre-vocational education, because dropout is particularly high in this educational track. Moreover, the focus is on the city of Rotterdam because this city is a frontrunner in the Netherlands in establishing community schools. Use is made of unique registration data on all Rotterdam students who were enrolled in pre-vocational education between 2004 and 2008. The impact of community schools is identified by exploiting the fact that community schools were not created before the beginning of the school year 2006/2007. This enables us to estimate the community school impact by means of a difference-in-differences estimation model combined with an iterative matching approach. The estimation results suggest that community schools are as effective as regular schools with respect to dropout reduction. Community school subsidies do not seem to contribute to reducing dropout.     

Enabling teachers to become pedagogical leaders: case studies of two IDEAS schools in Singapore and Australia

This research paper is about the role of the principal in enabling teacher leadership for pedagogical innovations and school improvement studied in two Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools (IDEAS) schools in Singapore and Australia over a 3-year period from 2005 to 2007. The research reported is based on the developing relationship between principals and teacher leaders as they collaboratively engage in a process of whole school improvement. Both case study schools used the IDEAS school improvement program which originates from the Leadership Research Institute, University of Southern Queensland. The cases trace the facilitation of the IDEAS process in each school and highlights the centrality of teacher leadership in bringing about change in school-wide pedagogy and a process of school re-culturing. It underlines the fact that principals need to support the enabling of leadership among teachers by giving them the space, time and responsibility to make decisions about curriculum work and ensuring that these are aligned with new organizational structures and processes. The paper discusses how the schools were different and yet similar in many ways between the two countries, Singapore and Australia, with regard to the nature of the enabling processes for organizational revitalization and school capacity building. It draws out some implications for school leadership and school improvement.     

Secular youth and religious practice: candle lighting in Norwegian folk high schools

Although large international studies have defined Norway as one of the most secular countries in the world, Christian folk high schools in Norway have experienced record high attendance. This paper presents case studies of the religious education (RE) and practices of two Christian folk high schools in Norway. A survey shows that students at these schools can be considered representative of the confessional backgrounds and stated values of their cohort of Norwegian youth. The studied institutions have the declared goal of offering RE, of which an on-campus worship service is a central element. A large portion of the student body attends these services. Using a reconstruction of Etienne Wenger’s theory of communities of practice, the author analyses student participation in the school worship service, specifically in the act of candle lighting. Observations and student interviews indicate that the service can be described as a reflective practice representing a dialogic form of religion. This article contributes an analysis of the distinctive form of RE offered by Christian folk high schools in Norway. In a broader sense, it contributes to the understanding of secular youth and their relation to religious practice.     

Combining Market and Bureaucratic Control in Education: An answer to market and bureaucratic failure?

This article focuses on institutional arrangements in education across Western countries. It essentially deals with the recent trend towards extended school choice presumably aimed at creating a competitive environment for schools and teachers. For many years the functioning of educational systems, in particular the way schools were institutionally co-ordinated, was not perceived as fundamental to economic analysis. But more and more economists now believe that the institutional setting in which schools are embedded-their governance structure-is decisive regarding both efficiency and equity. In this respect, it is worth noting that most Western countries rely essentially on bureaucratic control to co-ordinate their educational sector. Yet some of them, such as Belgium, The Netherlands, England and Wales, New Zealand and Sweden incorporate market-oriented mechanisms at the heart of their institutional arrangements. The main focus of this article is to analyse the origins, as well as the economic relevance, of this-in some cases relatively recent-tendency to mix bureaucratic and market approaches to education.     

Christian Schools in a Pluralistic Society?

The central question of this article is whether separate Christian schools are defensible in a pluralistic liberal democracy. This question is answered from the perspective of Christian parents and based on the premise that these parents want to send their children to separate Christian schools. We argue that Christian education and separate Christian schools can be compatible with civic education of children towards a liberal democratic citizen, but that for some Christian communities this will not be easily achieved.     

荷兰高职教育中的工作场所学习研究

在高等职业学校和企业将工作与学习相结合的双元培训项目被视为技能形成过程的有力载体,工作场所学习则被认为是发展职业能力和职业认同感的有效策略.为探讨荷兰高等职业教育的双元训练计划中的工作场所学习,实施定性的案例研究.研究结果显示,工作场所各部门之间的学习环境存在差异,学校和工作场所之间的合作缺失,学生在工作场所难以获得深...     

Religious beliefs in science classrooms

The question of the relationship between science and religion assumes importance for many secondary school students of science, especially but not exclusively for those in Christian schools. Science as presented in many school classrooms is not as objective and value free as it might seem on first examination, nor does it represent adequately the range of beliefs about science held by students and teachers. This paper reports part of a larger research study into beliefs about science and religion held by students, teachers and clergy in a Lutheran secondary school. Results indicate that participants in the study was the relationship between science and religious belief in ways unforeseen and unappreciated by traditional school science programs. The stories of selected participants are told and they frame a discussion of implications of the study for science teaching.     

Teacher Evaluation in The Netherlands and its Relationship to Educational Effectiveness Research

In this article, we describe the history, current practice and future of teacher evaluation in The Netherlands. After a short introduction describing the Dutch educational system, we present information about teacher evaluation practices performed by persons outside the school (the Inspectorate) and inside the school (the principal). We then pay attention to the progress of teacher and school effectiveness research in The Netherlands and the relatively weak links between research and evaluation practices in schools. Finally, we outline some potential future developments in the field of teacher evaluation in The Netherlands.     

Post-secular schooling: freedom through faith or diversity in community

Post-secularism and neo-liberalism have converged in education policy and theory to generate a new enthusiasm for faith schools, along with criticism of the publicly-funded common or community school. However, in a post-secular social context, where religious and spiritual pluralism exponentially increases, and belief positions are both polarised and syncretised, the democratic notion of the common or community school appears even more crucial to address community understanding. There need to be strong reasons, therefore, for abandoning the common or community school in favour of faith schools. This article presents a critique of recent key philosophical defences of the public funding of faith schools, put forward by Richard Pring and Harry Brighouse, and by the Christian educationalist, Trevor Cooling. It also gives support to Michael Fielding and Peter Moss’ arguments for radicalising and reforming the common school, to enable it to be a community for understanding in an increasingly challenging post-secular environment.     

Recovering lost histories of educational design: a case study in contemporary participatory strategies

Past practices shape and limit the design imagination of teachers, pupils, parents, governors, and others concerned with designing modern schools. Bringing histories of education to the table in the participatory design process of new school buildings and curricula is necessary. Schools having an extraordinary past have the potential to draw from that prefigurative practice. This paper reports a case study on how the Kees Boeke School in The Netherlands recently has returned to its own history in addressing the needs of its current and future learners in a redesign project. Through addressing the question of how the redesign might reflect a reconnection with the original vision of education espoused by Boeke—learning in relative freedom, with awareness of responsibilities for own and community’s well-being—the school management, architects, teachers, and students took part in a participatory design process. That process and the resulting school design is discussed. From this case study we argue that past adventures in education can inspire current redesign. Past experiences as well as concerns and beliefs about the future are an inevitable influence on initiatives to realise schools for the future, both for schools with experimental and those with traditional histories.     

Virtual schools: The changing landscape of K-12 education in the U.S.

Virtual schools are a growing phenomenon in k-12 education. School systems in almost every state in the United States offer some version of fully online or blended education. It is no longer far-fetched to conclude that if the current trend continues, virtual school enrollments will eclipse those of traditional brick-and-mortar k-12 institutions within the next 10 years. This paper examines some of the challenges and strengths of virtual schools, it offers questions to consider when deciding whether or not a virtual school option would be ideal, and it draws conclusions, which provide an outlook for the future of virtual schools in k-12 education.     

SCHOOL CHOICE, EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: THE CASE FOR MORE CONTROL

ABSTRACT:  This paper focuses on school choice and the extent to which admissions to publicly-funded secondary schools in England address issues of equity and social justice. It argues that schools with responsibility for their own admissions are more likely than others to act in their own self interest by 'selecting in' or 'creaming' particular pupils and 'selecting out' others. Given this, it is argued that individual schools should not be responsible for admissions. Instead, admissions should be the responsibility of a local authority (or non-partisan body); this body should make decisions about who should be allocated to which school on the basis of the expressed wishes of the parents, and the admissions criteria of the school in question. Admissions criteria should be objective, clear and fair and the admissions system itself should address issues of equity and social justice. It is argued that systems where there are some 'controls' on the choice process should be facilitated to address equity and social justice considerations which can benefit individuals and communities.