Self‐harm through cutting: evidence from a sample of schools in the north of England

This project explored the prevalence of self‐harm by cutting in a geographically circumscribed area of the North of England, using a school‐based survey. Twenty‐three per cent of the young people reported they had cut themselves at least once, with no major changes evident at different age groups or with gender. There were clear differences in rates between schools, and statistically significant differences when comparing the coping mechanisms used by young people who cut themselves with those of their peers.     

Colonial schooling and missionary evangelism: the case of Roman Catholic educational initiatives in north‐eastern Zambia, 1895‐1953

This article considers the role of university staff and students in camps for the unemployed in interwar Britain. These ventures can be seen as showing continuities both with nineteenth-century social service initiatives like the educational settlements, but also with contemporary concerns with service learning. The article explores three camping movements: the camps for unemployed men organised by the Universities Council for Unemployed Camps, the Durham women’s camps organised by students from Girton College, and the camps for unemployed workers and students organised by the English nationalist Rolf Gardiner. Despite the obvious dissimilarities, the three movements showed a common concern with creating community and bridging class divisions; they were also intended to develop a new approach to leadership among the students. However, they also had unintended consequences: many student volunteers developed left-of-centre views, some shifting radically to the Left, and others committing to a lifetime of public service.     

Privatization and sponsorship: the re‐agenting of the school system in England 1

In this article I use the concept of ‘re‐agenting’ to explore and explain the role of non‐state agencies, principally private companies and business entrepreneurs, as key instruments in the government’s transformation of the school system in England. Their role takes both for‐profit and not‐for‐profit forms. The outsourcing to private companies of the implementation of government education policies and the delivery of educational services to schools and local authorities has created a profitable market. Equally significant is the growing involvement of the private sector in schools through the sponsorship of specialist schools and Academies on a non‐profit basis.     

Leadership in education: the case of Vice‐Chancellors

This paper is based on the Franklin Lecture given at the Guild of Educators on 17 November 2005 at the Bakers’ Hall, London.     

Empowerment and Debilitation in the Educational Experience of the Blind 1 in Nineteenth‐century England and Scotland

In earlier ‘humanitarian’ accounts, Britain’s voluntary blind institutions exemplified successful nineteenth‐century philanthropy and later became effective partners of the state. From the 1970s, Victorian charity came increasingly under criticism and subsequent studies on disability condemn the exclusion and utilitarian training of a Foucauldian ‘Age of Confinement’. Recent defences of the private record in blind welfare and education claim voluntarism’s survival proves its value and strengths. Social responses to blindness have often been complex and those involved in the early education of the blind should not be judged too categorically. The comparative poverty of Britain’s overall provision may be explained by the long absence of the state but positive initiatives did emerge. Worcester College’s pupils attained academic excellence and encouraging attempts at integration by some school boards demonstrated an alternative to confinement. The relatively small impact of these experiments, nationally, was attributable to particular elements in Britain’s educational culture.     

Gifted and at risk: Four longitudinal case studies of post‐high‐school development

This study explored the subjective experience of post‐high‐school development in four gifted individuals considered at risk because of significant underachievement, depression, or family stress. Conflict with parents was a dominant theme in the language of three of the subjects, and resolution of that conflict appeared to be associated with developmental task‐accomplishment and improved academic motivation and emotional health. The process of differentiating from parents included exploring identity, finding career direction, and struggling with autonomy issues during extended education. The developmental stories of these individuals, largely in their own words, are situated in one transitional developmental period, and the narratives allude to sexual abuse, sexual orientation, relatively early marriage, or depression.     

Some sources for the history of teacher‐training in England and Wales

Abstract:

Though his best‐selling novel of school life Eric, or, Little by Little: A Tale of Roslyn School has over the years been the subject of much attention, the wider educational thought and practice of Frederic William Farrar, teacher, novelist, scientist, classicist, theologian, and Dean of Canterbury, has for the most part been neglected by scholars. This paper discusses certain aspects of Farrar the educationist, including his distinctive evangelical attitude toward children; his fervent criticism of the prevailing Classical public school curriculum; his advocacy that much more science be taught; his strong antipathy to corporal and other punishment; his distaste for the increasing athleticism in the public schools; his view of the main purpose of education, namely the inculcation of morality, religious conviction, and intellectual rigor.     

Web‐based versus paper‐based data collection for the evaluation of teaching activity: empirical evidence from a case study

The collection of teaching evaluation questionnaires in the traditional paper‐and‐pencil format is a costly and time‐consuming process and yet it is a common assessment practice in many university systems. web‐based data collection would reduce costs and significantly increase the efficiency of the overall evaluation process in numerous ways. Results for both types of surveys are reported from two years of progressive introduction of the web‐based survey by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. In the first year, two faculties representing scientific and humanistic fields were selected for a web‐based survey. In the second year, eight out of 12 faculties took part in the web survey. This data collection strategy allowed for responses from non‐attending students and facilitated a comparison of attitudes between attending and non‐attending students.     

Pupils’ voices about citizenship education: comparative case studies in Finland,Sweden and England

The aim of the article is to present and discuss a study in which Finnish, English and Swedish pupils’ understanding of citizenship education with regard to: (a) political literacy; and (b) attitudes and values was explored. The study was a cross‐national, multiple case study and data were collected through 18 focus group dialogues with 15‐year‐old pupils. Results showed that English pupils were much more well‐informed about rights and responsibilities than their Nordic counterparts and also more skilled rhetorically, but appeared less accustomed to open and confident relationships with adults than the Swedish pupils. Finnish pupils did not seem to be encouraged to talk; instead they kept their thoughts and feelings to themselves. One conclusion, among others, was that the study illuminates conditions for the development of a so‐called key competence – i.e., ‘interpersonal, intercultural, social and civic competence’.     

Promoting and recognising excellence in the supervision of research students: an evidence‐based framework

One issue universities face is the need to demonstrate excellence in postgraduate research supervision at the individual, faculty and university level. While poor supervision might become obvious over time, with grievances, withdrawals and poor completion times and rates, this paper focuses specifically on identifying and demonstrating supervisory excellence. Currently, the amount and range of evidence used to support claims of supervisory excellence tends to be limited, leaving supervisors, faculties and institutions in a position where demonstrating excellence remains difficult. This paper proposes two inter‐dependent ideas which, considered together, help to redress this problem. The first is a ‘map’ for the collection and use of evidence of supervisory excellence. The second is a ‘template’ for a ‘supervisory excellence report’. The ‘map’ details the organisational elements, uses of data, and data types which can be considered. The ‘report’ explains one simple and potent way to organise and present these data for multiple purposes. Together they constitute a much‐needed framework for promoting and recognising excellence in the supervision of research students.     

Exposure to the eyes of God: monitorial schools and Evangelicals in early nineteenth‐century England

Through a close analysis of the links between nineteenth‐century Protestant missionary thought and the British and Foreign School Society (BFSS) this article suggests that to distinguish Enlightenment educational and social reform from evangelism is mistaken. Emblematic of the social reform projects which emerged in England as responses to the challenges of the French Revolution and rapid urbanisation, the BFSS was the outgrowth of Joseph Lancaster’s efforts at spreading the method of education he pioneered, the monitorial system, throughout the British Isles and, ultimately, the world. Despite the strong association between the BFSS and various utilitarian thinkers, evangelicals of late‐eighteenth and early‐nineteenth‐century England came to view the Society and the monitorial system as means by which to integrate all the peoples of the world into the Lord’s dominion. Becoming part of that dominion entailed subjecting oneself to constant moral scrutiny, and monitorial schools were regarded as a means by which to ensure such self‐examination. In short, missionaries seized upon monitorial schools because their aims were parallel to those of educational reformers in the metropole. Where home reformers aimed at the normalisation of the body of English political subjects, the development of the English social body, missionary reformers aimed at the normalisation of the body of God’s children.     

Pedagogical renewal in sub‐Saharan Africa: the case of Uganda

There has been an unprecedented interest in reforming pedagogical practices in sub‐Saharan Africa in the past two decades. The reform efforts are often characterised by a move away from teacher‐centred instruction to child‐centred pedagogy (CCP). Uganda has been no exception to this trend as the new curriculum adopted the principles of CCP and efforts were made to popularise and institutionalise the reformed pedagogies in primary schools. Based on a fieldwork study in selected schools in Kampala, this article seeks to explore teachers’ views on CCP, their classroom practices, and the perceived challenges in implementing CCP. The article suggests that the implementation of CCP in Ugandan classrooms has not occurred in the ways intended by policy‐makers and offers some explanations for the discrepancy between policy and practice. It also raises questions with regard to the appropriateness of CCP as the most suitable pedagogy in African classrooms.     

Why they sat still: the ideas and values of long‐serving teachers in challenging inner‐city schools in England

Within the UK there are grave concerns about retention and attrition rates within the teaching profession, particularly in challenging schools. These are compounded by worries about the gap that will be left as long‐serving teachers reach retirement age. This article is about the working lives of long‐serving teachers in three high‐poverty urban schools in England. In a climate in which teaching is tightly controlled and suffering from problems of retention and recruitment, the teachers discuss intensely personal and emotional commitments to their work‐place. Qualitative in‐depth interviews with 20 long‐serving teachers, all of whom had management responsibilities, are used to explore their lives and careers. These histories evoke a strong sense of the ideas and values that make up their personal and professional identities. These are then contrasted with the ideas and values in officially mandated views of progression within the profession. Within the stories of their professional lives, the teachers talk about the emotional dimensions of their work and the emotional ties of their ‘work‐place’. The article concludes that recognition of the emotional dimensions within teachers’ work at an official level could go some way to helping with recruitment and retention in schools facing challenging circumstances.     

Schools' fulfilment of sex and relationship education documentation: three school‐based case studies

This article presents a critical evaluation of school policies, programmes of work and practices in three state secondary schools in one district in one local authority in England. They are evaluated regarding Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) documentation, statutory and non‐statutory from 1900 to the most recent SRE guidance introduced in July 2000 by the Department for Education and Employment. The article concludes that historically and contemporarily SRE documentation has mainly been inadequate and that in the three case studies legislative requirements concerning SRE policy and practice are predominantly not met. This is particularly the case regarding the most recent SRE guidance. Young people's access to information was institutionally limited and partial. Within the three case studies there was a failure to equip children and young people with an appropriate knowledge and understanding of sexuality, which reflects their lives and the realities of a diverse society.     

Initial Teacher Training in the Post‐reform Period: a sample of student opinion in England and France

Courses of initial teacher training have recently undergone profound changes in England and France. In both countries, radical reform has swept away traditional models of practice, replacing them by systems in which schools play an increased role in the training and assessment of students and in which a new emphasis has been placed on the practicalities of teaching. In the turbulent aftermath of these reforms, how do trainees see the new programmes that aim to equip them with the necessary skills and attributes to become successful entrants to the teaching profession? This article compares and analyses the views of English and French trainees in the final months of their respective courses and identifies key areas of similarity and difference between the two systems.     

Contextual challenges of implementing learner‐centred pedagogy: the case of the problem‐solving approach in Uganda

This article explores teachers’ experiences of implementing the problem‐solving approach; a learner centred pedagogic innovation prescribed by a centrally mandated curriculum in Uganda. It presents teachers’ interpretations of the pedagogic principles suggested by the innovation as well as their accounts of challenges of implementing the pedagogic approach. The findings suggest that the teachers’ implementation of the problem‐solving approach was far more regulated by contextual affordances and constraints within schools and the broader education system and society than by their interpretations of the official curriculum. These findings highlight the influence of structural contextual factors in regulating pedagogic practice and teachers’ take‐up of learner‐centred pedagogies in Africa. The evidence from this paper suggests the need for education researchers in developing countries such as Uganda to focus on helping teachers develop strategies for teaching large classes as learner‐centred pedagogies have a bleak future in the region.     

E‐assessment within the Bologna paradigm: evidence from Portugal

The Bologna Declaration brought reforms into higher education that imply changes in teaching methods, didactic materials and textbooks, infrastructures and laboratories, etc. Statistics and mathematics are disciplines that traditionally have the worst success rates, particularly in non‐mathematics core curricula courses. This research project, Mathematics and Statistics for the Development of Professional Skills, which is in progress at the University of Beira Interior in Portugal, has as one of its main objectives the development of the e‐assessment system as a resource for learning assessment and student self‐regulation. Based on the results of the above‐mentioned project, this paper will give evidence of how to improve the reliability of an e‐assessment system, show that e‐assessment can be a good alternative to open‐ended tests and that students tend to show a positive attitude towards its use. We show that this can be done by checking the internal consistency and measurement error of the e‐assessment tests, the analysis of the association between student scores obtained by different methods of assessment and the analysis of data survey on student opinion about e‐assessment methods.