40 years of educational research in Guinea-Bissau: Mapping the terrain

A review of publications about educational research in Guinea-Bissau in the last 40 years is the subject of this paper. Published articles have permitted us to map the research terrain and produce new knowledge without collecting new empirical data. We reviewed 148 studies published between 1975 and 2015 in journal articles, theses, monographs, research reports, conference papers, books, edited volumes and grey literature. Moving from title to introduction/abstract and then the entire text we explored thematic focuses, methods, findings, conclusions and funding. This paper argues that education policy receives more attention followed by language issues and it also suggests that the research agenda is mainly due to external pressure with a tendency for applied research.     

Spiralling towards transformational action research: philosophical and practical journeys

The two‐stranded spiral shown in Figure 1 represents two aspects of the authors’ journey in becoming critical. The journey, conveyed through discussion, reflexive accounts and illustrations of particular and summary achievements, shows how Carr and Kemmis’s work has influenced the authors as action researchers, both individually and together, in nursing, over 16 years. The first strand unfurls their journey as they learned to develop their philosophical and theoretical understandings of action research as collaborative, emancipatory and transformational. They show how they now use innovative and creative methodologies to transform practice and, simultaneously, develop critical practice theory that draw on assumptions from different worldviews in the same study. Their second strand is concerned with the creation of critical communities of healthcare practitioners who undertake action research to transform themselves, practices and organisations. This strand shares the practicalities of an action research team genuinely involving stakeholders in the collaborative, democratic design of projects, their implementation and evaluation. Both strands are concerned with preparing practitioners as researchers of their own practice and with human flourishing as both the end and means of action research. Seven insights are presented.     

Expanding the research terrain: Teach For America and the problem with one-dimensional research

This paper situates Teach For America (TFA) within the larger landscape of teacher education research. After discussing the widely publicized research on TFA and outlining the methods of this review, I overview theoretical, qualitative, and quantitative studies that are not highlighted by TFA in its internal review of literature. Next, I discuss how TFA’s emphasis on a limited base of research provides a partial picture of the organization’s practical materiality. To conclude, I theorize a multi-dimensional education research landscape that transcends existing conceptions of teacher/student/school success, which are largely based on the data that we attach to students and teachers.     

From piloting e‐submission to electronic management of assessment (EMA): Mapping grading journeys

The increasing interest in electronic management of assessment is a sign of a gradual institutionalisation of e‐submission and e‐marking technologies in UK Higher Education. The effective adoption of these technologies requires a managed approach, especially a detailed understanding of current assessment practices within the institution and the development of new or adapted business processes. The findings from close participant observation of assessment processes over a 2‐year period across a large Faculty reveal that three independent variables around (1) initial marking, (2) internal quality assurance and (3) the timing of the return of e‐feedback to students, determine variance in grading journeys. Despite the apparent wide variety of processes, five major grading journeys prevail: three varieties of moderation (moderation of multiple markers and moderation of single markers either before or after grades and feedback are released to students); and two forms of second marking (either blind or open to peers). Within an institution, the identification of major workflows is fundamental to both an effective implementation of assessment technologies and in conducting change. The identification of major workflows across UK Higher Education Institutions remains critical to attain the necessary software development from global vendors.     

Mapping not tracing: qualitative educational research with political teeth

In this article, we deploy ideas from Deleuze and Guattari to argue for the importance of engaging in educational research practice designed to be productive (mapping) rather than representational (tracing). First, we introduce the significance of our approach for educational research practice. Second, we unpack key constructs from Deleuze and Guattari required for constructing our argument, and we outline the shape of mapping as productive or transformative research practice. Third, we share critical summaries of several studies that utilized mapping to engage in this kind of research practice. Finally, we discuss the nature, effects, and relevance of mapping as educational research practice.     

Mapping the terrain: Teach For America,charter school reform,and corporate sponsorship

In this paper we illustrate the relationships between Teach For America (TFA) and federal charter school reform to interrogate how policy decisions are shaped by networks of individuals, organizations, and private corporations. We use policy network analysis to create a visual representation of TFA’s key role in developing and connecting personnel, political support, and financial backing for charter reform. Next we examine how the networks unfold at a local level by zooming in on a case study of New Orleans. By mapping out these connections, we hope to provide a foundation for further investigation of how this network affects policies.     

Stepping out: collaborative research across disciplines

This paper offers the experiences and insights of two faculty members, located in two separate disciplines, as they engaged in collaborative research. While knowledge created by stepping out and reaching across disciplines reflects the reality of an increasingly complex world, their experiences highlight both the benefits of a supportive collaborative partnership as well as the risks and discomfort experienced without tangible discipline support, when researchers stray too far from their home discipline. While transparency and attention to process is critical to all researchers engaged in collaborative partnership, its necessity is heightened when venturing beyond the territory of familiar disciplines.     

Reading across workplace learning research to build dialogue

The field of workplace learning scholarship in Western countries is reviewed. First, the emergence of workplace learning scholarship is discussed historically for its relation to the emergence and ongoing development of capitalism beginning from early thought on markets and productivity, 20th century scientific management, industrialism and post-industrialism theses, and finally contemporary conceptual and disciplinary expansion and the conditions of globalization under late capitalism. Following this, six thematic clusters of research are discussed in relation to key scholars, their primary contributions and the ways that each can, potentially, inform those working in other areas of workplace learning scholarship. These thematic clusters include the following: i. cognition, expertise, and the individual; ii. micro-interaction, cognition, and communication; iii. mediated practice and participation; iv. meaning, identity, and organization life; v. authority, conflict, and control; and vi. competitiveness and knowledge management. It is concluded that no single thematic cluster has established predominance, and that there is a strong tendency toward isolation or balkanization of research interests (thematically, nationally, linguistically, etc.) despite a variety of parallel and/or mutually informing interests.     

Tension,risk and conflict: action-learning journeys with four public-sector partnership teams

This paper examines the learning gained from facilitating four action-learning sets whose members were drawn from management teams of local authority, health, education and police, working in partnership. Facilitation posed a series of difficult choices which impacted on personal and organizational dynamics within and between the partnership teams. The different journeys taken by the four learning sets are chartered and analysed. The paper concludes with reflections on these facilitation choices and suggests that real learning can arise when teams are prepared to risk exploring the tensions and conflicts that are an integral aspect of partnership working.     

Formative journeys of first-year college students: tensions and intersections with intercultural theory

Development of intercultural skills is recognized as an essential outcome of a college education, but in order to facilitate students' growth effectively, we must understand the points of the developmental journey at which students enter the college classroom. This study tests four hypotheses developed on the basis of leading models of intercultural development in relation to first-year students' levels of maturity, attitudes toward difference, capacity for productive interaction and emotions experienced in the face of difference. To test the hypotheses, we collected written narratives on a formative encounter with difference from 414 incoming students at the University of Minnesota. Each narrative was coded for an initial, intermediate or advanced stage of intercultural development, as well as for the outcomes of the interaction and emotions experienced in the course of the encounter. Findings indicate that: (1) only 21% of respondents display evidence of ethnorelative thinking; (2) the majority report very positive attitudes toward difference, but show evidence of veiled detachment and minimization; (3) there is no difference in reports of productive interaction between those who do and do not display mindfulness and (4) the emotions experienced at various stages of intercultural maturity do not yield a pattern of increasing comfort. We conclude that the points at which our students begin their intercultural journey may differ slightly from what is suggested by leading developmental models, and recommend adjusting the starting point of programming aimed at supporting intercultural competence development in college.     

Mapping out the ICT integration terrain in the school context: identifying the challenges in an innovative project

This article discusses the research findings from the start-up phase of an innovative information and communication technology (ICT) project focused on ICT integration as a complex process involving many factors such as leadership, school readiness and organisational culture. Known locally as Hermes, the project's core objective was to provide an improved and ‘trouble-free’ ICT infrastructure for schools using thin client technology and a wireless broadband network, which would be managed centrally rather than locally. It was anticipated that this solution would help remove the barriers associated with ICT integration caused by technical issues. Based on an in-depth study of innovation adoption in eight schools involving a survey (n=119 teachers) and interviews (n=60 teachers), the study portrays a picture of the ICT integration patterns prior to and during the Hermes intervention in terms of schools' ICT readiness, leadership and vision. This small scale study can help us understand first- and second-order barriers to ICT integration in schools. In particular, this study informs us about the ecology of schools and ICT-based innovation, innovation scalability and contributes to a critical study of educational technology via a context-rich account of how educational technology is actually being mediated, rather than an idealised account of how technology could be used.     

They came with a purpose: educational journeys of nineteenth-century Irish Dominican Sister Teachers

Irish Catholic teaching sisters were major actors in the development of education systems in New World countries such as the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Immigrants themselves, they faced a number of key challenges as they sought to adapt Old World cultural and educational ideas to the education of the immigrant Irish in a new cultural, religious and educational context. A close examination of the wide range of sources available in private archives and elsewhere offers unique insights into the challenges facing 10 Irish Dominican Sister Teachers as they journeyed from Ireland to Dunedin to found primary and secondary schools in the young colony of New Zealand. This article examines their responses to their early experiences and the part they played in the development of a viable Catholic education system in nineteenth-century New Zealand.