An exploration of undergraduate students’ views on the effectiveness of academic and pastoral support

Background: Academic and pastoral support is fundamental to the achievement of a high-quality student learning experience.

Aim: This study reports on full-time undergraduate students’ views on the effectiveness of academic and pastoral support in one higher education institution. The intent of the study was to explore how academic and pastoral support is provided and gain an appreciation of the value placed on each method of support used.

Method: 935 students from a range of subject disciplines responded to a Bristol-on-Line Survey questionnaire.

Findings: Analysis of quantitative data revealed that a wide range of support strategies are used and valued by students.

Conclusions: Of significance was the emphasis placed on peer support and the skills required by staff providing support. Implications for policy and practice to enhance the student learning experience are discussed.     

‘He also has the right to be who he is … ’. An exploration of how young people socially represent autism

An increasing number of young people are being confronted with the concept of autism. Some of them know someone who has been diagnosed as autistic. Others learn about the concept through different forms of media. Nevertheless, little research has been conducted into the meaning which young people give to the concept. In this study, we explored by means of focus groups how a number of young people try to understand what autism is and how they should or want to relate to it. A thematic analysis resulted in three interconnected central themes: (1) Autism is Different; (2) The Different One and the others; and (3) Watch out: the diagnosis of autism actually ‘makes’ a person Different. Although our participants represented autism as a fundamental form of being different, they also reflected on how a diagnosis does not just identify a reality, but also creates a reality. To them, autism is different, but the diagnosis of autism also makes a person different. Based on these results, attention is drawn to the risks of class or group discussions focusing exclusively on what autism is, as such discussions may reinforce the representation that someone with autism is fundamentally different, while possibly spurring exclusion.     

Teachers’ views of the challenges of teaching grade 9 applied mathematics in Toronto schools

Mathematics teachers, mathematics department heads, curriculum leaders, and administrators from 11 schools in four school boards from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, participated in a project to improve the teaching and learning in grade 9 mathematics classrooms. In each of these schools, an implementation team was created, so that at least three teachers from every school could collaborate, in order to improve learning outcomes of their students. This article reports on the challenges identified by teachers when they taught grade 9 applied mathematics. Teachers’ views of challenges fell into five main layers: (a) teacher professional development and pedagogical skills, (b) student learning needs, (c) settlement issues and families’ social and economic background, (d) administrative difficulties and resources, and (e) curricular issues. These challenges were complex and interconnected, demanding special remedial efforts by the administration and teachers. By reflecting on the challenges and practices, these teachers made a long-term strategy to engage in professional development activities to better understand their students’ learning needs and to improve their achievement in provincial tests.     

Examining the conflict and interconnectedness of young people’s ideas about environmental issues,responsibility and action

Objective: Young people’s environmental views are typically conflicted, with little recognition of the links between environmental issues or between environmental responsibility and action. The purpose of this study was to clarify whether young people’s understanding of the environment is in conflict or whether they are forming interconnections between issues, responsibility and action that have not yet been identified. Methods: Data relating to environmental attitudes, responsibility, issues and action was collected from 305 high school students in south east Queensland. Regression analyses were used to identify variables that influenced the importance young people placed on environmental issues and actions. Results: Young people’s ideas about environmental responsibility influenced the level of importance they placed on global warming and resource consumption. Young people’s sense of hope and hopelessness were the main drivers of their endorsement of individualistic and political actions for the environment. Conclusions: The unifying factor that influenced young people’s ideas about the environment was a sense of hope. Thus, while young people may already be intuiting their own sense of environmental interconnectedness, it is essential that this is expanded so that young people recognise the links between environmental issues, and the logical pathways that lead from environmental responsibility to action.     

Ethnographical mapping of thick places – teaching and learning practices in teacher training schools

The aim of this study is to use an ethnographic method in order to map where understandings of teaching and learning practices (TaLP) are being discussed in three schools. The questions posed are: what are the relations between thick places, meaning, affect, and TaLP? This study uses an ethnographic method outside the classroom and in between different activities as a starting point for understanding TaLP and where many students at the same school produce thick places of affect and meaning. The main conclusion from this study is that matters of where, what, and who are shaping TaLP. Another important conclusion from this study is that training schools offer new conditions for teacher students, but also offer new opportunities for ethnographic studies that aim at understanding these school environments with a range of new questions.     

Evaluating the quality of learning environments and teaching Äpractice in special schools

This article reports on findings of a study which objective is the development of an instrument for systematic evaluation and improvement of the quality of teaching in special schools. The article describes the research process which led to the construction of the instrument as well as the way teachers can use the instrument to improve the quality of their teaching. The article advocates a practice perspective to professional development in special schools, as special schools in Denmark are under pressure by three international educational agendas: the agenda of accountability, the agenda of standards and the agenda of inclusion. The instrument suggests that professional development is teacher driven and not driven by the accountability agenda. The research approach was collaborative as 35 teachers and principals from 16 special schools participated in the research process. Their perceptions of quality in the practice of teaching in special schools and research literature on the quality of teaching in both mainstream schools and special schools have shaped the development of the instrument. Thus, the instrument is based on the finding, that teaching methods in general and special education are not as different as assumed. This finding is reflected in the instrument.     

Starting the pluralistic tradition of teaching? Effects of education for sustainable development (ESD) on pre-service teachers’ views on teaching about sustainable development

There is currently a well-established belief among politicians, scholars and university representatives that educational systems can produce positive attitudes towards sustainable development (SD) among citizens. This article investigates whether Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in teacher education has effects on pre-service teachers’ perceptions of how to teach pupils about SD. The results from a panel study on the effects of a course on SD held at the University of Gothenburg (n = 323) is presented. The surveys consisted of questions about pre-service teachers’ approach to teaching about SD. The study included a control group (n = 97). The results indicate a short-term effect among the pre-service teachers towards actively getting pupils to discuss issues concerning the environment but without influencing their opinions about it. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the results for the idea of ESD in teacher training programmes.     

‘How are we going to do it?’ An exploration of the barriers to access to higher education amongst young people from disadvantaged communities

The number of young people progressing to higher education (HE) in Ireland has grown significantly over the last three decades but inequality of access and participation remain a major policy challenge. This article sets out to explore the factors which impact on levels of participation in HE by young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, based on interviews and focus groups with 70 secondary school students and 25 parents in three case-study locations. In line with previous research, we found that financial considerations continue to have an important influence on decisions about whether to go on to higher education. The findings in relation to young people’s aspirations and orientations to HE present a more complex picture. While the majority of students aspired to go on to HE, this was countered by a lack of confidence in relation to certain aspects of college life, both social and academic.     

Which inclusive teaching tasks represent the highest level of teacher efficacy in primary and secondary schools?

A hierarchy of inclusive teaching tasks by associated level of teacher efficacy is derived from a group of primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong using a Rasch rating scale model on 536 in-service teachers attending a professional development course. Findings show collaboration tasks represented the highest teacher efficacy in primary and secondary teachers. Managing behavior represented the lowest level of teacher efficacy but slightly more in primary than in secondary school. Hence, future training regarding inclusive practices should be specific to the school level, with a strong focus on collaborations between school, parents, and the community.     

Power Users and patchworking – An analytical approach to critical studies of young people’s learning with digital media

This paper sets out to problematise generational categories such as “Power Users” or “New Millennium Learners” by discussing these in the light of recent research on youth and information and communication technology. We then suggest analytic and conceptual pathways to engage in more critical and empirically founded studies of young people’s learning in technology and media‐rich settings. Based on a study of a group of young “Power Users”, it is argued that conceptualising and analysing learning as a process of patchworking can enhance our knowledge of young people’s learning in such settings. We argue that the analytical approach gives us ways of critically investigating young people’s learning in technology and media‐rich settings, and study if these are processes of critical, reflexive enquiry where resources are creatively re‐appropriated. With departure in an analytical example, the paper presents the proposed metaphor of understanding learning as a process of patchworking and discusses how we might use this to understand young people’s learning with digital media.

Les “Power Users” et la construction en “patchwork” – Une approche analytique des études critiques portant sur l’apprentissage chez les jeunes avec l’aide des médias numériques.

Le présent article vise à faire ressortir la problématique des catégories de générations, celles par exemple des “Power Users” ou des “Apprenants du Nouveau Millénaire” en les examinant de façon critique à la lumière des recherches récentes sur la jeunesse et les TICE. Nous suggérons ensuite des voies d’approche analytiques et conceptuelles pour nous engager dans des études plus critiques et plus solidement empiriques de l’apprentissage chez les jeunes dans des environnements à fort contenu technologique et médiatique. En nous appuyant sur l’étude d’un groupe de jeunes “Power Users”, on avance l’hypothèse selon laquelle le fait d’analyser et de conceptualiser l’apprentissage comme un processus de construction de patchwork peut améliorer notre connaissance de l’apprentissage chez les jeunes se trouvant dans de tels environnements. Nous avançons l’idée que cette approche analytique nous fournit les moyens d’étudier de façon critique l’apprentissage chez les jeunes se trouvant dans des environnements à fort contenu technologique et médiatique et de déterminer s’il s’agit là de processus de recherche critique et réflexive dans lequel ils se réapproprient les ressources de façon créative. En s’appuyant sur un exemple analytique, cet article présente une proposition, celle d’une métaphore pour comprendre l’apprentissage comme un processus de patchwork et discute de la façon dont nous pourrions l’ utiliser pour comprendre de quelle façon les jeunes apprennent avec les medias numériques.

?Power User“ und ?Patchworking“ – eine analytische Annäherung an kritische Studien über das Lernen junger Leute mit digitalen Medien

Dieser Artikel problematisiert generationspezifische Kategorien wie ?Power Users“ und ?New Millenium Learners“ welche hier vor dem Hintergrund der jüngsten Forschungsergebnisse im Bereich Jugend und Informations‐ und Telekommunikationstechnologie (ITK) diskutiert werden. Darauf aufbauend werden analytische und konzeptionelle Wege vorgeschlagen, wie auf empierischer und auf Fakten basierender Grundlage das Lernen junger Menschen in einem technologie‐ und medienreichen Umfeld studiert werden kann. Eine Gruppe junger ?Power Users“ ist die Grundlage unserer Argumentation, dass Konzeptionalisierung und Analyse des Patchwork Lernprozesses junger Leute unser Verständnis von ihrer Herangehensweise an den Lernprozess verbessern kann. Wir argumentieren, dass die analytische Herangehensweise uns hilft, das Lernen junger Leute im ITK Kontext zu analysieren und wir untersuchen, ob diese Prozesse kritisch und reflexiv sind und dazu beitragen, Ressourcen kreativ zu nutzen. Der Artikel schließt mit einem analytischen Beispiel in dem wir die zuvor diskutierte Metapher – Lernen als einen Patchworkprozess zu verstehen – nutzen, um zu diskutieren wie dieses Verständnis genutzt werden kann, um unser Wissen über das Lernen junger Leute mit digitalen Medien zu erweitern.

Los “Power Users” y la construcción en “patchwork” – Un enfoque analítico sobre los estudios críticos acerca del aprendizaje de los jóvenes con los medios digitales.

El propósito del presente artículo es de hacer resaltar la problemática de las categorías de generaciones, entre ellas los “Power Users” o los “discentes del Nuevo Milenio”, a través de una discusión de esas categorías a la luz de las últimas investigaciones sobre la juventud y las TICs. Sugerimos después algunos caminos analíticos y conceptuales para meterse en estudios con una base más crítica y más fuertemente empírica, del aprendizaje de los jóvenes en entornos con una fuerte dimensión tecnológica y mediatizada. Basandose en el estudio de un grupo de jovenes “Power Users”, se argumenta que el hecho de analizar y conceptualizar el aprendizaje como si fuese un proceso de “patchworking”, puede en realidad realzar nuestro conocimiento de la manera de aprender de los jovenes en entornos de ese tipo. Argumentamos que el enfoque analítico nos ofrece maneras de investigar críticamente el aprendizaje de los jóvenes dentro de entornos fuertemente tecnológicos y mediatizados y de estudiar si se trata de procesos de investigación crítica y reflexiva en los cuales se produce una re‐apropiación creativa de los recursos. Con una salida hacia un ejemplo analítico este artículo presenta la propuesta de una metáfora para entender el aprendizaje como si fuese un proceso de construcción de un “patchwork” con una discusión sobre las posibilidades de uso de esto para entender como los jóvenes aprender con los medios digitales.     

Representations of teaching and standards-based reform: are we closing the debate about teacher education?

Since the mid-eighties, national organizations have been working together in an effort to reform schools and, more specifically, to reform teaching. Paralleling the movement toward developing curriculum standards for students, professional standards for teachers have also been developed for the purpose of teacher education program accreditation. The objective of this national coalition is to strengthen the teaching profession and raise its standards—eventually enhancing the quality of student learning—by redesigning teacher licensing and accountability requirements for teacher education programs, and engaging teachers in on-going professional development. In this study we address three specific questions: (1) what representations of teaching and teachers are portrayed in the professional teaching standards, their related policies and assessment? (2) how are standards-based reform policies affecting teacher education programs? (3) what representations or conceptions of teaching and teachers are currently reflected in teacher education programs in the context of this reform? To address these questions two states were selected as test cases. Reform documents, policies and practices, as well as interviews with key participants in the reform (e.g., teacher educators, state-level administrators) are described and analyzed, and constitute the evidential basis for this study. The patterns emerging from the data indicate that teacher educators’ degrees of resistance or cooperation with externally imposed frameworks is influenced by their conception of teaching, education and its purpose. Further, as teacher educators uncritically participate in the standards-based movement it becomes impossible for them to entertain alternative perspectives on teaching and education outside of the framework provided to them by the standards.     

Structured teaching and classroom management – the solution for the decline of Swedish school results? Conclusions drawn from a comparative meta-synthesis of teaching and learning

With a basis in conclusions from a comparative meta-synthesis of teaching and learning, the question of structured and teacher-led teaching in Swedish comprehensive schools is discussed and analysed. The aim is to illustrate the development of results and changes in teaching patterns in Swedish comprehensive schools in relation to new regulations in the curriculum concerning structured teaching. The result shows that in current research there is some support for structured teaching but, at the same time, a gradual and parallel development of the pupil’s personal discovery and learning is emphasised. Regardless of the grade of structure, the quality of interaction and communication in teaching seems to be conclusive. One superior teaching dimension consists of structure and interaction.     

Their fault or ours?: The contraction of work and the ‘radicalisation’ of young people

This paper examines two commonly held views of young people in relation to work and employment. The first has a low estimation of the capacities of young people, placing the blame for the lack of job prospects on young people themselves. The second places more emphasis on the lack of opportunities available to the young and sees young people as a new radical force in society, with rising levels of unemployment leading to their radicalisation. Evidence from a study of pupils in their last year of compulsory schooling suggests that both of these views are inadequate. Young people do not lack knowledge of, or interest in the world of work, neither does the growing level of unemployment seem to be generating increasingly negative and hostile attitudes to education and government schemes such as the YTS.     

How education policy is made meaningful – a narrative exploration of how teachers show autonomy in the development of teaching and learning

This study addresses how the autonomy of teachers in higher education, in relation to education policy and reform, can be understood. By taking a narrative-in-action approach, we studied health profession teachers’ activities and reasoning within their ongoing practice during one year. The findings show how the teachers created their own policies and in what way these policies became meaningful. As teachers in this study continuously made changes, the joint creation of policies contributed to their sense of togetherness and the re-building of a community of practice. In parallel, they increased the evidence-based standards related to their discipline and experienced a shift in perspective concerning teaching and learning. The importance of their jointly made policies can be explained by how they learned a student-learning view together, and built on their own ideas of what educational matters needed to be developed. At the same time, their activities and reasoning mirror ‘a debated but yet prevailing view’ on the discourse of quality and a number of ideals thereof such as transparency and standardisation, effective teaching and increased academisation.