Who dares to disconnect in the age of uncertainty? Teachers’ recesses and ‘off‐the‐clock’ work

In 1999, all student teachers at secondary I level at the University of Bern who had to undertake an internship were asked to participate in a study on learning processes during practicum: 150 students and their mentors in three types of practicum participated—introductory practicum (after the first half‐year of studies), intermediate practicum (after two years of studies) and final practicum (after three years of studies). At the end of the practicum, student teachers and mentors completed questionnaires on preparing, teaching and post‐processing lessons. All student teachers, additionally, rated their professional skills and aspects of personality (attitudes towards pupils, self‐assuredness and well‐being) before and after the practicum. Forty‐six student teachers wrote daily semi‐structured diaries about essential learning situations during their practicum.

Results indicate that in each practicum students improved significantly in preparing, conducting and post‐processing lessons. The mentors rated these changes as being greater than did the student teachers. From the perspective of the student teachers their general teaching skills also improved, and their attitudes toward pupils became more open. Furthermore, during practicum their self‐esteem and subjective well‐being increased. Diary data confirmed that there are no differences between different levels of practicum in terms of learning outcomes, but give some first insight into different ways of learning during internship.     

The legacy of the ‘care challenge’: re‐envisioning the outcome of the justice‐care debate

The current study investigated whether parents are accurate judges of their own children’s lie-telling behavior. Participants included 250 mother–child dyads. Children were between three and 11 years of age. A temptation resistance paradigm was used to elicit a minor transgressive behavior from the children involving peeking at a forbidden toy and children were subsequently questioned about the transgressive event. Mothers were asked to make predictions about whether their child would peek and then watched a video of their child being questioned about their peeking behavior. Mothers were asked to detect whether or not they thought their child was lying. Overall, 59.6% of parents accurately predicted their child’s lie-telling behavior. Mothers had more difficulty detecting older children’s lies. Signal detection analyses revealed parents had a strong tendency to believe their child was honest. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for parent–child relationships.     

Education policy and the ‘inter’‐regnum

In the UK, the vocabulary of public services is becoming infused with the prefixes ‘inter’‐, ‘multi‐’ and ‘co‐’. Public‐sector agencies are being encouraged to adopt ‘multi’‐ or ‘inter‐agency’ configurations; ‘workforce reform’ seeks to dissolve once‐impermeable professional boundaries; leadership is to be ‘distributed’. This tendency is referred to as the ‘inter’‐regnum in education policy. (This does not mean that we are dealing with an ‘interregnum’ in the sense that we are somehow between modes of governance.) The term ‘regnum’ is used to emphasise that this propensity for the ‘inter’ is asserting itself as a new ‘reigning philosophy’. Examples of the ‘inter’‐regnum are presented from the UK (mainly England), and these are located conceptually within an analysis of hierarchies, markets and networks. Thereafter the cultural, intellectual and economic contexts which allow for the ‘inter’‐regnum to emerge as policy are explored. The ‘inter’‐regnum draws its legitimacy from a number of sources. First, it resonates with the culture of consumerism, and it takes further that earlier market‐based regime of governance which was associated with the new public management. Second, it is functional for the ‘new capitalism’ as a new work order of affinity‐ and solution‐spaces. Third, it has important intellectual supports: that is, in addition to its association with recent marketing theory, it can appeal to emerging theory and research in organisational learning.     

Interacting narratives: creating and re‐creating the self

This article is a report of a qualitative research study into the aesthetic and spiritual dimensions of the lifelong learning practices of eight experienced educators. The research is grounded in a narrative tradition of research on teacher development where teacher learning is viewed as a creative, holistic, relational endeavour in which the personal and professional are intimately connected. It makes connections between narrative inquiry, holistic education and teacher development, and makes a contribution to the body of knowledge in teachers’ knowledge/ learning by demonstrating that in the experience of the study’s participants, meaningful lifelong learning is an ongoing process of creating and recreating the self.     

Children’s Self‐documentation and Understanding of the Concepts ‘Healthy’ and ‘Unhealthy’

The present paper describes a study in which 13 children aged 9–11 years, of diverse ethnic, linguistic, and socio‐economic backgrounds, were asked to use a digital camera and small notebook to document the range of things they consider to be healthy and unhealthy. Using open‐ended interview questions, the children were then asked to explain each item, including what it was, why they chose it, and why they thought it was either healthy or unhealthy. The range of definitions of ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ invoked by the children was surprisingly broad, encompassing not only illness and proper nutrition, but also environmental health, mental health, cleanliness, and other meanings. Findings across all 13 children are displayed, and a case study of one child serves as a detailed example of the types of meanings children ascribe to the words ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’, as well as the kinds of analyses being employed on these data. The theoretical implications of these results for research on children’s ideas about health, as well as implications for the design of health interventions, are discussed.     

‘They’re the bosses’: feedback in team supervision

Team supervision of PhDs is increasingly the norm in Australian and UK universities; while this model brings many improvements on the traditional one-on-one research supervision, it also introduces new complexities. In particular, many students find the diversity of opinions expressed in teams to be confusing. Such diversity in supervisor feedback is often experienced as unsettling, and the study indicates that students generally seek consensus from their supervisory team. The power dynamics existing in the relations between team members in this situation need to be carefully considered, and supervisors must be alert to the ways in which doctoral students can be effectively and productively inducted into the norms of academic debate and collaborative research projects. The paper explores the implications of diversity in feedback in relation to developing a pedagogy of supervision.     

Preparing Pre‐Service Primary Teachers to Teach Primary Science: A partnership‐based approach

This paper reports on the effectiveness of a professional partnership approach to preparing pre‐service primary teachers to teach science. The study involved final year BEd pre‐service primary teachers at the University of Tasmania, each working in the class of a volunteer colleague teacher. The programme provided an authentic science teaching experience in which pre‐service teachers were supported to plan and teach a sequence of work in a chosen science topic and reflect upon the experience. Many reported an initial lack of confidence in science and no experience with teaching it during their normal practice teaching. During 2007 and 2008, teachers from 17 schools in Northern Tasmania volunteered to work with the pre‐service teachers in their classrooms for one lesson a week over a six‐week period. The findings indicated that this approach was an effective way to build the confidence of pre‐service teachers and may also have benefits for practising teachers.     

Teachers’ Understanding and Operationalisation of ‘Science Capital’

Across the globe, governments, industry and educationalists are in agreement that more needs to be done to increase and broaden participation in post-16 science. Schools, as well as teachers, are seen as key in this effort. Previous research has found that engagement with science, inclination to study science and understanding of the value of science strongly relates to a student's science capital. This paper reports on findings from the pilot year of a one-year professional development (PD) programme designed to work with secondary-school teachers to build students’ science capital. The PD programme introduced teachers to the nature and importance of science capital and thereafter supported them to develop ways of implementing science capital-building pedagogy in their practice. The data comprise interviews with the participating teachers (n?=?10), observations of classroom practices and analyses of the teachers’ accounts of their practice. Our findings suggest that teachers found the concept of science capital to be compelling and to resonate with their own intuitive understandings and experiences. However, the ways in which the concept was operationalised in terms of the implementation of pedagogical practices varied. The difficulties inherent in the operationalisation are examined and recommendations for future work with teachers around the concept of science capital are developed.     

Teachers’ Values and the Literacy Hour

The article reports on an enquiry into teachers’ values and beliefs about literacy. The teachers work in the schools of members participating in an action research project on improving literacy in the primary school. The enquiry was one of the first tasks the project undertook. Its purpose was to enable teachers to articulate their own values and to examine these alongside aspects of the proposed literacy hour within the context of the overall national literacy strategy. As schools implement the literacy hour, the project plans to examine critically the extent to which teachers’ own values and valued practices can operate alongside the requirements of the literacy hour. It will also critically examine those values themselves to see if they change in the light of the experience of the literacy hour. There are some marked differences between the teachers’ views and those embedded within the national literacy strategy. The article discusses some potential practical implications which may arise for teachers and children from these differences. Some commonality between the teachers’ views and the national literacy strategy are also highlighted. It is not the intention of the research project to shape a consensus on values. Rather, one of its purposes is to create a context in which teachers and teacher researchers can engage actively and critically in implementing the national strategy, rather than seeing themselves as passive agents. The debate within the project about values differences is intended to contribute to this purpose

     

Teachers’ and teacher educators’ lives: the role of emotion

This paper reports research which focuses on ways of enhancing understandings by teachers of the key role that emotions play in their personal professional growth. It combines the narrative, autobiographical accounts of teachers attending part-time masters degree programmes in England (Continuing Professional Development and School Improvement) and Northern Ireland (Personal and Social Development) with an interrogation of the underlying values which affect the practices of their tutors. It reveals the effects of powerful and often unacknowledged interaction between personal biography and professional and social contexts upon teachers in schools and higher education.     

Question‐posing and question‐responding: the heart of ‘Possibility Thinking’ in the early years

Drawing on research that sought to explore the characteristics of ‘Possibility Thinking’ as central to creativity in young children's learning, this paper considers question‐posing and question‐responding as the driving features of ‘Possibility Thinking’ (PT). This qualitative study employed micro‐event analysis of peer and pupil–teacher interaction. Events were sampled from two early years settings in England, one a Reception classroom (4‐ to 5‐year olds) and the other a Year 2 classroom (6‐ to 7‐year olds). This article arises out of the second stage of an ongoing research programme (2004–2007) involving the children and practitioners in these settings. This phase considers the dimensions of question‐posing and the categories of question‐responding and their interrelationship within PT. Three dimensions of questioning were identified as characteristic of PT. These included: (i) question framing, reflecting the purpose inherent within questions for adults and children (including leading, service and follow‐through questions); (ii) question degree: manifestation of the degree of possibility inherent in children's questions (including possibility narrow, possibility moderate, possibility broad); (iii) question modality, manifestation of the modality inherent in children's questions (including verbal and non‐verbal forms). The fine‐grained data analysis offers insight into how children engage in PT to meet specific needs in responding to creative tasks and activities and reveals the crucial role that question‐posing and question‐responding play in creative learning. It also provides more detail about the nature of young children's thinking, made visible through question‐posing and responding in engaging playful contexts.     

Lesson planning and the student teacher: re‐thinking the dominant model

The idea of free, universal basic education has been corrupted by neo-liberalism. As the language of economics takes over much of the policy discourse around schooling, school systems are being converted into marketplaces, where schools compete for students and resources. Some studies have reported that this 'marketization' has created or exacerbated socio-economic segregation within the common school; but the curriculum is also affected by the market. Such developments raise important questions!     

‘The song remains the same’: rebuttal to Sherblom's re‐envisioning of the legacy of the care challenge

Abstract:

The authors analyse and compare two of the major moral education programmes in the United States, namely, Character Education Curriculum and the Values Clarification Programme. The latter is seen to be more egalitarian and to stress the development of autonomy and choice in the child. The former tends to follow the ‘bag of virtues’ approach to moral education and is more directly instructional in its methods. The strengths and weaknesses of these two programmes are compared and it is concluded that both are significant steps towards an effective approach to moral education.     

The construction of the ‘ideal pupil’ and pupils’ perceptions of ‘misbehaviour’ and discipline: contrasting experiences from a low‐socio‐economic and a high‐socio‐economic primary school

This paper examines the effect of school social class composition on pupil learner identities in British primary schools. In the current British education system, high‐stakes testing has a pervasive effect on the pedagogical relationship between teachers and pupils. The data in this paper, from ethnographic research in a working‐class school and a middle‐class school, indicate that the effect of the ‘testing culture’ is much greater in the working‐class school. Using Bernsteinian theory and the concept of the ‘ideal pupil’, it is shown that these pupils’ learner identities are more passive and dominated by issues of discipline and behaviour rather than academic performance, in contrast to those in the middle‐class school. While this study includes only two schools, it indicates a potentially significant issue for neo‐liberal education policy where education is marketised and characterised by high‐stakes testing, and schools are polarised in terms of social class.     

Work‐to‐School Mentoring: Childcare Center Directors and Teachers’ Return to School

As supervisors of preschool teachers, childcare center directors are well‐situated to mentor their staff to pursue higher education. Telephone interviews with 78 directors examined their role as mentors in encouraging preschool teachers to take college classes. Educational mentoring was shown to be distinct from career mentoring. Logistic regressions showed that the director’s educational mentoring of teachers and teachers’ aides was associated with greater college attendance, whereas career mentoring was related to less attendance. Furthermore, the director’s confidence staff members’ ability to complete an Associate’s degree promoted college enrollment. Finally, some directors appeared to be transformational leaders who created an education‐friendly climate for their entire staffs. These findings suggest that the workplace is an under‐researched, critical context for work‐to‐school mentoring.     

From a ‘Sketchy Policy’ to a ‘Workable Scheme’: the DES and grant‐maintained schools

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how initial proposals for grant‐maintained (GM) schools were developed by the Department of Education and Science (DES) as it took them forward into legislation. Drawing on interviews conducted with officials involved in creating a statutory framework for GM schools, the paper addresses wider issues of policy generation including the extent to which civil servants influence the content of education policy. In the case of GM schools policy, this study suggests that the DES developed the original policy proposals in ways unforeseen by its early advocates. It concludes by reviewing the significance of recent changes to the policy and argues that these have to be interpreted in light of the government's ideological commitment to bring ‘market principles’ to the education service.     

Sixth‐formers reading ‘the troubles’: A cross‐community investigation

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a one‐year (2002–2003) action research project conducted in a representative number of post‐primary schools across the sectarian divide in Belfast. The research investigated the responses of sixth‐form students to a number of carefully chosen texts focused on ‘The Troubles’. In analysing the pupils’ responses, it was discovered that, although inherited sectarian tensions persist, it is possible in many cases to encourage pupils to critically examine their attitudes and even abandon some prejudices. The key elements are the choice of texts and the need to provide ample and skilfully directed opportunity for dialogue and reflection. These findings are particularly relevant in the current climate of curriculum change, with the new emphasis on ‘diversity’ as well as ‘local and global citizenship’.