The shifting politics of the private in education: debates and developments in researching private school outreach in India

This paper addresses the politics of researching private education with special reference to the Indian context. Due to a recent increase in privatised forms of education globally and recognition of the private sector by governments, international agencies and researchers as a policy and academic interest, this is shifting ground. The evolving nature of the politics of researching the private in the recent past is discussed with reference to research on private school outreach for out-of-school children in India. First the author critically examines the reception of this research when it was conducted in 2000–2003 in relation to the discourse and policy in Indian education at the time. The research is then revisited in the contemporary context in the light of considerable changes in Indian education policy, involving increased public–private partnership. In this new climate private school outreach is reconceptualised – previously considered an educational anomaly, it now has renewed relevance. Finally, findings from the research are drawn on to shed light on emerging concerns about the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act's (2009) requirement for private schools to reserve at least 25% of school places for economically disadvantaged children in their neighbourhoods.     

The (hidden) injuries of NAPLAN: two standardised test events and the making of ‘at risk’ student subjects

Standardised testing regimes, including the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in Australia, have impacted on relationships between and within schools, and on teachers’ work and on pedagogies. Previous analyses of the effects of NAPLAN have been generated outside of the test situation: frequently through attitudinal surveys and qualitative interviews. This article takes as its point of departure two intensely affective events associated with the NAPLAN test day itself. These events erupted in two qualitative studies of students’ schooling experiences: a study of students’ experiences of NAPLAN and a study of students’ experiences of student voice at school. We ask, after Deleuze and Guattari, What can a NAPLAN test do? Exploring the entangled corporeal (physical and embodied) and incorporeal (psychic and subjectivating) wounds effected in and through these events, we analyse the dynamic constitution and re-constitutions of ‘at risk’ categorisations. While the NAPLAN test is not claimed to cause physical and psychical injury, we argue that standardised test conditions, in these singular events, are inextricably entwined with the formation of particular students’ schooled subjectivities.     

Teacher and student perceptions of intermediate assessment in higher education

Universities introduce intermediate assessment because it is understood to have positive effects on student behaviour and achievement. Yet, how intermediate assessment is perceived might be conditional for its success. The current study investigates both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of intermediate assessment. Teachers and students were interviewed and Student Evaluations of Teaching were examined. Results indicate that both teachers and students had generally positive perceptions of intermediate assessment. However, the two groups provided different reasons for their positive perceptions. Teachers and students agreed that intermediate assessment helps students to keep up with their study work. Moreover, teachers mentioned that they could assess various knowledge and skills with intermediate assessment, whereas students preferred intermediate assessments to test the same knowledge and skills as the final exam. This finding suggests that teachers and students in our study had different goals for intermediate assessment.     

The Science of a Sundae: Using the Principle of Colligative Properties in Food Science Outreach Activities for Middle and High School Students

The opportunities for outreach activities for professionals and academics in food science are extensive, as too are the range of participants’ experience levels and platforms for delivery. Here, we present a set of activities that are readily adaptable for a range of students (ages 10 to 18) in multiple platforms (demonstration table and hands‐on workshop). Our activity, collectively called “The Science of a Sundae,” has three units, one for each of the three parts of a sundae: the caramel sauce, the cherry, and the ice cream. In each unit we use these familiar food items to illustrate how colligative properties (or, simply, “solutions” for younger students) impact the chemical, microbiological, and sensorial properties of food. We have used these activities to present to over 1000 students and their parents/chaperones. Grade levels of student participants have ranged from 5th grade through high school, and these activities have been presented in the form of a demonstration table at science events as well as a set of three 45‐minute workshops in a classroom setting. Educational impact of these activities was evaluated with 7th grade students (n = 77) who participated in the 3‐phase workshop. On average, students who took the posttest (after participation in the workshop) scored 36% higher than students who took the pretest (prior to participation in the workshop). These results and instructor observations suggest the merit of this lesson and its adaptability among ages and platforms.     

School reform and transitions in teacher professionalism and identity

In this paper transitions in the operational definitions of professionalism over the last 20 years will be discussed. As a consequence of (imposed) changes in the control of curriculum and assessment and increased measures of public accountability, teachers in most countries now work within cultures in which their careers are ever more dependent upon external definitions of quality, progress and achievement for their success. Although many experienced teachers have maintained their identities, finding room to manoeuvre within a general reduction in their traditional classroom autonomy, the pressure on these and younger colleagues is to comply with competency based agendas. In such cultures, attention to teachers’ identities—arguably central to sustaining motivation, efficacy, commitment, job satisfaction and effectiveness—has been limited.