Students and society in the 2020s. Three future ‘histories’ of education and technology

ABSTRACT

As social science fiction, this paper imagines three possible futures for education and technology. Among the most important technologies emerging today are data-aggregating technologies such as AI, affective computing, adaptive or predictive software, clouds and platforms. The paper is not, however, directed at specific technologies, but at indeterminate sociotechnical configurations. Set in 2040, it offers three ‘histories’ of the 2020s. Might students become (i) ‘smooth users’, improving themselves in the pursuit of frictionless efficiency within a post-democratic frame created by large corporations, (ii) ‘digital nomads’, seeking freedom, individualism and aesthetic joy as solopreneurs exploiting state regulations and algorithmic rules while stepping out of the state and deeply into the capitalist new economy, or (iii) participatory, democratic, ecological humans embedded in ‘collective agency’ that see institutions as spaces for exploring more equitable ways of living? The paper reflects on the future research and the political, educational and technological decisions which would make each of these three fictional future histories more or less likely.     

Re-conceptualising authority relations in education: a micro-situational approach

ABSTRACT

This article explores the conception of authority relations in the classroom that are implicit in some examples of related policy documentation in Scotland and England. We argue that the importance of the constitutive role of the micro-dynamics of face-to-face interaction in classroom settings is neglected in documentation of this type. We explore this claim with reference to examples of policy in two jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, namely The Donaldson Review and The Standards for Registration in Scotland, and policy-related guidance from England on improving discipline in schools and pupils’ behaviour. We also consider how authority relations are conceptualised in a recent article that has made a significant contribution to the literature in the field. Finally, we present a theoretical account that counterbalances prevailing approaches to authority relations in the classroom. We suggest that authority is continuously negotiated, challenged, accepted, defined and ultimately constituted in and through the dynamics of interaction amongst pupils (and between pupils and teachers).     

The farm as an educative tool in the development of place attachments among Irish farm youth

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the educative role of the farm in the development of relationships between young people and the homeplace they grew up on. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with a cohort of 30 Irish university students (15 men and 15 women) brought up on Irish family farms who would not become full-time farmers. The farm acts as an educational tool through which broader cultural and familial norms of land ownership, succession and affiliations with the land are transmitted to the next generation. This is manifested through, for example, the creation of foundational stories about their forebearers’ influence on the physical appearance of the farm. The resulting place attachments are of profound depth and serve a key role in the succession process in helping to build a sense of duty and responsibilisation into the next generation’s relationship with the landholding.     

Gender Development in Transgender Preschool Children

An increasing number of transgender children—those who express a gender identity that is “opposite” their natal sex—are socially transitioning, or presenting as their gender identity in everyday life. This study asks whether these children differ from gender‐typical peers on basic gender development tasks. Three‐ to 5‐year‐old socially transitioned transgender children (n = 36) did not differ from controls matched on age and expressed gender (n = 36), or siblings of transgender and gender nonconforming children (n = 24) on gender preference, behavior, and belief measures. However, transgender children were less likely than both control groups to believe that their gender at birth matches their current gender, whereas both transgender children and siblings were less likely than controls to believe that other people's gender is stable.     

Investigating digital video applications in distance learning

The paper gives a brief overview of the use of digital video in distance education, the background to The Open University's Digital Video Applications (DiVA) Project, the contexts in which the Digital Video Library system is being used and some evaluation findings. Through DiVA, the university is investigating how it can use its video assets effectively, to support reuse of existing materials in course production. The project team is also evaluating student use of the system. The paper reports on an observation study which revealed several usability issues and stakeholders' opinions about potential uses of the DiVA system. This is followed by findings from an evaluation of student use of the system at a residential school and its use as part of an online learning activity undertaken by students accessing the system remotely. Evaluation findings to date indicate some quality and workload issues but they also show opportunities that come to light when using the DiVA system.     

School Admissions: Increasing Equity, Accountability and Transparency

This paper examines the impact of education reforms on school admissions policies and practices. It discusses the changes that are needed to improve the current system, especially in areas where the market is highly developed. It is concluded that the new legislation to be enacted by the current Labour Government should be beneficial, but that more far-reaching changes are needed for the admissions process to be equitable, transparent and accountable.     

The relationship between syntactic awareness and reading performance

This study was designed to examine the relationship between syntactic awareness and reading performance. A major concern was to provide an estimate of the effect of syntactic training that was not confounded with training that focused on semantic features of words. The training exercises used in the study focused on all levels of syntactic awareness in order that the effect of such training could be assessed on students’ performance on tasks that tapped each of the levels. Results of this study showed that syntactic awareness could be improved through training. The effect was stable, being apparent at the two post-test times. However, no evidence was found for a systematic effect of improved syntactic awareness on reading ability. Moreover, syntactic training did not show any greater effect than no treatment or semantic training on children’s grammatic comprehension, their ability to use fix-up strategies, or on their general reading ability score. Training had a different impact on the accuracy of oral reading for the syntactic and semantic training groups. Thus, in terms of the developmental sequence of syntactic awareness proposed by Gombert (1992), children trained in the cloze procedure improved at the two highest levels, whilst showing neither a corresponding change in the lower levels of awareness, nor improved functional reading performance.