Pupil composition and accountability: An analysis in English primary schools

This paper examines the role of social class and prior achievement composition effects on pupils’ progress and the judgements made about school performance. It finds that there are small but significant compositional effects on pupil progress raising questions about how pupils can best be allocated to schools. Comparisons between the official contextual value added model and one that includes composition variables show that school rankings are significantly changed in the latter suggesting that official value added analyses are misleading. This study, therefore, poses a fundamental challenge to policy makers over the determinants of pupil progress and school performance and the way schools are judged, pointing to the need for a re-appraisal of policy relating to these matters.     

What can academic development learn from the health humanities?

The health humanities is a movement seeking to promote engagement with arts and humanities disciplines as a way of helping professionals, patients, informal carers, and members of the public to understand healthcare. Here, I draw parallels between health and learning and suggest a similar approach for academic developers. I indicate the potential scope for the learning arts and humanities, providing examples of existing practice in which the methods and sensibilities of literary studies are shedding light on learning and teaching in higher education.     

Some new applications of physics to medical investigation

Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895 found almost immediate application in medical diagnosis and soon afterwards in therapy. It remains of great importance in both these fields, but in recent years other forms of penetrating radiation have been used in medical investigation. This article reviews recent progress and future possibilities in the light of the basic principles involved.     

Exploring the links between students' engagement in cooperative learning, their goal preferences and appraisals of instructional conditions in the classroom

Previous research suggested that social support, belongingness and mastery goals were related to the quality of cooperative learning (CL). In this in-depth study we explored how to differentiate between four effective CL teams and four ineffective CL teams, in terms of students' goals and perceptions of instructional conditions. Apart from the earlier mentioned goals we found students' preference for social responsibility, learning for a certificate and entertainment goals to be salient in the CL setting. Mastery and social responsibility goals were prevalent in effective teams, while learning for a certificate and entertainment goals were prevalent in ineffective teams. Moreover, the type of task, group composition and teacher support were mentioned as reasons for effective or ineffective CL.     

Africa's educational dilemma: Roadblocks to universal literacy for social integration and change

Literacy is constantly evolving to meet the needs of African people, but the obstacles (or roadblocks) to universal literacy in Africa are numerous. This paper sets out to analyze them. Some date from colonial regimes, which created elites. Since then, rapid population growth has outstripped gains in literacy, while the differences between male and female literacy, and between urban and rural areas, remain marked. The multiplicity of languages presents a challenge, increasingly met by the use of community languages, although most African states continue to rely on English, French and Portuguese for official and educational purposes. Literacy is ultimately a social construction that determines and is determined by a given social order. Those in power have a vested interest in restricting access to literacy, and there are ambiguities in the policies of national and international agencies. In particular, literacy has been linked to economic and technical development while its promoters have sought to preserve the interests of government, so that consciousness-raising has not been truly adopted. A model of roadblocks is presented, and the article concludes with nine propositions for an analysis of their relationships.

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Zusammenfassung Die Alphabetisierung wird ständig weiterentwickelt, um den Bedürfnissen afrikanischer Völker gerecht zu werden, aber es gibt zahlreiche Hindernisse (oderSperren) für eine universelle Alphabetisierung in Afrika. In diesem Artikel sollen sie analysiert werden. Einige stammen noch von den Kolonialregierungen, die Elitegruppen bildeten. Seitdem hat der rapide Bevölkerungsanstieg die Erfolge der Alphabetisierung überholt, and die Alphabetisierung von Männern und Frauen sowie von der städtischen und ländlichen Bevölkerung unterscheiden sich weiterhin deutlich. Die Sprachenvielfalt ist eine Herausforderung, der man mehr und mehr durch Anwendung von Gemeinschaftssprachen begegnet, obwohl sich die Mehrzahl der afrikanischen Staaten für offizielle und erzieherische Zwecke immer noch der englischen, französischen und portugiesischen Sprache bedient. Die Alphabetisierung ist letztendlich ein soziales Gefüge, das eine gegebene soziale Ordnung beeinflußt und auch von ihr bestimmt wird. Die Machthaber haben ein persönliches Interesse an einem begrenzten Zugang zur Alphabetisierung, und es gibt Unstimmigkeiten in den Maßnahmen nationaler und internationaler Institutionen. Im besonderen wurde die Alphabetisierung mit wirtschaftlichen und technischen Entwicklungen in Verbindung gebracht, wobei ihre Förderer bestrebt waren, die Interessen der Regierung zu wahren, so daß eine Bewußtseinsöffnung in Wahrheit nicht eingetreten ist. Es wird eine Übersicht Über die Hindernisse gegeben, und der Artikel schließt mit neun Vorschlägen zu einer Analyse darüber, welche Beziehungen zwischen diesen Hindernissen bestehen.

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Résumé L'alphabétisation se développe d'une manière constante pour répondre aux besoins du peuple africain, mais les obstacles (les barrages de route) à la généralisation de l'alphabétisme en Afrique sont nombreux. Le présent article se propose de les analyser. Certains sont issus des régimes coloniaux, qui ont créé des élites. Depuis lors, la rapide croissance économique a devancé le développement de l'alphabétisation, tandis que les différences entre l'alphabétisme féminin et masculin, et entre les zones urbaines et rurales, restent marquées. La multiplicité des langues pose un problème, résolu de plus en plus par l'utilisation des langues locales, bien que la plupart des Etats africains continuent de faire appel à l'anglais, au français et au portugais dans le domaine officiel et dans l'éducation. L'alphabétisation est en fin de compte une construction sociale qui détermine et est déterminée par un ordre social donné. Ceux qui détiennent le pouvoir ont intérêt à réduire l'accès à l'alphabétisation, et les politiques des organisations nationales et internationales sont ambiguës. En particulier, l'alphabétisation a été liée au développement économique et technique, tandis que ses promoteurs ont cherché à préserver les intérêts des gouvernements, si bien que la prise de conscience n'a pas été véritablement adoptée. On présente un modèle debarrage de route, et l'article conclut par neuf propositions pour l'analyse de leurs relations.

     

Keeping Up Appearances: Uniform Policy for School Diversity?

This paper analyses policies pertaining to school dress codes which have been formulated recently by all state education bureaucracies in Australia. It examines these policies and their implementation in the context of devolution, the marketisation of schools, and cognate social legislation. In doing so it seeks to understand the textual hiatus between government policy and schooling practices.     

The corporate curriculum: Schools as sites of new knowledge production

This paper investigates the ways in which corporate ideas are impacting on Australian education, with a particular emphasis on secondary schools. We note the growing importance of a culture of enterprise in changing the practices of schooling, indicating how a performative organisational culture is producing different identities and relationships in educational work. The paper begins by considering the imperative for schools and individuals to be enterprising. It then moves on to examine more closely the impact of this discursive shift on teachers, students and school communities as they engage in enterprising practices. We draw on our research of over 50 state and private schools mainly in south-east Queensland to demonstrate how the newly emergent corporate ‘curriculum’ is producing a changing set of imperatives, responsibilities and outcomes for leadership in ‘enterprising’ schools.