A theory-to-practice leadership learning arrangement in a university context

Higher education institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of organizational change as they face complex challenges. Leadership learning has been identified as an important way of supporting change management. We describe a leadership learning arrangement that arose in the context of two of the authors needing to learn how to become effective university chairpersons of departments. This involved the other author, an expert in educational leadership as a theory broker, who brought theory to the learning arrangement and mediated it. We wish to show how the learning arrangement supports the theory-to-practice connection and personal authoring of leadership for all involved.     

Keystroke-level analysis to estimate time to process pages in online learning environments

It is challenging for students to plan their work sessions in online environments, as it is very difficult to make estimates on how much material there is to cover. In order to simplify this estimation, we have extended the Keystroke-level analysis model with individual reading speed of text, figures, and questions. This was used to estimate how long students might take to work through pages in an online learning environment. The estimates from the model were compared to data collected from 902 volunteer students. Despite the huge differences in reported reading speeds between students, the presented model performs reasonably well and could be used to give learners feedback on how long it takes to work through pages in online learning environments. This feedback could be used to support students’ motivation and effort regulation as they work through online course components. Although the model performs reasonably well, we propose giving feedback in the form of intervals to indicate the uncertainty of the estimates.     

The consequences of being labelled ‘looked‐after’: Exploring the educational experiences of looked‐after children and young people in Wales

The educational experiences and attainment of looked‐after children and young people (LACYP) remains an issue of widespread international concern. Within the UK, children and young people in care achieve poorer educational outcomes compared to individuals not in care. Despite proliferation of research documenting the reasons for educational disadvantage amongst this population, there remains limited empirical consideration of the lived experiences of the educational system, as perceived by LACYP themselves. This paper draws upon qualitative research with 67 care‐experienced children and young people in Wales. The sample was aged 6–27 years, and comprised 27 females and 40 males. Participants had experienced a range of care placements. Findings focus on how educational policies and practices alienate LACYP from dominant discourses of educational achievement through assignment of the ‘supported’ subject position, where children and young people are permitted and even encouraged not to succeed academically due to their complex and disrupted home circumstances. However, such diminished expectations are rejected by LACYP, who want to be pushed and challenged in the realisation of their potential. The paper argues that more differentiated understandings of LACYP's aspirations and capabilities need to be embedded into everyday practices, to ensure that effective educational support systems are developed.     

Interpretation and enactment of Senior Secondary Physical Education: pedagogic realities and the expression of Arnoldian dimensions of movement

Background: New curriculum developments present opportunities for established thinking and practice in physical education to be reaffirmed or challenged in government, professional and institutional arenas. The introduction of a new official text for the Victorian Certificate of Education Physical Education [VCEPE] in 2011 provided a prompt for renewed debate about the ways in which ‘multiple ways of knowing' could prospectively find expression in senior secondary physical education. Previous analysis of the new VCEPE official text and associated assessment requirements led to a prediction that a theoretical–practical binary may well be reaffirmed amidst implementation of the new course in schools, such that senior secondary physical education (SSPE) in Victorian schools may remain an essentially propositional/theoretical subject.

Purpose: This paper reports on research that has pursued this prediction and specifically explored the expression of Arnold's three dimensions of education in, through and about movement, in teachers’ interpretation and enactment of the new VCEPE Study Design. The research sought to pursue the potential for originality and creativity in SSPE amidst the introduction of a new official curriculum text, examine factors facilitating or limiting this and document the ‘pedagogic realities’ of SSPE in Victorian schools.

Methodology: The study used a case study approach, involving two government and two independent secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. Data gathered from teacher interviews, classroom observations and documentary sources in 2012–2013 are reported. Analysis pursued internal and external factors framing the curriculum and pedagogical practices prominent in enactment of the new course in the case study schools, and the individual and collective representation of Arnold's three dimensions of movement in the schools’ curriculum and teachers’ pedagogical practices.

Findings: The findings reveal complexities and tensions associated with the representation of new curriculum policy in school curriculum and teachers’ pedagogic practices. Attention is drawn to ways in which the interplay between official texts, accompanying assessment requirements, other professional texts and the wider educational context variously shape the ‘pedagogic realities’ of the VCEPE in practice. The discussion explains how this interplay influences (and limits) the expression of Arnold's dimensions in VCEPE.

Implications: This paper reaffirms previous work in SSPE that has highlighted the need for conceptual coherence between curriculum texts and assessment frameworks. This research directs attention to opportunities for development of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, through both official and professional channels, in ways that facilitate teachers’ professional learning about the potential expression of Arnold's dimensions in VCEPE. It also calls for curriculum authorities, professional learning associations and teacher education institutions to work more coherently to be at the fore of thinking about pedagogic possibilities in senior secondary physical education.