Learner agency and the curriculum: a critical realist perspective

Abstract

Agency, understood as the capacity to act independently and to make one’s own choices, is considered central to children’s development. Thus, education, and hence education curricula, have a role in the development of learner agency. While curriculum development is a key focus for educational theory, research, policy, and classroom practice, the potential implications of curriculum content selections for learner agency remain underexplored. Theoretically, this paper engages with critical realism, explaining how it can provide theoretical foundation for a more comprehensive view of learner agency and, by implication, more balanced curricula. Empirically, the paper draws on the findings from a content analysis of the national curriculum documents of four countries with relatively high scores in international comparative tables, England, Australia, Hong-Kong, and Canada, to develop a new typology of primary curricula. Based on the extent of emphasis placed on knowledge versus skills, values, and attitudes, three types of curricula were identified: knowledge-based, skills-oriented, and learner-centred. Due to its significant theoretical and practical influence globally, we focus on the knowledge-based model and its likely impact on students’ agency. We conclude by highlighting the importance of making learner agency a key orientation of the curriculum and suggesting directions for future research.     

Development of Intra‐ and Intergroup Judgments in the Context of Moral and Social‐Conventional Norms

Children and adolescents evaluated group inclusion and exclusion in the context of generic and group‐specific norms involving morality and social conventions. Participants (N = 381), aged 9.5 and 13.5 years, judged an in‐group member's decision to deviate from the norms of the group, whom to include, and whether their personal preference was the same as what they expected a group should do. Deviating from in‐group moral norms about unequal allocation of resources was viewed more positively than deviating from conventional norms about nontraditional dress codes. With age, participants gave priority to group‐specific norms and differentiated what the group should do from their own preference about the group's decision, revealing a developmental picture about children's complex understanding of group dynamics and group norms.     

Partners in creativity: action research and creative partnerships

The Government's recent Creative Partnerships initiative in England represents part of the resurgence of interest in creativity which was stimulated by the NACCCE's 1999 National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education. 1999. All our futures: creativity, culture and education, Suffolk: DfEE Publications.  [Google Scholar] All our futures report. However, many questions remain about the impact and processes of creative partnerships. The field of creativity research has been dominated by two key questions: how should creativity be defined and is it possible to teach creativity? Much has been written which attempts to shed light on the answers to these questions so it is important that creative partnerships' work is understood in the context of what it already known from research and theory. A welcome aspect of Creative Partnerships is the desire to ensure an evidence base to support the creative work happening in schools. Frequently this evidence base has been built in part by using action research methodology which has a strong track record in the context of practitioner research. This paper reports on work done with Creative Partnerships which involved the use of an action research framework to support creative work. It is concluded that there are potential problems with assuming that creativity will be enhanced by approaches such as multiple intelligence without careful thought about the way in which creativity is defined. It is also shown that action research does have the potential to enhance creative work but that one of the most important aspects of this is the relationships that are built between mentors and teachers.     

Defining'science-based targets'

The 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming well below 2℃above pre-industrial levels and aim towards limiting warming to 1.5℃marked a wa-tershed in planetar...     

It's Not Just Angoff: Misperceptions of Hard and Easy Items in Bookmark-Type Ratings

A common belief is that the Bookmark method is a cognitively simpler standard-setting method than the modified Angoff method. However, a limited amount of research has investigated panelist's ability to perform well the Bookmark method, and whether some of the challenges panelists face with the Angoff method may also be present in the Bookmark method. This article presents results from three experiments where panelists were asked to give Bookmark-type ratings to separate items into groups based on item difficulty data. Results of the experiments showed, consistent with results often observed with the Angoff method, that panelists typically and paradoxically perceived hard items to be too easy and easy items to be too hard. These perceptions were reflected in panelists often placing their Bookmarks too early for hard items and often placing their Bookmarks too late for easy items. The article concludes with a discussion of what these results imply for educators and policymakers using the Bookmark standard-setting method.     

The Long-Term Conservation of the Australopithecus-bearing Member 4 Excavation Walls at the Sterkfontein Caves,South Africa

The Sterkfontein Caves UNESCO World Heritage site represents one of South Africa’s most valuable cultural heritage resources and is one of the world’s most prolific palaeoanthropological sites with its fossiliferous deposits spanning the last 3.5 million years. One of the most famous fossil-bearing deposits at Sterkfontein is the 2.5 million-year-old Member 4. This is the world’s richest Australopithecus-bearing deposit and has yielded iconic fossils like StS 5 – Mrs Ples, StW 53, two partial skeletons, and two species of Australopithecus. After 80 years of research, Member 4 continues to provide crucial evidence for human origins research. Over the last 35 years, since excavation of the Member 4 started exposing the walls of the deposit, their deterioration has been accelerating. The implications of this deterioration and impending collapse are severe, not only from a palaeoanthropological perspective but also a heritage management point of view. This article focuses on our efforts to conserve the deteriorating areas of the Member 4 excavation site. The project required the development of a comprehensive set of strategies that had to be adapted to the specific requirements of the national and local heritage management agencies and remain sensitive to ongoing research programmes. The strategy developed included: multiscale integrative documentation of the exposed deposits; comprehensive, independent but cohesive stabilization of the different components of the deposit while maintaining visibility for ongoing and future research; and installation of stabilization infrastructure that could be adapted to the long-term conservation excavation plan while maintaining deposit integrity and site safety.     

Effects of a minimalist shoe on running economy and 5-km running performance

The purpose of this study was to determine if minimalist shoes improve time trial performance of trained distance runners and if changes in running economy, shoe mass, stride length, stride rate and footfall pattern were related to any difference in performance. Twenty-six trained runners performed three 6-min sub-maximal treadmill runs at 11, 13 and 15 km·h^?1 in minimalist and conventional shoes while running economy, stride length, stride rate and footfall pattern were assessed. They then performed a 5-km time trial. In the minimalist shoe, runners completed the trial in less time (effect size 0.20 ± 0.12), were more economical during sub-maximal running (effect size 0.33 ± 0.14) and decreased stride length (effect size 0.22 ± 0.10) and increased stride rate (effect size 0.22 ± 0.11). All but one runner ran with a rearfoot footfall in the minimalist shoe. Improvements in time trial performance were associated with improvements in running economy at 15 km·h^?1 (r = 0.58), with 79% of the improved economy accounted for by reduced shoe mass (P < 0.05). The results suggest that running in minimalist shoes improves running economy and 5-km running performance.