The perceptions of stakeholders of the implementation of a state funding model in South African public schools

The government has made great strides in redressing past imbalances in education through the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) policy that focuses on equity in school funding. This NNSSF model compels the state to fund public schools according to a poverty quintile system, where poor schools are allocated much more funding for resources than affluent schools. Using qualitative research, school management teams, school governing bodies and principals of six public schools located within the Gauteng West District were interviewed to determine their views of how the NNSSF policy had been implemented. One of the findings revealed that equity in public schools has not been fully achieved since funding provided by the state is insufficient to address the backlog in educational resources. It is recommended that the state abandons the policy of funding schools according to quintile rankings but instead, fund schools based on resource needs.     

Sustaining care: cultivating mindful practice in early years professional development

The practitioner’s own self is a resource in early childhood education and care (ECEC). It is proposed that an experiential training focusing on the ‘professional self’ helps to raise awareness of how psychological dispositions may impair or enhance quality of provision. A key concept in such training is emotional labour, explored with students through examples of ‘relational pedagogy’ and ‘attunement’ to the needs of children. The argument of this paper, underlying the training, is that the expectation of attunement encapsulates both the best and worst aspects of such labour. The research focuses on the introduction of mindfulness exercises into the training in order to sustain this attunement. It seeks the students’ responses to them and to the experience of the training overall. The paper concludes by recommending that such practices be incorporated into professional development whilst acknowledging that such interventions can only succeed where working conditions reflect a compassionate culture.     

Secondary school teachers’ perspectives on teaching about topics that bridge science and religion

The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, science and religious education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities when teaching topics that bridge science and religion and the extent to which they collaborated with teachers in the other subject areas. We found that in this sample, teachers reported very little collaboration between the curriculum areas. Although the science curriculum makes no mention of religion, all the science teachers said that their approaches to such topics were affected by their recognition that some pupils held religious beliefs. All the RE teachers reported struggling to ensure students know of a range of views about how science and religion relate. The paper concludes with a discussion about implications for curriculum design and teacher training.     

Internationalisation in higher education in Latin America: policies and practice in Colombia and Mexico

There is now an extensive literature about internationalisation in higher education. However, much of the research relates to North America and Europe. This paper is concerned with internationalisation in Latin America and seeks to consider perceptions and experiences in Colombia and Mexico, and to compare practice in the public and private sectors. Based on detailed analysis of interviews with senior managers in six universities, the paper shows a growing level of activity, with some increasing levels of planning and strategy. Important differences are identified in the response of public and private universities, reflecting funding differences and freedom to determine institutional priorities.     

Introducing an observational measure of standards-based mathematics teaching practices: Evidence of validity and score reliability

The purpose of this study is to introduce a measure of standards-based mathematics teaching practices, the Mathematics Scan (M-Scan), and to examine its validity and score reliability. First, we define standards-based mathematics teaching practices based on eight dimensions that have emerged in recent conceptualizations by researchers and in the context of existing observational measures. Second, we present three sources of validity evidence: content review by experts, analysis of response processes of coders, and convergent and discriminant patterns with existing observational measures. Third, we provide evidence of inter-coder (or inter-rater) reliability through analyses of variance components and calculation of reliability coefficients, using the framework of generalizability theory. Results show the M-Scan holds promise as a useful tool in mathematics education research, measuring indicators of standards-based teaching practices unique to the subject of mathematics.     

Starting with ABC and finishing with XYZ: what financial reporting model best fits a faculty and why?

This article looks at the range of financial reporting models available for use in the Australian higher education sector, the possible application of activity-based costing (ABC) in faculties and the eventual rejection of ABC in favour of a more qualitative model designed specifically for use in one institution, in a particular Faculty. The decision not to implement ABC in the Faculty is examined, looking to the overall purpose and outcomes of Faculty activities. The broader question will be asked, what kinds of obstacles are likely to sound the death knell for ABC use in universities?     

Equity Issues in Teaching and Teacher Education

Concerns about creating greater equity in education are often projected outside of teaching. Yet the creation by teachers of more equitable and inclusive educational experiences and opportunities can play an important part in wider struggles for social justice. We argue that equity must become a central dimension of teacher education to challenge the complex ways that insidious inequalities are reproduced in and through educational frameworks and practices.