The Concept of British Education Policy in the Colonies 1850–1960

It is common in the literature to refer to British colonial education policy as if it were ‘a settled course adopted and purposefully carried into action’, but in reality it was never like that. Contrary to popular belief, the size and diversity of the empire meant that no one really ruled it in any direct sense. Clearly some kind of authority had to be exercised from London but as Arthur Mayhew said of education policy in the Colonial Empire in 1938: ‘No Secretary of State for the Colonies … [is] anxious to adopt too definite a policy. He will be content with a few assumptions and a statement of general principles. And he will not be surprised if these principles in their local application are adapted with the utmost elasticity to local conditions.’ In the absence of any strong direction from the centre, this paper examines the factors that shaped twentieth century education policy in the 47 crown colonies, protectorates and mandates under the aegis of the Colonial Office in Whitehall. They included the all‐important attitudes of the governor and his senior administrative officers towards education; the status of the director of education; the influence of the Christian missions both in London and in the colonies; denominational rivalry; long‐standing British educational traditions based on social class; the state of the local economy; the attitudes of the European settlers; the advice and status of the London‐based Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies; the influence of the Secretary of State for the Colonies on the government of the day; the attitudes of key senior Colonial Office officials towards education; indigenous pressure groups; special reports and recommendations; war; national rivalry; the so‐called Cold War; post‐war constitutional changes, and the pressure of world opinion as reflected in the League of Nations after 1918 and the United Nations after 1945. Clearly there was great diversity in the ways in which education was developed from one territory to another but only detailed case studies can generate the data for broader and more historically accurate hypotheses about the development of British colonial education as a whole.     

Post-critical writing praxis as a qualitative researcher

The intention of this paper is to unsettle our habits of scholarly writing and reading, from within the grids of intelligibility of Western, rationalist materiality, so as to make visible what we/I no longer often see: the academic writing and publishing constraints that discipline our assemblages of knowledge. Taking poststructuralist articulations of the ‘critical’ and ‘ethical’ as heuristics for developing a praxis of critical deconstructive authoring, where agency is coterminous with, not external to, the event of writing, it puts to work Foucault’s perspective that the subject is a form, not a substance, (Foucault, 1984 Foucault, M. (1984). The ethics of the concern of the self as a practice of freedom. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), (2000) Essential works of Michel Foucault 1954-1984 – Vol. 1 ethics, subjectivity and truth (pp. 281–302). London: Penguin [Google Scholar], p. 290) to explore one way of crafting ‘an academic subject yet to come’ (Ball, 2016 Ball, S. (2016). Neoliberal education? Confronting the slouching beast. Policy Futures in Education, 14(8), 1046–1059.10.1177/1478210316664259[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], p. 2). Beginning with a brief consideration of the normative mechanisms that govern scholarly writing, it then uses some of the conceptual tools of Foucault, Derrida and Spivak to unfold and vindicate spaces in the grids of governance for reforming the subject.     

An instructional intervention's impact on the science and literacy achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students

This research examined the impact of the first‐year implementation of an instructional intervention to promote achievement and equity in science and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students. The research addressed three areas: (a) overall science and literacy achievement, (b) achievement gaps among demographic subgroups, and (c) comparison with national (NAEP) and international (TIMSS) samples of students. The research involved 1,523 third‐ and fourth‐grade students at six elementary schools in a large urban school district. Significance tests of mean scores between pre‐ and posttests indicate statistically significant increases on all measures of science and literacy at both grade levels. While achievement gaps widened with third graders on some of the measures, the gaps tended to narrow with fourth graders. The results based on item‐by‐item comparisons with NAEP TIMSS samples of students indicated overall positive performance of the students in the research at the end of the school year. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 857–887, 2005     

‘You just can’t do it like that—it's just wrong!' impressions of French and English trainee primary teachers on exchange placement in primary schools abroad: the value of experiencing the difference

This paper focuses on the European policy initiative to increase the number of teachers able to teach a modern foreign language in primary schools. It particularly focuses on the exchange placement which is an integral part of a training programme run by a university faculty of education in England and an Institut de Formation des Maîtres in France. Through an analysis of interviews with trainees about their placement experiences a number of tensions emerged as trainees' own assumptions about approaches to teaching and learning were challenged. The paper points to the benefits of the placement in both helping trainee teachers reflect upon their own national education culture and language and also understand and appreciate the differences that underlie another educational culture and language.

Cet article cible l'initiative de la politique européenne pour augmenter le nombre d'instituteurs capables d'enseigner une langue étrangère vivante dans les écoles primaires. Il vise en particulier les stages d'échanges qui font parties intégrantes d'un programme de formation mené par une faculté universitaire en Angleterre et par un Institut de Formation des Maîtres. A travers une analyse des entretiens conduits avec les futurs instituteurs à propos de leurs expériences de stages, il est apparu un certain nombre de conflits alors que leurs conceptions personnelles des approches d'enseignement et d'apprentissage ont été contestées. L'article souligne les bénéfices tirés des stages. Ils permettent d'aider les instituteurs en formation à réfléchir sur leur propre culture d'enseignement et sur leur langue. Ils permettent aussi de comprendre et d'apprécier les différences qui sont à la base d'un autre système d'éducation et d'une autre langue.

Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die europäische Initiative, die das Ziel hat, die Anzahl von Fremdsprachlehrern an Grundschulen zu erhöhen. Sie beschreibt in erster Linie die Austausch‐praktika, die im Rahmen der Kooperation zwischen einer erziehungswissenschaftlichen Fakultät in England und einer entsprechenden Institution in Frankreich, dem Institut de Formation des Maîtres, einen wesentlichen Bestandteil der Lehrerausbildung darstellen. Eine Analyse von gezielten Gesprächen mit Praktikanten hat folgendes gezeigt: Spannungen treten während der Praktika zutage, weil die Erwartungen der Praktikanten bezüglich Lehr‐ und Lernmethoden herausgefordert werden. Die Arbeit weist ferner auf die Vorteile des Praktikums hin. Einerseits hilft das Praktikum den Lehrern in der Ausbildung, über ihre eigene nationale pädagogische Kultur und ihre Sprache zu reflektieren. Andererseits hilft ihnen diese Zeit, Unterschiede zu verstehen und Eigenheiten schätzen zu lernen, die einer anderen pädagogischen Kultur und einer anderen Sprache zugrunde liegen.

Este documento enfoca en la iniciativa europea de la política para aumentar el número de maestros capaces de enseñar un idioma extranjero moderno en escuelas primarias. Particularmente enfoca en el intercambio de colocación que es una parte integral del programa de capacitación administrado por una facultad de educación en una universidad en Inglaterra y en un Instituto de Formación de Maestros en Francia. Por un ánalisis de entrevistas con aprendices acerca de sus experiencias de colocación, un número de tensiones surgieron cuando los aprendices se cuestionaron acerca de sus propias supociciones sobre métodos de enseñanaza y aprendizaje. Este documento señala los beneficios de colocación ayudando a los maestros a reflexionar sobre su propia educación, cultura e idioma y también comprender y apreciar las diferencias de otras culturas e idiomas.     

Improving science inquiry with elementary students of diverse backgrounds

This study examined the impact of an inquiry‐based instructional intervention on (a) children's ability to conduct science inquiry overall and to use specific skills in inquiry, and (b) narrowing the gaps in children's ability among demographic subgroups of students. The intervention consisted of instructional units, teacher workshops, and classroom practices. The study involved 25 third‐ and fourth‐grade students from six elementary schools representing diverse linguistic and cultural groups. Quantitative results demonstrated that the intervention enhanced the inquiry ability of all students regardless of grade, achievement, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), home language, and English proficiency. Particularly, low‐achieving, low‐SES, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) exited students made impressive gains. The study adds to the existing literature on designing learning environments that foster science inquiry of all elementary students. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 337–357, 2005     

Implementing Basic Education: An African Experience

This paper analyses some of the difficulties involved in implementing the recently approved Basic Education Program for primary and secondary education in Sierra Leone. Among some of the problems and difficulties that are discussed and analysed are funding, training and retention of teachers, curriculum reform, language development, equipment and supplies, and evaluation. To effectively implement the new program, teachers' conditions of service, salary, and allowances need to be carefully examined. This analysis will attempt to examine such issues based on empirical data. The article also makes a critical examination of the new continuous assessment system. The paper concludes that political stability is an important factor in the implementation of basic education.