Social anxiety in learning: stages of change in a sample of UK undergraduates

Social anxiety in learning is prevalent amongst traditional-age students and has a marked effect on their engagement with higher education. It receives little attention from academic or support services and there is a presumption that students will manage their anxieties. Yet it is unclear what psychosocial resources they might bring to this task and how these may develop through the undergraduate years. This study sought to identify possible change processes in student social anxiety by analysing qualitative responses obtained from Level 2 undergraduate students (n=39) in relation to their experience of learning situations such as lectures, seminars and group presentations. Thematic analysis suggested a four-stage developmental progression for students in terms of their experience and orientation to coping with social anxiety. Implications for staff development and student support are outlined.     

Caught between a rock and a hard place: disruptive boys’ views on mainstream and special schools in New South Wales,Australia

Students with disruptive behaviour in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) are increasingly being educated in separate ‘behaviour’ schools. There is however surprisingly little research on how students view these settings, or indeed the mainstream schools from which they were excluded. To better understand excluded students’ current and past educational experiences, we interviewed 33 boys, aged between 9 and 16 years of age, who were enrolled in separate special schools for students with disruptive behaviour. Analyses reveal that the majority of participants began disliking school in the early years due to difficulties with schoolwork and teacher conflict. Interestingly, while most indicated that they preferred the behaviour school, more than half still wanted to return to their old school. It is therefore clear that separate special educational settings are not a solution to disruptive behaviour in mainstream schools. Whilst these settings do fulfil a function for some students, the preferences of the majority of boys suggest that ‘mainstream’ school reform is of first-order importance.     

The Researcher and the Studier: On Stress,Tiredness and Homelessness in the University

Recent European policy has seen a shift from a concern with lifelong learning in the Lisbon Strategy to research and innovation in the Horizon 2020 programme. Accordingly, there has been an increased policy focus on the researcher who, like the lifelong learner must be entrepreneurial, adaptable, mobile, but who must also find new ways in which to develop and deploy her skills and competences and smart solutions to current problems in order to ensure sustainability. The subject position of the researcher, therefore, is not a figure distinctive to the university today, but rather one required of us all. For the excellent researcher in the university, resources exist to enable her to identify those aspects of herself that are in need of development in order to keep all aspects of her personal and professional well‐being in balance, often drawn from the field of psychology. Here, rather than analysing directly the ways in which the researcher is addressed by such devices, we focus on the common experience of being in the university today. In everyday conversation, we do not describe ourselves as entrepreneurial, innovative, leading, etc., but more often as tired, stressed and not feeling at home there. Rather than taking these as impediments to productivity and aspects of ourselves requiring psychological strategies, the educational aspects of these are explored in relation to the figure of the studier, as developed from Giorgio Agamben by Tyson Lewis. The shift of discourse from lifelong learning to innovation and research in recent policy is seen to effect a further desubjectivation, a division of ourselves from ourselves.     

Supporting Learners' Agentic Engagement With Feedback: A Systematic Review and a Taxonomy of Recipience Processes

Much has been written in the educational psychology literature about effective feedback and how to deliver it. However, it is equally important to understand how learners actively receive, engage with, and implement feedback. This article reports a systematic review of the research evidence pertaining to this issue. Through an analysis of 195 outputs published between 1985 and early 2014, we identified various factors that have been proposed to influence the likelihood of feedback being used. Furthermore, we identified diverse interventions with the common aim of supporting and promoting learners' agentic engagement with feedback processes. We outline the various components used in these interventions, and the reports of their successes and limitations. Moreover we propose a novel taxonomy of four recipience processes targeted by these interventions. This review and taxonomy provide a theoretical basis for conceptualizing learners' responsibility within feedback dialogues and for guiding the strategic design and evaluation of interventions.     

Future apprenticeships in England: the role of mediation in the new model

Apprenticeship systems across the globe are having to adapt to changing international economic and social trends. England is no exception. This article examines the latest model of apprenticeship in England from the perspective of the ‘mediators’ who work at local and regional level with employers to construct and deliver the majority of current apprenticeships. The role of these actors is examined through a conceptual framework analysing different forms of mediation in the context of ‘the modern expanded state’. Their views were collected through 27 focus groups in nine regions of England in Spring 2016 and involving over 100 participants. These data suggest that the new apprenticeship model faces a number of challenges; notably how to engage small and medium-sized enterprises and how to better support the mobility and progression of apprentices. Participants advocated the development of regional and local networks comprising employers, FE colleges and other providers, HEIs and local government, as ways of sustaining the ‘apprenticeship market’, providing learner progression routes and stimulating employer demand for skills. The article concludes by suggesting a set of necessary local and national conditions if these networks are to have an impact on the successful development of the new apprenticeships.     

Students' ability to visualize set expressions: An initial investigation

Visualization is a powerful tool for understanding and solving mathematical problems. The use of Venn diagrams to visualize set expressions, however, is problematic for many students and may actually hinder their problem-solving efforts. In this study, 92 university students construct visual representations of eight set expressions. Through the use of a production system model and detailed analyses of students' work and verbal protocols, it is discovered that (1) competent and error-prone students construct and use procedures to complete set translation tasks, and (2) two-thirds of the observed errors arise from the consistent implementation of ill-formed procedures. The procedural origins of students' errors are identified and conjectures are offered regarding the perceptions and experiences that lead to the development of erroneous translation procedures.NotesThis article is based on the author's doctoral dissertation completed in 1992 at Indiana University under the direction of Frank K. Lester.     

Why relationships matter: parent and early childhood teacher perspectives about the provisions afforded by young children's relationships

This study investigated the perspectives of early childhood teachers and parents regarding the importance of provisions afforded by child–teacher and peer relationships in early childhood centres. Participants were 200 parents and 71 teachers of children aged 0–5 years who responded to an online survey containing a series of relationship function statements that were rated according to their perceived importance. Results demonstrate that most functions were rated as more important in the context of child–teacher relationships than peer relationships, although statements reflecting the provision of friendship were regarded as more important in the domain of peer relationships. Ratings for particular provisions of infant relationships were significantly lower than those for older children; a result generated largely by variation in the ratings of teachers in comparison to those of parents. Findings are discussed in relation to differences between parent and teacher perspectives and implications for the development of inclusive, relationship-based pedagogies.     

The learner experience of Curriculum 2000: implications for the reform of 14–19 education in England

In September 2000, new qualifications for 16–19 year olds, known as Curriculum 2000, were introduced in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland with the aim of broadening the advanced level curriculum. It was left to schools, colleges, and their learners, however, to decide how these new qualifications would be used to build learner programmes of study. In this voluntarist context, the views and actions of learners have been an important factor in determining the course of the reforms. This article, which is based primarily on a study of 42 learners in a school/college consortium in the south west of England, provides a chronological account of learner experiences of these reforms during their first 2 years of implementation. The consortium discussed here offered a high‐volume study programme similar in size and content to those being proposed by the Tomlinson Working Group on 14–19 curriculum and qualifications reform in England. Learners found their expanded programmes onerous, due in part to the nature of the new qualifications and in part to the context of their implementation. The article concludes by identifying a number of policy lessons for 14–19 reform arising from this research.