Time for curriculum reform: the case of mathematics

Mathematics education is rarely out of the policy spotlight in England. Over the last 10 years, considerable attention has been given to improving 14–19 mathematics curriculum pathways. In this paper we consider some of the challenges of enacting curriculum change by drawing upon evidence from our evaluation of the Mathematics Pathways Project (MPP). From 2004 to 2010 this project, which was directed by England's Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, aimed to improve the engagement, attainment and participation rates of 14- to 19-year-old learners of mathematics. Our particular focus is upon the temporal problems of piloting new curriculum and assessment and we draw on Lemke's discussion of timescales, heterochrony and the adiabatic principle to consider the interlocking and interference of various change processes.     

Move over Rover! An essay/assay of the field of educational management in the UK

UK educational administration scholars have undertaken a survey to redefine the field of knowledge in educational management and/or administration. In responding to the resulting corpus of work, I argue that that this is an exercise in ‘turf talk’. I draw on theorizations of the socio-spatialities of fields of knowledge to consider educational management and/or administration and its border scuffles with policy sociology and the exclusion of debates about knowledge and truth claims that characterize the ‘new humanities’. I suggest that the lack of regard accorded the situated empirical and practical knowledges of practitioners, and the invisibility in the analyses of the active role of head teacher professional associations in the current context, places the academy in an adversarial position vis-á-vis practitioners. As government moves to make research ‘more useful’, and positions academics as training providers and management consultants for head teachers, I propose that educational management and/or administration scholars must move over to share ground and dialogue with the emerging head teacher profession.     

DEVELOPING CURRICULA FOR GRANDPARENTS IN JAPAN

The purpose of this study was to determine how three generations view the contribution and needs of grandparents in Japan. A sample consisting of 239 grandparents, 266 parents, and 274 grandchildren from, urban and rural areas completed the Grandparent Strengths and Needs Inventory (Strom & Strom, 1993). Grandparents reported more satisfaction, success, and involvement in teaching than was observed by parents or grandchildren. Grandparents experienced greater difficulty as well as frustration and saw themselves as less informed about their role than was reported by younger people. Significant main effects were generation, grandchild gender, grandchild age, generations living together, frequency of grandchild care by the grandparent, and amount of time the generations spent together. Implications for building curricula and guidelines for program development are identified.     

Social relationships and friendships among young people with Down's syndrome in secondary schools

More young people with Down's syndrome are being taught in mainstream schools and interest in the educational aspect of inclusion has grown over the last few years.
In this article Pat Cuckle, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, and June Wilson, a support teacher working for Education Leeds, explore patterns of friendship and social relationships among teenagers with Down's syndrome. The young people who took part in the study either attend mainstream schools or resourced provision in mainstream schools. The enquiry provides fascinating insights into the participants' views of friendship and into the range of their social experiences. Pat Cuckle and June Wilson conclude their report with a set of recommendations focusing on the need to create more opportunity for social interaction for young people with special needs.     

Education of infants with down syndrome

The early education of infants with Down syndrome has been strongly influenced by studies highlighting the importance of the environment. These studies encouraged the belief that intelligence is not fixed and that early experience is critical to the course of development. Since the origins of a decline in IQ for Down syndrome had been traced to early infancy, it was hoped that early intervention programs might halt or even reverse this decline. The de-institutionalization movement converged with these studies to emphasize the home as a teaching environment and to view the mother as a teacher. It is suggested that the concept of the environment should expand beyond the family and that professionals should consider their own role in terms of the social ecology of the family. The programs need also to address the specific arousal needs of the infant with Down syndrome and to include motivational aspects in addition to cognitive measures when evaluating the effects of infant education.     

Investigating Sociability and Cooperation in Four and Five Year Olds in Reception Class Settings Une E´tude de la Sociabilite´et la Cooperation des Enfants Age´s de Quatre ou Cinq Ans dans le Cadre des Cours Pre´paratoires Investigacio´n sobre la Sociabilidad y la Cooperacio´n en Nin ¨ os de Cuatro y Cinco An ¨ os en el Grado de Recepcio´n

The second part of a three-phase study is reported here. Phase one had focused on nursery settings (Broadhead, 1997). This second phase reports on a study in two reception classes (a reception class is the first class in an English primary school where children may be 4 or 5 years old). It has formed the basis for a more extensive third phase of data collection, recently completed in five reception classes. The research is not concerned with teacher-pupil interaction, rather it seeks to describe the language and actions children use when being sociable and cooperative with peers. It gathers data through observations of interacting peers as they play in five areas of provision: water, sand, role play and large and small construction/small world (three of these areas are drawn upon in this paper). In this second phase of research, a Social Play Continuum, developed in the nursery phase and described in Broadhead (1997), was used to collect data. It was subsequently refined to support the more extensive third phase. This paper presents the revised Continuum and describes the refinements. The Continuum may be a potential tool for observing, better understanding and more appropriately intervening in children's play in order to promote the growth towards cooperation. During this second phase a new method of data collection, the use of photography, was incorporated and this is described. Both Vygotsky's and Piaget's work offer underpinning theoretical frameworks as the research seeks to better understand how young children learn to initiate and sustain sociable and cooperative interactions in schools settings. Il s'agit d'un rapport sur la deuxième partie d'une étude de trois phases. La premiôre phase s'était concentrée sur les pouponniôres (Broadhead, 1997). Cette deuxième étape fait un rapport sur une étude dans deux classes préparatoires (c'est-à-dire la premiere année dans une école primaire en Angleterre, oil les enfants ont entre 4 ou 5 ans). Elle a fourni la base d'une troisie ¤ me phase de recherche plus e´tendue dans cinq classes pre´paratoires, et qui est actuellement presque termine´e. La recherche ne se concerne pas de l'interaction e´le ¤ ve-institutrice; elle cherche plutot a de´crire le langage et les actions utilise´s par les enfants quand its agissent d'une manie ¤ re sociable et cooperative. Elle recueillit de l'information en observant ce que font les enfants entre eux pendant qu'ils jouent dans cinq domaines: avec de l'eau, avec du sable, pendant des jeux de roles, et pendant qu'ils construisent de petites choses et aussi des choses plus grandes (cet article se reporte a trois de ces domaines). Dans cette deuxie ¤ me phase de la recherche, on a utilise´un continuum de jeux sociaux, de´veloppe´ dans la premiere phase et deja de´crit (Broadhead, 1997) pour recueillir les donne´es. On l'a perfectionne´ pour mieux convenir a la troisie ¤ me phase plus e´tendue. Cet article pre´sente le continuum re´vise´et de´crit les perfectionnements. Le continuum pourrait etre un outil possible pour observer, mieux comprendre et s'interposer plus convenablement dans les jeux des enfants afin de favoriser le de´veloppement de la cooperation. L'article de´crit egalement une nouvelle me´thode pour recueillir les donne´es (l'usage de la photographie) qu'on avait incorpore´e pendant cette deuxie ¤ me phase. L'oeuvre de Piaget et de Vygotsky contribue une structure the´orique pendant que la recherche essaie de mieux comprendre comment les jeunes enfants apprennent a initier et soutenir des interactions sociables dans le cadre de l'e´cole. En este art´ L culo se presenta la segunda parte de un estudio realizado en tres etapas. La primera etapa se enfocóen el nivel de guarder´ L a (Broadhead, 1997). Esta segunda etapa tiene como propósito informar sobre un estudio realizado en dos clases de recepción (la clase de recepción es el primer an~o que se cursa en las escuelas primarias inglesas cuando los nin~os tienen de 4 a 5 an~os). Esta segunda etapa formólas bases para una tercera etapa de investigación más extensa, la cual está llegando a su culminación en cinco clases de recepción. La investigación no estáenfocada a la interacción maestro-alumno sino que busca describir el lenguaje y las acciones que utilizan los nin~os cuando se vuelven sociables y cooperativos. Esta investigación reúne datos que se han obtenido observando a los nin~os mientras juegan en cinco áreas estipuladas: agua, arena, actuación de personajes y la construcción a grande y pequen~a escala (tres de estas áreas son tratadas en este art´ L culo). Para recolectar datos en esta segunda etapa de investigación se utilizóel Cont´ L nuo del Juego Social, desarrollado en la etapa de guarder´ L a y descrito en Broadhead (1997). El Cont´ L nuo del Juego Social subsecuentemente fue depurado para apoyar la tercera etapa que es más extensa. Este art´ L culo presenta la versio´n revisada del Cont´ L nuo y describe los puntos depurados. El Cont´ L nuo puede ser una herramienta potencial para observar, comprender e intervenir apropiadamente en el juego de los nin~os para promover su crecimiento hacia la cooperación. Durante esta segunda etapa se incorporóel uso de la fotograf´ L a como nuevo método de recolección de datos, el cual también se describe. Tanto el trabajo de Vygotsky como el de Piaget ofrecen marcos teóricos de sustento a medida que la investigación busca entender de una mejor manera cómo los nin~os pequen~os aprenden a iniciar y a mantener interacciones sociales y de cooperación en las escuelas.     

Attitudes of Parents and Teachers toward Mainstreaming

A questionnaire measuring attitudes toward mainstreaming was completed by teachers and parents at two primary schools, one of which had initiated a mainstreaming program in Year 1 classes. Results indicated that attitudes of parents and teachers at this school were more negative than those of their counterparts at the school with no mainstreaming program. Despite this apparent relationship between contact with disabled children and a negative attitude towards mainstreaming, a significant association was found between amount of experience with disabled children and a positive attitude towards mainstreaming. Among explanations proposed for these discrepant findings is the suggestion that attitudes expressed prior to experience with mainstreaming may not be an accurate guide to views held after its implementation.     

Literacy Practices in Head Start and Early Childhood Special Education Classrooms

A preliminary study was conducted to investigate the literacy experiences of preschoolers in Head Start and early childhood special education (ECSE) class- rooms. Two groups of teachers (10 Head Start teachers and 20 ECSE teachers) completed surveys that gathered information relative to the literacy activities occurring in their classrooms, the priority given reading and writing goals, and their attitudes about the literacy development of their students. The results indicated similarities between the two groups of teachers regarding the relatively low priority placed on reading and writing goals at preschool, and the ways in which children were involved in reading activities. The two groups differed in their use of supportive interactions during TV viewing-and writing/drawing activities, and the expectations the teachers held for the children's future literacy abilities. The need for further research describing emerging literacy practices with at-risk and disabled groups of children is discussed.     

Neo-liberalism and the state of higher education in the UK

This article reports findings from a research project on the impact of neo-liberalism on university life in the UK. Unusually, data collection includes interviews with senior management such as heads of departments and senior professors, as well as with lecturers and union representatives. Interviewees reported that the nature of institutional and individual pressures has changed and intensified over the last 30 years, resulting generally in negative experiences for staff and students; yet grounds exist for rejecting a purely deterministic thesis on the impact of neo-liberalism on higher education. Certain aspects of university work were described in positive terms and individual senior managers seemed able at times to mediate external pressures. Creative strategies of resistance were evident which provided some relief from an otherwise gloomy scenario.