Preservice secondary science teachers making sense of constructivism

This paper describes a naturalistic study of secondary pre-service science teachers and explores the process of implementing a constructivist approach to science teaching. Specializations: Gender and science, preservice education.     

Bystanders in Schools: What Do They Do and What Do They Think? Factors Influencing the Behaviour of English Students as Bystanders

This article reports on the English data from an international research project. Students' reports of being bullied are detailed but the main emphasis is on the role of the bystander, that is, what students did when they witnessed bullying in school and the reasons they gave for their actions. The study found that there were differences between students, in particular between primary and secondary phase students, and schools, in these areas. The responses are explored and the characteristics of those who intervened or did not. The implications for research and practice are debated.     

Challenging the knowledge‐transfer orthodoxy: Knowledge co‐construction in technology‐enhanced learning for children with autism

Experimental intervention studies constitute the current dominant research designs in the autism education field. Such designs are based on a ‘knowledge‐transfer’ model of evidence‐based practice in which research is conducted by researchers, and is then ‘transferred’ to practitioners to enable them to implement evidence‐based interventions. While these research designs contribute important knowledge, they lead to a gap between what the research evidence may prescribe and what happens in practice, with a concomitant disparity between the priorities of researchers and practitioners. This paper discusses findings from the ESRC‐funded ‘SHAPE’ project, which adopted a different model of evidence‐based practice, focusing on knowledge co‐construction. Pupils (N = 8), teachers (N = 10), a speech and language therapist and a parent in three different school communities investigated creative ways in which children's social communication skills could be enhanced through technology use. Through a participatory methodology, digital stories were used as a method to enable engagement with the practical realities of the classroom and empower practitioners to construct and share their own authentic narratives. Participants articulated precise knowledge about the learning opportunities afforded to them and their pupils through quality interactions that were mediated by the technologies, as evidenced through digital stories. The SHAPE project shows that it is feasible to develop methodologies that enable genuine knowledge co‐construction with school practitioners, parents and pupils. Such co‐construction could offer realistic opportunities for pedagogical emancipation and innovation in evidence‐based practice as an alternative to the currently dominant and narrow model of knowledge transfer.     

A NEW THEORY OF EDUCATIONAL CHANGE – PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM: THE CASE OF THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

ABSTRACT:  This article argues for a new theoretical paradigm for the analysis of change in educational institutions that is able to deal with such issues as readiness for change, transformational change and the failure of change strategies. Punctuated equilibrium (Tushman and Romanelli, 1985) is a theory which has wide application. It envisages long-term change as being made up of a succession of long periods of relative stability interspersed by brief periods of rapid profound change. In the periods of stability only relatively small incremental changes are possible. The periods of transformational change may be triggered by external or internal influences. A recent study of the long-term process of internationalisation in higher education institutions shows evidence to support the theory: long periods of incremental change, events precipitating profound change and the failure of externally imposed attempts to change. Also, as the theory predicts, changes in collegial organisations are slower and more uncertain than changes in managed organisations.     

‘Otherways’ into the Garden: Re-Visioning the Feminine in The Secret Garden

This article documents my interpretation of The Secret Garden. Re-visioning The Secret Garden as a Sleeping Beauty tale was the key that made it possible for me to recognize the story as Mary's quest tale and as a feminine, subversive text with covert, symbolic messages. To arrive at my interpretation, I explored a series of questions dealing with issues such as sight, speech, power, gender construction, and symbolism. My interpretation reveals the positive and potent ways women subvert the hegemony of patriarchal society and the celebration of the divine feminine within The Garden.     

Chinese adolescents' reasoning about democratic and authority-based decision making in peer,family, and school contexts

This study explored the judgments and reasoning of Chinese adolescents (13-18 years of age) from 3 regions of mainland China (N = 574) regarding procedures for making decisions involving children in peer, family, and school contexts. Participants evaluated 2 democratic decision-making procedures (majority rule and consensus) and decision making by adult authorities for 2 decisions embedded in each social context. Judgments and reasoning about decision-making procedures varied by social context and by the decision under consideration, and evaluations of procedures became more differentiated with increasing age. The findings reveal that concepts of rights, individual autonomy, and democratic norms (majority rule) are salient aspects of Chinese adolescents' social reasoning and are used to evaluate critically existing social practices.     

Race relations legislation,ethnicity and disproportionality in school exclusions in England

This paper extends earlier research into the responses of local authorities and schools to the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 (RRAA) in relation to minority ethnic pupils and exclusion practices. The original study drew on evidence from national exclusions data, a wide range of official documentation and visit data from 85 secondary, primary and special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs) in England. It focused on the disproportionality in rates of permanent and fixed term exclusion for minority ethnic pupils, particularly black Caribbean pupils and those from other black backgrounds. One‐quarter of the difference between black Caribbean permanent exclusion rates and the rates for other pupils is explained by factors relating to deprivation. More recent national data available confirm that the disproportionalities continue. This suggests a lack of compliance with the requirements of the RRAA at the level of national agencies, local authorities and schools. The persistence of disproportionalities in exclusions by ethnic group can be considered institutionally racist outcomes.     

Racial-Ethnic Identity and Academic Self-Efficacy of Indigenous Australian Students Studying on Scholarships at Independent Australian Boarding Schools—A Systematic Quantitative Literature Review

By 2016, 3,369 places in Australian boarding schools were held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Of these, nearly 2,350 Indigenous students attended independent boarding schools, many on scholarship. Despite these numbers and the historical inequalities and assimilationist policies of the past, there is very limited research on the impact of the independent boarding school environment on the racial-ethnic identity formation and academic self-efficacy of these students. Using the systematic quantitative literature review method, from an initial search result of 204 papers, 66 papers were identified in peer-reviewed journals that explore some aspect of racial-ethnic identity, academic self-efficacy, or the boarding experiences of Indigenous students. Of these papers, only five qualitative studies make mention of aspects of identity and self-efficacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled in independent boarding schools, although no exploration was made of these characteristics. This paper identifies research priorities that will enhance understanding of the consequences of Indigenous scholarship programs on the racial-ethnic identity and academic self-efficacy of these students.     

Schools’ Computing Policy as State‐directed Innovation

The decade 1980‐90 was one of great importance for educational computing. The outstanding feature of the first half of the decade was the Micro‐electronics Education Programme (MEP) which ran from 1981 to 1986. This period may be described as one of relatively open‐ended exploration. In the second half of the decade, by contrast, there was a sharpening of policy goals and a move towards curriculum compulsion. This paper seeks to establish the key role of central government in promoting the use of computers in schools. It notes a shift throughout the decade away from a rationale based on industrial and vocational considerations towards a rationale based on considerations of effective teaching and learning. But it argues that there is still a need for greater clarification of objectives and more precise identification of the resources necessary to meet those objectives.