Developing values in primary classrooms and the place of the humanities

ABSTRACT

In this article, I discuss how the context of children’s classroom activities and the quality of their participation and agency are key to learning around values. These pedagogical approaches lie in a socio-cultural theoretical framework which I use to show how ‘empowered’ participation in classrooms and in enquiry activities in curriculum areas is bound up with learning democratic values. Focusing on humanities subjects, I show how such values-based democratic pedagogical approaches in these areas of the curriculum (along with others) can be transformative, promoting values education, personal agency and social change.     

What’s the point of moderation? A discussion of the purposes achieved through contemporary moderation practices

An increasingly regulated higher education sector is renewing its attention to those activities referred to as ‘moderation’ in its efforts to ensure that judgements of student achievement are based on appropriate standards. Moderation practices conducted throughout the assessment process can result in purposes identified as equity, justification, accountability and community building. This paper draws on the limited studies of moderation and wider relevant research on judgement, standards and professional learning to test commonly used moderation practices against these identified purposes. The paper concludes with recommendations for maximising the potential of moderation practices to establish and maintain achievement standards.     

Measuring Bilingual Children''s Receptive Vocabularies

Receptive vocabulary of Hispanic children in Miami was tested in both English and Spanish with complementary standardized tests, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-R) and the Test de Vocabulario en Imágenes Peabody (TVIP-H). 105 bilingual first graders, of middle to high socioeconomic status relative to national norms, were divided according to the language(s) spoken in their homes. Both groups, whether they spoke only Spanish in the home (OSH) or both English and Spanish in the home (ESH), performed near the mean of 100 in Spanish receptive vocabulary (TVIP-H means 97.0 and 96.5); in contrast, ESH group children scored more than 1 SD higher in English than OSH group children (PPVT-R means 88.0 and 69.7, respectively). It appears, therefore, that learning 2 languages at once does not harm receptive language development in the language of origin, while it does lay the groundwork for superior performance in the majority language. Furthermore, an analysis of translation equivalents, items shared by both tests, shows that a statistically significant portion of bilingual children's lexical knowledge does not overlap in their 2 languages and is therefore not reflected in single-language scores.     

Enhancing participation in primary school and class councils through visual communication

In the context of citizenship education, many UK primary schools have recently set up school councils. Previous research has overlooked the importance of exploring communicative practices specific to school councils and the implications for children's participation. This paper draws on an action‐orientated research project with teachers in three Norfolk primary schools, which began with ethnographic observation of school and class council meetings. By developing alternative visual strategies for facilitating communication in meetings (based on a methodology known as PRA), teachers were able to encourage involvement by more children and enable them to have a greater voice in decision‐making. We argue that the common focus on adult procedures in school councils puts the emphasis on teaching children about their future role as citizens and can limit children's ownership of decision‐making processes. The alternative is to create contexts in which children have a sense of the democratic purposes of their school council in the here and now, by providing children with means (such as the visual strategies) that are consistent with those purposes and prioritizing action as an end.     

An evaluation of the implementation of the junior secondary science syllabus in N.S.W.

Summary and conclusions This paper has reported on two of the methods used to evaluate the implementation of the N.S.W. Junior Secondary Science Syllabus. The study was designed to address a number of questions which formed the framework for the construction of interview schedules. The data obtained using the interview schedules in turn provided the basis for the construction of questionnaires pertinent to science teachers in N.S.W. The questionnaire data reinforced by the interview data suggest that teachers are generally favourable to the notion of a syllabus which allows teachers feedom of choice in selection of contentprovided that they are given the support necessary to take advantage of this freedom with confidence. This study is seen as an integral part of the cycle of Syllabus development. It is distinctly formative rather than summative evaluation. (See Scriven 1967.) Regular and frequent communication with the teaching force is vital to the formation of a Syllabus which is in touch with teacher's needs as curriculum developers and implementers.     

Special educational needs and disability

Issues relating to the categorisation and labelling of pupils, and, the use of the terms 'special educational needs' and 'disability' in particular, have been the topic of debate in BJSE before. In this article, Sue Keil, a research officer at the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), Olga Miller, of the Institute of Education, University of London, and Rory Cobb, a development officer at the RNIB, summarise some of the key findings from a review carried out on behalf of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). The authors highlight confusion over the use of terms that represent differing ideological perspectives. Despite the social focus that characterises much of the discourse about disability, disability is frequently regarded as an aspect of special educational needs, an area in which a medical model is often dominant. These confusions benefit neither children with disabilities nor those with less clearly-defined difficulties. Sue Keil, Olga Miller and Rory Cobb note with interest recent developments in Scotland where a new framework based on the concept of 'additional support needs' separates disability from educational need and is intended to represent a more inclusive approach to children's learning.     

Role of cognitive prompts in video caregiving training for older adults: optimizing deep and surface learning

Enhancing the cognitive functionality of digital technology can be critical in learning complex topics like caregiving for older adults. This study examines the deployment of cognitive prompts in video-based training to optimize older adults’ cognitive information process in both deep and surface learning. The path analysis revealed the relationship among cognitive prompts, crystallized knowledge and learning outcomes showing crystallized knowledge as a significant mediator between cognitive prompts and learning outcomes. Additionally, cognitive prompts were shown to be significant in activating older learners’ prior knowledge, rendering the learning process more meaningful and purposeful for older adults.     

Considering the Museum Experience of Children with Autism

This article reports on a study that was designed to provide insight about the barriers that limit families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from visiting fine arts museums. Parents (N=54), and staff and volunteers (N=62) at the museum completed a questionnaire about their perceptions of the participation of children with ASD in museum activities. Some significant differences in responses were found between parents and museum staff and volunteers. Parents reported being thankful for the sense of community that Autism Awareness Family Celebrations provide, but were frustrated with reactions from others during typical museum experiences. Museum staff and volunteers expressed that museum participation was important, but responses were split between those who desired to learn more about ASD in order to create an optimal museum experience, and those who preferred not to take on this initiative. Studies such as this help museums become more inclusive.     

What “ideas‐about‐science” should be taught in school science? A Delphi study of the expert community

Recent arguments in science education have proposed that school science should pay more attention to teaching the nature of science and its social practices. However, unlike the content of science, for which there is well‐established consensus, there would appear to be much less unanimity within the academic community about which “ideas‐about‐science” are essential elements that should be included in the contemporary school science curriculum. Hence, this study sought to determine empirically the extent of any consensus using a three stage Delphi questionnaire with 23 participants drawn from the communities of leading and acknowledged international experts of science educators; scientists; historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science; experts engaged in work to improve the public understanding of science; and expert science teachers. The outcome of the research was a set of nine themes encapsulating key ideas about the nature of science for which there was consensus and which were considered to be an essential component of school science curriculum. Together with extensive comments provided by the participants, these data give some measure of the existing level of agreement in the community engaged in science education and science communication about the salient features of a vulgarized account of the nature of science. Although some of the themes are already a feature of existing school science curricula, many others are not. The findings of this research, therefore, challenge (a) whether the picture of science represented in the school science curriculum is sufficiently comprehensive, and (b) whether there balance in the curriculum between teaching about the content of science and the nature of science is appropriate. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 692–720, 2003     

Changing contexts: Teacher professional development and ICT pedagogy

This paper examines data from a series of visits to secondary schools in England which have been identified as doing innovative work with ICT. The paper argues that stable definitions of innovation are difficult in this context and require an understanding of both the technological contexts of innovation and the concept of a school as a dynamic learning community. Data is presented in the form of vignettes to demonstrate how the school visits formed a kind of “performance” in relation to the schools’ own claims about innovations and the enquiries of the research team. Discussion of the data focuses on three key themes which emerge: the changing roles of teachers; new technologies/new pedagogies and the public face of the school. The paper concludes with the observation that innovation is necessarily complex but pupil agency and creativity should always play a vital part.