Changing the English Classroom: When Large-scale ‘Common’ Testing Meets Secondary Curriculum and Instruction in the United States

This article explores the intersection of new, large-scale standards-based testing, teacher accountability policy, and secondary curriculum and instruction in the United States. Two federally funded consortia – the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Readiness of College and Careers – prove focal to this paper, as these two organisations are creating new tests that will assess 42–49% of the K–12 student population in the United States in 2014–2015. Because greater teacher accountability for student performance will be given for these tests, there is more reason to pay attention to what these tests measure and what they do not. Our analysis suggests that these new tests will hold secondary English teachers accountable for literacy and disciplinary knowledge outside the field of English and thus raise important questions about what English teachers should, can and will do, especially when their jobs are on the line.     

Building Women’s Innovation Capacities Through Undergraduate Experiences

Research in Higher Education - This study examines how collegiate climates and practices can promote innovation capacities among an international longitudinal sample of undergraduate women. Using a...     

Amplifying organisational discourses to the public: Media narratives of Teach For Australia, 2008–2020

Alternative teacher education programmes have emerged in many countries as a new approach to recruiting, educating and placing teachers in underperforming schools. The media plays an important role in framing perceptions of these programmes and their teachers, including in Australia, but this has not been the subject of significant research to date. This study examines how one alternative teacher education programme—Teach For Australia (TFAus)—has been positioned and framed within the news media since its inception. It critically analyses the portrayal of TFAus and concomitant educational discourses to explore their connection to larger issues surrounding teacher education and teaching quality. Drawing on an analysis of 122 print/online media articles, we identify narratives related to prestige, benevolence and the ‘alternative’ nature of the programme, alongside a narrative critical of TFAus. Despite this critical narrative, in investigating and opening up a dialogue on the perceptions and depictions of TFAus, we posit that the programme—although controversial in nature—has generally benefited from print media coverage, advancing its reputation as a major contributor to education reform and champion of educational equity.     

Dependence or independence in education? two cases from post-colonial South-East Asia

This paper seeks to question how far the dependency theory is universally valid and whether it can be applied to all sections of the education system. The first part examines some of the arguments in favour of continuing dependency and points out weaknesses in the theory especially in relation to educational dependency. It argues that the complex interrelationships of education and society often far outweigh any lasting vestiges of colonial involvement from outside. The second part of the paper seeks to test the validity of educational dependency. By examining one country that avoided any formal colonial control, Thailand, and another that was colonised by the British for over 170 years, Malaysia, it shows that the internal political framework of a society can far outweigh any attempts at external control; and that where external involvement is sought it is often done willingly and not necessarily on terms of subservience. Educational borrowing can be as much on the terms of the recipient as it is of the donor. The surprising thing is not the levels of dependence, but the levels of independence in both societies.     

Feedback on feedback practice: perceptions of students and academics

While feedback is widely considered central to student learning, students across the higher education sector commonly report dissatisfaction with the feedback they receive. In contrast, academics often feel they provide quality and informative feedback. This article explores and compares the perceptions of students and academics with regard to feedback practice. The paper presents the results of questionnaire surveys conducted with academics and students at the School of the Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University. It highlights the perceptions of academics and students with regard to preferences for different types of feedback, timeliness of feedback, students’ engagement and interest in feedback, quality feedback and satisfaction with current practice. The findings indicate a significant discord between staff and students in relation to certain aspects of feedback practice, namely opinions on students’ engagement and interest in feedback, satisfaction with current practice and feedback preference. Similarities in viewpoints were also found in relation to quality feedback.