Designing Nordic technology-enhanced learning

The latest developments of information and communication technologies (ICT) and its large penetration in different sectors of our society pose new challenges and demands in the field of education. This special issue entitled “Designing Nordic technology-enhanced learning (TEL)”, presents and discusses how researchers in the Nordic countries are currently framing and thinking about issues that are related to pedagogical design of learning spaces, digital literacies, educational professional development, design of tools engaging students in collaborative inquiry learning as well as design-oriented multimodal understandings of learning.The objective pursued with the special issue has been to reflect upon current problems that educational institutions, practitioners and TEL researchers are facing in the Nordic countries as regards the acknowledgment of young people's ICT practices within formal education. Such analytical work has led us to identify and elaborate on what we believe constitute forthcoming research challenges for learning and education in the Nordic countries.     

Teaching Orthodox religious education on the border

In geographical areas bordering those of other states, the function of educational systems, as the means for states to foster their citizens, is challenged by ambiguities and tensions connected to intercultural experiences. In this article, I illustrate some of the findings from a project that studies religious education in four border areas around the Baltic Barents Sea, by bringing forward the case of a school teacher who teaches Orthodox religious education (ORE), in a town in Finland close to the border with Russia. Thus, the aim is to present and discuss ORE in Finland as well as to understand what implication the border situation can have on religious education.     

Integration of physically disabled students

Abstract

The article reviews research in four areas: impact of integration on children's self‐concept, attitudes toward physically disabled children, effects on their school achievement and teacher reactions to integration. Research evidence suggests that being together with non‐disabled peers makes the disabled child more aware of his physical impairment and restraints. But there are also signs indicating that psychological factors essential for a positive self‐evaluation are activated to a higher degree in the integrated environment. With respect to attitudes of peers there are some, although not conclusive, results suggesting positive influence of integration. Research on school achievement demonstrates the great variability among the physically disabled pupils, in comparison with which the impact of school placement is relatively minor. Teacher opinions about integration of physically disabled pupils are mainly positive, but if the handicap is severe integration is considered possible only with a rich supply of teaching material, reduced class size and support from specialists. The review concludes with glimpses from reports on practical experience with integration.     

What is ‘Agency’? Perspectives in Science Education Research

The contemporary interest in researching student agency in science education reflects concerns about the relevance of schooling and a shift in science education towards understanding learning in science as a complex social activity. The purpose of this article is to identify problems confronting the science education community in the development of this new research agenda and to argue that there is a need for research in science education that attends to agency as a social practice. Despite increasing interest in student agency in educational research, the term ‘agency’ has lacked explicit operationalisation and, across the varied approaches, such as critical ethnography, ethnographies of communication, discourse analysis and symbolic interactionism, there has been a lack of coherence in its research usage. There has also been argument concerning the validity of the use of the term ‘agency’ in science education research. This article attempts to structure the variety of definitions of ‘student agency’ in science education research, identifies problems in the research related to assigning intentionality to research participants and argues that agency is a kind of discursive practice. The article also draws attention to the need for researchers to be explicit in the assumptions they rely upon in their interpretations of social worlds. Drawing upon the discursive turn in the social sciences, a definition of agency is provided, that accommodates the discursive practices of both individuals and the various functional social groups from whose activities classroom practice is constituted. The article contributes to building a focused research agenda concerned with understanding and promoting student agency in science.     

Extract from new understandings of teachers' pedagogic knowledge 1

Abstract

The focus of this article is a comparative review of the science curriculum for England and Wales from the perspective of recent developments in the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and the Canadian province of Ontario. In the comparison of science curriculum documents and the language deployed, questions are raised about differences as well as commonalities among and between documents from various jurisdictions. Issues discussed include: the varying emphases upon science topics and/or intended learning outcomes; integration with other curriculum areas; the content and organization of the science curriculum; and ways of assessing students’ performances and understandings. The article draws attention to the importance of comparative analysis which informs our understanding of the effects of curriculum change, its relation to students’ achievements in science, and the need to support the development of teachers.     

Of sheep's pluck and science exhibitions: the professional life of Mother Bernard Towers RSM (1883–1963)

An examination of the professional lives of women science teachers presents an opportunity to consider ways in which women became ‘knowledge purveyors’ and to reflect on the extent to which they challenged contemporary boundaries about what science women should know. An analysis of the life of a woman science teacher who was also a ‘professed’ religious illuminates the complexity of a professional life shaped by an overlay of vocation and employment. Mother Bernard Towers's teaching life extended over the greater part of the twentieth century. As a science teacher she was influenced by changing understandings of the gendered science curriculum and the cultural and religious environment in which she lived. At the same time she challenged contemporary constraints on the teaching of science to girls, helped her pupils gain access to high‐status ‘hard’ science options and expanded the kinds of science that they could expect to know.     

Evidence-Based Leadership

Many nations' governments are requiring schools to bring about significant, systematic, and sustained change to improve student outcomes in all settings, and have imposed mandates to ensure that schools are providing quality education and running efficiently and effectively. Consequently, national and state testing programs, standards-based agendas, and reporting methodologies have been imposed on schools with significant demands and, in many cases, demoralizing outcomes (Hargreaves 2003). As a result of these processes, test questions have become the curriculum; teacher judgment has become undervalued; and evidence that is ill-informed, outdated, and incorrect has been used to drive school change.     

Eliciting pupil perspectives in primary mathematics: possibilities and issues

This article considers various approaches to consulting primary pupils about mathematics. This is done first through a literature review and second by drawing on our experience of designing and piloting pupil consultation in collaboration with staff in one primary school. Our concern is with the utility and drawbacks of the methods used rather than with substantive issues. We conclude that useful information can be gained from both the planning process and outcomes, but caution must be exercised in interpreting pupil responses. Social processes are involved and the possibility of social desirability effects must be acknowledged. Finally, we indicate the usefulness of using different approaches together.