Pupils' perspectives on the lived pedagogy of the classroom

This paper is based on a pedagogical action research initiative that explores what constitutes the ‘lived pedagogy’ of the classroom from the pupils' perspective. Photography and group interviews were utilised to allow pupils to express their perspectives. The results show that pupils considered situations meaningful when they were able to work, solve problems and create items together. The pupils appreciated situations in which they experienced a sense of belonging and could influence the use of time and space during the school day. The paper considers possibilities and challenges related to acknowledging pupils' voices in the lived pedagogy of the classroom.     

Collaborative knowledge-making in the everyday practice of youth suicide prevention education

The development and implementation of a new school‐based suicide prevention education programme in one secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, recently provided us with an opportunity to conduct an in‐depth, qualitative case study. The purpose of our study was to deepen our understanding of how school‐based suicide prevention education programmes like this one get planned and enacted in particular, local settings. We argue that the narrow range of methodologies that have traditionally been deployed to study school‐based youth suicide prevention education programmes have hindered our ability to see the complexities and potentialities of this work. Through the presentation of a sub‐set of findings, we aim to show the possibilities for fresh thinking and contextualized understandings that a qualitative case study, informed by a constructionist methodology, invites.     

Teachers reflecting on their work: articulating what is said about what is done

Teachers' written reflections on their work, which report on a change in their practice, were the object of this research. Taking teachers' articulation of their plans and actions in teacher journals as our source, this study's aim is twofold: (1) to describe how teacher reflect in a self‐initiated and non‐framed way on their own practice, and (2) to review teacher self generated reflections in reference to models of reflection. In this way, we tried to disclose what precisely teachers write (said) when reflecting on their work (did) in order to appreciate their way of describing what matters in their work; and position this in reference to models that conceptualise (“talk”) on how to actualise (‘walk’) reflection. This ‘double’ articulation of reflection is gauged in two ways, i.e., on: a) completeness, that is, whether it includes relevant components of reflection (models) to be found in the literature, and on b) recursiveness, that is, whether the written account gives evidence of an integrated cyclical, i.e., recursive process of re‐view, which appraises and looks back on what has been accomplished.

The results show that teachers do not work along the lines identified in current reflection models (i.e. providing clear problem definition, searching for evidence, planning for change, and reviewing plans). Instead, many teachers use a narrative and valuing appraisal of their accomplishments; not so much cautiously reviewing their actions but prospectively commenting on plans and solutions for future action. The data lead us to be cautious about the prominence of reflection models as advocated in the literature to be applied to teachers' written accounts of their practice.     

Australian academics’ perspectives on quality and accountability

Abstract

Universities have been challenged as teaching as well as research institutions. On the one hand, universities have been required to teach more students and pay more attention to quality of teaching and educational programmes; on the other hand, there has been increasing focus on faculty research performance. This paper examines whether these are conflicting demands, or whether university faculty are able to fulfil these requirements simultaneously. In Norway, the number of university students almost doubled between 1987 and 1995. Norway is, therefore, a sound case to examine the impact of massification on university research.     

Equity,quality and commitment in education: Interview with Luis C. Moll

Abstract

Luis C. Moll, Puerto Rican by birth, is one of the most prominent researchers in Latino education in the United States. His avant-garde works on Hispanic children's linguistic development and bilingual literacy are well known and renowned for their implications in the research on the impact of culture and education on human development. He is also one of the most notable advocates of Vygotskian theory in the Hispanic world, and his labor in this field has played an important role as a meeting point between United States' and Hispanic scholars. This interview examines his formation as a researcher: the intention is to provide an account of his educational and human trajectory, as well as to relate those projects he is involved in at the moment and that can be considered the result of such trajectory.     

Reducing exclusions whilst developing effective intervention and inclusion for pupils with behaviour difficulties

abstract

This article draws upon a recent evaluation study of developments in behaviour/discipline systems in an inner-city secondary school over a period of 5 years (including a 3 year O°action research' cycle). The methodology involved the collection and analysis of data from a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches with reference to other school performance indicators. Elements of the study are discussed in order to help bridge the theory/practice divide and to share practical research findings with other schools.     

Data Mining for Web Site Evaluation

Abstract

This paper evaluates the actual use of a course Website by graduate social work students. The study utilized data mining techniques to discover meaningful trends by using the data from server logs. The course Website was accessed 24,730 times by all 49 graduate students during a semester. The students utilized the course Website 23 hours a day, 7 days a week, day and night, evening hours, and weekends. The most popular area was the course documents area and the least popular was the student area. Study findings have implications for distance learning in higher education.     

Using blogs in qualitative educational research: an exploration of method

When compared with wider social research, qualitative educational research has been relatively slow to take up online research methods (ORMs). There is some very notable research in the area but, in general, ORMs have not achieved wide applicability in qualitative educational contexts apart from research that is inherently linked to the Internet, for example, research on educational technologies or students' online behaviour. This paper demonstrates how ORMs can be useful in qualitative research projects. It describes how on-going, reflective, qualitative data were collected using a popular, community-based online tool – blogs. The research project that utilized this approach aimed to trace how a group of international students in the United Kingdom responded to their new environment over six months. This article attempts to provide a new understanding on the use of blogs as a tool for data collection.