IDENTITY AND SCHOOL HISTORY: THE PERSPECTIVE OF YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THE NETHERLANDS AND ENGLAND

ABSTRACT:  The article presents the findings from a survey of over 400 young people in metropolitan areas in the Netherlands and England concerning their views on identity and school history. The research explored pupils' ideas about which facets of history were of interest to them, what history they believed should be taught in schools, and their views on the purposes of school history and history in general. The coding of the data made it possible to delineate between those from different ethnic minority backgrounds, boys and girls, age and level of education and first or second generation of migration. The study revealed significant differences between young people's ideas about history and identity, and those advanced by politicians and policy makers in the Netherlands, England and elsewhere. The concluding section of the paper considers the implications of the findings for policy makers in the field of history education in schools.     

Science students' approaches to learning

A small group of science students were closely followed through their under-graduate course. The problems and issues which arose as they came to terms with university are described. The notions of course-focussed and interest-focussed behaviour are introduced as ways of characterising the degree of independence the student demonstrated in relation to his learning objectives. These notions are discussed and further employed to indicate various attitudes and approaches to study which students adaptively developed in relation to their university work.Formerly of the Centre for Educational Technology, University of Sussex.     

Strategies for change in higher education: Three political models

This article describes three models which give insight into the factors that promote or inhibit change in institutions of higher education: a structural model; a social model; and a personal model. Although each offers a distinctive perspective, a number of recurrent themes are identified where the models support and complement one another. The usefulness of the three models in practice is illustrated by analysing how they might help in a possible innovation - the rapid expansion of Continuing Education in a traditional university.This is a revised and extended version of a paper presented at the Sixth International Conference on Higher Education, University of Lancaster, August 28–31, 1984.     

THE EVALUATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHING: CONTEXT,VALUES AND INNOVATION

This paper takes the view that the problems surrounding the evaluation of university teaching have more to do with the values and structures of the university system rather than of arguments as to whether or not teaching can be evaluated. Following an examination of the value, structural and interpersonal context in which university teaching takes place, an innovation persepective is discussed which explains the process of innovation in terms of the characteristics of the host system. This perspective is then used to assess the acceptability of two broad formal approaches to the evaluation of university teaching: one relating to the evaluation of teachers themselves (‘appraisal’) and the other relating to the evaluation of teaching provision (‘validation’). Although this analysis concludes that appraisal accords more closely with the values and structures of the university system, recent events indicate that universities are having to consider validation as a consquence of earlier failures to evolve mechanisms for the evaluation of teaching more in keeping with their own values.     

Sports coach as transformative leader: arresting school disengagement through community sport-based initiatives

Reducing social exclusion through interventions designed to sustain school engagement is a key aim of the education and social policy of any government. This paper is a response to the call for there to be more focused empirical sports coaching research through examining the transformative potential of community-based sports coaches to support schools in arresting school disengagement. By embracing an understanding that challenges the definitional core of sports coaching as simply improving the sporting performance of an individual or team, and, drawing theoretically on the work of Carlisle et al. and Shields, the role of ‘coach as transformative leader’ is articulated. Analysis of data collected by means of semi-structured interviews with a group of community-based sports coaches (n = 8) revealed three factors salient to our understanding of re-engaging young people with formal education through sport. These were the impact of the community sport programme; the relationship between schools and community sports groups; and the implementation of transformative leadership qualities by sport coaching practitioners. Importantly, this paper explicates the pivotal function that coaching practice which embraces transformative leadership principles can have on reorienting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds towards more optimistic futures and educational objectives.