Showing papers in "British Educational Research Journal in 1978"

Repertory Grids in Educational Research: some methodological considerations

Abstract: (1978). Repertory Grids in Educational Research: some methodological considerations. British Educational Research Journal: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 63-74.

Psychopedagogy: theory and practice in teaching

Abstract: (1978). Psychopedagogy: theory and practice in teaching. British Educational Research Journal: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 1-19.

Factors influencing Teachers' responses to curricular innovations

Abstract: In this paper we outline a framework designed to help analyse the sorts of factors that influence teachers' responses to, and decisions about, curricular innovations. The discussion is primarily concerned with the several types of barrier that exist against effective innovation in secondary schools. These barriers relate to: the meaning of the innovation, its perceived value, whether it is 'organisational' or 'pedagogical', the procedural clarity of its presentation, and departmental pressures. The four innovations we use for exemplification, relate to a course that has been adopted in many parts of the world Scottish Integrated Science (Scottish Education Department 1969) and each innovation has relevance for other areas of the curriculum. They are:

Educational Research: Which Way?

Abstract: I have looked forward to this occasion with some trepidation, and indeed am rather surprised to find myself in this position. This is the fourth annual conference of BERA, so three presidential addresses have so far been delivered. Two were by presidents who happened (by some chance) also to be the current chairman of the SSRC's Education Research Board men familiar with the corridors of power, and adept at wearing different hats (as the saying goes). The third was Ed Stones who I think of, in relation to BERA, as our founder and progenitor. By comparison, I am a mere maverick and, if I have more than one hat, they are rather different ones. Those -who were at last year's presidential address will know that I never succeeded in gaining my M.Ed. at what was, in the later 1940s, the power house of psychometry, Manchester University's Department of Education; even though I apparently sat on the same benches as last year's president who gained a distinction. One might have thought there would be some kind of ripple effect. But I fled to Leicester, a Department of Education applied to on two negative critiera; first, that it was not involved in psychometric studies in any way whatsoever; second, that the professor was not a member of a group known to initiates then as 'Moberley's underground' (a move to Christianise, rather than measure, education which also by-passed the key issues). As a matter of fact Leicester was about the only department left after applying these criteria. But there was also a positive pull that it appeared to be primarily interested in education per se. Here, against the background of active educational work, I turned to historical studies as the context necessary to an understanding of the social function of education and the nature of educational change. But, as it turned out, both educational and historical concerns contributed to focussing attention on a particular area of applied psychology which I began to tangle with both intellectually and practically when teaching in schools in the Manchester area on both sides of the selective division; those interests account for the publication in 1953 of what was no doubt a jejune critique of mental testing. Because this seemed to have become pivotal to the whole school system, indeed to educational thinking at the time to such an extent as to exclude other forms of diagnosis or analysis. No one offered me an M.Ed. for this illicit product of my Manchester studies. Indeed the then consultant to the NFER, A.F. Watts, described the book as 'too silly to merit rational consideration, except perhaps in the pages of a journal devoted to psychotherapy'. But most other reviewers thought the case deserved a serious answer criticism had been forthcoming from specialist circles and responsible educational psychologists were worried about the misuse of testing. Hence a working party specially set up to review the matter by the British Psychological Society, mainly, I think, at the instigation of Professor Philip Vernon. The outcome, in 1957, was the symposium, Secondary School Selection, an uneven and sometimes contradictory compilation but in some aspects of seminal importance historically in contributing to the breakdown of streaming, early selection and the tripartite system of secondary schools. For those interested in Gestalt psychology it may be worth recording that my moment of insight came when Professor Warburton characteristically in shirt and braces turned to the blackboard, in that rather dreary building

The Conceptualisation of Attainment

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to attempt to articulate our dissatisfaction with current thinking about attainment, in the hope that this may help us to see more clearly what ways of conceptualising attainment would be more useful. Thus most of the paper is devoted to demonstrating the inadequacy of psychometric and taxonomic ways of thinking about attainment, but towards the end we shall very much more tentatively suggest an alternative approach.

Bright Pupils in Mixed Ability Classes

Abstract: There seems to be a good deal of disquiet, expressed by teachers at conferences and by parents and industrialists through the media, about the problems of meeting the learning needs of bright pupils in mixed ability classes, and about the possible longterm effects of schools' apparent failure to meet these needs. The Teacher Education Project, financed by the Department of Education and Science to research and develop courses for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, has been looking at mixed ability teaching as part of its brief to develop training materials. During the first year of its life the Project initiated research into a number of problem areas relating to class management, language across the curriculum and the teaching of slow learners and bright pupils, as well as into the general area of the teaching skills required of teachers in mixed ability classes. Some of this research has been, or will be, reported elsewhere [1]; but that relating to bright pupils in mixed ability classes is discussed in this paper.

Self Evaluation of Academic Performance in a continuously assessed course of study

Abstract: (1978). Self Evaluation of Academic Performance in a continuously assessed course of study. British Educational Research Journal: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 24-26.

Colour of Tester Effects on Children's Expressed Attitudes

Abstract: Summary In a detailed study of attitudes, preferences and stereotyping in a ‘multi-racial’ secondary school two testers, one white and one black were used. Data analysis revealed that in certain areas there was a consistent tendency toward the presentation of a more favourable self image to the white tester by the West Indian pupils. This finding questions the view that a white tester necessarily inhibits the response of black subjects.

The DES and Educational Research

Abstract: 8 First let me say how pleased I was to receive your invitation to attend this Conference and to speak at it. I am only sorry I was not able to be here for the whole time. When I took up my present assignment I decided that, once I had started to get my ideas about the Department's involvement in educational research sorted out, it would be most valuable to meet as many as possible of you who are involved in educational research, to hear something of your interests and to share some of my own thinking. This Conference is a useful first step. I hope very much to have the opportunity in the future to visit a number of the university departments and other centres of research represented here to hear more of your work at first hand. The history of the Department's involvement in research is a short one, going back only about 15 years. The first research budget, in 1962, was small enough at ?20,000 but since that time other agencies have appeared on the scene, the Schools Council in 1964 and the SSRC with its Educational Research Board in 1966 and they too represent part of the Department's stake in research. Today the research programme directly administered by the Department amounts annually to between ?11 and ?11/2 million, its contribution to the SSRC in round figures is ?1 million (which covers grants for post-graduate training as well as research projects) and a similar amount is given to the Schools Council. The three programmes are, in practice, complementary. The Schools Council programme leans towards studies in the curriculum and examinations, the Educational Research Board of the SSRC tends to favour more fundamental research and the DES programme offers ready applications of research within the educational system. The Department has complete control over its own programme it has only a voice in the policy of the other two bodies but if there is any merit in working towards an overall research strategy, or in trying to evolve a coherent programme, (if indeed such coherence is possible) the Department has a part to play in this attempt. But this is of course only a small, though I believe significant corner of the research field. Higher education exists to promote research as well as to teach and a substantial body of research is promoted and financed from within the system as indeed it should be. The NFER is one of the main research agencies for LEAs who contribute substantially towards its costs. Some LEAs (particularly perhaps the ILEA) have carried out important pieces of research themselves. And bodies as diverse as the National Children's Bureau and Political and Economic Planning (PEP) have more specialised areas of concern. All this amounts to a very considerable amount of largely unco-ordinated research, undertaken for a variety of motives and with a great variety of aims. Research is often the activity of the individualist and attempts to build a framework within which different pieces of research can slot together to serve a broader purpose do not always succeed. In terms of motive, the Department's concern with research is frankly, and I believe properly, one primarily of self-interest. It is the task of the universities to promote and carry out research to expand the boundaries of knowledge. The Department has a job to do, and it is looking for help from research in doing that job better. And it is a different job from that of a French or Swedish Ministry of Education, since there are broad areas of responsibility which are the province of the LEAs.

The role of the teacher in resource based learning: towards a conceptual framework

Abstract: The use of resources or RBL, which has increased in schools over the last few years, may have implications for the role of the teacher in the classroom. RBL has many meanings and is described here in terms of two dimensions —individualised/class and independent/dependent learning. Role is problematic as a concept and many criticisms have been made of its use. At the risk of adding to the semantic confusion a dynamic model of the teacher in the classroom is presented. The teacher has the ‘authority’ to impart ‘socially valued’ knowledge. He imparts this knowledge using a certain teaching method which in turn involves classroom management and certain tasks. At each stage certain influences may affect his action. If this model is applied to RBL questions are generated, the answers to which may prove useful for in‐service education or teacher training programmes.

Teachers’ perceptions of slow learning children: an ethnographic study

Abstract: (1978). Teachers’ perceptions of slow learning children: an ethnographic study. British Educational Research Journal: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 39-42.

Chimerical Concepts in Educational Research: classification and framing

Abstract: (1978). Chimerical Concepts in Educational Research: classification and framing. British Educational Research Journal: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 91-96.

Density and Vagueness in Lecturing: A Learning theory explanation?

Abstract: This short note reports on two studies that examined the relationship between density and vagueness and criterion measures of independent ratings with respect to lecturing. Lectures measured as being dense were considered hard going and received relatively low ratings for overall effectiveness. Lectures with a high proportion of vague words and structures were similarly rated. An explanation in terms of learning theory suggests channel blockage and inability of the sensory receptors to recognise and assimilate inputs.

Assessing School Performance: the background of an inquiry at Sutton Comprehensive School

Abstract: In October, 1977, a teacher wrote a capital F on the blackboard and, as he taught, encouraged his third year class to examine examples of swearing. When some of the children's parents learned of this they were angry and went to see a local councillor. Having met in his house they listed their criticisms and he referred them to a County Councillor. This person in turn protested to the County Council's Chief Executive who responded by agreeing to set up an inquiry. By this time the criticisms had become a long list of allegations and so a special project team seemed the most appropriate course of action. The Daily Mirror and Sun have kept the 'outrage' of swear words in the classroom firmly in their headlines. Barely beneath the surface however, lie the political facts that a school which has set itself against 'O' level examinations is to be tested and that the 'furore' has long since left local people behind. Both themes are important to appreciating the outcome of the enquiry. The school is dedicated to a comprehensive answer to comprehensive education; it was intended from the beginning to be a comprehensive school. Secondly the arena in which the drama is being acted explains why the inquiry itself may be a long, and at times confused affair. My own position in this is that since September 1976 I have been Research Officer of the Sutton Centre Project, the contract for which was awarded to the Department of Adult Education, University of Nottingham. The Research Office is within a teaching area in Sutton Centre. The school is, in fact, part of this large complex in which a large portion of the educational, recreational and social services for the North Nottinghamshire town of Sutton-in-Ashfield have been put. As a fulltime research worker I have been making surveys, attending meetings and observing everyday life. This everyday life has never had a settled character, partly because so much publicity has already been given to the venture; partly because the whole complex is not yet finished and partly because most people who work there are concerned with improving the facilities they offer. The school has attracted the lion's share of interest so far, although cameras are often to be seen in the bowls hall, theatre and ice-rink. Most visitors like the architecture and the atmosphere created but find the principles upon which the school is based difficult to grasp.

Some problems in assessing language in the classroom

Abstract: 1. the uses to which pupils put their reading ability during their education, and 2. trying to identify those factors which hinder the effective application of pupils' ability and with those which improve it. The findings of the project will be published presently (Lunzer and Gardner, 1978). As with so many research projects, certain issues were adequately resolved whilst the process of resolution of other issues served to raise questions and problems which had not ben foreseen at the outset. Although the project brief had not specified any commission to offer practical advice to teachers on reading-extension methodology, it became clear in the course of the project that two questions were uppermost in the minds of subject teachers in project schools. These were:

The Economic Dimension in the Sociology of Education

Abstract: Endemic in the traditional approaches to the sociology of education, although not always stated explicitly, is a particular view of the relationship between the education system, educational institutions and the economy, particularly that part of it represented by the occupational structure. This model pre-supposes a certain view of intelligence and ability and of the functions of the education system. Much of the same model is also incorporated implicitly into the new sociology of education which, so far, has failed to consider these macro-level relationships. This task is now being undertaken by a new generation of Marxist sociologists whose work should contain significant insights especially at a time when the traditional relationship between education and the economy is being highlighted both by cuts in education and the large scale unemployment amongst school leavers.