Showing papers in "British Educational Research Journal in 2014"

The OECD and the expansion of PISA: new global modes of governance in education

Abstract: This paper examines the expansion of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and associated growth in the influence of the OECD's education work. PISA has become one of the OECD's most successful ‘products’ and has both strengthened the role of the Directorate for Education within the organization and enhanced the significance of the organization in education globally. We provide an overview of the OECD, including organizational changes in response to globalization and the changing place of the Directorate for Education within the organization, particularly with the development of PISA in the late 1990s. We show how the OECD is expanding PISA by broadening the scope of what is measured; increasing the scale of the assessment to cover more countries, systems and schools; and enhancing its explanatory power to provide policy-makers with better information. The OECD has also developed the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and PISA-based Tests for Schools, which draw on the PISA template to extend the influence of its education work to new sites. The paper draws on data from 33 interviews with past and present personnel from the OECD, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the English and Australian education systems, as well as analysis of relevant OECD documents. We argue that PISA, and the OECD's education work more broadly, has facilitated new epistemological and infrastructural modes of global governance for the OECD in education.

Effective professional learning communities? The possibilities for teachers as agents of change in schools

Abstract: The concept of the professional learning community (PLC) has been embraced widely in schools as a means for teachers to engage in professional development leading to enhanced pupil learning. However, the term has become so ubiquitous it is in danger of losing all meaning, or worse, of reifying ‘teacher learning’ within a narrowly defined ambit which loses sight of the essentially contestable concepts which underpin it. The primary aim of this paper is therefore to (re-)examine the assumptions underpinning the PLC as a vehicle for teacher led change in schools in order to confront and unsettle a complacent and potentially damaging empirical consensus around teacher learning. This paper examines the characteristics and attributes of the ‘effective’ professional learning community as identified in the literature, drawing out the tensions and contradictions embodied in the terms professional, learning and community. The paper considers the implications of this analysis for practice, and concludes by offering some insights into the nature of ‘school improvement’, and the role of PLCs in realizing this.

Theorising student engagement in higher education

Abstract: Student engagement has become problematic following the rise of mass and universal forms of higher education. Significant attention has been devoted to identifying factors that are associated with higher levels of engagement, but it remains the case that the underlying reasons for student engagement and, indeed, the notion itself of ‘student engagement’ remain weakly theorised. In this article, we seek to develop the theoretical basis for student engagement in a way that highlights the student's own contribution. We explore how learning involves students taking responsibility for action in the face of uncertainty, whether in pursuit of personal or communal concerns. Drawing on perspectives primarily from realist social theory, we suggest that student engagement may be shaped by extended, restricted and fractured modes of reflexivity and co-reflexivity. In this way student engagement in higher education is theorised as a form of distributed agency, with the impact of a learning environment on this agency mediated by reflexivity. Reflexivity itself is further influenced by the tasks and social relations encountered by students in a given learning environment. The role that social relations play in students' responses to learning specifically offers a means to strengthen the moral basis for education. Our account provides an explanation as to why specific educational practices, such as those termed ‘high impact’, might lead to higher levels of student engagement within the wider context of a knowledge society. We thus offer insights towards new forms of educational practice and relations that have the potential to engage students more fully.

Identity-Trajectory: Reframing Early Career Academic Experience.

Abstract: Our longitudinal qualitative research program examining doctoral student, post-PhD researcher and new lecturer experience is situated in an international literature documenting how early career academics learn through experience. In common with others, our work is framed within an identity perspective. What makes our view of identity distinct is a biographical focus: emphasizing individual agency; situating academic work within the personal arena; and encompassing transitions across roles. This paper demonstrates how the construct of ‘identity-trajectory' which links a narrative approach with identity construction contributes to understanding how early career academics learn through experience and navigate their journeys.

Working with ‘Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning’ (SEAL): associations with school ethos, pupil social experiences, attendance, and attainment

Abstract: A programme of resources and activities relating to ‘Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning’ (SEAL) has been rolled out nationally to primary and secondary schools in the UK, but we know little about how variations in the implementation of this work relate to key indicators of school success. In the present study, a team of experienced school advisors used a semi-structured observation and interview protocol to rate various aspects of the implementation of SEAL in 49 primary and secondary schools. A total of 2242 pupils in 29 of these schools completed measures of social experiences and school ethos. School-level attainment and attendance statistics were collated for all participating schools. Analysis revealed that ratings indicative of a whole-school universal approach to SEAL were significantly associated with school ethos, which in turn mediated associations with pupils’ social experiences, overall school attainment, and persistent absence. Thematic analysis of the advisors’ records illuminated key dimensions and exemplars of whole-school implementation. Results highlight the role of school ethos in systematically connecting whole-school practices relating to SEAL with key indicators of school success. Directions for further longitudinal work to elucidate specific causal mechanisms are discussed.

The longitudinal association of childhood school engagement with adult educational and occupational achievement: findings from an Australian national study

Abstract: The research investigated the association between school engagement and adult education and occupation outcomes, within the context of a 1985 Australian longitudinal national cohort study of the factors affecting children’s long-term health and wellbeing. School engagement may be more modifiable than other factors related to academic success, such as academic attainment, which is influenced by family background. A School Engagement Index was constructed using questionnaire items on school enjoyment and boredom. Related school engagement items included learner self-concept, motivation to learn, sense of belonging, participation in school or extra-mural activities, and enjoyment of physical activity. In 2004-06, participants (aged 26 to 30 years) reported their highest level of education achieved and current occupation. Potential covariates included age, sex, markers of socio-economic status in childhood, personality, and school-level variables (i.e. number of students, single sex versus coeducation; government, private or independent). Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of achieving post-compulsory school education and achieving higher status occupations. Findings revealed that each unit of school engagement was independently associated with a 10% higher odds (OR 1.10 95% CI 1.01,1.21) of achieving a post-compulsory school education. Maternal education, selfconcept as a learner, motivation to learn, all also significantly predicted achieving post-compulsory school education. School engagement was found to mediate the association between the personality characteristic of agreeableness and education outcomes. Higher school engagement was also independently associated with achieving higher status occupations 20 years later (OR 1.11 95% CI 1.03, 1.20). Importantly, this was independent of a host of background factors.

Meritocracy, deficit thinking and the invisibility of the system: Discourses on educational success and failure

Abstract: Socio-ethnic stratification and segregation processes present in Flemish society are reflected in the everyday school environment. Pupils with a different socio-ethnic background than the dominant majority and middle class seem to be confronted with a lot of difficulties in this school system. The dominant meritocratic discourse frequently applies a deficit thinking perspective to frame educational success and failure, focusing on deficiencies originating outside of the school. In this paper we analyse newly collected survey data (N = 11,015 pupils) and a large amount of qualitative data (from pupils, parents, teachers, principals) to answer our two main research questions: (i) how is educational success/failure defined, and (ii) how is educational success/failure explained? The factor analyses as well as the qualitative analyses illustrate how the idea of meritocracy relates to individualistic features such as effort, merit and competence. However, the findings also reveal that this individualistic approach goes hand-in-hand with a focus on the family environment and ‘culture’ which seems to limit individual agency to a large extent. In these discourses, pupils, parents and even teachers are presented as being largely determined by their direct social environment with almost no regard for social inequalities within the educational system. The paper ends with a discussion on how processes of victimization and the denial of systemic bias, influence educational trajectories and proposes a different approach to multiculturalism and the appreciation of cultural background and specific family resources as positive elements in these trajectories.

The effects of gender on group work process and achievement: an analysis through self‐ and peer‐assessment

Abstract: The importance of teamwork skills as part of employability has been widely acknowledged and accompanied by active research on successful cooperative learning. However, relatively few studies have focused on the effects of gender on students' group work, and only a limited number of empirical studies exist that examine students' group work process and performance through the results of self- and peer-assessment. This study examines the effects of gender on group work process and performance using the self- and peer-assessment results of 1001 students in British higher education formed into 192 groups. The analysis aggregates all measures on the group level in order to examine the overall group performance. Further, a simple regression model is used to capture the effects of group gender compositions. Results suggest that students in gender balanced groups display enhanced collaboration in group work processes. The enhanced collaboration could be associated with less social loafing behaviours and more equitable contributions to the group work. However, the results imply that this cooperative learning environment does not lead to higher student performance. Students' comments allow us to explore possible reasons for this finding. The results also indicate underperformance by all-male groups and reduced collaborative behaviours by solo males in male gender exception groups (i.e., groups consisting of one male student and other members being female). The results thus have implications for the composition of groups. The pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed.

Women principals in South Africa: gender, mothering and leadership

Abstract: This paper draws on qualitative data from a mixed-method study that analysed women’s experience as principals in South Africa. The study explored how gender and other related factors such as language, culture, religion and ethnicity positively or negatively influenced women’s access to the principal role and their leadership experiences. The paper draws on interviews with 54 female headteachers in the Gauteng and North West provinces of South Africa. Since a mothering style of leadership was self-reported by over half of the participants in our study, this paper aims to explore the diverse ways in which motherhood was constructed and the outcomes of these constructions on women’s approach to leadership. Drawing on concepts such as gender, mothering and reference groups, the paper focuses on how women position themselves as mothers at the workplace and how this shapes their relationship with other members of staff, students and parents. It concludes by suggesting that, in the ongoing struggle to achieve greater equality for women school leaders, homogenising western interpretations of doing and undoing gender are inappropriate

Intercultural Education in Europe: Policies, practices and trends

Abstract: European societies have become increasingly diverse as a result of legal and illegal migration flows, and educationists are facing the challenge of how to address the presence of migrant students. In recent years, there has been increasing activity at European level in the field of intercultural education despite the principle of subsidiarity. This article draws on 30 European level policy documents published within the last decade to analyse the dynamics influencing intercultural education in Europe. These include European Union institutions (such as European Commission, European Council, and Council of Ministers) and Council of Europe documents. Our discussions are situated within historical and contemporary European immigration policy developments. We argue that the main emphasis of recent European level policies and directives is on fostering social cohesion through incorporating migrant students. In so doing, European organisations have had to deal with arguments surrounding the legitimacy of European policy initiatives in the field of intercultural education.

Justice, Belonging and Trust among Israeli Middle School Students.

Abstract: Contending that justice experiences at school transmit messages about the wider society and affects students' attitudes and behaviour, we investigated the effects of students' sense of distributive and (school) procedural justice on their sense of belonging to school and on their social and institutional trust. The study was carried out among about 5000 eighth and ninth graders in a national sample of 48 middle schools in Israel in the 2010–2011 school year. The two-level data—individual and school—were analyzed by HLM7 (Hierarchical Linear Model). Findings basically support our hypotheses: sense of distributive justice, especially, with regard to teachers'–students' relation positively affected students' sense of belonging and their trust in people and formal institutions; and school (aggregate) sense of procedural justice added to these positive effects. However, these attitudes were also dependent on sectorial affiliation (Jewish secular, Jewish religious, Arab), which explained a considerable portion of between-school variation in student attitudes.

Ethics, education policy and research: the phonics question reconsidered

Abstract: This paper argues that direct control of the early years literacy curriculum recently exercised by politicians in England has made the boundaries between research, policy and practice increasingly fragile. It describes how policy came to focus most effort on the use of synthetic phonics programmes in the early years. It examines why the Clackmannanshire phonics intervention became the study most frequently cited to justify government policy and suggests a phonics research agenda that could more usefully inform teaching. It argues that, whilst academics cannot control how their research is eventually used by policymakers, learned societies can strengthen their ethics policies to set out clearer ground-rules for academic researchers working across knowledge domains and with policymakers. A stronger framework to guide the ethical interpretation of research evidence in complex education investigations would allow more meaningful conversations to take place within and across research communities, and with research users. The paper suggests some features for such a framework.

Graduate employability and educational context: a comparison between Great Britain and the Netherlands

Abstract: Within policy circles, graduate employability remains a problem. It is often understood as an individual phenomenon, overlooking the influence of the organisation of higher education on the competition for graduate jobs. This article explores and compares how graduate employability is socially constructed within Great Britain and the Netherlands. It provides an analysis of both Dutch and British systems of higher education and explains how they shape the positional competition for graduate jobs. In addition it shows how perceptions of employability of final year university students relate to these two educational systems. The article is based on an empirical study on graduate employability in both countries using both micro analysis as well as contextual analysis. The article shows a fit between educational structure and employability strategies. The educational context shapes graduates' understandings and expectations of the competition for graduate jobs.

Class matters in the interview setting? Positionality, situatedness and class’

Abstract: In this article we argue that despite methodological and analytical advancements in the field of social class research, these developments have not led to a wholehearted discussion about class positionality and situatedness in relation to interviewer–participant dynamics. Despite—or perhaps due to—this methodological gap, there remains an unspoken expectation that class matching, particularly when investigating working-class groups and practices, is desirable as it engenders empathy on the part of the interviewer which allows for openness on the part of the participant. The team of four interviewers reflect upon their varying experiences of conducting interviews about class with a group of middle- and working-class students at university, arguing that even if class matching between participant and researcher were possible, shared class position does not necessarily equate with similar life experiences, or enable a strong rapport nor a more ethical analysis or understanding of working-class people's lives. We explore some of the complexities regarding the class-related positions of the researchers and the participants and consequently advocate that class researchers engage in reflexive practices in order to explore the myriad ways in which the researcher's own class history and current class position both advantage and disadvantage the research process, often in unpredictable ways.

The politics of Britishness: multiculturalism, schooling and social cohesion

Abstract: This paper is set against a backdrop of contemporary concerns about Britishness. It explores the dominant view that unprecedented levels of cultural diversity within western contexts such as the UK are undermining social cohesion and are attributable to minority groups’ failure to connect or assimilate with mainstream ‘British’ (read White Anglo) culture. The paper focuses on how these issues play out for several of the key teachers at ‘Hamilton Court’, a large English comprehensive multicultural school. Despite the school being a socially cohesive space, these teachers were concerned with students’ lack of affiliation with ‘British’ culture. The paper examines these concerns through critical lenses that problematise reductionist and racialised understandings of Britishness and assumptions that associate an affiliation with Britishness with generating social cohesion. Against this backdrop, the paper provides further warrant for continued critical discussion about issues of Britishness, multiculturalism and schooling.

What (a) to Do about "Impact": A Bourdieusian Critique.

Abstract: This paper presents a research-based, theoretically-informed contribution to the debate on ‘impact’ in educational research, and specifically a response to Gardner’s presidential address to the British Educational Research Association (2011). It begins by discussing the development of the research ‘impact’ agenda as a global phenomenon, and reviews the current state of debate about ‘impact’ in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework. It goes on to argue that a radical alternative perspective on this agenda is needed, and outlines Bourdieu’s sociology – including his much-neglected concept of illusio – as offering potential for generating critical insights into demands for ‘impact’. The term illusio in particular calls us to examine the ‘stakes’ that matter in the field of educational research: the objects of value that elicit commitment from players and are ‘worth the candle’. This framework is then applied first to analyse an account of how an ESRC-funded project that I led was received by different research ‘users’ as we sought to generate impact for our findings. Second, it is used to show that the field of educational research has changed; that it has bifurcated between the field of research production and that of research reception; and that the former is being subordinated to the latter. The paper concludes by arguing that, despite many educational researchers’ commitments to ‘make a difference ‘ in wider society, the research ‘impact’ imperative is one that encroaches on academic freedom; and that academics need to find collective ways in which to resist it.

Predictors of numeracy performance in national testing programs: insights from the longitudinal study of Australian children

Abstract: This article is based on an exploratory study that examines factors which predict children's performance on the numeracy component of the Australian National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). Utilizing an ecological theoretical model, this study examines child, home and school variables which may enable or constrain NAPLAN numeracy performance. Data are presented from a nationally-representative sample of 2450 children participating in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Twenty-four children, home and school variables are tested as predictors of performance on the Year 3 NAPLAN numeracy assessment. The analysis includes an investigation of bivariate relationships between the outcome variable and each of the predictor variables. Following this a series of linear regression models are used to analyse the relation between child, home and school-related variables and NAPLAN numeracy performance. The results support the ecological model and point to the importance of a supportive home-school relationship on children's numeracy performance. © 2013 British Educational Research Association.

The effects on students' emotional and behavioural difficulties of teacher–student interactions, students' social skills and classroom context

Abstract: Children's emotional and behavioural difficulties are the result of multiple individual, social and contextual factors working in concert. The current paper proposes a theoretical framework for interpreting students' emotional and behavioural difficulties in classrooms, by taking into consideration teacher–student interactions, students' social skills and classroom context. Based on Bronfenbrenner's model, according to which process, person and context are the main sources of children's development, the current paper combines three theoretical approaches: firstly, in terms of process, the systems communication approach, which refers to teacher–student interactions; secondly, in terms of person, social and emotional learning, which refers to children's social skills; and thirdly, in terms of classroom context, the achievement goal theory, with its emphasis on the mastery of classroom goal structure. Empirical support for the framework resulted in the administration of four instruments to 962 primary students: (a) QTI for teacher–student interactions, (b) MESSY for students' social skills; (c) CGS for classroom context; and (d) SDQ for students' emotional and behavioural difficulties. It was found that students' possession of social skills had a prominent role in the prediction of emotional and behavioural difficulties, while teacher–student interactions and classroom context also affected students' emotional and behavioural difficulties. This perspective provides educators with a theoretical and practical tool for understanding emotional and behavioural difficulties.

The Analysing Children's Creative Thinking framework: development of an observation-led approach to identifying and analysing young children's creative thinking

Abstract: Increased international recognition of the value of supporting creative thinking suggests the value of development of approaches to its identification in children. Development of an observation-led framework, the Analysing Children's Creative Thinking (ACCT) framework, is described, and a case made for the validity of inferring creative thinking in young children from observations of their behaviour in meaningful, everyday contexts. The paper identifies particular aspects of behaviour which may be related to creative thinking, and a copy of the framework shows its organisation into three major behavioural categories of exploration, involvement and enjoyment, and persistence, further subdivided into a total of 10 items. Operational definitions and examples, along with an extract from an analysed observation, illustrate its use. It is suggested that, as well as being a useful research tool, the ACCT framework has the potential to support professional development, with the coded observations providing a contextually-rich, focussed picture of what children do and say about their experiences, affording individual and shared reflection, discussion and analysis. In an English context, this may be particularly relevant with the advent of a revised Early Years Foundation Stage profile in 2012.

Legitimating status: perceptions of meritocracy and inequality among undergraduates at an elite British university

Abstract: Given the frequent critiques of elite universities for admitting low numbers of state school graduates and, more recently, British Afro-Caribbean students, how do students attending those universities make meaning of the admissions process? Through an analysis of 46 one-on-one in-depth interviews with undergraduates attending Oxford University, we show that students believe in the fairness of the admissions process, while lamenting the lack of opportunities for educational advancement faced by some disadvantaged youth in British society. Despite their understanding that many British youth do not have access to educational experiences that make Oxbridge an attainable goal, most students do not support changes to make access more equitable across class or racial/ethnic lines. This perspective, which legitimates the status students gain through matriculation at an elite university, supports the maintenance of unequal access to an Oxford education despite the advantages that education is known to confer to graduates. The findings demonstrate elites acknowledging the disadvantages of particular groups in society without acknowledging their own advantages in the same system. They do so by recognizing two elements of merit: (1) intelligence, which most students assumed led to their own admission; and (2) cultivation of that intelligence, which requires elite secondary schools and which most students see as disadvantaging particular groups in society. In the paper we highlight differences in meaning-making between graduates of grammar, comprehensive and private schools.

Family resources and mid‐life level of education: a longitudinal study of the mediating influence of childhood parental involvement

Abstract: This paper draws on the concept of parental involvement, popular among educators and policy-makers, in investigating differences in level of attained education by family background. The question is ...

Stratified at seven: in‐class ability grouping and the relative age effect

Abstract: There is an established body of evidence indicating that a pupil's relative age within their school year cohort is associated with academic attainment throughout compulsory education. In England, autumn-born pupils consistently attain at higher levels than summer-born pupils. Analysis here investigates a possible channel of this relative age effect: ability grouping in early primary school. Relatively younger children tend more often to be placed in the lowest in-class ability groups, and relatively older children in the highest group. In addition, teacher perceptions of pupils' ability and attainment are associated with the child's birth month: older children are more likely to be judged above average by their teachers. Using 2008 data for 5481 English seven-year-old pupils and their teachers from the Millennium Cohort Study, this research uses linear regression modelling to explore whether birth month gradation in teacher perceptions of pupils is more pronounced when pupils are in-class ability grouped than when they are not. It finds an amplification of the already disproportionate tendency of teachers to judge autumn-born children as more able when grouping takes place. The autumn–summer difference in teacher judgements is significantly more pronounced among in-class ability grouped pupils than among non-grouped pupils. Given evidence that teacher perceptions and expectations can influence children's trajectories, this supports the hypothesis that in-class ability grouping in early primary school may be instrumental in creating the relative age effect.

Middle attainers and 14–19 progression in England: half‐served by New Labour and now overlooked by the Coalition?

Abstract: In the context of the international problem of ‘early school leaving’, this paper explores the issue of sustained participation in upper secondary education in England. It focuses in particular on the position of middle attainers, who constitute a large proportion of the cohort and whose progress will be vital in realising the Government’s goal of ‘Raising the Participation Age’ to 18 by 2015. The paper draws on evidence from national research undertaken as part of the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training in England and Wales and analysis of New Labour and Coalition policy between 2000-2012. It uses a three-year local study of 2400 14- and 16-year-olds in an established school/college consortium to illustrate the effects of policy and practice on middle attainers. We argue that this important group of young people was ‘half-served’ by New Labour, because of its incomplete and contradictory 14-19 reforms, and is now being ‘overlooked’ by Coalition policy because of its emphasis on high attainers. We conclude by suggesting a range of measures to support the 14+ participation, progression and transition of middle attainers in the English education and training system

Rural schools, social capital and the Big Society: a theoretical and empirical exposition

Abstract: The paper commences with a theoretical exposition of the current UK government's policy commitment to the idealised notion of the Big Society and the social capital currency underpinning its formation. The paper positions this debate in relation to the rural and adopts an ethnographically-informed methodological approach to provide an in-depth look at two contrasting English rural primary schools and their relationship with their village communities. The empirical investigation seeks to explore the extent to which the potential for building social capital is evidenced in current rural school–community relations within these two locales. The findings reveal a highly differentiated countryside in which any attempt to essentialise the abilities of rural schools to generate social capital in order to build the Big Society should be avoided.

Finding Nexus: Connecting Youth Work and Research Practices.

Abstract: Participation in educational and social research helps to develop understanding of how young people learn and to consider wider aspects of their lives to enable their voices to be heard and acted upon. Research also facilitates the articulation and sharing of methodologies across a range of professional practices. We assert that theory and practice in educational youth work offers a position of strength from which to undertake research. In making this assertion, we suggest cross-disciplinarity between youth work and research practices in order to build research mindedness among youth workers who, through this nexus, are well-placed to engage in practice based research. Drawing on discourses about young people, youth work and youth participation, we identify five elements of youth work practice that can be aligned with research processes: reflexivity; positionality and bias; insider cultural competence; rapport and trust; power relationships. The article examines how these elements are present in youth work and a range of research settings. We identify youth work methods and dispositions as enhancing research capacity which could also be useful in building participatory research methods in disciplinary areas beyond education. Yet, in making these connections, we also identify a range of factors that show this nexus as complex and contestable. Reflecting on the lessons learned from our experiences as youth work practitioners and academic researchers, we propose that finding nexus, which in this instance is between youth work and research paradigms, could inform educational research practices and contributes to developing a meaningful praxis.

Inequality in language achievement growth? An investigation into the impact of pupil socio-ethnic background and school socio-ethnic composition

Abstract: This paper investigates how pupils' growth trajectories in three language domains (reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension) are related to their own socioeconomic and ethnic background and to the socioeconomic and ethnic composition of their primary school. Using multilevel piecewise growth curve analysis, the growth trajectories of approximately 5000 pupils from 170 primary schools were estimated. The results indicate that a pupil's socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds have the largest impact on achievement and growth in reading comprehension and the smallest impact on reading fluency. Furthermore, school ethnic composition—but not socioeconomic composition—was related to pupils' achievement in all three language domains at the first measurement occasion, though none of the types of school composition was related to growth. The research findings therefore imply that to combat the deficits in language proficiency often found in ethnic minority pupils, priority should be given to investments in individual intervention programmes over policy plans to desegregate schools. Moreover, our study identifies the specific points in time during primary school at which intervention programmes are needed the most.

A situative metaphor for teacher learning: the case of university tutors learning to grade student coursework

Abstract: In the continuing concern about academic standards in the higher education sector a great deal of emphasis has been placed on quality assurance procedures rather than on considering how university tutors learn to grade the quality of work produced by students. As part of a larger research project focused on how tutors grade student coursework this paper contributes by offering a new metaphor for such tutor learning based on a socio-cultural perspective. The research project used think aloud protocols recorded as university tutors graded student coursework and this was followed by semi-structured interviews. The voluntary participants consisted of twenty five lecturers in four contrasting domains, humanities, art & design, medicine and teacher education, in two teaching-led and one research intensive universities. Analysis of the interview data helped to develop and evaluate a metaphorical framework that helps to understand the work and learning of the lecturers. Grading, writing feedback, second marking and moderation are important situated professional learning opportunities for tutors to debate and reach agreement on the academic standard demonstrated by student coursework. The metaphor positions learning to grade student coursework as a complex interplay between the vertical domain of public knowledge and the horizontal domain of tutors’ practical wisdom. The metaphor developed in this paper is proposed for critical consideration and wider use by academics, teachers, academic developers and teacher educators as an aid to better understanding of teacher’ professional learning.

The politics of languages in education: issues of access, social participation and inequality in the multilingual context of Pakistan

Abstract: This paper, based on some findings of a wider three-year study, sets forth the issue of languages used and taught in education as a dimension of inequality and highlights its implications for widening participation and access in the multilingual context of Pakistan. The paper takes secondary education in private and government schools in Pakistan as a point of departure, and through themes that emerge from a qualitative multiple-case studies account of 32 participants (final year graduating students and their same-sex five- to six-years older siblings) explores issues of inequality with reference to Amertya Sen’s capability approach and Pierre Bourdieu’s social critical theory. The findings revealed that the concurrent processes of (a) hegemony of English; (b) its discriminatory distribution through schooling; and (c) devaluation of local languages, led by the language policy and mediated through educational institutions, diminished the transformative impact of education in expanding opportunities for widening participation and access. Issues of inequality continue to haunt the underprivileged despite their secondary education. The paper highlights the importance of considering the political economy of languages chosen and taught in formal education as a means of evaluating social justice in educational contexts and considering languages in education decisions with reference to national language policy.

Reworking practice through an AfL project: an analysis of teachers’ collaborative engagement with new assessment guidelines

Abstract: In recent years, the concept of Assessment for Learning (AfL) has travelled across countries, giving rise to a range of educational policy initiatives and school development projects While researchers have focused on issues such as how formative assessment can support student learning and lead to more efficient classroom practices, less attention has been paid to the collaborative work required to develop shared assessment practices at the school level, and to the integration of AfL-related principles and tools in the collective practice This paper focuses on the challenges emerging for a teacher team engaging with an AfL project in a lower secondary school in Norway By employing concepts and perspectives from social practice theory, AfL is understood as a problem complex that needs to be explored and developed locally We have analysed data from seven video-recorded meetings of an AfL team, supplemented by interviews and field notes, in order to make visible the micro processes of teachers' collaborative work The analysis shows how the teachers needed to rework historically established practices and principles, which in turn called for a negotiation and re-contextualisation of new concepts and artefacts in their efforts to develop shared assessment practices This again required ways of representing existing practices and imagining future scenarios Based on these observations we recommend that AfL projects be understood in their wider curricular, institutional, and social contexts, and that the constructive dimensions of teachers' collaborative work in such projects should be acknowledged

‘Role stretch’: assessing the blurring of teaching and non-teaching in the classroom assistant role in Scotland

Abstract: With the increasing number of teaching and classroom assistants across the UK there is now much debate about what their role should be. In particular concerns have arisen about the extent to which they overstep the boundary from supporting teaching and learning into teaching pupils. This study assesses this issue within Scotland. It draws on a national survey of 2000 head teachers, teachers and classroom assistants and interviews with directors of education in nearly half of all Scottish local authorities. Findings from the research suggest a small number of classroom assistants in Scotland are overstepping the boundary into teaching. The paper concludes with an explanation as to why this is happening taking into account aspects such as local authority policy, school size and the individual characteristics of the classroom assistants.