Showing papers in "British Journal of Educational Studies in 2005"
TL;DR: The authors argued that all assessment begins with summative assessment (which is a judgement) and that formative assessment is in fact summative assess plus feedback which is used by the learner.
Abstract: This paper wishes to clarify the definitions of the central terms relating to assessment. It argues that all assessment begins with summative assessment (which is a judgement) and that formative assessment is in fact summative assessment plus feedback which is used by the learner.
621 citations
TL;DR: The authors compare the natures of citizenship education and global education, as experienced principally in England during, approxim-ately, the last three decades, and seek to develop a clearer understanding of what has been done and what might be done in the future in order to develop education for global citizenship.
Abstract: This article discusses, principally from an English perspective, globalisation, global citizenship and two forms of education relevant to those developments (global education and citizenship education). We describe what citizenship has meant inside one nation state and ask what citizenship means, and could mean, in a globalising world. By comparing the natures of citizenship education and global education, as experienced principally in England during, approxim-ately, the last three decades, we seek to develop a clearer understanding of what has been done and what might be done in the future in order to develop education for global citizenship. We suggest that up to this point there have been significant differences between the characterisations that have been developed for global education and citizenship education. These differences are revealed through an examination of three areas: focus and origins; the attitude of the government and significant others; and the adoption of pedagogical appro...
268 citations
Journal Article•
181 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that the original reasons why the standard deviation concept has permeated traditional statistics are no longer clearly valid, if they ever were, and suggested that the absolute mean deviation, it is argued here, has many advantages over standard deviation.
Abstract: This paper discusses the reliance of numerical analysis on the concept of the standard deviation, and its close relative the variance. It suggests that the original reasons why the standard deviation concept has permeated traditional statistics are no longer clearly valid, if they ever were. The absolute mean deviation, it is argued here, has many advantages over the standard deviation. It is more efficient as an estimate of a population parameter in the real-life situation where the data contain tiny errors, or do not form a completely perfect normal distribution. It is easier to use, and more tolerant of extreme values, in the majority of real-life situations where population parameters are not required. It is easier for new researchers to learn about and understand, and also closely linked to a number of arithmetic techniques already used in the sociology of education and elsewhere. We could continue to use the standard deviation instead, as we do presently, because so much of the rest of tr...
141 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the educative importance of ethos from a broadly philosophical perspective and argued that, for a range of reasons, the notion of ethos in the context of education needs to be brought into clearer focus.
Abstract: This article explores the educative importance of ethos from a broadly philosophical perspective. It is argued that, for a range of reasons, the notion of ethos in the context of education needs to be brought into clearer focus. An analysis is offered of the concept of ethos, with particular reference to the context of classrooms and schools. The educative importance of ethos is explored, with reference to a range of difficulties and challenges which it presents.
120 citations
TL;DR: Character education is a specific approach to morals or values education, which is consistently linked with citizenship education as mentioned in this paper. But how is it possible for a heterogeneous society that disagrees about basic values to reach a consensus on what constitutes character education?
Abstract: Character education is a specific approach to morals or values education, which is consistently linked with citizenship education. But how is it possible for a heterogeneous society that disagrees about basic values to reach a consensus on what constitutes character education? This article explores how character education has returned to the agenda of British education policy, having been largely neglected since the 1960s in response to unsatisfactory attempts at character education going back to the nineteenth century. Between 1979 and 1997 Conservative governments attempted to reverse a perceived decline in moral standards, established State control of the schools curriculum, imposed on State schools the duty to provide for moral and other development, and established a National Forum which attempted to articulate a set of consensus values in education. Labour has extended these developments in the curriculum, introduced compulsory citizenship education, and its White Paper of September 2001 ...
97 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined perspectives on student disaffection in education at the levels of culture and policy, and concluded that policy choices are made about how disaffected, at risk young people are to be provided for, and these policy choices were not contained simply within an education policy and practice setting.
Abstract: This paper examines perspectives on student disaffection in education at the levels of culture and policy. It considers the balance between punitive/exclusionary and therapeutic/restorative positions. The paper engages with concepts of retributive punishment (Murray, 2004a; 2004b), social welfare ideologies (Esping-Andersen, 1990) and discourses of social exclusion (Levitas, 1998). The conclusion is that policy choices are made about how disaffected, at risk young people are to be provided for, and these policy choices are not contained simply within an education policy and practice setting. The policy responses emerge from national and local government decision-making. They correlate with national indicators of punitiveness in the criminal justice system and the scale of inequalities tolerated. Policies resonate with deep-seated cultural positions which are linked to the willingness to pay – for prevention or for punishment – and with the propensity to allocate blame either to individuals and ...
84 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the importance of the cultivation of civic virtue through political participation for such developments and reviewed the research into how service learning linked to character education can lead to the civic virtue of duty or social responsibility.
Abstract: This article explores the civic republican conception of citizenship underlying the Labour government's programme of civil renewal and the introduction of education for democratic citizenship. It considers the importance of the cultivation of civic virtue through political participation for such developments and it reviews the research into how service learning linked to character education can lead to the civic virtue of duty or social responsibility.
82 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that systematic reviews have a useful place in a research cycle that wishes to inform and be informed by practice and policy, and propose and discuss a model of educational research, showing how reviews relate to small or large-scale primary studies.
Abstract: The use of systematic reviews in educational research is a growing phenomenon in the UK, but is highly controversial. This article argues that such reviews have a useful place in a research cycle that wishes to inform and be informed by practice and policy. It proposes and discusses a model of educational research, showing how reviews relate to small or large-scale primary studies.
78 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the connections and disjunctions between character education and citizenship education and suggest that the overlaps with character education principally apply when character education is drawn very broadly.
Abstract: We suggest that there is a need for those who seek to explore issues associated with the implementation of citizenship education in England to clarify its specific nature. This can be done, at least in part, through a process of comparison. To that end we review some of the connections and disjunctions between ‘character education’ and ‘citizenship education’. We argue, drawing from US and UK literature but focusing our attention on contexts and issues in England, that there are indeed some broad areas of overlap between these two fields. Citizens should be of ‘good’ character and the educational initiatives that we consider both emerge from a concern about current trends in society. However, we suggest that the overlaps with citizenship education principally apply when character education is drawn very broadly. When we examine a particular approach to character education that is often US-based, and titled as ‘citizenship’, we note many contrasts with citizenship education as formulated in the ...
71 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore apparent contradictions between claims or assumptions to the effect that teaching is a profession, good teaching involves the cultivation of positive personal relationships with pupils, and professional relationships should be of an essentially formal or impersonal nature, and conclude that the very real contradictions to which teaching as a professional occupation is prone are a function of fundamental tension between the essentially deontic character of professional principle and regulation.
Abstract: This paper sets out to explore apparent contradictions between claims or assumptions to the effect that: (i) teaching is a profession; (ii) good teaching involves the cultivation of positive personal relationships with pupils; (iii) professional relationships should be of an essentially formal or impersonal nature. It is argued that the very real contradictions to which teaching as a professional occupation is prone are a function of fundamental tension between the essentially deontic character of professional principle and regulation, and the inherently ‘virtue ethical’ nature of teaching as a form of pre-theoretical and non-technical moral association. The paper concludes by identifying and offering some comment on three such areas of tension.
TL;DR: The common sense notion of learning as the all-pervasive acquisition of new behaviour and knowledge, made vivid by experience, is an incomplete characterisation, because it assumes that the learning of behaviour and the learning learning of knowledge are indistinguishable, and that acquisition constitutes learning without reference to transfer as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The common sense notion of learning as the all-pervasive acquisition of new behaviour and knowledge, made vivid by experience, is an incomplete characterisation, because it assumes that the learning of behaviour and the learning of knowledge are indistinguishable, and that acquisition constitutes learning without reference to transfer. A psychological level of analysis is used to argue that conceptual learning should have priority in higher education.
TL;DR: The human capacity to learn can be understood as a form of consciousness which is characterised by particular values, attitudes and dispositions, with a lateral and a temporal connectivity.
Abstract: Lifelong learning is something which one does for oneself that no one else can do for one: it is a public and personal human activity, rather than private or individualistic. One of the features of the education system is the paucity of a language for learning as process and participative experience. Personalised learning requires a sense of the worthwhileness of ‘being a learner’– a virtue in the 21st century. A sense of one's own worth as a person is essential to understanding one's identity as a learner. Research suggests the human capacity to learn can be understood as a form of consciousness which is characterised by particular values, attitudes and dispositions, with a lateral and a temporal connectivity. This ‘consciousness’ has several dimensions which are all related to becoming a person, with a learning identity. They also enable the learner to become aware of and appropriate what is of worth and map onto the sorts of core values that learning communities espouse. Awareness of self an...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors look at a selection of recent discourses that refer to creativity to sustain their positions, and suggest that two key themes emerge, both with questionable assumptions: Romantic individualists would return us to a naive bygone age of authentic self-expression, while politicians and economists would use the term instrumentally by binding it to the future needs of the workforce without questioning substantive issues.
Abstract: Creativity is a popular but heterogeneous word in educational parlance these days. By looking at a selection of recent discourses that refer to creativity to sustain their positions, the paper suggests that two key themes emerge, both with questionable assumptions. Romantic individualists would return us to a naive bygone age of authentic self-expression, while politicians and economists would use the term instrumentally by binding it to the future needs of the workforce without questioning substantive issues. Cultural theories of creativity indicate pathways out.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue for a new theoretical paradigm for the analysis of change in educational institutions that is able to deal with such issues as readiness for change, transformational change and the failure of change strategies.
Abstract: This article argues for a new theoretical paradigm for the analysis of change in educational institutions that is able to deal with such issues as readiness for change, transformational change and the failure of change strategies. Punctuated equilibrium (Tushman and Romanelli, 1985) is a theory which has wide application. It envisages long-term change as being made up of a succession of long periods of relative stability interspersed by brief periods of rapid profound change. In the periods of stability only relatively small incremental changes are possible. The periods of transformational change may be triggered by external or internal influences. A recent study of the long-term process of internationalisation in higher education institutions shows evidence to support the theory: long periods of incremental change, events precipitating profound change and the failure of externally imposed attempts to change. Also, as the theory predicts, changes in collegial organisations are slower and more u...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the privatisation of education needs to be understood through an ethical lens, and suggest a broad framework through which privatisation policies and practices might be ethically audited.
Abstract: We argue that the privatisation of education needs to be understood through an ethical lens, and suggest a broad framework through which privatisation policies and practices might be ethically audited. These policies and practices – it is suggested – are creating new ethical spaces and new clusters of goals, obligations and dispositions. Whatever the merits of our particular reading of these changes, we would call for an urgent public debate on these questions – one that looks beyond broad ideological questions to consider the effects of privatisation on the nature of the services provided.
TL;DR: The authors examined the role of religious education in promoting social cohesion in contemporary multi-religious societies and suggested alternative approaches to content which may help religious education to rise to the challenges posed above.
Abstract: Religious education (RE) has often found itself at the centre of debates about education's role in promoting social cohesion in contemporary multi-religious societies. The paper considers RE's relationship to religious plurality within the broader context of politics of curriculum and debates on pluralism. Drawing upon the recent works on the history of religion and using the teaching of the histories and cultures of Muslims in RE as a case study, it argues that RE has yet to fulfill its potential in this regard. The paper examines reasons for this and recommends alternative approaches to content which may help RE rise to the challenges posed above.
TL;DR: The relationship between assessment information and teacher planning has been examined in this article, where a mechanism for using assessment information in a planning context has been proposed, called Contingent Planning.
Abstract: This article is concerned with the relationship between assessment information and teacher planning. In the UK, although planning used to be central to characterisations of formative assessment, the most recent government proclamations under the ‘Assessment for Learning’ banner offer no clear role for teachers making decisions about what to do based on assessment information. In this article, the reasons behind the shift will be examined. ‘Contingent planning’ will be proposed as a mechanism for using assessment information in a planning context.
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of manners and morals in moral education is explored and the connection between emotional demeanor and the inner stuff of virtue is explored. But the fact that we can pose faces and hide our inner sentiments does not detract from or add to our capacity for virtue.
Abstract: In this paper I explore the role of manners and morals.1 In particular, what is the connection between emotional demeanor and the inner stuff of virtue? Does the fact that we can pose faces and hide our inner sentiments, i.e., ‘fake it,’ detract from or add to our capacity for virtue? I argue, following a line from the Stoics, that it can add to our virtue and that, as a result, moral education needs to take seriously both a commitment to good character and a commitment to the ‘aesthetic’ of character.
TL;DR: A systematic review of the impact of daily mathematics lessons in England on enhancing pupil confidence and competence in early mathematics was carried out by as discussed by the authors, who found that there was some evidence that the introduction of daily Mathematics lessons, as part of the National Numeracy Strategy in England, has led to some improvement in pupil confidence in early Mathematics.
Abstract: This paper reports the use of a systematic review to explore the impact of daily mathematics lessons in England on enhancing pupil confidence and competence in early mathematics. The review process identified 18 key papers. An in-depth analysis of these indicated that there was some evidence that the introduction of daily mathematics lessons, as part of the National Numeracy Strategy in England, has led to some improvement in pupil confidence and competence in early mathematics. However, the analysis also highlighted some shortcomings in the way this approach has impacted on classroom practice.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the central constructs by which children are judged educationally rest in contrastive judgements and that such judgements are based on "everyday" constructs, not objective descriptors.
Abstract: Borrowing from epidemiological and economic analysis, we argue that the central constructs by which children are judged educationally rest in contrastive judgements and that such judgements are based on ‘everyday’ constructs – not objective descriptors. But because these everyday constructs become seemingly objectified by the procedures and discourses of education, they appear reliable and objective. The insistent process of contrastive judgement based on these everyday constructs has its result in cohorts of children forever being judged unfavourably next to others. A model to frame the process is outlined and consequences for children's acceptance and inclusion are discussed.
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TL;DR: The authors examined children's ways of thinking about love, using evidence drawn from a research project on the developing sexual values of 9 and 10 year-old children, finding that love features extensively in their discussions and appears central to their worldview.
Abstract: After a brief discussion of the concept of love and contemporary attitudes towards it, the article examines previously unpublished findings about children's ways of thinking about love, using evidence drawn from a research project on the developing sexual values of 9 and 10 year-old children. Love features extensively in their discussions and appears central to their worldview. They are aware of some of the complexities of love, and would value opportunities to discuss it further. The article concludes with a discussion of current inadequacies and future possibilities in schools’ provision.
TL;DR: The former Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) used a system of banding in order to obtain an intake to secondary schools that was balanced in terms of ability as mentioned in this paper, which resulted in a higher percentage of parents achieving their stated first preference school than more recent admissions policies.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the system of banding used in England by the former Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) in order to seek to obtain an intake to secondary schools that was balanced in terms of ability The first part of the paper provides a brief history of the system of banding, how it was informed by verbal reasoning testing and how it was subsequently based on the results of a specially constructed reading test The second part of the paper examines the extent of banding after the abolition of the ILEA Whilst LEA-wide banding is currently only used by three LEAs, many schools in inner London that are responsible for their own admissions (ie voluntary-aided and foundation schools) have introduced banding The problems associated with banding at a school level are discussed and it is argued that banding at the level of the LEA is likely to be more equitable, more transparent and more likely to reduce social segregation; in addition, there is some evidence to suggest that the ILEA banding system resulted in a higher percentage of parents achieving their stated first preference school than more recent admissions policies
TL;DR: In this article, the challenges and opportunities for fostering community in contemporary school contexts are considered and a paradox seems to exist in educational policy and practice in England and Wales: on the one hand, numerous references to promote community are made in the aims and objectives of the National Curriculum, and throughout the curricula.
Abstract: A paradox seems to exist in educational policy and practice in England and Wales. On the one hand, numerous references to promote community are made in the aims and objectives of the National Curriculum, and throughout the curricula. On the other, trends to increase accountability and standardisation through competition seem antithetical to ideals of community. I consider both the challenges and opportunities that exist for fostering community in contemporary school contexts.
Journal Article•