Pub Date : 2020-09-14DOI: 10.1177/1365480220958797
S. Bubb, Marilee Jones
In Spring 2020, schools in many countries had to close in response to the COVID-19 virus pandemic and move to remote teaching. This paper explores the views of pupils, parents/carers and teachers of ‘home-school’ in one Norwegian municipality, gathered through parallel online surveys in April 2020 during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown period. It finds that adaptation happened very quickly and that home-school was well received by pupils and parents. There was more creative learning, better progress, more useful feedback and greater student independence. School leaders reported that they wanted to implement changes based on the experience of remote learning enforced by the lockdown, so that the crisis has become an opportunity for grassroots innovation.
{"title":"Learning from the COVID-19 home-schooling experience: Listening to pupils, parents/carers and teachers","authors":"S. Bubb, Marilee Jones","doi":"10.1177/1365480220958797","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220958797","url":null,"abstract":"In Spring 2020, schools in many countries had to close in response to the COVID-19 virus pandemic and move to remote teaching. This paper explores the views of pupils, parents/carers and teachers of ‘home-school’ in one Norwegian municipality, gathered through parallel online surveys in April 2020 during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown period. It finds that adaptation happened very quickly and that home-school was well received by pupils and parents. There was more creative learning, better progress, more useful feedback and greater student independence. School leaders reported that they wanted to implement changes based on the experience of remote learning enforced by the lockdown, so that the crisis has become an opportunity for grassroots innovation.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"23 1","pages":"209 - 222"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220958797","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43191720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-09-09DOI: 10.1177/1365480220953640
C. A. Reierson, Stephen R. Becker
This literature review tests a framework for coherent implementation of school improvement initiatives. Often in education, initiatives are introduced as disparate, isolated approaches towards improved student learning. As a result, teachers, school-based administration and school districts frequently change their focus, contributing to fragmentation, stagnation and initiative fatigue. Robinson et al. offer ‘five domains of organizational activity’ as key areas of focus for coherent school improvement. We investigate application of Robinson et al.’s five domains to two seemingly disparate school improvement initiatives: outcomes-based assessment (OBA) and trauma-informed practice (TIP) as both represent significant areas of focus in our context. We construct our literature review around the central question: Can two divergent aspects of school improvement: outcomes-based assessment and trauma-informed practice, be aligned through Robinson et al.’s five domains, to coherently support their integration in schools? We found that Robinson et al.’s five domains were a useful tool for alignment of these diverse initiatives and were able to extrapolate beyond application to OBA and TIP, to other school improvement initiatives. Coherence benefits administration, teachers, and most importantly, promotes student achievement. When all elements of school improvement are part of a cohesive whole, all members the school community are better able to understand their role in driving student achievement.
{"title":"Coherent school improvement: Integrating outcomes-based assessment and trauma-informed practice","authors":"C. A. Reierson, Stephen R. Becker","doi":"10.1177/1365480220953640","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220953640","url":null,"abstract":"This literature review tests a framework for coherent implementation of school improvement initiatives. Often in education, initiatives are introduced as disparate, isolated approaches towards improved student learning. As a result, teachers, school-based administration and school districts frequently change their focus, contributing to fragmentation, stagnation and initiative fatigue. Robinson et al. offer ‘five domains of organizational activity’ as key areas of focus for coherent school improvement. We investigate application of Robinson et al.’s five domains to two seemingly disparate school improvement initiatives: outcomes-based assessment (OBA) and trauma-informed practice (TIP) as both represent significant areas of focus in our context. We construct our literature review around the central question: Can two divergent aspects of school improvement: outcomes-based assessment and trauma-informed practice, be aligned through Robinson et al.’s five domains, to coherently support their integration in schools? We found that Robinson et al.’s five domains were a useful tool for alignment of these diverse initiatives and were able to extrapolate beyond application to OBA and TIP, to other school improvement initiatives. Coherence benefits administration, teachers, and most importantly, promotes student achievement. When all elements of school improvement are part of a cohesive whole, all members the school community are better able to understand their role in driving student achievement.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"24 1","pages":"124 - 136"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220953640","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41548751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-08-17DOI: 10.1177/1365480220950568
J. Lederer, Caroline Breyer, B. Gasteiger-Klicpera
By supporting children with disabilities, learning and support assistants have become an essential component of inclusive education in regular schools. Assistants in European countries have various levels of vocational training, but they do not consider themselves to be adequately qualified for what are often highly demanding duties. In an attempt to raise standards, five web-based knowledge boxes have been developed within the Erasmus+ project, ‘Improving Assistance in Inclusive Educational Settings II’. The knowledge boxes are available open access through a learning platform and focus on different aspects of inclusion and disabilities. Learning and support assistants, as well as children from five different European countries, participated in the creation of this tool for professional development. In addition, the knowledge boxes are to be evaluated by assistants, parents, teachers and students in order to assess the impact of the knowledge boxes on the competencies in inclusive education of assistants.
{"title":"Concept of knowledge boxes – a tool for professional development for learning and support assistants","authors":"J. Lederer, Caroline Breyer, B. Gasteiger-Klicpera","doi":"10.1177/1365480220950568","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220950568","url":null,"abstract":"By supporting children with disabilities, learning and support assistants have become an essential component of inclusive education in regular schools. Assistants in European countries have various levels of vocational training, but they do not consider themselves to be adequately qualified for what are often highly demanding duties. In an attempt to raise standards, five web-based knowledge boxes have been developed within the Erasmus+ project, ‘Improving Assistance in Inclusive Educational Settings II’. The knowledge boxes are available open access through a learning platform and focus on different aspects of inclusion and disabilities. Learning and support assistants, as well as children from five different European countries, participated in the creation of this tool for professional development. In addition, the knowledge boxes are to be evaluated by assistants, parents, teachers and students in order to assess the impact of the knowledge boxes on the competencies in inclusive education of assistants.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"24 1","pages":"137 - 151"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220950568","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"65352475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-08-01DOI: 10.1177/1365480220943761
Amy E. Heberle, Úna Ní Sheanáin, M. Walsh, A. Hamilton, A. Chung, Victoria L Eells Lutas
This US-based study examined the experiences of school counselors and social workers implementing a systems-oriented, programmatic student support practice model, City Connects, within high-need urban contexts. The City Connects model represents current best practices in student support, positioning school counselors and social workers primarily in the role of identifying students’ needs and strengths and making connections between students, families, teachers, and service providers. This stands in contrast to older models in which these professionals functioned primarily in a direct care role. The goal of the study was to understand practitioners’ experiences of efficacy, satisfaction, and engagement as well as the barriers to each of these within this best practice model. Acknowledging the documented challenges of working in high-need urban schools in the United States and the potential strains of systems-oriented practice, the study aimed to understand which aspects of their work enable practitioners to thrive, as well as which aspects do not. Qualitative analysis was used to examine written reflection data on the experiences of 35 practitioners implementing the model. Our analysis revealed six themes: (1) connecting/cultivating relationships (2) seeing impact, (3) having confidence in the effectiveness of the practice model, (4) having high levels of satisfaction with the practice, (5) managing role clarity, and (6) experiencing systemic barriers. Implications for practitioners, supervisors, clinician educators, and program designers are discussed.
{"title":"Experiences of practitioners implementing comprehensive student support in high-poverty schools","authors":"Amy E. Heberle, Úna Ní Sheanáin, M. Walsh, A. Hamilton, A. Chung, Victoria L Eells Lutas","doi":"10.1177/1365480220943761","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220943761","url":null,"abstract":"This US-based study examined the experiences of school counselors and social workers implementing a systems-oriented, programmatic student support practice model, City Connects, within high-need urban contexts. The City Connects model represents current best practices in student support, positioning school counselors and social workers primarily in the role of identifying students’ needs and strengths and making connections between students, families, teachers, and service providers. This stands in contrast to older models in which these professionals functioned primarily in a direct care role. The goal of the study was to understand practitioners’ experiences of efficacy, satisfaction, and engagement as well as the barriers to each of these within this best practice model. Acknowledging the documented challenges of working in high-need urban schools in the United States and the potential strains of systems-oriented practice, the study aimed to understand which aspects of their work enable practitioners to thrive, as well as which aspects do not. Qualitative analysis was used to examine written reflection data on the experiences of 35 practitioners implementing the model. Our analysis revealed six themes: (1) connecting/cultivating relationships (2) seeing impact, (3) having confidence in the effectiveness of the practice model, (4) having high levels of satisfaction with the practice, (5) managing role clarity, and (6) experiencing systemic barriers. Implications for practitioners, supervisors, clinician educators, and program designers are discussed.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"24 1","pages":"76 - 93"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220943761","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44187078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-30DOI: 10.1177/1365480220943313
Shane D. Lavery, A. Coffey
This article presents the views of 72 Australian middle school students from 12 metropolitan schools across six states and territories as to their understanding of leadership. Initially, literature is reviewed regarding the developments in middle-years education and theories of leadership pertinent to student leadership. The research methodology is then explained, providing an overview of the participants, the school contexts and methods of data collection and analysis. The subsequent section on results is presented under three topics: examples of good leaders, attributes that make a good leader and participants’ understanding of the concept of leadership. A final discussion is centred on three considerations: the form of leadership that middle school students believed to be appropriate, the type of leadership that they rejected and possible underlying reasons for their choices.
{"title":"Middle school students’ views about leaders and leadership","authors":"Shane D. Lavery, A. Coffey","doi":"10.1177/1365480220943313","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220943313","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents the views of 72 Australian middle school students from 12 metropolitan schools across six states and territories as to their understanding of leadership. Initially, literature is reviewed regarding the developments in middle-years education and theories of leadership pertinent to student leadership. The research methodology is then explained, providing an overview of the participants, the school contexts and methods of data collection and analysis. The subsequent section on results is presented under three topics: examples of good leaders, attributes that make a good leader and participants’ understanding of the concept of leadership. A final discussion is centred on three considerations: the form of leadership that middle school students believed to be appropriate, the type of leadership that they rejected and possible underlying reasons for their choices.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"24 1","pages":"152 - 164"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220943313","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46357750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-24DOI: 10.1177/1365480220938892
S. Heimans, Parlo Singh, Andrew Barnes
This is a conceptual article arising from, and grounded in, research with a government-funded primary school serving high-poverty communities in Queensland, Australia. It is one response to the last 10 years of participatory research work led by the three authors of this article (the school principal and two academics). In this article, we write about three concepts that have emerged out of our joint work: (1) communities-in-formation, (2) emerging equalities, (3) material participation. We discuss how and why we have undertaken this kind of partnership and conceptual research and offer some suggestions for others who are interested in undertaking similar work.
{"title":"Researching educational disadvantage: Concepts emerging from working in/with an Australian school","authors":"S. Heimans, Parlo Singh, Andrew Barnes","doi":"10.1177/1365480220938892","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220938892","url":null,"abstract":"This is a conceptual article arising from, and grounded in, research with a government-funded primary school serving high-poverty communities in Queensland, Australia. It is one response to the last 10 years of participatory research work led by the three authors of this article (the school principal and two academics). In this article, we write about three concepts that have emerged out of our joint work: (1) communities-in-formation, (2) emerging equalities, (3) material participation. We discuss how and why we have undertaken this kind of partnership and conceptual research and offer some suggestions for others who are interested in undertaking similar work.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"24 1","pages":"182 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220938892","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48252731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-24DOI: 10.1177/1365480220943322
K. Stone, Jennifer Farrar
Following the announcement, in November 2018, that Scotland would be the first educational system to introduce an LGBTI-inclusive curriculum in all of its state schools, this position paper advocates critical literacy as a theoretically congruent framework within which LGBTI issues can be explored. We suggest educators could do this by problematising social structures and language practices including our own professional actions beyond what we teach, and by using children’s literature to actively teach LGBTI issues and to open up spaces for discussion of these issues across curricular areas. What we propose is challenging in a Scottish educational context since Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) presents critical literacy as ‘finding and using information’, and it is not grounded in any wider theoretical basis, effectively removing the active, challenging and transformative aspects of critical literacy pedagogies. As Vasquez et al. argue, one of the key ways for teachers to engage with critical literacy is through the literature on its implementation in different contexts; in this position paper we hope to provide both a theoretical framework and practice accounts of LGBTI education from the wider literature to inform the development of an LGBTI-inclusive curriculum in Scotland and elsewhere.
{"title":"Advancing an LGBTI-inclusive curriculum in Scotland through critical literacy","authors":"K. Stone, Jennifer Farrar","doi":"10.1177/1365480220943322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220943322","url":null,"abstract":"Following the announcement, in November 2018, that Scotland would be the first educational system to introduce an LGBTI-inclusive curriculum in all of its state schools, this position paper advocates critical literacy as a theoretically congruent framework within which LGBTI issues can be explored. We suggest educators could do this by problematising social structures and language practices including our own professional actions beyond what we teach, and by using children’s literature to actively teach LGBTI issues and to open up spaces for discussion of these issues across curricular areas. What we propose is challenging in a Scottish educational context since Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) presents critical literacy as ‘finding and using information’, and it is not grounded in any wider theoretical basis, effectively removing the active, challenging and transformative aspects of critical literacy pedagogies. As Vasquez et al. argue, one of the key ways for teachers to engage with critical literacy is through the literature on its implementation in different contexts; in this position paper we hope to provide both a theoretical framework and practice accounts of LGBTI education from the wider literature to inform the development of an LGBTI-inclusive curriculum in Scotland and elsewhere.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"24 1","pages":"99 - 111"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220943322","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47341434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-21DOI: 10.1177/1365480220940858
A. Bussu, M. Pulina
Through a mixed methods approach, this article explores young people’s perceptions about critical issues in secondary school and the improvements being made to prevent dropout risk. The empirical data were gathered from a representative sample of young people (14–24) in a socioeconomically disadvantaged region in the European Union. A principal component analysis assessed the most significant indicators that influence young people’s scholastic experience and effectiveness of education. A content analysis was applied to identify the key critical issues and possible strategies to support young people’s school satisfaction. The findings reveal a set of key indicators: interpersonal relationships, learning process, teacher role, school management, the impact of new technologies.
{"title":"Exploring young people’s perceptions about secondary school: Critical issues and improvements to prevent dropout risk in disadvantaged contexts","authors":"A. Bussu, M. Pulina","doi":"10.1177/1365480220940858","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220940858","url":null,"abstract":"Through a mixed methods approach, this article explores young people’s perceptions about critical issues in secondary school and the improvements being made to prevent dropout risk. The empirical data were gathered from a representative sample of young people (14–24) in a socioeconomically disadvantaged region in the European Union. A principal component analysis assessed the most significant indicators that influence young people’s scholastic experience and effectiveness of education. A content analysis was applied to identify the key critical issues and possible strategies to support young people’s school satisfaction. The findings reveal a set of key indicators: interpersonal relationships, learning process, teacher role, school management, the impact of new technologies.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"23 1","pages":"223 - 244"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220940858","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45982169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-15DOI: 10.1177/1365480220934907
M. Rasheed, Saima Siyal, A. Arshad, A. Farid, J. Obradović, A. Yousafzai
Early parenting interventions have shown to be effective for changing parenting behaviours to provide stimulation at home. However, evidence about the effect on decision to timely enrol the child in preschool and the related pathways is scarce. A follow-up study of a rural cohort exposed to early parenting interventions in the first 2 years of life in Pakistan though indicated benefits for children’s cognitive skills and learning environment at home but did not improve preschool enrolment rates. The aim of this study was to explore stakeholder knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about preschool education that may influence parent’s decision of enrolment. A qualitative study using a phenomenological approach was conducted. Data collection methods included focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with the parents and the teachers and observations of selected preschools. An emergent thematic analysis was followed. Findings showed that community attitudes related to their role in children’s preschool education (e.g. lack of parental involvement), and their perceptions of stakeholders’ responsibilities and accountability (child being responsible for own motivation and interest to learn) were barriers to preschool enrolment. Facilitators included quality of preschools and older siblings enrolled in the school. Early parenting interventions may be insufficient to change community perceptions of preschool education in disadvantaged contexts with dysfunctional education systems. Targeted strategies addressing socio-cultural barriers for early learning are needed.
{"title":"Socio-cultural factors influencing preschool enrolment in a rural cohort exposed to early parenting interventions in Pakistan: A qualitative study","authors":"M. Rasheed, Saima Siyal, A. Arshad, A. Farid, J. Obradović, A. Yousafzai","doi":"10.1177/1365480220934907","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220934907","url":null,"abstract":"Early parenting interventions have shown to be effective for changing parenting behaviours to provide stimulation at home. However, evidence about the effect on decision to timely enrol the child in preschool and the related pathways is scarce. A follow-up study of a rural cohort exposed to early parenting interventions in the first 2 years of life in Pakistan though indicated benefits for children’s cognitive skills and learning environment at home but did not improve preschool enrolment rates. The aim of this study was to explore stakeholder knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about preschool education that may influence parent’s decision of enrolment. A qualitative study using a phenomenological approach was conducted. Data collection methods included focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with the parents and the teachers and observations of selected preschools. An emergent thematic analysis was followed. Findings showed that community attitudes related to their role in children’s preschool education (e.g. lack of parental involvement), and their perceptions of stakeholders’ responsibilities and accountability (child being responsible for own motivation and interest to learn) were barriers to preschool enrolment. Facilitators included quality of preschools and older siblings enrolled in the school. Early parenting interventions may be insufficient to change community perceptions of preschool education in disadvantaged contexts with dysfunctional education systems. Targeted strategies addressing socio-cultural barriers for early learning are needed.","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"24 1","pages":"210 - 232"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220934907","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45783354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-07-01DOI: 10.1177/1365480220941950
Terry Wrigley
This editorial has been written after months of school closure in some countries. The pandemic has placed unprecedented demands on teachers and necessitated much creative adaptation including distance learning at home. First then, this editorial pays tribute to all the teachers and school leaders whose dedication and ingenuity has seen them through this challenge and enabled them to sustain children’s education. It is hardly surprising that the quality of children’s educational experience has varied. In some countries, the easy availability of tedious commercial online packages in spelling and arithmetic – offered as free tasters initially – has reinforced a test-driven curriculum which already overemphasised these so-called ‘basics’. The economic divisions of our society have become exacerbated for many children growing up in poverty and suddenly expected to learn at home without books, computers or Internet access and often with parents less equipped to help. The crisis is not over. It has been easier for some politicians to push for a reopening of schools than to think in holistic terms of the broader needs of the child. Yet this crisis and the period of recovery could provide an occasion for rethinking the aims and methods of schooling in the 21st century. This includes the complexities of relationship between teachers and parents, a major theme of this issue of the journal. Although the articles were all written before the pandemic hit, they carry important lessons and challenges for the future. Marlon Cummings and Jennifer Olson, from Illinois (United States), look at community partnerships and in particular, the support they can give to schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods threatened by accountability-driven closure or ‘turnaround’. In this context, teachers can feel overwhelmed and there is a tendency to fall back on deficit views of students and to rely on basic routines which do not engage the students – what have been called ‘pedagogies of poverty’. In this exploratory paper, the authors outline some ways in which working partnerships between teachers and community members can support change. Carmen Álvarez-Álvarez, from the University of Cantabria (Spain), examines a related theme, the role of parents’ associations. This research, a qualitative study in collaboration with parent associations at 36 state schools, found that despite parents’ groups having a legal right to be heard in Spain, in practice, there are often limited channels of communication. Parents were rarely engaged in decision making and often contacted only when the school needed something. This study found substantial desire to be more involved in social and curricular matters. Tanja Lindacher, at the University of Erfurt (Germany) examines co-teaching partnerships between regular and special education teachers. Her article identifies various patterns of co-teaching of pupils with special educational needs, the relative strengths of the partners (specialist knowledg
{"title":"Extraordinary times","authors":"Terry Wrigley","doi":"10.1177/1365480220941950","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480220941950","url":null,"abstract":"This editorial has been written after months of school closure in some countries. The pandemic has placed unprecedented demands on teachers and necessitated much creative adaptation including distance learning at home. First then, this editorial pays tribute to all the teachers and school leaders whose dedication and ingenuity has seen them through this challenge and enabled them to sustain children’s education. It is hardly surprising that the quality of children’s educational experience has varied. In some countries, the easy availability of tedious commercial online packages in spelling and arithmetic – offered as free tasters initially – has reinforced a test-driven curriculum which already overemphasised these so-called ‘basics’. The economic divisions of our society have become exacerbated for many children growing up in poverty and suddenly expected to learn at home without books, computers or Internet access and often with parents less equipped to help. The crisis is not over. It has been easier for some politicians to push for a reopening of schools than to think in holistic terms of the broader needs of the child. Yet this crisis and the period of recovery could provide an occasion for rethinking the aims and methods of schooling in the 21st century. This includes the complexities of relationship between teachers and parents, a major theme of this issue of the journal. Although the articles were all written before the pandemic hit, they carry important lessons and challenges for the future. Marlon Cummings and Jennifer Olson, from Illinois (United States), look at community partnerships and in particular, the support they can give to schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods threatened by accountability-driven closure or ‘turnaround’. In this context, teachers can feel overwhelmed and there is a tendency to fall back on deficit views of students and to rely on basic routines which do not engage the students – what have been called ‘pedagogies of poverty’. In this exploratory paper, the authors outline some ways in which working partnerships between teachers and community members can support change. Carmen Álvarez-Álvarez, from the University of Cantabria (Spain), examines a related theme, the role of parents’ associations. This research, a qualitative study in collaboration with parent associations at 36 state schools, found that despite parents’ groups having a legal right to be heard in Spain, in practice, there are often limited channels of communication. Parents were rarely engaged in decision making and often contacted only when the school needed something. This study found substantial desire to be more involved in social and curricular matters. Tanja Lindacher, at the University of Erfurt (Germany) examines co-teaching partnerships between regular and special education teachers. Her article identifies various patterns of co-teaching of pupils with special educational needs, the relative strengths of the partners (specialist knowledg","PeriodicalId":45995,"journal":{"name":"Improving Schools","volume":"23 1","pages":"107 - 108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1365480220941950","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46530038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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