Education, intellect and wellbeing

One of the negative features of a certain type of ‘school improvement’ text has been to regard schools almost as machines for producing exam results and test data. This approach divorces human formation and pedagogy, separating the development of intellect and the promotion of social and emotional maturity. It is a tendency which this journal has resolutely avoided. Across a range of contexts and situations, all of the articles in this present issue quite rightly connect academic progress to personal and social development. They regard both as essential educational aims; they point to ways in which social development supports intellectual learning, and emphasise forms of academic learning which promotes personal and social development. This issue begins with highly topical research into distance learning during the recent coronavirus lockdown. There have certainly been problems in the sudden switch to home learning in many countries, resulting both from teachers’ inexperience and from the lack of computer / internet access experienced by families in poverty. The study published here is based in Norway but written by an English academic Sara Bubb in partnership with Mari-Ana Jones, a researcher based in Norway. It shows more positive results from a well-supported initiative in a Norwegian local authority. Pupils expressed satisfaction at more authentic community-based challenges and tasks, as well as greater autonomy and more personalised feedback. Parents also appreciated the quality and frequency of communications with teachers, which supported their engagement in their children’s learning. The second article reports on a study based in a disadvantaged region of Italy, written by Anna Bussu and Manuela Pulina. Their study identifies factors leading towards dropout, including academic abilities, career expectations, curriculum, school organisation and family and community related issues. The importance of motivating learning activities is emphasised, both in class and extracurricular, along with constructive relations with teachers. Interviews were conducted both with students currently at school and those who had left some years earlier. This is followed by a case study of an isolated rural school in Pakistan whose principal has been engaged in increasing students’ active participation in school life and decision-making. The school is not content with teaching children but serves as a hub for the entire community. Researchers Mir Afzal Tajik and Abdul Wali describe how student participation in leadership can contribute to social justice and help create a democratic community. The article is a tribute to the principal’s desire to produce more humane and less hierarchical relationships, and develop a sense of agency and engagement among students. The fourth article, by Scott Wurdinger, Ron Newell and En Sun Kim, studies 11 schools in the USA which place a strong emphasis on project-based learning. Their research shows how this helps students develop a range of life skills and study skills, as well as a greater sense of belonging, engagement and agency. The schools have taken a broad view of ‘project’ as including construction and designing, video production, and community investigations. The authors argue that project-based learning has strengthened literacy and numeracy, but also problem-solving and attitudes of hope. 959865 IMP0010.1177/1365480220959865Improving SchoolsEditorial editorial2020