Educational Debate Research Articles

A national survey of gendered grouping practices in secondary school physical education in England

ABSTRACT Background Gendered grouping practices and curriculum provision are matters of long-standing contention and debate in physical education (PE) policy, research, and practice internationally. In England, there is a long tradition of single-sex grouping in PE in secondary schools, with accompanying gendered patterns of staffing and many boys and girls taught different activities in the curriculum. Research on the incidence of single- and mixed-sex grouping in PE is however scarce, dated, and limited in scale. At a time when education, sport, and society are challenged to move beyond binary discourses and critically review structures and practices that uphold stereotypical and established gendered power relations, this study sought to provide an evidence base and stimulus for researchers, policy-makers, and PE professionals to (re-) engage with grouping practices in PE. Specifically, the study was designed to provide a national picture of current single- and mixed-sex grouping arrangements in PE in secondary schools in England. Method Data were collected by a web-based survey of all 2873 mainstream state-funded co-educational secondary schools in England. The survey was addressed to Subject Leaders of PE and was open between September and October 2021. A total of 818 surveys were completed giving an overall response rate of 28.5%. Results The responses indicated that single-sex grouping is the most common arrangement in core (compulsory, non-examination) PE in Key Stage 3 (Years 7–9) and Key Stage 4 (Years 10–11), whilst mixed-sex grouping is dominant in General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and/or Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) PE in Key Stage 4. It was noticeable, however, that very few schools were using the same arrangement for all PE lessons in Key Stages 3 and 4, and some were using single-sex grouping within mixed-sex PE lessons, particularly in physical contact activities such as rugby and football. The responses highlighted that single- and mixed-sex grouping decisions in PE are complex and contingent on several interrelated factors, including curriculum content and structures, school timetabling, staffing arrangements and preferences, the nature of the student cohort, and specific considerations relating to safety in some sport contexts. Data indicated that in many instances grouping arrangements in secondary school PE in England serve to reproduce and legitimate restrictive binary gender discourses. There was some but limited evidence of grouping approaches positively supporting gender diversity within PE, with a small number of schools organising PE in mixed-sex classes to be more inclusive of transgender and non-binary students. Discussion and conclusion This study highlights the role that grouping approaches play in either impeding or advancing work to strengthen gender equity and inclusion in PE and identifies teachers’ knowledge, skills, and understandings relating to grouping approaches and gender diversity as an important focus for initial teacher education and professional learning. The paper also calls for engagement from research and professional communities internationally to inform future policies and practices regarding the use of grouping approaches in PE.

Chile’s Inclusion Law: the arduous drive to regulate an unequal education system, 2006–19

ABSTRACT Chile’s Inclusion Law, passed in 2015, significantly increased government regulation of one of the most privatised education systems in the world and provided major redistributive benefits. How did Chile’s government succeed in passing and implementing this legislation in the face of a powerful and cohesive opposition? Our study finds that student protesters served as the initial impetus, shaping the education debate and increasing the political salience and urgency of education reform. In line with power resource theory, other left movement organisations and voters used their power to support redistributive education reform, and Bachelet’s centre-left coalition followed through on its mandate by proposing the Inclusion Law. Also, a well-connected policy network helped articulate problems with the status quo and shaped the specifics of the education bill. To develop this argument, the paper draws on historical information on the student movement in Chile, quantitative data on education stakeholder appearances in the press, public opinion surveys, and detailed analysis of the 13-month legislative proceedings – to explain the law’s passage in congress. To underscore the significance of the Inclusion Law and to contextualise the Chilean case, the paper also compares Chile to other countries with nation-wide school choice systems.

When intellectuals educate: history and geography in the educational project for Chinese workers in France during World War One, 1916–1918

ABSTRACT Between 1916 and 1918, a group of Chinese intellectuals opened a school in Paris for Chinese workers who came to Europe in aid of the Allied cause. One of them, Cai Yuanpei, created a textbook based on lectures he gave at the school, which included chapters on moral and intellectual topics. This article focuses on two of these chapters – History and Geography – and situates them within the context of Chinese modern history, curricular and pedagogical debates in mainland China, and the history of textbook publication at the time. In doing so, I argue that Cai Yuanpei utilised these chapters to instil critical thinking skills among workers in a pedagogical move that, while consistent with contemporary discussions on the goals of education, was nevertheless unique in the context of other contemporary approaches to education.

From decolonisation to authoritarianism: the co-option of the decolonial agenda in higher education by right-wing nationalist elites in Russia and India

This article discusses how the critique of the monopoly of Western liberal thought through the decolonisation movement that was intended to increase the number of voices heard has been co-opted by nationalist politics in India and Russia. The debates in higher education in these countries reflect current key questions on the nature of the Indian and Russian nations—both under respective nationalist governments—where both are advocating a cutting off from Western modernity. Using Mignolo’s concept of “de-linking” that was intended to raise up non-Western ways of thinking, the article shows that India and Russia have adapted and simplified decolonial discourse to reject “Western-influenced” critiques of development, inequality, and authoritarianism. Under political pressure from these authoritarian regimes, universities have helped to embed repressive majoritarian politics through anti-Western rhetoric disguised as de-linking, enabling democratic backsliding by discrediting opposition. This is done to protect a new identity based upon state conceptions of traditional values, paradoxically erasing minority voices that do not fit neatly into the unified national narrative. When universities are branded as Western agents for being critical of local traditions and schools of thought, the space for critical thinking and democratic debate is ultimately removed, leaving those who oppose Putin and Modi with no safe way to engage with political discourse, and this actually undermines the intentions of decolonial philosophy.

What do BSW graduates need to know about mental health?: educational insights derived from integrating service-users’, students’, and academic-educators’ perceptions

ABSTRACT This study aims to support curriculum development by integrating service-users’, students’, and academic educators’ perspectives regarding the mental health knowledge Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students should possess upon graduation. Set in the Israeli context, thirty-nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten service-users, ten academic-educators, ten BSW, and nine Master of Social Work (MSW) students. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Analysis revealed three major themes: 1. Person-centered approach—A humane, non-patronizing, relationship-based approach forms the foundation of mental health practice 2. Negotiating the role of bio-medical knowledge—Contributions and perils of bio-medical knowledge to social work education and practice. 3. Mental health knowledge broadened—Additional topics valuable to BSW graduates’ knowledge, such as knowledge about service-users’ experiences, recovery approach, and critical mental health. The discussion presents four educational-insights derived from the findings: 1. Articulate recovery as the mental health framework for person-centered approach. 2. Teach bio-medical knowledge from a person-centered holistic perspective. 3. Ground person-centeredness in a socio-political context. 4. Involve service-users and practitioners in academic education. These insights are discussed in the context of current debates in social work education, such as person-centeredness, service-user involvement, and neo-liberal individualization.

Students’ Argumentative Writing Proficiency at Two High-Performing, Traditional Secondary Schools in Trinidad and Tobago

This paper presents a descriptive case study of students’ proficiency in argumentative writing prior to receiving instruction. Data were collected from students at two purposefully sampled traditional denominational schools, a boys’ secondary and a girls’ secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Teachers asked students to write an argumentative essay on a topic that they felt was within students’ prior knowledge. However, analysis of those essays revealed that most students needed “intensive support”; only 5.7% of writers needed “some support”. Findings pointed to the need for systematic instruction in argumentative genre features, audience awareness, use of discourse organizers, and cohesive devices. Fewer girls than boys required intensive support of their writing. The findings have implications for teachers’ pedagogical approaches to teaching argumentation, especially the amount of time that may be required for increasing students’ writing proficiency.

New Developments and Emergent Challenges in International Inclusive Education—A Response to Growing Family Needs and the Pandemic

Home education is a phenomenon that has been increasing globally over the past decade, particularly for families of children with special educational needs or disabilities. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this phenomenon with many families continuing to home educate even after their children can officially return to school. This paper reports on a small-scale design-based research project that explored the needs of families who are home educating children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Working in partnership with educational settings, practitioners, and families during the second year of the pandemic, academic researchers in Malaysia and England designed, implemented and evaluated a home learning pack for children with ASD aged 6–12 years old. The findings emphasised the role of economic, social and cultural capital for the families involved and how this impacted their ability to work and educate their children successfully. This raises crucial questions in relation to the place of home education within the wider international inclusive education debate and matters of social equality whilst also highlighting key questions for future research in this field on how policy and provision might develop to meet a growing diversity of need.

ПОЛІЛОГ У СИСТЕМІ ФОРМУВАННЯ КОМУНІКАТИВНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ МАЙБУТНІХ ФАХІВЦІВ ПОЧАТКОВОЇ ОСВІТИ

The social demand of the Ukrainian society at the present stage is determined that the specialist in the education field should be prepared for the effective performance of their professional functions and full participation in all spheres of life of a multicultural society, which involves the study of the problem on the development of the polylogical communication ability of future teachers. This skill is a necessary reason for successful socialization, full involvement in future professional activities, including the contacts in the international professional spheres. The publication enlightens the importance of polylogue implementation as a form of speech activity (native and foreign), which combines the components of dialogic and monologic speeches during the educational process organization in the higher educational establishment, necessary for the moulding general and professional competencies of the future primary school teacher, respectively to the requirements of legal acts: the Law of Ukraine "On Education", the professional standard for the professions "Teacher of primary classes of a general secondary education institution", "Teacher of primary education (with a diploma of a junior specialist)", State Standard of Primary Education. The work focuses on the usage of the polylogue in the process of implementing the communicative-activity approach in the system of training specialists in primary education field by means of interactive teaching methods, in particular, the debate game, discussion and the project method. The authors substantiate the didactic potential of the polylogue as a synthetic form of speech activities, regarding the achieving the main goal of future teachers’ language learning (native and foreign), which involves effective communication in oral and written language forms, the use of language for the purpose of intercultural communication in the dialogue of cultures and civilizations of the modern world. It has been proven on the basis of the analysis and generalization of the experience of teachers of verbal disciplines in the Municipal Higher Educational Institution “Lutsk Pedagogical College”, in regard to the use of interactive educational technologies, the effectiveness of the project method, educational debate game, in the system of forming general and professional pedagogical competences, primarily native and foreign language communicative competence while teaching students of higher educational institutions in Ukraine.

Critical global citizenship: Foucault as a complexity thinker, social justice and the challenges of higher education in the era of neo-liberal globalization – A conversation with Mark Olssen

This article presents a remarkable conversation on critical global citizenship education (GCE) between Mark Olssen, emeritus professor of political theory and higher education policy in the Department of Politics at the University of Surrey, and Emiliano Bosio, guest-editor of Citizenship Teaching & Learning. In developing the concept for this dialogue, we thought it necessary to frame GCE within a critical perspective that examines the political, economic, ideological and cultural conditions of super-complex societies, particularly in relation to notions of neo-liberal globalization and global justice. Olssen’s copious work has complemented postmodern philosophy by drawing on the work of Nietzsche, Foucault, Deleuze, and it has brought him high regard in Europe, the United Kingdom and worldwide; his insights, perspectives, concerns and outlooks bring to the centre of international educational debates on critical GCE relevant thoughts through which we can better understand the complex roots and history of global citizenship and cosmopolitanism particularly in relation to notions of democracy, equity, ethics and social responsibility.

Bringing a ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ approach to music education: a national plan for music education 2022

ABSTRACT This article introduces an analytic strategy or thinking tool called the ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be?’ (WPR) approach and suggests its usefulness for reflecting on important debates in music education. First developed as a mode of policy analysis, WPR has since been adopted in many fields and topic areas. The WPR approach consists of seven forms of questioning and analysis that target modes of governing and governing knowledges, their presuppositions, their genealogies and their effects. It is best described as a problematisation approach that studies how issues are problematised or conceptualized. The article explores what this description means and the implications that flow from applying this thinking tool. The recent (June 2022) National Plan for Music Education, titled The Power of Music to Change Lives, provides a focus for illustrating how to deploy WPR. The task involves seeking out ‘proposals’ in the Plan and indicating how these proposed solutions represent (or produce or constitute) the ‘problem’ of ‘music education’. The goal is to make available a novel approach to a range of issues that have engaged the field for decades.

A INCLUSÃO DO ESTUDANTE AUTISTA ADULTO NAS FACULDADES E UNIVERSIDADES BRASILEIRAS

The main objective of this study was to analyze the limits and possibilities of the process of inclusion of university students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the academic environment. The bibliographical research intends to show that the inclusion of these students, which they are, is a theme that has been occupying increasing space in educational debates, and means ensuring equal opportunities. Proposals for inclusive and special education have focused more specifically on basic education, and few discussions have taken place within the scope of higher education, which points to the need for further studies in this context. It appears that access to higher education has been democratized in recent years, especially for the popular classes and also for people with autism. At the same time that this should be celebrated, there is a need for new demands, that is, training the teaching staff to work with the diversity and uniqueness of each individual by offering pedagogical support to students with real disabilities, considering social, cultural, economic issues that interfered with adequate access to schooling for this part of society that has a significant increase in higher education enrollments according to the 2021 Educational Census.

Inclusive Education, a process of empathy and cooperation: obstacles to accessibility in school life and in pedagogical practice

This article deals with Inclusive Education, the subject of current debates in education, in recent years, provoked by various segments of organized civil society, seeking to qualify the debate, in favor of an inclusive and quality proposal, therefore accessible. In this sense, the investigation was aimed at analyzing how Inclusive Education is understood, as well as highlighting the existing conflict and pointing out positive alternatives that facilitate an inclusive attitude and pedagogical practice in a public school in Bahia. In this way, bibliographical and field research took place on the light of the inductive scientific method in the qualitative methodology. It was concluded after analyzing the data that the lack of continuing education in the specific area of inclusive education, the lack of structural and environmental conditions, lack of didactic material and methodology are some of the obstacles that hinder the inclusion of many students.

An African American Dilemma: A History of School Integration and Civil Rights in the North, by Zoë Burkholder

In 1966, when Stokely Carmichael delivered his stirring call for ‘Black Power’ in the United States, many feared the young activist had set ablaze the unifying bridge built by civil rights activists over the previous decade. To the fearful, Black Power represented a dramatic shift from efforts of peaceful negotiation to militant demand; from nonviolence to violence; from cohesion to disunity; from integration to separation. Moderate civil rights leaders and the movement’s white supremacist foes—for different reasons—opposed Black nationalist demands for separate institutions and self-determination writ large. To these groups, the Black Power ‘turn’ represented a reversal of progress made since the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Zoë Burkholder complicates this popular refrain in three important ways. First, she reminds us that there never was a unifying bridge. No progressive arc toward integration actually represented the movement’s trajectory. Its goals and tactics were always contested, and this was especially true when it came to public education. Secondly, her temporal scope (from 1840 to the present) demonstrates the fundamental problem with framing the Black Power movement as a sudden turn from integration. Instead, it epitomised an ongoing debate among Black educational activists about how best to transform the educational experiences of Black youth into a democratic system. By expanding the timeline, we see that the advocacy for integration or separation were not so clear-cut, for, at different periods, ‘activists on either side overlapped and intersected with one another’ (p. 12). We are also treated to a genealogy of Black educational debates that predate the well-documented rivalry between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Thirdly, Burkholder’s geographic focus on ‘the North’ builds on existing scholarship that challenges the existence and persistence of a Jim Crow North. Because segregation was not exclusively a southern phenomenon, neither were debates about how to challenge racial segregation and inequality in public school systems beyond Dixie. ‘The central finding’, Burkholder tells us, ‘is that either school integration or separation dominated the political discourse of northern Black educational activists during particular historical eras. During each period, a chorus of dissent, debate, and counter-narratives pushed Black communities to consider a fuller range of educational reform’ (p. 6).

Using causal models to bridge the divide between big data and educational theory

AbstractAn extraordinary amount of data is becoming available in educational settings, collected from a wide range of Educational Technology tools and services. This creates opportunities for using methods from Artificial Intelligence and Learning Analytics (LA) to improve learning and the environments in which it occurs. And yet, analytics results produced using these methods often fail to link to theoretical concepts from the learning sciences, making them difficult for educators to trust, interpret and act upon. At the same time, many of our educational theories are difficult to formalise into testable models that link to educational data. New methodologies are required to formalise the bridge between big data and educational theory. This paper demonstrates how causal modelling can help to close this gap. It introduces the apparatus of causal modelling, and shows how it can be applied to well‐known problems in LA to yield new insights. We conclude with a consideration of what causal modelling adds to the theory‐versus‐data debate in education, and extend an invitation to other investigators to join this exciting programme of research. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic ‘Correlation does not equal causation’ is a familiar claim in many fields of research but increasingly we see the need for a causal understanding of our educational systems. Big data bring many opportunities for analysis in education, but also a risk that results will fail to replicate in new contexts. Causal inference is a well‐developed approach for extracting causal relationships from data, but is yet to become widely used in the learning sciences. What this paper adds An overview of causal modelling to support educational data scientists interested in adopting this promising approach. A demonstration of how constructing causal models forces us to more explicitly specify the claims of educational theories. An understanding of how we can link educational datasets to theoretical constructs represented as causal models so formulating empirical tests of the educational theories that they represent. Implications for practice and/or policy Causal models can help us to explicitly specify educational theories in a testable format. It is sometimes possible to make causal inferences from educational data if we understand our system well enough to construct a sufficiently explicit theoretical model. Learning Analysts should work to specify more causal models and test their predictions, as this would advance our theoretical understanding of many educational systems.

An open educational resource to introduce data analysis in Python for the Humanities

The article presents an open educational resource (OER) to introduce humanities students to data analysis with Python. The article beings with positioning the OER within wider pedagogical debates in the digital humanities. The OER is built from our research encounters and committed to computational thinking rather than technicalities. Furthermore, we argue that students best learn with the ‘whole game’ methodology. Learners need to be exposed to meaningful activities as soon and as far as possible. The article presents two examples that implement our approach. The first introduces Python as a data analysis language to students of the humanities. It is different because it concentrates on the principles of the computational thinking behind data analysis rather than programming details. The second example takes the students into the world of machine learning and the whole game of social and cultural research with it. Students learn useful skills such as web scraping but will also run their own machine learning algorithms to follow concrete research questions.

Pancasila Education in Indonesia: The debate on Pancasila in the post reform era between legitimation, recognition, and institutionalization during 2000-2021

Pancasila is mentioned as the basis of the philosophy of the State. Understanding the narrow and limited meaning of Pancasila has resulted in polemics in the life of the nation and state, especially in Pancasila education. This study aims to analyze the debate and dynamics of Pancasila education from the aspects of legitimacy, recognition, and institutionalization. This research is philosophical research, using qualitative research methods through literature review. The analysis in this study used critical discourse analysis. The research process includes data inventory, data categorization, and data analysis. The results of this study indicate that the debate about Pancasila education since the post occurred from the framework of the legitimacy of power, there has been a dualism of legitimacy between the executive and the legislature. Based on the recognition aspect, Pancasila education has not yet received adequate recognition from the state and educational institutions. From the institutional aspect, efforts to institutionalize the values of Pancasila from the educational aspect still encounter problems because there is no certainty in placing Pancasila under what kind of institution.

The Ruskin Speech and Great Debate in English education, 1976–1979: A study of motivation

AbstractJames Callaghan's speech at Ruskin College, Oxford in October 1976 is widely considered a pivotal moment in modern English educational policy. Whilst it is not our intention to challenge this fundamental point, the paper will critically interrogate some long‐held assumptions about the motivation that led Callaghan to deliver his speech at Ruskin College. Specifically, the paper will argue that the Ruskin Speech, which spawned a subsequent great debate on education, was motivated by a desire to protect and support comprehensive education, rather than generate more fundamental and radical educational reform away from those principles. Where successive governments have referred back to the ideals espoused by the speech as justification for subsequent educational transformation away from comprehensive ideals, this has only served to imbue the Ruskin Speech and Great Debate with motivations that were not shared at the time by Callaghan and his Labour government.

Scientific literacy: what role does the safety air cushion in rescuing people?

It briefly discusses scientific literacy and argumentation in physics teaching. In addition, it adresses a proposal for an investigative teaching sequence (SEI) taken and synthesized from the monograph of one of the authors. Regarding scientific literacy, we sought to start from its origin and the discussion on the need to build a scientifically literate society. Whith regard to argumentation, an attempt is made to seek relationships with scientific literacy, its use in the classroom and its structure. In addition, the article has an application proposal that seeks to promote and develop students’ scientific literacy.

Prosections in Anatomy Education: Establishing a Definition and Describing Preparation, Use, and Educator Perceptions.

There is an ongoing debate in anatomy education regarding the use of prosection versus student dissection in anatomy lab instruction. While there are plenty of studies comparing dissection and prosection, there are very few studies on how prosections are prepared and how they are used in anatomy instruction. Furthermore, there is no consistent definition of prosection used in the literature. This study used an anonymous questionnaire distributed to anatomy educators internationally and asked for educator views on defining, preparing, and using prosections in various course settings. One-hundred twenty-five completed responses representing fifteen countries and sixty-seven institutions underwent a thematic analysis to describe major themes in participant responses. From responses, a definition of prosection was developed, and the major perceived strengths and weaknesses of prosection use were described. Furthermore, quantitative data regarding the prevalence of prosection use as either a supplemental or primary resource and details pertaining to the perceived expertise of prosectors was collected. This study demonstrates the extensive reach of prosections in anatomy education and sets a foundation from which future studies on unique prosection preparation and use can stem from.

Development of a Comprehensive Process for Introducing Game-Based Learning in Higher Education for Lecturers

Emerging trends such as digitalization, globalization, and the COVID-19 pandemic are forcing higher education institutions to undergo constant organizational and technological changes and to introduce innovative pedagogical approaches suitable for teaching a new generation of students—the so-called digital natives. The goal of this paper is to engage in the ongoing debate in higher education about new teaching methods, i.e., game-based learning methods, which meet the needs of digital natives. They have grown up in a fast-paced, technology-driven society, which has affected how they absorb information, their ability to concentrate for extended periods, and their motivation and engagement in the learning process. Existing research suggests that implementing the game-based learning method can be very difficult and costly, as it often requires adapting the freely available game to the requirements of the particular course and additional investment in purchasing appropriate equipment. In this paper, we develop a comprehensive procedure for introducing a cost-effective game-based learning method in higher education, which includes thirteen steps to help lecturers introduce game-based activities straightforwardly into their teaching processes. In addition, we also present security, cultural, and quality assurance issues that need to be considered when implementing game-based learning in higher education.