English Public Schools Research Articles

ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The teaching of English, historically centered on structural paradigms, faces challenges with the rise of digital technologies in social interactions. Augmented Reality (AR), by integrating virtual elements into real environments, offers transformative potential. The present work, "English in Public Schools: Augmented Reality Applications and Social Language Practices," explores the integration of AR in English language classes. Based on teacher plans in Sergipe, data from a teacher training course conducted in 2021 are analyzed through Freeman's Teacher Research (1998). Results highlight the potential of augmented reality in public English teaching, emphasizing the importance of teacher training courses in the effective implementation of educational technologies.

REFLEXÃO E ENSINO DO EIXO ORALIDADE EM LÍNGUA INGLESA

The research seeks to present an analysis of the possible strategies that promote a significant learning of the English language through the orality axis describing the difficulties that students feel when expressing themselves orally, factors that lead them not to participate in classes in situations of orality. Among the main reasons that hinder the mastery of English in public schools in Brazil, It is noteworthy, the teaching with emphasis on grammatical aspects, in an isolated or decontextualized way, that is, focused only on linguistic knowledge, disregarding the importance of the interaction between the subjects, for the mastery of the language. The relevance in dealing with orality is corroborated by the official documents BNCC and PCN's. In this perspective, it was observed the need to provide activities related to this specific axis, for students to develop communicative skills in English. The methodology employed is a bibliographic research, with analysis based on the communicative approach on the teaching of orality and the description of possible strategies for the realization of this. The study addresses reflections on the teaching of this language in Brazil, as well as the relevance and difficulties that surround this modality. Next, the laws that regulate its teaching in Brazil are presented, with suggestions of activities that can contribute to the teaching of a second language.

Psychosocial Risks in Teachers from Portugal and England on the Way to Society 5.0.

Being a teacher is one of the most demanding jobs, as a result of this responsibility, these workers face many psychosocial risks. This study aims to characterize and compare psychosocial factors in Portuguese and British teachers and discuss how new developments in technology, namely digital technology can improve education and, in particular, contribute to fewer issues related to mental health. The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Medium Version (COPSOQ II) was applied to the teachers of six Portuguese schools (three public schools and three private schools), three British public schools and three private schools with an international British curriculum (Switzerland, Spain and Portugal). The results showed that cognitive, emotional, and quantitative demands, as well as work rhythm and work/family conflict, are the key psychosocial factors among these teachers. Differences were found between the teachers of both countries. Some models are proposed, through the proposals of Society 5.0, for their minimization and/or removal. Society 5.0 is the vision of a new human-centered society in the fifth stage launched by Japan in April 2016, and it is cited in our study with the hope that it will contribute to solving many problems of today's society.

The Third Reich’s Elite Schools: A History of the Napolas

In The Third Reich’s Elite Schools Helen Roche explores an aspect of the Third Reich’s education system so secretive and selective that even contemporaries were barely aware of its existence. The National Political Education Institutes (or ‘Napola’) were designed to mirror the English public school system with elements borrowed from the Prussian cadet schools and the rigours of ancient Spartan discipline. These forty-four schools—the last opening in April 1944—trained boys from the age of ten through to their Abitur (final school exams), and aspired to produce an elite next generation of leaders for the regime. They were distinct from the well-known attempts to achieve this in the Ordensburgen for adults and the Adolf Hitler Schools set up by the Hitler Youth; these latter, Roche reveals, being deliberate copies of most of the Napola curriculum. Yet Roche makes the claim that where much existing literature has grouped these schools together and branded them ineffectual, the Napolas were instead cohesively organized, well-funded and well-supported ideological institutions and, given their success in training loyal officers, ‘the Nazi dictatorship’s most effective educational experiment’ (p. 425).

Saving the Children: Humanitarianism, Internationalism, and Empire by Emily Baughan

Reviewed by: Saving the Children: Humanitarianism, Internationalism, and Empire by Emily Baughan Aisling Shalvey Saving the Children: Humanitarianism, Internationalism, and Empire. By Emily Baughan. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021. xii + 300 pp. Cloth $85.00, paper $24.99, e-book $24.95. This book was a joy to read, each of the six chapters evoking a different era in the history of humanitarian work with children. It begins with the foundations of the Save the Children humanitarian aid organization in 1919 in Britain, when aid work was a status symbol of the social elite. Baughan does not remain focused on the European situation, though; she emphasizes the link between the expansion of humanitarian aid for children, neocolonialism, and imperialism involved in the Save the Children campaigns. The author artfully combines previously under-used archival sources with a well-informed and carefully articulated criticism of these sources, seeing beyond the dominant narrative and highlighting the injustices committed under the guardianship of the Save the Children organization. This book begins with the origins of British humanitarian efforts in upper-class circles, moving on to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1924. In the third chapter, Baughan explains the expansion of Save the Children to the British Empire in Africa and Asia, then goes on to describe the organization's role in protecting children during the war, along with the transition to a postwar humanitarian environment without the support of the League of Nations, and then finally, the move to humanitarianism in a decolonized world. [End Page 164] Baughan critically explains the 1924 Declaration of the Rights of the Child and how it was constructed in an idealistic manner, noting that in practice it expected nation-states to protect these rights for its citizens, while those who did not ethnically or racially "fit" were left without protection (72–75). She also notes that Save the Children did not renounce its policy of family separation from prior to 1945 but in fact leaned into it, despite the psychoanalytic theory that underpinned most postwar aid, emphasizing that it was family structure and emotional attachment that improved child welfare. The terminology used by Save the Children did begin to shift, though. While they did not change their methods, they began to highlight juvenile delinquency and the removal of children from negative influences. Baughan intelligently notes that "the funds success in the postwar years did not lie in its innovation or adoption of new child rearing methods, but its ability to repackage and rebrand its existing work and prejudices in line with the concerns of the era" in relation to making juvenile delinquent reformatories sound like British public school, so that fundraisers could make this repackaged system of family separation sound appealing to their upper-class council members (149). Beginning with a description of the eugenicist and classist apolitical ideas of the Save the Children organization, this book goes on to explain the central role of this organization in using exploitative images of naked, starving children in marketing and the view of children not as individuals but as a product for later economic growth. One example of the organization ignoring glaring inequalities, while simultaneously claiming to be at the center of child welfare, was the 1942 visit of Gregory Thelin (president of the International Union of Save the Children) to Berlin to investigate German child welfare during World War II. He noted that their well-being generally seemed excellent, and while he had not come across any Jewish children, and he did not see this absence as a problem (133). Baughan then notes that while the Save the Children organization was predicated on an apolitical mission statement, thus refusing to criticize fascist governments of the time, not all organizations held such beliefs—for example, the Peace Pledge Union (134). The book addresses the involvement of humanitarian aid by Save the Children in the postwar era as a bid to retain colonial influence in the rapidly decolonizing continent of Africa. This resulted in imprisonment of children, as well as colonial violence, being used as opportunities to create loyal British subjects by an organization that claimed to protect the welfare of the child. She explains...

Embracing the Unknown: Adaptability and Resiliency of Out-of-Field Secondary Teachers Teaching English in Public Schools

Out-of-Field Teaching (OFT) has become one of the common concerns of different educational institutions in the global arena. Its prevalence worldwide has become a major issue because of its impact on the quality of education and the efficacy of teachers. Due to the shortage of specialized teachers in the field, school heads opted to hire out-of-field teachers to teach English subjects which creates a detrimental effect on professional growth, teachers’ performance, and the well-being of teachers. Thus, this qualitative phenomenological paper explored the lived experiences of out-of-field teachers teaching English in public schools. The data were gathered from the six (6) participants who were chosen using a purposeful sampling technique and determined using the following inclusion criteria: non-English major, public secondary school teacher, and have at least two (2) years of experience in teaching English. The data were collected utilizing the in-depth unstructured interview. Employing a thematic analysis, the findings revealed the challenges encountered by the participants, and how they were able to endure and embrace all of them. Moreover, the findings highlighted the adaptability and resiliency of the participants as essential factors in overcoming the demands of the phenomenon. Thus, the findings imply how the lived experiences of the participants molded them to become a better version of themselves.

Palestine University English Majors’ Writing Performance Compared to their Secondary School Academic Achievement amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aims at investigating the relation between Palestine University English majors’ writing performance and their secondary school academic achievement amid the coronavirus pandemic in the second semester of the academic year 2020/2021. The participants were twenty-three Palestine University English majors, two males and twenty-one females. And their writing production on a practical writing test was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. In addition, the researcher compared the participants’ total score on writing one course and their total mark in secondary school certificate. Moreover, a semi-structured interview with the participants of the study was conducted via WhatsApp application to reveal the reasons behind their recent writing level. Findings indicated that Palestine University English majors’ writing performance has a significant positive relationship with their academic performance at secondary school during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants of the study were not satisfied with their writing performance level, and they attributed this decline to the following reasons: (1) online learning at Palestine University during the COVID-19 Pandemic does not suit their needs, (2) Palestinian Public School English language teaching needs to be developed in light of university requirements, and (3) students’ family economic situation and the last Israeli attack (May 2021) badly affected their writing performance.

Checking the Reliability of English as a Second Language Learners’ Aptitude: The Use of Achievement Tests as Predictors

In Saudi Arabia, high school education has always been blamed for students’ weaknesses in the English language. Teachers have been accused of overestimating students’ scores in English language courses, resulting in evaluations that do not reflect the students’ real levels. Consequently, students believe that they are good enough at English and can survive in an English program at the college level when they are not. The paper is an attempt to bridge the gap between learning English in public schools and at college level. It will try to answer a significant question about whether students’ scores in high school and preparatory years are able to predict their performances at the college level — particularly students majoring in English language. It also explores the factors that affect university students’ GPAs who are majoring English. A total of 107 students participated in the study by providing their grades in the three levels and responding to a survey to explore their attitudes toward activities that encourage them to learn English in the Saudi Arabian education system. The results showed that high school and preparatory year grades aligned with only a small number of the participants’ college grades. This indicates that earlier grades cannot predict students’ performances at the university level. Moreover, the results confirm the dominance of the grammar-translation method in teaching English at all three levels. Finally, the results confirm a strong correlation between practicing more activities and improving second language learning. More research is required to explore the factors that influence students’ English learning. Keywords: achievement test, English as a second language, high school, preparatory year, Saudi second language learners.

“I Learned How to Read in Spanish”: A Genealogical Analysis of Biliterate Subjective Possibilities in South Texas Escuelitas and Beyond

Background/Context: Historically, the literature on access to quality education for Mexican Americans has been wrought with injustices committed on them because of the racist and deficit thinking of the time. This includes, but is not limited to, access to literacy in English and Spanish. This article focuses on las escuelitas, or little schools, as sites of resistance that fostered Spanish literacy as an extension of the home before official schooling in all English public schools. These little schools were community-based initiatives that taught Texas Mexican children Spanish literacy and Mexican culture from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s in the borderlands. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: Drawing on nepantla and border thinking as theoretical frameworks, we argue that biliterate subjectivities emerge(d) from geographically contingent ideologies rooted in colonizing codes of power. We asked: (1) How do participants describe their early literacy experiences in las escuelitas? (2) How do the discursive characterizations of participants’ early literacy experiences inform our understanding of emerging discursive biliterate subjectivities? Research Design: Employing a Foucauldian genealogical analysis, this article examines the experiences of nine escuelitas attendees. Oral histories were collected form a group of Mexican Americans who attended las escuelitas in the 1940s and were from the same graduating high school class, though they did not attend the same escuelita. Alongside their narratives, we draw on historical accounts of las escuelitas and broader Mexican American history of education of the southwestern United States. Other data include poems and textbooks provided by the participants themselves. Foucauldian genealogical analysis offered a more nuanced story in which to situate their narratives. Findings/Results: The findings demonstrate how biliterate subjectivities were produced ideologically as the participants lived and made meaning in a time when official biliteracy was not only inconceivable, but effectively outlawed by English-only laws governing public schools. We go on to consider the clandestine biliteracy of escuelita attendees of the early 20th century, in contrast to the growing popularity of official forms of biliteracy for (some) contemporary students in schools today. To do so, we detail how participants engaged in complex and contradictory discursive characterizations that revealed their nepantla and border thinking as a way of reading and writing the world. Thus, las escuelitas provide historical insight into not only the ingenuity of communities to resist English hegemony, but also how present-day bilingual education often reinscribes marginalization. Conclusions/Recommendations: The discursive narratives demonstrate the complexity of forming subjectivities in relation to biliteracy. We reveal the ways in which their biliterate subjectivities of reading the word informed the ways in which they also read the world. Thus, their subjective formations emanated nepantla and border thinking as a facet of their biliteracy. We also find that their biliteracy stories echo present discursive formations of who is considered biliterate through official manifestations like the Seal of Biliteracy. Finally, their stories indicate that biliteracy as a subjective possibility has always been rooted in communities of color whose lives and knowledges often go unrecognized.

19. Yüzyıl İngiliz Eğitim Sisteminde Spor Yoluyla Fair Play'in Yaygınlaştırılması

In this study, the role of the 19th century English education system and schools has been examined in the popularization of fair play that is always at the top of the agenda in today's sporting activities. Social, politic, economic, and religious consideration, which affected popularization of understanding fair play, was aimed to specify. Fair play became a central term in 19th century England by the reasons of interest of existing social classes England social life, a reflection of sports, which these social classes were interested in and with the idiom of "Muscular Christianity" the goal of English educationists to bring up stronger Christian teenagers in terms of morally and physically. This view was popularized to the public in favor of education reform, which was occurred in English public and boarding schools.

English in Tunisian Primary Schools: Stakeholders’ Perception and Reform Validity

The present study was conducted to test the theory of ‘the younger the better’ (Lenneberg, 1967; Penfield, 1959) by examining Tunisian EFL public primary school teachers’ perceptions of lowering the age of teaching English in elementary schools. In doing so, a quantitative method approach was used to collect data from a sample of 30 teachers working at public primary schools in Tunis and an interview for 5 inspectors of English from different regions of Tunis. They were asked to express their views concerning lowering the age of teaching English and the ability of children to learn more than one foreign language in academic situations. The purpose of this study is to to investigate the influence of age on language learning in Tunisian public educational system focusing on children’s ability to learn English effortlessly at a younger age.The data analysis revealed that a considerable percentage of Tunisian primary school teachers in the schools visited claim to be aware of the importance of lowering the age of teaching English and of the crucial role that English plays in the curriculum as well as the ability of children to learn foreign language with great enthusiasm. However, this awareness is not met by major efforts toward educational reforms by the ministry of education. Another finding of this research was that all the respondent teachers agreed on the best age for children to learn English in academic situations yet they disagreed with the fact that it is impossible to achieve proficiency in second languages in the second decade of life.This study provides evidence that English is important in Tunisian schools and teachers as well as policy makers perceive that lowering the age of teaching English provides longer exposure to the target language and is advantageous for children starting L2s at a younger age. Obviously, the age of teaching English in public schools is gaining importance, which suggests that it is going to be an influencing factor in any future educational reforms in public Tunisian schools.

Exploring global religious traditions through artifactual literacy projects

PurposeThe purpose of this study is an exploration of stories told by multilingual students participating in a literacy project in a secondary English course as part of a larger three year practitioner inquiry study, in which the author analyzed students’ literacy project to create a culturally responsive English curriculum. In this paper, the stories of two participating students were examined to derive ideas for an English curriculum in which students’ assets, such as cultural heritage and religious traditions, are recognized and honored.Design/methodology/approachTwo objectives of the study were to learn about my students’ assets and to use them to complement the district-mandated texts in ways that honored students’ cultural traditions and accumulated knowledge. This paper focuses on an artifactual literacy project paired with reading the novel To Kill a Mockingbird in an English course for emergent bilinguals, in which the modified curriculum highlighted their experiences and traditions.FindingsTwo themes emerged from the analysis. First, religious communities are often valuable to emergent bilingual students. Second, although borders often separate the families of these students, they continue their religious traditions with those in their new communities in the USA, whose members have also carried traditions across borders to honor and preserve their families’ cultures, languages and religions in new places.Originality/valueReligion is rarely discussed in public school English classrooms. This research project demonstrates the value of artifacts in secondary classrooms which provide a space for students to discuss personally meaningful religious and cultural literacy practices.

Athletic philistines? Edmond Warre and his Etonian sporting masters

ABSTRACT Although athleticism arguably rescued English public schools from chaos in the early nineteenth-century, concerns were soon raised that too much attention was paid to sport at the expense of learning. Subsequently, the sporting philistine became thought of as a self-perpetuating type within public schools, with masters who cared for nothing but sport producing boys who thought likewise. Edmond Warre, who taught at Eton from 1860 to 1905, and was headmaster from 1884, is often cited as the leading example of this type, building up a group of sporting masters who made Eton a dominant force in sport, but achieving little else. However, this paper argues this view does Warre and his colleagues a disservice, and that his educational achievements were downplayed because of Eton’s internal power struggles. While Eton, and other public schools, produced philistines aplenty, the best sportsmen were less likely to be among their ranks because they were increasingly motivated to study hard in order to qualify for university, and take advantage of the sporting opportunities offered there. Sporting and academic excellence were thus increasingly found in the same pupils, and sporting masters had a vested interest in providing their charges with the classical education required for Oxbridge entrance.

An ‘Incalculable Blunder’: Empire and the British Public School, 1896–1914

ABSTRACT This paper examines Edwardian public schools’ relations with Empire. It does so by focusing on their students’ perceptions of the imperial enterprise and participation in Empire-relevant schemes. For, current scholarship has, almost without exception and in-depth investigation, presumed the Empire’s popularity and pre-eminence within such institutions. However, this paper, drawing on new archival research and Eton College source material, argues a strong anti-Empire minority was present among public school students. Likewise, it suggests various imperial schemes and institutions, impacting public schools, met significant student detachment or subversion. These conclusions, then, inform and enhance the historiography of British imperialism. In particular, they indicate that Edwardian imperialist propaganda was, in the public school case, unable to entrench a ubiquitous, pro-Empire ideology. Moreover, Britain’s upper and upper-middle classes, as embodied by Edwardian public school students, comprised not only reluctant or ‘secondary’ imperialists, but also multiple anti-Empire advocates. Therefore, this presents Edwardian British society’s Empire-engagement as much more amorphous and fragmentary than previously thought.

“Better red than dead”: Socialism in British Public Schools, 1900–1918

AbstractThis paper examines socialism in Edwardian public schools. It concentrates on understanding their students’ responses to, and conceptions of, socialism’s core tenets. For, existing scholarship has depicted these Edwardian institutions as almost uniformly conservative and proficient in inculcating students with pro‐social hierarchy, anti‐social innovation views. Any ideological tensions, then, stemmed from the interaction of popular, conservative‐compliant, dogmas within school contexts: social Darwinism, imperialism, athleticism, muscular Christianity and so on. This paper, however, draws on new Eton College archive sources to enhance and complicate this view. It argues socialism captivated the students’ attention and garnered a strong supportive minority that, at times, advocated complete collective ownership. Moreover, the school administration showed tolerance to even the most outspoken socialists, and its non‐hegemonic, semi‐decentralized nature gave rise to local, independent sites of support. Accordingly, this research is important to understanding Edwardian public school ideologies and socialization processes. In wider terms, too, it casts insight on Edwardian socialism’s penetration into secondary education and inter‐class acceptance.

Education and football: a history of the cultural accommodation of British association football into Japanese society

ABSTRACT Japanese educational institutions remain the country’s prominent football culture exponents since its emergence in higher education extra-curricular activities during the late nineteenth century. In Britain, whilst professional football culture evolved rapidly following the sport’s re-organisation in English public schools; Japan maintained a prolonged period of amateurism, which endured until establishing the professional J. League in 1992. After its acceptance as a physical education activity, football slowly circulated from extra-curricular activities at higher educational schools to secondary and elementary schools. From the introductory period to establishing the Japanese professional football league, football cemented its relationship with education, with university clubs dominating nationwide competitions and their prominent involvement in the Japanese national team. Also, despite the establishment of professionalism, educational institutions continue to significantly influence football culture throughout the country in terms of both the recruitment of players and the game’s ethics. In particular, the efficacy of extra-curricular activities as a medium for Japanese youths’ moral education and the cultural significance such institutions continue to retain are contributing factors.

‘For me, St Paul’s would always be among the pine trees of Berkshire’: English public schools and wartime evacuation (1939-45)

ABSTRACT This article considers the wartime evacuation of English public schools as a result of enemy bombing as well as the commandeering of school buildings for government and military purposes. It looks at the way evacuation was privately organised by public school authorities often relying on the ‘old school tie’, while also taking financial considerations into account in the case of schools faced with sharp declines in their numbers in the 1930s context. The article also focuses on the way evacuation challenged public schools’ sense of elective belonging and corporate identity while making it possible to establish new contacts with state schools and refugees from continental Europe. It finally assesses the legacy of public schools’ evacuation journeys as the institutions returned to their historic sites at the end of the war, hoping to preserve the more practical spirit of the evacuation years, at the time of the Butler Education Act and the building of the Welfare State.

SAUDI STUDENTS’ AND TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES AND BELIEFS IN LEARNING AND TEACHING ENGLISH IN SAUDI ARABIA

This preliminary study investigates the Saudi public high school student deficiencies in speaking English and seeks ways to improve the curriculum opportunities for students in English-speaking classrooms. Saudi public schools aim to educate students to use English in real-life communication. However, the majority of Saudi high school students graduate with low levels of understanding and competence in communicating in English. This pilot study examines the strategies that Saudi high school teachers and students have followed to teach and learn English in public schools and investigates their beliefs about effective teaching and learning strategies. The study is based on a questionnaire. Ninety female students of years seven, eight, and nine and their six teachers were drawn from two public schools in Riyadh. The findings of this study reflect the importance of collaborative work between stakeholders including supervisors, teachers, parents, and students. In addition, they emphasize that besides the teachers’ beliefs, learners’ needs and expectations should be taken into account, to increase the likelihood of a more productive and successful learning environment. The consensus was that the best results are achieved when interesting activities and interactive teaching strategies are used to support the mandatory course-book.

James Brooke-Smith. Gilded Youth: Privilege, Rebellion and the British Public School. London: Reaktion Books, 2019. Pp. 296. $25.00 (cloth).

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Public school life during the Victorian fin-de-siècle: Compton Mackenzie’s Sinister Street novel

ABSTRACT The two-volume novel Sinister Street by Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972), a Scottish writer more famous now for his later comic novels, tends to be overlooked in the list of novels depicting English public school life. The first volume of Mackenzie’s novel traces the protagonist’s public school career at the nineteenth century’s close. Despite the sensitivity required when dealing with fiction as a source for historical understanding, Sinister Street can shed useful light on public school life at a time of transition. Mackenzie’s account is fictional but the experience of public school life within Sinister Street often chimes with reality, even though the chime may distort or mask much of what we know from historical record. In alluding to the march of an expanding middle class into the schools, the persistence of the gentlemanly ethos, the role of sports, and the tensions within the curriculum, the novel offers insight into the public school experience. It also illuminates the close of the nineteenth century, as events in the wider world impinge on the school and those who are part of it. Sinister Street is a useful source for historians of education in understanding the historical continuity and change that public schools underwent during this time.