Everyday School Practice Research Articles

The Influence of Soviet State Policy on School Everyday Life in Kazakhstan (1945–1955)

Introduction. The work reconstructs the ideological component of Soviet children’s everyday school life in Kazakhstan, which had a huge impact on their socialization. Methods and materials. The methodological basis of the study is the theory of the sociologist P. Sztompka about the significance of “cultural trauma” in the biography of any generation of people – social tension associated with changes in society, the transformation of its values. The method of narrative interview was used in the work. Interviews were conducted with over 20 respondents whose childhood was spent in Kazakhstan in 1945–1965. Analysis. Archival data and recollections of respondents show that the school, which traditionally carried out a certain order of society, was the main mechanism in the formation of the “new Soviet person.” During the period under study, the “order” was to form a Soviet identity, with which the Soviet school and socio-political organizations represented by the pioneers and the Komsomol in Kazakhstan successfully coped. Everyday school practice reflected the ideological component of school education – all respondents, assessing their childhood from today’s standpoint, are aware of the degree of this influence. Results. A number of mechanisms were analyzed through which the official Soviet authorities formed the consciousness of the future “builders of communism”: the school, ideologized and, in fact, obligatory children’s organizations, and propaganda. The identified correspondence between the propaganda ideal and the real image of a Soviet schoolchild indicates the acceptance and assimilation of socialist values by children in Kazakhstan. The data obtained open up prospects for new research on the history of Soviet children’s everyday lives. Authors contribution. A.A. Bimoldanova proposed the idea and concept of the article and wrote the final text. M.J. Bekmagambetova prepared a historiographic review, was engaged in the identification and analysis of documentary sources from the Archive of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and R.K. Bekmagambetov carried out the transcription and interpretation of the interview materials and the technical design of the text of the article. All three authors interviewed respondents.

Leading Elementary School Science: Taking a Multilevel Distributed Perspective to Explore Leadership Practice

Purpose: Most empirical work using a distributed perspective to frame research on leadership practice uses the school as the unit of analysis, focusing on how leadership is stretched over people and aspects of the situation within schools. This study investigates leadership practice for elementary science, using a multilevel distributed framework, to understand the interrelationships among educational leaders operating at various levels—from classrooms, to schools, to educational systems, and, beyond, to the educational sector. Research Methods/Approach: Using an embedded, comparative case study design, we analyzed leadership practice for elementary science reform in 13 school districts in the U.S. as leaders worked to bridge from the Next Generation Science Standards learning ideals to classroom instruction. Data collection included interviews, observations, and documents. Findings: Leading elementary science reform involved three core components of leadership practice: (1) garnering attention for science in a situation that prioritized the instruction of English Language Arts and mathematics; (2) cultivating and channeling essential relationships not only within the system but also in the broader education sector to access the resources needed to (re)build an educational infrastructure for elementary science instruction; and (3) supporting the use of educational infrastructure in everyday practice in schools. Implications: This study makes the case for using a multilevel distributed leadership perspective to frame studies of leadership practice to understand how efforts at different levels interact in shaping the practice of leadership.

Environmental orientations at work: Scientific and embodied environmental knowledge

Based on two qualitative case studies undertaken in Switzerland, this article compares the positioning of Climate Strike activists and construction workers on questions of climate change, so as to analyse the impact of work practices on environmental orientations. Building on a praxeological approach, the article argues that communities of practice in workplaces and educational institutions influence environmental orientations. Everyday practice in schools and universities fosters the scientific environmental knowledge that is central to the orientations of climate activists. By contrast, the practice of construction workers inculcates an embodied environmental knowledge which accompanies an orientation that takes environmental problems as not primarily a question of conservation, but rather as inherently linked to workplace matters. By way of conclusion, the article argues for an expanded notion of environmental concerns, beyond the acceptance of scientific facts on ecological crisis and towards embracing the embodied environmental knowledge more broadly prevalent among manual workers.

A Long-Term Study on the Effect of a Professional Development Program on Science Teachers’ Inquiry

In this study we explore the effect of a professional development (PD) program on four science teachers’ views and practices nearly a year after its completion, regarding inquiry implementation in everyday school practice. The PD program aimed to familiarize participants with current trends in science education (SE), putting emphasis on the inquiry approach. The basic research question guiding this study is whether science teachers’ inquiry practices and views changed, and to which extent, long after their participation in the PD program. Teachers’ practices were recorded, both during and after the PD, through non-participatory observation and were analysed through a semi-quantitative method. Teachers’ views were also recorded both during and after PD through structured questionnaires and reflective interviews, producing qualitative data that were analysed. Findings are encouraging concerning the preservation of guided inquiry practices obtained during the program, while more open inquiry practices proved to be limited. Teachers’ views concerning inquiry remained positive, also maintaining their innovative character.

PRIMARY STUDENTS’ ALTERNATIVE IDEAS ABOUT WATER

Alternative ideas in knowledge refer to the situations where student’s understanding of a certain concept differs from the scientific concept. During this investigation we were focused on identification and analysis of the most common students’ alternative ideas about water in early science education. The sample consisted of 76 first and third grade students from three primary schools in Sombor, Serbia. The semi-structured interviewing technique was used for data collection. The proportion of mixed and scientific answers was higher among third-graders, while the spontaneous answers were more frequent among first-graders. These findings could be attributed to developmental differences and the impact of teaching. Our investigation can be useful starting point for the process of transformation of students’ alternative ideas about water in everyday school practice.

Developing the emotion regulation skills of autistic pupils in educational settings: A systematic literature review

AbstractModerating the intensity and expression of our emotions is necessary for successful engagement in learning. This systematic review explored, “what are schools doing to support autistic children and young people to develop their emotion regulation skills?” Critical analyses considered the inclusiveness of interventions and whether/how autistic pupils were asked about their participation. PsycINFO, Web of Science (Core Collection) and ERIC were searched on 18 July 2022. Eight studies were included, incorporating 419 autistic pupils, aged three to 17, from at least 955 schools in the USA, Australia and France. A narrative synthesis was used to provide an overview of the literature. Seven different approaches to emotion regulation were utilised, and only one was used in the school prior to the research. Forty out of 419 autistic pupils were asked for their views of the intervention they received. There is a lack of research considering school‐led approaches to embedding emotion regulation skill development in everyday school practices and a lack of involvement of autistic pupil's views about emotion‐regulation interventions. More research is needed to enable educational professionals to provide evidence‐informed support for autistic pupils to develop their emotion regulation skills.

Micropolitics in smooth and sticky events of mundane school life

ABSTRACT This study contributes to the discussion of children’s participation in educational practices. In particular we are interested from the moments that reach beyond formal modes of participation. For this purpose, we use the concept of micropolitics and examine happenings in which children’s actions collide with everyday school practices and larger social and political surfaces. The data consist of one year-long ethnographic fieldwork produced in two Finnish comprehensive schools. Based on the analysis, we identified two different types of events – ‘smooth’ and ‘sticky’ – to which micropolitics entangled. Identifying these two types of events aids us in understanding the kinds of situations in which children have or do not have political power in their everyday school lives. Our analysis show that children take part in discussing wide societal issues, such as social class and local education policies, but it raises questions about the ability of schools as institutions to recognize children’s initiatives. Based on the findings, we propose that the concept of micropolitics can be particularly useful in understanding why some modes of participation become difficult and stay hidden while others are easier to recognize.

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF COLLABORATIVE CULTURE AS A MODEL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN GREEK PRIMARY SCHOOLS

The investigation of the collaborative culture in Greek primary schools with an emphasis put on Small rural and Urban all-day primary schools was the basis for conducting the study. The main purpose of the study is to highlight the ways in which teachers in everyday school practice act and shape school collaborative culture, so that if a redefinition of their role is required, feedback to focus their interest on the effectiveness of their schools of responsibility. The scope of the survey was the total number of teachers (N=782) in randomly selected primary schools in the country. The research tool used was the School Culture Survey - Teacher Form (S.C.S.-T.F.) questionnaire which evaluates and records the teachers' views on the six dimensions (collaborative leadership, teacher collaboration, professional development, unity of purpose, collegial support and learning partnership) that shape the model of collaborative school culture. The findings demonstrate that teachers adopt the model of collaborative culture to a relatively satisfactory degree, applying several forms of collaborative behavior, as illustrated by the descriptive analysis. The analysis of One-way variance (ANOVA), between the factors of the collaborative school culture in relation to the variable “Position in the school unit” revealed the existence of a significant difference for the “collaborative leadership”, “professional development”, “unity of purpose”, “collegial support” and “learning partnership” factors, while, there was no significant differentiation for the “teacher collaboration” factor. In addition, the analysis of ANOVA between collaborative school culture in relation to the variable "geographical location of the school unit” revealed the existence of a significant difference only for the “collaborative leadership”, “teacher collaboration” and “collegial support” factors. Via Independent Samples T-test, the comparative study of relationships between the factors of the collaborative culture in the two types of schools revealed the existence of a significant differentiation for “collaborative leadership” and “collegial support”, while no significant difference was observed for the other factors of collaborative school culture. Of course, the observed forms of collaboration do not support the existence of a genuine collaborative culture, however, they lay the foundations for the development of more meaningful partnerships.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0005/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Validating Rating Scales for Executive Functioning across Education Levels and Informants

The goal of the study was to deliver and validate a new solution-focused instrument, the Focus Skills Questionnaire (FSQ), to assess the degree of executive functioning skills in the school context, for three different education levels (elementary, secondary, and tertiary education) and informant groups (students, teachers and parents) on a sample of 1109 students from Dutch and Belgian schools. The factor structure was evaluated by confirmative factor analysis (CFA) and the study examined how students’ self-reports of executive functioning skills related to outcomes of neuro-psychological tests of executive functions (EF). The CFA results showed a parsimonious model with a four-factor structure of the FSQ that was equivalent for all education levels and informant groups, but that does not correspond with the generally assumed executive functioning factors. There are differences in the perception of executive functioning skills by different informant groups and also differences per education level. Student perceptions of executive functioning skills do not correspond with EF test outcomes and in some subgroups clearly diverge from teacher or parent perceptions of the students’ executive functioning skills. Although the new instrument does not converge with laboratory assessments of EF’s, the new instrument could be useful in everyday school practice.

“Refugees in the Amphitheatre”: An Intercultural Action Research on Co-Educating Student Teachers and Peer Refugees

The contribution of action research to teacher education as well as to refugee education has been highlighted in the international literature. Through action research, teachers can link educational theories with everyday school practices. In addition, the participation of refugees in action research, especially in cooperation with members of the dominant ethnic and cultural group, could play a significant role in their empowerment and social inclusion. This article describes the content and the results of an action research, which took place in the context of an academic course in a Greek University. The aim of the action research was the interaction between students and peer refugees and, through it, the development of intercultural competence and empathy. The action research developed in three cycles, featuring the students and refugees’ participation in intercultural routes–walks. The action research findings showed that the participation in the abovementioned walks supported the intercultural communication and interaction among the group members, as well as the reflection on refugee identity stereotypes.

Continuous assessment of Peter Senge's learning organization model for improving the quality of Christian higher education in Indonesia

AbstractThis paper briefly discusses Peter Senge's Continuous Assessment Learning Organization Model for Quality Improvement, and describes how it is implemented in improving the quality of education by Christian Religious Colleges in Indonesia. The main conclusion of this paper is that Christian Religious Colleges in Indonesia must develop an organizational culture where continuous assessment for quality improvement is part of everyday practice in schools. To achieve this, it is proposed that schools should become learning communities based on Peter Senge's Learning Organization model. While this paper is not based on research, the main implication is that every school should seek creative ways to implement Peter Senge's Continuous Assessment Learning Organization Model for Quality Improvement according to its culture and spirituality. A second implication is a Christian learning organization should be a prayer‐defined organization. Every activity, every decision should be informed by prayer and be done in prayer, seeking the will of God, his approval, and his glory. Prayer should play a key role in any assessment. This conceptual paper is original as it explores the fit of applying Peter Senge's Continuous Assessment Learning Organization Model with seeking the will of God, his approval, and his glory for quality improvement in Christian Religious Colleges in Indonesia.

Analysis on Effects of Curriculum and Assessments on Professional Autonomy of Secondary History Teachers in UK and US

The research aimed to compare how the differences in curriculum and assessment frameworks of the U.K. and the U.S. affect the professional autonomy of secondary history teachers. This study conducted semi-structured interviews with ten teachers, and the collected data was analyzed through thematic coding. The analyses showed that there are many contrasting influences on teacher autonomy on everyday school practices, specifically, decision-making, self-examination and modification, and the integration of personal experiences and values. Although the history curriculum of England (the U.K.) is broad without much specification of the contents and standards, teachers had limited autonomy as they had a strong responsibility to prepare students for national examination. On the contrary, despite the fact that Massachusetts’ (the U.S.) history curriculum is much more detailed, teachers are able to practice greater autonomy because they are exempt from the duty to prepare students for a state assessment. Therefore, the research demonstrates that the curriculum alone cannot grant increased autonomy for teachers, for it is not the curriculum that sets the agenda for teaching but high-stakes assessments.

THE JIGSAW TECHNIQUE IN LOWER SECONDARY PHYSICS EDUCATION: STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT, METACOGNITION AND MOTIVATION

Physics teaching should facilitate students to acquire knowledge, increase metacognitive awareness and motivation for learning physics. The implementation of cooperative learning could be useful for improving teaching. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of cooperative learning (specifically the jigsaw technique) on students’ achievement in physics, metacognitive awareness, and motivation. An experiment with parallel groups (experimental and control) was carried out with 92 seventh-grade students (in lower secondary education). Jigsaw technique was implemented in the experimental group, while the control group was taught using teacher-directed teaching method. Students’ physics achievement, metacognitive awareness and motivation were measured using knowledge tests and questionnaires (before and after the experiment). Statistical analysis included calculations of Cronbach's Alpha coefficient, performance of the Shapiro-Wilk test, Mann-Whitney U test and the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. The research results showed that the implementation of jigsaw technique in physics classes significantly improved students’ physics achievement, metacognitive awareness, and motivation. Therefore, it can be suggested that this technique is beneficial in lower secondary physics education, and it can be recommended to implement the jigsaw technique in everyday school practice. Keywords: cooperative learning, metacognitive awareness, parallel group design, physics education

‘…den Roomschen Bavinck’1

‘… a Roman Catholic Bavinck’. Brother Sigebertus Rombouts and the pedagogy of Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck Shortly after the death of Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), the Roman Catholic educator Brother Sigebertus Rombouts (1883-1962) published a study guide on his pedagogical writings, intended for Catholic teachers. Rombouts praised the Christian principles in Bavinck’s system of (moral) pedagogical thinking. According to Rombouts, the current Catholic pedagogy was poor and superficial. Catholic teachers would be strengthened in their religious identity if they were introduced to Bavinck’s high-quality moral pedagogical ideas. At the same time, Rombouts criticised Bavinck’s poor knowledge of everyday school practice. This article discusses two examples of Rombouts’ critique. The Reformed theologian rejected modern research by behavioural scientists – psychologists and pedagogues – because they only examined an aspect of the child and not the whole person. Rombouts argued that tests ensured that pupils who could not keep up in class were referred to schools for special education. Bavinck was also critical of the didactic method of ‘visual education’; the use of pictures in textbooks, school wall charts, and other visual teaching aids. He argued that only words were capable of conveying knowledge. According to Rombouts, Bavinck ignored the fact that words must be supported by images. In everyday school practice, the use of school wall charts and other visual aids had been common since the second half of the nineteenth century.

The hidden curriculum of temporal organization: an empirical comparison of classroom and workshop practices

ABSTRACT Time is intrinsic in all forms of education. A growing body of educational research has begun examining time as something more than a context within which teaching and learning happen. While much of the existing research has tended to focus on either ‘objective’ clock time or ‘subjective’ time as experienced by individual teachers or students, this article addresses time as a curricular aspect that organizes everyday school practices. Drawing on practice theory and social theories of time, the article offers a conceptually rich analysis of the temporal organization of in situ educational practices. Based on fieldwork conducted in a Norwegian upper secondary school vocational programme, we compare two practices: solving maths problems on worksheets and building sheds. We argue that the temporal organizations of the practices are an essential part of a hidden curriculum. While the hidden curriculum in the worksheet practice is characterized by individualization, efficiency, inflexibility and a linear orientation towards time, the shed-building practice is characterized by collaboration, quality over efficiency, flexibility and a more event-based orientation towards time. We propose that event-based time serves as a point of contrast to the ubiquitous notion of linear time in education and might inspire new thinking about educational change.

Reflections on Personalized Games-Based Learning: How Automation Is Shaped Within Everyday School Practices

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Digital games for</b> primary education are often designed to foster children’s learning through motivated practice with core subjects, such as literacy and math. Over the years, and accelerated by the pandemic, these games have become an embedded part of the primary school classroom. Many of them rely on AI and thus <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">automation</i> to adapt children’s learning game tasks and personalize the learning to the child’s learning needs. While removing the requirement for the teacher to plan what students do with the technology, children’s engagement with digital learning tasks, and the digital reports generated as a result have also been proposed to be a critical way to help teachers deliver targeted and time-efficient teaching interventions to those who need them the most <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref6" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[6]</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref9" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[9]</xref> .

New curriculum towards Big ideas in science education

ABSTRACT This study responds to the demands of the rapidly changing landscape of education, the 21st century competencies and development of curriculum. Those competences are being interpreted all over the world resulting to differing curricular changes. In the Finnish National Core Curriculum 2016 they are presented as seven transversal competences that guide all subject-specific instruction and must also be addressed through multidisciplinary learning modules. Our analysis aims to connect the relevant curriculum theory and new perspectives to everyday school practices. The perspective is that of the teacher education students: how the student teachers experience the demands and possibilities of the new national curriculum. A science teaching/learning module for promoting the Big ideas of Science education was introduced to them in an out-of-school environment. The results show how confident the student teachers (N = 108) were when facing the challenge of integrating the competences into teaching. The future use of this type of pedagogy was predicted by the Structural Equation path model. The results show that in general integration of the competences was not experienced as hard, but it was more challenging to figure out how to fit them into the daily school routines and timetables.

Moralni razvoj i moralno vaspitanje učenika u školi

An increasingly frequent criticism of the school system refers to the insufficient connection between pedagogical and educational processes, i.e., the fact that the pedagogical function of the school is neglected in everyday school practice. The pedagogical role of the school can be discussed in general or more specifically, given the extent to which the school can contribute to encouraging the moral development of students and the operationalization of the tasks of moral education. So far, empirical research on moral education in our schools has been small, which indicates that this area is insufficiently researched and does not respond to the modern-day needs of pedagogical practice, especially the area related to the structure of school activities. The aim of this paper is to point out the potential and effects of curricular and extracurricular activities on the moral development and moral education of pupils. Focusing on the discrepancy between normative and practical functioning of schools, the authors emphasize in the introductory part of the paper the importance of the pedagogical role of the school from the aspect of moral development and moral education. Based on the review of the previous theoretical and research findings in this field, the characteristics of moral development are indicated as well as their compliance with the goals of moral education and the forms of pedagogical activities in schools. In addition, by considering the structure of school activities and the role of various participants in the educational process in the operationalization of the pedagogical role of the school, and based on modern pedagogical and didactic standpoints, the opportunities offered by and the effects of the curricular and extracurricular activities on moral development and moral education of pupils are considered as well. The authors of the paper emphasize in the conclusion which preconditions have to be met to make school activities functional in terms of pupils' moral development and moral education.

Teachers and lower attaining boys: moving beyond the binary?

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the learning experiences of lower attaining boys attending Stone Acre, a non-selective state Secondary school in England, and how these were shaped by teachers’ gendered beliefs and practices. It argues that despite changes in our theoretical understandings of gender, those found in the context of everyday practice in schools may continue to be rooted in biological understandings of masculinity that tend to reinforce rather than challenge assumptions of deficit. It argues that these interactions form part of a gender regime that also includes the lower-status learning spaces disproportionately occupied by lower attaining boys, with selective grouping practices and the curriculum both contributing to the limiting understandings of boys’ educational potential that are ultimately reflected in persistently gendered patterns of attainment. The small number of boys who took part in this study clearly recognised the less favourable positioning of boys as a group. Despite this, they went on to achieve beyond expectations, suggesting that they maintained some agency as learners. Teachers at Stone Acre were also under pressure to ensure achievement against performance threshold levels, suggesting that there may have been some mitigating, trickle down effects. The paper concludes that there is a continuing need for teachers to develop more inclusive understandings of masculinities and of the effects of these on everyday practices in schools.

The Educational Practice of School-Age Educare Teachers Teaching Visual Art in Swedish Primary Schools

The purpose of this article is to increase the understanding of the challenges that Swedish school-age educare teachers with a certification in visual art experience in their everyday school practice. The study focus on the educational practice of teaching visual art from a holistic perspective which also includes the teachers’ perception of their overall work situation and their professional identity. Due to dual professional roles, these teachers are not only required to meet the criteria formulated in the syllabus of the subject visual art, but also to achieve the goals for the educare centre (National Agency of Education, 2019). The method used is in-depth individual interviews with nine teachers, together with observations of visual art lectures and the physical and material environment. The results provide insights into what it means to work as a school-age educare teacher teaching visual art in primary schools, struggling with limited resources and identity conflicts. The study highlights how teachers often end up in a struggle between individual agency and social structures since they have to resist, adjust and negotiate to get acceptable work conditions.