Primary School Context Research Articles

Interreligious learning and teaching: unfolding layers of meaning in lived experience to inform possibilities for students in Catholic schools

This paper explores the question, "What is the individual's experience of interreligious learning and teaching?" It utilises hermeneutic phenomenology to interpret the rich and hidden meanings of lived experiences. van Manen's (Phenomenology of practice: meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing. Routledge, New York, 2014) lifeworld existentials provide a frame for guiding the exploration to uncover insights through lived relation (relationality), lived space (spatiality), lived body (corporeality), lived time (temporality) and lived things (materiality). Current global events have highlighted to the world the tragedy of religious intolerance in extreme forms and the need to cultivate tolerance and sensitivities towards religions and non-religious philosophies and diverse life perspectives. Investigating the phenomena of 'interreligious learning and teaching' as it is lived by individuals, offers insight into what could be one's own or another's lived experience, and how this might influence one's religious identity. Such understandings can provide a foundation for seeking out and engaging students in valuable interreligious learning and teaching experiences and pose opportunities or challenges for primary and secondary school contexts to rigorously grapple with the diverse global reality.

Advocacy engagement

The current research sought to identify what skills, knowledge, and behaviours (SKBs) in advocacy engagement are closely associated with information literacy skills. The paper examines what role information literacy (IL) skills play in making one an effective advocate by drawing on everyday life situations that involve advocacy such as self-advocacy, social advocacy, patient advocacy, parent advocacy, and policy advocacy. A rapid scoping review was completed using articles published within the last ten years (2008–2019). The articles were retrieved from Academic Search Complete, a multidisciplinary database. The aim of our initial review was to identify what skills, knowledge and behaviours are deemed essential for everyday life situations that involve advocacy. Charting of the literature was then used to map the skills, knowledge and behaviours mentioned in relation to advocacy to information literacy skills. Results showed how the knowledge component in advocacy engagement is closely associated with various IL skills such as finding information, evaluation of information and sharing information. Implications of the study point towards the importance of emphasising IL instruction in broader contexts beyond higher education and/ or academic libraries. The study shows that IL skills are important in the public realm and in primary (elementary) and secondary (high) school contexts as well. Therefore, public librarians and school librarians should be just as engaged in equipping their patrons/clientele with IL skills that may be needed for different types of advocacy such as self-advocacy, parent advocacy and patient advocacy. The study also has implications for humanitarian research and research that involves situations of information poverty as these contexts will often involve advocacy work as well.

Erratum: Abma, T., et al. Sowing Seeds to Harvest Healthier Adults: The Working Principles and Impact of Participatory Health Research with Children in a Primary School Context. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 451.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to the above-mentioned published paper [1]: During production, an error occurred in the layout of Figure 1 'Learning impact of KLIK, as self-assessed by the children' on page 6 [...].

An Experience on Environmental Education Based on Respect-Reduce-Reuse-Recycle in a Village Primary School in the Marche Region, in Italy

The importance of environmental education is widely recognized worldwide: an important objective is that the citizens are accustomed to apply the best available practices in their life, while asking the administration and the government to gradually enforce measures leading to a reduction of the environmental impact and to a more sustainable lifestyle. This requires a formation starting at an early age: however, in Italy the relevant indications from the National Curriculum are still limited and do not suggest explicitly the performance of any practical activity, tailored on the specific school setting. This inadequacy of the Curriculum becomes particularly apparent in cases where other concerns are present, for example the areas in the Marche region affected by the 2016 earthquake: here, the need to resume a day-by-day routine put a kind of “damper” on other questions, such as environmental issues. This had an effect also in children’s life: on this question, school needs to take a stand, which is the objective of this study. This work concerns an approach to environmental education in a multi-classes primary school context (age 6-10) in a small village school, located in the Central Apennine in Italy. This is performed through an experience carried out by investigating the behavior towards waste production of the community, as perceived by children at school. It is therefore articulated through the application of 4R (Respect, which encompasses Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) applying and extending the indications from the Italian National Curriculum. The project leads also to an experience of self-production of objects by the use of waste, to improve their awareness of the possibilities included in their upcycling. Feedback on the experience is finally acquired from the children and discussed, especially in the sense of creating future citizens with a more sensible and reasonable behavior towards the environment and leading possibly to zero-waste strategies in their family and work setting. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis and different themes about waste production were singled out. Keywords: Environmental education, reduce-reuse-recycle, respect, DIY materials, good practices DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-15-04 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

Motivating teachers’ commitment to change through distributed leadership in Chinese urban primary schools

PurposeUnderstanding the relationship between distributed leadership and teachers commitment to change in the Chinese urban primary school context was the purpose of this study.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative research method is used in this study. For ensuring comprehensiveness, this research employed a random sampling method. This study took place in Chinese urban primary schools. A total of 350 questionnaires were circulated, 318 questionnaires were returned, and 291 questionnaires were valid, with a response rate of 90.9 per cent and a validity rate of 91.5 per cent.FindingsThe results of path analysis indicated that various dimensions of distributed leadership, including collaboration and cooperation, responsibility and accountability, and values and beliefs, had significant effects on group competence. Collaboration and cooperation and decision making had significant relationships with task analysis. Collaboration and cooperation, responsibility and accountability, and values and beliefs had significant effects on collective teacher efficacy as a single variable.Originality/valueThese findings contribute to the understanding of educational management in the Chinese context and advance knowledge about distributed leadership theories in an East Asian context.

Growing up a reader: Exploring children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of ‘a reader’

ABSTRACTBackground: Over the last two decades, the reading habits of children and adolescents have evolved. Research shows some similarities in the reading experiences of children and adolescents, but there are also differences. For example, adolescents are more likely to read digitally and generally report poorer attitudes towards reading. With this in mind, we asked: how do young people define a reader?Purpose: This small scale, in-depth study sought to understand how children and adolescents describe ‘a reader’ and examine similarities and differences in their responses.Methods: In total, 33 children aged 9–11 and 30 adolescents aged 15–16 from one primary school to one secondary school in the UK were individually interviewed, to explore their perceptions and descriptions of a reader. Using a participatory approach, adult researchers interviewed student researchers, who then in turn interviewed their peers. Transcribed data were analysed qualitatively, using a data-driven, inductive thematic analysis approach.Results: Our analysis revealed some common themes in terms of children and adolescents’ perceptions of a reader. For example, readers were described as those who enjoy reading, read frequently, choose to read and, primarily, read print books. Readers were also described as those who are skilled at reading. However, subtle differences between children and adolescents were also found. For example, adolescents were more likely to say that readers choose a broader range of reading matter and did not need to read as frequently to be described a reader.Conclusions and implications: Our analysis offers insights into how children and adolescents defined a reader. Understanding more about how children and young people describe readers may help teachers who are working towards strengthening reading cultures in their primary or secondary school contexts. Broadening the conceptualisation of what it means to be a reader could arguably lead to a more inclusive use of the term and ultimately encourage more children and adolescents to self-identify as readers. Further, from a methodological point of view, we encourage researchers to consider a participatory research approach where appropriate, as this involvement in the research process can support primary and secondary school students in the development of their own research skills.

Extracting Indigenous Riau-Malays’ Scientific Literacy through Lancang Kuning Folklore with Thematic Learning in the Primary School Context

This research aims to extract the story or take the essence from folklore the <em>Lancang Kuning</em> its scientific literacy value for thematic learning in primary school. Scientific literacy is an understanding of science and its application to the needs of the community. The method used is the descriptive qualitative analysis of interviews and documentation strategies and evaluation of data. Results from this research that obtain it some value in scientific literacy in the people story <em>Lancang Kuning</em> text that can then be applied in teaching in primary school using thematic learning. From these results, it can be concluded that since time immemorial been their aspects of scientific literacy are taught parents to their children either through folklore or of other matters related to culture.

Boys negotiate violence and masculinity in the primary school

In this paper, we contribute to the understandings of young masculinities by turning attention to the South African schooling primary school context. In the context of scarcity of interventions around violence in the primary school, we focus on how young boys construct, negotiate and experience violence. Notwithstanding dominant discourses around childhood innocence we argue that young boys are active participants in violent gendered cultures at school. We show how boys’ bodies are key sites for the enactment of violence and is especially a valuable resource in the context of food insecurity. The paper also shows the fluidity of masculinity as boys who are regarded as ‘victims’ can also defend and resuscitate masculinity that endorses violence. Implications for addressing young masculinities in the primary school within local context are considered in the conclusion of the paper.

Food and nutrition education opportunities within Australian primary schools.

Schools are regarded as a key setting for obesity prevention, providing an opportunity to reach a large number of children, frequently and over a prolonged period, through formal and informal opportunities to learn about health behaviours. However, the low value placed on health versus academic achievement is a barrier to effective implementation of food and nutrition (F&N) education. This study used a qualitative exploratory approach to explore the views of teachers and key health and education sector stakeholders regarding opportunities for F&N education within the Australian primary school setting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore this topic from the perspectives of state-level coordination and development through to local-level implementation and support within the Australian primary school context. Only 2.6% of the Victorian Curriculum related to F&N education, taught through two (of seven) learning outcomes: Health and Physical Education, and Technologies. While stakeholders considered child health a priority, and schools an ideal setting for F&N education, barriers included a lack of strategic policy alignment, limited leadership and coordination, a 'crowded curriculum' and poor availability of shelf-ready resources with explicit curriculum links. A cross-curriculum approach was considered essential for F&N education to become embedded as a core component of the curriculum.

Sowing Seeds to Harvest Healthier Adults: The Working Principles and Impact of Participatory Health Research with Children in a Primary School Context.

Participatory research on health-related topics with children is promising but current literature offers limited guidance on how to involve children and falls short on the reporting impact. The purpose of this article is to heighten our understanding of the working principles and impact of participatory health research (PHR) with children. We completed a PHR project in two primary schools, which included children from a multiethnic, deprived neighborhood in the second largest city in The Netherlands over a period of three school years (2016–2019). The impact on the children’s subjective health has been measured via process evaluation using qualitative and quantitative methods from the perspectives of all involved (children, their teachers, parents, and community partners). The main working principles included: Experiential learning; addressing uncomfortable issues; stepping outside your environment; and keeping it simple. Participatory actions valued most by the children included: Walking tours, photovoice, foodlabs, sportlabs, and to a lesser extent: Making a newspaper, mindfulness, and Capoeira. The project reached and engaged many children, parents, teachers, and community partners into healthy lifestyles and broadened and deepened the children’s awareness and understanding of health behavior. ‘Sowing seeds’ is the metaphor that captures the broader impact of this project: Planting seeds to harvest healthier adults.

Theory and practice: from Delphi-study to pedagogical training

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the combination of Delphi and focus group techniques and on the utilization of qualitative content analysis in this context. Moreover, it illustrates the potential of this hybridized methodology for gathering information from experts on multilingual practices in the primary school context in Germany in order to conceptualize a teacher training.Design/methodology/approachBased on a structured guideline, two group discussions with experts from the scientific community, schools and educational institutions (n=13; n=12) focused on language diversity in the school context, multilingualism, the heritage languages of children as well as on the role of language reflection and metalinguistic awareness in (second) language acquisition and development in primary school. Both group discussions were qualitatively analyzed, and inductive categories were framed.FindingsThe main aspects derived from the data were: teaching actors, their language awareness, their knowledge about multilingualism and attitudes toward it, characteristics of the materials and methods used in language lessons as well as students’ own experiences with both heritage and second language(s).Practical implicationsFollowing these domains derived from the analyses of the data, the authors developed a teacher training, systematically considering multilingual teaching practices and implications resulting from the modified Delphi-study.Originality/valueDue to the fact that knowledge and experience of experts from research and school context had been taken into account, the teacher training measure achieved higher acceptance and efficacy.

Digital Badging in CANVAS

‘Badging’ is the awarding of a digital badge that represents an accomplishment, interest or affiliation (Gibson, Ostashewski, Flintoff, Grant, & Knight, 2013). Such badges are awarded and stored online, and may contain metadata to clarify the context and criteria of the awarded badge. Badging is generally argued to be a considerable motivator in learning (Gibson et al., 2015; Mah, 2016), not only in the formal educational environment but particularly in the gamification movement (Nah, Zeng, Telaprolu, Ayyappa, & Eschenbrenner, 2014; Glover, 2013). Current issues with digital badging systems suggest limitations in adapting to the needs of both tauira and teachers.
 The driving forces behind this study were two-fold. Firstly, as digital badging is used increasingly in schools world-wide as a motivator for learning in both primary and secondary school contexts, how might the use of digital badges be modelled in teacher education courses; and secondly, are digital badges of similar value to tauira in the tertiary space? The third driver was to explore ways to engage both undergraduate and postgraduate tauira in meaningful synthesis of their course readings, course content and teaching experience.
 This study developed and trialled the incorporation of an existing ‘badging’ platform, Badgr, into tasks delivered through CANVAS in the context of teacher education. The primary aims of the study were: to determine how motivated tertiary tauira were by digital badges; to establish a digital badging process that was both engaging for tauira and manageable for the lecturer; and to design online tasks that scaffolded tauira through their synthesis of course readings, content and experience. The badged tasks were administered via the Discussion and Quizzes features within CANVAS, with all tauira submissions being moderated by the lecturer before any badges were awarded. An overview of the structure, key elements, findings and implications of the trialled approach will be presented.

Digital Making in Educational Projects

Digital Making as an Educational Project is an innovative educational experience that has been carried out with students of the Primary Education and Social Education degrees for three consecutive years. The experience introduces digital making as an activity in which students create an object using digital technology. In the process, they not only gain an insight into how the technology works, but also learn the content and competences of the curriculum. This innovative teaching practice was carried out as action research in order to improve traditional higher education practices. In this sense, the proposal puts the student at the centre of the process as the author and protagonist of their own learning process. The experience is based on their own interests: they decide what to make based on a given context. The students work in groups and look for what they need to learn to overcome a particular challenge, while the teacher supports the process as a facilitator, offering guidance and resources when necessary. The evaluation of the whole process is regulated via a group diary (a shared online document) and an individual diary (a blog) that the students produce. The final evaluation is not only of the printed product; the students also produce a video in the form of storytelling, in which they explain how the process evolved from the initial idea to the final impression of the object. They also reflect on what they have learned, how teamwork has worked and what possibilities they believe digital making offers in the primary and non-formal educational contexts in which they will work. All of the processes are compiled in the students’ blogs, as well as in the teachers’ field notebooks. The experience was executed in collaboration with the Digital Fabrication Centres of Barcelona. The results were organised to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of using technologies to improve higher education offering an approach in which students are at the centre of the whole process. Strengths: strong student motivation, promotion of self-directed and collaborative learning and learning by doing, and familiarisation with a transforming integration of technology as protagonists. Weaknesses: hesitance and resistance to facing the challenge, management of scarce time, large time investment by the teachers, and the difficulty of achieving in-depth reflection on how digital fabrication could be introduced in educational contexts such as primary school and non-formal contexts.

Implications for the child friendly schools policy within Cambodia’s cultural and primary school context

ABSTRACT This paper examines how culture impacts upon pedagogic practice in Cambodian primary schools. Acknowledging that there is an increasing homogeneity of ideas focusing on constructivist pedagogical approaches as the most effective means of achieving improvements in education quality globally, this study investigates the extent to which the Cambodian Ministry of Education’s constructivist pedagogy embedded in its Child Friendly Schools policy was adopted in the schools in this study. Using a case study methodology data were collected, primarily, through student focus groups and interviews with educators in three government primary schools located in different geographical areas. Findings identified that CFS policy not only fails to take into account the local cultural situation but appears to side-line the significance of local forms of pedagogy. To develop teaching and learning in the schools in this study, the findings point to a more nuanced approach that acknowledges and accommodates varied forms of pedagogic practice.

How do Australian male primary teachers cope with social isolation in their schools?

ABSTRACT Male primary teachers make up a minority of the primary teaching profession in countries such as Australia, England and the United States of America. This minority status can result in male primary teachers feeling socially isolated within their schools, and consequently choosing to leave the profession. This gender-related challenge is known, yet previous research has primarily focused on deconstructing and critically examining issues of gender in primary school contexts; rather than identifying practical coping strategies these men can use to deal with it and persist in the profession. Consequently, this research used surveys and interviews to identify and analyse the coping strategies experienced male primary teachers use to deal with their social isolation.

Multilingual boost vs. cognitive abilities: testing two theories of multilingual language learning in a primary school context

ABSTRACT Theories of multilingual language learning often assume that previous language learning experiences in at least two languages provide advantages for additional language learning. Other research emphasises the importance of general cognitive abilities as predictors of language learning. We test whether a set of predictions based on a multilingual advantage theory or on a cognitive abilities-related theory fit the data better. Whereas many studies in both traditions focus on (young) adults, our study focuses on multilingual language learning in children. We discuss evidence from the primary school context in German-speaking Switzerland. The 115 pupils from 8 different schools were in 7th grade at the first measurement time (T1) and in 8th grade one year later (T2). They are predominantly German-speaking, and they learn first French and then English as foreign languages at school. German and French skills were tested at T1, and English skills one year later at T2. In addition, verbal and visuo-spatial working memory and general intelligence were tested at T1. Two structural equation models are fitted to the data, representing two different theoretical assumptions. Both models are acceptable but adding interdependence of the three languages does not substantially increase the fit to the data.

How do male primary teachers negotiate expectations to perform gendered roles in their schools?

Primary schools are dynamic environments where teachers take on multiple roles, often simultaneously, to help promote high-quality learning and meet the various needs of their students. Within the primary school context both female and male teachers are required to perform multiple roles; however, these roles are often socially constructed based on gender. Traditionally, primary schools in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States have a high proportion of female teachers. Despite their minority status, research has noted that male primary teachers in the minority are often expected to take primary responsibility for roles such as disciplinarian, manual labourer, sports coach, and lead in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Role differentiation in primary schools often reflects broader societal gender constructions that are increasingly subjected to critical scrutiny. Yet that same level of scrutiny has not always been applied to educational contexts. It is the aim of this paper, therefore, to more fully examine how gendered roles influence the experience of male primary teachers and more specifically, how those teachers cope with the expectations placed on them because they are men. Understanding the sources and types of coping strategies will aid in the development of specific interventions to improve the retention of other male primary teachers.

Understanding the relationship between transformational leadership and collective teacher efficacy in Chinese primary schools

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to understand the relationship between transformational leadership and collective teacher efficacy in the Chinese primary school context using quantitative research methods. This article also examines the transferability of transformational leadership and its effects in a high power distance culture. The main research question is, ‘To what extent can transformational leadership explain the variance in collective teacher efficacy in Chinese primary schools?’ The results of path analysis show that managing the instructional program has a significant effect on group competence (a dimension of collective efficacy) and that setting direction affects another dimension of collective efficacy, task analysis. When collective teacher efficacy is treated as a single variable, setting direction and managing the instructional program have relatively significant effects on collective teacher efficacy. This study adds to the literature on the relationship between transformational leadership and collective teacher efficacy in the Chinese primary school context. It advances knowledge of educational management and facilitates the understanding of cross-cultural leadership phenomena.

“A casual teacher is a gardener”: metaphors and identities of casual relief teachers in the Australian primary school context

ABSTRACT While previous studies have highlighted the significance of metaphors in studying teacher identities and values, little is known about metaphorical representation of teaching as given by casual relief teachers (CRTs). This study examines metaphors from participants who teach or have taught on a casual basis in Australian primary schools. Responses from 39 CRTs were collected using a survey and categorised according to the tripartite model of self, then thematically analysed to discern any commonalities across the metaphors. The major themes generated by CRTs include adopting survival strategies while teaching; feelings of diminished status compared to other staff; and taking on a nurturer role with students. This study adds depth to current research surrounding teacher metaphors and experiences of CRTs.

Learner Corpora : Their Potentials for the Language Learning Classroom in Indonesian Primary School Contexts

Learner Corpora : Their Potentials for the Language Learning Classroom in Indonesian Primary School Contexts