School Actors Research Articles

Confronting the messy complexities of the climate crisis through drama education and applied theatre

ABSTRACT This editorial addresses the integration of drama education and applied theatre in confronting the climate crisis, highlighting the complex interplay of responsibility, agency, and action in schools and community-based settings. With a focus on Climate Change Education (CCE), we argue for pedagogical, methodological, and creative frameworks that help us embrace the inherent messiness and complexities of intersecting crises. We introduce an evolving ‘site-responsive pedagogy’ that considers the interconnectedness of local and global scales: one that responds and adapts to the specific ecological and cultural contexts of diverse global communities.

Inclusive Education in the Context of Ethnocultural Diversity: Understanding the Process of Exclusion in Order to Act in the School – A Secondary Publication

This issue reveals that the implementation of inclusive education is an unfinished challenge, both within the system and for individual self-improvement. This process of changing practices, by continually questioning the school’s responsibility for the (re)production of inequalities, exclusion, and unequal social relations, is riddled with obstacles, unpredictable situations, and strong emotions. In particular, the researchers point out that many systemic mechanisms of school culture contribute to replicating and reifying hierarchical school experiences and exacerbating processes of institutional discrimination against immigrant backgrounds and/or racialized students. The empirical research presented also highlights the deficit thinking of school staff toward immigrant students and their parents. The results show that staff tend to use linguistic and cultural gaps between students and the school system to explain academic failure. Be that as it may, the researchers as well as the school actors and students interviewed in this issue suggest fertile ways to improve inclusion in the school context, stressing the importance of giving voice to the various actors to move toward institutional transformation.

Inclusive Education in the Context of Ethnocultural Diversity: Understanding the Process of Exclusion to Act in the School — A Secondary Publication

This paper reveals that the implementation of inclusive education is an unfinished challenge, both within the system and for individual self-improvement. This process of changing practices, by continually questioning the school’s responsibility for the (re)production of inequalities, exclusion, and unequal social relations, is riddled with obstacles, unpredictable situations, and strong emotions. In particular, the researchers point out that many systemic mechanisms of school culture contribute to replicating and reifying hierarchical school experiences and exacerbating processes of institutional discrimination against immigrant backgrounds and/or racialized students. The empirical research presented also highlights the school staff’s deficit thinking toward immigrant students and their parents. The results show that staff tend to use linguistic and cultural gaps between students and the school system to explain academic failure. Be that as it may, the researchers as well as the school actors and students interviewed in this paper suggest multiple ways to improve inclusion in the school context, stressing the importance of giving voice to the various actors in order to move toward institutional transformation.

Ableism and (Neo)Racism in School Placement Processes in Quebec: School Personnel Interpretations of Immigrant Student Difficulties — A Secondary Publication

The school placement processes of students from immigrant backgrounds considered to be in “difficulty” is an international concern at the intersection of works relating to special education and those concerning the school experiences of students from immigrant backgrounds or racialized groups. The research problem of this article concerns the identification of these students as disabled or as having adjustment or learning difficulties. From a perspective anchored in Disability Critical Race Studies, this ethnographic study documents different interpretations of perceived difficulties made by school actors with regard to seven primary school students from immigrant backgrounds. Five interpretation types are presented: (1) medicalization by dismissal of cultural markers, (2) medicalization by professional constraint, (3) medicalization by cultural deficit, (4) precautionary wait, and (5) cultural differentialism. Our results help to shed light on the special education overrepresentation phenomenon regarding these students and to understand how ableism and (neo)racism contribute to it.

School Leaders’ Autonomy in Public and Private School Contexts: Blurring Policy Requirements

This study responds to calls for more nuanced research on school actors’ autonomy in contexts characterized by multiple governance configurations. It investigates school leaders’ autonomy when enacting policy requirements in public and private school contexts, with Norway as an example. The study draws on qualitative data from eight leaders in diverse school contexts, revealing how the increased standardization of competence and assessment requirements challenges school leaders’ autonomy in private and public schools. Using the idea of gap management (Knapp & Hopmann, 2017), we find that there is little overall difference between state-funded private schools and traditional public schools. However, we did find variation in how standardization challenges school leaders’ autonomy. The variation in school leaders’ autonomy seems to lie within the visions of the schools and school leaders.

Updating Aristotle: A Blueprint for a New Perspective on Musicality Developed from Nicomachean Ethics

Abstract: Can Aristotle’s idea of practice be made fruitful for music pedagogical action in schools? That this is the case is repeatedly asserted in the music pedagogical discussion. This article takes up this assertion and develops a proposal for class music making based on Aristotle’s theory of action.

United States Schools and the Opioid Crisis: Charting New Directions

ABSTRACT Background The opioid epidemic has created unprecedented challenges in the United States (US), including hundreds of thousands of lives lost to overdose in the past five years. Expansion of prevention and treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) is urgently needed, as evidence-based strategies exist but many remain unable to access life-saving services. Purpose To inform school health and mental health providers, educators and school administrators about the causes and consequences of the US opioid epidemic and to provide practical solutions for engineering multi-tiered systems of support for children and families affected by the epidemic, including through opioid misuse, OUD, and opioid overdose. Methods We review the literature on the history of and current challenges associated with the opioid epidemic in the US. Results The collateral damage of OUD is pervasive, impacting children and families across the US. We found no health education programs focusing on this topic in US schools, underscoring a critical need and cogent practice/policy avenue. Discussion Schools are uniquely positioned to respond to the opioid epidemic, but school health and mental health providers, educators, and other professionals who work in schools must have accurate knowledge of the opioid epidemic, understand the challenges it is causing for children and families, and be familiar with best practices in prevention and treatment. Translation to Health Education Practice This review provides a succinct overview of the history of the opioid epidemic, examines its impacts on children and families, and provides a call to action for schools to partner in our national response.

Correlation analysis of nutritive food and use of specialized educative strategies educative yielding evaluated in an early-age educational institution of Tijuana, Mexico

The integral development of initial stage infants (ISI) depends on various factors, being the two of the most important aspects the nutritive food and body mass index (height and weight), which generates the healthy life of ISI evaluated in this investigation, and correlated with his educative yielding in early-age educational institution located in the Tijuana city. The age of infants analyzed were from 0 to 36 months, being 10 infants of this age, and observed that with a good nutritive diet, which was obtained the body mass index (BMI), and an efficient educative yielding, and showed a correlation rate of 0.82, indicating that these relevant factors mentioned above, were very important in the integral development of infants of this age and his educative yielding. In this scientific study was applied specialized strategies as dynamic and visual actions in school and in house of infants supported by his fathers, obtaining good results in the teaching-learning process (TLP), obtained of the statistical correlation in this important investigation.

HUBUNGAN DUKUNGAN TEMAN SEBAYA DENGAN MINAT REMAJA PUTRI MINUM TABLET FE DI SMPN 2 SUKAPURA

The low interest of young women in consuming Fe tablets is one of the causes of nutritional anemia. This is because young women experience menstruation so they lose iron (Fe) and need more intake of iron (Fe). Peer support is included in the factors that can strengthen a person to behave. The correlation with peers are individual correlation that involve relatively large familiarity in the group. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between peer support and the interest of young women to drink Fe tablets at SMPN 2 Sukapura. This study used a correlational analysis design with a cross-sectional approach. The sample data is a portion of the target youth at SMPN 2 Sukapura, a total of 60 young girls who meet the inclusion criteria using the cluster sampling technique. Data collection included coding, editing, and tabulating. Then the data were analyzed by computer with the Spearman test p-value: 0.05. The results showed that 53 respondents had supportive peers, 52 respondents had an interest in drinking Fe tablets and p-value: 0.000. There is a correlation between peer support and the interest of young women to drink Fe tablets (p = 0.000 <0.05). The suggestion put forward is that the youth health program holders at the Sukapura Health Center can advocate for schools to be able to provide policies/regulations for implementing nutritious actions in schools, by taking Fe tablets together once a week.

Children as political actors in school: a case of participation and conflict in the context of the writing of Chile’s new Constitution

RESUMEN Los niños y jóvenes chilenos han sido esenciales para los cambios sociales del país, incluidas las movilizaciones sociales que llevaron a un acuerdo para una nueva constitución. Este artículo busca ahondar en la compleja relación entre las subjetividades políticas de niños y jóvenes y el papel de la escuela en ésta. Nos centramos en un episodio de participación escolar donde hay un conflicto en torno a la violencia que sufren las mujeres. A través del análisis crítico del discurso, analizamos el valor del conflicto en la política y las posibilidades para que la escuela lo integre como una forma de educación ciudadana.

Freirean dialogic action in Brazilian public schools: a Lesson Study contribution to teacher development

ABSTRACT Recalling Freire's lessons on education and teacher development, this study embraces the transformative power of dialogue. In the context of Brazilian public schools, where education faces challenges such as rigid curriculum prescriptions, the researchers implemented a Lesson Study cycle as a dialogic teacher development intervention. Despite constraints, it fostered a collaborative and dialogic space, enabling English teachers to share and reflect in formative interactions. This approach allowed for critical discussions, empowered teacher agency, and enhanced the quality of English teaching. Inspired by Freire's vision, dialogic Lesson Study proved to be a liberating experience for teachers, promoting active and meaningful practices.

<i>Reforming Lesson Study in Japan: Theories of Action for Schools as Learning Communities</i>

<i>Reforming Lesson Study in Japan: Theories of Action for Schools as Learning Communities</i>

Teacher Leadership Interrogates Teaching Policy: Comparing the Voices of Low-Income Schools with National Teacher Policies in Argentina

This article analyses how low-income schools and teacher education policies in Argentina describe the idealised “good” teacher. One of the crucial foundations of teacher leadership is related to teachers’ professional abilities. This study aims to problematise the fragile discursive constructions of what counts as effective and good teaching in both low-income schools' actors and teacher education policy documents. As previous research has confirmed teacher ability is contextual and a highly controversial topic. How low-income school actors describe, interpret and enact good teaching might differ from national teaching policy guidelines and standards. This study attempts to address the following research questions. First, what factors do low-income school actors and Argentinean educational policies highlight regarding teachers’ professional ability? Second, does a teacher’s professional ability refer to teacher leadership? Finally, what are the implications of the gap between the perspectives of low-income schools and the official teaching policy for knowledge production and educational policy? The findings provide a framework to understand the current limited status of teacher leadership in Argentina. Through the historical normalist genesis of the Argentinean educational system that fostered homogenisation as a crucial technology of schooling, and an epistemological bias that deemed the low-income perspective as unscientific the article shed light on the status of teacher leadership. Finally, the research suggests bridges to foster dialogues between teaching policies and low-income schools.

Diversified: promoting co-production in course design and delivery

Neurodivergent students are one of the fastest growing diversity groups in tertiary education. This highlights the need for a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) perspective in course design and delivery. One important component of UDL is student voice, which has been historically lacking, especially for neurodivergent students. In this perspectives article, the authors present a viewpoint on the importance of promoting co-production in course design and delivery between neurodivergent students and instructors and illustrate the concept with examples from the Diversified Project. The “Diversified Group” was established by neurodivergent students and faculty members to address the perceived inadequacy in instructor awareness regarding the varied needs of an expanding neurodiverse student population at the university. The authors provide recommendations for systemic, faculty, school, and instructor-level actions to improve the learning experience for neurodivergent students. Current advances and future directions in promoting co-production in university course design and delivery are provided.

Unforgettable lessons: life in Polish residential schools for children with visual impairments as narrated by former students

This article presents recollections, experience and emotions expressed by 19 research participants who have studied and lived in Polish residential schools for children with visual impairments between 1985–2013. Based on in-depth interviews, I explore the impact of residential schools on their graduates’ future attitudes and actions, including their perceptions of social integration vs. segregation of people with visual impairments. I focus on salient aspects of their experience, i.e. homesickness, feeling different and ‘abnormal’, individual and group identity, learning self-reliance, knowledge about sighted people, transition and ‘real life’ that follows graduation. Their stories highlight the role of the school staff, especially residential school educators, whose attitudes and actions – both explicit and unconscious – seem to have a significant impact on students, as a form of instruction about possibilities and limitations that stem from visual impairment, thus creating and socializing students into a specific role of a ‘blind person’.

School policy actors and their policy work in a multi-academy trust

ABSTRACTThis paper reports on data and analysis from a case study examining policy enactments in a multi-academy trust (MAT) in England. I draw on a semi-structured interview with an assistant headteacher in a secondary school which is part of a MAT. I use a framework created by Ball et al. (2011) which established a typology for describing policy actors in schools as narrators, entrepreneurs, outsiders, transactors, enthusiasts, critics and receivers. I argue that the policy work of school senior leaders in a MAT can be highly precarious. They are required to act as policy entrepreneurs and enthusiasts. However, there is little opportunity for critical engagement with the work being undertaken as the implementer of policy, and they bear a heavy burden of responsibility in a depoliticised system which places blame for policy failure with individual schools and school leaders.

Development of a school-based programme for mental health promotion and prevention among adolescents in Nepal and South Africa

IntroductionAdolescence is a critical time for mental health promotion and prevention and establishing healthy behaviours. Implementing universal, school-based psychosocial interventions can improve short- and long-term health trajectories for adolescents. While these interventions may offer important opportunities for fostering skills and relationships, few school-based interventions have been developed for and tested in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where adolescent mental health needs may be significant and under-served. This manuscript details the development of a multi-component, universal school-based intervention, Health Action in ScHools for a Thriving Adolescent Generation (HASHTAG), for adolescents aged 12–15 years in Nepal and South Africa. Methods and resultsWe describe HASHTAG's development over four phases, combining methods and results as each phase was iteratively conducted between 2018 and 2021. Phase 1 included a systematic review and components analysis, building from WHO guidelines for adolescent mental health. Seven components were strongly supported by the evidence: emotional regulation, stress management, mindfulness, problem-solving, interpersonal skills, assertiveness training, and alcohol and drug education. Phase 2 encompassed site selection, theory of change development, and formative research engagements; research teams in each site engaged adolescents and key adult stakeholders to identify priorities for intervention. Stakeholders voiced preferences for external facilitators and key content and delivery for intervention sessions. These findings informed Phase 3, a draft manual of HASHTAG, including a whole-school component, called Thriving Environment in Schools, and a classroom-based, six-session component, Thrive Together. In Phase 4, participants engaged in consultative workshops to review and contextualise content by country, preparing HASHTAG for implementation in a feasibility trial. Minor adaptations were made in Nepal, including using school nurses and adjusting take-home materials; both country's workshops identified practical considerations for implementing activities. ConclusionsHASHTAG was designed around core evidence-based components to increase translatability across LMICs, while enabling country-specific tailoring to enhance feasibility. Future research will test whether this multi-component, whole-school approach can improve adolescent mental health.

School actors navigating between implementor & arbiter – a qualitative study on the dynamics in multilingual schools’ language policy

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, heightened migration has increased linguistic diversity in schools. For schools to cope with this multilingualism, many governments impose a monolingual policy where only the language of instruction is allowed. Although many schools adopt such a policy, the classroom practices may differ since multilingual students often revert to translanguaging-as-practice. Drawing on three key conceptual language policy (LP) models (Bonacina-Pugh, 2012. Researching ‘practiced language policies’: Insights from conversation analysis. Language Policy, 11(3), 213–234; Johnson & Johnson, 2015. Power and agency in language policy appropriation. Language Policy, 14(3), 221–243; Ricento & Hornberger, 1996. Unpeeling the onion: Language planning and policy and the ELT professional. TESOL Quarterly, 30(3), 401–427), this study explores LP formation across macro (government), meso (school), and micro (classroom) educational levels in Flanders, Belgium. Macro-level analysis involves scrutinizing policy documents from the Educational Department of Flanders. Meso-level investigation includes policy documents from three secondary schools, compared with insights from interviews with the schools' principals and language coaches. Semi-structured interviews with teachers (n = 18) and classroom observations (n = 138 hours) provide nuanced perspectives at the micro-level. Triangulating data reveals declared, perceived, and practiced language policies at various levels. The study underscores LP's intricate nature within a multilingual educational context. Results highlight the contrast between macro-level policy straightforwardness and the complexity faced at meso- and micro-levels, where context-specific challenges arise. As schools navigate linguistic diversity, the role of language coaches becomes pivotal in creating inclusive and effective educational settings.

Planetary Health Initiatives in Rural Education at a Riverside School in Southern Amazonas, Brazil

Planetary Health is an expanding scientific field around the world, and actions in different areas are essential to minimize the environmental damage that compromises the future of humanity. This project report aims to describe the development of Planetary Health actions in a rural school in the Brazilian Amazon, to understand and raise awareness of themes related to Planetary Health. To implement the educational activities, a booklet entitled “Planetary Health: Guide for Rural Education” was created. Subsequently, didactic sequences were applied to 37 ninth-grade students in the first semester of 2023. The activities were diversified, including: (1) investigative activities (pre-tests, interviews with family members, ecological footprint adapted to the Amazonian riverside context), (2) interpretative activities (image reading, identification and problem-solving for Planetary Health stories in the Amazon, educational cartoons, and graphs of the sectors with the highest pollution in Brazil and diseases associated with climate change), (3) audiovisual activities (educational videos), (4) playful activities (educational games), (5) practical and field activities (forest tracking, planting seedlings, sanitation trail, construction of a school garden, preparation of a healthy school snack, greenhouse effect simulation, and basic analysis of lake water with a probe). The results of the educational actions allowed students to undergo new experiences on Planetary Health themes, as well as understand the centrality of the Amazon for the planet and how the environmental impacts in this biome are compromising the future of humanity. The experiences during the educational actions showed that young riverside residents are concerned about the future of the Amazon, especially given the environmental destruction that is frequently evident, such as deforestation, fires, illegal mining, and land grabbing. Inserting these themes into riverside education makes it possible to look at the Amazon in a resilient, responsible way and to discuss scientific and local knowledge so that students can develop initiatives to face environmental challenges in their community. We conclude that Planetary Health education needs to be an effective part of the school curriculum, prioritizing reviewing the documents that guide education to prioritize transdisciplinary actions with children and young people, as they are the voices of the future and future leaders in emerging causes. Educational actions in Planetary Health in the Amazon region are an example that can inspire actions in other places with similar characteristics.

PERAN SEKOLAH DALAM MENANGGULANGI PERILAKU KENAKALAN REMAJA DI SMK TERPADU BISMILLAH KECAMATAN PADARINCANG KABUPATEN SERANG

This study describes the role of schools in dealing with juvenile delinquency behavior at Bismillah Integrated Vocational School, Padarincang District, Serang Regency. The purpose of this research was to find out and analyze the forms of juvenile delinquency carried out by students at school, factors that can cause juvenile delinquency or violations at school, school constraints and efforts or school actions in tackling juvenile delinquency behavior that occurs at Bismillah Integrated Vocational School This. In this case the forms of juvenile delinquency that occur at the Bismillah Integrated Vocational School are such as truancy, making class noise, smoking, arriving late, excessive dating, online game addiction, disrespectful attitude towards teachers and fellow friends and several other disciplinary delinquencies. Furthermore, namely the causative factors or factors for the emergence of juvenile delinquency that occurred at Bismillah Integrated Vocational School, Padarincang District, Serang Regency, there are two kinds, namely internal factors and external factors. In addition, it is also hoped that this research can provide benefits for schools to help overcome juvenile delinquency behavior in schools by seeking countermeasures, namely preventive, repressive and curative efforts.