Education as Change

What Universities Owe Democracy, by Ronald J. Daniels, with Grant Shreve and Phillip Spector

Luke Sinwell — 2022-07-28

Johns Hopkins University Press. 2021. pp. 336.
ISBN: 978-1-42144269-3

What Universities Owe Democracy, by Ronald J. Daniels, with Grant Shreve and Phillip Spector

Shanshan Feng — 2022-06-23

Johns Hopkins University Press. 2021. pp. 336.

ISBN: 978-1-42144269-3

Radical Solutions for Education in a Crisis Context: COVID-19 as an Opportunity for Global Learning, edited by Daniel Burgos, Ahmed Tlili and Anita Tabacco

Ting Wei — 2022-03-29

Springer, Singapore. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology. 2021. pp. 320.

ISBN: 978-981-15-7869-4, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7869-4

Pre-Primary English Teacher Education in Macau: Investigating a Teacher Educator’s Beliefs and Practices

Barry Lee Reynolds — 2022-06-23

This qualitative case study explores a language teacher educator’s beliefs and practices regarding pre-primary English teacher education in Macau. The focal participant was an experienced English language teacher (20 years) and teacher educator who is a native speaker of American English. The data were collected over five years, and include written reflections, classroom observations, course syllabi, and interviews. The findings reveal that the teacher educator held six main beliefs regarding various aspects of language teacher education for the pre-primary level, namely, beliefs about (1) the purpose of pre-primary English teacher education, (2) being a teacher educator, (3) the nature of the teaching methodology course, (4) the students, (5) pre-school learners and learning, and (6) the development of the teaching methodology course. The educator’s beliefs were largely reflected in practice, as revealed in the course design, material selection, teaching, and the design of student assignments and other forms of assessment. The educator adjusted his/her practice over time in response to students’ needs, self-awareness, and the university policies. The teacher educator’s beliefs and practices were shown to be mutually informing.

Using Semantic Pathways to Reveal the “Depth” of Pre-Service Teachers’ Reflections

Lee Rusznyak — 2022-06-14

During teacher preparation programmes, pre-service teachers need to reflect meaningfully on their classroom experiences. However, some pre-service teachers tend to provide narrative accounts of classroom events and interactions. Mentors and assessors urge them to “probe more deeply” but give little guidance about what this entails. This study reports on an intervention in which reflection guidelines were changed after noticing how guidelines asked questions that limited professional learning. The revised set of guidelines prompted pre-service teachers to make iterative links between the theoretical insights gleaned from coursework and their experiential learning in classroom settings. The Semantics dimension from Legitimation Code Theory is used to compare the reflections written in response to the original and revised guidelines. Using the revised guidelines, two thirds of participants drew more intentionally on theoretical insights to interpret and explain their classroom experiences. The article concludes by suggesting several conditions for enabling pre-service teachers to write “deeper” reflections that are both theoretically informed and contextually responsive. These conditions include access to relevant concepts, guidelines that make expectations visible and access to a language of practice for providing feedback about what “probing more deeply” looks like. I argue that the concepts from Legitimation Code Theory offer such a language.

Alienated Learning in the Context of Curricular Reforms

Yi Lian — 2022-05-27

In neoliberal contexts, schools are accountable for educational quality, and effectiveness is measured by objective indicators, such as examination scores. Schools tend to become committed to preparing students for examinations rather than all-round and complete personal development, making it difficult for students to identify the meaningful connections between themselves and learning activities, and, in turn, resulting in negative learning experiences. Marxist theorists refer to this condition as alienated learning, that is, the internal contradiction between the learner’s self and learning labour. In contrast, curricular reforms across the globe have promoted a progressive pedagogy that values engaging students in the full range of life experiences in education, enabling them to overcome alienated learning. Yet the effects of curricular reforms are still unclear. The present study sheds light on the extent to which reforms permit students to confront alienated learning. To achieve this aim, the study investigated 44 Hong Kong secondary and undergraduate students with photovoice methods. Its findings suggest that the effects of these curricular reforms are minimal, though they offer opportunities for students to explore their interests. Many students will still experience alienated learning; their interests continue to be subordinated to examinations and even devalued by their schools and teachers.

Teaching and Learning Paulo Freire: South Africa’s Communities of Struggle

Luke Sinwell — 2022-05-27

This article highlights both the internal educative practices of social movements and how these practices can effectively link to building Freirean pedagogies within higher education institutions. At the heart of this possibility lies the democratic transformation of relations between students and teachers on the one hand and researchers and activists on the other. I draw from two case studies of my own research on community-based organisations and workers’ movements in post-apartheid South Africa, which point to the possibilities and challenges of developing Freirean approaches within the neoliberal higher education context. The article suggests that if the goal of education is to challenge systems of oppression, then social justice and the democratisation of the knowledge project must be the guiding principles we employ to navigate our everyday teaching and learning practices both inside and outside the academy.

A Taxi Ride to Critical Literacy: High School Students as Co-Researchers and Text Analysts

Rockie Sibanda — 2022-03-29

This article describes a critical literacy research project undertaken with English Additional Language students at a South African township school. Students were invited to take on the position of researchers in gathering and analysing bumper stickers found in commuter minibuses known as itekisi (taxi). These everyday texts in English and African languages are salient for the students’ discourse communities. Bringing them into English lessons validates the use of languages and discourses that multilingual students inhabit and draws on their ability to move fluidly between languages. Framed by critical discourse analysis theory, this project aimed to facilitate students’ abilities to develop and use critical literacy knowledge and skills in analysing taxi bumper stickers. The findings indicate that the students were able to demonstrate some criticality as they investigated multiple interpretations of the texts by community members and themselves. Inviting students to investigate texts drawn from their own communities was envisaged as enabling their development as critical readers with a social justice orientation to texts. However, their relentless negativity towards taxi drivers made it difficult for them to keep their focus on the texts, suggesting that teachers’ selection of salient texts for lessons with a focus on critical literacy may not always achieve the intended outcomes.

Achieving Universal Digital Literacy through Universal Design for Learning in Open Educational Resources

Desirée Ayuso-del Puerto — 2022-02-02

Over the years, the Spanish education authorities have proposed various measures, such as the creation of Open Educational Resources (OERs), to guarantee the inclusion of all students in the education system. However, the literature on this topic indicates the persistence of certain challenges relating to the accessibility of OERs. In this regard, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is presented as a possible solution to this problem as it advocates the personalisation of learning and facilitates the achievement of universal digital literacy. This study seeks to investigate the accessibility of OERs’ design for those early stages in education that are managed by the Spanish education authorities. To this end, a guide of indicators has been designed to assess OERs in accordance with the principles of UDL. The sample is made up of 67 OERs, selectively based on a number of requirements. This study uses a quantitative and exploratory research methodology for the analysis of the data obtained. The main findings highlight the shortcomings of OERs in terms of accessibility, adaptability and universality, demonstrating that OERs do not respond to the principles of UDL.

If Not in Science, Then Where Are the Women? A Content Analysis of School Textbooks

Aleksandra Gajda — 2022-02-02

This article analyses the representation of femininity in school textbooks in search of elements that discourage girls from taking up scientific educational paths. Quantitative content analysis and elements of the constant comparison method were used to examine the content of 75 Polish textbooks. Significant differences were identified in the number of male and female characters, their ages, financial resources, occupations, family roles and mental characteristics. Interestingly, the authors of the analysed textbooks are mostly women, which seems to indicate a manifestation of self-discrimination. These results indicate the existence of mechanisms discouraging females from a scientific career and are discussed in light of Hofstede’s masculinity-femininity theory.

Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Responses and Challenges

Xuyan Wang — 2022-07-28

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant influence on all aspects of society, and it is necessary to comprehend the responses of various stakeholders as well as the challenges that higher education has encountered in the aftermath of the outbreak. This study systematically analyses the measures taken by higher education stakeholders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges faced by higher education in the post-COVID-19 era. To analyse the actions taken by higher education stakeholders and the challenges that remain, this study critically analyses government policy documents, reports from international organisations and perspectives of experts in the field of higher education, studies from Chinese journals, and international scientific literature. While stakeholders responded quickly during the outbreak, providing financial and material assistance, developing online learning, and facilitating international student mobility, the study finds that these measures are insufficient when compared to those in other sectors, and higher education stakeholders’ responses to COVID-19 have been fragmented, uncoordinated, and fraught with conflict and ambivalence. The study finds that higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic faces multiple challenges, with COVID-19 exacerbating inequities in educational access and educational achievement due to uneven educational infrastructure and resource allocation. The availability of infrastructure and the lack of preparedness of faculty and students have dimmed large-scale experiments in online education. Future international student mobility patterns may need to be restructured.

Teaching Care During Covid-19: Reflective Assessment for Becoming-Historians

Sarah Godsell — 2022-02-15

This article argues that the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 left learners and teachers alike awash in feelings of helplessness, loss, and anguish. While online learning literacy and pedagogy have improved over the course of 2020 and 2021, and interesting and important innovations have been implemented and explored, the foundational inequalities have not lessened or disappeared. This article argues for the use of care as a necessary pedagogy in the virtual classroom using a case study of one class. The labour of care needs to be considered as part of the labour of pedagogy during Covid-19. I argue for care being built into both pedagogy and assessment as part of a radical pedagogy for this time. I explore reflective assessment embedded in a pedagogy of care as a way to, if not combat, recognise and respond to the inequalities embodied in ERT and the society it exists in, towards radical change. Active reflection draws out the impact that ERT has had on the “being” and “becoming” of pre-service History teachers.