bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Reliability and Validity of the ‘Smiley’ Scale
Authors: Davies Julie , Brember Ivy 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe ‘Smiley’ scale was devised to measure primary school children's attitudes to school as part of the Junior School Project by the Inner London Education Authority in 1986. It appeared potentially useful, in both content and format, for our purpose. It was found that no reliability or validity study had been carried out on it. To rectify this, one was done. Internal consistency reliability was found to be satisfactory when tested on 641 Year 2 and 585 Year 6 children. Test‐retest reliability was considered by readministering the scale to 172 Year 2 and 155 Year 6 children after a 1 week interval. The Year 6 children showed more consistency in their responses than the Year 2 children. The correlation coefficients of the totals on the two occasions were 0.71 and 0.87 respectively. The validity of 172 Year 2 and 167 Year 6 children's responses was tested by comparing them to the teachers' perceptions of the children's attitudes using the ‘Smiley’ scale. Results showed very few significant correlations between the children's and teachers' responses for the Year 2 children although there were more significant correlations for the Year 6 children. This may be due to teachers' lack of awareness of children's attitudes to school.
Teacher Knows Best: a solution to the marks‐to‐levels problem in National Curriculum testing
Authors: Morrison Hugh , Healy John , Wylie Caroline 
Published: June 2007

AbstractCriterion‐referenced tests are now widely regarded as important instruments in monitoring pupil progress, diagnosing strengths and weaknesses, evaluating the success of instruction, and reporting the performance of pupils, teachers and schools against defined ‘standards’. National Curriculum assessment has strayed a long way from its criterion‐referenced beginnings, and advocates of adjustments such as rollback would argue that criterion‐referenced measurement makes such demands of pupils as to be unworkable. This article argues that the adoption of the Angoff standard‐setting methodology to convert test scores to levels could facilitate a return to full criterion‐referenced assessment. The Angoff procedure is outlined together with the statistical measures used to monitor the reliability with which standards are set. The contribution which simple tests with Angoff‐determined qutscores can make to the dissemination of standards and to the moderation of teacher assessment is presented.
Towards a Collaborative Approach to Teacher Empowerment
Authors: Lally Vic , Scaefe Jon 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper outlines a project based on an approach to teacher empowerment through collaborative action research. Using accounts from teachers involved in the project, the conditions necessary for the development of collegiality on in‐service courses are explored. The nature and significance of agenda setting and ways of introducing tools for empowerment are described. The use of collaborative autobiography (CA), interpersonal process recall (1PR) and a general supervisory framework (GSF) are analysed in detail. The paper concludes with comment on the extent to which teachers are empowered by these tools to reconstruct the complex relationships between power, knowledge, ideology and schooling which dominate much of their working lives.
How Is Action Research Helping to Develop My Role as a Communicator?
Authors: Chiswell Kathleen 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThroughout the first two years of my study as a part‐time university student but a full‐time teacher involved in critical action research, I was acutely aware of the threatening nature of the task I had undertaken. My willingness to expose my own teaching methods and organisation to critical examination needed the co‐operation of others who may fail to appreciate the relevance of my research. Analysis within my own classroom was one thing, but later 1 needed to extend the research beyond that and into the wider school and even into certain areas of the curriculum. In order to achieve this I knew I would have to depend on the co‐operation of colleagues, and their willingness to participate in interviews, completing questionnaires and at times, even acting as observers. Their continued response over a period of time prompted me to trace my development as a communicator; from the isolation of my own classroom communicating with my pupils to whole school and staff communication.
The National Curriculum: can small schools deliver? Confidence and competence levels of teachers in small rural primary schools
Authors: Hargreaves Linda , Comber Chris , Galton Maurice 
Published: June 2007

AbstractRecent calls for primary schools to provide specialist expertise across the curriculum have presented a particular challenge to small schools (roll < 100) whilst other survey evidence has shown low levels of confidence amongst primary teachers in several curriculum areas. One strategy adopted by small schools to increase access to such expertise has been the formation of clusters. This paper, based on data from two rounds of questionnaires to headteachers and teachers, relates small schools’ teachers’ confidence and competence self‐ratings, and choices of curriculum support strategies to four levels of cluster commitment. Confidence and competence ratings were generally high but the expected positive relationships between self‐ratings and cluster levels were only partially supported by the data. Explanations based on the process of cluster development are offered.
Telling Transitions: boundary work in narratives of becoming an action researcher
Authors: Maclure Maggie 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe paper explores the handling of ‘boundary phenomena’ within modernist and post‐modernist research perspectives, via a reading of the autobiographical narratives of 10 people who have been influential in developing and promoting teacher action research. These stories of transitions — from teacher, to action researcher, to academic — address boundary issues that are rehearsed within action research itself: between theory and practice, school and academy, insider and outsider. The paper examines attempts to solve boundary problems occurring at a key transition point in these stories — the leaving of teaching. While modernist discourses seek resolutions of boundary dilemmas and transcendence of contradictions, post‐modernist discourses resist resolution and embrace ‘in‐between‐ness’. The paper considers the implications for action research of taking seriously — or even playfully — post‐modern notions of boundary work as transgression rather than transition. Vampires, cyborgs and ‘the abyss’ audition for cameo roles in this reading, which also attempts to show how deconstruction might be brought to bear on spoken texts — a relatively underdeveloped topic.
Educational Research and Teaching: a response to David Hargreaves’ TTA lecture
Authors: Hammersley Martyn 
Published: June 2007

AbstractDavid Hargreaves has argued that educational research fails to provide a sound evidence‐base for teaching: it does not generate a cumulative body of knowledge; and it is not geared to resolving the classroom problems that teachers face. As a solution, he recommends that teachers play a more central role in setting the agenda for research and in carrying it out. I accept much of Hargreaves’ criticism of educational research as failing to develop cumulative knowledge, but I suggest that the problems involved in this are more difficult than he acknowledges, and that what he proposes is likely to worsen rather than solve the problem. I also question whether research can fulfill the direct role in relation to practice which Hargreaves envisages. He appeals to the example of evidence‐based medicine, but I suggest that this is problematic even in its own context. I conclude by raising questions about the sort of central planning of research that Hargreaves recommends.
Policy Sociology and Critical Social Research: a personal review of recent education policy and policy research
Authors: Ball Stephen J. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe paper undertakes two related exercises; one substantive and one meta‐analytical. The first concerns changes in public sector provision. It is argued that the public sector has been ‘transformed’, in Jessop's terms, from a Keynsian Welfare State to a Schumpeterian Workfare State. This transformation involves fundamental changes to forms of provision, patterns of access, forms of work, client — worker relations, inter‐institutional relations and values and ethics. The constitution of citizenship has also been affected. The second concerns the conception of and engagement with social policy by educational researchers. A template for examination of the ‘surface epistemology’ of education policy research is presented — that is the relationships between conceptualisation, research design and conduct and the interpretation of data. It is argued that there is a basic tension at the heart of education policy research, between a commitment to the pursuit of efficiency and a commitment to the pursuit of social justice.
Home — School Relationships: ‘the swarming of disciplinary mechanisms’?[1]
Authors: Vincent Carol , Tomlinson Sally 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article examines a number of connecting themes concerning home‐school relations over the last 20 years. We argue that the position of parents in relation to the education system can be seen as an instructive case study for the broader trends and shifts in the relationship between citizens and public sector institutions. As such we conclude that the important developments, upon which future analysis should concentrate, are those where parents seek to define for themselves new understandings of what constitutes an ‘appropriate’ parental role, rather than being captured within a hegemonic discourse of ‘good’ parenting. The incursions of consumerism into public sector institutions is obviously a major theme throughout the paper, and we seek to highlight some flaws in the notion of parent as consumer. In particular, we argue that the apparent agency embedded in the role of consumer does not necessarily influence parents’ relationships with teachers once a choice of school is made. At school level notions of ‘partnership’ are still dominant. We examine the ways in which ‘partnerships’ are played out in practice, and argue that the concept is increasingly used to justify mechanisms, such as home‐school contracts, which seek to control the behaviour of parents and their children. The third theme within the paper explores the possibilities for parental agency and activity, using examples drawn from parents’ groups organising around special education. The final section considers the potential for future research on home‐school relations.
Children's Attitudes to the National Curriculum at Key Stage 1
Authors: West Anne , Hailes Jean , Sammons Pam 
Published: June 2007

AbstractAn investigation of the attitudes of children aged 6‐7 (Year 2) from a variety of different backgrounds towards specific curricular areas is reported. The quantitative analysis revealed that using the computer was the most positively rated of all the activities examined. It was also found that girls had more positive attitudes than boys in a number of areas, particularly in relation to English and ‘coming to school’. Children from ethnic minority groups and those with English as a second language also had more positive attitudes in some areas. The qualitative findings indicate that three key dimensions can be used heuristically to conceptualise children's attitudes towards school activities — interest versus boredom, the level of difficulty, and success versus failure. The results are discussed in terms of current psychological perspectives on children's motivation and of the policy implications of the findings.
The Subject‐matter of Educational Research
Authors: Wilson John , Wilson Nicholas 
Published: June 2007

Abstract‘Educational research’ is here considered not as a cultural phenomenon or practice but as a sui generis enterprise with a certain logic of its own. The subject‐matter of such research must, logically, be learning: the promotion of a certain kind of good (knowledge and mastery) which must be distinguished from political or social goods. It is argued that effective learning depends primarily on the personal qualities of the educator: that should be the main area or subject‐matter for research, and it requires a mixture of conceptual analysis and psychological insight. Questions about the value of different kinds of learning are also central to educational research, though now commonly neglected by researchers. All this suggests a radically different agenda for the enterprise.
Research for Sale: moral market or moral maze?
Authors: Bridges David 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article considers some of the moral and social issues which are raised as the funding and character of university research in education shifts increasingly in the direction of ‘contract research’ and as those purchasing such research claim increasing ownership and control over its conduct and its publication. The article formulates these proprietorial rights as a set of propositions and then seeks to challenge them. It advances, first, an epistemological challenge based on considerations of ‘epistemic drift’; second, a moral argument against restrictive ownership of educational knowledge and then a political case based on the principles of liberal democracy. However, the article acknowledges that there are moral complexities which disturb an oversimple conclusion to the debate. It offers the reader alternative pathways to a conclusion which can be read as ending either on the resounding note struck by Roszack's defence of ‘the delinquent academy’ or on a more ambivalent note of moral complexity.
Ethnic Group, Sex and Economic Disadvantage: associations with pupils’ educational progress from Baseline to the end of Key Stage 1
Authors: Strand Steve 
Published: June 2007

AbstractVery few studies have explored the associations between ethnic group, sex, economic disadvantage and school attended on pupils’ progress during their earliest years at school (age 4‐7). The present study reports an analysis of the educational progress made by over 5000 pupils between Baseline assessment at age 4 and national end of Key Stage 1 (KS1) tests at age 7. There were marked differences in pupil attainment associated with ethnic group, sex and economic disadvantage, both at Baseline and at the end of KS1. In general, differences between groups of pupils tended to increase rather than decrease over time. Pupils entitled to free school meals (FSM) made less progress in all subjects than pupils not entitled to FSM, girls made more progress than boys in reading and writing but less progress in mathematics and Caribbean pupils made less progress, and Chinese pupils more progress, than English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish (ESWNI) pupils. There were, however, significant interactions between the pupil factors. Caribbean and Black Other boys, African and Caribbean pupils with high Baseline attainment and ESWNI pupils entitled to FSM all made less than expected progress. The results confirm previous research indicating the particular primary school a pupil attends has a significant effect on their progress during the early years. However, there was no evidence of significant differential school effectiveness in relation to ethnic group, sex or economic disadvantage. Thus, the same schools that were most effective for either ESWNI, girls, or economically advantaged pupils were also most effective for either Caribbean, boys, or economically disadvantaged pupils.
Do You Like What You See? Self‐perceptions of Adolescent Bullies
Authors: Johnson David , Lewis Geraldine 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper reports an attempt to increase our understanding of adolescents who exhibit bullying behaviour, by focusing on their self‐perceptions. The findings, which confirm those in the literature, establish that the typical bully has a relatively positive self‐concept in the social domain and in self‐esteem. It is proposed that these findings have implications for early preventative approaches to bullying. These may include an awareness of how temperament traits might interact with a child's environment to produce certain behaviours, including a tendency to bully. Parenting programmes may be a suitable vehicle, and it is also posited that parenting styles and basic elements of child development may be included in ante‐natal care.
Scheduling Medical Procedures: How One Single Delay Begets Multiple Subsequent Delays
Authors: Sonnenberg Amnon , Crain Bradford R. 
Published: June 2007

Background: Delay is a common feature of medical disease management. Delays occur because schedules are filled, patients forget their appointment, equipment is unavailable, or because medical and non‐medical complications interfere with the planned procedure. The aim of the present analysis is to model how one single delay can lead to multiple subsequent delays.Methods: The consecutive stream of delays is analyzed in terms of a stochastic process comprising of a random sum of random time periods. Any untoward event causes a procedural delay, which provides a time window of opportunity for yet another delaying event to occur.Results: The stochastic model explains why even a single initial delay can easily lead to a multitude of subsequent delays. The expected overall delay is always longer than the initial delay caused by the deferment of the initial procedure. The analysis demonstrates how in individual patients an initially short delay may subsequently expand into days or weeks.Conclusion: Because a single delay can easily burgeon into a lengthy series of multiple delays, the primary goal should be to avoid the precipitating delay at the onset.
THE VARIETY OF SOCIAL CAPITAL IN WELFARE STATE REGIMES – A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF 21 COUNTRIES
Authors: Kääriäinen Juha , Lehtonen Heikki 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACT
In this article we examine the occurrence of social capital in 21 different countries. Our study starts from the premise that the countries under scrutiny represent different kinds of welfare state regimes. The concept of social capital we separate here into bonding social capital, bridging social capital, generalized trust and informal support. Our main question is whether or not social capital varies systematically between different welfare state regimes. In this respect, our aim is to put to the test two opposite assumptions: the society-centred hypothesis that assumes that strong welfare states may weaken the preconditions in which social capital emerges and the institution-centred hypothesis that assumes that social capital emerges expressly in societies with strong welfare state institutions. Although mainly confirming the latter assumption, our research findings also emphasize the fact that the different forms of social capital are connected to welfare state regimes in different ways. On the basis of our results, it is possible that the welfare state both prevents and promotes the development of social capital, depending on the respective meanings given to social capital.1
Chickens or eggs? A follow‐up case study exploring links between physical and psychological impact of Tourette's syndrome and sexual abuse
Authors: Etherington Kim 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis follow‐up case study highlights the complex relationship when working at the interface between physical and psychological symptoms. The paper draws upon conversations between an ex‐client and myself, held seven years after the end of our six year therapeutic relationship. Conversational interviews, based upon social constructionist beliefs, led to an unexpected exploration of the client's subsequent diagnosis of Tourette's syndrome (given several years after the end of therapy) and evolved into a struggle to reach a shared understanding of how she now makes connection between her problem with eating in public, her neck and facial tics, and childhood sexual abuse. Our research relationship provided both of us with a rare opportunity to reflect upon how she had made meaning of her counselling and its outcomes. The paper draws attention to the impact of counselling and therapy discourses concerning sexual abuse on the work we did at the time and asks how that work might be different today. It also helps us understand the layers of complexity and ambiguity contained within the client's stories. This multi‐layered case study represents the overlap and ‘messiness’ that mirrors the ‘lived experience’ of the persons involved, and provides an example of how co‐constructed research conversations can evoke stories that create meaning as they are told.
From anti‐doping to a ‘performance policy’ sport technology, being human, and doing ethics
Authors: Miah Andy 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper discusses three questions concerning the ethics of performance enhancement in sport. The first has to do with the improvement to policy and argues that there is a need for policy about doping to be re‐constituted and to question the conceptual priority of ‘anti’ doping. It is argued that policy discussions about science in sport must recognise the broader context of sport technology and seek to develop a policy about ‘performance’, rather than ‘doping’. The second argues that a quantitative enhancement to a sporting performance has no value and is, thus, unethical, unless the motivation behind using it implies something meaningful about being human. Thus, unless the use of the technology is constitutive of our humanness, then it is not a justifiable method of altering (rather than enhancing) performance. This rules out the legitimacy of using performance enhancement to gain an advantage over other competitors, who do not have access to similar means. Finally, the third argument claims that sport ethics has had only a limited discourse and has failed to recognise broader theoretical ideas in relation to performance modification, which might be found in the philosophy of technology and bioethics. Collectively, these positions articulate important concerns about the role of science in sport and the ethical discussions arising from them.
Do Teachers Support Causal Understanding through their Discourse when Teaching Primary Science?
Authors: Newton D.P. , Newton L. D. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTUnderstanding is a requirement of the National Curriculum for Science. To what extent do teachers press for causal understanding through their discourse in primary science lessons? Fifty Key Stage 2 primary science lessons (years 3–6; 7 + −10 + years) were observed in the north‐east of England and the nature of the discourse was examined. There were low levels of teacher discourse that related explicitly to causes and reasons. Discourse relating to facts and description was much more common. Further, discourse to do with causes and reasons with younger children tended to occur less than with older children and that of non‐specialist teachers tended to be less than that of subject specialists. Some potential explanations are described. A possible way to encourage a press for causal understanding in science through teacher discourse is suggested.