bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Structure of Pupils' Worries During Transition from Junior to Secondary School
Authors: Brown Jennifer M. , Armstrong R. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractTransfer from junior to secondary school is not necessarily accomplished painlessly by children. There has been a general failure to monitor the child's own perception of transition. Worries, as experienced by pupils themselves, may be uncovered by collecting accounts from children (N = 173). Problems in analysing qualitative date are overcome by using a non‐metric multidimensional scaling analysis (the Guttman‐Lingoes Smallest Space Analysis). This procedure intercorrelates items (worries) and represents them as points in a spatial array. Three distinct regions are identifiable in the multidimensional space concerning worries about interpersonal and social relationships, school work and discipline. The structure of these three sources of worries is demonstrated by means of another Guttman procedure, partial order scalogram analysis (POSA). Worries are shown to be qualitatively and quantitatively different over time. Teachers' perception of worries are demonstrated to be different from those of the children. Findings are discussed in relation to pastoral care.
Educational Priority Indices: a new perspective
Authors: Sammons Pamela , Kysel Florisse , Mortimore Peter 
Published: June 2007

AbstractCriticisms of the concept of educational priority indices and reasons for the continued use of a school‐based policy are outlined with reference to the educational priority indices employed by the ILEA over the last decade. During 1981 a major review of the methods and measures used to construct the ILEA indices was undertaken. Details of criticisms of the data and methodology used in the past are provided. A new method of constructing the indices to take into account the relationships between different measures and educational outcome at the individual level was devised. The results of analyses of these relationships and an outline of the new method of constructing indices are presented. Advantages of adopting a ‘risk index’ method of weighting the educational priority measures to take into account the cumulative effects of social factors are discussed.
The Lexical Bar: lexical change from 12 to 15 years measured by social class, region and ethnicity
Authors: Corson David 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThree measuring instruments are used in this study of 12‐ and 15‐year‐old children's passive vocabulary, active vocabulary and lexical diversity. Children are drawn from samples delimited by two social class backgrounds and by West Indian (Jamaican) background. Research was performed in north London and South Yorkshire. Highly significant differences are found in lexical access, by age, to semantic fields representative of knowledge categories of the school curriculum and highly significant differences by ethnic background at 15 years. In lexical diversity, with controls applied as in this study, there is no significant difference between sample means. In active use of specialist words of Graeco‐Latin origin there are highly significant differences between the social classes and the social groups at 15 years, the age when final assessments of potential in education are being made. Because Graeco‐Latin words populate the knowledge categories of the school curriculum almost to the exclusion of Anglo‐Saxon words, the writer proposes that a ‘lexical bar’ is at work for some social dialect users in societies which use English as the principal language of communication. This bar has the effect of hindering the users of some social dialects from a ready access to the lexis of semantic categories essential for success in education.
School Absenteeism and Aspirations: a non‐recursive path model1
Authors: Crespo Manuel 
Published: June 2007

AbstractUsing the two‐stage least squares method in conjunction with path analysis, this paper tests, within the framework of the status attainment process model, the existence of possible reciprocal influences between school absenteeism and educational and occupational aspirations. The sample consists of 1046 Francophone students (52.7% male and 47.3% female) in secondary III, IV and V classes from five comprehensive high‐schools situated in low, middle and high income areas of Montreal. An aggregated model reveals the existence of a feedback loop between school absenteeism and educational aspirations, but not between the former variable and occupational aspirations. When a control for sex is introduced, the feedback loop appears to exist only for females for both educational and occupational aspirations. A tentative interpretation of some of the findings is provided and a few suggestions for future research given.
Professional Learning and Researcher Intervention: an action research perspective
Authors: Day Christopher 
Published: June 2007

This paper attempts to address three questions fundamental to research on teachers' thinking — what ways do teachers learn, why do they change (or fail to change), and what is the role of the researcher as intervenor in this process of teachers' thinking and behaviour? I will argue that if research is to make a significant contribution to teacher learning and change, researchers must move away from the notion of themselves as prime designers and interpreters of the motivations, thoughts and actions of others towards a more interdependent role in which collaboration, consultation, and negotiation are first principles. If they are to achieve success, they must be prepared not only to talk with teachers about practice, but to observe teachers in their behavioural settings. This is based on the assumption that, ‘in order to understand teaching, teachers' goals, judgements and decisions must be understood, especially in relation to teachers' behaviour and the classroom context…’ (Shavelson & Stern, 1981).While there is a good deal of recent and well‐documented research on various aspects of teachers' thinking—their pedagogical thoughts, judgements and decisions ‐there is as yet very little empirical evidence concerning the relationship between this thinking and classroom practice (behaviour).
Computer‐assisted Learning, Computer‐based Guidance and the Teaching of Educational Research Methods
Authors: Goodyear Peter 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe microcomputer has made a considerable impact on the teaching of social research methods—through its capacity to save repetitive labour and its flexibility as a vehicle for computer‐assisted learning. This paper begins by describing some of these more conventional uses of the microcomputer, with reference to the teaching of educational research methods. It goes on to outline a new role for the computer as educational catalyst; a role which arises from a recognition that many of the forms of interaction which occur between man and computer can be characterised as processes of learning. By focusing on research as learning, and on the potential of computer‐based aids to research and learning, a powerful reflexive approach to the teaching of educational research method can be adopted.
Common‐core Curriculum: a Piagetian conceptualisation
Authors: Smith Leslie 
Published: June 2007

AbstractPiaget's account of formal operational thinking and Further Education Unit proposals for a common‐core curriculum share twin assumptions: there are general abilities and such abilities are transferable. Piaget's account is reviewed and the commitment to both assumptions is shown. The family of six general abilities which underlie formal operational thinking is reviewed as well as six types of cognitive constraint which restrict the actual transfer of general ability. Criticisms of Piaget's account are evaluated and it is argued that Piaget's competence account is not primarily an account of cognitive performance. The implications of this interpretation for pre‐vocational education are considered, including the cognitive development of young people, instructional objectives, learning‐methods and assessment. The central conclusion is that Piaget's account is one intellectual resource which may be used in the context of pre‐vocational education.
Ruling‐class Classification and Framing
Authors: Walford Geoffrey 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article discusses the relationships between school, higher education and work for pupils at public boarding schools. It uses the concepts of classification and framing developed by Basil Bernstein to illuminate the continuities and contradictions in experience of these pupils as they pass from school to university and into their careers.The role of these schools in the reproduction of the ruling class is shown to be related to the ability that these public boarding schools have to offer a mixture of both an integrated and collection type code. Finally, speculations are made about the possible effects of recent changes within these schools.
Construing Classrooms and Curricula: a framework for research
Authors: Yorke D. M. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIn recent years personal construct theory has become increasingly used to underpin research into teachers' thinking, and a number of researchers have opted to give methodological prominence to the repertory grid.This paper points to the limitations of the theory in respect of research outside the domain of psychotherapy and to some of the problems associated with repertory grid studies. It is argued that repertory grids are inherently positivistic and are thus in philosophical tension with the theory on which they are based, a tension that is not removed by researching in a ‘conversation paradigm’.The importance of events in personal construct theory is discussed, and it is suggested that an emphasis on events requires the researcher to adopt an approach that is informed by phenomenology and the philosophy of history.Finally, a return is made to the level of research practice, and a methodological approach is outlined which is—to a greater extent than the repertory grid—consistent with the main thrust of personal construct theory. Stress is given to the importance of the quality of the relationships between constructs, since these have implications for connections between construing and action—an issue which is of crucial importance is the study of teachers' thinking.
Teaching Processes in Social Studies Classrooms and Prescriptive Instructional Theories
Authors: Hacker R. G. , Carter D. S. G. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractAn exploratory study of teaching styles in 40 social studies classrooms was described. Observational data were cluster‐analysed and three teaching styles were described. It was found that inexperienced teachers favoured an informational teaching style. The implications of the study for the possible empirical testing of prescriptive, instructional theories were discussed, and it was suggested that sufficient variance of teaching style could be found in natural, intact classrooms to justify optimism about the feasibility of using these classrooms in such empirical tests.
Ethnic Differences in Science Choice, Attitudes and Achievement in Britain
Authors: Kelly Alison 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe science choices, attitudes and achievement of Asian and black children were compared with those of white children. When allowance was made for background and school factors there was very little difference between the ethnic groups in the extent to which they enroled in science courses in fourth and fifth year. Asian boys were slightly more likely than other boys to choose physics; they also expressed greater liking for science and greater interest in learning about physical science than other boys. White girls were less interested in physical science than other girls and white boys were less interested in biology. Black and Asian pupils scored lower than comparable white children on science tests on entry to secondary school. However by fifth year Asian boys were out‐performing white boys, while black pupils achieved as well as white children from similar backgrounds and schools.
Government Control of the Curriculum: some archive and recent evidence
Authors: Proctor Nigel 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe current moves by the Government to establish a National Curriculum will be directed and managed by the civil servants in the Department of Education and Science. Their present deliberations are highly confidential, but the control they exercised over the curriculum in the early decades of this century can be gauged through a study of confidential internal memoranda of the Board of Education in the Public Record Office. Two case studies‐of geography in secondary schools, and of geography as an advanced subject‐are presented before comparisons are made with the successful campaign to gain recognition for the subject within the Government's National Curriculum.
School Administrators Write About Burnout: individual and organisational implications
Authors: Sarros James C. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis qualitative study examined work situations contributing to burnout as identified by over 120 school‐based administrators in a large Western Canadian separate school district. Both organisational and individual features such as interpersonal relationships, work load, and need for recognition contributed differentially to each form of burnout as defined by Maslach & Jackson (1981a, b). The findings suggest that an improvement in human relations and time management skills, and increased positive feedback could promote self‐esteem and lessen experiences of burnout in school administrators. In addition, future research may examine the idiosyncratic nature of school organisations as a potential influence on the severity and typology of administrator burnout.
An Investigation of Some English Primary School Teachers' Understanding of the Concepts Force and Gravity
Authors: Kruger C. J. , Summers M. K. , Palacio D. J. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIn light of an increased role for conceptual understanding of science in English primary schools, the research reported here investigated the views of force and gravity held by 20 primary teachers, using the ‘interview about instances’ technique. Results are reported in sections dealing with definitions of force; gravity and weight; views of friction; combinations of forces and the concept of a resultant force; reaction forces; force and motion; and finally, the teachers' use of scientific language. Nearly all of the teachers had views of these concepts that were not in accord with generally accepted scientific interpretations—most held views similar to those of children reported by other researchers. Some implications of the findings are discussed.
Pre‐school Reading‐related Skills and Later Reading Achievement: further evidence
Authors: Blatchford Peter , Plewis Ian 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper extends, to the end of junior school, associations between preschool reading skills and later reading attainment reported earlier. It also presents, from a second study, associations between letter naming and letter sounding at the end of reception, considered separately, and reading attainment one year later. The earlier findings on the correlations between letter identification and reading attainment at the end of infant school still hold at the end of junior school. The results from the second study give no support to the hypothesis that it is letter sounding rather than letter naming which predicts later reading attainment. Implications of the results for practice in the reception year are discussed briefly.
Children's Responses to Touch‐a questionnaire study
Authors: Neill Sean R. St J. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractChildren's responses to six types of touch were assessed at five ages between nine and 17 by questionnaire. The questionnaire was oriented to the types of touch and toucher occurring in classrooms and other public places, with a view to assessing their implications for education. The type of touch, the part of the body touched, and the familiarity and sex of the toucher all had strongly significant effects on children's responses, as did the child's own age and sex. The status of the other person (adult/peer, teacher/non‐teacher) had weaker effects. The implications of the results are discussed.
Underachievement: a case of conceptual confusion
Authors: Plewis Ian 
Published: June 2007

AbstractAlthough the word underachievement is frequently encountered in educational writing, it is not a well‐defined concept. This paper presents alternative operationalisations of underachievement, one based on a discrepancy between attainment and IQ and generally used by psychologists, the other based on relative position and used more by sociologists. Particular attention is paid to technical aspects of the psychologists' definition, and it is shown that an apparently straightforward approach based on a regression model has many drawbacks. The paper ends by suggesting that educational researchers consider dropping underachievement from their vocabulary.
Active Learning in Secondary School Mathematics
Authors: Kyriacou Chris 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIn recent years there has been widespread advocacy for a greater variety of learning activities to be used in the teaching of mathematics in secondary schools, and in particular calls for greater use of active learning. In essence, active learning may be described as the use of learning activities where pupils are given a marked degree of ownership and control over the learning activities used, where the learning experience is open‐ended rather than tightly pre‐determined, and where the pupil is able to actively participate in and shape the learning experience. The term ‘active learning’ has commonly been applied to a diverse range of learning activities, such as practical work, computer‐assisted learning, role play exercises, work experience, individualised work schemes, small group discussion, collaborative problem‐solving and extended project work. In the first phase of the study, seven categories of learning activities used in mathematics lessons were identified. One activity was considered to describe traditional teaching, and the other six activities to describe types of active learning. In the second phase of the study, heads of mathematics departments completed a questionnaire in which they estimated the frequency of occurrence of these seven activities. The findings indicate that active learning is fairly commonplace now, but in most schools, only for a minority of lessons. In addition, the replies indicate a marked shift towards greater use of active learning in recent years, particularly in the use of investigational tasks, small group discussion, computer‐assisted learning and extended project work.
An Investigation of the Mathematical Knowledge and Competencies which Young Children Bring into School
Authors: Aubrey Carol 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis paper describes an investigation of the mathematical knowledge, strategies and representations of one small reception class of 16 children. The data suggest that children bring into school a range of competencies which pose some challenge to the conventional reception class curriculum. Further examination of children's strategies suggests that, as in language acquisition, a rule‐governed approach is operating from the start. The necessity to provide for children to move gradually through different stages of mathematical representation, where they can learn the interrelationships among ideas and link these to their own informal knowledge and strategies, is considered in the context of the National Curriculum.
Reflection: a necessary but not sufficient condition for professional development
Authors: Day Christopher 
Published: June 2007

AbstractFew discussions on professional development occur without some reference to the central role that reflection plays in the learning life of the teacher. It is thesine qua nonof the ‘teacher‐researcher’, ‘action research’ and ‘reflective practitioner’ movements. During the last 20 years there has been a growing body of literature and practices which has sought to identify different levels of reflection in which involvement is essential, it is claimed, for the maximising of teacher growth. Yet much of this has failed to consider the need for reflection to be accompanied by confrontation if development is to occur, and alongside this, the negative and positive roles that organisational culture may play in the provision for different kinds and levels of reflection and confrontation. Two key issues are addressed in this paper. The first relates to our understanding and use of reflection—an essential part of the learning process; and the second, to the need for partnerships and coalitions within collaborative organisational cultures which are necessary to support opportunities for the different kinds of reflection so necessary to learning, and thus contribute to the development of individual professional learning cultures in the 1990s.
The Implications of Bioethics for Teachers and Teacher Researchers
Authors: Lovat Terence J. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThe teacher as researcher movement has, among other things, increased awareness of the human interventionary nature of teaching. In turn, in a day and age of heightened ethical consciousness, the human interventionary nature of teaching has thrust the profession into the forefront of those requiring ethical direction. To the extent that the teacher role is one of human intervention, the question of its ethical parameters must be posed. The human interventions of regular classroom practice must be seen as being subject to the same ethical scrutiny which inveighs in professional life generally. Even more so, when the teacher role moves closer to that of researcher, involving intervention with students, parents, consultants and the community which goes beyond normal classroom interaction, the ethical constraints pertinent to all human research intervention must apply. In either case, albeit differently, new sensitivities and legal trends in many Western countries are impinging on ethical consciousness in the teaching profession. The paper proposes that the principles of bioethics, a subdiscipline which has impacted particularly on the medical profession, may well offer suitable guidelines by which the human interventions of the teacher and the teacher researcher might be evaluated for their ethical suitability and propriety.
Clusters: inter‐school collaboration in meeting special educational needs in ordinary schools
Authors: Norwich B. , Evans J. , Lunt I. , Steedman J. , Wedell K. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThis article reports the findings and discusses the implications of a research project on school clusters, a system of inter‐school collaboration to meet special educational needs (SEN) in ordinary schools. The project was in two stages. The first stage involved detailed qualitative case studies of four different kinds of cluster arrangement. These were analysed in terms of antecedents, processes and outcomes based on documentation and interviews with key participants as informants. The second stage surveyed a wider sample of cluster arrangements in three regional meetings using a group interview methodology. The overall findings are summarised in terms of the conditions and factors which promote SEN inter‐school collaboration and the outcomes for schools, teachers, local education authorities (LEAs) and support services. The significance and implications of these forms of inter‐school collaboration are finally discussed in terms of the current changes to the school system and the education of pupils with SEN.