Rolling out ‘good’, ‘best’ and ‘excellent’ practice. What next? Perfect practice?

The identification and dissemination of ‘good practice’ has for years been a central part of the Government's strategy for radical change of the education system. ‘Good practice’, however, is no longer good enough, nor is ‘best practice’. The requirement now for post‐compulsory education and training (from which all our examples are taken) is nothing less than ‘excellent practice for all’. This article critically examines these highly significant shifts in the rhetoric of policy, finds them wanting and argues that we need to face up to the complexities involved in deciding not only what is ‘excellent practice’ but also in working through all the stages which would be needed to transmit it throughout the sector. In particular, recent documents from the Quality Improvement Agency and the Learning and Skills Council on the pursuit of excellence are critically appraised. The views of those practitioners who are part of the authors' project in the Economic and Social Research Council's Teaching and Learning Research Programme are also explained in relation to ‘good practice’. The authors attempt to explain the frenetic activity of politicians and policy makers in this sector, and end by moving from critique to construction by considering what can be rescued from the inherently contestable notion of ‘good practice’, and, in doing so, draw heavily on the work of Robin Alexander.     

‘Content’ versus ‘style’: Acquiescence in student evaluation of teaching?

Structural equation modelling is used to measure the existence of a response style (in particular, acquiescence) behind three balanced Likert scales measuring different concepts in a questionnaire for student evaluation of teaching in higher education. Exploration with one sample (n = 1125) and confirmation in a second sample (n = 710) from a different population (different students, different courses) shows the existence of a common factor behind these scales. However, the weak correlation with the variable ‘sum of agreements’ does not support the idea of acquiescence in student evaluation of teaching. Instead, the common factor could be interpreted as a halo factor influencing different scales in the questionnaire. The implications of this exploratory study for future research on acquiescence in student evaluations of teaching are discussed.     

‘Building Schools for the Future’: ‘transformation’ for social justice or expensive blunder?

This article is based on research undertaken between 2009 and 2012 into the former Labour government's extremely ambitious ‘Building Schools for the Future’ (BSF) Programme and its withdrawal by the Coalition government. The project, which utilises analysis of policy documents, case studies in six local authorities (LA) and semi‐structured interviews with national and local policy actors, is being funded by Roehampton's Centre for Educational Research in Equalities, Policy and Pedagogy and the British Academy (SG100363). The focus of this article is the implications for social justice of BSF and its subsequent withdrawal. The structure of the article comprises an introduction to BSF and a summary of some of the main issues arising from it. We then move on to explore the social justice dimension of BSF as it is expressed in LA documents and in relation to the social policy aspirations of the former Labour government. In July 2010 the Coalition government discontinued the BSF programme and we track events and policy from that time, particularly focussing on the radical shift away from Labour's transformational and communitarian agenda in favour of criteria based on efficiency and value‐for‐money. We present data from our interviews with local actors on the equality and social justice impacts of this re‐orientation of policy. We conclude by arguing against the view that Labour abandoned social justice suggesting that BSF was one of a number of policies through which equality was pursued, albeit by stealth.     

“Will it help the sheep?”: Why educate?

Educators with a passion for facilitating learning among undergraduate students believe that education for the common good is central to what they do. In this excerpt from her new book “Multiplication Is for White People”: Raising Expectations for Other People's Children, Lisa Delpit suggests that this is an essential view at every educational level.     

An ‘at‐risk’ curriculum for ‘at‐risk’ students? Special educational needs and disability in the new Australian Curriculum

The number of students who are ‘at risk’ including those with special education needs and or disabilities is increasing rapidly worldwide in all schools. This has prompted widespread debate regarding the impact of initiatives in Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting for this group of students. Teachers, parents and administrators need to have further information to enable them to contribute to the development of content, assessment and reporting processes in the curriculum that are inclusive, relevant, reliable and valid. This paper explores some of the issues and dilemmas raised by recent policy discussions regarding the inception of a first national Australian Curriculum. It draws purposively on literature relating to developments in England and Wales, where national curriculum provision has existed for over 25 years, as well as the responses of a group of stakeholders (teachers and leaders) from both England/Wales and Australian schools and settings. These data highlight both tension and opportunity in this area of work.     

“Did you do your homework?” Mathematics teachers’ homework follow‐up practices at middle school level

Teachers’ homework follow‐up practices, the in‐class strategies teachers use to monitor their students’ homework assignments, have an impact on their students’ homework behaviors and academic achievement. The current study explored the perspectives of middle school mathematics teachers on the three domains of homework follow‐up: the practices used in class, the purposes of each practice, and the aspects that may influence this process. Data were collected from two data sources (i.e., focus groups and classroom observations) and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings showed that teachers monitored homework either using a single strategy or a combination of strategies (e.g., checking homework completion and providing individual feedback) linked to a specific purpose (e.g., promote students’ involvement). The teachers also reported that they were under certain constraints when they delivered homework follow‐up practices (e.g., pressure to follow the curriculum), so their practices’ effectiveness sometimes can be compromised. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Desire for Increased Autonomy and Adolescents’ Perceptions of Peer Autonomy: “Everyone Else Can; Why Can’t I?”

Two studies examined adolescents' personal autonomy beliefs and their perceptions of peer autonomy. Study 1 sampled 527 adolescents (M = 15.40 years) and found that adolescents desired increased autonomy most over personal and multifaceted issues and least over moral and conventional issues. Younger adolescents and girls desired increased autonomy more than did older adolescents and boys, respectively. Overestimation of peer autonomy was moderate but stable. Finally, results indicated that adolescents who perceived their friends as having more autonomy than they did were more likely to desire increased autonomy over multifaceted and prudential issues. Study 2 sampled 170 early adolescents (M = 13.39 years) and used a longitudinal design to further support the conclusion that adolescents utilize peers as metrics to gauge the appropriate pacing of behavioral autonomy development.     

Experimental trials and ‘what works?’ in education: The case of grammar for writing

The place of evidence to inform educational effectiveness has received increasing attention internationally in the last two decades. An important contribution to evidence‐informed policy has been greater attention to experimental trials including randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The aim of this paper is to examine the use of evidence, particularly the use of evidence from experimental trials, to inform national curriculum policy. To do this the teaching of grammar to help pupils’ writing was selected as a case. Two well‐regarded and influential experimental trials that had a significant effect on policy, and that focused on the effectiveness of grammar teaching to support pupils’ writing, are examined in detail. In addition to the analysis of their methodology, the nature of the two trials is also considered in relation to other key studies in the field of grammar teaching for writing and a recently published robust RCT. The paper shows a significant and persistent mismatch between national curriculum policy in England and the robust evidence that is available with regard to the teaching of writing. It is concluded that there is a need for better evidence‐informed decisions by policy makers to ensure a national curriculum specification for writing that is more likely to have positive impact on pupils.     

“What Are You?” Conceptualizing the Complexities of Bicultural and Biracial College Student Experiences

Reflecting the increasing diversity of the United States, universities are seeing growing rates of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. The authors present culturally responsive suggestions to facilitate conceptualization and counseling with biracial and bicultural college students, integrating cognitions, behaviors, emotions, and relationships associated with culture and cultural identity of both culture of origin and mainstream U.S. culture. Recommendations for counseling an increasingly diverse student body are presented.     

Felt or False Smiles? Volitional Regulation of Emotional Expression in 4‐, 6‐, and 8‐Year‐Old Children

The development of volitional emotion regulation of expression was examined with a modified disappointing gift paradigm and strategy for coding children's expressions. Forty‐nine boys and 49 girls aged 4, 6, and 8 were motivated to volitionally deceive an observer by false smiling, regardless of whether they received an attractive, unattractive, or no gift. Ten naïve observers watched children's videotaped behavior in random order and judged the quality of emotion and type of gift. This impression analysis indicated that children's competence to volitionally regulate their expressions increased with age. In addition, this ability was positively associated with children's emotion understanding of how to differentiate between emotion and expression. Unexpectedly, girls did not display a superior volitional regulation of expression than boys.     

The Humble Pie – Half‐Baked or Well Done?

This article re‐examines the much maligned piechart and provides justification for its use. It identifies common pitfalls when drawing piecharts in Microsoft Excel and offers advice on how to avoid them.     

Happy To Be “Me?” Authenticity,Psychological Need Satisfaction,and Subjective Well‐Being in Adolescence

Adolescents have a strong desire to “be themselves.” How does experiencing authenticity—the sense of being one's true self—influence subjective well‐being? What allows adolescents to experience authenticity? This research tests a working model of how authenticity is implicated in adolescents’ well‐being. Using survey, diary, and experimental methodologies, four studies (total N = 759, age range = 12–17) supported the main tenets of the model. Authenticity (a) enhances well‐being, (b) covaries with satisfaction of psychological needs for relatedness and competence; is caused by satisfaction of the need for autonomy; and (c) mediates the link between need satisfaction and well‐being. Authenticity is more than a powerful motive: It has robust, replicable effects on well‐being and may thus be a pervasive force in positive youth development.