Paying the price: consequences for children’s education in prison in a market society

This article explores consequences for children’s education in custodial institutions in a contemporary market society, England and Wales. It finds that policy decision-making designed to ‘transform’ prison education for children is primarily influenced by a desire to limit the cost to the public purse of custodial placements. This paper argues that market values influence decision-making in the youth custody sector and shape the nature and quality of provision that children are permitted to access. The consequences associated with this include further fragmentation of prison provision for children, an imbalance in the types of custodial place made available, (with children disproportionately contained in the cheapest type of provision), geographical discrepancies and persistent high re-offending rates. The concern with the costs of custody is particularly prominent in a society subject to ‘austerity’ measures across a wide range of public services, particularly in the criminal justice sector (Ismail, 2020). However, it is inconsistent with contemporary knowledge and understanding of children in custody, their needs and their vulnerabilities. The transformation supposedly sought is unlikely to materialize while annual cost-per-child place is a dominant driving force. Instead, we need to start with an understanding of what individual support children in prison need in order to be ‘education ready’.     

Teaching to discuss controversial public issues in fragile times: Approaches of Israeli civics teacher educators

Civics teachers play a critical role in maintaining classroom environments that encourage discussions of controversial public issues. Thus, preparing new teachers to consider the role of such discussions is crucial. Building on theories of teacher knowledge development, this study explores how Israeli civics teacher-educators conceptualize discussions as part of their courses. The findings present four approaches that include: discussion as a pedagogical practice; discussion as a means for reflection; discussion as a way to bring the curriculum to life; and discussion as a vehicle that represents disciplinary content. Based on these findings, the role of discussion as an educational goal, not just a secondary means, will be argued.     

What should teacher educators know about technology? Perspectives and self-assessments

This article offers a first look at teacher educators’ (N = 336) perceptions of their technology competencies based on the Teacher Educator Technology Competencies (TETCs; Foulger, Graziano, Schmidt-Crawford, & Slykhuis, 2017). The participants generally rated their competence levels highly in relation to the TETCs. Although many participants reported that the TETCs adequately reflected the competencies required of them, they suggested various additions and changes to the TETCs. This mixed-method study advances understanding of teacher educators’ perceptions of the importance of various competences to their work and offers feedback from the field regarding which competencies might be missing from the TETCs.     

Modelling the long-run learning impact of the Covid-19 learning shock: Actions to (more than) mitigate loss

This paper uses a calibrated “pedagogical production function” model to estimate the potential long-term losses to children’s learning from the temporary shock of Covid-19 related school closures. It then models possible gains from two mitigation strategies. Without mitigation, children could lose more than a full year’s worth of learning from a three-month school closure because they will be behind the curriculum when they re-enter school and will fall further behind as time goes on. Remediation when children return to school reduces the long-term learning loss by half, but still leaves children more than half a year behind where they would have been with no shock. Remediation combined with long-term reorientation of curriculum to align with children’s learning levels fully mitigates the long-term learning loss due to the shock and surpasses the learning in the counterfactual of no shock by more than a full year’s worth of learning. Systems need to begin planning now for remediation programmes, and as they do so they should build programmes and train teachers in ways that can continue to produce benefits beyond the period immediately following reopening.     

Exploring student learning approaches on an initial teacher education programme: A comparison of mature learners and direct entry third-level students

This article compares the learning approaches of students on an initial teacher education programme. Using a mixed method approach, the study examines differences between mature learners and direct entry students, across the domains of deep, strategic and surface learning approaches. Following the quantitative phase, group interviews were conducted to gain additional insights into the factors, which impacted learning approach. Significant differences were evident between both cohorts. The key categories that contributed to learning approach included; motivation to learn, collaborative and competitive learning, prior educational experiences and school placement. The findings provide insights into the diversity of student cohorts.     

The Eton Montem custom c. 1750–1844: privilege,pageantry and sanctioned misrule

Montem, a triennial customary march by Eton scholars, consolidated into a public expression of patrician social identity under the patronage of the monarchy in the late eighteenth century. This analysis of Montem’s history traces its development from a boy-led pageant of misrule to a public performance of elite patriotism. The custom, which attracted national attention, sheds new light on boy governance and self-fashioning in the period’s elite schools. This article argues that a study of Montem disrupts the standard historiographical narrative of anarchy and violence in the great schools and suggests that boy culture was more complex than previously acknowledged.     

Bayesian reasoning in avalanche terrain: a theoretical investigation

In this article, I explore a Bayesian approach to avalanche decision-making. I motivate this perspective by highlighting a version of the base-rate fallacy and show that a similar pattern applies to decision-making in avalanche-terrain. I then draw out three theoretical lessons from adopting a Bayesian approach and discuss these lessons critically. Lastly, I highlight a number of challenges for avalanche educators when incorporating the Bayesian perspective in their curriculum.     

Dialogic processes that enable student teachers' learning about pupil learning in mentoring conversations in a Lesson Study field practice

This study investigates dialogic processes in student teachers' mentoring conversations in field practice, where Lesson Study (LS) was used as a context for establishing a dialogic learning community in one student group in science. We apply an analytical framework associated with Sociocultural Discourse Analysis to identify utterances that have the potential to create a dialogic space and contribute to ‘interthinking’ among the participants. The findings show the important role of the mentor teacher as a facilitator and a ‘knowledgeable other’, challenging the student teachers to reflect on chosen activities using predictions and detailed observations related to pupils' learning.     

Reconsidering the use of video clubs for student-teachers' learning during field placement: Lessons drawn from a longitudinal multiple case study

Although video clubs have been used to support (student) teachers' learning through reflection upon practice, less attention has been paid to their potential use for supporting changes in participants' practice over a period of time. Prior work has also largely treated (student) teachers as an undifferentiated whole that benefits in similar ways from video clubs. In this study, we problematize this assumption by drawing on three cases of student teachers to exemplify three different learning paths while participating in a video club during field placement. Reflecting on these findings, we discuss implications for differentiating the video-club approach to address different student teachers.     

From objects to subjects: Repositioning teachers as policy actors doing policy work

Within policy discourses, teachers are positioned as objects of reform who enact policies under rational systems of observation and accountability and are, therefore, situated as de-professionalized actors lacking expert knowledge. This research project asks relatively straight-forward questions: If practicing teachers were given a voice in political debates over urban education policy and reform, what would they say? What macro-level policy problems would they identify as being important? Findings indicate the primary policy problems include Systemic Inequity and Bad Policy. The primary policy solutions include, Schools as a Community Resource; Shared Decision-Making; Contextual Goals; and Time, Space and Resources.