32 research outputs found
âHere to support anybody who needs to comeâ? An investigation of the provision for EAL pupils in secondary school libraries in England
This paper presents the findings of a mixed methods investigation of the effectiveness of provision for
EAL pupils by secondary school libraries in England. Data from a quantitative survey of secondary
school librarians are triangulated with those of qualitative interviews with staff responsible for EAL
provision. A picture emerges of a hybrid environment which addresses a number of the educational,
cultural and social needs of EAL learners, but in which a series of barriers to effective provision are
also identified. Recommendations are made to key stakeholder groups for the short and long term
improvement of EAL provision, and for further research
What, why and howâthe policy, purpose and practice of grammatical terminology
© 2018, © 2018 National Association for the Teaching of English. This article critically examines the literature around grammar and grammatical terminology. It is essentially a critical consideration of the debates in England and Wales in four main parts. Part 1 considers debates in policy, the âWhatâ, i.e. grammatical terminology from the perspective of national policy as defined by the English National Curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2, and the Key Stage 2 âGrammar, Punctuation and Spelling Testâ. Part 2, Debates in Purpose, examines the âWhyâ: it views grammatical terminology through a more theoretical lens which considers the potential purpose and value of explicit grammatical terminology in the classroom. Part 3 touches upon Debates in Practice, the âHowâ, examining what is already understood about the teaching of grammatical terminology in terms of grammar pedagogy, language acquisition and word learning. While each part has a distinct focus, the field is complex with overlap and interrelated issues. The final part looks briefly at teacher and pupil perspectives
Epistemic insights: Contemplating tensions between policy influences and creativity in school science
Creativity and the way it could be supported in schools is understood differently by policy makers, practitioners and scientists. This article reviews, with a chronological lens, the development of policies that include teaching creativity and teaching for creativity. The epistemic tensions between the intentions of government and the nature of creativity as it emerges in learning or scientific work is introduced and reflected upon. There have been more than nine key educational policies that have been introduced over the last 50 years. Each of these are considered in this article and related to the ways that creativity is understood and expected to be taught, supported or enacted in schools by policy makers. In light of the need to support creativity as a key twentyâfirstâcentury skill, to ultimately enable current students (who will become the next generation of scientists) to develop the capabilities to address global concerns, this article highlights issues related to this issue. Epistemic insights are offered that relate to the development of aspects of creativity, including questioning, developing alternate ideas, âseeingâ things differently, innovation, curiosity, problem solving and evaluating. The ways that policy related to creativity in science appears not to recognise how creativity can be reified in these ways in schools suggests the need for rapid review, especially in light of the upcoming international creativity tests in 2021
Disrupting colonial discourses in the Geography curriculum during the introduction of British Values policy in schools
The main purpose of this article is to expose and disrupt discourses dominating global development in an English school geography textbook chapter. The study was prompted by a teacherâs encounter with cultural difference in a geography lesson in South Korea. I investigate the issues raised through the lens of a new curriculum policy in English schools called âPromoting Fundamental British Valuesâ which forms part of Englandâs education-securitisation agenda, a topic of international attention. Following contextualisation across research fields and in recent curriculum and assessment policy reform, I bring together theoretical perspectives from curriculum studies and Continental philosophy that do not usually speak to each other, to construct a new analytical approach. I identify three key themes, each informed by colonial logic: âdevelopmentâ, ânumerical indicatorsâ and âlearning to divide the worldâ. The inquiry appears to expose a tension between the knowledge of the textbook chapter and the purported aims of the British Values curriculum policy, but further investigation reveals the two to be connected through common colonial values. The findings are relevant to teachers, publishers, textbook authors, policy makers and curriculum researchers. I recommend a refreshed curriculum agenda with the politics of knowledge and ethical global relations at its centre