Learning from a small state’s experience: Acknowledging the importance of context in implementing learner-centred pedagogy

The challenges of implementing learner-centred pedagogies have been well documented, noting that many reform efforts fail to consider important contextual factors.  With attention to the disparity between policy and practice, this study investigated the conditions under which teachers can enact learner-centred pedagogy in the Maldives using design-based research.  This is a theoretically oriented, participatory methodology exploring practical solutions in real-world settings. Working collaboratively with teachers from an island school, a pedagogical intervention based on learner-centred principles, was designed to fit the Maldivian context.  This article discusses the process of implementing the intervention, the challenges influencing its use, and the particular contextual factors impacting on learner-centred reform.  Analyses of the research data and the reflection on the research process highlighted the importance of addressing the particularities of small states in the implementation process and reinforced the need for close attention to contextual factors within reform efforts

“We cannot do away with exams: Parents believe in them, so does the wider community”. Reimagining the examination system in the Maldives

This article presents an exploratory analysis of the external secondary examination system in the Republic of Maldives. The school system is structured around primary grades following a local national curriculum, secondary grades leading to O-level (Ordinary Level) examinations and higher secondary grades leading to A-level (Advanced Level) examinations. Based on desk data, the article analyses different dimensions of secondary and higher secondary education enrolments and attainment levels. It considers the implications from the reliance on British international examinations for students and schools. In addition, there is an exploration of the National Curriculum and equity in secondary education in relation to gender-specific outcomes and outcomes for students in rural atolls in comparison to the outcomes in urban capital island, Male’. The article concludes by considering alternatives to the reliance on international examinations and potential options for national certification that may be more aligned to local needs and relevant to the context

Exploring Change and Continuities in Internationally Mobile Pre-Service Teachers’ Conceptualisations of Effective Teaching

: This qualitative study investigates the changes and continuities in conceptions of teaching and learning from course commencement to course completion for a group of international pre-service teachers undertaking a two-year Masters-level degree in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Data were collected through a series of graphic elicitation activities and ranking tasks at baseline and endpoint. Findings indicate that there was: a growing emphasis on student engagement and its linkages to student learning; a shift from viewing teaching as the transfer of knowledge to learning as an active process; and a more developed repertoire of professional language to explain what is valued and why. This study provides valuable insights into international pre-service teachers’ evolving conceptions of teaching and learning. These findings suggest that international pre-service teachers need many opportunities to interrogate and refine their understanding of teaching and learning and how this applies to the contexts in which they will teach

Investigating active learning reform in the small state of the Maldives: what works and under what circumstances?

© 2016 Dr. Rhonda Di BiaseGlobally, national governments and donor organisations have endorsed pedagogical reform in their efforts to improve the quality of education, yet disparity between policy and practice is well-documented. In the small state of the Maldives, the UNICEF supported Child Friendly School’s project and the new National Curriculum both endorse active learning pedagogy, but implementation challenges have been widely acknowledged. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate how teachers can enact active learning pedagogy in the Maldivian education system. It was conceived using design-based research, an interventionist methodology, which examines the conditions that influence how educational innovations work in real-life practice. The study was situated in an island school selected for offering optimum conditions for implementation of the pedagogical intervention, and was conducted over two phases: a contextual analysis phase; and an intervention phase. Using an adaptation of the World Café (J. Brown & Isaacs, 2005), a participatory approach to data collection, the contextual analysis was undertaken with members of the school community—parents, teachers and school leadership—to identify local priorities and perspectives of active learning. The results from this phase revealed features of active learning considered important in the school community: the active participation of students; the use of group work to aid learning; emphasis on the role of teacher as facilitator; the necessity for a friendly classroom environment; and the potential of active learning to cater more equally for all students. Embracing these features of active learning, a pedagogical intervention was developed in collaboration with teachers and school management, to support teachers’ enactment of active learning in the school. The intervention, an instructional model, was then enacted in the island school with two groups of primary teachers and studied over eight months. Data on the teachers’ use of the instructional model were collected through multiple sources that included, teacher recording booklets, questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations. The data revealed the factors that both supported and inhibited teachers’ use of the intervention. These were converted into design principles; an anticipated outcome of design-based research, highlighting three broad areas that revealed what worked in what circumstances, and represented the study’s key findings identifying the need to: • develop a contextually relevant model of active learning that respects local priorities, fits with the circumstances of teachers’ work, and takes into account the available resources; and moves from conceptual ambiguity to operational clarity; • support teachers’ knowledge-practice refinement by creating space for reform, providing on-going classroom-based support and drawing on available resources; and • foster a change-welcoming school reform approach through an inclusive process that mobilises community participation. The conceptual framework of design principles that evolved from the study can potentially guide like schools and communities engaging with reform around active learning pedagogy. It is recommended that future research explores the transferability of these design principles to other contexts

Using design-based research to explore the influence of context in promoting pedagogical reform

Many developing countries are seeking to improve the quality of education by promoting the use of learner-centred pedagogy as part of system wide reform.  Yet many studies reveal a gap between what is envisaged in policy and what happens in practice and the inherent limitations of uncritical adoption of 'best practice' from elsewhere into local contexts. Therefore design-based research (DBR), as an interventionist approach, was selected to investigate the conditions under which the innovation of learner-centred education can be implemented in the authentic setting of a Maldivian island school.  The paper elaborates the rationale underpinning this choice and a discussion of the defining features of DBR as they applied in this study: acknowledging the importance of context; facilitating collaboration between researcher and participants; and attending to a theoretical output of the research. The participatory approach which underpinned how DBR was utilised in the study and its implications for enhancing the context-appropriateness of and teachers' engagement with the reforms is also discussed.  In so doing, the paper illustrates the ways in which the defining features of DBR respond to the call for better attention to context as a means for enabling greater success of global reform efforts

Editorial

The distinctive features of small states provide the focus for this special issue. Each of the papers explores issues of global significance including curriculum and pedagogical reform, language and literacy policies, internalising teacher education and research partnerships.  Whilst small states, provide the context for the discussion of these issues, each paper offers insights that have wider application. Acknowledging the contextual features of small states can help elucidate the significance of multi-layered contextual factors in educational reform and the ways in which global policies have been mediated locally.

Mediating global reforms locally: A study of the enabling conditions for active learning in a Maldivian island school

This paper explores active learning reform in the small state of the Maldives. Acknowledging the implementation challenges of active learning approaches globally, the study explored the policy-practice intersection, by examining the experiences of one island school and its approach to promoting active learning pedagogy. The school was selected for its proactive approach to adopting innovation. Within the overarching methodology of design-based research, a study of the context was undertaken to investigate the enabling conditions for reform. Drawing on Bronfrenbrenner’s (1979) ecological framework this paper considers factors within the school and island context that played an enabling role in the implementation of active learning.  Data were collected through interviews from key stakeholders within the school.  The findings identified the following key features in developing a change-welcoming school: the role of school leadership in leading change; the importance of parent-school collaboration; the school’s proactive approach to managing existing resources; and the critical role of leading teachers in providing classroom-based support. These were converted into design principles, an output of DBR, that are intended as guidelines for others implementing similar reforms in related contexts.

Insights into pedagogical renewal : Examining international pre-service teachers’ changing conceptions of learner-centred education

This article explores pedagogical renewal through an analysis of vignettes from four international pre-service teachers in an initial teacher education programme at an Australian university where learner-centred practices are prioritised. To understand their pedagogical journeys during their course, data was collected through a series of questions and graphic elicitation activities at the start and endpoint of their studies. From this data, vignettes were created to illustrate changes and continuities of participants’ understandings of teaching and learning, and to gain insights into how these conceptions evolved in distinct ways throughout the course. Pedagogical renewal involves learning new skills and knowledge, understanding how new knowledge is linked to practice, and recognising how underlying beliefs influence the selection, enactment, and reflection of pedagogical approaches. These factors point to the importance of individual agency in this process

The (in)visibility of pedagogical practices: Illustrations from three Asian-Pacific countries

This paper reports the findings of a meta-synthesis of studies which investigated the ways in which teachers described their pedagogical practices in three different contexts: the Maldives, Australia and Nepal. Each of the studies was focused on making teachers’ classroom practices visible in an effort to establish a shared language and understanding of practices relevant to context. We were interested in what teachers say about their teaching practice and the ideas they hold that underpin these acts of teaching. Our analysis, across our respective studies, revealed insights to the questions: how teachers name their practices; how teachers articulate their understanding of these practices; and, how teachers identify priorities for their practice. Insights drawn from our meta-synthesis explore the implications of naming practices and the importance of considering teacher voice in determining visions of effective teaching. What teachers believe and do needs to be taken into account if professional development and reform initiatives are to be enacted in ways that are relevant and sustainable. The findings have implications for improving the quality of education and approaches to teachers’ professional development