Consumer Food Ethics: Considerations of Vulnerability, Suffering, and Harm

Over the past years, various accounts of ethical consumption have been produced which identify certain concepts as central to mediating the ethical relationship between the consumer and the consumed. Scholars across disciplinary fields have explored how individuals construe their ethical consumption responsibilities and commitments through the notions of identity, taking care and doing good, proximity and distance, suggesting the centrality of these themes to consumer engagement in ethical practices. This paper contributes to the body of research concerned with unravelling consumers’ conceptually mediated relationship to moral and ethical issues in the sphere of consumption by revealing a new set of ideas through which people interpret and relate to consumption ethics. Drawing upon findings from an empirical study on self-perceived ethical food consumers, I demonstrate that people’s perceptions and views of ethical problems around consumption are bound up with notions of vulnerability, suffering, and harm, and that these notions permeate and impact all aspects of ethical consumer behaviour. The paper concludes by arguing that we need to further explore the conceptual underpinnings of ethical consumer commitments and practices, and expand the conceptual toolkit of research on ethical consumption to account for a wider range of ideas and notions that shape individual as well as collective motivations, intentions, and actions throughout the process of becoming and being an ethical consumer. Finally, the paper suggests a specific analytical framework to facilitate such research

Young children's agency in the science museum: insights from the use of storytelling in object-rich galleries

This paper draws on a multi-phase project that sought to understand and increase young children’s engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) objects. The paper presents findings from one aspect of this project that involved using storytelling to support young children’s agency with STEM objects in a UK science museum. The qualitative research involved observing and interviewing 25 children aged 4–7 years in family and school groups. The findings demonstrate the importance of acknowledging and promoting young children’s agency in museum settings. They suggest that providing children with opportunities to exercise agency by them taking control and activating their prior knowledge and interests during museum visits increases their engagement, enjoyment, and confidence. The study also highlights the important role that adults, including parents, teachers, and museum staff, play in facilitating children’s agency and increasing their engagement with museum objects and spaces

Evaluation Protocol: Grammar and Writing Research Project

This GWRP will evaluate the effectiveness of the manualised Englicious approach to teaching grammar with the aim of improving pupils’ writing. Englicious is an innovative web-based approach to grammar teaching. It has not yet been subject to an experimental trial of its effectiveness. We propose a randomised controlled efficacy trial as the most robust and appropriate method to test the effectiveness of this teaching intervention. The aims of the project are, a) to contribute to the knowledge base in relation to the ways in which the teaching of grammar affects pupils’ writing; b) to support teachers in relation to the teaching of writing required by the National Curriculum in England, and c) to bring new evidence to the attention of policy makers who are responsible for the teaching of English, and specifically grammar, in the National Curriculum. The overarching mixed methods research design includes both quantitative and qualitative work with complementary aims

Learner Agency and the Curriculum: a Critical Realist Perspective

Agency, understood as the capacity to act independently and to make one's own choices, is considered central to children's development. Thus, education, and hence education curricula, have a role in the development of learner agency. While curriculum development is a key focus for educational theory, research, policy, and classroom practice, the potential implications of curriculum content selections for learner agency remain underexplored. Theoretically this paper engages with critical realism, explaining how it can provide theoretical foundation for a more comprehensive view of learner agency and, by implication, more balanced curricula. Empirically, the paper draws on the findings from a content analysis of the national curriculum documents of four countries with relatively high scores in international comparative tables, England, Australia, Hong-Kong, and Canada, to develop a new typology of primary curricula. Based on the extent of emphasis placed on knowledge versus skills, values, and attitudes, three types of curricula were identified: knowledge-based, skills-oriented, and learner-centred. Due to its significant theoretical and practical influence globally, we focus on the knowledge-based model and its likely impact on students' agency. We conclude by highlighting the importance of making learner agency a key orientation of the curriculum and suggesting directions for future research

CIE0192 - The impact of COVID-19 on education and children's services: Written evidence submitted by Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy, UCL Institute of Education

This submission has been authored by the research team of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0 to 11 years) (HHCP). The HHCP is a research centre in the UCL Institute of Education. The mission of the HHCP is to improve children’s learning through better pedagogy. Our expertise is particularly suited to address the inquiry focus on, “Support for pupils and families during closures”. The evidence that we offer in this submission builds on two sources: A) the outcome of our new very recent research with HHCP stakeholders, specifically addressing the concerns of the House of Commons Education Committee; B) our combined expertise in researching education in early childhood and primary education