Children’s agency in the National Curriculum for England: a critical discourse analysis

Questions of children’s agency have experienced a resurgence in education theory over the past years. Yet, there have been few attempts to examine children’s agency in the context of a primary classroom from the viewpoint of the curriculum. This gap is being addressed by a longitudinal project exploring the impact of the National Curriculum for England on children’s agency through a critical discourse analysis of the curriculum text and an ethnography of three primary schools in England. This paper reports on the results of the critical discourse analysis examining how children’s agency is talked about (or silenced) in England’s curriculum

Ethical consumption as a Subjective Life Project: Reflexive Construction of an Ethical Self in the Contexts of Objective Reality

In this thesis, I explore and interpret ethical food consumption as a site of formation, negotiation, and articulation of individuals’ personal and social identities. Drawing on Margaret Archer's conceptualization of reflexivity as an essential human property and identity as a unique constellation of ultimate concerns about the world and our relationships with it, I develop an account of ethical consumer practices as subjective, reflexive, and intentional projects of morally concerned agents through which they attain their desired self-concepts and engage with corresponding social roles. By exploring the origins of the participants’ concerns over food ethics and tracing the evolution of their dietary commitments, I yield an understanding of how people develop ethical consumers identities as well as how they negotiate their moral food projects within the constantly changing objective conditions and subjective circumstances. Coming from a critical realist perspective, I examine the ways in which agency and structure interact to give rise to idiosyncratic ethical consumer practices and pursuits, the role that both agential and structural properties and powers play in shaping individuals’ engagement in ethical food consumption, and how both the continuities and inconsistencies of subjective ethical food commitments might be explained, thus aiming toward a more comprehensive social theory about the underlying causal mechanisms and generative principles of ethical consumer practices and identities. In doing so, I seek to put critical pressure on the conceptual fallacies and methodological biases that reside in the field of consumer research and, in counterbalance, point to a more integrated and balanced approach to studying, understanding, and explaining consumer behaviour in general and ethical consumer practices in particular. I contribute to larger theoretical debates on the relationships between consumption activities and the construction of individual identities as well as the interplay between agential subjectivity and structural objectivity in human practices and behaviours

Experiential Learning for Children Aged 4-14: A Rapid Evidence Assessment

A rapid evidence assessment (REA) about experiential learning in education was undertaken to synthesise research concerning children aged 4-14. The REA investigated the effects that approaches to experiential learning had on children’s motivation, engagement, agency, wellbeing, and academic achievement. Database searches were carried out of the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), the British Education Index, the Teacher Reference Center, the Education Database and APA PsycInfo to review peer-reviewed research studies published between 2013 and 2023. Studies were screened for their relevance, and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to assess the methodological quality of relevant studies. 88 studies were included in the final analysis. Synthesis of the findings of the 88 research studies showed positive effects for experiential learning approaches related to children’s motivation, engagement, agency, wellbeing, and academic achievement. Key effects included strong evidence for the beneficial effect of experiential learning on children’s science and maths achievement, and the positive effect that experiential learning had on the engagement and motivation of children who are at-risk, have special educational needs, have behavioural or emotional difficulties, or who are otherwise struggling in formal education. The implications of the REA include the importance of embedding experiential learning within the curriculum, and of connecting it to the wider community

Young children's engagement with objects in science museums: a rapid evidence assessment of research

This rapid evidence assessment (REA) of literature was conducted to aggregate knowledge about young children's engagement with objects in science museums. The review focuses on empirical studies published between 2000 and 2020 reporting on children in the age range from birth to eight years. Scrutiny of a final sample of 48 peer-reviewed papers indicated that certain museum object characteristics may arouse children's curiosity more than others. Children's interest in museum objects is enhanced and sustained by dialogical and collaborative activity with peers and adults, by sensory, emotional and cognitive engagement with objects, and by children having choice and freedom to explore museum spaces on their own terms. The review identifies there is limited evidence pertaining to children's visits to STEM museums and a need for theoretically robust empirical research with children, museum educators, teachers and parents from diverse communities