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There is a growth in the use of robotic telepresence technology, allowing users to remotely access an environment, to support the inclusion/attendance of school pupils experiencing physical/emotional difficulties in the UK. Educational psychologists (EPs) are likely to encounter robotic telepresence technology due to their role in supporting pupil inclusion. Despite the Department for Education exploring this technology as a form of alternative provision, there is a lack of research exploring perceptions around robotic telepresence technology. The current review explores perspectives of users. Database searches were conducted between July 2021 and September 2021, identifying studies published within the last ten years. Eleven papers met the inclusion criteria. The review identified four inductive themes: potential for robotic telepresence technology to promote inclusion; potential for robotic telepresence technology to facilitate engagement; technical design factors influencing utility; and acceptability of robotic telepresence technology to users. Findings are discussed alongside implications for educational psychologists/future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using CiteSpace to draw a keyword co-occurrence knowledge map for 1,048 research papers on the quality of higher education from 2000 to 2014 in the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index database, we found that over the past 15 years, research on the quality of Chinese higher education was clearly oriented toward policies, and a good interactive relationship formed between research and policy. Looking at research topics, apart from macrodiscussions of the spirit of several educational reforms, the relevant topics are mainly focused on higher education quality issues in the massification stage, issues of higher education academic management, issues of student cultivation, and issues of ensuring and evaluating higher education quality. Of these, issues of ensuring and evaluating higher education quality have continually been the mainstream of research on Chinese higher education quality, and there has been an increasing trend of emphasizing ensuring internal quality within schools, emphasizing student participation, and evaluating the effectiveness of student learning. Scholars had a renewed focus on the topics of higher education academic management and student cultivation after 2010, and truly improving the quality of higher education will become a future hot topic of study, however there is an urgent need for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

World university rankings use the weight-and-sum approach to process data. Although this seems to pass the common sense test, it has statistical problems. In recent years, seven such problems have been uncovered: spurious precision, weight discrepancies, assumed mutual compensation, indictor redundancy, inter-system discrepancy, negligence of indicator scores and inconsistency between changes in ranking and ‘Overall’. These issues render the validity of ranking results suspect. Moreover, discussion on problems in world university ranking has been conducted mostly at the verbal level with little substantiation of supporting statistics. It is argued that discussion on ranking issues needs statistical evidential support. Modifications to the approach of processing ranking data are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research set out to compare the quality, length and nature of (1) exam responses in combined question and answer booklets, with (2) responses in separate answer booklets in order to inform choices about response format. Combined booklets are thought to support candidates by giving more information on what is expected of them. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the use of combined booklets may encourage students to attempt an answer rather than write nothing. However, candidates may be wasting time if they write more in order to fill the space but this extra response is not worth extra credit. Questions from a geography AS-level past paper were arranged to form two subtests. Over 400 students each attempted one part of the test in a combined paper and one part in a separate booklet. Six students were interviewed after taking the test. Four examiners marked the scripts and completed coding sheets to record the length of responses and which of a number of options about the nature of the responses applied (e.g. Not enough depth, Evidence of 'gap-filling'/irrelevance). On both parts of the test, the mean total scores were found to be significantly higher with the combined paper than the separate booklet. The combined format often prompted longer answers and for most items elicited many more full-length answers. The combined format tended to encourage students to show their depth of knowledge and understanding, elicit fewer incidences of irrelevance (or gap-filling), reduce the frequency of good answers that were not concise and increase the occurrence of full, concise responses. The combined format gave students better information on what was needed and encouraged them to show their knowledge, understanding and skills more fully. This confirms the view that this format is preferable for exam papers requiring short to medium-length responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the findings of a mixed-methods study which investigates the socio-cultural impacts of UK gendered school sport uniform and the role uniform plays in shaping female school sport experiences. Drawing on an extensive analytical survey with over 400 women of all-ages and 8 interviews with women aged 18–24, it explores how school sport uniform directly impacts female sporting experiences and participation in physical activity, and how uniform policy could be changed to promote greater female sport participation. Gendered school sport uniform continues to operate as a socio-spatial mechanism that names, frames and positions young people in heteronormative school sport spaces. This paper assesses how gendered school sport uniform contributes to the disciplining of the 'ideal feminine body' in schoolgirls and the construction of behavioural gender binaries in sport. The data reveal gendered sport uniform influences the development of a 'fear of masculinisation' in sport and common athletic-feminine identity tensions in teenage girls. The research finds gendered school sport uniform plays a major role in the high drop-out rates of teenage girls in school sport and offers practical insight into how policy could be changed to promote inclusivity, comfort and greater female sport participation. This paper proposes redesigning traditional gendered school sport policy to focus on 'enabling' participation has huge potential to transform female embodied and psychological experiences of school sport and increase school sport participation and enjoyment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This inquiry had 2 components: (1) the first was substantive and focused on the comparability of paper-based and computer-based test forms and (2) the second was a within-study comparison wherein a quasi-experimental method, propensity score matching, was compared with a credible benchmark method, a within-subjects design. The tests used in the comparison of online tests and paper-based tests were End-of-Course tests in Algebra and English, in a statewide high school testing program. Students were tested in Grades 8 and 9. In general, the substantive studies suggested that the online and paper tests appeared to be measuring the same underlying constructs with the same level of reliability. The within-study portion of the investigation indicated that propensity score matching study yielded results that were virtually identical to the outcome of the more conventional within-subjects experimental design. Both the methodological and substantive aspects of this investigation yielded outcomes that should be of interest to investigators in both of these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper lies in our special interest in women leaders and those aspiring to leadership positions in schools and other educational contexts within Australia. Leadership is a gendered concept, and due to a myriad of factors including conscious and unconscious bias, and the challenges of balancing career with other life commitment, the reality is that women's career journeys are different from men's. Women's unique career trajectories have implications for achieving their leadership potential. In addition to reviewing some of the extant literature in the area of women in educational leadership, we share our experiences and reflections based on our research and the leadership development programmes we have run for women mainly in Australia. These programmes have reinforced to us their value, place, and contribution to enhancing women's capacities for leadership. In this paper, we address the following four key questions as they pertain to women leaders within the Australian context: (1) Why a focus on gender and leadership? (2) What are some of the barriers impeding women leaders? (3) Why is it important to have multiple faces of leadership? (4) Why is women's leadership development everyone's responsibility? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the breadth of Forest School research literature spanning the past ten years in order to categorise theorisations across the papers. As Forest Schools in the UK are still a fairly recent development research is still limited in quantity and can lack theorisation at a broader level of abstraction. The systematic literature review draws largely on the framework produced by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) ([2019b]. What is a Systematic Review? Accessed: 13 August 2020. http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=67). The paper highlights a set of overarching themes for Forest School research as well as providing a conceptual map representing three distinct contexts: early years, special education needs and disability, and formal education. In addition, a set of more abstract themes emerged from work associated with the Forest School space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper problematizes the experience of temporality in school education and explores its potentialities, examining the implications for educational justice in and for qualitative research. In a first stage, we develop a pars destruens of how the experience of temporality takes place as a transversal dimension of school activities. Using phenomenological perspective as theoretical and critical lens, we show that the objective of this approach is to organize time and experience in a standardized, contradictory, and tense manner; at the same time, we describe a pars construens of the experience of temporality, endowed with a horizon of possibilities: the school as free time that contributes to questioning certain aspects in relation to temporality as a project of progress in education, without failures, without different rhythms. These approaches propose a link between experience of temporality and educational justice that we discuss in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across Eastern Germany, many castles and stately homes were used as shops, schools or community buildings during the GDR. Since the 1990s, many of them have been turned into museums. This paper discusses the challenges of dealing with the history of socialist reuse in East-German heritage buildings comparing the former Prussian castles of Schönhausen (Berlin) and Rheinsberg (Northern Brandenburg). The comparison is based on five in-depth semi-structured interviews providing insights into the considerations of curatorial decision makers. It shows that there is still a high sense of uncertainty in how to address the GDR past, in particular when the role of the building was not clearly political. Personal recollections of the recent past lead to uneasiness in addressing this part of history. At the same time, the paper shows how attitudes have changed over time. Today, the GDR past is increasingly seen as an opportunity to connect to a wider audience and foster a more participatory and democratic memory culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few notions seem to capture the imagination of education policymakers today as completely as digitalization and leadership. Through these two, schools are believed to become transformed, and in turn, these transformed schools will transform people and society. This paper critically analyzes a Swedish official digital policy instrument that materializes digitalized school leadership practice. The policy instrument is made available as a 'helpful tool' by a Swedish official education agency. The paper scrutinizes the policy knowledge process set to work within the instrument by the agency. Particularly, how the instrument may influence people to come to know and change schools, and how responsibility and risk of digitalization in schools seems to first be transferred to, and then between, people in schools. The paper is concluded by a discussion of how (a) three knowledge phases interact in the knowledge process of the instrument, (b) the technical – rather than social – solution that digitalized school leadership practice is found to be, and (c) implications for digitalization in schools as a social, cultural and historical phenomenon of interest to research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical information systems (GIS) were phased into the geography curriculum of South African schools from 2006-2008 as part of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for grades 10-12. Since its introduction, GIS education in schools across the country has been met with a number of challenges including the cost of purchasing the hardware and software required to elucidate the basic concepts of GIS to learners. This article examines the introduction of GIS education in schools in South Africa. The development and distribution of a paper-based GIS educational package for resource-poor schools in the country is also highlighted. Preliminary educator and learner evaluations of the paper-based GIS package are discussed and the broader learning opportunities and benefits associated with flexible teaching mechanisms are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines school management and policies in Germany and Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, which is comparative and qualitative, explores the interrelationship between different levels of governance and the responses of teacher unions. The inquiry is informed by the perspectives of historical institutionalism and path dependency, and the document analysis is conducted by utilising the justification categories of value, collective, and formal and procedural driven arguments. We argue the contestation which occurred between different levels of school governance and the teacher unions amidst the pandemic created the potential for changes in policy settings and influence over the administration of schooling. However, there is no indication of fundamental shifts in the organisation, policy direction or control over schooling in Germany or Australia. Instead, there is a conformity to established institutional arrangements and path dependencies, which secure and protect the vested interests of the different policy actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools are critical spaces for young men from refugee backgrounds. They play an integral role in literacy development, educational attainment, and providing a sense of belonging. Inclusive education practices for this group are largely absent in Australian schools. Research shows focusing on these young men from a non-deficit position assists with inclusivity. There is a lack of research exploring the agentic practices of young men from refugee backgrounds within schools. This paper explores the symbolic value of swagger for a group of young men from refugee backgrounds at a high school in Australia. A Bourdieusian theoretical framework guided critical awareness of power in schools. This research shows how a group of young men found a meaningful way to acquire social and cultural capital. Despite the school's constraints, this group developed a group identity reflected in their clothing and embodied dispositions referred to here as swagger. Our findings demonstrate the complex power relations at work, including the opportunity for the young men to resist and be included. In the spirit of Bourdieu's concern for reflexivity our findings point to the need for schools, teachers, and education policy makers to consider the workings of power in schools in more considered ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University attrition prevention strategies are typically generic, centrally managed, whole of university strategies that have emerged from an examination of whole of university attrition data. This paper takes an intra-organisational comparative approach, through the examination of faculty and program attrition rates of students who joined an Australian university in the first term of 2004. The faculty with the highest attrition had a rate two-and-a-half times that of the faculty with the lowest rate, and in programs with 40 or more students enrolled the program with the highest attrition had a rate over five times that of the program with the lowest rate. The paper identifies five practical implications of these findings and concludes that investigating the causes of these differences will help in understanding student attrition. It also suggests that universities wishing to reduce student attrition may benefit from adopting integrated and situated strategies that take into account faculty and program differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the 19th biennial Interdisciplinary Conference on Netherlandic Studies. The antebellum New York Historical Society differed from educational ministers who oversaw German International Schools in the Netherlands prior to and during Nazi rule, both saw education as a central component to the development of narratives of national unity.

Global commitments to the education of children with disabilities, have led to progressive policy developments in India, and a surge in the enrolment of children who were traditionally excluded from the formal education system. This paper examines the perceptions and practices of mainstream teachers in rural government schools, within the context of increased learner diversity, focusing on how teachers understand, and respond to, the needs of children with disabilities. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers and classroom observations, in six primary schools, in three districts of Haryana. Our findings suggest that deficit-oriented views dominated teacher thinking, but they showed a readiness to engage with disability issues, recognising the value of education for all. However, they struggled in their classroom practices in relation to meeting diverse learner needs and exclusionary practices were further amplified for children with disabilities. Teachers were unwilling to take responsibility for the learning of children with disabilities, expressing significant concerns about their own preparedness, while highlighting the lack of effective and appropriate support structures. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the pressing need for effective teacher professional development opportunities and other support structures, to provide quality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, there are expectations internationally that schools will use research to inform their improvement initiatives. Within this context, this paper brings together findings from two large-scale Australian studies – the Monash Q Project and the University of Newcastle's Quality Teaching Rounds Project – to explore educators' patterns of engagement with research. The combination of these studies provides data from a larger and more diverse sample (n = 774) than other recent Australian studies, and integrates insights from direct and indirect approaches to investigating educators' research engagement. The analysis highlights several common themes associated with educators' research use including: the perceived credibility of different sources; the relevance and usability of research; and affordances of access to research and time to use it well in practice. Newer and more nuanced insights include: the interrelationships between collaborative and directed research use; the need for research to be convenient in terms of access and usability; the role of trusted colleagues in helping to bridge gaps between research and practice; and educators' distrust of research itself. The paper argues that these insights provide important cues as to how systems and school leaders can help educators to increase and improve their use of research in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary discourse, sexuality is being presented as something fluid, with research persisting in framing sexuality as negotiable to some extent. This way of examining sexuality is problematic because as one discovers how identity changes, a certain terminology, such as 'trend' or 'phase' becomes prominent giving the illusion Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans + (LGBT+) pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are easily influenced and too immature to form LGBT+ identities because of their SEND. Educators viewing sexuality and gender identity as a phase/trend can result in providing limited support due to the misconception that information about LGBT+ concepts is unimportant for pupils with SEND or that one can simply stop being LGBT+. This paper discusses Special Educational Needs (SEN) teachers' views involving their pupils' ways of exploring their LGBT+ identities and examines how this links to the misconception of their sexuality and gender as a phase/a trend due to their SEND. The paper is framed by intersectionality which allows for a detailed analysis of how identities interact when used as an analytic tool. The paper calls for more nuanced thinking of sexuality and gender in the lives of LGBT+ pupils with SEND, which will help to decrease inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As homophobia, transphobia and biphobia continue to permeate local and global contexts, the role of allies has been recognized as beneficial in supporting equity for LGBTQI+ communities. The concept of LGBTQA+ allyship has also been controversial, with some stakeholders disagreeing about who is an ally and what this role entails. In the academic literature, there is also a scarcity of knowledge examining the interrelation between LGBTQA+ allyship and activism. This paper focuses on deepening historical and cultural understandings regarding the nexus between LGBTQA+ allyship and activism. Underpinned by queer, trans, feminist and intersectional lenses, the paper delineates the LGBTQA+ ally movement and the importance of moving beyond reductionist paradigms to adopt a systemic approach to inclusion, especially in school communities. The paper unpacks diverse definitions of allyship, from those associated with mobilizing the power and privilege of straight, cisgender individuals, to the concept of allyship which includes resilient leadership within LGBTQA+ communities, as well as those, which negotiate and transform fixed and reductive boundaries of gender and sexuality. Recommendations are made for developing LGBTQA+ ally intersectional programmes, characterized by collaborative, expansive and affirmative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the curriculum model developed for an ambitious interprofessional education programme for health and social care professions implemented in two universities in the south of England (the New Generation Project). An outline of how the New Generation Project has interpreted the meaning of interprofessional learning is presented first. This is followed by an outline of the structure of the programme, describing both learning in common and interprofessional learning components. The pedagogies underpinning this curriculum initiative are presented and an integrated pedagogical model, facilitated collaborative interprofessional learning, is proposed. The New Generation Project curriculum is then discussed as an extension of an established typology of interprofessional education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the subjectivation of students in light of the increasing amounts of digital data that are now being produced within schools. Taking a lead from critical data studies and the sociology of numbers, the paper draws on staff interviews in three Australian secondary schools to explore the various types of student data being generated, and the forms of student subjectivities that result. In particular, the paper contrasts the 'holistic' possibilities that some school leaders and administrators ascribe to data in terms of expanding the capacity to 'know' students, against the limited ways that data is actually being used within the schools. Most notably, the paper details how digital data appears to be configured within schools' official data procedures and practices to build student subjectivities and position students in narrow terms of performance and attendance. The paper also highlights how teachers make practical use of these limited data 'profiles' in a relational manner – as a way of stimulating dialogue with students to know them better, rather than a source of precise calculation. In this sense, the paper considers how 'data' might be reframed in educational discourse as a practical starting-point for teacher inquiry and professional judgment rather than an imagined source of all-encompassing knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how facial recognition technology is coming to find a place in contemporary schooling. Drawing on the 'script analysis' approach from the field of Science and Technology Studies, the paper examines the development of a facial recognition-based classroom recognition system by an Australian start-up company – 'AutoRoll'. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary data, the paper details the ongoing negotiations and mechanisms of adjustment between start-up founders, developers, marketers, policy and education actors as this socio-technical object progresses through successive phases of scripting, deinscripting and rescripting. These accounts illustrate how an initially contested technology enters a local educational system and begins to be sold to schools. In particular, the paper considers the ways in which a spirit of tech industry 'solutionism' is used to manufacture trust and legitimacy in the face of the disjointed governance and limited oversight of ed-tech by government and other public agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a scoping review of, firstly, how teachers use digital technologies for school-based assessment, and secondly, how these assessment-purposed digital technologies are used in teacher- and student-centred pedagogies. It draws on research about the use of assessment-purposed digital technologies in school settings, published from 2009 to 2019 in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. The findings indicate automated marking and computer- and web-based assessment technologies support established school-based assessment practices, and that game-based and virtual/augmented environments and ePortfolios diversify the modes of assessment and the evidence of learning collected. These technologies improve the efficiency of assessment practices in teacher-centred pedagogies and provide latitude to assess evidence of learning from more diverse modes of engagement in student-centred pedagogies. Current research commonly focuses on validating specific technologies and most commonly relates to automated assessment of closed outcomes within a narrow range of learning areas; these limits indicate opportunities for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past 20 years have seen the steady 'datafication' of school systems – i.e. the rendering of key aspects of school practice into data that is digitally collected, processed and circulated. In contrast to assumptions of 'data-driven' schools as sites of more efficient and automated forms of data work, this paper examines the extensive human labour that now supports data production within schools. Drawing on in-depth interview data generated within three Australian secondary schools, the paper explores three distinct stages of data production involving the increased labour of teachers, school leaders, administrative and technical staff, parents and students. These findings highlight how the production of digital data within schools is associated with heightened levels of human labour – from formally recognised activities to less visible infrastructural maintenance and 'repair' work. The paper concludes by discussing how 'school data' corresponds with broader tensions relating to school working conditions, occupational cultures, employment relations and worker organisation. Rather than being a source of more efficient and machine-led work with data, the increased prevalence of digital data seems to perpetuate some of the less desirable features of schools as workplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like most higher education institutions, Catholic universities experience changes and pressures due to university rankings, education marketisation, and diverse student bodies. As part of the Catholic Church, these institutions must also be faithful to their unique religious identity and mission. In this paper focusing on Jesuit institutions, the concept of creative tension is explored as it operates in the student, faculty, and institutional levels. For students, Jesuit universities make efforts to balance both professional and holistic education; for faculty, the focus is on the balance of professional and institutional involvement; for institutions, the balance of teaching and research, and service for justice and faith. The paper discusses how these tensions are present in Jesuit schools, and how its creativity is the product of dialogue and discernment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School self-evaluation is a low-stakes policy recently mandated in Ireland and while schools are becoming more consistent in engaging in this internal mode of evaluation, their engagement has not been uniform. This paper provides new ways of thinking about, understanding, and explaining how school self-evaluation plays out in Irish schools. Subscribing to the view that policies are not simply implemented but enacted through the creative processes of interpretation and translation, this paper shows how school self-evaluation is performed in Irish schools in various ways by various people. We identify numerous policy actors in our qualitative data: narrators, entrepreneurs, outsiders, transactors, enthusiasts, translators, critics, and receivers. This assortment of actors helps to bring school self-evaluation to life but as it comprises heterogeneous entities with varying characteristics, levels of experience, and motivations it is simply not possible for this policy to be implemented in schools as policymakers envisage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how teachers see policy and how the visibility of various aspects of policymaking are mediated by our school contexts. As a perspective from a K-12 classroom teacher conducting policy research with other classroom teachers, this paper also explores how teachers, in turn, might make our policy work visible to ourselves and the implications for teacher agency. Teachers in the study took part in a two-year participatory action research endeavour, joining school-based policy inquiry groups where we identified policies, mapped policymaking processes, and discussed the implications of our contexts. On one hand, these engagements highlight the central role a school's institutional narratives and professional culture play in constructing the ways we see policy. At the same time, they point to how our seeing exceeds and moves with and through such constraints. With reference to postcolonial interpretations of agency, I describe how as part of inquiry teachers constructed spaces for ambiguity and alternative accounts, and in doing so movement and difference, in policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to review controlled studies on the effectiveness of primary-school-based art therapy to assess quality, synthesise findings and make informed suggestions for future research. A systematic review was undertaken using database/hand searches, PICOS inclusion/exclusion criteria and the Downs and Black Checklist for Measuring Study Quality. A descriptive synthesis was used to present findings. Out of 201 found, only four papers met the inclusion criteria. Art therapy was reported as having a significant positive impact on some outcomes (classroom behaviour; Oppositional Defiant Disorder; Separation Anxiety Disorder) and non-significant greater gains towards Locus of Control. One paper reported no significant impact on outcomes but maintained scores for self-concept compared to a significant decrease for no intervention. Quality of studies was assessed to be between the 3rd and 5th quintile of possible scores on the Downs and Black Checklist. The studies provided important evidence of some positive effects and no negative effects. Benefits were reported for children struggling with classroom behaviour, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Locus of Control and self-concept. The lack of harm reported is also an important finding. However, to evidence clinical effectiveness, there is an urgent need for further robust research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Current research suggests partnerships between universities and schools create learning advantages for pre-service and beginning teachers while opening new research avenues and school relationships for academics and universities. This paper argues that these findings are often based on a business-orientated definition of 'partnership' and originate from studies that examine partnerships which are frequently based in North America and Europe. Thus, the existing studies often focus on partnerships that create learning advantages, but only in profitable or scalable ways that might lead to formal or enhanced collaborations. This paper critically examines the literature and problematises their findings amongst four case studies of partnerships of various sizes and levels of bureaucracy to determine if the literature's broader conclusions remain true when applied to less business-driven views of partnerships that consider 'partnership' in a broader definition. The paper makes a scholarly contribution by informing the audience of what benefits can come to those involved in school and university partnerships of different sizes, and when not preoccupied with creating partnerships for immediate or potential profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing sexting in sexual health education classrooms is one way of supporting young people to become good sexual citizens and to emphasise respect and consent in their sexual practices and in their lives. While a fair amount of research has worked with youth to understand their motivations for sexting, less research has been conducted with in-service teachers to understand their perspectives, pedagogical approaches, and beliefs regarding young people and sexting. Set in this context, this paper discusses findings from interviews with Canadian teachers who were teaching a new Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum that included discussions of sexting. Our findings suggest that many teachers are still engaging discourses of risk, shame and blame when they talk to their students about sexting. Likewise, longstanding gender norms and stereotypical sexual scripts are evident in the ways in which many teachers both understand and teach sexting. Some teachers, however, are engaging in more promising pedagogical practices that frame sexting as having a range of uses, outcomes, and purposes, painting a more holistic picture of young people's sexting landscapes. Findings from this paper may be useful for educators and policymakers creating sexting curriculum for young people in educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The AV1 robotic device has a growing evidence base, both internationally and in the UK, for supporting pupils with physical/emotional health needs. The device allows pupils to access their school lessons remotely through telepresence technology. Previous papers have highlighted the growing relevance to the education field, although, to date, there is no published UK academic research. In consideration of this, the purpose of the present paper was to explore the views of school staff who have trialled the AV1 device in the UK. Semi-structured interviews were held with 10 staff members from different school settings before data were analysed thematically. Key themes related to potential for impact, opportunities/challenges, and wider socio-economic considerations. Implications are considered in relation to (1) future research and professional practice, and (2) the introduction of a proposed implementation framework to support practitioners when trialling the AV1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of computers in Indian schools runs parallel with the development of a digital divide in the country. In addition to the formal ways in which government policies shape access to computers in schools, deeper informal cultures of the state and schools shape opinion about these technologies. In this paper, we examine three levels of these informal cultures: political cultures and their perceptions of technology; bureaucratic cultures, which are distanced from schooling realities; and classroom teaching-learning practices, where digital inequalities add to pre-existing educational inequalities. For examining the interplay of the informal cultures, we scale down from the national level to examine the case of West Bengal, a state in eastern India. The state has been one of the strongholds of Left politics in India. Drawing upon its experiences, we explore the linkage between political ideology and the social embedding of resistance to computers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores local history accounts of netball in South Africa's black communities from the second decade of the twentieth century until the 1960s. An attempt has been made to undo the notion that black people in South Africa do not have a netball history because of their absence in formal research. Therefore, at the core of this research is the creation of local narratives. These narratives highlight the names, results and the historical context that show how netball was part of the social fabric of society. After an introduction to the study, a motivation and methodology is laid out. A patchwork of netball histories in mission schools, prior to the Second World War, is then created and explored and used to create legacies. What follows is a social-historical accounts of netball at schools and colleges in Cape Town. The paper then concludes with discussion about why netball in South Africa's black communities is worthwhile recording, documenting and re-telling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the association between the gender rules operating within schools, harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) between pupils and the ways safety is created in these spaces. The ability and responsibility of school institutions to inform gender rules within schools is of particular focus. The paper draws on data from a mixed-methods study exploring HSB in seven secondary schools in England. Findings indicate that gendered rules not only play a role in explaining HSB in schools, they also inform discourses of safety and influence pupils' attempts to subvert gendered harm. Drawing on research on local space, it is suggested that school institutions can work to maintain or challenge the gendered rules between pupils, and subsequently, limit or provide effective options to create pupil safety. The paper argues that schools have a responsibility to construct safe spaces for pupils by challenging harmful gender norms and behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invites disciplinary and interdisciplinary submissions of articles discussing school-based research. Suggested topics for articles; Deadline for submission of manuscripts; Manuscript requirements.

This paper contextualises a keynote address delivered at the 2022 Speech Pathology Australia National Conference in Melbourne, Australia. The paper aligns with the conference theme of Beyond Borders from the perspective of moving beyond borders of regular practice to develop strong partnerships and networks within our communities to advocate and support necessary change. Change or enhancement to current practice is necessary if we are to reduce current inequities in education experienced by many children in our communities, including those with communication challenges. Strengths-based and culturally responsive literacy approaches to supporting children within the context of their family and community are increasingly gaining support as we address this challenge. The Better Start Literacy Approach (Te Ara Reo Matatini), currently being implemented in junior school classrooms across New Zealand is described. It is one example of large-scale implementation of a strengths-based and culturally responsive early literacy approach, based on the science of reading. Data support the effectiveness of the Better Start Literacy Approach in significantly enhancing the foundational literacy skills of 5- and 6-year-old children, including those who commence school with lower levels of oral language ability. Through establishing strong partnerships within communities, speech pathologists have much to offer in motivating systems level change to enhance early literacy success for all learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Set against a backdrop of diminished interest in drug education outside of school settings in Ireland, this paper draws from 10 years of professional practice in the field of drug education and prevention, to reflect on illicit drug use in Ireland and on the lay understandings of illicit drug use encountered by this practitioner. This paper sets out to achieve four things; paint a picture of the Irish illicit drug landscape and of lay understandings of drugs and drug issues; highlight the emergent issue of people obtaining fake drug information on the Internet; explore drug education as a field of scholarship in Ireland; and reflect on 10 years of practitioner experience within the field. Given the complexity of the drug landscape and the proliferation of questionable drug information available online, this paper argues that drug education is an appropriate and worthwhile response to precarious understandings of illicit drugs and drug issues. The paper suggests drug education warrants revival within the Irish context, particularly given the pace of change in both the drugs and online landscapes. To conclude, this practitioner urges other practitioners and scholars with an interest in drug education within the Irish context to revive and advance the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the findings of a study that involved collaborative action research with primary schools (5–11-year-olds) in one city in the South of England. The study focused on exploring how inclusion in schools can be promoted through an engagement with student voice. Data analysed involved detailed lesson observations, fieldnotes from meetings between teachers and children, interviews with teachers and children and notes from network meetings. The findings of the study suggest that inclusion can be promoted in schools when (1) a dynamic process of making students heard is employed by: using participatory student voice activities; valuing what students say through a process of dialogue; and moving into actions; and (2) when adult mindsets are open to such ideas and make these mindsets explicit through specific behaviours. The paper concludes by arguing that primary school children are not only able to be engaged in such processes, but more importantly, can throw a different light to collaborative efforts to become more inclusive in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paulo Freire's concept of 'inédito viável' or untested feasibility, refers to the exploration of possibilities to transcend limiting situations and transform realities. In this paper, we examine how this idea is related to the counter-hegemonic pedagogical proposal of popular education by the Florestan Fernandes National School (ENFF), an organisation founded by the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) in Brazil. We argue that the ENFF is not just a set of techniques and methodologies but a formative process that runs through the concrete reality of the subjects involved in the struggle for societal change. We conclude by proposing that the 'inédito viável' that constitutes the ENFF gains meaning from a broad, collective, and dynamic vision of concrete utopia involving a clear and mobilising orientation towards the future, a strong sense of agency, reflection, experimentation, and praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Character education has enjoyed renewed interest both in the United Kingdom and in other parts of the world. However, to date, few studies have examined how character education is enacted 'in situ'. Drawing on data from a study in three English secondary schools, this paper traces how political and scientific discourses on character are mobilised in educational practice. Employing a discourse analytic reading of teachers' and school managers' interview accounts, the paper examines how different semantics of character were drawn upon, negotiated, and assembled with a focus on the construction of the subject. It was found that, depending on the school context, the participants foregrounded an ethical-culturalist or psycho-economic semantics or blended both. While the construction of a strong and self-steering subject was prominent, normative ideas of what it means to be a good person were also highlighted and suggest that local enactments of character education go beyond mere instrumentalist aims of shaping a productive workforce. The paper concludes with some reflections on the opportunities and dangers of an intensified focus on the reflexive capacities of the individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-induced lockdowns have increased the importance of technology in education. Though access to technology as well as availability of the internet remain a major concern for a lot of children in the global south, children with intellectual disabilities are disadvantaged even more as most of the e-content is developed keeping in mind the average learner. Unstructured interviews were conducted with children with intellectual disabilities studying in government schools in Haryana as well as their teachers and parents. Thematic analysis of the interviews was conducted to understand the use-patterns of mobile phones by children with intellectual disabilities. Findings suggest that these children are learning to use mobile phones on their own or with some support and are able to navigate the complexities of these smartphones quite well. They use these devices mostly for their entertainment. This paper then reflects on the need and strategies to develop these technologies in ways that they can be used as effective tools for teaching children with intellectual disabilities, especially in the inclusive education system in developing countries. The paper reflects on the need to develop technology and tools using flexible and exploratory designs to enhance the learning processes for children with intellectual disabilities from the lower income strata. This study highlights the importance of being able to use mobile phones by children with intellectual disabilities belonging to low income families. Following this, the article argues for designing of mobile phones suitable for use by children with intellectual disabilities using playfulness and explorations, and Building e-content keeping the elements of playfulness and exploration which can enhance the learnings of this group of students which is often ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antisemitism is one of the oldest forms of prejudices. It is hatred against Jewish people based on stereotypes that leads to persecution and oppression. As such, it threatens social justice and the security of people and community. Social work with its focus on social justice and promoting diversity has an obligation to confront antisemitism which, unfortunately, continues to increase. However, it is seldom included in social work education or in DEI programs. This paper reports on the findings of a national survey of social workers that details their experiences with antisemitism in school, in practice, and in the community. The findings show that Jewish respondents were more aware of antisemitic incidents in the community and in schools than the non-Jewish respondents. However, both groups very strongly believed that antisemitism was a significant problem and that it should be a concern for social work. Recommendations based on these findings are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that more should be done to draw on the views of children and young people when using collaborative action research to promote inclusion in schools. Drawing on the findings of a collaborative action research study which explored how primary school students (  4-12-year-olds) could take on the role of researchers, through Inclusive Inquiry, an approach that focuses on the development of inclusive practices and thinking in schools, the paper throws light on the potential of this approach. Building on earlier research carried out with secondary schools, the findings reported here are based on work carried out in 30 primary schools in five countries. The analysis of data generated through these experiences suggests that collaborative action research approaches that involve children as researchers in schools can increase students’ confidence, make them more engaged in lessons, and facilitate stronger relationships with their teachers. It is argued that these features can also lead to the development of student agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child neglect is a problem that presents many challenges to learning and teaching in schools. Children are unable to learn if their basic needs are not met. Neglect is the second most common reason for a child to be on a child protection plan in Wales. Given the universal nature of their provision within the community, and the prevalence of neglect, schools are well-placed to notice and intervene early and provide support to children that promotes their health and wellbeing. In fact, staff in schools have the opportunity to observe children's behaviours, and their interactions with other pupils and family members up to five days a week over an extended period of time. However, little is known about the specific ways in which staff in schools respond to neglect and what factors help them to provide effective school-based support to families. This paper presents findings from thirty interviews with staff in six mainstream primary and secondary schools in Wales. Findings identify three factors that support neglect-practice within the school-setting (i) a whole-school proactive approach to child neglect; (ii) a positive learning and development environment for staff members; and (iii) relationships between staff and the child(ren)'s family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the expansion in schooling infrastructure of girls as part of India's Education for All program has increased female literacy and reduced gender gaps. To identify causal effects, I exploit the variation according to the targeting scheme of the programme which involved classifying subdistricts as either educationally backward or not. Using a regression discontinuity method, I find significant expansion in the number of girls' schools and residential schools for girls, but no significant positive effect on either female literacy or the gender literacy gap. Cost-effective methods other than an untargeted, large-scale infrastructure programme should be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disasters can result in poor psychosocial outcomes for adolescents. One pathway to mitigate these risks and foster resilience is via schools, where teachers can offer students support. However, existing research lacks consideration of the role schools and teachers play from the perspective of students, particularly those from marginalized populations. Therefore, this study examines adolescents' representations of the role of schools and teachers after a major disaster in Indonesia using a free association interview technique. Thematic analysis of adolescents' interviews (N = 46) yielded two salient themes: 'the school as a place of recovery' and 'the school as a place of risk'. While the school and teachers were conceptualized positively in that they promoted students' recovery, students also identified aspects of the post-disaster school environment that produced uncertainty, loss and discomfort thereby heightening their sense of risk. The paper concludes with recommendations for resilience-building, such as ensuring teachers receive relevant training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread neoliberal approaches to education consider schools increasingly accountable for self-management and 'client' recruitment, encapsulating economic ideologies that assume privatisation is essential for social progress. With an ever-shifting landscape of market-driven policies and the increasing growth of private education settings, more research is needed to cast light on emerging or under-researched aspects of autonomous schools. Located within a U.S. state that has strict constraints on tax subsidies for religious K-12 education, this paper investigates how an extensive form of decentralisation corresponds with schools' discipline and ethical environment. It analyses teacher interviews and web documents from faith-based, autonomous schools in a state that has devolved power and authority for decision-making to parents and other independent 'agents', having a distanced relationship with its nonstate 'actors'. The paper follows Foucault's use of the metaphor of the panopticon and adopts his power analysis to examine the nature of parental control and its influence on disciplinary and ethical practices. Evidence suggests that these autonomous schools are driven by a 'mini-public' ideology that constrains educators' autonomy and generates particular disciplinary norms; entangling ethical, educational, and social ramifications, including teacher resistance and teacher demoralisation. Implications for policy are discussed in this context of control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruption to education and highlighted the importance of effective leadership during times of crisis. This paper considers the impact of the pandemic on school leaders in Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand. A secondary analysis of data from five interpretivist, qualitative studies was conducted. The aim of the study was to investigate the similarities and differences between the leaders' experiences across school settings, states/provinces, and countries. Our findings place renewed importance on understanding the role of schools within the community and the vital role school leaders play in helping schools respond to volatile and dynamic circumstances. The findings show how leaders' roles and responsibilities adapted to respond quickly and effectively to the urgency of the crisis, regardless of the context. Furthermore, common practices such as attending to wellbeing and providing clear and timely communication were revealed. The analysis also revealed some interesting nuances in the leaders' responses because of the duration of the crisis, the particular needs of the community, and government requirements. Papers like this provide insights into what leaders do and how schools and systems might prepare and support leaders to lead during times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]