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Working with the complexity of professional practice and development
No full textIt has long been recognised that the quality of teaching within an education system is one of the most important factors in ensuring a high quality experience for children (Hattie, 2003; Darling-Hammond et al., 2005), although what constitutes quality is disputed (Flores, 2019). The countries with the highest performing school systems have succeeded in making teaching one of the pre-eminent professions, respected throughout society and attractive to the highest achievers. They have focused attention on the effective recruitment, selection and initial training of teachers, so that all those who begin a career in the classroom are well equipped to do so (DfE, 2011, referencing Barber and Mourshed, 2007). Subsequent to the initial education of teachers, continued professional development is also crucial to continued engagement and growth of professionals. This has resulted in the evolution of a range of approaches to teacher professional development over time, from external training courses, through internal training to the use of practitioner research and engagement with academic research. These have all been part of teacher development ecosystems as schools try to develop informed and extensive support, especially for teachers in the early part of their career
Introducing the Shorter Dark Tetrad for Muslim Societies (SD4-MS): A study among young adults in Pakistan
No full textThis paper examines the psychometric properties of the Short Dark Tetrad, presented for online administration, among a sample of 370 young adults between the ages of 18 and 26 who were born in the Punjab and who had lived there since their birth. With the omission of one item from each of the four scales (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism) the clear four factor structure was recovered with cross-loadings remaining on four items. All four scales recorded acceptable or good levels of internal consistency reliability (alpha). This Shorter Dark Tetrad (SD4-MS) is commended for further use within predominantly Muslim societies
Reading the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) through the lenses of introverted intuition and extraverted intuition: Perceiving text differently
No full textWorking within the SIFT approach to biblical hermeneutics, the present study focuses attention on the distinctive voices of introverted intuition and extraverted intuition, by analysing the way in which two small groups, one comprising dominant introverted intuitive types and the other comprising dominant extraverted intuitive types, explored and reflected on the Lucan narrative of the Good Samaritan, a passage rich in material to stimulate the perceiving process. Two distinctive voices emerged from these two groups.
Contribution: Situated within the reader perspective approach to biblical hermeneutics, the sensing, intuition, feeling, thinking (SIFT) method is concerned with identifying the influence of the psychological type of the reader in shaping the interpretation of text. The foundations of the SIFT approach distinguish among the four functions of sensing, intuition, feeling, and thinking. The present study builds on this foundation by developing the nuance of the orientation in which the function is expressed, in this case focusing specifically on the comparison between introverted intuition and extraverted intuition
Children reading alone and reading together: literary representations and lessons from a pandemic
No full textThis article first explores three literary representations of young people who are immersed in books by focusing on Alice’s sister in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Matilda. It argues that these characters create solitary reading experiences by being absorbed in books which provides escapism and company. It considers how representations of literary children immersed in books can provide a model of this type of reading behaviour for child readers, provided that these representations are sufficiently diverse. The article then focuses on primary literacy education in the United Kingdom and discusses how policy requirements can mean that children’s school reading experiences are often shared rather than solitary ones. It draws on a recent study of children’s reading habits (Topping, 2021) to highlight how children’s increased enjoyment in reading during the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic can be partly attributed to them having more time to read alone, which enabled them to become immersed in a story and made them feel better about being isolated. The article concludes by arguing that children need to have more opportunities in school to be alone with books to allow for immersive reading experiences
Crossing the line: Constructs of TA Identity
No full textThis paper considers issues around identity for teaching assistants (TAs) in mainstream English primary schools. We discuss the concomitant problems TAs experience around role definition and role-creep as well as the challenges inherent in equivocally defining their evolving and flexible role. We used key themes drawn from the literature considered to suggest that professional identity is broadly socially, relationally and contextually dependent, changeable and multifaceted. We then explore how these terms relate to the work and roles TAs undertake in school. The paper concludes with recommendations for schools to support the development of a contextually relevant identity for TAs so the flexibility in their role can be advantageous for TAs, teachers and children
Why I’m (really) not against ‘Dual Coding’
No full text‘Dual Coding’ is shorthand for one way in which we make connections between words
and sensory perceptions, argues Clare Lawrence – and in English we call it ‘imagery’. In
this article, she reflects on the potential for active learning when making connections
between text and image in English, and reports on the ‘buzz’ created when her PGCE
students responded to a poem through visual imagery
Report on a survey of early career secondary RE teachers: The First Year of Teaching: a follow-up survey to the Covid-cohort RE ITE survey 2021
No full textIn Autumn 2021 I published the results of a survey carried out that year across all ITE providers in England. The intention of that research was to explore the make-up and motivations of students applying to become secondary Religious Education teachers in the period 2020-21. A full copy of the report can be accessed at https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/881/ , and a summary of the findings is included as an appendix to this document.
About half of the participants in the above study agreed to be contacted for a further survey in 2022. The focus of this further research was to be their experience as early career teachers.
This report summarises their experience in applying for jobs, the nature of the teaching posts that they secured, their experience in being supported as early career teachers, and their hopes and dreams for the future. In addition, they were asked to reflect back on their previous training provision, including both the practical and academic elements of the ITE course that they completed.
In addition to being the first ITE cohort to surpass the government’s target for RE ITE applicants in recent years, they are also the first to experience the new two-year induction into teaching, based on the 2019 Early Career Framework for teachers1 . This survey asks whether they are being provided with the various components intended by that programme, and what other resources and networks have been of help during their first year of teaching.
This study provides only a snap-shot of the experience of these early career teachers, but my hope is that it will be of interest to the RE community and possibly provide further stimulus for additional research. On the whole it suggests that early career RE teachers are content in their work and positive about their future as teachers
‘You’re Alive!’: On the ‘Livingness’ of spirited educational research
No full textThis paper explore ideas of ‘livingness’ in education
and in research, through ideas of spirituality, conversation,
care and curiosity. Research ‘on’ education is
distinguished from educational research, with the latter
having a transformative intention, and this can overcome
some of the dualisms that have become embedded in
education policy and practice. Research that is surprising
has this in common with dialogue, in Buber’s terms,
and with transformative education. And the care for the
object of study that researchers may exhibit is related to
mutual care in all ethical relationships. This is an appropriate
guide to curiosity. One example of such curious
research is the use of conversation, conversation that is
more dialogic than dialectical. In such ways, education
and research can together be more ‘alive’, as can we all
Middle Leadership in Education: Care, Carefulness and Being ‘Caute’ in the Middle
No full textWhy are there so many guides to leadership, yet so few that discuss effective followership? This booklet argues that
middle leaders have a unique opportunity to combine both
leadership and followership, as they both care for people—
whilst also being cared for by senior leaders—and practise
carefulness, stewardship and discipleship in their conduct.
This is care in both senses of the Latin term ‘caute.
Introduction: To See the Worlds in a Grain of Sand – Blake and Reception
No full textWilliam Blake’s influence on modern culture is undeniable. Blake in contrast to, for example, P. B. Shelley, Wordsworth or Byron has a huge presence in literature, art and music. Striking parallels and historical evidence for connections between Blake and his modern audiences have been identified and discussed, determining why Blake matters. From the discussions of synergies existing in the intellectual and emotional climate of Blake’s time and our own arise two questions, which this special issue on Blake’s reception in Europe endeavours to address: one, what of Blake (person and works) bridges the gulf of time, appears universal and directly relevant. Two, what happens to Blake, if works (texts and images) are separated and taken up by audiences that have ostensibly - apart from shared values originating in Western culture - little in common. The latter, which is about ownership, leads to a further question: if there are too many, idiosyncratic interpretations of Blake, does the real Blake get lost