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Pedagogy, culture and transition: a qualitative, collective case study exploring pedagogies of the transition from Reception to Year One in England
No full textOver the last two decades, the English state has sought to establish increasing levels of control over pedagogy in Reception and Year One. As a result, the transition between these year groups is dominated by a readying for school discourse. This discourse is established and enforced through policy technologies – relating to curriculum, assessment and accountability measures – that work to steer teachers towards the outcomes desired by the state. Understanding how policy technologies operated and influenced pedagogies of the transition from Reception to Year One was a central focus of this thesis which explored and compared two different settings; one where policy technologies were enforced and another where they were not. These settings were in the state- and independent-sector respectively.
Taking a broad view of pedagogy – as both performance and discourse – a conceptual framework, based on activity theory, was developed. The framework was able to identify how the socio-cultural-political factors unique to each setting mediated micro-level classroom processes which, in turn, shaped how pedagogies of the transition from Reception to Year One were experienced by children and parents. Using a qualitative, collective case study, the research followed seven children in each setting over a period of ten months as they transitioned from Reception to Year One. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with children, parents, teachers and headteachers in each case and were triangulated against observations, documentation and online interviews.
The findings indicate how socio-cultural-political factors exert significant influence on pedagogy. In the state-sector case, the pedagogies enacted in Reception and Year One were heavily conditioned by government policy whereas in the independent-sector case, they reflected teacher beliefs, the children’s needs and parental expectations. The contrasting approaches in each case had important implications for how children and parents were able to navigate the transition between Reception and Year One
Perceptions of the Church of England among clergy and laity three years after the COVID-19 lockdowns.
No full textA convenience sample of 2,874 clergy and lay people from the Church of England were asked about the state of their congregation in 2024, some three years after the end of lockdown restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceptions were assessed by three distinct but correlated scales, one related to perceived changes in numbers, the second to the fragility of churches, and the third to the general state of churches in terms numbers, mood, and finances. Scores on these scales were related to both subjective and objective factors. The main subjective predictor of pessimistic scores was emotional volatility, a measure of trait neuroticism. The main objective predictors were church tradition and congregation size. Evangelicals were generally more optimistic compared with those from Anglo-Catholic or Broad-Church traditions. Pessimism declined as congregation size increased, up to about 150, when it remained constant
Becoming a teacher of early reading : an activity systems analysis of the journey from student to newly qualified teacher
No full textEducation policy in England requires student teachers to demonstrate effective teaching of early reading, including systematic synthetic phonics, in order to qualify. However, central monitoring of student teacher satisfaction in initial teacher education (ITE) indicates that some students feel inadequately prepared to teach reading as they enter the profession. Furthermore, recent policy changes to ITE on postgraduate routes have increased time in schools and reduced time in the university. In this challenging climate, little is known about how student teachers develop knowledge, understanding and practice for teaching early reading whilst moving between the different learning environments of schools and university and how they adapt to the first term as newly qualified teachers (NQTs).
This research used a longitudinal, collective case study design involving seven lower primary (3–7 years) postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) students enrolled at one university in the East Midlands of England. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and documentary analysis with the students and their teacher mentors were used to gather data from entry onto the course to the participants’ first term as qualified teachers. A conceptual and analytical framework, developed using activity theory, provided an original and innovative way of examining the complex interplay of influential factors within and between schools and the university. Conceptualising ITE as the product of multiple activity systems identified important tensions between the goals and expectations of schools and the university and the potentially unexamined impact of institutional responses to policy on becoming a teacher of early reading.
The findings indicate that student teacher progress was constrained or facilitated by key elements of the activity systems involved which highlight implications for university organisation, mentoring and whole school participation. Recommendations from the research include a new continuum of teacher development and an ideal activity system for ITE and induction for early reading
Constructing scientific knowledge in the classroom : a multimodal analysis of conceptual change and the significance of gesture
No full textConstructivism remains one of the most influential views of understanding how children learn science today. Research investigating learning from within this viewpoint has led to the development of a range of theoretical models, most of which aim to explain the underlying processes associated with conceptual change. Such models range in depth and scope with some attributing change to purely cognitive processes while others suggest a role for social factors. Contemporary research has also begun to explore links between the role of practical activity, skills development and language. This study utilises a cross-sectional design in order to investigate the development of children’s ideas and concepts related to two areas of the English National Curriculum for Science: ‘electricity’ and ‘floating and sinking’. A new and innovative multimodal methodology combining practical science activities and traditional / conventional perspectives alongside interview and observational protocols is presented. Multimodal research proposes that knowledge and meaning are transmitted through a range of responses types including language, drawings and gesture. The participants in this study were children aged 7, 11 and 14 years attending four schools in the East Midlands region. Results demonstrate that the children’s ideas could be developed using conceptual challenge tasks. The gestures that the children produced were categorised according to five different forms: referential, representative, expressive, thinking and social, often containing information about their science ideas that was not included in other response types. The results also begin to uncover how meaning is socially constructed and supported. These results form the basis of a critique of methodology intended to re-evaluate and inform debate arising from different models of conceptual change. The potential importance of studying children’s gestures in classroom settings for providing important cues and clues to underlying thoughts that may not be present in verbal or other more conventional responses alone is highlighted
Facilitators and barriers to physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD: a systematic review of qualitative studies
No full textPulmonary rehabilitation has short-term benefits on dyspnea, exercise capacity and quality of life in COPD, but evidence suggests these do not always translate to increased daily physical activity on a patient level. This is attributed to a limited understanding of the determinants of physical activity maintenance following pulmonary rehabilitation. This systematic review of qualitative research was conducted to understand COPD patients? perceived facilitators and barriers to physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation. Electronic databases of published data, non-published data, and trial registers were searched to identify qualitative studies (interviews, focus groups) reporting the facilitators and barriers to physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation for people with COPD. Thematic synthesis of qualitative data was adopted involving line-by-line coding of the findings of the included studies, development of descriptive themes, and generation of analytical themes. Fourteen studies including 167 COPD patients met the inclusion criteria. Seven sub-themes were identified as influential to physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation. These included: intentions, self-efficacy, feedback of capabilities and improvements, relationship with health care professionals, peer interaction, opportunities following pulmonary rehabilitation and routine. These encapsulated the facilitators and barriers to physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation and were identified as sub-themes within the three analytical themes, which were beliefs, social support, and the environment. The findings highlight the challenge of promoting physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD and provide complementary evidence to aid evaluations of interventions already attempted in this area, but also adds insight into future development of interventions targeting physical activity maintenance in COPD
Interventions to reduce sickness absence within a healthcare population: a systematic review
No full textThe rate of sick leave in healthcare employees has been increasing with the ambulance service, nurses and support workers demonstrating the highest levels of absence across the NHS. Therefore, it is important to assess the effectiveness of interventions to reduce sickness absence among healthcare employees. The aim of this systematic review was to to identify and synthesise evidence on interventions that reduce sickness absence within healthcare employees and provide information on the effectiveness of these interventions. Database searches were conducted (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO,Web of Science and EMBASE) to access randomised control trials that aimed to reduce sickness absence. The inclusion criteria were English language articles with participants who were employed in the healthcare sector. The primary outcome was a change in sickness absence categorised as either the duration of sickness (i.e. the number of days off sick) or the number of absences over a certain time period. Data were extracted using a modified Cochrane data extraction form and the risk of bias for each study was calculated. A total of seven studies were found to meet the inclusion criteria, which included four exercise interventions, two influenza vaccination interventions and one process consultation intervention
Systematic review of the effectiveness of health behavior interventions based on the transtheoretical model
No full textThe Transtheoretical Model (TTM) has gained widespread popularity and acceptance, yet little is known about its effectiveness as a basis for health behavior intervention. A systematic review was conducted in order to evaluate the effectiveness of TTM interventions in facilitating health-related behavior change. Thirty-five electronic databases, catalogues, and internet resources were searched for relevant studies. In addition, the bibliographies of retrieved references were scanned for further relevant publications and authors were contacted for further information where necessary. Thirty-seven randomized controlled trials, targeting seven health-related behaviors, satisfied the inclusion criteria. Overall, the methodological quality of trials was variable, and there was limited evidence for the effectiveness of stage-based interventions as a basis for behavior change or for facilitating stage progression, irrespective of whether those interventions were compared with other types of intervention or with no intervention or usual care controls. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd
Straight edge evangelicalism and DIY spirituality
No full textStraight edge emerged in the American hardcore punk scene in the early 1980s as a secular humanist ideology advocating abstinence from intoxication, in conflict with the conventional morality of late capitalist society in general, and with the conventional morality of the punk subculture in particular. Drawing on fieldwork in the punk scenes of Australia, the UK, and the USA, this chapter critically analyses two key religious trends in the straight edge movement, which also tell us a great deal about how belief is articulated in punk in general, and contemporary Western society more broadly. Firstly, evangelical Christianity, the most prominent expression of religion within the global punk subculture, often taking a Pentecostal form. Secondly, the diverse and discordant spiritual subjectivities circulating within punk scenes we have called “DIY spirituality” (Abraham & Stewart 2016: 249-50). Building upon the idea of punk’s self-reliant, do-it-yourself ethic, and Paul Heelas’s (1996) definition of New Age religion as “self-spirituality,” the concept of DIY spirituality also finds affinity with Nicholas Hookway’s (2018) theory of “do-it-yourself morality,” an ethical system emphasizing “the authority of the self, choice and ideals of authenticity.” We will find that in spite of obvious differences between straight edge evangelicalism and straight edge DIY spirituality, in both cases belief is articulated in a highly personal manner, in keeping with the general “subjective turn” in Western culture, as analyzed in philosopher Charles Taylor’s (1989, 2007) cultural histories, and as theorized in the empirical research of sociologists Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead (2005)
A biomass energy flow chart for Fiji
No full textTerrestrial above ground biomass production and utilization was analyzed for Fiji for the years 2003–2012. The total production of biomass was estimated to be 72.67 PJ of which 24% is from food, 44% of agricultural residues, 10% dung and 22% from forestry. Of the 72.67 PJ biomass produced only 11% was used as fuel, 12% as industrial wood and 24% as food. The unutilized biomass resulted into a loss of 38.5 PJ of energy (44 GJ per capita or 2.56 Mt of wood equivalent) which is 53% of the total biomass theoretically produced. Scrutiny of the availability and use of biomass resources is important if biomass energy is to be used on a sustainable basis. Lack of detailed literature in this area in Fiji potentially opens a path for further detailed studies to understand the full contribution of biomass to future sustainable energy supply