University of Cumbria Open Access Journals
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Combining the aberrant with the ordinary: The role of white supremacy in the far-right radicalisation of women
Get PDFActivists and leaders in the far-right in the UK and Europe are often assumed to be working class white men (Cockburn, 2007). While this is reasonably accurate of the majority, the assumption has led to poor understanding of the active minority of women involved in the leadership and support of these movements. They have been similarly overlooked in research of the radicalisation process, which has primarily focused upon the Islamist radicalisation of men (Kundnani, 2015). In this article, literature relevant to the far-right radicalisation of white women is reviewed, beginning with establishing a base of pertinent research into multiple forms of radicalisation. On this basis, literature on potential radicalising pressures experienced by white British women is evaluated, with results reported on a micro, meso, and macro scale. Findings suggest these women are not necessarily misled by the men in their lives, ignorant, or pathological (Blee, 2003). They are individuals with their own agency, with something to lose, influenced and radicalised by pressures placed upon them by their lives, communities, and the world at large. The government’s Prevent strategy identifies white supremacy as the ideology of the far-right, an ideology which still suffuses the postcolonial Western world (Home Office, 2015). Despite its social hierarchy that imagines men as the pinnacle of civilisation, white women are not beyond its influence, as both victims of its patriarchy and enactors of its racialized oppression (hooks, 2015). These are pressures which affect the radicalisation of women in the far-right; they are as susceptible as men to anxieties stemming from the fading of the Empire and the legacy of colonialism
Stupid and lazy? When young people meet the educational system and confusion builds. Who is to blame? Perspectives from a series of experts
Get PDFThis paper is based upon a research project named Marginalisation and Co-created Education (MaCE), revolving around young people that experienced dropout and severe challenges in their school life. The basis of the analyses are 13 interviews conducted with a specific interviewing technique called The Indirect Approach, developed by Norwegian researchers Geir H. Moshuus and Ketil Eide. The analysis is formed around four sections, whereas three are heavily driven by empirical findings, respectively focusing on experiences of neglect from schools, families and professional caregivers, experiences of care attention and joy and new ideas for schooling. The fourth is based on theoretical concepts from French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, focusing on the persistent nature of inequality in education. The last section poses concluding remarks on ambitions and strategies in the MaCE project
I Am Who You Say I Am: The Impact of Instructor Feedback on Pre-Service Teacher Identity
No full textThe following study situates feedback in two teacher education courses to explore the following research question: How do students rely on discursive features of feedback to reflect on and write their identities as future teachers? A total of 41 participants were recruited for the study. These participants are undergraduate students enrolled in their first year in the Teacher Education Program at a land grant institution in the Pacific Northwest. The courses in which these students are enrolled are writing-intensive: both instructors are trained in the practice of personalized reflective feedback and assign many reflective writing assignments. A critical discourse analysis of student work was carried out by the researchers to explore traces of identity formation in response to instructor feedback. The results are presented as two distinct cases identified by the pseudonyms Roebuck and Roberta. The themes that emerged from the study are: (a) the use of deflection to resist reflection; (b) the performance of an “expert” identity to be recognized as proficient; and (c) the relational dialogism that most reliably leads to reflection. The results are discussed and contextualized so that future researchers and practitioners can carry the themes of this study forward into new contexts and situations
Exploring the perceptions held by primary teacher trainees regarding the value of peer mentoring
Get PDFThis small scale study investigated how much value undergraduate primary trainee teachers perceive there to be within a programme of peer mentoring. As this was a small scale study gathering qualitative data, the findings do not represent a general consensus and may be situational to this setting. The literature suggests that there are a wide range of benefits to using peer mentoring, such as a reduction in withdrawal rates, more successful transition into higher education and higher academic outcomes; but it is important to note that the majority of this research has been undertaken within a business setting. However, those studies undertaken within the higher education context, seem to support the findings of the earlier literature.
Questionnaires and interviews were used to gather data from a sample of year 1 and year 3 undergraduates. The following themes emerged from the data: transition to university remains a concern; students can identify possible benefits and pitfalls of peer mentoring, but lacked clarify about the best way to instigate a programme; male trainees respond to this concept differently from their female peers. Due to the nature of the research, subsequent studies should be done to explore the possible implications of these themes further
Learning to teach: a focus on the personal rather than the technical aspects of teacher education
Get PDFTextbooks on dyslexia ascertain that writing strategies designed for dyslexic students are effective, some suggesting their suitability for all students. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to substantiate these claims (Glazzard, 2011). This paper examines these claims, by presenting the findings from research into writing strategies designed for students with dyslexia. The research was conducted within an 11-16 all ability secondary school, in the East Midlands of England. Three writing strategies were trialled over a period of six months on four science classes (yrs. 7-8 aged 11-13, n=131) containing students with diagnoses of dyslexia (n=5). Written work was assessed pre-and post-strategy, to monitor progress, using National Curriculum (NC) levelled writing tasks and compared with progress of a control class (yr.7 aged 11-12, n=28). Empirical evidence provided shows that strategies impact positively upon all students. Whilst there was variation, variance between pre- and post- strategy NC levels shows all three writing strategies produced statistically significant improvements to NC levels. The small number of students with dyslexia meant there was not sufficient data to analyse statistically, although four showed gains above the average for their class. Teaching assistants (TAs) and students asked about the usefulness of the strategies identified, they helped organise written work. However, students acknowledged they would not use them independently. Identifying frequent modelling of strategies is necessary until students use them autonomously. Strategies provide a scaffold to organise thinking, and direct writing in a logical manner. Whilst trialled within science, strategies evaluated were general, applicable across the whole curriculum
Generating an approach informed by Cultural-Historical Activity Theory to research influences affecting Early Career Teachers’ professionalism and retention
Get PDFThis article focuses attention on influences that affect Early Career Teachers’ (ECTs’) professionalism during their process of learning to teach. The main purpose is to generate an approach informed by Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and evaluate the relevance of this approach to research influences affecting ECTs’ professionalism and retention. This approach is significant because it could be employed in future research to address a knowledge gap in the existing evidence base and to further illuminate our understanding of influences affecting ECTs’ professionalism and retention.
The paper introduces the key principles of CHAT. Then a context for researching ECTs’ professionalism is constructed; tracing the enactment of government policy strategies within Initial Teacher Training (ITT) policies and examining the contested notion of professionalism. Next, existing empirical evidence on influences affecting ECTs’ professionalism is evaluated and a knowledge gap is identified. Then an alternative approach informed by CHAT is outlined with reasons why it is useful in researching influences on ECTs’ professionalism. Some limitations of employing CHAT in this approach are identified and adaptations are proposed. Argument is presented about how the gap in the existing evidence base could be addressed by utilising this approach in future research
The journey from reflection on practice to research informed practice: the contribution of MA practitioner research
Get PDFThis paper examines how one higher education institute (HEI) in the Northwest of England has devised and developed an innovative Master of Arts (MA) in Education practice with a curriculum designed to meet the needs of newly and recently qualified teachers. The research considers that in the early stages of initial teacher education (ITE), learning to teach may involve an apprenticeship model where the teacher educator must model learning, teaching and assessment strategies and inspire their mentees to find out those that will work for them through models of reflection and policy in practice. Later, successful teachers must be able to choose and critically evaluate strategies and pedagogies for themselves, a defining factor in the design of the programme and curriculum. Emerging from a course review, we consider evidence based practice and practitioner research through a progression route (MA) from ITE. Furthermore we determine that the research focus of early career teachers in this context enables research at a personal level for professional development of emerging and focused targets for context dependent research. This paper concludes that the current programme does indeed meet serving teachers’ needs, and represents the move from reflection on practice to research informed practice evident through a consideration of the contemporary issues facing beginning teachers and their foci of study. This research also informs how we develop our recruitment strategy and next steps for the future to encourage a more sustained approach to research as teachers. It highlights clear steps for taking this research further and tracking beginning teachers’ research journey over time
Context-dependent memory: Do changes in environmental context cues affect student recall?
Get PDFThis study concerned an action research project undertaken within a mainstream 11-18 secondary school with a high proportion of pupil premium students in the north of England. Pupil premium is a grant given by the government to schools in England to decrease the attainment gap for the most disadvantaged children, whether by income or by family upheaval. The purpose was to investigate whether context-dependent memory impacts student recall during examinations. Students were tested within their standard classroom environment, then moved to a different environment for their second test. The results of this were statistically analysed and compared between genders and school years. The study demonstrated an impact, with students performing statistically worse when tested in an area that is removed from their standard environmental classroom context. Gender was shown to have no impact upon the effects, however, the school year was. Year 7 students were less affected than all other years. The reasons for this are unclear. There were limitations within this study, primarily with ensuring the examination papers were similar enough to act as a control variable. With the range of new topics introduced between the two sets of exams, students had a greater breadth of required knowledge. It was plausible therefore that there were other factors influencing the students’ poorer performance. More research will need to be undertaken to establish that is the change in context that causes lower performance
Is there a generic profile of trainee primary school teachers who choose to specialise in mathematics?
Get PDFThis study is an evaluation of learning style profiles and multiple intelligence domains of level seven trainee primary school teachers who chose to specialise in mathematics at the university where the research took place. Whilst this study focusses on mathematics specialists studying at post graduate level the information could be adapted to meet the needs of other subject specialists and undergraduates, dependent on their profiles. The valuable information gathered from 53 respondents training at a university that has been at the forefront of teacher education for 130 years highlights interesting relationships between the two sets of results and analyses by both gender and the specialism route that the students opted to follow. The study offers suggestions for training establishments to consider when educating the primary school mathematics teachers of the future, potentially leading to an impact on learning outcomes and student satisfaction
A mature student experience photo elicitation study: multiple responsibilities, study and wellbeing
Get PDFThis study investigates the experiences of mature students in university. Mature students are high achievers, despite their experience of competing responsibilities alongside their university degree study. Using photo elicitation and thematic analysis participants captured their experiences in photographs and provided context and narrative for each photo in the interview. The research found three master themes; stress and conflict of multiple responsibilities, productive attitudes to study, and valuing and prioritising wellbeing. The study found that participants were highly motived despite the stress experienced from their multiple responsibilities. Their motivation was reflected in participants productive attitudes to their studies. Participants were also found to use their own well-being practices and resources to alleviate stress. The study concluded that mature students experience a positive association with their abilities and wellbeing