Seeking continuity: Educational strategy in and for mobile ADF families

This report shares findings and insights from an interview study conducted in 2009, with 34 ADF families. These families were identified in the communities of primary schools in both state and Catholic systems with high ADF family enrolments in 3 towns across 2 states, with the assistance of the DCO and their embedded Defence School Transition Aides (DSTAs). In the interviews the parents were invited to describe their history of ADF relocations, and how they managed transitions for each member in terms of school choice, child care arrangements, spouse employment, and educational transitions. Parallel interviews were conducted with 12 teachers and 6 DSTAs across the identified schools to describe how schools cater for mobile ADF families flowing through their classes. Parents were invited to tell the story of their family’s sequence of moves and how each member made the transition, then reflect more generally on what advice they’d give other mobile families. Teachers were asked to describe how they respond to the mobile families in their school community, and to illustrate some of the issues and challenges from the institutional perspective. By offering perspectives from both parents and teachers, the report hopes to facilitate a dialogue between parties to address their common goal – promoting productive continuities in education for children in mobile families.

Lapset ja nuoret ympäristökansalaisina : Ympäristökasvatuksen näkökulma osallistumiseen

Children and young people as environmental citizens the environmental education perspective to participation This doctoral thesis examines the participation of children and young people in developing their own environment at school, as a part of environmental education. The aim of the research is to assess and consider children and young people s environmentally responsible participation and its effectiveness in relation to the participants own learning and the end results of the participation. The research combines the perspectives of environmental education and citizenship education through the concept of environmental citizenship. Environmental education, which enhances environmental citizenship, offers children and young people the possibility to be active citizens and learn about citizenship in their own lives by taking action themselves. The research is made up of two parts which complement each other. The first part consists of an action research carried out in the Joensuu Lyseo Upper Secondary School, where an environmental education course with a traffic-related theme was planned, developed and evaluated. The second part is made up of an interview survey carried out in Helsinki. In the survey actors from schools and various city offices, who were involved in development projects of school environments, were interviewed. According to the research results, all-round cooperation and more open relations with those outside of the school environment are important ways to support environmental citizenship in schools. Thus, environmentally responsible participation offers a chance to learn competence that an environmental citizen needs the knowledge, skills and willingness to act that have not been successfully taught through traditional school education. The research introduces a model of environmentally responsible participation as a learning process, in which learning is studied through the development of competence, self-empowerment and social empowerment. The model makes the context of environmental education visible and puts emphasis on reflection in the learning process. A central factor in children and young people s self-empowerment is the sense of being heard and taken into consideration. At the moment children and young people s rights to participate are strong, due to legislation, school curricula, and several national and international agreements. Despite this, involving them in developing their own immediate surroundings has not become a part of schools and planning organisations daily life and established methods. Reasons for this situation can be found in the lack of regard and resources for these matters, in the complex nature of planning and a long time frame, and the problems of ownership and of reaching each other. Central to overcoming these obstacles are a gradual change in conduct and mentalities and the strengthening of teachers and officials competence. Children and young people need different ways and methods of varying levels of involvement, structures and arenas which enable participation and in which environmental citizenship can be realized. Key words: environmental citizenship, environmental education, citizenship education, children and young people s participation, social learning, self-empowerment, social empowerment, school, community planning

Principals of audit: Testing, data and ‘implicated advocacy’

Historically, school leaders have occupied a somewhat ambiguous position within networks of power. On the one hand, they appear to be celebrated as what Ball (2003) has termed the ‘new hero of educational reform'; on the other, they are often ‘held to account’ through those same performative processes and technologies. These have become compelling in schools and principals are ‘doubly bound’ through this. Adopting a Foucauldian notion of discursive production, this paper addresses the ways that the discursive ‘field’ of ‘principal’ (within larger regimes of truth such as schools, leadership, quality and efficiency) is produced. It explores how individual principals understand their roles and ethics within those practices of audit emerging in school governance, and how their self-regulation is constituted through NAPLAN – the National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy. A key effect of NAPLAN has been the rise of auditing practices that change how education is valued. Open-ended interviews with 13 primary and secondary school principals from Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales asked how they perceived NAPLAN's impact on their work, their relationships within their school community and their ethical practice.

The performance in context model: A 21st century tertiary dance teaching pedagogy

Despite tertiary institutions acknowledging that reflective practice is an essential component of undergraduate dance teacher training, there is often a disparity between the tertiary students’ reflective skills and the more sophisticated reflective ability needed to navigate the 21st century workforce (Silva 2008). This paper charts the evolution of a dance teaching reflective pedagogy within a suite of three units across a three-year undergraduate dance teacher-training course for school, community and studio dance teachers. This reflective pedagogy based on exploration, collaboration, critical questioning and connections with community forms the basis of a model of tertiary dance teacher- training; the Performance in Context Model (PCM). Over the past four years, through four cycles of action research, the PCM pedagogy, context and engagement with community has developed into a successful model integrating practical dance teaching skills, artistry and community engagement. The PCM represents a holistic collaborative approach to dance teacher education: the marrying of ‘teacher-as-artist’, ‘teacher-as-performer’ and ‘teacher-as-researcher’. More specifically, it emphasises the need for mature, reflective, receptive and flexible approaches in response to dance teaching and learning. These are enacted in a variety of contexts, with tertiary dance teaching students identifying as teaching artists, as well as researchers of their own practice.

Luottamus koulussa : Tutkimus yhdeksännen luokan oppilaiden luottamus- ja epäluottamuskertomuksista ja niiden merkityksestä oppilaiden kouluarjessa

The aim of this study is to explore trust at school and its meaning for 9th grade students. The intent is to investigate students views about trust and mistrust in school relationships. Three research questions are posed: 1) what meanings do students give to their experiences of trust and mistrust at school and how do they evaluate connection of these experiences to their well-being and enjoyment in the classroom? 2) what and how important, is the teacher s role according to the students writings, and 3) what might the different pedagogical and administrative structures of schools reveal about trust and mistrust in a particular school culture? The data consists of 134 writings of 9th grade students (secondary school) from three schools in one of the biggest cities in Finland. The schools differ from others in terms of their pedagogical or structural backgrounds. The study is restricted to the micro-level of, disposition of Educational Sociology, focusing on trust in schools relationships. The theoretical framework of the study is trust, as a part of social capital; however trust is also approached from the sociological, the psychological and philosophical perspective. The methodological approach is narrative research concerning school practice . Analysis of narrative consist mostly content analysis, but also some elements of holistic-content reading, thematic reading and categorical content. The analysis found three main themes: 1) individual stories of trust, 2) the teachers role in making trust possible in the classroom, and 3) school as a community of trust. According to the study trust at school (1) is a complex phenomenon consisting of people s ability to work together and to recognize the demands that different situations present. Trust at school is often taken for granted. In the students experiences trust is strongly connected to friendship, and the teacher s ability to connect with students. Students experiences of mistrust stem from bulling, school violence, lack of respect as well as teachers lacking basic professional behavior. School relationships are important for some students as source of enjoyment, but some feel that it is difficult to evaluate the connection between trust and enjoyment. The study found that students trust of teachers (2) is linked to the teacher s professional role as a teacher, a caring human being open to dialogue. In other words, the students describe teachers abilities to create a sense of trust in terms of three expectations: the teacher was better, the same or worse than expected. Better than expected, means the teacher engender a high degree of trust and has excellent communication skills. Same as expected means the teacher comes across as familiar and secure, while lower than expected means the teacher creates no trust and has poor communication skills. Finally, it was shown that trust at school (3) should not only exist between some individuals, but between (all) members of the school community. In other words, according to the study there is some evidence that trust is strongly committed to school culture. Further, trust seems to depend on (school-) cultural background, values, beliefs, expectations, norms as well as staff behaviour. The basic elements of an optimum level of trust at school are favourable school structure and pedagogical background; however, good relationships between teachers and students as well as high professional skills are also needed. Trust at school is built by good communication, working together and getting to know each other.

Maskuliinisuuden rakentuminen alakoulussa

Objectives: Inspiration for this study came from the public discourse and concern for boys poor school achievement, as well as from the author s own perceptions. There was an interest to know if this concern is justified and what are its underlying causes. Previous studies have shown that masculinity is one of the key aspects of boys' poor school achievement. The objective of this research is to study the construction of masculinity in primary school and how this construct of masculinity is manifested by school achievement. Based on previous studies, the pursuit of hegemonic masculinity does not fit with good school grades. If a boy succeeds in school, this success must be compensated for by means of different factors demonstrating hegemonic masculinity. Methods: The research material was obtained by using the etnographic method. The research settled itself feministic school-etnographic research field. The research subjects comprised pupils and teachers of a 5th grade comprehensive school class (10-11-year-olds) in the Uusimaa county. There were twenty-nine (29) pupils (18 boys and 11 girls) in this class and five (5) different teachers who taught the class. The research material was composed of field notes and researcher's diary based on researcher's observations, short group discussions with pupils and interviews of five boys. The field notes consisted of twenty-six (26) lessons and also observations of breaks and eating periods. In short group discussions the researcher discussed with all the pupils that were given a permission for interview. The material was analysed with thematic and analytic reading that led to the writing of an analysis. Results and conclusions: The most salient result of this study was that different masculinities are constructed in primary school. The majority of boys aimed at hegemonic masculinity and the school community strongly supported this. This was shown in speech and in behaviour. School success and mainstream masculinity could be compatible, but success also required compensatory aspects. In addition to these observations, the researcher was able to identify a group of boys which truly wanted to achieve well in school and did not care to strive for hegemonic masculinity. Thus, there should be more room and opportunities for different kinds of masculinity in the school environment. Teachers and the overall school environment should support the different ways of being a boy, and it seems there is a need for gender sensitive pedagogy.

Teachers' attitudes to and beliefs about web-based Collaborative Learning Environments in the context of an international implementation

"Fifty-six teachers, from four European countries, were interviewed to ascertain their attitudes to and beliefs about the Collaborative Learning Environments (CLEs) which were designed under the Innovative Technologies for Collaborative Learning Project. Their responses were analysed using categories based on a model from cultural-historical activity theory [Engestrom, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding.- An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit; Engestrom, Y., Engestrom, R., & Suntio, A. (2002). Can a school community learn to master its own future? An activity-theoretical study of expansive learning among middle school teachers. In G. Wells & G. Claxton (Eds.), Learning for life in the 21st century. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers]. The teachers were positive about CLEs and their possible role in initiating pedagogical innovation and enhancing personal professional development. This positive perception held across cultures and national boundaries. Teachers were aware of the fact that demanding planning was needed for successful implementations of CLEs. However, the specific strategies through which the teachers can guide students' inquiries in CLEs and the assessment of new competencies that may characterize student performance in the CLEs were poorly represented in the teachers' reflections on CLEs. The attitudes and beliefs of the teachers from separate countries had many similarities, but there were also some clear differences, which are discussed in the article. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved."

Construir la resilencia en la escuela

[Es] Existen numerosas investigaciones y testimonios que destacan el papel de la educación formal y de los maestros en la construcción de la resiliencia de alumnos procedentes de entornos desfavorecidos y en riesgo de exclusión social. En todas las personas, en los alumnos y en los educadores, hay aspectos de resiliencia a partir de los cuales es posible ayudar a superar las dificultades y afrontar el futuro con confianza y optimismo. La escuela recibe a alumnos que están en situación de desventaja social, familiar o personal y que son sujetos de riesgo de exclusión educativa: fracaso escolar, inadaptación y conflictividad. Ante estas realidades no se puede permanecer expectante. En consecuencia, es necesario que todos los que forman parte de la comunidad escolar, y en particular los docentes, afronten decididamente los nuevos retos de la educación actual y desarrollen dinámicas educativas que contribuyan a formar personas capaces de participar activamente en la sociedad, sujetos preparados para afrontar con posibilidades reales de éxito las inevitables dificultades de la vida.

Ecoturismo e educação ambiental no contexto da Baixada Fluminense: um diagnóstico das escolas do entorno do Parque Natural Municipal de Nova Iguaçu-RJ

O processo de construção de uma proposta pedagógica de Educação Ambiental no contexto global e interdisciplinar exige um profundo embasamento teórico e prático vindo de diferentes áreas do conhecimento, inclusive da Geografia. Confirmando essa tendência, propõe-se, aqui, uma análise das ações de Educação Ambiental desenvolvida por cinco escolas da Rede Municipal de Educação de Nova Iguaçu - RJ, situadas na Unidade Regional de Governo Centro, área de influência do Parque Natural Municipal de Nova Iguaçu, no período, entre os anos de 2005 e 2010. O Parque aguça o interesse dos atores sociais à participação. Portanto, centra-se nesta constatação o objetivo desta dissertação: produzir um diagnóstico que possibilite subsidiar estudos e proposições para as escolas do entorno do Parque nas ações de Educação Ambiental e que atenda satisfatoriamente a comunidade escolar de modo que possam organizar, participar, agregar, integrar, futuramente, uma rede de planejamento e monitoramento ecoturístico. As proposições estão alicerçadas nas diretrizes estabelecidas nos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais, no Plano de Manejo e no papel das escolas do entorno como difusora de conhecimentos e práticas conservacionistas no meio ambiente local. O diagnóstico realizado através de avaliações investigativas revelou informações importantes que subsidiarão um novo referencial para o tema transversal Meio Ambiente, além de levantar o caráter emergencial da qualificação específica do gestor do Parque, da capacitação contínua do educador e, por conseguinte, da formação do educando apto a interagir com o seu entorno imediato, representado pelo Parque e com as escalas mais amplas que envolvem a percepção do Meio Ambiente.

Conselhos escolares nas escolas municipais de Duque de Caxias:tensões e perspectivas

A pesquisa objetivou investigar a formação dos conselheiros escolares nas Escolas Municipais de Duque de Caxias a partir da adesão do Município ao Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento dos Conselhos Escolares, coordenado pela Secretaria de Educação Básica do Ministério da Educação. Como o exame das ações do Programa e a identificação das mesmas no referido município perpassam pelos níveis macro, meso e micro do sistema educacional, a metodologia constituiu-se de pesquisa bibliográfica, análise de documentos, construção e retrospectiva histórica em torno do princípio da gestão democrática e dos conselhos escolares; de entrevistas no MEC, na Secretaria Municipal de Educação, com os diretores de duas escolas da rede de ensino e grupo focal com o Conselho Escolar, além da observação nas escolas. Tendo como base o princípio da democracia e a construção da prática democrática nas escolas, por meio da gestão, percebem-se os conselhos escolares como segmentos representativos, tanto da possibilidade de transformação como de manutenção dos processos que envolvem a transparência, a autonomia e a participação da comunidade escolar na gestão das escolas. A verificação das ações de um Programa governamental em escala nacional, envolvendo a colaboração entre os entes federados, permite desmistificar o distanciamento entre as esferas dos sistemas de ensino neste processo que envolve a capacitação dos conselheiros escolares. A pesquisa revelou que, embora o Município de Duque de Caxias tenha aderido ao Programa, ainda não promoveu ações no sentido de formação de seus Conselheiros Escolares. Não obstante, uma das escolas observadas no estudo promove uma dinâmica articulada, em seu funcionamento, no que se refere à participação da comunidade escolar e local na gestão da escola

As Artes de Fazer no Cotidiano Escolar

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as artes de fazer no cotidiano da Escola Municipal Levi Carneiro, ou seja, as diferentes maneiras de fazer de alunos, professores e demais profissionais da escola que possibilitaram novas formas de relação com o outro, novos modos de criatividade, favorecendo a produção de subjetividades singulares, através da dança, da música e das artes cênicas. Trata-se de uma análise que tem como tema gerador a questão da disciplina, explicitada por professores, alunos e funcionários no cotidiano escolar, o que permitiu desencadear projetos e quebras de paradigmas. Para a problematização dessas vivências utilizou-se da discussão acerca dos mecanismos de controle a partir do conceito de disciplina, abordou-se a concepção de cultura e a produção de subjetividades, assim como se investiu nas práticas cotidianas a partir do debate sobre as artes de fazer. A dissertação baseia-se nas experiências da autora como professora, coordenadora e diretora de escola pública, cuja gestão está pautada numa concepção participativa. Dessa forma, a perspectiva metodológica está centrada na narrativa, como afirma Benjamin, cujas experiências são tecidas nas relações cotidianas. As diversas maneiras de fazer de crianças, e jovens, pedagogos e professores, e demais pessoas envolvidas com a comunidade escolar possibilitaram a reinvenção de muitas experiências na escola. As artes cênicas, a música, a dança, ressignificaram o espaço escolar, enquanto lugar praticado privilegiado para o desenvolvimento da sensibilidade através da arte.

Qualidade na escola e qualidade da escola: as repercussões da cultura do exame em duas escolas públicas de Duque de Caxias

O trabalho discute a qualidade da escola aferida por instrumentos avaliativos externos e a qualidade na escola vivida no cotidiano, por meio de transações. Traz a contribuição de autores que discutem as correlações entre qualidade e avaliação educacional, bem como o advento do Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (IDEB) como principal ferramenta de aferição da qualidade das escolas. Tem como questões: investigar de que forma a cultura do exame tem contribuído na produção de indicadores de qualidade na escola, quais os sentidos de qualidade atribuídos pela comunidade escolar ao conhecer os resultados das avaliações externas e de que forma as avaliações em larga escala interferem nas concepções de qualidade dos sujeitos no cotidiano escolar. A metodologia considera o cotidiano escolar em sua complexidade e, no viés do paradigma indiciário, percebe o sentido e o significado de práticas exercidas pela escola que, principalmente, estão sendo desprezadas na concepção que vem se criando do que é uma escola de qualidade. Conceituando a avaliação formativa como ferramenta para a promoção da qualidade escolar social, a pesquisa chama a atenção para o uso da avaliação em larga escala de forma vertical, pontual, inspirada nos parâmetros de neutralidade, centrada no produto, entendendo ser este o conhecimento a ser medido, o sujeito da educação. Na contramão, procura compreender os sentidos de qualidade entendidos pelos partícipes do projeto educativo da escola e a forma como esta qualidade é negociada, em sua operacionalização, vislumbrando práticas e proposições que apontam um movimento de avaliação interna nas escolas.

Desenvolvimento do clube de história da matemática: um diálogo das ciências humanas com a matemática

Este trabalho apresenta uma pesquisa sobre a utilização da História da Matemática no ensino básico do Colégio Militar do Rio de Janeiro CMRJ através de manifestações artísticas, fazendo uso, principalmente, do teatro,para que alunos percebam a matemática como uma ciência temporal, humana e sujeita a interferências políticas e sociais e, dessa forma, desenvolver a criticidade, aumentar a sensibilidade e o senso de solidariedade. A partir de um tema da história envolvendo fatos matemáticos os alunos pesquisam, escrevem uma peça teatral e encenam para um público formado por pessoas da comunidade escolar. Como a intenção é tornar essa prática efetiva, a pesquisa culmina na fundação do Clube de História da Matemática, espaço onde, espera-se, atividades recorrentes sejamdesenvolvidas, atraindo alunos afetos tanto às ciências humanas e sociais como às ciências exatas. Realiza-se um estudo de caso com observação participante, por ser o autor também professor do CMRJ. Este estudo busca referência teórica principalmente em autores relacionados à História da Matemática, Arte na Educação, gestão democrática, relações de poder e na legislação vigente. A pesquisa aponta a importância do trabalho com a história e com a arte e nos leva a concluir que, para formar cidadãos participativos e críticos, o primeiro passo é a sociedade tornar-se participativa e crítica, sendo a escola o principal locuspara tal formação.

Acontecimento-Escola: entrecruzamentos do fotográfico, artístico e pedagógico

Somente poderiam advir novas formas de existência, outros modos de ser e estar no mundo, se diferentes sensibilidades também acompanhassem o desdobrar de um determinado acontecimento. Esta pesquisa tem como objeto privilegiado os acontecimentos de criação da escola na sua relação com as visibilidades de mundo, fazendo-se ela mesma em preparação e ressurgência de um acontecimento de criação. Inicialmente seria fundamental à pesquisa envolver-se nos cotidianos do colégio estudado para melhor pensar a via de preparação do acontecimento. Tal feita somente poderia adquirir sentido se o dispositivo investigativo mantivesse seus investimentos ao nível do contato com estudantes, esforçando-se por garantir a maior participação deles em diferentes aspectos da preparação, acentuando a partir de nossos encontros à potência de criação evenemencial. Ceder aos indícios durante a preparação significaria aprofundar os vínculos que mantive com a comunidade escolar. E, tendo como principal convite a fotografia, os estudantes realizaram um número significativo de imagens do colégio que, ao final de um extenso período, nos conduziu à ocupação imagética do espaço escolar. Num segundo momento a pesquisa se voltou para o modo de apreensão do acontecimento por parte de toda a comunidade em meio à ocupação do espaço escolar a partir de suas imagens. Composta por oitenta e uma fotografias do espaço escolar, a ocupação concentrou parte destas imagens em uma instalação confeccionada por fios vermelhos no centro do primeiro pavimento, distribuindo o restante delas por entre paredes, banheiros e corredores. Esta apreensão se fez compreendida pelo dispositivo sob os termos de um profundo engajamento com o campo problemático do acontecimento, tendo como índice o destino investido pelas imagens, prolongando senão os efeitos evenemenciais em franca atualização dos gestos, superfícies e visibilidades. Procurei pensar a multiplicidade de relações estabelecidas entre a comunidade escolar e as imagens fotográficas em meio à ocupação imagética realizada no colégio, tomando a sua aparição momentânea como acontecimento de criação, assim como a ressurgência de outras visibilidades presididas em seus contextos. Para tanto, pesquisa precisou se tornar esta íntima criação de uma obra de aprendizagem.

Leadership for inclusion: Conceptualising and enacting inclusion in integrated schools in a troubled society

Inclusion is increasingly understood as an educational reform that responds to the diversity of all learners, challenging the marginalization, exclusion and underachievement which may result from all forms of ‘difference’. Leadership for inclusion is conceptualized here as driving a constant struggle to create shared meanings of inclusion and to build collaborative practice, an effort that needs to be rooted in critical practice lest it risk replicating existing patterns of disadvantage. In response to calls for further research that challenge how school leaders conceptualize inclusion and for research that investigates how leaders enact their understandings of inclusion, this paper aims to increase our understanding of the extent to which leadership vision can map onto a school’s culture and of the organizational conditions in schools that drive responses to diversity. We investigate the enactment of leadership for inclusion in the troubled context of Northern Ireland by looking at two schools that primarily aim to integrate Catholic and Protestant children but which are also sites for a range of other dimensions of student ‘difference’ to come together. Whilst the two schools express differing visions of the integration of Catholics and Protestants, leadership vision of inclusion is enacted by members of the school community with a consensus around this vision brought about by formal and informal aspects of school culture. Multiple and intersecting spheres of difference stimulate a concerted educational response in both schools but integration remains the primary focus. In this divided society, religious diversity poses a significant challenge to inclusion and further support is required from leaders to enable teachers to break through cultural restraints.