Secondary school students perceptions of vocational education in Barbados
Trudi Harris
The field of technical and vocational education presents an intriguing opportunity to investigate economic and social issues. For Clarke and Winch (2007) the approach to vocational education can give insight into the peculiarities of a society. This research paper examined secondary school student perceptions of vocational education in Barbados. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to garner perspectives from several stakeholders; students, guidance counsellors, and those involved in the delivery of vocational training. The results showed that student perceptions of vocational education did not significantly vary by school, but there was a high level of uncertainty about all aspects of vocational education recorded at all schools. Students’ perceptions were strongly influenced by society’s overall view of vocational education and its status. This highlights a cause for concern in terms of how vocational education is marketed to its supposed target audience and justifies the need for additional research to be carried out.
Secondary school students perceptions of vocational education in Barbados
What Can the Child Do? A Case Study of Continuous Assessment in a Ugandan P1 Class
Elizabeth Toohig
Assessment is inextricably linked with teaching and securing positive learning outcomes for pupils. This small scale case study uses classroom observations and semi-structured interviews to investigate teachers’ understanding and enactment of continuous assessment in a P1 class in Uganda. Vignettes of practice from literacy lessons reveal how teachers implement assessment within the teaching and learning process. These highlight that despite the challenge of large class teaching and tensions created in a system dominated by the high-stake Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), implementing classroom-based assessment is possible.
What Can the Child Do? A Case Study of Continuous Assessment in a Ugandan P1 Class
A Qualitative Study of the Jordanian National Curriculum and its Propensity for Student Centred Teaching and Learning
Taline Sabella
This dissertation seeks to explore the propensity of the Jordanian National Curriculum of Science and Social Studies for the incorporation of Student-Centred (SC) pedagogy to teaching and learning in International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools in Amman. A qualitative and interpretivist methodological approach was adopted to investigate whether the National Curriculum accepts a more SC pedagogical method. This was achieved through documentary analysis of grade three’s Science and Social Studies teacher’s guides, textbooks and mission statements of the 11 IB World Schools and through interviews with stakeholders.
Bernstein’s (2000; 1977) sociological theory of pedagogy formed the theoretical basis of my analysis. The findings of the documentary analysis revealed a somewhat constructivist aspiration to pedagogy. However, the collection code of the curriculum, time constraints and high pupil to teacher ratio hindered the effective use of SC approaches. The interviews revealed a lack of understanding of the concept of Student-Centred Education (SCE). Furthermore, curricular content, cultural and societal restraints and technical barriers proved a further limitation to the incorporation of SCE. This research concludes with recommendations for future research.
Classroom Interaction in Rwandan Secondary Physics Classrooms
Joint 2013/14 Luke Akaguri Memorial Prize winner for best dissertation
Sawa Iwakuni
This study investigates the classroom environment and interactions in physics lessons in Rwandan lower secondary schools. The data obtained from 6 classroom observations, interviews with 6 teachers, and interviews with 17 students have been used to explore classroom discourse which has been generally regarded as ‘teacher-centred’, ‘knowledge transmission’ and ‘highly ritualized’. The research findings revealed the teachers’ use of an authoritative non-interactive approach, controlling students’ participation by using highly ritualized questioning and feedback techniques. Students’ behaviour was also controlled by the teachers by using punishment including corporal punishment and exclusion. However, dialogic interactive verbal exchanges between a teacher and students were also observed, where the teacher was discovering students’ knowledge. This micro-level analysis provides insight into what goes on inside classrooms and highlighted asymmetrical power relations between the teachers and students that have a constraining influence on the range of potential approaches to teaching and learning.
Classroom Interaction in Rwandan secondary physics classrooms
Locating Multicultural Education through the Representations of difference in moral studies textbooks used in South Korean primary schools
Jihye Kim
South Korean multicultural education has a dual face which advocates two contradicting themes: ideologies of diversity and ethnocentrism. Given the nation’s political and historical context, it has been often called as one of the most homogenous countries in the world. With globalisation and internal dynamics contributing to a rapid change in the demographic landscape of the nation, it hopes to eschew the old notion of being homogenous nation and simultaneously be dubbed as a multicultural, dynamic society. This research explores how the concept of ‘difference’ in the official Korean Moral Studies textbooks currently in use is represented in order to explore how ‘others’ are constructed in the dominant discourse of multicultural education. As a result, a clear boundary between Koreans and ‘others’ remains to be the underlying theme despite its recent curriculum revision. Thus, this research attempts to challenge the essentialised view of multiculturalism and argues for bringing in the critical approach of cultural diversity in future curriculum development and revision processes in order to resolve the paradox of multiculturalism in Korean education.
More than just a number: a deeper look at the secondary school experience for females in Dabou, Togo
Julia Pons
This empirical study conducted in Dabou, Togo, uses interview data collected from male secondary school teachers and female secondary school students to realise the local implications of being feminine in the education system. The qualitative data uncovers the difficulties the ten interviewed female students have faced throughout their educational journey and how they have overcome the many inhibiting factors they are faced with. By comparing the responses of the teachers and students, it becomes clear that each party prioritises different contributing factors to girls’ education, though both emphasise the importance of parental support. Teachers and students voice their expectations for the students’ futures and in doing so, reveal a stark difference between what the teachers expect of their students and what the students expect of themselves. The study draws upon international data and goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals, in order to emphasis the importance of qualitative data which is used here to paint a clearer picture of what being female in Togo actually means. By using qualitative data, we learn more than the enrolment number of female students; we learn that these 118 female students have created their own strategies to persist in education.
More than just a number: a deeper look at the secondary school experience for females in Dabou, Togo
Teacher Experiences During the Shift in Medium of Instruction in Rwanda Voices from Kigali Public Schools
Joint 2013/14 Luke Akaguri Memorial Prize winner for best dissertation
Cady Tolon
The 2008 language shift impacted the whole of Rwandan society. In the education sector, the change in medium of instruction brought about extreme challenges for students and teachers, alike. In the years since this shift was implemented, teachers in Rwanda have experienced huge changes within their classrooms, teaching methodology, and own understanding of the national educational system. This qualitative study looks at some of these experiences, via the voices of eleven teachers in two public schools in Kigali. A brief overview of the Rwandan context is offered first, followed by a short literature review covering the topics of language, power, language policy, and education in Sub Saharan Africa, and how these topics interplay with each other. The experiences of the Rwandan teachers are then shared, with their responses thematized into the following categories: Globalization, Attitudes/Opinions, External Factors, and Language Acquisition Components. Each of these themes offers some insight into how teachers have undergone and understood the language shift, despite an evident lack of power afforded them by governing powers. Their voices offer rich data that provides important understanding of the language shift, and also of the persistent lack of agency offered to teachers in Rwanda.
Living in Two Worlds: A Case Study of a Remote Secondary School in Northern Tanzania
Susan Kent
This case study considers the position of students, who are mainly Maasai, attending an NGO run secondary school in Northern Tanzania where indigenous knowledge (IK) is valued by the founders of the school. Attempts have been made to include IK as a subject with a specially written curriculum running alongside the Tanzanian National Curriculum (TNC). The study clarifies some of the terms used and considers the question of why the category of indigenous can be applied to the Maasai before reflecting upon the notion of indigenous knowledge and what it means in the context of the school and how it sits alongside the TNC. It also contemplates whether indigenous knowledge is diminished as a result of formal schooling. A review of literature on issues of education quality, relevance and teacher competence, in relation to indigenous people, suggests that the subject is complex with conflicting research conclusions. The findings suggest that the Western style school curriculum takes precedence over the aims of the NGO inter-cultural curriculum; thus supporting the theories of Bourdieu regarding symbolic violence and social reproduction. Furthermore, teaching of IK only happens when visiting researchers are located at the school signifying that local agendas and values have been prioritised over those of the NGO. Students seem to display more than one habitus as they learn to live in two worlds.
Susan Kent Living in Two Worlds- A Case Study of a Remote Secondary School in Northern Tanzania
CIE Journal 