Cath Gristy

The central importance of peer relationships for student engagement and well-being in a rural secondary school

This case study records the voices of a group of young people from an isolated rural community as they reflect on their experiences of secondary school. The study was driven by a desire to develop an understanding of the human connections young people make (or not) at school, to help develop understandings of how schools can be better places for their students. The data reveal that the students report their school experience almost entirely as a social activity. In the context of this study it is argued that the emotional support and ‘protection’ that peer relationships seem to offer young people maybe a key element in motivating them to attend school and supporting their well-being. With the focus of schools directed by inspection, standards and marketisation agenda, the importance of these peer relationships to young people may not be fully recognised by school leaders. Acknowledgement of the importance of these interactions to the students and accommodation of these needs physically and pedagogically in school may well be a key to developing positive relations between all members of the school community.

Engaging with and moving on from participatory research: A personal reflection

In this paper, I respond to the call to articulate experiences of the messy realities of participatory research. I reflect on my engagement and struggle with the realities and ethics of a piece of case study research, which set out with a participatory approach. The project involved a group of young people from an isolated rural community who appeared to be disconnecting from their secondary school. The research set out to develop understanding of the ways in which young people make connections (or not) in and with school, in order to further understanding of how schools might become more inclusive. A series of reflections on moments during the early stages of the research led to a significant shift in the methodological approach. The approach of this project eventually moved away from participatory research to an approach informed by Foucaults ‘ethical project’. Here, the focus is on the subjection and practices of the researcher. I argue that, on reflection, the ‘ethical project’ framework was more appropriate for this kind of research, where the complexities of participatory research were reducing the transparency of complex power structures.

Home-to-school transport in contemporary schooling contexts: an irony in motion

ABSTRACT This paper explores ‘home–school’ transport in contemporary schooling contexts in England. Home–school transport is a complex issue lying between government departments, policy frameworks, research and professional disciplines. It is complicated further by commercial and private interests alongside social and public ones. Informed by an interdisciplinary literature, the authors argue that there is an urgent need to develop understanding of the position of home–school transport policy and practices in contemporary schooling contexts, particularly in relation to school choice making and enactment. This paper calls for research to inform the development of home–school transport policy and practices that are socially just and sustainable.

Coaching of staff in schools: What can we learn from the new role of the Masters in Teaching and Learning in-school coach for schools and the higher education tutors working alongside them?

The MTL is a practice-based professional master’s qualification, aimed at attracting Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) to National Challenge schools in order to help improve outcomes. The MTL programme was also developed as a continuation of a teacher’s PGCE and subsequent induction year. A key element of the MTL is the tripartite relationship of HEI tutor, school-based coach and MTL student, with funding weighted towards schools (60%) and the HEI (40%). The role of the HEI was to be quality assurance and assessment, with the in-school coach doing most of the programme delivery. The project reported here is based on interviews with in-school MTL coaches to explore, firstly, how their role had developed within the MTL. Coaches are typically without a formal master’s qualification themselves, so a second aim of this study was to examine the consequences of this in and on practice. Finally, we explored the effect on all involved as flaws in the model emerged. Formal case-study interviews were the main empirical research data upon which this study is based, although they are supplemented by additional data. Where the MTL coach enjoyed a level of success, we suggest that this was primarily because of the attitudes of the coach in school and the HEI staff working alongside them. The lack of a master’s-level qualification amongst coaches had some negative impact, but the most significant issue we contest is that to create true working partnerships with school, the HEI has to be able to share assessment procedures with school-based colleagues.