Hilary Cremin

Problematising pupil voice using visual methods: findings from a study of engaged and disaffected pupils in an urban secondary school

This article explores how pupils and teachers in an 11-16 mixed secondary school in an area of urban disadvantage in the UK experience pupil voice. It used visual methods to unpick some of the ways in which official and unofficial discourses of pupil voice, engagement, discipline and inclusion were played out in this school. A typology of pupils, based on analysis of school policy documentation was produced. Whilst these ‘types’ were expressed through pupil scrapbooks and interviews, they were not found to be related to individual pupils in the way that the school policy documentation suggests. Adults respond to pupil voice differently depending on how it is framed—the ‘types’ create discursive practices that determine the things that can be said, by whom and in what way. The visual methods used are reviewed here in the light of findings and are found to be useful in eliciting a range of pupil voices.

Working with teaching assistants: three models evaluated

Questions about how best to deploy teaching assistants (TAs) are particularly apposite given the greatly increasing numbers of TAs in British schools and given findings about the difficulty effecting adult teamwork in classrooms. In six classrooms, three models of team organisation and planning for the work of teaching assistants — ‘room management’, ‘zoning’ and ‘reflective teamwork’ — were evaluated using a repeated measures design for their effects on childrens engagement. Detailed interview feedback was also gained from participating teachers and assistants about the perceived benefits of each model and possible adaptations to the models for future classroom use. All three models were found to effect significant improvements in engagement in all of the classrooms, and each was evaluated positively by participants, with useful commentary concerning adaptation.

Is it Possible to Access the 'Voice' of Pre-school Children? Results of a research project in a pre-school setting.

This paper presents a rationale for consulting with very young children to enable their voices to be heard, and taken into consideration, when planning pre‐school provision. It goes on to suggest that the expressed preferences of pre‐school children can be taken as an accurate account of their thoughts and feelings. This is tested through a case study of six 4‐year‐olds in a nursery setting. The research enabled a comparison to be made between what the children said were their favourite areas of nursery life, and their preferences as noted by adults. In five out of six cases, adult perspectives were the same as child perspectives. The paper ends with some exploration of the factors that contribute to reliable consultation with very young children.

MAINTAINING UNDERCLASSES VIA CONTRASTIVE JUDGEMENT: CAN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION EVER HAPPEN?

ABSTRACT:  Borrowing from epidemiological and economic analysis, we argue that the central constructs by which children are judged educationally rest in contrastive judgements and that such judgements are based on ‘everyday’ constructs – not objective descriptors. But because these everyday constructs become seemingly objectified by the procedures and discourses of education, they appear reliable and objective. The insistent process of contrastive judgement based on these everyday constructs has its result in cohorts of children forever being judged unfavourably next to others. A model to frame the process is outlined and consequences for childrens acceptance and inclusion are discussed.

Pupils Resolving Disputes: Successful Peer Mediation Schemes Share Their Secrets

In the final two articles of this issue, attention turns to initiatives promoting the active participation of young people themselves. Here, Hilary Cremin discusses the impact of her research and consultancy in peer mediation with young people in Birmingham primary schools.

Peace Education Research in the Twenty-First Century: Three Concepts Facing Crisis or Opportunity?.

This article focuses on the concepts of peace, education and research, and the ways in which they combine to form the field of peace education and peace education research. It discusses the ways in which each can be said to be facing a crisis of legitimation, representation and praxis, and the structural and cultural violence that inhibit efforts towards a more inclusive global conception of peace. It will review some ways in which it may be possible to rise to Gur-Ze’ev’s challenge to respond to post-structural critiques of the field. Drawing on participatory, auto ethnographic and arts-based research methodologies, it suggests ways of creating synergies between research and aspirations towards positive (rather than negative) peace.

Violence and Institutional Racism in Schools

Book reviewed in this article: Rethinking Interventions in Racism R. Bhavnani Conflict Resolution Communication: patterns of promoting peaceful schools M. Lincoln Working with Disaffected Students: why students lose interest in school and what we can do about it K. Riley & E. Rustique-Forrester Violence in Schools: the response in Europe P. K. Smith, (Ed.)

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Restorative Justice: Developing Insights for Education.

ABSTRACT This article takes restorative justice as an example of an initiative that crosses disciplinary boundaries, and that has been usefully applied within educational contexts. Grounded in criminology, restorative justice also has roots in psychology, education, sociology, peace studies, philosophy and law. The article draws on an ESRC funded seminar series which investigated interdisciplinary perspectives on restorative justice and their applicability to education. The series found that the ways in which restorative justice is conceptualised and applied varies according to disciplinary norms and assumptions. It is this creative tension that the current article explores.

Violence in Schools: Perspectives (and hope) from Galtung and Buber

Abstract Research into violence in schools has been growing steadily at an international level, and has shown high degrees of violence at various different levels. Given the seriousness of the problem, finding ways of responding to this issue in schools becomes an imperative for educationists. In this article, we engage with this problem by defending the view that whilst violence might be endemic in schools, there are also real possibilities for working towards different ways of being in relationship in schools. Firstly, we discuss Galtung’s understanding of violence and peace, paying particular attention to his concepts of structural and cultural violence, peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding. Secondly, we connect Galtung’s notions of peacemaking to Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, in order to make a case for an ‘epistemological shift’ which might enable individuals and communities to achieve ‘peace’. Finally, we direct our argument to the education context and put forward some concrete proposals for peacemaking in schools.

Importing control in Initial Teacher Training: theorizing the construction of specific habitus in recent proposals for induction into teaching

This article attempts to provide theoretical perspectives on the recent Conservative-led Coalition Government’s promotion of Teach First and related initiatives in England. In particular, we suggest the emergence of three ‘ideal’ types of teacher in the initial teacher training programmes outlined in the 2010 White Paper and related Conservative discourse: the ‘Elite Graduate’, the ‘High Flyer’ and the ‘Ex-Soldier’. These ‘ideals’, we argue, are dually performative: not only legitimating habitus proximate to Conservative ideological interests, but also awarding them authority over pupils and the educational ‘field’. We begin our discussion with an analysis of the amendments to school disciplinary practice proposed in April 2011 which appear to place new emphasis on teachers’ dispositions. Seen in the light of concomitant criticism of current teachers’ passivity, we suggest, these changes relate to our ‘ideals’ in two ways. Firstly, suggesting the need for a new cohort of teachers up to the challenge of authority. Secondly, enabling the ‘ideals’ to exercise their habitus in judgements over pupils.