Neil Duncan

‘… do that and I'll raise your grade’. Innovative module design and recursive feedback

In an attempt to ensure students had a positive experience in their first semester, and to encourage future effective use of tutors’ feedback comments, a post-1992 university used a module in the school of education to develop an innovative feedback process. The process involved four stages: a first submission of written work, written feedback on that work, viva on student understanding of feedback, and final submission of written work. Between the viva and final submission, students could choose to improve their work for a specified number of grade points. The innovation was met favourably by students, and overall grades were improved against the previous iteration of the module. The project showed promise for adaptation in other forms for use across the University, though some ideological issues around assessment remain unresolved. The matter of the innovation and institutional quality standards is discussed in detail.

Sexual Bullying in Secondary Schools

Neil Duncan suggests that because of the theoretical perspectives of many of the main researchers involved in investigating bullying, important aspects of this phenomenon have been neglected. Based on findings from research into sexual bullying, it is suggested that the sexual identities formed during adolescence play an important part in producing the kinds of behaviour which are involved in bullying in general. The research findings reported here were the result of structured interviews (themselves developed from earlier work) undertaken with single‐sex groups of boys and girls. The data that these interviews generated have important implications for both researchers and those working with young people in secondary schools.

Using disability models to rethink bullying in schools

Much research on bullying in schools positions individual children within a deficit model of personal variables, categorising and cataloguing them with high levels of aggressiveness, low levels of empathy and so on. While less than optimal school characteristics are sometimes noted, the expectation for change is on the children. This article proposes a reconsideration of ‘the school’ as an unproblematically benign institution inimical to bullying and reframes it as a social system in which current arrangements are conducive to peer aggression. Using theoretical constructs drawn from outside the usual field of bullying, it critically examines some taken-for-granted features of schooling in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The medical and social models of disability are deployed to illuminate the philosophical differences between psychological and sociological paradigms in bullying research, to call for more research on bullying that critiques political and systemic factors in education rather than ever more funding that frames children as psychological deviants.

Beyond testing: towards a theory of educational assessment

or finding is made without a corresponding quote (or frequently multiple quotes) from the participants’ interviews. However, these quotes are encased within grey-shaded boxes, inserted into the main text, often to the point where there is one sentence of body text on a page with the remainder as quote boxes. For me, this presented a constant interruption to the flow of information, at times to the point of un-readability. The Handbook is also definitely rooted in the US education system. In many chapters this is not an issue; there is much to be gained in reading about practice and theory in other contexts (with the caveat, of course, that we are sure of the commonality of meaning of identical words – for example, when the authors refer to the ‘principal’, are we sure about the nature of the job performed in the school by someone who carries that title?). The one section where the context presents difficulties is the chapter on ‘School Data’. It is an interesting comparative read, but its practical relevance to anyone outside the United States is doubtful. The unique selling point for this book is that it addresses in one place issues of both theory and day-to-day practice. So it encompasses System Leadership theory with considerations of staff interview techniques and the relationships between leadership and classroom practice. In this respect, the book makes for a potentially useful single reference source, as a starting point for further research – and it includes extensive suggestions for further reading. Were I a high school principal in the United States then I would seriously consider this book. As a head teacher in any other country, with the time to read more widely, I might be interested to read some of the chapters (particularly the section on hiring staff). The ‘self-help’ and practice sheets, however, are too context-dependent and also suffer from the problem of all prescriptive lesson and continuing professional development plans, in that they are almost certainly not fit for the local and schoolspecific purpose. They might provide some useful starter material for in-house continuing professional development planning. The Handbook of School Improvement would be useful to those with an interest in school improvement, especially considering the increasing internationalisation of the field. The book’s strength lies in its practicality, its weakness in its layout.

What disability? I am a leader! Understanding leadership in HE from a disability perspective:

This article is based on the findings of an externally funded, mixed-methods research project conducted at one English university. This small-scale project aimed to examine leadership, barriers to becoming a leader and the support needed to overcome them, from the perspectives of disabled staff. An online questionnaire was sent to all 66 members of staff who had disclosed their disabled status to the university and 22 responses were received. Twelve participants were then interviewed as two focus groups to discuss their views on leadership and its relation to their role. Six more respondents opted for individual face-to-face/telephone interviews. The findings indicated that over half of the respondents were already engaged in ‘formal’ leadership and even more exercised ‘informal’ leadership. This key finding seems to contradict the under-representation of disabled academics in leadership reported in the literature. Despite their engagement in leadership, disabled staff faced several institutional and personal barriers. The findings suggest that having an impairment per se might not necessarily deter disabled staff from exercising leadership. A number of support strategies are recommended to facilitate their participation in (formal) leadership.

Personal sacrifice and corporate cultures: career progression for disabled staff in higher education

Abstract Disabled people are under-represented in higher education (HE), especially in senior posts. This article reports research on the perspectives of career progression into leadership held by disabled staff in one post-1992 university. Findings indicated that some participants were already engaged in leadership or aspired to such roles, and reported positive experiences. However, participants also experienced barriers to progression, including a lack of awareness of equality and diversity among managers and colleagues, inadequate professional development opportunities and the competitive organisational culture of management that could impact on their health and work–life balance. We conclude that disabled staff in HE do not yet have equal opportunities for progression into leadership roles compared with their non-disabled peers. There is a need for realignment of the culture of leadership and management to make it more compatible with the full inclusion of disabled staff in HE such that their unique contributions are valued.

The method of shared concern: a positive approach to bullying in schools

Back in the late 1980s, I applied to Manchester University for a master’s degree in education, with a research topic on bullying in schools. I was delayed in my start, as the supervisory team expla...