Ros McLellan

We're All in This Game Whether We Like It or Not to Get a Number of As to Cs. Design and Technology Teachers' Struggles to Implement Creativity and Performativity Policies.

Education reform in England has seen many policies and initiatives introduced by central government. This article discusses two such policies, performativity and creativity. Performativity has been central to the governments agenda of raising standards and includes monitoring mechanisms such as Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) inspections, performance management and school league tables, all of which are used to measure or judge the value or worth of a school or individual teacher. At the same time as policies on performativity have been implemented, policy makers have introduced a number of policies to encourage creativity in education. This article foregrounds teachers of design and technology (D&T) at secondary level (11–16 years), describing how they struggled to implement both strategies. Teachers valued creativity and thought it was an important part of the subject, but the pressure to be seen to be performing and getting favourable positions in school league tables and Ofsted inspections...

A matter of attitude? Developing a profile of boys’ and girls’ responses to primary schooling

Much of the research investigating pupils’ attitudes towards school has been qualitatively‐oriented. This analysis explores the extent to which some of the differences between pupils can be rendered in quantitative terms. Drawing upon a survey of 1310 pupils in 21 primary schools, its main concern is to explore the extent to which there is a ‘gender gap’ in attitudes and responses to school. The question of whether schools participating in the research faced common or distinct challenges in terms of pupils’ attitudes was also of interest. Analysis confirms that, in line with previous research, primary girls were more favourably disposed towards school than primary boys. Factor analysis of pupil responses to an attitude questionnaire showed that girls were more positive in terms of engagement with school and pupil behaviour but that boys had higher academic self‐esteem. There were no differences between the two sexes in terms of relationships with peers. A cluster analysis identified the existence of five groups of pupils, some of whom have been highlighted in previous research using different approaches. These groups were: (1) the enthusiastic and confident; (2) the moderately interested but easily bored; (3) the committed but lacking self‐esteem; (4) the socially engaged but disaffected; and (5) the alienated. The gendered nature of some of these groupings was apparent: the first group was dominated by girls while the fourth and fifth were dominated by boys. However, analysis indicated that such gender‐based differences were, to some extent, matters of degree. Some 14% of primary boys, for example, were judged to be alienated, but so were 9% of primary girls. An analysis of the prevalence of each group within each of the participating schools showed that while many primary schools had similar overall pupil profiles, some faced specific challenges associated with having larger proportions of particular groups of children (for example the alienated, the socially engaged but disaffected or the committed but lacking self‐esteem). The implications of the findings for those concerned with interventions in relation to gender issues are briefly discussed.

The Impact of Motivational “World‐view” on Engagement in a Cognitive Acceleration Programme

Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) is an intervention programme conducted during Years 7 and 8 in the United Kingdom (aged 11–13 years), which has reported remarkable success in enhancing cognitive development and in raising academic achievement. Critics, however, have questioned whether a purely cognitive mechanism can explain the differential cognitive gains made by participants. One suggestion is that differences in motivational style might provide an explanation. This paper will present findings from a longitudinal study that addresses this matter. Utilising a goal theory approach to motivation, the motivational orientation, related beliefs, and self‐concepts of approximately 1600 secondary students attending nine schools, five of whom were delivering the CASE intervention, were assessed before and at the end of the programme. Analyses of these data suggested that students exhibit six different motivational styles or world‐views. These will be characterised. Change in motivation can be gauged by examining changes in world‐view over the time‐span of the research (the first 2 years of secondary schooling). Differences in the change of motivation of students for students attending CASE and control schools will be inspected. Finally, the relationship between motivation and cognitive gain, which turns out to be complex, will be presented. The implications of these findings, including whether world‐view can explain differential cognitive acceleration effects, will be discussed.

We Don't Know Enough: Environmental Education and Pro-Environmental Behaviour Perceptions.

Abstract This study sought to understand environmental knowledge and attitudes among young people to explain the relationship between environmental education (EE) and reported pro-environmental behaviours (PEB). A mixed-methods design was employed: 88 university students in the UK and Nigeria were surveyed and 6 were subsequently interviewed. The findings indicate that the participants believe humans are abusing the earth and are very concerned about the consequences but do not know enough about environmental problems, especially global warming. Also, those who had more environmental knowledge reported more PEB. Generally, participants want more EE content to be taught in schools and in more engaging ways such as field trips. These findings offer important insights for both theory and practice related to the use of education to develop PEB for a healthier environment.

Young people’s perceptions of wellbeing: The importance of peer relationships in Slovak schools

ABSTRACT This article explores the wellbeing experiences of 15-year-old students in Slovakia, who have repeatedly scored among the lowest ranks in the international reports on wellbeing (Program for International Student Assessment [PISA] 2003; PISA 2012; Health Behavior in School-Aged Children [HBSC] 2009/2010). In a qualitative enquiry, students from one urban and one rural school in Slovakia were invited to participate. Semistructured interviews (n = 8) and two focus groups (n = 12) were conducted in total. The focus groups engaged in a creative activity and prepared a banner for the next year cohort. The analytical approach of Moustakas’ transcendental phenomenology revealed that students consider peer relationships as crucial to their wellbeing experiences in school. They would welcome having more guidance in developing their communication and interpersonal skills as part of the official curricula. As Slovak education places considerable emphasis on academic learning and performance, the findings imply that giving students a more active voice promotes meeting their educational and developmental needs.

Using Ryff’s scales of psychological well-being in adolescents in mainland China

BackgroundPsychological well-being in adolescence has always been a focus of public attention and academic research. Ryff’s six-factor model of psychological well-being potentially provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for investigating positive functioning of adolescents. However, previous studies reported inconsistent findings of the reliability and validity of Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB). The present study aimed to explore whether Ryff’s six-factor model of psychological well-being could be applied in Chinese adolescents.MethodThe Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB) were adapted for assessing the psychological well-being of adolescents in mainland China. 772 adolescents (365 boys to 401 girls, 6 missing gender data, mean age = 13.65) completed the adapted 33-item SPWB. The data was used to examine the reliability and construct validity of the adapted SPWB.ResultResults showed that five of the six sub-scales had acceptable internal consistency of items, except the sub-scale of autonomy. The factorial structure of the SPWB was not as clear-cut as the theoretical framework suggested. Among the models under examination, the six-factor model had better model fit than the hierarchical model and the one-factor model. However, the goodness-of-fit of the six-factor model was hardly acceptable. High factor correlations were identified between the sub-scales of environmental mastery, purpose in life and personal growth.ConclusionsFindings of the present study echoed a number of previous studies which reported inadequate reliability and validity of Ryff’s scales. Given the evidence, it was suggested that future adolescent studies should seek to develop more age-specific and context-appropriate items for a better operationalisation of Ryff’s theoretical model of psychological well-being.

Children and Young People’s Wellbeing in the School Context

Policymakers, academic researchers and the general public have become increasingly interested in wellbeing in recent years. Although there is consensus that wellbeing is important, there is considerable debate as to what exactly wellbeing is and hence how it might be enhanced. This chapter provides an overview of research on wellbeing and argues that the different disciplinary lenses generate unique insights that must be considered collectively for a cohesive picture of wellbeing to be developed. Furthermore, it is argued that research on adults’ wellbeing cannot be unproblematically applied to children and young people. Substantially less research has focused on children and young people compared with adults’ wellbeing, and even less work has considered wellbeing in the school context. The contribution of McLellan and Galton’s work in this area is outlined, and outstanding issues about children and young people’s wellbeing are raised.

Diversifying Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Education for Increased Accessibility to the Wise

There is little evidence that the gender gap in entrepreneurial self-efficacy is being narrowed by entrepreneurship and enterprise education (EEE) in Europe. Which raises a very serious question about European EEE: is it failing women? If we look more specifically at science and engineering research, its impact and the status of women in the disciple and EEE, we see that Women from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines are lost in larger proportions than men at every step of the postgraduate ladder and are under-represented in top positions across the spectrum of business, public service and academia (Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2012). Under these conditions, one might expect that these women are turning to entrepreneurship and yet the proportion of women-owned enterprises in high-tech industries remains very low and in the European Union is currently under15% (ECDGEI). This relatively small representation of women has implications for the realisation of the impact of scientific research funding through commercialisation and entrepreneurship, as an indicator of sexual inequality (Devos, Mclean and O’Hara, 2003) and as a loss to the economy (Gatewood et al., 2004; Wilson, Kickul and Marlino, 2007; Nixdorff and Rosen, 2010).