Pedagogy and learning: The co-construction of the culture for learning by students and teachers

Author(s):

Majella Dempsey(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

03. Curriculum Innovation

Format:

Paper

Session Information

03 SES 08, Local Curriculum Development and Role of Collaboration

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-24

09:00-10:30

Room:

K4.16

Chair:

Jan van den Akker

Contribution

This paper reports the findings of a quasi-experimental research study, on the impact of the implementation of a key skills approach, to teaching and learning in second level schools in Ireland. The last decade has seen many countries grapple with the development and implementation of key competences in education. At the Lisbon Council in March 2000, the European Council agreed a new strategic goal, called the Lisbon Strategy, to strengthen employment, economic reform and social cohesion as part of a knowledge economy. The Lisbon Strategy coupled with the subsequent development of the European Framework of Key Competences that explicitly outlines the key competences that citizens require for their personal fulfilment, social inclusion, active citizenship and employability in a knowledge based society, has significantly influenced education policy throughout Europe (European Commission, 2007). This had a major influence on education because it linked education with social policy, labour market and overall economic policy, positioning education as both the solution and the problem. There have been many studies on school change that point to the fact that teaching and learning and the quality of the learning environment is the one factor that teachers and schools can change to bring about enhanced learning for students (Hattie, 2009; Entwistle, 2009).

The flow of knowledge in this era, coupled with the intersection between education and market forces, is leading to a commodification of information leading to global competiveness in both goods and services. This wave of education for knowledge is characterised by the exponential pace of change, albeit outside the school walls rather than inside. This has affected education, linking it to economic competitiveness (Government of Ireland, 2010). On the other hand, the fundamental role of the school is to educate young people to think critically and to empower them for the exercise of democracy, but also to enable them to participate in society. Policy developments since Lisbon have shifted educational debate in Ireland, which has led to the inclusion of key skills in curriculum development, and it is in this context that the reported research took place. Some commentators see this push for competence-based education as fulfilling a neoliberal agenda of privatisation, marketization and obsession with measurement and benchmarks leading to an impoverished notion of what is meant by knowledge (see for example Lingard and Grek, 2007; Biesta, 2007; Biesta and Priestly, 2013). A comprehensive review of policy developments since Lisbon in 2000 situate the policy developments in Ireland within the wider context and serves to demonstrate how Ireland has resisted the negative aspects of neoliberalism.

Claxton (2008) challenges us to rediscover the heart of education and to move away from the stress of exams and regurgitation of information and instead encourage students to develop curiosity, ask questions and think for themselves. The ESRI longitudinal study in Ireland tell the story of an over-emphasis on rote learning (see for example Smyth, Dunne, Darmody and McCoy, 2007). Clearly changing students’ practices around learning is as complex as, and may even be more complex than, changing teachers’ ways of doing and acting (Cordingley, 2009; Day, 1999). This research has found that while there was a rich capacity for change within the system, teachers and students co-constructed a culture of learning that promoted and valued rote learning. While teachers in many cases embraced change to their practice, students resisted it and looked for notes due to the pressure placed on them with externally assessed exams.

Method

The research involved the development of a theory-driven designed intervention on the development of key skills in upper secondary education across a range of subjects. A non-equivalent quasi-experimental control group design was used to gather evidence on three hypotheses. The three hypotheses were: 1. The Key Skills approach will result in positive changes in the teacher’s pedagogical practice. 2. The Key Skills approach would result in more favourable student academic outcome measures for students 3. The Key Skills approach would result in positive changes in students’ attitudes and beliefs about learning This paper focuses on the impact of the intervention on students’ attitudes and beliefs about learning. The matching of the test group with the control group was central to the success of the quasi-experiment. The two groups were matched on variables deemed important to the research and those that were possible to control. Considering the complexity of working with schools and taking all the different threats to validity into account, the research used qualitative methods to enhance and support the quantitative data to enable causal inferences to be made. This enhanced the validity of the findings and afforded greater insight into the culture of schooling at this stage of education. Questionnaires and interviews were used to measure attitudinal and practice outcomes. A matched sample of 116 students took a pre-test (T1) and a post-test (T2) on students’ feelings about school and school work using an inventory developed in previous research (Entwistle and Kozeki, 1985). A sample of 48 students was interviewed at T1 and 41 at T2. Data Analysis: Reliability of all grouped Likert items was carried out by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Questionnaire data were coded and inputted into SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 21. Student and teacher questionnaire data at T1 was used in the first instance to match schools. An independent t-test was carried out on T1 data to compare differences between sample means for matched schools (Field, 2013, p.364). Students were matched between T1 and T2 and a paired sample t-test was carried out on the data for all schools. Interview data were analysed using the general inductive approach and both inductive and deductive analysis (Thomas, 2006) were used. Analysis at T1 involved using the constant comparison method of systematic searching for similarities across all schools and across matched schools and looking for differences (Thomas, 2006).

Expected Outcomes

The key finding was that the culture of schooling at senior cycle in Ireland, where the environment of learning was characterised by rote learning and the epistemological dominance of the teacher, was incompatible with the development of key skills. The use of key skills pedagogies by teachers in the interventions schools had an impact on students’ attitudes and beliefs about learning. Students in intervention schools described more student centered learning activities than control schools. They were more articulate when describing skills they had developed in senior cycle. This research supports the need for key skills to be embedded into teaching and learning. Solid evidence for lack of skills development, at present, in senior cycle is presented throughout the data, in all schools at T1 and in control schools at T2. For educational policy makers, this research paints a picture at T1 of learners as passive recipients of knowledge, not as active participants or designers of their own learning—in many ways unconnected to their own learning. It presents a picture of the intellectual culture of schooling that attaches a premium to certain types of academic work and a picture of external assessment as being inimical to learning. Pedagogies used by teachers are not in alignment with the teaching and learning experiences that current education discourses claim to be most appropriate for this stage of education. Policy makers need to look at how education can move away from this culture of standardisation in preparation for external assessment to a culture that promotes the development of key skills. This research would contend that key skills do indeed hold great promise for enhancing the teaching and learning experience in second level, if coupled with changes to curriculum and assessment and supported by professional development for teachers.

References

Biesta, G.J.J. & Priestley, M. (2013). Capacities and the Curriculum. In M. Priestley & G.J.J. Biesta (Eds.), Reinventing the curriculum: new trends in curriculum policy and practice, London: Bloomsbury. Claxton, G. (2008). What’s the point of School? Rediscovering the Heart of Education. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. Cordingley, P. (2009). Using Research and Evidence as a Lever for Change at classroom Level. AERA 2009 paper. Coventry: CUREE. http://www.curee-paccts.com [Retrieved November 2011] Day, C. (1999). Developing Teachers: The Challenges of Lifelong Learning. London: Falmer Press Entwistle, N. J. & Kozeki, B. (1985). Relationships between school motivation, approaches to studying, and attainment among British and Hungarian adolescents. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 55 (2), 124-37. Entwistle, N.J. (2009). Teaching for Understanding at University: Deep Approaches and Distinctive Ways of Thinking. London: Palgrave Macmillan Field, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. 4th Edition. London: Sage. European Commission. (2007b). Key Competences for Lifelong Learning: European Reference Framework. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Government of Ireland. (2010). Innovation Ireland: Report of the Innovation Taskforce. Dublin: The Stationary Office. Hargraves (2003). Teaching in the Knowledge Society: education in the age of insecurity. United Kingdom: Open University Press. Lingard, B., & Grek, S. (2007). The OECD, indicators and PISA: An exploration of events and theoretical perspectives, Fabricating Quality in European Education, Working Paper 2. Smyth, E., Dunne, A., Darmody, M., & McCoy, S. (2007). Gearing up for the exam? Dublin: The Liffey Press. Thomas, D.R. (2006). A General Inductive Approach for Analyzing Qualitative Evaluation Data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237-246.

Author Information

Majella Dempsey (presenting / submitting)

Maynooth University

Education

Maynooth, Co. Kildare

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