Educationalfutures Liverpool Conference Issue

This file contains the title page with list of contents for the Liverpool Conference issue of the Educationalfutures journal.

This file contains the editorial for Educationalfutures Volume 2(1).

Education Studies at the University of Greenwich is presented as an example of what Education Studies is – at least at one Higher Education Institution. As a field of practice to which a body of knowledge can be applied, Education Studies shares common features with other disciplinary fields of study. It is also unique in that its field – learning, is also what its students do – learn. What Education Studies isn’t is then discussed in relation to studies of schooling, the psychology of learning, sociology of education, traditional education degrees and teacher training. Lastly, what Education Studies could become is presented with reference to Ranson’s (1993) argument for the centrality of education as the common focus of all HE study. It is suggested that the subject could then contribute to expanding critical space in (higher) education through making research/ scholarship and creation an integral part of the Independent Study of all students at all levels of learning. This would be a necessary complement to the wider democratic transformation now demanded for human survival. It would also accord with what Marx called humanity’s “species being” as a “learning animal” (Morris). Such a social theory of learning can discriminate between information and competence at one level of learning and (corresponding terms) knowledge and skill at another more generalised level in relation to new divisions of knowledge and labour. Potentially these levels can be combined to create a new form of polytechnic learning, relating theory to practice, education to training and further to higher education.

Key Words: Education Studies, foundation degree, teacher training

The development, and expansion, of “new” Education Studies programmes within the framework of Higher Education Funding Council provision is one that has been subject to a recent and rapid expansion. Furthermore, it appears this expansion is set to continue, as there is buoyant student demand. What, though, is observable in these new Education Studies programmes is the wide variety of provision which has resulted from institutions developing their programme within their own particular historical and geographical contexts. For some writers this lack of clarity over the definition and determination of the range of study risks academic incoherence. This perceived incoherence of subject matter is brought more sharply into focus if one analyses Education Studies programmes, in England, through the lens of graduate employability. Through such an analytical lens it becomes apparent that a continuum of employability claims for Education Studies programmes exists. This paper adds to a growing research base which provides data which enable an analysis of how Education Studies is defined and what employment pathways Education Studies graduates take. The paper outlines the results of a small-scale research study which sought to determine whether it is the case that Education Studies is merely the waiting room for teacher training or is, in actuality, a programme of its own merit that offers students a wide range of future career pathways.

Keywords: Education Studies, employability, vocational

This article presents findings from a curricular intervention made by lecturers on the Education Studies degree programme at Newman University College (a programme that stands alone without any proximal relation to teacher training). In so doing, it engages with the “spirit” or “ideal subject” of Education Studies in relation to its institutionalised practices.

Key words: Education Studies, Curriculum, Discourse

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has become an important concept in the Higher Education (HE) setting, particularly in the context of the ongoing debate regarding assessment and how students with differing levels of EI may respond to a range of assessment methods. This paper explores the evolution of the Emotional Intelligence concept as we move towards a generic framework that will hopefully characterise the scope, dimensions and clusters that define the EI structure. The evolution of EI forms the focus during the early stages of the work, which later explores seven key frameworks that have been influential in guiding current thinking. The final outcome from the paper is a generic framework which establishes the parameters of EI and defines the current position.

Key words:Intelligence, social intelligence, emotional intelligence frameworks, dimensions, clusters

In 2007 a joint writing project was established between groups of second year BA Education Studies students working collaboratively across the universities of York and Plymouth. The project would involve students in the production a book for which they would collectively have responsibility for compiling, editing and producing. The York tutor has a special interest in the history of the book, experience of publishing previous books of student work and a National Teaching Fellowship in recognition of these projects. The Plymouth tutors have also held two Teaching Fellowships, the first of which explored the value of conflict in learning and the second enabled the collaboration between York and Plymouth. This paper tells the story of the collaborative project from the Plymouth perspective. At intervals throughout the project, semi-structured conversations between the tutors and students at Plymouth were recorded. Drawing on some of the themes identified in these conversations, this paper focuses on critical insights into cultures of knowledge, learning and assessment that emerged over our rich time together.

Key Words: Peer learning, peer reviewing, collaborative writing

Our students acted as peer reviewers of the original paper compiled by their tutors. Their review takes the form of a series of comments on the tutors’ manuscript, written at the end of the year and enabling them to look back on the whole experience. All reviewer comments have been incorporated into the body of the paper. The extracts from the structured conversation data, presented here in text boxes, were selected by the tutors to highlight the issues that arose during the course of the project. This multi-layered presentation reflects the spirit of the project, illustrating the rich impact of our collaborative work.

This paper examines the potential of teaching portfolios in higher education for educational development and academic staff promotion purposes. In particular it considers the specific challenges in “research-led” institutions. Given concerns about increasing measures of performance, workload monitoring, the changing nature of academic practice and career progression such work, we believe, is timely and appropriate. There has been a widespread adoption of teaching portfolios as a ‘measure’ of teaching quality (or performance) without due regard to implicit assumptions about their rational, effectiveness and limitations.

Key Words: Teaching Portfolios, Teaching and Learning, Higher Education, Research-Teaching Nexus

An investigation into the usage of the term ‘policy’ suggests that the term is elusive owing to the very many ways it is used to refer to a highly diverse set of phenomena. This paper reviews conceptions explicated in education policy literature to provide conceptual insights into the meaning of the term and an understanding of the dynamics of the policy process. The traditional problem-solving definition views policy fundamentally as a thing, a guide and a document of some sort, containing a page or flips of pages indicating policy choices reached by policy makers and which policy implementers or actors are to follow in dealing with a recognised problem of concern, and is thus criticised for two main reasons. Firstly, the view is criticised for neglecting the socio-cultural dynamism of policy processes. Secondly, it is criticised for its implicit over-determinism. The process model pays attention to the social agency of the policy process and is thus criticised for not focusing on policy-making, but on understanding actor interactions within the process. Based on these explorations, and in gauging a working definition of policy, the paper adopts a theoretical eclecticism approach whereby education policy is conceptualised as neither the product of policy making nor a process, but both. Significantly, policy in this context is conceptualised as referring fundamentally to the exercise of power and the language that is used to legitimate the process.

Keywords: traditional/rationalist foundation to policy, process conception, policy as “text and discourse”’, theoretical eclecticisms

This paper suggests that if activities selected by young people themselves as part of their leisure time were incorporated into an alternative (informal) curriculum this could enhance motivation, and, therefore, achievement, within the formal curriculum. Working from the premise that unicycling is a lifestyle sport, the paper argues that unicycling is an example of a self-selected activity which inspires motivation in young people which could potentially be harnessed in the education system.

The paper draws on an ethnographic, doctoral research project which examines case studies of young people who unicycle. Data gathered so far from participant observations, focus groups and questionnaires, suggests three significant findings. Firstly, that young people who are successful at unicycling are motivated to learn, and then further develop their skill level, by the challenge and intense satisfaction felt from clear goal setting and achievement. Secondly, that unicycling has a positive impact on individuals, triggering achievement behaviour. Thirdly, teachers are not harnessing the high levels of motivation created in individuals by unicyclin. By not valuing the individual’s skills or interests in school, either formally or informally, teachers are missing an opportunity to maintain pupils’ engagement.

Keywords: motivation, achievement behaviour, concentration, curriculum, unicycling