Papers by Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2022
This paper draws upon Foucault's problematisation of governmentality analysis to explore teacher ... more This paper draws upon Foucault's problematisation of governmentality analysis to explore teacher interviews from Australian secondary schools, where student voice was 'enacted' within a teacher assessment reform strategy. By bringing teacher voices into relation with theory, it illustrates how the current 'sociality of performativity' is situating student voicebased assessment initiatives as power apparatuses of teacher surveillance that shape teacher-student relationships. The analysis portrays teachers' responses to such 'techniques of power' , employing forms of auditable commodification, physical proximity, and reflective practice as a means of managing student voice 'risk'. In so doing, the teachers relegated teacher-student relationships to the margins, struggling to profess an ethic of care; paradoxically disadvantaging students through voice initiatives intended to advance them. Demonstrating how affective fundamentals are eclipsed by performative-invested practices, the analysis highlights the discursive policy contestations of rapport and performance that should be taken into consideration in future implementations of student voice-based assessment initiatives. Student voice, or student role in the decision making and change efforts in schools, has emerged in the 21st Century as a potential strategy for improving teaching and learning processes in schools. Yet, whilst scholars noted that such initiatives could help foster healthy dialogue between teachers and students (e.g. Rudduck and Flutter 2000), others lamented that the 'enactment' of student voice may not always feel empowering. Students' voices, for example, can be constrained by and reflect teachers' complex expectations and resistance (
Educational Psychology, Jul 25, 2017
Administrators often struggle in getting teachers to trust their school's evaluation practices-a ... more Administrators often struggle in getting teachers to trust their school's evaluation practices-a necessity if teachers are to learn from the feedback they receive. We attempted to bolster teachers' support for receiving evaluative feedback from a particularly controversial source: student-perception surveys. For our intervention, we took one of two approaches to asking 309 teachers how they felt about students evaluating their teaching practice. Control participants responded only to core questions regarding their attitudes towards studentperception surveys. Meanwhile, treatment participants were first asked whether teachers should evaluate administrators in performance reviews and were then asked the core items about studentperception surveys. Congruent with cognitive dissonance theory, this juxtaposition of questions bolstered treatment teachers' support for using student surveys in teacher evaluations relative to the control group. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to increasing teacher openness to alternative evaluation approaches, and consider whether surveys show promise as a vehicle for delivering interventions. Shakespeare's winter of discontent may well apply to the current sentiment surrounding teacher accountability systems in the United States. Frustrated educational researchers lament that (over) emphasising test-score-based approaches to assessing teachers ignores major confounding factors such as poverty and the complexity of teaching (Berliner, 2013; Good, 2014; Koedinger, Booth, & Klahr, 2013). Teachers worry that they teach a narrower subset of curricula than ever before and that they often must spend, 'substantial instructional time on exercises that look just like the test-items' (Darling-Hammond, 2010, p. 71). To the chagrin of many policy-makers, almost all teachers continue to receive 'proficient' ratings despite principals reporting that the range of teacher competencies is more variable
Teacher effectiveness has been a matter for extensive research and public debate, anchored around... more Teacher effectiveness has been a matter for extensive research and public debate, anchored around the need to capture its essence. While the complexity of teacher effectiveness in higher education has been discussed, it is unclear how this is conceptualised within Asian contexts. Critically unpacking the concept of teacher effectiveness, this systematic literature review acknowledges Hofstede's Four-Dimensional Model of Cultural Differences and draws upon Faranda and Clarke's framework of effective teaching to reveal the characteristics of effective teaching deemed important, the measures used to explore teacher effectiveness, and the factors that contribute to effective teaching in Asian higher education settings. In alignment with broader literature, the review identifies the importance of teachers' delivery and rapport in Asian higher education contexts. The students in these studies, however, viewed effective teaching as encompassing a minimised teacher-student power distance, despite being situated in collectivist contexts which are defined by large power distances.
The study examined the impact of student perception surveys' (SPS) feedback on teachers' practice... more The study examined the impact of student perception surveys' (SPS) feedback on teachers' practice. There is no significant change in students' perceptions of teachers' practice following SPS feedback. Students are skeptical of the value of SPS, highlighting teacher resistance and struggle to respond. SPS can deepen teachers' insight into where their practice can be improved. Teacher education should treat SPS as diagnostic tools, empowering teachers in their search for autonomy.
Cambridge Journal of Education, 2020
Journal of Education Policy, 2020
Widespread neoliberal approaches to education consider schools increasingly accountable for self-... more Widespread neoliberal approaches to education consider schools increasingly accountable for self-management and 'client' recruitment, encapsulating economic ideologies that assume privatisation is essential for social progress. With an ever-shifting landscape of market-driven policies and the increasing growth of private education settings, more research is needed to cast light on emerging or under-researched aspects of autonomous schools. Located within a U.S. state that has strict constraints on tax subsidies for religious K-12 education, this paper investigates how an extensive form of decentralisation corresponds with schools' discipline and ethical environment. It analyses teacher interviews and web documents from faith-based, autonomous schools in a state that has devolved power and authority for decision-making to parents and other independent 'agents', having a distanced relationship with its nonstate 'actors'. The paper follows Foucault's use of the metaphor of the panopticon and adopts his power analysis to examine the nature of parental control and its influence on disciplinary and ethical practices. Evidence suggests that these autonomous schools are driven by a 'mini-public' ideology that constrains educators' autonomy and generates particular disciplinary norms; entangling ethical, educational, and social ramifications, including teacher resistance and teacher demoralisation. Implications for policy are discussed in this context of control.
Educational Psychology, 2018
Administrators often struggle in getting teachers to trust their school’s
evaluation practices – ... more Administrators often struggle in getting teachers to trust their school’s
evaluation practices – a necessity if teachers are to learn from the
feedback they receive. We attempted to bolster teachers’ support for
receiving evaluative feedback from a particularly controversial source:
student-perception surveys. For our intervention, we took one of
two approaches to asking 309 teachers how they felt about students
evaluating their teaching practice. Control participants responded
only to core questions regarding their attitudes towards studentperception
surveys. Meanwhile, treatment participants were first
asked whether teachers should evaluate administrators in performance
reviews and were then asked the core items about studentperception
surveys. Congruent with cognitive dissonance theory, this
juxtaposition of questions bolstered treatment teachers’ support for
using student surveys in teacher evaluations relative to the control
group. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to
increasing teacher openness to alternative evaluation approaches,
and consider whether surveys show promise as a vehicle for delivering
interventions.
Curriculum and Teaching, 2014
One of the overarching goals of education is the development of intellectual abilities (IA). Yet,... more One of the overarching goals of education is the development of intellectual abilities (IA). Yet, there are not enough tools to identify pedagogies that maximize students' IA. In this research, we consider the way teach-ers' reinforcing of versatility of opinions (pluralism) vs. teachers encouraging community views (communalism) has on developing high school students' IA. Although it has been argued that both of these pedagogies benefit students, the impact on the development of students' IA has not been shown. Data including 12 teacher interviews, their students' assignments , student surveys and 409 alumni reflections on their learning processes were collected over a period of two years. Findings show that pluralistic pedagogy strengthened students' IA. Together with that, a communalistic school environment is crucial for effective pluralistic teaching in class. Implications and suggestions for education are discussed.
International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2017
A growing literature has discussed multiple complexities of various researcher stances and the pl... more A growing literature has discussed multiple complexities of various researcher stances and the place of reflexivity in qualitative research. This article contributes to the literature by illuminating the importance and illustrating ways of incorporating perspective taking in insider processes of reflexivity. Specifically, this article dissects an insider-researcher's attempt to resolve research uncertainties by considering the perspective of an outsider-researcher, who had conducted similar study at the same school. Through incorporating processes of perspective taking in reflexivity, the insider-researcher uncovered complexities and ethical quandaries that may have had an impact on her study. Subsequently, the article provides lucid accounts of perspective taking as a method to enhance qualitative research processes, namely, to help resolve methodological uncertainties and to portray a richer and nuanced inquiry picture.
Teaching and Teacher Education , 2016
This case study examined 12 American secondary school teachers' ethical predicaments involving re... more This case study examined 12 American secondary school teachers' ethical predicaments involving reflective practices in professional development programs (PDPs), and the impact of these predicaments on their school's work processes. Qualitative measures revealed ethical ramifications of professional development's (PD) reflective procedures, whereby teachers experienced deleterious effects regarding
their students and their colleagues, to the extent that teachers may have experienced moral injury. Furthermore, findings showed that teachers who served as group facilitators struggled to set an ethical balance between formative evaluation and summative evaluation, to the extent of violating confidential PD codes. Implications for reflective practices in PD are discussed.
Philosophical Inquiry in Education, 2015
Grade inflation is a global phenomenon that has garnered widespread condemnation among educators,... more Grade inflation is a global phenomenon that has garnered widespread condemnation among educators, researchers, and the public. Yet, few have deliberated over the ethics of grading, let alone the ethics of grade inflation. The purpose of this paper is to map out and examine the ethics of grade inflation. By way of beginning, we clarify why grade inflation is a problem of practical ethics embedded in contemporary social practice. Then, we illuminate three different aspects of grade inflation—longitudinal, compressed, and comparative—and explore the ethical dilemmas that each one raises. We demonstrate how these three aspects may be seen as corresponding to three different victims of grade inflation—individuals, institutions, and society—and hence also to three potential agents of harm—teachers, schools, and educational systems. Next, we reflect upon various compelling reasons that these agents inflate grades, whether from an ethic of care, fiduciary responsibility, or simple self-preservation. Subsequently, we consider a variety of means of combatting grade inflation, and invite more educators and philosophers to delve into the complex practical ethics of grade inflation.
Youth & Society , 2016
This study examines students’ perceptions of disparities between teachers’ views and the school e... more This study examines students’ perceptions of disparities between teachers’ views and the school ethos in a religiously-oriented school, and dissects the implications of such disparities on the children’s right to adaptable education. The study draws upon 102 essays of students enrolled in an American Jewish high school that employs a diverse teaching staff. Findings demonstrate that teacher diversity in a religiously-oriented school may fulfill the children’s right to adaptable education by motivating children to engage in social perspective taking, and to interact with multiple spheres of cultural affiliations. Teacher diversity may also serve children as they formulate their own views, while not undermining parental impact. Additionally, the findings portray the children’s perceptions of the teachers’ duty to respect the communal spheres of adaptability by eschewing indoctrination, remaining open and respectful, and attending to age differences. Subsequently, we offer policy recommendations regarding the need to encourage teacher diversity in religiously-oriented schools.
Books by Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh
Dilemmas of Educational Ethics: Cases and Commentaries (Harvard Education Press), 2016
Educators and policy makers confront challenging questions of ethics, justice, and equity on a re... more Educators and policy makers confront challenging questions of ethics, justice, and equity on a regular basis. Should teachers retain a struggling student if it means she will most certainly drop out? Should an assignment plan favor middle-class families if it means strengthening the school system for all? These everyday dilemmas are both utterly ordinary and immensely challenging, yet there are few opportunities and resources to help educators think through the ethical issues at stake. Drawing on research and methods developed in the Justice in Schools project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, "Dilemmas of Educational Ethics" introduces a new interdisciplinary approach to achieving practical wisdom in education, one that honors the complexities inherent in educational decision making and encourages open discussion of the values and principles we should collectively be trying to realize in educational policy and practice. At the heart of the book are six richly described, realistic accounts of ethical dilemmas that have arisen in education in recent years, paired with responses written by noted philosophers, empirical researchers, policy makers, and practitioners. The editors illustrate how readers can use and adapt these cases and commentaries in schools and other settings in order to reach a difficult decision, deepen their own understanding, or to build teams around shared values. Chapter 4 focuses on Inflated Expectations: How Should Teachers Assign Grades? (Meira Levinson and Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh). Responses: Putting School Mission First (Rebecca E. Yacono); Three Ways to Grade (Rob Reich); Grade Inflation as a Tragedy of the Commons (Jennifer Hochschild); Inflated Expectations in a World of Hypercredentialing (Peter Demerath); Grades Miss the Mark (Deepa Sriya Vasudevan); and Protect Teacher Integrity (Doris A. Santoro).]
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Papers by Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh
evaluation practices – a necessity if teachers are to learn from the
feedback they receive. We attempted to bolster teachers’ support for
receiving evaluative feedback from a particularly controversial source:
student-perception surveys. For our intervention, we took one of
two approaches to asking 309 teachers how they felt about students
evaluating their teaching practice. Control participants responded
only to core questions regarding their attitudes towards studentperception
surveys. Meanwhile, treatment participants were first
asked whether teachers should evaluate administrators in performance
reviews and were then asked the core items about studentperception
surveys. Congruent with cognitive dissonance theory, this
juxtaposition of questions bolstered treatment teachers’ support for
using student surveys in teacher evaluations relative to the control
group. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to
increasing teacher openness to alternative evaluation approaches,
and consider whether surveys show promise as a vehicle for delivering
interventions.
their students and their colleagues, to the extent that teachers may have experienced moral injury. Furthermore, findings showed that teachers who served as group facilitators struggled to set an ethical balance between formative evaluation and summative evaluation, to the extent of violating confidential PD codes. Implications for reflective practices in PD are discussed.
Books by Ilana Finefter-Rosenbluh
evaluation practices – a necessity if teachers are to learn from the
feedback they receive. We attempted to bolster teachers’ support for
receiving evaluative feedback from a particularly controversial source:
student-perception surveys. For our intervention, we took one of
two approaches to asking 309 teachers how they felt about students
evaluating their teaching practice. Control participants responded
only to core questions regarding their attitudes towards studentperception
surveys. Meanwhile, treatment participants were first
asked whether teachers should evaluate administrators in performance
reviews and were then asked the core items about studentperception
surveys. Congruent with cognitive dissonance theory, this
juxtaposition of questions bolstered treatment teachers’ support for
using student surveys in teacher evaluations relative to the control
group. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to
increasing teacher openness to alternative evaluation approaches,
and consider whether surveys show promise as a vehicle for delivering
interventions.
their students and their colleagues, to the extent that teachers may have experienced moral injury. Furthermore, findings showed that teachers who served as group facilitators struggled to set an ethical balance between formative evaluation and summative evaluation, to the extent of violating confidential PD codes. Implications for reflective practices in PD are discussed.