An Introduction to

Education Studies
Also available from Continuum
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Perspectives on Participation and Inclusion, Suanne Gibson and Joanna Haynes
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Psychology and the Teacher, Dennis Child
Reflective Teaching 3rd Edition, Andrew Pollard
A Sociology of Educating, Roland Meighan, Clive Harber, Len Barton,
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Symbolic Clothing in Schools, Dianne Gereluk
Theory of Education, David Turner
An Introduction to
Education Studies
The Student Guide to
Themes and Contexts

Edited by

Sue Warren
Continuum International Publishing Group
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11 York Road Suite 704
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© Sue Warren and Contributors 2009

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted

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Sue Warren has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Author of this work.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-0-8264-9919-6 (hardcover)

978-0-8264-9920-2 (paperback)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

An introduction to Education studies : the student guide to themes and contexts /
edited by Sue Warren.
p. cm. Includes index.
ISBN: 978-0-8264-9919-6 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-0-8264-9920-2 (pbk.)
1. Education. 2. Education–Philosophy. 3. Education–Aims and objectives.
I. Warren, Sue. II. Title.

LB1025.3.E3346 2008
370—dc22
2008034524

Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India

Printed and bound in Great Britain by
 Contents

Contributors viii
Acknowledgements ix

1 Introduction to Education as a Field of Study 1

Sue Warren
Introduction 1
Education as a field of study 2
Part I: Themes in the study of education 5
Part II: Contexts for education 7
Conclusion 9

Part I THEMES IN THE STUDY OF EDUCATION

2 ‘Doing Theory’ on Education 13

Julian McDougall and David Trotman
Why theorize education? 13
The idea of theory 14
Being theoretical 16
Theoretical remixing 19

3 Comparative Education 24
Brendan Bartram
Introduction 24
What is comparative education? 24
Why compare? The aims of comparative education 27
Current interest in comparative education 30
Problems and dangers: The comparative minefield 32
Equivalence 33
Uncritical transfer 34
Conclusion 35

4 Ethics for Educators 39

Sue Warren and Susan Waltham
Introduction and definitions 39
vi Contents

Historical background 40
The rise of modern ethical codes 41
Ethical considerations when researching with learners,
particularly children 44
Conclusion 46

5 Sociological Perspectives on Education 49

Jon E C Tan and Colin Harrison
A social-educational autobiography 49
Viewing the world through a social class lens 50
Viewing the world through a race/ethnicity lens 54
Viewing the world through a gender lens 57
Conclusion 61

6 Affective Issues in Education 64

Bridget Cooper
The significance of emotion in human learning and development 65
Theory of education – the role of affect 66
The significance of empathy 67
Empathy in teaching and learning 69
Constraints on empathy in the educational system 74
How do we address emotional issues in schools today? 77
Conclusion 81

Part II CONTEXTS FOR EDUCATION

7 Breaking Barriers to Learning 87

Pat Hughes
Introduction 87
Factors influencing barriers to learning 89
Who’s who in schools? 91
Training 93
Exemplars of educational allied professionals 94
Conclusion 100

8 Safeguarding Children and Adults in Educational Settings 102

Gary Walker
Introduction 102
Safeguarding children in schools and colleges 103
Responsibilities of schools and colleges 105
 Contents vii
Training for staff 106
Liaison with other agencies 106
Prevention work with children in schools 107
The role of schools in supporting children who have been abused 107
Safeguarding adults who attend schools and colleges 112

9 Disaffection, Society and Education 116

Barbara Murphy
Introduction 116
A changing society? 117
Failing pupils – or a failing system? 119
Troubled . . . intolerable, or just not tolerated? 122
Curriculum initiatives 125
Joined up thinking? 128

10 Listening to Pupils’ Voices 132

Margaret Wood
Introduction 132
Background and development of the policy context 132
Applying a model of participation to thinking about practice 136
Engaging students as active researchers 138
Listening to children’s voices – international dimensions 142
Conclusion 143

11 Education Beyond Schools 147

Les Hankin
Introduction 147
Survival 148
The reach of the learning society 149
A brief historical outline of developments 150
Widening Participation 152
Higher Education and the knowledge society 153
Problems 154
Challenging the learning society 155
The sectors of learning beyond school in the United Kingdom 155
Conclusion 156

Index 161
 List of Contributors
Brendan Bartram is Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at the University of
Wolverhampton
Bridget Cooper is Reader in Education at Leeds Metropolitan University
Les Hankin is the Associate Director of Widening Participation at Liverpool Hope
University
Colin Harrison is a Senior Lecturer and the Education Studies Course Leader at Leeds
Metropolitan University
Pat Hughes is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Liverpool Hope University
Julian MacDougall is Reader in Media and Education and Head of Creative Arts at Newman
College of Higher Education, Birmingham
Barbara Murphy is a Senior Lecturer in Education and a Teaching Fellow at Bishop
Grossteste University College, Lincoln
Jon E C Tan is a Senior Lecturer in Education and the Professional Doctorate in Education
Course Leader at Leeds Metropolitan University
David Trotman is Head of Education Studies at Newman College of Higher Education,
Birmingham
Gary Walker is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Early Years at Leeds Metropolitan
University
Susan Waltham is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Early Years at Leeds Metropolitan
University and the BA (Hons) Childhood Studies Course Leader
Sue Warren is the Education Subject Group Leader and Principal Lecturer in Education
Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University
Margaret Wood is a Senior Lecturer in Education at York St John University
 Acknowledgements
The editor would like to thank the contributing authors without whom this book would not
have come about; Jo Allcock and Ania Leslie-Wujastyk at Continuum for their support; Iain
Poole for the compilation of the index.
This page intentionally left blank
 Introduction to Education as
a Field of Study
Sue Warren 1
Chapter Outline
Introduction 1
Education as a field of study 2
Part I: Themes in the study of education 5
Part II: Contexts for education 7
Conclusion 9

Introduction
Everyone has their own definition of what education is based on their own experiences of
schools and colleges. Beginning university is seen as a continuation of this seamless flow for
students embarking on degree courses. Some might define education as a process whereby
knowledge is learnt and skills developed; a simple enough description of individual lived
experiences. For some this educational process has been enjoyable and enlightening, for
others it will have been constraining and not particularly worthwhile. Whichever, a trawl of
people in the community at large will find views across this continuum. What, then, is the
nature of education as an academic journey?
This book has been written for students beginning their study of education. The inten-
tions of the authors are to engage students in thinking about and interacting with com-
plex themes through the use of the disciplines and perspectives which underpin Education
Studies courses. Students will be encouraged to engage in activities and readings to investi-
gate a range of contexts in the landscape of education.
The book is structured into two parts: Part I themes; Part II contexts. Part I introduces
some of the major themes in the study of education and Part II explores the contexts within
which education happens in order to stimulate consideration of education in action.
2 An Introduction to Education Studies

Education as a field of study

What do students study in education studies degrees?
Courses leading to education(al) studies degrees can be seen to be made up of modules of study
in disciplines such as the philosophy of education, comparative education, the history of educa-
tion, sociology of education, psychology, global education, health education and so on based on
the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Subject Benchmarks for Education Studies (QAA, 2007).

Activity 1.1
Look at six university prospectus entries for Education(al) Studies degrees on the internet.

What do the course outlines state that students will study?

Are some fields of study more common than others?

Can you sense whether some fields of study seem to be more important than others? Which? Why?

When embarking on the academic study of education students will be asked questions such as:

What is education? (A process or a product?)

What is knowledge? (Do various types of knowledge have different status?)

What are the purposes of education? (Control or enlightenment? Who decides?)

Where does education happen?

In trying to answer, or pose, such types of questions several disciplines such as those above
will be drawn upon.
The UNISEF Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child should have
the right to education. It does not lay down what that education should be, when it should
start or when it should end. Each individual country which signed up to the Convention
will have its own views, comparative education studies these differences (see Bartram in
this volume). Since the turn of the century, UNESCO has been active in the continuing
development of education, setting goals for their Education for All by 2015 policy.

Activity 1.2
Access the UN Millennium Development Goals website and read about the education goals for 2015
and the progress being made towards their achievement.
[Link]/millenniumgoals

 Introduction to Education as a Field of Study 3

Access the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the European Union websites to find out
what the goals are for education in these groups?
[Link]/2005/files/[Link] and [Link]/education/policyareas/education

How do the goals of the three organizations match? What are the differences? What do you think
may be the reasons for these differences?

Education as a contested term – philosophical approaches

The meaning of the word ‘education’ has been contested since the times of the Ancient Greek
philosophers. Philosophical approaches to the study of education interrogate the meaning
of the conceptual nature of the term. Carr (2005: 45), debating the relationships between
philosophy and education, states that without a knowledge and understanding of the his-
torical development of philosophy the question of the relationships cannot be answered
and Sewell and Newman (2006: 5) maintain that ‘the term “education” is not an easy one to
define, often being wrapped up with ideas of “schooling,” “learning” and “training.” ’
Peters, a seminal philosopher of the twentieth century, asks in his introduction to Ethics
and Education (1966) what the philosophy of education should be concerned with, giving
four major points for debate:

‘the analysis of concepts specific to education’

‘the application of ethics and social philosophy of education to assumptions about justification for
assumptions about desirability of the means of transmission, problems of procedure which raise
ethical issues to do with liberty, equality, authority and punishment’

‘empirical questions about learning and motivation, about conceptual schemes of psychology and
how these assumptions can be tested’

‘problems related to the curriculum’ (Peters, 1966: 18, 19)

For him morality, intentionality and worthwhileness are the key aspects of education.

Activity 1.3
Read:
1. Sewell and Newman’s chapter, ‘What is education?’ in Sharp, Ward and Hankin (2006) Education
Studies an Issues-based Approach.
2. Matheson’s chapter, ‘What is education?’ in Matheson (ed.) (1999) An Introduction to the Study
of Education.

Make notes on their discussions.

How do these authors answer the same question?

4 An Introduction to Education Studies

Education purposes and aims – politico-ideology approach

In the late nineteenth century, Queen Victoria commanded Lord Russell, the Leader of
the Privy Council, to write a letter to Lord Lansdown expressing her desire that the State
become engaged in educating the populace due to ‘a deep concern [about] the want of
instruction which is still observable among the poorer classes of Her subjects’ laying down
a curriculum of ‘Religious Instruction, General Instruction, Moral Training and Habits of
Industry’ (Lord John Russell, 4 February 1839, in Maclure, 1965). Why was the time right
for the State to become involved in what had previously been the arena of the Churches
(established and non-conformist) and philanthropists? How did the influences of the
expansion of the British Empire, the rapid industrialization in Britain and the political
unrest in France underpin this? Through the study of the history of education, ideologies
and political changes, the importance of maintaining the status quo of the class system, of
creating a literate workforce and coping with the expanding growth of the Civil Service, the
imperialist and economic aspirations of the ruling classes can be seen. This is an example
of a functionalist ideology in which the maintenance of the status quo, social and cultural
norms through a curriculum based on what is seen to be worthwhile knowledge attuned to
the status of the learners in order to continue the growth and prosperity of the nation with
respect to economic and political power is a driving force.
The Marxist ideological stance would not support this. Marxists see the holding of power
by the state in the hands of an elite as wrong and here would follow a conflict ideological
approach whereby education would be contested in detail to challenge the power of the
State for the good of the populace. A liberal ideological approach would see education as the
means by which the education of individuals could be a means to change society. The social
justice ideological approach would draw on knowledge thought to be desirable for encour-
aging changes in society based on a critical analysis of social injustices.
The ways in which policy decisions are made and implemented reflect the ruling political
party’s ideological stance.

Activity 1.4
Find out about the Thatcherite ideology of the market place.

How did this ideology shape the way in which school management changed in the 1980s?

How is this different to the New Left’s ideological basis for educational policies between 1997
and 2008?

Education and sociological perspectives

Education can be looked at through several sociological lenses, for example, gender, social
class, race and ethnicity. The ways in which curricula, policies, knowledge status are
 Introduction to Education as a Field of Study 5
influenced and/or defined from different sociological perspectives can be viewed from dif-
ferent sociological perspectives. Thus, it can be seen that the sociology of education itself
is underpinned by a variety of perspectives. Ball claims that ‘the sociology of education
has its own sociology [with a predominantly] Western [standpoint], European and Anglo-
Saxon philosophical traditions, to all intents and purposes, define the sociology of educa-
tion.’ (Ball, 2004: 2). The interplay of ideological, cultural, economic factors weigh heavily
in discussions about, for example, curriculum development (Kelly, 2004), influences on
self-image of learners from different class background (Reay, 2004), gender (Meighan and
Harber, 2007). Tan and Harrison use such an interplay of sociological lenses in their chapter
in this volume.

Part I: Themes in the study of education

It can be seen then that Education Studies degrees draw on a range of subject disciplines,
for example, history of education, philosophy of education, sociology, comparative educa-
tion and so on. By using the term ‘themes’, the authors in this book explore how these vari-
ous disciplines can be used either as a single focus or jointly in ways which interact in the
exploration of a range of aspects of education.

Educational theory
MacDougall and Trotman (Chapter 2) offer an approach to the development of intellectual
skills in the study of education and as such provide a diagnostic introduction for students
new to the study of the field. They explain clearly the distinction between the study of edu-
cation, training to teach, and developing reflective educational practice and judgement in a
range of situated practices and professions. It then supports work in the first of these areas
and examine the relationship with the latter.
The chapter sets out a clear set of criteria for ‘theorizing’ the study of education to help
students make the transition from reflective discussion of their own educational experi-
ences (and their opinions) to debating educational issues from informed perspectives. The
paradigms covered include the established traditions that are typically drawn on for key
concepts – sociology, psychology and philosophy of education – and also the range of emer-
ging discourses around theoretical work on the imagination, representation and cultural
questions related to educational technologies.

The interrogation and comparison of

contemporary global issues
Bartram (Chapter 3) provides students with an introduction to the fields and discipline of
comparative education. This chapter includes an examination of the historical evolution of
the subject from the nineteenth century until the present day, where interest in compara-
tive research is often driven by political concerns about educational standards, academic
6 An Introduction to Education Studies

achievement and economic competitiveness. Bertram develops a discussion of the various

aims and purposes which have been attached to the discipline, giving an analysis of the
problems and issues faced by those involved in comparative educational enquiry. Particular
attention is paid to the importance of looking at educational issues in their social context,
and the problems of “uncritical transfer”, that is, the adoption of educational practices from
elsewhere without due regard for the contextual factors that are often responsible for their
‘local’ success.
Students are provided with an overview of the key areas and themes of enquiry in the
field, and activities which offer opportunities to use analytical frameworks for comparing
education systems or exploring educational issues in a comparative context.

Ethical issues in education

Waltham and Warren (Chapter 4) explore the ethical dimensions of education and edu-
cating. The chapter begins by exploring the philosophical background to ethics looking
at Platonic and Socratic underpinnings to modern concerns about ethics following World
War II. The influences of the Nuremburg Trials on medical ethics are explored. The authors
discuss the differences between ethics and morals and global and national examples of eth-
ics in action are considered. Researching with children and vulnerable adults in educational
settings are discussed with respect to the rights of research participants and the giving of
consent to participate, for example. Ethical considerations of the responsibilities of educa-
tors are thus raised.

The application of different sociological lenses

Tan and Harrison (Chapter 5) use the theme of an educational autobiography of ‘Philip’
as a tool by which sociological impacts on an individual’s experience of education can be
explored. By viewing Philip’s educational autobiography analytically through different
lenses a range of concepts and issues are raised and explored in a way which problematize
the relationships among aspects of social class, race/ethnicity and gender. Students are
asked to think about how aspects of Philip’s educational career can be conceptualized and
accounted for in exploring educational experiences through these lenses both individually
and collectively. Tan and Harrison provide students of education studies with skills and
concepts through which to challenge how the education system is organized, how political
decisions based on attempts to measure difference influence decision-making and govern-
ment policies.

Affective issues in education

Cooper (Chapter 6) draws on recent and current work in the field of affective issues in edu-
cation. Students are invited to interrogate how developments in the areas of neuroscience
and how the brain functions have led to an increase in the knowledge and understanding
 Introduction to Education as a Field of Study 7
of the intrinsic nature of emotions in educational processes. Looking at the relationships
between philosophical and scientific constructs, the focus is on the significance of edu-
cational transactions between learners and educators. The ways in which the education
system places constraints on the ability of teachers, the educational environment and its
management to raise the importance of empathetic ways of working are explored and impli-
cations for best practice suggested.

Part II: Contexts for education

Authors in Part II of this book explore educational themes as they are lived in formal and
informal, compulsory and non-compulsory educational contexts to encourage students to
consider how educators work as education changes, for example, in the light of policy changes
to “wrap around” care and education Extended Schools, Children’s Centres and the recent
Children Plan (DCSF, 2008); changes to curriculum and also in lifelong learning contexts. The
role of other professionals working with educators in educational contexts is also explored.

Breaking barriers to learning through the range of

professionals working together in schools
Hughes (Chapter 7) uses the theme of a school journey in which a tour around a primary
school shows a range of professionals working in the school alongside the teachers since the
publication of Raising Standards and Tackling Workload (DfES, 2003) and Every Child Matters
(DfES, 2004). Hughes organizes the chapter to discuss those who are employed by school, the
local authority, public services or who are volunteers. The roles and responsibilities of learn-
ing mentors, higher level teaching assistants (employed by school); behaviour management
unit worker, parent mentor, extended school workers or Children’s Centre workers employed
by Local Authorities (LA) or commissioned by LA; school nurse, social worker (employed
by health and social services); governor, parent helper (volunteers) are discussed. Students
are asked to consider the implications for the changing role of the teacher, the need for new
leadership and management skills and the greater awareness of the growth of multi-agency
working in schools.

Safeguarding children and adults in educational settings

Walker (Chapter 8) briefly covers the current frameworks and guidance, along with underpin-
ning key principles and philosophy, which govern the safeguarding of both children and adults.
The Children Act 1989 and the subsequent three versions of the accompanying guidance on
Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfES, 2006), the Children Act 2004, the Safeguarding
Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Protection of Vulnerable Adults Scheme are introduced.
In relation to children, he examines the inconsistencies and complexities in this legisla-
tive framework, including in such areas as the definitions of child abuse. The move away
8 An Introduction to Education Studies

from narrow ‘protection’ towards one of ‘safeguarding and promoting the welfare of chil-
dren’ is explored. Current trends and their inherent tensions are critically analysed, for
example, the continuum of ‘child in need’ to ‘child in need of protection’, or the move to
early intervention and prevention. For both children and adults alike, the extent to which
the term ‘safeguarding’ is agreed and understood by all is addressed, alongside other terms
such as ‘vulnerable’. Walker discusses some of the fundamental questions this analysis
raises, for example, about the relationship between individuals, the family and the state, or
about the desire to eradicate risk.

Social and educational responses to disaffection

Murphy (Chapter 9) explores three key aspects of disaffection within education. She exam-
ines perceptions, issues and ideas regarding the nature and causes of learner disaffection,
with particular reference to the English compulsory education system through a critical
examination of recent social, cultural and educational changes. The impact that these
changes may exert on the learner, in terms of their experiences within the classroom and
their expectations of their role within society, is considered. In the second section of this
chapter, Murphy considers how disaffection may present itself in the classroom, with spe-
cific reference to self-esteem, behaviour, truancy and exclusion using recent research con-
cerning pupil’s perceptions and experiences of disaffection.
The effects of contemporary local, school and government initiatives and strategies that
aim to address learner disaffection are analysed with reference to the taught curriculum
and the effect of improved choice to learner attitude. Finally, Murphy explores the effective-
ness of whole school systems for the management of behaviour and the role of community
and parental involvement.

Giving pupils a voice in their education

Wood (Chapter 10) considers the place of learners’ voices in their education arguing that chil-
dren and young people’s voices should be taken into account and given status. By interrogat-
ing the background of policy changes leading to the raising of children and young people’s
voices and drawing on her own work, Wood explores two British examples of how secondary
schools have encouraged students to engage in their schools’ development. The first example
shows how students were involved in a Making Learning Better project at their school, the
second relates to engaging students in research not as participants but as active researchers.
Wood finally turns to a discussion of the international implications and processes for
learners’ voices to be heard in policy developments across the globe.

Education beyond schools

Hankin (Chapter 11) introduces evolutions in lifelong learning, learning beyond the trad-
itional compulsory schooling system, maintaining that the shifting boundaries that this
implies are evidence of the changing nature and concept of ‘Education’. Giving a brief outline
 Introduction to Education as a Field of Study 9
of the historical developments in lifelong learning, Hankin explores how the Widening
Participation agenda has grown as the government responds to global, economic and social
mobility trends thus creating a series of impacts on education.
The changes in the knowledge society which are seen in the expansion and ‘massification’
of Higher Education across the globe leading to changes in what is seen as Higher Education
is critically analysed as a paradox of expansion versus the choices made by individuals. The
contested nature of the aims and purposes of education for a narrowing of opportunities
between ‘learning opportunity and social capital’ are explored.

Conclusion
This chapter has introduced readers to the themes and contexts which are discussed and
developed in more detail in the following chapters.

Summary

education can be viewed through a variety of perspectives

education as a field of study draws on approaches related to perspectives of philosophy, political ideologies,
sociology

introduction to the following chapters

References
Ball, S J (ed.) (2004) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Sociology of Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer
Carr (2005) Making Sense of Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Theory of Education and Teaching.
London: RoutledgeFalmer
DCSF (2008) [Link]/publications/childrensplan/
DfES (2003) Raising Standards and Tackling Workload. Nottingham: DfES Publications
DfES (2004) Every Child Matters: Change for Children in Schools. Nottingham: DfES Publications
DfES (2006) Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter-agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the
Welfare of Children. Norwich: The Stationery Office
Kelly, A V (2004) The Curriculum Theory and Practice (5th edn). London: Sage
Maclure, J S (1965) Educational Documents England and Wales, 1816 to the Present Day. London: Methuen
Matheson, D (1999) (ed.) An Introduction to the Study of Education (2nd edn). London: David Fulton
Meighan, R and Harber, C (2007) A Sociology of Educating. London: Continuum
Peters, R S (1966) Ethics and Education. London: George Allen & Unwin
Quality Assurance Agency (2007) Subject Benchmarks for Education Studies (QAA, 2007)
Reay, D (2004) ‘Finding or losing yourself? Working-class relationships to education’, in Ball, S J (ed.), The
RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Sociology of Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer
Sewell, K and Newman, S (2006) ‘What is education?’ in Sharp, J, Ward, S and Hankin, L (eds), Education Studies: An
Issues-based Approach. Exeter: Learning Matters
Sharp, J, Ward, S and Hankin, L (2006) (eds), Education Studies: An Issues-based Approach. Exeter: Learning Matters
UNICEF (2006) Convention on the Rights of the Child. [Link]/ (accessed 14 March 2008)
10 An Introduction to Education Studies

Further reading
Barlett, S and Burton, D (2007) Introduction to Education Studies (2nd edn). London: Sage
Kassam, D, Mufti, E and Robinson, J (2006) (eds), Educational Studies: Issues and Critical Perspectives. London: Open
University Press
Mufti, E, Kassam, D, Murphy, L and Naylor, A (2008) Educational Studies: An Introduction to Key Issues. London:
Open University Press

Useful websites
[Link] – Department for Children, Schools and Families. On this site you will find leading work across gov-
ernment in England to improve outcomes for children, including policies related to education, children’s health
and child poverty for example.
[Link] – Department for Industry, Universities and Skills. Use this site to investigate how education in the
post-compulsory sector works.
[Link]/2005/files/[Link] – New Partnership for Africa’s Development. Here you will find policies related
to improving the education of children in the participating African countries.
[Link]/education/policyareas/education – On this site you will find the European Union’s (EU) educa-
tional policy and documents related to it. Links will take you to the individual countries in the EU and their
national education policies.
[Link]/milleniumgoals – In 2000, the United Nations developed a set of goals to be met by member nations by
2015. The goals for education and reports of projects to date can be found on this site.

Useful internet search terms

education
educational philosophy
educational policies
education and politics
educational sociology
comparative education
ethics in educational research
emotional intelligence
safeguarding children
disaffection
children’s voices
lifelong learning
 Part I
Themes in the Study of
Education
This page intentionally left blank
 ‘Doing Theory’ on Education
Julian MacDougall and David Trotman 2
Chapter Outline
Why theorize education? 13
The idea of theory 14
Being theoretical 16
Theoretical remixing 19

Education Studies will mess with your mind!

(Katie, Education Studies undergraduate student – advice to undergraduate students
as they were about to enter the world of Education Studies for the first time).

Why theorize education?

Students are understandably tense about embarking on a three-year degree in a subject
that does not actually exist in schools or further education. As a former Education Studies
undergraduate, Katie was in a good position to know this. Her comment certainly received
a few laughs during student induction, but, moreover, it established a really important
point early on: Education Studies is supposed to mess with your mind. Through making
the familiar world of education – after all, students are in education at the same time as
studying it – unfamiliar it is possible to take a step back and look at it as an idea, a practice
and even a form of control.
Because we have all experienced education, the subject is profoundly different to, say,
Maths. Although a mathematician would say quite rightly that the universe is understood
by human beings pretty much totally in mathematical patterns and structures in one way or
another (whether most of us realize this or not), mathematics cannot be discussed in rela-
tion to everyday life experience in the same way as education can. Most people can offer an
14 An Introduction to Education Studies

opinion straight away in response to something like discipline in schools or the value of a
University degree, but it is a bit harder to offer a perspective on relativity or chaos theory.
This makes it vital to always theorize education, to ensure that what students are doing is
sufficiently informed by research, discussion, argument and a range of academic reading. To
state very simply, it is a good idea for students to regularly review their work and ask them-
selves – could someone who is not skilled in the study of Education at degree level understand
this? If the answer is yes, then students are probably not ‘doing theory’ enough.
So this theoretical distancing of oneself from education allows the student to interrogate
it, to explore and to question it – why do we have schools, why do we fail people, why are gov-
ernments so obsessed with changing education all the time, why is the school curriculum in
England organized around subjects and why is education so important in prisons? These are
some questions that one can only start to answer if time is spent labouring over facts, opinions,
research and personal experiences. Putting a range of ideas together, testing how they fit or
contrast, reflecting on how they relate to one’s own experiences and how individuals are cul-
turally ‘situated’ within education – this is ‘doing theory’. And the ‘doing’ word is very import-
ant. Theory has connotations of being dry, abstract, artificial when set against the more lively,
applied ‘real world’ notion of its ‘sexier’ cousin ‘practice’. But it is a mistake to think of theory
and practice as opposites. Theory, when done well, is a practical activity. It is the process of
forming new ideas, creating new knowledge and changing how we think about the world.

Activity 2.1
Any person educated within a large system will feel supported by, and alienated by, that system at
different times.
Think about your own educational history. Tell a story to another student about a time when you
felt like you did not fit into the educational system you were in – a moment when you felt like you
were not cut out for learning. Then hear your partner’s narrative. As you listen, think of a single word
to describe the experience and how they felt. Then look in a thesaurus and find an unfamiliar word
that means the same thing – the kind of word that you might expect to read in an academic text
book but not use in everyday conversation with your friends. Put your name and the year in brackets
after this word and you have the beginnings of a theory that can be used to discuss and explore ideas
about ways in which education excludes and discomforts members of society in various ways. Now
you are becoming an academic, as this is how academic work typically happens – often we need an
unfamiliar word to describe a common experience as this distances us from the everyday and allows
us time and space for ‘doing theory’ on it.

The idea of theory

For the reasons we have begun to outline, the need to theorize educational work is of con-
siderable importance. One of the common challenges that confront students new to the
 ‘Doing Theory’ on Education 15
study of education is the need to interrogate and substantiate their experiences, observa-
tions, ideas, claims and aspirations in the field of education. It is not surprising then that
at first they find this difficult to do, for, like so many of the issues relating to education,
‘theory’ is also one of those labels that is more complicated than it at first might seem.
A useful account of the idea of theory can be found in Wellington’s (2004) discussion of
theory in educational research. Originating from the ancient Greek theor this involves the
notion of the spectator or envoy – a person engaged in a practical and critical activity.
By around the seventeenth century, however, an unhelpful distinction between theory
and practice began to emerge, with theory being regarded as a mental activity divorced from
the practice of the field: ‘the speculative and the practical’ (Williams, 1983: 316), ‘that’s all
very well in theory but how will it work in practice?’
For writers Carr and Kemmis (1986) the idea of praxis (another concept rooted in Greek
philosophy) predates this separation of theory and practical knowledge, and, more usefully,
connects theory and practice through a dialectical approach to thinking. Dialectical think-
ing is important in our study of education as it involves searching out contradictions that
exist in particular educational issues through reflection on the many contributing elements.
It is a process where informed action is actively re-shaped through the continuous review of
the actions and the knowledge which inform it.
Theories, of the practical sort are used to explain why or how events, patterns, experiences
and so on might appear as they do. Theorizing education involves students in observing, listen-
ing, sensing, reflecting upon, reading (in both senses of the word), researching and questioning
our interpretations of particular educational phenomena (although this may not necessarily
happen in that order). Importantly, such explanations are human by design and are, therefore,
open to question, improvement and rejection. Theorizing is therefore always provisional – and
the academic language of observation, interrogation and reporting should reflect this.
Here are two pieces of writing, both on the same topic – recent changes to education in
England – by Education Studies undergraduates.

Case Study 2.1

Extract 1:
I would argue that over the past twenty years we have witnessed a relentless series of market orientated reforms
which have further distorted principles of equality and moral purpose in education. As Porter observed in 1999
‘education has become narrowed to an economic function . . . governments are effectively neutralizing schools,
colleges and universities as independent and democratic institutions’ (Porter, 1999: 11). This preoccupation with
marketization can in fact be linked to a wider concern regarding Britain’s continued competitiveness within
a global market economy. In order to maintain the competitive nature of the UK economy, the government
appears to be encouraging competition in a deliberate effort to prepare its citizens for the rigours of a global
jobs market. Yet again we are faced with an apparent conflict between what Gamble (1994) describes as ‘a lib-
eral tendency which argues the case for a freer, more open, and more competitive economy, and a conservative
tendency which is more interested in restoring social and political authority throughout society’.

16 An Introduction to Education Studies

Case Study 2.1—cont’d

Extract 2:
The National Curriculum has increased standards and ensured consistency in schools. In addition, parents
now have more information about the quality of teaching and achievement rates in schools, which previ-
ously only the middle classes could access. In my work placement I assisted a teacher in a year 9 English class
and it was clear that, by referencing national curriculum criteria she was able to plan lessons with confidence
that the teaching would be at the right level and cover the same material as other schools. On the other
hand some teachers and academics argue that this approach stifles creativity.

At first glance these two extracts might not seem so different. After all, both deal with an
aspect of educational policy, both present contrasting arguments or ideas and the first goes
further by linking the personal, ‘practical’ experience of work placement to the abstract,
‘theoretical’ essay. But as we will demonstrate in this chapter, the first extract theorizes
education. The second tries to, but does not manage it. There are no references to writing,
policy or research – who are the people that argue about the stifling of creativity? There are
three unsubstantiated, unsupported and ‘taken for granted’ assertions – for example, what
are standards, what is consistency, and what is the evidence that only middle-class parents
had access (and what does ‘middle class’ actually mean)? The first extract interrogates edu-
cation as a social practice and it makes clear connections to broader social, economic and
political factors. Most importantly, it makes very clear that what is presented here is argu-
ment rather than fact and it references two academic sources – Porter and Gamble.

Being theoretical
Being theoretical, in an active, engaged way, is different to simply learning theory that other
people have come up with and writing about it. Education Studies draw together ideas from
a range of existing academic disciplines – typically, these include Psychology (how people
learn, how individuals function mentally, how a person’s identity is formed and how this
informs their educational experiences), Sociology (how education functions within broader
social structures and the degree of agency individuals have within this), Cultural Studies
(how education relates to peoples’ other cultural experiences), Philosophy (what education
is, its purpose and goals within a range of complex ideas about truth, values, humanity and
morality) and the History of Education. Here we will consider one example of each, and
demonstrate how using these academic approaches to be theoretical differs from simply
‘passing on’ the existing material.

Working with Psychology: Example 1 – assessment

During an Education Studies course, students will certainly come across theories about how
people learn, and perhaps more importantly, how they do not – what stops them. In schools,
 ‘Doing Theory’ on Education 17
both in the United Kingdom and abroad, the theories of Howard Gardner (1993) have become
highly popular. In particular, his theory of multiple intelligences has been simplified and
applied in the form of ‘learning styles’ – with students being categorized as visual, auditory
or kinaesthetic learners. Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences is related to psychological
ideas about how the mind functions and it is interesting because Gardner moves us away
from thinking of intelligence as a fixed, stable category (such as IQ) and helps us to imagine
intelligence as fluid, varied and individual. So we might think of David Beckham ordinarily
as lacking intelligence, but Gardner’s theories enable us to think of him as highly intelligent
kinaesthetically but limited in terms of oral articulation – these are different forms of intel-
ligence. But because students are doing Education Studies and not Psychology, the job at this
point is not to simply ‘learn Gardner’ but to put his ideas into dialogue with other theoret-
ical ideas about education. One example is assessment. If Gardner has helped us realize that
there are lots of different forms of intelligence, then why does our educational system always
privilege a very narrow range of these, often tested in artificial, stressful conditions such as
examinations? We will find that the reasons are to do with the role of education in the broader
social structure and the need for it to function as a mechanism for ranking people and equip-
ping them (or not) with cultural capital (qualifications) that they can exchange for salaries
and recognition. At this point the psychological ideas about the mind come into dialogue with
sociological, philosophical and cultural ideas about what education is actually for.

Working with Sociology: Example 2 – cultural capital

So if assessment is geared towards one form of intelligence and the outcome is that only a
minority of people get high enough grades to progress, then we may come to the conclusion
that the exchange of cultural capital is unfair. Cultural capital is a sociological term associated
with (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1990). His idea was that there are two forms of capital – money
(economic capital) and cultural capital. The latter is the range of things you can collect and
exchange that give you ‘distinction’ from other people. You cannot directly buy them but you
are more likely to acquire them if you have money. These are qualifications from respected
institutions, clothes, property and other symbols of status. The complex thing is this – it is
possible to be poor but to have cultural capital. You might be an Oxford graduate who has
never had a job, for example. So education serves to provide people with more or less cultural
capital, and in England at least, a degree from one University is ‘worth’ more than the same
degree from another. This relates to philosophical ideas about the nature of education.

Working with Philosophy: Example 3 – Plato and Mill

Two philosophers with greatly contrasting ideas about education were Plato and John Stuart
Mill. Plato (1988) believed that society was best organized by dividing people into three
groups. The rulers (the aristocracy) were simply a superior race of people than the workers
who were essentially slaves. But their power was reliant on the work of another group, the
18 An Introduction to Education Studies

Guardians, who keep order and ensure the efficient administration of the society. This tri-
partite model can be found in the class system, some would argue – upper, middle and lower
class people. John Stuart Mill’s (1986) philosophy of education is described as ‘utilitarian-
ism’ – everything should be done for the good of the highest number of people, and educa-
tion empowers people and is good for them, thus education should be free for all and equal
for all. This is the comprehensive view of education. But in England, we might find that,
despite appearances, our school system, college structure and University provision resem-
bles Plato’s ideas more clearly. Private schools, grammar schools, comprehensive schools,
specialist status schools and academies offer different ‘types’ of people different forms of
education. So we end up realizing that what might seem like abstract philosophies actually
resonate loudly with social practices. And we can easily relate the psychological ideas about
how different people learn to some of Plato’s ideas about differences between types of people
and what education each group should have.

Working with Cultural Studies: Example 4 – technology and

the ‘Disconnect’
David Buckingham (2007) suggests that some young people today are so immersed in a cul-
ture of media, social networking and online creativity that they feel a profound disconnection
from the technically barren world of school. He argues that the web 2.0 experiences of children
demand a response from education and that ignoring the range of literacy practices students
are engaged in out of school is dangerous. Opinion is divided over this. Some educators see
videogames, media, mobile technologies and the internet as a problem – an obstacle to literacy.
Others, like Buckingham, see the potential for schools to ‘reach out’ to the kinds of creative,
communication experiences that new technologies have afforded, and most importantly, they
see these as learning experiences. James Paul Gee (2003) suggests that playing a videogame is
actually a literacy practice in itself. These are pertinent issues for the student of education, but
like the other theoretical ideas we have discussed, just knowing what Buckingham thinks will
not get one very far in Education Studies. Students need instead to put his thoughts into dia-
logue with sociological ideas about education and the ‘insulation’ between school and students’
cultural experiences outside of the classroom. And it is important to consider these notions
that new technologies offer rich cognitive experiences by putting them in touch with psycho-
logical theories about learning and intelligence. In addition, students might purposely engage
with ‘postmodern’ philosophies about digital culture, virtual experiences and the challenged
nature of reality, and what education might do in response to all this change.

Working with the History of Education:

Example 5 – The 1988 National Curriculum
The history of education, offers another ‘lens’ through which we can examine education as
a phenomenon which is situated in time and space. For many people the idea of a National
 ‘Doing Theory’ on Education 19
Curriculum is a way of ensuring equality of provision – with all children and pupils getting
the same curriculum diet wherever they happen to go to school. Some believe that society
needed a National Curriculum because before 1988 schools just ‘did there own thing’ and
it was time for change.
Placing the idea of a National Curriculum ‘in dialogue’ invites us to evaluate some of
these common assumptions. The History of Education reveals that educational interven-
tions on this scale are more often than not related to economic imperatives of the time,
such as economic recession, workforce reform, changes in the global labour market and so
on. The processes of design and ‘delivery’ of the curriculum also says something about the
extent of political control being exercised at the time. For example, commentators at the
time were quick to note the remarkable similarity between the 1988 National Curriculum
and the 1904 Board of Education Codes (Aldrich, 1988). In ‘dialoguing’ with history
of education we locate educational policy and practices within a historical and cultural
continuum.

Theoretical remixing
These brief examples serve to demonstrate the way Education Studies student needs to do
theory, which is very different to the student of Sociology, Cultural Studies, Philosophy,
Psychology or History. A theoretical idea about education needs to be understood, applied
but then tested out in relation to ideas from the other disciplines and in relation to the lived
experiences of the people involved in education – teachers, students, parents, employers,
government and those excluded from or disengaged by education. And there must be a
reflective dialogue between these theoretical ideas and students’ own cultural situated-
ness – How are they constructed as a social subject, and what part has education played,
and is it still playing, in this construction of identity? We might call this active engagement
with and negotiation of theory as remixing it – reworking, exploring, creating ideas out of
these theoretical stimuli. This ‘remixing’ is a way of thinking that is dialectical.

Interpretation and dialectical thinking

Interpreting educational phenomena and applying dialectical thinking is an important
skill that we have to learn to practise in the study of education. A useful starting point for
this is what C Wright Mills (1959) calls the ‘Sociological Imagination’. The sociological
imagination enables us to see the relationship of our personal biography to the wider
events of society at large. This involves us by not simply taking things as given, or at first
sight, but requires us to consider ‘alternative futures’ or possibilities. In applying the socio-
logical imagination we come to consider a particular event or occurrence from a variety of
angles or standpoints – as if looking through different ‘lenses’ which are then placed into
the kind of dialogues we have outlined above. In doing so it enables us to consider alter-
native possibilities.
20 An Introduction to Education Studies

Activity 2.2
Choose one of the following for discussion:

1. Why is it that standards in state education are in decline?

2. How do children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder experience life in school?
3. What is the connection between healthy eating and improvement in the educational performance
of fourteen-year olds?
4. Should we encourage the continuance of faith schools?
5. When should we start compulsory education and when should it end?

In applying the sociological imagination, here are some of the ways we might consider
these question and their underlying dialogues.

1. What are educational standards? In what ways can they be defined – if at all? Who decides what
constitutes education standards? Who does this involve? Do standards change? Do they matter? If
so, to whom? What would you consider to be your own educational standards, are they the same
as your friends’?
2. What is an attention deficit? What makes a disorder a disorder? Who decides? Who does it affect?
What does it mean for the people who are deemed to have it? What might it mean for carers,
parents, teachers, governors? What does it mean for those deemed not to have it?
3. How do we define healthy eating? Why should we control what children and adolescents eat in
school? Who should control what children and adolescents eat in school? Is there any demon-
strable educational benefit?
4. How are faith schools different to any other type of school? How do we know this? By what criteria
are we judging their success or usefulness to society? What are the issues surrounding community,
equality, access, spirituality, indoctrination and segregation?
5. Is early intervention in education a good or bad thing? What might educational intervention
involve? Who benefits – parents, government, the economy, children? Should we raise the school
leaving age? What would the consequences be?

Each of these educational ‘problems’ requires that we first exercise something of the socio-
logical imagination in order to consider them from a variety of angles. To do this we first
have to begin to recognize and then suspend our predispositions and biases that may cloud
our ‘reading’ and interpretation of the issue – this is not always easy to do when we are
likely to have a vested interest in a particular stance related to the issue or unique posi-
tive or negative experiences. It may be something that is deeply embedded in our cultural
experience and expectations that make it difficult to stand apart from. It is here that out
ability to theorize becomes important through combining the skills of critical interpreta-
tion with an increasing knowledge of the field of study in the ways that we have previously
described.
 ‘Doing Theory’ on Education 21
Strengthening the ‘remix’: Developing a praxis of
critical judgement
From the starting point of ‘thinking out’ educational issues through using the sociolog-
ical imagination and dialectical thinking, students will quickly realize that the former
becomes increasingly superficial and the latter increasingly difficult without a supporting
‘scaffold’ of educational concepts to inform this theorizing. So it is essential that students
get into some good practices of studentship early in their study of education:

Example of Good Practice

1. Get inquisitive. Ask yourself questions and examine and challenge your own ideas and convictions.
2. Develop a reading strategy. Target your reading to encompass chapters from essential and recom-
mended texts, journal articles, broadsheets, reliable websites and so on. Familiarize yourself with
‘field’ through sampling the literature, begin to recognize some of the competing arguments, inter-
ests, ‘contenders’ and biases.
3. Evaluate your position. Ask yourself where you stand on the issue in question – if you do not know
or do not care, then you have some work to do! Get inquisitive!
4. Keep a reflective journal. A reflective journal (hardcopy or electronic) in which to record your
evolving perceptions, thoughts, arguments around what you have read, discussed, observed and
heard – make it at a habit.
5. Learn to embrace ambiguity. Education and its processes rarely work in ‘straight lines’. Be ready for
discomfort, confusion and the occasional headache. You will, out of necessity, be frequently work-
ing in the ‘grey areas’ of educational thinking.
6. ‘Dialogue’ educational issues and ‘problems’ with informing disciplines (see p.__).
7. Rehearse your arguments and get critical. Think through your lines of inquiry and argument. Finding
time to do this may not always be easy, but is an extremely important part of the ‘doing theory’ pro-
cess. Look for structure and pattern in your thinking, evaluate the arguments.
8. Commit your thinking in writing – frequently. Practise, practise and practise – draft and redraft your
work – aim to ensure clarity and critical quality (this is a skill to be developed).
9. Review your work. Tutors will have something to say about your work, recommendations to offer,
criticisms to make and, occasionally, praise to heap – review your work in light of this.
10. Be collaborative be independent. ‘Doing Theory’ in Educational Studies involves our ability to
undertake solitary reflective work and collaborative discursive work – be prepared to do both in equal
measure.

And remember – ‘There is nothing so practical as a good theory’ (Lewin, 1946: 169 quoted
in Wellington, 2004: 25).

Summary

the idea of what is theory has been discussed

examples of ‘being theoretical’ have been explored

good practice in ‘remixing’ theory has been addressed
22 An Introduction to Education Studies

References
Aldrich, R (1988) ‘The National Curriculum: an historical perspective’, in Lawton, D and Chitty, C (eds), The National
Curriculum. London: Institute of Education
Bourdieu, P and Passeron, J (1990) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. London: Sage
Buckingham, D (2007) Beyond Technology: Children’s Learning in the Age of Digital Culture. London: Polity
Carr, W and Kemmis, S (1986) Becoming Critical: Education, Knowledge and Action Research. London: Falmer Press
Gamble, A (1994) The Free Economy and the Strong State: The politics of Thatcherism. London: Macmillan
Gardner, H (1993) Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic Books
Gee, J P (2003) What Video Games Have To Teach Us about Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave MacMillan
Lewin, K (1946) ‘Action research and minority problems’, Journal of Social Issues, 2(34–6), 286 quoted in
Wellington, J (2004) Educational Research: Contemporary Issues and Practical Approaches. London: Continuum
Mill, J S (1986) Utlilitarianism. London: Fontana Press
Plato (1988) The Republic. London: Penguin
Porter, J (1999) Reschooling and the Global Economic Future. Wallingford: Symposium
Wellington, J (2004) Educational Research: Contemporary Issues and Practical Approaches. London: Continuum
Williams, R (1983) Key Words: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. London: Fontana Press
Wright Mills, C (1959) The Sociological Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Further reading
Carr, D (2003) Making Sense of Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Theory of Education and Teaching.
London: RoutledgeFalmer
Hayes, D (2004) (ed.) The RoutledgeFalmer Guide to Key Debates in Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer

Useful websites
[Link]/ – The Athens electronic journal access website, which you will be able to register with through
your University or College. Ask the staff in your library. Keeping up to date with journal articles is even more
important than reading recommended books.
[Link]/ – The British Education Studies Association, a subject group for academics, researchers and
students, who host an annual conference and publish a journal.
[Link]/ioe/cms/[Link]?cid=2772 – The Institute of Education’s research website. Use this site to
access information about research projects the Institute is conducting.
[Link]/1/hi/education/[Link] – BBC News Education site – essential for keeping up to date with
educational policy, news and the public debates around education and schools.
[Link]/ – Education Guardian website – complements the above BBC site very well.
[Link]/wiki/Education – Wikipedia’s starting point for education. Not all academics value this kind
of web 2/0 information source, so be careful. We advise you NOT to quote or reference Wikipedia, but to use it as
a source through which you can access academic material. It offers an excellent ‘gateway’ to a host of perspectives
on education and the broad range of references to books and journal articles are most useful.
[Link]/ – Teaching and Learning research programme website. Provides information on a range of research
projects aimed at improving outcomes for learners in a range of contexts.
 ‘Doing Theory’ on Education 23
[Link]/subject_areas/Education/?pg=752 – Websites produced by third-year Education Studies under-
graduates at Newman University College. The web links and journal reviews will be useful in relation to a range
of topic areas.

Useful search terms

education
theory
praxis
cultural capital
sociology of education
psychology of education
history of education
3 Comparative Education
Brendan Bartram

Chapter Outline
Introduction 24
What is comparative education? 24
Why compare? The aims of comparative education 27
Current interest in comparative education 30
Problems and dangers: The comparative minefield 32
Equivalence 33
Uncritical transfer 34
Conclusion 35

Introduction
The nature of comparative education is dealt with in this chapter. This particular area of
educational enquiry rests on a long tradition, and the chapter outlines its early origins and
the ways in which the discipline has evolved. In the process, it explores its various aims
and purposes, and the reasons why in recent years international educational comparisons
have become the focus of growing attention around the world, not least of all in political
circles. Finally, the chapter considers a number of important pitfalls and dangers that can
be associated with activity in this field – problems that need to be firmly borne in mind if
comparative studies are to produce valid and meaningful data.

What is comparative education?

The study of education uses a range of critical lenses through which to view and explore
the nature of educational processes. Some of these lenses are explicitly sociological,
 Comparative Education 25
psychological, historical or political, and they are frequently combined to provide a sharply
focused analysis of educational issues. In one sense, comparative education is simply an
additional lens that can be applied to deepen our understanding of the nature of schools
and schooling, and as such, it joins ranks with the other fields identified above that seek
to make sense of these internal educational workings. However, given its potential to offer
sophisticated insights into these processes by virtue of its ability to integrate multiple theor-
etical perspectives and contexts, comparative education is an important field of study in its
own right, and this is reflected in its long history as an educational discipline.
The origins of the discipline are often associated with a number of nineteenth cen-
tury personalities such as the Frenchman Victor Cousin, the German Friedrich Thiersch,
Mathew Arnold in England and Horace Mann in the United States.

Further Reading
Victor Cousin (1772–1867) was responsible for major primary education reforms in France in the
1830s. His ideas were largely derived from his experiences of the school system in the German state
of Prussia. Subsequently, he travelled to a number of other countries and published influential reports
recommending educational change in his home country.

Friedrich Thiersch (1784–1860) made a number of visits to The Netherlands, Belgium and France
where he collected copies of government reports on education, statistics, curricula, timetables and
so on for analysis and consulted a range of educational experts. His experiences were important in
influencing developments in the southern German state of Bavaria where he was a leading educa-
tionist in the 1830s.

Mathew Arnold (1822–1888), a leading educational inspector in England, made several visits to
schools in France, Switzerland, Germany and The Netherlands as part of a fact-finding mission for
the Newcastle Commission (1861) and the Taunton Commission (1868), whose findings were to have
a particular steer on elementary and secondary school reforms in England.

In the United States, Horace Mann was instrumental in promoting educational democratization,
based on his travels to countries such as Ireland, Scotland, Germany and France, an idea which he
passionately defended in official reports in his capacity as secretary of the Massachusetts Board of
Education. On his visits to German schools in Prussia, he was particularly impressed by the absence
of corporal punishment, and drew repeatedly on his experiences here to support his vision of a more
humane and democratic vision of education in the United States.

You may wish to look further into the work of the above figures – search the internet for details of
their work in education and their main achievements.

These educationists, ‘motivated by a desire to gain useful lessons from abroad’ (Noah and
Eckstein, 1969: 15) were among the first to produce reports examining and comparing
aspects of education in other countries. Many of these reports had an influence on educa-
tional developments in the authors’ home countries. Such early government-driven interest
in foreign systems of education has continued and indeed expanded since these times, and
26 An Introduction to Education Studies

has been accompanied by an increase in the numbers of scholars, researchers and univer-
sities around the world interested in establishing and describing the nature and parameters
of comparative education as a discipline, the research methodologies that underpin it, and
the ways in which it usefully contributes to our understanding of education.
The result of this growth is a diverse, multidisciplinary field of international educational
enquiry. As such, comparative education accommodates many different areas of interest
and styles of investigation. Some scholars and studies are more concerned with defining
the nature of the discipline, the processes of policy borrowing (Phillips and Ochs, 2004),
and the merits and demerits of the research approaches made use of. Large-scale compara-
tive studies (e.g. the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS] and
Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] surveys) often address a range of
educational indicators across the world (learner participation and attainment, educational
funding). Some studies focus on broader theoretical issues, relating for example to the ways
in which social and political ideologies impact on educational systems and filter down to
individual schools, teachers and learners (Holmes and McLean, 1989). Others examine
and compare whole systems of education (the systems approach) or indeed very particular
themes and issues in multiple settings (the themes approach) – the nature of pupil attitudes
to particular school subjects; issues in primary education (Alexander, 2001); the organiza-
tion and development of school curricula/adult education/vocational education; funding
and management mechanisms; the construction of learner identities; teaching, learning
and assessment strategies and so on. Much of the work that is carried out under the banner
of comparative education is prompted by different aims and subject to a range of potential
pitfalls, and these diverse goals and problems form the focus of the following sections.

Further Reading
You can find out more about the PISA and TIMMS educational surveys and results by visiting the
following websites:

[Link]/[Link]
[Link]/[Link]

Activity 3.1
Choose two education systems and produce an analytical comparison using the headings in the fol-
lowing box as a framework to structure your comparison of both systems. Eurydice has an excellent
database of all European education systems – go to [Link] and click on the Eurybase link.

 Comparative Education 27

A) social and political contexts

B) underlying principles/ideologies
C) broad goals
D) structure of system
E) content – subjects and curriculum
F) teaching and learning principles
G) assessment – formats and frequency
H) key issues/developments

Why compare? The aims of comparative

education
There are of course many reasons for making educational comparisons. One justification is
simply that ‘comparing is a fundamental part of the thought processes which enable us to
make sense of the world’ (Phillips, 1999: 15). Alexander (1999: 27) goes on to suggest that
‘comparison is actually essential to educational progress . . . education by its nature requires
hard choices of both a technical and moral kind. To make such choices requires an aware-
ness of options and alternatives, together with the capacity to judge what is most fitting.’
These points of view touch on two ideas that are central to comparative education – the
notions of understanding and progress/improvement. Though the appeal of the ‘improve-
ment motive’ has significantly served to raise the comparative profile in recent years, the
idea that we can refine our understanding and knowledge through comparing is an equally
valid reason for examining other systems and aspects of education. As Lauwerys and Tayar
(1973: xii) explain:

Comparative education is not, in essence, normative: it does not prescribe rules for the good con-
duct of schools and teaching. It does not aim at laying down what should be done. It does not
offer views as to what education ought to be like. It attempts only to understand what is being
done and why.

Understanding any aspect of education always requires an equally developed understand-

ing of the social context in which it is rooted. How would a Japanese researcher make sense
of the Sure Start educational initiative in Britain, for example, without an understanding of
the social issues and problems that lay behind its introduction? This important connection
between society and education is something that has long united all comparativists, and the
words of Michael Sadler are often quoted in this respect:
‘In studying foreign systems of education we should not forget that the things outside the
school matter even more than the things inside the schools, and govern and interpret the
things inside.’(Sadler in Higginson, 1979: 49)
28 An Introduction to Education Studies

Understanding how society influences education is thus a central concern for compara-
tivists, though it presents them with a rather difficult challenge. Cowen (2005: 179) explains
why this is the case:

How do societies relate to (that is, affect, shape, influence, frame, penetrate or determine) edu-
cational systems and their components, such as teacher education provision, types of schools,
administrative structures, universities, examination systems and so on? The problem is a tricky one
because clearly, history, economics, social stratification patterns, politics and religious belief sys-
tems are all potentially forces that define the ‘nature’ of societies, and in ways that are not crystal
clear, extend into the institutional patterns of educational systems . . . and curriculum practices.

The work of Holmes and McLean (1989) on educational ideologies represents an import-
ant contribution to our understanding of this relationship. The authors draw on the notion
of ideology in an attempt to explain how prevalent beliefs and values in different societies
have steered educational developments in particular directions. Their analysis contrasts
the ideologies of essentialism, encyclopaedism and pragmatism, and provides us with a
set of explanatory strategies for understanding and evaluating linkages between education
and society. Within their discussion of essentialism, the authors describe a hierarchical,
non-utilitarian and elitist view of education based on Platonic principles which sees clear
divisions between vocational and academic education. They connect this philosophy to the
English classical humanist ideology and elaborate on the notions of morality, specializa-
tion and individuality which they argue to be central influences on the English educational
tradition.
This is compared with encyclopaedism, an ideology associated with the Czech phil-
osopher Comenius, and regarded as having been particularly influential in many
Continental European countries. Holmes and McLean describe this philosophy as being
‘based on the premise that the content of education should include all human know-
ledge’ (1989: 11), and they go on to discuss how this idea became especially influential
in post-revolutionary France, where the notions of rationality, universality and utility
that underpin the encyclopaedic vision of education were embraced because of their
democratizing potential. The authors discuss how the influence of this view spread
across many parts of Europe, to countries as geographically diverse as Spain and Russia
(though England remained untouched!), despite a number of differences in interpret-
ations and emphases.
Pragmatism is another ideology examined by the authors, this time ascribed to the influ-
ence of the American educationalist Dewey. They discuss a naturalistic view of education
that concentrates on learner needs, social interaction and the relationship between the indi-
vidual and society, and defines education chiefly in terms of social processes and personal
development. The distinction between education and training so pronounced within the
essentialist view described above is considered to be an artificial and unhelpful division
within this view of education.
 Comparative Education 29

Activity 3.2
Search the internet for information on classical humanism, encyclopaedism and pragmatism/natural-
ism. Birgit Pepin’s article ‘Curriculum, Cultural Traditions and Pedagogy’ is a useful starting point, and
is available at: [Link]/[Link]/[Link]. When you have made notes,
consider the following question and statements:

In what ways do the ideological principles described above translate into educational practices in
countries with which you are familiar? Consider possible connections between these ideas and the
structure of education systems, the nature and content of the curriculum, the relationship between
academic and vocational education, approaches to teaching and learning, pupil organization (mixed
ability and setting, streaming, differentiation), prevalent forms of assessment and so on.

research and discuss some of the key differences between education systems that have been strongly
influenced by encyclopaedic traditions (e.g. the Danish and French systems, the German and Japanese
systems).

compare and contrast the key features of classical humanism and encyclopaedism, and encyclopae-
dism and pragmatism.

Is there any room to argue that recent trends and developments in English education are moving us
away from our classical humanist ideological roots? What evidence, if any, can you find to support
these arguments?

Examining the ways in which ideologies can provide us with tools for understanding the
relationship between education systems and societies is clearly useful to a degree, though
some would suggest that more sophisticated tools are required, and that the above ideolo-
gies limit us to explaining education in largely euro-centric terms, notwithstanding the
extent to which many non-European systems have been influenced by European models of
education through policy borrowing or as a result of colonialism. Understanding the socio-
educational connection is, however, only one aim of comparative education, and the follow-
ing section will now look more broadly at the other goals attributed to the endeavour.

Additional aims
As suggested above, one of the key motivations of many scholars in the field is the quest for
educational improvement in terms of policy and practice. Though this is not necessarily
as straightforward a process as some might believe, learning from elsewhere is a laudable
goal with many potential benefits. In one respect, examining other education systems can
guard against educational complacency and stagnation at home, since the process of com-
paring can engender a questioning attitude that highlights the potential of alternative ways
of doing things. This can lead to a re-evaluation of current practices, and identify new
possibilities and departures. Phillips (2000), for example, discusses how long-standing
British interests in the German education system have been implicated in a number of
30 An Introduction to Education Studies

developments in England from the establishment of a national system of education in the

nineteenth century, to the way in which German approaches to curriculum and assess-
ment were used to inform the debate leading up to the Education Reform Act in 1988.
Investigating other systems and achieving a greater understanding of the ways in which
social contexts variously influence education can also go some way towards fostering ‘cooper-
ation and mutual understanding among nations by discussing cultural differences and similar-
ities and offering explanations for them’ (Phillips, 2000: 298). Though this might be considered
a rather abstract aim, more immediate applications can be identified in terms of both posi-
tive and negative ‘learnings’. Many European universities have, for example, restructured their
courses around semester and credit systems based on perceived organizational advantages
offered by the American model, while comprehensivization in England in the 1960s attracted
a great deal of attention around the world from countries interested in moving away from
selective forms of secondary education. Looking elsewhere can also alert educationists, and
indeed policy-makers, to potential pitfalls, though such lessons are not always heeded. In this
respect, the problems encountered in relation to American vocational reforms in the 1980s
come to mind – if heeded more fully, some of the initial and more persistent difficulties that
surrounded the introduction of National Vocational Qualifications in England could arguably
have been removed. In this way, comparative education can act as a kind of educational labora-
tory, highlighting the effects of particular variables and the results of a range of ‘experiments’ in
different parts of the world, though interpreting these lessons is often somewhat problematic.
Comparative education can also render a useful service in terms of identifying factors which
appear to be of universal importance in education, and those which are more context depend-
ent. Osborn et al. (2003) refer to this discussion in terms of ‘constants’ and ‘contexts’, and their
work examining pupils’ attitudes to school life and learning in England, France and Denmark
offers an interesting illustration of this dual categorization. Among the factors that emerged
as important irrespective of national context, the authors identified a strong belief by pupils in
the connection between education and their economic futures, the importance of interactive
and enjoyable lesson activities, concerns about the impact of assessment, and the significance
of respect between pupils, peers and teachers. As such, the authors are able to suggest that
the degree of commonality here supports the wider relevance of these findings, whereas other
results indicate that the importance of certain other factors is more contingent on context.
There were notable differences, for example, in the pupils’ definitions of successful teacher–
pupil relationships, in the way they conceived of home–school connections, and the ways in
which they constructed their identities as learners within the school and classroom contexts.

Current interest in comparative education

As is by now clear, interest in comparative education is not new; though this interest has argu-
ably intensified in recent decades for a number of reasons. Some of these relate to the greater
ease with which it is now possible to experience other education systems. The rise in the number
 Comparative Education 31
of exchange and mobility programmes means that students and staff have become increas-
ingly involved in many forms of international educational collaboration, and this first-hand
experience is often the motive for deeper exploration of similarities and differences between
systems. Other developments in travel, media, the advent of the internet and Information and
Communications Technology (ICT), and changes in geopolitical relations have added to these
impetuses to look beyond borders in all spheres of life, including education. Accompanying
demands for greater transparency and comparability of qualifications by an increasingly
mobile ‘global’ workforce have led to further interest in the way in which education operates
elsewhere. The biggest factor responsible for this growth in interest, however, is largely political,
and centres around two related motives: economic competition and cost-effectiveness.
First, many commentators have referred to a growing educational instrumentalism – par-
ticularly in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States – that has been driven
by political beliefs in global economic interdependence and the role played by education in pro-
viding a national competitive edge in the new ‘knowledge economy’. This belief, though very
open to question, is a central feature of neo-liberal ways of thinking about education, and has
increasingly led governments and policy-makers to examine what is happening in other edu-
cation systems, especially in economically successful countries, in an attempt to consider what
elements might be borrowed in order to boost economic health at home. Phillips and Ochs
(2004: 778) discuss how these political motivations may prompt the ‘internal dissatisfaction’
that leads to such cross-national attraction, while Alexander (2001: 2) captures the essence of
this kind of political thinking: ‘The way to make good national economic deficiencies was to
borrow the educational policies of a country’s more successful economic competitors.’
This politically charged growth in interest has ‘for the wider general public its most visible
manifestation in . . . the shape of cross-national studies of educational achievement, and the
widespread influence of related league tables’ (Crossley, 2006: 7). The growing popularity of
such international league tables has both promoted political interest in comparative education
and increased political sensitivity to national rankings, to the extent that politicians may gear
policy priorities towards improving perceived educational shortcomings on the one hand,
and on the other, scrutinize practices from countries higher up the tables in a bid to identify
(financially) efficient ways of addressing believed weaknesses. Though league tables can be
informative in a number of ways, reliance on them as neutral and valid indicators brings with
it a number of problems, and these issues will be examined more closely in the final section.

Activity 3.3
Search the internet to see what you can find out about the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)-led Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study and the Trends
in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Consider and discuss the following issues:

32 An Introduction to Education Studies

Activity 3.3—cont’d

Which countries appear to perform particularly well?

What reasons (social and educational) might account for such performance?

In what ways might it be dangerous to value any education system on the basis of its league
position?

Finland and Korea are two countries which frequently perform very well in international league
tables, and are both countries committed to comprehensive education – yet this system is often
blamed for lower performance in the United Kingdom – how might we account for this?

Problems and dangers:

The comparative minefield
Clearly, then, there is a great deal to be gained from comparisons in education, and a grow-
ing desire and interest to make them. However, what might seem a simple undertaking can
often be dogged by a range of problems and dangers that call into question the very basis
for making the comparisons in the first place. Perhaps the first issue here relates to valid-
ity – is the comparison being made a justifiable or valid one? This highlights perhaps the
most important aspect of educational comparisons – the need to ensure, as far as possible,
that ‘like with like’ is being compared, with any key contextual or background differences
acknowledged so that the readers can judge for themselves the extent to which they feel the
comparison is a valid one. As such, this need to compare like with like is one of the central
tenets of the discipline (Grant, 1999: 132), and yet it is not always adhered to, or differences
might not always be made sufficiently clear. Any comparison between secondary educa-
tion in England and Germany, for example, would always be somewhat problematic, given
fundamental differences in the way this sector is structured in both countries. In England,
most pupils move from primary at 11 into comprehensive schools, where they will be taught
with peers from across the ability range, most likely in different sets for particular subjects.
This is highly unusual in Germany, which still operates a selective tripartite system. At age
11 or 12, German pupils move into one of three separate types of schools – a vocationally
oriented school (Hauptschule), a general secondary modern equivalent (Realschule) and
a grammar school (Gymnasium). Any comparison of pupil attainment between the two
countries would clearly need to ensure that this difference had been taken into account – if
the German sample was made up exclusively of Gymnasium pupils, then this would obvi-
ously distort the findings, given that the English comprehensive sample would represent a
much wider range of ability. The lack of ‘like for likeness’ would clearly be unfair, and this
would largely invalidate the comparison.
 Comparative Education 33
Such differences are of course common, and the particularities of each context will always
require detailed discussion. For instance, comparisons between countries such as the United
States, Canada, Australia, Germany and England or Japan are always somewhat difficult given
the very different ways in which education is organized and managed. Education in Japan and
England is similar in that both systems are centrally controlled, funded and directed, with
national curricula dictated by the government. This is not the case in the other countries men-
tioned above, where the responsibility for education policy is devolved to the individual states,
often resulting in quite different ‘systems’ within the same country, for example between Texas
and New York in the United States, or Bavaria and North-Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
Such differences are important and would need to be considered in a number of ways.
One issue might, for example, relate to demographic differences in each setting that may
again have important consequences for the validity of any comparison. One issue that is
often raised with regard to comparisons of literacy levels between England and Japan, for
example (which, as mentioned above, share a number of system similarities), concerns the
background of pupils living in each country. Japan has a largely indigenous population,
with very little immigration, and as such the overwhelming majority of Japanese pupils
speak Japanese as their first language. This is rather different from the situation in England
or France, both countries with sizeable linguistic minorities, and as such many pupils speak
English or French as second languages. In comparative surveys of literacy, it is therefore
unsurprising that Japanese pupils are often seen to ‘outperform’ French and English chil-
dren. Ignoring such important contextual differences is therefore dangerous, since such
detail is vital in allowing for a more accurate and informed interpretation of the data.
Even when such differences have been allowed for, it may still be necessary to scrutinize
the educational contexts still further. Staying with the above theme, it will come as no sur-
prise that literacy has been a key focus of the New Labour educational agenda in England
(Alexander, 2001), and as such, comparisons often reveal that literacy levels in this country
are ahead of a number of others. In a sense, this could be seen as unremarkable, given that
improving literacy has been and continues to be a key educational aim in Britain. Such
an aim, however, might not be quite so central elsewhere, and Murray Thomas (1990: 26)
discusses how in different countries, very different goals may be emphasized within an edu-
cation system – key aims may be the development of self-fulfilment, vocational skills, social
cohesion and identity formation in the wake of political unrest and upheaval and so on.
Comparisons may therefore sometimes simply reflect differences in political priorities and
emphases, and it is important that they be interpreted in this light. It becomes dangerous, of
course, when assumptions are made without bearing these contextual differences in mind.

Equivalence
A particular problem in comparative education relates to the issue of equivalence, linguis-
tically and semantically. Comparing aspects of education elsewhere often means being
34 An Introduction to Education Studies

confronted with different languages, where educational terms may carry different nuances
or indeed have no exact equivalent. Grant (1999) discusses how the very word ‘education’
can be translated in very different ways in many languages, each with slightly different con-
notations. This applies equally to labels which many might consider unproblematic, such
as primary education, though even this would be incorrect (primary school in England is
generally from four to eleven, in Denmark it covers seven to sixteen!). Certain terms that
we take for granted in English may have no exact equivalence in other languages or systems.
The word ‘accountability’ has, for example, taken on a very particular meaning in English
education since the 1988 Education Reform Act, given its associations with new forms of
quality control and performance management. In many countries (such as France and
Germany), these ‘coatings’ are absent, and the word is indistinguishable from the general
word for responsibility. As such, cross-country studies examining teachers’ understandings
of accountability require careful thought and discussion if meaningful insights are to be
produced.
Another example can be seen in the word ‘private’ when applied to education. In the
English-speaking world, the use of this word is quite distinct from its use in Dutch educa-
tion, where it is used to refer to state-funded schools that choose to develop their own cur-
ricula based on particular religious or philosophical principles. In the 1980s, Mrs Thatcher
referred to the popularity and prevalence of Dutch ‘private’ schools in the Netherlands
(around 75 per cent of Dutch schools fall within this category) on a number of occasions to
support her argument for expanding private provision in England, without due regard for
this very important conceptual distinction. This example again clearly highlights the need
for careful consideration of background detail relating to the issues and countries being
compared, and indeed the need to maintain a questioning attitude about the ways in which
even apparently unproblematic terms may be used and understood in different settings.

Uncritical transfer
Many of the issues discussed above illustrate problems relating to validity, fairness and bias in
educational comparisons. These problems can, however, become dangers if they are ignored
or unexplored by politicians and policy-makers looking for quick-fix solutions or short-term
political advantage. Crossley and Watson (2003: 39) discuss the dangers of cherry-picking
particular successful practices from one country and applying them in another as ‘educa-
tion . . . cannot be decontextualised from its local culture’. Even though ‘common problems
may exist in different countries . . . solutions can rarely be found in the application of a
common model across different cultures’ (ibid.: 39). In this regard, Alexander (2001: 41)
has been particularly critical of Labour’s introduction of the literacy strategy in English pri-
maries, based on observations in a number of countries: ‘since the most striking pedagogical
contrast was the much heavier use of whole class teaching in the classrooms of the Pacific
Rim and Continental Europe, it was assumed that a shift to this method in English primary
 Comparative Education 35
schools would make the desired difference, reverse years of national decline and simultan-
eously propel Britain up the league tables’. In his view, introducing this strategy was based on
the somewhat simplistic assumption that high levels of literacy in these countries related to
this particular aspect of pedagogy. He argues that such an assumption ‘enables governments
to legitimate their claim that questions of quality in education can be resolved by attaching
pedagogy while ignoring structure and resources’. (ibid.: 30)
Though many would support the success of the strategy, Alexander’s point about solv-
ing a multi-faceted problem by concentrating on one idea adopted from abroad remains a
valid one, and many have argued that the strategy still works better in Japan, where trad-
itional pedagogy dominates in the face of larger group sizes and greater cultural respect for
teachers who face fewer discipline challenges. It should also be remembered that Japanese
children’s education is routinely supplemented by widespread use of crammer schools in the
evenings, resulting in a great deal of extra education for most children, and accompanying
improvements in academic achievement.
Many commentators are in fact highly critical of this kind of opportunistic borrow-
ing, selective contextual scrutiny and ‘uncritical international transfer’ (Crossley, 2006: 11),
motivated by political ends, especially where assumptions are made that borrowing success-
ful practices from robust economies will bring equivalent economic success. As Robinson
(1999: 223) argues, ‘there is effectively no correlation between doing well in international
tests . . . and overall economic performance,’ and yet governments remain particularly sus-
ceptible to these views. The growing popularity of international league tables is believed
by many to exacerbate these pressures. Prais (2003) provides an excellent analysis of the
vagaries of such international comparisons, discussing a range of bias and sampling issues
that call into question the results of the recent PISA survey, from which England emerged
particularly well with regard to mathematics, in contrast to an IEA survey conducted only
one year previously. Issues of cultural bias are particularly relevant in such surveys too, with
some suggestions that familiarity with test formats in certain countries (much has been
made of a Japanese cultural bias towards exams, for example) may skew scores and there-
fore not provide adequate representations of successful achievement. Inferring too much
from such results is once again highly dangerous, and on this note, Alexander (2001: 2)
offers a final cautionary reminder for all comparativists, but especially for those with pol-
itical motivations: ‘the cause–effect relationship between teaching strategies, educational
league tables and national economic performance is far from proven’.

Conclusion
In conclusion, then, interest in comparative education seems unlikely to wane, given its
potential to produce fresh insights into many aspects of education. As discussed, compara-
tive studies have long covered a wide range of issues, and explored these from a number of
theoretical angles. This diversity makes the field a particularly rich and dynamic one in
36 An Introduction to Education Studies

terms of educational research. Some would suggest, however, that interest in achieving more
detailed understandings of education has been fuelled in recent years by desires to learn les-
sons from abroad in the quest for economic and quick-fix improvement, as policy-makers
increasingly incline towards a view of education as a key component in the economic race,
against a backdrop of growing political sensitivities to international league table rankings.
This situation calls for a heightened awareness of the many pitfalls, described above, which
can severely compromise the value of any lessons learned from comparative studies – and
highlights the importance of maintaining a critical attitude when studying education.

Activity 3.4
In groups, investigate an educational issue in four countries. This might be an aspect of the curricu-
lum, a phase of education, an aspect of teaching, learning or assessment, a funding or management
issue, a school subject, approaches to inclusion and so on.
You may find it useful to search national government websites, and visit Eurydice, the EU’s educa-
tion database ([Link]) and the World Education database ([Link]).
Make a set of justified recommendations for educational change in one of the countries on the
basis of practice in the other three, while acknowledging your awareness of the various constraints
(cultural, social, political and so on) that might impede the successful implementation of your pro-
posals for change. Present your findings to the wider group.

Summary

comparative education is a long-established and diverse field of enquiry

its aims include refining our understanding of education and identifying potential improvements

comparative education attaches particular importance to the social context of educational issues

comparisons should always highlight key contextual differences between countries if they aim to be valid and
meaningful

a range of factors pose threats to the validity of comparisons

comparisons should clearly acknowledge what these factors are

political and economic interests have recently fuelled a growth in educational comparisons and league tables

the results of these league tables and comparisons require careful scrutiny and interpretation if erroneous con-
clusions are to be avoided

References
Alexander, R (1999) ‘Culture in pedagogy, pedagogy across cultures’, in Alexander, R, Broadfoot, P and Phillips, D
(eds), Learning from Comparing. Oxford: Symposium Books
Alexander, R (2001) Culture and Pedagogy. Oxford: Blackwell
Cowen, R (2005) ‘Extreme political systems, deductive rationalities and comparative education: education as politics’,
in Halpin, D and Walsh, P (eds), Educational Commonplaces. London: Institute of Education
 Comparative Education 37
Crossley, M (2006) Bridging Cultures and Traditions: Perspectives from Comparative and International Research in
Education. A professorial address at the University of Bristol, 9 February 2006
Crossley, M and Watson, K (2003) Comparative and International Research in Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer
Grant (1999) ‘Comparing educational systems’, in Matheson, D and Grosvenor, I (eds), An Introduction to Education
Studies. London: David Fulton
Holmes, B and McLean, M (1989) The Curriculum: A Comparative Perspective. London: Unwin Hyman
Lauwerys, J A and Tayar, G (1973) Education at Home and Abroad. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
Murray Thomas, R (1990) International Comparative Education. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann
Noah, H J and Eckstein, M A (1969) Towards a Science of Comparative Education. London: Macmillan
Osborn, M, Broadfoot, P, McNess, E, Planel, C, Ravn, B and Triggs, P (2003) A World of Difference? Comparing Learners
Across Europe. Maidenhead: OUP
Phillips, D (1999) ‘On comparing’, in Alexander, R, Broadfoot, P and Phillips, D (eds), Learning from Comparing.
Oxford: Symposium Books
Phillips, D (2000) ‘Learning from elsewhere in education: some perennial problems revisited with reference to British
interest in Germany’, Comparative Education, 36(3), 297–307
Phillips, D and Ochs, K (2004) ‘Researching policy borrowing: some methodological challenges in comparative edu-
cation’, British Educational Research Journal, 30(6), 773–84
Prais, S (2003) ‘Cautions on OECD’s Recent Educational Survey (PISA)’, Oxford Review of Education, 29, 2
Sadler, M (1900) ‘How far can we learn anything of practical value from the study of foreign systems of education?’
in Higginson, J A (1979) (ed.), Selections from Michael Sadler: Studies in World Citizenship. Liverpool: Dejall and
Meyorre

Further reading
Alexander, R (2001) Culture and Pedagogy. Oxford: Blackwell
Alexander, R, Broadfoot, P and Phillips, D (ed.) (1999) Learning from Comparing Vol. 1, Oxford: Blackwell
Alexander, R, Osborn, M and Phillips, D (ed.) (2000) Learning from Comparing Vol. 2, Oxford: Blackwell
Armstrong, F and Barton, L (2000) Inclusive Education: Policy, Contexts and Comparative Perspectives. London: David
Fulton
Brock, C and Tulasiewicz, W (2000) Education in a Single Europe. London: Routledge
Griffin, R (2001) Education in Transition. Oxford: Symposium
Mebrahtut, T, Crossley, M and Johnson, D (2000) Globalisation, Educational Transformation and Societies in Transition.
Oxford: Symposium
Okano, K and Tsuchiya, M (1999) Education in Contemporary Japan. Cambridge: CUP
Phillips, D (ed.) (1995) Aspects of Education and the European Union. Oxford: Triangle Books
Poppleton, P, Menlo, A and Williamson, J (2004) New Realities of Teachers’ Work Lives. Oxford: Symposium
Postlethwaite, N T (1996) The International Encyclopaedia of National Systems of Education. Oxford: Pergammon
Press

Useful websites
[Link] – British Association for International and Comparative Education. Promotes research, activities
and events in the field and produces Compare, a journal of comparative education.
38 An Introduction to Education Studies

[Link] – Eurydice – the information network on education in Europe. Gives access to information on edu-
cation systems all over Europe, as well as produces reports on particular educational issues.
[Link] – International Bureau of Education based in Geneva. Detailed reports are available on every
education system in the world.
[Link] – Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Produces reports and analyses on a range
of issues, including various aspects of education across the world.
[Link]/[Link] – Programme for International Student Assessment. The latest (and previous) surveys are avail-
able, along with details on how the surveys are carried out, participating countries and so on.
[Link]/[Link] – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. Provides access to reports
carried out in recent years, along with information on the surveys themselves.

Useful internet search terms

Japanese/French/Indian ministry of education, etc.
education in Germany/Scotland/Canada, etc.
international educational surveys
educational comparisons
maths teaching in Finland/Korea/Ireland, etc.
comparative education
schools in Russia/Peru/China, etc.
 Ethics for Educators
Sue Warren and Susan Waltham 4
Chapter Outline
Introduction and definitions 39
Historical background 40
The rise of modern ethical codes 41
Ethical considerations when researching with learners, particularly children 44
Conclusion 46

Education has notions such as “improvement,” “betterment,” and “the passing on of what is
worth while” built into it. That education must involve something of ethical value is, therefore,
a matter of logical necessity.
(Peters, 1966: 91)

Introduction and definitions

‘Ethics’ is a branch of the study of philosophy. In every day language, it is about ‘right’ and
‘wrong’ and can be confused with ‘morals’. Ethics are considered to be overarching and
globally applicable ideas. Morals can be regarded as the practical application of ethics, but
there are problems with this simplistic definition. Morals are dependant on which nation,
culture or religious group a person belongs to. They also change through time; think of the
British Victorians who hid piano legs versus the wearing of bikinis on beaches by the mod-
ern British. ‘Ethics’ is not limited to specific acts and defined moral codes, but encompasses
moral ideals and behaviours. A person’s philosophy of life (personal ethics) is therefore a
moral code applicable to an individual, while social ethics means moral theory applied to
groups of people. Applied ethics is the application of ethical principles to particular real-life
situations. Here in this chapter we look at ethics in education.
40 An Introduction to Education Studies

Definitions
The word ‘ethics’ comes from the Greek word ‘ēthikē’ meaning character, nature or dis-
position. It can be said that a person is of ‘good character’ that is they are ‘moral’. This
means two distinct things. The first is that a person has an understanding of morals. In this
meaning, the opposite is ‘amoral’ which means an inability to distinguish between right
and wrong. The second meaning is that the person actively follows and practices the moral
rules. This opposite of this is ‘immoral’, referring to actions that violate ethical principles.
One important issue is how and when children and young people gain an understanding of
morals, and whether this should be taught as part of an educational curriculum, another is
how educators act in their everyday work with learners.

Historical background
To understand the contemporary position of ethics in education, a historical perspective is
necessary. The western philosophical tradition began in ancient Greece in the sixth century
BC. The first philosophers are called ‘Pre-Socratic’ meaning that they came before Socrates.
Philosophy was first recorded as being applied to real life by Pythagoras (about 582–504
BCE) from whom it received its name which means ‘the love of wisdom’. Pythagoras thought
the world was dependent on number and in perfect harmony. He wanted humans to lead
a ‘harmonious life’. Socrates (469–399 BCE) was interested in the thoughts and opinions
of people. He tried to define the virtues, such as courage and justice, by cross-examining
people who professed to have knowledge of them.
Plato (428–348 BCE) incorporated ideas of earlier philosophers and developed a scheme
with three aspects: dialectic, ethics and physics. He thought the three greatest virtues were
Wisdom, Courage, and Temperance, and that these are united by virtue of Justice. The
school founded by Plato, called the Academy continued for long after his death and sup-
ported the continued development of his ideas. The most important among Plato’s disciples
is Aristotle (384–322 BCE).
Philosophy to Aristotle meant science, and its aim was the recognition of the purpose in
all things. Aristotle’s followers continued to develop ideas, finally returning to the practical
standpoint of Socratic ethics. Philosophical doctrines were popularized aiming to provide
individuals with a fixed moral basis for life. This was seen as especially relevant in a time of
general confusion and dissolution.
Immanuel Kant, an eighteenth-century German philosopher, followed this tradition.
He is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe. He wrote of his
philosophy and developed ethics as moral laws. During the nineteenth century, Thomas
Percival, put ethical imperatives into codes, particularly for the medical profession. This
established for the first time a set of rules for a particular profession.
 Ethics for Educators 41

Further Reading
Benn, P (1997) Ethics. London: Routledge (Fundamentals of Philosophy Series)

Blackburn, S (2003) Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Nagg, T (1987) What Does it all Mean? Oxford: Oxford University Press

Tansio, T (2002) Understanding Ethics: An Introduction to Moral Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh

University Press

The rise of modern ethical codes

The contemporary view of ethics is largely the result of radical changes in the global world
view after World War II. For the first time, the ethics and moral codes of different cultures
were compared and debated in the public realm. In 1949, the Nuremberg Military Tribunal
that investigated war crimes including the holocaust, resulted in ten basic principles for ethical
research on humans. Notable among them is the idea that individuals have to give their consent
without force, deceit or coercion being used. This directly led to the development of medical
ethics. In 1954, The World Medical Association published ‘Principles for those in Research and
Experimentation’, which was then adopted in 1964 as the ‘Declaration of Helsinki’. Also in
1964, the British Medical Research Association published ‘Responsibility in Investigations on
Human Subjects’. Medical ethical principles have been used as a basis for ethics within the field
of sociology, psychology and education, particularly with regard to research.

Further Reading
These websites contain the individual associations’ codes of ethical practice:

[Link] – The British Educational Research Association

[Link] – The British Psychological Association
[Link] – The British Sociological Association
[Link] – The Scottish Council for Research in Education

Professional and global ethical codes of practice

Professional associations and institutions have their own ethical codes. Examples include
the British Psychological Society and the British Sociological Association. For those
42 An Introduction to Education Studies

professionals working in education, the British Educational Research Association, the

National Education Association (NEA) in the United States and the General Teaching
Council have ethical codes of conduct.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UN, 1989) is
an international human rights treaty that grants all children and young people (aged 17
and under) a comprehensive set of rights. The United Kingdom signed the convention on
19 April 1990, ratified it on 16 December 1991 and it came into force in the United Kingdom
on 15 January 1992. The convention gives children and young people over 40 substantive
rights. These include the right to access to services such as education and health care, spe-
cial protection measures and assistance, grow up in an environment of happiness, love and
understanding and develop their personalities, abilities and talents to the fullest potential.
The articles of the UNCRC are regarded as ethically sound by all those nations who have
signed up to the convention. However, each nation has taken these articles and used them
in their own cultural context. In the United Kingdom, legislation that effects children dir-
ectly (such as statutory school starting age) and indirectly (such as family income support)
is based upon British cultural values. This interpretation of the articles becomes increas-
ingly problematic as the cultural diversity in British society increases. The position of faith
schools (Christian, Jewish and Islamic), the contemporary debate about statutory school
leaving age and the percentage of very young children in ‘educare’ are just three issues that
have a resonance with the UNCRC stance. Legislation in the United Kingdom that refers
directly to the UNCRC includes:

The Children Act 1989 (HMSO, 1989)

Protection of Children Act 1999 (HMSO, 1999)

Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003)

Universities have Research Ethics policies and Research Ethics Committees, the Health
Service has Local Research Ethics Committees (Department of Health, 1991), the role of
these committees are to scrutinize research proposals and grant permission, or not, for
the research to be carried out. Since the implementation of the Every Child Matters policy
(DfES, 2003) inter-agency work is required to enable the required ‘wrap around care’ for
children in schools, Extended Schools and Children’s Centres. This move towards greater
inter-professional collaboration has grown and at times the use of different codes of ethical
practice may cause problems as several professional bodies may need to be approached for
approval.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) set up the Teaching and Learning
Research Project to actively encourage teachers to engage in classroom-based research,
giving modest grants to those teachers. The approach which was advocated was Action
Research, a particular process in which teachers and other practitioners research their own
actions in the classroom in order to make improvements in their practice. Unfortunately,
not all of these projects were really action research on practice and action in the classroom
 Ethics for Educators 43
but became evaluations of schemes of work or focused on learning rather than the teaching
which led to the learning. The premise upon which action research is based is that of col-
laboration and ‘democratic and co-operative human relationships and contributions’ and
that the research is ‘compatible with the educational aims of the situation under research’
(Altrichter in Schratz, 1993: 44). In this form of research, the ethics are openly negotiated at
the beginning and maybe several times during the process of the research. The ethical pro-
cess is the responsibility of both the researcher and the participants leading to a sharing of
power and status. This can be particularly problematic if the participants are children and
the researcher is adult and their teacher.
Working with participants from different cultural backgrounds can cause problems for
researchers and care must be taken to avoid misunderstandings. Barriers to understanding
may exist which need to be considered carefully at the planning stage in order that unin-
tentional disrespect is avoided. In some cultural groups, the community leader may need to
be approached first as the power and responsibility lies at the community level rather than
at the family or individual level. Language can be a barrier to full understanding between
the research and the prospective participants. In some groups the written word may be the
most acceptable way in which to gain informed consent, rather than a written reply. These
difficulties are inter- and intra-national.

Childhood and the age of responsibility

‘Childhood’ is a concept that has changed and continues to change. The discussion of who
is a ‘child’, and what marks the beginning and end of childhood, is a larger debate but
has a bearing on the application of ethics within education (Cunningham, 2006; Hill and
Tisdall, 1997).
Attitudes towards children (birth to 18) differ according to the age and their perceived
role. The younger child is often seen as passive recipient of care, controllable; the older one
as aggressive, or at least assertive, irresponsible trouble maker. This is reflected in a wide
range of legislation and policy covering not just education but also health, social security,
employment, housing and so on. Anomalies occur within this cultural perception of chil-
dren, for example, those about children who care for a disabled relative, often their parent,
and young people who are volunteers in their communities or ethical campaigners around
ecological issues, anti-war and animal rights.

Activity 4.1 Age of Responsibility

How do we judge whether a child or young person understands the implications of his or her actions?
What implications are there for ethical behaviour management strategies in schools? How do educa-
tional institutions deal with knife carrying, extremist political or religious views in ethical ways?

44 An Introduction to Education Studies

Activity 4.1 Age of Responsibility—cont’d

The Times Educational Supplement website [Link]/ and [Link]/
The Guardian Unlimited Education website are both good places to start for contemporary and
archived information on these issues. The children’s commission also has a website that provides
useful information: [Link]/

Case Study 4.1

The ‘citizenship agenda’ in contemporary British politics is an area fraught with ethical issues. On the
5 March 2003, a large number of pupils left their schools in England and mounted a protest against the Iraqi
war. Response to this protest was mixed. Some were arrested under public disorder act, others suspended
or otherwise punished by their school. Some of the newspapers praised their action, others condemned it.
Consider the views of the different participants in this event; the children and young people, their school
teachers, their parents, the police, the politicians. A useful place to start is accessing the following article
on the Guardian Unlimited website: Martin Wainwright, Thursday 6 March 2003 ‘Thousands of Pupils in
Nationwide Protest’, the Guardian.
What are the ethical issue here?

Ethical considerations when researching

with learners, particularly children
As discussed above, professional ethical codes of practice and the law have differing views
of the age at which children should be seen to be capable of making informed decisions.
This also includes giving their consent to be engaged in research, either as a subject, or,
more latterly, as a participant. Different codes for ethical research may set differing ages for
such consent but most are clear that under the age stated, children should be asked for their
assent, to agree for themselves whether or not to take part. How this is done, and at what
age, varies accordingly. In medical research children may be engaged in trials of drugs or
procedures. In these cases they are the subjects of research. Questions which must be asked
in these cases are in the nature of how will the children, and others like them, benefit?
Should the children know that they might be given a trial drug or a placebo? How will the
control group be allowed access to procedures which prove to be efficacious for the experi-
mental group once the research is over? These should all be answered before the research
begins.
In certain child abuse situations it may be deemed more ethical for covert observa-
tions to be videoed and this evidence used without the child’s knowledge but to the child’s
benefit.
 Ethics for Educators 45

Case Study 4.2

Coady reports the following research (Hoagwood et al., 1996):

Four year olds were videotaped playing individually with a research assistant posing as a baby-sitter.
A week later half the children met individually with a research assistant posing as a police officer
who suggested to them that the baby-sitter the previous week may have done some bad things, and
asked for their account of what had happened. Later all the children were questioned by members of
the research team. One of the hypotheses in the research as that those who had met with the author-
ity figure would be more likely to say that the baby-sitter had acted badly. (Coady, 2001: 67)

What are your views about this Case Study? Do you think it was ethical? Why? What were the children’s
rights in this situation?

The rights of research participants

In most educational research, learners’ rights are made explicit. Before agreeing to partici-
pate, learners should know that they can decide not to participate and that, even if they
agree, they can withdraw at any point without detriment to themselves. This can sometimes
cause a tension for researchers if the learner does indeed take up the right to withdraw part
way through the research and the data collected from that person is then lost to the project.
Similarly, there may be tensions, especially when the learners are children or vulnerable
adults, if the participant cannot distinguish between the normal practice of giving ‘right
answers’ to teachers’ questions and giving their own opinions and thoughts in a research
interview (the Hawthorne effect). Here the power and status of the researcher must be care-
fully considered in the planning stage of a research project in order to find ways to min-
imize this effect. The ethical code under which the research is to be conducted needs to be
fully understood by the researcher. In educational research, learners need to be heard and
the move towards the use of learners’ voices in research has grown in the late twentieth and
the twenty-first centuries.
A good example of the pupils’ voices being heard is that of Brostrőm and Vilien (1998)
who, reporting on their research in Sweden, show how research with children can be ethical
by reducing the power of the researcher and valuing the role of the child as ‘reflective sub-
ject’ rather than ‘passive object [of research]’, by sharing data with them for their comments
and even conducting interviews in the child’s preferred place ‘at the top of a hill’ rather than
in the head’s office.

Planning and executing ethical research

How, then, should educational researchers go about ethically planning and progressing
their research?
46 An Introduction to Education Studies

The first step is to approach the gatekeepers of the education setting in which it is hoped
that the research will be set. This is not only courtesy but an ethical matter. Usually research-
ers write letters and/or information sheets explaining their request in detail with respect to the
aims and conduct of the proposed investigation. In cases where access to children and/or vul-
nerable adults is requested, the informed consent of parents or guardians should also be sought,
unless the head or centre manager will act in loco parentis (a legal term meaning ‘in the place of
the parent’). However, it is also important that, even if their parents or guardians give informed
consent for children to participate, these prospective participants are asked for their assent in a
manner appropriate to them, for example, the language used in the request to them.
Throughout the research process, ethical choices will need to be made, such as:

Have the presumptions and assumptions of the researcher been made explicit?

Is the sample appropriate?

Is the research question/hypothesis worthwhile?

How will the participants and setting be kept confidential and anonymous?

What type of data collection methods is best suited? (Are interview/questionnaire questions biased
or leading?)

What type of data analysis will be employed? (Will the researcher look for surprises and avoid only
looking for what is expected?)

How will findings be verified/validated? (Will they be trustworthy? Will the participants be involved
in the verification?)

How will the research be reported? (In full or in an edited/way? For what audience?)

How will the data be kept secure and destroyed once the project is over?

Conclusion
Today, ethical debates involve issues in every aspect of life. The cultural ‘clash’ between the
West and East, technological advances in genetics, medical science, communication and
surveillance, destruction of natural habitats and global warming, the rights of individual
versus rights of the group, movement by immigrants and refugees, are some of the many
contemporary issues that have become the ethical ‘zeitgeist’.
It is extremely important, then, that educators clearly adhere to ethical codes of conduct
and research processes throughout their work with learners, be they children or adults, in
whatever context they interact.

Summary

ethics is a branch of philosophy

writers have considered ethical and moral values since the time of Ancient Greece

modern ethical codes have developed since the atrocities of the Third Reich

researchers need to be careful throughout their research from planning to reporting to ensure that they follow
a good ethical code of practice
 Ethics for Educators 47

research participants should be party to the ethical considerations of the research in which they are invited to
participate – both adults and children

References
Altrichter, H (1993) ‘The concept of quality in action research: giving practitioners a voice in educational research’, in
Schratz, M (1993) (ed.) Qualitative Voices in Educational Research. London: Falmer Press
Brostrom, S and Vilien, K (1998) ‘Early childhood education research in Denmark’, in David, T (1998) (ed.) Researching
Early Childhood Education: European Perspectives. London: Paul Chapman Publishing
Coady, M M (2001) ‘Ethics in early childhood research’, in MacNaughton, G, Rolfe, S A and Siraj-Blatchford (eds),
Doing Early Childhood Research. Buckingham: Open University Press
Cunningham, H (2006) The Invention of Childhood. London: BBC
DfES (2003) ‘Every Child Matters’
DOH (1991) ‘Local Research Ethics Committees’
Hill, M and Tisdall, K (1997) Children & Society. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd
HMSO (1989) The Children Act 1989
HMSO (1999) ‘Protection of Children Act’
Hoagwood, K, Jensen, P S and Fisher, C B (1996) (eds). Ethical Issues in Mental Heath Research with Children and
Adolescents. NJ: L. Erlbaum (quoted by Coady, M M (2001) ‘Ethics in early childhood research in Mac Naughton’,
in MacNaughton, G, Rolfe, S A and Siraj-Blatchford (eds), Doing Early Childhood Research International Perspectives
on Theory and Practice. Buckingham: Open University Press)
Peters, R S (1966) Ethics and Education. London: George Allen & Unwin
Schratz, M (1993) (ed.) Qualitative Voices in Educational Research. London: Falmer Press
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UN 1989)
Wainwright, M (2003) ‘Thousands of Pupils in Nationwide Protest’, the Guardian, 6 March 2003

Further reading
Campbell, A and Groundwater-Smith, S (2007) An Ethical Approach to Practitioner Research. London: Routledge
David, T (1998) (ed.) Researching Early Childhood Education: European Perspectives. London: Paul Chapman
Publishing
Ethics and Education journal published by Routledge, two issues per year also available online
Furrow, D (2006) Ethics: Key Concepts in Philosophy. London: Continuum
Grieg, A and Taylor, J (1999) Doing Research with Children. London: Sage
MacNaughton, G, Rolfe, S A and Siraj-Blatchford, I (2001) (eds), Doing Early Childhood Research. Buckingham: Open
University Press
Sevenhuiisen, S (1998) Citizenship and the Ethics of Care: Feminist Considerations of Justice, Morality and Politics.
London: Routledge
Tansio, T (2002) Understanding Ethics: An Introduction to Moral Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
Taylor, M (1998) Values Education and Values in Education: A Guide to the Issues. London: Association of Teachers and
Lecturers
Although several of these books relate to Early Childhood Education, the principles for ethical research are relevant
to research with learners of any age.
48 An Introduction to Education Studies

Useful websites
[Link]/ – This takes you to the home page of 11 MILLION – the Children’s Commissioner for England.
The website allows you access to their archive, reports, press statements and publications from the UK Children’s
Commission. The results of consultation with children and young people are placed on this site. There are also
links to related sites.
[Link] – British Educational Research Association – contains their ethical code of practice in educational
research.
[Link] – British Psychological Association; their code of ethical practice is here.
[Link] – The British Sociological Association: Website contains their ethical code of practice.
[Link] – United Kingdom’s Department for Children, Schools and Families.
[Link] – This site covers social, political, economic and environmental issues. There are a number of
sections to the website that contain useful information, in particular the ‘Human Rights Related Issues’.
[Link]/nhmrc/ethics – This is an example of ethics from the Australian Health and Medical Research
Council.
[Link]/programs/ethics/english/policy – This website is the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council Code of Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.
[Link] – UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of
children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. It is
guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children’s rights as enduring ethical
principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.
[Link] – This is the website for the United Kingdom’s Teaching and Learning Research Project where teach-
ers involved in the project post their research reports, often these include ethical considerations.
[Link] – This is the home page of the UK branch of the charity ‘Save the Children’. This charity
campaigns and acts as an advocate for children worldwide. They state a focus on four fundamental rights for chil-
dren: health, freedom from hunger, education and protection.
[Link] – This is the website of the Scottish Council for Research in Education and is another example of a
research council’s ethical code of practice for educational researchers.
[Link] – United Nations Charter for the Rights of Children.

Useful internet search terms

ethics
ethical codes
research ethics

Individual philosopher’s definitions of ethics can also be found by searching for them by name.
 Sociological Perspectives on
Education
Jon E C Tan and Colin Harrison 5
Chapter Outline
A social-educational autobiography 49
Viewing the world through a social class lens 50
Viewing the world through a race/ethnicity lens 54
Viewing the world through a gender lens 57
Conclusion 61

A social-educational autobiography

Case Study: Philip

Philip is the youngest child of David and Jennie, his sister Sara being older than him by four years and currently
studying at Northern University. Though at University, Sara still lives in the family home, a three-bedroomed
terraced house on the Pithead estate (a large, mainly local authority housing estate in Wheeltown). For a time,
until Philip was six, they had lived with Jennie’s parents in a similar house a couple of streets away from their
present home. Philip’s father, David, came to the United Kingdom from Hong Kong in the mid-1980s, to start
an engineering qualification. He had met Jennie, who was also studying on a Health and Social Care course
at the same technical college. Sara was a welcome but unexpected arrival and so in 1987 David had cut short
his intentions of continuing on to an engineering degree, to take up employment with a local engineering
company. Shortly after Philip’s twelfth birthday in May 2003, David suffered an industrial injury and since
then has been unable to work. Jennie’s part-time work as a Care Worker for the local authority and David’s
disability allowance now provide the main income for the family.
Philip’s secondary school teachers speak of his ‘distractions’, about his great potential if only he would set-
tle and apply himself. In class, he is a bit of the humorist, always ready to make a joke or some observation
that raises a smile among his group of friends, but he is sometimes a ‘disruptive influence’ according to a


50 An Introduction to Education Studies

Case Study: Philip—cont’d

number of his school reports. In all honesty (though not known to his teachers), Philip’s humour has devel-
oped as his way of getting out of ‘tricky moments’ as he calls them – his reference to his school experiences
of bullying, mainly centred on his mixed heritage. Another strategy is not appearing to be ‘swotting’, at least
not in front of his peers. It is a difficult balance to tread what with his family’s seemingly constant going on
about the importance of getting good grades, getting on. If he had a quid for every time he had heard the
words “look at your sister. You’ll not get to Uni like Sara, if you carry on like this! Don’t know what’s hap-
pened to you since you went up to the big school.” Yes, at primary school, Philip had been praised highly by
his class teacher, that is apart from his reluctance to read. It was the sort of books they gave out at school
that were the problem. At home he always had more than a couple of books on the go at a time – always
about real stuff, not made-up stories. History is still a real passion. So now Philip is 16, waiting for his GCSE
results and hoping that they will be better than his mock exams that he failed in spectacular fashion! Even
his mates were impressed at how successfully he’d ‘bombed out’ in Geography.

Viewing the world through

a social class lens
Social class: Some difficulties in measurement?
Before studying Philip’s autobiography with an analytical focus on social class, it is useful
to consider what it is we mean by the term. Social class is a term that conveys a sense of a
stratified social organization, one that makes distinctions about society’s members based
upon a hierarchical model that suggests differences in status. Most commonly and histor-
ically, ideas of class have been associated with concepts of economic, occupational status,
thus making the connection between that which has a social dimension with the idea that
a key indicator of differentiation is economically related. Traditionally then, class has often
used occupational information as a means of denoting social class, or socio-economic sta-
tus. For example, someone with professional, managerial or skilled occupational qualities
might be considered to be middle class and those in semi- or unskilled work to be working
class. Further iterations of these broad two class groupings have led to the establishment of a
number of social classifications based upon occupational data – most commonly being the
Registrar General and Hall-Jones scales.
There are, however, significant problems with making connections between a concept
of social stratification and a simple occupations-based measure. Where, for instance would
someone without a clear occupational location be placed; those people unemployed; those
engaged in part-time work or unpaid voluntary work; people with multiple occupations or
who change occupations and classifications; those engaged in full-time education; children
and young people; the elderly and retired? Once the consideration of the complexity of
people’s lives in relation to work begins, securely attaching a socio-economic label becomes
problematic. Similarly, finding other measures of class has proved equally elusive for social
theorists. In the study of compulsory education in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere, it
 Sociological Perspectives on Education 51
has become common to see a pupils’ receipt of free or subsidized school meals (FSM) as a
measure of socio-economic class, reinforcing the relationship between ‘class’, ‘wealth’ and
deprivation. Though there are still significant problems with these measures that involve
considerations of FSM and parental occupational details, these are indicators of class that
we will carry through this chapter, mainly to provide comparability with studies of class
over the years and to enable some reference to governmental statistics.

Considering Philip
Looking at Philip’s educational autobiography with reference to social class issues shows
that there are a number of indicators within Philip’s story to denote a ‘working-class’ back-
ground: Primarily, from Philip’s father’s occupational details it might be deduced that
Philip’s background could be broadly considered as working class. There are other factors
that also point to such a conclusion that lead to the consideration of economic indicators
of the family’s income level: David’s unemployment; Jennie’s part-time semi- or unskilled
work; the family’s residence in local authority housing. Taken together as indicators of lower
socio-economic class (perhaps at most class IIIb, skilled manual, in those scales used most
commonly within the United Kingdom), how might this class location impact upon Philip’s
educational experiences?
As a starting point, government statistics show a significant relationship between a variety
of educational ‘experiences’ and social class. For example, pupils from lower socio-economic
backgrounds are more likely to experience lower levels of examination success, achieving fewer
grades A–C at GCSE at 16. Looking at Philip’s counterparts over the last 35 years or so, it can be
seen that pupils from working-class backgrounds – though there have been increases in attain-
ment overall – still find it more difficult than their middle-class peers to secure such grades.

Activity 5.1
What patterns can be identified in the educational attainment of pupils in the United Kingdom at
age 16 in relation to socio-economic class?
Look at the following statistical sources:

[Link]
[Link]/rgateway

The ways in which social class mediates educational progressions and experiences is not
confined to its impact on levels of attainment. Of course levels of attainment are very much
an outcome and a close association of social class with other patterns in experiences for
children, young people and for that matter adult learners can be seen. In the years of com-
pulsory schooling, for example, pupils from lower socio-economic classes are more likely to
52 An Introduction to Education Studies

truant from school and to experience permanent or temporary exclusions. The inequalities
founded on social class lines are similarly stratified when successful entry into further and
higher education is considered. The chance of getting in to university, despite government
rhetoric about education for all and for life, is still very much weighted in favour of appli-
cants from higher, socio-economic backgrounds – the middle class.

Activity 5.2
With reference to statistical sources for the United Kingdom, is the picture changing?
Look at the statistical sources again. Consider attainment at 16; also look at the data on social class
and entry into Higher Education. Is the relationship any different? Is there a widening or narrowing
between lower and higher socio-economic groupings?

If it is a longstanding relationship, then why is it so?

If education is a mechanism for social improvement and change, then why is there the same
patterning of experiences in education? A number of authors have put forward theories as
to why this may be so. In considering some of them, it is helpful to look at both contempor-
ary and historical texts. Borrowing from what might be broadly considered as a function-
alist Marxist perspective, in many factors in the organization of the school system it can be
found that disadvantage pupils from working-class backgrounds and that to a great extent
the education system operates to replicate the division of labour that is found within later
spheres of post-school working life.

Activity 5.3 Longstanding ‘structural’ Explanations

A number of authors and researchers have attempted to explain the differences in attainment and
educational progressions focusing on the school as a middle-class environment that is consequently
organized in ways that disadvantage pupils from lower socio-economic origins. Consult the following
texts and summarize the main points they make by way of explaining this working-class failure.

Further reading
Ball, S J (1993) ‘Education markets, choice and social class: The market as a class strategy in the UK
and the USA’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 14(1), 3–19

Bernstein, B (1964) ‘Elaborated and restricted codes: Their social origins and some consequences’,
American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 66(6), Part 2: The Ethnography of Communication
(Dec, 1964), 55–69

Bowles, S and Gintis, H (1976) Schooling in Capitalist America. Basic Books: New York

Hargeaves, D H (1967) Social Relations in a Secondary School. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
 Sociological Perspectives on Education 53
So it could said that the ‘school’, or more correctly the education system in the way that it
is organized and the ideological messages it communicates ‘fail’ pupils from working-class
backgrounds. Moreover, as attainment at 16 is a significant factor in shaping post-16 destin-
ations (e.g. the continuation and level of educational participation, and difference between
‘good careers’ and ‘dead-end’, low-paid work) then such ‘failure’ casts long shadows over
later life-chances. Is it simply then the case that the different patternings of educational
progressions can be wholly explained in structural, economic terms and do individuals
themselves play any part? What about agency – the active, decision-making individual?
Does Philip have any role in shaping his future?

Cultural clashes, meaning and agency

The question of agency and culture were specifically in the forefront of Paul Willis’ mind
when he set out in the late 1970s to examine the process by which working-class boys made
that transition from school to work. In particular, Willis (1977) provides us with an interest-
ing alternative explanation of why and how certain social groupings of young people enter
into a particular strata of the labour market, and thus how labour differentiation occurs.
Willis, and later Phil Brown (1987), give us a sense that young people’s own decision-making
is actively involved in this process, in the formation of what Brown calls their ‘frames of ref-
erence’. For those from working-class backgrounds, what is significant is their perception
of the school environment as having little meaning to their future lives. It indeed presents a
largely middle-class set of values of deferred reward and meritocratic progression that does
not tally with their experiences nor those learned from their families and older social rela-
tions. Writers such as Willis provide us with a rich ethnography that suggests that differences
in culture and the values contained therein contribute to young people effectively choosing
to ‘fail’ middle-class schooling and what it represents for them.

Activity 5.4 ‘Failing Yourself?’ Paul Willis and

Cultural Explanations of Social Class Differences
Willis’s argument is that working-class children reject schooling and the values it represents because
it has little relevance to their futures. Look at Willis (1977) and Banks et al. (1992) studies. Are there
ways in which a subcultural explanation such as Willis’s can be a helpful tour in understanding of
educational progressions in the changed economic landscape of 1990–2000s?

Social class and Philip reconsidered

In her paper ‘Finding or losing yourself’, Diane Reay (2001) provides us with a valuable
revisiting of the issues of working-class experiences of and relations to education. Class
54 An Introduction to Education Studies

relationships, according to Reay’s analysis, are as much a part of understanding educa-

tional progressions as they were for Willis (1977). Interestingly, against the backdrop of
socio-political constructs of ‘failure’ and of policy interventions, Reay (2001) demonstrates
how notions of ‘failure’ of being ‘a nothing’ and being ‘found out’ within education (2001:
39–41) are internalized by young working-class girls. In this sense, how does education
impact upon identities and self-concepts. We will talk about gender later on, but for now
let us consider another social factor that carries with it connotations of ‘identity’ – that of
‘race’ and ethnicity.

Viewing the world through

a race/ethnicity lens
In the above considerations of social class and its impact of educational experiences some
difficulties in the conceptualization of ‘class’ were highlighted and complicit in this, prob-
lems in finding robust indicators and ascribing labels. Social class shares such definitional
challenges with other social identities such as race and ethnicity. Interesting is it not that
two terms have been used here? Broadly speaking, distinctions are made between these
terms, the former referring to physical attributes, the latter making reference to cultural
factors that people share including, for instance, religious beliefs and customs. These terms
are often further confused with that of nationality – legally speaking being a recognized
citizen of a nation state. While these distinctions are offered in quite simple terms, hunting
out definitions can lead to significant confusion – dictionary definitions for instance tend
to define each term by using some of the others, for example:

A group of people of common ancestry, distinguished from others by hair type, colour of skin,
stature, etc. (Collins Concise Dictionary, 1990)

1: A human group having racial, religious, linguistic, and other traits in common. 2: Relating to
the classification of mankind into groups esp. on the basis of racial characteristics. 3: Denoting or
deriving from the cultural traditions of a group of people. (Collins Concise Dictionary, 1990)

Writers such as Balibar and Wallerstein (1991) argue that these terms are used interchange-
ably because to a great extent they are conceptually interrelated. They are all expressions
of ‘peoplehood’. Looking at Philip and his family, how such groupings potentially impact
upon Philip’s educational progressions can be questioned.

Disaggregating educational progressions by

race and ethnicity
Issues of race and ethnicity mediate educational progressions in varying ways. From the
incidence of truancy and exclusions from school to achievement at 16, when these lenses
 Sociological Perspectives on Education 55
are used to interrogate educational experiences significant patterns can be identified. For
Philip, there is clearly a great emphasis placed upon the importance of education by his
family and its value as a means of ‘getting on’. At the same time there are messages within
Philip’s experiences that point to racial bullying as a constant concern for him – to the extent
that he has developed quite well-considered strategies in coping. While his major frame of
reference outside of school – his family – thus give strong indications of the importance of
engaging with education, those within school present difficulties. When considering edu-
cational progressions, patterns of achievement can be seen across different social groupings
according to race and ethnicity. Consulting national social statistics shows the need to look
at different racial and ethnic groupings, rather than treating these as homogeneous categor-
ies and experiences. Their experiences of education in terms of achievement are in certain
instances quite different.

Activity 5.5
What patterns can be identified in the educational attainment of pupils in the United Kingdom
aged 16 in relation to race and ethnicity? How does Philip fare in relation to his peers of different
backgrounds?
Look at the following statistics: [Link]/cci/[Link]?id=461

Consultation of the National Statistics for United Kingdom make the following sum-
mary with regard to GCSE attainment:

In 2002 Chinese pupils were the most likely to achieve five or more GCSE grades A*–C in England,
with 77 per cent of Chinese girls and 71 per cent of Chinese boys respectively. Indian pupils had
the next highest achievement levels: 70 per cent of Indian girls and 58 per cent of Indian boys
achieved these levels. The lowest levels of GCSE attainment were among Black Caribbean pupils.
Only 23 per cent of Black Caribbean boys and 38 per cent of Black Caribbean girls achieved five or
more A*–C grade GCSEs. Pupils from the Other Black, Black African and Pakistani groups had the
next lowest levels of attainment. Within each ethnic group a higher proportion of girls than boys
achieved five or more GCSE grades A*–C (or equivalent). (National Statistics Online, 2008)

Looking at Philip’s experiences in this context is complex. His parents’ background gives
him an interesting footprint in the world, being of mixed heritage. Certainly when the stat-
istics are interrogated in achievement terms, Philip’s Chinese origins may indicate that he is
more likely than many minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom to experience some
of the highest levels of attainment at 16. Along with children and young people from India,
those of Chinese origins exhibit the highest attainment in the United Kingdom. At the same
time it is important to be cognizant of the effects of gender here, and also of his personal
experiences of racial bullying. Both these factors can be seen to combine to influence his
56 An Introduction to Education Studies

engagement in education in a number of ways, and his biography mentions his reluctance
to draw attention to himself academically among his peers.

Looking at Research: Multiple Factors at Work

Factors such as gender, social class and race/ethnicity may be considered separately as a conceptual
starting point. In reality, these influences on educational progressions operate in combination. Afshar
and Maynard (1994) and Walker and Barton (1983) considered ways in which gender and race, and
indeed social class may be considered as multiple sites of difference.
Hammersley and Woods (1993) also provide a selection of ethnographic accounts that serve as
useful examples of how ethnicity and gender are lived out as educational experiences. Also look at:

Ashfar, H and Maynard, M (1994) The Dynamics of ‘Race’ and Gender: Some Feminist Interventions.
London: Taylor Francis

Hammersley, M and Woods, P (1993) Gender and Ethnicity in Schools: Ethnographic Accounts.
London: Routledge

Walker, S and Barton, L (1983) Gender, Class and Education. London: Routledge

Turning from Philip for a moment, consider some of his peer group: as National Statistics
highlight, those young people from Pakistani, Bangladeshi and African Caribbean origins
experience less fortunate educational progressions. Such experiences exist at a number of
levels, not just being apparent in terms of educational attainment at 16. As the National
Statistics information summarizes:

In 2001/02 Black pupils were more likely to be permanently excluded from schools in England
than children from other ethnic groups. The highest permanent exclusion rate was among Black
Caribbean pupils, at 42 per 10,000. This was three times the rate for White pupils. Chinese and
Indian pupils had the lowest exclusion rates, at 2 per 10,000 and 3 per 10,000 respectively. For all
ethnic groups, the rate of permanent exclusions was higher for boys than girls. (National Statistics
Online, 2008)

How might differences be accounted for?

Clearly then, viewing educational experiences with a ‘race’ and ethnicity lens provide fur-
ther insight into there being patterns of inequalities in the ways in which different social
groupings progress through education. As in the considerations above of socio-economic
and gender factors, a range of explanations can be offered at different levels of analysis. In
accounting for such differences, again the consideration of how those factors at the level of
classroom interaction may involve complex processes of labelling about ‘ability’ and ‘intel-
ligence’ (Hernstein and Murray, 1994), about notions of challenging and disruptive behav-
iour and relationships with authority, and about cultures of resistance (Mac an Ghaill, 1988;
 Sociological Perspectives on Education 57
Sewell, 1997). At the same time, care must be taken not to lose sight of these inequalities
as being patterns of association, replicated time and again, rather than individual occur-
rences. At the level of the school, the institution and more widely embedded within pol-
icy, the differing educational progressions that can be seen through the race/ethnicity lens
could be considered as a construct of institutional racism that is bound up in the politics of
education, of curriculum, performativity and community. Here the work of Gillborn and
Mirza (2000) and Michael Apple (2000) raise interesting questions about how such inequal-
ities can be understood as being institutionalized.
In some of the preceding discussions references to gender have been made as another
aspect of social analysis that can be brought to bear on educational progressions has been
considered. Similarly, much of the research literature makes clear how issues of social class,
race, ethnicity and gender are inextricable entwined.

Viewing the world through a gender lens

Having considered a number of issues which may impact on the performance of Philip, how
important is it that he is male? Statistically, Philip is likely to perform less well academic-
ally than a girl from a similar family background and set of educational experiences (DfES,
2007; Gillborn and Mirza, 2000).
Since the early 1990s the problem of under-achieving boys has rarely been out of educa-
tional debate, yet only 20 years earlier the same debate was taking place about girls’ under-
achievement. Graham Paton, in an article in the Telegraph (2007) suggests that even in
primary education there is an ‘anti-education culture among boys’ and that ‘the gender gap
widens throughout their education’. While the performance gap attributed to gender may
not be as significant as that attributed to other social aspects, it continues to increase and it
is important to try to identify the causes and possible solutions.
The underachievement of boys is only a relatively recent phenomenon, particularly at
secondary level. In the 1970s teachers were still considering how to improve the perform-
ance of girls who, at that time, tended to underachieve when compared to boys from similar
backgrounds. In 1997, Ted Wragg, writing in the Times Educational Supplement noted: ‘it is
the underachievement of boys that has become one of the biggest challenges facing society
today’. (Wragg, 1997). This is a difficult phenomenon to explain. Are there essential bio-
logical differences that effect performance? Has the nature of the education and assessment
system begun to favour girls? Or is the difference related to changing social conditions?
Consider the biological issues, do they affect the way in which people behave and learn?
Just because the woman is the child bearer does this mean that she is the best person to raise
the child? Is it implicit in the female make-up that they are better suited for domestic chores
and managing a home rather than becoming leaders in professional careers? The potential
impact of biological differences has long been a debate; students need to consider whether
the culture determines the outcome rather than biological factors. There is a lot of research
58 An Introduction to Education Studies

in this area and while it might not change the impact on educational performance students
might consider researching this complex issue in more detail. The web holds many potential
sources and the work of Deborah Blum – Sex on the Brain – considers a range of research
evidence in this context.
Are these perceptions of the male/female roles simply a hangover from earlier cultural
and social constructions that are still entrenched in our modern conception of social order
or do they have more definite biological roots? Evidence suggests that this is still the case,
that men are disproportionately represented in top jobs and powerful positions. In primary
education, only 16 per cent of teachers are male, yet 34 per cent of Head teachers are male
(DfES, 2007). Evidence suggests that there is some change in this position but this does not
reflect the change in educational performance. Historically the position of women being
subordinate to men was reflected in the education system. Girls were not expected to con-
tinue in education beyond elementary education, where a family had to make a choice, a son
was invariably the one to continue. The 1944 Education Act may have suggested a change in
this view, yet there remained fewer opportunities in the system for girls to receive a gram-
mar school education when compared to boys.
Key education reports in the early 1960s continued to reinforce these stereotypes and
perceptions. The Newsom Report (1963) on secondary education suggested:

We try to educate girls into becoming imitation men and as a result we are wasting and frustrating
their qualities of womanhood at a great expense to the community . . . in addition to their needs
as individuals our girls should be educated in terms of their main social function – which is to make
for themselves, their children and their husbands a secure and suitable home and to be mothers.

The Crowther Report (1959) looking at 15–19 education went further:

The incentive for girls to equip themselves for marriage and home making is genetic . . .. With less
able girls schools can and should make more adjustments to the fact that marriage looms larger
and nearer in pupils’ eyes than it has ever done before . . . her interest in dress, personal appear-
ance and problems of human relations should be given a central place in her education.

Despite this perception, the 1980s saw a shift in educational performance, following pres-
sure within education to improve the performance of girls. This may have been a result of
particular educational drives – Girls into Science and Technology (GIST) and Women in
Science and Engineering (WISE) – which were designed to change girls’ perceptions of what
were traditionally male-dominated areas of education and employment. It may also reflect
the development of equal opportunities legislation and later the National Curriculum, the
former strengthening the rights of girls to choose a wider range of subjects and the latter
which prevented girls from opting out of certain subjects’ areas. A further issue may be that
of the changing social trends for delayed marriage, the need for two wage earners in a family
and better childcare provision increasing the potential for girls to have meaningful career
aspirations.
 Sociological Perspectives on Education 59
Despite these changes and the increasing gap in the educational performance of girls
and boys, the stereotype remains firmly entrenched. Natasha Walter reviewing a BBC pro-
gramme – The Tattle of the Sexes – in the Guardian (2005) comments:

People are naturally drawn to those findings that bolster the stereotypes they already hold – and
when it comes to sex differences these stereotypes are held with immense tenacity. There have
been many changes in the way that men and women behave in family and working life over
the last few generations. But obviously a bedrock of inequality remains. Men continue to take
more powerful roles in society and women continue to do the bulk of unpaid domestic work and
childcare.

It would seem that the stereotype goes against the trend for girls increasingly out perform-
ing boys in most areas of education. Research carried out by the University of Edinburgh
with 14–16-year-old pupils seemed to suggest that the stereotypes were still present when
considering practical situations yet not accepted philosophically. The ideas are summarized
as follows:

In general the young people believed that it was equally important for males and females to
get good qualifications at school, to have worthwhile careers and that child care should be a
joint responsibility [yet] the views were tempered, however, by the inequalities that they saw
around them in the workplace and in their own families. While young people’s attitudes may have
changed, they are still choosing fairly gender typical subjects at school and aspiring to different
types of occupation. Tinklin et al. (2005)

Returning to the underlying biological differences

How can men and women be described? Women are often regarded as passive and not
aggressive; care for others; domestic and dependant; easily upset and emotional; domi-
nated by men! Men are active and aggressive; can cope with the world; are logical and
unemotional; ought to be able to dominate women! Are these myths, or do they reflect
perceptions of men and women in society? What about language, which gender is associate
with ‘hard’, ‘gentle’, ‘affectionate’, ‘brave’; consider different sayings ‘be a man’; ‘boys will
be boys’; ‘as pretty as a picture’; ‘as good as gold’ – are these descriptions social myths and
misunderstanding or a true reflection of roles in society? Pick up an Argos catalogue or visit
‘Toys r us’ and a delineation between toys for girls and boys is obvious. Is there an innate
desire to perpetuate these respective roles or are they really rooted in biological differences?
The answer is uncertain but it is important to consider how this impacts on educational
performance.
Equal Opportunities Commission (2007) indicates a number of gender differences which
are difficult to explain unless biological impacts are accepted.
There is evidence to suggest differences even at pre-school stage, data from the
Millennium Cohort Study report (2003) suggests how that ‘at the pre school stage, girls
60 An Introduction to Education Studies

have better social and cognitive skills’ although this may be explained by evidence that
suggests ‘Parents are more likely to read and teach songs and nursery rhymes with daugh-
ters than sons.’
The report also notes that gender is ‘a better predictor than social class and ethnicity
of (a child) being classified as having Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulty’. The
report indicates that 70 per cent of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are boys;
boys are nine times more likely to be identified as being on the autistic spectrum and four
times more likely to suffer from behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD); boys
account for 80 per cent of permanent exclusions and 75 per cent of fixed term exclusions.
Perhaps this suggests key gender differences which could account for some of the gap in
performance.
Within a multicultural society it is also important to recognize groups where the male
continues to be regarded as dominant and the women subservient still exist and this can
have an increased effect of boys’ performance in schools, particularly where the majority
of teachers are female. Evidence in 2007 suggests that 84 per cent of teachers in primary
schools and 56 per cent of teachers in secondary schools are female (an increasing position)
which is often cited as a reason for the underperformance of boys.
While there are clearly issues surrounding the gender differences in performance, the
reasons are much more difficult to identify, there are a range of suggestions, but few clear
answers. Could it be:

The ‘lad’ culture?

The nature of examinations and particularly coursework?

The lack of male role models in education?

The impact of parental attitudes to boys and their place in the family?

The impact of learning and teaching styles, including teaching materials and books?

Or, is it still about social condition and perspectives?

Gillborn and Mirza recognize and demonstrate the gender gap as an issue for perform-
ance but suggest that ‘The gender gap is considerably smaller than the inequalities of attain-
ment associated with ethnic origin and social class background.’ (Gillborn and Mirza,
2000: 23). There are clear issues surrounding the difference in performance between boys
and girls but does it warrant the high profile it has in discussions on school improvement
programmes? The government has recently published the Gender Equality Duty (2007)
which seeks to ensure gender equality in all aspects of life; schools are no exception and are
expected to ‘prepare a scheme identifying gender equality objectives, and setting out the
actions it intends to carry out to achieve them’. (Gender Equality Duty, 2007: 21), perhaps
this a way forward to achieve gender equality in performance!
Finally, what should the school’s role be in this context? Should schools be concerned
about perpetuating gender differences or should schools be actively seeking ways to break-
down gender perceptions?
 Sociological Perspectives on Education 61

Conclusion
So where does that leave Philip, his family and students of education? In this chapter three
of the major social factors that impact upon the educational progressions of children and
young people have been considered. While the chapter has focused different analytical
lenses on compulsory schooling, that does not imply that it is only in this sphere of edu-
cation that such social relations and patterns of inequality are played out. Experiences of
compulsory education cast long shadows and even a cursory glance at the evidence which
brings back into sharp focus the ways in which gender, social class and race and ethnicity
affect later progressions of post-16 and beyond. How these pathways extend post-16 have
been implied in some of biographical narratives for Philip’s family. How have these social
factors impacted upon their lives? Can you see patterns in your own?

Summary
In this chapter we have looked at:

the impact of social perspectives on education.

views of social class and their impacts on education and development.

the impact of social issues through the lens of a personal autobiography.

cultural clashes, meaning and agency, explanations of social class difference.

viewing the world through a race/ethnicity lens.

research – multiple factors at work.

how might we account for differences in educational performance.

viewing the world through a gender lens.

References
Afshar, H and Maynard, M (1994) The Dynamics of ‘Race’ and Gender: Some Feminist Interventions. London: Taylor
& Francis
Apple, M (2000) Official Knowledge (2nd edn). London: Routledge
Balibar, E and Wallerstein, I (1991) Race, Nation, Class: Ambiguous Identities. London: Verso
Ball, Stephen, J (1993) ‘Education markets, choice and social class: the market as a class strategy in the UK and the
USA’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 14(1), 3–19
Banks, M, Bates, I, Breakwell, G, Bynner, J, Emler, N, Jamieson, L and Roberts, K (1992) Careers and Identities. Milton
Keynes, Open University Press
Bernstein, B (1964) ‘Elaborated and restricted codes: their social origins and some consequences’, American
Anthropologist, New Series, 66(6), Part 2: The Ethnography of Communication. 55–69
Blum D (1997) Sex on the Brain – The Biological Differences between Men and Women. New York: Penguin
Bowles, S and Gintis, H (1976) Schooling in Capitalist America. New York: Basic Books
Brown, P (1987) Schooling Ordinary Kids: Inequality, Unemployment and the New Vocationalism. London: Tavistock
Collins Concise Dictionary of the English Language (2nd edn) (1990) Glasgow, Collins
62 An Introduction to Education Studies

Crowther Report (1959) Fifteen to Eighteen. Department of Education and Science, London: HMSO
DfES (2007) Gender and Education – The Evidence on Pupils in England: Research Paper RTP01–07. Department for
Education and Skills
Equal Opportunities Commission (2007) The Gender Equality Duty: Code of Practice, England and Wales. London:
HMSO
Garrod, J (2004) ‘The education gender gap’, Sociology Review, 13; pt 4, 26–8
Gillborn, D and Mirza, H S (2000) Educational Inequality: Mapping Race, Class and Gender. London: OfSTED
Hammersley, M and Woods, P (1993) Gender and Ethnicity in Schools: Ethnographic Accounts. London: Routledge
Hargreaves, D H (1967) Social Relations in a Secondary School. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
Hernstein, R and Murray, C (1994) The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. New York: Free
Press
Mac an Ghaill, M (1988) Young, Gifted and Black: Student–Teacher Relations in the Schooling of Black Youth.
Buckingham: Open University Press
Millennium Cohort Study Report (2003) Millennium Cohort Study – First Sweep 2001–2003. Centre for Longitudinal
Studies
National Statistics Online (2008) [Link]
(accessed 21 October 2008)
Newsom Report on Secondary Education (1963) Half our Future. Department of Education and Science, London:
HMSO
Paton, G (2007) ‘Boys underachieving at every educational level’, Daily Telegraph, 11 August 2007
Reay, D (2001) ‘Finding or losing yourself? Working-class relationships to education’, Journal of Education Policy,
16(4), 333–46
Sewell, T (1997) Black Masculinities and Schooling: How Black Boys Survive Modern Schooling. Stoke: Trentham Books
Tinklin, T, Croxford, L, Ducklin, A and Frame, B (2005) ‘Gender and attitudes to work and family roles: the views of
young people at the millennium’, Gender and Education, 17(2), 129–42
Walker, S and Barton, L (ed.) (1983) Gender, Class and Education. London: Routledge
Walter, N (2005) ‘The tattle of the sexes’, Guardian, 16 July 2007
Willis, P (1977) Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Farnborough: Saxon House
Wragg, T (1997) ‘Oh boy!’, The Times Educational Supplement, 16 May 2007

Further reading
Afshar, H and Maynard, M (1994) The Dynamics of ‘Race’ and Gender: Some Feminist Interventions. London: Taylor
& Francis
Ball, Stephen, J (1993) ‘Education markets, choice and social class: the market as a class strategy in the UK and the
USA’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 14(1), 3–19
Brown, P (1987) Schooling Ordinary Kids: Inequality, Unemployment and the New Vocationalism. London: Tavistock
Gillborn, D and Mirza, H S (2000) Educational Inequality: Mapping Race, Class and Gender. London: OfSTED
Mac an Ghaill, M (1988) Young, Gifted and Black: Student–Teacher Relations in the Schooling of Black Youth.
Buckingham: Open University Press
Reay, D (2001) ‘Finding or losing yourself? Working-class relationships to education’, Journal of Education Policy,
16(4), 333–46
 Sociological Perspectives on Education 63

Useful websites
[Link]/ – Department for Children, Schools and Families: leading work across government in England to
improve outcomes for children, including work on children’s health and child poverty.
[Link]/ – Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC): contains useful overviews and research briefings
on issues related to education and social research.
[Link]/pages/[Link] – Equality and Human Rights Commission: a non-departmental
public body (NDPB) established under the Equality Act 2006: contains briefings, statistics and research materials
relating to equality and human rights issues, including those concerning education.
[Link]/ – Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust: A progressive charity organization and funder of social
research, including issues concerning power and social justice.
[Link]/ – Joseph Rowntree Foundation: A major Charity funder of social research, with links to past and cur-
rent research projects, particularly focusing on children and young people.
[Link] – National Statistics Online: The UK government’s official statistics service – contains statis-
tical analysis of social and educational trends.
[Link] – Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED): The government’s office for inspections and stand-
ards in education.
[Link] – Social Science Research Council (SSRC): A major funder and publisher of research in the field of social
science.
[Link] – The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) is the national agency and recognized
sector body responsible for the training and development of the school workforce.

Useful internet search terms

social class
social disadvantage
language and social class
culture
cultural capital
gender
race
ethnicity
power and agency
6 Affective Issues in Education
Bridget Cooper

Chapter Outline
The significance of emotion in human learning and development 65
Theory of education – the role of affect 66
The significance of empathy 67
Empathy in teaching and learning 69
Constraints on empathy in the educational system 74
How do we address emotional issues in schools today? 77
Conclusion 81

Rob and Dad

 Affective Issues in Education 65

The significance of emotion in

human learning and development
Our lives are a constant process of learning and development – from the first tentative
grasps and coos of a baby, to the mastering of the internet by an octogenarian. However, we
do not learn in isolation. We are surrounded by other people and inhabit different environ-
ments full of natural and man-made phenomena. The learning process involves interacting
with all of these, but in particular, with the human beings around us, who form an essential
part of the contexts in which we learn. For each new born child there is a whole world to
gradually understand. They have to become familiar with their own developing selves and
their relationship to the changing world around them. The human species is highly complex
and though research informs us about how we develop both as individual organisms and in
tandem with others, this learning continues apace.
One powerful aspect of humanity is our affective or emotional nature. We both weep and
celebrate when babies are born and when people commit to marriage. We cry when people
die but we celebrate and take pleasure in their past lives. We laugh together, sing together,
dance together, gasp in awe together, cheer together when goals are scored or victories won
and in conflict we get angry and violent with each other. This emotion is both physical and
mental in nature. It can be real or imagined and even the imaginary can recreate real feel-
ings. We know that characters in film, television, novels or the theatre are not real, yet we
live through their anxieties and excitements as if they really exist. Our pulses race as the
tension mounts and we cry or cheer with relief as the drama is resolved.
People have always known the power of emotion in human existence and educators nat-
urally enthuse to share their love of a subject or a skill, to communicate that love with
others and imbue them with similar excitement. Research into teacher education and com-
munication stresses the importance of enthusiasm and excitement. We see this daily in
the melodramatic nature of most media presenters, who enthuse avidly about their obses-
sions, whether football, gardening, wild life or cookery, history, music or art. Enthusiasm
is infectious.

Further Reading
Damasio, A (1999) The Feeling of What Happens: Body, Emotion and the Making of Consciousness.
London: Vintage

Damasio, A (2003) Looking for Spinoza: Joy Sorrow and the Feeling Brain. London: Heinemann

Goleman, D (1995) Emotional Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury

Kyriacou, C (1986) Effective Teaching in Schools. Hemel Hempstead: Simon and Schuster
66 An Introduction to Education Studies

Strangely, the affective or emotional aspects of learning have often been neglected by
academics in favour of the process of thinking or cognition. Yet in some contexts we use the
concepts of thinking and feeling interchangeably, for example, I feel/think this is important.
We naturally speak of our instincts and our intuitions, our loves and hates, being turned
on and off by different people or subjects, yet it is surprising that not more research has
been done into the emotional aspects of learning. However, the intangible nature of emo-
tion makes it difficult to research and its association with feminist thinking has rendered it
less popular in the male-dominated academic world than perhaps it should be. However, in
recent years, the significance of emotion has been officially recognized in schools through
the Excellence and Enjoyment agenda (DfES, 2003) and in the learning of teachers (Hoban,
2002). The significance of emotion to learning is a vital reason to investigate it and under-
stand it deeply. The following section explains what research reveals about our current
understanding.

Activity 6.1
Consider your own learning, both formal and informal. Identify any aspects which you really enjoyed
or really disliked.
Can you identify the factors which produced that positive or negative reaction in you?
What was it about these particular learning episodes which turned you on or off?
Were the effects of these episodes long lasting or short term in terms of your learning and devel-
opment? Do you still like or dislike certain subjects or activities as a result?
What part did human relationships play in your learning?

Theory of education – the role of affect

The whole area of the emotions has been avoided and according to some even scorned
by many academics (Damasio, 1999; McCarthy, 2000). However, exciting technological
developments in neuroscience and increased understanding of the workings of the brain
have changed this. This research (Damasio, 1999; Goleman, 1995; Maclean Hospital, 2001;
Narvaez, 2007; Watt, 2000) reconfirms the significance of the emotional in personal and
academic development, recognized in the psychological literature of the 1960s and 1070s
(Aspy, 1972; Rogers, 1975), but which lost favour in the more mechanistic approaches to
teaching in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Since human relationships are intrinsic to educational processes and are emotional in
nature, we need to understand more about how humans share and communicate their
thoughts and feelings. In particular the concept of ‘empathy’ appears to be central to the
understanding of affect in education since it enables human beings to share understanding.
The New Oxford Shorter English Dictionary (1993 edition) suggests that empathy comes
 Affective Issues in Education 67
from the German word Einfühlung describing it as, the power of mentally identifying oneself
with (and so fully comprehending) a person or object of contemplation (1993: 808).
Philosophers and educationalists have recognized the role of emotion in human relation-
ships from Aristotle onwards. In the eighteenth century Hume used the word ‘sympathy’
in a similar sense to the current definition of empathy and stated that we have a natural
propensity ‘to sympathize with others and to receive by communication their inclinations
and sentiments’ (Hume, 1739: 316). For Marks and Engels (1888) over a century later, man
could only reach his human potential, not as an individual but as a social being, in his
relations with his fellow men and women. The denunciation of individualism, and naked
self-interest, is at the heart of his critique of capitalism. Human relationships are not just
rational or functional but sensual and personal and make us complete. He talks of man
acquiring the world through his senses and his relationships with others making him whole
(Fischer, 1973).
In the twentieth century, Macmurray (1935: 43) talks of the importance of emotions
and sensitive awareness, of employing the senses for the sheer joy they give us, rather than
utilizing them for narrower intellectual purposes. He sees the intellect as being subordin-
ate to the emotions and self-centred rather than other-centred. He believed that sensual
sensitivity brings human beings together, as the root of human communion and religion,
whereas Marks and Engels (1988) believed the supreme form of human integration and
interaction was communism. Both saw human relationships and interaction as the pinna-
cle of humanity. Hay (1997) links Marx’s concept of the ‘species-being’ to the idea of spir-
itual awareness to heightened sensitivity and suggests that this awareness, which Noddings
(1986) calls receptivity and Watson and Ashton (1995) call openness, is actually a physical
state. These descriptions define empathy as a neurobiological state or process, where mind
and body function in tandem, opening up to process incoming information from outside
the self.

The significance of empathy

Empathy was avidly researched in the 1960s and early 1970s. The influence of Rogers on
the role of empathy in counselling and education was significant. Rogers defined empathy
in this way: ‘it means to sense the hurt or pleasure of another as he senses it and to perceive
the causes thereof as he perceives them’ (1975: 3). He also argues, ‘that empathy dissolves
“alienation” and “values the other person and their world, accepts the person as he is” with
the consequence that they value themselves and are able to open up to others’ (ibid.: 5–6).
Later he interchanges the term empathy with sensitive understanding and explains how this
enables even very disturbed individuals to feel valued. Marks and Engels (1888) argued that
people become alienated in a capitalist system where financial links replaced human rela-
tionships. Market values embedded in education systems seem to limit empathic relation-
ships (Cooper, 2004, 2007).
68 An Introduction to Education Studies

Empathy creates a mutual bond and is signified by what Noddings (1986) calls ‘engross-
ment’, being totally concerned for the well-being of another. For both Rogers and Aspy,
empathy was a common human quality, which could be developed and improved by train-
ing. Aspy developed training in empathy for student teachers (Rogers, 1975). Hargreaves
(1972) called for empathy training to ensure ‘caring’ teachers and such training has been
conducted more recently, in Italy for example (Francescato, 1998). This of course raises some
interesting issues, if empathy actually develops early in human relationships as Goleman
(1995), Leal (2002) and Bowlby (1951) suggest, can training really develop empathy?
There is some consensus that empathy is easier in interactions with someone like your-
self (Rogers, 1975; Schantz, 1975). Generally (though not exclusively) children find it easier
to empathize with other children, boys with other boys and so on. Kozeki and Berghammer
(1992) identified different levels of empathy, distinguishing between the empathy shown
by a salesman, who aims to understand you to close a sale and the empathy of a leader for
example, who has the long-term interests of his team at heart.
The influence of Rogers’ work on ‘empathy’ and its pertinence to teaching, learning and
human development, has permeated educational thinking worldwide (Brandes and Ginnis,
1990; Pike and Selby, 1988). It holds particular significance in the area of pastoral educa-
tion, special needs and multicultural education, where perhaps a higher degree of empathy
is needed, simply because of the diversity of pupils with particular needs, or for pupils from
different regions, races, religions and cultures. Cooper (2002) found that high levels of
empathy enabled teachers to understand those who were very different from themselves, for
instance children with special needs. However some teachers only demonstrated empathy
with certain students not with others, revealing the nature of prejudice.
Goleman (1995) suggests that the receptivity needed for empathy is restricted if the per-
son is already too emotional. The flooding of the brain with one emotion can upset the
ability to tune into others. Damasio (1994) argues that emotions are vital to complex learn-
ing and decision-making, therefore an ability to tune into emotions is needed to support
learning. Cooper (2002) argues that when teachers’ minds are absorbed by schemes of work,
targets and content, they are less able to enter the minds of their pupils and address their
needs appropriately.
Empathy assumes a whole-person approach to learning but the dominance of a mechanis-
tic, curriculum-based approach to education in the 1980s and 1990s has largely ignored this
whole-person approach (McCarthy, 2000; Priestley, 2000). Best (2003) argued that affect-
ive issues have been largely ignored in the British education system for decades. However,
recently affect has been considered more seriously in education via government policies
such as Excellence and Enjoyment (DfES, 2003) and Every Child Matters (HMSO, 2003).
Emotional intelligence is considered important, even if its development constitutes another
addition to the already overburdened curriculum.
These recent changes stem from research in neuroscience, values development and even
artificial intelligence, all of which have reaffirmed the significance of the role of emotions
 Affective Issues in Education 69
in learning and development. Leal (2002) discussed the ability of babies to respond to emo-
tion in others, and Winkley (1996) explained how the neural networks in the brain grow
when the baby feels accepted and cared for. The works of Damasio (1994) and Goleman
(1995) are typical summaries of research into brain development and link the emotional,
the cognitive and physical as never before. They show that ‘rational’ decisions are inextric-
ably linked to our inner feelings and physical processes.
Damasio (1999) explains the significance of intense interaction and engagement in learn-
ing, where the senses are focused on the object or person of interest. He emphasizes the role
of the human’s own sense of body and self, in relation to the world he perceives. At each
interaction a human recreates his image of self (body and brain) in the mind. With each
positive interaction, the sense of self is continually reinforced and updated and the person
is encouraged to open up more, explore more and learn more. Negative interaction causes
the brain and body to retract and protect itself.
With positive multi-sensory interaction, the brain and body absorb information rapidly
becoming more engaged, and better able to understand. This absorption applied to people
resembles Noddings’ engrossment (1986). When one empathizes, one becomes engrossed
in other people, absorbing and responding to feedback. Empathy involves learning intensely
about others and sharing both their cognitive and emotional responses, creating an internal
mental model of them, which relates closely to one’s own. This total engrossment is how
parents relate to new babies and how people who fall in love relate to each other. Damasio
(1999) explains the universality of emotion in human beings, which implies that all people
can relate to each other at these deeper levels. Love is at the heart of these ideas but it is a
concept that has proved problematic for highly rational academics.
Conversely, particular brains and certain brain damage ensure fewer links between emo-
tional and rational thinking, and can reduce the ability to create an internal representa-
tion of the outer world. Such people struggle to perceive the world as others do, changing
their ability to understand the effects of their actions on others, resulting in less inhibited
and more antisocial behaviour (Damasio, 1994, 1999; Goleman, 1995; Sacks, 1985, 1996).
Even verbal aggression can seriously damage the brain and its capacity to learn (Maclean
Hospital, 2001).

Empathy in teaching and learning

Given this newer neurological evidence of the significance of affect in learning and devel-
opment, the question of what empathy looks like in learning situations is crucial. In terms
of teacher empathy Kyriacou (1986) speaks of, ‘the importance of teachers being able to see
the lesson from the pupils’ perspective’ (p. 113) and explains it is a significant contributory
factor in all eight of the teacher characteristics, seen in the effective teacher.
Cooper (2002) investigated in detail the nature of empathy in interactions in learning and
found different types, which we will now explore: fundamental, profound, functional and
70 An Introduction to Education Studies

feigned. These were directly affected by the learning contexts and involved both cognitive and
affective factors. Empathy involved creating a rich mental model of others, both factual and
emotional, with which to interact. This sits comfortably with Vygotsky’s emphasis on human
relationships in learning (1976) and the inseparability of cognition and affect (1986).

Fundamental empathy
Fundamental empathy was used to initiate or facilitate social relationships, for example the
sort of friendly interaction made in passing at the supermarket checkout. Pleasant inter-
action in the daily course of events makes life run more smoothly. Fundamental empathy
was used naturally by teachers to initiate relationships and had two key categories described
below.

Initial characteristics
To begin to form relationships empathic teachers adopt a non-judgemental approach. This
means being acceptable and open in their beliefs and attitudes, paying close attention to the
feelings and thoughts of others, listening carefully, showing signs of interest and engage-
ment in their conversation or actions, being very positive in verbal and non-verbal commu-
nication and showing enthusiasm both for the content and process of interactions and the
person involved. Teachers associate empathy both with giving attention and being attentive.
When attention is focused between pupils and teacher, engagement and communication
are maximized. Any distraction or problems, fear or anxiety reduces positive attention.
If teachers model empathic behaviour, students emulate it and positive emotion spreads
improving the learning ambience.

Means of communication
Clear facial expression and positive interaction are very important. Eye contact leads to rapid
and meaningful communication and along with smiles, nods and a forwardly inclined pos-
ture, ensures attention and allows greater understanding to be transferred between teacher
and pupil. The teacher’s face can be used expressively to emphasize both content and feeling
during conversation. This encourages sharing of understanding, further interaction and
then students emulate this behaviour in their interactions. Close observation of students’
non-verbal reactions inform the teacher about their feelings. Teachers are able to switch
emotions rapidly. Any negative display to correct behaviour transforms rapidly into positive
emotion to maintain a positive climate.
Within this category gestures and body language help to clarify and illuminate conversa-
tion engaging curiosity. Movement combined with bodily expression or physical rearrange-
ment of the room engages interest and emotion, drawing students into the interaction.
Height and distance are also significant. Physical distance seems to be symbolic of emotional
distance. Though teachers stand up and move away from the class to address the whole
group, closeness and equality of status is important for individual communication. Sitting
 Affective Issues in Education 71
beside students or lowering their body position improves communication, although teach-
ers are aware of some students’ negative feelings about close contact. Language and voice
tone are very important. Teachers use appropriate language for the level of the student, and
reflect their student’s style of language before developing and extending vocabulary. Varied
voice tone adds emotion and drama, bringing interaction and topics to life.
Many teachers are expert communicators and can rapidly generate good relationships.
However, these often function on a superficial level, especially when they teach many stu-
dents infrequently. More detailed knowledge of students is a feature of the deeper level of
empathy described below.

Profound empathy
Over time, and with frequency of interaction, fundamental empathy can become profound,
signified by deeper levels of understanding and higher quality relationships which involve
frequent positive interaction and mutual respect. Profound empathy facilitates excellence
in teaching and learning and involves many complex interrelated facets.
Teachers demonstrating profound empathy understand their students as complex indi-
viduals functioning within different environments who have complex relationships with
other teachers, peers and family. Teachers modelled a very caring, personalized, almost par-
ental approach. This research confirmed and illuminated the powerful effects of profound
empathy on self-esteem which in turn supports learning. Empathic teachers are revealed as
highly moral individuals who attach themselves mentally and emotionally to their students
and generate similar responses in return. Positive personal interaction supports high levels
of engagement and in positive relationships teachers assess their students more effectively
and make higher demands.
The most positive relationships and learning are seen where teachers work one to one,
as with English as an Additional Language and Special Educational Needs support. Here
the emotions become increasingly positive, resulting in happiness, fun and humour in
interaction. Advice and constructive criticism become much more effective in a generally
positive, trusting atmosphere. Empathic teachers give time and sole attention, especially to
students who need it more. They understand the necessity of physical contact for many chil-
dren and they create a relaxed, comfortable and informal context for learning.
Empathic teachers know themselves well, are very human and fallible in the classroom
drawing on their own childhood experiences, and sharing aspects of their personal lives
with students. Through this they equalize relationships and permit imperfection, while
encouraging positive attitudes to life and learning. They seek to understand learners deeply
and explain ‘why’ rather than simply ‘what’. They support social and emotional as well as
academic development, believing they are all interrelated.
Profoundly empathic teachers treat students as unique individuals, valuing their exist-
ing knowledge and development and building on it. They treasure difference rather than
normative comparison so that students, whatever their level, are encouraged to develop.
72 An Introduction to Education Studies

They create resources and environments which make learners feel confident and secure but
which interest and challenge them. Their emotional closeness to students leads empathic
teachers to care deeply for them, to seek solutions to their needs, to sacrifice themselves for
their sake, to protect them and to perceive the whole person more deeply. They see them-
selves as bridges of understanding between young people, other adults, parents and com-
munity and have a holistic view of individuals and their worlds. Students reciprocate their
care and enact it with others, creating a more empathic ambience in classrooms. Where
teachers have the opportunity to develop profound empathy, behaviour and learning can
be transformed. They create an extremely rich mental model of individuals in their minds,
which they can relate to closely, both emotionally and cognitively. They draw on all their life
experience and the clues emanating from pupils to interpret their feelings and understand-
ing. The following quotations give a flavour of what empathic teachers believe and practice.
It begins with knowing students as individuals and by name.

[I]f you don’t know somebody’s name how can you ever make a connection to have any under-
standing of what’s behind the physical presence of the person. (Sara)

[Empathy] is being sensitive towards the needs of the child trying to, trying to treat each one of
those as a little human being as opposed to a pupil. So they all have different needs, different
attitudes that I’ve got to be very much aware of. (Anna)

I mean I do love children when it comes down to it. (Anna)

Giving time was symbolic of care, made students feel valued, created more equal rela-
tionships and deeper understanding:

Well you’d think that the most important thing that you can ever give anybody in life is time – is
your time for them. (Claire)

The more relaxed and natural the teacher could be, the more fun they could have.
Then lessons and learning were enjoyable. This was especially important for special needs
students:

I take in all sorts of games . . . anything that makes them laugh really. And I really feel I’ve got to
get them totally relaxed and not worried (Anna).

Developing positive emotions sometimes involved initially masking negative emotions

since finding affinity with less likeable children was central to empathy.

It’s a bit more forced, the smiling and everything in that situation, because that child isn’t automat-
ically making you feel like that. You know that you’ll find some point of contact with the child and
something the child’s interested in and then work from there. (Mary)

Profound empathy incorporates a deep understanding of self and others which appreci-
ates all existing and historical relationships and their impact on learning. It includes the
 Affective Issues in Education 73
ability to understand a wide range of students and to take responsibility for their needs.
Empathic tutors have a richly adaptive and integrated concept of themselves and others.
They build a student’s self-esteem and self-worth, create emotional links between tutor and
student and build trust and security. This emotional closeness enables the tutor to discover
hidden factors, which might enhance or inhibit learning both inside and outside school and
enable them to be sensitive to and respond to changes in children’s lives. The development
of trust and security also allowed risk taking in learning: ‘If they feel secure with somebody,
they’re going to have an attempt at a word they can’t read or have a go’ (Charlotte).
Profound empathy is not a sentimental concern for the other. It involves genuinely tak-
ing a real interest, getting to know and understand lots of factors in a person’s thinking
and feeling. When two people know each other very well, they can be more honest and
more supportive. The constructive criticism vital for learning, is more successful in positive
relationships, where the person is well known. Sensitive understanding can challenge and
change prejudice or inaccurate conceptions.
The teachers aimed to extend the positive climate out into the home wherever possible:
‘you instill them (parents) with confidence and importance about their child.’ (Claire).
Sharing positive visions of their futures with students and their parents could fill them with
expectations: ‘There’s a world out there! Fill them with ideas and fantasies and dreams and
hopes and aspirations . . . then they’ll be able to [do this] themselves, won’t they’. (Claire).
Real depth of attunement and understanding was only seen in one-to-one and small
group situations. These teachers understood that sole attention makes children feel valued
and important: ‘so you’ve got to give that sole concentration . . . [ ] otherwise she’s not
worthy’(Claire). One-to-one attention could transform behaviour and support learning:

I’m building a better relationship with this boy than I ever do in the class cos he won’t say anything,
but in here, (withdrawal group) where he feels quite happy and relaxed and he’s saying a lot more
and we’re having a giggle together, I feel as if we’re getting on, building up a lot better rapport
(Anna – reporting a teaching assistant’s comments).

A very positive aspect of our human need for empathy is that many children will seek out
a trusting empathic relationship. They want and need ‘attention’. ‘Attention seeking’ chil-
dren are rarely classrooms criminals, they have a developmental need.

Functional empathy
Functional empathy was an adaptation of empathic behaviour for large classes where teach-
ers form a mental model of the group for the purposes of interaction. They attune to the
group, their interests, and their attainment level. This enables the teacher to create a rapport
and to plan for and support learning. However, this type of empathy is not sufficiently per-
sonalized to be really effective for individuals. Many students are not known well enough to
make good progress, mainly due to the limited time available for individual interaction. By
having this mental model of a group for interaction, teachers model stereotyping and have
74 An Introduction to Education Studies

to manage and control behaviour rather than exemplifying it. For example, they need rules
about listening when others are talking, because there are too many students for them all to
have a chance to speak.
Many teachers combine functional empathy with a more profound kind whenever an
opportunity arises for individual interaction or when relationships recur with students over
time. Though this can be effective in primary school, it is harder in secondary school or in
higher education because of the limited interaction time any teacher has with any particu-
lar student in what is essentially a fragmented curriculum. A-level groups and postgraduate
groups, however, usually have better ratios and allow more personal interaction.

Feigned empathy
Feigned empathy was shown when people pretend to be sensitively understanding but in
reality think and later behave, quite differently. This is exemplified by the deceit of the
con-man who charms you to eventually defraud you, or the frightening mock charm of the
child-abuser who grooms a child with false kindness, before violating them. The pretended
sensitivity shown initially is a temporary performance, designed ultimately for self-interest.
Fraudsters and psychopaths can be frighteningly adept at feigning empathy for their own
ends and have usually had such deceit modelled to them.

Constraints on empathy in
the educational system
Different learning contexts and factors in the hidden curriculum (the unintentional learn-
ing in schools) affect the degree of empathy which can be shown by teachers. Alienation and
disaffection presents itself often as a strange feeling of detachment or worthlessness, but it is
difficult to identify the cause when it is created by the hidden curriculum. Often it is caused
by the absence of good relationships.
In many contexts the frequency of individual interaction remains at a low level. The
fragmented, infrequent nature of relationships in some years in secondary schools and
some university undergraduate courses, limits the quality of relationships and restricts
the opportunity to offer adequate care and support for individual learning. Lack of time
for individuals, large classes and an over-filled, fragmented curriculum, fragments and
degrades learning relationships. Unempathic managers or policies, a poor working envir-
onment and large numbers of needy students reduce the ability of teachers to be empathic.
One very needy child can effectively monopolize the teacher’s empathy. Many needy chil-
dren in a class can compound the problem. Empathy requires mental space to accommo-
date students’ perspectives, which is difficult when you are absorbed by many other agendas
or are anxious about student behaviour. Creativity, imagination, deep-thinking and reflec-
tion require time and space and are closely related to empathy. These facets of learning are
 Affective Issues in Education 75
more difficult to develop in large classes. Students in large classes are obliged to compete
for the one adult resource at the expense of other students; this also reduces their empathy
and degrades the classroom climate.
Functional empathy is much more evident in classrooms than profound empathy and
is a by-product of working with large groups. The need to manage the group produces an
unequal power relationship which eats away at the climate of mutual respect and often
replaces positive affect with fear or disdain. Large classes oblige a teacher to become less
empathic, to resort to techniques, tricks and rituals rather than communicating openly and
in a mutually respectful way with individual pupils.
Teachers’ examples of constraints on empathy are shown below. When these factors occur
in combination (as they almost always do) they will necessarily mathematically reduce the
quality of empathy. A support teacher working one to one with a child for three hours a
week is likely to have sixty times more frequency of interaction, than secondary teachers
teaching that child in a class three times a week. The magnitude of the problem is embed-
ded in these simple numbers. How often does an individual student get listened to? What
time do teachers have to model thoughtful argument by hearing all contributions? Where
is the time to develop critical, creative and collaborative thinking? However much teachers
value such ideas, they struggle to enact and model them in the time frames and class sizes
within which they work.

Class size
The most powerful factor in reducing empathy is class size. More children means more
group interaction, thus on a daily basis teachers model stereotyping, potentially a moral
and educational disaster. This issue is aggravated in the depersonalized timetables of sec-
ondary schools and in anonymous lectures in universities.

[O]ver-faced with hundreds of faces who all can look the same on the first sort of appearances.
It takes a long time to get to know them, so then it’s harder to break down those inaccessible
groups. (Sara – secondary)

Insufficient time
Teachers linked poor ratio to lack of time and some individuals need more time than others.

you never have enough . . . you never have enough time . . . time to speak to the kids as much as
you want because you have always got everybody to think about I suppose class size comes into
it . . . the more children you’ve got the more you’ve got to look after. (Margaret – primary)

You’ve got a 45-minute lesson, what am I expected to spend on average – two minutes with a kid.
They need more than two minutes. (Will – secondary)

Endless tasks beyond the classroom also limit time. There is minimal time to exchange
understanding with parents, to mark work in detail, to share understanding with other
76 An Introduction to Education Studies

staff, and with outside agencies. Primary staff develop more detailed knowledge of children
through frequency of contact and continuity in smaller environments but secondary school
teachers find it difficult even to learn names. Teachers struggle to find individual time
although they know its effect on attitudes, behaviour and achievement:

He’s always causing trouble and at times a very nasty child and not one you could immediately put
your arms round . . . but saying that there are times if he’s on a one-to-one with you and he wants
the attention and he loves that attention and he’ll talk and he’s a different child. (David)

Curricular problems
With the over-filled curriculum, even primary teachers dominate the delivery and struggle
to find time for the personal dialogue and interaction associated with empathy: ‘it’s hard
at times to be on an individual level with the children – there’s so much to get through in a
week’. (Frances – primary)
In secondary schools with large classes and infrequent contact, especially in years seven
to nine, relationships are fragmented along with the curriculum and for many students
failure in the normative assessment regime is inevitable: ‘I think the National Curriculum,
although it is good in many ways, is a disaster for the lower kids’. (Will – secondary)

Teacher quality
To cope with the demands of the system teachers have to be highly skilled, resilient and
persistent. Some situations are much more difficult and some teachers cope better than oth-
ers. Degree quality was considered less important than empathy by the head teacher in this
study. Talking about a teaching assistant he said, ‘she knows what to do and when best to
do it . . . she is magical – I’ve come across people with damm good degrees who can’t teach
at all’. (Terry)

The make-up of individuals and groups

The nature of individual children and groupings, have an effect on the teacher’s ability to
show empathy. Some children need more teacher time, leaving less time available for others.
Children with little empathy themselves require the most empathy. They find large classes
impossible and need one-to-one support. In classes with many needy children, teachers
struggle to meet all their needs.

I’ve got one year seven class with eight children with IEPs, statements – they’re all vying for atten-
tion and within the course of a lesson if you are going to deliver the facts, try and assess every-
body and then check at the end that it’s all gone in, the time for actual individual – [ ] that time is
reduced because you’re spending time with other stuff. (Fay – secondary)

The physical environment

Teachers needed space, appropriate rooms and appropriate resources and equipment.
Large numbers in small classrooms and the accompanying noise levels, meant teachers
 Affective Issues in Education 77
were sometimes thwarted in their attempts to know children deeply and had to focus on
management and more negative interactions.

Unempathic management and inappropriate policies

Some managers, also restricted in their actions by factors above, found no time for knowing
or valuing their teachers and pursued unempathic behaviours and policies which frustrated
teachers. School or government policies which stress standardized assessment and competi-
tion create a competitive atmosphere in which some children feel devalued and some teach-
ers and managers and other children learned to treat less successful children with disdain.
This could result in ‘institutional empathy removal’. (Sara)
These seem to be some of the most pressing issues which need addressing in education.
If empathy is intrinsic to learning and excellent teaching, we all need to argue for the provi-
sion of conditions in which it can thrive.

Activity 6.2
Take an opportunity to identify a student who behaves badly in a large classroom or group. Observe
them in class and then in a one-to-one support lesson. Write a detailed account of the occasion,
what they did and the nature of their attitude, behaviour and interactions. Do you observe any dif-
ferences between the two sessions?

Activity 6.3
Spend time talking with a child who has problems in school and find out a little about their home life.
What do you feel are the connections between the two?

How do we address emotional issues in

schools today?
Thankfully in recent years affect in learning is taking a more prominent role. Emotional
intelligence has become a favoured topic and a whole range of initiatives have sought to
promote this in children. Organizations such as Antidote are working hard to support
institutions in the understanding and support of emotional development. Nurture groups
have been established in many schools to support the most emotionally needy children.
Circle time encourages the expression of individual feeling. However the philosophy
behind these initiatives often conflicts with the more rigid target and assessment-driven
78 An Introduction to Education Studies

nature of the main school curriculum. Children with multiple psychological and emo-
tional needs are still some times treated as if their behaviour can be remedied by a simple
detention.

Further Reading and Useful Websites

Goleman, D (1995) Emotional Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury

Macgilchrist, B, Myers, K and Reed, J (2004) The Intelligent School, London: Sage

[Link]/ – Antidote works with schools to help shape learning environments where
everyone is motivated and able to participate.

[Link]/behaviourimprovement/nurture/[Link] – Nurture groups are small groups usu-

ally with younger children in schools, where children with emotional needs get extra care and sup-
port from teachers who model good relationships and build trust to support the child’s emotional,
social and intellectual development.

[Link] – The Whole School Quality Circle Time Model. Has a commitment
to building children’s sense of self-worth and helping them to care more about the feelings of those
around them.

Nevertheless new courses for middle management and headship in schools do address
the literature from neuroscience and concepts of empathy are well-embedded in health and
social services, which also have developmental and educational roles. However curriculum
and training initiatives will have limited value, if it is the hidden curriculum which teaches
children about how they are valued and affects how they feel about learning. Government
policies which disregard this may ensure that schools remain emotional deserts for some
children.
More time for individuals is needed to develop empathic relationships in schools. Class
sizes need to be reduced dramatically and time funded for interaction between parents
and teachers in order to create a virtuous circle of positive feeling and shared understand-
ing. Particular resources need to be focused on those with the greatest need and all stu-
dents could benefit from individual tutoring or mentoring. Understanding and supporting
parents and helping them to understand and support their children’s learning are a very
important to optimizing learning and development. Sure Start provision (2007) is begin-
ning to have an impact on children’s learning and we need to build on this. It is the human
support which will most effectively improve the affective dimension in schools. The pro-
found empathy needed for excellent teaching requires time and frequency to develop. More
needy students need more time because they have often multiple, complex issues to support
and resolve. Profound empathy is precisely the quality which enables the current govern-
ment requirement for personalized learning.
 Affective Issues in Education 79
The combination of high-quality human support alongside well-designed technological
support can be particularly effective for learning and the more equal relationships facilitated
by technology can be more empathic (Cooper and Brna, 2003). The large interactive white-
boards with their multi-sensory appeal can be very engaging and stimulating when used
interactively and the pictures, colours, animation, sound and music can vastly increase the
quality of non-verbal interaction, which is a key aspect of profound empathy. However if the
use of Interactive white boards (IWBs) leads to an overemphasis on whole class teaching and
more teacher domination it will still make classroom relationships teacher-centred, rather
than pupil-centred. A ‘one size fits all’ approach runs counter to an empathic approach and
uses functional rather than profound empathy in interactions. The arrival of virtual learning
environments may help to enhance communication between schools, parents and children
but the technology will not replace face-to-face contact which breeds trust, human concern
and emotional bonding. (Cooper, 2007)

Teacher education
Student teachers are quite likely to be highly empathic in nature (Cooper, 2002), but the
conditions in which they are trained in universities and in which they eventually work, can
make it difficult to experience or demonstrate profound empathy. It may be a serious cause
of the continued early exodus from the profession. Educational leaders who fail to support
empathic staff may also drive them to search out alternative careers.

Ideas for best practice

All contexts are different and strategies need to be adapted to suit the individual partici-
pants and the immediate environment. However, in terms of emotional development sev-
eral behaviours and strategies can be identified to support it.

Regular individual and positive personal interaction

This is the key ingredient in successful affective education and supports mutual respect,
care and ‘love’ of each other. Knowing students very well enables teachers to most effectively
meet needs and make them feel confident and valued. It enables teachers to assess them
effectively, plan appropriately for their learning in both content and approach, feedback to
them most effectively and develop them rapidly. Individuals need to build trust with key
people before they can comfortably interact with a range of others. Finding time for per-
sonal interaction can be difficult but teachers and schools need to build this in wherever
possible, in both informal ways through human conversations, clubs and other activities
and through more small group activity where adults work side by side with children but
also through regular one-to-one chats to ensure all children get to know and be known by
their teacher. Schools have found time for planning and preparation. They now need to find
time for people.
80 An Introduction to Education Studies

One-to-one conversation at an early stage in a relationship leads to greater emotional

attunement more rapidly. This enables teachers to learn not to judge the child but find time
to understand them. A simple, friendly more understanding conversation can transform a
child’s behaviour and their personal state from angry and aggressive to happy and coopera-
tive. Conversations about topics beyond school can often help. Finding out the child’s inter-
ests outside the classroom can be very motivating. If they have negative emotional baggage
which they bring to school gained either from past school experiences, or from home life,
this needs to be transformed into positive emotions. Talking to them about what they like,
what interests and motivates them, changes the teacher’s relationship from a negative man-
agerial one into a positive human one. In this sense teachers may have to forget about the
curriculum for a while in order to meet the child’s specific needs. Creating high-quality
relationships with each individual will enable the whole class climate to be more caring,
creative and productive.
Avoiding the public comparison of children will ensure that they do not feel inferior and
value their particular progress as opposed to their progress in relation to others really helps.
Good teachers value each step in a child’s progress and these should be valued in public and
shared with other staff and parents wherever possible to create a virtuous circle of good
feeling. Negative labelling should be avoided at all costs. Praise and positive verbal and non-
verbal communication in copious quantities is very effective.

Pair or small group interaction

Small groups are in general more emotionally supportive to work in than large groups. They
enable people to open up, to have an opportunity to speak, to have time to listen to each
others’ perspective and to iron out misunderstandings. Pair work and small group work can
be very powerful in this regard. However, the nature of the participants and the culture in
the environment can make a difference. Children can be encouraged to listen and to share
but some, because of their nature and experience, may find it easier than others. Knowing
each individual enables a teacher to make a good selection of partners. Careful observation
followed by teacher intervention will ensure appropriate support and progress.
It is important however to recognize that some children simply need very sensitive one-
to-one support and have not the self-esteem or social skills to cope with group work and
large classroom situations. Teachers need to recognize this and request specialist support at
an earliest opportunity while continuing to work hard to build a trusting relationship with
the child themselves.

Larger groups
Working with larger groups is less effective but teachers often have no choice. Skilled teach-
ers can manage interaction in larger groups, for example a class of 30, but have minimal
time to interact with individuals. Unstable or highly divergent groups can be harder to
manage as this means even greater need to know individuals. Whole class interaction will
always be inappropriate for some if not many of the children. For example, whole class
 Affective Issues in Education 81
phonic work around the phoneme ‘sc’ might be very relevant for five pupils in the class and
either too difficult or too easy for all the others, resulting in either loss of self-esteem or
boredom. Teachers often remain unaware of how inappropriate some teaching is for par-
ticular members of the group since they need to interact individually in order to know this.
Disaffected behaviour might indicate a problem but often results in negative interaction
directed at the pupil.
Utilizing a wide range of teaching strategies that incorporate creativity, drama, music, art,
ICT, practical and physical activity, alongside more traditional tasks will allow every child in
a class to shine in some aspect and help build their self-esteem which will impact on other
aspects of their learning. Sensitivity to their low esteem in relation to some subjects (maths is
a common one) and gentle encouragement with appropriate tasks and scaffolding can change
their feelings about themselves in relation to these subjects and really boost self-esteem.
Teacher enthusiasm is key to large class teaching. In order to engage everyone and main-
tain the cohesion of the class, teachers need to be exciting, dynamic and good-humoured
while simultaneously being caring and supportive, they need to be able to be both an upfront
performer and a sensitive personal assistant using functional empathy but making oppor-
tunities for profound empathy whenever possible.
Having a class very regularly or every day will support better individual relationships
than once a week for example, because you will recognize uniqueness and have opportun-
ities for personal as well as group interaction. In secondary schools senior staff need to work
on reducing the fragmentation of the curriculum and timetabling the teachers to teach
across subjects in blocks, especially in the lower school. This can help to form essential
learning relationships early in a child’s secondary career and enable more creative teaching
and learning, less bound by hourly bells and subject divisions. Further, education also needs
to focus on how to build relationships and fragile self-esteem, since colleges often recruit
students who have struggled in the school system and some institutions and tutors are very
aware of this (NRDC, 2005)

Activity 6.4
From your reading, your own experience and discussions with others can you identify ways in which
you could support the emotional aspects of learning and development either with children, parents
or colleagues?

Conclusion
It is reassuring to see an increased understanding of affective issues in education in the
United Kingdom, both in the curriculum and in teacher professional development.
82 An Introduction to Education Studies

Neuroscience has reinforced the understandings from psychology and has established its
significance in learning and interaction. Educational research has established that some
contexts support profound empathy (which supports learning) better than others. The next
leap in understanding to be made is in tackling the problems of the hidden curriculum of
contexts and ratios and the fragmented curriculum and normative assessment. Interaction
and exchange with parents is increasing and Sure Start aims to begin this process at an early
age. Support for parents struggling with their own and their children’s problems is vital in
all areas such as education, employment, health and social services.
Emotional capital is a term which describes what we all need to build and maintain in
terms of our emotional development. Emotional strength can dissipate when traumatic or
compounding life events from birth to the grave, lower confidence and esteem. For those
whose sense of self has been battered or denied from an early age, their need for positive,
trusting human relationships is even greater. This is hard to find in large classes, where
teachers and senior managers are focused on a wealth of content, skills and ‘activities’ to
enhance performance, rather than finding time to listen to the needs and wants of their
children. How we feel about our learning affects how and what we learn and allowing time
and space for profound empathy to emerge in human relationships may well hold the secret
for fantastic leaps in future learning and development.

Summary

emotion is significant in human development

being aware of affect in education is important

types of empathy in teaching and learning

constraints on empathy in the education system; classroom and school levels

ways to address emotional issues in today’s schools

ideas for best practice at classroom and school levels

References
Aspy, D (1972) Towards a Technology for Humanising Education. Champaign, Illinois: Illinois Research Press
Best, R (2003) ‘Struggling with the spiritual in education’, Tenth International Conference Education Spirituality and
the Whole Child Conference, London: University of Surrey Roehampton
Brandes, D and Ginnis, P (1990) The Student-Centred School. London: Blackwell
Brown, L (ed.) (1993) The New Oxford Shorter Dictionary. USA: Oxford University Press
Bowlby, J (1951) Child Care and the Growth of Love. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Cooper, B (2002) ‘Teachers as moral models? The role of empathy in teacher/pupil relationships’, PhD thesis: Leeds
Metropolitan University
Cooper, B (2004) ‘Empathy, interaction and caring; teachers’ roles in a constrained environment’, Pastoral Care in
Education, 22(3)
Cooper, B (2007) ‘The significance of affect in multi-modal communication: lessons for on-line learning’, The
International Journal of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, Special issue, in press
 Affective Issues in Education 83
Cooper, B and Brna, P (2003) ‘The significance of affective issues in successful learning with ICT for year one and two
pupils and their teachers: the final outcomes of the ICT and Whole child project’, British Educational Research
Association Conference, Edinburgh: Herriot-Watt University
Damasio, A (1994) Descartes’ Error. London: Macmillan
Damasio, A (1999) The Feeling of What Happens: Body, Emotion and the Making of Consciousness. London: Vintage
Darciaz, D (2007) ‘Triune ethics theory a neurobiologically-based moral psychology’, Annual Conference of the
Association of Moral Education, New York, November
DfES (2003) ‘Excellence and enjoyment – a strategy for primary schools’, London; DFES
Fischer, E (1973) Marx in His Own Words. Middlesex: Penguin
Francescato, D (1998) ‘Affective education and teacher training in Italy’, in Lang, P, Katz, Y and Menezes, I (eds),
Affective Education. London: Cassell
Goleman, D (1995) Emotional Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury
Hargreaves, D H (1972) The Challenge for the Comprehensive School, Culture, Curriculum and Community. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul
Hay, D (1997) ‘Spiritual education and values’, Education, Spirituality and the Whole Child Conference, Roehampton
Institute, May
HMSO (2003) Every Child Matters (green paper), London: TSO
Hoban, G F (2002) ‘Teacher learning for educational change’, Buckingham: OUP
Hume, D (1739) ‘A treatise of human nature’, in Honderich, T. (ed.), (1995) Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford:
Oxford University Press
Kozeki, B and Berghammer, R (1992) ‘The role of empathy in the motivational structure of school children’, Personality
and Individual Difference, 13(2)
Kyriacou, C (1986) Effective Teaching in Schools. Hemel Hempstead: Simon and Schuster
Leal, M R (2002) ‘The caring relationship’, Ninth Annual International Conference Education Spirituality and the Whole
Child, London: Roehampton, June
Maclean Hospital (2001) [Link]/PublicAffairs/20001214_child_abuse.htm
Macmurray, J (1935) Reason and Emotion. London: Faber and Faber
McCarthy, K (2000) ‘Learning by heart: the role of emotional education in raising school achievement and promoting
the caring community’, in Best, R (ed.) Education for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development, London:
Continuum
Marx, K and Engels, F (1888) Manifesto of the Communist Party. Moscow: originally Progress Publishers
Noddings, N (1986) Caring – a Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education USA: University of California Press
NRDC (2005) ‘Embedded teaching and learning of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL’, London: NRDC
Pike, G and Selby, D (1988) Global Teacher, Global Learner. London: Hodder and Stoughton (with York University)
Priestley, J (2000) ‘Curriculum and Kierkegaard: towards creating a paradigm for discerning the spiritual dimension of
education’, in Best, R (ed.) Education for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development, London: Continuum
Rogers, C R (1975) ‘Empathic: an unappreciated way of being’, The Counselling Psychologist, 5(2), 2
Sacks, O (1985) The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. London: Picador
Sacks, O (1996) The Island of the Colour Blind. London: Picador
Schantz, C U (1975) ‘Empathy in relation to social cognitive development’, The Counselling Psychologist, 5(2), 18
Vygotsky, L S (1976) Mind in Society. London and Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
Vygotsky, L S (1986) Thought and Language. Translation newly revised by Alex Kozulin Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Watson, B and Ashton, E (1995) Education, Assumptions and Values. London: David Fulton
84 An Introduction to Education Studies

Watt, D F (2000) ‘Emotion and consciousness: implications of affective neurosciences for extended reticular thalamic
activating system theories of consciousness’. Available at: [Link]/ASSC/watt/[Link].
Winkley, D (1996) ‘Towards the human school – principles and practice’, Conference Paper Beyond Market Forces –
Creating the Human School, Birmingham: West Hill College, February

Further reading
Damasio, A (1999) The Feeling of What Happens: Body, Emotion and the Making of Consciousness. London: Vintage
Damasio, A (2003) Looking for Spinoza: Joy Sorrow and the Feeling Brain. London: Heinemann
Goleman, D (1995) Emotional Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury
Kyriacou, C (1986) Effective Teaching in Schools. Hemel Hempstead: Simon and Schuster
Macgilchrist, B, Myers, K and Reed, J (2004) The Intelligent School. London: Sage

Useful websites
[Link]/ – Antidote works with schools to help shape learning environments where everyone is moti-
vated and able to participate.
[Link] – Society for Effective Affective Learning (SEAL). SEAL promotes learning approaches which
embrace body, emotions, mind and spirit to enable people to develop their full potential.
[Link] – The Whole School Quality Circle Time Mode. Has a commitment to building chil-
dren’s sense of self-worth and helping them to care more about the feelings of those around them.
[Link] – The Child Psychotherapy Trust. Works to promote understanding of chil-
dren’s emotional health and to increase access to psychotherapy services for young people in need.
[Link] – Sure Start is a government programme which seeks to link all the agencies connected with
early child development and learning to ensure children have the best start in life.

Useful internet search terms

affective issues in learning
emotion and learning
empathy and learning
emotional intelligence in teaching and learning
personalized learning
self-esteem and learning
emotional and behavioural needs
special educational needs and self-esteem
emotion and moral development
 Part II
Contexts for Education
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 Breaking Barriers to Learning
Pat Hughes 7
Chapter Outline
Introduction 87
Factors influencing barriers to learning 89
Who’s who in schools? 91
Training 93
Exemplars of educational allied professionals 94
Conclusion 100

Introduction
Most people when asked about who works in school would probably start off with teachers.
Then if there remained a pregnant silence would move on to other school-based workers
such as site managers, cleaners and administrators. When children are asked this, they gen-
erally include themselves very early on. It is as if we retain a memory of the old Victorian
and Edwardian photographs of classrooms with a teacher, pupils and perhaps the odd pupil
monitor. Today’s schools are staffed very differently and the flexibility of workforce reform
has meant that there is an increased recognition that schools are staffed to support chil-
dren’s learning and everyone has a key role.
The expression ‘barriers to learning’ comes from the initial documentation related to the
creation, training and employment of school-based learning mentors (Hughes in Campbell
and Fairbairn, 2005).
88 An Introduction to Education Studies

Activity 7.1 Identifying Staff Working in Schools

Who Are Directly Involved in Breaking Barriers to Learning
When you next visit a school, look carefully for adults working both inside and outside classrooms
and nurseries. Identify how their role improves children’s learning. It is useful to remember that the
title of posts varies from school to school and often from one local authority to another. One useful
way of finding out the titles of many (but not all) of those working in a particular school is via the
school prospectus. Most schools have these on their own websites.

Case Study 7.1 A School Journey

My tour of a local primary school starts before I arrive. Standing on the playground, talking to a parent is
Adam the Learning Mentor. Later we will look at his role more closely. Again it is useful to remember at this
stage that the names, roles, pay of many of adult workers in school vary from school to school and from
one local authority to another.
I enter the school pushing the door bell to check me into the building. Already, the safety of all those
working within the building has been under scrutiny. Twenty years ago, I could just walk straight into any
school, through any door. Now only one door is open. Once in, I sign a book to say who I am, what time I
have arrived, my car number, who I am employed by, whom I am visiting and later my exit time. This also pro-
vides some security for me should anything happen to the building. It is these very small details, which have
increased over time, which are part of creating a secure building for all those working inside and outside.
The small office is staffed by a secretary and two administrative assistants. Also sitting there at 8:45 a.m.
is the site manager and the head teacher. Both these have been in school since 6:45 a.m. and are now hav-
ing a well deserved cup of tea. A teaching assistant is using the photocopier.
I then turn left into the school and walk down a small set of steps, which were altered some years ago
to accommodate children, staff and visitors with mobility issues. Turning into the first room, I met with the
parent mentor, three parents and one eight-month-old baby. We chat briefly about the work they are doing
and I move down the corridor to meet with a teacher with whom I used to work. In the classroom, the chil-
dren are beginning to settle and she has three other adults with her. One is a teaching assistant (TA) and
the other a special needs assistant (SNA). Neither will be in the same classroom all day. The third adult is a
student-teacher undertaking a placement. On another day in this classroom, a trainee teaching assistant
works in the room. All four adults have children’s learning as a priority and the class teacher has to organize
her team to ensure that maximum learning takes place.
I then come out of this classroom and go upstairs to my reason for visiting. Today, I am a student taking
a European Computer Driving License. The class is run by a further education lecturer from the local com-
munity college. The other students are either parents or people working in the school. We are all doing
different courses and are at different stages and the provision is part of the local authorities programme
called Family and Community Education (FACE). Its aim is to skill up members of the community, to give
them confidence as well as skills to improve their and their children’s life chance.
As I leave the school, I meet with the local safety inspector who is running a cycling award course on the
playground for the Y5 children.
All these people are school-based because it is seen that their work has relevance to children’s learning.
This has been made clearer under the Every Child Matters Agenda, although at least two of those I met on my
tour would not be under the remit of the Integrated Children’s Services department of the Local Authority.
 Breaking Barriers to Learning 89

Factors influencing barriers

to learning
This section identifies how particular branches of the social sciences have identified spe-
cific factors which influence an individual’s life chances. The growth in the number of staff
employed directly by schools, or by other agencies to work in schools is directly related to a
deeper awareness of how children learn. And linked closely to this is the growth in under-
standing of what may form barriers to learning and strategies to overcome these barriers.
This overview of the potential research field may look alarming. It can also look rather
fatalistic when we start examining it at the big picture level. This starts by recognizing that
there are global as well as national, local and individual reasons why some pupils many have
more challenges in learning within schools (Figure 7.1). Indeed global factors influence our
school curriculum as our schools contain an increasing number of pupils who have – or
have not been – schooled elsewhere (Table 7.1). Migration has been a continual part of glo-
bal history.
Whether they can be recognized or not, these inf luences have important implica-
tions for children’s learning and part of the Training and Development Agency (TDA)
drive to improve the educational standards of those working in schools has been
to encourage subject knowledge which informs strategies to breakdown barriers to
learning.

Acitivity 7.2
Maslow’s basic hierarchy of needs (2000) provides a seminal understanding of some of the key bar-
riers to learning found in many schools today (Figure 7.2).
Use the latest DCSF publication for the ‘Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s
Workforce’ and identify which particular skills and strategies might be used to support barriers of
learning related to physical, safety and belongingness needs. For example, the provision of a break-
fast at school can support a basic physiological need and the opportunity to chat one to one with an
adult before school can support a safety need.
Decide how these might conflict with the traditional role of the teacher to ensure that all children
and young people have access to a broad and balanced National Curriculum? For example, in some
areas many children have very basic needs which are not met outside school. This means that chil-
dren and young people enter school with learning needs that are not going to be met by the formal
curriculum. How might their response show itself in relation to this conflict with the working envir-
onment of the classroom or learning centre?
90 An Introduction to Education Studies

Global

National

Local

Individual

Figure 7.1 Migration.

Table 7.1 Relevant influences on pupils in today’s schools

Research area Relevant influences on pupils in today’s schools

Historical Tradition of schooling in this country; oral history of schooling within a child’s family; their
own experience of schooling.

Sociological Life-chances; labelling; distinct groups, communities and family patterns identified as
‘problematic’. These include race, gender, class, faith, special need.

Psychological Learning theories; developmental and personal psychology; social psychology, including the
social construction of childhood.

Economic Poverty – in a community and/or family; built-in limits on central/local government and family
funding.

Political Political ideologies related to education resulting in legislation and guidelines (local and
national) covering nearly all of school provision; rights of the individual; role of the state;
inspection procedures – the national Ofsted report for 2002 identified under performance in
disproportional numbers in minority ethnic and faith groups; travellers, asylum seekers and
refugees; pupils with English as an additional language (EAL); pupils with special needs (SEN);
looked after children’; gifted and talented; other children such as sick children, young carers,
families under stress, pregnant girls, teenage mothers; disaffected and excluded pupils.

Geographical Demographic factors; economic, social, political and regional factors; international relations.

Legal International, European and national rights of the child; statutory obligations related to
attendance, behaviour towards children etc.

Educational Educational policy, technology, teaching methods, training of teachers and other educators
including all of the above.
 Breaking Barriers to Learning 91
Self-actualisation
needs (self
fulfilment)

Aesthetic needs
(order, beauty)

Cognitive needs (knowing,

understanding, exploring)

Self-esteem needs (approval, recognition)

Belongingness and love needs (acceptance by others,

belonging)

Safety needs (security, freedom from danger)

Physiological needs

Figure 7.2 Maslow’s basic hierarchy of needs.

Who’s who in schools?

1. Allied Professionals employed by the school

Activity 7.3
There were many other workers in school on my tour day. Write down as many people as you can
think of who you might meet on a tour around a school. You might decide to identify some allied
professional who are generic to all schools as well as those whom you might find only in specific
schools, for example, in secondary schools.

Your list may include the welfare staff, who supervise the children at lunch time and who
have had several courses on outdoor play, the cook and catering staff who had been involved
with courses on healthy eating and hygiene, voluntary workers, specialist support staff, pro-
fessionals from other public services, professionals from charities and local faith workers. A
tour round a secondary school is more complex with many other allied professionals who
help to break down barriers to learning. These may include counsellors, integrated services
co-ordinator, librarians, technicians and subject specialists who are not trained teachers.
These adults are often given the generic title of paraprofessionals, although the term allied
professionals is also used as being more generous about the type of work they do (Hughes, 2008).
Rates of pay and conditions of service vary considerably. Often there are surprising differences
between two workers who appear to be doing much the same work in the same school.
92 An Introduction to Education Studies

Allied Educational Professionals employed by the school may:

work semi-autonomously with pupils throughout the day and report to a line manager, either
within or outside the school

give generic learning support in classes or learning units with work or assessment tasks prepared

by the class or subject teacher

work with a child identified with special learning needs

work or manage a unit or centre within the school

work in more than one role, for example, a teaching assistant in the morning and a learning mentor

in the afternoon.

have variable training and qualifications

2. Volunteers – linked to one or two schools

There are also, particularly in primary schools, unpaid volunteers. Some may spend whole
days in school, others just a couple of hours a week. These include

parents and carers and other relatives

community workers

partnership workers

governors

student teachers

work experience/trainees

former teachers

charity workers, e.g., Volunteer Reading Help (VRH)

All schools must have a Governing Body and their constituency is laid down by law.
Governors are responsible for taking part in performance management for the head teacher,
interviewing potential staff, sitting on appeals panels for both staff and pupils, taking part
in policy formation and many other areas of school life. As with most volunteer roles, a
good school governor can spend a massive amount of time on this sort of activity as well as
working as a volunteer in classrooms, on residential courses, outdoor pursuits and so on.

3. Educational support workers – not employed by

the school, but whose services may be paid from
the school budget
There are a range of other workers, not employed by the school directly, but whose work
can be closely linked to improving and enhancing children and young people’s learning
(Table 7.2). These include:

pupil attendance and education welfare

primary care trust workers such as school nurses

special needs integrated support
 Breaking Barriers to Learning 93
Table 7.2 External providers – employed by public and private agencies

Local authority (integrated services, Emergency duty team Youth offending team
police, leisure, libraries etc.)

Children’s Family Court Advisory and Primary Care Trust (PCT) Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Support Service (CAFCASS) Services (CAMHS)

Substance misuse Anti-smoking NSPCC

Child line Barnardos Children’s society

Before and after school clubs Local authority initiatives linked to specific Play and holiday schemes
strategies such as literacy, numeracy and
citizenship

Theatre in education Author/artist in residence schemes Etc.

behaviour support

ethnic minority support

connexions

integrated children’s services manager

Training
The government is determined, quite rightly, to try and ensure that all those working
in schools have the qualifications and skills to do so. For allied professionals employed
by the school these are still very variable and can be school based, cluster based, local
authority, further education or higher education based; nationally based – including
online provision – self-determined professional development and life experienced based.
Many allied professionals have qualifications prior to their employment by a particu-
lar school. An increasing number of Higher Learning Teaching Assistants (HLTA), TAs
and Special Teaching Assistants (STA), for example, have degrees or are studying for a
degree.
Not only does training vary but so does salary. Some allied professionals are on yearly
full pay, like teachers; many are paid ‘pro-rata’. Pro-rata means that they only get paid for
term times and this can cut their yearly pay by as much as a third. Sometimes pay may
be based on qualifications and specialist skills held; sometimes on recommended national
rates. Some may be school based, often on informal negotiation and some are negotiated at
local level via trade unions.
The Common Core of Knowledge and Skills initially published by the DfES (2005), iden-
tified six areas of skills and knowledge required for those working with children. It was
intended to consolidate and extend the existing qualifications provision and to make it
more easily recognized and accessible nationally. It will take many years to see how success-
ful and effective this has been in breaking barriers to learning in our schools.
94 An Introduction to Education Studies

effective communication and engagement with children, young people and families

child and young person development

safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child

supporting transitions

multi-agency working

sharing information

A visit to the qualifications section of the Children’s Workforce Development Council

(CWDC) provides a link to the various qualifications available for those working with
children. These appear quite detailed but much will depend on the nature of the training,
both on and offsite. Detailed central government input can result in some low-level briefing
training, with few opportunities for discussion, visits to other placements and opportun-
ities to develop questioning and critique skills on current practice. Sadly, many of the case
studies available online or in publications rarely are ‘warts and all’ accounts (Chiosso in
Jones et al., 2008) and this makes it extremely difficult to use them for effective learning.
The ‘sanitised format’ is usually policy focused and written to demonstrate how well gov-
ernment guidance works. Real life is rarely so easy and also complicated by many of the
facts identified in the research areas outlined above.
The training of external providers is even more variable. Clearly there are specific pro-
fessional training qualifications which they require; for example school nurses come from a
nursing and social work background. Professional courses are already incorporating aspects
of integrated training within their courses and looking carefully at new developments across
agencies as well as within their own agency. However, there are issues of knowledge and skills
overload as staff look to professional confidence in their own speciality as well as awareness of
what else is developing within the integrated children’s agenda.

Exemplars of educational allied

professionals
The learning mentor
Twelve years ago it would have been rare to find learning mentors in the English Education
System or indeed many of the other allied professionals found now, whose brief it was to
‘break down barriers to learning.’ The history of their introduction and success in schools
provides a useful rationale for many of the role definitions we now find assigned to allied
professionals. For this reason, a brief look at their development provides a useful practical
and theoretical base for this chapter.

Background
Learning mentors came out of one strand of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES)
Excellence in Cities (EiC) programme. This expanding initiative was introduced in March
 Breaking Barriers to Learning 95
1999 to tackle ‘specific problems facing children in our cities. Through a combination of
initiatives, it (EiC) aims to raise the aspirations and achievements of pupils and to tackle
disaffection, social exclusion, truancy and indiscipline and improve parents’ confidence in
cities’. (Hughes, 2005, 2008).
The EiC initiative used good practice projects from within the United Kingdom, but also
imported ideas from the United States (e.g. magnet schools). The programme was largely
met with enthusiasm by the schools in these areas, which saw it as a recognition that more
than words were needed to raise aspirations and hope for pupils in their schools. Since then
the initiative has expanded across most schools in the country and has been subject to two
excellent National Training Programmes. The programmes provide mentors with a formal
qualification.
The current DfES website on learning mentors defines learning mentors as:

salaried staff who work with school and college students and pupils to help them address barriers
to learning

a bridge across academic and pastoral support roles with the aim of ensuring that individual pupils

and students engage more effectively in learning and achieve appropriately

a key ingredient in many school and college approaches to improvement the achievement levels of

pupils and students.

The overall purpose of their role is to promote effective participation, enhance individ-
ual learning, raise aspirations and achieve their potential (Table 7.3).
This involves mentors having a good knowledge as well as skills base. Particular aspects
of this are useful to see in relation to other allied professionals whose role it is to raise
achievement in schools. Below are just a few of the tasks they undertake to enhance pupils’
learning.

Activity 7.4
Use Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs to identify which specific basic needs may be met by some of
these strategies. Can you identify some potential conflicts in empowering school students to have a
voice in their community/school?

The teaching assistant

Since the late 1990s, there has been a massive increase in the number of support work-
ers in classrooms. In this section, the focus is the growth and changing role of teaching
assistants while being aware that other workers in the classroom may have a different
name but be doing much the same role. They are all working to break down barriers to
learning.
96 An Introduction to Education Studies

Table 7.3 Possible tasks undertaken by primary learning mentors

Strategy Rationale

1. Monitor and improve attendance – this Ensure students build a habit of attending school and reinforce to
involves developing whole school and both carers and pupils that this is important. Ofsted inspections see
individual strategies to encourage reluctant attendance as a crucial issue and government legislation distinguishes
attenders to come into school. between authorized and unauthorized absence.

2. Establish one-to-one mentoring and To support individual pupils who are failing to learn effectively for
other supportive relationships with children a variety of reasons. Mentors draw on their knowledge and skills to
and young people. provide effective strategies to enable pupils to feel more ‘relaxed and
alert’ about coming to school and being confident about learning.
They may run specific activities to help pupils with issues such as anger
management, emotional development and anti-stress.

3. Support the PSHE curriculum within Mentoring training involves drawing on new insights into PSHE. They
schools – often through individual work, are often the only ones in schools who receive regular training on these
but also via direct teaching with whole issues and their knowledge of individual pupils can help inform other
classes e.g. circle time. integrated children’s and young people’s services such as health and
social care.

4. Establishment of schools’ councils and Empowering students to feel that they have a voice in their community,
parliaments. providing practical exemplars of citizenship, identifying key issues
about the inner workings of the school which may be missed by adults
e.g. bullying.

The number of TAs in English schools rose from 60,000 in 1997 to more than 153,000
at the time of writing. They are all expected to have or to take some basic related qualifica-
tions, if they do not already have some.

one out of ten has completed training in order to become a HLTA

a survey by the Institute of Education in London shows that one in eight of TAs is educated to
degree level or above.

But

one in five has no permanent contract and

only one in seven was paid during school holidays

And

ninety eight per cent of all TAs are women.

The sharp growth in the number of TAs since 1997 can be linked to three different fac-
tors: the inclusion of SEN pupils into main stream schools; the introduction of National
Literacy and Numeracy strategies which required additional adult support in primary
schools and technological advances. During this time, both training and responsibility for
TAs developed. Raising standards and tackling workload (DfES, 2003) was linked to teacher
 Breaking Barriers to Learning 97
work load, but impacted significantly on changes in the roles and responsibilities of TAs.
Table 7.4 lists possible tasks undertaken by TAs in primary schools.
The status – if not the pay – of TAs was raised when the Teaching Training Agency
(TTA) became the Training and Development Agency (TDA) and was charged with train-
ing responsibility for all those working in schools. Their roles are very directly related to
breaking down barriers to learning for individual pupils, and often providing non-contact
or supply cover for teachers. It can be argued that this provides continuity and is more
effective than employing supply teachers. However, it can also be argued, mostly notably by
the National Union of Teachers (NUT), who were not a party to this agreement, that this
extension of the role can be a cheap way of fulfilling the government’s promise to decrease
teacher workload.
The table shows how pervasive the role of the TA is. Some of it is administrative, some
teaching, some pastoral. It will vary from school to school, as do the names for those per-
forming the role.

Parent/carer mentors
Educating or ‘re-educating’ parents and carers has been seen by several governments over
many decades to be one of the ways in which children’s learning, behaviour, sense of citi-
zenship and so on can be improved. It has been school based and area based. A considerable
slice of the adult education budget in many authorities has been linked with the second
aspect of parent mentoring, namely skilling up parents to produce the sort of citizens who
know their responsibilities. At the time of writing ‘parenting’ is receiving a good deal of
attention and parenting officers are being appointed and courses created. These may be
called parenting courses, but they are often hid under other names such as Family Learning.
There are mixed views about parenting courses; including views on what good parenting
is. Poverty does not make a poor parent, nor does wealth make a good one so why does the
concentration on parenting always seem to focus on those living in deprived areas?

Table 7.4 Possible tasks undertaken by TAs in primary schools

Provide specialist support for Run booster classes Be early years managers
literacy, numeracy, ICT

Nurture group leaders Behaviour support specialists SEN specialists

Cover supervisors TA manager Travellers pupil specialist

EAL support Counsellors Pastoral year heads

Invigilators and markers for SATs Resource administrators Parental liaison administrators

Note: Anything else created uniquely to suit the school’s needs and TA expertise.
98 An Introduction to Education Studies

Paid parent mentors tend to be found in economically disadvantaged areas, where cen-
tral government targets parents and carers to support their own children’s learning and
development. They also provide opportunities for parents/carers to develop new skills and
qualifications for themselves.
In the School Journey above, the parent mentor was employed in a local authority where
there was a recently created Family Learning service. This aimed to provide range of courses
and activities that

helped parents/carers engage with and support their children’s learning and development

provided opportunities for parents/carers to develop new skills, gain qualifications

supported children’s learning

The service acknowledged that because learning was a whole family, intergenerational pro-
cess there was more than one way of working than a set of specific programmes. The parent
mentor programme is therefore just a very small part of a much wider initiative. The New
Deal for Communities provides fund for parent mentors. The aim is to support and engage
parents and the local community, promote family learning and parental partnership, pro-
mote opportunities for parents to take part in adult education and provide a range of other
support, for example, credit union, health awareness, volunteering. Funding for these and
other projects is often an issue and the long-term survival of courses, child support and so
on linked to such funding is always at risk.

Looking at Research
Chiosso in Jones et al. (2008) provides a useful introduction to critiquing such projects when written
up as case studies. She herself looked at a playground project over several years. Fund bidding was
a key element in the success or not of initiatives over the whole period and of course continues to
be. It is very easy to see this in any project in your local area, which is dependent on bidding for a
substantial amount of its running cost.

The educational social worker

Central Area Support Team (CAST) is a multi-agency team working in an extremely eco-
nomically deprived Local Authority as part of the Integrated Children’s Service.

Case Study 7.2

A dishevelled, bare foot mother rushed past me to the head’s room. This mother’s difficulties were well
known to the school. She managed to cope by herself with three young children on benefits for so long and
then broke down. She had a substance misuse problem and mixed this with medication from her GP.
Two hours later, the educational social worker had been called in and a partial ‘solution’ drawn up. The
mother was committed and the children would by the end of the school day be taken into care.
 Breaking Barriers to Learning 99
No-one pretends this is ideal, but the speed at which the school was able to get in the
Educational Social Worker (EWO) was impressive and the area knowledge the worker had
meant that the solution could be found quickly. Figure 7.3 shows how schools in this par-
ticular authority are able to access support from EWOs for young people ‘whose needs are
not critical’; although in this case the need had been critical and identified directly by the
school.
The ESW was part of a team based about two miles from the school. This team cov-
ered an educational psychologist, educational social work, sensory impairment and spe-
cialist teachers for learning, access and inclusion (behaviour). Employment was via former
Local Authority health, social care and education departments, now part of an Integrated
Children’s Services programme. Also involved as an employer is the local Primary Care
Trust. In addition the base included a school for children with moderate learning difficul-
ties which also acted as a part-time school for some main-stream learners with reading dif-
ficulties, autistic spectrum disorders and emotional health and well-being issues. CAST also
acted as a centre for Portage, Sure Start, School Improvement, School Attendance, Health
Visitors, School Nurses, Speech and Language Therapy, Social Services, CAMHS and the
Child Development team. This helps develop efficient communication systems between

Young person’s social and emotional

and/or family needs have been identified

Schools gather data and evidence of

needs part of their usual procedures

Cases are passed to the school’s Planning

and Review Meeting using appropriate forms.
School planning and Review Meetings identify
cases that match specify criteria for ESW
intervention or identify other agency support.

Cases are discussed at a weekly allocation meeting with CAMHS.

Appropriate ESW action identified and incorporated into ESW timetables. If
young person requires CAMHS intervention at Tier 3, CAMHS will notify
parents, schools and the appropriate Area Centre Head. Where the allocation
meeting decides CAMHS/ESW is NOT appropriate then the Senior Therapist/link
ESW will inform schools and offer advice.

Termly review report on outcomes for

young people to be produced for school
Planning and review meeting

Figure 7.3 Tier 2 process for schools to access support from ESW for young people whose needs are not
critical.
100 An Introduction to Education Studies

schools and services. A usefully sized training room with coffee and tea making facilities
helps to encourage meetings between different agencies. The area site is still in its early days
and it will be interesting to follow its progress and development over several years in terms
of improved provision for children and young people in the area.

Conclusion
The school workforce has changed considerably over the last few years and provides a use-
ful example of how government philosophy and politics influence the study and practice
of compulsory education. In particular the role of the teacher, who now becomes a team
leader, and by default a member of a multi-agency service for all children.

Summary
This chapter has explored

the range of staff who work in schools

roles and training of these different workers

References
Chiosso, R (2008) ‘The swings and roundabouts of community development’, in Jones et al. (2008) Childhood: Services
and Provision for Children. London: Pearson
DfES (2003) ‘Raising standards and tackling workload’, Nottingham: DfES
DfES (2005) ‘Common core of skills and knowledge for the children’s workforce’, Nottingham: DfES
Fairbairn, G and Campbell, A (2005) ‘Working with support in the classroom’, London: Chapman
Hughes, P (2005) ‘Learning mentors in primary classrooms and schools’, chapter 4 in Campbell, A and Fairbairn, G
(eds), Working with Support in the Classroom. London: Chapman
Hughes, P (2008) Principles of Primary Education. London: Routledge
Jones, P, Moss, D, Tomlinson, P and Welch, S (2008) Childhood: Services and Provision for Children. London: Pearson
Information for TAs and other support staff is available on the dedicated area of TeacherNet. [Link]/
wholeschool/supportstaff/

Further reading
Barron, I, Holmes, R and MacLure, M (2008) ‘Primary schools and other agencies’, in Primary Review. Cambridge:
Cambridge University
Burgess, H (2008) ‘Primary workforce, management & reform’, in Primary Review. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Cheshire NUT (2006) ‘Teachers and teaching assistants: working together: a training pack for schools and colleges.’
secretary@[Link]
Griffiths, T, Stead, D and Hughes, P (2006) ‘Every child matters’, in Earth and Beyond. This is a DVD which contains
a 15-minute science lesson with a voice-over looking at implications for the ECM agenda. The same lesson is
 Breaking Barriers to Learning 101
examined from a primary science perspective and from a class management perspective. Available from Di. Stead
at Liverpool Hope University

Useful websites
[Link] – This website gives details of the UK government’s review of primary education.
[Link]/publications/childrensplan/ – This website has the latest version of UK government document such
as the Children’s Plan. Other publications can also be found from the home page.
[Link] – This website will lead you to the range of people who work in schools and Children’s
Centres.

Useful internet search terms

barriers to learning
Maslow
school governors
connexions
educational support workers
learning mentors
teaching assistants
 Safeguarding Children and

8 Adults in Educational Settings

Gary Walker

Chapter Outline
Introduction 102
Safeguarding children in schools and colleges 103
Responsibilities of schools and colleges 105
Training for staff 106
Liaison with other agencies 106
Prevention work with children in schools 107
The role of schools in supporting children who have been abused 107
Safeguarding adults who attend schools and colleges 112

Introduction
This chapter will focus on the role of schools and further education colleges, and of indi-
vidual staff within them, in safeguarding children and adults in England. Schools are in
the unique position among the agencies involved with children of being accessed by large
numbers of children, and of having intensive day-to-day contact with them. This means
that they know the children and young people well, and are aware of wider family circum-
stances, sometimes educating two or more generations. The chapter has two distinct sec-
tions. In the first, current systems and guidance on the role of schools and responsibilities
of individual staff members in safeguarding children are explained. The second section
considers the role of schools and colleges in safeguarding adults (i.e. anyone over the age
of 17) who attend schools and colleges. The chapter will not cover in any depth the role of
schools in vetting and recruiting staff.
 Safeguarding Children and Adults 103

Safeguarding children in
schools and colleges
What do we mean by safeguarding?
The government’s Every Child Matters programme (DfES, 2003) promotes a positive and
preventative approach whereby agencies are expected to intervene early when there are con-
cerns for a child’s welfare. To reflect this, the terms ‘safeguarding children’ and ‘promoting
their welfare’ replaced the previous narrower term ‘child protection’. The national guidance
Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfES, 2006a) states that safeguarding children
and promoting their welfare means

protecting children from maltreatment

preventing impairment of children’s health or development

ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effect-
ive care

professionals enabling children to have optimum life chances and to enter adulthood successfully

What was previously called ‘child protection’ is now seen as a sub-set of safeguarding and
promoting the welfare of children. The guidance goes on to say that children need protect-
ing when they are suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm and the harm is attributable
to a lack of adequate parental care or control. There are no absolute criteria for judging what
‘significant’ harm is, but in doing so, professionals should consider the severity of any ill-
treatment, and the degree, extent, duration and frequency of harm.
Following on from this, four categories of abuse are used, the full definitions of which
are provided within the government guidance (DfES, 2006a):

physical abuse

sexual abuse

emotional abuse

neglect

How many children need safeguarding?

National guidance on the assessment of children and their families (DH, DfEE and HO,
2000) refers to ‘vulnerable children’ making up approximately one third of all children,
which in England amounts to approximately four million children. The definition of ‘vul-
nerable children’ used here refers to ‘those disadvantaged children who would benefit from
extra help from public agencies in order to make the best of their life chances’ (ibid.: 2).
Of the various subsets of these vulnerable children, this chapter focuses on those in
need of protection. There are around 26,000 children on the child protection register in
104 An Introduction to Education Studies

England at any one time. However, these are merely the children the authorities know
about, and as such represent the tip of an iceberg. A seminal report (National Commission
of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse, 1996) based on 10,000 contributions from
a range of professionals, members of the public, children and leading experts in the field
found that abuse appears to be significantly under-reported, such that the real figures
might be thus:

Children suffering severe physical punishment 150,000

Children experiencing sexual exploitation 100,000
Children living in low-warmth, high-criticism environments
(Emotional abuse) 350,000
Children being bullied at school at least once a week 450,000
Children living with domestic violence 250,000

Clearly although there may be some double counting here, in that the same child may be
experiencing harm under more than one category, these figures put the potential number
of children experiencing serious harm at 1.3 million, or one in ten.
This may seem alarming, yet similar figures have been found in further studies. Cawson
et al. (2000) found that 21 per cent of girls and 11 per cent of boys had experienced child
sexual abuse. Figures from the Department of Health (DH, 2002) indicate that at least
750,000 children witness domestic violence each year. This equates to approximately 1 child
in 17. The precise figures can be argued over; however the general point is that children do
get harmed in various ways, and that staff working in schools need to be aware of this, and
furthermore that boys and girls from all social classes, ethnic or religious backgrounds are
potentially at risk.

Activity 8.1
The evidence suggests that each year significant numbers of children are abused and harmed either
directly or indirectly by adults.
What reasons can you think of for this?
You might consider the position of children in society – their relative lack of power and rights –
and what Hanvey (2003) calls ‘the deep ambiguity about children, seeing them as angels or villains’
(2003: 1) coupled with a ‘lack of collective and individual responsibility for the safety of vulnerable
children within communities’ (ibid.). You might also want to consider how most of the legislation
regarding children emphasizes that children are effectively the private property of parents, and that
others should only interfere with parenting if the child is at risk.
 Safeguarding Children and Adults 105
National guidance for schools and colleges on
safeguarding children
The key guidance document here is entitled ‘Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment
in Education’ (DfES, 2006b). This covers the school sector (local authority and private pri-
mary, secondary and special schools and pupil referral units, attended by excluded pupils),
the responsibility of local authorities and the Further Education sector (colleges that pro-
vide education for students under the age of 18). Of the three bodies to whom this guidance
is aimed – schools, colleges and local authorities – the focus will be on the role of schools
and colleges and the term ‘schools’ will be used to cover both.

Responsibilities of schools and colleges

Technically, it is the responsibility of the governing bodies of schools to ensure that each
establishment has effective safeguarding children procedures, and that it adheres to them.
Governing bodies should have no involvement with, or oversight of, individual cases; rather
they take a strategic lead in ensuring compliance with the guidance.

The role of head teachers in safeguarding children

Head teachers should ensure that the school’s child protection policy and procedures are
fully implemented. They should commit sufficient resources and time to allow staff to ful-
fil their responsibilities, including attendance at meetings, or contributing to multi-agency
assessments. They should ensure that all staff feel able to raise concerns about poor or
unsafe practice, and where this happens, to respond appropriately.

Child protection policy

Schools should have a child protection policy in place. This policy should be in line with
local or national guidance, and should be made available to parents upon request. Local
authorities provide more detailed guidance to schools on what should be included in a pol-
icy. Generally speaking, it should detail how the school, and every individual within it, will
fulfil safeguarding children responsibilities. An example of a school child protection pol-
icy is available on the Teachernet website (see ‘Useful websites’ at the end of this chapter).
Alternatively, ‘education child protection team’ or ‘education safeguarding children team’
within local authorities can be contacted for further information.

A designated officer for child protection

Schools should have in place at least one senior member of staff to take lead responsibil-
ity for child protection. The national guidance goes onto specify that the designated per-
son should lead the co-ordination of child protection activity within the school, provide
106 An Introduction to Education Studies

advice and support to staff, and liaise with the local authority and work with other agen-
cies. Furthermore, although, in schools, they need not be a teacher, they ‘must have the
status and authority within the school management structure to carry out the duties of the
post . . . including committing resources to child protection matters, and where appropriate
directing other staff’ (DfES, 2006b: 14).

Training for staff

The designated person for child protection should undertake initial training for their role,
and refresher training every two years. Furthermore, all school staff, including the head
teacher, should have child protection training which is refreshed at least every three years.
The local authority has the responsibility to ensure that schools comply with this, and they
usually not only provide or broker appropriate training, but monitor attendance at such
training. This training typically includes topics such as recognizing possible signs of harm,
dealing with a direct disclosure of abuse from a child, appropriate monitoring and record-
ing of concerns about children, and the school’s role in referring concerns on to, and subse-
quent liaison with, other agencies. As an alternative to the local authority, schools can also
access training via a range of organizations such as the National Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) who provide both face-to-face and distance training pack-
ages (see ‘Useful websites’ at the end of this chapter for more details).

Looking at Research 8.1

A survey of 327 schools in England found that all but one had a designated teacher for child protec-
tion, and 94 per cent had a child protection policy. However, 88 per cent had concerns that not all
teachers would be able to recognize signs of abuse, and just under two-thirds of schools reported
some degree of uncertainty about when to contact social services in relation to a child protection
concern. For 92 per cent of the schools, there was some concern about how to maintain relationships
with parents when the schools were involved in child protection cases, and 88 per cent of schools
reported having some concerns about how they could best support children when they disclose
abuse to staff (Baginsky, 2000).

Liaison with other agencies

Within safeguarding children work, schools have a clear responsibility to work closely
with other agencies where necessary. This includes making direct referrals to children’s
social care services where necessary and appropriate, and subsequently working with
them and other agencies which may become involved, such as the police or health profes-
sionals. This liaison may involve telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings. The
 Safeguarding Children and Adults 107
designated person for child protection within school will usually carry the main burden
of this work.

During child protection work, schools may work directly or liaise with a range of agencies and profes-
sionals. Although the list that follows is not exhaustive, some examples of these agencies are:

children’s social care services – social workers, social work managers, foster carers, residential home
carers

police – specially training and non-uniformed officers from the local child protection police unit

health – school nurse, health visitor, general practitioner (GP), therapists

youth offending teams – officers supporting young people engaged with the criminal justice system

housing – housing officers, where families live in local authority housing and where accommodation
is relevant to the circumstances of the child

Prevention work with children in schools

In addition to their protective role, schools play a vital part in the prevention of abuse in
the first place. Prevention work may include raising awareness among children of unaccept-
able behaviour they may encounter, and of how they can keep themselves safe. The guid-
ance points out that Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) provides opportunities
to learn about such matters, as well as other practical issues such as who to ask for help if
children feel unsafe. In addition, the guidance states that children should be taught how to
recognize and manage risks and respond responsibly, how to distinguish acceptable from
unacceptable physical contact, how to recognize unreasonable pressure from others and
develop strategies for dealing with this, and how to use assertiveness techniques to resist
pressure.
Generally speaking, the aim of such work is to give a clear message that any kind of vio-
lence or violation is unacceptable, and to let children know that asking for help is encour-
aged, and to point children to sources of help where appropriate. It is also important to
listen to children, to provide appropriate spaces within school for this, to display national
children’s helpline numbers (e.g. Childline, NSPCC), and to use peer support schemes.

The role of schools in supporting children

who have been abused
This is a further important area for schools, as most children subject to child protection
measures remain living at home (Gibbons et al., 1995) and therefore, stay at the same
school. With this in mind, the role of schools and settings in supporting children who have
experienced abuse could include using existing relationships between children and staff so
108 An Introduction to Education Studies

that the child knows someone cares about them. Staff can help the child, if necessary, to put
responsibility for the abuse firmly with the abuser, and help answer any questions the child
may have about what has happened. They can also support the child in developing protect-
ive strategies for the future, including assertiveness skills. Where children display disrup-
tive behaviour, staff can support them to manage this. The curriculum can also be used to
address such issues as individual rights and responsibilities or the importance of listening
to others. In this way, individual children who have been abused may well feel supported in
a way that avoids singling them out as different.

Responsibilities of individuals within schools

Guidance for any individual working with children, including school staff, can be found in
the publication entitled ‘What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused’ (DfES, 2006c).
Every staff member should see it as their personal responsibility to promote the welfare
of children in their school. Therefore, they should ensure they know who the designated
officer for child protection is, and should familiarize themselves with the school’s child
protection policy. Within this, they should find out the system for recording and monitor-
ing concerns. Furthermore, staff should attend any relevant child protection training on
offer. Perhaps most important of all, staff should listen to children who may be trying to
impart worrying information. They should then pass on the same to the designated officer.
Individual staff need to realize that it is not their role to investigate any concerns, but to pass
them on within school.
There are essentially three major elements to the individual being able to fulfil these
responsibilities effectively: being alert to signs or indicators that may indicate harm, good
monitoring and recording of events, and dealing appropriately with direct disclosures of
harm from children. Each will be discussed in turn.

Signs and indicators of possible harm

It is neither possible nor desirable to attempt to produce a comprehensive checklist of every
possible indicator of possible abuse. It is much more helpful for staff to think holistically.
Signs of harm are only indicators of possible abuse and not proof of abuse – the bigger
picture of the child is always more important. Where staff have a concern, they ask them-
selves what they already know about the child, any siblings, or the family which may help to
explain the concerns. Some signs of abuse are common to all types of abuse; some are more
specific to particular types of abuse. Furthermore, many indicators of possible harm are
displayed by children at some time during the course of their lives. They may be reactions to
distressing yet non-abusive experiences, for example witnessing an argument between their
parents, moving house, the death of a pet and so on. It is important for staff to have abuse
in their minds as a possibility without jumping to conclusions that the concerns observed
must be the result of abuse.
 Safeguarding Children and Adults 109
It is important for staff to realize there is no stereotype of an abused child. Responses will
vary between children and between the same children on different days. Some children,
if subject to abuse, may become aggressive, disturbed or angry, others may become quiet
or withdrawn. The same child may display aggression or withdrawal on different days,
depending on their mood or their immediate experiences. Sudden changes in behaviour
are particularly significant, and need some thought as to their origin. If a child who is usu-
ally ebullient and extrovert suddenly becomes quiet and withdrawn, or if a child, clean and
dry during the day, suddenly begins wetting and soiling, questions would need to be asked
as to possible reasons for this.
Relying on observations of children alone is one-dimensional. Staff should feel able to
speak to colleagues (while maintaining sensitivity and confidentiality) or to the child. The
important factor with the latter is how the child is spoken to – open questions that use the
relationship with the child and which invite a full response should be asked, rather than
closed questions which are likely only to elicit an unhelpful ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ response.

Monitoring and recording concerns

Schools have a responsibility to monitor the welfare of pupils and record any concerns
which they may have about particular children. Generally these concerns should be shared
and discussed with parents; however school staff can make a decision not to share such
information if they believe that such sharing may place the child at increased risk of harm.
This is more likely to be the case where the concerns relate to sexual or physical abuse, as
the parents, if alerted, may react in a number of ways that could further harm the child,
including removing them from school immediately (and hence place the child in the very
situation that is deemed to be risky) or destroying evidence. The written child protection
records should be held separately from educational records.
Monitoring concerns should help to clarify the nature and extent of the concerns by pro-
viding information on exactly what the concerns are and how long they have been of con-
cern. Monitoring should provide a clear record of the development of concerns, by allowing
a review of the child’s progress over a number of weeks or even months. Patterns of behav-
iour can be identified, such as particular days on which behaviours or injuries are noticed.
Clear records of concerns can contribute to the school making, where necessary, full, clear
and professional referrals to children’s social care services. Where all staff use the same
system, consistency of recording is ensured.
Schools should monitor and record anything that they find worrying or inappropriate in
relation to injuries, body language and behaviour, language and play, drawings and writing.
Staff have to make a judgement about what is worrying or inappropriate, based on their experi-
ence, and knowledge of the child and family. Furthermore, any possible indications of neglect
should be noted. Of course any direct disclosures of abuse from children need to be recorded.
Staff may make a record of the nature and quality of contact with parents. This could be
particularly important if staff at the school have approached the parents about their concerns.
110 An Introduction to Education Studies

The response of the parents to these concerns could be an important part of the context
when deciding the next step, or if making a referral to children’s social care services.
Any records that are made should be factual, describing what was seen or said or heard.
Opinions should be avoided where possible, but if they are recorded must be clearly flagged
as such. Each record should give the day, date, time, and place of the incident. This helps to
identify patterns of behaviour. The place could be crucial – if a child who is asked to collect
paint from a store cupboard becomes distressed while in there, this should be recorded, as
it may be that their entering the cupboard has triggered an emotional reaction to a previ-
ous experience of, say, being locked in a cupboard. It may be helpful at times for the record
to contain brief relevant background information to contextualize the concern. Any words
the child says should be recorded word for word. Although there may be a temptation to do
so, staff should never change any words used, particularly for parts of the body. The main
reason for this is to maintain clarity and accuracy of recording. Staff should keep any initial
notes, however untidily written. Sometimes, a member of staff will hear or notice some-
thing about a child while preoccupied, and may scribble initial notes on any piece of paper
which is to hand. This should then be transferred to a formal monitoring sheet as soon as
possible; however the initial scribbled notes should also be kept to demonstrate that the
recording was made contemporaneously (at the time of the incident) and not some hours or
days later. This could be particularly important if the case ends up in court, and a solicitor
questions the validity of the incident.

Activity 8.2
At the end of school one day, a mother of a five-year-old girl arrives to collect her. The class teacher
is concerned the mother is under the influence of alcohol and decides to make a note of this. She
completes a standard monitoring form with the day, date and time, and writes ‘When Mum came to
collect her daughter, she was drunk’.

Discussion
There is good practice here in that the teacher uses the correct form and records when the concern
arose. However, her statement is an opinion. What is ‘drunk’? It does not explain why the staff mem-
ber was concerned. The teacher could have written ‘When Mum came to collect her daughter, her
breath smelled of alcohol, her speech was incoherent, and she was staggering about. In my opinion,
she was drunk’. This is factual, describing what was seen, and why the staff member was concerned
about it. It is a much more powerful piece of evidence than the first statement.

Dealing with a disclosure from a child

Quite different from staff noticing concerns about children that may or may not be tanta-
mount to abuse, is the matter of a child making a clear disclosure of abuse. It is important
that school staff are clear about how best to respond to such occasions.
 Safeguarding Children and Adults 111
Before or when a child speaks, the staff member should never enter into a pact of secrecy
with them. The staff member should explain they may have to pass information on to help
keep the child safe. If the child then declines to speak further, the adult should not pursue
this, but should let the child know they are there for them whenever they need support. As
the child speaks, the adult should stay calm and not show strong emotions. The chief reason
for this is that, if such emotions are expressed, the child may well think that it is they, and
not the incident, that has made the adult shocked or angry and so on. The staff member may
need to express such feelings appropriately to colleagues or a supervisor after the event and
receive appropriate support for this; however to do so in front of the child would be wholly
inappropriate.
The adult should reassure the child throughout the exchange. This may include telling
them they are pleased; they are telling them about what has happened, that they are doing
well, and that they can see how difficult it is. The adult should encourage the child to talk
but avoid asking leading questions. The use of such encouraging phrases as ‘Go on’ or sim-
ply ‘Yes’ can be effective here, as can the consistent use of open questions. Open or indirect
questions invite the child to give a statement. These are to be contrasted with closed or
direct questions which usually only elicit a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer, and which are unhelp-
ful. Open questions could include ‘What happened next?’, ‘Can you say more about that?’,
‘How did that come about?’ and so on. Similar questions, when asked in a closed manner,
and therefore to be avoided, could include ‘Did they hit you?’, ‘Have you finished?’, ‘Was
it your father who did that to you?’ This last question is particularly poor as it is suggest-
ing an individual who may be responsible, and if the child answers in the affirmative, it is
unclear if they fully understand the question and its implications, and whether the child is
merely answering in a way they think the adult would like to hear. In and among these open
questions, it is also acceptable, even advisable, for the adult to check that they have under-
stood correctly what the child is trying to say. This could involve the adult summarizing the
child’s words. Where children, for whatever reason (and this may be particularly relevant to
staff in special schools or early years settings) do not possess the complexity of language, it
is acceptable to use more direct questions in relation to the context of the abuse, but not to
the abuse itself. Examples of such appropriate direct questions might be to clarify the time
of day, such as ‘Was it before lunch or after lunch?’ or ‘Was it light or dark?’ These kinds of
questions can be very helpful in assisting the child to locate in their memory and experience
the actual abuse while also helping the adult to fully contextualize the situation.
The adult should not tell the child that what has happened to them is naughty or bad, as
the child may well hear these words and assume that they have been naughty or bad. The
adult can use phrases as ‘What happened to you was wrong’. This could be particularly
helpful to the child if they feel partly responsible for or guilty about the abuse occurring.
The child needs to know abuse is never their fault, even if they partly feel it is or might be.
Furthermore, the adult should not make any comment about the alleged offender beyond,
perhaps, that they were wrong to do as they did. To begin to berate the perpetrator using
112 An Introduction to Education Studies

expletives or derogatory language is not only unprofessional, it is also inappropriate since

the offender may well be someone, like a parent, whom the child loves. Once again, the
adult may need to sound off appropriately with colleagues and receive support about this.
Even if the child, having made a clear disclosure, then retracts what they have said, it is
essential for the adult to report all that they have heard. A child may, on making the disclos-
ure, feel they are betraying the abuser, or they may have been told that if they tell someone,
terrible things will happen to all concerned. This may cause the child to panic once the dis-
closure is made, and to retract it. Having let the cat out of the bag, they may try to put it back
in. However, a child cannot ‘unmake’ a disclosure, and it should be passed on for others to
make a decision as to its validity.
As soon as possible after the disclosure, the adult concerned should make a detailed
record of the conversation, following the guidelines for recording discussed above. The dis-
closure must be passed on immediately to the designated staff member who should pass it
on to children’s social care services as soon as possible.

Activity 8.3
Sarah is nine years old, white British and attends her local primary school where she is in Year 4.
School has had no concerns about her whatsoever. One day, she asks her teacher that if she tells her
something, can the teacher promise to keep it a secret? The teacher explains she cannot promise this,
and says that depending on what it is, she may have to pass it on so the school can help. Sarah goes
on to disclose sexual abuse by her stepfather. The teacher stays calm and does not show any emo-
tions. She allows Sarah to tell her story, occasionally reassuring her and encouraging her through the
use of phrases such as ‘Go on’ and ‘I can see this is difficult, you are doing really well.’ At one point
the teacher asks Sarah ‘Did your stepfather touch your bottom?’ to which she replies ‘Yes’. Sarah
goes on to say that he also touched her ‘front bottom’. The teacher, who has already agreed with
Sarah at the beginning of the interview that she will make some notes, records Stepfather touched
her vagina. At the end, Sarah suddenly says that actually she was being silly and has just made it all up
to get her stepfather into trouble because he was cross with her last night. The teacher thanks Sarah
and explains that she will still have to pass on the information. She writes up the discussion fully and
gives this to the designated officer, who makes a referral to social services.
Can you identify good practice in how the teacher dealt with this disclosure?
Can you see any areas which could have been handled better?

Safeguarding adults who

attend schools and colleges
Legally, an adult is anyone over the age of 17. Adults of 18 years and above may well attend
mainstream schools (during the second year of ‘A’-levels), special schools (usually up to the
 Safeguarding Children and Adults 113
age of 19) or mainstream and specialist further education colleges (again, usually no fur-
ther than up to the age of 19).
Safeguarding children procedures do not apply to adults, even where those adults
remain in full-time education. Nevertheless, of course, some of these adults may need
protecting from harm. There are at least two key national documents relevant to the pro-
tection of adults. The first is a government document entitled ‘No secrets’ (DH, 2000);
the second, produced by a national social care organization, builds on this and is called
‘Safeguarding adults’ (Association of Directors of Social Services, 2005). Neither of these
are designed to deal in detail with adults in education, and in fact are weighted either
in favour of adults in the community in receipt of social care services or in residential
or nursing homes. Nevertheless, the key principles are applicable to adults in education.
Many of the procedures outlined within them follow a very similar pattern to safeguard-
ing children procedures discussed above and so do not require repeating. Generally speak-
ing, staff in schools and colleges should follow a very similar process for responding for
concerns about adult students as they do for children. One interesting and useful exten-
sion of safeguarding children documentation is that within the notion of safeguarding
adults, other forms of abuse apart from physical, sexual, emotional and neglect should
be considered. These are financial or material abuse, and discriminatory abuse (based on
racism, sexism etc.).
One of the key issues here is the possible tension between the choice and independence
of the adult concerned, and the responsibility of the staff member to respond to any con-
cerns. With children, the adult can justifiably override the child’s wishes where necessary
and report their concerns on the grounds that it is in the child’s interests to do so. This is
based on the notion that the child may not fully comprehend the consequences of inaction.
However, with adults in education, this argument becomes more complex. Generally speak-
ing, adults are deemed to fully understand the consequences of their actions and a distinc-
tion is thus drawn between those adults who, according to the Mental Capacity Act 2005,
have ‘mental capacity’ and those who do not. Adults are deemed to have mental capacity
if they can make decisions for themselves. A lack of mental capacity can be permanent or
temporary.
Where adults have mental capacity, and can take full responsibility for their own actions
and its consequences, the role of the staff member in education becomes one of supporter,
of provider of information to help them live as safely as possible and so on.
Where adults do not have mental capacity, schools and colleges are authorized to make
decisions on their behalf, just as they would for children. Among all of this, of course, is
the inherent difficulty of deciding which adults have mental capacity or not – for some it
will be obvious but there will be any number of adults whose mental capacity may be diffi-
cult to establish, despite the full guidelines offered in Section Three of the Mental Capacity
Act 2005.
114 An Introduction to Education Studies

Activity 8.4
Peter is aged 18 and has mild learning disabilities. He lives at home with both parents and attends
college. A staff member notices that he arrives at college with bruising to his arms. Peter explains
that sometimes his father gets frustrated with him and shouts at him and grips and punches his arms.
Peter is adamant that he does not want the staff member to do anything about this. He says he likes
living at home and is worried about being made to live in a shared group home. He says he generally
gets on with his parents and these incidents are isolated.
Do you think Peter has mental capacity?
How do you think the staff member should respond to this situation?

Summary

Child protection is now seen as a sub-set of a broader approach to safeguard and promote the welfare of
children.

Some children attending school are likely to experience harm or abuse in their home lives. This possibility needs
to inform the response of schools when concerns about children are noted.

Schools should have a written child protection policy and a designated person for child protection who takes the
lead in ensuring the school has correct systems and procedures in place, and that all individuals within school
take appropriate responsibility.

Where vulnerable adults in education may require protecting, staff need to try to determine whether these
adults have ‘mental capacity’ meaning they can make decisions for themselves. Only where staff deem vulner-
able adults not to have such mental capacity, can staff make decisions on behalf of the adult concerned.

References
Association of Directors of Social Services (2005) Safeguarding Adults: A National Framework of Standards for Good
Practice and Outcomes in Adult Protection Work. London: The Association of Directors of Social Services
Baginsky, M (2000) Child Protection and Education. London: NSPCC
Corwin Sanders, C and Hendry, L B (1997) New Perspectives on Disaffection. London: Cassel
Cawson, P, Wattam, C, Brooker, S and Kelly, G (2000) Child Maltreatment in the UK: A Study of the Prevalence of Child
Abuse and Neglect. London: NSPCC
DfES (Department for Education and Skills) (2003) Every Child Matters. London: The Stationery Office
DfES (Department for Education and Skills) (2006a) Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter-agency
Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children. Norwich: The Stationery Office
DfES (Department for Education and Skills) (2006b) Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education.
Nottingham: DfES Publications
DfES (Department for Education and Skills) (2006c) What to do if you’re Worried a Child is Being Abused. Nottingham:
DfES Publications
DH (Department of Health) (2000) No Secrets: Guidance on Developing and Implementing Multi-Agency Policies and
Procedures to Protect Vulnerable Adults from Abuse. London: Department of Health
 Safeguarding Children and Adults 115
DH (Department of Health) (2002) Women’s Mental Health: Into the Mainstream – Strategic Development of Mental
Health Care for Women. London: Department of Health
DH, DfEE and HO (Department of Health, Department for Education and Employment and Home Office) (2000)
Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families. London: The Stationery Office
Furlong, A and Cartmel, F (2007) Young People and Social Change: New Perspectives. London. Open University Press
Gibbons, J, Conroy, S and Bell, C (1995) Operating the Child Protection System: A Study of Child Protection Practices in
English Local Authorities. London: HMSO
Hanvey, C (2003) ‘The lessons we never learn’, [Internet]. [Link]
childprotection: (accessed 22 June 2007)
National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse (1996) Childhood Matters: Report of the National
Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse, Volume 1: the Report. London: The Stationery Office

Further reading
Beckett, C (2003) Child Protection: An Introduction. London: Sage
Flynn, H and Starns, B (2004) Protecting Children: Working Together to Keep Children Safe. London: Heinemann
Whitney, B (2004) Protecting Children: A Handbook for Teachers and School Managers. London: RoutledgeFalmer

Useful websites
[Link]/rsgateway/ – Department for children, schools and families: research and statistics publications
gateway. The site contains a host of factual information on a range of topics. There is a useful search engine allow-
ing easy access to information.
[Link]/socialcare/safeguarding/ – Every Child Matters: safeguarding children. This section
of the huge Every Child Matters site provides guidance on a range of matters concerned with child protection.
[Link]/wholeschool/familyandcommunity/childprotection – Teachernet: child protection. This site is
dedicated to the role of schools in child protection and contains much useful information, advice and guidance.
[Link]/Inform/trainingandconsultancy/Training/TrainingCourses/trainingcourses_wda47913.html –
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) training website, which outlines the
range of training courses they provide.

Useful internet search terms

child protection
safeguarding children
child protection policy
national guidance on safeguarding
safeguarding adults
mental capacity
9 Disaffection, Society and Education
Barbara Murphy

Chapter Outline
Introduction 116
A changing society? 117
Failing pupils – or a failing system? 119
Troubled . . . intolerable, or just not tolerated? 122
Curriculum initiatives 125
Joined up thinking? 128

Introduction
In August 2007, around 30,000 pupils left school with no GCSEs at all to their name;
undoubtedly undesirable in an age when formal qualifications of increasing complexity
are required for practically any employment prospects. Alarmingly, this appears not to
be an isolated event, with statistics (DfES, 2007) indicating that during each year of the
past decade around 1 in 5 young people have left compulsory schooling without qualifi-
cations, training or a job. Studies (Raffe, 2003: 6) indicate, perhaps unsurprisingly, that
such young people are highly likely to exhibit poor attitudes to school and schooling and
that many have truanted or have been excluded at some point during their school careers.
Dramatic press headlines meanwhile, highlight the apparent rising involvement of young
people in crime epidemics and criminal activity which has led to a widespread castigation
of young people in the public press and a concern that the ‘social fabric’ (Furlong, 2007:
104) of society is breaking down. From such evidence it might be concluded that a signifi-
cant body of young people are disaffected not just from education, but from the norms
and values of society as a whole. As Bunting (2007) comments:
Elections were once won or lost on economic issues, now it’s social issues; the detail of parenting
policies and youth work have migrated from the derided margins of political debate to the centre.
David Cameron adapts Bill Clinton’s catchphrase, ‘It’s the society, stupid’.
 Disaffection, Society and Education 117
This chapter will examine the complex interplay between individual, institutional and
socio-cultural factors contributing towards educational disaffection within our society.

A changing society?
Most (Furlong, 2007; Giddens, 1991; Sanders and Hendry, 1997) agree that the experiences
of young people have changed radically over recent decades, with one of the key character-
istics being that in today’s society transition phases – such as the transition from babyhood
to childhood, from childhood to teenager and from teenager to adult – tend to be far less
predicable and more fragmented than in previous decades. The smooth negotiation of these
stages is widely agreed to be important not only to the effective social development of the
individual concerned but also to wider social inclusion and, crucially, to the construction
of an adult identity within society (Corwin Sanders, 1997: 10). Coles (1995) and Furlong
(2007: 53) identify that most modern societies confer adult status to young people only after
the completion of a relatively lengthy phase which involves a number of transitions, includ-
ing the transition from school to work and then to independent living. This phase, which
during the 1960s and 1970s was influenced by a judicious mix of the conventions of society
(marriage, a steady job) and by social class, led to relatively predictable and stable out-
comes and young people in most developed nations were generally able to gain a significant
degree of financial and personal independence by their late teens (Coles, 1995; Kiernan,
1992). However, the gradual erosion of such conventions within society, combined with
the economics of a post-industrial nation which restricts the employment opportunities
of unqualified young people primarily to poorly paid and insecure jobs within the service
industry together with increased housing costs has meant that many young people today are
essentially forced into a state of semi-dependency, moving backwards and forwards into a
variety of living arrangements. In this way the transition to adult status is blurred and may
not be completed until much later in life than in previous decades, resulting in a somewhat
uneasy balance between dependency and autonomy (Furlong, 2007: 56). Adding to this
general confusion is the sheer number of contradictions within our society regarding the
age at which adult status might be considered to be reached.

Activity 9.1 Becoming an Adult

When exactly does a young person become an adult in our society? At 16? 17? 18? Later? Find out
and note down what 16, 17 and 18 year olds can and cannot do at the current time. Consider such
things as the age at which a young person can drive, drink, smoke, vote as well as the age of consent,
and the age at which you can make a will or buy a house. Wikipedia: ‘Youth Rights’ may be useful
as a source of information.
Identify the variety of messages that are given regarding the transition to adult status in our society.
How might these contradictions create difficulties for young people during this phase of their lives?
118 An Introduction to Education Studies

The transition period from teenager to adult is often regarded as a time of relative freedom
from adult responsibilities and an opportunity to make the most of life. Societal changes in
recent decades have resulted in the widely held expectation that individuals are responsible
for the creation of their own lifestyle; pieced together from the bewildering range of options
and choices available. This rise in the individualization of lifestyle is considered to create an
element of risk to the individual concerned, not least of all because of the uncertainty inte-
gral to each element of choice. For this reason it can be surmised (Furlong, 2007: 144) that
we live in an increasingly risky society. There is wide agreement, however, that there is con-
siderable inequality in the distribution of choices and thus the likelihood of risk throughout
our society. Broadly speaking, poverty tends to involve less opportunity for choice and tends
to attract risks, whereas wealth buys relative freedom from risk and offers more potential
for choice (Beck, 1992: 35). Individuals from less economically advantaged backgrounds are
more likely to have access to a restricted range of choices which may then limit the product-
ive use of this transition period, increasing the risk of disaffection. For some, street socializ-
ing becomes the only choice available. Although ‘hanging out’ with mates is something that
most groups of all social classes will do, and indeed social groupings are an important and
normal component of society as a whole and a means by which an individual helps create
their personal and collective identity, street socialization is usually a temporary phase con-
fined to middle adolescence. There is some indication (Macdonald and Marsh, 2006) that
street socialization as a sole and maintained form of leisure choice places severe constraints
on the opportunities for individuals within these groups to form wider and more socially
varied friendships; which may result in the construction of substitute tribal, or gang, iden-
tity. Gang identity not only tends to delay the formation of adult identity but is also strongly
predicative of involvement with anti-social or criminal activities, meaning that such individ-
uals are significantly at risk of becoming disaffected from the norms of society. In all, social
class continues to exert a powerful influence in society and there continues to be a strong
link between social class, disadvantage and disaffection. An uneasy relationship between
choices, risk, poverty and disaffection is created when everything, in terms of life choices, is
presented as a possibility but where in reality the choices, particularly for those individuals
from lower socio-economic groups (Rutter and Smith, 1995), are severely constrained.
Sweeping generalizations, however, cannot be made about youth, nor social class. All
young people have to negotiate the risky business of growing up and the vast majority from
all social classes do so successfully. Nevertheless there is considerable consensus (Klein,
2000; McDowell, 2003; Roberts, 1995) regarding the way in which transient ‘McJobs’ have
significantly reduced job security for the very least qualified young people and the impact
that this has had on the transition from school to work. In this way, young people who are
disaffected with school, who leave with little to show for their years of compulsory education
and thus who have poor job prospects are not only disadvantaged, but are at risk of becom-
ing more widely disaffected both with and from society. The links between disaffection
with education, educational achievement, and wider disaffection from society are clear cut.
 Disaffection, Society and Education 119
Without doubt the educational system plays a crucial role in enabling young people to gain
appropriate qualifications that will enhance the possibility of secure employment, breaking
the cycle of disadvantage and disaffection. As Riddell (2007) argues, ‘society’s monsters are
often also frightened kids, allowed to fail and fall from infancy’.

Failing pupils – or a failing system?

The majority of primary school pupils appear to enjoy school. Problems with disengagement
and disaffection are most evident during secondary schooling and the bulk of formal exclu-
sions occur during these years (DfES, 2005), with a peak reached at the age of 15: year 10 of
compulsory education. Studies, (Hendry et al., 1993; Keys et al., 1995; Riley and Docking
2004) indicate that, at this age, although the majority of pupils place a high value on educa-
tion, just 11 per cent find the taught curriculum interesting. Girls, who generally seem more
positive than boys about their experiences in school (Riley, 2002: 173), appear to be more
tolerant of school systems and structures and disaffected pupils are predominately male. So
what is it about the school system that is so intolerable? Various studies conducted with pupils
at risk of disaffection found that a wide variety of factors, including poor relationships and
interactions with teachers, crumbling and uninviting school environments, the poor attitudes
and behaviour of their peers, an unappealing curriculum and tedious lessons all contribute
towards turning pupils off school; but of these, that relationships with teachers appear to be
crucial (Kinder et al., 1996; Riley and Docking, 2004: 172). In particular, teachers who ‘talk
down’ to pupils, shout, place blame unfairly or who show little respect for individuals seem
to play a significant role in triggering disaffection in vulnerable individuals. When combined
with inflexible school rules and limited opportunities to express views and opinions these
traits appear to be sufficient to ‘tip the balance in [ . . . ] behaviour and send (pupils) spiralling
down the path of exclusion’. (Riley, 2002: 12). Many pupils in Riley’s study also considered
that their specific learning needs were insufficiently addressed within the classroom, citing
inadequate support and poor or absent differentiation all of which profoundly affected their
ability to engage with the curriculum and to achieve success, leading to their eventual disen-
gagement. For these pupils, inadequate and inappropriate school systems and structures seem
to play a significant role in their failure to engage with the process of education.

Looking at Research 9.1: Student’s Experiences of

Ability Grouping
Dispiritingly, a number of recent studies, for example that conducted by Boaler (2000) have indicated
that the widespread adoption of ‘setting’ by ability in both primary and secondary schools appears
to contribute significantly and negatively towards pupil motivation, engagement and achievement in

120 An Introduction to Education Studies

Looking at Research 9.1—cont’d

lessons at all levels of attainment. This comprehensive report, which involved over 120 hours of
mathematics lesson observations and interviews with 72 students, presents a worrying picture of a
‘continuous diet of low level work’ for students in lower sets:

L: We come in, sit down and there’s work on the board and he just says copy it. I think it’s
all too easy.
R: It’s far too easy.
I (Interviewer): What happens if it’s too easy? Do they make it any harder?
M: No, we just have to carry on. We just have to do it. If you refuse to do it he’ll just give a
detention. It’s just so easy. (Boaler, 2000: 638)

Students in upper sets, meanwhile, typically report being required to learn at a pace that, for
many, seemed incompatible with understanding. These students were often very unhappy with the
teaching in the top set, but recognized the status that this conferred on them. Observations showed
that teachers of the top sets ‘raced through the examples on the board, speaking quickly, often
interjecting their speech with phrases such as “come on we haven’t got much time” and “just do
this quickly” ’ (ibid.: 635).
The authors conclude that setting primarily did not seem to do the job that it was designed to
do and that there were considerable disadvantages, not least of all that it could be the ‘single most
important cause of low levels of achievement’ (ibid.: 646).

While many disaffected pupils clearly experience difficulties in accessing the taught cur-
riculum, the unwieldy, restrictive and prescriptive nature of the taught curriculum appears
to aggravate this further. In 2006, the Minister for school standards, David Miliband, cited
boredom of the academic curriculum as ‘the biggest cause of pupils losing interest in school’
(BBC News, 2006) and indeed, a common theme expressed by pupils was the perception
that the school curriculum appeared irrelevant to their experiences and needs. This, com-
bined with a ‘disadvantaging combination of coursework and examinations’ (Solomon and
Rogers, 2001: 333) undoubtedly contributes significantly towards pupil disaffection with
school during the secondary years, but the profound influence of individual and personal
factors such as general motivation, self-esteem and self-efficacy and their role within this
equation need to be considered carefully.
A considerable body of research into disaffection has focused on individual and per-
sonal factors and their relationship to learning (Hidi and Harackiewicz, 2000; Solomon
and Rogers, 2001) and a number of early studies indicated some correlation between self-
esteem and academic achievement. As low academic achievement is strongly predictive of
potential disaffection with school (Bailey, 2005: 1; Solomon, 2001: 331), it could be sur-
mised that poor self-esteem is directly related to disaffection. More recent studies (Muijs,
1997; Ross, 2000), however, indicate that while academic achievement appears to improve
 Disaffection, Society and Education 121
self-esteem; high self-esteem, in isolation from other factors, is not strongly predictive of
academic success.

Looking at Research 9.2: Being in Control

Ross’s comprehensive study takes a critical stance in their examination of the increasingly commonly held
truism that ‘self esteem has replaced understanding as the goal of education’. (Kramer, 1991: 210)
The authors argue that this idea is misplaced and that there is little evidence to suggest that simply
‘feeling good about oneself’ will directly improve the academic achievement of young people. Rather,
they suggest, learners who feel in control of important outcomes in their lives, who believe that their
own efforts and actions shape their successes and failures are more likely to achieve success.
This premise was examined through a combination of student questionnaires and performance in
national tests, with the conclusion that an individual’s sense of being in control did appear to signifi-
cantly affect subsequent test results, but that high self-esteem, although often derived from success-
ful performance in national tests, was not at all predictive of subsequent academic success.
In conclusion, then, a focus on improving pupil’s self-esteem, in isolation from other affecting fac-
tors, is highly unlikely to provide a magic bullet solution to disaffection.

The need for an individual to ‘feel in control’ is examined in recent studies of human
motivational dynamics (Weiner, 1984 in Docking, 1990) and this has pertinent relevance to
the ways in which pupils at risk of disaffection become increasingly disengaged and alien-
ated from school practice. In particular, studies examining theories of attribution are useful
in understanding this process. Such studies indicate that if an individual tends to attribute
the failure of a task to a stable cause such as lack of ability, or success in a task to an external
and unstable cause such as help from a teacher, then this is likely to produce expectations
for more of the same as both are outside the boundaries of personal control. The sustained
attribution of the reason for success or failure to factors that the individual is powerless to
change is then highly likely to result in a cycle of ‘learned helplessness’ with continued low
expectations, educational underachievement and potential disaffection. Effort, however, is
widely considered to be a controllable factor and thus the lack of effort typically displayed
by disaffected pupils may be explained in terms of human motivational dynamics as an
attempt to be in control of the situation: if I don’t try, I don’t fail.
The role of control is also evident in studies exploring the effect of the school envir-
onment and ethos on pupil motivation. Such studies demonstrate beyond doubt that the
school environment and ethos have a powerful effect on pupil attitude and engagement. The
types of ethos most likely to disengage students include ‘controlling’ environments in which
the outcomes and goals appear to be set by other people and ‘amotivating’ environments
whereby the individual is led to believe that they have not got the capabilities to succeed
(Deci and Ryan, 1985 in Docking, 1990: 89). Both of these types of environments are amply
evident within the current educational system; a system in which the outcomes and goals of
122 An Introduction to Education Studies

compulsory education appear to be largely decided by political agendas and one in which the
focus on high academic standards effectively alienates and fails vulnerable young people.

Troubled . . . intolerable, or
just not tolerated?
Exclusion from school, which generally follows a long ‘tail’ of persistently poor behaviour
(Gordon, 2001: 76; Parsons, 1999) is generally regarded as being the most public manifest-
ation of disaffection from schooling.
Table 9.1 shows the number of permanent exclusions in England from 1990.
Abundantly evident in these figures is the fourfold rise in exclusions between 1990 and
1998. However, for every pupil who is excluded permanently it is estimated there are around
ten fixed-term exclusions; meaning that the pupil concerned is excluded from school for a
fixed number of days. If these figures were included it is estimated (Gordon, 2001; Parsons,
1999; Smith, 1998) that the total number of pupils formally excluded from the education
system would approach 1 per cent of all school pupils. Additionally, if informal exclusions,
such as those pupils who are voluntarily withdrawn from school (Gordon, 2001: 71) or
who self exclude through truancy (Reid estimates that between 600,000 and 1.2 million
pupils truant daily) or those who are informally excluded in a multitude of other ways are

Table 9.1 Permanent exclusion in England

Permanent Exclusions

Boys Girls Total

Number of exclusions
Age (4):
4 and under 20 # 20
5 50 10 50
6 80 10 90
7 150 10 160
8 210 10 230
9 350 20 370
10 390 20 410
11 590 90 680
12 1,240 300 1,540
13 1,900 570 2,470
14 2,080 670 2,750
15 860 210 1,070
16 20 # 30
17 10 10 20

Source: DfES National Statistics SFR 23/2005

 Disaffection, Society and Education 123
included, it is clear that this is a significant problem both nationally and socially. (Reid,
2005 in Topping and Maloney, 2005: 115)
Parsons (1999: 187) questions whether these pupils are ‘troubled . . . intolerable, or just
not tolerated?’ and explains the rise in exclusions as a direct consequence of the increased
individualization of society. Here poor behaviour is seen as an individual’s choice and thus
this inappropriate choice must be punished. Docking (1990: 140) also discuss the rise in for-
mal exclusions in terms of the relatively recent ‘zero tolerance’ stance adopted by society and
discuss the pressure on schools, as microcosms of society, to adopt a similar stance. Others
point to the increased pressure placed on schools during the 1990s; a decade which saw huge
changes in school accountability in terms of examination results, OFSTED inspections and
league tables, to achieve high academic results, arguably at the expense of a less measurable
caring and inclusive philosophy. Exclude the troublesome pupils and the examination results
improve! The noticeable fall in exclusion figures during 1999 is widely thought to be a conse-
quence of the publication in that year of statutory guidance setting punitive exclusion targets
for schools (DfEE, 1999) and there is some evidence (Gordon, 2001: 70) that this resulted in
a number of schools under-reporting formal exclusion rates largely through the adoption of
informal, often voluntary, exclusion strategies.
So, who are the excluded pupils? Although all social classes are represented, boys from lower
socio-economic groups predominate and approximately four boys are excluded for every girl.
Studies, such as that carried out by the New Policy Institute in 2006, indicates that from an
early age boys tend to exhibit more directionally challenging behaviour, react to conflict more
aggressively than girls (who often have better communication skills and seem able to talk their
way out of difficulty) and that this results in more severe disciplinary sanctions. However,
although girls represent just 17 per cent of all formal exclusions, there is growing concern that
there are far higher numbers of girls who are unofficially excluded, particularly through tru-
ancy (ibid.). Traveller and looked after children are significantly over-represented in exclusion
figures, and there has long been concern over the consistent proportional over-representation
of Black boys in these. Black pupils, who represent just 2 per cent of the school population, are
around five times more likely to be excluded than Caucasian pupils (Gordon, 2001: 74; Parsons,
1999: 136) and there is some suggestion (Sewell, 1997 in Parsons, 1999: 136) that this may be in
part due to teacher’s responses to cultural differences in behaviour and attitude.

Activity 9.2 Girls and Exclusion

Nationally, girls comprise just 17 per cent of permanent exclusions, although we know that many
more are unofficially and informally excluded. As a result their needs have tended to be overlooked in
school exclusion strategies. What effect might this have on girls’ experiences in the classroom? How
might this impact on their attitudes to school?
124 An Introduction to Education Studies

Table 9.2 shows the ages of pupils permanently excluded during 2004–2005.
Disturbingly, in this period 20 children under the age of 4 were permanently excluded
from their schools with undoubtedly huge consequences to both the individuals and the fam-
ilies concerned. Nevertheless the numbers of primary aged children excluded from school
are relatively small and the figures appear to be remarkably stable over time (Pavey and
Visser, 2003: 182). Problems with disaffection are most apparent towards the end of com-
pulsory schooling, although without doubt the far higher exclusion rates seen at this stage
are ‘manifestations of a process initiated much earlier’ (Bailey, 2005: 1), involving a wide
range of individual, social and cultural factors. There is some consensus however, that the
differences in exclusion rates may be partially due to the inherent differences between pri-
mary and secondary schools. Not only do the majority of primary head teachers tend to view
exclusion as essentially ineffective for the pupils concerned (Pavey and Visser, 2003: 185), but
the majority of primary schools are relatively small and class teachers tend to have sustained
contact with one class. This model is much more likely to enable the development of support-
ive and individual relationships with pupils, which most agree is crucial in the prevention of
disaffection. As Munn and Lloyd (2005: 208) argues, disaffected young people ‘want to be
seen as people. They want teachers to understand their home circumstances and they want
respect’. The model of a single class teacher with visiting subject teachers has recently been
adopted for early secondary pupils by a small, but growing number of UK secondary schools
with encouraging results in terms of the development of close relationships between pupils
and the class teacher and improved pupil attitudes to work (Thomas, 2007).
Exclusion is an important issue for a number of reasons. Not only is the financial cost
to schools, the health services, social services and the criminal justice system, at estimated

Table 9.2 Permanent exclusion in England

Year Exclusions

1990–91 2,910
1991–92 3,833
1992–93 8,636
1993–94 11,181
1994–95 12,458
1995–98 Circa 12,500 p/a
1998–99 10,440
1999–00 8,300
2000–01 9,410
2001–02 9,540
2002–03 9,290
2003–04 9,880
2004–05 9,440

Source: DfES, National Statistics online, 2005

 Disaffection, Society and Education 125
£81 million per annum (Parsons, 1999), excessive, but the cost to the individual may be
immense. Pupils excluded from school for long periods of time may be effectively ‘deschooled’
making reintegration virtually impossible. Only around 27 per cent of excluded pupils of
secondary age return to mainstream education, while a further 30 per cent attend Pupil
Referral Units (PRUs), which often provide just half-time education. The remaining 30 per
cent are educated at home, typically for a mere 5–10 hours per week. Arguably (Parsons,
1999: 138 in Topping and Maloney, 2005) excluded pupils need more, not less, time with
professionals in order to fully address their needs, which include a multitude of educational,
social and emotional problems. Failure to provide this time may be considered to be yet
another way in which the English social, cultural and educational system effectively alien-
ates vulnerable young people still further.

Curriculum initiatives
Undoubtedly the current educational system and in particular the drive to raise stand-
ards has played a central part in the development of pupil disengagement (Cullingford and
Oliver, 2001: 132; Riley, 2004: 177) and for these reasons it makes sense to advocate caution
in the adoption of purely curriculum focused strategies for reducing disaffection. Indeed
whether or not it is actually possible to design a curriculum that fulfils the needs of all
stakeholders in education is in itself contestable (Cullingford, 2001: 87). Nevertheless there
is considerable consensus (Reid, 2002: 153) that a more flexible and relevant curriculum,
in particular a more work-based or vocational curriculum, may begin to address aspects of
pupil disaffection with school.
In 2004, the DfES white paper set out a basic entitlement for the ‘disapplication’ of two
GCSE subjects to be replaced by a placement providing work-based learning. As Charles
Clark, the then minister for Education argued:

Relaxing the sometimes over-rigid demands of the National Curriculum after 14 so that children
can follow courses which they enjoy, and on which they thrive (may be better) than forcing them
to study subjects in which they have no interest or aptitude.

Recent studies however, have demonstrated that work-based placements are widely
viewed as being suitable mostly for pupils at significant risk of exclusion, are dispropor-
tionately experienced by working class pupils and pupils with Special Educational Needs
and also carry the associated risk that pupils who experience these may be even further
‘marginalised’ from the main education system (Green, 1991). Nevertheless, the benefits
of work-related learning are widely considered (Ofsted, 1998) to include improved atti-
tudes to school, together with a better understanding of the need to develop the ‘soft’
skills valued by employers, such as team work and the ability to relate to others. A number
of caveats exist, however, and these include the premise that placements should not only
offer real opportunities to engage with the work offered, develop specific skills and offer
126 An Introduction to Education Studies

a quality work-based experience, but also that they should lead somewhere: directly to
college courses, apprenticeships, or a job. In recent years apprenticeships and practical
employment-based learning have increasingly been marginalized from main stream edu-
cation and are seen very much as the option for those who are not capable of an academic
education, whereas a number of other European countries, in particular Germany, run an
alliance of vocational and mainstream education which is widely regarded as both sensible
and successful. Initial proposals for a similar system in the United Kingdom proposed by
Tomlinson in 2004 (DfES, 2004b) included a radical reworking of the English qualifica-
tions systems for 14–19 year olds that removed both GCSEs and A-levels entirely; thus
completely replacing a structure regarded in some quarters as a ‘system of selection at 16’
(Hodgson and Spours, 2005: 9). This, however, proved to be rather too contentious for the
UK government of the time (ibid.) and from 2005 to the present day the proposals have
been revised extensively to produce a unified but arguably hybrid, system of vocational
diplomas, traditional GCSEs and other established qualifications with an attempt to estab-
lish parity and standardization between the various routes (DfES, 2007).
Figure 9.1 illustrates the proposed structure of the qualifications pathway (DfES, 2007).
The underlying principles of such a wide-ranging reform are undoubtedly secure and
rightly include the vision that all young people should be entitled to access all and any route
at a level that is right for them. Such reform certainly has a number of potential benefits,
including improved chances of employment and less risk of social exclusion at a young
age (DfES, 2007: 5), but is not entirely without critics. In particular, the expectation that
schools and colleges of further education work in partnership with employers has led to a

19+ Employment Higher Education Further Education

Advanced Level 3 Diploma

Other work-based Apprenticeships; A Levels; International
16–19 (Level 1 and 2 Diplomas
learning Apprenticeships Baccalaureate
also available)

Functional skills in all learning routes

14–16 Young Apprenticeships Level 2 Diploma GCSEs

Foundation Learning Tier Level 1 Diploma

11–14 Key Stage 3

Figure 9.1 The proposed structure of the qualifications pathway.

Source: DfES, 2007
 Disaffection, Society and Education 127
number of concerns that the vocational diplomas, which are central to the reform and cover
broad themes such as engineering, creative and media, health and social care and construc-
tion will essentially be ‘on the job training’ as opposed to education. There is considerable
debate over the decision to retain GCSEs and A-levels, which some, including Hodgson and
Spours (2005), argue ‘freezes’ the system in its traditional ‘culture of selection, division
and failure’ (Hodgson and Spours, 2005: 2) and that essentially the reform boils down to
the creation of a vocational route for less academic learners who are not ‘willing or able’
to do GCSEs and A-levels. Thus, rather than being true curriculum reform, this could be
argued to be a short-term solution unlikely to address the ‘legacy of failure’ (ibid.) of sec-
ondary schooling in England and additionally one that raises questions as to whether this
is essentially yet another form of selection. If GCSEs and A-levels continue to be viewed in
England as having more ‘status’ than vocational qualifications and thus more suitable for
progression to higher education, key issues arise around the potentially divisive process of
identifying pupils as ‘less academic’ and therefore more suitable for a vocational route and
to the genuine feasibility of a return to an academic route at a later stage, should the need
arise (ibid.). Despite assurances of parity of experience (DfES, 2007), it seems unlikely that
this can be ensured given the considerable difficulty of devising comparable programmes
of study that cover a diverse and disparate range of vocational areas and that address the
various requirements of employers. It could be surmised that pupils who take the voca-
tional route will be essentially, from the age of 14, denied access to the traditional ‘broad
and balanced curriculum’ that includes a knowledge and understanding of languages, cul-
ture and the arts, and that is widely considered to form an essential basis of knowledge and
understanding that enables individuals to take their place in our society. Young (1993: 203)
however, argues that today’s curriculum, which has barely changed in content and form
since the beginnings of compulsory education, is outdated and is no longer fit for purpose
in the twenty-first century, a view that has considerable support in some quarters. Hayton
(2004: 221) surmises that a ‘curriculum with its links to the world outside school would
make schools less likely to produce an excluded group, disaffected from the curriculum and
any kind of learning’ but, crucially, concludes that this would have to be a two-way process
that involved changes to societies’ attitudes and expectations, to economical systems and to
political beliefs as well as to the educational system.

Activity 9.3 Vocational versus Academic?

Consider the further study choices that a young person will be expected to make at the age of 14,
which will include the decision to take either Diplomas, GCSEs or some combination of both. What
factors might influence these choices? How much do you agree that the routes outlined here will
mean that there will be an appropriate and engaging option for all 14–19 year olds?
128 An Introduction to Education Studies

Government reforms of secondary education intent on providing a vocational pathway

for less academic pupils may be in danger of ignoring the complexity of the interactions
between pedagogy, policy and individuals. There is clearly much more at stake than a sim-
ple divide between academic and vocational routes. There are, however, encouraging indi-
cations that recent initiatives may go at least some way to restore the balance of the original
Tomlinson proposals (Curtis, 2007), but this process is undoubtedly fraught with contra-
dictory ideologies and unlikely to be straightforward. Arguably, a focus on lively teach-
ing, engagement and practical activities, together with good differentiation as opposed to
‘tinkering on a massive and expensive scale’ (Hodgson and Spours, 2005: 4) may be equally
effective in stemming the tide of disaffection.

Joined up thinking?
This chapter has explored disaffection with education within the wider context of social
and cultural changes in our society which has effectively resulted in a body of the popu-
lation who have been excluded from the process of learning and the production of know-
ledge, which, as Hayton (2004: 221) discusses ‘has always been at the heart of how societies
reproduce themselves’. Because of the complex inter-related nature of the factors involved,
countering disaffection within school has to be as much about tackling social, economical
and political issues as it is about changing educational systems and structures. There is now
a broad consensus of agreement (Prichard and Williams, 2007; Riley and Docking, 2004)
that a multi-agency approach that places schools in the centre, facilitating communication
between parents, professionals and pupils is most likely to be effective. If schools are central
to this approach, however, then the needs of pupils themselves must surely be at the heart.
Strategies that will successfully tackle disaffection, in the widest sense, will be fully inclu-
sive and will engage pupils in the process of gaining an education and through this to gain-
ing recognition within society. Although the current emphasis on high standards, arguably
at the expense of the individual, places schools in a difficult position; some schools are
undoubtedly better at maintaining the balance between academic and pastoral and despite
difficult pupils are more inclusive in their approach (Parsons, 2003: 181). A number of stud-
ies, demonstrate that such inclusive schools typically have staff prepared to invest in their
pupils by forming positive relationships based on respect, humour and consistency.
As Kinder suggests, when examining how young people’s attitudes can be turned around:

[It] is important to stress that each of these pupil’s recovery statements was underpinned by some
form of intensive and individualized support from their school or off-site unit. The focus of that
support had provided alternative curriculum experiences or leaning contexts and/or pastoral work
for behavioural or emotional problems. As a conclusion for solutions to disaffection, this suggests
that there are considerable resource implications in any serious attempt to address pupil’s disen-
gagement from school, and yet, when such resources are available, the dedication and skill of
educational professionals can produce highly positive results. (Kinder, 1996: 30) [my italics]
 Disaffection, Society and Education 129

Summary

Transition to adult status in the UK society is far less predictable than in previous decades.

Young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are disproportionally exposed to higher levels of risk
and restricted choices concerning their future.

Pupils at risk of disaffection cite poor relationships with teachers as central to their engagement.

Exclusion figures mask a worrying high level of informal and unofficial exclusion, particularly among girls.

Curriculum focused strategies for reducing disaffection need to be considered alongside wider social, socio-
economic and policy issues.

References
BBC News, 2006 available at [Link]
Bailey, R (2005) Challenging Disaffection: Best Practice and the Management of Disaffection. London: ESRC
Boaler et al. (2000) ‘Students’ experiences of ability grouping – disaffection, polarization and the construction of fail-
ure’, British Educational Research Journal, 26(5), 631–48
Beck, U (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage
Bunting, M (2007) ‘Yes, we have failed Rhys Jones, but we have also failed his killer’, Guardian, 27 August, Manchester
Coles, B (1995) Youth and Social Policy. London: UCL
Cullingford, C and Oliver, P (eds) (2001) The National Curriculum and its Effects. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing
Curtis, P (2007) Balls launches first diplomas to rival ‘A’ levels and GCSES’, Guardian Manchester
DfEE (1999) (Department for Education and Employment) ‘Social inclusion, pupil support’, Circular 10/99 London:
Social Inclusion Unit, the Department of Health and the Home Office
DfES (2004b) (Department for Education and Science) ‘14–19 curriculum and qualifications reform’. Final report of
the working group on 14–19 reform. London: DfES
DfES (2005) (Department for Education and Science) ‘14–19 Education and skills’, London: DfES
DfES (2007) (Department for education and science) ‘Raising expectations: staying in education and training post 16’,
London: DfES
Docking, J (1990) Education and Alienation in the Junior School. London: Falmer Press
Furlong, A and Cartmel, F (2007) ‘Young people and social change: new perspectives’, Berkshire: Open University
Press
Giddens, A (1991) Modernity and Self-identity. Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Oxford: Polity
Gordon, A (2001) ‘School exclusions in England: children’s voices and adult solutions?’ Educational Studies, 27(1),
70–85
Green, A (1991) ‘The reform of post 16 education and training’, Post 16 Education Working Paper No. 11. London:
Institute of Education, University of London
Hayton, A (ed.) (1999) Tackling Disaffection and Social Exclusion: Educational Perspectives and Policies. London:
Kogan Page
Hendrick, H (1997) Children, Childhood and English Society, 1880–1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Hendry, L B, Shucksmith, J, Love, J G and Glendinning, A (1993) Young People’s Leisure and Lifestyles. London:
Routledge
Hidi, S and Harackiewicz, J M (2000) ‘Motivating the academically unmotivated: a critical issue for the 21st century’,
Review of Educational Research, 70, 151–79
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Hodgson, A and Spours, K (2005) ‘Building a strong 14–19 phase in England? The Government’s white paper in its
wider system context’, Nuffield Review of 14–19 Education and Training Discussion Paper 35
Keys, W, Harris, S and Fernandes, C (1995) Attitudes to School of Op Primary and First Year Secondary Pupils. Slough:
NFER
Kiernan, K E (1992) ‘The impact of family disruption on transitions made in young adult life’, Population Studies, 46,
213–34
Kinder, K, Wakefield, A and Wilkin, A (1996) Talking Back: Pupil Views on Disaffection. Slough: NFER
Klein, N (2000) No Logo. London: Flamingo
Kramer, R (1991) Education School Follies: The Mis-Education of America’s Teachers. New York: Free Press
MacDonald, R and Marsh, J (2006) Disconnected Youth: Growing Up in Britain’s Poor Neighbourhoods. London:
Palgrave
McDowell, L (2003) Redundant Masculinities? Employment Changes and White Working Class Youth. London: Blackwell
Muijs, D (1997) ‘Self perception and performance. Predictors of academic achievement and academic self concept: a
longitudinal perspective’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 67, 265–77
Munn, P and Lloyd, G (2005) ‘Exclusion and excluded pupils’, British Educational Research Journal, 31(2), 205–21
New Policy Institute (2006) ‘Girls and school exclusion’, Available at: [Link]/summ%20girls%20exclusion.
htm
Ofsted (1998) ‘Work related aspects of the curriculum in secondary schools’, London: HMSO
Parsons, C (1999) ‘School exclusions in the UK: numbers, trends and variations’, in Topping, K and Maloney, S (eds)
(2005) Reader in Inclusive Education. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer
Parsons, C (2005) ‘School exclusion: the will to punish’, British Journal of Education Studies, 53(2), 180–211
Pavey, S and Visser, J (2003) ‘Primary exclusions: are they rising?’ British Journal of Special Education, 30(4), 180–86
Prichard, C, and Williams, R (2006) ‘Breaking the cycle of educational alienation: a multi agency approach’,
Maidenhead: Open University Press
Raffe, D (2003) ‘Young people not in education, employment or training: evidence from the Scottish School Leavers
survey’, CES Special briefing No. 29, Edinburgh: Centre for Educational Sociology, University of Edinburgh
Reid, K (2002) ‘Mentoring with disaffected pupils’, Mentoring and Training, 10(2), 153–70
Reid, K (2005) ‘School absenteesism and truancy’, in Topping, K and Maloney, S (eds) (2005) Reader in Inclusive
Education. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer
Riddell, M (2007) ‘Don’t seek revenge on violent gangs. Take responsibility’, The Observer, 26 August
Riley, K (2002) ‘Working with disaffected students: why students lose interest in school and what we can do about it’,
London: Paul Chapman
Riley, K and Docking, J (2004) ‘Voices of disaffected pupils: implications for policy and practice’, British Journal of
Educational Studies, 52(2), 166–79
Roberts, K (1995) Youth and Employment in Modern Britain. Oxford: Open University Press
Ross, C E and Broh, B A (2000) ‘The roles of self esteem and the sense of personal control in the academic achieve-
ment process’, Sociology of Education, 73, 270–84
Rutter, M and Smith, D J (eds) (1995) Psychological Disorders in Young People. Time Trends and Their Causes.
Chichester: Wiley
Sanders, D and Hendry, L (1997) New Perspectives on Disaffection. London: Cassell
Smith, R (1998) No Lessons Learnt: A Survey of School Exclusions. London: The Children’s Society
Solomon, Y and Rogers, C (2001) ‘Motivational patterns in disaffected school pupils: insights from Pupil Referral Unit
clients’. British Educational Research Journal, 27(3), 331–44
 Disaffection, Society and Education 131
Thomas, H (2007) ‘The conversation: secondary transition’, in Times Educational Supplement, October
Topping, K and Maloney, S (eds) (2005) Reader in Inclusive Education. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer
Young, M (1993) ‘A curriculum for the 21st Century? Towards a new basis for overcoming academic/vocational div-
isions’, British Journal of Educational Studies, 41(3), 203–22

Further reading
Evans, G (2006) Educational Failure and Working Class White Children in Britain. London: Palgrave
Kendal, S and Kinder, K (2005) ‘Reclaiming those disengaged from education and learning: a European perspective’,
NFER publications. Ref NRE
Moore, R (2004) Education and Society: Issues and Explanations in the Sociology of Education. Cambridge: Polity
Press
Newburn, T, Shiner, M and Young, T (2005) Dealing with Disaffection: Young People, Mentoring and Social Exclusion.
London: Willan Publishers

Useful websites
[Link]/[Link]?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId
=Cm+7065& – This website contains a host of relevant and useful publications including the Department for
Education and Skills (DfES) (2007) publication: Raising expectations: staying in education and training post 16.

Useful internet search terms

transition stages
risk and choice
disaffected pupils
motivation and attribution theories
exclusion
vocational education
curriculum initiatives
10 Listening to Pupils’ Voices
Margaret Wood

Chapter Outline
Introduction 132
Background and development of the policy context 132
Applying a model of participation to thinking about practice 136
Engaging students as active researchers 138
Listening to children’s voices – international dimensions 142
Conclusion 143

Introduction
This chapter will begin by examining the rationale and principles behind the import-
ance of a commitment to understanding and taking seriously the views of young people
and why it matters that they have a voice in decision-making. It will draw on practical
approaches in schools to analyse and reflect on how these principles are applied in prac-
tice. International dimensions are included and these provide a broader context and wider
global view.

Background and development of

the policy context
This chapter will consider why it is important to listen to the voices of children and young
people and to involve them in decision-making. In the humorous children’s story book
‘Not now Bernard’ by McKee (1998), Bernard’s parents provide readers with an example of
adults who do not appear to attach a sense of importance to what Bernard has to say. The
response received, ‘Not now Bernard’ which becomes a mantra repeated by his parents who
 Listening to Pupils’ Voices 133
ignore Bernard’s calls for their attention, provides an example of adults who fail to take
children’s ideas seriously. In another well-known story the six-year-old child’s view of the
need for forbearance can be seen when adults misinterpret children’s meanings. This idea
is apparent when the child’s picture of a scary boa constrictor swallowing an elephant was
misunderstood by the grown-ups and seen from their perspective as something entirely
different, namely a hat, and therefore not frightening at all. Consequently, it was necessary
for the child to draw a second picture, so that it could be clearly seen by the grown ups who
‘always need to have things explained’ (Saint-Exupery, 1974).
In Victorian times the maxim that children should be ‘seen and not heard’ conveyed the
view that adults know best. In contrast to this attitude of adult disinterest in and disregard
for the views and voices of children, there is now a growing recognition of the importance
of children and young people’s participation in decision-making, not only in the United
Kingdom but in other countries too. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (1989) recognizes the human rights of children and provides a set of global principles
of rights to which children are entitled:

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which formally and explicitly acknowledges these
rights of children for the first time in international law, also introduces an additional dimension to
the status of children by recognizing that children are subjects of rights, rather than merely recipi-
ents of adult protection, and that those rights demand that children themselves are entitled to be
heard. (Lansdown, 2001: 1)

Article 12 enshrines the right to be listened to and for children’s views to be given ‘due
weight’. Lansdown (2001: 2) notes that this brings in ‘a radical and profound challenge to
traditional attitudes, which assume that children should be seen and not heard’ and we might
suggest that with this comes a new outlook on the importance and status of the views of the
child.
Fielding (2006: 299) suggests that there is growing evidence from countries in Australasia,
North America and the United Kingdom of a trend for governments to position consult-
ation with young people about their experience of schooling as central rather than peripheral.
Giving young people a voice and listening to what they have to say, for example through School
Councils, is increasingly seen as fundamental to democratizing schools (Savage and Wood,
2006) and the Office for Standards in Education requires, as part of the inspection process,
that Inspectors ‘take opportunities to talk with groups of pupils, for example year group rep-
resentatives, the school council or other pupils’ forum’ (OFSTED, 2005: 12). A main feature
of inspection is the emphasis now placed on school improvement and the key role of school
self-evaluation including opportunities for input from pupils as well as other stakeholders
(OFSTED, 2005: 4). Indeed, it makes sense to give a voice to children and young people, as key
stakeholders in a school, when it comes to gathering data for school improvement:

The main stakeholders in a school – if we define a stakeholder as someone having a stake in the
school’s success – are of course those who live and work in the school itself. So the pupils have
a principal claim to attention. Indeed, the literature of school improvement and effectiveness is
134 An Introduction to Education Studies

replete with encouragement to involve pupils in decisions about their work and the running of the
school. (Brighouse and Woods, 1999: 150)

Taking seriously the role of children and young people in making decisions about mat-
ters directly related to their experiences and impacting on their lives is part of the policy
context. It is given expression, for example, in the rationale behind the creation of posts
such as a Children’s Rights Director for England and Children’s Commissioner, and is
fundamental to ‘Every Child Matters’. This commitment to finding out what children and
young people think about their experiences is seen as part of what is described as a growing
culture of participation, with insights and ideas from the younger generation recognized
as valuable in potentially shaping services and policies which affect their lives and oth-
ers in the community (Halsey et al., 2006: 5). Children and young people have a unique
perspective to bring and the awareness of the necessity of listening to these voices to gain
different insights and interpretations is a crucial idea. Kellett (2005: 3) has noted that
‘Children ask different questions, have different priorities and concerns and see the world
through different eyes’.
The literature on managing educational change abounds with examples of change that
has not been successfully sustained often because the commitment of those involved had
not been secured. Any educational enterprise needs stakeholders to have opportunities
to shape and develop the changes for successful implementation and sustainability. If the
phrase ‘Every child matters’ means anything then it must mean that children and young
people are seen as people within the school community whose opinions matter and whose
voices must be heard and taken seriously if education is to be personalized to their needs.
Fullan (2001: 151) reminds us that

Students, even little ones, are people too. Unless they have some meaningful (to them) role in the
enterprise, most educational change, indeed most education, will fail. I ask the reader not to think
of students as running the school, but to entertain the following question: What would happen if
we treated the student as someone whose opinion mattered in the introduction and implementa-
tion of reform in schools?

Consulting and involving young people is a key aspect of Every Child Matters (DfES,
2004) and the five outcomes for every child now form a national framework for children’s
services. These five outcomes are

being healthy

staying safe

enjoying and achieving

making a positive contribution

economic wellbeing

The principle of ‘involving children, young people and carers in service design and deliv-
ery and in decisions that affect them’ (DfES, 2005: 6) is a key part of the rationale for
 Listening to Pupils’ Voices 135
service provision for children and young people from birth to age 19 years. The Every
Child Matters framework and the Children Act (2004) are some of the key drivers behind
the appointment of Local Authority Directors of Children’s Services and the creation of
integrated Children’s Services Directorates. Charged with making more effective partner-
ships between all agencies working for children in a local area, local authorities are devel-
oping children and young people’s participation and engagement in planning, delivery and
evaluation of services. This is occurring through formal bodies such as Youth Councils
and Youth Parliaments and less formal events such as opportunities to engage and involve
children and young people across the range of backgrounds and communities represented
in a local area.
The rationale for embracing engagement and participation in this way is threefold:

i) it will empower young people and contribute to the development of skills and attitudes required
for active citizenship
ii) it will improve the quality and effectiveness of services for children and young people
iii) it will make a significant contribution to strengthening a democratic society in which all citizens
play an active positive role

As mentioned above, a central role in making sure that children and young people’s
voices are heard is that given to the Children’s Commissioner for England who will ‘pay
particular attention to gathering and putting forward the views of the most vulnerable
children and young people in society, and will promote their involvement in the work
of organizations whose decisions and actions affect them’. [Link].
uk/aims
As part of its assessment of the effectiveness of Children’s Services, the Office for
Standards in Education (OFSTED) has instituted an annual national survey of children
and young people’s views (Tellus2 Survey) which forms part of the evidence for inspection
of local authorities and their partners.

Activity 10.1 What Are Younger Children’s Views on

the 5 Outcomes?
Read about what children think of these 5 outcomes in a report based on the views of children
from across the country, mostly aged up to 12 years. The data was gathered from the children who
attended a national children’s conference held in 2005 for this purpose. They were asked whether or
not they agreed that the Government’s 5 outcomes are all important to children. The report is entitled
‘Younger Children’s Views on ‘Every Child Matters’ from the 2005 Children’s Rights National Event for
children aged 12 and under.’ This is an opportunity to hear what this age group think. You can down-
load the report from the Commission for Social Care Inspection Children’s website at www.rights4me.
org where you will find it in the Reports Archive section of the ‘Be Heard’ area of the website.
136 An Introduction to Education Studies

Applying a model of participation to

thinking about practice
Something of the rationale underpinning a commitment to listen to the voices of children
and young people has been discussed above. This section will consider consultation and
participation in a range of contexts, both in this country and internationally. For example,
a survey of the opinions of over 10,000 children across East Asia and the Pacific region was
conducted to uncover their views on a range of issues shaping their lives. This has provided
valuable data which has the potential to inform dialogue between children and those whose
decisions and actions affect their lives (UNICEF, 2001a: 12). This will be referred to again
below.
The Ladder of Young People’s Participation (Hart, 1992) provides a useful framework to
help us to reflect on the scope for participation, conceptualized as the rungs on a ladder.
The rungs reflect the extent to which young people actually are involved and engaged. The
lower three rungs are non-participation. The other rungs describe different degrees of par-
ticipation (Figure 10.1).

Activity 10.2 Applying Hart’s Ladder

Read the following summary of the George Mitchell Community School’s ‘Making Learning Better’
scheme, adapted and condensed from an article which appeared in an issue of the Secondary
Headship publication. Reflect on this example, drawing on Hart’s framework to inform your thinking
about this school’s approach to student voice.
Reflect on Hart’s framework and apply it to your thinking about schools or education settings with
which you are familiar. Identify examples of opportunities in these schools and settings for children
and young people to be consulted and to have an active role in sharing in decision-making.

An example of good practice: making learning

better – listening to pupil voice at
George Mitchell Community School
(adapted from Savage and Wood, 2006)
George Mitchell Community School (GMCS) is in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
Its Making Learning Better (MLB) approach to student voice was noted by the OFSTED, as
an outstanding feature. This approach at the school has received national media coverage
which has in turn generated interest from other schools eager to learn from this experience.
Central to the MLB approach at GMCS are the learning consultants – students who are
trained to carry out regular lesson observations and to offer feedback to teachers on how
 Listening to Pupils’ Voices 137
Rung 8 Child-initiated shared decision-making with adults

Rung 7 Child-initiated and led

Rung 6 Adult-initiated, shared decisions with children

Rung 5 Consulted and informed

Rung 4 Assigned but informed

Rung 3 Tokenism*

Rung 2 Decoration*

Rung 1 Manipulation*

* Rungs 1-3 represent non-participation

Figure 10.1 Children’s participation from tokenism to citizenship.

Source: UNICEF Adapted from Hart, R (1992)

to make learning better in the classroom. Both staff and students are seen as key sources
of knowledge about learning. The learning consultants can be viewed as staff developers
who contribute to the development of a shared conversation about learning in the school.
The young people, as learning consultants in MLB play an important part in developing
knowledge and understanding about pedagogy and practice through their evaluations of
the quality of the learning experiences and their feedback to staff.
The young people involved in MLB are trained for their role as learning consultants and
an important part of this role is to question how effective their lessons have been. The train-
ing is therefore in itself a valuable lesson in developing key transferable skills of questioning,
problem-solving, critical thinking and observation skills, as well as interpersonal skills such
as giving feedback. They develop the skills of training peers to act as learning consultants
at other schools, they give presentations about the scheme and through all this they gain
confidence. As one Year 10 learning consultant remarked: ‘We have learned how to talk
to teachers on a more professional level’. Another learning consultant from the same year
added ‘and they listen to us’.
The learning consultant receives a copy of the teacher’s lesson plan several days before the
class they are to observe and, following the observation, feedback is given to the teacher.
Any student can apply to become a learning consultant. They are encouraged to do so
based on how much they enjoy the subject, as this would seem to give them the strongest
motivation to want to improve the way it is taught. Learning consultants come from across
the age and ability range. The school was keen from the outset that being a learning con-
sultant should not be the exclusive domain of the more gifted student. Staff are encouraged
to gain immediate feedback at the end of their lessons by asking pupils for their views in
response to the question ‘How could that lesson have been better?’ This is powerful as it is
instant, direct and provides valuable data for teachers to evaluate their lessons.
138 An Introduction to Education Studies

The learning consultants affirm that MLB changes the learning environment and they
report that their relationship with teachers is good: ‘There’s more respect. They listen.’
So how genuine a ‘voice’ do the students have? The school is keen to avoid tokenistic
gestures and to ensure that what has been put in place is based on shared values. This is a
strategy for quality enhancement by sharing views and explanations of what works in the
classroom. Student voice is key to this. MLB is based on a passionately held belief that only
by harnessing the views of learners can truly personalized learning be guaranteed. The
whole personalized learning agenda is perhaps most central of all to the future evolution
of secondary education in this country, but how can you personalize the learning without
learning from the person at its core?

Engaging students as active researchers

A second example of Good Practice:
A ‘voice’ through research – Students As Researchers (STARS)
(adapted from Lucas and Wood, 2007)
Giving young people a voice in these ways empowers them as active citizens to share respon-
sibility for decision-making. Another example of promoting active citizenship and giving
young people a voice is through engaging them in planning and conducting their own
research enquiries. Traditionally, research has been thought of as something planned and
carried out by adults. This may have been based on assumptions that research is either
too hard for children and young people, or that they lack the skills and maturity needed.
Kellett (2005) has shown how these barriers can be overcome and how children can engage
as active researchers without any dilution of the research process. Kellett’s concern is with
teaching the research process to children. As well as huge learning benefits, research is an
important way in which children can create their own original knowledge.

A vast amount of new knowledge is generated by research and much knowledge is also affirmed
or discredited by research. One of these bodies of knowledge is about children and childhood, yet
it has been constructed almost entirely by adults. . . . Children are acknowledged as experts on
their own lives (Alderson, 2000; Mayall, 2000; Christensen and Prout 2002) and if adults genuinely
want to understand children and childhood, better ways to seek out child perspective and unlock
child voice must be sought. (Kellett, 2005: 2)

Kellett maintains that by empowering children as active researchers, important original

knowledge is generated which can inform our understanding about childhood and chil-
dren’s lives. This is not a perspective on children’s lives as seen and interpreted through
an adult lens. It is an understanding based on children’s own original knowledge which
is gained through their own research enquiries. This idea of creating original and new
knowledge which is uniquely their own is indicated in the name which one of Kellett’s
 Listening to Pupils’ Voices 139
groups of young researchers adopted. This was the ‘Original Knowledge’ club and there-
fore known as the ‘O.K.’ club. During a particular year 9 young researchers in the next
scenario made the same point when commenting that ‘young adults have different views
and perspectives on things’. An example of giving young people a voice through research
is the Students as Researchers (STARS) work at Deptford Green secondary school in the
London borough of Lewisham. The STARS work disproves the notion that research is too
hard for children and that it is therefore best left to adults. STARS engages young people
as active researchers with a voice in the school and the community and the potential to
influence change.
STARS is a vehicle for student voice, promoted within Citizenship as a means of research-
ing and taking forward students’ ideas. The young people’s research projects often have a
focus on ‘change-action’, seeking to make a difference by influencing change in the school
and the community.
In terms of student voice, this has not been tokenistic. The young researchers have,
through their research investigations, prompted and initiated changes. For example,
through their research investigations they have

Investigated and reported on leisure facilities in the area. Their feedback to adults from the commu-
nity, including a representative from the local council, was followed by a major financial investment
by the council into developing leisure facilities in the local park.

organized a recycling scheme in school

investigated problems with the toilets and heating problems in the sports hall and got these fixed

researched, designed and implemented change to three classrooms

Been the catalyst for a road improvement scheme to include pedestrian crossings near the school
and netting put in place by two different railway network companies to prevent birds perching
above the pavement which passed below a railway bridge. The result of these change-actions is
that travel between the two sites is a safer and far more pleasant experience for students.

To make their findings available to a wider audience the young researchers have made pres-
entations to different audiences including the local police, peers, staff at the school, school
governors, local councillors, local authority representatives and the MP.
The question posed by Fullan (2001: 151) asked: ‘What would happen if we treated the
student as someone whose opinion mattered in the introduction and implementation of
reform in schools?’ At Deptford Green student research provided important data for school
improvement and self-evaluation. For example, the STARS research into the causes of poor
behaviour and their recommendations for how this might be improved were based on data
they collected through lesson observations and interviews conducted with staff and peers.
There were some real insights here into behaviour management and a booklet resulted
from this which offered ‘Tips on attitude of teachers from a pupil’s point of view’:

‘We like it when teachers are firm but funny.’

‘We don’t like it when teachers shout at us for no reasons and for the simplest thing.’
140 An Introduction to Education Studies

‘We don’t like the activities and fun parts to take place all at once. Like the end or the start, we like it
to be spread out so pupils don’t get bored.’
‘Teachers should try and get everyone involved in the activities – the teacher should also get involved!’
A number of suggestions followed for strategies to encourage pupils to get more involved in
learning.

Here the voices of young people have been heard by a school which is listening, taking
their views seriously and building this data into evaluation and review to promote improve-
ment. Here is active citizenship embodied as young people are thinking and acting respon-
sibly and playing a key part in the life of the school community. They are enquiring into
issues and topics of importance to them and expressing opinions based on their research
evidence.
The Children’s Research Centre website at the Open University where Dr Kellett is the
Director can be accessed at [Link]/. Here you can see exam-
ples of research studies undertaken by children and young people.

Activity 10.3
There are different ways in which this kind of young researchers’ programme might be provided, for
example as an extracurricular activity or within areas of the curriculum such as Personal, Social and
Health Education (PSHE) and Citizenship (Kellett, 2004). Kellett’s research programmes have included
pupils as young five year olds.

Step 1. Identify possible topics within Citizenship or PSHE where children and young people might
design research projects, collect and analyse data and disseminate their findings (oral or written or
both) for an audience.
Step 2. Produce a diagrammatic overview/map of all the different areas of the topic that you have
chosen and then identify one specific aspect which might form the basis of an enquiry.
Step 3. Draft a possible research question for a small-scale investigation. Remember to keep the
question tightly framed and focused on something very specific within your chosen topic which
you want to find out about. For example, you might decide to focus on interactive learning. The
young researchers at Deptford Green provide us with a model here. They wanted to make lessons
more interactive: ‘We were trying to make lessons interactive to get pupils engaged in the lessons,
to make it better for teachers to teach and learners to learn’ (Year 9 Young Researcher). First, the
student researchers needed clarity about what staff and pupils understood by ‘interactive learning’.
They gathered data from staff and students using questionnaires and lesson observations. They
reported their findings and produced a resource of practical ideas and activities which they called ‘Go
Interactive’ available for staff to draw on when planning lessons.

Here is an example of a diagrammatic representation of different aspects of the topic of

‘Making Learning Fun’ (Figure 10.2). Taking the nature of work at school as an area, one
aspect to focus on might be strategies to promote interactive learning in the classroom.
 Discussions,
Visits,
Space Creative task On-line,
‘Street’ Groupwork,
Home Multimedia.
Drama Interactive
Relationships Class
Relaxed

Location
Nature of work
Climate
Computer Engaging
Interesting
Humorous
Books
‘A good laugh’
Learning–Fun Definition of fun
Medium ‘A skive’
Media Challenging
Newspapers
Useful
TV/Video Relevant
Magazines
Assessment Motivation
Freedom-autonomy
Not assessed
Extrinsic
Formative Pattern of work Task Intrinsic

Listening to Pupils’ Voices

Outcome Grouping Reward
Summative
Oral Satisfaction
Written Praise

Presentation

Figure 10.2 Making learning fun.

141
142 An Introduction to Education Studies

Listening to children’s voices – international

dimensions
Examples of structures and strategies aimed at giving children and young people a voice in
matters affecting them have been considered, in this final section of the chapter children’s
views and opinions informing policy development in a global context will be discussed.
Here are examples of how this has worked for children and young people living in poor
and disadvantaged communities where the provision of opportunities to participate as
active citizens has been empowering. In Lansdown (2001: 28) writes about the Butterflies
Programme of Street and Working Children which involves about 800 children who live
and work on New Delhi’s streets. There is a team of street educators who are central to
gaining the children’s trust and respect and getting them to participate in a range of activ-
ities which include non-formal education, saving schemes, recreational and health, most
of which the children also have some share in planning. An important feature of the pro-
gramme is the monthly Children’s Council meeting to which representatives bring issues
raised by the children so these can be aired. At these Council meetings children can discuss
matters important and relevant to their lives and the principles of active citizenship seem
to be embodied in this. Actions have resulted such as the organization of a Child Workers
Union, a Credit Union and the Child Workers Voice. (Lansdown, 2001: 28)
This is a good example of a programme which is based on ‘forming respectful relation-
ships with the children and enabling them to participate in their own forums to identify the
issues that concern them’ (ibid.). The programme has empowered these children as active
citizens, having experienced negative adult attitudes towards them:

Indeed, the greatest barriers faced by the children are the negative attitudes of many adults: employ-
ers, community members and official bodies who believe that they know best and lack belief in
children’s capacity to participate, and the police and general public who see the children as thieves
rather than individuals struggling to survive. Also, the parents of those children living at home are
often reluctant to allow them to participate in the programmes. Butterflies highlights the need to
educate adults, raising their awareness of the importance of respecting children’s rights and acknow-
ledging children’s own active participation in the exercise of those rights (Lansdown, 2001: 28).

A key point is that this is described as an example of ‘self-advocacy’ which is ‘a process

of empowering children themselves to take action to address those issues that they see as
important’ (Lansdown, 2001: 26).

Activity 10.4
From the brief synopsis given here, what would you suggest might be some of the features of a pro-
gramme of ‘self-advocacy’? What do you suggest would be an appropriate role for adults to have?

 Listening to Pupils’ Voices 143

Compare your ideas with the following characteristics:

the issues of concern are identified by children themselves

the role of adults is to facilitate, not lead

the process is controlled by children (Lansdown, 2001: 27)

The UNICEF regional survey (2001a) of the views of children in the East Asia and Pacific
Region involved a sample of over 10,000 children between the ages of 9 and 17 years and
covered 17 countries and territories in this region. The survey wanted to provide an oppor-
tunity for children’s voices to be heard on a range of many different topics such as, for
instance, relationships with parents, teachers and school, the values they hold, dangers of
drugs and HIV/AIDS, and feeling safe in their communities, in order to gain a better under-
standing of children’s opinions. Driven by a desire to give children a forum through which
they can be heard, an important goal of this survey was that they would not only be heard
but that their views would provide a better understanding of what children think about
the world they are growing up in and the issues they face. The survey therefore provides ‘a
glimpse into the hearts and minds of children’ and data to inform and influence how future
policies that affect children and young people are developed.
The aim was that the release of the survey’s full results would promote even greater debate
and serve to inform governments and policy-makers, as well as parents and community
leaders, and encourage them to give their children more active roles in decision-making
processes. (UNICEF, 2001a: 9)

Activity 10.5
Find out about the C8 Children’s Forum 2005. The website tells us:

In July 2005, in the run-up to the G8 summit, young people from eight of the world’s poor-
est countries met with young people from G8 countries. This meeting, organized by UNICEF,
was called the C8 Children’s Forum. Together, they produced Children for Change, a set of
recommendations for the G8 leaders, calling for a better, fairer world for children everywhere.
[Link]/uk/pages/5/348

Conclusion
In this chapter the role of listening to and understanding the views expressed by children
and young people has been discussed, arguing that this makes good sense in terms of more
informed and effective decision-making on matters affecting their lives. In terms of the
144 An Introduction to Education Studies

Butterflies Programme, for example, Lansdown (2001: 28) noted that

The programme demonstrates not only that children are capable of participating and contributing
towards the development and running of programmes, but also that programmes are more effect-
ive when children are directly involved.

Furthermore, taking their views seriously shows respect for children and young people and
tells them that their ideas and opinions do count. The concept of ‘voice’ has been set within
a wider policy framework and we have explored some practical examples drawn from school
settings and from a wider global view, where listening to and consulting with children and
young people is taken as fundamentally important to the principle of active citizenship and
participation in schools and communities and wider society.

Summary/key points

listening to and understanding the voices of children and young people is important

involving children and young people in decision-making on matters which affect their lives is important and has
been considered against the backdrop of the wider policy framework

some practical examples of young people’s participation in their schools and communities have been suggested

References
Brighouse, T and Woods, D (1999) How to Improve Your School. London: Routledge
Commission for Social Care Inspection (2005) ‘Younger children’s views on ‘Every Child Matters’ from the 2005
Children’s Rights National Event for Children aged 12 and under’, Newcastle upon Tyne: The Children’s Rights
Team. Available at: [Link] (accessed 17 September 2007)
Department for Education and Skills (2004) ‘Every child matters: change for children in schools’, Nottingham: DfES
Publications
Department for Education and Skills (2005) ‘Common core of skills ad knowledge for the children’s workforce’,
Nottingham: DfES Publications
Fielding, M (2006) ‘Leadership, radical student engagement and the necessity of person-centred education’,
International Journal of Leadership in Education, 9(4) 299–313
Fullan, M (2001) The New Meaning of Educational Change. London: RoutledgeFalmer & Teachers College Press
Halsey, K, Murfield, J, Harland, J and Lord, P (2006) The Voice of Young People: an engine for improvement? Scoping the
evidence. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research
Hart, R (1992) ‘Children’s participation from tokenism to citizenship’, Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
[Link]/publications/pdf/childrens_participation.pdf (accessed 19 January 2008)
Kellett, M (2005) How to Develop Children as Researchers. London: Paul Chapman
Kellett, M (2004) ‘The research challenge’, in Teaching Thinking and Creativity. Summer 2004 [Link].
com (accessed 21 September 2007)
Lansdown, G (2001) ‘Promoting children’s participation in democratic decision-making’, Florence: UNICEF Innocenti
Research Centre [Link]/publications/pdf/[Link] (accessed 22 September 2007)
 Listening to Pupils’ Voices 145
Lucas, D and Wood, M (2007) Students as Researchers: Making a Difference at Deptford Green Secondary School.
Secondary Headship
McKee, D (1998) Not Now Bernard. Harlow: Longman
Morgan, R (2005) Younger Children’s Views on “Every Child Matters”. Newcastle upon Tyne: Commission for Social
Care Inspection
Office for Standards in Education (2005) ‘Framework 2005: Framework for the Inspection of Schools in England from
September 2005’, London: OFSTED. [Link] (accessed 29 September 2007)
Saint-Exupery, A (1974) The Little Prince. London: Pan Books
Savage, M and Wood, M (2006) Making Learning Better: Listening to Pupil Voice. Secondary Headship Issue 48
United Nations Children’s Fund (2001a) Speaking Out! Voices of children and adolescents in East Asia and the Pacific.
Bangkok: UNICEF
United Nations Children’s Fund (2001b) Young Voices: Opinion Survey of Children and Young People in Europe and
Central Asia. Geneva: United Nations Children’s Fund

Further reading
Department for Children, Schools and Families (2008) ‘Working together. Listening to the voices of children and
young people’, Available at: [Link]/publications
Pulley, H and Jagger, L (2006) ‘. . . and the pupil said. Learning from pupil voice to guide a more personalized approach
to learning and teaching’, Available at: [Link]

Useful websites
[Link]/evidenceforeducation/[Link]?page=338 – Evidence for Education CfBT Education Trust
website.
The National Foundation for Educational Research (2006) undertook a literature review of the impact of the
voice of young people in education and the report was entitled ‘The voice of young people: an engine for improve-
ment? Scoping the evidence.’ You can download a summary of this literature review or the full report from the CfBT
Education Trust website.
[Link] – The website of the Children’s Research Centre based at the Open
University.
[Link]/ – Department for Children, Schools and Families website about Every Child Matters.
[Link]/coolplanet/kidsweb – Oxfam Cool Planet website Oxfam GB’s website for children and
teachers.
[Link]/ – The United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF works internationally for children’s rights.
[Link]/ – UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.
[Link]/voy/ – The Voices of Youth area of the UNICEF website.

Useful internet search terms

participation
pupil voice
146 An Introduction to Education Studies

young researchers
active citizenship
student researchers
listening to children and young people
children and decision-making
 Education Beyond Schools
Les Hankin 11
Chapter Outline
Introduction 147
Survival 148
The reach of the learning society 149
A brief historical outline of developments 150
Widening participation 152
Higher education and the knowledge society 153
Problems 154
Challenging the learning society 155
The sectors of learning beyond school in the United Kingdom 155
Conclusion 156

Introduction
Education beyond schools is generally taken to refer to sectors of learning that fall beyond
the stages of compulsory education. These include further education, higher education,
workplace learning and the whole vast arena of adult learning in formal and informal,
social and cultural settings. The problems of describing this part of the educational land-
scape, with its seemingly limitless contours, say much about the shifting concept of educa-
tion and its place in all our lives.
Not so long ago it was clear what Education was for. It was about schooling and it was
about youth. There were few opportunities for many young people to progress beyond or
outside the four high walls of the school. That picture has changed out of all recognition.
Indeed one of the drivers in the resurgence of Education Studies as an essential subject in
148 An Introduction to Education Studies

its own right is the growing recognition of governments that education must go beyond
schools. This principle, known by the shorthand term lifelong learning, is now essential to
the rhetoric of formal educational policy and practice as well as being an everyday informal
reality for all of us. The United Kingdom now has its own minister for lifelong learning,
located in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and charged with making
learning-without-limits an opportunity for all.

Activity 11.1
Visit the DIUS website and find out about the roles and responsibilities of this minister – [Link].
[Link]/

Lifelong learning is a worldwide phenomenon of such power that the International

Commission on Education for the Twenty-first century, reporting to UNESCO, enshrines
the belief in education throughout life as the principle organizing factor for the future. It
must rest upon four pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and
learning to be (Delors et al., 2007). Such formulations place great expectations on each
of us as learners, not only that we will develop self-reliance and skills, but that we will
become socially mobile and economically active while living virtuously and in harmony in
an increasingly precarious world. They also demand that every one of us should recognize
each event in our lives as a learning opportunity and that “every individual must be in a
position to keep learning throughout [their] life” (Faure, 1972: 181).

Survival
The increasing complexity of the world, with the demands it makes on our autonomy, cre-
ativity and ability to work cooperatively, requires a commitment from each of us to learn
again and anew across our lifespan (Aspin 2007). With our useful working lives expand-
ing, schools are no longer sufficient for this great task and the efforts being made to extend
students’ time in formal education, as well as to energize informal education, are to do not
just with economic survival but also with fairness, as countries transform themselves into
knowledge-based economies. What nation would not want a civilized, inclusive society,
with a skilled workforce? But which is the priority?
The economic argument is pressing and the need for national workforce planning may
never have been greater. A demographic time-bomb can be heard ticking, so that one day
soon there may be more retired people than the working population can support. The fear
of such imbalances has been with us for hundreds of years (Midwinter, 2004) but there is
growing evidence that a skills crisis looms in the United Kingdom, with not enough young
 Education Beyond Schools 149
people coming through to take over all the high-skill jobs of the baby boomer generation as
it fades into the sunset. The United Kingdom’s potential to meet its future skills-needs trails
behind its neighbours despite prodigious efforts to form a high-skills economy behind an
expansion of higher education (Leitch, 2006). This is in a country where one in five people
cannot use the yellow pages to find a plumber and where the number of young people Not
in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) is said to have grown by 15 per cent since
the turn of this century.

Activity 11.2
Visit the poverty website ([Link]/18/[Link]) for a visual sense of NEET. You will
find links there to relevant government policies. In particular, follow the link to the report for the
Department for Children, Schools and Families entitled Young people not in education, employment
or training: evidence from the Education Maintenance Allowance Database. Read this.

The nature of work is changing profoundly as we move away from the industrial age.
Fewer people are needed in the manufacturing and production sectors. New knowledge-
based industries demand high added-value capability in IT communication and higher lit-
eracy, as well as problem-solving and interpersonal skills. Futurologists argue that there
will also be a huge demand for unskilled workers and that this will exacerbate inequalities
and tensions between the skilled and unskilled (Dryden and Vos, 2005). The nature of jobs
is changing: they are becoming less lifelong and more episodic and short-term, uncoupled
from single-career security and pensions. What is generally agreed is that now more than
ever learning enhances earnings and job prospects. As well as this, all these fundamental
shifts in what constitutes a ‘working life’ require us to rethink the place of employment in
our lives and the extent to which it can still satisfy our psychological and emotional needs
as well as our prosperity.

The reach of the learning society

There seems little doubt among policy-makers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere that
learning beyond school helps maintain the social fabric all the way from the cradle to the
grave. Sure Start runs programmes designed to educate parents and carers in the widest
sense. Adult education is at the heart of the national mental-health strategy. The neigh-
bourhood renewal strategy sees continued learning as essential for communities fighting
to overcome social exclusion. Taking part in learning is claimed to increase racial toler-
ance, give you a better chance of giving up smoking, and prolong your active life in retire-
ment, delaying the so-called ‘fourth age’ of dependence. Research by such bodies as the
150 An Introduction to Education Studies

Wider Benefits of Learning research centre at London University gives substance to these
claims.
The government has recognized lifelong learning as ‘a fundamental shift from a “once
in a lifetime” approach . . . to one of educational progression linked to a process of con-
tinuous personal and professional development’ (White Paper on Higher Education, 2003).
Increasingly significant is the concept of ‘flexible retirement’. This allows the employee to
negotiate the age and length of time they take to retire as well as the nature and intensity of
the work they do up to that point. It is said to remove the ‘cliff edge’, the trauma of going
from full to no employment overnight. As a strategic response to demographic change, it
gives them time to pass on their ‘corporate knowledge’ to succeeding generations as well as
dignifying their transition to a productive and learning ‘third age’.
Those school walls, like so many other barriers, have been dissolved by the global informa-
tion age and the relentless internet revolution of the digital society. All these now taken-for-
granted advances mark a paradigm shift in the learning process and in access to knowledge,
which can be picked up instantly at the point of need. Knowledge is said to have changed as a
construct. No longer absolute, stable and permanent, it has become like the web on which it
proliferates: experimental, problem-orientated and open to challenge and change. As a con-
sequence, learning can no longer be driven by old forms of teaching, as it has become more
student-centred, self-directed and highly differentiated to individual needs, learning styles
and pace. It has formed no less than a ‘new educational order’ (Field, 2006).
The internet has emerged at just the right historical moment, since the resources are not
there to lifelong-teach the lifelong-taught in any formal sense. It has shifted the focus from
the teacher to the learner, who can actively customize content to their needs. They can search
for high-quality training opportunities often linked to occupational standards and national
qualifications and, by learning anywhere where they can find an internet connection, they can
overcome the barriers of cash and time poverty, childcare costs and employment downtime.

A brief historical outline of developments

The phenomenon of learning beyond school has changed considerably as national, inter-
national and individual needs have transformed its characteristics and rationale. It rests on
a long tradition of learning for self-realization and betterment and to improve the quality of
people’s lives. Many great thinkers have taught themselves of course, autodidacts who have
relied on the growing wonders of libraries, books and now the Net to furnish their minds.
Adult groups emerged such as the Workers’ Educational Association. Founded early in the
twentieth century to help people realize their full potential in a democratic society through
learning, it has a particular concern for ‘those who have missed out on education’ and is
now the largest voluntary provider of adult education (WEA, 2007).
Lifelong learning in its current form has taken shape over the last half century. UNESCO’s
commitment to ‘lifelong education’, as long ago as 1965, was heralded as ‘the master concept
for educational policies in the years to come for both developed and developing countries’
 Education Beyond Schools 151
(Faure et al., 1972: 182). This came at a time when formal schooling was under sustained
critique from influential thinkers who judged the institution to be irrelevant, divisive,
‘dead’ (Illich, 1970; Reimer, 1971).
An OECD report of 1973 argued for radical change in the distribution of educational
opportunities to overcome disconnections between education and the world of work as
well as deep and troubling concerns about efficiency and morale in secondary education
systems. The report urged governments not to strive to extend the initial period of school-
ing but to set up educational patterns that would enable adults to return periodically to
learning throughout their lifetimes. Such a remodelling, which might have overcome inter-
generational injustice, was not adopted (Istance et al., 2002). Instead all countries opted to
delay young people’s transition to working life by retaining them for longer in the formal
system. OECD’s comparative performance indicators show that over half of high school
graduates in its member countries go on to higher education at some point, against a figure
of just one in ten less than half a century ago. The United Kingdom now requires all young
people to have educational opportunities up to the age of 18 and has set a target for 50 per
cent to experience an expanded higher education system. This is its so-called Widening
Participation strategy.
Labour had come to power at the end of the twentieth century propelled by a belief that
education could be transformative: it had to be about more than learning for work for all
except the favoured few. It needed to help people enrich their lives and those of their com-
munities, to help them help their children and to prolong their purposeful active lives. It
must address the intractable issues of the age, such as poorly educated people trapped on
the minimum wage, teenage mothers, the pervasive discrimination of the learning disabled,
the difficulties of minority ethnic groups who may need language skills to participate in full
community life and to gain the skills needed for employability.
The government’s introduction of individual learning accounts was a way of encour-
aging and contributing to the costs of people’s education, Even as it was derailed by fraud
it did uncover a huge demand for learning, as long as people could choose for themselves
what, where and when they could learn. The government went further with initiatives to
develop learning for adults in the poorest communities. Its Skills for Life strategy, which
offers people with low skills the chance to improve them, has already given more than three
million people opportunities to improve their literacy, numeracy and language skills.
The costs of these initiatives had to be met, largely by appeals to government, individ-
uals and employers to invest more. Subsidies were offered to employers to offset training
costs against a background of increasing fees, with much of the new provision financed
through cuts in other areas of adult learning. All this took its toll and the Learning and
Skills Council, the government body created ‘to make England better skilled and more
competitive’, monitored declines from those heady days across further education, adult and
community learning (LSC, 2007). Labour was accused of abandoning its vision for lifelong
and life-wide learning for all, substituting utilitarianism, narrowing its effective support to
employers and to people seeking certain qualifications.
152 An Introduction to Education Studies

These movements have influenced the concept of the Educated Person. This notional
social archetype is expected to form the heart of society as never before, as custodian and
embodiment of knowledge, values, beliefs and commitments in the new knowledge society.
Such a person will increasingly be someone who has learned how to learn, and continues to
learn throughout their lifetime, especially in and out of formal education (Drucker, 1993).
If we accept that the Educated Person is a construct necessary for the health of society and
of individuals, we must address questions about agency, culture, the negotiated nature of
education and identity and the role of school and university as sites of cultural (re)produc-
tion (Levinson et al., 1996).

Widening participation
As suggested above, widening access to post-compulsory education, and most particularly
widening participation, has become a central plank of policy designed to make educational
opportunity fairer for all. Widening participation ‘for social justice and economic com-
petitiveness’, to give its full expression as set out in the government’s white paper on the
future of higher education (DfES, 2003), has modulated with changes in the conditions for
students and persistent evidence of the intractable nature of the educational class divide.
Widening participation is an attractive doctrine because it appears to reconcile the object-
ives of social justice, social efficiency and social mobility as it assaults the barriers to an
education-based meritocracy.
Widening participation policy puts pressure on higher education institutions to widen
their reach and to recruit more evenly, particularly in terms of social class and ethnic heritage,
within the ambit of a learning society. Its accepted meaning covers activity aimed at creating a
higher education system that includes as of right ‘all who can benefit from it’ (Allen and Storan,
2005: 3). It addresses deep concerns about social-class differentials in participation rates: the
wealthier socio-economic classes continue to dominate university populations. Widening par-
ticipation denotes action to encourage potential students from under-represented groups to
contemplate and then succeed in higher education. These groups include

low participation neighbourhoods

black and minority ethnic communities

lower socio-economic groups, specifically social classes 111m-V

mature students and students progressing from Further Education routes

disabled students

families with little or no experience of higher education

While the number of applicants to Higher Education has increased despite the imposition
of tuition fees, the least favoured groups continue to lose ground and the reach of stu-
dents’ academic ambition and success appears stubbornly governed by that of their parents
(UCAS, 2007; HECSU, 2007). A family history of Higher Education experience appears
 Education Beyond Schools 153
significantly more likely to normalize it and provide moral support and encouragement for
students’ ambitions and aspirations.
The white paper states its concern as being to change the class bias of Higher Education
and enabling students to complete their studies successfully, rather than with increasing
numbers. There are ethical issues that need to be considered however.
The sentiment for widening access and participation is nearly as old as state education,
but it emerged as a determinant in higher education in the post-war reforms of the 1940s,
intended to treat children of all social classes equally. With the introduction of mandatory
grants for higher education, social justice demanded that university entrance become an
impartial, exam-driven process (Anderson, 1992). Widening participation first registers as
a label for a specific strand of government policy in the debate around lifelong learning as
advanced by Dearing for higher education (NCIHE, 1997) and by Kennedy and Fryer for
further and continuing education in the same year.

Higher education and

the knowledge society
The recent transformation of Higher Education is a phenomenon that has been experienced
right across the world. Change has been forced by a set of radicalizing and interrelated
pressures, including expansion of the sector (‘massification’), the changing student profile,
pressures from industry, increased competition and information technology capability.
Changes in the funding of institutions and their student populations have intersected
with this shift from elite to mass systems of higher education, that necessarily draw from a
much larger and more diversified student pool. The effects of the technology revolution in
mediating knowledge to the so-called learning (or knowledge) society cannot be underesti-
mated. To call it a knowledge society is to move universities ‘absolutely centre stage’, loaded
with society’s expectations and therefore required to anticipate, engage with and help form
them (Coldstream, 2003: 4).
All these challenges and opportunities have made possible the emergence of new forms
of educational institutions, many of them venerable colleges baptized anew as universities,
against a background in which the shifting concept of the university and of lifelong learning
are under sustained critique. Where the university might once have been immune to mar-
ket pressures in its dedication to the pursuit of pure culture, Readings (1997) has famously
described it as an institution in ruins, raddled by consumerist ideology and forced to prod-
uce graduates more as objects than subjects.
The higher education sector is more than ever expected to play an effective and democ-
ratizing role in the knowledge economy, redistributing as well as creating wealth, cultural
resources and life opportunities. UK government policy has played on the dual themes of
‘opportunity and responsibility’, declared innocent of dogma, ideology and hangovers from
154 An Introduction to Education Studies

past settlements, as a strictly meritocratic programme is forged. This derives from the all-EU
Agreement of 2001 (Lisbon Strategy) which, by resolving to draw more of those within its
populations into education, is perceived as integral to the mechanisms for European sur-
vival (CEU, 2001). The equation of educational attainment with economic growth is an
irrefutable assumption of all governments’ policy (OECD, 2004).

Problems
Among the many problems associated with such a grand social project is that it largely rules
out age as one of those social categories, along with race/ethnicity, social class, sexuality and
gender, where under-representation resides. The tensions between policy and individual sub-
jectivity need also to be considered, since the right of individuals to choose and their subse-
quent engagement and retention are major factors. A paradox has been identified where the
expansion of Higher Education may have been accompanied by a ‘deepening of educational
and social stratification and the emergence of new forms of inequality’, as betrayed by the
actual choices and movements of students into higher education (Reay et al., 2005: vii).
Changes in the general student demographic include marked increases in the proportions
of female students (against male), the rise of part-time, mostly mature, entrants, and the
slowly increasing participation of young people from minority ethnic backgrounds. Against
these can be set a persistent under-representation of certain minority groups, those with dis-
ability, looked-after young people and those entering from vocational routes. Most obstin-
ate is the strong negative link between socio-economic deprivation and participation. It is in
the nature of Widening participation to attract a greater proportion of students with strong
community and family ties, who choose not to leave home to pursue their studies and whose
choice of institution is governed as much as anything by prosaic social factors such as bus
routes. An impression can be gained that widening participation, along with other aspects
of the social agenda promoting equality of opportunity, is entirely ethically secure because
it is a good thing, legitimated through the weight of commitment shown by governments
and universities. It is striking to note however how little power and voice the subjects of the
grand Widening participation project are given. The expansion of access rests on the moral
and practical assumption that it is inherently desirable and beneficial to the individual,
hampered only by their low aspirations and achievement.
Aspiration appears however to be the province of the adult: the white paper is ‘about aspir-
ation. We must have the highest aspirations for every child whatever their talents and ability’.
Young people’s refusal to conform entirely to the drive to extend their formal education is
usually represented as low aspiration whereas it might be more fairly characterized as different
aspiration (Watts and Bridges, 2006). Corrosive labels like NEET, as used earlier in this chap-
ter, are applied to demonstrate to such people that resistance to an economic enabling agenda
is increasingly seen as culpable and inimical to society’s (and the individual’s) progress.
The drive for wider participation and the massification of higher education are making
Higher Education a normal experience and are turning it into a rite of passage for young people
 Education Beyond Schools 155
as they enter adulthood and adapt to civic responsibility. In this way university becomes both
norm and normative. The wider ambition on which it rests increases the responsibility of
university education to offer more than the promise of a greater rate of private individual
economic and social return. This has been used shamelessly to encourage school students to
invest in Higher Education but it is increasingly challenged along with the accepted linkage
between national levels of education and a nation’s economic success (Wolf, 2002).

Challenging the learning society

The constructs ‘Learning Society’ and ‘Knowledge Society’, even the ‘Learning Age’, evoke
visions of an open society, where development of self for the benefit of others is encouraged
by policy that is enlightened, resolute and robust enough to fuse the worlds of work and learn-
ing, allowing a new consensus to emerge on the aims and purposes of education. Along with
lifelong learning, these terms are contested however for the narrow link they claim between
learning opportunity and social capital (Field, 2005). Both are seen as key attributes of modern
societies, as they have matured from being idealized and elusive concepts of reform to become
human capital-based, utilitarian models (Schuetze, 2006: 293). The most significant character-
istic of lifelong learning may turn out to be that it is driven by economic imperatives, where its
agenda for upskilling the workforce would be good for widening participation generally.
The prominence given to self-reliance, skills and social mobility is said to come at the
expense of the wider needs of society (Edwards, 1997; Edwards et al., 2002). Some interpret-
ations see the construct not so much as self-evident good but as social control. There may be
visible signs of this effect in the phenomenon of the reluctant learner in higher education.
You may well have encountered disgruntled students who feel forced to remain in institu-
tional learning by negative incentives: the cost of not participating in university education
is displacement within a labour market calibrated ever more exclusively for graduates.
More or less subtle reconstructions of lifelong learning have been interpreted as obscur-
ing the subtext of economic compulsion, nourishment and duty through a rebranding or
‘remoralisation’ of it in a shift of policy emphasis (Selwyn and Gorard, 2003). Its trans-
formative potential, at the level of civic engagement, cohesion and general quality of life,
may be linked to the economic impacts for the individual and the wider community, but the
social and cultural benefits often appear as secondary concerns (Brennan et al., 2006).

The sectors of learning beyond

school in the United Kingdom
Lifelong Learning UK is the Sector Skills Council responsible for the professional devel-
opment of all those working in community learning and development, further education,
higher education, libraries, archives and information services, and work-based learning,
areas traditionally used to competing with each other for limited funds.
156 An Introduction to Education Studies

Further Education, the sector closest to schools but seen as their very poor older cousin,
has its own improvement strategy, Success for All, whose work includes pursuing teaching
and learning resources for college staff developing the subjects covered by the new special-
ized diplomas in the 14–19 sector.
A number of agencies, such as the Learning Skills Council and the Quality Improvement
Agency, work to maintain standards. Lifelong Learning UK is the new sector skills council
for the learning and skills workforce.
Ufi Ltd is the government-backed lifelong learning initiative, known best for learndirect,
its nationwide network of online learning and information services.
Volunteering England, which encourages and coordinate volunteering activity as civic
engagement, is recognized as contributing to the lifelong learning agenda, particularly since
volunteers often regard their work as a learning experience.
At the end of the spectrum is the University of the Third Age (U3A) whose founding
principles are to ‘assail the dogma of intellectual decline with age. For those who have learnt
freedom from work, it should provide the resources to develop their intellectual and cul-
tural lives’. A network of over five hundred autonomous U3As across the country gather in
homes or halls to devise their own courses of study.

Activity 11.3
Find out and compare the aims and courses available from the WEA, Learning Skills Council, Lifelong
Learning UK and the University of the Third Age.

Activity 11.4
The International Journal for Lifelong Education may be accessible through your university’s library
resources. Along with similar journals on comparative education, it explores the principles and prac-
tice of lifelong, adult, continuing, recurrent and initial education and learning in all their settings.
Sample it to get a sense of the themes that are common across cultures, including the interplay
between active citizenship, personal fulfilment, employability and economic development. Another
accessible journal is Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning – [Link]/journal/

Conclusion
Education beyond schools, lifelong learning, education over the lifecourse, all these excit-
ing, visionary yet imprecise terms acknowledge that, as never before, learning is now much
 Education Beyond Schools 157
more than schooling. It is a habit of mind, essential for economic and spiritual survival.
As Sutherland and Crowther put it, ‘global economic processes, environmental disasters,
terrorism, insecurity at work and the geo-politics of conflict have heightened our sense of
uncertainty and of being trapped by forces we know little about and which seem beyond
our control’ (2006: 3). These authors propose the need for a ‘lifelong learning imagin-
ation’ a process by which we each understand our personal circumstances and the habits
of mind, knowledge and skills we possess, an imagination that will enable us as individuals
to grow as society shifts all around us and to seize every opportunity to educate ourselves.
This is perhaps the real message of the discourse of lifelong learning.

Summary

the meaning of education has changed as ideas of lifelong learning have taken hold globally

economic as well as social pressures are shaping the learning society, interpreted through government action in
the United Kingdom as in every other country

currents of learning that have brought us to this point have been outlined

the archetype of the educated person was explored as it might be essential for the health of any society. The wid-
ening participation movement in higher education can be a lever for social justice, efficiency and mobility

purposeful learning exists in cultures other than the United Kingdom

lifelong learning is a state of mind, an ‘imagination’ to which we all must subscribe

References
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on Access
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Aspin, D (2007) ‘The ontology of values and values education’, in Aspin, D and Chapman, J (eds), Values Education
and Lifelong Learning. Dordrecht: Springer
Brennan, J, Little, B and Locke, W (2006) ‘Higher education’s effects on disadvantaged groups and communities’,
Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, the Open University
Coldstream, P (2003) ‘Engagement: an unfolding debate’, in Bjarnason, S and Coldstream, P (eds), The Idea of
Engagement: Universities and Society. London: Association of Commonwealth Universities
CEU (Commission of the European Communities) (2000) Memorandum on lifelong learning, Commission Staff
Working Paper, Brussels
CEU (Council of the European Union) (2001) ‘Report from Education Council on the concrete future objectives of
education and training systems’, 5980/01. Educ 23. Brussels: CEU
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Drucker, P (1993) Post-capitalist Society. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann
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Dryden, G and Vos, J (2005) The New Learning Revolution: How Britain Can Lead the World in Learning, Education and
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Edwards, R, Ranson, S and Strain, M (2002) ‘Reflexivity: towards a theory of lifelong learning’, International Journal
of Lifelong Education, 21(6), 525–36
Faure, E, Herrera, F, Kaddoura, A, Petrovsky, A, Rahnenla, M and Ward, F (1972) ‘Learning to be: the world of educa-
tion today and tomorrow’, Paris: UNESCO International Commission on the Development of Education
Field, J (2005) Social Capital and Lifelong Learning. London: Polity Press
Field, J (2006) Lifelong Learning and the New Educational Order. Stoke: Trentham
Fryer, R (1997) Learning for the Twenty-First Century: First Report of the National Advisory Group for Continuing
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HECSU (2007) Futuretrack: [Link]
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Kennedy, H (1997) ‘Learning works: widening participation in further education’, Coventry, the Further Education
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Kinder, K, Wakefield, A and Wilkin, A (1996) Talking Back: Pupil Views on Disaffection. Slough. NFER
Learning and Skills Council (2007) [Link]/ (accessed 31 October 2007)
Leitch, S (2006) ‘Review of skills: prosperity for all in the global economy: world class skills’, final report. London:
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 Education Beyond Schools 159
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Further reading
Baveye, P (2008) ‘Designing university courses to promote lifelong learning’, International Journal of Innovation and
Learning, 5(4), 378–93. This suggests how a course might look if it were specifically designed to prepare you for a
life of sustained self-directed learning
Evans, N (2003) Making sense of Lifelong Learning. London: RoutledgeFalmer. This has strong sections relating lifelong
learning to Widening Participation

Useful websites
Apart from those websites mentioned in the text above, useful stable sources include:
[Link]/ – The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) sees its work on further and
higher education, innovation, science and technology, intellectual property, and supporting evidence-based
policy-making as essential to national prosperity because success in a rapidly changing world will only come ‘if
we develop the skills of our people to the fullest possible extent, carry out world class research and scholarship,
and apply both knowledge and skills to create an innovative and competitive economy’.
[Link]/ – This site ‘exploring informal education, lifelong learning and social action’ has updated articles on
many of the descriptors of education beyond schools.
[Link]/ittreforms/[Link] – Lifelong Learning UK is the sector skills council for staff working in the sector.
This gives a strong sense of the opportunities in this field and the qualifications now needed to work in it.

Useful search terms

Key words from this chapter will guide you towards sites giving a sense of this fast-moving area:

active learning
continuing education
extended education
informal education
the learning age
the learning rich and the learning poor
life-wide learning
purposeful learning
personalized learning
widening participation and access
workplace learning
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 Index

abuse 7, 44, 83, 103–6, 109, 114 disruptive 56, 69, 72, 81, 108, 123, 139
discriminatory 113 management 43, 70, 74, 80
financial or material 113 patterns 110
indicators 108 school environment 119
intervention and prevention 8, 107 bias 34–5, 153
interviewing children 113 body language 70, 109
monitoring and recording concerns 109–10 boys 68, 123
access to knowledge 150 attainment 49–61, 119
accountability 34, 123 black 123
adult learning 151 exclusion 123
adult status 117, 129 brain functions 6
affective education 79 Buckingham, D. (2007) 18
allied educational professionals 91–2 bullying 50, 54–5
educational social workers 98–100
learning mentors 94–5 child protection 103–12
skills and knowledge required 93 training 106, 108
teachers 7, 100 child protection policy 103, 105, 108, 114
teaching assistants 7, 95–7 childhood
training 93 age of responsibility 43–4
apprenticeships 126 children
assessment 26, 29–30, 36, 57, 76–7, 92, as active researchers 138, 142
103, 135 decision making 132, 134
different forms 17 empowerment 142
normative 82 rights 133
attainment Children Act (1989) 7, 42
biological differences 57, 59 Children Act (2004) 135
differences 56 Children’s Commissioner for England 48, 135
attitudes children’s council 142
to learning 30 children’s services 134
to school 30, 116, 123, 125 Children’s Workforce Development
to teachers 139 Council (CWDC) 94
circle time 77
behaviour 107 class teaching 34–5, 79, 81
change 109 classrooms 72, 76, 88, 92, 95, 139
162 Index

Comenius 28 education system 6–8, 29, 32–3, 38, 52–3, 58, 68,
community learning 155 122, 125, 152
comparative education see disciplines constraints 7
compulsory education 8, 20, 50–1, 61, 100, educational attainment 55–6, 154
118–19, 122, 127, 147 educational change 25, 36, 83, 134
contexts 1, 7, 9, 25, 30, 33–4, 66, 70, 74, 79, 82, educational opportunities 151
128, 136 educational social workers see allied educational
cost-effectiveness 31 professionals
Crowther Report (1959) 58 educational support workers 92
curriculum 3, 19, 28–9, 36, 40, 57, 68, 74, 76–8, emotional intelligence 68, 77
81, 89, 108, 119–20, 128, 140 emotional issues 64, 77, 82
academic 127 emotions 65
disaffection 120 empathic approach 79
in Germany 30 empathy 68
reform 74, 81, 127 class size 75
subjects 14, 27 constraints 74–7
curriculum 76
demographic change 150 definition 66–7
dialectical thinking 15, 19, 21 emotion 68
disaffection 8, 74, 95, 119, 121–4, 128 facial expression 70
being in control 121 feigned 70, 74
factors contributing to 117, 128 functional 73–4
individual relationships 124 fundamental 69–71
initiatives to combat 128 hidden curriculum 74
school curriculum 8, 120, 125 language and voice tone 71
solutions 128 learning contexts 74
teachers 119, 129 multicultural education 68
disciplines 2 physical distance 70
comparative education 2–3, 5–6, 24–38, 156 profound 71–3
global education 2 Rogers (1975) 67–8
history of education 2, 4–5, 7, 26 teacher empathy 68, 71, 75, 82
philosophy of education 2, 3, 5, 18–19 teacher quality 76
psychology 2–3, 5, 17, 19, 41, 82 employers 19, 125, 127, 142, 151
sociology 2, 5, 9, 41 engagement and participation 135
disengagement 119, 125, 128 ethical codes 39, 41–2, 44, 46
ethics 3, 6, 39–48
economic competition 31 ethnicity 4, 49
education Every Child Matters 7, 9, 42, 68, 88, 100, 103,
cross-national studies 31 115, 134–5
definitions 1, 34, 148 Excellence and Enjoyment (DfES, 2003) 105
purposes and aims 4 Excellence in Cities (EiC) programme 94–5
Education Reform Act 1988 30, 34 exclusion 8, 56, 95, 119, 124–5, 129, 149
education studies 1, 5, 13, 17, 19, 147–8 importance of 125
different to other subjects 13 numbers 124
and opinion 14
personal experiences 14, 55 faith schools 20, 42
research 14, 22, 47 feminist thinking 66
 Index 163
further education 13, 88, 93, 102, 105, 113, 127, knowledge 138, 150
147, 151–2, 156 knowledge society 9, 147, 153, 155

Gardner, Howard (1993) 17 league tables 32, 35–6, 123

GCSEs 55, 116, 126–7 learned helplessness 121
gender 6, 49, 54, 57–61, 154 learning 3, 7, 14, 29, 65–6, 68, 73, 149
Gender Equality Duty (2007) 60 barriers 87–101, 150
stereotypes 59 beyond school 93–4, 150, 155
George Mitchell Community School 136 contexts 65, 74
girls 58–60, 119 emotions 66–9
exclusion 123 empathy 64, 69, 72–4, 77, 82
skills 123 environments 65
governers 92 human relationships 66
government initiatives 8 individual 95
government policies 6, 68, 77, 149 needs 89, 119
group work 80 opportunities 9
groupings 50, 52–6, 76, 118 parent support 78, 98
personal approach 69
hidden curriculum 74, 78 positive attitudes 71
higher education 9, 52, 74, 93, 127, 147, 149, self-esteem 81
151, 157 styles 17
under-represented groups 152 learning consultants 137
widening access 152 learning mentors see allied educational professionals
higher level teaching assistant see allied educational learning society 149, 152, 155, 157
professionals lifelong learning 7–8, 148, 150, 153
history of education see disciplines literacy strategy 34

ideologies Making Learning Better scheme 136

encyclopaedism 29 Mental Capacity Act 2005 113–14
essentialism 28 Mill, J.S. 17–18
functionalist 4, 28, 52, 153 Morals 39
Holmes, B and McLean, M (1989) 28 motivation 3, 120
humanist 28
liberal 4 National Curriculum 16, 18–19, 58, 76, 89, 125
Marxist 4, 52, 67 National Union of Teachers (NUT) 97
neo-liberal 31 NEETs 149
pragmatism 29 neuroscience 6, 66, 68–9, 78
social justice 4, 63, 152–3, 157 New Deal for Communities 98
utilitarianism 18, 151, 155 Newsom Report (1963) 58
improvement 15, 20, 27, 29, 36, 39, 52, 60,
95, 133 OFSTED 123, 133, 135–6
inclusive schools 128
individual learning 74, 151 parents and carers 97–8, 149
interactive learning 140 pastoral education 68
internet 2, 150 patterns of inequalities 56
peer group 56
Joseph Rowntree Foundation 63 perceptions of the male/female roles 58
164 Index

personal interaction 71, 74, 79 school improvement 140

personalized learning 78, 138 Sector Skills Council 155
Peters, R.S. (1968) 3, 39 self-advocacy 142
philosophy of education see disciplines self-esteem 8, 73, 81, 120–1
Plato 6, 17, 22, 28, 40 setting by ability 119
policy changes 7 skills 1, 89, 93
psychology see disciplines girls 59–60
intellectual 5
qualifications 31, 59, 94, 96, 98, 116, 119, interpersonal 149
126, 150–1 for life 88, 108, 135, 151, 157
vocational 127 questioning 94
shortage 148–9
race 4, 6, 53–7, 61, 154 social 80
definitions 54 soft 125
reflective journal 21 transferable 137
research social class 4, 6, 49–57, 61, 117–18, 154
ability grouping 119 culture and values 55
access 16, 20, 22, 38, 42, 44, 46 educational attainment 51
action research 42–3 examination success 51
approaches in comparative education 26, occupations 50
36, 38 social control 155
attainment 57–8 social exclusion 126
and children’s voice 45 social inclusion 117
classroom based 42 sociology see disciplines
consent 6, 44–5 special needs
disaffection 8, 120 empathy 68
ethics 42, 44–8, 68–74 stakeholders 125, 134
gatekeepers 46 standards 5, 16, 20, 63, 89, 96, 120, 122, 125, 128,
and learning 89 150, 156
and other cultures 43 street socializing 118
rights of participants 45 student teachers 79
sample 32, 46 empathy 78
self-esteem 121 Students As Researchers (STARS) 139
and theory 15 Sure Start 27, 99, 149

safeguarding adults 102, 112–15 teacher empathy 7

safeguarding children 7, 102–15 teachers 30, 35, 57–8, 60, 68, 71, 99, 120, 129,
liaison with agencies 106 136–7, 147
meaning 103 management 77
responsibilities of schools and colleges 105 quality 76
role of head teachers 105 research 45, 48
role of teachers 105 role see allied educational professionals
Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in teaching assistants see allied educational
Education (DfES, 2006b) 105 professionals
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 7 teaching strategies 35, 81
school councils 133 theory and practice 9, 14–16
 Index 165
being theoretical 26 vocational curriculum 125
praxis 15, 21 voices 45, 132–46
reflective dialogue 19 international dimensions 142
sociological imagination 21 volunteers 92, 156
Training and Development Agency (TDA) 89, 97 vulnerable adults 6, 46, 114
transition phases 117–18 vulnerable children 103
teenager to adult 118
truancy 8, 54, 95, 123 widening participation 9, 147, 151–2, 154, 156
work based placements 125
UNICEF 9, 48, 136, 143–5 working-class boys 53
United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child 1989 42, 47, 133 Younger Children’s Views on Every Child
universities 15, 26, 28, 30, 75, 79, 155 Matters 135
University of the Third Age (U3A) 156
vocational courses 127 zero tolerance 123