In this paper, I respond to the call to articulate experiences of the messy realities of participatory research. I reflect on my engagement and struggle with the realities and ethics of a piece of case study research, which set out with a participatory approach. The project involved a group of young people from an isolated rural community who appeared to be disconnecting from their secondary school. The research set out to develop understanding of the ways in which young people make connections (or not) in and with school, in order to further understanding of how schools might become more inclusive. A series of reflections on moments during the early stages of the research led to a significant shift in the methodological approach. The approach of this project eventually moved away from participatory research to an approach informed by Foucault's 'ethical project'. Here, the focus is on the subjection and practices of the researcher. I argue that, on reflection, the 'ethical project' framework was more appropriate for this kind of research, where the complexities of participatory research were reducing the transparency of complex power structures.
This case study records the voices of a group of young people from an isolated rural community as they reflect on their experiences of secondary school. The study was driven by a desire to develop an understanding of the human connections young people make (or not) at school, to help develop understandings of how schools can be better places for their students. The data reveals that the students report their school experience almost entirely as a social activity. In the context of this study it is argued that the emotional support and 'protection' that peer relationships seem to offer young people maybe a key element in motivating them to attend school and supporting their well being. With the focus of schools directed by inspection, standards and marketisation agenda, the importance of these peer relationships to young people may not be fully recognised by school leaders. Acknowledgement of the importance of these interactions to the students and accommodation of these needs physically and pedagogically in school, may well be a key to developing positive relations between all members of the school community.
From the first co-operative trust school at Reddish Vale in Manchester in 2006, the following decade would witness a remarkable growth of 'co-operative schools' in England, which at one point numbered over 850. This paper outlines the key development of democratic education by the co-operative schools network. It explains the approach to democracy and explores the way values were put into practice. At the heart of co-operativism lay a tension between engaging with technical everyday reforms and utopian transformative visions of an educational future. A new arena of debate and practice was established with considerable importance for our understanding of democratic education within the mainstream. K E Y W O R D Sco-operative, co-operative schools, democracy, movement, school From the first co-operative trust school at Reddish Vale in Manchester in 2006, the following decade witnessed a remarkable growth of 'co-operative schools' in England, which at one point numbered over 850. These mainstream state schools were established with the support of the Co-operative College and the Co-operative Group, based upon legal models that stipulated the defence of co-operative values that included not only democracy but also solidarity, equity, equality, self-help and self-responsibility. Co-operative schools mainly came together in either co-operative trusts and, less often, academies (see Schools Co-operative Society, 2018). 1 Schools attempted to infuse co-operative values into the ethos, curriculum, organisation and governance. Staff, pupils, parents, communities and, potentially, alumni were represented on a multi-stakeholder forum that fed into governance and leadership bodies. Rather than the imposition of an academy model, co-operative schools retained their autonomy and independence and soThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
This paper explores 'home-school' transport in contemporary schooling contexts in England. Home-school transport is a complex issue lying between government departments, policy frameworks, research and professional disciplines. It is complicated further by commercial and private interests alongside social and public ones. Informed by an interdisciplinary literature the authors argue there is an urgent need to develop understanding of the position of home-school transport policy and practices in contemporary schooling contexts, particularly in relation to school choice making and enactment. This paper calls for research to inform the development of home-school transport policy and practices that are socially just and sustainable.
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The MTL is a practice-based professional master's qualification, aimed at attracting Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) to National Challenge schools in order to help improve outcomes. The MTL programme was also developed as a continuation of a teacher's PGCE and subsequent induction year. A key element of the MTL is the tripartite relationship of HEI tutor, school-based coach and MTL student, with funding weighted towards schools (60%) and the HEI (40%). The role of the HEI was to be quality assurance and assessment, with the in-school coach doing most of the programme delivery. The project reported here is based on interviews with in-school MTL coaches to explore, firstly, how their role had developed within the MTL. Coaches are typically without a formal master's qualification themselves, so a second aim of this study was to examine the consequences of this in and on practice. Finally, we explored the effect on all involved as flaws in the model emerged. Formal case-study interviews were the main empirical research data upon which this study is based, although they are supplemented by additional data. Where the MTL coach enjoyed a level of success, we suggest that this was primarily because of the attitudes of the coach in school and the HEI staff working alongside them. The lack of a master's-level qualification amongst coaches had some negative impact, but the most significant issue we contest is that to create true working partnerships with school, the HEI has to be able to share assessment procedures with school-based colleagues. IntroductionThe Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL) is a new professional master's course for teachers in schools in England, which typically began for most regions of the UK in spring 2010 (see TDA 2008a). Delivery of the MTL is centred on a tripartite relationship between the higher education institute (HEI), a schoolbased coach and the teachers who are studying the programme. This study explores the role of the school-based coach (hereafter called coach) and the experience of those in the HEI in working within this new master's programme. These roles are new and therefore their development and progress are a matter of research interest.
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