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Department of Education
50th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE
The Chancellors’ Building, University of Bath 30 June – 2 July 2017
International Education and Globalisation
Programme of Presentations
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SATURDAY 1 JULY 2017
Presentations Session 1: 1030 – 1110 Presenter
Dr Jim McKinley Lecturer in Education, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
Realities of Doing Research in Applied Linguistics: Negotiating Methodological Obstacles in the Field
Much published research in applied linguistics presents research methodology as a highly idealized and uncompromising process, where issues of validity, reliability, objectivity, and ethicality are resolved through precise research design. However, I concur with Dörnyei’s (2007) impression that ‘researchers are often ashamed of the compromises that they need to make, not realizing that making compromises is part and parcel of being a researcher’ (p 309); in fact, I argue that overcoming methodological obstacles is the norm for any applied linguist conducting research in the field. This presentation introduces the concept underpinning a research methodology volume (McKinley & Rose, 2017), where more than 30 established applied linguists showcase the methodological problems encountered in research projects that, despite obstacles, were eventually successful. In this volume, the applied linguists outline the steps involved in negotiating problems in the various stages of research, from constructing research designs, collecting and analyzing data, to reporting the findings. In this presentation, I will also draw on my own research project as a case study to bring the methodological obstacles to the forefront, and to illustrate situations where applied linguists need to adapt their research methods in situ. In my study, I discussed where as a researcher I faced a challenge to position myself in fieldwork as an ‘insider’, but to analyze and write up the data as an ‘outsider’, and to expose my own researcher subjectivity. The presentation aims to provide novice and experienced researchers alike with an overview of the realities of doing research in applied linguistics and offer advice on overcoming similar methodological problems. References Dörnyei Z (2007) Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press: Oxford McKinley J & Rose H (eds) (2017) Doing Research in Applied Linguistics: Realities, Dilemmas and Solutions. Routledge: Abingdon
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Presenters
University of Bath Department of Education Leadership, Management and Governance Team
Title of Presentation
Educational Leadership and Management: Issues and Challenges
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
The session will comprise four short presentations from members of the Department of Education’s Educational Leadership, Management and Governance research cluster. Each presentation will set out new and cutting edge ideas in educational leadership and management that have important implications for school leaders in any and every context, for those researching in educational leadership and management, and for education policy-makers. The presentations will be as follows. Michael Fertig will discuss important issues relating to the institutionalisation of schools – particularly international schools. He will cover: the crucial issue of institutional legitimacy, the institutional primary task, international school accreditation and legitimacy, the institutionalisation of teachers in international schools and the consequences for teacher identity. Dr Janet Goodall will explain why parents’ engagement in their children’s education is vital for educational attainment and student success. She will set out what school leaders can do to ensure that they engage parents productively in their children’s education and the potential transformation that parental engagement can bring about. Professor Chris James will provide new insights into the centrality of feelings in organising educational institutions; school leaders’ sense-making capabilities, the complexity of schools as institutions, the difference between educational leadership and management as practices and the importance of management, and the significance of responsibility and authorisation in school leadership and management. Dr Michelle Jones will draw on her experience as a former headteacher and an international researcher to identify what really matters in school leadership in any setting. She will utilise her experience of researching in different international contexts and with a range of international partners. The session will be chaired by Professor Alma Harris, and it will be of interest to all who want to hear about and discuss new and innovative ideas in educational leadership and management theory and practice.
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Presenter
Dr Tristan Bunnell Lecturer in International Education, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
The Institutionalization and Legitimacy of International Schools
The number of schools around the world claiming to be, and being classified as, ‘international schools’ continues to grow in both scale and diversity. With such growth comes an interest and concern for legitimacy, yet the question of ‘What is an international school?’ still stands largely under-theorized. This session will report on work being undertaken by Tristan Bunnell, along with Michael Fertig and Chris James in the Department of Education at the University of Bath. Over the past two years we have published several papers and given a number of presentations asking ‘How can a school legitimately claim to be an international school?’. We have done this by applying institutionalization theory, mainly through drawing on the work of the American sociologist W R Scott. Our latest work has introduced the notion of the ‘institutional primary task’. This session will report on this most recent work, and seek views from participants with respect to what further lines of inquiry might be available or useful.
Presenter
Dr Simon Hayhoe Lecturer in Education, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
Museums, Disability and Inclusion – Technologies and Pedagogical Strategies
This presentation will discuss a model of pedagogy, andragogy and access to museums and other cultural heritage sites for people with sensory impairments – visual and hearing impairments – that is not solely based on sensory needs and expensive technologies. It will also discuss ongoing museums research in Bath, London, Madrid and Vienna. Previous research with visitors with visual impairment in the US found that people engaged with cultural heritage in unique ways, depending on their age at the time of sight loss, and their age at visiting museums. Few older people relied on technologies, and they often actively avoided accessible technologies. It was concluded that current practice, which is solely based on the vision or hearing levels of people visiting a cultural heritage sight, is therefore inappropriate. My current research will address this issue, and develop a non-invasive cultural model of accessing cultural heritage through inclusive activities, and ubiquitous technologies. This research is important, I will argue, as it is estimated that worldwide 285 million people have a visual impairment and 360 million people have a hearing loss that can cause a disability – while an unknown but small number have both impairments. This gives a total estimated population of around half a billion people with sensory impairment: a number greater than the population of North America or Western Europe. Demographically, most people with sensory impairment are older adults who develop their impairments later in life. My own research has found that this group of people find engaging with museums particularly important to maintain their social skills, previous habits and wellbeing in older age. Thus, I will also argue that there are numerous social and health benefits to engaging with cultural heritage.
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Presenter
Ioannis Costas Batlle, PhD Student, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
Charities and Disadvantaged Young People: What is the Role of Non-formal Education in the Neoliberal Marketplace?
The proliferation of neoliberal educational policies has resulted in the growth of non-formal educational spaces which serve to ‘plug the gaps’ in children’s and adolescents’ development. Though these spaces aim to emulate formal education (through practices such as New Public Management discourse), they are not held to the same levels of accountability. This enables charities and community groups to provide education opportunities through more informal approaches, such as focusing on the development of relationships or the use of a range of learning methods. As the State provides fewer avenues for welfare and education for deprived groups, charities and community groups are relied upon to act as vehicles for social justice and inclusion. Drawing on my research experience with three different charities, this session will explore four key issues: x In the neoliberal marketplace, how is non-formal education ‘sandwiched’ between formal and
informal education? x Are charities (as providers of non-formal education) vehicles for social justice or social control? x How do charities shape young people’s notions of self-governance and personhood? x What purpose should non-formal education have in disadvantaged young people’s lives?
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Presentations Session 2: Saturday 1 July 1115 – 1155 Presenter
Dr Katie Dunworth Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
Transcultural Competence: Exploring Postgraduate Student and Staff Perceptions and Practices across Disciplines at one UK University
This presentation reports on the findings from a project which explored the perceptions of staff and students across four discipline areas at one UK university regarding the nature of intercultural competence and the extent to which current teaching and learning practices might enhance or inhibit its development and manifestation. The project drew data from staff and students involved in postgraduate taught programmes across science, engineering and design, humanities and social sciences and management. The project was guided by an overarching view of intercultural competence as presented in the current scholarly literature as a dynamic and contextually fluid process that involves respect for the values of different cultural groups. However, it was intended that the study should be primarily data-driven and that the analysis would result in a model of intercultural competence development that was contextually framed and responsive to the needs of the university in question. The project was exploratory-interpretive in nature and followed a multiple-case design, each of the eight postgraduate programmes that were investigated comprising a case. Data were collected through a process of individual background interviews, focus group interviews and stimulated recall interviews, using as a stimulus recordings from an observed lecture or seminar led by the staff participant. Data were analysed through thematic analysis and involved initial coding, categorisation and theme identification. The findings indicated that staff and students view transcultural competence as multi-layered and complex, and share a commitment to the value of diversity as a positive principle, a recognition of the need for high levels of intercultural competence in the workplace and agreement on the need for adjustments according to context. The presentation will discuss the implications of the results for teaching and learning at the institution where the study took place. Presenter
Dr Ali Hadavizadeh Assistant Professor, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
Title of Presentation
A Critical View of Induction for Teachers in the Iranian School System
Education as an influential element can act like an instrument to bring changes in social and cultural aspects of society. The leaders of these changes would be teachers who play a primary role in the education system. It is clear that those deciding on teaching as their lifetime profession should be prepared and receive proper education as other occupations do. A teacher education program is regarded as the period which helps future teachers to reach their aims. As teacher effectiveness in classrooms is the most important goal of this program, it is essential to ensure the preparation of high-quality training for teachers that empowers them to develop and deliver instruction effectively (Barber & Mourshed, 2007).
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In Iran, after qualifying at teacher probationer universities and institutions, teachers are posted to schools in various parts of the country. These newly qualified teachers are usually required to be placed on probation for two years before they can start their teaching profession. According to Simco (2000), the quality of induction that teachers receive determines whether they can grow into well-balanced professionals whose ethics and competences as teachers promote effective delivery of the curriculum. This curriculum should promote the all-round development of the students we teach. A teacher who is not inducted into a system in which this curriculum is an important vehicle in molding an individual, an individual who should be able to participate actively in the development of the country, would him/herself be a misfit in that society. Induction of newly qualified teachers could be linked to construction of the walls of a building whose foundation should be likened to the learning of theories during the pre-service program (Simco, 2000). This presentation will discuss induction and professional development of teachers in Iran. It will study the attitudes of heads of schools, teachers and probationers towards induction, and how much support probationers receive in key areas when they start teaching. It will then consider what schools are currently doing for their probationers in terms of the induction provided. References Barber M, & Mourshed, M (2007) How the world’s best performing school systems came out on top. London: McKinsey and Company. Simco N (2000) Professional profiling and development in the induction year. British Journal of In-Service Education, 21, 3, 261-271. Presenter
Darlene Fisher Independent Consultant, Melbourne, Australia
Title of Presentation
Researching School Leadership in Culturally Diverse Communities
This presentation will outline current gaps in leadership research in the international school setting, with a focus on how culture impacts most effective leadership practices. There has been increasing interest in cross-cultural comparisons of leadership processes and behaviours, preparation and development in the field of education, but relatively little in the area of leadership in culturally diverse communities. This presentation will focus on two current research projects. One is investigating how a number of school leaders adapt their leadership practices with reference to the cultural groups represented in their staff and parent body. The second is an ongoing evaluation of leadership professional development for aspiring heads in international schools. In this presentation the current research related to culture, leadership and educational leadership will be outlined briefly. Research in the business community has shown that societal culture impacts what are considered and proven as effective leadership practices. This has been shown over a 20 year research project with hundreds of researchers in the GLOBE project. There has been nothing similar to-date in the field of education, yet education in a globalised world is expanding rapidly and more schools are needing more leaders every year. Cross-cultural leadership research in education provides further support for the claim that culture impacts what is effective leadership in different contexts, but there is little research on the impact on multicultural teams and leadership: the focus of this piece of research. The presentation will then explore the two leadership projects and what they hope to contribute to further understanding and exploration. Some tentative suggestions about what is possible to conclude so far will be offered for discussion.
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Presenter
Dr Samia Al Farra Independent Consultant, United Arab Emirates
Title of Presentation
The Impact of International and Global Education on Students in Private International Schools in Dubai, UAE and Amman, Jordan: Similarities and Differences
While many of us have been preaching internationalization and globalization for the last few decades, others in the world has been secretly laughing at us, turning protectionist and closing borders. While we have celebrated walls coming down, suddenly walls are coming up. The first political seismic shift came in June 2016 with ‘Brexit’: the UK vote to leave the European Union. A few months later the US voted for President Trump. We will know by June about elections in Germany. Questions that arise in this changing context include: Did we get it all wrong? And, if not, what is our role as educators to counter the apparently growing divide between ‘us and them’? Ninety percent of students in Dubai attend private schools, most of which offer international curricula (IB, British, American, Indian, etc) and have a diverse student body as well as teaching staff from different backgrounds. These schools are inspected annually by the Dubai School Inspection Bureau (DSIB). To what extent does the inspection instrument measure internationalization and building bridges with ‘the other’, or sustainability, or community service – or critical thinking and creativity? While fewer students attend private schools in Amman, most of the schools are national with an international perspective. They offer bilingual education, which translates to bi-cultural education, as well as exposure to and learning about the ‘other’. Students from these schools are accepted in American and other western universities. This presentation will focus on how international the different schools are in both countries, asking in relation to the two countries what is the impact of globalization and internationalization of education on educational practices and student experience in schools, and on higher education institutions. A close look at four schools, two in the UAE and two in Jordan, will consider students’ experiences and similar and different practices in both countries: Raha International School in Abu Dhabi, UAE (co-ed), Jumeira Baccalaureate School in Dubai, UAE (co-ed), The Amman Baccalaureate School in Amman, Jordan (co-ed) and The Ahliyyah School for Girls in Amman, Jordan (girls only).
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Presenter
Jie Chen, PhD Student, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
An Investigation of Tertiary-level Teachers’ Perceptions of Teacher Codeswitching in EFL Classrooms: a Chinese perspective
In recent years the field of Second Language (L2) education has experienced a pendulum swing from the advocacy of exclusive target language use in the classroom to, arguably, an ‘anything goes’ stance regarding the use of the First Language (L1) (Hennebry & Tian, 2016). Previous studies indicate that the L1 ‘taboo’ has existed for a long time, on the part of non-native speaker teachers in particular, and that ‘English-only’ has been considered an ‘unwritten rule’ by many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) institutions in Chinese universities – which is, however, not in accordance with teachers’ widespread codeswitching use in practice. Hence, there is a need for more in-depth understandings of how and why non-native speaker teachers use the L1 in their L2 teaching, specifically in the Chinese EFL university context. This presentation will describe a study which investigates 10 EFL teachers’ perceptions of teacher codeswitching and related factors that influence their codeswitching practices in a Chinese public university. Semi-structured interviews were administered to investigate participants’ general perspectives on the L1 and target language use in EFL classrooms. Audio-recorded classroom observations and follow-up stimulated-recall interviews were also conducted to examine teachers’ L1 and target language use in practice and to elicit their rationales for the codeswitching practices. This study will hopefully contribute to better understanding of teacher codeswitching and the complex and interwoven internal and contextual factors in an EFL university context.
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Presentations Session 3: Saturday 1 July 1200 – 1240
Presenter
Dr Lucy Cooker, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Nottingham, UK
Title of Presentation
Culture and Chance: Exploring Teacher Identity in International Schools (Dr Lucy Cooker and Dr Lucy Bailey, University of Nottingham, Malaysia)
Despite recent claims that the UK is suffering a ‘brain drain’ of teachers leaving to work abroad in international schools (Wilshaw, 2016), the recent literature on international teachers’ lives suggests that they face some significant challenges when leaving their home countries. Roskell (2013) analyses the culture shock that teachers face in terms of adjusting to both host culture and work characteristics, and personal and professional relationships; these distinctions are echoed by Halicioglu (2015), who also stresses the importance of teachers finding the right school in order to minimise the anxieties inherent in an international relocation. Similarly, Bailey (2015) found that new international teachers had to make adjustments to their teaching styles and that they also went through a process she describes as ‘de-skilling’ in which the teachers’ knowledge and skills were not valued in the same ways following an international move as they had been previously. This presentation will describe a small-scale qualitative project which sought to identify and understand the identities, motivations and career trajectories of twenty teachers working in international schools. Through semi-structured interviews, we explored the personal motivations that provided the impetus for teachers to work internationally, and the forms of belonging that are important to the professional identity of these teachers – who often feel outside both the private and the public sectors, and who belong neither in the education system of their home nation nor of the one in which they currently teach. References Bailey, L (2015) Reskilled and ‘Running Ahead’: Teachers in an international school talk about their work. Journal of Research in International Education, 14, 1, 3-15. Halicioglu, M L (2015). Challenges facing teachers new to working in schools overseas. Journal of Research in International Education, 14, 3, 242-257. Roskell, D (2013) Cross-cultural transition: International teachers’ experience of ‘culture shock’. Journal of Research in International Education, 12, 2, 155-172. Wilshaw, M (2016) Ofsted's Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw comments on the growing ‘brain drain’ of classroom talent overseas fuelling teacher shortages in England. HMCI's monthly commentaries. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/hmcis-monthly-commentary-february-2016
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Presenter
Dr Marie Huxtable, University of Cumbria, UK
Title of Presentation
Educational Learning in Informal and Formal Contexts
What constitutes educational learning is understood here as learning that contributes to the flourishing of humanity, humanity as a species and humanity as expressions of humane values. Formal learning contexts are understood here as those where learners are working towards a formal qualification, such as the Extended Project Qualification in school, or a Masters or Doctorate in a university. The work of teachers, tutors and supervisors will be drawn on to exemplify the meaning of educational learning in practice with the clarification of the nature of educational relationships that support educational learning in school and university. Informal contexts are understood here to be those where learning is not recognised by the award of a formal qualification. Those which will be drawn on to exemplify the nature of the educational learning and relationships will include: the online open review process of an international educational journal; a collaborative project between members of BRLSI (Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute) and the University of Bath, to enable young researchers to conduct a scientific enquiry into a question of personal interest supported by doctoral students who are afforded the opportunity to enquire into their own educational learning and develop their expertise as research mentors; and Skype research groups for informal support of post-doctoral and other enquiries. Issues to be raised in this presentation focus on questions including ‘How can opportunities and support be developed for educational learning in both formal and informal settings, including community, schools and university in the physical and virtual world?’, ‘How can researchers researching into improving educational learning be supported to contribute to the creation of educational knowledge and the improvement of educational practice?’, and ‘How can the educational influence of educational research be enhanced to have a significant influence on the development of policy and practice in international education for the flourishing of humanity in a world dominated by economic rationalism?’. Presenter
Dr Sudha Govindswamy Sunder, Teacher Leaders International, United Arab Emirates
Title of Presentation
Positional Advantage or Disadvantage? American International Education in the Middle East and the Current Wave of Anti-globalization
The last two decades have witnessed an exponential growth of profit-making American International schools in the Middle East. These schools, often established to serve the needs of a global elite, have played a significant role in defining the international education landscape in the region. Being shaped and defined by the ‘wealth and wish of parents’ (Brown, 2007), these schools have also drawn much attention from international education researchers. However, the current politico-economic landscape that seeks to redefine globalization, and the recent trend of ‘inward looking’ and anti-globalization ideologies perpetuated by the United States, brings about some significant challenges to this scenario. The so-called ‘positional advantage’ (Brown et al, 2011) that such schools promised to offer may no longer hold value or currency in the current situation.
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This presentation will ask what demands such changes place on those in leadership and decision-making capacity in these schools. If the US economy is wanting to close down on a multi-cultural, multi-national (and to a large extent ‘transnational’ immigrant) population, what promises can these American International schools continue to offer for their fee-paying clients? References Brown P (2007) The globalization of positional competition. Sociology, 34, 4, 633-53. Brown P, Lauder, H and Ashton, D (2011) The Global Auction: The Broken Promises of Education, Jobs, and Incomes, Oxford: Oxford University Press Presenter
Dr Breda O’Hara-Davies, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Title of Presentation
Living Postcoloniality. Languages and Identities in Flux
Based on ethnographic research in Brunei Darussalam, a British Protectorate in Southeast Asia until 1984, this presentation will explore how the politically-driven choice of a bilingual English-Malay system of education has impacted the identity construction and performance of a group of 16 young people who call it home. In Brunei, the English language has now become the dominant medium of instruction. Students continue to sit for Brunei-Cambridge Ordinary (O) and Advanced (A) level examinations administered by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). These act as a gatekeeper (Pennycook, 1995), allowing those who are successful to go abroad (to the UK primarily, but also to Australia or the USA) on fully-funded Brunei government scholarships. Acquisition of a qualification from overseas drives social mobility and such degrees are considered as being more legitimate than any conferred by local educational institutions. Consequently, the identities of ‘English language speaker’ and ‘overseas graduate’ are highly desirable. Those who invest in English realise that it can give them more symbolic and material resources, allowing them the agency to pursue imagined future identities (Darvin & Norton, 2015). Conversely, the seeming veneration of the exonormative standards set by its former coloniser are tempered by the country’s powerful ideology of Melayu Islam Beraja, translating as Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB). This emphasises Malay languages and cultural norms as assertions of ethnicity and nationalism. Drawing on qualitative data derived from extended participant observation, informal interviews and content analysis, my study sought to uncover how the 16 participants negotiate their multiple identities amid such contradictory influences. What emerged from four-fold thematic analysis (politico-economic, linguistic, religious, and socio-cultural) was a revelation of how these individuals actively calibrate the ways they commit to or subvert their many selves to achieve personalised local-global synthesis. References Darvin R and Norton B (2015) Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 36-56 Pennycook, A (1994) The cultural politics of English as an international language. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
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Presenter
Robert Gray, PhD Student, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
An Exploratory Study into how Student L2 Academic Identities are Manifested through the Genre Practices of Classroom Presentations
This session is based on an ongoing doctoral research project that uses a qualitative framework to consider student classroom presentations as a performed genre, rooted in social practices and realised through a range of semiotic modes. Genre in this view functions as a dynamic site shaping, and to some extent shaped by, student identities. This approach differs markedly from typical approaches to genre within the field of English for Academic Purposes, which tend to frame it as a visual-textual product. The aims of this study were to explore from a social identity perspective some of the issues impacting the success of student classroom presentations at one Turkish university, and to develop the theoretical notion of genre as a dynamic process consisting in the social practices of second language education. In order to meet these aims, 12 second-year undergraduate psychology students were videoed and audio-interviewed at three points during one semester. Interview and other ethnographic data will be analysed thematically and used to triangulate video data of the presentations. It is anticipated that transcription and analysis of the videoed presentation data will deploy Norris’s Multimodal (Inter)action Analysis (2011), although Norris’s framework may need to be adapted to meet the particular aims of this study.
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Presentations Session 4: Saturday 1 July 1345 – 1425 Presenter
Elisabeth Barratt Hacking, Lecturer in Education, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
The International Mindedness journey: reaching out and reaching in
This presentation will explore key research findings from an International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) funded study of how International Mindedness (IM) is conceptualised and practised in IB World Schools. This involved case studies of nine IB schools identified as being strongly engaged with IM, drawing on the voices of leaders, teachers, students and parents/carers. The study found that stakeholder conceptions of IM converged on three philosophies. First, IM is relational in that it is about reaching out to how we perceive and interact with others from diverse cultures. It then becomes intra-personal or reaches in to better understand ourselves with respect to different others. Above all, IM is a process or a journey and this process is more important than any fixed definition. The session will share examples of promising practice, explore some of the challenges for developing IM, and consider broader implications for international education. Presenter
Dr Michelle Brinn, Bangkok Patana School, Thailand
Title of Presentation
Co-constructing Meaning in International Education through Home-School Partnerships in the Early Years
This presentation is based on a research inquiry wherein attempts were made to fully engage with the diverse parental body of a British international school in Bangkok, through the co-construction of meaning about their child’s learning. Within the presentation, the physical and pedagogical context will be outlined before the main premise is explored. Underlying the research was the hypothesis that the co-construction of meaning between home and school would enhance intercultural understanding between the parties. It was hoped that deepening intercultural understanding might lessen differing expectations between home and school, and thus enhance a young child’s transition into school and their subsequent learning. Furthermore, it was postulated that there may be a subtle, but crucial, difference between the scaffolding and co-construction of meaning within home-school relationships. The methodology chosen reflected the main premise and followed differing phases wherein a co-construction of understanding between home and school was the goal. Differing interpretations of dialogue were used for analysis of the research process and the data. The inquiry was beneficial as it deepened intercultural relations between home and school, and indicated the potential for co-construction of meaning within parental relationships in the Early Years. Nonetheless, it also indicated the complexity of engaging with a diverse parental body, as well as the difficulties of sustaining and extending practice innovations, even when perceived as successful. The conclusion that the scaffolding and co-construction of meaning may be inter-related and interpreted as existing along a continuum, rather than being diametrically opposed as originally thought, offered potential for further study.
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Presenter
Dr Mario Cutajar, University of Malta, Malta
Title of Presentation
Educational Reform in Malta, and the Implications for Educational Leadership and Management Policy and Practice in Collaborative Education Systems
In October 2005 the Maltese Government embarked on a radical reform of the education system in Malta. The reform, as set out in The Education (Amendment) Act, 2006 (Laws of Malta, 2006), established two central education authorities under the direction of two Directorates, which in turn were to be guided by the Permanent Committee for Education chaired by the Minister for Education. Importantly all Maltese state schools were to be clustered into ten colleges, with each college having a College Principal and each school a Head of School. My doctoral research at the University of Bath, completed in 2015, studied these changes and revealed a number of important consequences. Since that time, the system has evolved yet further and I have been able to study the more recent changes. In this presentation I will summarise my doctoral research and its main findings. I will focus in particular on the implications of this new way of working for those in the central Maltese government, the heads of the institutions – the colleges and the schools – and the teachers in those institutions. The Maltese reforms are an exemplar case for the kinds of change that are happening in many settings around the world. The findings thus have important implications for school leadership and management policy and practice in all those many settings – national systems and groups of international schools for example – that are seeking to enhance the quality of educational provision through increased intra- and inter-school collaboration. Presenter
Antje Meng, Institute for International Studies at the FOM (University for Economics and Management), Essen, Germany
Title of Presentation
Implications for Teaching Chinese Students in Higher Education Towards Successful Cooperation with Western Professionals
China has become an important player in the global economy. Foreign investors in China have been recruiting Chinese staff since the 1980s, and a new phase of Chinese direct investment brings Chinese staff to Western countries. In most cases the Chinese staff work with other foreign nationals. Higher education institutions are internationalizing to prepare their students to work in an intercultural company environment. One form of internationalization is co-operation with Chinese universities. This presentation focuses on a piece of empirical research conducted to identify characteristics of education that Chinese perceive as important for successful cooperation with Westerners, with a view to highlighting implications for teaching Chinese students in higher education co-operations. The research was conducted through questionnaires distributed to Chinese living in France, Germany, China and the US. Cultural differences between the Western and Chinese work environment (Redding, 1993; Hofstede et al, 2010; Chen and Partington, 2004; Spitzberg and Changnon, 2009; Bird et al, 2010; Chow and Yau, 2010) imply the importance of intercultural
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competencies in leading to successful cooperation between both culture groups. Western models of intercultural competence (Wiseman, 2002; Spitzberg and Changnon, 2009; Deardorff, 2006; Byram et al, 2001; Kupla, 2008, cited in Spitzberg and Changnon, 2009) and a Chinese model (Chen and An, 2009) served as guideline for which competencies need to be developed. The identified competencies are: attitudes, knowledge, skills, awareness, adjustment and adaptation. Two frameworks for methods to develop these intercultural competencies were chosen: a theoretical framework developed from Laughton and Ottewill (2000), and the methods that are practised at the CDHK (Chinese German College for Postgraduate Studies at the Tongji University in Shanghai). For each method the quantitative and qualitative responses from the empirical research have been evaluated to identify implications for helping Chinese students in higher education develop intercultural competence that might lead to successful cooperation with Western professionals. References Bird A and Osland J S (2005) Making Sense of Intercultural Collaboration, International Studies of Management & Organization, 35, 4, 115- 132 Byram P M, Nichols A and Stevens D (2001) (eds), Developing Intercultural Competence in Practice, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Chen G M and An R (2009) A Chinese Model of Intercultural Leadership Competence, in: Deardorff, D K (2009) (ed), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence, pp 196-208, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Chen P and Partington D (2004) An interpretive comparison of Chinese and Western conceptions of relationships in construction project management work, in: International Journal of Project Management, 22, 5, 397-406 Chow R P M and Yau O H M (2010) Harmony and cooperation: their effects on IJV performance in China, Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 17, 3, 312 – 326 Deardorff D K (2006) Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization, in: Journal of Studies in International Education, volume: 10, issue: 3, pp: 241-266 Hofstede G, Hofstede G J and Minkov M (2010) Cultures and Organizations, Software of the mind, Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival, 3rd ed., New York: Mc Graw Hill Laughton D and Ottewill R (2000) Developing cross-cultural capability in undergraduate business education: implications for the student experience, Education and Training, 42, 6, 378-386 Redding S G (1993) The Spirit of Chinese capitalism, New York: de Gruyter & Co. Spitzberg B H and Changnon G (2009) Conceptualizing Intercultural Competence, in Deardorff, D K (2009) (ed), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence, pp: 2-52, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Wiseman R L (2002) Intercultural Communication Competence, in: Gudykunst W B and Mody B (2002) (ed), Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, 2nd edition, pp: 207-224, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications
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Presenter
Gihan Ismail, PhD Student, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
International Students’ Perspectives on Doctoral Programmes in the UK
This presentation will discuss the initial findings of my PhD study, which explores how current Arab students and graduates understand and make meaning of their PhD experience in the UK, and how their experiences influence their academic and professional development after returning to their home countries. The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of the formal and informal doctoral pedagogy on Arab international students studying humanities and social sciences in the UK. The study explores concepts of development, agency and power. The relative increase in the numbers of Arab international PhD students in the UK over the past two decades (HESA, 2015) has been mainly an outcome of a number of government agreements between the UK and oil-rich states in the region which send their nationals to study for postgraduate degrees in the west. Although exact statistical data regarding the numbers of Arab PhD students are not available, it is clear that the UK is an important educational hub that has the capacities to develop professional calibres of academics and researchers who can presumably help their home countries compete in fast-paced knowledge economies. Many Arab students come to the UK with some expectations as well as challenges. Whereas much of the literature on the internationalisation of doctoral education highlights language and culture as the most compelling issues, little to none has examined the experiences of Arab doctoral students in relation to their professional and academic development. Thus, these two strands are new to the literature of higher education which may initiate further interest in this under-researched topic. The study is inductive, and data have been collected via one-to-one interviews, with three sample groups – current PhD students, PhD graduates and PhD supervisors – and analysed thematically. The findings present new perspectives on the relationship between development, culture and the politics of knowledge.
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Presentations Session 5: Saturday 1 July 1430 – 1510 Presenter
Graciela Salazar Díaz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Title of Presentation
Programs and International Students in Higher Education: a Case Study
The internationalization of higher education has expanded significantly in the last three decades, and the universal character of learning and research has created new horizons and knowledge sharing. As part of the internationalization of higher education we find specific initiatives, university-border collaboration agreements, and programs for international students (whether language learning or undergraduate or graduate programs) involving international placement exchange. In Spain, from the late twentieth century to the present, there has been a clear trend towards international cooperation on educational issues which has been strengthened by the processes of political and economic integration. One consequence of this reality is the need for intercultural understanding. Therefore, today we have increased the number of teachers, students and researchers who work, live and communicate personally or virtually in international contexts. This presentation will address the hosting of international students by Antonio de Nebrija University, Madrid. Internationalization is increasingly present in universities, including this university which, for over 20 years, has received students from all over the world who participate in different ways in university life. The international students are integrated into the academic life of the university and attend classes with Spanish students. International students, from different continents, have multiple regulated and unregulated exclusive programs in which they participate; more specifically, the Integrated Program of Social Sciences (PICS), of Communication Sciences (PICC), of the Polytechnic School (PIEPS), of Arts and Letters (PIAL) and the Integrated Program of Health Sciences. In order to inform our understanding and offer a better quality program for these students, we conducted a survey in which we asked them questions including what expectations students have before coming to study an international program at the University of Nebrija, what are their perceptions once the program is over, and what differences were there between their expectations and their perceptions (and why)? The results of this study will help to improve the programs designed for international students and the adaptation of academic programs to meet their needs. Presenter
Martha Ross, Deputy Principal, Vienna International School, Austria
Title of Presentation
Can Leadership Practices in Recruitment, Retention and Professional Development Support Successful Intercultural Teaching and Learning in our Schools?
This presentation arises from my recently completed EdD research. The hypothesis for my thesis is that ‘Intercultural competencies are evident for all educators on a developmental scale from intercultural connection to the use of pedagogical skills for intercultural learning and understanding’. In the presentation, I will focus on school leadership and the potential to include intercultural skills in job descriptions, interviews, appraisal and career development processes. As international education responds to the increasing global movement of students, I believe that these skills are crucial to school leadership now and in the future.
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In my thesis I have created a model that connects Cultural Intelligence (CQ) to the skills that international educators use in intercultural learning contexts. The four areas I am focused on are intercultural awareness, understanding, sensitivity and pedagogy. Motivational Cultural Intelligence is an area of great personal interest as I monitor leadership and teaching colleagues and their connection to the students and positive responses to diverse cultural behaviours, values and knowledge. It is my hope that intercultural competencies will become recognised skills and infuse teacher training programmes, recruitment processes, retention and appraisal so that all students experience value in their personal identities and cultural backgrounds. Without training for educators, intercultural learning is like many new developments in education, on a spectrum from pragmatic task to ideology, and therefore faces us with a challenge with respect to our responsibility for our students. The demands on educators are changing, so it is pertinent to ask: Are we ultimately relying on educators to have a growth mindset? When we recruit teachers and leaders on the basis of qualifications that prepare them to teach in a national context, how are we expecting them to work with international students in diverse locations where intercultural connections are necessary? Are we trusting that educators have the cultural interest and awareness to connect appropriately with all students? Do we expect teachers and school leaders to know their capacities for development of practices and pedagogy out of professional consideration to the learners? Do we have practices in place to ensure understanding of our learners and their previous school experiences, and cultural knowledge and practices to ensure that they thrive in our schools? Presenter
Dr Shona McIntosh, Research Associate, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
A Holistic Approach to Developing an International Perspective: Insights from the Impact of CAS study
Since its inception almost 50 years ago, one aim of the International Baccalaureate (IB) has been the development of a curriculum which leads to an internationally recognised university entrance qualification. However, ‘international education’ in the IB also incorporates the ideals of twentieth-century internationalism and peace (Hahn, 1936). Achieving an international perspective by developing moral, physical and academic strengths in individuals creates, some contend, a tension (Tarc, 2009) that is difficult to reconcile within the modern International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). There is, however, an echo of internationalism evident in the mission statement of the IB. Students are expected to contribute to a ‘better more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect’ (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2016). The engine of that development is the holistic ethos of the IBDP three-part core, comprising the Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS). Arguably, the burden of transforming students' perspectives from the local to the international is shouldered by CAS. This presentation will draw on the findings of a recent large-scale mixed-methods study of the impact of CAS on students and communities which was carried out in the Department of Education at the University of Bath. To fulfil the requirements of CAS, students not only engage in activities which develop their creativity and their physical potential but also address global issues through service which meets an authentic need (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2015). It is especially through the Service experiences that an international perspective is intended to be nurtured whilst also contributing holistically to the development of the student. Our study found that CAS is perceived to bring holistic benefits to individual students although these were not always directed to develop a wider international perspective. This raises questions about the extent to which the holistic approach of CAS nurtures students' developing international perspectives.
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References Tarc, P (2009) What is the ‘International’ in the International Baccalaureate? Journal of Research in International Education, 8, 3, 235-261 Hahn, K (1936) Education and Peace: the Foundations of Modern Society, Address to Gordonstoun by the Headmaster. Inverness Courier, 24 March 1936 International Baccalaureate Organization (2015) CAS Guide. Retrieved 5 January 2017 International Baccalaureate Organization (2016) Mission Statement. Retrieved 9 November 2016 from www.ibo.org.about-the-ib/mission/ Presenter
Dr Cathryn A Carena, West Virginia State University and Jackson County Board of Education (Ripley Middle School), USA
Title of Presentation
Classroom Walkthroughs: Raising Student Achievement through a Focus on how Students are Learning
Since the inception of the Instructional Practices Inventory (IPI) by Dr Jerry Valentine and Bryan Painter in 1995, data has been collected to document ‘the degree of change in engagement and instruction’ as it corresponds to student achievement (Valentine, 2017). Over the past five years, the focus in many West Virginia counties has been on strategies to raise student engagement including collecting data using Valentine’s process. According to the data gathered by Valentine, ‘higher levels of engagement are linked with greater achievement, and higher levels of disengagement are linked with lesser achievement’ (Valentine, 2017). This presentation focuses on Ripley Middle School, where administration and staff have taken the process a step further by combining the work of Valentine with that of Moss and Brookhart in their book Formative Classroom Walkthroughs (2015). Through videoing a snapshot of the classroom, teachers and administrators can have a productive, evidence-based discussion about what engagement and higher level thinking looks like in practice as well as the instructional strategies which promote the student learning. According to Moss and Brookhart, ‘The most effective teaching and the most meaningful student learning happen when teachers design the right learning target for today’s lesson and use it along with their students to aim for and assess understanding’ (p44). Using the IPI strategies coupled with the administrator and/or peer review process, Ripley Middle School has been able to confirm the notion from Moss and Brookhart that the formative walkthrough can be a ‘process that continuously engages educators in examining the effects of their leadership and instruction on student achievement. These formative conversations are descriptive and generative rather than evaluative and corrective’ (p195). In so doing, the result has been reflective practice which encourages higher student achievement through elevated student engagement. References Moss, C M and Brookhart, S M (2015) Formative Classroom Walkthroughs: How Principals and Teachers Collaborate to Raise Student Achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Valentine, J (2017) IPI Research Summaries. Retrieved from https://ipistudentengagement.com/papers-presentations/ipi-research-summaries
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Presenter
Mary Langford, Director of Admissions, Dwight International School London, UK
Title of Presentation
The Changing Profile of International School Students
During the past 25 years there has been much discussion about the profile of international school students. The phrase ‘Third Culture Kid’ (TCK) – first used by Dr Ruth Hill Useem (1976) to describe the children of expatriate professionals who move from country to country because of a parent’s profession, and who develop common cultural characteristics because of this experience of global mobility – has become widely known among international educators. Pollock and Van Reken wrote Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds (1999) about such children, and have spoken at many international conferences about them – representing as they do a significant part of the international school community. In a revision of the book in 2009, Van Reken introduced the concept of ‘Cross Culture Kids’, expanding the concept to describe all students who are immersed in a mixed cultural environment and consequently develop common characteristics that make them different from their passport peers who are raised in a monocultural environment. That same year, Zilber elaborated on this in her book Third Culture Kids – the Children of Educators in International Schools. As time goes on, the number of second (and subsequent) generation TCKs is on the increase, which surely adds complexity to the issue of TCK cultural identity. Meanwhile, international school children – as ‘digital natives’ who have benefitted from the many technological advantages offered by the internet and technology that support their learning – have also been affected by the impact that technology has had on global business: namely, the pace at which corporate families are relocated, which is greater than may have previously been the case. In some professional contexts, the ‘lead time’ afforded to families preparing for international relocation has diminished, challenging traditional patterns of culture shock and adaptation. Meanwhile, in recent years international schools have seen a significant growth in the number of ‘host country nationals’ who opt for an international education for their children but who do not move, or live outside of, their home cultural environment. This presentation will focus on how the profile of international school students has changed in the 21st century, and how schools have adapted to these changes. Participants will be invited to share their knowledge of recent research in this fast-changing field, and to identify areas that would benefit from further investigation.
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Presentations Session 6: Saturday 1 July 1515 – 1555 Presenter
Professor Catherine Montgomery, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
New Trends in University Level International Student Mobility: the Growing Influence of China and East Asia
International student mobilities are part of the dynamic global flows of people and knowledge that have developed alongside globalisation, and new trends in mobility can show how previously dominant hegemony is shifting. The number of international students studying in Chinese universities has risen substantially over the last five years, up 11.4% from 2015 and seeing a 35% rise since 2012 (The Pie News, 2017). China is attracting university students particularly from across East Asia, sources of students traditionally bound for ‘the west’. Meanwhile in the UK, numbers of incoming international university students are stagnating and government policy on international students and immigration is building barriers to incoming student mobility rather than smoothing it. This presentation considers changes in global student mobilities and suggests that global balances are shifting, and that the lens of international student mobility can show how globalisation is manifesting itself differently in this decade through new forms of educational mobilities across the globe. Presenter
Oyndrilla Mukherjee, Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai, India
Title of Presentation
Understanding the Development of International Mindedness in the Middle Years Programme of an IB World School in India
This presentation will discuss the outcomes of research I undertook with a focus on the development of international mindedness among students of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme at my school in India. The research focused on the views of teachers and administrators with respect to understanding the development of international mindedness among students. Beginning with a review of relevant literature, I arrived at five key aspects of international mindedness. I then gathered the views of teachers and administrators about the development of these five aspects in students of the IB Middle Years Programme. The research demonstrated that the Middle Years Programme students were provided with a variety of opportunities to develop international mindedness. The research also highlighted that some aspects of international mindedness were more developed among the students of the Middle Years Programme than other aspects. The presentation will discuss these findings, as well as factors that were found to have hindered the development of international mindedness in this context.
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Presenter
Lina López Valls, Middle and High School Principal, Colegio Hebreo Maguen David, Mexico
Title of Presentation
Leadership and School Management: the Principal’s Role
A school is a living organism in constant change, with interconnected processes like a network where there are summit moments or milestones that define different action lines. In this presentation I will present the process of change and transformation that Maguen David Hebrew School has faced in recent years. It is an International Baccalaureate (IB) Jewish School in Mexico City where the IB Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme are taught. The work presented is a network project in which crucial moments have led research on leadership and school management facing the transformation of educational practices. Reference is made to three fundamental moments where the turning point lies in the need for consolidating a unified baccalaureate ‘oriented to the reconstruction of the educational setup for processes of teaching and learning as well as comprehensive development of adolescents in a global context that today requires new skills and ways of approaching knowledge and establishing relationships’ (Lopez, 2014, p3). A second moment is related to building a team capable of facing constant change. The development of a distributive leadership model where ‘each of its members makes decisions that allow the coordination of actions in the anticipation of everyday situations as in conflict resolution’ (op cit, p4) is the main objective. During the four years of this process, significant changes in the management and leadership can be evidenced that reinforce the educational transformation. Today a new question arises: what to do with the school in a new digital ecology? For us this is the right question, and led us to propose new pedagogical formats. The role of the Principal in this new model is fundamental, so new lines of research are emerging about the type of leadership that is necessary for the 21st century school. Reference Lopez Valls, L et. al. (2014) Re-construir la trama educativa: el caso del Bachillerato unificado del CHMD, Gestión de grupos humanos. Coloquio Gestión y Liderazgo. Universidad Hebraica, Ciudad de México, 9 y 10 de noviembre 2014
Presenter
Dr Rachel Revsin-Ravid, Lecturer, Oranim Academic College of Education, Haifa, Israel
Title of Presentation
Collaborating with Diverse Families through Utilizing Family Funds of Knowledge: special education early childhood pre–service teachers’ experiences and insights
This presentation discusses qualitative phenomenological research which focuses on special education early childhood pre-service teachers’ experience of working with diverse families as part of a school readiness practicum for children with special rights. It explores the influence of learning about Families’ Funds of Knowledge on the pre-service teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy when working with diverse families. Research emphasizes the importance of promoting parents’ involvement in order to ensure the child’s overall well-being and academic success within different educational settings (Epstein, 2001). Additionally, the role of teachers’ preparations programs has been found to be crucial when preparing pre-service teachers to collaborate with parents (Baum and McMurray-Schwarz, 2004).
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The main theory underpinning the study to be discussed here is Family Funds of Knowledge (Gonzalez, Moll and Amanti, 2005). Its main assumption is that family background influences children’s educational experiences and that all families are knowledgeable and competent due to their varied experience in life. Following the implementation of the principles of Family Funds of Knowledge for learning, participants described it as contributing to their sense of self-efficacy when working with parents of children with special rights. They recognized a positive change in their perception of the parent’s experience of raising a child with special rights, reporting they developed a sense of empathy towards the family’s belief system as to their involvement in their child’s learning. Implications suggest teachers’ preparation programs should introduce the concept of Families’ Funds of Knowledge for learning, since it promotes the understandings of each family’s lifeworld experience as culturally contextualized. This will support early childhood pre-service teachers’ identity (personal and professional) development. Presenter
Neil Gilbride, PhD Student, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
The Ego Development Stage of School Leaders in England and its Implication for Practice (Neil Gilbride and Chris James)
Adults’ sense-making capabilities reflect the stage of their ego development. This influences how individuals interact with those around them, shapes their construction of reality, affects others’ experience of them and, importantly, configures how they act. The stage of adult ego development (AED) affects the practice of those in leadership positions in organisations. Arguably, modes of interpretation that are characteristic of the later AED stages are of most value for organising in complex environments. Such environments are those where the number of interactions is high, and dynamic due to the changes that can occur, and in a constant state of evolution as they respond to organisational influences (Stacey, 2008). Schools can be considered to be complex environments; indeed Hawkins and James (2016) characterise schools as CELLS: Complex, Evolving, Loosely Linked Systems. The AED stage of headteachers is thus important and of interest. However, despite its significance, very little research has been undertaken into the ego development of school leaders and its implications for practice. Hence the rationale for the research reported here. This presentation will report a study of 13 headteachers which assessed their ego stage using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (Hy and Loevinger, 1998). Headteachers took part in an interview and written task, designed to expose their approach/rationales to leadership and management, and their understanding of context for their leadership, focusing on critical leadership incidents. Interviews were also undertaken with those who have direct experience of the headteachers’ leadership practice, such as school governors and senior leaders in the school. The presentation will report key themes from the headteacher case studies and the outcome of a cross-case analysis. The presentation will be significant to researchers interested in how ego stage influences sense-making and interactions within a complex environment, and the implications this has for adult development.
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SUNDAY 2 JULY 2017
Presentations Session 7: 1030 – 1110 Presenter
Meenakshy Venkiteswaran, B D Somani International School, Mumbai, India
Title of Presentation
Expectations versus Reality. An Investigation of Indian Parents’ Perceptions of International Schools offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: a case study of a Mumbai school
India is witnessing major growth in numbers of international schools. Most international schools prevalent in India fall into the Type C ‘non-traditional’ bracket (Hayden & Thompson, 2013). These are schools that offer a non-national curriculum to host country nationals as opposed to the more traditional target audience of expatriate children. Presently, scarce literature is available on parental choice of such schools, with most work having focused primarily on expatriate parents’ perceptions. It is also the case that no such research has previously been undertaken in India. The research upon which this presentation is based is therefore timely and important. Questions arising from my research, to be addressed in this presentation, include: What factors influence Indian parents’ decisions in choosing for their children an international school offering the IB Diploma?; Were their expectations met?; What have the parents’ perceptions been of their child’s international school experience?; How do Indian parents define an ‘international’ school?; and Are Type C ‘non-traditional’ international schools here to stay? The presentation will also feature a two dimensional model created in the research that maps satisfaction of Indian parents with regard to international schools. The presentation will highlight limitations of the research undertaken and emphasise the need for further research in this area. Reference Hayden M C and J J Thompson (2013) International Schools: antecedents, current issues and metaphors for the future, in R Pearce (ed) International Education and Schools: moving beyond the first 40 years, London: Bloomsbury Academic Presenter
Dr Jack Whitehead, Visiting Professor in Education, University of Cumbria, UK
Title of Presentation
The Education of Global Citizens in Living Theory Research with an Alternative Globalization
The need for an epistemology that transcends the boundaries and conflicts of epistemologies of the North, South, East and West has been highlighted in the work of de Sousa Santos (2014) and Inoue (2012, 2014). De Sousa Santos has focused on justice against epistemicide in explaining how the epistemologies of indigenous knowledges have been ‘killed’ off through the influence of Western Epistemology and the economic rationality of globalization. Inoue has argued for the inclusion of insights from East Asian Epistemology into Western Epistemology.
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This presentation will have as its focus an educational epistemology generated from the doctoral theses of educators who have asked, researched and answered their questions, ‘How do I improve what I am doing in my professional practice?’. The primary context is the archive of 32 Living Theory theses in the library of the University of Bath awarded doctorates between 1996 and 2012. The related contexts are the University of Limerick, Dublin City University (Republic of Ireland), Durban University of Technology, University of Pretoria (South Africa), Brock University, McGill University (Canada), University of Kathmandu (Nepal), University of Malaya (Malaysia), University of Western Sydney (Australia), and the University of Wolverhampton, University of Worcester and Bath Spa University (UK), in which Living Theory doctoral theses have been legitimated. These draw insights from the primary context. The main issue is in generating an educational epistemology with its units of appraisal, standards of judgment and living logics in explanations of educational influence in the learning of global citizens with an alternative globalization. Methodological issues are raised in relation to the use of digital visual data, as evidence, in clarifying the embodied meanings of the ontological values that are expressed in educational practice by global educators. The ontological values are those that carry hope for the flourishing of humanity. These are used as explanatory principles in their explanations of educational influence. Presenter
Stephen Taylor, Canadian Academy Kobe, Japan
Title of Presentation
The IMaGE of an International School? Pilot-testing a web-chart as visualization of the elements that contribute to the development of international mindedness and global engagement (IMaGE) of learners in a school
Beginning with the Education in an International Context unit as part of my MA studies at the University of Bath, and continuing through to the final dissertation, I proposed and developed the use of a web chart as a ‘visual definition’ of the IMaGE of an international school. This arose from the challenge of capturing a definition of international education that could be understood by various stakeholders and that was agile enough to be used in comparative contexts. A visual representation was proposed that could show the degree to which eight ‘qualities’ are promoted in the school. Through application of a set of draft rubrics for each of the eight radials, we can create the unique IMaGE of our school, which may be applied to compare it to itself over time, to other schools, or to compare the perspectives of different cohorts of stakeholders. This tool makes reference to key resources in evaluating school quality, such as Council of International Schools (CIS) and International Baccalaureate (IB) standards, as well as the International Schools Association’s self-assessment tools and collected research on international education. The intention of the web chart is to stimulate discussion within a school as it explores its own IMaGE, rather than to promote isomorphism or homogenization, though this remains a concern in its application. In this presentation, I will describe the research (so far) in the construction of the web chart and the production of the draft rubrics, as well as outline the results of a limited pilot test in my own school. Participants will be able to test and discuss the tools. A copy of the full dissertation can be accessed at: is.gd/taylorimage
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Presenter
Dr Rita Chawla-Duggan, Lecturer in Education, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
Visual Ethnography and Children in Home Learning Environments
It is now almost inevitable that educational ethnographers will encounter visual technology and images as part of their research about learning with children. In certain contexts, such as the influence of home environments (an understanding of which we can argue is crucial to developing quality education provision), using visual technologies with children provides an alternative for exploring the ‘private’ space of the home – as it does not necessarily depend on the presence of the ethnographer. In this presentation I will discuss how I have been using visual technology with young children in home environments to help elaborate theory about children’s learning and development. I am particularly interested in how fathers support young children as learners in home environments. The presentation draws upon a methodological project about engaging with young children in home learning environments that was originally supported by the University of Bath’s Public Engagement Seed Fund, which built on and extended collaborations between University of Bath researchers, a film-maker and Bath and North East Somerset Local Authority. The main finding that arose from that project was the advantage of building children’s reflexivity into research designs when developing visual methodologies. I have extended the ideas on which the first study is based, and it is now a cross-cultural study with international colleagues funded by a British Academy/Leverhulme research grant. At this pilot stage, the second study focuses on children in 12 families located in England, Norway, Hong Kong and India, and we are developing a cross-cultural visual methodology for representing young children’s relationships in home environments. Our particular concern is examining how we can use visual technology critically in home environments to elaborate theory about fathers, pedagogic communication and child development. We look at this from the child’s perspective as a learner, in different national contexts. In the presentation I will also highlight some of the conceptual and methodological challenges we are currently encountering.
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Presenter
Melissa Hawkins, PhD Student, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
Schools as Complex Evolving Loosely Linking Systems: Implications for Policy and Practice (Melissa Hawkins and Chris James)
When using complexity theory as a theoretical lens, organisations such as schools can be viewed as complex systems. We consider a perspective of schools as ‘complex evolving loosely linking systems’ (CELLS), which has been developed from a synthesis of organisational complex systems research (Hawkins and James, 2016). Schools are complex due to multiple non-linear interactions between teachers, pupils and staff. These interactions evolve through self-organisation, and are difficult to predict. Schools cannot be controlled centrally, and sub-systems are often only loosely coupled (linked) together, which adds further complexity to system management (Weick, 1976). Schools are seemingly complex environments, yet school policy does not always take this complexity fully into account. Taking the concept of appraisal as an example, when assessing teacher performance; cause and effect is assumed to be linear, so therefore individual effectiveness can be isolated and measured (DfE, 2012). Teachers are often expected to be able to solely control outcomes, which in turn are based upon being able to predict future outcomes. Policies of performance appraisal often ignore complexity and reduce measurement of effectiveness to outcomes by results (Lowe, 2013). Our research into schools as complex systems uses complexity theory, and the perspective of schools as CELLS, as a theoretical framework in which to analyse the problematics of implementing policies such as performance management in schools. The aim is to use complexity theory as an explanatory principle to explore why linear policy is problematic to implement in a complex system, and to consider ways in which schools can work more effectively with policy. This session will outline complexity theories and the CELLS perspective, after which implications for policy and practice will be explored with reference to empirical work currently being carried out in schools. References DfE (2012) Teacher appraisal and capability: a model policy for schools. London: Department for Education. Hawkins M and James C (2016) Theorising schools as organisations: isn’t it all about complexity?, AERA Annual Meeting, Washington DC, 7-14 April 2016, Bath: University of Bath, pp 1-19 Lowe T (2013) New development: the paradox of outcomes – the more we measure, the less we understand, Public Money and Management, 33, 3, 213-216 Weick K E (1976) Educational Organizations as Loosely Coupled Systems, Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 1, 1-19
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Presentations Session 8: Sunday 2 July 1115 – 1155 Presenter
Martina O’Connor, Keystone Academy, Beijing, China
Title of Presentation
Cultivating Cultural Competence
Connecting to self and understanding who we are is foundational when developing skills for intercultural competence. This session will explore the theoretical frameworks upon which the process of acculturation is based. Knowledge and understanding of these frameworks is fundamental in building authentic relationships with others, and while initiating classroom content in an intercultural and internationally minded context – with a view to enabling students and other individuals to exhibit the desired characteristics of intercultural competence and to become culturally aware, culturally adaptable and culturally sensitive by recognising and understanding the key indicators of this phenomenon. The developmental model of intercultural maturity will be reviewed with respect to how meaningful interactions with others can be made, based on the acknowledgement of cultural identity through self-awareness practices. Time will be spent reviewing cultural developmental work models, including those of Deardorff, and King & Baxter Magolda, with respect to how one may recognise and further develop the social and emotional foundations of cultural competence. By taking time to explore and recognise the foundational basis of these behaviours, the cultivation of cultural identity in the classroom can be formed and an understanding of the key indicators behind cultural competence developed. As Robert Kegan of Harvard Graduate School of Education stated: ‘successfully functioning in a society with diverse values, traditions and lifestyles requires us to have a relationship to our own reactions rather than be captive of them’ (2009: 28). Reference Kegan, R and Lahey, L L (2009). Immunity to Change: How to Overcome it and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization. Boston: Harvard Business Press. Presenter
Dr Shosh Veitzman, Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel
Title of Presentation
‘My Heart Knows Best’. Switching Careers to Early Childhood Education (Dr Shosh Veitzman and Professor Mira Karnieli)
Early childhood education is crucial to developing the abilities, needs, and characteristics of every child. In terms of child development, the quality of the teacher directly influences the quality of the outcomes. Women with an academic degree, with prior workplace experience, who choose a second career in early childhood education are equipped with a diverse set of personal skills, experience, and qualifications.This presentation focuses on a study which investigates reasons why academics from different occupations choose early childhood education as a second career. As women who succeeded in their previous careers, why have they chosen to retrain as early childhood educators? This study chose a qualitative method and focused on professional skills, abilities and work/life histories, as well as personal expectations from the two-year accelerated degree program at Oranim College, Israel. Tools employed were in-depth interviews with 10 participants and a questionnaire with 34 open-ended questions.
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Initial results indicate that those who enter teacher certification programs do so by choice, as a conscious decision. The collective life-wisdom of these soon-to-be second-career teachers enables them to approach teaching with a rich skill set needed in critical teaching situations. Their life experience prior to the program plays a key role in this choice and also influences their expectations and beliefs about children and teaching, and their self-perception as teachers.The implications here for teacher training include the need for institutions to develop retraining programs which promote the kind of thinking necessary in assisting career-changers to examine and utilize previous life and work experiences in order to truly enhance their abilities and skills in teaching. Presenter
James Penstone, Bangkok Patana School, Thailand
Title of Presentation
Towards Embedded Global Citizenship in a School – Some Considerations and Solutions
Bangkok Patana School, a large British-based international school in Thailand, has focused its new vision statement on the development of global citizens. We recognise that this is by no means a simple ambition. We are currently making concrete plans to help realise this vision, and this presentation will share the various considerations we are facing to ensure that global citizenship is properly embedded and not merely accidental or a tokenistic add-on. The following issues will be considered in this presentation and, for each of these, potential pitfalls and suggested solutions will be explored:
x arriving at a shared understanding of what global citizenship is and what it means in a school’s context
x encouraging different stakeholder groups to see the worth of this vision x appropriate development planning at various organizational levels, taking a phased
approach over several years x finding the time and the means to make global citizenship a priority x ongoing staff training x working together with students x involving the whole school community x harnessing existing strengths where good global citizenship learning is already taking place x identifying practical ways of assessing progress – how do we know if we are actually helping
to develop global citizens? It is important that our students’ experiences have a meaningful sense of continuity as they progress through the school, right from our youngest Foundation Stage learners to our Year 13 students preparing for tertiary education. Therefore the presentation will also explore the potential for adopting a vertical framework for global citizenship while remaining flexible enough to adapt to student needs and real world developments. It is important to note that our school is in the early stages of this ongoing journey, and so we cannot claim the expertise that comes with tried and tested experience. However, the presentation is offered as an opportunity to share the relevant change management / leadership issues which seem common to many schools, both national and international, as we strive to make global citizenship real and meaningful.
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Presenter
Vandana Singh, PhD Student, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
How Does the Indian School Curriculum, both Implicitly and Explicitly, Influence the Capabilities of its Female Pupils?
The United Nations (2015) applauded India’s remarkable contribution and commitment towards Universal Primary Education; however, gender parity in institutions has always been moot. Inequalities are deep-rooted in custom, religion and culture, and are responsible for unequal control over resources and decision-making. This presentation will draw on qualitative research with two state-run primary schools in India. An ethnographic case study helps to identify if the primary school curriculum, both implicit and explicit, enables or obstructs female pupils’ capabilities. Amartya Sen’s capability approach provides a framework which helps in developing themes for this research. Four dimensions are considered to underpin the research question: physical, intellectual, economic and environment capabilities. The research question aims to identify how India’s education system builds capabilities of female pupils through the school curriculum, teachers’ pedagogic practices and textbooks. This presentation further questions to what extent Indian schools’ overall practices and environment perpetuate gender norms through the implicit and explicit curriculum. The findings will help in identifying gender issues, stereotyping and its influence on the development of the basic capabilities of female pupils. Findings may underpin important issues prevalent in India, such as female infant mortality, high female pupils’ dropout rate from school, and gender based violence. Presenter
Samantha Stone, PhD Student, University of Bath, UK
Title of Presentation
Wisdom Sits in Places: Negotiating Seating Positions in the School Mealtime
Over the past decade, much of school mealtime policy, practice and research in England has been shaped and continues to be shaped by the promotion of nutrition and health (Passmore and Harris, 2004; Gustafsson, 2002; Noorani, 2005). Whilst children’s nutrition and health are vital, the research upon which this presentation is based is less concerned with what children are eating and more concerned with how they are socialising during their eating practices. Despite research on the school meal itself, the educational benefits involved in the process of children’s socialisation during school mealtimes has been largely overlooked as incidental and is under-researched. Moreover, there has been very little understanding of the child’s perspectives during school mealtimes – because much of socialisation research focuses on how teachers relate to children, or even on how researchers tend to focus on adults socialising children and not on the perspective of the child. This presentation will draw on ethnographic observations and mind-maps drawn by children to explore the relations between social and material embodied mealtime practices. In a tangled web of interrelations, the social arrangements of seating positions create an initial flurry of excitement, disappointment, affection, connection and rejection that lasts for minutes until everyone is seated. Children seem to configure seating positions and table dynamics to their preference, which could be a divisive way to exclude some children and include others. This fascinating educational phenomenon may provide insight into how social and material spaces are closely linked (McGregor, 2004). School mealtimes tend to be thought of as noisy stop-gaps where children are just eating, with no particular attention placed on seemingly invisible ways that children exert power when transacting themselves.