Drawing on a set of studies conducted over 3 decades, this article provides a reflection on what has been learned by centering equity questions in research on educational reform. These studies reveal ...the need to explore educators’ belief systems, emotions, and agency in relation to reform. They also underscore the co-constructed nature of reform and the importance of attending to context and scale. Although prior research reveals the complex challenges educators, policymakers, and communities face in promoting educational change with social justice aims, it also provides lessons for a hopeful path forward. Pursuing an equity agenda in this pivotal moment requires deep thinking about how we conduct research on educational reform, prepare the next generation of scholars, and work across disciplinary and national boundaries.
Educational change efforts that prioritize equity for multilingual learners (MLs) require attention to several interconnected components of the education system. We build on prior literature and our ...collective research to clarify the concept of shared responsibility for ML students and to operationalize the concept at the school, district, and state levels. Drawing on institutional theory and a racialized organizations lens, we argue that shared responsibility is embedded in the mindsets, norms, and structures that shape education systems. We also attend to the complexities of fostering shared responsibility in practice, such as grappling with pervasive educator burnout and developing innovative strategies that span levels of the system. We conclude with directions for future research, including studies examining effective approaches for shifting the mindsets, norms, and routines comprising shared responsibility, and recommendations for researchers to play a more active role in shaping shared responsibility for ML students.
Perpetual educational reform can feel like a battle between current trends of methodology. It must be accepted that there will never be a perfect universal educational curriculum and teachers can ...only strive for improvement. In the process of reforming education, it has become no longer possible to discuss pedagogy, academic achievement, or the culture and climate of schools without discussing social emotional competencies under the framework of social and emotional learning (SEL). This fad, as it is sometimes perceived, encompasses the process through which individuals attain and apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to manage their emotions, understand others’ perspectives and show empathy for others, to set and achieve positive goals, develop, and sustain positive relationships and make responsible decisions. This pedagogical concept has been welcomed in Western countries such as the U.S. and the U.K., but will it find a place in the educational systems in the East in countries such as Japan and in what capacity? This paper reviews SEL practice and attempts to disclose some of the differences in thinking style, cultural prejudice, and gender discrimination that may cause problems initializing this reform in the Japanese higher educational system.
En esta investigación se explora el proceso de resignificación de la reforma educativa de 2013 por parte de los actores escolares en dos contextos rurales de los estados de México y Michoacán, cuyos ...subsistemas educativos destacan por su magnitud y la contrastante orientación política de sus corrientes sindicales, la primera oficialista y la segunda disidente. Ambos se toman como estudios de caso simultáneos con el fin de profundizar en las diversas maneras en cómo la reforma educativa es vivida y resignificada en función de la lógica de la puesta en acto de Stephen Ball. Con la recuperación y sistematización de las interpretaciones que cada uno de estos actores construyen, se busca contribuir a la comprensión en el nivel micropolítico de las reformas educativas, así como indagar en las mediaciones que intervienen en el proceso de resignificación. En dicho proceso, cobra relevancia la autoría de los sujetos escolares y comunitarios en relación a las normativas con aspiraciones prescriptivas, que son reelaboradas desde el nivel micropolítico y territorial. Estas reinterpretaciones se posicionan como discursos que reivindican las voces excluidas de la narrativa oficial.
Stemming from the research "The Fourth Impulse of Pedagogical Renewal in Spain", this article addresses three key issues: firstly, and as a terminological exercise, it differentiates three concepts ...that are too often treated interchangeably. These are: reform, renewal and innovation. Secondly, some of the defining aspects that, in our view, characterise centres of pedagogical renewal are presented. Thirdly, some of the peculiarities of pedagogical renewal today (what we agree to call the "third impulse of pedagogical renewal") are presented. The article closes with some conclusions which, apart from highlighting the main aspects of the article, place topics on the table for further debate.
The current policy terrain is primed for schools to absorb new discipline strategies and address bias-based beliefs. Over the past 10 years, numerous policy changes regarding discipline have emerged ...at the federal and state levels. I argue these policy shifts, primarily at the state level, are using two of four value levers (quality, efficiency, choice, and equity) identified in research as the impetus for policy development. I focus on the quality and efficiency levers, as I believe these have been central to the recent changes in discipline policy. Quality is defined in terms of optimal educational experiences, such as instructional time, rehabilitative discipline, and appropriate behavioral interventions based on age. This quality frame suggests that behavioral interventions should not jeopardize instructional time or be inappropriate toward children. Another basis for policy shifts, the efficiency frame, implies effective behavioral interventions are used at an appropriate and effective level. In sum, discipline policy shifts, whether based on a quality and/or efficiency frame, can potentially make room for schools to consider other approaches for addressing student behavior.
