Pedagogiek - Volume 40, Issue 1, 2020

The importance of ‘pedagogical tact’ in relation to experiencing wonder in the classroom.

Research has both empirically shown and philosophically defended the importance of ‘wonder’ in and for education. This paper aims to contribute to answering the question how, given the important role wonder can play in education, teachers can stimulate experiences of wonder in the classroom. An experience of wonder is an emotional experience, characterized by experiencing something new and unexpected, or incomprehensible, and which puzzles, surprises, fascinates, and/or astonishes the wonderer. In this paper we will describe four central elements of wonder, being alienation, non-enforceability, vulnerability and involvement. We will argue that the notion of ‘pedagogical tact’, as coined by Max van Manen, and interpreted here as a paradigmatic aspect of the pedagogical relationship, is particularly well-suited to express how teachers should respond to these four elements of children experiencing wonder.

Bildung in Dutch universities of applied sciences. Teachers’ perceptions about their task in students’ moral education.

In response to market ideology permeating the education system, an appeal has been made to the notion of Bildung to understand better what (higher) education should be about. Traditionally, it denotes a process of becoming human through which individuals can develop their capacities and talents in a harmonious way by relating to cultural sources. Worldwide, empirical research on Bildung is extremely scarce, and the picture of how lecturers at universities of applied science understand their task to contribute to students’ moral education is very fragmented. An online survey was filled out by employees (n = 686) of ten different institutes of a large Dutch university of applied science. Students’ formation turned out to be part of their task perceptions, and was largely understood in terms of stimulating critical thinking and inquiring attitudes. The majority claimed to stimulate Bildung by being a role model and by incorporating it in their daily lessons. Lecturers experienced a packed curriculum, a focus on testing and assessment, and a poor institutional vision on Bildung as obstacles to act on their perceptions. The article ends with a discussion of the (limited) power of the Bildung tradition for universities of applied sciences today.

Making work of the morality of teachers daily practice through reflection and dialogue

An exploratory case study to teachers’ meaning given to their daily practice experiences with pupils

This article reports a study into the reflection of teachers. The teachers participated in a professional learning community (PLC) to investigate their interactions with pupils in a dialogical process with colleagues. For this purpose a ‘critical reflexive dialogue’ was developed. First, we investigated how teachers give meaning to their experiences through three types of reflection – content, process and critical reflection – and or a shift in type of reflection takes place with the use of a critically reflexive dialogue. Second, we studied how the moral-political dimension occurred in teachers’ critical reflection. The research was conducted as an explorative case study in which the theoretical framework establishes a connection between moral educational practice with the types of reflection for teachers. Based on observations and field notes from eleven PLC meetings, results show when teachers make sense individually, they mainly pay attention to the content and the process of reflection. In this situation critical reflection is not self-evident. However, the results also show that teachers get more involved in critical reflection through critical dialogue and collective learning with colleagues in the PLC. Moral-political dimension included teachers’ critical reflection, but mainly focus on the meaning of their own beliefs for their daily practice and pupils and rarely on social and political influences. Based on these results, it is recommended that the moral-political dimension receives more explicit attention in teachers’ reflection.

Lessons Queer in the classroom: good intentions?

This study investigates the effect of Homo in de Klas (Queer in the classroom) on the willingness of orthodox Christian pupils from four Reformed schools to change their attitudes regarding homosexuality. The study has a quantitative and qualitative part. A survey was carried out among 636 pupils (37 classes) from the third grade havo / vwo (ninth-grade students: college entrance level). The study had a quasi-experimental design. The results show a positive effect of the intervention on the intention for more social interaction, but not on the intention to reduce the abusive word ‘gay’. No support was found for the idea that the classroom climate plays a role in this.

To gain more insight an additional qualitative study was done. Interviews afterwards with eight teachers and 35 pupils showed a positive classroom climate with a lot of interaction during the intervention. The meeting with the guest speaker impresses the pupils in particular. According to the teachers and pupils, these elements encourage a change in the behavior, towards more social interaction and less use of  ‘gay’ as a swearword.

Bullying on ‘the Healthy Primary School of the Future’: An explorative study

To improve the well-being and health of students, several Dutch schools currently implement health promoting lifestyle interventions. To which degree these interventions influence bullying behavior in the school setting is unknown. This mixed methods study examines the influence of a lifestyle intervention at four primary schools (The Healthy Primary School of the Future; HPSF) on bullying. A longitudinal survey among 6^th grade students indicated some decrease in bullying at intervention schools compared to control schools (p = .041). Interviews and focus groups conducted with school staff of the intervention schools reveal a decrease in conflicts between children, which most likely also affects bullying. According to the staff, the structural aspects of HPSF create a safer school environment with less opportunity for conflict behavior. This study demonstrates a possible positive (side) effect of a lifestyle intervention on conflicts and bullying. Further research is needed to confirm these observations.

To implement, and learn. The implementation and subsequent lessons of a module aimed at enhancing home-based parental literacy involvement

With this study, we (a) analyze the implementation of the parental involvement module of Success for All aimed at enhancing home-based parental literacy involvement in the first, second, and third Grade, and (b) draw lessons from that implementation. For three school years, seven Dutch elementary schools with relatively many students from low socio-economic backgrounds, have implemented the parental involvement module. Afterwards, in-depth interviews with 22 professionals have been conducted. Based on the interview data, two dimensions of implementation have been analyzed: the level of structural implementation and the process of implementation. We distinguished three levels of structural implementation: low, medium, and high. Our analyses reveal that one school obtained a medium level of structural implementation, and the other six a low level. With knowledge of the process of implementation, we interpreted this outcome. Our analyses show that a higher level of structural implementation relies on (1) how the innovation is embedded in the school’s organizational structure, (2) whether or not a program champion (who is supported by coworkers and supervisors) is present, (3) the necessity felt for successful implementation of core elements of the module, (4) the enthusiasm of the school’s staff for the innovation, (5) asking the help of external experts in order to, with joint forces, help solve a blockage in the implementation process and (6) active involvement of parents and positive parental responses.