Neoliberal discourses in Spanish for business: An ethnographic classroom study

Beginning in the 1970s, education has responded to the rise of neoliberalism across macro-, meso-, and micro-level contexts through shifts in practice and structure. Meanwhile, language learning is often promoted as an instrument in job attainment and transnational business communication. For example, in language education, courses in language for specific purposes, whose ubiquity continues to increase, often reflect the market rationality embedded in contemporary education and support an instrumental orientation to language learning. This ethnographic study investigates the neoliberal discourses taken up by students and the instructor in a university-level Spanish for Business classroom. Drawing on triangulated data from classroom observations, field notes, informal interviews with students and the instructor, and a semi-formal interview with a focal student participant, the findings suggest that competition, compliance, and individualism were among the ideological discourses of the classroom. However, while societal and institutional discourses of neoliberalism were often interpellated, they were also resisted. Implications for praxis are also discussed.

Imagining a good citizen: The roles of a historical hero in Slovak pedagogical tradition

Based on a diachronic case study of history textbooks used in Slovak primary and secondary schools since 1918, this article discusses the roles biographies of historical heroes can play in school education. The case study analyses history textbook narratives about the medieval ruler Svätopluk published during three different political regimes, tracing their heritage up to present-day history textbooks. The text argues that the presentation of Svätopluk’s qualities, talents and achievements has been used not only in depicting him as a representative of the community, and as a desired prototype of a good citizen, but also in the formation of negative stereotypes about the representatives of the Other. This excluded significant segments of pupils of certain national minorities from the mainstream narrative and labeled them as enemies. An examination of the images of Svätopluk in history textbooks confirmed that these were politically motivated and influenced by current ideologies. However, it also showed that 19th century Romanticist ideals, resulting in apologetic and nation defending narratives, remained an integral part of history textbooks throughout the 20th century, prevailing over the narratives offered by official contemporary historiography.

Development of early literacy skills: A Comparison of two early literacy programmes

The aim of the present study is to monitor the effectiveness of a new conception of early literacy curriculum (in force since September 2016) which provides – unlike the previous one – a wide range of purposeful literacy practices and literacy events. The study compares graduates of previous early childhood literacy curriculum (tested in June 2016) with children who attended kindergarten in the years 2016-2019. Several indications of early literacy development were selected especially those that are culturally more sensitive, i.e. are significantly shaped by the social environment offering the broad spectrum of reading experiences. Results show statistically significant relationship of story listening comprehension with comprehension monitoring and narrative production, especially at the level of understanding the implicit meaning. The most profound group differences were found again in narratives and implicit meaning comprehension. On the other hand, no differences were found in indicators of phonemic awareness, comprehension monitoring and understanding the explicit meaning. The results are discussed in terms of their implications to educational practice.

Make my day! Teachers’ experienced emotions in their pedagogical work with disengaged students

The present study researched teachers’ emotions related to their pedagogical work with disengaged students. The aim of the study was to investigate teachers’ emotions experienced during classroom practice and how emotions were related to their perceived well-being. Based on the literature, we assumed that teachers’ perceived well-being was affected by the emotions in their classroom practice through their feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Data were collected using qualitative methods. In our results, we reported that teachers experienced mixed emotions elicited by interactions with students, student learning, colleagues and the programme. We determined the characteristics of classroom practices that contribute positively to teachers’ perceived well-being as well as characteristics that diminish teachers’ perceived well-being. Implications for practice are discussed.

On the current problems of education for democracy

The aim of the text is to formulate certain problems and dangers in relation to education for democratic citizenship. The core of these considerations points to the problem of neglecting the fundamental motive of the problem of democracy, which is the relation to truth. The text defines four problem areas that cause reductive understanding of education for democracy, namely: 1. Our understanding of democracy has been reduced to securing the distribution of power in a state and defence of freedom of speech which eliminates the contradictions in the concept of democracy and leaves only its legal-political aspects. 2. The key condition of democracy, which is respect for human rights, has become complicated by the constant proliferation of human rights, oftentimes with individual needs being confused with human rights. 3. We have resigned upon addressing the important issue of balance between equality and outstandingness resulting in consequences for culture as well as education, i. e. loss of identity and absence of footing to base it on. 4. Democracy is closely linked to the ability to think and make decisions according to truth and not on the basis of immediate interests as democracy primarily has to do with an ideal that we look up to.The text also tries to show that education for democracy cannot be satisfactorily ensured by development of partial competences for co-operation and diversity acknowledgement since democracy does not only consist in system and rules but ideas and relation to Truth in the first place.

Changing places, changing tracks: Inter-school mobility among Czech secondary students

Most of the literature on student between-track mobility or school choice examines decision making in comprehensive systems or in tracked general education schools. In this article we present data on inter-school mobility (transfers) of upper secondary students in a differentiated educational system with academic, professional and vocational tiers and with a complex scheme of programmes and qualifications. This study is based on administrative microdata from the Czech school register merged with databases containing geographical information. We performed an explorative analysis of 4,533 events of school change with focus on the spatial aspects of VET student transfers. The preliminary results confirm the usefulness of this approach in studying the role school distance plays in programme and school choice.

The institutionalization of the geography of education: An international perspective

The geography of education is a young field of research. This article makes two innovative contributions to knowledge about the evolution of this body of work. First, it presents a three-fold history of the field, delineating distinct phases in its development. Second, it draws out both linkages across, and disparities between, geographies of education in different language traditions. The analysis includes longer established German-language, Francophone and Anglophone oeuvres, as well as more recent Eastern European and international research. In combination, this attention to the temporality and spatiality of geographical debate about education provides a unique introduction to the field.

Education policy and the socio-spatiality of school reform – learning support spaces as perceived by students in the context of the new middle school policy in Austria

Education policies are socio-spatially sensitive and, depending on the local situation, can be interpreted and understood differently. The concept of perceived learning support spaces (e.g. student cooperation, student-teacher relationships) refers to an understanding that students’ school experiences are situated within the school. Using the example of the introduction of a new type of school, the new middle school (NMS), in Austria, and based on the longitudinal data of a national evaluation project (NOESIS), this article aims to clarify the extent to which, and how, student learning support spaces are perceived as local social conditions inside and outside school, and how this can explain changes in students’ educational aspirations, which was the objective of the NMS reform. In this sense, the reform policy of introducing the new middle school is examined from the perspective of the students themselves. The results from the panel analyses demonstrate that the perceived learning support spaces are highly relevant in explaining students’ aspirations.

A parental school choice misery: Middle class parents’ dilemma in choosing a primary school in Berlin’s multi-ethnic neighborhoods

To follow up on research conducted in several countries, in this paper, we look at the dilemmas middle-class parents face of being “good parents” by choosing the “best” school with a milieu-related environment for their child versus being “good citizens” by choosing a “local” public school with a large proportion of students from a working-class or migrant background. Analyzing semi-structured interviews with parents, the paper explores whether and how parents in Germany’s capital city of Berlin refer to this dilemma concerning primary school choice and how they resolve it and justify their decision. The parents interviewed applied strategies in deciding to be “good parents” or “good citizens” or at least to make it easier to solve the dilemma. All the strategies presented in other studies can be found in our sample as well. In addition, we identified two more parental strategies: the strategy of downward comparison and the strategy of choosing a private school. It is notable that the perceived proportion of children with a migrant background in the neighborhood played a major role in relation to the dilemma and the strategies chosen.