European Educational
Research Journal

ISSN 1474-9041

Volume 9 Number 2 2010

CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text]

ECER KEYNOTES – VIENNA 2009
Stephen J. Ball. New Voices, New Knowledges and the New Politics of Education Research: the gathering of a perfect storm?, pages 124‑137
Roland Reichenbach. Two Solitudes: educational research and the pedagogical realm, pages 138‑146
Herbert Altrichter. Theory and Evidence on Governance: conceptual and empirical strategies of research on governance in education, pages 147‑158

SPECIAL ISSUE
Agency in a Changing Educational Context: negotiations, collective actions and resistance
Guest Editors: ANNE-LISE ARNESEN, ELINA LAHELMA, LISBETH LUNDAHL & ELISABET ÖHRN

Anne-Lise Arnesen, Elina Lahelma, Lisbeth Lundahl & Elisabet Öhrn. Introduction. Agency in a Changing Educational Context: negotiations, collective actions and resistance, pages 159‑163 doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.159 VIEW FULL TEXT

AGENCY
Kari Berg. Negotiating Identity: conflicts between the agency of the student and the official diagnosis of social workers and teachers, pages 164‑176
Jukka Lehtonen. Gendered Post-Compulsory Educational Choices of Non-Heterosexual Youth, pages 177‑191
Joakim Lindgren & Lisbeth Lundahl. Mobilities of Youth: social and spatial trajectories in a segregated Sweden, pages 192‑207

TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ COLLECTIVE ACTIONS, NEGOTIATION AND RESISTANCE
Maria Rönnlund. Student Participation in Activities with Influential Outcomes: issues of gender, individuality and collective thinking in Swedish secondary schools, pages 208‑219
Ulpukka Isopahkala-Bouret. Vocational Teachers between Educational Institutions and Workplaces, pages 220‑231
Marianne Dovemark. Teachers’ Collective Actions, Alliances and Resistance within Neo-liberal Ideas of Education: the example of the Individual Programme, pages 232‑244
Carina Hjelmér, Sirpa Lappalainen & Per-Åke Rosvall. Time, Space and Young People’s Agency in Vocational Upper Secondary Education: a cross-cultural perspective, pages 245‑256

CHANGING CONTEXTS OF AGENCY
Ann-Sofie Holm. Gender Pattern and Student Agency: secondary school students’ perceptions over time, pages 257‑268
Katariina Hakala. Discourses on Inclusion, Citizenship and Categorizations of ‘Special’ in Education Policy: the case of negotiating change in the governing of vocational special needs education in Finland, pages 269‑283
Tove Steen-Olsen & Astrid Grude Eikseth. The Power of Time: teachers’ working day – negotiating autonomy and control, pages 284‑295

REVIEW ESSAY
Jörg Dinkelaker. Learning in the Knowledge Society and the Issue of Fundamental Change in Education: a comparative review, pages 296‑303 doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2. 296 VIEW FULL TEXT

New Voices, New Knowledges and the New Politics of Education Research: the gathering of a perfect storm?

STEPHEN J. BALL Centre for Critical Education Policy Studies, Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.124

This article outlines and discusses a set of related developments in the governance, reform and privatisation of knowledge production in the field of education policy. It argues that knowledge about, performative knowledge, and knowledge for leadership knowledge are key facets of the new governance and ongoing reform of public sector education but increasingly are created and sold to governments by private sector and philanthropic organisations. In all of this public sector higher education institutions are being displaced as knowledge brokers, and at the same time ‘enterprised’ and ‘hybridised’, in a new education policy knowledge market. Increasingly the idea of a public/private divide in education is redundant.

Two Solitudes: educational research and the pedagogical realm

ROLAND REICHENBACH University of Basel, Switzerland

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.138

There is much to be positive about in the current field of educational research. Now a burgeoning research domain in many European countries, diverse national and international studies are currently officially supported both politically and economically. However, on closer examination the actual effect of many prominent studies is sobering. The general claim that our research domain is full of pseudo-questions is probably unfair and unacceptable, yet it is worth considering how often educational research truly deals with educational questions. The gap between pedagogical thought and educational research has achieved grand proportions. The ideal of mutual profit between the two realms is now arguably simplistic, naïve, and functional.

Theory and Evidence on Governance: conceptual and empirical strategies of research on governance in education

HERBERT ALTRICHTER Department of Education and Psychology, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.147

During the last 20 years many European education systems have seen profound changes in the way they are governed. This also applies to the school systems of German-speaking countries which until then had been characterized by a long period of stability. Both political rhetoric and actual changes have rightly attracted increased attention of educational researchers, resulting in a growing body of work on the ‘governance’ of schooling. There is no such word as ‘governance’ in the German language. Nevertheless, a type of studies called ‘Governance Studies’, ‘Governance Research’ or ‘Governance Perspective’ has recently evolved in German-speaking social sciences. This article aims to make accessible this strand of research which has not yet been extensively published in languages other than German. Further, it intends to explore its links and relationships to other European research approaches. First, the article explains in what way the concept of ‘governance’ has been defined in German educational research. The second section discusses some of its methodological aspirations. In the third part, some examples of empirical research on changing educational governances are discussed in order to give an idea of how this research approach currently unfolds.

Negotiating Identity: conflicts between the agency of the student and the official diagnosis of social workers and teachers

KARI BERG Faculty of Teacher and Interpreter Education, Sør-Trøndelag University College, Norway

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.164

This article aims to demonstrate the interplay between the individual’s negotiation of his/her identity in compulsory school and the systems of communication and practice of professionals in the welfare state. It looks at the case of ‘Tom’, whose custody has been taken over by the Child Welfare Service and who now lives in a child welfare institution. The article discusses how Tom constructs and negotiates his identity within educational and institutional frameworks, which are in turn influenced by professional agencies, alliances, and power relations.

Gendered Post-Compulsory Educational Choices of Non-Heterosexual Youth

JUKKA LEHTONEN Department of Education, University of Helsinki, Finland

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.177

Gender and socio-economic background are widely acknowledged factors influencing the educational choices of young people. Following their compulsory education, young people in Finland choose between academically oriented general upper secondary schools and vocational upper secondary schools. Gender and class intertwine in these choices in many ways. This is particularly visible in vocational education, which is highly gender-segregated. This article focuses on the post-compulsory educational choices of non-heterosexual young people. It argues that, in addition to class and gender, sexuality is another relevant factor affecting processes related to educational and career choices. Based on interviews and stories produced with young non-heterosexual people, it analyse how gender, class and sexual orientation were constructed as meaningful in the educational choices these young people made. Young non-heterosexual people take part in processes where they are expected to construct educational and labour-market citizenship. They are often expected to be and act heterosexual; their non-heterosexuality is neither visible nor considered relevant when they consider their educational paths. However, many of these youth resist the gendered expectations forced on them and choose differently.

Mobilities of Youth: social and spatial trajectories in a segregated Sweden

JOAKIM LINDGREN Department of Education, Umeå University, Sweden
LISBETH LUNDAHL Department of Applied Educational Science, Umeå University, Sweden

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.192

This article explores youth mobilities in three geographic and socio-economically diverse Swedish contexts. The concept of mobility has become an important feature of individualistic discourses of responsibility relating to inclusion, lifelong learning and self-regulating entrepreneurial behaviour. This article draws attention to the fact that geographical mobility, as a form of human agency, is closely related to social mobility and hence to both spatial and social inequalities. Using life-history interviews and statistical data, the article explores how space, class and ethnicity are related to education and social inclusion and exclusion as young people are spatially situated yet move, desire to move, dream about moving, seek to move and fail to move, as they migrate through, in and out of social communities. The analysis displays how these mobilities are framed by local traditions and circumstances that both enable and restrict. Such mobility might involve processes of personal development and learning, and be the calculated consequence of each individual’s chosen life-career. However, mobility might also arise as flight from a stigmatised place. In these cases, refusal to move can also be seen as a form of resistance.

Student Participation in Activities with Influential Outcomes: issues of gender, individuality and collective thinking in Swedish secondary schools

MARIA RÖNNLUND Unit for Teaching and Learning, Umeå University, Sweden

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.208

Drawing on a study in three Swedish lower secondary schools, this article examines how students engaged in the democratic processes involved in the formation of an action group intended to influence their school by making it more environmentally friendly. The aim is to acquire greater understanding of influential processes in relation to gender and both individualistically and collectively oriented ideas, including understanding of which students participate in such groups, the role gender plays in the likelihood of a student participating, how they act, and their experiences of participation. From observations of, and interviews with, four participants, girls were found both to be more active participants and to have more positive experiences than boys. It is concluded that the group represents an arena for both individual and collective performance in which both individual and collective ideas are reflected. However, differences in the expectations of boys and girls, concerning where and how they feel they should act and perform in school, seems to make the arena more suitable and more effective for girls than boys. While the girls’ participation provided them with political confidence, the two participating boys did not gain this from the experience.

Vocational Teachers between Educational Institutions and Workplaces

ULPUKKA ISOPAHKALA-BOURET Department of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.220

The aim of this study is to analyze discursively how the relationship between educational institutions and workplaces materializes in the position of a vocational teacher. Several studies have pointed out that the role of vocational teachers is changing as a result of current educational reforms, which can be understood in terms of bringing education and work closer together. Along these lines, the author focuses particularly on the requirement of vocational teachers to work in close collaboration with industry and workplaces, and to serve economic interests. Vocational teachers are asked, for instance, to be networkers outside of educational institutions and to coach students who enter work life in order to enable favourable ‘learning at work’ experiences. Students’ on-the-job learning is a normatively regulated, goal-oriented, guided, and evaluated study practice. The pedagogical responsibility for what happens to students at work remains with vocational teachers; however, the success of educational programmes depends on the willingness of employees to offer learning opportunities to students, and to guide and evaluate student learning according to the rules set by the educational curricula. How do these new practices challenge the traditional position of vocational teachers? How do vocational teachers negotiate and enact their agency in these circumstances?

Teachers’ Collective Actions, Alliances and Resistance within Neo-liberal Ideas of Education: the example of the Individual Programme

MARIANNE DOVEMARK Department of Educational and Behavioural Sciences, University of Borås, Sweden

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.232

The education system in Sweden has taken a strong neo-liberal turn over the past 15 years. This article uses ethnographic research from an Individual Programme (IP) in a Swedish upper secondary school to explore how alliances, collective actions and resistance can be materialised within the changed system. According to the author, the teachers in the study tried to implement consciousness-raising work in three ways: through ‘encouraging critical awareness’, ‘encouraging students’ collective actions’ and ‘working towards a collective’. This view of education stood in sharp contrast to a dominant ideology of education, which was characterised by self-regulation, self-governance, personal choice and other self-monitored activities.

Time, Space and Young People’s Agency in Vocational Upper Secondary Education: a cross-cultural perspective

CARINA HJELMÉR Department of Applied Educational Science, Umeå University, Sweden
SIRPA LAPPALAINEN Unit of Cultural and Feminist Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland
PER-ÅKE ROSVALL School of Education and Behavioural Sciences, University of Borås, Sweden

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.245

This article is based on ethnographic studies in the context of vocational education: two in Sweden and one in Finland. The Swedish data originate from the Vehicle programme and the Child and Recreation programme; the Finnish data originate from the social and health-care sector. In this sense, the authors’ perspective is cross-cultural. The article focuses on temporal and spatial dimensions of these three educational contexts and analyzes how young people exhibit their agency when negotiating their time and constructing their own space. The authors’ analysis elucidates how time–space paths in the context of vocational education are classed and gendered. In the female-dominated fields of vocational upper secondary education, disciplinary practices related to time and space are more visible than in the male-dominated fields. Moreover, it is argued that the political atmosphere in Sweden has been more favourable for promoting equality than that in Finland. Despite this, divisions between students and pigeonholing exist in everyday school life.

Gender Patterns and Student Agency: secondary school students’ perceptions over time

ANN-SOFIE HOLM University of Borås, Sweden

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.257

This article focuses on students’ perceptions of gender relations in school over the last three decades. The analysis is based on data from three inquiry surveys in Swedish secondary schools from 1974, 1992 and 2005, and compares how young students (a) perceive the behaviour of boys and girls in a classroom situation, (b) value different aspects of family and work in their future lives, and (c) experience the power relations between girls/women and boys/men. The analysis indicates both stability and change. In some aspects, the students perceive certain classroom behaviour as highly gendered, but in parallel there is a trend that girls have taken on a more active role in the classroom and are more career-oriented than before. But even though girls seem to have expanded their positions of agency over time, they have not improved their overall status in the gender hierarchy. Rather, the results point in the opposite direction, since the general opinion is that it is more favourable to be male than female. Compared to 1974, this is expressed even more strongly in 2005.

Discourses on Inclusion, Citizenship and Categorizations of ‘Special’ in Education Policy: the case of negotiating change in the governing of vocational special needs education in Finland

KATARIINA HAKALA Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Helsinki, Finland

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.269

This article deals with the negotiation process deciding the institutional organization of vocational special needs education and training in Finland. Traditionally, the state has been a strong actor in organizing vocational special needs education in Finland. At the beginning of 2009, however, all five state-maintained vocational special schools were administratively merged with vocational special schools of non-governmental not-for-profit organizations. Three of these former state schools are institutions that have long traditions in organizing care, education and training for people with intellectual disabilities, which is the starting point for the study that this article is based on. The article focuses on research that has documented the change process in these three schools by visiting the schools, gathering ethnographic data and interviewing the head teachers about the process. The article analyzes discursive meanings of the concept of inclusion and different categorizations of ‘special’ constructed in the data. The results of the analysis show that there is ambivalence in the formulation of ideas of inclusion and exclusion in the educational policy of vocational special needs education and training, as the policy on the one hand supports full inclusion and, on the other, legitimates the separated vocational special schools.

The Power of Time: teachers’ working day – negotiating autonomy and control

TOVE STEEN-OLSEN & ASTRID GRUDE EIKSETH Sør-Trøndelag University College, Trondheim, Norway

doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.2.284

This article focuses on teachers’ repeated complaints of lack of time. The theme is explored within data material collected in a research and development project in a Norwegian primary school (2006‑09), including observations from development work together with a teacher team, and interviews with their principal, a representative of the teacher union and a representative of the local education authority. The aim of the article is to study in what way teachers’ autonomy and utilisation of time is debated when teachers experience that new reforms exert more demands and external control on their professional work. The material is analysed within the framework of critical discourse analysis with a focus on how social practice and power relations are constructed, maintained and negotiated in the education arena. The findings indicate that the teachers’ working day is an arena for constant political and discursive negotiations, and two discourses – professional and economic – contribute to conflicting views regarding teachers’ autonomy and utilisation of time.

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