Conference Agenda

Surveys are arguably the most common tool for data collection in higher education research, particularly for the study of student behaviour and social inequalities. The well-known weaknesses of survey research are issues related to sampling, response rates and lack of knowledge about the characteristics of non-respondents (Nayak & Narayan, 2019). The use of administrative data can circumvent these difficulties. Higher Education Administrative Data (HEAD) is a large set of behavioural data based on documentation with administrative software systems of higher education institutions. The data include information on student characteristics, study and examination patterns, learning curves, student success, drop-outs and length of study. It allows comprehensive data to be collected on the diversity, academic performance and behavioural patterns of entire cohorts of students, which is of interest to higher education institutions themselves. In addition to teaching evaluation, the purposes include accountability to societal stakeholders and the development of higher education structures and new public management (Beerkens, 2022).

Compared to traditional survey-based research, the collection and analysis of HEAD requires a much higher level of commitment to ethics and data protection (Florea & Florea, 2020). Therefore, the actual use is limited so far. In Europe, HEAD in the form of registry data is mainly used in the UK (e.g. Campbell et al., 2019; Chowdry et al., 2013) and Austria (e.g. Zucha et al., 2021) due to the strong centralisation of national statistical systems. Apart from a few recent studies of examination data from specific universities (e.g. Behlen et al., 2022; Pannier et al., 2020), the accessibility of HEAD in other European countries, such as Germany, remains difficult and researchers often fail to obtain the data in full (see Bandorski et al., 2019; Grözinger & McGrory, 2020). In summary, the potential of both forms of HEAD, registry data and higher education institution-specific administrative microdata, has not yet been fully exploited across Europe.

Furthermore, the data provided by management information systems is not very systematically structured or clearly organised. Depending on the internal organisation of the higher education institution, data fragments are scattered across different parts of the institutional administration, including registries, departments and faculties, and are not intended to be linked. As a result, the quality of data varies not only between higher education institutions, but also within them (Daniel, 2015). Due to the lack of IT governance modernisation, data quality is mostly affected by deficiencies such as inappropriate data structures, data duplication and conflicts (Wang & Jiang, 2022). For an in-depth study of study courses, it is necessary to find out what data is available in higher education institutions and how researchers can process it.

Using the example of Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, this article presents opportunities and challenges for the use of HEAD. It introduces the form and structure of raw data provided by higher education administration offices, followed by recommendations for the conceptual handling and organisation of HEAD.

In the long term, the growing importance of HEAD for both research and internal evaluations of higher education institutions could lead to increased networking and communication between administrative, examination and enrolment offices. The increased demand for HEAD by researchers could therefore lead to greater efficiency in the internal administration of the higher education sector by reforming IT governance structures.

Teacher agency has become the focus of educational research in recent years, as a result, attention has been paid to the nature and ways of expression of agency, but also to everything that helps to strengthen agency – because it is a crucial component as part of the professional development of teachers.

Numerous researches have been done on which external factors work against the development of agency. For example educational policies that emphasize testing, accountability and efficiency have been heavily criticized for restricting teacher agency (see, e.g.,Cochran-Smith, 2004; Mirra and Morrell, 2011). Moreover, competitive education is counterproductive measure (Priestley et al. (2015).

Here, the focus is on construction of teacher agency, and firstly on factors connected with teachers’ professional identity, which enables or restrains the formation and further development of teacher agency. The extra angle is added by bringing in a concept of nostalgia for it can be linked to constructing teachers’ professional identity. The second focus is on factors connected with school environment and community, which can be considered as enablers or restraints to teacher agency.

Agency is an indicator that shows what teacher does, or to be more precise, what she/he is able to do – what firstly a broader context and secondly her own baggage and professional aims are allowing her to do and what she actually does.

Most generally, professional identity refers to how a person perceives oneself as a teacher. Identity building means finding a balance in between different aspects of it (Beijaard et al., 2004; Lipka & Brinthaupt, 1999). Professional identities are recognized to be teachers’ understanding of themselves as professionals (Eteläpelto & Vähäsantanen, 2008), including both, personal and institutional aspects of being a teacher (Beijaard et al., 2004).

Professional identity is in a constant change and development, being formed in the interaction between the individual and the social environment. This development is in turn influenced by the person's previous beliefs, experiences, values, as well as the experiences gained during studying and working, and the interpretation of these experiences (Flores & Day, 2006; Kagan, 1992; Löfström, Poom-Valickis, Hannula, & Mathews, 2010). According to Brown & Humphreys (2002) nostalgic narratives can be treated as an effort to maintain the collective sense of socio-historic continuity. Hence narratives of teachers provide fruitful data for analysing how nostalgia has been made use of in constructing ones professional identity and adapting to changes in the context of radical educational changes taken place during the last decades.

When change often reduces trust, integrity and professional autonomy then nostalgia quickly finds it place to make sense of it all. Nostalgia is seen as a psychological mechanism, which helps to sustain the integration of the personality by eliminating any pain related to the past and presenting it as a harmonious version of “golden age”. Nostalgia, although creating the image of the perfect past, actually tells us about the dissatisfaction with the present conditions (Velikonja, 2009).

Often nostalgia tends to carry not so much individual, but rather collective character and contribute into group identity building. However, it is important to note that those not having first-hand experience of certain period, regime, personality or culture feeling nostalgic about (Velikonja, 2009) can also carry on nostalgic narratives. This “second-hand nostalgia, borrowed or “stolen” nostalgic narratives of others (Velikonja, 2009) or “armchair nostalgia” can be as strong and influential as “authentic” nostalgia.

Abstract:

In this Ignite talk, I will present a paper in progress that examines pupils’ ability to participate in Norwegian schools through a case study developed in cooperation with a student teacher. Through an intervention, we attempted to search for alternative didactical methods by utilizing self-determination as a structural tool to encourage participation as a part of teaching democratically. This study examines this intervention through the lens of autonomy based on some of the perspectives from critical theory:

1. What factors affect pupils’ participation in class activities when the teaching is structured on the principle of autonomy support?
2. How does an intervention based on self-determination impact the pupils’ experience of autonomy in school activities?

The study is a part of a larger project where we investigate three interdisciplinary themes currently implemented in Norwegian schools (USN, 2020). These are public health and life skills, sustainable development, and democracy and citizenship (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2017b). This project specifically focuses on how to teach democratically. The ambition for a democratic school is not only stated in the Norwegian curriculum but is agreed upon in UN Convention on the Rights of Children (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2017a; United Nations, 1990).

Each year a pupil survey is conducted from 5^th through Upper Secondary School in Norway. The survey investigates the pupil’s experience regarding their teaching environment and schooling. The survey’s intention is to improve Norwegian schools (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2022). Pupils’ co-determination and participation are repeated and recommended in every yearly report but do not seem to be improving in Norwegian schools. At the same time, motivation for schoolwork is declining. In the later reports, it is demonstrated that the pupils’ stress impacts their well-being. The observed shift of focus toward achievements over learning could be a plausible explanation for their experienced stress (Mellingsæter, 2018). The psychological theory of self-determination is highly critical to the educational systems’ use of external pressure. External motivations’ effects on cognitive growth, academic success, and the learner’s well-being are regarded as questionable (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Although most Norwegian pupils experience well-being at school, it is alarming that motivation for doing schoolwork is declining, and that their experienced ability to co-determine in and through their education does not seem to improve.

Therefore, we initiated an intervention where pupils in 7^th grade chose what and how to learn, combined with questionaries to the pupils on their general opportunities for participation and their experiences of this intervention. Seven months after the intervention, we asked the pupils to briefly comment on what they remembered. Results from observational notes, questionnaires, and unstructured comments have been analyzed and discussed through a combined framework of critical pedagogy and self-determination theory. Critical pedagogy points at some of the problematic structures of traditional schooling, while self-determination theory is a motivational theory, explaining how a “…more self-­ determined functioning is associated with greater creativity, superior learning, better performance, enhanced well-being, and higher quality relationships” (Ryan & Deci, 2017, p. 17). Previous research has demonstrated the benefits such as learning, well-being, creativity, and motivation in situations where teachers are supporting students in their autonomy (Engesbak et al., 2021; Koestner et al., 1984).

Educators such as Paulo Freire (Freire, 1996, 2021; Shor, 1993) and bell hooks (1994, 2010) are critical to ‘authority-dependence’ as a consequence of learned passivity through traditional schooling. The critic is overlapping with the self-determination theory regarding external pressure, where top-down pressure is regarded as inadvisable. Instead, both theories promote students' and teachers' inclusion and active participation in co-developing educational content.

This study will investigate the changing professional role and practice of Further Education and Training (FET) teachers in meeting the needs of employers and industry. Initial exploratory findings will be used to develop a framework for establishing collaborative communities of practice and strategic partnerships between Further Education and Training (FET) educators, industry professionals and relevant other stakeholders.

The FET sector in Ireland has recently undergone fundamental reform (O'Leary & Rami, 2017) with the formation of SOLAS as the state organisation responsible for funding, planning and coordinating FET in Ireland. Alongside SOLAS are the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) tasked with managing and delivering regional education provisions.

The National Further Education and Training Strategy (SOLAS, 2020) seeks improved alignment with industrial strategy and more employer partnerships. These strategic priorities include "closing the gap between vocation educational training and real cutting-edge industry innovation and technology development" (SOLAS, 2020, p 31).

While SOLAS firmly establishes Education and Training Boards (ETBs) as a critical resource for enterprise in up-skilling of staff and developing a future pipeline of talent, there are outstanding organisational design issues to be addressed for "a clear sense of how ETB staffing and structures need to evolve to deliver on the Future FET goals… and realise the full potential of the system." (SOLAS, 2020, p 56)

The reform of the FET sector in Ireland and abroad resulted in ideological tensions. O'Brien (2018) argued that the commoditisation and marketisation of education have resulted in FET provisions being subservient to the interests of the economy rather than being driven by emancipatory goals. Vocational Education and Training (VET) reforms in Australia (Locke and Maton, 2019) and the United Kingdom (Hodge, 2016) that drew ideas and values from political and economic fields resulted in teaching and education being reduced to focusing on certification and metrics. O'Brien (2018) reported similar findings in the Irish context, with provisions shifting from a flexible learner-centred approach to a simplified funder-centred system-driven model.

The acceleration to align education with employability is noted by O'Neill and Fitzsimons (2020), with a top-down re-organisation that has contributed to a "contested profession" of FET teacher.

This study proposes a bottom-up analysis through the theoretical lens of Expansive Learning and Activity Theory (Engestrom and Sannino, 2010) to map learning opportunities across multiple professional boundaries. Through a multi-voiced process, Expansive Learning takes a "societally essential dilemma which cannot be resolved through individual actions alone – but in which joint cooperative actions can push a historically new form of activity into emergence." (Engestrom, 2015, p 165)

By mapping the multiple professional perspectives of stakeholders as interdependent activity systems, this study will account for the social complexities integral to the FET ecosystem. The Expansive Learning Cycle (ELC) process, will be used to co-create practices and cultures for sustainable strategic partnerships. At the intersection of FET, industry and relevant stakeholders, learning is not primarily the process of transmitting and preserving cultures or processes, but rather the process of transformation and creating culture.

Driving this proposed research study are the following questions:

1. How is the role of FET teachers changing in response to sectoral reform?
2. What is the role of FET teachers in improving alignment with industrial strategy and establishing more employer partnerships?
3. How can FET teachers be supported in establishing strategic partnerships and collaborative communities of practice with industry professionals and other relevant stakeholders?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the value of educational leaders intentionally including students on a leadership for inclusion team, critically reviewing and developing policies and practices that affect young peoples' experience of school. The study advocates for ways leaders can engage young people in school leadership and holds promise to build caring, equitable, and responsive classrooms and schools by centring students’ voices.

The potential of establishing collaborative initiatives to develop an individual schools' capacity for improvement is evaluated, specifically in their quest for inclusive education, where there is potential to increase knowledge about the value of including the voice and participation for students placed on the Autism Spectrum, as they engage in a collaborative leadership partnership that also comprises of school leaders and teacher leaders. Current opportunities for student participation in collaborative leadership teams are investigated, where students' and teachers' perceptions were sought; we gained insight into whether or not those perceptions hold any value in advancing the inclusive education agenda in schools. The study also investigated the impact of including students on collaborative leadership teams, where previously, there has been little empirical investigation of how adults facilitate the development of students' voice and, subsequently, youth leadership. It was intended to investigate how participation in a collaborative leadership partnership may develop a sense of agency in the students involved, where they become empowered as advocates and leaders of positive change towards greater inclusion. It is proposed that this study provides possible insights on how to develop clear systems and structures for teachers and administrators to facilitate and support collaborative initiatives within their organisation where there is the potential for students to positively impact school leaders and other staff in their development of policies, structures and procedures that will increase the school's ability to develop and provide more inclusive environments.

The research aims at exploring the experiences of developing professional development with science teachers through lesson study approach in Malaysia. The research will further explore on possibility of collaboratively develop materials, ways of implement the teaching and learning materials and reveal the impact to participating teachers. Hence the research centred on the following inquiries: 1) What are the areas of professional development needed by participating science teachers? 2) In what ways do participating teachers collaboratively develop, implement and evaluate the science teaching and learning materials? 3)To what extend does lesson study influence science teacher’s professional development?

The research is based on Illeris (2011) work and the three dimensions of learning and competence development.The interaction element is shaped by how teachers interact with their surroundings and serves to promote their personal integration within their school context.These three learning dimensions combine to reveal teacher competencies, which are a blend of functionality,sensibility, and sociality.In response to the paucity of research that leveraged theoretical approaches to explore professional learning through lesson study (Xu and Pedder, 2015), a professional learning model that centred on learning in the workplace was chosen.Reviews (e.g. Takahashi and McDougal, 2016; Xu, 2016) find scant evidence of teachers' reflective experiences in terms of their own professional learning.In this model,the professional learning dimensions of Incentive,Content, and Interaction are viewed as interacting within a larger context.When a teacher learns, it is essential to comprehend the "mobilisation of mental energy"(Illeris, 2011) involved-the incentives.By engaging in lesson study (LS), teachers may acquire a better understanding of the content - (1) how students learn,(2) how their pedagogies engage students, (3) how to collaborate effectively with others, and (4) the processes of evidence-gathering that inform practise. Interaction is considered an essential dimension of professional learning (Illeris, 2011). Rigorous scrutiny through conversations about such inquiries with a broad group of others, driven by curiosity, honesty, and open-mindedness, has been identified as an essential feature of high-quality lesson study (Elliott, 2019).The potential to critically reflect on whether the capacity for profound critical reflection on planning for, observing, and acquiring evidence regarding student learning facilitates teacher learning for future practise (Bocala, 2015; Cajkler et al., 2015).This kind of dialogic support could come from peers, "knowledgeable others" (Bae et al., 2016, p. 172), like mentors (Cajkler and Wood, 2016), or senior school leaders (Takahashi and McDougall, 2016), who could help with all three parts of teacher learning.