This September a range of delegates from Cambridge University Press & Assessment attended a conference held between BERA and WERA in Manchester. In this blog, Principal Researcher in the Research Division, Dr Jackie Greatorex, summarises the research presented by Cambridge at this global event.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the British Educational Research Association (BERA). To celebrate this milestone, BERA and the World Education Research Association (WERA) jointly held their annual conference and focal meeting at the University of Manchester from 9th to 12 September 2024. Delegates included researchers, civil servants, teachers, regulators, and test providers from around the globe.
Cambridge University Press and Assessment (Cambridge) and its predecessors have had delegates participate in BERA conferences for at least a quarter of a century. Cambridge delegates have presented numerous papers, engaged in debates, and afterwards shared key learnings with colleagues who could not attend.
Continuing this proud tradition, Cambridge staff delivered four key presentations at the BERA-WERA 2024 event. All sessions were well attended by delegates from a variety of countries. The Cambridge presentations were well received and sparked significant debates. The presentations focused on intended curricula (in the form of national curricula), the enacted curriculum (teaching), and assessment.
Comparative analysis of the content and purpose of national curriculum frameworks
Daniel Morrish (Head of Curriculum Projects, Cambridge International) and Sarah Nelson (Curriculum Programmes Manager, Cambridge International) presented a “Comparative analysis of the content and purpose of national curriculum frameworks”, to the WERA part of the event.
The context of the work is that national curriculum frameworks are important as they can drive what happens in education, for instance, describing a country’s curriculum vision, determining what (subjects) will be taught, etc. Their research is important as there are few comparative analyses of the content of national curriculum frameworks, and such research can help to understand national curriculum as a phenomenon
Given this context Daniel and Sarah aimed to contribute to a deeper analysis of national curriculum frameworks. They seek to identify the common features of national curriculum frameworks and the commonalities between various contexts, such as the Global North and Global South."
To undertake the research, a sample of six countries was selected, representing a diverse range of geographies and performance as indicated by international tests. The sample included Estonia, Albania, Kenya, Ghana, South Korea, and Cambodia. The documents were qualitatively analysed, drawing on the experiential knowledge of a wider team of Cambridge colleagues with various nationalities.
In terms of findings, analysis showed that some of the national curricula were written like legal documents, academic chapters, or instructional manuals for teachers. Most of the documents:
- Had vision statements, goals, and principles (pillars)
- Specified which subjects were offered at particular stages of education.
Some documents commented on assessment. There were differences regarding whether the language of instruction was specified.
The results could be utilised to support the design and reform of national curricula. For instance, it was important to consider the language of instruction. A country might suggest a language of instruction, implement a multilingual teaching policy, or offer guidance on determining the language of instruction in different contexts.
The debate following this presentation and others in the session was run as a panel discussion, which proceeded very well. The debate included topics such as curriculum development and education reform, emphasising the importance of considering which knowledge was valued, whose knowledge was valued, and who was included in curriculum development.
Indigenous Knowledges in school curricula
Jackie Greatorex (Principal Researcher, Research Division) presented work co-authored with Jo Ireland (Researcher, Research Division). Their work was titled "Indigenous Knowledges in school curricula: a literature review and document analysis".
The backdrop to this talk is that Indigenous Peoples have a right to preserve and transmit their Knowledges. Furthermore, research shows that including Indigenous Knowledges in curricula can improve students’ achievement (Dupuis, 2017; Ugwu, 2016). These two factors show it is important to incorporate Indigenous Knowledges in school-level curricula in a way which upholds Indigenous People’s rights."
Given this setting Jo and I aimed to summarise what Indigenous Knowledges can be found in regional curricula, how they are included, and to make comparisons between regions. The method used was a literature and document analysis of the national curricula of various countries. The countries in the sample were Manitoba (in Canada), New Zealand - Aotearoa, Pakistan, the Republic of Kenya, and Tuvalu. Overall, 23 documents were analysed.
The research found that, taken together, the documents incorporated the following themes:
- Indigenous Perspectives: These included that the Indigenous is everyday, the relationship between subjects and Indigenous Knowledges, as well as Wellbeing as a subject based on Indigenous Perspectives.
- Teaching: Including Indigenous Community involvement in learning, Elders teaching in mainstream schooling.
- Indigenous Languages: Which occurred as a medium of instruction and a subject.
The occurrence of these themes varied with the jurisdictions. For instance, there was an explanation of how Indigenous Knowledges contributed to some subjects in the Republic of Kenya, New Zealand-Aotearoa, and Tuvalu. Wellbeing was included in the Manitoba and New Zealand-Aotearoa curricula. Each jurisdiction made statements about Indigenous Languages as a subject and/or a medium of instruction. This linked to Daniel and Sarah’s finding that some countries made statements on language of instruction when others did not.
Our research findings illustrated that Indigenous Knowledges could be included in national curricula. The variety of ways in which these countries had incorporated Indigenous Knowledges could serve as approaches for other areas, once adapted to suit local situations.
Discussion amongst delegates followed directly after the presentation. The issues debated included whether nonindigenous people can know and teach Indigenous Knowledges and Cultures. For instance, a nonindigenous person’s understanding of Indigenous People’s Knowledge is second-hand rather than experiential and connected to ancestral lands. At the same time, it is crucial that nonindigenous people know about and respect Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledges and associated histories to foster respect for Indigenous Peoples and their Knowledges.
Although I have presented at BERA almost every year for 25 years, this occasion was particularly positive as the delegates in the session were international and included the President of BERA.
Synchronous hybrid teaching
Filio Constantinou (Senior Researcher, Research Division) presented her research on "Synchronous hybrid teaching: a more flexible and inclusive mode of school instruction?". Synchronous hybrid teaching (SHT) refers to the concurrent delivery of online and in-person teaching. A potential strength of this mode of instruction is that it can cater for the needs of a diverse group of students, such as those who cannot attend school in person because of a medical condition or due to living in a remote area. Therefore, Filio aimed to develop a better understanding of SHT and gain insights into schools’ readiness for implementing it.
The method used in the research was in-depth interviews with teachers who had personal experience with SHT. The sample of 12 teachers taught a range of subjects and worked various countries and schools (primary, secondary, state-funded, and privately funded).
The findings highlighted the social and technical aspects of SHT. SHT was demanding for teachers and presented four broad types of challenges: coordination challenges, administrative tasks challenges, interaction challenges, and engagement challenges. A key takeaway from this study was the struggle of SHT to simultaneously offer comparable learning opportunities and experiences in person and online, thus failing to offer an effective inclusion strategy. Understanding the pros and cons of Synchronous Hybrid Teaching (SHT) could help in improving this mode of teaching and learning."
The subsequent discussion focused on delegates' experiences of SHT, teaching in person and teaching online. Topics included the increased workload of SHT and the cost of equipment required for delivering SHT in a more effective way. There were also comments on which mode(s) of learning is likely to be more conducive to and effective for, learning.
Typing versus handwriting exam scripts
Santi Lestari talked on “Typing versus handwriting exam scripts: evidence synthesis and implications for practice and research”. The backstory to this piece is that the digitisation of aspects of education and assessment is and has been a decades-long project. A potential means of digitising answers to some general qualification high-stakes tests is to require candidates to type rather than to handwrite. Therefore, Santi aimed to synthesize the existing research on the writing mode effect (handwriting versus typing).
Santi searched for pertinent literature. Forty-seven studies (journal articles, conference papers, dissertations, and organisational reports) were synthesised. About half of these were in the context of assessing English as an additional language.
Overall, the body of literature researched writing mode in terms of one or more of four dimensions of comparability: marks (scores), text characteristics (e.g., text length, frequency of errors, types of errors, linguistic complexity), test takers’ composing processes, and/or marking (processes and quality, e.g., bias, reliability). On each dimension, there were a variety of findings. Additionally, a significant amount of the evidence was from some years ago, indicating that more recent evidence was needed to inform key decisions by governments and test providers."
There was an in-depth debate after the presentation around:
- The extent to which test-takers’ familiarity with the digital mode, such as touch-typing ability, could influence composing responses to tests, and by extension performance.
- Whether the socioeconomic backgrounds of candidates were considered in the literature and whether these could influence the evidence.
- Whether the studies considered autocorrect functions. When studies specified, they noted that any autocorrect functions were deactivated.
Final thoughts
The BERA-WERA event was a highlight of the year. The presentations were of high quality, the sessions brought together a wide range of professionals for knowledge sharing and networking. I met professionals I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise and learned about research I might not have discovered. I look forward to future such events.
References
Dupuis, J., & Abrams, E. (2017). Student science achievement and the integration of Indigenous Knowledge on standardised tests. Cultural Studies of Science Education 12, 581–604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-016-9728-6
Ugwu, A. N., & Diovu, C. I. . (2016). Integration of Indigenous Knowledge and practices into chemistry teaching and students’ academic achievement. International Journal of Academic Research and Reflection, 4(4) 22-30.