Symposium nr. 2
Chair: Dr. Eva Kane, director of studies, section for Child and Youth Studies, School-age Educare. Stockholm University
Discussant: Dr. Jennifer Cartmel, senior lecturer, Child Youth and Family Studies, School of Human Services and Social Work Griffith University, Australia
RUSSIA: Professional Standards for the Extended Education Teachers: Russian Case
-Roza A. Valeeva, D.Sc., prof. Kazan Federal University, Russia and Ramilya Sh.Kasimova, Dr. associate professor, Kazan Federal University, Russia
Abstract
The renewed goals of the Russian education system create new requirements for the quality of teachers and the level of professional teaching in general. It is necessary to develop new professional qualities of additional education teachers with the standard of professional activity in the field of training, education and development.
The Russian “Professional standard of the extended education teacher” had a long way in evolution. The professional standard is structured as a set of generalized labour functions, the implementation of which leads to a common goal. Each of the generalized function integrates the complex of labour functions, the labour function, in turn, is divided into labour actions, skills and knowledge necessary for its implementation. The presented in the Professional Standard description of the extended education teachers’ labour functions allows directors of educational institutions streamlining certain aspects of local documentation and staffing in an educational institution. The main goal of the extended education teachers according to the Professional standard is the organization of activities for mastering a complex of knowledge and competencies, creating pedagogical conditions for developing creative potential, satisfying a complex of personal needs for self-realization and strengthening health, organizing meaningful leisure activities, as well as providing accessible means for students to achieve the results of additional program content.
The paper presents the results of a survey of teachers working in the institutions of the extended education in Kazan. The research objective is to study the teachers` opinion about implementing professional standard in their work, career growth and professional development with the help of our special questionnaire.
ICELAND: Policy and Practice: The school-age educare workforce in Iceland and the implementation of a new quality framework
-Kolbrún Pálsdóttir, PhD, dean and associate professor, School of Education, University of Iceland and Steingerður Kristjánsdóttir, PhD, adjunct professor, School of Education, University of Iceland
Abstract
Following new policy and regulations concerning school-age educare in Iceland, a quality framework was introduced in 2017. This paper explores the perspectives and experiences of the professional and non-professional workforce to the policy changes and the implementation process. Data was gathered through an online survey and with focus groups analysis. Expected findings will provide valuable information on the complexities of policy implementations and on the vulnerable and peripheral status of the school-aged educare workforce in the education system.
GERMANY: Laymanization in German all-day Schools
-Gunther Graßhoff, Prof. Dr, Univeristy of Hildenheim, Germany and Till-Sebastian Idel, Prof. Dr, University of Oldenburg, Germany
Abstract
Looking at school as an organization, extracurricular activities in German all-day schools are located in an outersphere or in the periphery of regular school work, however still under the powerful socialization regime of this institution. The extracurricular activities consist of a vast field of sports, creative, handcrafting, artistic and music activities. These activities in school are really different to those outside school. The fact that they take place inside school, leads to an adaptation and to isomorphism on the conditions of regular schooling, which means more constraints and obligations as in informal or non-formal settings outside school. Hence, extracurricular activities extend education, going however, generally speaking hand in hand with an assimilation to the logic and structure of schooling. The majority is led by “non-professionals”, who are not systematically qualified in the area of education, like teachers or social workers. The staff is diverse, for instance, mothers, artists, members of sport clubs, chess players, even pupils of higher classes. The other side of this shift of opening school for non-professionals, who are engaged in this segment of all-day schools, is the rise of laymanization and amateurism respective deprofessionalization of school (Cartmel & Brannelly, 2016). Education in school has always been connected to professional standards. Sensitivity to the problems associated with laymanization thus needs to be developed–in schools, in politics and in research.
Our presentation gives insights to a mixed-methods project on non-professionals. In the project a quantitative study on competencies, knowledge of non-professionals and qualification paths are linked with a qualitative network analysis in selected schools and with interviews with non-professionals concerning their attitudes, pedagogical habitus and beliefs in the broader context of their workforce.
SWEDEN: Professional learning in educare
-Lena Glaés-Coutts, PhD, assistant professor, Institutionen för didaktik och lärares praktik, Linnéuniversitetet, Sweden
Abstract
When the Swedish National Agency for Education designated a chapter to School- age Educare in the 2011 national curriculum, many teachers cheered as they had long advocated for legitimacy of this section of elementary education. At the same time, the interpretation of a curriculum for students who are not obligated to attend this part of elementary education became a topic of debate for both educator and researchers. How teachers can process and decode curriculum is an important aspect of the enactment of teaching practices in schools in times of curriculum reform. Thus, a need for well-educated staff places an emphasis on sustainable professional learning for teachers at the School-age Educare centers. One type of professional learning that contains elements of both formal and informal professional learning is belonging to a professional network. This research examined how networks, and specifically university based networks, contribute to supporting a sustainable professional learning for teachers in School-age Educare.
The findings revealed that the teachers who participated especially valued being part of a larger community where were able to reflect on their practice with others. Belonging to a network is participating in a form of learning that takes place in a community of practice (Lave& Wegner, 1991). The participants in the network functioned as a group, jointly negotiating and re-negotiated both its purpose and format. Through the practice of experimenting and learning together in the network meetings, they build their professional identities and collectively created meaning that allowed them to connect theory and practice