Wellbeing, Equity and Education: A Critical Analysis of Policy Discourses of Wellbeing in Schools

154 Pages·2017·2.32 MB·English

by  Jennifer Spratt (auth.)

Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity 1
Jennifer Spratt
Wellbeing, Equity
and Education
A Critical Analysis of Policy Discourses
of Wellbeing in Schools
Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity
Volume 1
SeriesEditor
LaniFlorian
SchoolofEducation,UniversityofEdinburgh,Edinburgh,UK
AdvisoryBoard
MelAinscow
EmeritusProfessor,SchoolofEducation,UniversityofManchester,UK
PetraEngelbrecht
SeniorResearchFellow,North-WestUniversity,SouthAfrica
EmeritusProfessor,CanterburyChristChurchUniversity,England
HumbertoJ.Rodríguez
Principal,EscuelaNormalEspecialización,Monterrey,México
RogerSlee
Professor,SchoolofEducation,UniversityofSouthAustralia,Adelaide,Australia
This book series reflects on the challenges of inclusive education as a strategy
for improving educational equity, and includes in-depth analyses of disparities in
education and the mechanisms by which they operate. It studies the development
ofeducationalprocessesandpedagogicalinterventionsthatrespondtothetensions
betweeneducationpoliciesthatpromotecompetitionandthosedesignedtopromote
inclusionatindividual,classroom,school,district,national,andinternationallevels.
Finally, it presents research and development activities in teacher education that
respond to the challenges of preparing teachers for the changing demographic of
schooling.Increasinglythroughouttheworld,abroadconceptofinclusiveeducation
has begun to emerge as a strategy for achieving basic education for all learners
regardlessofcultural,developmentalorlinguisticdifferences.Althoughconsidered
animportantaspectofaglobalhumanrightsagendasupportedbythemultilateral
Global Partnership for Education, basic education is a complex endeavour that is
subjecttotheforcesofglobalization,andtheexclusionarypressuresassociatedwith
migration, mobility, language, ethnicity, disability, and intergenerational poverty.
The reciprocal links between these factors and educational underachievement has
ledtoanincreasinginterestinthedevelopmentofinclusiveeducationasastrategy
forimprovingeducationalequity.Byaddressingtheseandrelatedissues,thisseries
contributes important advances in knowledge about the enactment of inclusive
education. This series: Offers a critical perspective on current practice Stimulates
and challenges further developments for the field Explores global disparities in
educationalprovisionandcomparesdevelopmentsProvidesawelcomeadditionto
theliteratureoninclusiveeducation.
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/13450
Jennifer Spratt
Wellbeing, Equity
and Education
A Critical Analysis of Policy Discourses
of Wellbeing in Schools
123
JenniferSpratt
SchoolofEducation
UniversityofAberdeen
Aberdeen,UK
InclusiveLearningandEducationalEquity
ISBN978-3-319-50064-5 ISBN978-3-319-50066-9 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-50066-9
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017930185
©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2017
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Series Editor’s Preface
The idea that every child has a good experience of schooling is central to the
inclusionagendabecauseagoodexperienceofschoolingisassociatedwithpositive
outcomes. But claiming that a school is inclusive because it enrols a diverse
studentpopulation,orahighproportionofstudentswithadditionalsupportneeds,
is insufficient to ensure that all students have a good experience of schooling or
learningorthatgoodoutcomeswillfollow.Indeed,theunderachievementofcertain
groups of students has led to a renewed focus on interventions that aim to ‘close
thegap’betweenthelowestandhighestachieversasanissueoffairnessandsocial
justiceineducation.Butconceptssuchasinclusion,achievement,fairnessandsocial
justice are abstract and contentious and some would argue incompatible and too
closely aligned with a focus on academic outcomes only. In response, the idea
of wellbeing has come to be seen as both an important condition and outcome of
learning.
This book provides a welcome addition to the literature on inclusive education
that does not shy away from the complexities of simultaneous and contrasting
wellbeing discourses that range from producing economically useful citizens to
considerationsoftheroleoftheschoolinenhancingone’scapacitytoleadwhatone
considerstobeagoodlife.Throughanexplorationofthesepotentialoutcomesand
the role that schools and teachers play in influencing them, Wellbeing, Equity and
Education:ACriticalAnalysisofPolicyDiscoursesofWellbeinginSchoolsoffers
a broad conceptual engagement with concepts of inclusion, achievement, fairness
and social justice which help to address the challenges of inclusive education as a
strategyforimprovingequityoutcomes.
The ideals of inclusive education make promises that many schools struggle to
fulfil. For many years, approaches to policy practice and research about inclusion
andequityhavebeendominatedbytheneedsofindividualsandgroupswhomight
be excluded or marginalised from schooling. This book helps to reframe debates
aboutinclusiveeducationthroughadeepeningunderstandingoftherolethatschools
andthosewhoworkinthemplayinthewellbeingofchildrenandyoungpeople.By
v
vi SeriesEditor’sPreface
focusingonthe‘what’ratherthanthe‘who’ofinclusiveeducation,thebookoffersa
criticalperspectiveonthe‘wellbeingagenda’ineducationthatnotonlyinaugurates
this new series on inclusive learning and educational equity but sets a course for
advancesinknowledgeabouttheenactmentofinclusiveeducation.
UniversityofEdinburgh,Edinburgh,UK LaniFlorian
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professors Lani Florian and Martyn Rouse for their support
throughout this project. Their knowledge and wisdom, patience and humour have
contributed immeasurably to my work. I am also grateful to colleagues in the
University of Aberdeen School of Education for their encouragement of this
endeavour.Iamindebtedtoeachofthe25intervieweesforgenerouslysharingtheir
timeandtheirthoughtswithme.Withouttheirparticipation,thisprojectwouldnot
have been possible. Special thanks toRoderick Scott, for creating the fantastic set
oflinocutsof‘wellbeing’speciallyforthispublication.
Informationaboutthe ArtworksbyRoderickScott
Each chapter starts with a linocut print in which kite-flying images in different
environments are used as a symbol of ‘wellbeing’. The kite images have different
designs and are at different stages of flight to represent diversity. The symbol of
wellbeing is printed in different environments, urban, rural, on and around school
buildings and outside classes and examination rooms. One print, in Chap. 7, does
not contain kites. Entitled ‘6 Hours After Mindfulness’, this represents situations
wherethepersonalismanipulatedtoservethefunctional.
vii
Contents
1 Introduction................................................................. 1
1.1 TheResearchStudy.................................................. 5
1.2 TheStructureoftheBook ........................................... 6
2 DiscourseandPolicy ....................................................... 11
2.1 WhatIsDiscourse?................................................... 12
2.2 HowDiscourseWorks:DiscourseandIdeology.................... 13
2.3 DifferentSchoolsofThoughtinStudiesofDiscourse ............. 14
2.4 DiscourseandPolicy................................................. 15
2.5 DiscourseAnalysis................................................... 18
2.5.1 TheRoleoftheResearcherinDiscourseAnalysis ....... 20
2.6 Summary.............................................................. 21
3 Equity,SchoolingandWellbeing.......................................... 23
3.1 EqualityofWhat?.................................................... 24
3.2 LiberalIdeologiesinEducation ..................................... 25
3.2.1 ClassicalLiberalism........................................ 25
3.2.2 WelfareLiberalism ......................................... 26
3.2.3 Neo-liberalism.............................................. 26
3.2.4 Ideologies of Welfare Liberalism
andNeo-liberalism–Summary............................ 28
3.3 InternationalInfluencesonPolicy................................... 28
3.4 TheMultiplePurposesofSchooling ................................ 30
3.5 EqualityofWhat?TheCapabilityApproach ....................... 31
3.6 Summary.............................................................. 33
4 ConceptualisingWellbeing ................................................ 35
4.1 Wellbeing–AnIll-DefinedTerm.................................... 35
4.2 IdentifyingDiscoursesofWellbeingUsedinEducation........... 37
4.3 DiscursiveTheme1:PhysicalHealthPromotion................... 39
4.4 Discursive Theme 2: Psychological Discourses
ofSocialandEmotionalLiteracy.................................... 42
ix
x Contents
4.5 DiscursiveTheme3:DiscourseofCare............................. 46
4.6 DiscursiveTheme4:PhilosophicalDiscourseofFlourishing ..... 49
4.6.1 Aristotle’sNotionofHappiness ........................... 49
4.6.2 ContemporaryUnderstandingsofFlourishing............ 51
4.7 DiscursiveTheme5:TheEmergentThemeofSustainability...... 54
4.8 Summary.............................................................. 56
5 ConceptualisingRelationshipsBetweenLearningandWellbeing .... 57
5.1 Introduction........................................................... 57
5.2 Fielding’sTypologyofSchooling................................... 58
5.3 UsingFielding’sTypologytoExaminetheDiscursive
RelationshipsBetweenLearningandWellbeing ................... 61
5.3.1 Wellbeing for Learning in the High
PerformanceLearningOrganisation....................... 61
5.3.2 LearningforWellbeinginthePersonCentred
LearningOrganisation...................................... 64
5.4 UsingFielding’sTypologyinDiscourseAnalysis.................. 67
5.5 Summary.............................................................. 68
6 DiscoursesofWellbeinginScottishPolicy............................... 69
6.1 Introduction........................................................... 69
6.2 HealthandWellbeinginCurriculumforExcellence ............... 70
6.3 UseofLanguageinthePolicyTexts................................ 72
6.4 TheDiscursiveRepresentationofWellbeinginScottishPolicy... 74
6.4.1 IndividualisedDiscoursesofWellbeinginPolicy ........ 74
6.4.2 Discourse of Wellbeing as Care in the
InteragencyPolicies........................................ 77
6.4.3 Links Between Discourse of Care
andtheDiscourseofSocialandEmotionalLiteracy ..... 80
6.4.4 TheQuieterThemes–SustainabilityandFlourishing.... 82
6.5 Conclusions........................................................... 83
6.6 Summary.............................................................. 84
7 Interactions Between Wellbeing and Other Purposes
ofSchoolinginScottishPolicy ............................................ 85
7.1 ThePurposeoftheScottishCurriculum–The‘Four
Capacities’............................................................ 86
7.2 EconomicStrategy ................................................... 87
7.3 DiscursiveLinksBetweenWellbeingandLearning................ 88
7.3.1 WellbeingServingLearning ............................... 89
7.3.2 LearningforWellbeing..................................... 92
7.4 Summary.............................................................. 97
8 TheDiscursiveGap:InterpretationofPolicybyProfessionals........ 99
8.1 TheStudyParticipants............................................... 100
8.2 EvidenceofPatternsintheData..................................... 101