Natasa Pantic | University of Edinburgh (original) (raw)

Papers by Natasa Pantic

This workshop will benefit the RCE community and in particular educators leading organisational c... more This workshop will benefit the RCE community and in particular educators leading organisational change through introducing a new way of working to explore the change process in an informal, developmental and supportive arena using the Agents of Change Toolkit and associated playful activities. Participants will gain an understanding of the benefits of using the Agents of Change Toolkit and associated game-based learning interventions (playful activities) and their role within the process of educational change. Participants will have practical experience of using a game designed to accelerate progress towards UN SDGs. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on game design principles and how the use of playful activities may support them as agents of change in their own organisations

Research context Schools and teachers are recognised as key players for accelerating progress tow... more Research context Schools and teachers are recognised as key players for accelerating progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Research shows that teachers can and do act as agents of change (Pantić, 2015a; 2017; Pantić & Florian, 2015). However, school leadership and teachers often feel unprepared for dealing with these challenges. Furthermore, Pantic’s research on collaborations that facilitate change (Pantić, 2015b) show that they involve time and resource-intense collaboration between researchers and practitioners which are costly and impractical at a larger scale. The Agents of Change Toolkit project (taking place March 2020 – July 2021) creates knowledge exchange opportunities for teachers, researchers, leadership, educational authorities, designers, and out-of-school educators via a series of seminars and workshops, and has co-designed an engaging, practical toolkit for schools and teachers to improve education around the SDGs, particularly SDG4. The project draws on research and theories of change to ensure that the toolkit is engaging, accessible, and effective and it will include a research-informed, pedagogically sound, educational game, made freely available to all. Game-based learning interventions (aka ‘serious games’) have considerable potential for efficient delivery of both knowledge and behavioural outcomes in a range of related areas (Abbott, 2019a; Gabriel, 2017; Games & Social Change, 2015; Games for Change, 2019; Ouariachi et al, 2019 etc.) and a learning-objective-centric workflow for teachers has already been piloted by Abbott (2019b). The Agents of Change Toolkit project (ACT) has used a highly interdisciplinary co-design methodology to create a range of serious games, and other toolkit elements, in consideration of theories of change towards particular purposes for particular schools using scenarios related to SDGs. Game co-design is supported by the latest research in game-based learning design, including explicit and rigorous matching of learning behaviours to game mechanics (Abbott, 2019a; Arnab et al, 2015) and the use of gameplay loops for learning design (Abbott, 2019a; 2019b; Guardiola, 2016). The toolkit enables an accessible, structured, and engaging way of thinking through the whole-school approaches that, although recognised as essential, are often challenging for schools because they require time-intense coordination between different actors. The ACT serious games enable educators to incorporate research about effective ways of making change in the activities that are already structured into schools’ self-evaluation and development, such as ‘Whole-setting and community approach to learning for sustainability’, which sets out what a whole school approach to sustainability looks like. Proposed format 90 minute workshop Participants will have a brief introduction to the ACT project and the resulting outputs including the educational games (approx. 10 minutes.) Participants can play the finished version of the games (which will be free to print and play), specific to their own contexts for change and addressing the SDGs. Players will be encouraged to take away specific ‘action plans’ for their own schools/workplaces, both for accelerating the SDGs and for potentially implementing the game with their colleagues (approx. 20 minutes.) Participants will then have chance to examine the rigorous methods behind the game co-design process and to experience a rapid version of the co-design workshop which will enable them to identify particular needs within their own contexts and potentially create new games or activities to help them acts as agents of change. (Approx. 60 minutes.

International Journal of Inclusive Education, Jun 5, 2020

is a learning support teacher (called special education teacher) at a mainstream primary school i... more is a learning support teacher (called special education teacher) at a mainstream primary school in Seoul and a part-time lecturer at Seoul National University of Education. Her current research interest is in investigating class teachers' inclusive practice where inclusive education is regulated as integration.

Frontiers in Psychology

In this paper, we present a critical reflection on the concept of social capital. We argue that t... more In this paper, we present a critical reflection on the concept of social capital. We argue that there is no such idea of an umbrella concept of social capital. Instead, two overarching conceptualizations of social capital exist, namely individual social capital and collective social capital. As these conceptualizations of social capital are completely different, we emphasize that studies using social capital as a theoretical lens should clarify the concept as well as be consistent in the interpretation of the concept, from its definition to its methodological operationalization. In this article, we first map the two different conceptualizations of social capital. Next, these conceptualizations are illustrated with well-known teacher research studies, followed by examples of studies in which individual and collective social capital are mixed. Finally, we discuss the consequences of the use and the mix of these different conceptualizations in terms of measurement methods. Additionally...

Schools and teachers are recognised as key players for accelerating progress towards UN Sustainab... more Schools and teachers are recognised as key players for accelerating progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). International organisations such as UNESCO increasingly promote strategies to achieve SDGs via national education strategies and policies around the world. For example, in Scotland, SDG achievement is part of national strategies and programmes such as National Performance Framework, Scottish Attainment Challenge, Getting it Right for Every Child, and the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) Action Plan (2019). Among other things, this last plan envisages that “every practitioner, school and education leader should demonstrate LfS in their practice” and that “every school should have a ‘whole-school’ approach to LfS that is robust, demonstrable, evaluated and supported by leadership at all levels”, to be achieved by practitioners’ engaging with the SDGs through professional learning embedded within their practice, supported by other actors and teacher education. Similar strategies exist across the UK and internationally. Research shows that teachers can and do act as agents of change (Pantić, 2015a; 2017; Pantić & Florian, 2015, van der Heijen et al, 2015). However, school leadership and teachers often feel unprepared for dealing with these challenges. Furthermore, Pantic’s research on collaborations that facilitate change (Pantić, 2015b; Making Visible 2018; Making Sense, 2019;) show that they involve time and resource-intense collaboration between researchers and practitioners which are costly and impractical at a larger scale. The Agents of Change Toolkit project (taking place March 2020 – July 2021) creates knowledge exchange opportunities for teachers, researchers, leadership, educational authorities, designers, and out-of-school educators via a series of seminars and workshops, and co-designs an engaging, practical toolkit for schools and teachers to identify the changes required to improve education around the SDGs, particularly SDG4. The project draws on research and theories of change (e.g. Laing & Todd, 2015) to ensure that the toolkit is engaging, accessible, and effective and it includes a research-informed, pedagogically sound, educational game, made freely available online. Game-based learning has considerable potential for efficient delivery of both knowledge and behavioural outcomes (Abbott, 2019a; Games & Social Change, 2015) and a learning-objective-centric workflow for teachers has already been piloted by Abbott (2019b). The Agents of Change Toolkit project (ACT) uses a highly interdisciplinary co-design methodology to create this game (and other toolkit elements) in consideration of theories of change towards particular purposes for particular schools using scenarios related to SDGs. The toolkit aims to help educators a) build the national SDGs indicators into their local targets; b) identify relevant knowledge and network with players within and beyond schools to consider solutions; and c) evaluate their impact. This approach recognises that achievement of SDGs is a matter of building inclusive communities as much as building knowledge. If we are to avoid treating SDGs as third world problems, raising students’ knowledge and awareness of big global challenges such as social justice and climate change need to be accompanied by modelling how issues of inequality and sustainability can be addressed in their immediate school environment. For example, school staff and students might identify different SDG-related issues that are of most concern in their communities and consider what kind of change (however big or small) is needed in their own individual and collective attitudes and behaviour. The toolkit enables an accessible, structured and engaging way of thinking through the whole-school approaches that, although recognised as essential, are often challenging for schools because they require time-intense coordination between different actors. ACT enables educators to incorporate research about effective ways of making change in the activities that are already structured into schools’ self-evaluation and development, such as ‘Whole-setting and community approach to learning for sustainability’, which sets out what a whole school approach to sustainability looks like. Importantly, the toolkit guides school staff to evaluate the impact of change in and on their school communities, which is sometimes missing from the whole-school improvement efforts. Participants’ reflections at the beginning and at the end of the project were captured using a Log for Teacher Reflection on their Agency for Change (TRAC) as well as the actual change in their schools after the project (along the parameters they identified as their targets). This paper will present the major findings, outcomes, and impact of the ACT project’s aim to create whole-school professional development for collective action towards achievement of the SDGs, and reflect on the project’s contribution to both research…

Na het afronden van zijn studie natuurkunde begon Theo Wubbels in 1973 zijn loopbaan als leraar n... more Na het afronden van zijn studie natuurkunde begon Theo Wubbels in 1973 zijn loopbaan als leraar natuurkunde aan het Herman Jordan Lyceum te Zeist, waar hij in 1976 ook tot conrector werd benoemd. In 1978 maakte hij de overstap naar de Universiteit Utrecht. Hij was daar verbonden aan de vakgroep Natuurkundedidactiek, waar hij onder leiding van zijn latere promotor Herman Hooymayers werkte aan de verdere ontwikkeling van het natuurkundeonderwijs. Al snel richtte hij zijn aandacht ook op de interactie tussen leraar en leerling en de effecten daarvan op het sociaal klimaat in de klas. In 1984 promoveerde Theo Wubbels samen met Hans Creton op het proefschrift ‘Ordeproblemen bij beginnende leraren’. Het onderzoek dat in dit proefschrift werd beschreven vormde de start van een onderzoekslijn die tot op dit moment doorloopt en die nationaal en internationaal een grote impact heeft gehad. Als onderzoeker heeft hij zich daarnaast beziggehouden met veel andere onderwerpen binnen het domein van onderwijs en leren, waarbij hij altijd veel aandacht heeft gehad voor de cruciale rol van de leraar in het onderwijs en voor de relevantie van onderwijsonderzoek voor de onderwijspraktijk. Hij heeft binnen en buiten de universiteit tal van bestuurlijke functies vervult en is gezichtsbepalend binnen het Utrechtse universitaire onderwijs en in het bijzonder binnen de Utrechtse universitaire lerarenopleidingen. Dit vriendenboek voor Theo Wubbels is samengesteld ter gelegenheid van zijn afscheid als hoogleraar Onderwijskunde en vice-decaan van de faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen van de Universiteit Utrecht. Er zijn veertien bijdragen in opgenomen van vrienden en collega’s waarmee hij sinds 1978 heeft samengewerkt. De bijdragen hebben gemeenschappelijk dat ze gaan over de leraar, leren en het onderzoek daarnaar.

Abstract. This paper examines a variety of perspectives on the role of literature in moral educat... more Abstract. This paper examines a variety of perspectives on the role of literature in moral education. These proceed from general considerations to more specific issues that remain contested to the present day, such as distinction between individual and social morality. Others bring any literature under suspicion in the post-structuralist era, such as the cultural relativity of morality, distinctions between aesthetic and moral dimensions of literary works, and between moral awareness and behavior. The discussion is illustrated through considerations of the place of literature in English moral education from the Victorians to the present day. The discussion of dilemmas that policy makers and educators face today focuses on three dilemmas that often serve to question a possibility of justifying the morally educative power of literature: cultural relativism in literature and ideology (and its implications for the canon), the distinction between an aesthetic and moral power of literatur...

This paper presents the development and validation of a reflective log designed for researching a... more This paper presents the development and validation of a reflective log designed for researching and supporting teachers’ relational agency for change. Drawing on theories of teacher agency and inclusive pedagogy, relational agency is defined as teachers working inclusively and collaboratively with families, colleagues and other professionals to address barriers to learning experienced by some students, while avoiding their marginalisation. The log is designed collaboratively with practitioners to analyse these ways of working in relation to particular purposes of change that matter to them, including but not limited to enhancing student achievement. Following responses from 24 teachers and 22 student teachers about the purposes and nature of their collaborative practices within and beyond school, a draft log has been adjusted for uses in future research and professional reflection. Background and objective Traditional preparation for teaching as an isolated teacher-classroom activit...

The present paper considers reforms and developments in teacher education in South-Eastern Europe... more The present paper considers reforms and developments in teacher education in South-Eastern European countries as part of overall reforms in higher education, and in light of changes in general education that impact teachers and their preparation. The paper reviews the literature and reports from the region that offer some evidence of and insights into the issues surrounding teacher education reforms in the contexts of postsocialist education transformations in South-Eastern Europe. It scopes the issues relating to: structural and curricular changes in teacher preparation; coordination of reforms across different levels; development of a common vision of good teaching in cooperation between teacher education institutions, schools and communities; and quality assurance of teacher preparation. The identified issues include: the superficial nature of structural reforms and the neglect of substantial curricular changes; the dearth of opportunities for reflection linking theory and practi...

International Journal of Research & Method in Education

Journal of Educational Change, 2021

Reference to teachers as agents of change has become commonplace in the education literature, inc... more Reference to teachers as agents of change has become commonplace in the education literature, including change toward more inclusive practice in response to the changing demographic of schooling. Yet, little is known about how teacher agency relates to (1) their understanding of, and commitment to any given change agenda and (2) the institutional and social structures through which they are able to access knowledge and resources within and beyond their schools. This study combined social and epistemic network analysis to examine teachers’ understanding of change and their sense of agency as they use their social networks to mobilise support for furthering change that matters to them. Our study is the first to apply this learning analytic approach in a real setting context. We used theories of teacher agency and inclusive pedagogy to interpret teachers’ social interactions in light of the extent to which they seek to make a difference toward greater inclusion. We collected data with ...

Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 2012

The present paper considers reforms and developments in teacher education in South-Eastern Europe... more The present paper considers reforms and developments in teacher education in South-Eastern European countries as part of overall reforms in higher education, and in light of changes in general education that impact teachers and their preparation. The paper reviews the literature and reports from the region that offer some evidence of and insights into the issues surrounding teacher education reforms in the contexts of postsocialist education transformations in South-Eastern Europe. It scopes the issues relating to: structural and curricular changes in teacher preparation; coordination of reforms across different levels; development of a common vision of good teaching in cooperation between teacher educationinstitutions, schools and communities; and quality assurance of teacher preparation. The identified issues include: the superficial nature of structural reforms and the neglect of substantial curricular changes; the dearth of opportunities for reflection linking theory and practic...

Claims about teachers’ potential to influence change tend to overlook that educational outcomes a... more Claims about teachers’ potential to influence change tend to overlook that educational outcomes arise from complex, situated practices of many actors including teachers. This article introduces a tool for Teachers’ Reflection on their Agency for Change (TRAC) for empirical analysis of teaching as a collective activity designed to ‘track’ the diverse outcomes of teacher agency, including but not limited to student attainment, while accounting for the relational and institutional contexts. Activity theory is applied to map purposes and contexts of eacher agency. Uses of TRAC in professional development and inquiry are illustrated with an example of one teacher’s reflection during her collaboration with researchers on a change project aimed at ‘closing the attainment gap’. Inclusive pedagogy is used as an interpretative lens to discuss agency in relation to its specific purpose and context. The article offers guidance for future uses of TRAC to consider teachers’ impact on any change a...

Teacher Education for the Changing Demographics of Schooling, 2017

The idea of teachers acting and being educated as ‘agents of change’ has been increasingly promot... more The idea of teachers acting and being educated as ‘agents of change’ has been increasingly promoted in educational literature and policy-making, often in particular relation to social justice agendas. In this paper we raise questions about the meaning and implications of this claim for teachers’ roles, practices, and preparation. We explore the moral dimensions of classroom practice before considering more ambitious suggestions that teachers might address larger issues of educational or other injustice beyond the classroom. We take it that respect for fairness and justice has been part of the received conception of what it means to be a good classroom teacher, while the meaning of teachers’ acting as agents of social justice beyond classroom has been less clearly foregrounded. Finally, drawing on a virtue ethical perspective, we discuss the implications of our observations for teacher education, arguing that the cultivation of virtuous teacher character is as important as exploration of theories of justice.

International Journal of Inclusive Education, Jun 5, 2020

Frontiers in Psychology

International Journal of Research & Method in Education

Journal of Educational Change, 2021

Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 2012

The present paper considers reforms and developments in teacher education in South-Eastern Europe... more The present paper considers reforms and developments in teacher education in South-Eastern European countries as part of overall reforms in higher education, and in light of changes in general education that impact teachers and their preparation. The paper reviews the literature and reports from the region that offer some evidence of and insights into the issues surrounding teacher education reforms in the contexts of postsocialist education transformations in South-Eastern Europe. It scopes the issues relating to: structural and curricular changes in teacher preparation; coordination of reforms across different levels; development of a common vision of good teaching in cooperation between teacher educationinstitutions, schools and communities; and quality assurance of teacher preparation. The identified issues include: the superficial nature of structural reforms and the neglect of substantial curricular changes; the dearth of opportunities for reflection linking theory and practic...

Teacher Education for the Changing Demographics of Schooling, 2017

The book takes as its premise the argument that diverse learner groups are a fact of demographic ... more The book takes as its premise the argument that diverse learner groups are a fact of demographic change that should be considered foundational in the preparation of teachers rather than be problematized as a challenge. It promotes the idea of teacher education for inclusive education based on a consideration of what it means to educate all children together. Divided into four parts, the book considers key issues for teacher education, teacher agency, teacher education for diversity, and a research agenda for the future.

In today’s world, the demographic profile of students in schools is more complex than ever before, and the increasing cultural, linguistic and developmental diversity of today’s classrooms, along with the pressure to achieve high academic standards for everybody has significant implications for how classroom teachers should be prepared to meet these demands. This book advances a new understanding of inclusive education that addresses the limitations inherent in current approaches that problematize differences between learner groups by promoting a view of difference as an aspect of human individuality. It considers the implications of the research evidence underpinning teacher education for diversity and makes suggestions for future research in the field.