Sophie C Ward - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Sophie C Ward

Summary: The Netherlands currently has one of the most decentralised education systems in Europe,... more Summary: The Netherlands currently has one of the most decentralised education systems in Europe, with a high level of school autonomy and no formal governance levels between the national government and the school. Consequently, school principals have gained more freedom in educational policy, but also face more responsibilities in the provision of schooling. The aim of this study is to discover the ways in which principals in Dutch primary schools respond to governmental policy. The policy focus is the Professions in Education Act (BIO-Act), 2004, which aims to assure the quality of education delivered by school principals, teachers and supporting staff in schools. The research employed a mixed method sequential and phased design approach, collecting and analysing quantitative data (N=103) and augmenting these results with in-depth qualitative data analysis (N=5). The tentative findings from this relatively small study cautiously suggest school principals’ (i) possess a sense of re...

Charlotte Bronte’s novel about a female educator, Jane Eyre , was published in 1847. This current... more Charlotte Bronte’s novel about a female educator, Jane Eyre , was published in 1847. This current paper asks: what progress has been enjoyed by female academics since Charlotte’s day? Although women are no longer disbarred from academia, there is international evidence that women in higher education experience gender discrimination both as students and academics. This paper therefore borrows from Jane Eyre to define “progress” as the recognition that women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer” (Bronte, 2006, pp. 129-130). It questions the extent of this progress by asking ten female academics working in four UK universities to respond to quotations from Jane Eyre read in conjunction with recent media stories about education and gender. Some participants claimed that women may be antagonistic towards fem...

The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 2013

At first glance, creativity in the classroom and global capitalism have little in common, yet scr... more At first glance, creativity in the classroom and global capitalism have little in common, yet scratch beneath the surface of ‘creativity’ and we find a discourse of economic and cultural freedom that was used as a bulwark against communism during the Cold War, and more recently to reconcile individuals to neoliberalism in the post-Cold War era. This discourse of economic and cultural freedom is evident in various UK government reports and political speeches from the late twentieth century onwards, in which politicians aligned creativity with personal autonomy and cautioned against government interference in the operation of the free market (see for example Blair, 1998; Morris, 2003). The UK’s fascination with creativity at the dawn of the new millennium was part of a worldwide interest in innovation and free enterprise. In the words of the Director-General of UNESCO, ‘Creativity is our hope’ (UNESCO, 2006: 5), and faith in creativity as a means to equip individuals for life under gl...

Sophie Ward makes the case that although the European Union has been a great success in some resp... more Sophie Ward makes the case that although the European Union has been a great success in some respects, in others it has been let down by an unwillingness to cooperate in areas outside of the common market. Fiscal federalism is one issue which must be resolved if the Union is to continue to build on its achievements. As Ward points out, enhanced coordination of fiscal policy will generate benefits for all of the EU members and does not necessarily have to be brought about by a centralisation of power which has in the past concerned Europeans.

Virtue and the Quiet Art of Scholarship, 2018

International Review of Economics Education, 2009

International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2014

Responding to Thrupp's (2003, p. 169) call for writers on school leadership to offer 'analyses wh... more Responding to Thrupp's (2003, p. 169) call for writers on school leadership to offer 'analyses which provide more critical messages about social inequality and neo-liberal and managerialist policies' we use Foucault's (2000) theory of power to ask what lessons we might learn from the literature on school leadership for equity. We begin by offering a definition of neoliberalism; new managerialism; leadership and equity, with the aim of revealing the relationship between the macropolitical discourse of neoliberalism and the actions of school leaders in the micropolitical arena of schools. In so doing we examine some of the literature on school leadership for equity that postdates Thrupp's (2003) analysis, seeking evidence of critical engagement with/resistance to neoliberal policy. We identify three approaches to leadership for equity that have been used to enhance equity in schools internationally: (i) critical reflection; (ii) the cultivation of a 'common vision' of equity; (iii) 'transforming dialogue'. We consider if such initiatives avoid the hegemonic trap of neoliberalism, which captures and disarms would-be opponents of new managerial policy. We conclude by arguing that, in spite of the dominance of neoliberalism, head teachers have the power to speak up, and speak out, against social injustice.

Qualitative Research, 2014

into aspects of the self were not addressed. Metaphor analysis, discourse analysis, and content a... more into aspects of the self were not addressed. Metaphor analysis, discourse analysis, and content analysis are not addressed much either. I would have liked to see a more diverse set of approaches to research design and technique reviewed. Nevertheless, Researching Non-Heterosexual Sexualities will be an extremely important resource for social scientists across multiple disciplines who study identity, the body, gender, and sexualities.

Journal of Philosophy of Education, 2012

UK higher education reform (BIS, 2011) has been presented as a common-sense movement towards effi... more UK higher education reform (BIS, 2011) has been presented as a common-sense movement towards efficiency. This article will argue that, in reality, the marketisation of higher education is a movement towards negative freedom, defined after Berlin (2007) as unrestricted choice. Using Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra as a means to explore the relationship between rationality and sensibility, it considers how negative freedom may undermine human connectivity and debase our relationships. In so doing, this article challenges the idea that importing the market system into education will enhance the 'student experience'.

Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 2010

This study aims to further our understanding of metalearning activity through the analysis of qua... more This study aims to further our understanding of metalearning activity through the analysis of qualitative data gathered from 370 first-year microeconomics students in three UK universities. The students were asked to produce undirected reflective essays in response to a personal 'learning profile' generated before, and after, the teaching of a threshold concept. The purpose was to compare the capacity and/or inclination of students studying threshold concepts to write about their learning in a manner that conveys an understanding of the self, and sense of control, in the associated process. Findings are first, that as a posited benefit of the metalearning experience a majority of students demonstrate an increased level of control over their learning of threshold concepts, and second that the metalearning activity may provide the basis for study support intervention, tailored to the individual student's needs as identified in their self-reported learning profile and reflective essay.

Studies in Theatre and Performance, 2018

The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, ... more The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2020

By 1989, fascism had long been defeated in Europe, and reforms in the Soviet Union appeared to si... more By 1989, fascism had long been defeated in Europe, and reforms in the Soviet Union appeared to signify the collapse of communist ideology, prompting Francis Fukuyama to famously declare the 'end of history'. Since then, neoliberalism has been rolled out globally. This paper argues that, with regard to higher education, Fukuyama's claim that the pursuit of knowledge will be replaced by the 'satisfaction of sophisticated consumer demands' is prescient. What, then, prompted Fukuyama to qualify his predictions in 2018? Citing both the turmoil of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, Fukuyama blames identity politics for the breakdown of consensus over what the nation is, or should be, and suggests that the promotion of creedal identity might rescue Western democracy from populism. This paper disagrees: using the example of Brexit and the promotion of Fundamental British Values in schools, it argues that creedal identity has become another expression of populism. Rejecting the claim that identity politics are the ultimate source of populism, it argues that populism is the predictable outcome of recession in the market economy.

The Curriculum Journal, 2008

In this article, we examine the debate that surrounds prescribed reading lists in the English Nat... more In this article, we examine the debate that surrounds prescribed reading lists in the English National Curriculum. In particular, we attempt to locate the role which ideas about heritage Let them eat Shakespeare: prescribed authors and the National Curriculum 3 and social and moral values have played in constructing this debate. We begin by examining the English National Curriculum"s origin in the 1980s as a conservative exercise in stemming cultural crisis, and the discourse about literature's role in the curriculum which this helped construct. We then examine how this discourse has influenced, and continues to influence, the educational policy of prescribing a list of authors and consider the assumptions that are embedded in this policy. Finally, we reflect upon how the material conditions of the classroom provide a site of resistance, or difficulty, for the officially sanctioned discourse concerning literature's role in the curriculum.

The concept of metalearning, as defined by Biggs (1985), encapsulates two complementary features ... more The concept of metalearning, as defined by Biggs (1985), encapsulates two complementary features of deep level, self-regulated learning capacity: 1) an awareness of self as learner in some specified context and 2) control over self as learner in that context (see Meyer, Ward & Latreille, 2009). Metalearning is thus concerned with increasing students' capacity for selfregulation and thereby making them aware of the projected likely consequences of a particular study orchestration (Meyer, 2004) in a given context. Research Aim: To explore how developing HND/ FD students' metalearning capacity might aid their transition onto a BA Honours Drama programme.

Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 2013

The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 2018

This paper offers a critical analysis of the imposition of Fundamental British Values (FBVs) in s... more This paper offers a critical analysis of the imposition of Fundamental British Values (FBVs) in schools and nurseries as part of Prevent, the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, and compares the rationale of this policy with the motivation for Theatre in Education (TIE). This paper argues that the ‘values’ promoted through education under Prevent bear a troubling resemblance to the pattern of fascist propaganda critiqued by Adorno. In response to the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, this paper asks if it is possible for TIE in England today to be informed by Boal’s Poetics of the Oppressed, which are underpinned by Brecht’s Marxist Poetics. Discussion takes place in three parts: Part I examines policy on FBVs, asking if we are experiencing a return to Idealism. Part II develops this analysis by comparing Idealist Poetics and Marxist Poetics, asking what kind of theatre for young audiences is being funded in England today, and why. Part III completes the analysis by looking at Boal’s Po...

Arts Education Policy Review

This paper reports on the evaluation of the In2 music project in Darlington, England. The project... more This paper reports on the evaluation of the In2 music project in Darlington, England. The project ran for seven weeks from January-March 2020 and involved Year 6 pupils from four primary schools (n = 103) and Year 7 pupils from one secondary school (n = 90), working with Back Chat Brass, a professional brass ensemble. The aim of the In2 music project was to enable pupils to work with professional musicians to enjoy the benefits of group-based music, which include happiness and optimism. These emotions are strongly associated with social capital, which this study defines as the benefits that individuals and communities derive from positive interpersonal relationships. This evaluation asks if the In2 music project resulted in non-quantifiable changes that are associated with positive outcomes for pupil wellbeing and social capital. We explore our findings in relation to a policy climate of cuts to arts education, as shown by the stories in a special issue of Arts Education Policy Review. We argue that while political disregard threatens the development of social capital in economically deprived communities, funded interventions such as In2 can benefit some of the most vulnerable members of such communities.

In this paper we adopt a critical perspective on the implementation of policy on school leadershi... more In this paper we adopt a critical perspective on the implementation of policy on school leadership and equity in Scotland, viewing policy as both an attempt to solve problems and an attempt to persuade social actors to subscribe to particular beliefs that delineate action. We begin by offering a definition of “policy response”, and then examine how policy “conversations” establish consensus around such things as school leadership and equity. We examine Scottish policy on school leadership and equity and consider what practices this policy does, and does not permit. In so doing, our examination of the implementation of policy on school leadership and equity in Scotland acknowledges that such policy is in part extemporized, and in part the attempt to make inevitable a “de-stated” account of governance. We conclude by contextualising our forthcoming empirical study of the Leadership Standards for Social Justice in Scotland.