stephen dobson | Victoria University of Wellington (original) (raw)

Papers by stephen dobson

Norsk: Denne rapporten omhandler tilpasset opplæring med fokus på elevvurdering og samarbeid hjem... more Norsk: Denne rapporten omhandler tilpasset opplæring med fokus på elevvurdering og samarbeid hjem–skole. Vi har stilt følgende 3 forskningsspørsmål: 1. Hvordan forstås og praktiseres elevvurdering sett i relasjon til tilpasset opplæring? 2. Hvilken sammenheng kan det være mellom skolens samarbeid med elevenes foresatte og tilpasset opplæring? 3. Hvordan kan skolen utvikle gode vurderingskulturer? Vi har gjennomført to delprosjekter og involvert 4 skoler i undersøkelsen som hovedsakelig er kvalitativ. Feltarbeidet har omfattet en rekke ulike metoder som observasjon, intervju, lærerlogg og dokumentstudier. Den ene skolen, «Lund skole», er fulgt spesielt i en form for forskende partnerskap hvor ett av målene var å utvikle vurderingskulturen. Resultatene viser at de feste lærerne har et bevisst forhold til elevvurderingens sentrale betydning for tilpassing av opplæringen. Vi registrerte samtidig at det er stor spredning i forståelsen av begrepet elevvurdering. Elevenes egen medvirkning ...

Feedback er enkelt: alle har enten gitt det, eller mottatt det, og kan erindre nar det har hatt b... more Feedback er enkelt: alle har enten gitt det, eller mottatt det, og kan erindre nar det har hatt betydning for deres videre utvikling. Men samtidig er det noe ved feedback som gjor det mer komplekst. Feedback kan ha flere hensikter, og kan gis pa ulike mater. Innledningsvis vil jeg na antyde denne variasjon, som bidrar til kompleksiteten. Noen har sagt at det er vanskelig a vaere boddel, og dermed satt ord pa det som er en av laererens storste utfordringer: a gi aerlig, faglig og objektiv feedback, og samtidig vise omsorg med folelsesmessig engasjement. Det er mulig at leseren vil reagere pa uttrykket “boddel”, men det viser til noe som min veileder, Gordon Stobart, en gang i tiden omtalt som “killer feedback” (Stobart 2011). Dette er en form for feedback som gar tett inn pa mottakeren, slik at det pavirker hvordan de tenker om seg selv, og sin motivasjon for videre laeringsarbeid. Dette perspektiv pa feedback er dermed opptatt av a trekke en linje mellom motivasjon og laering. Det e...

International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2019

Seminar. net-International journal of media, technology …, 2009

Seminar.net - Media, technology and Lifelong learning.

YOUNG, 2006

Youth have been understood as progressing through formal education towards entrance into universi... more Youth have been understood as progressing through formal education towards entrance into university or other forms of higher education. But, what of the informal curriculum and the manner in which youth are obsessed by it as a source of formative experiences? This article takes as an example of this the grisefest (pig party) of Norwegian youth in the final year of high school. Through examples such as these our goal is to develop a framework to understand how youth cultures, as sources of education, are ultimately connected with the desire to ‘court risk’.Our conclusion is that, through such activities, we witness what is called ‘learning by doing’, where self-formation ( bildung) and the gaining of a certain competence, not necessarily of a deviant character, are important elements and based upon the role of personal experiences. This article is a follow-up to our project, entitled Overcoming Nihilism Through Planned Normlessness. The Experience of Norwegian High School Youth (Dobs...

Nordic Studies in Education, 2011

Learning Cities

In reflecting on the book’s varied approaches to the theme of ‘learning cities’, the author draws... more In reflecting on the book’s varied approaches to the theme of ‘learning cities’, the author draws on the concept of bildung, as a broader and more inclusive concept of education than that associated with schooling. Urban pedagogy is proposed as an integration of teaching, research and activism and as inherently interdisciplinary. Through the strategy of posing provocative questions, the author challenges readers to position themselves in relation to the book’s arguments

Transforming Education

The concept of the demonstration school (a community of learning and applied research inquiry in ... more The concept of the demonstration school (a community of learning and applied research inquiry in an integrative designed space) dates back to the Peripatos of Aristotle. In contemporary times, demonstration schools-housed on university campuses and often integrated with teacher training programmes-have been supported with Deweyan arguments about trialling learning environments that meld theory and practice. Many are sites of educational research, where educationalists, practicing teachers and pre-service practitioners collaborate to teach, study, reflect and debate. Some have integrated problem-based curricula approaches with learning analytics, design thinking, digital adaptation and eco-friendly uses of technology. At the same time, some are also places in which competing imperatives play out, as those on site seek to adapt pedagogic, infrastructural, funding and governance arrangements to accommodate stakeholders. This chapter first recounts the historical legacy of demonstration schools before analysing contemporary realisations of demonstration schools' sites drawing on recent research in Asia, Europe and the USA. The focus is on how these modern learning environments are shaped by discursive connections between philosophy, learning science, design, innovation policy and science and technology studies. Drawing on expertise across these fields, we investigate how these sites meet the contemporary challenge to link the pedagogic, spatial and technological/digital in sites where social and educational innovation coexist.

Seminar.net

This essay argues for narrative competence as an underlying skill neglected in educational policy... more This essay argues for narrative competence as an underlying skill neglected in educational policy makers’ calls for enhanced literacy through improved reading, writing, numeracy and working with digital technology. This argument is presented in three parts. First, a genealogy of the narrative is presented by looking at understandings of narratives with respect to changes in technology and socio-cultural relations. Three technological forms of the narrative are examined: the oral, written and image based narrative. Second, revisiting Bernstein, narrative competency is connected to pedagogic practice. The focus is upon code recognition and the rhythm of narrative in a classroom context. Third, a proposal is made to develop narrative competence as a research programme capable of exploring literacy in an age of open learning. The core assertion of this essay is that when narrative is understood in a multi-directional, multi-voiced and multi-punctual sense, opportunities are created for ...

Assessing the Viva in Higher Education

The doctoral dissertation and its accompanying viva are considered the epitome of our higher educ... more The doctoral dissertation and its accompanying viva are considered the epitome of our higher education institutions. They consecrate the aspiring scholar, but their mission and position is far from clear in today’s shifting terrain. The arrival of the professional doctorate and the doctorate by journal publication are innovations that challenge not only the conception of the doctorate as a single monograph, but also the sites involved in its legitimacy. Before turning to explore the changing genre of the doctorate and the attempt to reconceptualise the ontological space of the dissertation and viva, this chapter with the permission of the doctoral candidate concerned and co-examiners explores a Nordic public viva in which the author was one of the appointed opponents in the public defence.

Introduction Has the sociology of education undergone a transformation in the last three decades?... more Introduction Has the sociology of education undergone a transformation in the last three decades? In the 1970s the work of researchers such as Coleman (USA) and Bernstein (UK) defined a field where the social, cultural and economic background of the pupil/student was important in determining access and performance in the formal education system. Today, the names of Coleman and Bernstein are less quoted and others such as Bourdieu are more popular, but for many sociologists of education the connection between access and performance and contextual background factors still dominate their research frameworks and the research questions they ask. This is the case in Adult Learning in the Digital Age. Information Technology and the Learning Society by Selwyn, N., Gorard, S. and Furlong, J.

This systematic review is written in the frame of a European Union funded project called Supporti... more This systematic review is written in the frame of a European Union funded project called Supporting Lifelong learning with ICT Inquiry-Based Education (LIBE). Through this project, an e-learning environment will be developed for young low educational achievers (aged 16-24). A crucial part in every educational intervention is assessment and feedback. Hence, to contribute to this project, this study aims to review literature regarding computer based feedback and formative assessment in e-learning. Three different approaches are considered as formative assessment, namely: ‘diagnostic testing’ (DT), ‘data based decision making’ (DBDM) and ‘assessment for learning’ (AFL). The search and selection procedure for this review resulted in 19 studies about the effects of feedback and formative assessment in elearning. Four interrelated themes emerged within this body of literature: (1) the effect on achievement, (2) the effect on motivation, (3) self-regulated learning and (4) the effect of le...

In assessment theory times have changed. Validity as a fixed property (content, concurrent, crite... more In assessment theory times have changed. Validity as a fixed property (content, concurrent, criterion and predictive) in an assessment has for a number of years been challenged by the view that validity claims rest upon a validation process. Moss, Girard and Haniford (2006) have argued that this validation debate has three corners: a Messick (1989) inspired view of scientific constructs, a more pragmatic view of validity as arguments and a validity chain (Crooks, Kane & Cohen, 1996; Kane, 2006) and lastly an hermeneutic view that validation rests upon interpretations (Moss, 2007). Common to these views, inspired by Messick, is the argument that multiple forms of evidence can and should play a role in the validation process and assertions of validity. But, as Stobart (2006, p. 5) has noted, Messick's «definition of validity is so all encompassing that it is difficult to know where to get «a hand-hold» and operationalise it. This article attempts such an operationalisation, and central to this is the proposal of a validity argument model. Research on the viva in the early 20th century considered the inter-rater reliability of examiners. The research method-Dobson, Stephen: Applying a validity argument model to theree examples of the Viva.

Live Methods edited by Back and Puwar (2012) 1 is a book that is important to read in a world whe... more Live Methods edited by Back and Puwar (2012) 1 is a book that is important to read in a world where the number of books on social research methods in the form of 'how to do it' instruction manuals grow by the day, if not by the minute. It is about the challenges and opportunities facing sociological research methods, some might even say that it faces a crisis in the face of audit culture and commercial marketing forces. The latter have appropriated methods such as the survey, the interview and the focus group, such that sociology and its accompanying research methods have lost their veil of innocence in the process. But, this book is misread if it is regarded as solely a text for sociologists. I shall argue that it raises debates and questions equally applicable to the field of educational research and social research in general. For example, the "quick fix" of drop in, gather your data and run is by no means reserved to the field of sociology. On the horizon an unprecedented mass of digital information (twitter, blogs, big data caches) waits to be researched and the tools of the survey, interview and focus group sound quaintly out of joint with the times. Like sociology, educational faces the temptation of the evidence-based movement. Its threatens to makes much new educational research obsolete, or at least questionable, in its belief that it is enough to look back as an all powerful omnipotent being and undertake (meta)syntheses of the "best" of already completed research.

Refugee research and debate have focused on international agreements, border controls and the leg... more Refugee research and debate have focused on international agreements, border controls and the legal status of asylum seekers. The lived, daily life of refugees in different phases of their flight has thus been unduly neglected. How have refugees experienced policies of reception and resettlement, and how have they individually and collectively built up their own cultures of exile? To answer these questions the author of this study has undertaken long-term fieldwork as a community worker in a Norwegian municipality. Refugees from Chile, Iran, Somalia, Bosnia and Vietnam were on occasions subjected to exclusionary and discriminatory practices. Nevertheless, restistance was seen in the form of a Somali women's sewing circle, the organisation of a multi-cultural youth club, running refugee associations and printing their own language newspapers. Moreover, in activities such as these, refugees addressed and came to terms with a limited number of shared existential concerns: morality, violence, sexuality, family reunion, belonging and not belonging to a second generation. Drawing upon these experiences a general theory of refugeeness is proposed. It states that the cultures refugees create in exile are the necessary prerequisite for self-recognition and survival.