Access to knowledge in education: Students’ and teachers’ perspectives.

Author(s):

Anne Kristin BøSylvi Stenersen Hovdenak

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

23 SES 05 B, Effects of Reform on Teachers and Schools

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-26

08:30-10:00

Room:

M.B. SALI 6, Päärakennus / Main Building

Chair:

Risto Rinne

Contribution

The research questions are as follows: Access to what- which forms of knowledge do students and teachers stress as important in education, and why? What does education mean to young people in a globalized world? The data is analyzed by means of Bernstein’s (2000) theoretical framework of a knowledge theory, and his concepts of horizontal and vertical discourses and horizontal and hierarchical knowledge structures. In his effort to build a theory of knowledge, Bernstein problematizes the relation between what is mentioned as everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge. This is a fundamental discourse related to different forms of knowledge and knowledge structures in education. A key question in this respect seems to be: What knowledge should education give access to, and why? From an international point of view this topic has been focused to a greater extent during the last years. Young’s (2008) book “Bringing knowledge back in. From social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education” is an important contribution and so far a summary concerning the discourse of building a theory of knowledge in the sociology of education. The paper’s theoretical and empirical approach is related to parts of this discourse.

Method

The paper presents data from a research work among students in the 10th form in two lower secondary schools in the Oslo area in Norway. As for the teachers, the data is collected among teachers belonging to 13 different schools in Oslo. The methodological approach of the empirical part is mainly based on interviews. However, video filming in the classrooms and questionnaires are used as a background material.

Expected Outcomes

The paper could be regarded as a small contribution to an emerging international discourse about knowledge and education in a globalized world.

References

Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity : theory, research, critique. Revised edition Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Daniels, H. (2001). Vygotsky and pedagogy. London New York: Routledge/Falmer Daniels, H. (2008). Vygotsky and research. London: Routledge Gustavsson, B. (2001). Vidensfilosofi. Århus: Klim Hedegaard, M. (1998). Situated Learning and Cognition: Theoretical Learning and Cognition. Mind, Culture and Activity 3:11-24 Hirst, P. (1993). The foundations of the National Curriculum: why subjects? In O´Hear, P. and White, J. (eds.) Assessing the National Curriculum. London: Paul Chapman Hovdenak, S.S. (2009) Den profesjonelle lærer i dagens skole: krav, forventninger og muligheter. Mellom forskning og politikk. I Riksaasen, Rita: Læreren i skolen og samfunnet. Tapir Akademisk. Lave, J. (1993). The practice of learning, in Seth Chaiklin and Jean Lave (eds.). Understanding practice : Perspectives on Activity and Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Moore, R. (2004): Education and society: Issues and Explanations in the Sociology of Education. Cambridge : Polity Moore, R. og J. Muller (1999).The Discourse of 'Voice' and the Problem of Knowledge and Identity in the Sociology of Education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 20:189-206 Moore, R. og M. Young (2001): Knowledge and the curriculum in the sociology of education: towards a reconceptualisation. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 22 (4), 445-61. Muller, J. (2000). Reclaiming Knowledge: Social theory, Curriculum, and Education Policy. London: Routledge Nussbaum, M. C. (1997). Cultivating humanity (1997). A classical defense of reform in liberal education. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press Wortham, S. (2006). Learning Identity. The Joint Emergence of Social Identification and Academic Learning. New York, Cambridge University Press. Young, M. F.D.(2008). Bringing knowledge back in: from social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. London: Routledge

Author Information

Anne Kristin Bø

University of Oslo

Department of Teacher Education and School Development

Oslo

Sylvi Stenersen Hovdenak

University of Oslo

Department of teacher education and school development

Oslo

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