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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Deborah RallsORCiD
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The second paper (Deborah Ralls) looks at what engagement means in an English co-operative school. Drawing onWarren’s (2009) concept of relational engagement, staff, parents, students and community members were asked abouttheir engagement experiences. Engagement in action was observed to compare with the accounts given by teachers. Thisstudy focused on engagement between a co-operative school and its key stakeholders: the students, their parents and thecommunity: Staff, parents, students and community members were asked about their engagement experiences.Engagement in action was observed to compare with the accounts given by staff. The study was thus able to take accountof any links between the groups whilst acknowledging contrasts in approaches or understandings and to query why suchdifferences may have been occurring.Analysis looked at the extent to which activities were seen as engagement with rather than doing to. It was found that theco-operative school governance did indeed give more potential for democratic relational engagement. However, parentsand the community tended to be viewed as outsiders and so engaged with differently to students. Co-operative schoolsface a dilemma - how to frame a more relational understanding of engagement in an English Education policy landscape ofdoing to? The difficulty in doing with stakeholders when current English Education policy seeks todo to schools,encouraging parents and community to do the same through the marketisation of schools and the rhetoric of freedom andchoice.
Author(s): Ralls D
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction
Year of Conference: 2017
Pages: 84-84
Acceptance date: 20/03/2017
Publisher: European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction
URL: https://earli.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/BOA-2017.pdf
Series Title: Symposium: Community Led Educational Reform: looking at school engagement, out of school activities, co-defining a future and responding to poverty.
