Training teachers with 'pop Science': are humans as simplistic as Science suggests?

I have written before about the pedagogy attached to training sessions for teachers (see link here). My thoughts have been brought back to this topic after a recent training session in attachment theory. In particular, the use of popular science when training teachers.

Since I started teaching I have been involved in numerous training programmes, which upon reflection, has incorporated scientific findings about the brain to training sessions. The most recurring example is the synaptic connections within the brain which strengthen knowledge through practice. Similarly, I have become familiar with the amygdala, which according to session facilitators is actively involved with the flight, fight or freeze reactions that humans find themselves within when their “chimp” is out.

Sociology of scientific knowledge has been concerned with researching the effect of scientific knowledge upon social life and this is an example of this. During these training sessions I have often been skeptic of the use of scientific understanding of these social characteristics, which has led me to reflect, why? I think it may be due to my social science training. During A-level Sociology, I learned about the sociology of science and read works by Kuhn, Popper and Potter. Is it really true that social conduct is all down to functions within the brain? Perhaps my skepticism is a weakness and my lack of scientific knowledge is causing me to be ignorant but from my point of view this type of “popular science” is too simplistic and reduces humans to cause and effect models. 

Miss Bowling’s Shining Stars: Has something as simple as gold star stickers ignited my form?

My form, is comprised of those pupils who are punctual, do their homework and often get overlooked within a class due to dominant characters who get into trouble. Obviously, there are a couple of slips where some pupils, perhaps some more than others, forget their basic equipment or cause low level disruption. However, I found myself thinking that these are the “grey” kids who often do not get the attention or recognition they deserve on an individual basis. They may not be the pupil with the most level 1s, an attitude to learning score given to a pupil who has worked exceptionally in a lesson, but they are continuing to work well. Therefore, I decided to create a spreadsheet with all their names on, print it off and physically hand the pupils gold stars for every 1 they achieve within a day. I thought this may be a bit childish, but the reaction I have got has proved that I was wrong.

Since the implementation of the table, pupils are more than ever getting 1s in lesson; they relish in me calling out their name in form to come and collect a star to attach next to their name on the wall. Often, pupils will have achieved 2 or more 1s in one day. In fact, this week two pupils have achieved all level 1s in a day (that’s five 1s!). This may have something to do with actually handing the pupils a shiny sticker which symbolises that they have done well; psychologically putting a gold star next to their name could make them feel responsible for their attitude to learning within lesson. Having the chart visibly accessible for all my classes has made individual rewards for behaviour public. I have noticed that pupils will count how many gold stars other pupils have, then compare this number against their own. This has even proved well when I have been teaching other classes; surprisingly even with year 10. These pupils would count and see how well pupils have been doing even if they do not know them. It could be motivational for them to see that I, as a classroom teacher, am actively involved in other pupils’ education, which may translate into how they behave and act within my lessons.

Furthermore, the chart has created a tool that I can use for monitoring those pupils who do not get 1s and just “get by”: those with two or less gold stars to their name. I could then probe, why are these pupils not stretching themselves within lesson? How could I ensure they do? I’ve also found it is good for those pupils who would not usually aim for a 1 as it has given them something to aspire to within a lesson. 

What I now need to think about is how I will reward pupils once they have reached certain mile stones, any advice on this is much appreciated! 

Preparing pupils for neo-liberal liquid modernity: could high staff turnover be developing pupil resilience?

Figure adapted from Worth and De Lazzari (2017)

Statistics show that the number of teachers leaving their school every academic year, either to pursue another career or to simply move schools, is steadily increasing (Worth and De Lazzari, 2017). This phenomenon has resulted in crises of both teacher retention and turnover (Hilton, 2017). Often, these studies highlight the negative impact of high teacher turnover: for instance, Ronfeldt et al (2012) found a correlation between student achievement and high staff turnover rates; the higher the turnover, the lower the achievement. However, in my school I have begun to witness an accidental by-product of high staff turnover: the development of resilience in the face of the unknown.

It has been recommended that a crucial skill that schools must develop within their pupils is resilience. Resilience is defined by Hinduja and Patchin (2017) as a skill to overcome adversity and adopt a “carry on” attitude despite the stresses of everyday life. There are many ways in which a school can plan to develop this resilience within their pupils. For example, resources have been developed to encourage Dweck’s (2006) growth mind set in order to foster pupils’ resilience (Edutopia, 2017). However, one unintentional method of developing pupil resilience could be the level of staff turnover within a school.

I have observed that pupils are increasingly becoming reliant on the ‘concrete’ structures, such as the behaviour policy and GCSE course structures, rather than specific teachers. As such, pupils are prepared for unknown factors: they can overcome adversity, the foundation of resilience. Indeed, this is preparing pupils for life after school. Participating within liquid modernity requires resilience: society is characterised by insecurity and the insecurity within schools will make the pupils familiar and ready to deal with this feature of society (Beck, 2014). In a way, the school can be seen as a microcosm of society.

Research suggests that high staff turnover happens predominantly within disadvantaged, non-white schools. Although this may be a contributing factor as to why the achievement gap exists, it may foster a resilience gap between disadvantaged schools and those schools who have low levels of staff turnover. As my observations are only that, observations of one school in isolation, it would be interesting to, somehow, measure the resilience levels of pupils attending a school with longstanding members of staff against pupils attending a school with high levels of staff turnover.   

Reference list

Beck, U. (2014). Pioneer in Cosmopolitan Society and Risk Society. Springer.

Dweck, C (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Stanford.  

Edutopia (2017) Resources for Nurturing Resilience. Online, available at: https://www.edutopia.org/article/resilience-resources

Hilton, G. (2017) Disappearing Teachers: An Exploration of a variety of views as to the causes of the problems affecting teacher recruitment and retention in England. BCES Conference Books, 2017, Volume 15.

Hinduja, S and Patchin, J (2017) Cultivating youth resilience to prevent bullying and cyberbullying victimization. Child Abuse & Neglect, 73, 51-62.

Ronfeldt, M. Loeb, S. Wyckoff, J. (2012). How Teacher Turnover Harms Student Achievement. American Educational Research Journal. DOI: 10.3102/0002831212463813

Worth, J. and De Lazzari. G. (2017). Teacher Retention and Turnover Research. Research Update 1: Teacher Retention by Subject. Slough: NFER.

Engaging the disengaged parent within education

Studies within education have consistently found that parental engagement within education positively impacts upon the educational success of young people: this is referred to as “good parenting” (Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003; Goodall, 2016; Goodall, 2017; Goodall and Vorhaus, 2011; Harris and Goodall, 2010). After critically engaging with these studies, it could be inferred that they assume a bias against parents that do not, for whatever reason, value the field of education: it positions this parenting as “bad”. As Bourdieu (1977) attributes parental involvement in education to parents of the middle class, it could be seen that this positioning of “bad parents” replicates some sociological studies which found the distancing and “disgust” of working class individuals (Lawler, 2005).  

Despite whether it is believed that labelling some parents as good or bad should be done, it has been found that the field of education can transform a child’s life (Teach First, 2017). If parental engagement contributes towards the educational success of a child, it is important that this is encouraged for disadvantaged pupils. Therefore, to raise the educational attainment of disengaged and underachieving pupils, educators must firstly engage the disengaged parent. To engage the disengaged parent, schools must strike a balance between encouraging parents to attend training session to support their child’s educational progress and treating them as a colleague: the expert on their child. Literature suggests that this balance should be achieved through engaging parents in a sensitive and personalised manner (Goodall, 2016; Smith, 2016).

There are two strategies, within the literature, that have been proven to engage parents in a sensitive and personalised manner: one that I cannot implement but another which I could adapt. The first one is Save the Children’s FAST programme in which parents and children were brought together for a meal within school (Harris and Goodall, 2010). This non-invasive approach gets the parent into the school to socialise with their child. It could make the parent feel more comfortable within the school environment and encourage them to speak about their child’s studies. Of course, as a classroom teacher, I could not implement this method. However, I found it an interesting social strategy to break down the barriers of parental disengagement. The second strategy comes from Goodall’s (2016) blog post on teachertoolkit.co.uk. This post encourages teachers to shift from reporting to parents at parents’ evening to fostering a partnership to support learning. Treating parents with respect, recognising and acknowledging their efforts to come to the parents evening are encouraged to foster this working relationship (Goodall, 2016). Furthermore, Goodall (2016) suggests giving parents a list of questions to ask teachers to supplement their cultural capital, as some parents may not know how to engage with the teacher. Similarly, Goodall (2016) suggests that teachers should ask the parents how they can facilitate learning for their children. Through treating the parent as the expert, the parent will feel more comfortable and at ease with engaging with teachers (Smith, 2016).

Following this research, I plan to approach parental engagement in a different way than I did last academic year. By moving from reporting to engaging parents to support learning and providing parents with resources they may need to do so. This is especially important within my subject, Computing; often parents will approach me and state that they “know nothing about technology” and that it is their children who are the experts. If parents feel intellectually inferior to their child, how can they possibly help support learning? Therefore, I plan to give a list of resources that may help to these parents and move away from subject specifics at parents evening. As Goodall, in a recent lecture, stated: it does not matter that parents do not know the answer, what matters is they know how to find the answer. I intend to provide parents with the means to find that answer.

References:

Bourdieu (1977) Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.

Desforges and Abouchaar (2003) The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievements and adjustment: a literature review.

Goodall and Vorhaus (2011) Review of best practice in parental engagement. Department of Education.

Goodall, J (2016) Reporting to Support. Online: https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/2016/08/10/parental-support/

Goodall, J (2017) From project to process. a report of the pilot of a toolkit for parental engagement. 

Harris and Goodall (2010) Helping families support children’s success at school. Save the Children.

Lawler (2005) Disgusted subjects: the making of middle-class identities. The Sociological Review, 53(3), 429-446.

Smith (2016) Swing Time. London: Penguin.

Teach First (2017) Income defines how well children do at school. Online: https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/our-mission/the-issue.

The insider/outsider continuum when researching education

There are two ways of addressing the insider/outsider debate: as a continuum and as a dichotomy. It has been argued that whilst conducting research the researcher can find themselves at some point along a continuum of insiderness (Mercer, 2007). On one side is the complete insider: the person who understands the inner workings of what they are researching. On the polar opposite side there is the outsider: the researcher completely new to the field with no knowledge of the topic. However, can one truly be an outsider? Although I would describe myself as an outsider to French art, I still have an opinion or a vague idea of what I think about the topic. Similarly, can anyone be a true insider? Although one may think they know everything about the topic they are researching, they do not know what they do not know (Krunger and Dunning, 1999). Following this logic, I must agree with Mercer (2007) in that the researcher is located along a continuum of insider and outsiderness rather than the dichotomy representing the researcher as either an insider or outsider with no in between. Below is a visual representation I have created to show the continuum vs the dichotomy.

Continuum:

Dichotomy:

Mercer (2007, p.2) writes that the insider/outsider debate is under researched yet important to an "ever increasing number of educational researchers". Indeed, when I decided to enter the teaching profession, I thought the experience would be beneficial for my future career ambitions as an educational researcher; the idea of being more of an insider appealed to me. I had decided that being a secondary STEM teacher allowed me to be in the midst of education; this would help me better understand the institution as well as its current issues. On the continuum, I wanted to be located more on the insider side than I currently was. 

Of course, there are many critiques of researching one's own educational institution, Simmel (1950) argues that the insider can be easily influenced and "blinded" by the familiarity of the setting. In contrast, advocates for insider research actually argue the opposite: the insider is able to comprehend the setting through their expert knowledge of status, culture and power relations (Merton, 1972). Looking back to when I was an undergraduate I can see why we were told to research an institution that we were a part of. Obviously ease of access played a part, but thinking back it could be possible this was due to understanding the culture and group which would help first time researchers. For instance, Mercer (2007) writes that an advantage of insiderness is flexibility; during my undergraduate degree I interviewed two of my undergraduate housemates at around 11pm after watching Made in Chelsea. The insider also negates the disadvantage of the outsider as Parades (1977) and Zinn (1979) found that these researchers are likely to be presented with a distorted image; hello every school when the famous outsider Ofsted comes for a visit.

However, one of the disadvantages of being an insider is that colleagues’ "willingness to talk to you and what they say to you is influenced by who they think you are" (Drever, 1995). During my PGCE year, my then school mentor sent an email around the school asking if any colleagues would allow me to observe them. It could be seen that their idea of who I was and what I would observe influenced their decision to allow me into their classroom. It could be that those who agreed saw me as an inexperienced trainee teacher and they held epistemological power. This highlights the type of power relationship between the researcher and the researched which Mercer (2007) describes as a dimension of the insider/outsider continuum. Whilst observing colleagues I was located at differing parts of the continuum: I am an insider to the school policies and familiar pupils but an outsider to unknown pupils, possibly the subject I am observing and the teacher’s techniques (Olson, 1977; Mercer, 2007; Deutsch, 1981).  It will be interesting to see how these relationships change when I ask to observe colleagues for my masters. Will those who do not hold the qualification feel epistemologically challenged? Will those who hold a masters degree feel more powerful, allow me in their classroom and treat me as an insider?

References:

Deutsch, C. P. (1981) The behavioral scientist: insider and outsider, Journal of Social Issues, 37(2), 172–191.

Drever, E. (1995) Using semi-structured interviews in small-scale research (Edinburgh, The Scottish Council for Research in Education).

Kruger, Justin; Dunning, David (1999). "Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. American Psychological Association. 77 (6): 1121–1134

Mercer, J. (2007) The Challenges of Insider-Research in Educational Institutions: wielding a double-edged sword and resolving delicate dilemmas, Oxford Review of Education, 33(1), 1-17.

Merton, R. (1972) Insiders and outsiders; a chapter in the sociology of knowledge, American Journal of Sociology, 78 (July), 9–47.

Olson, D. H. (1977) Insiders’ and outsiders’ views of relationships: research studies, in: G. Levinger & H. L. Rausch (Eds) Close relationships: perspectives on the meaning of intimacy (Amhurst, University of Massachusettes Press).

Parades, A. (1977) On ethnographic work among minority groups: a folklorist’s perspective, New Scholar, 6, 1–53.

Simmel, G. (1950) The sociology of Georg Simmel (New York, Free Press).

Zinn, M. B. (1979) Field research in minority communities: ethical methodological and political observations by an insider, Social Problems, 27(2), 209–219

Recruiting teachers of Computer Science: schools losing the “best and brightest graduates” to corporations

As it is the first week of the school year, many new trainee teachers will be starting out in their future career. One of the things that brought them to teaching was recruitment. It is interesting to think about how recruitment differs within different sectors. Interestingly, my partner and I were discussing our days at work. He stated that a new Junior Software Developer had started and that he used to be a Chemistry teacher up until last academic year. He added that this teacher was well into his 30s and was evidently a “career changer”. This made me think about the state of recruitment of Computer Science teachers within the English state education system.

Jones starts the second chapter in his book, The Establishment (2015); retelling a conversation he had after an interview with a senior lobbyist for a banking company. He states his view on politician’s salary: Jones states that there is a case for reducing MP’s salaries as MP’s are “comfortably placed in the top 5% of earners” (2015, p. 46). This leads the lobbyist to argue that “such a move would deter the most talented people, particularly from the private sector, from entering politics”. This led me to think about the current recruitment context of teachers. In fact, doesn’t this argument resonate with all employment sectors? Don’t all employers wish to recruit “the most talented people”?

Indeed, the school I work at is aiming to recruit English, Math, Science and MFL teachers, a glance at the job advert shows that the salary is “competitive”. So why is there is shortage of teachers if schools are trying to attract the most talented people with these “competitive” salaries? Of course, I cannot provide a sweeping answer as this would be too generalised. But what I can do is speculate. I am currently employed as a Computer Science teacher whilst my partner, is employed as a Junior Software Developer. We’re both at the very beginnings of our careers having started our jobs at the same time. Although the subject knowledge required is relatively the same, the salary is not. My starting salary as a teacher is £10,000 less than my partner’s starting salary. Obviously financial reward is not, in isolation, the reason to enter a specific field of work but if we apply this senior lobbyist’s logic why is there not a similar recruitment incentive for teachers? Does our society not want “the most talented people” teaching our future generations?

The current financial incentives are clearly not enough, at the moment in order to attract the “best and brightest graduates” that could teach any subject within the English Baccalaureate are up to £30,000 tax free bursaries and scholarships. This clearly matches the starting salaries of some graduate jobs. But, what about after they have trained, will schools who employ the “Best and brightest graduates” be able to afford them as an NQT? Will those schools who are too poor to even afford a printing budget, be able to afford these “talented” classroom teachers? I have heard a lot of stories already from ex-classroom teachers who have found jobs in other sectors such as banking because their schools “could not afford them” as simply just classroom teachers without giving them more responsibility such as a middle/senior leader.  Although helpful, the financial incentive during the recruitment of teachers is not enough. If we want to recruit and keep, the “most talented people” as teachers, it is important to adopt a similar stance as the senior lobbyist within Jones (2015), more money needs to be put into the salary of classroom teachers. 

Why I would rather live in my "deprived" ex-mining village compared to anywhere else in the world

There are many different definitions of place attachment. Most definitions agree that it refers to an emotional connection between a person and a geographical area. However, where Brown and Raymond (2007) define that geographical area as a person's immediate attachment, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2008) defines this as any place in the world. The way I interpret this definition allows the individual to feel an emotion connection to an area in which they have not necessarily visited. For this reason, any reference to place attachment will invoke this definition. 

Growing up, I was adamant that I would move to London for university and later live in Spain, Italy and America. I was attracted to the places that seemed different and adventurous in comparison to the ex-mining white working-class village in Yorkshire, where I had lived since I was born. When I was reminded of these foreign places, through popular culture or holidays, I felt a strong attachment to the life I could be living in these prosperous areas. In reality, the university I went to was in fact further north than my home village. It is interesting when I reflect upon how I made this geographical decision. Part of my undergraduate dissertation actually researched into how the "feel" of a university influences the decision that a first generation university student, such as myself, makes. Following similar conclusions, the northern university I chose was the correct fit for my habitus. Habitus, defined by Bourdieu (1972), as a set of dispositions that are second nature and familiar to an individual. 

Since I left for university as an undergraduate, besides going home over summer, I have never moved back to my home village. Now, living in Stoke-on-Trent, the home sickness is starting to catch up with me. Perhaps my habitus is being stretched too much by the 180 mile distance with weak train connections, and the feeling of being in Staffordshire rather than Yorkshire. It could be possible that I now feel like a "fish out of water" as Bourdieu (1972) would describe: living a life that is not completely compatible with my habitus. As such, my place attachment is not towards Stoke but rather my home village back in Yorkshire.

Indeed, when I visit my parent's house I do get the feeling that I will move back into my teenage bedroom at some ambiguous point in the future. Anton and Lawrence's (2014) research found that their participants had a higher attachment to their homes rather than local areas. Perhaps what I feel is not place attachment but a sense of nostalgia for a time gone by where I dreamt of where I would be living as an adult.

It is interesting to think that, although I have the economic means and knowledge that I could live anywhere I wanted, I have decided to go back to the same "deprived" village in which I grew up. Why would I want to live in this ex-mining town when I could live by the sea in Spain, a historic Italian town or a bustling city in America? Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2008) suggests this, indeed, does have to do with habitus and capital. Their report on place attachment in areas of deprivation found strong social networks and historical links to the area create this bond. 

Bourdieu's theory of practice relates to place attachment as habitus fosters the emotional connection with a geographical location. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's (2008) research found that place attachment is higher in more homogenous areas in which residents have common backgrounds, interests and culture. My ex-mining town is a white working class area with a uniquely Yorkshire accent, so this could be why it fits my habitus.

The idea of moving back does make me feel optimistic for the future of the village. Migrating for educational qualifications and skills across the country fills me with the sense of "giving back". Indeed, high attachment to place results in positive outcomes, for example, becoming socially and politically involved to create a better community for all (Anton and Lawrence, 2014). Of course, I could also be completely wrong, move back, hate it and move to New York City; but we will have to wait and see, I am sure that would make for an interesting reflective blog post if it were to happen!

References:

G. Brown, C. Raymond (2007) The relationship between place attachment and landscape values: Towards mapping place attachment. Applied Geography, 27, pp. 89-111

C.E. Anton and C. Lawrence (2014) Home is where the heart is: The effect of place of residence on place attachment and community participation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 40, pp. 451-461

Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2008) People's attachment to place - the influence of neighbourhood deprivation. Available at: https://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/default/files/jrf/migrated/files/2200-neighbourhoods-attachment-deprivation.pdf

P. Bourdieu (1972) Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: University Press

An outsider's perspective on New York City: creating a collective state consciousness through advertising

During my recent trip to New York I had many observations about life in the city: how easy it is to understand the street/avenue system; how clever the city was to build in blocks; how it seemed like almost everyone had the same brown Louis Vuitton bag (that I now own - when in Rome). The one observation that stood out to me though through a series of advertisements was the portrayal of the collective social group, "New Yorkers".

The traditional stereotype of the New Yorker, somebody who lives in New York City, depicts this person as "rude", "impatient", "uptight" and "snobby" (The Culture Trip, 2017). However, it could be seen that this is being challenged by the NY transport authority. One advert had the headline "New Yorkers are hard on the outside, but soft on the inside" suggesting that the New Yorker could be perceived as "rude" when they push past you on the street, but this rudeness is not a core of their personality. The "inside" of a New Yorker is portrayed as concerned, supportive and as a safe guarder. This could be seen through numerous adverts around the subway  with the titles "New Yorkers keeping New York safe" together with numbers to call if you notice something "strange" or "dangerous" on public transport. These adverts also challenge the stereotype of New York as a dangerous city; the collective social group of the New Yorkers choose to live here everyday, so it must not be dangerous. These adverts were accompanied with head-shots of New Yorkers: people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and sizes. It could be argued that this type of advertising helps to create a collective conscious of what it means to be a New Yorker through uniting citizens; despite differing ethnicities, ages and genders, they share a feature of their identity with others who live in New York City. Adverts portray a sense that all New Yorkers hold a duty of care to their city in a post-9/11 New York.

Indeed, this stereotype was not the only thing that helped collectivise the state of New York. Other adverts created a sense of a state consciousness. For instances, there was an advertisement offering support and legal help to New York citizens who had friends or family going through immigration problems. Another advert stated that healthcare was not just a luxury for the "rich citizens of New York" but something that all New Yorkers deserved to have. Whilst another advertised a number you could ring if you believed that you were not getting paid the minimum wage and your working rights were being exploited. All of these adverts show New York City to be a safe and caring city to live within. Similarly, these adverts depict New York City to be very liberal especially against the current back drop of Trump's America.

Of course, these adverts echoed liberal arguments surrounding basic rights for citizens; I witnessed anti-Trump/Pence marches; and citizens adorned Black Lives Matter t-shirts. You could say that, in the current political climate, that the city is rather left wing. What does this mean about the citizens? Does this reflect their political beliefs? Statistics show that the Democratic Party's candidate, Hillary Clinton won New York with 56% of the vote in comparison to Trump's 36% (NY Times, 2017). It is interesting, when looking at the map which breaks down areas of New York and their votes, that New York City was the city with the most, proportional, votes for Hillary Clinton within the state of New York.  It would be interesting to see how New Yorkers view these candidates now.

Although the politics of New York City may not be represented by the United States of America (e.g. Trump) the sense of identity and patriotism is. New York could be seen as a microcosm for American patriotism. The United States of America is exactly that, the country as a whole is very big and although the USA does a great job of creating a collective conscience of what it means to be American, New York has created its own identity.  Even something as mundane as car plates gives the owner an identity to which state they belong.  Perhaps this state identity helps citizens to distance themselves from political issues within the US as a country.

References:
 https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/13-stereotypes-about-new-yorkers-that-are-completely-wrong/
https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/new-york

"Just some steps and overpriced bakeries": Pop culture tourism in New York

When I went to an American college during University, I travelled with 20 other York students who were strangers. We started off in New York, with two days of sight seeing. Although I did not know some of these people I found common bonds through travelling to ‘must see’ New York spots that were pertinent to some American sitcoms. For instance, I bonded with a girl who, at first, I thought I had nothing in common with through sitting on the Met steps as Serena and Blair do in Gossip Girl, an American sitcom based around the lives of ‘upper-east side’ teenage socialites. Similarly, when travelling in our stranger group, the first thing we did in central park was try to find “the Friend’s fountain”, ironically, as another girl called it. We paused to take iconic jumping photos at the fountain even though we had yet to remember each other’s names. All through this time we bonded and forged conversations based around episodes we had seen, who our favourite characters were and how strange it was to be where it was all set.

As I am about to embark on my second trip to New York, with my partner, we have revolved our entire stay around where we will be going for food. Even booking the hotel involved taking into consideration the distance between this and a bakery we wished to visit. We will often watch a series called Cake Boss which is a realty programme revolving around life at a family owned Italian-American bakery. We have already planned what bakery items we will be getting despite never having visited the bakery before. Technology is, indeed, making the world feel smaller. Businesses can be found on Google maps, menus can be seen anywhere in the world, and transportation plans can be made months in advance. All this for a bakery. Food tourism in New York is not unusual, the popularity of Sex and the City, again based in New York, lead to tours to the iconic bakery. The levels of tourism and popularity have led to second bakeries being opened around the city to capitalise on their popularity. If you are not a fan of any of these programmes then you may see just some steps to a museum or a couple of over priced bakeries but to the fan these are the places they have travelled thousands of miles to see.

The New York experience does not finish once the trip has ended. The trip changes the perception of the television show. Whenever these are watched the viewer can reflect back on their trip to that iconic place and reminisce. Perhaps the location did not look the way they thought it would, maybe the visit was disappointing, or maybe the visit forged friendships between strangers. Either way the relationship between the New York locations and the viewer has changed.

Hyper-representing my life: agency and structure when preparing for a holiday

As I am about to go on holiday, my mind is wandering back to some of the concepts I explored at university whilst taking a module about migration and tourism. Some people say that once they graduate they never use what they have learned. This is what I love about parts of my degree: the concepts and ideas I explored at York will follow my thoughts for the rest of my life. One of the concepts I explored whilst theorising about migration and tourism was the idea of the British holiday as the ‘hyper-weekend’.

If you ask anyone why they have booked a holiday, they may reply that they want a relaxing trip away from everyday life. Holidays are often synonymous with escapism: leaving one’s native country to become the authentic traveller immersed in different cultures and scenery. However, it could be argued that the holiday is not in fact an escape from the daily grind, but rather a hyper-representation of an individual’s weekend. As Briggs’ (2013) ethnography of working class Britons in Ibiza found, although individuals believed they were exercising liberation from their home life (e.g. from their job or relationship), they are, in fact, living an exaggerated version of their life at home. Since reading Briggs (2013) I have thought about this idea a lot when thinking about holidays. However, whilst preparing for my next holiday, I have began reflecting upon how the preparation for a holiday is also a hyper representation of preparing for a night out or an event at the weekend.

For myself, getting ready for an event or just life in general involves getting my nails done, lashes bought and tan applied. This preparation is exactly the same for my holiday but just on a grander scale. Within ‘everyday life’ I would prepare for an event by getting ‘party’ lashes: strips of fake eyelashes that are applied with glue and taken off when the event is over, like make-up. For my holiday, I get semi-permanent eyelash extensions: individual fake eyelashes glued to my real eyelashes that stay on for up to 2-3 weeks. Similarly, within ‘everyday life’ I paint my nails with normal nail varnish. In contrast, for my holiday, I have gel nail varnish put on my nails: a more lasting varnish that can stay on, again, for up to 2-3 weeks. Both of these examples show that the preparation for a holiday is a hyper representation of my normal beauty routine. Not only this, but they both also show how I am exercising agency within the bounds of structure. It is my choice to get a more semi-permanent beauty procedure. As I have stated before in my previous blog post, I do not feel that I have to wear make-up or do my hair: I choose to. However, it can be seen that I am making this choice within the bounds of structure: what is on offer by beauty salons and what is ‘trendy’ at the time. Dusty pink gel nails? Yes please. Full brows and extended eyelashes? Sounds good. Although I choose to do this to my face, my choices are restricted by the makers of beauty products as to what beauty ideals are fashionable at any given time.

Indeed, once all this beauty preparation has been done, one is ready for a holiday to ‘relax’ from the exhaustion of preparing. All ready to hyper-represent my weekend for two weeks. 

“Enhancing your natural beauty”: my type of capitalist marketing

Adverts are ubiquitous. When I was growing up, the only time I would see adverts was while watching television. However, with the rise of digital technology, adverts have found themselves penetrating everyone’s life: whether you are watching a YouTube video or scrolling social media, you can even get adverts on the front of your smartphone’s lock screen dependent on push notifications of some apps. The one thing I have noticed whilst being forced to watch adverts is the rise of negative, preventative marketing of consumer products. What I mean by this is the rise of products marketed as “anti” insert an adjective here: “anti-frizz”, “anti-blackhead”, “anti-humidity”, “anti-spot”. This type of marketing perpetuates the idea that we must cover our “imperfections”, imperfections that are created and defined by these companies. Who decided that having frizzy hair, spots or blackheads was not ideal? Is there a health benefit to not having these? As far as I am aware, the only reason products aim to irradiate these characteristics is to profit from cosmetic ideals. This type of marketing is what causes self-esteem and insecurities amongst young women.

Of course, it can be said that any type of marketing involves selling a product to fulfil capitalist created material needs; but I have to say, I am a contradictory fan of capitalism and its many products. There is no way to eradicate these products, in a similar critique to that of work by Karl Marx: overthrowing capitalism is next to impossible. Therefore, my ideal beauty product marketing is selling the purpose of products as “enhancing the natural”. These products minimise the guilt I feel about indulging with capitalism and makes me feel like the product I have bought does not define my beauty: I am already beautiful, the product is just adding to this.  With or without this product my features are valid. I believe taking this marketing approach is beneficial to both companies and the consumer. The consumer will feel good about themselves, which in turn, may increase the chances of repurchasing this item. I have found that responding to this type of marketing is what has allowed me to no longer feel insecure about not wearing makeup. 10 years ago, I never would have considered going “bare-face” at work or at social events, but now it is my norm. Of course, this could also be due to my self-concept as I have aged, but I do think that positive marketing has had an impact.

Altogether, as we cannot stop the inevitability of capitalism, I believe that if companies are going to heavily market consumer products, it should be done in this positive, uplifting manner.  

Teachers teaching teachers, is there pedagogy for that?

So far in my teaching career, I have attended two training sessions both with the aims of aiding the teacher with knowledge of how to teach pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL). After attending one of these sessions at a Computing at School conference today, I began reflecting on the actual pedagogy behind teaching teachers about these matters. Both sessions began with the session leader conducting the training in another language: in one the session leader began talking to us in Spanish (although I can speak Spanish), and the other gave us an activity written entirely in Polish. I thought that this was a very useful method to get teachers to reflect upon their lessons and the language that we take for granted. Putting ourselves in the pupils shoes is often difficult when we already know the knowledge we are trying to convey, but if we do not know a language it is easier to empathise with EAL learners. This is often one thing that I am guilty of forgetting, I will ensure that when planning lessons for EAL pupils I think about it from a non-English speaking point of view and invoke the use of sound and pictures to convey the meaning.

However, this got me thinking about the overall teaching of teachers. Who trains these teachers to teach teachers? Is there a pedagogy that trainers must understand to teach pedagogy to teachers? It would be very interesting to research into this and find results, watch this space.

Makeovers in film: The scientific superman and the prom queen

Make over films are my favourite type of film to watch when I am feeling like I need to organise my life. When at university, I would always leave my referencing until after I had finished the essay: usually the day before the hand in date. My favourite thing to do, whilst mindlessly Harvard referencing, was to watch Legally Blonde. However, only now do I realise the subliminal influence referencing had over me, watching a film set at the very institution whose referencing I was following: Harvard University. At the end of every essay I always felt like I was physically at my lowest, although intellectually at my highest. My hair was greasy, body hair overgrown, and my health was not at its best having eaten copious amounts of sharing bags of chocolate and crisps. I always felt a need that after I had finished my essays, now was the time to ‘pick myself up’ and makeover my body. Although legally blonde provided me with the girl power motivation to finish my essays and have an intellectual makeover, growing up with these types of films, I am partial to a physical makeover film.

Makeover films provide me with such inspiration and motivation to ‘sort’ my body out. However, just as Legally Blonde invokes making over my mind, it could be argued other ‘makeover’ films are more than skin deep. On the surface, She’s All That, a film in which a popular ‘Jock’ has a bet with his friend that he can make turn the ‘dorky art’ girl into the teen film beloved Prom Queen, appears to simply show the changing physical appearance of the ‘geeky’ protagonist. However, if one adopts a sociological view point, it could be argued that the subsequent ‘makeover’ of the Jock results in his openness and tolerance to go beyond the feminine beauty ideals when forming friendships.

When reflecting upon these films, it occurred to me that all films of this genre involve the smart female protagonist changing into the intelligent attractive ideal of a woman that emerged from the 1990s into the millennium. A quick Google search of male makeover films returns movies in which the male protagonist evolves into a super-human character: the Nutty Professor, Superman, Spiderman, Ironman etc. Often these makeovers are not a result of the protagonist actively changing their physical appearance for social acceptance, but rather the active result of science; the radioactive substance which turns the average man into these superheroes. Indeed, this is sociologically interesting. Men in these circumstances are given no choice with these makeovers, it is not society which decides their makeover but rather an accidental mutation generated by their contact with science (again, a male dominated field). If it was not for these mutations, the men would go about their day and would not be involved with this ‘makeover’.

Once again, a sociological look at some of my favourite viewing material has resulted in looking at my reality in a different, albeit, fractured way. Watching Clueless will never be the same again.

'Pay to Play' society and fashion: not just a neoliberal concept

Theorists claim that neoliberal society, in which individuals feel an increased responsibility for themselves, has paved way for ‘pay to play’ society. This concept refers to the idea that within society we now need to spend money in order to participate within society’s conventions. For example, the expansion of the housing rental market has resulted in individuals paying for temporary shelter as long as they can afford the rent prices; ownership is temporary. I first read about this concept a couple of years ago and I was reminded about it earlier today when playing music through YouTube. I usually listen to music through logging into either my sister’s or partner’s premium membership with Spotify. However, I began to think that YouTube provided a reliable, free, source of music if for some reason I could access Spotify either through forgetting passwords or through these being cancelled. This prompted me to think about my search for stability within a subscription filled music business. With the rise of Spotify brought services such as Apple music and MTV music, the same pay for a month of ad free and downloadable music. For some reason I did not get a sense of permanency with these pay to listen services. I was searching for stability within neoliberal pay to play society.  After reflecting upon this, I started to think about other areas of my life which involved regular upkeep; the ideology behind the ‘pay to play’ concept. I looked to my own personal list, on Google Keep, of what I needed to do: get my eyebrows shaped and tinted, dye my hair, self-tan and get my nails done. Indeed, with each one of these tasks, the result is temporary: hair grows, tan fades and nails chip. Each one of these tasks comes at a financial expense and the upkeep of my own beauty ideals comes at a cost. My body itself is engaged within pay to play society.

In a similar manner, recently I have been watching a lot of videos, mostly Buzz Feed - an entertainment website dedicated to trendy news and ‘life hacks’, about beauty and music trends in the last 100 years. These included: common eyebrow shapes, the ‘ideal’ figure of the decade and dance moves throughout the last century. Of course, comments on the videos disputed some depictions of fashion within certain decades. However, the point I wish to focus upon is it was interesting to see how pay to play society was a feature of the so-called ‘modern’ era of stable mortgages and the ‘golden age of the family’. As such, pay to play society is not a foundational concept of neoliberalism, but rather the foundation of fashion. Fashion has penetrated every type of society, as Simmel states, fashion is a social relationship between the individual and society at any given time. Therefore, it is important that concepts related within neoliberalism are not just confined to this type of society. Indeed, it may be true that sociological concepts, such as the pay to play society, are fluid in essence. Every version of society does not have a concrete set of sociological concepts that relate to it. Pay to play is not a new phenomenon; it is simply represented in a different way within current times.

The ‘cultural omnivore’ in a new light: hybridizing digital and paper forms of organisation

At the start of this year, I observed a colleague at another school, it was then that I began my mission to go completely digital. Unlike me, the colleague kept all of his organisation online: his marking, lesson planning, details of meetings. His lesson inspired me to stop lugging my heavy bag, filled with three different paper diaries and my current reading book, around everywhere I went.  I set off on my challenge: I saved meetings and important dates in my Google calendar, I used an online tool for lesson planning and all of my lesson resources were saved on Google Drive. I had gone completely digital and I was loving how light my bag felt. I felt like I was the protagonist in an Apple or Google advert for cloud computing with capitalism on my side. However, this feeling did not last. After a couple of weeks I started to miss my home crafted diary where I could decide the exact colour, format and style of my calendar. The shininess of my digital devices faded to reveal a dulled cold metal. Although the use of the internet is now rife in society, knowing that everything I needed was online became unsettling; the lack of physicality of my objects and the instability of the online world drove me back to my analogue forms of organisation. One can only look at the stories about the NHS Malware last week to begin to see the risks associated with cloud computing. As such, I abandoned my efforts of cloud computing in favour of my old paper based diaries and USB for the feeling of control.

So now as I write this, tempted towards cloud computing again, my life is scattered across both digital and analogue forms of organisation. I have un-touched to do lists on my Google Keep from February. I have documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoints on both One Drive and Google Drive accounts. I have half started and missing weeks within my paper diaries. Only now am I beginning to pick up the pieces of my double life. I cannot say that now I will favour one method over the other. The use of Google Keep for generic to-do lists together with paper post-it notes with my shopping lists gives me the best of both worlds. My new approach is the use of my Google accounts for scheduling but paper based forms of lesson planning. As I try to make sense of my new organisational set up, I can only identify this feeling with what I have read about the cultural omnivore. Although, this sociological concept involves consuming a mixture of capital from highbrow to low brow, I identify with this on an organisational level. I am mixing my methods of media – on one side is the traditional analogue forms and the other is the new, trendy, cloud computing. Switching between my Google Drive and physical post it note shopping lists, I am embracing both sides of the spectrum. 

It is not just my organisation in which the preference between digital and analogue becomes blurred. During my time at University I took a module about popular culture which detailed how the digital era has been changing the way people consume culture. I will always remember Dave Beer, the lecturer, asking us - if we are turning into a digital society with eBooks, kindles, why do most people continue to buy physical books? This question has been on my mind ever since the lecture. The Guardian (2017) suggested on 13th May that the sale of books has risen to the highest in four years whilst eBooks has declined. When I heard of this news this got me thinking about Beer’s question again. When reflecting upon this, I can see the benefits of both digital and analogue forms of media. Both forms fix the other’s downfalls: I love the portability and greenness of digital whilst also the freedom of scribbling on a piece of paper. It would be interesting to see how my organisation changes again in the next few months and to see what experiences, like the observation, shape these decisions. 

Reference:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/may/13/printed-book-sales-ebooks-decline

Gender, Age and Technology in ABC’s Modern Family

I have just finished watching Modern Family Season 6 Episode 16 “Connection Lost”, throughout watching this I could not help but view certain scenes from a sociological perspective. This episode was a prime example of sociology in everyday life through the interplay of social characteristics such as gender and age with concepts of capitalism and new technology. It provoked me to flesh out these thoughts within the words below, no knowledge of Modern Family is required to follow my thoughts.

This 20 minute episode saw a side story which revolved around Claire, a mother to three teenagers and wife to a ‘Realtor’ (an American estate agent), and her perspective on a family issue. Although Claire was physically away from her family at an airport in Chicago, the medium of screen casting (digitally recording a computer screen) on her Apple laptop, the whole cast was seen throughout the episode. The plot developed through Facetiming, messaging on Facebook and searching Google. Indeed, this episode creatively shows how ubiquitous digital forms of communication has become, social media is the dominant form of communicating with others. The mere fact that an entire episode uses an Apple laptop to explore a storyline advocates this point. This was a clever idea from the writers, this difference provokes me as a viewer to watch more attentively and relate to the use of sponsored social media use, the only thing missing was the use of emojis.

Indeed, this did provoke a conversation between myself and my partner: we joked how much Apple, Facebook and Google must have paid for the sponsorship or what the writers got in return. There is no doubt about it that this advertisement worked, I bought into Claire’s life, I wanted her laptop, I wanted to use the websites she did, have the applications that she had open, and effortlessly socialise with my family whilst at an airport for who knows what reason. The fact that we do not know why Claire is actually at the airport adds to the craving of this glamorous ‘on the move’ life. Upon reflection, my desire for this does reflect Marx’s concept of commodity fetishism: the idea that physical objects that are bought and sold, such as a laptop, have characteristics that they do not hold outside of societal context. For instance, the Apple laptop for me, as a viewer of this episode, hold the power of effortlessly socialising which instigates my desire for the object. This is the foundation of capitalism, buying a ‘life’ through material possessions to achieve the capitalist desires that are advertised throughout media. Of course, I do not want to discredit Modern Family as a driving force of capitalism. Whilst I was under the mystical powers that this form of commodity fetishism encapsulates, my partner was critical and argued against the use of Apple in comparison to Android. Indeed, one could argue that the avocation of android is no different and this still involves capitalist values in some way but the mere fact that we both reacted in different ways to this promotions shows how this sociological concept should not be definitive.

This episode also struck me with how it related gender and age with technology. As technology was obviously at the forefront of this episode, we saw Jay, the 60 something year old father to Claire struggle with technology. He would often answer face time by putting the phone to his ear or accidentally calling Claire on Facetime when he thought he was taking a video. Such portrayals positioned Jay as the self-proclaimed stereotypical ‘old man out of touch with new technology’. Indeed, it was not only Jay that was the victim of social pressures of being tech savvy, Claire identifies herself as this to avoid a fight with her husband. When Claire hangs up on Phil’s, her husband, Facetime whilst he plays Halo, Phil is upset and askes Claire why. Claire responds “Oh you know me, I don’t get Computers” whilst effortlessly multitasking with shortcuts on her laptop. The juxtaposition of this confession with the fact that the viewer can see the tech skills that Claire is exhibiting on her laptop fuels the comedic value of the show. Through playing up to her gender and position within her family, she is playing societal norms to her advantage. The very fact the writers include this for comedic value shows that not only is this gender norm now being challenged within the media but also the mother is positioned as knowing how to play society so she ‘win’.

Overall, I believe the writers of this episode got it spot on. The intrigue that the episode offered due being different sparks the viewer to watch and buy into Claire’s digital life. Indeed, it provokes me to think, could the writers get away with creating a whole series based around screen casting now that the communication has become so ubiquitous in everyday life and within the modern family?

Reference for Marx's Commodity Fetishism: https://www.marxists.org/archive/pilling/works/capital/ch05.htm