This longitudinal study provides a critique of current delivery of PSHFE and Citizenship lessons and offers an original transdisciplinary approach to these learning-for-life subjects. Using action research methodologies, the study investigated whether selected Shakespearean stories could stimulate Socratic discussions on the decisions made by the characters. Then, in parallel with the topics on the PSHFE and Citizenship curricula, the students philosophised on alternative ways of thinking and acting and vicariously develop their own social and moral reasoning. The research design was based on the eclectic ‘bricoleur’ model developed by Kincheloe and Berry (2004) and was supported by both quantitative and qualitative analyses. In order to capture the complexity of measuring the impact of Shakespearean stories a threetiered research template was designed. Based on the response to neo-Kohlbergian conundrums discussed in the thrice-yearly home interviews, the informers’ personal and social development (PSD) was assessed using Kohlberg’s ‘six stages in moral reasoning’ as a measuring stick. Then, having triangulated the PSD variations from other sources, ‘partial connections’ (Law, 2007, p.155) were sought between the Shakespearean stories used in the action research and the informers’ PSD. Case study analyses indicate that, for the majority of the informers, partial connections were made between the Shakespearean stories and their PSD during KS3. The boundary set by this investigation was that the case studies consisted of seven randomly selected informers based in one school. However, the aforementioned quantitative studies were used to establish the representability of the students to the wider population. The action research offered nine interpretive discoveries which could contribute to more effective delivery of PSHFE and Citizenship. The key conceptual discovery was that PSHFE and Citizenship need another kind of pedagogic approach if they are to help develop empathetic and active citizens - an approach which would move the teacher/student relationship towards a facilitator/student partnership and have ramifications for teacher recruitment and training.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:560124 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Lighthill, Brian |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/46811/ |
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