TY - BOOK

T1 - Teachers’ awareness of Pupil Premium students through their lesson planning and delivery

AU - Foody, Anthony

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - This thesis reports on a series of case studies which examined how far the introduction of the Pupil Premium policy in English schools had affected the extent to which teachers considered social justice issues through their practice (DfE, 2010). The purpose was to examine how the policy was experienced in the classroom in order to explore the most effective ways to maximise its potential to address disadvantage. Five case studies of secondary school teachers, their lesson planning and the secondary data available to them were developed to explore the following concerns: the extent to which knowledge of Pupil Premium influenced planning of the observed lessons, how far the participants evaluated the impact of their teaching in relation to social difference, the role played by Pupil Premium in the participants’ approach to homework and underlying thoughts and feelings about the national and local policies. The study found that, despite additional funding and explicit identification of need based on disadvantage, the policy had limited impact on teachers’ classroom practice. The five case studies highlighted conflicts created by compelling teachers to examine pre-existing understandings about the nature of justice and fairness regarding students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Several deficiencies in current Pupil Premium policy were also highlighted including issues of identification, accountability and lack of information. Practical recommendations were proposed to help improve educational inequality through more effective use of funding. These included greater information and training for teachers, improved interaction with parents and a re-evaluation of the primacy of examination attainment data to measure the success by school leaders and policy makers. Little attention has been given to secondary teachers’ experience of Pupil Premium policy particularly in schools whose few eligible students appear to be making good progress based on attainment data.

AB - This thesis reports on a series of case studies which examined how far the introduction of the Pupil Premium policy in English schools had affected the extent to which teachers considered social justice issues through their practice (DfE, 2010). The purpose was to examine how the policy was experienced in the classroom in order to explore the most effective ways to maximise its potential to address disadvantage. Five case studies of secondary school teachers, their lesson planning and the secondary data available to them were developed to explore the following concerns: the extent to which knowledge of Pupil Premium influenced planning of the observed lessons, how far the participants evaluated the impact of their teaching in relation to social difference, the role played by Pupil Premium in the participants’ approach to homework and underlying thoughts and feelings about the national and local policies. The study found that, despite additional funding and explicit identification of need based on disadvantage, the policy had limited impact on teachers’ classroom practice. The five case studies highlighted conflicts created by compelling teachers to examine pre-existing understandings about the nature of justice and fairness regarding students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Several deficiencies in current Pupil Premium policy were also highlighted including issues of identification, accountability and lack of information. Practical recommendations were proposed to help improve educational inequality through more effective use of funding. These included greater information and training for teachers, improved interaction with parents and a re-evaluation of the primacy of examination attainment data to measure the success by school leaders and policy makers. Little attention has been given to secondary teachers’ experience of Pupil Premium policy particularly in schools whose few eligible students appear to be making good progress based on attainment data.

KW - Pupil Premium

KW - teacher perceptions

U2 - 10.17635/lancaster/thesis/516

DO - 10.17635/lancaster/thesis/516

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

PB - Lancaster University

ER -