tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/university-of-cumbria-1390/articlesThe University of Cumbria2024-01-04T09:33:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205402024-01-04T09:33:53Z2024-01-04T09:33:53ZRiset tunjukkan ‘spoiler’ tidak merusak kenikmatan sejati dari serial buku, acara TV, atau tim olahraga favoritmu<p>Saat saya menulis artikel ini, istri saya tengah berjibaku menghindari <em>spoiler</em> (bocoran) episode terbaru <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq"><em>Strictly Come Dancing</em></a>. Karena melewatkan siaran aslinya, dia dengan panik keluar dari semua platform media sosial, agar tidak ada status Facebook atau <em>retweet</em> yang memberinya bocoran. Atau seorang teman yang dengan polosnya mengungkapkan apa yang terjadi.</p>
<p>Tampak jelas betapa sulitnya hidup bebas <em>spoiler</em>.</p>
<p>Ini bukan hanya sulit bagi mereka yang menonton televisi. Para penggila konten olahraga juga memiliki <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0747126/">masalah lama</a> yaitu menghindari skor akhir sebelum sempat menonton pertandingan.</p>
<p>Seri buku populer turut menghadapi masalah plot-plot kunci yang terungkap terlalu dini. Ketika novel J.K. Rowling berjudul <em>Harry Potter dan Pangeran Berdarah Campuran</em> terbit pada 2005, sebuah spanduk <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/4704343.stm">yang tergantung di atas jembatan</a> di atas A442 di Shropshire, Inggris, mengungkapkan kematian karakter penting.</p>
<p>Petugas dewan kota dengan cepat menurunkan spanduk tersebut-–meskipun alasannya mungkin lebih karena spanduk tersebut akan jatuh, bukan karena takut mengganggu kenyamanan masyarakat.</p>
<h2>Tak ada tempat sembunyi</h2>
<p><em>Spoiler</em> sepertinya ada di mana-mana–dan pandangan umum menyatakan bahwa <em>spoiler</em> itu buruk. Dalam bentuk yang ekstrem, <a href="https://www.participations.org/15-01-15-meimaridis.pdf"><em>spoiler</em> “beracun”</a> muncul dari kesenangan beberapa orang mengganggu kejutan dan merusak alur cerita sebagai bentuk balas dendam.</p>
<p>Kemarahan ini bisa ditujukan pada orang tertentu atau serial itu sendiri seperti yang terjadi dalam film prekuel Star Wars. Beberapa penggemar membocorkan bagian akhir film tersebut <a href="https://www.participations.org/14-01-09-volcker.%20pdf">demi menciptakan “imunisasi terhadap kekecewaan”</a> bagi penggemar yang belum menonton.</p>
<p><em>Spoiler</em> dapat dijadikan senjata dengan cara ini karena beberapa asumsi. Yang utama adalah, <em>spoiler</em> dianggap merusak kenikmatan. Namun, apakah sesederhana itu? </p>
<p>Dalam serangkaian eksperimen psikologis yang terbit pada 2011, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797611417007">peneliti di California menemukan</a> bahwa pengetahuan seputar akhir sebuah cerita tidak mengurangi kenikmatan pembaca. Faktanya, pembaca lebih menyukai cerita yang akhir ceritanya telah terungkap sebelumnya.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens outside a cinema." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beberapa penggemar Star Wars percaya bahwa membocorkan film-film baru menawarkan imunisasi kepada sesama penggemar terhadap kekecewaan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-23rd-december-2015-editorial-362894219">John Gomez/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Para peneliti berteori bahwa kita memikirkan <em>spoiler</em> secara negatif karena kita tidak dapat membandingkan pengalaman yang rusak dengan yang belum terjamah. Dari situ, kita berasumsi bahwa pengalaman yang masih alami lebih baik.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797611417007">Namun, mereka juga berpendapat</a> bahwa: “Ada kemungkinan bahwa <em>spoiler</em> justru meningkatkan kenikmatan dengan benar-benar meningkatkan ketegangan. Mengetahui akhir dari (naskah teater) <em>Oedipus Rex</em> dapat meningkatkan kenikmatan yang disebabkan oleh perbedaan pengetahuan antara pembaca mahatahu dan karakter yang sedang menuju kehancurannya.”</p>
<p>Eksperimen ini berfokus pada sastra klasik, yang seringkali memerlukan semacam penjelasan agar bisa mengikuti alur cerita. Oleh karena itu, <em>spoiler</em> dalam penelitian ini bisa dibilang mampu melengkapi alur cerita, setidaknya bagi pembaca kontemporer yang belum terbiasa dengan kompleksitas tragedi Yunani kuno.</p>
<p>Mungkin eksperimen tersebut akan mencapai kesimpulan yang berbeda jika mereka menggunakan, katakanlah, episode terakhir serial <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7660850/"><em>Succession</em></a>.</p>
<h2>Bepergian dengan kecepatan spoiler</h2>
<p>Selain itu, karena penelitian ini melibatkan teks-teks yang semuanya ditulis sejak lama, eksperimen mereka menghilangkan masalah garis waktu kapan suatu informasi dianggap sebagai <em>spoiler</em> dan tidak.</p>
<p>Batasan ini masih bisa diperdebatkan. Pada tahun 2008, Vulture, sebuah situs berita hiburan, menerbitkan satir “<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2008/03/spoilers_the_official_vulture.html">statuta pembatasan</a>” dalam mengungkapkan <em>spoiler</em>. Pembatasan ini mulai dari “segera setelah episode selesai” untuk <em>reality TV</em> hingga “100 tahun setelah penampilan debutnya” untuk opera.</p>
<p>Kecepatan <em>spoiler</em> ini penting karena erat kaitannya dengan platform digital yang menyajikannya kepada pembaca, baik yang bersedia maupun yang tidak.</p>
<p>Dengan kata lain, mengetahui sesuatu terlalu cepat akan menimbulkan pertanyaan yang lebih mendasar tentang bagaimana kita berinteraksi dengan <a href="https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6459/">ketersediaan informasi yang cepat</a> di seluruh media digital yang ada hari ini.</p>
<p>Pertimbangkanlah kontroversi saat terbitnya artikel Wikipedia tentang drama panggung <em>The Mousetrap</em> karya Agatha Christie. Menurut pedoman Wikipedia, ringkasan plot diperlukan. Pertanyaannya adalah, apakah alur cerita tentang siapa pembunuhnya harus diungkapkan dalam ringkasan ini, mengingat bahwa penonton teater secara historis disumpah untuk menjaga kerahasiaan di akhir setiap pertunjukan.</p>
<p>Pada akhirnya disepakati bahwa pengguna Wikipedia harus <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/wikipedia-springs-mousetrap-ending-2064958.html">siap dengan kemungkinan bahwa informasi ini terungkap</a>. Kita tidak perlu menjadi Poirot untuk menyimpulkan bahwa harapan kita akan ketersediaan informasi yang mudah dan tersedia menciptakan kondisi yang selalu menimbulkan ancaman <em>spoiler</em>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The outside of a theatre showing The Mousetrap" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Penonton The Mousetrap terkenal bersumpah untuk merahasiakan akhir ceritanya.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-june-2019-st-martins-1436791103">RichartPhotos/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ini menunjukkan masalah sebenarnya dengan <em>spoiler</em>. Apakah mereka merusak alur cerita atau tidak tergantung pada gagasan bahwa menyajikan ringkasan yang reduktif–informasi murni–entah bagaimana menggantikan atau menyamakan pemahaman tentang film, pertunjukan, atau cerita.</p>
<p>Dalam bukunya <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/spoiler-alert"><em>Spoiler Alert</em></a>, ahli teori sastra Aaron Jaffe berpendapat bahwa ancaman <em>spoiler</em> bergantung pada gagasan bahwa segala sesuatu dapat diterjemahkan menjadi informasi, dan informasi itu dapat ditemukan di mana saja. Namun ini, lanjut Aaron, adalah mitos. Sebenarnya, informasi jarang sekali dapat diakses sepenuhnya atau secara lengkap, karena cara penyimpanan dan koneksinya berbeda.</p>
<p>Tampaknya jelas bahwa jika saya tidak sengaja mengetahui skor pertandingan sepak bola sebelum menontonnya, hal itu akan merusak hiburan saya. Namun skor tersebut tidak akan memberi tahu saya apakah tim saya pantas kalah, apakah mereka dirampok karena keputusan wasit, apakah pemain favorit saya telah berkembang, dan sebagainya. </p>
<p>Singkatnya, <em>spoiler</em> tidak memungkinkan saya untuk menafsirkan arti dari permainan tersebut.</p>
<p>Jadi meskipun <em>spoiler</em> sepertinya mengharuskan kita keluar dari X atau menghindari jembatan rendah di Inggris, masih ada bagian kesenangan yang tidak dapat dihilangkan oleh informasi tumpul dari <em>spoiler</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Grimwood tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Serangkaian eksperimen psikologis menemukan bahwa mengetahui akhir sebuah cerita tidak mengurangi kenikmatan pembaca.Tom Grimwood, Professor of Social Philosophy, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085062023-11-14T17:06:55Z2023-11-14T17:06:55ZSpoilers can’t ruin true enjoyment of your favourite book series, TV show or sports team – here’s why<p>As I write this, my wife is desperately trying to avoid spoilers for the latest episode of Strictly Come Dancing. Having missed the original broadcast, she has been frantically logging out of all forms of social media, lest a stray Facebook status or retweet give the game away. Add to this the possibility of a friend innocently revealing what happens, and it’s clear just how difficult it is to live spoiler-free.</p>
<p>And it’s not just difficult for those watching television. For followers of sports, too, there is a <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0747126/">longstanding problem</a> of avoiding the final score before being able to watch the game. </p>
<p>Popular book series also face the problem of key twists being revealed too early. When J.K. Rowling’s novel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released in 2005, a banner was <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/4704343.stm">hung over a bridge</a> over the A442 in Shropshire revealing an important character’s death. </p>
<p>Council officials swiftly removed the banner – although possibly because it was likely to fall, rather than out of fear of ruining people’s enjoyment.</p>
<h2>No hiding place</h2>
<p>Spoilers, then, seem to be everywhere – and the general view is that they are bad. In its extreme form, <a href="https://www.participations.org/15-01-15-meimaridis.pdf">“toxic” spoilers</a> arise from both the pleasure some take in spoiling others’ surprise and the use of plot ruining as a form of vengeance. </p>
<p>This ire can be aimed at specific people or the series itself. The latter happened with the Star Wars prequel films, as some fans spoiled the endings for those who hadn’t seen it yet “<a href="https://www.participations.org/14-01-09-volcker.pdf">immunisation against disappointment</a>”.</p>
<p>Spoilers can be weaponised in this way because of some of our assumptions about them. Most fundamentally, that they ruin enjoyment. But is it that simple? In a series of psychological experiments published in 2011, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797611417007">researchers in California found</a> that knowing the end of a story did not diminish readers’ enjoyment. In fact, readers preferred the stories where they had the ending revealed to them beforehand.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens outside a cinema." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534113/original/file-20230626-19-nite67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some Star Wars fans believed that spoiling the new films offered fellow fans ‘immunisation against disappointment’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-23rd-december-2015-editorial-362894219">John Gomez/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The researchers theorised that we think of spoilers negatively because we are unable to compare spoiled and unspoiled experiences and therefore assume that the unspoiled is better. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797611417007">They argued</a> that: “It is possible that spoilers enhance enjoyment by actually increasing tension. Knowing the ending of Oedipus Rex may heighten the pleasurable tension caused by the disparity in knowledge between the omniscient reader and the character marching to his doom.”</p>
<p>These experiments focused on classical literature, which often requires some kind of explanation in order to follow the plot at all. The spoilers in this research were therefore arguably able to complement the plot, at least for a contemporary readership unfamiliar with the complexities of ancient Greek tragedy. </p>
<p>Perhaps the experiments may have reached different conclusions if they had used, say, screenings of the Succession finale.</p>
<h2>Travelling at the speed of spoilers</h2>
<p>Also, because the research involved texts that were all written a long time ago, their experiments removed the issue of the timeline of when information does and does not count as a spoiler. </p>
<p>These boundaries are debatable. In 2008, Vulture, an entertainment news website, published a satirical “<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2008/03/spoilers_the_official_vulture.html">statute of limitations</a>” on spoiler reveals. They ranged from “as soon as the episode finished” for reality TV to 100 years after its debut performance for operas.</p>
<p>The speed of the spoiler is significant because it is inherently linked to the digital platforms that carry them to both willing and unwilling readers.
In other words, finding out things too soon raises more fundamental questions about how we engage with the <a href="https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/6459/">rapid availability of information</a> across digital media today. </p>
<p>Consider the controversy when a Wikipedia article on Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap was created. According to Wikipedia guidelines, a summary of the plot was required. But the question was whether the twist of who the murderer is should be revealed in this summary, given that theatre audiences are historically sworn to secrecy at the end of each show. </p>
<p>It was agreed, in the end, that users of Wikipedia should <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/wikipedia-springs-mousetrap-ending-2064958.html">expect this information to be revealed</a>. We do not need to be Poirot to deduce from this that our expectation of information being easily and readily available creates the conditions for a constant threat of spoilers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The outside of a theatre showing The Mousetrap" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534115/original/file-20230626-21-kct349.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Audiences of The Mousetrap are famously sworn to secrecy over its ending.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-june-2019-st-martins-1436791103">RichartPhotos/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This points to the real problem with spoilers. Whether they ruin plot twists or not depends on the idea that presenting reductive summaries – pure information – somehow replaces or equates to an understanding of the film, show, or story.</p>
<p>In his book <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/spoiler-alert">Spoiler Alert</a>, literary theorist Aaron Jaffe argues that the threat of the spoiler hinges on the idea that everything can be translated into information and that information can be found everywhere. But this is – he clarifies with a spoiler alert – a myth. In truth, information is rarely fully accessible or complete, due to the different ways it is stored and connected.</p>
<p>It may seem obvious to say that should I accidentally discover the score of a football game before I get to watch it, it would spoil my entertainment. But the score would not tell me if my team deserved to lose, if they were robbed by a referee’s decision, if my favourite player had improved, and so on. In short, the spoiler does not allow me to interpret the meaning of the game. </p>
<p>So while spoilers seem to require us to log out of X or avoid low bridges on the A442, there is still a part of our enjoyment that blunt information cannot remove. </p>
<hr>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Grimwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A series of psychological experiments found that knowing the end of a story did not diminish readers’ enjoyment.Tom Grimwood, Professor of Social Philosophy, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992182023-03-03T06:09:47Z2023-03-03T06:09:47ZThinking of getting a second cat? Here’s how to make sure your first pet doesn’t feel threatened<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510636/original/file-20230216-14-mw3br4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C49%2C5541%2C3605&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/couple-cats-sleep-hugging-their-soft-278842922">Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people choose to live with a cat for companionship. As a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4302252/#:%7E:text=H.,to%20become%20obligate%20collaborative%20foragers.">social species</a>, companionship is something we often crave. But this <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/3/298">cannot necessarily be said</a> of our feline friends. Domestic cats evolved from a largely solitary species, defending their territory from other cats. </p>
<p>Although modern-day cats <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787815001549">can live together in friendly groups</a> (when there are enough resources to go around), <a href="https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/ajvr/64/9/ajvr.64.9.1151.xml">bonds generally only develop</a> between cats who are related or grow up together. It is natural for cats to feel threatened by unfamiliar cats. Owners should consider whether adding another cat to their home is really in their cat’s best interest, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.545326/full">especially if they are generally more of a timid cat</a>. </p>
<p>If you’re set on adding another cat to your home, plan the introduction carefully. </p>
<p>Prepare for your new cat before you bring them home. Set aside a room for them, making sure they have at least two comfortable sleeping areas, a water bowl, a feeding area, scratching post and toys. Provide at least one litter tray (preferably two), well away from the food, water and sleeping places. </p>
<p>When the day comes to bring your new cat home, take them straight to “their” room. Allow them to come out of their carrier in their own time. They will be frightened <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X221128760">if you try to pull them out</a>. No matter how excited you are to interact with your new companion, you might need to leave the room, allowing them to explore by themselves. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="two young cats lying on modern cat climbing wallscapes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510642/original/file-20230216-16-oq42r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510642/original/file-20230216-16-oq42r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510642/original/file-20230216-16-oq42r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510642/original/file-20230216-16-oq42r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510642/original/file-20230216-16-oq42r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510642/original/file-20230216-16-oq42r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510642/original/file-20230216-16-oq42r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cats feel safer if they can access elevated surfaces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-young-cat-lying-on-modern-2104547888">RJ22/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Scent swapping</h2>
<p>Your new cat needs to stay in their room for several days. This will help them settle down and allows you to introduce them to your existing cat via scent. </p>
<p>Scent, especially facial pheromones, helps cats identify other cats that they are bonded with and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612X18806759">is important for maintaining bonds</a> between cats. Swap cloths that each cat has slept on, and toys. Place these somewhere the cats will come across them in their own rooms, but away from beds, bowls and litter trays. </p>
<p>Neither cat should show signs of avoidance or aggression towards the cloths before you progress. Then you can directly swap scent between the cats. Stroke one cat, especially around the cheeks and area in front of the ears, and then go directly to the other cat and stroke them. Repeat in the other direction. </p>
<p>This will transfer the cats’ scent profiles and facial pheromones, as if they were rubbing on each other directly. Look for <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.714143/full?fbclid=IwAR0GRVQrnF9jqRJTvwl3SInvAf3S1s1Qx70c5zbJAv9FjzsBAEjQIlsZm98">relaxed rubbing or nudging</a> in return. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Ginger cat sleeps in cat bed" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510646/original/file-20230216-22-u5ybqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510646/original/file-20230216-22-u5ybqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510646/original/file-20230216-22-u5ybqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510646/original/file-20230216-22-u5ybqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510646/original/file-20230216-22-u5ybqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510646/original/file-20230216-22-u5ybqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510646/original/file-20230216-22-u5ybqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not all cats will be happy to share a bed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ginger-cat-sleeps-his-soft-cozy-278842919">Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Longer term</h2>
<p>Once both cats are relaxed about being stroked with your other cat’s scent on your hands, they can finally see each other and your new cat can explore the rest of your home. You can buy a plug-in diffuser that releases copies of a feline facial pheromone, which may help with the initial introductions as it has been found to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612X18774437">reduce cat-to-cat aggression within households</a>. </p>
<p>There should be lots of escape routes for the cats to move away from each other. Make sure there is a cat tower or furniture, like a bookshelf, to jump onto and that the cats can easily leave the room if they want to. Cats <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612X13477537">like to hide away if threatened</a> and to get up high.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tricolor cat lies on the floor and sharpens its claws on a cardboard scratching post" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510644/original/file-20230216-14-r9gb5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510644/original/file-20230216-14-r9gb5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510644/original/file-20230216-14-r9gb5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510644/original/file-20230216-14-r9gb5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510644/original/file-20230216-14-r9gb5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510644/original/file-20230216-14-r9gb5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510644/original/file-20230216-14-r9gb5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Each cat needs their own scratching surface to maintain good claw and muscle condition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cat-sharpens-claws-on-scratching-post-1949886361">Evgenia Terekhova/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Initially, shut the cat you adopted first away in a separate room and allow your new cat out of theirs to explore. Once they are familiar with the layout of the house and where escape routes and safe places are, you can let your other cat out. Supervise the cats and be ready to intervene if tensions start to mount. </p>
<p>Watch for any avoidant or agonistic behaviour, such as running away and hiding, ears going back or hissing. Never punish your cat for aggressive behaviour and avoid using food to lure the cats closer together. Cats are solitary hunters and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612X18791877">would not naturally eat in close proximity</a> to other cats, even ones they are bonded with.</p>
<p>Because cats can find it challenging to form new relationships with other cats, especially as adults, your cats may never become best friends. To reduce conflict, make sure both cats can access food, water and litter trays without having to pass each other. </p>
<p>As a general rule, you will need to have one more of each resource than the total number of cats in the household. For example, three litter trays for a two-cat household. If your cats go outside, it may also be helpful to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17415349.2009.11013092?journalCode=tvnj20">provide more than one entrance and exit point</a>, as the cat flap is another common area for conflict between cats. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dog and cat cuddle on owner's lap" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510637/original/file-20230216-22-dwt814.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510637/original/file-20230216-22-dwt814.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510637/original/file-20230216-22-dwt814.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510637/original/file-20230216-22-dwt814.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510637/original/file-20230216-22-dwt814.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510637/original/file-20230216-22-dwt814.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510637/original/file-20230216-22-dwt814.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cats and dogs can also form close bonds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hug-cat-dog-796895929">Chendongshan/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similar advice applies if you want to add another companion species to your home, such as a puppy. Introductions may be more successful if the puppy is carefully and gradually introduced <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/18/2389">before they’re 12 weeks old</a>. </p>
<p>Don’t allow your puppy to chase your cat. Reward the puppy for calm behaviour. Your cat should never feel cornered and always have the choice to move away from any interaction, whether that’s with a human or non-human animal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Kiddie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Your cat may not be as excited about a new arrival as you are. Gradual and controlled introductions will help your cat take to an unfamiliar animal.Jenna Kiddie, Visiting Research Fellow in Animal Behaviour, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1617742021-06-01T13:11:16Z2021-06-01T13:11:16ZStressed pets: how to keep your dogs relaxed when leaving them alone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403750/original/file-20210601-21-2q3s6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=191%2C69%2C3547%2C2405&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cute-dog-waits-his-family-come-596012168">Shutterstock/James Kirkikis</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People around the world have been spending more time at home since the start of 2020. For many of these people, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a pet. </p>
<p>In the UK alone, an estimated <a href="https://www.pfma.org.uk/news/pfma-releases-latest-pet-population-data#:%7E:text=Today%2C%20the%20Pet%20Food%20Manufacturers,of%20the%20pandemic%5Bii%5D.">3.2 million households</a> have acquired a pet since the start of the pandemic. Dogs were the most popular new acquisition (57%) with cats a close second (38%).</p>
<p>This sudden increase in pet ownership raises concerns about pet welfare. Puppies acquired during lockdown have been missing out on critical socialisation experiences and training, which is known to be associated with stress-induced behaviours ranging from <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60546-w?fbclid=IwAR0U_7CTtnYsAszFPV4JFNjDm6p8ZVylEgf43JviV7O9L8BpyuqVLlLqb88">nervousness to fear-based aggression</a>.</p>
<p>It isn’t just the pandemic pets that may be showing signs of stress or behavioural issues. Life hasn’t been normal for many of our dogs for most of the past year. They’ve had less interaction with other dogs, fewer visitors coming into the home and little time alone since the pandemic began. </p>
<p>This has led to a noticeable change in dog behaviour. <a href="https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/research/research-papers/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-dog-welfare">Growling, snapping or nipping</a> children when approached and handled by them increased by 57% during lockdown. Google searches for “dog bark” and “dog bite” increased by 48% and 40% respectively, suggesting some aspects of the lockdown period were particularly challenging for our pets.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/paw-hygiene-is-no-reason-to-ban-assistance-dogs-from-hospitals-theyre-cleaner-than-peoples-shoes-156458">Paw hygiene is no reason to ban assistance dogs from hospitals – they're cleaner than people's shoes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>As humans, we tend to focus on situational stress – work deadlines, or paying bills. But stress can be caused by anything that upsets the body’s hormone balances. The presence of a stressor results in a hormone cascade, culminating in the release of glucose that provides a burst of energy designed to help escape the stressor. This sets off the fight, flight or freeze response. </p>
<p>Stressors range from a physical threat, such as a predator, to an unpredictable environment, which our pets might be experiencing now lockdown restrictions ease. This isn’t limited to dogs and cats. Changes to routine, particularly feeding schedule, have been shown to induce <a href="https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/215/16/2920/11086/Unpredictable-food-availability-induces-metabolic">stress in birds</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19420845/">sheep</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31495203/">horses</a>. </p>
<h2>Is your pet stressed?</h2>
<p>Signs of stress in your pet may be obvious, such as destructive behaviour or vocalising. But, there are also more subtle signs of anxiety, such as panting or drooling, pacing, repeatedly checking windows and doors, or chewing or scratching themselves. </p>
<p>Lockdown may, unfortunately, have a long-term impact on pets’ ability to cope when left home alone. Dogs that had separation anxiety before the restrictions started are likely to get worse when left again as owners head back to work. But we also expect to see new cases developing, because other dogs, and particularly puppies, have learnt to expect company all day. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dog sitting next to a cushion with the stuffing pulled out of it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403747/original/file-20210601-13-i3clnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403747/original/file-20210601-13-i3clnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403747/original/file-20210601-13-i3clnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403747/original/file-20210601-13-i3clnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403747/original/file-20210601-13-i3clnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403747/original/file-20210601-13-i3clnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403747/original/file-20210601-13-i3clnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left at home alone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/guilty-dog-mischief-funny-jack-russell-1553108744">Shutterstock/smrm1977</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/research/research-papers/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-dog-welfare">Research last year</a> showed 82% of dog owners surveyed noticed an increase in their dog whining or barking when a household member was busy. There was a 41% increase in reports of dogs being clingy or following people around the house during lockdown. All of these can be indicators of separation anxiety developing.</p>
<h2>Our tips</h2>
<p>The good news is, it’s not too late to prepare your dog for lockdown easing, and to teach them vital skills that they can apply in any situation.</p>
<p>If you’re starting to spend more time outside of the house, you need to remember that this change in routine is stressful for your pets. Start preventative measures now to avoid future problems. </p>
<p>If you have a dog who was previously used to being left alone, make sure you maintain their ability to cope with this by introducing periods of separation during the day when you are in the house – such as placing them behind a baby gate whilst you are working from home. Leave your dog at home for short periods of time.</p>
<p>Build up the amount of time your dog is separated from family members gradually and associate it with something positive, such as a long-lasting treat. </p>
<p>Monitor how your dog responds, and shorten the time left if they show any signs of anxiety.</p>
<p>Where dogs are already showing signs of separation anxiety (such as barking, howling, toileting or being destructive when left), seek help from your vet in the first instance.</p>
<p>Avoid looking for “quick fix” solutions like anti-bark collars or punishing your dog on return. These approaches will likely exacerbate the problem and result in more serious and more difficult to treat problems in the long run. </p>
<p>Teaching dogs to be relaxed when left takes time and patience, particularly for the pandemic puppies that have rarely been away from their owners. But making the effort to show your dog that being alone is not stressful, using our advice, can prevent serious problems that are much more difficult to treat later in life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161774/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Kiddie is affiliated with Dogs Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niki Khan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dogs that have grown used to being around humans all the time might suffer from separation anxiety.Niki Khan, Lecturer in Animal Science, Nottingham Trent UniversityJenna Kiddie, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Cumbria; Head of Canine Behaviour, Dogs Trust, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1574412021-05-24T15:13:22Z2021-05-24T15:13:22ZRewilding: four tips to let nature thrive<p>What would rewilding mean for a country like the UK? Bringing back wolves and bears? Returning the land to how it looked in prehistoric times? How will people fit into this wild and unimaginably different place? Questions like these abound whenever rewilding is in the news. </p>
<hr>
<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/rewilding-four-tips-to-let-nature-thrive-157441&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In essence, rewilding involves giving more space and time to nature. Instead of managing ecosystems to preserve particular species, rewilding is intended to reverse environmental decline by letting nature become more self-willed. That means allowing wildlife the freedom to flourish and habitats to regenerate naturally.</p>
<p>But without clear principles to guide these processes, rewilding has become a trendy buzzword that is often used indiscriminately. This has invited wildly different interpretations, sparked debates and caused controversy that has discouraged governments from developing it into policy. </p>
<p>This could be about to change though. </p>
<p>We’ve published <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.13730">a set of guiding principles</a> which specify what rewilding should involve and how it should be done. This is the result of one of the most comprehensive international studies on rewilding to date, reviewing best practices and the latest science, instigated by the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/commissions/commission-ecosystem-management/our-work/cems-thematic-groups/rewilding">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a> and involving hundreds of experts. Without further ado, here are the dos and don'ts of rewilding.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three wild horses in a clearing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C317%2C3264%2C2125&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Konik wild horses recreate the natural grazing patterns of extinct species at the Cambrian Wildwood in West Wales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Coetir Anian/Cambrian Wildwood</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Don’t (always) start with wolves</h2>
<p>The objective of rewilding is boosting the health of an ecosystem by increasing the number of species and how much they can all interact. A fully restored ecosystem would have top predators, but there are a lot of missing parts – the plants, prey animals, fungi – that should be put back first to ensure that larger species have an appropriate food source and habitat to support them. </p>
<p>It might not be appropriate for lots of other reasons to reintroduce wolves to a particular place at the moment, but in the meantime, bringing back <a href="https://www.natureconservation.wales/project/beaver-reintroduction-wales/">beavers</a>, <a href="https://www.arc-trust.org/saving-sand-lizard">lizards</a> and <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/the-science-behind-the-chequered-skipper-re-introduction">butterflies</a> is brilliant too.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A view of someone holding a dormouse." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dormice need a helping hand too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Back on our Map/University of Cumbria</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The UK government has the chance to support the reintroduction of species by including funding for it in its new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-land-management-schemes-overview">environmental land management schemes</a>. As opposed to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, which paid farmers a subsidy based on the size of the land they owned, the new schemes would offer payments to farmers and land managers in return for supporting nature recovery across the landscape. </p>
<p>Within these schemes, funding could be allocated for the <a href="https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/support-rewilding/our-campaigns-and-issues/natural-regeneration">natural regeneration</a> of habitats, instead of interventions like tree planting. This would mean moving away from setting fixed targets and managing habitats to suit one species, which might feel risky, but it would let scientists see how natural processes operate when they are given room, and what <a href="https://knepp.co.uk/the-results">unexpected things arrive</a>. This can change our understanding of how ecosystems work and where species can thrive if landscapes become healthier. </p>
<h2>Do reconnect people with nature</h2>
<p>Rewilding involves reducing harmful human pressures and promoting natural processes in ecosystems. This shouldn’t mean excluding people though. Rewilding should actually help people develop a more positive relationship with the natural world that involves compassion for all species and a spirit of learning from nature rather than seeking to dominate it.</p>
<p>This can be done through <a href="https://www.cambrianwildwood.org/people/">school trips</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2021/03/uk-revolutionary-rewilding-projects">holidays in rewilding sites</a> and voluntary work opportunities like <a href="https://treesforlife.org.uk/into-the-forest/rewilding/">tree planting</a>, wetland restoration and wildlife surveys. A greater emphasis on the natural world in primary and secondary education could also help guarantee the long-term success of rewilding efforts by nurturing enthusiasm from an early age.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-environmental-doom-and-gloom-young-people-draw-alternative-visions-of-natures-future-102004">Forget environmental doom and gloom – young people draw alternative visions of nature's future</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Don’t alienate rural communities</h2>
<p>The prospect of rewilding has made some people in the countryside anxious. Farmers in particular worry that their livestock, land and way of life are under threat, either from reintroduced predators or new directives to manage the land differently.</p>
<p>Including local people at every stage of a rewilding project is very important. To ensure this, staff working on rewilding projects need to be based locally so they are available for a chat or to discuss concerns. They shouldn’t just rely on formal consultation – where communities fill in surveys or participate in organised meetings.</p>
<p>Ideally, rewilding projects should be driven by local people who could organise and set the agenda for how their land is managed. They should also directly benefit from <a href="https://rewildingeurope.com/rewilding-in-action/nature-based-economies/">associated businesses</a>, like wildlife tours. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people standing in a valley bottom surrounded by trees and hills." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rewilding projects shouldn’t impose ideas from above that were devised elsewhere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Carver</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Do think about the future</h2>
<p>Some people worry that rewilding harks back to a time before modern man or even earlier – to when woolly mammoths stalked the Earth. Looking back can allow us to see what has been lost and what could be revived, but rewilding isn’t about rewinding the clock. It’s about looking to the future and the challenges nature will face.</p>
<p>By enabling species to move through reconnected habitats and traverse entire landscapes, wildlife populations can be rebuilt. This would ensure the healthy functioning of an ecosystem isn’t dependent on a few isolated creatures, and it’s a practical way to help nature adapt to threats like climate change and new diseases, as species will have more freedom to move if pressures in one place escalate. </p>
<p>The UK government has <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936567/10_POINT_PLAN_BOOKLET.pdf">committed</a> to protect 30% of UK land by 2030 by creating new national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. But landowners need commitments from the government and funders so they know that restoring woodland and wetlands won’t cost them money down the line. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-bill-2020/10-march-2020-nature-and-conservation-covenants-parts-6-and-7">Conservation covenants</a> – introduced in the 2020 Environment Bill – could provide a mechanism for landowners to stipulate how their estate is managed in perpetuity. So land can become, and remain, wild hundreds of years into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Wynne-Jones is a trustee of the Cambrian Wildwood – an advisory and unpaid position.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Convery is a trustee of the not-for-profit Lifescapes Project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Carver receives funding from ESRC and NERC.</span></em></p>By studying where rewilding has worked well around the world, we’ve worked out the dos and don'ts.Sophie Wynne-Jones, Lecturer in Human Geography, Bangor UniversityIan Convery, Professor of Environment & Society, University of CumbriaSteve Carver, Senior Lecturer in Geography, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1023152018-09-07T09:07:59Z2018-09-07T09:07:59ZBias gender dalam buku sains anak-anak - kurangnya sosok perempuan sebagai ilmuwan<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234607/original/file-20180903-41735-1rj27xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2048%2C1348&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Astronot Sunita Williams – bukan seorang laki-laki.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tanyakan kepada anak kecil ingin menjadi apakah mereka ketika mereka sudah besar. Kemungkinannya pekerjaan ilmiah seperti astronot dan dokter akan menjadi pilihan paling teratas dalam <a href="https://www.fatherly.com/news/what-kids-want-to-be-when-they-grow-up/">daftar pekerjaan</a>. Namun minta mereka menggambar seorang ilmuwan dan <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/03/what-we-learn-from-50-years-of-asking-children-to-draw-scientists/556025/">ada kemungkinan dua kali lebih besar</a> mereka menggambar sosok laki-laki daripada perempuan. </p>
<p>Anak-anak bisa membentuk bias tersebut dari berbagai sumber. Tapi mungkin kita seharusnya tidak terlalu terkejut melihat absennya ilmuwan perempuan dalam gambar anak-anak ketika ilustrasi yang kita perlihatkan kepada mereka juga seringkali sama buruknya.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/intellect/jspc/2018/00000001/00000002/art00002">Studi kami tentang gambar</a> dalam buku-buku sains anak-anak mengungkapkan bahwa perempuan secara signifikan kurang terwakili. Kami memeriksa foto-foto dan ilustrasi dalam buku anak-anak. Dalam dunia fisika khususnya, gambar seringkali gagal mengkomunikasikan kemampuan teknis atau pengetahuan perempuan. Gambar yang ada dalam buku tersebut memberikan impresi bahwa sains adalah subjek untuk laki-laki dan bahwa karir dalam bidang sains, teknologi, teknik, dan matematika (STEM) tidak memberikan penghargaan kepada perempuan. </p>
<p>Teori-teori perkembangan menjelaskan bahwa anak-anak mempelajari <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1981-25685-001">harapan gender</a> untuk membantu mereka merespons sesuai dengan lingkungan sosial mereka. Hal ini mempengaruhi pemahaman mereka akan siapa mereka dan mendorong mereka untuk berperilaku dengan cara yang konvensional bagi gender mereka.</p>
<p>Gambar-gambar laki-laki dan perempuan dalam buku sains anak berkontribusi dalam harapan tersebut dengan mengajarkan mereka ‘aturan’ mengenai pekerjaan yang cocok bagi tiap gender. Hal tersebut mendorong mereka untuk mematuhi stereotip karir gender yang berlaku. </p>
<p>Untuk mengatasi hal ini, tokoh panutan perempuan <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/soapbox/lets-banish-the-myth-that-there-arent-many-female-role-models-in-stem/">harus terlihat</a> dalam buku-buku untuk membantu <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02635140701847538?journalCode=crst20">mengembangkan minat anak-anak perempuan</a> dalam sains selama mereka bertambah dewasa, dan mengatasi <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40188718">persepsi negatif tentang ilmuwan perempuan</a>.</p>
<h2>Di mana perempuan dalam sains?</h2>
<p>Penelitian kami menganalisis buku-buku sains bergambar untuk anak-anak di dua perpustakaan publik di Inggris. Pertama kami menghitung frekuensi gambar laki-laki, perempuan, anak laki-laki dan anak perempuan dalam 160 buku yang tersedia. Lalu kami melakukan analisis visual detail pada dua profesi ilmiah: astronot dan dokter. Dalam bagian dengan 26 buku ini, kami memeriksa apa yang astronot dan dokter laki-laki maupun perempuan lakukan, kenakan, dan genggam dalam gambar-gambar tersebut.</p>
<p>Kami menemukan bahwa, secara keseluruhan, buku-buku sains anak menampilkan laki-laki tiga kali lebih banyak dibandingkan perempuan, menguatkan stereotip bahwa sains adalah pencarian laki-laki. Kurang terwakilinya perempuan semakin diperparah dengan bertambahnya usia target tujuan buku. Para perempuan secara umum digambarkan sebagai pasif, berstatus rendah dan tidak terlatih – atau keberadaan mereka tidak diketahui sama sekali.</p>
<p>Contohnya, satu buku anak-anak tentang eksplorasi luar angkasa menampilkan apa saja yang dibutuhkan dalam berjalan di luar angkasa. Dengan gambar astronot dalam baju ruang angkasa putihnya, kita diberitahu bahwa “without a spacesuit an astronaut’s blood would boil and <em>his</em> body would blow apart atau tanpa pakaian luar angkasa, darah astronot akan mendidih dan tubuhnya (astronot laki-laki) akan meledak”. Penggunaan <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:SERS.0000018892.26527.ea">kata ganti laki-laki ( <em>his</em>)</a> menunjukkan bahwa orang yang ada di dalam pakaian luar angkasa tersebut adalah laki-laki.</p>
<p>Tidak disinggung tentang 11 perempuan berani yang telah berjalan di luar angkasa, termasuk astronot <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/sunita-l-williams/biography">Sunita Williams</a> yang gambarnya digunakkan dalam montase tersebut. Dengan tertutupnya muka William dengan helm dan teks yang hanya menyebutkan laki-laki, akan menjadi mudah bagi anak-anak untuk berpikir bahwa perempuan tidak berjalan di luar angkasa.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anak perempuan dipengaruhi oleh gambaran mereka tentang ilmuwan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cute-girl-reading-book-home-470554466?src=n00P7Seb02Fa4kqYM0QKdQ-1-10">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dalam halaman di buku lain, kami melihat seorang astronot perempuan digambarkan sedang melayang di dalam stasiun luar angkasa dan tersenyum kepada kamera. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/postsecondary/features/F_Astronaut_Requirements.html">Kualifikasi dan pengalaman yang dibutuhkan</a> untuk astronot pada titik ini melebar. Tempat-tempat program pelatihan astronot NASA sangat kompetitif dengan ribuan lamaran setiap tahunya. Namun dalam buku tersebut, pelatihan, keahlian, dan pengetahuan perempuan tersebut tidak disinggung.</p>
<p>Sebagai gantinya, keterangan gambar tersebut justru berbunyi “Dalam gravitasi 0, setiap hari adalah hari tatanan rambut yang buruk.” Komentar seperti itu yang terfokus pada penampilan perempuan <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963662503123009">gagal menganggap serius kontribusi mereka</a>. Terlebih lagi, penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penekanan penampilan pada ilmuwan panutan dapat mengurangi penilaian kemampuan diri murid perempuan atau membuat pekerjaan sains <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550612440735">tampak tidak terjangkau bagi mereka</a>.</p>
<p>Studi kami juga menunjukkan perbedaan penting antara disiplin ilmu. Dalam buku fisika, 87% gambar yang ada adalah laki-laki atau anak laki-laki, dan beberapa gambar tempat astronot perempuan digambarkan, mereka tidak pernah digambarkan sedang mengemudikan wahana, melakukan percobaan, atau berjalan di luar angkasa.</p>
<p>Buku tentang biologi, kebalikannya, memiliki gambaran yang seimbang antara laki-laki dan perempuan – dan dokter perempuan digambarkan melakukan aktivitas dan memiliki status yang sama dengan dokter laki-laki.</p>
<h2>Mengapa hal ini penting</h2>
<p>Anda mungkin berpikir bahwa citra atau gambar tidaklah penting, bahwa pesan dalam foto atau ilustrasi adalah sepele. Industri periklanan multimiliar pound sterling tidak sepakat dengan Anda. Iklan jarang menyediakan argumen yang detail tentang sebuah produk atau jasa, tapi hal ini tidak membuat pesannya menjadi kurang kuat. Sebaliknya, periklanan bergantung pada persuasi melalui <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4612-4964-1_6">penanda <em>pinggiran</em></a> seperti mencontohkan gaya hidup yang menarik dan menggunakan citra untuk menggambarkan penghargaan status atau rasa hormat.</p>
<p>Dengan cara sama, buku-buku anak-anak mengiklankan pilhan karir, dan gambar-gambar tersebut mengkomunikasikan apa artinya bagi perempuan dan laki-laki pada kaitannya dengan pekerjaan tersebut. Perempuan perlu hadir dalam buku-buku sains anak untuk mendemonstrasikan bahwa seluruh bidang sains juga dapat dicapai oleh perempuan.</p>
<p>Penelitian menunjukkan, bahkan sebelum anak-anak pergi ke sekolah, mereka telah memiliki ide bahwa laki-laki lebih baik dalam <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681366.2012.748676">profesi yang didominasi oleh laki-laki</a>. Mengingat fakta bahwa anak perempuan, bahkan sejak berumur delapan tahun, seringkali <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x">menolak matematika</a> dan sains dari orang tua dan gurunya, mungkin tidak mengejutkan bahwa hanya 20% siswa dengan nilai A yang mengambil fisika <a href="https://www.iop.org/education/teacher/support/girls_physics/file_58196.pdf">adalah perempuan</a>. </p>
<p>Wawancara dengan <a href="http://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/download/265/463">ilmuwan perempuan</a> yang sukses menunjukkan bahwa anak perempuan mencari <em>role model</em> dalam sains, tapi mereka seringkali tidak bisa menemukannya.</p>
<p>Dengan begitu, maka penting bahwa gambar dalam buku anak-anak diberikan perhatian yang lebih besar. Editor dan ilustrator buku perlu untuk melakukan usaha signifikan untuk menggambarkan perempuan sebagai berkualitas, ahli, dan mampu secara teknis. Mereka perlu digambarkan secara aktif terlibat dalam kegiatan ilmiah dan <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540250601087769">menggunakan alat dan perlengkapan yang sesuai</a>, bukan hanya dihadirkan sebagai <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11422-014-9656-2.pdf">asisten atau pengamat</a>. </p>
<p>Perempuan juga perlu direpresentasikan dalam jumlah besar sehingga anak perempuan bisa melihat panutan mereka dalam profesi ilmiah dan melihat karir tersebut bisa bermanfaat.</p>
<p>Para orang tua, guru, dan pustakawan – bersama dengan penulis, ilustrator dan penerbit – perlu meninjau kembali buku-buku mereka untuk pesan-pesan bergender. Tanyakan apa yang yang diajarkan oleh gambar-gambar tersebut dan tanyakan apa aspirasi karir yang mungkin didorong atau dihancurkan oleh buku-buku tersebut.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102315/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Para penulis tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi di luar afiliasi akademis yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Perempuan perlu hadir dalam buku-buku sains anak untuk mendemonstrasikan bahwa seluruh bidang sains juga dapat dicapai oleh perempuan.Dr Susan Wilbraham, Senior Lecturer in Applied Psychology, University of CumbriaElizabeth Caldwell, Academic Skills Tutor, School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/985222018-08-24T11:08:08Z2018-08-24T11:08:08ZChildren’s books are adding to science’s gender problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229838/original/file-20180730-106502-th3qmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Astronaut Sunita Williams – not a 'he'.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/9403193806/in/album-72157664425419085/">NASA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ask young children what they want to be when they grow up and the chances are that scientific jobs such as astronaut and doctor will appear high on <a href="https://www.fatherly.com/news/what-kids-want-to-be-when-they-grow-up/">the list</a>. But ask them to draw a scientist and they are more than <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/03/what-we-learn-from-50-years-of-asking-children-to-draw-scientists/556025/">twice as likely</a> to draw a man than a woman. Children can form these kinds of biases from many sources. But perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised to see such an absence of women scientists in children’s drawings when the illustrations we show them are often just as bad.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/intellect/jspc/2018/00000001/00000002/art00002">Our study of imagery</a> in children’s science books reveals that women are significantly underrepresented. In the physical sciences in particular, the pictures frequently fail to communicate women’s technical skills or knowledge. The imagery in these books gives the impression that science is a subject for men, and that careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are unrewarding for women. </p>
<p>Developmental theories explain that children learn <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1981-25685-001">gender expectations</a> to help them to respond appropriately within their social environment. This influences their understanding of who they are and encourages them to behave in a way that is conventional for their gender. </p>
<p>Pictures of men and women in children’s science books contribute to these expectations by teaching them “rules” about the occupations suited to each gender. This encourages them to conform to prevailing gender career stereotypes. To counter this, female role models <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/soapbox/lets-banish-the-myth-that-there-arent-many-female-role-models-in-stem/">need to be visible</a> in books to help <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02635140701847538?journalCode=crst20">develop girls’ interest in science</a> as they get older, and overcome <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40188718">negative perceptions of female scientists</a> </p>
<h2>Where are all the women?</h2>
<p>Our research analysed the children’s science picture books in two public libraries in England. First we counted the frequency of images of men, women, boys and girls within the 160 available books. Then we did a detailed visual analysis of two scientific professions: astronauts and doctors. In this subset of 26 books, we examined what the male and female astronauts and doctors were doing, wearing and holding in the pictures.</p>
<p>We found that, overall, children’s science books pictured males three times more often than females, reinforcing the stereotype that science is a man’s pursuit. The under-representation of females only worsened as the target age of the book increased. The women were generally depicted as passive, lower status and unskilled – or their presence was not acknowledged at all.</p>
<p>For example, one children’s book about space exploration shows what’s involved in a spacewalk. Along with pictures of astronauts in their white padded spacesuits, we are told: “Without a spacesuit an astronaut’s blood would boil and his body would blow apart.” The use of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:SERS.0000018892.26527.ea">male pronouns</a> suggests the person inside the spacesuits is male.</p>
<p>There is no mention of the 11 courageous women who have performed spacewalks, including astronaut <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/sunita-l-williams/biography">Sunita Williams</a> whose image is used in the montage. As Williams’s face is covered by her helmet and the text only mentions men, it would be easy for children to think that women don’t do spacewalks.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233254/original/file-20180823-149481-v2yb0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Girls are influenced by their image of scientists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cute-girl-reading-book-home-470554466?src=n00P7Seb02Fa4kqYM0QKdQ-1-10">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the pages of another book, we do see a female astronaut, pictured floating inside a space station and smiling at the camera. The <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/postsecondary/features/F_Astronaut_Requirements.html">qualifications and experience required</a> to get astronauts to this point are extensive. Places on NASA’s Astronaut training programme are highly competitive with thousands of applications each year. But in the book, the woman’s training, expertise and knowledge are not mentioned.</p>
<p>Instead, the picture caption reads: “In zero G, every day is a bad hair day.” Comments like this that focus on women’s looks fail to <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963662503123009">take their contributions seriously</a>. What’s more, research shows that emphasising appearance in science role models can reduce school girls’ self-rated ability or make scientific jobs <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550612440735">seem unobtainable to them</a>.</p>
<p>Our study also found important differences between subject disciplines. In physics books, 87% of images were of men or boys, and in the few pictures where female astronauts were pictured, they were never shown driving shuttles, doing experiments or spacewalking. Books about biology, in contrast, did have an even balance of images of men and women – and female doctors are shown carrying out the same activities and having the same status as male doctors.</p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>You might think that imagery isn’t important, that the messages in pictures or illustrations are trivial. A multi-billion pound advertising industry disagrees with you. Advertising rarely provides detailed arguments for products or services but this doesn’t make its messages less powerful. Instead, adverts rely on persuasion through <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4612-4964-1_6">peripheral cues</a>, such as by exemplifying appealing lifestyles and using imagery depicting the rewards of status or respect.</p>
<p>In the same way, children’s books advertise career choices, and their imagery communicates what it means for men and women to be associated with these occupations. Women need to be present in children’s science books to demonstrate that all science subjects are fulfilling for girls.</p>
<p>Research shows that, even before children go to school, they have the idea that men are better at <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681366.2012.748676">male-dominated professions</a>. Given that girls as young as eight are often <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x">put off maths</a> and science by teachers and parents, it is perhaps no surprise that only 20% of A-level students taking physics <a href="https://www.iop.org/education/teacher/support/girls_physics/file_58196.pdf">are female</a>. Interviews with successful <a href="http://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/download/265/463">female scientists</a> have shown that girls do seek out role models in science, but are often unable to find them.</p>
<p>As such, it’s vital that imagery in children’s books is given greater consideration. Book editors and illustrators need to make significant efforts to represent women as qualified, skillful and technically able. They need to be pictured actively engaging in scientific activities and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540250601087769">using appropriate tools or equipment</a>, not merely present as <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11422-014-9656-2.pdf">assistants or observers</a>. Women also need to be represented in greater numbers so that girls can see female role models in STEM professions and see these careers as potentially rewarding.</p>
<p>Parents, teachers and librarians – along with authors, illustrators and publishers – should review their books for gendered messages. Question what the images are teaching children and ask what career aspirations the books might be igniting or quashing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98522/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows children’s images of scientists are all too often male.Dr Susan Wilbraham, Senior Lecturer in Applied Psychology, University of CumbriaElizabeth Caldwell, Academic Skills Tutor, School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/371362015-02-04T12:51:37Z2015-02-04T12:51:37ZOfsted must routinely inspect outstanding schools too<p>In what Ofsted has hailed as some of the most radical changes to school inspection in England in its history, the schools regulator has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/400625/Better_inspection_for_all_consultation_response_FINAL_2_.pdf">published the results</a> of a consultation into changes due to be introduced from September 2015. It is a pity that it has given no ground on its <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/consultation-on-radical-changes-to-inspection">original proposals</a>, but its current stance does at least represent a welcome cultural shift compared with previous policy – though not as great as some of us would wish.</p>
<p>Most disappointing is that Ofsted has decided not to routinely inspect those schools it judges to be outstanding. Outstanding schools stand to benefit from dialogue with skilled inspectors who can disseminate information and insights into “good” practice. They should be inspected not in order to prescribe authoritatively what improvement should look like, but so as to inform even these outstanding schools about other possibilities. </p>
<p>Inspectors need to routinely visit outstanding schools so they have the full range of experience on the basis of which to calibrate their judgements of all the schools they inspect. Ofsted’s response to questions raised in its consultation about this is short-sighted, concluding: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Any change of approach would require legislative change. As a result, we will continue not inspecting outstanding schools routinely, although we retain the powers to inspect if performance drops or other concerns are raised. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Sensible for the most part</h2>
<p>The main thrust of the reforms is that Ofsted will be introducing frequent but shorter inspections – with schools judged good to be inspected approximately every three years, instead of every five or six years under the current system. This change seems sensible, proportionate and economical. Such visits should not be confined to dialogue with senior leaders and interrogation of data but should also involve visits to classes to get a feel of the school. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://theconversation.com/ofsted-reforms-will-mean-better-inspection-for-all-except-some-private-schools-32768">previous article</a> I gave cautious welcome to Ofsted’s over-arching proposals for school inspection. Ofsted’s response to the consultation was as predictable as the questions it asked. </p>
<p>The first paragraph of the executive summary to the report contains two telling sentences. The first states: “The reforms we will introduce in September 2015 are intended to enable us to inspect the right things in the right way.” This assumes that there is one right way and that Ofsted embodies it – a hubristic and highly contentious proposition which will not endear the organisation to its many critics. </p>
<p>The second represents a welcome, surprising, honest but unsettling admission: “We will ensure that our inspections are of increasingly rigorous quality and value to the profession and the public, are more proportionate and have greater impact.” This implies that up until now inspections have not been sufficiently rigorous, proportionate or impactful – and this after almost a quarter of a century of Ofsted inspections. </p>
<h2>Greater focus on the curriculum</h2>
<p>Ofsted’s decision to report more on the curriculum is long overdue. The curriculum was not one of the focuses of inspection agreed with former education minister Michael Gove, despite being the medium through which understanding, skills and qualities are fostered. That blatant omission is now to be rectified. Ofsted will now “place a greater emphasis on the breadth and suitability of the curriculum and the type and range of courses and opportunities offered by providers.” </p>
<p>But questions remain over why the quality of the curriculum in its own right is not being inspected, rather than – as is now proposed – under the effectiveness of leadership and management judgement. It’s also still unclear to many what Ofsted means by contentious terms such as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/debate-over-national-values-is-a-threat-to-the-education-system-34635">British values</a>”, “breadth”, “balance” and “relevance”. </p>
<h2>Next step, implementation</h2>
<p>The jury is still out on whether the <a href="https://theconversation.com/plans-to-renationalise-school-inspectors-under-ofsted-could-help-assure-quality-27459">planned return to a system</a> where inspectors will be directly contracted with Ofsted instead of outsourced to private companies will bring about “the necessary quality, control and flexibility” in Ofsted’s workforce to deliver its proposed reforms.</p>
<p>Ofsted has agreed to introduce a new Common Inspection Framework. This is only “common” in the same weak sense as the national curriculum is “national” – the framework will not apply to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ofsted-reforms-will-mean-better-inspection-for-all-except-some-private-schools-32768">whole gamut of independent schools</a>. The use of that framework is, however, a useful step if it means that inspectors can make graded and hopefully comparable judgements on the same areas for all but privileged independent schools. But devising such a framework will not be easy given the characteristics of different phases and of different types of school as well as schools’ inevitable idiosyncrasies. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to read how the proposed inspection handbooks, which will accompany the new common framework, deal with such issues and with the delineation of revised inspection criteria, some of which are <a href="https://news.tes.co.uk/b/opinion/2015/01/07/ofsted-s-criteria-for-outstanding-teaching-are-outstanding-nonsense-and-here-s-why.aspx">suspect and even nonsensical</a> as they currently stand.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most surprising fact about Ofsted’s consultation is that the school’s inspectorate has been prepared to rethink inspection in a changing educational climate. Ofsted does need to acknowledge the contestable nature of the inspection process. Despite the confident claim in the executive summary to its latest report, there is no one “right” way of inspecting schools, though experience since Ofsted’s inception in 1992 suggests there have been a number of wrong ones.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Richards worked as a government inspector of schools from 1983 to 1996, including four years in Ofsted.</span></em></p>In what Ofsted has hailed as some of the most radical changes to school inspection in England in its history, the schools regulator has published the results of a consultation into changes due to be introduced…Colin Richards, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/356502014-12-18T13:55:30Z2014-12-18T13:55:30ZOxbridge and London retain grip on university research prowess<p>The dominance of a “golden triangle” of universities in the latest research assessment exercise has renewed concerns that other universities may get less government research funding in future. </p>
<p>The results of the <a href="http://www.ref.ac.uk/">Research Excellence Framework 2014</a> (REF), the world’s largest national assessment of university research, showed that three-quarters of the research carried out over the past six years at UK universities was world-leading or internationally excellent.</p>
<p>The “golden triangle” is a term used to refer to Oxford, Cambridge and the research-intensive universities in London including UCL, Imperial, King’s College London and the London School of Economics, all of which have performed well in the 2014 REF. </p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2014/dec/18/university-research-excellence-framework-2014-full-rankings">ranking created</a> from the results by the publication <a href="http://info.researchprofessional.com/research-fortnight/">Research Fortnight</a>, Oxford has once again come top of an index based on “research power”, which indicates how much funding universities are likely to receive based on their performance in the REF. UCL has overtaken Cambridge to move into in second position since the last time a similar exercise was done in 2008. </p>
<p>Through this method of analysing the results, Edinburgh moved up to fourth, switching places with Manchester which is now fifth. Meanwhile, King’s College London moved from 11th position to seventh. Some of the bigger universities in the north of England found themselves slipping slightly in the power ranking, such as Leeds which fell from eighth to tenth and Sheffield from ninth to 12th. But there were some success stories among smaller universities in the north of England, such as Northumbria, which climbed from 81st to 52nd. </p>
<h2>More research ‘world-leading’</h2>
<p>The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) analysed the research of 52,061 academic staff submitted by 154 universities in a peer-review process overseen by panels of academics. This was just over half of the 91,925 staff eligible to be submitted in the REF, according to data published by the <a href="https://www.hesa.ac.uk/ref2014">Higher Education Statistics Agency</a>. </p>
<p>Overall, 30% of the work was rated as four-star, or world-leading research, with 46% rated as three-star, or internationally excellent. This was a marked increase on the results of a similar exercise in 2008, in which 17% was rated as four-star and 37% as three-star, causing some in the sector to suggest that changes to the way research was measured in the REF 2014 had <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/blogs/ref-results-marred-by-fears-over-grade-inflation/">skewed the result</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/qanda-what-is-the-ref-and-how-is-the-quality-of-university-research-measured-35529">REF results are important</a> because they are used to inform the allocation of the research funding universities receive. Although the funding formula has yet to be published, institutions with the most four-star and three-star quality research will receive the most funding. More than two thirds, or 68%, of research rated as “world-leading”, or four-star, is being done at the 24 Russell Group universities.</p>
<p>Richard Jones, pro-vice chancellor for research and innovation at the University of Sheffield, where 85% of the research entered for assessment was judged four-star or three-star, said it was “fairly easy to predict” that there would be more concentration of research in future. He said this may get “very acute”. But Jones dismissed claims of a North-South divide opening up, saying there was excellence at institutions across the country.</p>
<h2>No ‘privileged position’</h2>
<p>David Price, UCL’s vice-provost for research, said: “That concentration has happened because of the excellence of the work that’s done there. We don’t get any money without competing for it. We’re not in any privileged position because we happen to be in WC1,” he said, adding it can actually be quite challenging to be based in central London.</p>
<p>Overall, 82% of UCL’s research was rated either four-star or three-star. Price said the good results should help determine how block funding from the higher education funding council is distributed. “We should get more, but if there’s a funding environment where there’s a huge cut, we’ll be cut less,” he said. “Relative to our competitors, we will do better.”</p>
<p>But some smaller and newer universities <a href="https://theconversation.com/important-research-is-being-left-behind-heres-how-a-change-to-the-funding-system-could-help-35502">have warned</a> that important research is being left out. Peter Strike, vice-chancellor of the University of Cumbria, said that funding should be restored for universities whose research is rated as two-star in the REF. </p>
<p>“It makes it more difficult for smaller universities,” he said. Of the research Cumbria submitted for assessment in the REF, 29% was either four-star or three-star. “We’re a tiny university,” Strike said, “and even the smallest of us… have some top-class people doing some outstanding work.”</p>
<p>Yet some newer universities have managed to perform well. Andrew Wathey, vice-chancellor of Northumbria University, which rose from 81st to 52nd in rankings of research power, said: “We have created the second-strongest pool of research activity of all modern universities.” He said that Northumbria had doubled the number of staff it submitted for the REF 2014 compared to 2008 and that its good results were down to the work of early-career researchers working alongside established academics. “Northumbria’s story is clear evidence that geographic location is no barrier to world-leading research,” he said. </p>
<h2>Impact on real world</h2>
<p>For the first time, the REF, which was carried out by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and its equivalents in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, also analysed the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-impact-of-impact-on-the-ref-35636">impact of academic research</a> on the wider world, including both its benefit to the economy, society, culture and policy. Panels of academics and users of research from across business and the public sector judged that 44% of the case studies they assessed had an “outstanding” impact and the impact of another 40% were “very considerable”.</p>
<p>A separate ranking of universities on their research impact <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/ref-2014-results-table-of-excellence/2017590.article">by the Times Higher Education</a>, was largely dominated by universities focused on medicine and life sciences. It was topped by the Institute of Cancer Research, with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in second place. </p>
<p><em>For more on the 2014 REF, including an assessment of “impact”, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/research-excellence-framework">click here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35650/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The dominance of a “golden triangle” of universities in the latest research assessment exercise has renewed concerns that other universities may get less government research funding in future. The results…Gemma Ware, Head of AudioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/355022014-12-18T06:22:11Z2014-12-18T06:22:11ZImportant research is being left behind – here’s how a change to the funding system could help<p>With Christmas not far off, universities will be hoping for some early presents in the form of good results in the UK’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/qanda-what-is-the-ref-and-how-is-the-quality-of-university-research-measured-35529">long-awaited assessment</a> of the quality of university research. Although the funding formula upon which university research is based won’t be published until the new year, in many ways universities already know the financial outcomes of the <a href="http://www.ref.ac.uk/">Research Excellence Framework</a> (REF) results – because the status quo is unlikely to shift.</p>
<p>The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will allocate its research funding depending on quality research rated as four-star or three-star in the REF exercise. Four-star is awarded to research deemed to be “world-leading” and three-star to be “internationally-excellent”. </p>
<p>The great majority of the £2bn a year of research funding is likely to continue to go to the top six institutions <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/indirreports/2014/areviewofqrfundinginenglishheis/2014_qrreview.pdf">as identified recently by HEFCE</a>: Cambridge, Imperial, King’s College London, UCL, Manchester and Oxford. Most of what remains will go to the next 20 institutions and the scraps will be divided among the remaining 100 or so. </p>
<p>It is unlikely that any of the post-1992 universities that grew out of old polytechnics, or have developed since, will receive more than 10% of their HEFCE-related income (including fees) through funding linked to research rated as four-star or three-star.</p>
<p>Compare this to the <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/invest/institns/annallocns/1314/">funding received</a> by the top six institutions based on four-star and three-star rated research, where research funding <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/rereports/year/2014/qrreview/">may make up</a> more than 60% of HEFCE income (including student fees). These allocations, of course, are a reflection of the quality and volume of research to be found in our research-led universities – they are genuinely excellent in what they do, and we would all wish their success to continue.</p>
<h2>Regional research left out</h2>
<p>What the allocations don’t do is to recognise the value of the applied and relevant research that is so important to local and regional economies and supports the growth aspirations of small and medium-sized businesses. Nor do they properly reward smaller research units in the newer institutions which are consistently marked down on the “research environment” criteria in the REF – which assesses research strategy, staff development and the training of postgraduates – despite the acknowledged excellence of their outputs. </p>
<p>Much of this research is very cost-effective, achieved without great expenditure on infrastructure and resources, and yet its effects are deeply felt. Much of it is of national importance – it is the two-star quality work that makes up the majority output of most universities and which was so damagingly dismissed by business secretary <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/cables-rations-mediocre-research-teams-need-not-apply/413416.article">Vince Cable as “mediocre”</a> in 2010. It isn’t mediocre, it just isn’t world leading – I’m afraid we can’t all be leaders on the world stage all of the time. Most research from early career researchers is likely to fall into this category, and we would all surely accept that research careers have to be developed.</p>
<h2>Should all universities do research?</h2>
<p>We could ask why research aspirations continue to burn brightly in all institutions that call themselves universities. This would be a very British, actually a very English, question. Higher education establishments across Europe and the Commonwealth (including Scotland) recognise the value of research, and have expectations around research performance built into their structures. There is no obligation on English universities to have research degree awarding powers. This is not true in Scotland.</p>
<p>Sweden, like the UK, converted their polytechnics into universities in 1992. It was understood that a proper balance between research and teaching in these new universities would be 20% research, 80% taught, and they were funded to allow this to happen. In England, full funding for the development of a research base in new universities has not been provided since the 1960s.</p>
<p>Yet research aspirations are likely to be present in the hearts and minds of most academics, no matter what type of institution they work in. Many of the applied and vocational programmes in which the new universities specialise (for example the NHS-funded programmes) are quite specific that the programmes should be research-informed and delivered in a research-active environment. </p>
<h2>Skewed allocations</h2>
<p>One answer to the dilemma of how to meet these aspirations would simply to be more fair in the formulaic allocation of funds. The last time university research was assessed in the Research Assessment Exercise 2008, the top research-intensive universities <a href="http://www.millionplus.ac.uk/research-policy/reports/latest-reports/research-report-the-innovation-challenge-a-new-approach-to-research-funding/">were assessed</a> as having 62% of research at three-star or four-star level but were in receipt of 68% of funding council support. Modern universities were assessed as having 9% of research at three-star and four-star level in 2012, but received only 0.07% of funding council funds. </p>
<p>These skewed allocations have a serious impact on the student experience in the modern university sector – and it should be remembered that these are the majority of students in the UK. The allocations also undermine the ability of new and regional institutions to undertake applied and “useful” research.</p>
<h2>Towards fairer funding</h2>
<p>A key example is in the partnerships between business and universities. The government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk/about">Innovate UK</a> supports Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) in which research associates are placed with companies to tackle real-world issues while studying for a higher degree. Institutional support for KTPs requires the engagement of research-active academic staff, which is difficult to do without support from quality-related research funding from HEFCE. </p>
<p>And yet we manage it. In my own institution, the University of Cumbria, we have never had a KTP project graded less than “good”, with a number of “outstanding” grades. We recruit excellent associates, and our academic staff are highly qualified, often with PhDs from research-intensive universities. So, of course the results are good, and being good they add to the sense of frustration that we cannot do more. </p>
<p>The answer surely is to ensure that all universities receive an appropriate baseline allocation of research funds, either by formula or by restoring funding for those universities that get two-star ratings in the REF, which was taken away after 2008. Applied and translational research needs and deserves more effective support from Innovate UK, perhaps by an assessment of impact that is freed from the constraint of the REF grades. </p>
<p><em>For more on the 2014 REF, including other views and an assessment of “impact”, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/research-excellence-framework">click here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35502/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The University of Cumbria is a member of the Growth by Research campaign.</span></em></p>With Christmas not far off, universities will be hoping for some early presents in the form of good results in the UK’s long-awaited assessment of the quality of university research. Although the funding…Peter Strike, Vice Chancellor , University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/327682014-10-10T11:59:29Z2014-10-10T11:59:29ZOfsted reforms will mean better inspection for all… except some private schools<p>Ofsted’s chief inspector Michael Wilshaw is right to claim that his <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/news/ofsted-consults-radical-changes-inspection-0?news=23533">proposals for the future of school inspection</a> set out: “some of the most far-reaching reforms to education inspection in the last quarter of a century”. The biggest of these reforms is that schools classed as “outstanding” or “good” will not have as many regular full inspections – instead they will have more frequent but far shorter visits from Ofsted. And the biggest omission is that not all independent schools are to be inspected in the same way. </p>
<p>Looking back to 25 years ago, schools in England were subject to periodic inspection, not by Ofsted but by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate which also acted in an advisory capacity to the government education department of the day. </p>
<p>On average, primary schools were visited for one day roughly every seven years or so, when a professional dialogue took place with the head and governors. The smaller number of secondary schools would be visited more frequently. But there was no guarantee that any school would necessarily have a full inspection in any given period.</p>
<h2>Problems with quality assurance</h2>
<p>When Ofsted was created 22 years ago it faced a political imperative: all schools in England had to be inspected in a four-year period. Yet the number of HM Inspectors (HMIs) then in post, following reorganisation, was fewer than 200. </p>
<p>The result was a period of ill-thought out, frenzied activity involving the inadequate training of large numbers of would-be inspectors employed by a multitude of private agencies. Inspection handbook after inspection handbook were compiled which tried to codify inspection practice in a form which relied less on professional judgement and more on compliance with explicit, so-called “objective” criteria. </p>
<p>The whole process was intended to be monitored by an inadequate number of HMIs who could never quality assure the whole process closely enough. That political imperative was met but at a cost – to honest, mutually respectful relationships between inspectors and schools and to the reputation of inspection as a rigorous external form of school evaluation, free from political interference. </p>
<h2>Fewer inspections for good schools</h2>
<p>Somewhat to my surprise it is to the credit of the current chief inspector and his senior managers that they have recognised that those costs are now too high, especially given that more than 70% of schools are now regarded as “good” or “outstanding”.</p>
<p>The proposals are part of what <a href="https://theconversation.com/ofsted-reforms-are-a-cultural-shift-to-celebrate-best-teaching-24692">I have previously described</a> as a cultural shift in Ofsted. The inspectorate is now planning to alter the frequency and pattern of its inspections for “good” and “outstanding” schools, hearkening back to HMI inspection practice pre-1992. The proposed shorter visits are likely to take place every three years, according to Ofsted.</p>
<p>It is also proposing a long-overdue common inspection framework for early years settings on the Early Years Register, maintained schools and academies, further education and skills providers and independent schools that are not part of an association. The vast majority of inspection activity would be led by Ofsted’s own inspectors – <a href="https://theconversation.com/plans-to-renationalise-school-inspectors-under-ofsted-could-help-assure-quality-27459">rather than outsourced </a>– with an increased number of school and college leaders on brief attachments or longer secondments.</p>
<p>There are very real benefits to the proposed changes. Perhaps most importantly, they should enable many more schools to focus on the further improvement of teaching quality and educational standards, rather than devoting disproportionate amounts of time and anxiety preparing for inspection. </p>
<p>Those schools requiring intervention and advice based on expert classroom observation are more likely to receive it. The new arrangements should also improve Ofsted’s knowledge of local developments and better inform government of what is happening, including the effects of its policies on the education service as a whole.</p>
<h2>Private schools left off</h2>
<p>My only major reservation relates to Ofsted’s proposal to restrict its remit to non-association independent schools, rather than the whole <a href="https://theconversation.com/sending-in-ofsted-to-inspect-private-schools-could-level-the-education-playing-field-26832">gamut of private provision</a>. There can be no educational justification whatsoever for treating some independent schools differently from state schools in terms of inspection.</p>
<p>Leading independent schools are quite happy to quote examination data when justifying their privileged position. They should be equally happy to quote comparable Ofsted inspection findings. Ofsted needs to rethink its position and to work “without fear or favour” to develop a common inspection framework which does justice to all schools – state-maintained, academies, free schools and independent ones. The challenge for the whole of the private sector is to accept it – with good grace.</p>
<p>But Wilshaw has been wise not to proceed by introducing routine use of no-notice inspections, <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-notice-school-inspections-take-teachers-out-of-class-and-into-paperwork-31880">as had been mooted</a>. </p>
<p>Once the culture of inspection has changed these should not prove contentious in principle. But fundamental changes of mind-set take time. A culture of mutual respect and frankness between schools and inspectors needs to be in place and it isn’t there as yet. Ofsted should allow time for its other changes to take effect before reconsidering routine no-notice inspections.</p>
<p>Changing the culture of Ofsted and its relationship with schools will not be easy. It will be met with suspicion, even denial, by those within and outside the organisation. But these proposals represent a major opportunity for inspection reform which the teaching profession should welcome.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32768/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Richards worked as a government inspector of schools from 1983 to 1996, including four years in Ofsted.</span></em></p>Ofsted’s chief inspector Michael Wilshaw is right to claim that his proposals for the future of school inspection set out: “some of the most far-reaching reforms to education inspection in the last quarter…Colin Richards, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/287362014-07-03T05:05:20Z2014-07-03T05:05:20ZEnding Christian assembly: let’s open our eyes to the value of collective worship in schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52897/original/yrxdkkjw-1404315975.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Let us pray.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-170935139/stock-photo-open-book-in-male-hands.html?src=mY3F_kp3qjzxaGCXaibpxw-1-62">Open book by Sergey and Ekaterina/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Challenges from parents and teachers to the law requiring an act of collective worship in schools are not new. Now the National Governors’ Association has <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/scrap-meaningless-christian-assemblies-in-nonreligious-state-schools-say-governors-9571848.html">called for</a> Christian assemblies in non-religious state schools to be scrapped. </p>
<p>But while the time is ripe for a re-engagement with the law, ironically, collective worship is important to the current <a href="https://theconversation.com/promoting-british-values-opens-up-a-can-of-worms-for-teachers-27846">debate about British values</a> in education. </p>
<p>Collective worship can be a formative learning experience for both British and global values. It can ramify across a whole school curriculum and, when accompanied by the critical intelligence promoted by good religious education, contribute hugely to moral discernment.</p>
<p>“Worship” (or worthship) is all about “attributing worth to” something. An imaginative interpretation of collective worship is an opportunity for a school to gather round and explore the deepest beliefs and values which inform the communities that feed into it. That includes exposure to stories and music, anniversaries and festivals, visual imagery and performance. These may be celebrating, regretting or rebuking, but they will all be set within the horizons of a common wealth which is Christian, and secular and multi-faith. </p>
<h2>40 years of looking for an alternative</h2>
<p>Reistance to the requirement for collective worship surfaced in 1975 in reports from the then Schools Council and John Hull’s book <a href="http://www.johnmhull.biz/School%20Worship.html">School Worship: An Obituary</a>. It was also there in discussions ahead of the 1988 Education Reform Act. But politicians were reluctant to abandon the legal requirement. This was because a minority of them believed that what happened in schools should be the same as in any local church on a Sunday. For many more politicians it was a recognition that the provision remained overwhelmingly popular according to repeated opinion polls. </p>
<p>There was a major attempt to arrive at an alternative arrangement in the mid-1990s. It <a href="http://www.cstg.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/culham_cw_reviewed.pdf">took the form of a national consultation</a> by the Inter Faith Network for the UK, the National Associations of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs), and the Religious Education Council of England and Wales. This produced large-scale consensus, but the lack of total unanimity was enough to excuse government inaction. </p>
<p>In 2003, Charles Clarke, when he was secretary of state for education, promised that he would pick up on this once the development of a National Framework for Religious Education was completed. It <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090903160937/http:/qca.org.uk/libraryAssets/media/9817_re_national_framework_04.pdf">was in 2004</a>, but by then Clarke had been moved on to the Home Office. </p>
<p>It is time for another rethink. What sort is a different matter and it would be wise to reflect carefully on the desirable outcomes of any changes.</p>
<h2>The law as it stands</h2>
<p>Contrary to impressions conveyed in the media, the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/40/contents">current legal prescription</a>, which was introduced in 1988 and stands to this day, is both more sophisticated and more flexible than ephemeral headlines allow. It states that:</p>
<p>• <strong>Worship should be “collective” not “corporate”</strong> Corporate worship is an activity distinctive to a community of believers gathering to express their shared faith. Collective worship is an activity expressive of the religious beliefs of some but not all of those present. Arguably, the former might be appropriate in some “schools of a religious character”, such as faith schools, but certainly not in all other state-funded schools. There, collective worship is what is legally specified. </p>
<p>• <strong>“Wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character”</strong>. This convoluted phrase was introduced into the 1988 Education Reform Act to indicate that Christian beliefs and values are an important part of a school’s constitution, reflecting that of the nation. It was also introduced to ensure that head teachers and governors could also have the professional discretion to be attentive to other mainstream beliefs and values. </p>
<p>“Wholly broadly Christian” expressly ruled out any denominational loadings. “Mainly” permitted just under half to attend to other beliefs and values. This ruling sits alongside the requirement that religious education teaching must include the other principal religions of the UK as well as Christianity. More than 25 years ago the same Education Act (section 8) made it illegal to ignore Muslim traditions, as well as those of other faiths. Those faiths should deservedly include that of the humanist community – a legal change now well worth considering.</p>
<p>• <strong>“Age, aptitude and family background”</strong>. The law prescribes that, in arriving at the form of collective worship appropriate to the school, the headteacher must give careful consideration to the family backgrounds of pupils and also to their age and aptitude. When this was introduced back in 1988, schools were then advised by local authorities that assemblies could be variable in composition – such as divided up by year group or class. </p>
<p>• <strong>“Conscience clause”</strong> This gives parents the right to withdraw their sons and daughters from RE and collective worship on conscience grounds. But good educational practice should make this unnecessary.</p>
<h2>Government should step up</h2>
<p>Any re-engagement with the issue of collective worship should properly involve much more than a shift in these legal wordings. One issue is the need, confirmed by the 2011 Census, to include humanist affirmations. Another is that of how to ensure that teachers and governors have the confidence and competence to work responsibly with religious diversity.</p>
<p>In practice, the assembling tradition is stronger in primary than secondary schools. And legal requirements regarding provision for daily collective worship, like those for effective religious education, have for many years been commonly ignored. Once upon a time, the entire school community would have been involved (minus conscientious objectors). Now, alongisde the pupils, it is more usually only those teachers with designated responsibility.</p>
<p>Collective worship is neglected in initial teacher education and training, as it is in the further professional development, including that of head teachers. As with religious education, government ministers and the department of education have ignored evidence of underprovision from many quarters, <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/religious-education-realising-potential">even Ofsted</a>. </p>
<p>But as the education community is being asked to look deep into its role in promoting religious tolerance in a multi-faith Britain, perhaps the government should be more attentive to the fundamental aim that by the completion of formal education, young people are not only literate and numerate but also religiate. That’s actually what the national religious education tradition is properly all about: the education of conscience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28736/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Gates receives funding education charitable trusts. He is a former chair of the RE Council. </span></em></p>Challenges from parents and teachers to the law requiring an act of collective worship in schools are not new. Now the National Governors’ Association has called for Christian assemblies in non-religious…Brian Gates, Emeritus Professor of Religion, Ethics & Education, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/277722014-06-10T12:47:12Z2014-06-10T12:47:12ZFocus on test scores over curriculum leaves big questions for Ofsted after Trojan Horse<p>The process of reform in any complex organisation is difficult, uneven and subject to being blown off course by events. In two recent articles in the Conversation I have drawn attention to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ofsted-reforms-are-a-cultural-shift-to-celebrate-best-teaching-24692">cultural shift apparently underway</a> in Ofsted, the English schools inspectorate. </p>
<p>That shift towards a “new” Ofsted, more responsive to the complexities of the inspection process and to <a href="https://theconversation.com/plans-to-renationalise-school-inspectors-under-ofsted-could-help-assure-quality-27459">the concerns of its critics</a>, has received a set-back – hopefully temporarily. This is due to the <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/advice-note-provided-academies-and-maintained-schools-birmingham-secretary-of-state-for-education-rt">publication of a letter</a> by its chief inspector Michael Wilshaw to the secretary of state for education, Michael Gove, in the light of the “Trojan Horse” investigation into extremism being taught at Birmingham schools. The letter reveals something of the “old” Ofsted mind-set which has proved so damaging to the inspection process in the past.</p>
<p>In it, the chief inspector castigates almost all parties involved in the Trojan Horse schools but especially some governing bodies, the local education authority, the Education Funding Agency, and, indirectly, the department for education. Of the official bodies involved with Birmingham schools only Ofsted itself escapes from Ofsted criticism.</p>
<h2>Flawed inspection framework</h2>
<p>I am not concerned here to critique the actual findings of the Ofsted inquiry: I have no inside knowledge which would lead me to support or reject their recommendations, which have led five schools to be placed under special measures. I do, however, have considerable reservations about Ofsted’s unwillingness to acknowledge limitations in its own procedures and processes, which have contributed to the current crisis. I’ll focus on three of these here.</p>
<p>Like most schools currently subject to periodic Ofsted inspection, most of the schools at the heart of the inquiry have been inspected recently under <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/18/contents">section 5 of the Education Act 2005</a>. But as <a href="http://www.wwwords.co.uk/rss/abstract.asp?j=forum&aid=5117">many of us have argued</a>, the section 5 inspection framework is flawed and fails to do justice to the full life and work of the schools. It employs a very impoverished view of what constitutes “effectiveness” and “achievement” and is focused unduly and disproportionately on performance data in tested or examined subjects. </p>
<p>Many other aspects of a school’s life and work get short shrift. Schools judged as “outstanding” or “good” under these restricted, results-oriented criteria may have serious shortcomings which will not be given the prominence they deserve in this myopic view of what makes an effective school. </p>
<p>This, I suspect, lies behind the sudden and, to many observers, inexplicable decline reported in some of the Birmingham schools such as <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/138059">Park View School</a>, downgraded from “outstanding” to “inadequate” on the basis of more focused inspections which belatedly take account of far more than performance data.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/framework-for-school-inspection-january-2012">current inspection framework</a> has four focus points: pupils’ achievement, teaching quality, leadership and management, and pupils’ behaviour and safety. All but the latter are pegged on achievement measured in terms of performance data. </p>
<p>Conspicuous by its absence as an explicit focus is the quality of the school’s curriculum, its main medium for the transmission of knowledge, understanding and values. Yet it is these issues that are at the heart of the current Trojan Horse controversy. In his letter, the chief inspector does not acknowledge the curriculum <em>lacuna</em> in the very heart of its normal processes of school inspection. He should have acknowledged that deficiency but did not.</p>
<h2>Categories outdated</h2>
<p>A second lesson Ofsted should draw is the inadequacy of its fourfold categorisation of schools as “outstanding”, “good”, “requires improvement” and “inadequate”. To reduce the complexity of a single school to a single descriptor is bad enough. To reduce the richness and complexity of a whole system to a percentage distribution over just four categories is gross oversimplification. </p>
<p>Every school is a complex amalgam of strengths and weaknesses and it is these that need to be communicated to those who need to know. Single descriptors get in the way of sophisticated professional analyses and detract from forensic examination of what is working well and not so well in relation to any school’s declared aims and values. </p>
<p>Just as Ofsted has <a href="http://news.tes.co.uk/b/ofsted-watch/2014/02/21/ofsted-39-we-don-39-t-grade-teachers-on-individual-lessons-39.aspx">moved away from making lesson grades</a>, so it should move away from offering crude overall grades in its school inspection reports. What is needed instead are reports which provide an independent professional evaluation of the values, aspirations, achievements and shortcomings of particular schools in a readable, bespoke way. These can then be used as a basis for dialogue with parties interested in the educational well-being of their learners. Forcing crude overall gradings on schools stifles rather than stimulates that sophisticated dialogue.</p>
<h2>Catching schools out</h2>
<p>A third lesson, unlikely to be heeded in the heat of the controversy, is to avoid the knee-jerk reaction of imposing no-notice inspections as a matter of course in all circumstances. The positive cultural shift to which I have alluded previously involves a number of changes, not just in impression management. </p>
<p>This includes Ofsted now avoiding implications that schools are out to thwart the inspection process and that some at least need to be “caught out”. Unfortunately that impression is in danger of being revived if no-notice inspections become the rule, not the exception.</p>
<p>I hope that the chief inspector will learn lessons from the Trojan Horse inquiry, including acknowledgement of Ofsted’s own limitations. He should not allow aspects of the “old” Ofsted mind-set to derail the much needed rehabilitation of school inspection in England.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27772/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Richards worked as a government inspector of schools from 1983 to 1996, including four years in Ofsted.</span></em></p>The process of reform in any complex organisation is difficult, uneven and subject to being blown off course by events. In two recent articles in the Conversation I have drawn attention to the cultural…Colin Richards, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/274592014-06-02T13:16:32Z2014-06-02T13:16:32ZPlans to renationalise school inspectors under Ofsted could help assure quality<p>The English schools inspectorate <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/news/ofsted-announces-plans-bring-management-of-all-school-and-further-education-inspections-house-0">Ofsted has announced</a> it will be terminating contracts with its three private inspection services providers from September 2015 and will be employing school inspectors in-house. </p>
<p>This ends what many of us have seen as a most curious practice. When the history of the privatisation of English public services comes to be written, the contracting out of quality control to private providers, albeit loosely regulated, will be seen as particularly problematic, even perverse.</p>
<p>When Ofsted was created in 1992 it faced a political imperative: all schools in England had to be inspected in a four-year period. Yet the number of inspectors, known as Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools or HMIs, then in post following reorganisation, was less than 200. </p>
<p>The result was a flurry of activity involving the hurried, inadequate training of large numbers of would-be inspectors employed by a number of different agencies. Inspection handbooks were compiled which tried to codify inspection practice in a form which relied less on professional judgement and more on compliance with explicit, so-called “objective” criteria. </p>
<p>But an inadequate number of inspectors could never assure quality closely enough across the whole process. The political imperative was met – but at a cost to the reputation of Ofsted and to the authority of inspection as an art requiring a high degree of educational judgement. </p>
<p>That system could have been replaced in the late 1990s given political will, but was allowed to continue. The very large number of agencies involved in the contracting out of inspections has gradually reduced – to three by September 2009 (CfBT, Serco and Tribal) and as we’ve now learnt, to zero by September 2015.</p>
<h2>Inconsistent inspection ‘lottery’</h2>
<p>Since 1992 Ofsted has engaged in a series of national inspection cycles permeated by constantly changing frameworks and guidance documents intended to assure consistency of quality across the privatised inspection teams. In the absence of detailed evidence from Ofsted itself, but backed up by a wealth of anecdotal evidence, that consistency of judgement has not been achieved. </p>
<p>Ofsted has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/apr/17/ofsted-inconsistency-atl-union-mary-bousted-inspections-lottery-schools">been widely criticised</a> for overseeing an inspection “lottery” with privatised teams varying unacceptably in judgement and insight. </p>
<p>It is often acknowledged that uniformity of judgement over a myriad of school contexts is unattainable, except in an ideal world. But there is a common perception of a lack of reasonable consistency, resulting in injustices to the policies and practices of individual schools when inspection reports are published. </p>
<p>This is not to deny the expertise of many, though not all, Ofsted inspectors and the very real, if only partially successful efforts of inspection agencies to assure the quality performance of their teams.</p>
<p>The new arrangements are part of what I have previously described as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/ofsted-reforms-are-a-cultural-shift-to-celebrate-best-teaching-24692">cultural shift in Ofsted</a>. The schools inspectorate is planning to alter the frequency and pattern of its inspections and to devise more flexible inspection frameworks. It wants to take on more inspectors and to directly employ additional inspectors, including an increased number of school and college leaders on brief attachments or longer secondments.</p>
<h2>Push back against privatisation</h2>
<p>Rather ingenuously – or diplomatically? – Ofsted claims that the end of contracting out does not reflect discontent with the work of the private inspectors. But it is on firmer ground <a href="http://community.tes.co.uk/ofsted_resources/b/weblog/archive/2014/05/30/new-contractual-arrangements-for-inspection.aspx">in arguing that bringing the contracts</a> of additional inspectors in-house: “will give us greater flexibility in the deployment, training and quality assurance of inspection activities”. How productive that flexibility proves remains to be seen.</p>
<p>School inspection in England needs radical reform if its perceived restricting (some would say “toxic”) influence on school policy and practice is to be replaced by a widely respected system which prioritises judgement rather than just compliance among both schools and inspection teams. The new contractual arrangements promise to be an important, though limited, step forward in realising that cultural shift. They also represent a significant counter to the creeping privatisation of the state sector – the first of many some of us hope. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27459/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Richards worked as a school inspector from 1983 to 1996, including four years in Ofsted.</span></em></p>The English schools inspectorate Ofsted has announced it will be terminating contracts with its three private inspection services providers from September 2015 and will be employing school inspectors in-house…Colin Richards, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/249292014-03-28T06:14:50Z2014-03-28T06:14:50ZWhy testing four-year-olds as they start school is a bad idea<p>The coalition government is to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/297595/Primary_Accountability_and_Assessment_Consultation_Response.pdf">introduce the testing of young children</a> soon after they enter primary school at the age of four or five. </p>
<p>English children are already tested far more than children in most other countries and if our four and five year olds are tested, they will be amongst the very youngest children in the world to undergo a formal assessment of their abilities and achievements.</p>
<p>Some people think this testing is long overdue; many others think that it is not only a waste of time but it is very damaging to young children’s confidence at a time when they are having to adjust to new surroundings and new ways of learning. Is the testing then a welcome development or a harmful activity?</p>
<p>The government believes that testing is necessary to find out where children are at the beginning of their formal education so that their <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/step-change-in-ambition-will-mean-higher-standards-for-all">progress can then be mapped out</a> and eventually assessed at age 11 and later at age 16. </p>
<p>The tests are supposed to measure not only the children’s progress, but also how good the schools are that they attend. Children will be given a baseline test when they start reception, and are expected to have achieved a new standard by the end of primary school. It all sounds very sensible and straightforward. But is it?</p>
<h2>What to ask</h2>
<p>Do we have the know-how to devise tests for children at such a young age? Many of us in education don’t think we do. It has taken a long time to develop tests for 11-year-olds and yet these are far from perfect, as many parents will know from the experience of their own children. If tests for very young children can be devised – and it’s a big “if” – they will take years to develop, yet the proposed tests are supposed to start in 2016.</p>
<p>Part of the problem lies with the children themselves. They learn in very different ways and at different rates, so developing tests that are fair to all is difficult, perhaps impossible. Also at that age children are particularly volatile. Not only do they find it difficult to sit still but they change from day to day, almost minute to minute at times. How can a test capture that changeability?</p>
<p>Children come to school with a wide range of achievements but the proposed tests are only likely to look at a fraction of these. Many of the most important skills such as self-confidence, wanting to learn, willingness to cooperate with others and a degree of personal independence ,cannot be measured or tested at all. </p>
<p>Early literacy and numeracy are important, of course, but not all-important and not as important as emotional security which is the foundation of all school learning.</p>
<h2>Impact on children</h2>
<p>Which brings us to the effects of the tests on the children themselves. They may not fully realise the importance of the tests but they will soon pick up signals if their parents or teachers are anxious about them, as many will be. </p>
<p>The result will be many worried children. This worry could get in the way of their early learning and will threaten their enjoyment of the challenge of a new school. Some of the most anxious children are likely to be the youngest, who could be almost a year younger than their class-mates taking the same tests depending on when they were born in the school year. </p>
<p>Would you like to take a series of tests just weeks into a new job and tests that could well label you “good”, “OK” or “poor”? Presumably not, but that’s how many children will feel just weeks into school.</p>
<p>Lastly, the government assumes that children’s performance at five can be compared meaningfully with their performance six years later. But how reasonable is that ? Not only are the children taking the test different people, but the tests themselves are different and their results are not comparable.</p>
<p>All this leads me, and many other teachers, to believe that the tests are likely to be harmful. Of course, we do believe that children’s achievements on entry to school need to be recognised and built upon but not through tests conducted so early in their school lives. </p>
<p>We think that class teachers are best placed to find out where young children are and what they need to learn next on the basis of observing and working closely with them during their first few months in school. Such assessments are likely to be much more sensitive to individual children’s needs than any tests provided by the government </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Richards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The coalition government is to introduce the testing of young children soon after they enter primary school at the age of four or five. English children are already tested far more than children in most…Colin Richards, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/246922014-03-24T13:20:39Z2014-03-24T13:20:39ZOfsted reforms are a cultural shift to celebrate best teaching<p>There has been constant <a href="https://theconversation.com/ofsted-row-gets-to-heart-of-battle-over-tory-education-policy-22709">criticism levelled against Ofsted</a>, England’s schools inspectorate, since its inception in 1992, most recently in a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/17/ofsted-inspections-redesign-not-dramatic-change-policy-exchange">report from the think-tank Policy Exchange</a>. Almost everyone in the education service agrees with the principle of school inspection – but so far that has been the limit of agreement. </p>
<p>Since Ofsted was founded there has been a bewildering succession of changes to its frameworks, procedures and protocols. This had led to opposing views of Ofsted as either the leading agency of school improvement or alternatively the purveyor of a “toxic brand” <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/education/article3984346.ece">intimidating teachers and inhibiting</a> rather the releasing the expertise of schools. </p>
<p>Do the changes <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-26677651">proposed last week by the chief inspector of schools, Michael Wilshaw</a>, represent more of the same or an important cultural shift?</p>
<p>At first glance they appear as organisational adjustments in response to the contestable assertion that the large majority of schools are now “good” or “outstanding” and therefore do not require the detailed, staff-intensive monolithic approach characteristic of Ofsted inspection since 1992. </p>
<p>Such schools are to be inspected less frequently and less intensively through an MOT-type approach. This will involve biennial visits from a single inspector who is to maintain a professional dialogue about progress with school leaders and governors. </p>
<p>In-depth, intensive inspection is to be targeted on those schools requiring varying degrees of improvement. The proposed system is being “marketed” as being able to provide Ofsted with more flexibility to respond to schools’ differing needs for intervention and support. It is claimed to be no less rigorous but to be more differentiated and to make optimum use of scarce and expensive inspector expertise.</p>
<h2>Positive thinking</h2>
<p>But are the proposals symptomatic of more than organisational change? Many of us <a href="http://news.tes.co.uk/b/opinion/2014/02/14/39-what-might-a-reformed-ofsted-look-like-39.aspx">long-standing critics of Ofsted</a> hope so, and are welcoming what appears to be a major cultural shift developing within Ofsted itself and its relationship with the teaching profession. </p>
<p>After many years of ignoring criticism from teachers and academics, and resisting fundamental changes through a never-ending series of minor piecemeal adjustments, Ofsted is finally proposing major changes. It appears to be moving from what has too often been a negative approach, focusing on what is wrong and requires improvement, to a more supportive developmental one focusing far more on celebrating success in most schools. And crucially, how to work with those schools to make them even better. </p>
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<p>That’s a profound mind-shift – which some inspectors will find difficult to make and which some school leaders will find hard to acknowledge after years of suspicion, anxiety and even hostility to Ofsted inspection teams. It will take <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/association-of-school-and-college-leaders-annual-conference-2014-hmci-speech">more than a speech from the chief inspector</a> to change attitudes on the part of the inspectors and the inspected. But his words on differentiated inspection need to be seen in the context of other potentially welcome initiatives.</p>
<p>There is a commitment to a thorough review of the system of contracting out most inspections to outside agencies –- perhaps in retrospect the most damaging and incomprehensible aspect of the original Ofsted “settlement” of 1992. The current inspection framework is to be re-examined with a view to making it more relevant to the changed educational landscape. </p>
<p>More inspectors are to be appointed and better quality assurance of inspection and training of inspectors are being promised. Inspectors have been reorganised on a regional basis and are being given a role in promoting school improvement, rather than just reporting on it through school reports. Franker, much more open lines of communication are being established between senior Ofsted managers and their critics through social and other media.</p>
<h2>Time for teaching</h2>
<p>There are very real benefits to the proposed changes. Perhaps most importantly they should enable many more schools to focus on the further improvement of teaching quality and educational standards rather than devoting disproportionate amounts of time preparing for inspection. Those schools requiring expert intervention are more likely to receive it. </p>
<p>The new arrangements should also improve Ofsted’s knowledge of local developments and better inform government of what is happening, including the effects of its policies on the education service as a whole.</p>
<p>Central to this re-orientation should be the development of a more flexible, more encompassing framework for inspection that can be validly and reliably applied to all types of school – free, <a href="https://theconversation.com/failing-academy-chains-highlight-hole-at-heart-of-education-policy-23954">academy</a>, community and, ideally, independent. </p>
<p>That framework needs to be far less reliant on data, such as exam and inspection results, and to realise the limitations – as well as the usefulness – of that data. It also needs to give more recognition to the qualitative dimensions of school life and to place much more reliance on expert professional judgment by inspectors with experience of inspecting schools in a wide range of educational and geographical contexts. </p>
<p>Hopefully, one result would be the production of less formulaic, much more helpful inspection reports, which both school leaders and parents will find more closely tailored to the particular circumstances of their schools.</p>
<p>Changing the culture of Ofsted, including its relationship with schools, will not be easy. It will be met with suspicion, even denial, by those within and outside the organisation. But it does appear to be underway. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Richards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There has been constant criticism levelled against Ofsted, England’s schools inspectorate, since its inception in 1992, most recently in a report from the think-tank Policy Exchange. Almost everyone in…Colin Richards, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of CumbriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.