Teachers and Students Talk about Relevant Learning: Narratives from Different Community Schools in Romania

ABSTRACT

Understanding students’ and teachers’ representations of relevant learning is key to providing better learning programs. This article aims to show the various ways in which relevant learning is conceptualized in different community schools in Romania. First, it pays attention to differences and similarities in the students’ and the teachers’ concepts of learning. Second, it looks at how interlocking variables such as the position of the school in national hierarchies, the school’s profile, and how the social class of teachers and students influence the narrative. The article brings out voices from both urban and rural spaces, adding an Eastern European perspective to the global literature. The data is gathered by a local facilitator who has conducted separate focus groups with teachers and students from six schools on the topic of relevant learning. These discussions helped outline several categories that are considered relevant: applied learning, student-centered learning, market-oriented learning, and character/value education. Underneath, the framework of particular social and economic contexts is considered. Building on Jean Anyon’s writing on how schools’ discourses prepare students for the workplace, reproducing their social standing, this article aims to bring new insight into the current narratives of teachers and students. Finally, the article wishes not only to describe what relevant learning is perceived to be, but to show that the conceptualization is based on the individual’s position within the institution (microstructure) and within society (macrostructure).

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Maria Martelli

Maria Martelli has completed her MA at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania, with a thesis on education for sustainable development. Her main research interests are in the field of education, looking at themes such as power, values, learning practices, and more recently, at intersections with environmental issues.