Western Sydney University - School of Education: Article Review Report

This report provides a critical review of the research article "Pedagogies of performative care and school belonging: lessons from an Australian school" by Dadvand & Cuervo (2019). The article explores the impact of performance-driven practices on student engagement and the lack of care within school structures. The review outlines the research aims, which focus on understanding student disengagement due to the emphasis on performance and exploring the school structure's shortcomings in providing care. The methodology employed, including ethnographic research design and methods like focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, is analyzed for its alignment with the research questions. The results section summarizes the findings from interviews with students, highlighting the preference of teachers for high-performing students. The review also assesses the clarity and trustworthiness of the data analysis, and the conclusions and recommendations drawn from the project, including the need for changes in policies and practices. The report also discusses the limitations of the project and the proportionality of the conclusions drawn by the authors.

Running head: ENGLISH
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Word Count: 1000
Name of the Article you have chosen: Pedagogies of per formative care and school
Belonging: lessons from an Australian school
Opening Sections: Research
Aims/Questions and Review of
the Literature
Aim: the aim of the research is to understand the
disengagement of students due to the constant emphasis on
performance, achievement and outcomes. The aim of the
research article also involves the exploration of school
structure, which lacks care for the students.
Review of the Literature: The article has critically
analysed the school infrastructures, which is constantly
lacking in care, due to the target of influencing students to
achieve more, perform in a productive manner, and the
focus is on results. This is creating constant pressure on the
students, as they are not nurtured in a psychological or
mental perspectives, building up in resistance and fear for
attending schools.
Many schools and colleges differentiate mediocre students,
when they fail to attain the level of performances and this
create a pressure on the students. This article will review
the gap of schools in understanding the mentality of the
students (Dadvand & Cuervo, 2019). A Case study analysis
will be done by interviewing two students of Melbourne

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School, Australia, and they are located in suburbs with low
socio economic condition. The understanding will be based
on ethical practice of care, which has considerably failed in
the school structure, which does not fulfil the required
needs of the students, but burden them with more targets
and responsibilities.
What are the Research
Aims/Questions of the project
outlined in your chosen article?
The questions that have outlined in this article are as
follows:
 Does the schools educational policies align with
educational standards or more inclined to economic
growth
 What are the changes in educational and
administration policies that has affected the
psychological standards of students?
 Does the new policies made by the schools provide
the feeling of “sense of belonging” to the students?
Have the authors clearly outlined
previous research and scholarly
discussion relating to this issue?
Yes, they have discussed previous research techniques, and
this article constitutes the idea of recent neoliberal reforms
used in education, which have adversely affected the

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Have they explained how their
research will extend knowledge
related to this issue?
suburban schools of Australia (Chowdhury 2018). Many
scholars specialised from the area of ethics of care, have
criticized the recent neo liberal educational systems, which
mainly focuses on individual performance, achievements,
excellence and not nurturing them from psychological
perspective, providing them support in becoming a good
human being by satisfying all the requirements of the
student.
There is a constant tension and among teachers and
students as teachers target for excellence, better
performance and the student seek of care and education
with affectionate touch.
Even there are students, who refuse to go to schools as
Rachel, given as an example in the beginning of the article.
As many students are discriminated by the teachers when
they cannot provide enough performances and
achievements that raise their benchmarking indicators, and
they prefer students who considerable contribute to
develop the schools and make them reach the topmost
position.
Methodology:
What Methods do the authors

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use to try to answer or explore
their Research Questions/Aims?
The author of the research was looking forward to make a
detailed analysis with proper methodologies. The aim of
the research was given in detail and to achieve that the
researcher was looking forward to make a detailed
discussion on the objectives and how it can be achieved. It
is seen that the research has considered ethnographic
research design in order to meet the requirements of the
research. It is seen that for data collection process they
have considered different types of methodologies and some
of them are focus group discussion, participant
observation, and semi structured interview process. These
methods are effective in detailing the issues that are being
faced due to which the research is conducted. The methods
considered for data collection process are effective in
nature and it is going to help n deducing the fact that the
measures are effective and analytical in order to make
some changes in the management process.
Do their chosen Methods align
with the Research
Aims/Questions? [In other
words, do the authors convince
The methodologies for data collection considered in the
research fall in line with the requirements of the research.
In order to have a detailed analysis of the issue, it is better
to have a face to face discussion and hence considering

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the reader that these are the right
methodological ‘tools for the
job’?]
methods for better assessment o the scenario is effective. In
this process, a better kind of assessment can be done which
is going to help in making a proficient change in the
research management process. Apart from this, the method
of data collection is helpful in meeting the primordial
factors of the research, which is a necessary factor to
consider. The researcher has taken an aim that is related to
proficient data base analysis of the issue and for that a
qualitative analysis is essential and that is why the
considered research methods are effective. In any kind of
deductive research following the qualitative data is the best
thing to consider in order having an effective result in the
end.
Results:
What were the Results of the
analysis described in this article?
After interviewing Rachel and Alex in Parktown High
School, it was understood that teachers prefer some group
of students, that contribute in the development of their
school and bringing the name to the topmost position.
Is the way the authors analysed
their data clearly explained?
Do you see the Results as being
Yes have successfully analysed the data by the process of
primary data collection method, which is divided into three
divisions, they are focus group discussion, participant
observations and semi structured interviews. The analysis

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trustworthy or reliable?
Why/why not?
of the authors given us the detailed picture of the condition
the school is presently being represented. The data were
quite reliable and trustworthy, but there could be more
scope for analysis.
Conclusions:
What Conclusions or
Recommendations were drawn
from the project?
The conclusion that has been draw is that, the policies and
practices must be changed. As many teachers are
preferring students who can perform well
Is there a clear connection
between the Research
Question(s)/Aim(s) and the
Conclusions/Recommendations?
Yes, there is clear connection with the research aims and
objectives
Did the authors outline any
Limitations of the project?
Could these influence how you
might interpret the Results?
Do the
Conclusions/Recommendations
seem proportionate to the scale
Yes, they could not interview more than one student,
which could not help them in gathering more data.
This has influenced the result in sample size, but a
required idea has been presented which depicts the
operations of the schools to be biased lacking ethics of
care.
Yes, the authors have presented in a much proportionate
manner without overstating any facts.

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of the research? That is, have the
authors overstated the
significance of their research?
Reference List: (APA 7)
Chowdhury, M. (2018). Emphasizing morals, values, ethics, and character education in science
education and science teaching. MOJES: Malaysian Online Journal of Educational
Sciences, 4(2), 1-16.
Dadvand, B., & Cuervo, H. (2019). Pedagogies of performative care and school belonging:
lessons from an Australian school. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 40(3), 378-392.
McCoy, K., Tuck, E., & McKenzie, M. (Eds.). (2017). Land Education: Rethinking
pedagogies of place from Indigenous, postcolonial, and decolonizing perspectives. Routledge.
Mulcahy, D. (2016). Policy matters: de/re/territorialising spaces of learning in Victorian
government schools. Journal of Education Policy, 31(1), 81-97.

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