Concluding 2022 was an important milestone - the culmination of the Barker Junior School Journey (Year 3 2019- Year 6 2022) - which has been reported in an important publication presenting analysis of the data so far. However the Journey and therefore the research is by no means complete. The project continues with the Year 7 cohort of 2023, now incorporating a whole group of students new to Barker College who are commencing their Journey through the Barker College Secondary School. We look forward to hearing these students voices, and sharing their stories, to continue to understand the needs, and achievements, of schooling in the third decade of the 21st century.
Rationale
Recording students' voice, the project helps to identify what the next generation of students’ value and contributes to mapping what effective learning and teaching may look like in the future.
While the generation that constitutes the current Barker Journey cohort are still revealing their own key attributes and characteristics, social research has identified five emergent traits: global, digital, mobile, social and visual. This information has implications for how education might develop to meet this generations’ needs authentically.
Research Questions
- What will schools need to do to meet authentically the educational needs of this generation and the next?
- How does the current generation of student perceive learning and what does this current generation of student expect of their school experience?
- How does the Barker educational journey shape this generation?
Selected Projects & Writings
- Each year's study is published in the Barker Institute journal Learning in Practice. Here are the most recent articles in the Barker Journey series, arranged chronologically:
- Scott, T. & Hill, M. (2023) The Barker Journey - Year 7 2023: Nurturing Learning Relationships. Learning in Practice 7 (1), pp.11-38.
- Hill, M. & Scott, T. (2022) The Barker Junior School Journey: Report on Year 3-6 from 2019-2022 Learning in Practice 6 (1).
- Scott, T. & Hill, M. (2022) The Barker Journey - Year 6 2022: Community and Belonging Learning in Practice 6 (1).
- Scott, T. & Hill M. (2021) The Barker Journey - Year 5 2021: The experiences of 'digital natives' in a digital classroom Learning in Practice 5 (1).
- Eastman, A. & Hill, M. (2020) The Barker Journey study amidst COVID-19: Analysis of Year 4 interviews Learning in Practice 4 (1).
- Eastman, A. & Hill, M. (2019) The Barker Journey: The commencement of cohort 2 Learning in Practice 3 (1).
- Eastman, A. & Merrick, B. (2019) The Barker Journey: Lessons from cohort 1 Learning in Practice 3 (1).
- Eastman, A. (2017) Reflections from the 'Barker Journey' study 2016 interviews Learning in Practice 1 (1), pp.78-82
- Merrick, B. (2017) The final interview of the Barker Journey: a glimpse inside the thoughts of our veterans from 2008-2017 Learning in Practice 1 (1),pp.83-86.
Publications
The Barker Journey - Year 8, 2024: What to expect?
One of the features of the annual Learning in Practice journal for the past six years has been the article providing an update on the Barker Journey, our ongoing, decade-long longitudinal study about student perspectives on learning, teaching, and schooling.
- Dr Timothy Scott
- 22 November 2024
Term 3... and that’s a wrap!
(Or four highlights from a very active term)
- Dr Timothy Scott
- 27 September 2024
The Barker Junior School Journey: Reporting on Years 3-6 from 2019-2022
The Barker Journey longitudinal study has now completed its fourth year. The subjects of the study are a group of students who celebrated the conclusion of their primary schooling in 2022. Detailed results reporting on the first four years have recently been shared.
- Dr Matthew Hill, Dr Timothy Scott
- 20 March 2023
AARE Conference 2022 – Transforming the Future of Education: The Role of Research
The Barker Institute was represented at the Australian Association of Research in Education (AARE) Conference in Adelaide last week including a presentation on the first four years of the Barker Journey. I had the opportunity to attend sessions on all four days of the conference on topics related to our Research Agenda before our own presentation on the final day.
- Dr Matthew Hill
- 05 December 2022
Memorable Moments for Year 6
What is most memorable for Year 6 as they come towards an end of their Barker Junior School Journey?
- 21 November 2022
The results are in for the Barker Journey 2022 - Year 6
Two big weeks of data collection for the Barker Journey project
- 21 November 2022