Vol. 1 No. 2 (2022): Case studies from 2021-2022

In this issue, we have collated the case studies submitted to the journal, recognising that many of our readers may be looking at these case studies before or while undertaking similar studies in their own school. We hope that these examples are useful and interesting, showing how others have approached the same topic in ways that may be similar and yet different. The abstracts from each article are presented below to help encourage you to read more about the topic.
Ross presents ‘A case study of a Hong Kong primary school's online after-school pull-out intervention for “cross-boundary” students’, aiming to determine the efficacy of an intervention to help students catch up because of the closed border between Hong Kong and Mainland China. In this school, students who are required to cross the border between Hong Kong and Mainland China daily to attend school, known as “cross-boundary students” were no longer able to do so due to stringent Covid-19 measures and the adoption of Mainland China’s “zero-Covid policy”. A pragmatic solution to this was the provision of an after-school pull-out intervention for targeted “cross-boundary” students. Through the case study research, it became clear that the intervention was effective in dealing with students’ academic needs, but that very little was done to address their non-academic needs during this time of online classes. The intervention promoted good opportunities for assessment and feedback and interaction opportunities between teachers and students, but less so for student to student interactions.
In the article ‘A case study of a teacher-facilitated, small-group after-school online intervention for able mathematicians in grade nine an international school in Hong Kong’, Shylesh highlights that the constraints of school timetabling can place limitations on opportunities for students to access certain subjects. One solution described by Shylesh is to provide this additional form of targeted stretch and challenge outside of the timetabled lesson time. This study focuses on a twilight pure mathematics provision for a targeted small group of four Grade 9 students, using an online self-study platform facilitated by their normal mathematics teacher. Assessment data showed that although the students’ results in mathematics seemed
to improve over the time that the intervention was studied, there was no conclusive evidence that additional mathematics study had impact on the students’ attainment in the Science subjects. Further research is required to establish whether the online independent nature of the intervention is appropriate and whether this intervention can result in impact beyond the core mathematics results.
In the article ‘Peer-to-Peer mentoring and its potential benefits for International Baccalaureate Grade 11 and Pre-IB Grade 10 students working on project-based assignments in an international school in China’, Bendran presents a hypothetical case study that proposes a peer-to-peer mentoring scheme, which could be introduced in an international school in China. The main research question asks whether this form of peer mentoring intervention could support students who are new to the International Baccalaureate and its use of project-based assignments. This is of interest because the targeted students would have come from a Chinese education background and have limited exposure to project-based assignments thus far. By aligning the proposed intervention with the literature on peer mentoring, it seems likely that a peer-mentoring intervention could have positive benefits for both mentee and mentor, and it is recommended as a way to support transition.
Wright proposes a magazine enrichment intervention in the article ‘A Proposal for a Student Magazine Enrichment Programme’. Wright highlights that British-trained educators working in international settings face the challenge of supporting students in environments which may not be receptive to conventional British educational practices regarding student support interventions. This hypothetical case study, based in a Shanghai bilingual primary school, presents an opportunity to introduce and run a culturally and contextually sensitive student support initiative in a school that does not run interventions as standard procedure. More able students are identified as the target group for this intervention, which aims to extend and stretch them academically and culturally, provide peer group support and be a vehicle for the development of student agency through participation in an extracurricular student-led school magazine. A case study proposal for this student support intervention is presented, which provides guidance on how to analyse the impact of this intervention if it is chosen to be implemented.
As always, we encourage you to read with a questioning perspective and to follow up the evidence underpinning the approaches our authors have reported on. As successful or less successful as an approach may seem, each one must be reconsidered in terms of the different contexts that readers may be familiar with. Might there be features of your context that would be conducive or less conducive to such an approach? What has shaped your perspective?
If you would like to submit your assignment to the journal, you will find the process straightforward and supportive. All PGCE / Level 7 research module assignments that have reached the passing standard are likely to make a useful contribution to our expanding knowledge about interventions in international schools. Please do consider submitting your assignment!