Culture and Practice in Education

Abstract

In this chapter we describe the settings in which we conducted our research. We then seek to provide an account of a number of factors in each milieu that seem of likely relevance for contemporary student motivation and engagement: the historical origins of schooling in each milieu, relevant recent shifts of debate, policy and legislation, and finally, given that student engagement and effort are so often driven by assessment, an account of the various forms of educational assessment that operate, and seek to explore their impact.