Turning old problems into new problems: the role of young citizens in improving accountability in education in Malawi and Kenya

Accountability is increasingly recognised as the key mediating variable that encourages service providers to deliver efficient and effective local services. In the context of education, accountability strategies do not always explicitly consider young citizens as the primary users of education services. In this paper, a client approach to accountability is compared to a citizenship approach. Drawing on community scorecard and social audit research in Malawi and Kenya, the author explores whether education services are more responsive and accountable when young people access information and exercise their voice. The paper outlines a refreshed ‘accountability framework’ for education, placing young citizens at the centre, and argues that a citizenship-led approach in education governance is likely to be more realistic and effective than a ‘client power’ approach. This article makes an important contribution to the development community’s understanding of what constitutes an effective approach for promoting more transparent and responsive education governance.     

Teenage social behaviour and emotional well‐being: the role of gender and socio‐economic factors

This article draws on the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) to examine parent ratings of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour in pre‐ and mid‐adolescents. A series of mixed‐design ANOVAs yielded interesting results. Parent ratings of emotional difficulties in girls increased as they moved from pre‐ to mid‐adolescence whereas for boys the reverse was found. Peer problems were found to be on the rise, whereas prosocial skills decreased for 14‐year‐olds. Most importantly, significant associations were found between socio‐economic measures (that is, family income and parent education) and ratings across the domains of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, highlighting the socio‐economic specificity of behaviour and well‐being in adolescents. These findings have significant implications for understanding trends in young people's social behaviour and emotional well‐being from pre‐ to mid‐adolescence within their socio‐economic context.     

Beyond individual behaviour change: the role of power,knowledge and strategy in tackling climate change

Individual behaviour change is fast becoming a kind of ‘holy grail’ to tackle climate change, in environmental policy, the environmental movement and academic literature. This is contested by those who claim that social structures are the main problem and who advocate collective social action. The objective of the research presented in this paper is to better understand why environmentally concerned citizens choose one of these two types of engagement. Our focus is on the role of experiences of and/or convictions about power in shaping this choice. Within the framework of an explorative qualitative study, we engaged in in-depth interviews with 12 young environmentally concerned citizens. On this basis, five main findings are elaborated. Firstly, powerlessness is shown to be a crucial experience, whatever the respondents’ engagement. Secondly, ‘strategy scepticism’ seems to be a more important obstacle for engagement than ‘climate scepticism’. Thirdly, many respondents express significant resistance towards being ‘conditioned’ by awareness-raising campaigns. Fourthly, a ‘gap’ is observed between respondents’ analysis and their strategy proposals. Finally, we underscore another important gap between concrete and abstract levels in respondents’ discourses. All these findings disclose paradoxical aspects of the role of power in shaping the concerned citizens’ engaged choices.     

Barriers to higher education: commonalities and contrasts in the experiences of Hindu and Muslim young women in urban Bengaluru

Gender inequalities in educational attainment have attracted considerable attention and this article aims to contribute to our understanding of young women’s access to higher education. The article is based on our in-depth interviews with 26 Hindu and Muslim young women attending colleges in urban Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), south India, and explores the barriers they confronted in fulfilling their aspirations. We highlight the similarities amongst the young women, as well as the distinctive experiences of the Hindu and Muslim interviewees. Financial constraints, lack of safety for women in public space, and gender bias, gossip and social control within the family and the local community affected Hindu and Muslim interviewees in substantially similar ways. For the Muslim interviewees, however, gender disadvantage was compounded by their minority status. This both underlines the importance of incorporating communal politics into our analysis and undermines popular discourses that stereotype Muslims in India as averse to girls’ and young women’s education.     

Examining the Circles of Adults process for Children Looked After: the role of self-efficacy and empathy in staff behaviour change

ABSTRACT

The Circles of Adults (CoA) group problem solving process has been used by educational psychologists (EPs) when supporting vulnerable educational placements, but its effects upon staff or student outcomes have not been explored. CoAs were used in the current research with staff supporting Children Looked After (CLA) in secondary schools. A quasi-experimental explanatory, sequential, mixed-methods design investigated changes in participant causal attributions, perceived self-efficacy, and perceived implementation of subsequent actions. Participation in the CoA had no significant effects upon causal attributions or self-efficacy; however, staff perceived greater self-efficacy and success in implementing actions following the CoA. They valued the process, reporting enhanced group cohesion and task focus. Insights and empathy were deepened regarding the focus student, as were awareness of group processes and reflection. Threats in small-scale research are considered and a possible mechanism for the CoA’s effect as a supervisory approach is proposed.     

Creating spaces to belong: listening to the voice of girls with behavioural,emotional and social difficulties through digital visual and narrative methods

While interest in the voice of children and young people has grown alongside concern for their rights and participation, for those excluded from mainstream education or with a label of behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, the issue of student voice takes on particular relevance. Yet the voices of these young people, and particularly girls, are often hidden and unheard both in education and educational research. Using digital visual and narrative methods we have been listening to girls excluded from mainstream education. They attend Kahlo School, a small special, girl-only secondary provision in the south of England, and our focus has been on gathering their views as stakeholders in the school and engaging them in curriculum and school development. In this paper, we reflect on the affordances of visual and digital methods and on how the girls perceive their educational inclusion and exclusion. We discuss the themes of space, identity, relationships and community that have emerged from analysis of the data, and conclude by outlining the importance of the core messages about belonging and not belonging that we heard in the girls' accounts.     

Gendered family lives through the eyes of young people: diversity,permanence and change of gender representations in Portugal

This article examines gender representations of family and parental roles among young people aged 11 to 14 years. It is based on the qualitative analysis of 792 essays written by Portuguese girls and boys attending compulsory education. The adolescents' texts express normative images and cultural representations about gender that are plural and indicative of several displacements and incongruences. When considering the most important representational patterns, both girls and boys emphasise what they conceive as a set of gaps between the culturally transmitted norms of gender equality and the concrete realities they observe in various daily circumstances, notably in the family, which is still marked by inequity and gendered dichotomised patterns.     

The role of teachers’ orientation to learning in professional development and change: A national study of teachers in England

This paper uses results from a national survey of teachers in England to test a hypothesised model of teacher orientation to learning (consisting of beliefs, practice and experiences about learning) and its relationship to teacher learning change. Results from a structural equation modeling process of 1126 teacher survey responses show that teachers bring an internal, external and collaborative orientation to their professional learning. The beliefs and practices associated with these orientations are also shown to have a moderate influence, via path analysis, on teacher learning change defined as a composite outcome of change in beliefs, practices and students.     

Proposals for improving the transition process of young people with intellectual disabilities in Spain: insights from focus groups of professionals,young people and their families

This research aims to present proposals that can improve the transition to adulthood of young people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Four focus groups were set up in three different cities in Spain, each comprising education and social work professionals, people with ID and family members. In total, 32 participants were included in the study. The discussions were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic content analysis. Improvements proposed by participants were organised into six themes: coordination between services and professionals; curricular approaches; participation by young people with ID; peer-relationship networks; family and administration. Participants highlighted the need to make the curriculum more flexible and foster curricular experiences related to social and workplace inclusion, as well as establish more continuity in guidance processes throughout the different stages of education and especially at the end of secondary education. Participants also suggested the need for young people with ID to have a more prominent role in their educational process, and strengthening their social networks by promoting their participation in community activities.     

Sexual and reproductive health among young people in Egypt: the role and contribution of youth-friendly services

Young people aged 15–24 constitute about one quarter of the population in Egypt. Recent survey findings provide evidence to advocate for the improvement of the number and quality of services targeting young people's needs. This study focused on the role of youth-friendly clinics in addressing young people's sexual and reproductive health. The study methodology included desk review, in-depth interviews with physicians and peer educators, and focus group discussions with young people of both sexes, including clinic beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. The overall environment for sex education and service provision has improved in recent years. Pilot government and non-government youth-friendly clinics have been established but their coverage and use remain limited, with the majority of service users being married women rather than single men and women. The role of youth-friendly clinics in addressing youth sexual and reproductive health needs remains restricted due to societal reluctance to address these issues and cultural and religious sensitivities. Government commitment is required to scale up pilot clinics into a national programme to improve the welfare of all young people.     

The relationship between exposure to family violence in childhood and post-traumatic stress symptoms in young adulthood: The mediating role of social support

BackgroundExtensive research has examined the relationship between exposure to family violence and its long-term mental health effects. Social support has been found to moderate this relationship, but there is a dearth of research on its mediating role.ObjectivesThe article presents the results of a study on the relationship between witnessing interparental violence and experiencing parental violence during childhood and adolescence on the one hand, and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during young adulthood on the other. In addition, the article presents results on the role of social support as a mediator in this relationship.Method, participants, and settingA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 516 Israeli university and college students (90.7% female, and 9.3% male; M age = 24.9, SD = 2.7) using a retrospective, self-administered questionnaire.ResultsThe results revealed that exposure to each pattern of family violence (i.e., witnessing interparental violence and experiencing parental violence) predicted higher levels of PTSS. Furthermore, social support was found to partially mediate the relationship between exposure to family violence during childhood and adolescence and current PTSS as well as its four symptoms, i.e., depression, sleep disturbance, dissociation, and anxiety.ConclusionsThe results of the current study highlight the important role of social support in the association between adversities experienced early in life and young adulthood outcomes. The findings are interpreted on the basis of Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll et al., 1990), which served as the conceptual framework for the study. The limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.     

Cognitive skill performance among young children living in poverty: Risk, change, and the promotive effects of Early Head Start

The purposes of the present study were to examine associations between risk factors and the cognitive performance from one to three years of age of children living in poverty, and to investigate the protective and/or promotive effects of EHS on children's cognitive skill performance. Analyses were conducted using data from the Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project, a prospective study of 3001 children and families living in poverty. There were four main findings. First, children's cognitive skill scores decreased significantly from one to three years of age in comparison to national norms. Second, children whose families were on government assistance, children whose mothers had less than a high school education, children who received lower levels of cognitive and language stimulation at home, and children who had higher levels of negative emotionality evidenced more rapid rates of decline. Third, children in families who received government assistance, children whose parents were unemployed, and children whose mothers had less than a high school education had lower cognitive skill scores at three years of age. Fourth, children who were enrolled in Early Head Start (EHS) had higher cognitive skill scores at three years of age than their peers who were not in EHS. Implications for policy and early education are discussed.     

School composition,school culture and socioeconomic inequalities in young people's health: Multi‐level analysis of the Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children (HBSC) survey in Wales

Health inequalities emerge during childhood and youth, before widening in adulthood. Theorising, testing and interrupting the mechanisms through which inequalities are perpetuated and sustained is vital. Schools are viewed as settings through which inequality in young people's health may be addressed, but few studies examine the social processes via which institutional structures reproduce or mitigate health inequalities. Informed by Markham and Aveyard's theory of human functioning and school organisation, including their concept of institutional boundaries, critical theories of marketisation and the concept of micro‐political practices within schools, this paper presents analysis of student survey data (N = 9055) from 82 secondary schools in Wales. It examines the role of socioeconomic composition, social relationships at school and institutional priorities in mitigating or perpetuating health inequality. It finds that affluent schools were most unequal in terms of student health behaviours and subjective wellbeing. In relation to health behaviours, students from affluent families accrue a disproportionate benefit. For wellbeing, students from poorer families reported lower subjective wellbeing where attending more affluent schools. Student–staff relationships appear to be a key mechanism underpinning these effects: poor relationships with staff were predicted by a pupil's position within schools’ socioeconomic hierarchy and associated with worse health outcomes. That is, students from the poorest families reported better relationships with teachers where attending less affluent schools. Universal approaches engaging with these social processes are needed to reduce health inequalities.     

Education matters: continuity and change in attitudes to education and social mobility among the offspring of Turkish guest workers in the Netherlands and Austria

By comparing the educational situation of second-generation Turks in the Netherlands and Austria, the paper investigates the reasons behind the differential higher educational gains of the descendants of guest workers in the two countries. By relying on in-depth interviews with second-generation Turks, the paper illustrates how ethnic discrimination in the labour market lead to maintaining a ‘sojourn-perspective’ among Turks in the Austrian setting, who disapprove of long-term educational investments in favour of material resources enabling a potential return to Turkey. At the same time, the sojourn-orientation is giving way to a more long-term perspective in the case of the Netherlands, where Turkish families see investments in Dutch qualifications as worthwhile channels of upward mobility.     

Health and well-being outcomes of women and children in Sub-Saharan Africa: Examining the role of formal schooling,literacy, and health knowledge

Health is related to individual educational attainment and literacy status; yet education and literacy do not guarantee health knowledge. Prior research studies health knowledge, formal schooling, and literacy as one entity, neglecting crucial differences. Using Demographic and Health Surveys from 27 sub-Saharan African countries, we examine these three pathways to gaining information, acknowledging each is distinct in target population, content, and delivery method, and uniquely contributes to health outcomes for women and children. Overall, all three pathways increase health outcomes, though health-specific knowledge could address the cultural and financial barriers that often come between women and formal schooling.     

The role of fantasy figures in the regulation of young children's behavior: Santa Claus,the Easter Bunny,and donations

The present study examined the influence of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny on children's donations near the Easter season. Kindergarten and first-grade children were asked to tell stories about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or pets, for which they received nine pieces of gum. They were then encouraged to donate any amount of their gum to handicapped children. Main effects were found only for grade, with first-grade children donating significantly more than kindergarten children. In addition, a significant interaction was obtained between grade and type of story elicited from the child. This interaction revealed that for kindergarten children, the type of story failed to influence donations, whereas for first-grade children, stories referring to Santa Claus increased donations relative to stories told about the Easter Bunny or pets.     

Unequal access,unequal participation: some spatial and socio‐economic dimensions of the gender gap in education in Africa with special reference to Ghana,Zimbabwe and Kenya

The question of unequal access to education among males and females appears to be universal in the developing world. However, females in Africa seem to suffer more discrimination in terms of access to education. This study revisits the question of gender disparities in educational access in Africa by analyzing data from recent comparative national surveys including the Demographic and Health Surveys, Living Standards Surveys, and World Bank data, focusing on Ghana, Zimbabwe and Kenya. It concludes that while substantial progress has been made in the last 40 years, female illiteracy rates are still high compared to males, and entrenched attitudes continue to keep females out of the educational system, thereby perpetuating the gender gap. Furthermore, while females are generally disadvantaged vis a vis their male counterparts, females living in the urban areas and some core regions tend to be better off than those living in the rural areas and peripheral regions. The paper suggests a number of policy recommendations that would enable African countries, especially the three countries used as case studies, to reap the full benefits that accrue from female education. These include the need for African governments to rededicate their efforts towards giving female education the highest priority, creating girl‐friendly school environments, helping resolve parental poverty issues that compel them to force girls into early marriages, legislating and enforcing laws that compel all children to stay in school for at least 12 years, and wiping out the long existing spatial inequities that enable people in certain locations to have better access to education than others.     

Neo-liberal influences in a ‘conservative’ regime: the role of institutions,family strategies,and market devices in transition to higher education in France

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the interplay between institutional arrangements, family strategies, and market devices in the transition to higher education (HE) in France with a view to documenting both persistent features of the French ‘conservative’ educational regime and recent changes, in particular those related to neo-liberal influences. Using a theoretical model inspired by research on welfare regimes and integrating key elements of the sociology of networks, institutions, and markets, as well as data from a comprehensive qualitative study, the article focuses on three main topics: the impact of both institutional stratification and family choices on segregation and channelling into HE; the framing of students’ choices generated by impersonal policy instruments and personal human guidance; the role of private providers and agencies, as well as the devices they use to influence students’ transition to HE. The conclusion emphasises the impact of these different processes on the perpetuation of educational inequalities.