Cyberbullying: through the eyes of children and young people

The topic of cyberbullying is raising international debate and concern. Through the development and dissemination of a questionnaire 12 student researchers were supported in surveying 325 UK students across Years 7, 8 and 9 to gain further knowledge of this area, in relation to children and young people. Results were analysed and comparisons made between gender and age, allowing conclusions to be drawn about the area of cyberbullying and its many elements. Conclusions acknowledge that bullying has entered a “digital era” and professionals and adults require the knowledge and skills to help young people to further understand the issues involved and to protect themselves in this area.     

New learning worlds: the significance of nature in the lives of marginalised young people

This article explores a hitherto neglected issue: the significance of nature in the learning lives of marginalised young people. Drawing on both post-human and sociocultural perspectives, it develops a theoretical analysis of this important subject. It uses research with 114 young people in jobs without training in rural South-west England to analyse how marginalised young people engage with nature and what they learn from it. It concludes that the intra-activity of young people and nature creates the potential for new worlds and bodies, but ones that are still shaped by social inequalities. Nature is often highly significant in the lives of marginalised young people, potentially offering them the freedom, equilibrium and expertise that had been denied in the formal educational context and opening them up to learning. However, these new learning worlds are transient and social inequalities need to be addressed in order to make them sustainable. Policy makers have become interested in harnessing nature to citizenship drives for young people, for example in the UK National Citizen Service Plan. But the article concludes that regimented initiatives are not the right approach to build on the personal, secret and playful qualities of this learning. The article draws out the important implications of this study for research, policy and practice.     

(S)exclusion in the sexuality education classroom: young people on gender and power relations

Comprehensive sexuality education which includes discussion about gender and power is increasingly seen as an effective way of promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights. Yet all too often the potential of good quality sexuality education is not realised. This study engages with young peoples’ evaluation of a sexuality education programme in Ethiopia. Using data from ethnographic field notes, focus group discussions and interviews with students, teachers and sexual and reproductive health workers in Oromia region, it reveals the existence of gendered practices in sexuality education. Three forms of exclusion were evident: first, exclusion through selection to participate in the programme; second, exclusion of the views of young people through gendered interpretations and practices; third, exclusion of the views of young people through the omission of discussion on topics that are relevant to them, such as love, relationships and sexual intercourse. As a result, the programme’s potential to contribute to questioning gender relations and improving the emotional and sexual health of young people is undermined. The programme reproduces a gender order in school and arguably broader society, which is a source of frustration and alienation for young people.     

The recession as the site of the exceptional: young people,self-determination and social mobility

This paper examines the importance of ‘self-determination’ and ‘hard work’ found within interviews with a group of young people in Manchester, England. The author suggests that moments of apparent contradiction within the interviews have much to offer, particularly when analysed in relation to discussions of inequality and political economy. Data from this paper show that while the young people mostly spoke about work choices in primarily individualistic ways, they used the recession as a means to acknowledge that acquiring jobs simply cannot just be about ‘choice’ or working hard, but is also configured by the market and structural inequality.     

Social capital and the educational achievement of young people in Sweden

Based on Bourdieu’s conceptualization of social capital (the social stratification perspective), this study examines the impact of social capital on the educational outcomes of young people in Sweden, with a focus on the extra-familial aspect of social capital – that is, social capital generated by parental networks and active membership in various social organizations and friendship networks. The results indicate that the class background of respondents is the main predictor of access to all three forms of extra-familial social capital. However, after controlling for class background, the children of racialized immigrant groups are more likely to have access to more types of social capital than others. All three aspects of extra-familial social capital positively influence the educational performance of pupils.     

Communication through comedy: a drama and theatre project with young people for whom English is a second language

This article explores an eight‐month community theatre project with young people for whom English is a second language. Working as a creative practitioner facilitating young people to explore their personal stories of transition to the UK, the dramatherapist discovered comedy to be an important and poignant vehicle for expression of the emotional and psychological material associated with transition. In this article the author explores her experience of working with a group of young people who came together from all over the world to share their experiences of transition through the use of comedic theatre techniques.     

阿德勒社会兴趣理论关照下培养青少年社会兴趣之探讨

阿德勒是个体心理学的创始人,他开创先河,从社会角度探索人的个性的形成。他的社会兴趣理论强调社会因素,对中国教育中要重视青少年社会兴趣的培养以形成健康的个性,加强他们的社会适应性有一定的启示。     

Drug prevention for young people with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties attending special education provision

The levels of drug use amongst school‐aged young people have risen over the past decade. Prevention initiatives have been developed using empirical evidence obtained from school‐based surveys. The empirical evidence base of drug use amongst young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) attending special education provision is very limited. The implications of this knowledge gap for addressing drug use amongst these young people are explored in this paper. Proposals for the way forward are suggested, for developing a framework for targeted evidence‐based interventions for young people attending emotional and behavioural difficulty units.     

Retaining female postgraduates in academia: the role of gender and prospective parenthood

Women remain under-represented in almost all academic levels at universities internationally, and previous evidence has suggested that women move out of the university system in increasing numbers as they progress from postgraduate study to an academic career. The current study aimed to explore the role of gender in the reports of study experiences and future career plans of Australian postgraduate research students (n?=?249). Questionnaire data indicated women were significantly less likely than men to rate an academic career as appealing. In particular, female postgraduate students without dependent children were least likely to want to pursue an academic career. On the basis of qualitative analysis, we attribute this finding, at least in part, to a perceived incompatibility between motherhood and an academic career and discuss the implications for gender equity in higher education.     

The constraints of youth: young people,active citizenship and the experience of marginalisation

ABSTRACT

This paper charts the experiences of a group of young people and their involvement in a local government initiative to engage young people in public decision-making. Activated through a youth leaders’ council that sought to influence and inform local government decision-making, the participating young people were given responsibility for enacting focus projects in collaboration with local government personnel. However, this method of simply bringing young people together with local government decision-makers did not automatically alter the way that decisions came to be made and ironically resulted in interactions that went some way to further reinforce existing perceptions of young people as incapable in situations of public administration. This paper reports on a case example detailing an interaction between the youth leaders and local government councillors, and will suggest that the experience of the young people involved in the youth leaders’ council can be understood against a dynamic of ‘constraint’.     

Sex and relationships education and gender equality: recent experiences from Andalusia (Spain)

Despite recent advances in sex and relationships education (SRE), the Spanish education system still lacks coherent policies in this field. This paper provides an overview of the current situation, focusing specifically on Andalusia, and discusses the importance of providing SRE for young people. It first describes current Spanish education policy on gender equality and shows how this leaves little space for SRE. It then presents data on young people's sexuality and relationships collected in the course of an action research project utilising different qualitative techniques. Data deriving from 27 in-depth interviews focusing on values, norms and practices relating to young people's sexuality and relationships, conducted in two secondary schools in Granada, Andalusia, are then analysed in order to identify the degree of gender equality present within them. The results suggest that in sexual relations young people tend uncritically to accept and reproduce many of the patriarchal dimensions of gender and sexuality. Findings highlight the importance of linking more closely SRE to gender equality education policies in Spain.     

Relational ways of being an educator: trauma-informed practice supporting disenfranchised young people

Despite complex reasons for disengagement and exclusion from conventional schooling, all children have a right to education that is of a high quality. Disenfranchised young people require alternatives for re-engaging in education. This necessitates a rethinking of what it means to be an educator in alternative education settings and how to relate to young people who have experienced exclusion and failure in conventional school settings. Relational ways of being an educator are vital to support the creation of lifelong learners, not merely school completers. Flexible learning programmes offer a model of re-engagement in which relational ways of being an educator are prioritised. This article explores key aspects of trauma-informed practice and relational pedagogy in a network of flexi schools in Australia. Relational pedagogy can redress the impact of trauma and social exclusion experienced by young people. In flexi schools educator identities are challenged and changed by a willingness to explore and understand the impact of trauma on young people's development and capacity to learn. A commitment to trauma-informed practice and relational pedagogy requires educator identities to be co-constructed and negotiated in relationship with young people and colleagues. These shifts in educators' sense of identity in the flexi schools context are explored.     

The rights of children and young people under special educational needs legislation in England: an inclusive agenda?

ABSTRACT

In this article we consider the rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in England, introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014, within the context of the wider reforms made by the Act. Drawing primarily on key informant interviews conducted as part of an ESRC project on Autonomy, Rights and Children with Special Needs: A New Paradigm? (ES/P002641/1), and making reference to the international framework of children’s and disabled persons’ rights, we present an analysis of the (mostly professional) viewpoints gathered and what they tell us about the progress towards the realisation of children and young people’s autonomy and agency in this field.     

Home,school and the museum: shifting gender performances and engagement with science

Abstract

Research has highlighted that engagement with science is highly gendered and that the masculinised culture of science makes it difficult for many girls/women to engage. Meanwhile, a growing body of research has explored the potential of out-of-school spaces to provide more equitable engagement opportunities. In this paper, I examine engagement with science among working-class, self-identified ‘girly’ girls aged 11-13. I discuss how gender performances and engagement with science shifted across science lessons, school trips and family trips to science museums. The findings suggest that engagement with science is complex, contradictory and varies across spaces – girls’ performances of hyper-femininity supported engagement with science in some spaces, but made it difficult in others. Different spaces also afforded the girls different opportunities for performing gender, which in some instances opened up new ways for engaging with science. I conclude by discussing the implications for more equitable science education.     

Desperately seeking data: methodological complications in researching 'hard to find' young people

This paper explores challenges arising from research (Daniels & Macnab, 2004), which sought to identify young people aged 14–16 years who were emotionally vulnerable and not in receipt of educational provision within two local UK authorities. Two particular challenges are identified in this research. The first was the challenge of defining the term used to identify the young people. Second, the research faced an almost insurmountable challenge in finding and obtaining data on a sample for which the outcomes of the research may pose a threat to those holding the data. Discussion focuses upon possible ways in which research can address these issues.     

20世纪纳西族的婚姻家庭和亲属制度研究述评

20世纪以来，通过中外纳西学界的共同努力，纳西文化研究已呈现出繁荣的趋势。近百年来，学者们对纳西文化进行了全方位、多角度的探索，使得纳西文化的研究领域不断拓宽，研究深度也不断向纵深发展，并取得了较丰硕的成果。     

On Cambodian higher education and skills mismatch: young people choosing university majors in a context of risk and uncertainty

Cambodia has in the past 15 years been catching up with the global and regional trends of rapid expansion of higher education, but its specific socio-historical context has engendered particular life course and societal implications. Engaging with the current policy attention to the cause of skills mismatch in Cambodia, this article aims to provide a sociological perspective for understanding young people’s decision-making about university majors. Framing the entrance into university study as a context of risks and uncertainties for the life course, the article draws on in-depth, biographical interviews with 31 university students in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and analyses their decision-making about university majors by focusing on the person–situation interactions the students negotiate. Their approaches to university major selection involve individual agency and practical resources and constraints. They involve personal and interpersonal trust, intuition and emotion, which have implications for how skills mismatch in Cambodian higher education should be tackled.     

Literacy in church and family sites through the eyes of Samoan children in New Zealand

Samoan school children living in New Zealand were given disposable cameras and asked to photograph examples of the uses of reading and writing outside the school. Interviewed later, they explained their photographs including information about literacy in church and family. Rote learning and oral presentation of biblical texts that were read and committed to memory were characteristic of church literacy and supported by practices in the home as Shirley Brice Heath and others have reported. The purpose is closely connected to maintenance of Samoan culture and survival of the language. However, it was found that older siblings introduced school ways of learning to younger family members and that church literacy involved techniques for understanding and assessment that were similar to those of the school. It is asked whether the disparity in measured literacy performance of Samoan people is the consequence of a mismatch between church and family literacy and the literacy of the school.     

The usefulness of motivational interviewing as a consultation and assessment tool for working with young people

Previous case‐study research has explored the efficacy of motivational interviewing (MI) as a therapeutic approach for supporting young people in schools. This article considers how MI may additionally be used as an assessment and consultation tool for ascertaining the needs of disaffected young people and identifying appropriate support strategies. Here, the approach is used with three pupils aged 13–15 years, using visual stimuli to involve them explicitly in the process of MI. Findings indicate that in general MI was felt by the young people to be helpful in allowing them to think about issues relating to their behaviour. The article also indicates that MI may be useful both as an initial assessment tool and in providing supporting adults with practical ideas for assisting disaffected young people in making positive changes to their behaviour. The authors acknowledge limitations in terms of the usefulness of this approach for pupils who may be less ready for change, have difficulty in identifying aspirational goals or have language and communication difficulties. Further larger scale research is recommended, including other vulnerable groups, such as excluded pupils or school refusers.     

Gathering the views of children and young people to inform practice in a psychological service

This paper describes the process employed by a psychological service to gather the views of children and young people using guided discussion groups and questionnaires. Pupils in the guided discussion groups were asked to identify issues that affect them and how adults could help. This information was analysed using thematic analysis. Seven themes were identified as issues: managing feelings; friendships; behaviour; specific difficulties that can affect learning; not being accepted; bullying; and ‘other important issues’, including bereavement and family difficulties. In relation to each of these themed issues, several sub‐themes regarding how adults could help were collated. Questionnaire data was analysed using inferential statistics. The questionnaire rated the importance of help from adults in the areas of learning, friendships and feelings. Results suggested that these were equally important to primary‐aged pupils. Findings were used to contribute to the development plan and shape future practice.