Positioning young refugees in Australia: media discourse and social exclusion

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article was to examine how media attention affects the social exclusion of young refugees negotiating their way towards settlement in Australia. Emerging stereotypes and prejudices against young male refugees require new ways of understanding the impact of global, national and local issues on their social exclusion. The article brings together the impact of (a) the global politicisation and backlash against refugees, (b) Australians negative perception of refugees and (c) the increased reporting of young African-Australian and Pasifika-Australians as the perpetrators of youth violence. The article recognises the overlapping dimensions of social exclusion for young refugees and considers their ‘spatial’, ‘relational’ and ‘socio-political’ exclusion. The examination of media reporting of a landmark legal case of discrimination and racial profiling reveals a discourse of media attention that has perpetuated the social exclusion of a group of young African-Australian refugees living on a Melbourne public housing estate. The sensationalist and prejudicial media connection of the landmark legal case, youth violence and young African-Australians living on the Flemington Estate demonstrates the challenges young male refugees face in negotiating their settlement in Australia. This article makes a contribution to understanding the multi-dimensional nature of youth exclusion in contemporary times.     

Primary school playgrounds as spaces of inclusion/exclusion in New South Wales,Australia

The purpose of this study was to determine how the design and organisation of primary school playground spaces may result in the inclusion or exclusion of some groups of children. Two primary school playgrounds in rural New South Wales, Australia, were selected for this investigation. Data were collected through observations and unstructured interactional interviews. Data analysis revealed the design and organisation of primary school play spaces may lead to segregation among school children. Gender, safety concerns and school rules were also established as factors restricting full use of the playground space. The identification of these factors is vital in guiding future school reform programmes and policies aimed at enhancing participation in play and a sense of belonging for all children. The results suggest that there is need to promote schools’ understandings of the significance of playground spaces in children’s social lives so children can fully benefit from the time they spend in school playgrounds.     

Educational inclusion/exclusion of Turkish immigrant youth in Vancouver,Canada: a critical analysis

This empirical research analyses an understudied population, Turkish immigrant youths' educational experiences of inclusion/exclusion in Vancouver. My information was gathered from in-depth interviews and participant observation with the first- and second-generation, Muslim and non-religious female and male Turkish immigrant youth from working and middle-class families. The findings of this study indicate that teachers' racism, linguicism and general Islamophobia are the factors of discrimination against Turkish immigrant youth in the education market. The findings suggest that cultural background, immigration status, class and religious affiliation are significant elements in students' relations to the school culture and their educational experiences of inclusion/exclusion in Canadian schools.     

The case of Palestinian civil society in Israel: Islam,civil society,and educational activism

This article examines the educational activism of two Arab civil organizations in Israel: the Follow-Up Committee on Arab Education (FUCAE) and the Eqraa Association (Eqraa). On the one hand, it explores the possibilities and limitations of the involvement of the FUCAE in the state’s Arab education system, as a secular organization that is heavily engaged in the contentious identity politics of the Arab minority in Israel. On the other hand, it reflects on the competing yet complementary roles played by Eqraa vis-à-vis the state in the field of education, as a faith-based organization that has been operating its own independent successful initiatives in education. More specifically, this article compares the goals, strategies, activities, and sources of funding of these two organizations, thus providing insights on the role of civil society organizations, either secular or religious, on Palestinian identity formation and political mobilization in Israel. Additionally, it clarifies the meaning and characteristics of Islamic entrepreneurship and activism in education.     

Identity policies of education: struggles for inclusion and exclusion in Peru and Colombia

ABSTRACT

Policy initiatives that seek to account for ethno-cultural differences in education and schooling have become increasingly popular over the past few decades. These include affirmative action measures and bilingual education models. The rationale for the implementation of these policies focuses on their potential to rectify historical discrimination by both levelling horizontal inequalities and granting equal value to different cultures and languages in the schooling process. In this framework, however, ethnic communities are often treated as discrete and static social aggregates, and social heterogeneity and spillover effects between groups are disregarded. This paper draws on empirical case studies from Colombia and Peru to show how identity policies of education can increase inter-ethnic competition, leading to protracted social conflicts. These outcomes, beyond negatively impacting local communities, raise important dilemmas surrounding the theoretical and operational foundations of these popular policy measures.     

Problematizing global educational governance of OECD PISA: Student achievement,categorization, and social inclusion and exclusion

Abstract

This study problematizes the global educational governance of OECD PISA and its statistical data as a governing technology in contemporary discourses of education reforms. The study examines principles that order the discourses and practices of the international comparative assessment. The effort of analysing the impact of an education reform regime led by OECD PISA reveals how statistical reasoning defines problems in educational systems and forms social discourse surrounding educational reform to solve such problems. In doing so, this article focuses on standardization, classification, and normalization for measuring and comparing student achievement and national effectiveness. The study also offers an alternative way of considering the politics of inclusion and exclusion embedded in practices of education reforms propelled by the international comparative assessment.     

Urban inequality,social exclusion and schooling in Dhaka,Bangladesh

This paper asks whether education is a viable route to better livelihoods and social inclusion for children living in poor urban areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It uses qualitative interviews with 36 students aged 11–16, living in slum and middle-class areas, and also draws on data from a larger, mixed-methods study to provide context. Many children from slums are excluded altogether from education, while others are incorporated into the system but on unfavourable terms. The paper identifies three principal ways in which this adverse incorporation can happen: through differential access to different types and quality of school; through obstacles that prevent children from poorer households from progressing through the system and reaching higher levels; and through subordinate power relations in the school, embodied in systems of assessment, labelling of students and discipline. These are likely to limit the potential for education to be a socially transformative institution.     

Pedagogy,social status and inclusion in Cypriot schools

This paper reports on a study conducted in five primary schools in Cyprus, focusing in detail on one of them. The purpose of the research was to explore the social status of pupils identified as having special educational needs within mainstream settings. One of the key findings was that pedagogy influences the social status of these pupils. Therefore, this paper examines the dynamic relationship between pedagogy, social status and inclusion. A major intention for inclusion in Cyprus is to promote social interactions and relationships between pupils, identified as having special educational needs, and their peers. Thus, the research examined how far this aspiration is being fulfilled and set out to understand the role pedagogy might play in enhancing or impeding the social status and inclusion of these pupils. The findings suggest that the teaching arrangements and pedagogical approaches employed by teachers are central in shaping the social status and inclusion of all pupils and particularly those who have been identified as having special educational needs.     

Children and youth in behavioural and emotional difficulties,skyrocketing diagnosis and inclusion/exclusion processes in school tendencies in Denmark

In parallel with a national school policy on an inclusive school with a marked reduction in the number of pupils who, due to their disruptive behaviour, are referred to educational provisions outside of the ordinary school environment, a sharp rise has been seen in the number of children and teenagers who are given a clinical diagnosis, first and foremost that of ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders). Over just a few years, the skyrocketing of diagnoses has turned notions of children and teenagers with emotional and behavioural difficulties upside down. From being young people who should ‘just pull themselves together and behave properly’ many have become pupils with a neurological dysfunction that requires treatment. The article provides insight into how diagnoses over very few years have come into focus in schools and in special needs education, and how this has made a deep impression and changed understandings of the best possible special and general educational provisions for children and teenagers with behavioural and learning difficulties. The article focuses on trends in Denmark and therefore builds primarily on Danish sources.     

Disrespecting teacher: The decline in social standing of teachers in Cape Town,South Africa

This paper examines the declining levels of respect for teachers in two communities in Cape Town, South Africa. Education has been identified as a key area of reform and redress, but a critical skills shortage and under-resourced schools are hindering progress. Data from current and former teachers illustrate how the social and institutional capital of education is being replaced by a focus on economic capital, undermining the prestige of teaching as a career. These problems reflect trends elsewhere in the world and require action to prevent further shortages in education.     

Young people and high school in Mexico: subjectivisation,others and reflexivity

This article is based on the finding that for many students, high school is a place for young people's life and living together, a place for subjectivisation. The process of subjectivisation is approached through a discussion that questions conceptions of students as strategists of their school trajectory, as well as conceptions of youth life as the excitement of vibrating together. The claim is made that young people's life at school is a process of finding meaningful Others: other styles, other friends, and the other gender. Faced with options and risks, students also develop reflexivity. These topics are examined in three different scenarios: a general high school that is part of the university system in Mexico City, a technical high school in the metropolitan area, and community intercultural high schools in an indigenous rural zone.     

Teacher identity,teaching vision,and Chinese language education for South Asian students in Hong Kong

There is a growing interest in research on language teacher identity as relevant research suggests that language teacher self-identification has an impact on their language teaching. The present paper explores the self-identification and subsequent effects on their actual teaching vision and practice of 16 Chinese language subject teachers teaching Chinese as a second language to South Asians in Hong Kong. Data collected from classroom observations and interviews with the teachers demonstrate that Chinese language subject teachers negotiate with South Asian learners and construct their teaching in ways that enable them to create an environment where they see themselves as linguistic torchbearers and cultural transmitters while acquiring a strong feeling of success professionally. This research implies that teacher identity is a kind of pedagogy through which language teachers can reproduce or counteract hegemonic discourses and ideologies that oppress South Asians as non-native language minorities.     

Discipline social identification,study norms and learning approach in university students

Adopting a deep approach to learning is associated with positive academic outcomes. In the current paper, we extend this analysis in a university context by recognising that learners are not isolated individuals, but share important social identifications with others. Using online surveys at an Australian university, we examine the effects of discipline social identification and educational norms on the adoption of learning approaches. Students from a range of academic disciplines indicated their social identification with their discipline, their perceptions of peer norms within their discipline of study, and what their own learning approaches were. Results demonstrate a significant role of discipline-related social identification in predicting learning approaches, even after controlling for personal factors and quality of teaching. Moreover, perceived norms moderated this effect. Students’ approaches to learning are affected not simply by their salient self-concepts, but by their salient discipline-related self-concepts and the norms embodied in the learning environment.     

Double gestures of inclusion and exclusion. Notions of learning outcomes,autonomy, and informed choices in Swedish educational and vocational guidance

Taking as its vantage point a citation from the critical educationalist Thomas Popkewitz, “double gestures of inclusion and exclusion,” the aim of this article is to describe and contextualize the project of inclusion in Swedish educational and vocational guidance, and to identify and to analyze the potentially excluding discourses that may be inherent in that project. Empirically, the article starts with an account of how career counselors describe the desired learning outcomes of their professional activities. The accounts are given in interviews where they comment on the conditions for migrant youth in the transition from school to work, and the professional considerations that follow from these conditions. Among these desired learning outcomes, learning to be an autonomous individual capable of informed choosing is the most central. The emphasis of autonomy and informed choosing is in several ways related to the goal of work life and societal inclusion; on the other hand, a perceived lack of autonomy during the process of choosing secondary education is allegedly ascribed to the category of immigrants, and the immigrant condition. Thus, in the project of inclusion, a potentially excluding way of describing the migrant other is articulated, and “the double gestures of inclusion and exclusion” are hence performed. Still, it is also held that the pursuit of autonomy – as an end goal for the counseling and guiding process – is not unconditional, and it is recognized that certain conditions call for the development of other counseling strategies and learning outcomes.     

Individualisation and social exclusion: the case of young people not in education,employment or training

The characteristics, experiences and long-term prospects of young people outside the labour market and education have attracted widespread international attention in recent decades, and the specific category of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) has been a policy concern for the UK Government since 1997. This paper examines the analytical and empirical basis of our knowledge of NEET young people, in the light of more general conceptualisations of social exclusion and the individualisation of social risk. It relates the NEET category to a conception of social exclusion in which the central policy focus is on moving young people across a boundary between participation and non-participation, and inequalities within education and employment receive less attention. This focus, allied with discourses of individualisation, obscures the structural basis of inequality in education and training. However, the paper argues that the research evidence shows that individualised approaches based on personal and cultural characteristics of NEET young people are inadequate to understand this group and frame policy. The paper proposes that stronger versions of social exclusion need to be used in constructing solutions which acknowledge the basis of NEET issues in wider social inequalities.     

In search of the new engineer: gender,age, and social class in information about engineering education

ABSTRACT

It is widely argued that engineering education needs to change in order to attract new groups of students and provide students with knowledge appropriate for the future society. In this paper we, therefore, investigate and analyse Swedish universities’ websites, focusing on what characteristics are brought to the fore as important for tomorrow’s engineers. The data consist of text and pictures/photos from nine different Engineering Mechanics programme websites. Using a critical discourse analysis approach, we identify three societal discourses concerning ‘technological progression’, ‘sustainability’, and ‘neoliberal ideals’, evident in the websites. These discourses make certain engineering identities possible, that we have labelled: traditional, contemporary, responsible, and self-made engineer. Our analysis shows that universities’ efforts to diversify students’ participation in engineering education simultaneously reveal stereotypical norms concerning gender and age. We also argue that strong neoliberal notions about the self-made engineer can derail awareness of a gendered, classed, and racialized society.     

An Autoethnographical Study of Culture,Power, Identity and Art Education in Post‐Colonial South Korea

This article reflects my experiences of learning art in the 1970s and 1980s and my teaching career in school art education in twenty‐first century South Korea. This autobiographical reflection shows how I have struggled with my identity as an art teacher in the post‐colonial context of Western influences on Korean society since World War II. There has been greater tension and a greater struggle for different values, practices and identities when new values and practices have been introduced into the particular socio‐cultural context of South Korea. My struggles with particular kinds of pedagogic identity valued within the rapidly changing political, economic and cultural context of Western influences on Korean art education demonstrate the hidden structural mechanism of the relationship between culture, power and identity in the post‐colonial world of globalisation. This study as an autoethnographical research provides critical insights into how identities are produced by pedagogic discourses and practices of art education that are constructed through the specific systems of practice and language which transmit and regulate such identities and values.     

The rural-urban divide,intergroup relations,and social identity formation of rural migrant children in a Chinese urban school

Through ethnographic fieldwork conducted at a Beijing public school, this study aims to investigate how rural migrant children in China negotiate and construct their identity vis-à-vis the school’s local children. Building on social identity theory, this study reveals that rural migrant children develop a strong non-local group identity as a response to the Hukou-based social policy and the occupation-based social hierarchies in contemporary China. Such an identity helps migrant children combat a sense of inferiority that is reinforced by their daily interactions with the socially and economically more advantaged urban peers. However, this group-based identity forestalls intergroup contact and prevents the migrant children from successfully integrating into Chinese urban society.     

Accounting for genocide: transitional justice,mass (re)education and the pedagogy of truth in present-day Rwanda

ABSTRACT

Vigorous debate has recently arisen on the particular contribution of education to transitional justice (TJ). This article, focusing on the case of post-genocide Rwanda, raises the question of the possibilities, limitations and desirability of approaches which seek to impose, through education, top-down forms of reconciliation. The article employs the concepts of ‘mass (re)education’ and ‘pedagogy of truth’ to characterise the approach used by Rwanda’s post-genocide government to reshape and reconcile society, and reflects on the extent to which the past thus taught can be employed in furthering TJ goals. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the study evaluates Rwanda-style practices by examining history and civic education programmes alongside young people’s utterances on the ‘truth’ of historical wrongs. Concluding, it casts doubt on the transformative and conciliatory value of ‘pedagogies of truth’ that seek to recast identities and inter-group relations, especially in light of state-imposed selective understandings of legitimate truth, justice, memory and identity.     

Internalized Racism,Perceived Racism,and Ethnic Identity: Exploring Their Relationship in Latina/o Undergraduates

For Latina/o undergraduates, ethnic identity is an important construct linked to self‐esteem and educational attainment. Internalized and perceived racism have been hypothesized to hinder ethnic identity development in Latina/o undergraduates. To assess if internalized and perceived racism were inversely related to ethnic identity, the author conducted a hierarchical linear regression with 373 Latina/o undergraduates. There was a significant relationship between internalized racism and ethnic identity. Findings indicate a need to challenge internalized racism in Latina/o undergraduates.