Marking time,making methods: temporality and untimely dilemmas in the sociology of youth and educational change

Abstract

This article explores how temporality and temporal regimes might be engaged in qualitative research in the sociology of education, proposing that such questions matter in relation to how research is done, not only to the topics and themes researched. The article shows how temporality enters into research designs, practices and imaginaries, arguing that research methodologies mobilise intersecting temporalities. Debates in the philosophy of history regarding the collision of temporalities are canvassed, and approaches are outlined for conceptualising temporality in reference to qualitative studies. To illustrate these arguments, an account is offered of theoretical and methodological approaches framing a new qualitative longitudinal study of young people and secondary schooling in Australia; to highlight the historicity of methodologies, comparisons are also drawn between this study and an earlier related longitudinal study undertaken in the 1990s. The article concludes by inviting a re-consideration of the possibilities for a renewal of historical sociology of education.     

关于高职日语专业的未来定位和发展的思考

高职日语经过数年的急剧膨胀已经达到了空前的规模。可是,伴随着高考生源数量下降、录取规则变革、社会需求饱和、中日关系微妙变化等,高职日语专业将面临严峻的生存考验。高职日语向何处去?高职日语如何在工科专业主导的高职院校中继续赢得生存空间?决定高职日语存亡的关键是什么?高职日语如何在今后的高职教育体系中定位?这些将会成为高职日语教师面临的现实问题。     

Push and pull in the classroom: competition,gender and the neoliberal subject

In this paper I explore how learning strategies based on competition and zero-sum thinking are inscribed into the dynamics of classroom interaction shaping relations between high-achieving pupils, and link elements of these practices to market trends in British education policy discourse. A detour through the politico-historical negotiations shaping relations between neo-liberal governance and education is initially sketched out, bringing into focus how the proliferation of policy discourses of consumerism and marketisation aim to facilitate and shape the conduct of persons in classroom settings. Drawing on ethnographic observation data taken from a study of two London comprehensive secondary schools, I then outline how pupils are incited to behave as competitive strategists in the classroom and reflect on the gender constructions underpinning these performances and their slippery dynamics.     

Organisational barriers for women in senior management: a comparison of Turkish and New Zealand universities

This paper reports on the second phase of a multi‐country study examining cross‐cultural perspectives of gender and management in universities. The first phase of this research with eight countries found that the representation of women was consistently low, especially at Rector/Vice Chancellor level. In the second phase interviews were conducted with both male and female senior managers including current and former Rectors/Vice Chancellors. The focus of this paper is on the organisational barriers to women becoming and being managers in Turkish and New Zealand universities. Twenty‐four interviews were conducted in Turkey and 26 in New Zealand. Rectors/Vice Chancellors and other senior academic colleagues were found to be crucial in supporting academics into senior management. Barriers discussed include time management and role conflict between work and non‐work life.     

Caring about tomorrow: future orientation,environmental attitudes and behaviors

Almost any pro-environmental behavior arouses a temporal conflict, as protecting long-term interests requires the sacrifice of short-term ones. Similarly, many health promoting behaviors may involve present discomfort for the sake of future well-being. In both contexts, health or environmental, developed future orientation (FO) is required to succeed in achieving long-term goals. This study examined FO, measured by Zimbardo's time perspective inventory (ZTPI), in both contexts in a sample of 333 Israeli undergraduate students. FO correlated positively with health concern and behavior. In the environmental context, the results were different. Highly future-oriented (according to ZTPI) respondents did not express stronger pro-environmental attitudes, and their willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the environment was significantly lower. They adopted pro-environmental behavior only if it coincided with their personal benefit. The study suggests that the future of the environment may not be perceived in the same way as people's personal future health. The implications for environmental education and communication are discussed.     

The explosion of real time and the structural conditions of temporality in a society of control: durations and urgencies of academic research

In the context of ongoing debates about the distinctive temporalities associated with contemporary regulative regimes, this paper explores the interpretive trajectories initiated in contrasting conceptualisations of the politics of time. This exploration is developed through analysis of interview data from a study of unconscious relations in academic practice. Section one uses one moment of data to contrast phenomenological, Deleuzian and Lacanian theorisations of the relation between time and subjectivity. Section two is an exegesis of Lacan’s paper on Logical Time. This outlines the way temporality is structured in relation to the subject’s guess about the expectations of the Other. Section three uses this to develop an interpretation of three temporalities that constitute the space of contemporary academic subjectivities. The final section considers the intensification of the juxtaposition of these incongruent temporalities, contrasting Lacanian and Deleuzian theorisations of time in the Real/virtual and their implications for both methodological and political strategy.     

Emerging adulthood among Palestinian minority in Israel: the relation between perceived career barriers,future orientation and career decisions

This study examines the relation between perceived career barriers, future orientation and career decisions among young Palestinian-Israeli youth. The study employs a theoretical model that links perceived career barriers and career decisions via variables of future orientation. Three hundred eighty-eight young Palestinian-Israeli women (73.20%) and men (26.80%) participated in the study. Structural equation modelling shows that perceived ethnic discrimination is positively related to the motivational variables of future orientation, while perceived gender discrimination and childcare and family difficulties are negatively related to motivational variables. This means that perceived ethnic discrimination towards Palestinian-Israeli youths make them more inclined to perceive the value of higher education and to feel greater control over their personal accomplishments and their goals of achieving a higher education. Investment in future orientation will in all likelihood incentivise the choosing of a career path.     

Aiming high: the educational and occupational aspirations and of young disabled people

This article provides an overview of the aspirations and expectations disabled teenagers form for their future education and employment and the factors which are associated with positive aspirations. After reviewing what is already known about the formation of aspirations in general, and among young disabled people in particular, Tania Burchardt presents preliminary analysis from original research using two large‐scale representative surveys: the Youth Cohort Study (YCS) and the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70). The results indicate that young disabled people have similar aspirations to their non‐disabled counterparts, although tempered in some cases with a recognition that there are likely to be obstacles in the world of work. There is also some–tentative–evidence that young disabled people feel less well served by advice and support services. SEN coordinators in secondary schools and further education, and Connexions advisors, need to ensure that they encourage positive aspirations, especially among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, while offering practical support in overcoming disabling barriers.     

Understanding the charter school concept in legislation: the cases of Arizona,Michigan and Georgia1

This article explores the ways in which policy‐makers in Arizona, Michigan and Georgia understood the charter concept when adopting charter legislation. Drawing on literature on policy formation, the paper traces both the creation of the charter law in each state, and the underlying rationales that led policy‐makers to support the legislation. The author compares the rationales found in each state based on the goals of the legislation and the means to reaching those goals (including various interpretations of the concepts of autonomy and accountability). This analysis helps to explain why the idea of charter schools has received support from individuals and organizations that span the ideological spectrum.     

Hopes for the future: demographic and personal resources associated with self-perceived employability and actual employment among senior year students

Undergraduates approaching completion of their studies may embrace the prospect of entry into the world of work as a challenge or conversely, may view it with trepidation. This study explores three major personal resources that may be associated with how young undergraduates view their future employability: perceived hope, grit and emotional intelligence. Demographics associated in the literature with perceived chance of employment – gender, age and having a learning disability – were also included in the study. The participants were college students in their senior year (n = 584), studying in a variety of undergraduate programmes. Results show that perceived hope and grit were positively associated with perceived employability whereas the relationship with emotional intelligence was more complex. None of the demographics associated with perceived employability.     

Talking back to power: snowballs in hell and the imperative of insisting on structural explanations

This viewpoint explores and shares our experience of ‘doing’ feminism in the context of its apparent ‘demise’. We were recently invited to attend an event at the Cabinet Office, to ‘discuss the impact aspirations and expectations within the community have on the educational achievement of young people in deprived areas’. The seminar was entitled, ‘Expert Seminar with the Minister for the Cabinet Office: Community Aspirations and Educational Attainment’. Appalled, both at the grammar (!), and the deficit account implications underpinning the Cabinet Office Invitation, we made contact with one another, and agreed that we would attend the seminar with the specific intention of challenging this discursive premise. We seek to use this Viewpoint to reflect on the experience in relation to academic activism and ‘speaking back’, as well as to take the opportunity to re‐state a few of the key points that detonate the deficit discourse in relation to the educational attainment of working‐class pupils.     

Understanding aspirations and expectations of international students in Australian higher education

The aspirations and expectations of the growing international student cohort in Australia are implicitly incorporated into recruitment and internationalization strategies but have received little academic analysis. To address this gap in the literature, this paper develops a conceptual model built upon earlier research by Tim Mazzarol and Geoffrey Soutar, which focuses on the push and pull factors relating to home country and country of destination, respectively, in relation to students' decisions to seek international study. Focusing predominantly on Chinese and Indian students, we conceptualise, extend and place the push and pull factors within a social psychological framework in relation to students' aspirations and expectations of international education, indicating factors that can be influenced by higher education (HE) institutions and their programmes, and those which cannot. We then interrogate the model and its applicability in Australian HE through the case study of an Indian international Study Tour conducted in our Australian HE institution in 2009. In the present context of decreased international student enrolments in Australia in 2010, where we seek to better understand our international students, the proposed model provides a basis for identifying international students' expectations and aspirations and developing prospective international relations.     

Agency in action: young Muslim women and negotiating higher education in Australia

This article draws on an analysis of the narratives of Australian young Muslim women to explore their higher education experiences and aspirations. The article aims to explore the notion of agency employed by Muslim female university students in relation to the ways they discover their own capabilities along their deployment of available financial, cultural and social resources under cultural and structural constrains. The women’s accounts suggest that pursuit of higher education is highly perceived as a key to girls’ success and economic independence in the present precarious neoliberal environment yet concerns over Islamophobia and gender and racial discrimination which may curtail employment opportunities are present. The research findings also suggest that educational outcomes entail complex forms of negotiation, bargaining and resistance, stressing the ways in which class, gender, ethnicity and religion interrelate.     

Building colleges for the future: pedagogical and ideological spaces

This article focuses on the Building Colleges for the Future (BCF) initiative (2008) which saw a wave of new-build Further Education (FE) colleges spring up across England in the final years of the New Labour government. It draws on qualitative data from a research study focusing on four new-build colleges in the West Midlands of England to theorise the BCF initiative. Using theory derived primarily from Lefebvre, the paper contextualises BCF within a frame of neoliberalisation and discusses the impact of the ‘production of space’ represented by the initiative with a research focus on two areas: pedagogy and ideology. The main findings are that these new-build colleges can be interpreted as spatial expressions of policy-makers and others’ perceptions of teaching and learning; in ideological terms, they also trumpet a ‘new lifestyle’ and a ‘new art of living’ for FE staff and students that is however, in tension with residual pedagogical practices and values. The article concludes that despite being an expression of neoliberal abstract space, these new-builds can still be seen as providing a frame for alternative individual and collective encounters with education which may subvert and outlast the processes of neoliberalisation that they appear to embody.     

寻找创造未来的根本基点--教育与未来经济社会关系初辩

未来不是一个简单的时间概念，而是今天多种因素在扰动、切入、控制中不断延伸、发展的总体轨迹。自然、科学技术和价值观念都是影响未来的重要因素，但决不能简单地归结为决定性因素。影响未来经济社会的主要因素有很多种，如科学、技术、管理、人、教育等。其中教育是最重要的基础因素，是创造未来的根本基点。教育的基础性地位是经济社会发展的必然。     

正确认识马克思、恩格斯对未来社会的预测

马克思、恩格斯在坚持唯物史观的基础上,提出了"人的全面自由发展"理论,这为我国当今的科学发展观这一伟大战略思想的核心"以人为本"提供了理论基础,对我国构建和谐社会和特色社会主义的建设引领了方向。     

浅谈Intel@未来教育中化学课程问题设计

本文就intel未来教育中化学课程问题设计进行了探讨，文章阐述了课程问题设计的原则，并结合实际的设计示例指出了设计中应注意的问题。     

Voices from South and North in dialogue: on diversity and education for the future

In this article texts by scholars from South Africa, Sweden and Great Britain are analysed. They contributed as invited speakers to a conference in Sweden in 2009 on changing societies, values, religions and education. Here a South–North dialogue on diversity and the future of education is constructed through the way their conference contributions are presented and analysed. Democracy and gender also appear as crucial themes. Out of the original 12 keynote contributions to the conference a selection is made, meaning that seven of them are focused on. What can be observed is (a) that the contributors from South Africa connect diversity and social justice; (b) that the gender researchers critically discuss the risks of the North imposing its theoretical framework on the South and search for ways out of that and (c) a preoccupation with a renewal of education recognising diversity but also looking for what could come beyond such an emphasis and form a common ground. The article constitutes an example of shared knowledge production where South and North meet. Conditions for that are critically reflected upon methodologically.     

Understanding and Improving Teachers' Classroom Assessment Decision Making: Implications for Theory and Practice

Teacher assessment decision making is described as a process that may be important in developing a measurement theory for classroom assessment. Teacher beliefs and values about what and how to assess often conflict with the pressures of external demands, especially recent high-stakes large-scale testing. With this sense of tension, teachers make assessment decisions that will engage and motivate students and enhance learning. Implications for a measurement theory of classroom assessment, as well as teacher preservice and inservice, are explored. The article suggests that measurement specialists need to adapt technical testing principles to be more relevant to the nature of classroom assessment decision making.     

问题与对策：内蒙古女性参与公共政策实证分析

女性参政议政,是社会文明进步的重要标尺,而女性参与公共政策是女性参政的一个重要方面。女性作为社会成员的重要组成部分,其参政议政状况需要改善。从内蒙古自治区女性参与公共政策的现状来看,女性参政与国内其他城市相比还存在着一定的差距。无论是领导层面还是普通民众,在参与公共政策等方面还存在问题,需要从制度层面、组织层面、意识层面提升我区女性参与公共政策的能力。