Access and targeting: an exploration of a contradiction

To attempt to understand Access to Higher Education provision as an educational social movement is to become caught up in a dialectial dilemma. Is Access allied to the older radical traditions of adult education through a collective emancipatory role or is its role to serve the educational needs of the individual student and/or the economic needs of society? Research carried out at the University of Exeter has shown that while there is a strong rhetoric within the Access movement that supports the more emancipatory approach, practitioners contradict this when questioned about the prime purpose of Access. Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony can be used to address this contradiction by examining how sub‐cultures, such as the group of Access practitioners, create a mosaic of meaning or a reality map which is drawn from the conflicting ideologies which surround them.     

Global transformation and the search for a new educational design

This paper reports on an investigation of collaboration between schools and adult education providers in relation to some case-study examples of ‘parent education’ and ‘family literacy’ programmes. It examines how these organizations' different conceptions of their purposes and their under-pinning values can lead to different outcomes particularly in relation to their conceptualization of the role of the ‘parent’. It argues that schoolteachers and adult education staff come from distinct cultures and have different ideas about education and learning. They have, however, distinctive and complementary roles to play in promoting learning and education and creating a fairer social order. Using a parent centred, dialogic approach positions parents as people with an important contribution to make rather than as ‘problems’ that need to change to the school's way of seeing things. The paper suggests that whilst learning alone cannot abolish inequality and social divisions it can make a real contribution to combating them, not least by tackling the ways in which social exclusion is reinforced through the very processes and outcomes of education and training. If parents can be helped to challenge deficit views of the culture of their homes and communities then a small step has been taken in enabling their voices to be heard in the learning of their children and in their own educational development. For this to happen, however, some of the control that professionals have imposed on schooling for so long will have to be released and parents would need to be regarded as people with important contributions to make as collaborating educational partners.     

A Review of: “Engaging Technology in Theological Education: All that We Can't Leave Behind”

Voice is critical to youth; yet discerning and claiming a public religious voice is complicated, especially as youth encounter values that include or exclude them based on personality, ethnicity, religion, gender identification, ability, social class, or sexual orientation. Drawing from interviews, we analyze influences on youth to discover and speak their religious voices in public spaces, and to claim religious motivations for their public personas and actions. The study uncovers complex relationships among young people's religious awareness, social contexts, inner dynamics, and public religious expressions. These relationships suggest directions for religious education in faith communities, schools, and other public spaces.     

Embracing Urban Youth Culture in the Context of Education

The rise of post industrial urban centers and global communication technologies has created a distinctive Urban Youth Culture (UYC) with roots in Black history and social activism. In the discourse on education and Black youth, UYC is rarely seen as a positive force promoting academic achievement and self esteem. Drawing on the voices of Black urban youth in an all-male high school mentoring program, this article offers an affirming view on the significance and pragmatism of UYC to a group of young men at an East Coast high school. Findings reveal that the young men related to and relied on UYC to help them negotiate school and establish positive academic and social identities for themselves.     

Online learning community development with teachers as a means of enhancing initial teacher training

A purpose‐built blend of teaching and learning activities was used with trainee teachers on a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, and subsequently evaluated in a cyclical action research study, over a period of two years. The purpose of the blend was to engender the formation of a learning community, by giving them access to each other all through the course, in order to reduce the isolation often felt on school placement. The development of their social presence was encouraged by providing them with the social space in which to construct it. The findings indicate that this blend engendered the formation of a learning community through the creation of social presence and space that reduced isolation on placement for the trainee teachers. Positive voices from the research illustrate that trainees experienced an enhancement of their teacher training course through participation in the learning community.     

The formation of conscience: A lost topic of Didaktik

Progressive and radical visions of education have accorded student voice an important place in their critiques of traditional schooling and their proposals for change. In this paper, I examine and criticize two popular conceptions of student voice. The firstvoice as individual expression- is put forward by advocates of writing workshop approaches tothe teaching of writing. Workshop advocates emphasize students' desire to express their unique selves in writing, and how traditional instruction frustrates this desire. The second conception of student voice- voice as participation- comes from advocates of critical pedagogy. These advocates call for critical dialogues among teachers and students, within which student voices would sound and be heard. I conclude the paper by sketching an alternative conception, one that affirms the strengths of these previous versions, as well as responds to their weaknesses. I propose that voice be conceived of as aproject involving appropriation, social struggle and becoming. My goal is to envision student voice in a way that more adequately recognizes the interactional and ideological complexities of student expression, so that we might, as educators and researchers, better support the flourishing of student voices in schools.     

The importance of internal conversations and reflexivity for work-based students in higher education: valuing contextual continuity and ‘giving something back’

This paper utilises the theories of Archer to explore the impact of student ‘internal conversations’ upon the development of reflexive approaches employed by work-based students (WBS). The study informing this paper draws on the voices of a range of WBS on a Foundation Degree in Educational Support within a new university. A range of reflexivities are identified within the strategies students employ to ‘make their ways’ through the often unfamiliar and sometimes alienating contexts of higher education (HE). Whilst routinisation can be viewed as in decline people are not equally placed to be liberated or to liberate themselves from structurally determined biographies. Importantly for this paper, liberation is not strongly identified by participants as a site of what they ‘care most about’. It is argued in the conclusion to this paper that students have an ‘empirical tendency’ to employ the reflexivity that enables them to remain knowledgeably embedded to their social context, to move on but not necessarily ‘out’ of their social circumstances; so the autonomous reflexivity of Archer’s study is less relevant to many of these students.     

‘If they don't listen I shout,and when I shout they listen’: Hearing the voices of girls with behavioural,emotional and social difficulties

Young people, particularly girls, constructed in the education system as having behavioural, emotional and social difficulties are amongst the least represented voices in research. Frequently denied a place to speak from, we direct attention to the importance of hearing girls, who are troubled and troubling—deviating from the rules of school and the norms of their gender—speak about their dis/engagement in education. We argue that participatory research methods can provide meaningful ways for girls to construct and better understand their own narratives. In so doing we draw on our ongoing research in England with teenage girls excluded from mainstream provision. Findings from analysis of their narratives are discussed in relation to voice, space, audience and influence. This process reveals the significance of hearing and responding to the multilayered complexities of girls’ voices in purposeful ways.     

Eritrean voices: indigenous views on the development of the curriculum ten years after independence

Since 1991, the Eritrean government has put into place an education system which had already been developed in the liberated areas during the years of struggle against Ethiopia. Little has been written on Eritrean education policy, and in particular the voices of educationalists responsible for its implementation have remained silent. In this article the voices of middle managers (teachers, school directors and vice-directors, regional supervisory staff, teacher trainers and ministry administrators) in the education system are heard as they discuss the curriculum in relation to the current and future needs of developing countries such as Eritrea. Although the issues that are discussed are often complex, and the mountain that has to be climbed seems at times insurmountable, it is suggested that the passion and vision of these educationalists will be instrumental in enabling the nation to succeed, and that their voices deserve to be heard.     

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.     

“How Come Nobody Told Me?” Fostering Self‐Realization Through a High School English Curriculum

Through collaboratively designed qualitative inquiry, we investigated the responses of high school students with learning disabilities to a teacher’s intervention intended to promote self‐realization, a fundamental component of self‐determination. Activities were embedded within the general English curriculum and delivered in a special education classroom over the course of an academic year. Several themes emerged from analysis of student interviews, student responses to writing prompts and surveys, a teacher journal, and student portfolio pieces. Silence and misconceptions were prevalent in student experiences. However, through the intervention students acquired information that helped them make sense of their school experiences, redefine themselves in positive ways, and take small steps toward greater self‐advocacy within their current school setting. The mediating influence of positive adult voices and concerns about social stigma were evident in students’ responses, which prompted us to question teachers’ and families’ responsibilities for engaging young people in dialogue about special education and disability.     

Responding to the Voices of Homeless Preschool Children and Their Families

By utilizing all of the voices of homeless children and families we can gain a better understanding of their needs and thus be more effective in designing programs that can support them in becoming more independent. This article reviews the importance of the voices of homeless preschool children and their parents as well that of the professionals who work with them in developing responses to this problem. Strategies that empower homeless preschool children and their families are noted. These strategies include: quality preschool care, therapeutic practices that empower the entire family, case management schemes that provide support to homeless children and families, and societal changes that empower the family. Critical roles that early childhood education professionals can carry out in this empowerment process are delineated and discussed.     

从社会交往看聋人大学生的社会融合——基于某学院的实证研究

聋教育的目标是促进聋生全面发展、适应社会、融入社会.本文以某学院304名聋人大学生为研究对象,以社会交往作为测量指标对他们的社会融合状况及其影响因素进行了研究.结果发现:聋人大学生社会交往出现了分化,他们朋友交往呈现出:(1)健听人数量多;(2)聋人数量多;(3)聋健人数量差不多三种状况;他们与聋人和健听人都交往的需求没有得到满足;相比而言,他们与健听人朋友交往不密切、不深入.聋人大学生的性别、家庭教育、接受基础教育方式、教师教育和社会态度等微观因素对其社会交往分化影响显著.本文最后提出了构建生态化教育与支持体系以促进聋人大学生与健听人之间沟通与交往,促进社会融合的建议.     

Research to engage voices on the ground in educational development

The article discusses how a variety of qualitative methods could be used for investigating the engagement of the voices on the ground, where the change is expected to happen. It also reviews how qualitative research approaches involve students and teachers, the so-called “target groups” of educational development, as subjects, rather than objects. The qualitative methods are presented here for their potential in engaging the voices on the ground. Actor-centred inquiry and participatory action research consist of data collected, analysed and reported, in collaboration between researchers and the research subjects. Enabling the subjects as autonomous actors to take part in the analysis of their own learning and education provides a means to bring deeper cultural and social knowledge into the development processes. In this way research may promote ownership of educational development. Furthermore, the actors’ voices are key factors in the re-definition of global, national and local educational development targets for the EFA beyond 2015.     

Exploring the notion of inclusivity as facilitating students' ontological engagement for personally relevant learning

In India, inclusivity in education can be seen as an expression of commitment to social justice. It reflects a deep commitment to the goals of universalisation of education promoted by world agencies such as UNESCO. However, pitched between the aspirational goals of achieving equity and social justice on one hand, and the economic imperative of a competitive market on the other, inclusivity in education seems an ever-elusive goal. Students' voices and all the cultural and experiential resources they hold, are marginalised in school, contributing to alienating students from school learning. The study on which this article reports sought to support teachers glean insights from participation in a purposive modelling activity, set in a Vygotskian dialectic frame of reference. The activity focused on how learning from students and their communities can be harnessed to engage students ontologically in class, to enhance students' agentive role in an inclusive learning environment. It is rooted in a funds of knowledge approach. The qualitative data for this ethnographically oriented study have been gathered from multiple sources over 2 years and analysed thematically. The findings show that modelling not only helped teacher learning and development of practice, but also familiarised teachers with issues of equity and inclusivity. Notably, by making teachers aware of the differentiated needs of all the students in the process of invoking their unique contribution to learning from their cultural locations. The insights are used to discuss the challenges posed for teachers in making their new learning part of their teaching practice.     

‘It really hurts and it is bullying’: moral learning as political practice

Through socio-cultural analysis of the discourse of bullying, the present article aims to show that moral learning is less about teaching children the difference between right and wrong and more about making available to them what Tappan and Wertsch describe as the mediational means to engage in their own moral learning. Bullying is explained in Bakhtinian terms as a form of ‘authoritative discourse’. Both moral education and manipulative adolescent bullying are presented as, in a broad sense, forms of political practice. The same 13-year-old girl was recorded as she talked with peer ‘counsellors’ about her own bullying and then a fortnight later in the course of directing and featuring in a tutor-group video which aimed to introduce younger pupils to their new school. Through the inter-animation of social voices, new moral ideas are appropriated by the participants. In a succession of ‘zones of proximal development’, students support and ‘scaffold’ each other’s thinking in their progression towards changed levels of moral awareness.     

Improving educational expectations in an Open Access Centre in Barcelona. An educational orientation project for young people at risk of social exclusion / La mejora de las expectativas educativas en un Centro Abierto de Barcelona. Un proyecto de orientación educativa para jóvenes en riesgo de exclusión social

This article presents the design, implementation and evaluation of an educational orientation project for young people at risk of social exclusion who attended an Open Access Centre in Barcelona (Spain). The project aimed to increase participants’ expectations of education in general, and of university and higher education in particular. A content analysis and a pre- and post-test design are used to evaluate the effects of the programme. The programme was developed during five sessions under the supervision of a psychologist researcher. The results show that young people adopt a new meaning in relation to higher education by appropriating a language that allows them to redefine its sense and the original meaning of the academic institution.     

Early Childhood Teachers Finding Voice among Peers: A Reflection on Practice

This reflective narrative explores the voices of two participants in the Early Childhood Professional Mentoring Group (ECPMG), created in response to our graduates’ concerns about their lack of support as they entered the field of inclusive early childhood education. Building on their existing relationships with each other, and with us as their former instructors, the group fostered a community in which our graduates could engage in reciprocal peer support and group problem solving, developing their skills as educators, professionals, and reflective change agents. This model contrasts with other forms of professional development that follow a set agenda facilitated by an assigned leader. The open structure and lack of hierarchy in the group invited spontaneous discussions of daily practices and challenges, and allowed different styles of expression to emerge. Our reflective narrative on our work with the ECPMG highlights the power of peers in providing induction and mentoring support, and the value to teacher educators of listening to multiple voices in hearing new teachers’ stories. We suggest that this type of mentoring be considered as an essential element of early childhood teacher education.     

Ready,steady, learn: school readiness and children’s voices in English early childhood settings

Internationally, school readiness is increasingly the rationale for early childhood education and care (ECEC). This is the case in England, yet the statutory English Early Years Foundation Stage framework for children 0–5 years also requires practitioners to listen to children’s voices: discourse indicates dissonance between school readiness and listening to children’s voices so this paper discusses an intrinsic case study that investigated beliefs and practices of 25 practitioners in the English midlands regarding school readiness and listening to children’s voices. In survey responses and semi-structured interviews, practitioners indicated they listen to – and act on – children’s voices but are confused about school readiness; their beliefs and practices align more strongly with social pedagogy than pre-primary schoolification. Findings carry messages for policy-makers regarding the need for coherent policy concerning the purpose of ECEC, with practitioner training and a framework aligned fully with that policy. A larger study is indicated.     

Access to Higher Education and Disadvantaged Young People

This article will highlight the difficulties faced by qualified but disadvantaged young people in accessing higher education. This is an issue which has strong implications for education policy, economic efficiency and social justice. Over the past two decades, despite large increases in overall access to higher education, the gap in level of participation between the most affluent and most disadvantaged school‐leavers has remained intact. This article will examine patterns of educational attrition amongst less affluent young people, who gain sufficient qualifications to enter higher education. In other words, in order to redress the imbalance in the uptake of places in higher education, this article will distinguish between the factors which qualify young people to access university and those which predispose them to participate. A range of factors (barriers) which impacted upon levels of participation in higher education was found. Access to higher education was primarily dictated by level of school achievement, although this in turn was found to be a function of disadvantage. Furthermore, some qualified but disadvantaged young people forwent the opportunity to enter higher education on leaving school, while others enrolled in less advanced courses, for reasons other than academic ability.