Widening participation in higher education: the role of professional and social class identities and commitments

Since the neoliberal reforms to British education in the 1980s, education debates have been saturated with claims to the efficacy of the market as a mechanism for improving the content and delivery of state education. In recent decades with the expansion and ‘massification’ of higher education, widening participation (WP) has acquired an increasingly important role in redressing the under-representation of certain social groups in universities. Taken together, these trends neatly capture the twin goals of New Labour’s programme for education reform: economic competitiveness and social justice. But how do WP professionals negotiate competing demands of social equity and economic incentive? In this paper we explore how the hegemony of neoliberal discourse – of which the student as consumer is possibly the most pervasive – can be usefully disentangled from socially progressive, professional discourses exemplified through the speech and actions of WP practitioners and managers working in British higher education institutions.     

教育期望中的社会阶层差:父母的社会地位和子女教育期望的关系

To achieve the overall goals and purposes of education is closely related to the living environments of students. Different family backgrounds will put children into a situation where they face unfair competition. According to a survey conducted in China’s Urumqi and Changchun about parents’ awareness of educating their children, this paper will suggest that families with different backgrounds have different expectations for their children’s education. Moreover, it suggests that parents’ social status is related to their children’s education expectations. Therefore, we can find that parents’ social status influences their children’s education, and their positions in social class are related to education. __________ Translated from Qinghua Daxue Jiaoyu Yanjiu 清华大学教育研究 (Tsinghua Journal of Education), 2006, (4): 71–76     

课例研究:如何从教育模式走向教育实践

课例研究作为一种教师专业化发展模式已经引起教育研究者和教育者的广泛关注.作为从日本移植的一种教育模式,如何充分理解与改进课例研究,发挥其对改进课堂教学的潜在意义,是一个在理论与实践方面都有重要意义的问题.课例研究作为一种教育研究方法在进一步发展中应进行的三类研究:发展有关课例研究的核心特征的理论;阐明课例研究的机制;课例研究的方法论和证明路线.     

Household head's educational level and household education expenditure in China: The mediating effect of social class identification

Fairness in education is an issue of great concern for China's development. At the same time, household education expenditure is a key factor and objective material embodiment of the educational resources and educational opportunities for Chinese children. Using the data of the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS2016), this study analyzes the mechanisms of action in household education expenditure affected by both the educational level and the social class identification of household heads. The empirical results indicate that the Chinese household heads' social class identification is affected positively by their educational level. After controlling for the potential endogeneity, the education expenditure tends to increase as the subjective social class identification of the household heads is promoted. Class identification plays a partial mediating role in the process of the household head's educational level, affecting the household education expenditure. The findings provide important insights for understanding the intergenerational transmission mechanism of cultural capital in China.     

Experiences in day care and social competence among maltreated children

The experience of 39 preschool-age maltreated children from 13 child care facilities was examined to determine the extent to which the children's social development was related to the quality of day-care service. Maltreated children assigned by the Arkansas Department of Social Services to three different types of child care facilities were observed: specialized day-care programs, regular day-care centers and family day homes. The children scored below average in intelligence and were rated by their parents as displaying higher than normal rates of disturbed behavior. While no comparison group of non-maltreated children was included in the study, observations of the maltreated children in the child care setting revealed substantially more positive than negative social behavior. The children were reasonably effective in interacting with adult caregivers in day care. The maltreated children were also productive in most encounters with peers. Ratings of the quality of care received in day care were significantly correlated with the children's social competence in child care. Aspects of social behavior in maltreated children were related to the organization of the program, the physical facilities, traits of the caregiver, and caregiver expectations for the children.     

Peer victimisation and its relation to class relational climate and class moral disengagement among school children

The aim of the present study was to examine whether class climate and class moral disengagement each contribute to explain different levels of victimisation among classes. Eight-hundred-and-ninety-nine children from 43 Swedish elementary school classes participated in the current study. Class moral disengagement, class relational climate and peer victimisation were assessed by a self-report questionnaire. In order to account for the clustered nature of the data with students nested within school classes, a multilevel regression model was analysed. Consistent with our hypotheses, and after controlling for age, gender and ethnic background at the individual level and class size and the proportion of boys at the class level, both class relational climate and class moral disengagement uniquely contributed to explaining the between-class variance in victimisation. Thus, the findings suggested that victimisation is less likely to occur in classes characterised by a positive, warm, fair and supportive relational pattern between children and between teachers and children, and by lower levels of class moral disengagement.     

Struggling with capital: a Bourdieusian analysis of educational strategies among internationally mobile middle class families in Sweden

ABSTRACT

Drawing on empirical data regarding educational strategies among internationally mobile families in the Stockholm-Uppsala region, this study questions the notion of a global middle class. First, a quantitative analysis shows that immigrating middle class professionals and their children are few, having marginal impact on the demand for international education. Furthermore, they far from constitute a homogeneous class, instead comprising of fractions opting for different types of schools. A second, qualitative study on capital conversion among mobile families illustrates that even well-educated international movers face serious challenges converting their existing knowledge, skills and contacts into well-informed social, professional and educational strategies in their new context. This suggests the limitations of concepts such as international capital. It is argued that the GMC concept overshadows the fact that social groups within the middle classes have varying degrees of international mobility that constitutes just one dimension of what separates them from each other.     

我国社会阶层变化的伦理思考

改革开放以来,我国社会阶层的结构、规模和地位发生了重大变化,形成了不同阶层之间相互交叉、相互渗透的错综复杂的社会格局.影响我国阶层变化的因素主要来自于社会经济各方面的变化.阶层的这些变化要求我们对契约伦理、制度伦理、社会公平、行政伦理和经济伦理等问题进行新的思考.     

Communicating comparative findings from meta-analysis in educational research: some examples and suggestions

ABSTRACT

This article reviews some of the strengths and limitations of the comparative use of meta-analysis findings, using examples from the Sutton Trust-Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning ‘Toolkit’ which summarizes a range of educational approaches to improve pupil attainment in schools. This comparative use of quantitative findings has similar characteristics to umbrella reviews which provide a succinct but applicable summary of the current state of evidence to inform practice or policy. Meta-analysis helps to identify which approaches have, on average, made the most difference to tested learning outcomes, in terms of effect size. We suggest that any comparative inferences made between meta-analyses should be treated cautiously, but taken seriously. Additionally, we present alternative ways of interpreting effect sizes, security ratings and cost-estimates to make research findings accessible, whilst retaining appropriate accuracy which is discussed using the ‘Toolkit’ as an example. We conclude by arguing that we should consider the available information not as ‘what works’, but ‘what has worked’ to understand its value and limits in terms of supporting the development of research-based practice.     

五国职教体系的比较

本选择加拿大、英国、德国、韩国、中国这五个有代表性的国家，对其职教体系从宏观上进行比较．目的是为了“洋为中用”。通过分析和比较．对职业教育的层次设置、职业教育与普通教育的沟通机制、职业教育与就业的关系、职业教育的凭与职业资格证书的联系、各级职业教育的学生分流以及职业教育的凭性质等问题。提出了一些值得我们学习和借鉴的观点。     

Expanding notions of social reproduction: Grandparents’ educational attainment and grandchildren's cognitive skills

Inherited privilege and status remain powerful factors in the distribution of opportunity in American life. These transfers of socioeconomic resources across generations are facilitated by the links between adult educational attainment and children's cognitive skills. Our current study expands the notion of social reproduction beyond this narrow two-generation approach to investigate the links between grandparents’ educational attainment and their grandchildren's academic abilities. Using a nationally representative sample of over 13,000 children who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), we find that familial advantages in human capital persist over time and that these advantages are associated with improved cognitive outcomes among later generations. Even after controlling for a wide array of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, young children with college-educated grandparents possess stronger literacy and mathematics skills at the start of formal schooling. Propensity score approaches, which address concerns regarding the endogeneity inherent in the topic, yield similar results, suggesting the robustness of our findings.     

Cosmo girls: configurations of class and femininity in elite educational settings

In this paper we offer a unique contribution to understandings of schooling as a site for the production of social class difference. We bring together the rich body of work that has been conducted on middle-class educational identities, with explorations of the centrality of the feminine in representations of class difference from the field of critical girlhood studies. This is done in order to explore how young femininities mediate the representation of class difference in the environment of the private girls’ school. Drawing from our two research studies, located in private girls’ schools in Australia and the United Kingdom, we argue that the notion of ‘disgust’, commonly used in recent engagements around class, has only limited purchase in understanding the representation of class difference in these schools. It is the inconsistencies and complexities in how class and class relations are produced that we wish to illuminate.     

Social class and participation in further education: evidence from the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales

This paper examines the class distribution of young people, aged 16–17 years, in colleges of further education (FE) using data from the Youth Cohort Study. It finds that, contrary to popular perceptions of FE colleges as being for ‘other people’s children’, middle‐class students as well as working‐class students are well represented. However, this does not imply that FE colleges are institutions of choice; middle‐class representation is often related to lower achievement and, for low‐achieving working‐class students, leaving education entirely is more likely than entry to FE. These findings are explored using notions of habitus and field. Their relationship with studies of the education of middle‐class children is also discussed, and the paper suggests that research on class in FE colleges must come to terms with middle‐class presence.     

The social and educational adjustment of abused children

Thirteen 6-year-old children who had been physically abused by their parents were assessed in school for language development, educational attainments and social adjustment, and compared with children from some of the same school classes who served as a comparison group. All the abused children had attended the Family Centre of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Manchester before starting school, and they and their parents had received social work support and supervision from the special unit team. Ten of the 13 abused children had made measurable progress in reading. There were no significant differences between the groups in language development or number skills, but the abused group did contain more high (maladjusted) scores on the Bristol Social Adjustment Guide. Monitoring educational progress and social adjustment in school would seem to be a useful method of following the progress of such children. Most of the children in this group are so far making progress within the ordinary school system despite the disturbances which have affected their home life.     

Some critical issues in the training of educational administrators for developing countries of Africa

In this article the author discusses some critical issues in the design and implementation of training programmes for future educational administrators in Africa. Such issues include the determination of skills and competencies required by these administrators, the sociocultural awareness resulting from exposure to the training programme, the discernment of educational purposes, specialisation by sector and function, education for responsible and ethical behaviour, and problems related to the organisation of training programmes, and the certification and placement of the new crop of educational administrators. The discussion focuses on public education systems generally, but draws on the author's impressions and observations about English-speaking Africa.     

西方世界一流大学形成中的国家干预

国家与政府始终是大学兴衰的决定性力量之一,西方国家的世界一流大学既是历史发展的必然产物,也是国家和政府不断干预的结果。西方发达国家干预世界一流大学的历程及其特点,显示了国家与大学之间存在自由与控制、合作与抗争的基本矛盾,过程干预、目标干预和选择性干预是其三种国家干预模式。     

Peer assessment of class participation: applying peer nomination to overcome rating inflation

Having students actively engaged with each other in discussions has become an increasingly important and common aspect of the classroom environment. This increased emphasis has also meant that instructors need to find ways to effectively and efficiently evaluate class participation. In this paper, we describe the most common method used for these assessments and highlight some of its inherent challenges. We then propose an alternative method based on peer nominations. Two case studies illustrate the advantages of this method; we find that it is both easy for students to complete and provide instructors with valuable diagnostic information with which to provide feedback and assign grades.     

Educational psychologists and children in care: practices and issues

The aims of this study were to examine the extent and nature of educational psychologist (EP) work related to children in care in five local authority educational psychology services in the south‐west region. The study involved an initial internet‐based questionnaire for the 107 EPs in these services (86% response rate), followed up by in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with four EPs in each service. This paper reports some of the findings from this study that show the range of EP work and their roles in regard to children in care. It also examines the kinds of issues and tensions experienced by EPs in their multi‐agency work with regards to children in care. The paper concludes with a brief summary of relevant recommendations arising from the findings.