Young People's Voluntary and Campaigning Activities as Sources of Political Education

The article begins by examining the predominant image of young people today as alienated, apathetic, and uninvolved in their communities. It is argued that any debate about participation and politics should consider young people's involvement in voluntary and campaigning activities. Using data from a study of 1160 14-16 year-olds, it is shown that a considerable number of young people are involved in volunteering and campaigning, and also that these activities are influenced by gender, ethnicity, locality and the family. The article then explores the ways in which participation in volunteering and campaigning can promote the development of young people's political knowledge, awareness and understanding. It is demonstrated that involvement in these activities affects young people's political development in five ways, specifically in developing an understanding of the needs of different groups in society; a sense of influence over political and social events; a growing sense of party political differences and voting intent; reflection on social structures and processes; and acquiring skills useful in political campaigning. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Studying Young People's New Media Use: Methodological Shifts and Educational Innovations

A lack of good information about what youth are doing with new media stimulates fears and hopes about the relationship between young people and digital technologies. This article focuses on new modes of inquiry into youth new media use, highlighting the challenges, complexities, and opportunities inherent in studying young people's digital cultures. It outlines methodological issues unique to studies of youth and new media, such as accessing populations of respondents, benefits and drawbacks to online qualitative research, and challenges in capturing a snapshot of young people's actual, not self-reported, media practices. This type of qualitative research on youth media cultures and practices can guide educators who are developing pedagogy and policy that integrate young people's mediated practices into the educational process.     

Engagement,passivity and detachment: 16‐year‐old students’ conceptions of politics and the relationship between people and politics

While there is a wealth of literature on young people and politics, most studies have examined their interest, trust and participation in politics as well as their attitudes toward and knowledge about formal politics. Little is known, however, about young people and the concept of politics. This article investigates 16‐year‐old students’ perceptions of the concept of politics and their conceptions of the relationship between people and politics. This knowledge is valuable for citizenship and social studies education, as an increasingly polarised political climate poses challenges to democratic politics and, consequently, to young people's political engagement and participation. In this study, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with nine students at five Norwegian upper secondary schools. The students varied in their interest and involvement in politics. A main finding is that the students perceived politics as processes related to shaping society, as decisions and activities related to ruling a country, and as the activities of discussion and debate. Three conceptions of the relationship between people and politics are presented: engagement, passivity, and detachment. In addition, while the 16‐year‐olds participated in political discussions privately and at school, they stated that they did not participate in political discussions in social media. Implications for citizenship and social studies education include the need to strengthen the bottom‐up perspective on politics and focus on in‐depth understanding of political processes and tools and methods of social‐scientific enquiry, as well as providing students with opportunities for and practice with handling opposition in political discussions online.     

Education beyond socialisation: on becoming and being a citizen-subject in everyday life

This article is concerned with a dimension of young people's civic education beyond socialisation that is neither confined to the sphere of political decision-making, nor to the achievement of a particular civic identity. The two case studies emphasise the role and importance of significant others and of democratic and non-democratic relationships, engagements and practices in the everyday lives of the young people. Whilst schools have a duty to teach young people how to act and behave in a responsible way within a democratic society, they also have a unique opportunity to foster and maintain a safe environment where young people can originate action, respond to the actions of others and be citizen-subjects.     

Tackling multimodal news: Some implications of critical analytical research on the ‘children overboard’ affair

Abstract

Accounting for front‐page news puts pressure on analytical resources, especially when news‐making is characterised by features such as overt political intervention in visual (photographic) and verbal (attribution) news data; explicit references to and investment in visual news to support political claims about news‐makers; and significant changes over time to a story, moving it from public scandal, through media disclosure to political defence. This article offers an account of how I tackled these analytical challenges in my research into the ‘children overboard’ affair in Australian newspapers.

The affair was generated from a false claim by Liberal Party ministers that asylum seekers threw their children overboard to coerce the Australian Navy into rescuing them. The story became front‐page news in October, 2001, helped to provide the Coalition with another term in office and greatly influenced public discourse about refugees and border protection. The article shows how I analysed semiotic resources such as voicing (in verbal news) and framing (in visual news) to track changes in this affair. It argues that political interventions in these semiotic resources (what I call ‘first‐order discourse') were pivotal in the management of news about asylum seekers. The article concludes by highlighting some implications of the methodology for critical analysis of multimodal news discourse.     

Without Sex Education: Exploring the social and sexual vulnerabilities of rural Bangladeshi girls and boys

In 1997, two organizations, BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) and ICDDR,B (International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research), as part of their collaborative research model, developed an HIV/AIDS prevention strategy for rural Bangladeshi youth. Currently, HIV/AIDS is not apparent in rural Bangladesh. Other sexual and reproductive health problems are more pressing. Moreover, there are few inor out-of-school sex education programs for adolescents in Bangladesh. Therefore, preliminary qualitative research was conducted to understand the broad parameters of sexual and reproductive health within the sociocultural context of young people's risks and vulnerabilities. Exploratory research revealed that youth were vulnerable to sexual diseases, late-term abortions, sexual violence, reproductive tract infections, and premarital pregnancies. Adolescents and adults thought that youth today need sex education. Adults said that youth should not be educated about condom use because this would conflict with a girl's prospects for an arranged marriage. Bangladeshi youth today are being exposed to experiences unfamiliar to their parents. Lacking appropriate knowledge, information and awareness about sexual and reproductive health unduly heightens young people's fears, and increases their social and sexual vulnerabilities.     

The use of teaching materials in religious education in Sweden: a quantitative analysis of Swedish religious education teachers’ reported use of teaching materials in RE classrooms

Abstract

Recent studies show that religious education (RE) and various media outlets serve as increasingly important arenas for religious socialisation among Swedish youths. At the same time, it has been shown that media material, for example in the form of various news media, often make their way into RE classrooms to be used as materials alongside the more traditional textbooks. However, little quantitative research has been conducted in order to map RE teachers’ selection and use of materials in their classrooms, and what factors are involved in this selection. A nationally representative survey among 1292 RE teachers was conducted, and the results clearly show that textbooks are the most popular form of material, followed by pictures, sacred texts, documentaries, television news and news articles. Out of the relevant background variables, it was primarily school form, age, gender and religiosity that seemed to influence the teachers’ choices of material. The author concludes that familiarity with a certain form of material through personal experiences is a likely explanation for many of the correlations found and that further research is needed in order to explore the potential complexities that arise in the juxtaposition of classroom and media logics.     

Innovations of education socialisation in Vietnam: from participation towards privatisation

Abstract

Education reforms worldwide, in both developed and developing countries, address the content of education programmes and/or changes education systems. There are different paths, and different socioeconomic contexts, for those nations which pursue education reform, and Vietnam makes for an instructive example. The country’s socioeconomic renovation, known as Doi Moi since the late 1980s, has put forward the discourse of socialisation, which generally advocates greater public participation in all areas of society. Although socialisation has been the central ideology of the Doi Moi process, there is still a dispute about its meaning and implications. This paper contributes to debates about reforms by examining the discourse of socialisation in Vietnam through analysis of government documents and public opinion in various media. These secondary documents on education socialisation in Vietnam, highlight the institutionalisation of education socialisation in an apparent movement from general public participation to a form of privatisation. This institutionalisation has dramatically transformed the conditions of people’s access to education in Vietnam.     

Closing Sex Education's Knowledge/Practice Gap: The reconceptualisation of young people's sexual knowledge

In rethinking what is theoretically conceived as a 'gap' between what young people learn in sexuality education and what they do in practice, this article argues for the need to comprehend young people's sexual knowledge from their own conceptualisation of this. Drawing on empirical findings from research with New Zealanders aged 17-19, young people's own understandings of their sexual knowledge are explored. These findings indicate how young people in the study conceptualised sexual knowledge in two ways: as information derived from secondary sources such as sexuality education, and knowledge gleaned from personal sexual experience. Hierarchies were evident within and between such types of sexual knowledge, in terms of the status young people afforded, and the interest they displayed in them. The type of sexual knowledge young people were most interested in, and which they identified as lacking in sexuality education, centred on a 'discourse of erotics'. It is argued that the inclusion of this discourse within sexuality education programmes might offer one way of closing the knowledge/practice gap, by raising the status of sexuality education's messages for young people and drawing this information closer to their lived sexual experiences.     

Political Education Should Play a Dominant Role

It is very important to offer politics courses in secondary school. Whether in wartime or during the period of socialist construction, our party offered politics courses in secondary school, a program which has played a gigantic role. Why do we say that it is an important subject? Because the politics course addresses itself to the problem of people's political orientation, world view, and goal of endeavor. At the same time, it provides the younger generation with the necessary weapons in their pursuit of studies and work. It is a major course that plays a dominant role in one's life. Our young people today have not experienced the hardships of old society; in addition, they are victims of the poison of Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four." Therefore, we must pay full attention to conducting political education among them. Offering a successful politics course will have special importance for them.     

People and Perspectives

Abstract

Many initiatives relating to young people's sexual health have focused on under 16s. Yet, most young people become sexually active between the ages of 16 and 19 and 80 per cent of under-18 conceptions are to 16- and 17-year-olds. The shift from school to further education marks a time of transition in young people's lives. It is a time when information and support with sexual health issues is particularly relevant.

Reforms to the further education sector invite a fresh look at how every young person's health and well-being can best be supported. This is in the context of the government teenage pregnancy strategy, which aims to reduce under-18 conceptions. This paper reports on research conducted by the Sex Education Forum with young people and staff in further education settings across England. This research was used to write guidance on the provision of sexual health services for young people in further education settings, which was published by the Department for Education and Skills and with support from the Department of Health and ministerial backing in June 2007.     

Awkward Practice: Teaching media in English

The Models of Media Education research project in England explored major issues about the aims and methods of media teaching amongst teachers of English. Its central research question was 'What are teachers of English doing when they say they are doing media education at Key Stage 4 (ages 14–16) in secondary schools?' This article begins with a brief contextualisation of the current curriculum for media teaching within English. It then examines, through a detailed case study, the work of one teacher in the classroom and relates this to the wider picture in secondary schools. This is followed by a discussion of the project's general findings. It concludes that the study of media production and institutions is frequently avoided by teachers of English and that teaching methods often repress essential aspects of social learning in relation to the media, privileging limited teacher knowledge over young people's own cultural experience. Finally, it suggests a new focus for research in the future that will encompass these neglected learning areas, teaching methods and new media technologies.     

The Effects of Political Education and Critical Thinking on Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese University Students' National Attitudes

In a context of patriotic education in Mainland China and depoliticised civic education in colonial Hong Kong, this article inquires into the nature of student resistance to state hegemonic political socialisation and examines the effects of critical thinking, as a form of resistance, on students' patriotism and nationalism. With data from questionnaires completed by 535 Hong Kong and Mainland university students, analyses of relationships among perceptions of political socialisation, critical thinking dispositions, and national attitudes reveal that critical thinking mediates the state-intended effects of schooling on political attitudes. The article concludes with a reconceptualisation of the concept of resistance.     

New girlhood and lost boys: analysing the cultural politics of gender and education through film

The ‘coming of age’ films Bend it like Beckham, Whale Rider and Harry Potter feature distinctive narratives about girlhood and boyhood that provide a perspective on the changing historical and political context of gendered identity construction in the new millennium. The early 2000s represented a particular moment in thinking about the possibilities, risks and threats of gender relations in Western countries. This was overwhelmingly represented by a discourse of crisis and loss in relation to boyhood and a discourse of hope in relation to girlhood. These films reflect the tensions and contradictory readings of the new cultural politics of gender in the early 2000s, drawing on many of the discourses present in academic discussions about young people's gendered identities. We show how an analysis of ‘coming of age’ films offers a lens for examining the cultural politics of gender and education, and for reflecting on social change and the perceptions and anxieties that this brings.     

Up or down and out? A systemic analysis of young people's educational pathways in the youth justice system in England and Wales

Many young people in the youth justice system in England and Wales are educationally marginalised and systemic barriers to their engagement with education persist. This article presents an analytical framework for understanding how education and youth justice practices shape young people's educational pathways during their time in the youth justice system with the aim of understanding the systemic dynamics that encourage or impede young people's engagement with education. It draws on data from a case study of 32 young people who were serving either a community or a custodial sentence under the supervision of one youth offending team in England and Wales. Using as analytical starting points Bourdieu's and Wacquant's conceptualisations of competing dynamics within the ‘bureaucratic field’ of state governance and Hodkinson's careership theory, this article discusses the interplay between exclusionary and inclusionary interests operating within and between the agencies of education and youth justice and the extent to which they play a role in sustaining young people's involvement in education or compounding their educational and social marginalisation.     

Digital literacy,fake news and education / Alfabetización digital,fake news y educación

Abstract

The role of digital literacy in strengthening citizens’ resilience to misinformation and ‘fake news’ has been the subject of research projects and networking and academic and policy discourses in recent years, given prominence by an escalation of the perceived crisis following election and referendum results in the US and UK respectively. This special issue sets out to take forward critical dialogue in the field of media and digital literacy education by publishing rigorous research on the subject. The research disseminated in this collection speaks to the political and economic contexts for ‘fake news’, the complex issue of trust and the risks of educational solutionism; questions of definition and policy implementation; teaching about specific subgenres such as YouTube and clickbait; international comparisons of pedagogic approaches and challenges for teachers in this changing ecosystem.     

Environmental education in television narratives: a Brazilian case study

Abstract

This article discusses recent Brazilian research on the relationship between environmental education and cultural studies. Television narratives about the environment and/or sustainability in our everyday lives are used to pose some initial questions about this relation. First, culture is discussed briefly showing how it potentially relates to teaching and informs our role as environmental educators. We argue that culturalist perspectives on research in environmental education politicise teaching practices, even though they are in a context that strays from prerogatives that envisage a future world marked by sustainable development and a green economy. We investigate the impacts of television narratives and images on our everyday lives wherein we are consistently taught particular written and visual messages about how to plan for our future. Examples are draw from the teaching effects of a Brazilian television programme called Repórter Eco, broadcast on a public television network, including the sustainable management of the baru (a typical tree from the Brazilia Cerrado). We argue the educational aspects of television programmes should receive critique, as the relationships established between people and various media artifacts produce particular meanings and ways of seeing the world. This presents a challenge for teachers as examining these subjective ways carefully requires critical examination, not only in terms of education for sustainability or environmental preservation, but also teaching using media.     

Children's political learning in primary school – evidence from Germany

Recent political socialisation research focuses almost exclusively on the orientations of adolescents, even though the literature seems to agree on the assumption that politically relevant orientations and attitudes are acquired much earlier in the life span. This article argues that it is essential to look at the beginning of socialisation if we want to shed further light on the processes underlying the development of democratic citizenship and therefore looks at children aged six to eight years. It examines the influence of primary school institutions on children's political learning by looking at three important school contexts on children's political knowledge, (1) teaching, (2) class, and (3) school context. The empirical analyses draw on data from a German study that includes several hundred children at the beginning and at the end of their first school year, as well as their teachers. Even though individual factors can account for a good portion of the variance, school factors are also important but depend on the respective knowledge domain. The findings can contribute to the ongoing discourse about a broadening of children's political and civic rights and are meant to trigger a discussion about a re-orientation of civic education in primary school.     

Infusing technology into a mathematics methods course: any impact?

The short report reviews the research on the factors that influence young people's higher education choices. It considers the main messages that have emerged from empirical studies, looking in particular at: the sources of information young people use; the relative importance of factors in their decisions; and their judgements about the 'feasibility' of an application. The paper concludes by suggesting that, although much of the literature is underpinned by an assumption that if young people's access to information improves they will make 'better' decisions about their futures, the picture is rather more complex due to the socially embedded nature of decision-making. Both research and policy need to recognize that young people's access to, and interpretation of, information is often patterned by their gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status.