‘Go,go on and go higher an’ higher’. Second‐generation Turks’ understanding of the role of education and their struggle through the Dutch school system

With reference to capital theories and rational choice theory, this paper aims to understand how abilities and schooling ambitions are intertwined with social class, gender and ethnicity. By drawing on 16 in‐depth interviews carried out with highly educated second‐generation Turks in the Netherlands, the paper discusses the resources, opportunities and educational attitudes of young people, together with the role of the school system and that of teachers in perpetuating ethnic inequalities in schooling, with special emphasis on gender differences in schooling ambitions.     

Pure ethnic gaps in educational attainment and school to work transitions: When do they arise?

This article decomposes the observed gaps in educational attainment and school-to-work transitions in Belgium between grandchildren of natives and of women of “non-Western” nationality into (i) differences in observed family endowments and (ii) a residual “pure ethnic gap”. It innovates by explicitly taking delays in educational attainment into account, by identifying the moments at which the pure ethnic gaps arise, by disentangling the decision to continue schooling at the end of a school year from the achievement within a particular grade, and by integrating the language spoken at home among observed family endowments. The pure ethnic gap in educational attainment is found to be small if delays are neglected, but substantial if not and for school-to-work transitions. It is shown that more than 20% of the pure ethnic gap in graduating from secondary school without delay originates in tenth grade. Language usage explains only part of the gap in school-to-work transitions for low educated.     

Does what you study at age 14–16 matter for educational transitions post-16?

Abstract

This paper considers whether subject choice at 14–16 influences post-16 transitions, taking into account prior academic attainment and school characteristics, and if so, whether this accounts for socioeconomic, gender, and ethnic differences in access to post-16 education. We consider post-16 progression to full-time education, A-levels, and studying two or more facilitating subjects at A-level. We use ‘Next Steps’, a study of 16,000 people born in England in 1989–1990, linked to administrative education records (the National Pupil Database). We find that students pursuing an EBacc-eligible curriculum at 14–16 had a greater probability of progression to all post-16 educational outcomes, while the reverse was true for students taking an applied GCSE subject. Curriculum differences did not explain the social class differences in post-16 progression, but an academic curriculum was equally valuable for working-class as for middle-class pupils. Pursuing an EBacc-eligible curriculum particularly strongly increased the chances of girls and white young people staying in the educational pipeline, whereas applied subjects were particularly detrimental for girls. An EBacc-eligible curriculum at age 14–16 increased the chances of studying subjects preferred by Russell Group universities at A-level.     

The Colonisation of Social Class in Education

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dilemmas posed by the analysis of working class issues in education by professional sociologists. There are two central themes in the paper. First it suggests that the inequalities experienced in the education system by working class people has been colonised by middle class academics for their own professional purposes. This colonisation has been greatly facilitated by the nature of the scholastic context itself. To globalise one's point of view in academic writing requires both freedom from the urgency and necessity of survival, and intellectual legitimacy. Working class people lack both. The paper also suggests that working class people occupy a struturally contradictory role in relation to education: on the one hand, social mobility generally requires that they be well educated. Yet if they are to succeed in the education system they have to abandon certain features of their class background. They cease to be working class at least to some degree. Other oppressed or marginalised groups in education, do not lose their defining minority identity or status by being educated: an educated woman never ceases to be a woman, an educated black person never ceases to be black, and a physically disabled person who is educated never ceases to be disabled. The structural relationship between social class and education, is fundamentally different therefore to that of gender, race and ethnicity and this issue needs to be re‐assessed in educational analysis. Finally, the paper suggests that the failure to incorporate a working class perspective on educational inequalities leads to the impoverishment of academic analysis as the interests of professional academics rather than working class people dominate the agenda.     

Social Class,Gender and Ethnic Differences in Subjects Taken at Age 14.

In this paper, we identify patterns of subject and qualification choices made at age 14. Much of the previous research on ‘subject choice’ has focussed on the later stages of educational trajectories, particularly Higher Education. However, the choices made at early branching points can limit pupils’ subsequent options, potentially contributing to educational inequalities. This paper identifies the patterns of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) subjects chosen by a cohort of young people born in 1989/1990. We make use of the Next Steps data (formerly the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)) which is linked to the National Pupil Database. We develop an approach to measuring the academic selectivity of subjects and qualifications. We examine the roles of social class, parental education, income, gender and ethnicity in determining participation in these curriculum groupings. Using measures of prior attainment from age thirteen, we address the question of whether curriculum differentials simply reflect differences in prior attainment or whether they actually operate above and beyond existing inequalities. We find clear socio-economic, gender, ethnic and school-level differences in subjects studied which cannot be accounted for by prior attainment.     

Student teachers in school practice: an analysis of learning opportunities

Abstract

Over the past decade, educational policy in Britain, as in other industrial nations, has been increasingly driven by the concern that higher education should serve the needs of the economy more effectively. The report Highly Qualified People: supply and demand reflects this concern and attempts to establish from employers Britain's likely requirement, in the 1990s, for such expensively educated labour. Though the report concluded that Britain needed more graduates over the next few years, closer scrutiny of its data suggests a very different conclusion ‐ not that Britain needs more graduates to prosper, but rather that Britain needs first to prosper before it is likely to want the graduates it already produces.

     

Constructions of locality and gender and their impact on the educational aspirations of working-class children

Over recent years the moral panic that has surrounded 'boys' underachievement' has tended to encourage crude and essentialist comparisons between allboys and allgirls and to eclipse the continuing and more profound effects on educational achievement exerted by social class and 'race'/ethnicity. While there are differences in educational achievement between working-class boys and girls, these differences are relatively minor when comparing the overall achievement levels of working-class children with those from higher, professional social class backgrounds. This article argues that a need exists therefore for researchers to fully contextualize the gender differences that exist in educational achievement within the overriding contexts provided by social class and 'race'/ethnicity. The article provides an example of how this can be done through a case study of 11-year-old children from a Catholic, working-class area in Belfast. The article shows how the children's general educational aspirations are significantly mediated by their experiences of the local area in which they live. However, the way in which the children come to experience and construct a sense of locality differs between the boys and girls and this, it is argued, helps to explain the more positive educational aspirations held by some of the girls compared with the boys. The article concludes by considering the relevance of locality for understanding its effects on educational aspirations among other working-class and/or minority ethnic communities.     

Extraordinary conversations in public schools

This article reviews two ethnographic studies in which "disruptive pedagogies" are engaged in public schools, designed to enable youth to work across categories of difference toward a grounded sense of social critique and participation. Respectfully challenging/extending the premises of reproduction theory, it is argued that educational researchers not only need to theorize the means of (re)production by which public schools insure class, race, ethnic and gender stratification, but also to theorize how counter-hegemonic moments in school, in which educators undertake disruptive pedagogies, affect social consciousness and community.     

Gender neutral engineering: an impossible dream? ‐ the case of Eastern Europe

A total of 189 engineers, both students and qualified engineers of both sexes at two universities in Bulgaria, were given a questionnaire addressing the issue of why such a high proportion of engineers in Bulgaria were women compared with Britain. Answers were both fixed answer and open ended. The responses stressed the importance of the need for women to work for economic reasons and the role of the previous (communist) system in emphasizing the importance of both engineering and gender equity in its policies, including its educational policy. Qualified engineers were slightly more ready to stress these ‘system’ factors than student engineers. Engineering in Bulgaria had not been altered in any way which would take account of Western feminist criticism of engineering, but was perceived as being taught more theoretically and via lectures than in Britain. A contemporary strong switch away from engineering into economics and business was perceived. It is not clear yet whether gender neutral engineering will survive in Bulgaria.     

Resistance and Subversion in Everyday Life

The main thesis of this article is that resistance and subversion are part of everyday life in most cultures, and that they are integral to the process of development. Many of our theories of social and moral development either fail to account for resistance, and treat it largely as anti-social, or view it as unusual activity sometimes undertaken by those who have reached a high level of development. Several examples are presented to illustrate that resistance and subversion are common among people in positions of little power in the social hierarchy--especially on the part of women in patriarchal societies. Moreover, research has demonstrated that social conflict and resistance based on moral aims occur in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Especially among adults, conflicts occur over inequalities embedded in the structure of social systems that allow greater power and personal entitlements to some groups (e. g. social hierarchies based on gender, socio-economic class, ethnic or racial status). In their everyday lives adults come into conflicts with others and resist moral wrongs embedded in cultural practices that serve to further the interests of those in higher positions in the social hierarchy. Resistance frequently entails deceptive actions aimed at transforming aspects of the social system judged unfair and detrimental to the welfare of groups of people.     

Ethnic Minority and Gender Distribution Among Staff and Pupils in Facilities for Pupils with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in England and Wales

This article describes the ethnic and gender make up of a substantial (60%+) sample of the staff and pupil population of schools and units for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties in England and Wales. The data presented is taken from a questionnaire survey. This is the first large sample study of this topic to be conducted in educational establishments of this type in England and Wales. Notable findings are: (1) the imbalance in gender distribution in these facilities, with the boys far outweighing the number of girls; (2) the over representation of pupils of Afro‐Caribbean origin, particularly among the boys; and (3) the under representation of teachers from ethnic minorities among the teaching staff in these schools. These findings are shown to be generally consistent with the findings of related studies, and are discussed in terms of social and educational issues.     

Inequalities in Entry to Higher Education: a Comparison Over Time between Scotland and England and Wales

This paper uses data from the Scottish School Leavers Surveys and the England and Wales Youth Cohort Study to analyse changes over time in gender and social class inequalities in the opportunities of young people to participate in higher education (HE) in Scotland, England and Wales. The results show that in Great Britain, in the period from the end of the 1980s to 2001–2002, HE expansion has benefited more women than men, and in the most recent time points has led to a reduction in social inequalities. However, gender and social class differences persist at degree level and in the choice of subject studied. The results also show that higher proportions of working class students enter HE in Scotland than in England and Wales, but that social inequalities are more marked in Scotland. The larger availability of vocational routes in Scotland, at both sub‐degree and degree level, may explain country differences in HE participation rate of working class students.     

The risk of delayed school entry in relation to migration background in different institutional settings

In Germany, children of immigrants are faced with delayed school entry about twice as often as children of native-born parents because they are more often diagnosed not being ready for school. We investigate these early educational inequalities, focusing on the interplay of individual competencies and the institutional context in terms of the school enrollment procedure. We compare the conventional procedure, where school enrollment is supposed to be bound on school readiness, with reformed procedures where school enrollment is not supposed to be bound on school readiness. Data of school entry examinations from Hesse, Germany from 2008–2012 are analyzed (N = 50,717). The results show that children of immigrants from all origin groups have a substantially higher risk of obtaining a recommendation for delayed school entry than children of native-born parents. However, these ethnic differences are strongly reduced in the reformed procedures as compared to the conventional school enrollment procedure, indicating that these procedures could be an effective measure to reduce ethnic educational inequalities at school start.     

Comparisons of ‘Education Reform’ in Britain and the USA: a new era?

ABSTRACT

This paper compares and contrasts the origins, objectives and outcomes of the New Right education reform movements in Britain and the USA. It considers whether the education reforms will create a new era for schools, in terms of diversity of public and private provision and social, sexual and racial differentiation. This is despite the emphasis on quality or excellence in education as opposed to equality of educational opportunity. The origins of the reform movements are to be found in both the politics and economic developments of the ‘social democratic’ or ‘liberal’ bipartisan political consensus. The objectives of the reforms are to deal with declining international competitiveness and the raising of educational standards through consumer or parental choice. The outcomes are likely not to be a general raising of standards but rather a bifurcation in terms of a complex mix of class, race and gender.     

Promoting Empathy Through the Dynamics of Staff Development: What Schools Can Offer Their Teachers as Learners

This is a revised version of a paper presented at the International Conference on Empathy, Experience and Spirituality, June 2001, Roehampton University of Surrey. Based on the presenter’s substantial experience of collaborative support work with teachers in Britain and overseas, the paper was stimulated by Ron Best’s argument in Pastoral Care in Education 18 (2000), on the nurturing of empathy through ‘the experience schools provide for children’, and highlights the opportunities for such provision for teachers’ own experiences in the educational setting.     

Applying social production function theory to benefits of schooling: the concept of values of education

Abstract

Many approaches to explaining educational inequalities relate explicitly and implicitly to benefits of education, and rational choice theories in particular consider monetary benefits. We specify a concept of the value of education that allows for an empirical analysis of educational benefits, considering both monetary and non-monetary dimensions (instrumental goals) outlined in social production function theory. Our objectives include introducing a sound theoretical framework, the validation of an empirical measurement instrument and an analysis of the differences between certain dimensions of educational values structured by social origin, gender and immigrant background. Analyses are based on a two-wave panel study (SASAL-School Alienation in Switzerland and Luxembourg) carried out in secondary schools in Luxembourg and Switzerland. We distinguish four dimensions within the concept of values of education: stimulation, comfort/status, behavioural confirmation and affection. The different dimensions of the value of education are influenced by gender and immigrant backgrounds in both national settings.     

Engaging with commonality and difference: Theoretical tensions in the analysis of working-class women's educational discourses

In this article the authors contribute to ongoing theoretical debates concerning the conceptualisation of multiple social identities and oppressions. The article begins by briefly tracing the path towards current critical/feminist/sociological positions 'between modernism and postmodernism', in which identities ('race', class, gender, etc.) are conceptualised as socially constructed, fluid, shifting and yet grounded in 'real' inequalities and oppressions. The article then builds upon, and contributes to, current theoretical dialogue by highlighting ongoing tensions and unresolved problematics within the theoretical approach, drawing out the particular implications of these for educational research. Issues are discussed with specific reference to recent work by Brah (1999) and illustrations are provided using examples from the authors' research with inner city, working-class women.     

Changing Perspectives in the History of Education

Abstract

This articles identifies four issues whose resolution will shape the future of American elementary and secondary education. These are as follows. (1) Will the principle of decentralised control prevail over the seemingly inexorable tendency to consolidate power at the centre? (2) Will continuing emphasis on mass education obscure increasing demands to improve quality and raise achievement levels? (3) Will schools advance equality of educational opportunity, or reproduce inequalities inherent in the society? (4) Will schools integrate culturally heterogeneous populations at the expense of legitimate expressions of ethnic cultures? This article shows how these issues mirror ambiguities underlying American democratic principles, and offers some comparisons to conditions of education in Europe.     

Horizontal inequalities in children’s educational outcomes in Ethiopia

We go beyond previous studies of vertical inequality in Ethiopia, by investigating ethnic group-based, or horizontal, educational inequality. Currently, there are no known studies of differential schooling patterns across cultural groups in Ethiopia. The research draws on the Young Lives prospective longitudinal study of 929 children in later childhood. We investigate the extent to which ethnic group differences in schooling participation and progression can be explained by individual differences in socio-economic status. The findings show that poor educational participation and progression remain challenges for certain minority ethnic groups. Household wealth helps to explain the effect of ethnicity on educational outcomes. However, it cannot fully account for the ethnic gap. We conclude that conventional research, which emphasizes addressing individual differences in educational outcomes, or vertical inequalities, may downplay the role of cultural group-based inequalities in children's opportunities to learn.     

Political Partisanship, Voting Abstention and Higher Education: Changing Preferences in a British Youth Cohort in the 1990s

This paper focuses on the relationship between education and political partisanship, using the British Household Panel Study (1991–1999). It is known that partisanship has been falling in Britain since the mid–1950s. However, voting abstention rose only gradually until the June 2001 election where the turnout (at 59 per cent) was the lowest since 1918. Partisanship also fell sharply during the 1990s. Although social class and education are associated with turnout in the USA, no relationship has been reported in the UK, and voting seems to have been perceived as a citizen duty. However, in the light of recent changes in voting patterns and educational participation, this paper investigates the role of education, contextualising education effects in social class and gender effects. The preferences of young people are observed in their late teens, before entering the labour market or higher education, and are compared with those of the same young people in their early 20s, after completing higher education courses or gaining labour market experience. The BHPS yielded a sample of about 500 young people with the required data over the time period. It was hypothesised that dissatisfaction with government performance would take different forms for the more and the less educated, with the more educated shifting preferences to minority parties while the less educated shift preferences to voting abstention. The hypothesis was confirmed for young men. Endorsement of abstention was very high for adolescent women who also seemed to be more influenced by their family's social class. However, by early adulthood a lower proportion of young women endorsed abstention than young men. Strong effects of education were still found with more highly educated young women (as with more highly educated young men) being more likely to have party preferences.