(Mis)Understanding underachievement: a response to Connolly

In British Journal of Sociology of Education Volume 29 number 3, 2008, Connolly presented what he termed a ‘critical review’ of some of our previous work on the relative attainment of male and female students in UK schools. He proposed three general areas for criticism – our use of attainment gaps, our consideration of outcomes other than at specific thresholds, and our querying of the idea of student ‘underachievement’. These problems, he claimed, have ‘given rise to a number of misleading conclusions that have questionable implications for practice’. However, those of his ‘criticisms’ with any merit are actually the same as our own conclusions, transmuted by Connolly from our papers that he cites, while his remaining ‘criticisms’ are based on faulty elementary logic. In case readers have not read our work and were somehow misled by Connolly, we give here a brief reply to each criticism in turn. This matters, because a greater understanding of patterns of attainment and of the nature of underachievement is a precursor to the design of successful initiatives to overcome inequalities in educational opportunity and reward. This is both a practical and an ethical issue.     

广西桂学研究会筹备工作报告

广西桂学研究会是由广西文联主席潘琦和一批广西文化人倡导并经自治区民政厅批准成立的一个学术研究团体.自治区党委组织部"桂组干函字[2010]61号"文批复同意:自治区文联主席潘琦任广西桂学研究会会长;广西社会科学院党组书记、院长吕余生,自治区文联党组副书记、副主席黄德昌,广西教育学院院长容本镇兼任广西桂学研究会副会长.从提议到正式成立,历时一年多时间.期间做了大量的组织筹备工作,开展了卓有成效的桂学研究活动,形成了一批桂学研究成果,引起学术界和社会的重视与关注.     

Gender and British Postgraduate Funding Policy: a critique of the Winfield Report

This research note critically reviews the ESRC‐sponsored Winfield Report on Ph.D. completion rates and the allocation of research studentships. It is argued that the report was insensitive to issues of gender, and failed to consider research relevant to that topic. In consequence, the Winfield Report, and policies implemented on the basis of it, incorporate unexamined assumptions about social science doctorates and the students pursuing higher degrees. The model social science student portrayed is a young, geographically mobile male. Female candidates, especially those of mature age, are likely to be disadvantaged by current policies and their presuppositions.     

从《罗宾斯报告》到《迪尔英报告》--英国高等教育的发展路径、战略及其启示

本文阐述从《罗宾斯报告》到《迪尔英报告》之间三十余年英国高等教育改革与发展的路径,分析英国政府发展高等教育的战略调整以及引发高等教育发展的社会背景,在评介《迪尔英报告》对21世纪英国高等教育战略构思影响的同时,指出了我国高等教育改革可资借鉴的经验.     

社会认知:和谐社会构建的社会心理基础

社会认知是认知心理学和社会心理学相结合的产物,其研究的核心是社会心理信息如何加工及其潜在机制.社会认知研究曾出现过"冷""暖"两种基本取向,其隐喻也经历了从把认知者当作"朴素科学家",到把认知者视为"吝啬认知者"再到把认知者当作一个"目标明确的策略家"的转变.社会认知领域主要对刻板印象、社会态度、社会偏见以及社会歧视等社会心理现象进行了研究.必须要规避或消除这些消极的社会心理现象:营造良好的舆论氛围以消除社会偏见;增加群体之间的接触和沟通以克服刻板印象;塑造良好的自我形象以消除社会偏见;消除社会冲突以形成积极的社会情绪;完善社会制度以消除社会歧视,从而实现构建和谐社会的目的.     

Learning through life: a response to the special issue 29(4)

This paper argues that after-school programmes need to be considered an essential part of lifelong learning infrastructure, particularly in light of the dominance of the economic discourse in both lifelong learning literature and the initial schooling literature. The paper, which is based upon existing literature, begins by providing an overview of after-school programmes, including their historical development. This is followed by an examination of the changing discourse in the lifelong learning literature and the initial school literature. The argument is made that the narrowing of lifelong learning and initial schooling perspectives represented by economic determinism leads to an increase in those on the margins. The youth development literature is then reviewed with a focus on positive youth development, arguing that after-school programmes with a positive youth development focus can meet the needs of those disengaged youth who are marginalised by the formal educational system. The Fusion Youth and Technology Centre is then presented as an illustrative case of an after-school programme that has a positive youth development focus. This is followed by a discussion of after-school programmes and the role they can play as part of the lifelong learning infrastructure.     

构建和谐社会关键在于提高党的利益整合能力

构建社会主义和谐社会，最重要的是妥善协调、正确处理社会各方面的利益关系。而现实中社会利益分化的加快和利益冲突的不断出现，已经形成对社会和谐的严峻挑战。因此，提高中国共产党对各方面利益的整合能力，便成为构建社会主义和谐社会的关键。     

Choosing 'stereotypes': debating the efficacy of (British) disability-criticism

This paper considers how, by paying attention to the divergent use of 'stereotypes' as a methodological tool, we concomitantly pay attention to the capacities of contemporary disability-criticism. First, the search for negative stereotypes is described in terms of how it enables the repeated citation of common examples. However, as some areas of disability-criticism have begun to acknowledge that 'stereotypes' are not exclusively a negative form, the second part of the paper uses the US cartoon series South Park to explore what sort of interpretations such a troublesome recognition allows. While critical discourse on disability is discussed as a whole, the ultimate aim is to draw some conclusions about the past, present and future of British disability-criticism. The paper concludes by suggesting that recognising the contingency of where we are on how we choose to read representations of disability strengthens debates about how we want to go on.     

Symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and home learning environment (HLE): findings from a longitudinal study

The concept of “Home Learning Environment” (HLE) covers activities in a family providing intellectual stimulation for a child, such as reading to him or her or visiting libraries. Numerous studies have shown an association between HLE and children's cognitive development. In this longitudinal study, we focus on HLE as a predictor for children's behavioral development, namely, for later symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), controlling for relevant aspects like socioeconomic status (SES), or television viewing behavior. We analyzed the development of ADHD symptoms from kindergarten to the end of grade 2 and possible associations with HLE, SES, and television exposure, using a German community sample (N?=?924). Results indicated that ADHD symptoms were negatively and significantly correlated to HLE for all five measurement points as well as to SES (except T4) and to television exposure for T1 to T4. Observing later development, only early HLE but not SES or television exposure served as a significant predictor for ADHD symptoms at school, when age, sex, and ADHD symptoms in kindergarten were controlled for. A structural equation model showed that HLE acted as a mediator between SES and later ADHD symptoms. Our results highlight the importance of the concept of home learning environment also for children's behavioral development. As a consequence, parents should be supported in offering their children a more favorable learning environment.     

How (German) foundations shape the concept of education: Towards an understanding of their use of discourses

In this article I examine how foundations use the concept of education and how they try to shape its definition and implementation. In accordance with Steven Lukes’ notion, I argue that changes in social fields are mainly triggered by normative and semantic shifts. By drawing on techniques of discourse analysis, I explore the use of discursive strategies and the discursive interpretations of education, as both its definition and its operationalization have consequences on the identification of educational needs and outcomes. It is shown that foundations regard the use of education as an opportunity to influence values, traditions, and future generations. Furthermore, foundations take part in debates on education in order to increase social influence, to be accepted as legitimate actors in education, and to be perceived as competent and indispensable players in defining educational goals.     

ADHD: The Untold Truths of the ADEP (Australian Deficit in Educational Policy)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that predominantly results in behaviours associated with hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention that are frequently not conducive to successful learning and academic performance. Children who display these behaviours often require extra assistance, adjustments, and accommodations in the classroom in order to achieve their full potential. This article reviews Australian and New South Wales Discrimination, Disability and Education legislation, policy and procedures with respect to the education of students with ADHD. This review illustrates the need to standardise the definition of disability used throughout Australia, and to more firmly clarify an education provider’s responsibilities toward students with disabilities. With more clarity, students with ADHD will be provided with the additional educational and behaviour support they need in order to realise their full potential.     

Becoming (a) public: what the concept of public reveals about a programmatic public pedagogy at the university

This article extends the ongoing argumentation of ‘public’, publics and universities by providing a conceptual discussion of issues at the core of the public sphere: how does public form and exist amid private and individual life and pursuits, and how does a collective public body identify itself. The discussion is placed in dialogue with two earlier contributions to ‘becoming (a) public’ by Simons and Masschelein (European Educational Research Journal, 8(2), 204–217, 2009) and Biesta (Social & Cultural Geography, 13(7), 683–697, 2012). Brought together, these contributions constitute a definition of a programmatic public pedagogy at the university. This article develops the definition of a programmatic public pedagogy by drawing on the conceptual core meanings of public in continental antiquity, Enlightenment and American pragmatism. The author discusses public as (1) indefinitely circulating discourses, (2) sociability between strangers, (3) macro structures and (4) the political public sphere. The article reveals that the ‘becoming (a) public’ extends and occurs across a broad spectrum, and that the discursive and sociable manifestations of public are not secondary to explicitly political action but have an inherent value in themselves. The article distinguishes the character of public as constant openness to the emergence of what is yet not known from interpretations that locate public in the existing structures, ideologies and forms of action. The dialogue with Simons and Masschelein and Biesta shows that this distinction has critical implications on how programmatic public pedagogy is understood at the university.     

对研究生心理危机事件处理的思考——一则研究生心理危机事件的案例分析

研究生心理危机事件的处理是高校辅导员工作职责的重要组成部分,而如何处理研究生心理危机事件,关系到研究生的人身安全和校园的和谐稳定。本文以一则研究生心理危机事件为例,从辅导员的角度对研究生心理危机事件的处理进行分析,探讨研究生心理危机事件的预防及处理措施,以便增强辅导员对研究生心理危机事件的处理能力。