Setting Things Right? Swedish Upper Secondary School Reform in a 40-Year Perspective

This article analyses reforms addressing and affecting the curriculum and organisation of Swedish upper secondary education over 40 years, up to an initiative by the present non-socialist government. The aim is to analyse the current reform of upper secondary education and relate it to previous reforms during a 40-year period in terms of continuity and breaks, mainly with regard to major functions of the reforms and the structuring and control of educational contents. Aiming to create a sharper division of students into three separate streams (academic and vocational education, and apprenticeship training), the reform constitutes a major break with the previously dominant trend towards greater integration. It is argued that it will result in a restriction and reformulation of the knowledge which is regarded as desirable. Similar moves are evident in relation to teacher education, which, if enacted, would involve moving from a model of high flexibility and a common core of knowledge to substantially stronger divisions between contents and programmes.     

Liberal Ideals,Postmodern Practice: A Working Paradox for the Future of Secondary School Art Education in England?

Modern liberal rationales continue to inform a majority of teaching and learning in English art classrooms. In a postmodern Western society increasingly informed by neoliberal globalisation this approach begins to look either like an anachronism or an act of outmoded pedagogic resistance. What is certain is that the modern liberal tradition is increasingly irrelevant to a young generation of learners, but while alternative paradigms have subsequently been suggested none have come to replace the stubbornly established rationales of modernism and liberalism. This article suggests novel futures for the justification and relevance of art education that move beyond those currently prevalent. Preferable futures are suggested that synthesise postmodern practice with liberal ideals in a paradox requiring creative consideration. While the difficulties of drawing upon such contradictory rationales are noted, a case is made that if such a purpose might be accepted and imbedded in art educational futures, then there may result a more relevant and sustainable future for art education in England.     

What Do You Know about Alternative Energy? Development and Use of a Diagnostic Instrument for Upper Secondary School Science

The need for renewable and non-fossil fuels is now recognised by nations throughout the world. Consequently, an understanding of alternative energy is needed both in schools and in everyday life-long learning situations. This study developed a two-tier instrument to diagnose students' understanding and alternative conceptions about alternative energy in terms of: sources of alternative energy, greenhouse gas emission, as well as advantages, and disadvantages. Results obtained with Years 10 and 11 students (n?=?491) using the 12-item two-tier instrument (α?=?0.61) showed that students' understanding of alternative energy was low (M?=?7.03; SD?=?3.90). The 23 alternative conceptions about alternative energy sources that could be identified from the instrument are reported. The implications for teaching and learning about alternative energy and suggestions for further development and improvement of the instrument are presented.     

Assessing Secondary School Students’ Justifications for Supporting or Rejecting a Scientific Hypothesis in the Physics Lab

Research in Science Education - Justifications play a central role in argumentation, which is a core topic in school science education. This paper contributes to this field of research by...     

Why Do Some Young Adults not Graduate From Upper-Secondary School? On the Importance of Signals of Labour Market Failure

In high-income countries, not completing secondary school often entails a high risk of social exclusion. Using data on young adults born in 1985 who grew up in metropolitan Sweden, we study factors associated with not graduating from upper-secondary school at age 21. Our hypothesis is that if a young person sees examples of people who are not able to earn a living despite having a long education, such negative examples are influential. Results from estimated logistic models are consistent with the hypothesis.     

School transitions: beginning of the end or a new beginning?

Moving from elementary to middle/junior high school or from middle/junior high to high school is difficult for most students and especially problematic for some. This chapter explores the reasons that these transitions are difficult, the kinds of students that have the greatest difficulty with transitions, and the process of disengagement from school that too often follows unsuccessful transitions. Facilitating successful transitions requires that attention be paid to students’ preparedness for the transition and the kinds of support students need before, during, and after the transition. The chapter concludes with a series of recommendations for facilitating successful transitions.     

School Careers of Pupils of Ethnic Minority Background After the Transition to Secondary Education: Is the Ethnic Factor Always Negative?

This article describes the school careers of Dutch pupils of ethnic minority background in the first 5 years following the transition to secondary education. The database used is VOCL89 of the Dutch Central Statistics Office (CBS). In line with previous findings,in the case of equal achievements pupils of ethnic minority background are advised to select higher types of secondary education than Dutch pupils. Furthermore, pupils of ethnic minority background more often select a school higher than advised than Dutch pupils. With control for social background, pupils of ethnic minority background are also found to display a more favourable career after the 1st year of secondary education. Path model construction results in consistently positive effects of ethnic minority origin at every transition. Further analysis demonstrates that even the most vulnerable subgroups of pupils of ethnic minority background, the Turkish and Moroccan pupils born in their motherland, show both absolutely and compared with the advice a career on a higher level than Dutch pupils with a similar social background. A point of discussion concerns the extent to which social background, defined as the parental educational level, refers to the same concept for Dutch people and people belonging to ethnic minority groups.     

Liberating Tongues?: A Theoretical Analysis of the Work of a full‐time Embedded Spoken Word Educator in a Secondary School

This article will discuss my often challenging transition from radical political poet to full time poet teacher in a Roman Catholic secondary school. Can the counter‐cultural art form of spoken word education thrive within the institution of school? By looking at classroom and after school experience, student poems and relevant theory, the paper will consider the opportunities and complications of using spoken word education to stage marginalised voices.     

Successful futures for all? Additional learning needs in Wales in the light of curriculum reform

Wales is undergoing a major programme of educational reform, including the development of a new curriculum and transformation of the system for supporting learners with additional learning needs (ALN). This article reports on a research project investigating how these two elements are being brought together, drawing on interviews with policy leads and school‐based practitioners. Findings indicate that the new curriculum is perceived as broader, more focused on the quality of teaching and more relevant to all learners. Tensions were apparent, however, in the core belief systems of interviewees. For those with a school‐based and/or curriculum‐focused role, what is in the best interests of specific learners is a core belief that subsumes the idea of inclusivity and necessitates the continuation of arrangements for ALN in their current form. It is argued that clearer articulation of teachers as agents of change is required if educational transformation is to be achieved.     

Towards a learning or a certified society? Contradictions in the New Labour modernization of lifelong learning

This paper examines the ‘Learning Society’ goal espoused by the new Labour government and inherited from preceding Conservative administrations. Section one notes the wide‐ranging consensus on this Learning Society target. Agreement reaches further than education and training (learning) policy to include other areas of policy associated with the proposed reform of the welfare state. Whether the social and administrative changes under previous Conservative governments ‐ changes that can be conceptualized in different ways the paper briefly indicates ‐ amount to the end of the welfare state is discussed in section two. The position of post‐compulsory or ‘lifelong’ learning in relation to compulsory or ‘foundation’ learning in the new ‘post‐welfare’ or Contracting State is then discussed in section three. Contradictions in New Labour's programme of modernizing lifelong learning are exposed. In conclusion, the question is posed how far a New Labour government will be prepared to reverse previous Conservative substitution of the market for representative democracy in the new type of Contracting State, or whether it will merely extend and further consolidate it. Throughout, evidence is presented, particularly from post‐compulsory education and training, to argue that the new government is bent upon pursuing the latter option.     

Is the expansion of higher education in Japan for young students only or for all? A critical analysis from a lifelong learning perspective

The recent restructuring of higher education in Japan has been carried out in the context of neo‐liberalism with an emphasis on the unbridled workings of market forces. However, civic discourse on issues such as active citizenship and social inclusion/exclusion, which is significant to higher education as a democratic public sphere, has been left behind. Focusing on this omission, this article aims at a critical analysis of the government expansion policy initiative in Japan. It includes discussion of a wide‐ranging group of participants, in particular adults who are disadvantaged with regard to access to higher education in a knowledge‐based society, from the point of view of lifelong learning. It is a very important subject in Japan to encourage the active participation of adults in higher education. Regarding this aspect, the article discusses significant points for building new concepts and systems in higher education, instead of the established traditional concepts and systems, which have contributed to the exclusion of adults from higher education.     

Why Are We Here? A Five‐year Study of Institutional Development in a Secondary School

A process of survey feedback for internal renewal in a secondary school is analyzed in this article. Both qualitative and quantitative data, collected over a five‐year period, reveal that a number of interacting factors affected the process at various stages. Implications of the study center around school culture (norms), the community context, the importance of continuity of leadership and the integration of school‐level and system‐level initiatives.     

Educational reform and policy dynamics: a case of the Malaysian “Vision School” for racial integration

In the multiracial Malaysian society, a new school redesign model called “Vision School” has been initiated as yet another measure to foster racial harmony. In this model, the ethnicity-based schools with the medium of instruction in the respective native languages are located within a common compound to share common facilities and jointly organize select school events. Conceptually, the Vision School model can be argued as a viable avenue for fostering racial unity. However, on the ground, the strategies and planned activities seem to be inadequate, simplistic, and unproductive. A qualitative investigation of a high-profile Vision School indicated that the goal of racial integration/harmonization is far from happening for the approach taken to implement the Vision School is fallacious with the shortfall in the policy formulation and execution stages. It provided evidence that the policy cycle, policy instruments, and critical action domains need to be coherently and sequentially aligned for success.     

Achieving Universal General Secondary Education in Ethiopia in line with the middle-income country vision: a reality or a dream?

This article analyses the challenges facing secondary education in the context of Ethiopia’s Growth and transformation Plan (GtP) for 2010/11–2014/15 and its stated goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2025. It does not aim to provide a definitive set of recommendations for universalising general secondary education to meet the demands of a middle-income economy. Rather, the article informs policy makers and other stakeholders about the options available in the context of Ethiopia. It aims to equip them to chart a path for sustainable expansion of the subsector, enabling universalising secondary education to play an important role in transforming the country from a low-income to a middle-income economy. The article investigates the participation rate in secondary education that would support a middle-income economy, and then analyses how teacher preparation, development and management, together with school-based management, can contribute to ensuring quality secondary graduates. However, the following problems still persist in secondary education: the gap between access for urban and rural populations remains significant; gender disparities and disparities between regions remain high; access to general secondary education (grades 9–10) is still low; access to preparatory secondary education is low; and the distance between home and school is far for numerous children, which represents a barrier in particular for adolescent girls. The article summarises policy options for universalising general secondary education. The most critical reform areas identified in the study relate to the financing, and governance and management of secondary education, particularly school-based management.     

Is teacher attrition a poor estimate of the value of teacher education? A Swedish case

Far from all who complete teacher education end up working as teachers throughout their entire career. At first sight the value of teacher education, in terms of efficiency, seems to be a failure. In the present article we argue that teacher attrition, when defined as whether one is working as teacher or not, is a too blunt measure to gauge whether teacher education has been valuable. With a unique dataset, where we have detailed information on 87 Swedish teacher graduates’ working life across 23 years, we can consider whether activities and/or experiences point to an apparent use of teacher education. In conclusion, we find that in order to get informative estimates of its value it is important to consider it from different perspectives and to consider attrition related to the total working time spent in educational settings across a career rather than percentage leaving teaching after a set of years