‘The pen is the spear of today': (re)producing gender in the Maasai schooling setting

An essentialist, ‘traditional', Maasai gender ideology that poorly reflects the day-to-day gender realities of residents is being reproduced and dominating in the modern schooling setting of a Maasai community in Southern Kenya. Through an ethnographic analysis based on long-term fieldwork and mixed-method approaches, this paper explores the construction of this gender ideology as reflected in schooling aspirations of parents, teachers, and students, in students’ own constructions of masculinity and femininity, and in school culture. This ideology functions to promote education as a means of cultural preservation and livelihood protection by drawing schooling into the Maasai's unique age-set system and warrior tradition, which is heavily imbued with particular gender constructions. While, arguably, maintaining this traditional ideology may conflict with broader goals of empowerment and social equity for Maasai women, it may serve to facilitate schooling for young girls, off-set increasing and burdensome responsibilities, and provide them with an attainable femininity.     

从思贤讲舍到湖南自修大学

长沙思贤讲舍、船山学社和湖南自修大学是同一地址上前后相续的三个不同性质的化教育机构。它们之间的发展演变反映了不同历史时期和不同阶级的要求,但它们之间也存在着一些相同和相似之处,反映了湖湘学派在教育思想方面的共同特点,也反映出传统书院教育对近代教育的影响。     

The comparative ethnography of educational projects: youth and adult literacy programmes in Brazil

This article elaborates the concept of educational projects, a term that signifies consistent constellations of institutions, financial resources, social actors, ideologies, theories of knowledge and attendant pedagogies that shape local cultural practices of schooling. The article demonstrates the utility of the concept of educational projects for comparative and international educational studies by examining competing educational projects in Brazilian literacy programmes for youth and adults. In conclusion, the article argues that the concept of educational projects provides a theoretically rich comparative tool for the field of comparative and international education.     

Social difference and the politics of schooling in Africa: a Ghanaian case study

This paper examines the implications of ‘social difference’ for schooling in African contexts. It highlights theoretical and philosophical engagements with ‘difference’ that could help explore and search for viable educational options in Africa. The paper engages voices of university students interviewed in a longitudinal ethnographic research study on schooling done in Ghana. Issues and questions about knowledge production, identity development and representation in pluralistic schooling contexts are raised. Insights about local knowledges, individual agency and resistance as they relate to possibilities for rethinking schooling and education in Africa are also explored. The students' narratives reveal how dialogues about school and educators' practices about difference and diversity are [not] addressed with respect to the students' schooling. Lessons on the possibilities of inclusive schooling environments are offered.     

论近代知识分子的文化转型——以晚清民国教育家群体为例

清末民初是中国社会化的转型期，中国教育近代化是在中与西、新与旧的氛围中展开的。在教育科学及思潮的传播变迁过程中，近代教育家充当了自身从传统到现代型的转换及西方教育思潮传播的双重角色。这一角色统一存在于中国教育近代化的一百多年历程中。     

Khatami,political reform and education in Iran

Khatami was elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1997. He came to power with the promise of creating an Islamic civil society and bringing about political reform, rule of law, freedom, and religious democracy. He advocated such values as tolerance, moderation, respect for diversity, and dialogue at the domestic and international arenas. Khatami assigned schools the task of creating pious, moral, politicised, and empowered individuals with a strong Iranian-Islamic identity, capable of maintaining a balanced relationship with the West. This article seeks to identify the pillars of Khatami's thoughts and assess whether his reformist agenda is reflected in formal schooling. An analysis of the prevailing educational goals and values illustrates that although some of Khatami's ideals are reflected, schools are still parochial, separating ‘us’ from ‘them’, with no attempt to prepare the young for global citizenship. Iranian schools continue to remain bastions of conservatism and ideology.     

Catching Up: Gender values at a Canadian independent school for girls, 1978-93

Many studies over the past decade have examined the adverse ways in which gender differences inculcated by educational institutions have shaped girls' lives. This article begins by identifying the negative effects that traditional gender norms still have on even privileged young women who study in single-sex environments designed to foster their education and personal development. It goes on to examine the transformation over 15 years of the gender values at a Canadian independent school for girls and their effect on the students and the school structures. The article concludes that despite the progress in breaking down destructive gender divisions made by individual girls' schools, the gender-stereotyped realities of the outside world continue to influence the school environment and the students' thinking. Single-sex schooling for girls, therefore, becomes an even more important antidote to our society's tradition of gender bias.     

爱的烦恼：第一代大学生代内教育帮扶的影响及其机制

代际教育支持和代内教育帮扶均是家庭形塑个体教育轨迹的有效途径,但后者常被忽视。第一代大学生代内教育帮扶超越父代教育支持的局限性,激活上大学兄姐的独特优势,使同代家庭成员获益。本研究将第一代大学生代内教育帮扶的影响置于家庭本位的传统文化与个体本位的现代文化相碰撞的中国情境下进行考察,结果发现,第一代大学生代内教育帮扶在发挥拓宽弟妹向上流动渠道、减轻父母教育负担、促进自我提升的教育代理补偿的积极效应之时,也衍生出非预期后果,致使弟妹形成路径依赖心理,父母转嫁责任成为甩手掌柜,其自身负荷过重而发展受阻。这折射出家庭内部缺乏有效协作,教育帮扶合力尚弱,第一代大学生因过度教育帮扶陷入爱的烦恼。第一代大学生代内教育帮扶是促进教育公平在微观层面实现的必要行动,其中夹杂着父母无法给予子女增益的文化资本之无奈,也暗含着仅有的“先改写者”补偿文化资本之可能。然而,在发挥其积极功能时,也要减少其衍生的非预期后果,规避不利影响。     

Educational achievement in selective and comprehensive local education authorities: a configurational analysis

Selective and comprehensive school systems vary in both the degree and timing of selection. To study the consequences of such variation, cross-national comparisons are usually undertaken. Given that cultural differences between countries affect pathways and outcomes, apportioning causal influence in such studies can be difficult. In 1970s Britain, selective and comprehensive systems coexisted. This enables us to compare the influences of organisational arrangements without the complication of national cultural differences. We analyse, for children of various abilities, while taking account of gender and class, the effect on achievement of experiencing comprehensive or selective schooling. Assuming that contextual and individual factors work conjuncturally in producing outcomes, we employ Ragin's configurational Qualitative Comparative Analysis. By treating cases in the National Child Development Study as configurations of factors, we are able to analyse the sufficient and necessary conditions for achievement. We find that system differences affect only some high-ability children's educational outcomes.     

Schooling experiences and career aspirations of indigenous vocational high school students: a case study in Taiwan

In Taiwan, substantial resources have been invested in upper-secondary vocational education for Aborigines as a solution to their lack of career development opportunities. This study examined the schooling experiences and career aspirations of Taiwanese indigenous vocational high school students. A case study was designed to collect data through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 24 aboriginal students in twelfth grade at a Major Indigenous Vocational High School (MIVHS). The findings indicated that aboriginal students experienced mainstream-centric schooling that focused on preparing students for college education with additional support. The schooling contributed to their solid educational aspirations to attend non-prestigious technological colleges and vague occupational aspirations with low occupational self-efficacy. It also enforced their strong cultural aspirations of living in their homelands and benefiting their people. The findings suggest that the MIVHS could provide the culturally responsive schooling for aboriginal students' diversity to facilitate their career development.     

Educational outcomes,policy reform and cultural capital in Italian secondary schools

Italy’s poor performance in various indicators of educational achievement, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), has featured strongly in analyses of Italian education policy, and its progress towards the Lisbon objectives has been slow. With weak outcomes often linked to a highly stratified system of upper secondary schooling, combining high levels of track differentiation with a comparatively young track selection age, Italy’s education system has been characterised as antiquated and rigid. Yet the evidence that poor educational outcomes are differentially distributed between different Italian regions suggests that the ‘tracked system’ itself, which does not vary among regions, may not fully explain the Italian indicators. This article examines recent policy responses to these weak educational outcomes and, drawing on a range of data which take account of the links between social selection, regional inequality and levels of family cultural capital, investigates whether the concept of cultural capital might provide a more nuanced and theoretically powerful explanation of differences in educational outcomes in Italy.     

信息时代与大学文化素质教育

人类正在步入信息时代 ,媒介文化日益广泛深刻地影响着人类当代的日常生活。信息技术的发展和传播的革命正在对教育产生重大影响 ,给现代教育带来前所未有的挑战和机遇。这主要表现为网络教育对“国家教育”的挑战、对学校教育的挑战、对教师权威和法定课程的挑战、对传统教育思想与教育理论的挑战 ,使制度化教育向非制度化教育转变 ,向学习化社会转变。同时 ,信息技术的飞速发展以及在教育领域的广泛运用 ,开辟了素质教育的可能空间 ,为大学实施文化素质教育提供了新的途径。     

Social Values Associated with Cross-national Differences in Mathematics and Science Achievement: A cross-national analysis

This study explores several factors that account for cross-national differences in mathematics and science achievement for middle-school students from 39 countries based on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. The results suggest that economic development level, as measured by GNP per capita, has a positive but relatively weak association with mathematics and science achievement. In contrast, variables reflecting a society's value on education, specifically the education of mathematics and science, demonstrates strong effects on students' achievement. These variables include students' perceived rigour of mathematics and science - a proxy of academic standards of mathematics and science, students' school attendance, the length of a school year, students' educational aspiration, and the average number of parents living with the student. The evidence presented in this study supports the argument that education reform aiming at improving mathematics and science achievement can hardly be successful without the efforts of the whole society.     

Academic self‐concept,gender and single‐sex schooling

This article assesses gender differences in academic self‐concept for a cohort of children born in 1958 (the National Child Development Study). It addresses the question of whether attending single‐sex or co‐educational schools affected students' perceptions of their own academic abilities (academic self‐concept). Academic self‐concept was found to be highly gendered, even controlling for prior test scores. Boys had higher self‐concepts in mathematics and science, and girls in English. Single‐sex schooling reduced the gender gap in self‐concept, while selective schooling was linked to lower academic self‐concept overall.     

Homophobia and Heterosexism in Public School Reform: Constructions of Gender and Sexuality in California's Single Gender Academies

This article examines heterosexist assumptions and the role of homophobia in students' experiences in California's public "Single Gender Academies," in an effort to include issues of sexuality in current discourses on adolescent gender identity and public school reform. Interviews with students, conducted as part of the most comprehensive research on public single-sex schooling in the U.S. to date, reveal a critical link between students' notions of sexuality and definitions of masculinity and femininity. Alongside dichotomous, static notions of gender, the ideology and structure of the Single Gender Academies largely promoted heterosexist assumptions of students' sexuality. Such assumptions pervaded school policies and practices as well as peer relations and students' sense of gender identity. Students, in turn, both actively constructed and resisted a theory of gender which framed boys and girls in opposition and promoted heterosexuality as the norm. This article provides an analysis of homophobia among students and the influence of academy assumptions on students' attitudes. Such a focus allows for an investigation of gender and sexuality at both individual and institutional levels. While the research is based on data collected at public single-sex schools, the findings provide insight into students' articulations of gender and sexuality across a variety of school contexts.     

Gifted Israeli Students' Perceptions of Teachers' Desired Characteristics: A Case of Cultural Orientation

Gifted students' perceptions of the desired characteristics of teachers of the gifted were assessed from a sample comprised of 404 elementary- and junior high–school Israeli Jewish and Arab students studying in pullout centers. Perceptions were measured using a questionnaire comprising teachers' cognitive, personal, and pedagogical dimensions. Personal characteristics were perceived by both Jewish and Arab students as the most important. Significant effects of culture, gender, and grade level were detected for all three dimensions. We suggest that differences stem from collectivist/individualist cultural orientations and girls' status aspirations. Thus, students' perceptions of teachers' desired characteristics have to be discussed in relation to their cultural background and schooling. A new lens for examining teaching of gifted students is offered, along with practical implications for teacher-certification programs.     

Immigrant students' experience of schooling: a narrative inquiry theoretical framework

We explore immigrant students' experience of schooling focusing on Yang Yang and his family. We present insights into immigrant Chinese educational experience in Canada and bring forward a narrative‐inquiry framework for the study of student experience. We find that—contrary to some of the expectations of Chinese immigrants—family relations, student learning, and school policies are complicated, with families finding it difficult to translate Chinese educational values in the Canadian context and their children facing serious learning and social difficulties.     

Away with all teachers: The cultural politics of home schooling

In the United States and a number of nations, one of the most powerful dynamics of educational 'reform' involves the movement toward home schooling. The national media have spoken glowingly about it and the number of children being schooled at home is growing rapidly. In large part, this is stimulated by the circulation of anti-statist discourses and by the continuation and expansion of claims about school failure. In these accounts, the sources of educational problems are multiple: teacher education institutions produce teachers who are unprepared academically and unskilled in teaching the 'basics'; state funded (public, in the US sense of the word) schools have been taken over by 'progressive' models of teaching that are unworkable; these same schools do not teach 'traditional' cultural and religious knowledge, beliefs, and values; and public schools do not listen to conservative parents and are much too bureaucratic. Supporters of home schooling are usually religious fundamentalists who have increasing power in the USA and elsewhere. They have formed a national coalition and have joined in a tense rightist hegemonic alliance with neo-liberals and neo-conservatives, an alliance that seeks to reconstruct our common-sense about education and about all things social. The article shows how the movement toward home schooling has become more extensive and more dangerous than has usually been thought. In the process, home schooling is situated within the larger conservative and authoritarian populist ideological, religious, and social movements that provide much of its impetus. Connections are suggested with other protectionist impulses and connections are made to the history of and concerns about the growth of activist government. Finally, the article points to how it may actually hurt many other students who are not home schooled.     

Comparative Studies and 'Cross-National Attraction' in Education: A typology for the analysis of English interest in educational policy and provision in Germany

This paper describes a 'structural typology' to assist in the analysis of ways in which policy-makers in one country explore educational provision in another and seek to 'borrow' from it. In this analysis we look specifically at England's 'cross-national attraction' to education in Germany over the past 200 years. The paper aims to provide an analytical programme to use in comparative education and to facilitate exploration of the importance of context in shaping educational phenomena.     

An exploration of arts teachers' beliefs and judgements concerning students with SEND

There is little research addressing teachers' beliefs and judgements concerning students with identified Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), a group which is regularly cited as experiencing disadvantages in their schooling compared to peers. This paper draws on research which examined the beliefs and judgements of a set of arts teachers in an English secondary school regarding their students with SEND. Data were collected using observation, semi-structured and stimulated recall interviews. Phenomenological analysis uncovered patterns of tension in these beliefs and judgements. Teachers were able to consider some of the interactions between their students' individual characteristics and the classroom environment, and the ways these might give rise to certain educational needs; they also believed their subjects were singularly inclusive in providing for diverse needs. Nonetheless, traditional systems of educational assessment significantly affected what is judged ‘successful’ learning, which teachers tended to negatively associate with SEND. We conclude that deficit thinking about the educational capacities of students with SEND underlies teachers' judgements. Nevertheless, teachers do believe there are many ways for students to participate meaningfully, articulate and demonstrate understanding in arts subjects, which have the potential to challenge traditional notions of ‘success’.