Disability and adult life: dependence on social security among former students with special educational needs in their late twenties

This article, by Jon Olav Myklebust from Volda University, Norway, presents analyses of social security dependence among students with special educational needs in Norway who at the start of upper secondary school had various disabilities – of a somatic, psychological and/or social nature. They were all educated in ordinary schools, in special or regular classes. These young people have been followed prospectively from their first years in upper secondary school and into their late twenties. The analyses indicate which circumstances contribute to social security dependence, with an emphasis on how the independent variables differently influence social security dependence among men and women.     

Men in limbo: former students with special educational needs caught between economic independence and social security dependence

Individuals in their mid-thirties are expected to be employed and economically independent. However, people with disabilities and health problems – for example, former students with special educational needs (SEN) – may have problems in this domain of adult life. In Norway, individuals with SEN frequently rely on social security and support measures from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV). This article is based on the narrative analysis of life course trajectories of seven young adult males over a period of 17 years – from their enrolment in upper secondary school with special needs teaching whilst in their teens to their participation in various NAV programmes whilst in their mid-thirties. The life course approach, with an emphasis on transitions and trajectories, has been used as the theoretical framework for analysing the presented data. The hope is that, taken together, these seven stories provide a deeper insight than one individual story could offer. We find that both social structures and the earlier life course affect one’s opportunities for joining the labour market.     

Pupils’ everyday transitions in school as a condition for social relations and activities in leisure time centres

This article focuses on how pupils’ everyday transitions constitute a condition for pupils’ activities and relationships, and how pupils understand and give meaning to their everyday transitions between different school settings (school and Leisure Time Centre). To examine this, we made participant observations in three different educational settings. The focus of these observations is on pupils in their everyday life in school and LTC, thereby gaining insight into the experiences of being a pupil in these settings. In regard to social relations, the changes brought about by daily transitions between educational settings create conditions for different activities and changes in the group. The changes in groups that occur in the different contexts of everyday transitions in school can be both an opportunity and an obstacle, depending on the situation and with whom pupils wish to engage in social interaction. Thus, it is clear that the transition from school to LTC often involves changes in the group, thereby changing the conditions of pupils’ opportunities to form relationships with each other.     

Mental health among former students with special educational needs who are now in their mid‐30s

This article discusses how psychosocial health in adolescence influences adult mental health among former students with special educational needs in Norway. These individuals have been followed prospectively from their teens and into their mid‐30s. The study is inspired by life course perspectives with an emphasis on cumulative processes. The logistic regression analysis reveals that the risk of suffering from adult mental distress is higher among those with psychosocial difficulties in their juvenile years compared with those without such problems. Our results also show that the mental health of subjects who experienced health problems and received social security benefits in their late 20s is negatively affected when they are 33 to 34 years of age. In addition, the risk of poor adult mental health is considerably higher for females than males. Receiving assistance from teaching assistants in the classroom at upper secondary school does not seem to be conducive to subsequent positive mental health.     

Deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion in mainstream and special schools in Sweden

This study examines the question of which school environment – special or mainstream school – is more favourable for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Sweden, when it comes to their well-being, and their social and academic inclusion. The aim is threefold: first to compare the well-being of adolescents who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and have additional disabilities, and who have no disabilities; second to compare the adolescents from the two deaf and hard-of-hearing groups and their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in school; and third to ascertain if any gender differences exist between the two groups of deaf and hard-of-hearing students concerning their experiences of inclusion and exclusion. A total of 7865 adolescents (13–18 years of age) answered a total survey about the life and health of young people in a county in Sweden. The results show that both boys and girls in the hard-of-hearing groups rated their well-being lower and were less satisfied with their lives than pupils without disabilities. They also show that the hard-of-hearing boys and girls attending special school were more satisfied with their lives and to a greater extent felt included both socially and academically than students in mainstream school.     

Fear as a Predictor of Life Satisfaction in Retirement in Canada

In developed countries, healthy retirees can fulfill their life, but may fear growing old. Yet, there is little empirical data on the relationship between this fear and life satisfaction. This cross-sectional, correlational survey study tested whether a new, summated measure of Fears About Growing Old (FAGO)—derived from exemplifications of Laslett, who posited the theory of the Third Age—significantly predicted life satisfaction and retirement satisfaction after adjusting for significant social participation covariates. A total of 190 Canadian retirees at three senior centers in Ontario, Canada, completed surveys. A pilot study established the reliability and validity of the scales, including the FAGO, used to assess the independent variable. In a regression analysis, fear (R ² _change = .06) was found to be a statistically significant predictor of life satisfaction when controlling for five covariates (current activity, circumstance and pursuing own interest as two reasons for retirement, postretirement work, and perceived social support); overall R ² = .26. For retirement satisfaction, fear significantly explained variance in the outcome (R ² _change  = .04) while controlling for two significant covariates (current activity and perceived social support); overall R ² = .14. A work by gender interaction on satisfaction was not found. Other than fear about loss of mobility, men rated loss of partner very high; women rated mortal disease very high. The lowest fear was loss of retirement income for men and loss of earning-power for women. Canada's poverty preventive programs successfully supported senior postretirement life. The FAGO was useful to find senior needs.     

Minority young men’s gendered tactics for making space in the city and at school

This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews to explore young minority men’s relation to school and city space in Helsinki from the perspective of their everyday experiences of racialisation in public spaces. The article uses the concept of ‘power geometrical’ relations of space by drawing on several research traditions, including youth and masculinity studies, studies on social space, racialisation and ethnicity, and human geography. The evidence shows the school to be an important site of local and national power geometry (Massey, D. [1994]. Space, Place and Gender. Cambridge: Polity Press), in which ‘informal’ and ‘physical’ spheres are dominated by peers and connect to streets and public spheres (Gordon, T., J. Holland, and E. Lahelma. [2000]. Making Spaces: Citizenship and Difference in Schools. Houndsmills et al. London: MacMillan Press Ltd). The article shows how young minority men knew their place both in narrow local power geometries, and within the wider city and school spaces, exploring how they formed their own lived spaces (Lefebvre, H. [1991]. The Production of Space. Oxford: Blackwell), claimed their spaces and marked their spaces with diverse tactics. Some tactics were socially open, such as making friends; some were very mobile, such as claiming their own urban spaces by mobility, or marking and ‘hanging around’; and some involved big groups of friends, crowds, defence and embodied accounts.     

Food for Education in Honduras: Psychosocial correlates of childhood literacy

School feeding programs in low- and middle-income countries tend to focus on school attendance and literacy. Some evidence suggests that bolstering schools as a nexus of community plays an important psychosocial function for children and families. This study examines the extent to which childhood literacy rates are associated with parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of community violence and cohesion, following participation in a large-scale school feeding program in the Department of Intibucá, Honduras. Primary school children (n = 3,147) from 176 schools completed standardized literacy tests. Scores were linked to parents’ (n = 328) and teachers’ (n = 537) responses about community cohesion and violence. Social bonding among parents was positively associated with children’s literacy. Community violence reported by teachers exerted a negative influence. The authors discuss these results in light of how vertically focused interventions such as school feeding can be integrated to account for the specific contextual factors that affect, and are affected by, the program itself.     

Parents’ and teachers’ views on the psychosocial adjustment of students with and without a history of early grade retention

The study compared teachers’ and parents’ views about elementary school children’s psychosocial adjustment with and without a history of early grade retention. The sample included retained and non-retained students currently in Grades Two and Four (age range 7.5 to 11.6 years) in Cypriot public schools. The retained students experienced early grade retention either in kindergarten or Grade One and, therefore, were one year older than their current classmates. Both parents and teachers of all children completed a psychosocial adjustment inventory designed to assess social, emotional, and school competence as well as behaviour problems. The findings indicated important differences between teachers and parents in their evaluation of children’s psychosocial adjustment, but notable similarities in consistently evaluating early-retained children lower on all aspects of adjustment. Teachers evaluated all students lower than parents in terms of behaviour, school, and social competence. Both groups, however, considered retained students lower in social and school competence regardless of grade level. The implications of these findings in relation to evaluation aspects of psychosocial adjustment and the practice of early-grade retention are discussed.     

Relationships between school climate,bullying and delinquent behaviours

Given that schools are, potentially, powerful sites for influencing adolescent behaviour, it is important that there is greater understanding of the psychosocial aspects of the school climate that can be leveraged for this purpose. The research reported in this article used structural equation modelling (with data from a sample of 6120 students at Australian high schools) to examine the influence of the psychosocial school-level environment on students’ self-reported experiences of bully victimisation (i.e. being victims of bullying) and engagement in delinquent behaviours. Further, we examined whether bully victimisation mediated the relationships between school climate variables and delinquent behaviours. School connectedness and rule clarity were negatively associated with both bully victimisation and delinquency (p < 0.05), and teacher support was negatively associated with bully victimisation (p < 0.01), confirming the importance of these aspects of the school-level environment. However, affirming diversity and reporting and seeking help both had positive influences on bully victimisation (p < 0.05), raising concerns about the ways in which these aspects of the school-level environment might have been promoted. Importantly, bully victimisation was found to mediate the influence of five of the six school climate constructs on delinquent behaviours (p < 0.001). This study advance our understanding of how specific aspects of the school climate influence the prevalence of bullying and delinquent behaviour, adding weight to the call for educators to actively monitor and enhance psychosocial aspects of the school climate in order to improve student behavioural outcomes.     

The Role of Preschool Relational and Physical Aggression in the Transition to Kindergarten: Links With Social-Psychological Adjustment

Research Findings: The transition to kindergarten has important ramifications for future achievement and psychosocial outcomes. Research suggests that physical aggression may be related to difficulty during school transitions, yet no studies to date have examined the role of relational aggression in these transitions. This article examines how engagement in preschool physical and relational aggression predict psychosocial adjustment during the kindergarten school year. Observations and teacher reports of aggression were collected in preschool, and kindergarten teachers reported on student–teacher relationship quality, child internalizing problems, and peer acceptance in kindergarten. Results suggested that preschool physical aggression predicted reduced peer acceptance and increased conflict with the kindergarten teacher. High levels of relational aggression, when not combined with physical aggression, were related to more positive transitions to kindergarten in the domains assessed. Practice or Policy: These data lend support to the need for interventions among physically aggressive preschoolers that target not only concurrent behavior but also future aggression and adjustment in kindergarten. Thus, educators should work to encourage social influence in more prosocial ways among aggressive preschoolers.     

Was bedingt die Wahl eines nicht empfohlenen höheren Bildungsgangs?

According to PIRLS 17 % of German parents choose a non-recommended secondary school-type for their child. Only few empirical studies try to identify parental characteristics related to their rejection of a school-type recommendation from their child’s teacher. Based on the sociological rational choice theory, research primarily focuses on characteristics of social background and on cost-benefit considerations. In addition to this, the present study analyzes to what extent parental evaluation and attribution of the child’s achievement and the appraisal of the primary school’s advice influence the probability of parents’ rejection of the recommendation. The focus of this investigation is on parents whose educational aspirations and choices of school are higher than the teachers’ recommendations. By means of logistic regression we analyze, how well parental decision-making – i. e. adopting the teacher’s recommendation vs. insisting on own, non-compliant opinion – can be predicted by theory-based independent variables. Avoidance of a loss in educational status, parental knowledge of the school system and the perceived quality of a primary school’s advice are revealed to be significant predictors of this rejection.     

Longitudinal analysis of the trajectories of academic and social motivation across the transition from elementary to middle school

School transitions are important phases in students’ educational experiences. The current study aimed to explore the trajectories of academic and social motivation across the transition from elementary to middle school. Participants (N = 415) were sampled from six elementary schools; 55% transitioned after sixth grade (transition) and 45% remained at the same school (no-transition). The students reported academic and social goals and perceived teacher goal emphasis at four time points over two successive years. A growth curve analysis revealed that students who transitioned reported a greater decline in mastery goals and an increase in performance-approach goals. Students from no-transition schools reported higher initial levels for all social goals, with a steeper decline in seventh grade. Perceived teacher goal emphasis was associated with social development goals over time. Practitioners should be aware that school transitions may influence academic motivation but may not similarly influence social motivation.     

Middle-class parents’ educational work in an academically selective public high school

This article reports the findings of a study on the nature of parent–school engagement at an academically selective public high school in New South Wales, Australia. Such research is pertinent given recent policies of ‘choice’ and decentralization, making a study of local stakeholders timely. The research comprised a set of interviews with parents and teachers (n = 15), through which parents – all members of the school’s Parents’ and Citizens’ group – theorized and explained their involvement with the school, and teachers spoke about their views on this involvement. Results are organized around three themes: ‘how parents worked to nurture their children’s schooling’, ‘reasons behind parents’ involvement with the school’, and ‘communication and use of parental resources by the school’. Overall it was found that while parents were making significant efforts to involve themselves in the education of their children and with the school more broadly, the reasons for their involvement were not always consistent, but instead revealed a range of motivations for and conceptions of parents’ roles within schools, which at times were at odds with the teachers’. Through this, the study contributes to our understanding of middle-class parent engagement at an unusual and particular type of school.     

Educational inclusion in Singapore for children with physical disabilities

Under Singapore’s inclusive education policy, children with mild physical disabilities are integrated into mainstream schools. There is currently no known published research yet in Singapore on the outcomes of inclusion for children with physical disabilities. Internationally, recent research had compared the school experience of children with physical disabilities to that of their typically developing peers. This study examined the social and academic impact of educational inclusion for children with physical disabilities. It investigated how their participation in school activities, academic performance, self-esteem, peer relationships, and social/emotional development compared to that of typically developing schoolmates. A total of 60 clients (n = 30 with physical disability; n = 30 typically developing students; age range = 8 to 16 years) in a local primary and secondary regular school participated in the study. The children with physical disabilities met academic expectations in school and had comparable levels of self-esteem, but experienced peer problems and participated less in school activities. Understanding children’s overall school experience is critical to becoming an inclusive society that enables children with a range of disabilities to benefit academically and socially. Implications for practice and future research were discussed.     

L’ÉCOLE PUBLIQUE AU SÉNÉGAL : APPROCHE PSYCHOSOCIALE DES PRATIQUES PARENTALES DE (NON) SCOLARISATION ET DES EXPÉRIENCES ÉDUCATIVES DES ENFANTS

PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SENEGAL: ANALYSING THE REASONS FOR (NON) ENROLMENT – This study focuses on Senegal, where the education system is split between traditional Koranic schools and purportedly “modern” public schools, which have been compulsory since 1990 but which are currently attended by only two-thirds of children eligible to enrol. The article argues that a number of psychosocial factors need to be studied in order to understand this issue fully. By analysing responses gathered from 20 parent-child units, the authors reveal: (a) how parental identity strategies affect how they choose to school their children, and (b) how children’s attitudes are shaped in different ways depending on whether they attend “traditional” or “modern” schools.     

The British and curriculum development in West Africa: A historical discourse

THE BRITISH AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN WEST AFRICA: A HISTORICAL STUDY – Only recently have African nations begun to make their way towards establishing genuinely autonomous education systems incorporating elements of indigenous culture. The present study examines the historical development of curriculum in British West Africa in its links with the educational activities of the early Christian missionaries and the imposition of British colonial rule. For over 300 years, the curriculum content was essentially European in nature. African interests and cultural practices were largely excluded, as “bookwork” was favored over “handwork”. The colonial curriculum also helped introduce a new social order to West Africa, leading to the rise of new local elites reading, writing, and speaking foreign European languages. This study explores how the idea of a “civilized” person, promoted through the colonial school curriculum, developed new local elites with different sets of values and expectations that often made them strangers in their own societies. It also describes the connection between this curriculum and the repeated failure of education-reform efforts.     

The Relationships Between Life Satisfaction,Gender, Social Security,and Depressive Symptoms Among Elderly in Turkey

The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between life satisfaction, gender, social security, and depressive symptoms of the Turkish elderly. This cross-sectional study included 216 (female = 127, male = 89) participants with ages ranging from 60 to 93 years (mean = 71.60 ± 7.39). Information Gathering Form and Life Satisfaction and Geriatric Depression Scales were used for data collection. It was determined that 42.1% of the elderly who participated in this study had high depressive symptoms scores. Life satisfaction (OR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.53–0.71), lack of social security benefits (OR = 3.52, 95% CI = 1.25–9.89), and gender (OR = 2.53, 95% CI = 1.17–5.50) predicted the depressive symptoms significantly. The results of the study indicate that while depression risk increases, life satisfaction decreases. In addition, lack of social security benefits and being female also increase the risk of depression in the Turkish elderly.     

How African American Mothers from Urban,Low-Income Backgrounds Support Their Children’s Kindergarten Transition: Qualitative Findings

The transition to kindergarten is a critical milestone in children’s lives, with implications for academic and future life success. The demographic family/parental variables of residence, social class, and race have been associated with children’s adjustment to kindergarten. In particular, children growing up in families from urban, low-income African American backgrounds are at heighted risk for negative academic, cognitive, and socio-emotional outcomes as they transition to kindergarten. Relatively little inductive research exists on the kindergarten transition of this population and how families from urban, low-income African backgrounds positively support their children’s kindergarten adjustment. However, researchers using qualitative methods are increasingly examining the first-hand experiences of families from urban, low-income African American backgrounds to better understand family beliefs and practices that promote children’s successful kindergarten transition. Contributing to this gap in the literature, we utilized qualitative interviews informed by resilience theory to explore how 20 mothers from urban, low-income African American backgrounds facilitated their Head Start preschoolers’ transition to kindergarten. We found that, despite possessing parental/family risk factors associated with ineffective kindergarten transitions, mothers monitored and assessed their children’s academic and socio-emotional school readiness abilities, promoting readiness competencies while addressing readiness weaknesses. One of the ways that mothers supported children’s transition readiness was through one-on-one conversations with preschoolers. Our findings provide recommendations for effective home–school collaborations that support children’s successful kindergarten transition. Collaborating with engaged and motivated parents, Head Start can assist families and children prior to kindergarten and continue to serve as a link between families and children and elementary schools.     

The impact of cumulative change in early adolescence

This article examines the impact of experiencing several major life transitions simultaneously in early adolescence. For many children, entry into the new life period of adolescence is marked by the transition from a relatively intimate elementary school setting into a more complex, impersonal junior high school environment. This major shift in organizational context is often accompanied by dramatic changes in biology and social definition. We hypothesized that transitions will be easier for children to cope with if the various adolescent changes come into focus at different stages rather than simultaneously. In a longitudinal study conducted in a large Midwestern city, schoolchildren were followed from sixth into seventh grade in 2 different types of school systems. The effect of multiple life changes (school transition, pubertal development, early dating behavior, residential mobility, family disruption) on students' self-esteem, academic grade-point average, and participation in extracurricular activities was analyzed. The results identify children who are forced to cope with several life transitions concurrently as a group at risk. Theoretical implications are discussed, with development of the notion that individuals need an "arena of comfort" in at least some spheres of their lives.