Children’s participation and agency in Italian residential care for children: Adult-child interactions at dinnertime

This paper analyzes the impact of adults’ interactive moves and strategies on children’s participation and agency at dinnertime in two Italian residential care facilities, one of the most widely used alternative care life-context for children and youth coming from vulnerable families. Participants are 14 children and 11 educators living in two residential care facilities in Rome (Italy). Adopting an interactional and multimodal analytic approach, this paper focuses on two dinnertime activities: the routine activity of praying before eating and the very frequent one of talking about rules and transgressions. The comparative analysis of the two facilities shows how, in stable patterns of adult-child interactions recurring across different activities in the same facility, adults’ strategies and interactive maneuvers differently impact on children’s participation and agency and consequent socialization practices. In the conclusion, we emphasize the relevance and implications of this study for either research in educational sciences and for professionals operating in alternative care and related fields.

     

The History and Revival of Sunday Schools in Russia

This article considers the high significance of the Russian Orthodox Church’s system of religious education, which is currently being built in the Russian Federation. The great value of this system is due to the fact that Orthodoxy has historically been the most massive and important religion in Russia. Sunday schools are examined as a form of religious Orthodox educating and upbringing. The article defines the specifics of the emergence and historical development of Sunday schools in Russia on the whole and in the Far East in particular. It also discusses the role that modern Sunday schools play for children and adults in Orthodox moral education and spiritual guidance, in preserving Orthodox traditions, and in forming ethical values. The study examines the historical building and modern development of Vladivostok Eparchy. One of the Sunday schools belonging to Vladivostok Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church is taken as an example to describe how religious education and raising in Orthodox traditions are organized for children today.     

Russia as a returning donor – four roles in development assistance to education

This article analyses the role of Russia in development assistance to education in light of the changing architecture of development assistance – the variety of positions identified with both ‘new’ and ‘old’ donor countries. We shed light on Russia's aims and agenda in the field of development assistance in general and specifically within the Russia Education Aid for Development programme, initiated in 2008 by agreement between the World Bank and the Russian Federation. Our analysis is based on existing research, policy documents on development assistance and READ documents, as well as interview data with relevant experts and staff. It yields a distinction between four different roles played by Russia as a donor.     

Lifetime prevalence and incidence of sexual victimization of adolescents in institutional care

The frequency of sexual victimization in high-risk populations like adolescents in institutional care has hardly been studied. In this study, we report lifetime prevalence and incidence from a nationwide German sample including 322 adolescents (mean age 16.69 years, 43% female) from 20 residential care facilities and 12 boarding schools. Lifetime prevalence for severe sexual victimization (in and outside of institution) was 46.7% for girls and 8.0% for boys. Moreover, 5% of all adolescents experienced severe sexual victimization for the first time after they were admitted to the current institution (mean duration of stay in the current institution 3.08 years). Offenders were mostly adolescents of the same age whereas staff members played a minor role as perpetrators. We conclude that the high rate of sexual victimization among adolescents in institutional care should be considered during decision-making processes concerning out-of-home placement and during a stay in residential care.     

School functioning of children in residential care: The contributions of multilevel correlates

ObjectiveThis study, using an ecological approach, examines the relationships between problems in school functioning (including academic and behavior problems) of children in residential care with a number of variables describing the child and the care setting.MethodsThe study reports on 4,061 children and youth (ages 6–20) in 54 Israeli residential care facilities supervised by the Ministry of Welfare. It is based on data derived from an ongoing system of monitoring care based on annual reports by social workers on children in care settings. Additionally, data on the characteristics of the settings were collected through a structured questionnaire completed by the supervisors at the Ministry of Welfare. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was utilized to examine how characteristics of the individual children and the care settings were related to problems in school functioning among the children.ResultsMost of the children (about 62%) had at least one problem in school functioning. The most vulnerable children were boys, children who were taken from parental homes by court decree, children with problems in quality of contact with their biological parents, and children who stayed in the care setting for shorter periods. The settings’ characteristics most associated with poor performance at school are group structure (vs. mixed and family home structures), higher levels of peer violence, fewer after-school activities, and settings in which children tend to stay for shorter periods of times.ConclusionsThe findings demonstrate the need for an ecological perspective in addressing children's problems in school functioning within the care system. The results help to identify the types of placements that should benefit from additional resources in order to promote adaptive performance in school among the children.Practice implicationsSocial workers in residential care should give high priority to children's positive academic involvement. The study demonstrates the need for identifying the intersection of the individual, familial and institutional contexts in which problems in school functioning are more prevalent. Therefore, it is important to allocate sufficient resources to care settings which serve these children. The study suggests some priorities and directions for policy and practice with children in residential care.     

The Financial Situation of the Higher Education System of the Russian Federation

For a number of reasons, higher education in the Russian Federation has been able to benefit from a more stable financial situation than have most of the other “socio‐cultural areas” in Russia. It has nevertheless been severely affected by the problems besetting the other sectors of the Russian economy, most of them linked to the rigours of transition to a market economy. The situation will improve as the Russian economy as a whole improves and as higher education in Russia not only becomes more market‐oriented and quality conscious but adopts specific administrative measures designed to ensure efficiency.     

The Teacher Education Development Program: New Challenges

The article reviews the general context of the situation that has arisen in Russian education after the new provisions of the Federal Law of 29 December 2012 “On Education in the Russian Federation” went into effect. The law has been enacted in response to the need to develop a new concept of teacher education. Currently, about 270 institutions of higher education, about 30 percent of Russian universities, are implementing programs in the field of teacher education, and the proportion is growing. The author presents the main results of monitoring the activities of teacher training institutions in Russia and notes the new content and organizational challenges facing the project of modernizing teacher education.     

Orthodox education in Russian schools: an ideological choice

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ideological, political and social implications of the preference for orientating the public school curriculum in Russia towards Orthodox education. In some regions of the Russian Federation, Orthodox preferences increased by 20% over 4 years, and the indices reflecting enchurchment in the Russian regions are consistently lower than in the Moscow region, especially in rural areas. The confusion of Russian moral and patriotic traditions with Orthodox values and the ideological partnership between the public school authorities and the Orthodox organisations could explain the growth in Orthodox preferences. Although most teachers of the Orthodox curriculum, and most of the parents who choose it for their children, are not practising members of the church, Orthodox education implemented in public schools could result in an outcome opposite to the goals of the Orthodox curriculum.     

How much of a problem is resident mistreatment in child welfare institutions?

The purpose of this article is to provide information developed since 1980 by the Institutional Child Protection Project about the size and significance of the problem of mistreatment in child welfare residential institutions. In the 1.700 facilities surveyed, there are about 69.000 children and youths. Rates of utilization vary among Health and Human Services (H.H.S.) regions from 8 per 10.000 to 19 per 10.000 children and youths in the population. The average rate is 12 per 10.000. In 1961 this rate was estimated at 10 per 10,000. About 2,700 complaints were reported by facilities to the survey for 1979. Complaint rates range by H.H.S. region from 25 per 1.000 to 55 per 1.000 children and youth in care. The average complaint rate per 1.000 residents in care was 39. Observations of site visitors suggest that only one out of five complainable situations may be reported to child protection agencies. A list of complainable occurrences that came to the attention of site visitors is included to document the problem. An additional effort to assess the significance of this issue is made by comparing intrafamilial complaint rates with rates reported by child welfare facilities. The authors believe residential complaint rates may be twice as large as intrafamilial complaint rates.     

Estimating the number of children in formal alternative care: Challenges and results

Given the relatively large body of literature documenting the adverse impacts of institutionalization on children’s developmental outcomes and well-being, it is essential that countries work towards reducing the number of children in alternative care (particularly institutional care), and, when possible, reunite children with their families. In order to do so, reliable estimates of the numbers of children living in such settings are essential. However, many countries still lack functional administrative systems for enumerating children living outside of family care.The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of the availability and coverage of data on children living in residential and foster care from some 142 countries covering more than 80 per cent of the world’s children. Utilizing these country-level figures, it is estimated that approximately 2.7 million children between the ages of 0 and 17 years could be living in institutional care worldwide. Where possible, the article also presents regional estimates of the number of children living in residential and foster care.This work represents an important step to systematically identify and compile sources of data on children in alternative care and provides updated global and regional estimates on the magnitude of the issue. Its findings contribute to raising awareness of the urgent need to strengthen the capacity of countries to improve national systems for counting, monitoring and reporting on these vulnerable children.     

十八世纪的车臣民族英雄谢赫曼苏尔

目前,车臣危机虽已过去,但俄罗斯联邦在车臣仍面临着严峻的考验.回溯历史上车臣与俄罗斯的关系,早在18世纪80年代.北高加索第一位伊斯兰教纳合什班底教团谢赫,谢赫曼苏尔率先揭开了反对沙俄侵略。争取民族解放的序幕.现从历史学的角度考察曼苏尔的一生。揭示他在高加索历史上的独特地位,为实现俄罗斯民族与车臣民族之间的历史性和解提供一定的启示和思考.     

Assessment of the Contribution of Regional Higher Education Systems to the Socio-Economic Development of the Russian Regions

This article analyzes how Russia’s networks of higher education institutions contribute to their host regions in terms of the following three major facets: the economic development; the human capital development; and the innovative development. To ensure the analytical framework used derives relevant and representative findings given the nature of the Russian socio-economic environment, the authors implement a customized methodology that factors in the most appropriate components from various international best practices in assessing university effects on comprehensive societal development. The study will be of interest to a wide audience of stakeholders in higher education and broader contexts, including policy professionals at the federal and regional levels, institutional leadership, researchers and analysts, students in socio-political, economic, and educational majors, etc.     

ACCREDITATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN RUSSIA

Although the formal evaluation of higher education by state authorities has a long history in Russia, the creation of a system of accreditation began in 1990 in order to meet the challenge of the setting up of private institutions of higher education. There are two kinds of accreditation: state accreditation and public accreditation. This article stresses the former because of the two types it is the most developed. Its objectivity is assured through the use of computerized procedures and visualization. Moreover, the use of computerization permits the simultaneous evaluation of higher education institutions and in general responds rapidly to changing conditions in the Russian Federation.     

转型期俄罗斯中小学教师新工资制度评析

2008年8月,俄罗斯联邦政府颁布法令《关于联邦财政拨款单位、联邦国家机构、部队、联邦权力机构实施新工资制度的决定》,根据此决定精神,俄罗斯联邦教育科学部建议在各地区中小学实施教师新工资制度。尽管社会各界对新工资制度褒贬不一,但新工资制度是俄罗斯教育优先发展战略的重要举措之一,其进步意义毋庸置疑。     

Bullying and Social Anxiety in Chinese Children: Moderating Roles of Trait Resilience and Psychological Suzhi

Research examining the relationship between bullying victimization and social anxiety has mainly been conducted in Western countries, and little is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. This study explores the correlation between bullying victimization and social anxiety in a Chinese context and determines the moderating roles of psychological suzhi (a mental quality characterized by being steady, essential and implicit that affects adaptive, developmental, and creative behavior) and trait resilience among victims of bullying. Data were obtained from a stratified sample of 1903 children in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. All participants completed measures of bullying victimization, social anxiety, trait resilience, and psychological suzhi. The results indicated that, after controlling for grade, residential area, and parental marital status, bullying victimization positively predicted children’s social anxiety. In addition, multi-group analysis suggested that the association in girls was stronger relative to that observed in boys. Regarding underlying processes, trait resilience moderated the effect of bullying victimization on social anxiety only in girls. Further assessment of the latent interaction effects indicated that the protective effect of trait resilience was stronger for girls experiencing high, relative to low, levels of bullying victimization, and psychological suzhi buffered against the detrimental effects of bullying on children’s social anxiety. Most notably, unlike the moderating effect of resilience, the buffering effect of psychological suzhi against social anxiety was most prominent when bullying victimization was low. Findings underscore the importance of enhancing trait resilience and psychological suzhi in interventions designed to reduce children’s social anxiety.     

特殊困境未成年人家庭教育的地方立法保障

家庭教育影响孩子一生,家长应该肩负起加强孩子思想道德、人身安全、心理健康、行为习惯等教育任务的主体责任。可是,对于一些留守、流动、孤残等特殊困境儿童,家庭教育的实施还存在很大困难。为了保障特殊困境家庭的未成年人健康成长,重庆等一些地方通过地方立法,界定了政府、学校和社会为特殊困境未成年人提供家庭教育指导服务的法律责任,产生了良好的社会效果,但也存在一些保障范围不足的问题。为此,地方立法应该建立一种家庭尽责、政府推进、学校指导和社会参与的家庭教育关爱机制,让更多的特殊困境未成年人能够享有科学优质的家庭教育指导服务。     

Establishing an inclusive educational system in Samara a partnership between West Lothian,Barnardo's and Samara

In this article Laura Ann Currie and Victoria Prudnikova describe a three–year Russian/Scottish partnership designed to take forward an inclusive educational policy in the Samara Region of Russia. Education staff from West Lothian Council and Barnardo's visited the Samara Region to train staff there to help take forward their inclusion programme. It was an ambitious project for our Russian colleagues. Their starting position was one where young disabled children were sent away to be ‘corrected’ in institutions miles from their family and friends. Disability was feared and shameful and the prevailing medical model presented philosophical and practical difficulties in taking forward an inclusive approach. Despite these difficulties colleagues in Samara have picked up the baton and are running with it. For West Lothian staff it has been an affirming, often humbling, but challenging experience.     

俄罗斯普通高中侧重专业式教学人文类课程目标探析

21世纪初,俄罗斯普通高中教育领域最显著的改革举措之一是政府颁布了旨在扩大学生社会化可能性,保证普通教育与职业教育之间衔接性的《普通教育高级阶段侧重专业式教学构想》,而这种构想在俄罗斯联邦2004年颁布的最新《普通教育国家教育标准联邦部分》中被确认。促进个性品质的发展、重视知识系统性的掌握、培养个体关键性能力的形成、提升运用知识与技能解决问题能力的课程的目标,成为当今俄罗斯国家普通高中侧重专业式教学标准的核心价值取向。     

Using TIMSS and PISA results to inform educational policy: a study of Russia and its neighbours

In this paper, we develop a multi-level comparative approach to analyse Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) and Programme of International Student Achievement (PISA) mathematics results for a country, Russia, where the two tests provide contradictory information about students’ relative performance. Russian students do relatively well on the TIMSS mathematics test but relatively poorly on the PISA. We compare the performance of Russian students with different levels of family academic resources over the past decade on these tests compared to students with similar family resources in Russia’s neighbours and to Russian students studying in Latvian and Estonian Russian-medium schools. These comparisons and interviews with educators in Latvia and Estonia help us understand why students in Russia may perform lower on the PISA and to draw education policy lessons for improving international test performance generally and Russian students’ PISA mathematics performance specifically.     

Can family structure and social support reduce the impact of child victimization on health-related quality of life?

This study aims at providing a profile of the association between different types of child victimization and polyvictimization and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among school-aged children, and examining the impact of family structure and social support on the negative health consequences associated with violent victimization. We conducted a cross-sectional school survey in Hong Kong using a two-stage stratified sampling procedure. The final sample comprised 4139 children’s self-reports and proxy-reports (boys = 51.5%; mean age = 6.3). The main outcome was HRQoL measured with the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Family structure was represented by parents’ marital status, major caregivers, number of siblings and the living arrangement of children. Child victimization, social support, and demographic characteristics were also measured. All types of child victimization were associated with compromised HRQoL, and the strength of association varied across different types of child victimization. Family structure (in particular the number of siblings and whether additional childcare was received from grandparents) and social support were associated with better HRQoL. The negative associations between child victimization and polyvictimization and HRQoL were reduced when there was an adjustment made for family structure and social support. Findings show that family structure and social support are related to a reduction in negative health consequences for child victimization. The varying strengths of negative associations between victimization and HRQoL highlight the possibility that the effects of child victimization on health might not be homogeneous.