In/formal sex education: learning gay identity in cultural and educational contexts in Mexico

This paper addresses how educational and cultural contexts incorporate lessons around sexuality, particularly sexual and gender identity, and how these contexts impact on identity construction of gay men in Mexico City. We analyse the experiences of 15 gay men reported through semi-structured in-depth interviews and how they incorporate sexuality through socialisation with primary social institutions in Mexico's contemporary educational political context. The sample was divided into three generations, and was selected through maximum variability. Results show that men incorporate negative meanings around same-sex sexuality, and themselves from institutions such as school and family. Men are able to deconstruct these meanings through interactions with educational tools such as the Internet and interactions with gay friends. These results are discussed using post-structuralist perspectives to understand how identity is fluid and changing constantly, as well as the need to incorporate stigma-free curricular content in educational contexts.     

Internality-norm theory in educational contexts

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the socionormative approach of internality in the field of education, and more specifically regarding scholastic judgment. It describes the theoretical development and the main procedures used by researchers to show that internal causal explanations have more value than external ones because they are normative and convey social value. We present results that show that the preference for internal explanations is learned in school. We also demonstrate that internal explanations are often chosen for self-presentation purposes and have some bearing in evaluative practices (here, scholastic judgment). We also present results which show that certain internal explanations of school events, regardless of their valence (success or failure), enhance the social worth of the pupil producing them. This applies to effort-based explanations which are more highly valued than others (e.g., in terms of personological traits such as aptitudes or abilities). Such results lead us to discuss the role played by internal explanations in the evaluation practices. We underline the relevant aspect of the socionormative theory of internality by comparison to another sociocognitive approach namely Weiner’s attributional theory of motivation.     

Interanimation: repositioning possibilities in educational contexts

Changing discursive practices is necessary for educational social justice and is made possible through the interanimation of diverse ways of knowing that create dynamic tensions and challenge reliance on narrow views of what counts as legitimate knowledge. In this article, we accept the challenge that Reid and Valle put forth in creating new discourses of possibility through the animation of sociocultural and critical theory as they might apply to the interrogation of two aspects of the meaning-making process: (a) the interanimation of voices across systems as a condition of reculturing institutions and communities of practice, and (b) instructional activity settings in educational contexts (e.g., disciplinary apprenticeships). We conclude this article by examining possibilities for collaborative research activity.     

Students' conceptions of learning in different educational contexts

The aim of this study is to investigate students' conceptions of learning in different educational contexts, and analyze to what extent conceptions are contextually dependent. Student nurses and car mechanic students are chosen as two groups, and qualitative similarities and differences between the students are described and explained in terms of the educational contexts: nursing education and car mechanic education.The study is 'qualitative by its nature, and the phenomenographic approach and grounded theory are taken as the points of departure. Data for the cross-section study were collected through individual interviews with student nurses (n = 60) and car mechanic students (n = 54). Different groups of students were interviewed at the beginning and at the end of the educational programs.As a result of the analysis, qualitative similarities and differences in students' conceptions were found. Differences among students within a program were, however, fewer than differences among students participating in different programs. In comparing groups of students within the programs, similar trends of development could be identified. Students within both programs used more developed conceptions at the end than at the beginning of the programs. The differences found within and between the student groups could be explained in terms of educational contexts. The results thus showed that conceptions were to some extent contextually dependent.     

Historical contexts of educational reforms in present-day China

Conclusion As are structural changes in the economic sphere, educational reforms in present-day China are progressing in a period of great transition with the old system being replaced by the new. The old system is dissolving but has not completely dissolved. The new system is growing, but has not become a powerful institution. Promoting the growth of the new while accelerating the dissolution of the old without major upheaval remains a tremendous task. Recognizing that old things are not necessarily bad and new ones good, we will be careful to facilitate positive reforms in the Chinese context without repeating the mistakes of the past.     

A cross-cultural analysis of educational leadership for social justice in Israel and Turkey: meanings,actions and contexts

The research compares principals in Israel (Jewish and Arab) and Turkey and how they perceive and practice their role in promoting social justice (SJ) in their schools in order to bridge socioeconomic and pedagogic gaps. It poses three questions: (1) How do Turkish and Israeli SJ leaders make sense of SJ? (2) What do SJ leaders do in both countries similarly and differently? (3) What factors facilitate or hinder the work of SJ in both countries? The qualitative study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews to collect the narratives of 11 school principals in Turkey and Israel. A comparative, holistic analysis was employed to identify the principals’ perceptions and daily practice of SJ in their schools. The principals reported different sociocultural, national and personal trajectories that shaped their perceptions of SJ, and described strategies used to promote SJ in their daily scholastic policies, processes and practices that meet the school stakeholders’ backgrounds and needs.     

Social identity theories and educational engagement

There is a large body of research in studies of schooling, particularly ethnographic case studies, which posits that collective action among students undermines engagement in school and contributes to educational inequality. In this paper I review studies of engagement from a social identity theory perspective. To what extent can collective action explain why some student groups are less engaged than others? I discuss four approaches to identifying social identity‐related problems of engagement frequently used in prior research. While researchers often find problems of engagement among low‐academic‐status students, research on educational engagement has had difficulty locating the underlying causes of inequality in student engagement. Social identity theories of educational engagement are inherently theories of collective action. I conclude that a fifth approach, large‐scale observational studies of monitoring and sanctioning, provides the best framework for identifying both the prevalence of, and solutions to, this particular source of disengagement.     

Narratives of educational transition and learner identity

This article examines how educational transitions in Hong Kong are concurrently classed processes and practices, and how learner identity is developed and negotiated in an education system that prizes English as capital. Through the lens of habitus, the connected but distinct autobiographical accounts suggest that the stronger the insulation between the home and the school, the keener an individual’s sensitivity may be towards class distinction in adapting to a new field. Learner identity associated with academic success is potentially negotiable and self-sustained through determination, self-regulation, and reflexive strategies, rendering the availability of resource support less important for working-class students’ identity development.     

Universals,necessities, and social contexts

Elbers does an excellent job of integrating, analyzing, and extending recent theoretical and empirical work concerning the relation of learning and development. The purpose of this commentary is to challenge Elbers to address the difficult question of universal sequences in human development. In order to focus the issue, a specific sequence in the development of logical reasoning is proposed.     

外语教育研究中的叙事探究

叙事探究在外语教育领域得到越来越广泛的运用。本文以web of science核心合集文献为依据,梳理了该领域叙事探究的理论视角、研究主题、数据收集和分析方法。研究发现,研究者多采用实践共同体理论和定位理论,侧重身份、动机等主题;数据收集以多渠道数据、历时数据、互动中的叙事、叙事框架和多模态叙事等方式为主;数据分析常采用主题分析、内容分析、话语分析和叙事性分析。最后,对叙事探究在外语教育研究领域的未来发展给出了建议。     

Achievement motivation and child rearing in different social contexts

This study explores the relationship between achievement motivation at school and child rearing practices. It aims is to discover what aspects of rearing practices differentiate higher and lower motivated pupils and whether these aspects vary with the specificity of life contexts (SES, area of residence) or with the subject gender. Six variables (family life structuring, autonomy, authoritarianism, child acceptance, expectation of success and locus of causality) were assessed through a questionnaire administered to 288 mothers of sixth graders selected from a population of about 4500 pupils. Results show that the more motivated children live in more rigidly structured families than the less motivated. They have less autonomy, with the exception of rural girls from a high SES and urban girls from a low SES who have more autonomy than the less motivated ones. Internal locus of causality is associated with higher motivation in pupils of both sexes from an average SES, in boys from high SES and in girls from a low SES; and with a lower motivation in boys from a low SES and girls from a high SES. No meaningful association was observed between motivation and child acceptance, authoritarianism or success expectation. These results point to the usefulness of research to explore the differential influences of social context and individual gender on the relationship between child rearing practices and pupil’s achievement motivation.     

The identity crisis of educational planning

As long as educational expansion was considered to be decisive for achieving economic growth as well as social and political equality, the prospects and merits of educational planning were rarely questioned. However, the failure of educational expansion to produce the desired results, challenged the relevance of educational planning to such a degree that it is now suffering from an identity crisis. The author critically reviews traditional and contemporary technical approaches to educational planning, governmental planning activities, and the role of educational planning as a part of the political apparatus. Weighing up the possibilities and the limitations of educational planning, he stresses the need to build a new identity for it in order that it should be able to cope with the demographic, educational, economic and financial challenges of the 1980's.

---

Zusammenfassung Solange die Auffassung vorherrschte, die Expansion des Bildungswesens sei die entscheidende Voraussetzung für wirtschaftliches Wachstum, größere soziale Gerechtigkeit und mehr Demokratie, genoß die Bildungsplanung beträchtliches Ansehen und weckte große Erwartungen. Dies hat sich grundlegend geändert. Das Scheitern der anspruchsvollen Ziele expansionistischer Bildungspolitik verstrickte die Bildungsplanung in eine Identitätskrise. Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich kritisch mit der Entwicklung der wissenschaftlichen und politischen Bildungsplanung. Im Mittelpunkt steht der Wandel der Konzepte und Modelle der Planungsforschung. Die Überlegungen führen zu dem Fazit, daß eine Rekonstruktion der Bildungsplanung dringend geboten erscheint, um den Herausforderungen gewachsen zu sein, mit denen das Bildungswesen in der 80er Jahren konfrontiert wird.

---

Résumé Tant que l'on considéra l'expansion éducative comme le facteur décisif du développement économique, de l'égalité sociale et politique, les expectatives et les mérites de la planification éducative ne furent que rarement contestés. Cependant, l'échec de l'expansion éducative au niveau de la réalisation des résultats souhaités a tellement mis en cause l'importance de la planification éducative qu'elle souffre maintenant d'une crise d'identité. L'auteur procède à un examen critique des approches techniques nouvelles et traditionnelles de la planification éducative, des activités de planification du gouvernement et du rôle de la planification éducative en tant que partie de l'appareil politique. En évaluant les possibilités et les limitations de la planification éducative, il souligne le besoin pour la planification éducative de construire une nouvelle identité afin de pouvoir répondre aux exigences démographiques, économiques, éducatives et financières des années 80.