What do parents want from day care services? Perspectives from Australia

A total of 100 parents in 15 Day Care (DC) in Sydney, Australia were surveyed to obtain their views about the different roles of care and education in DC services. Both parents with children under 3 years old and parents with children 3 and above expected a substantial component of education in their child’s DC program. Both groups of parents expected both care and education for their children, and expected a reasonable level of professionalism and qualifications in the staff. These results challenge assumptions about care for infants and education for older children. Policy makers need to attend to parents’ needs and wishes and should be aware of the important value of human resources investment through improved DC services.     

Why do Muslim parents want Muslim schools?

Islam is a way of life, we try to do what the Prophet did. (Muslim teacher)

The small‐scale study focuses on a number of Muslim parents and practitioners who have rejected local primary community schools in favour of Muslim faith schooling. The rejection of the type of schools that we support and that we train our student teachers to prepare for prompts considerable concern. This concern has led us to question in what ways Muslim schools represent a challenge to our own educational beliefs and values. This study is an attempt to identify the source of that challenge and what it means to our understanding of ourselves as white educators and researchers and the work we do with trainee teachers. It leads us to question our perspective on a range of issues including diversity, inclusion, parental rights and ultimately the aims of education.     

The effects of a free school choice policy on parents’ school choice behaviour

Recently, European school systems have seen various attempts to ‘modernise’ their governance. Market and competition oriented reforms have not been central to governance innovation strategies in German speaking countries, however, their number and relevance is rising in recent years. A free school choice policy which abolishes “school districts” which legally define fixed school catchment areas was introduced in the school year of 2007/2008 in the Austrian city of Linz.The effects of the implementation of this policy on the primary school sector were studied by a standardised questionnaire administered to a representative sample of 3425 parents of five age groups of primary school children. The return rate was about 55%. By special measures during data collection a satisfactory representation of parents with migrant background was achieved.Three questions are discussed in the paper: (1) Is there a rise in segregation in schools as a result of free choice policy? (2) Is there a change in the composition of the student population in different schools as a result of free choice policy? (3) Is there a change in parent school choice behaviour of as a result of free choice policy?Our data indicates that segregation in primary schools with respect to ethnic and social family characteristics increases after the policy implementation, but the sample size is too small to find significant results. In addition, no significant change is observed in the social composition of schools. In accordance with the previous findings no significant modifications of choice behaviour occur for different ethnic or social groups after free choice. However changes in choice motives can be observed.     

Factors influencing school connectedness: Chinese adolescents’ perspectives

This study explored the concept of school connectedness and the factors that may influence its development with a sample of Chinese adolescents. Six focus groups involving 52 high school students were conducted using a set of predetermined discussion topics. Results indicated that the students fully understood the notion of school connectedness and could identify a number of key influences affecting its development. These factors could be grouped under several domains including teacher care, peer relations, broader school relationships, school disciplinary policies and practices, activities within the school’s guidance and counseling program, and opportunities for talent development. The students were also able to suggest practical strategies that schools might introduce to enhance and strengthen students’ acquisition of connectedness to school. The implications from the findings are discussed with particular reference to implementing comprehensive school guidance and counseling program in Hong Kong.     

Filipino parents’ school choice and loyalty: a factor analysis

This quantitative study aims to ascertain the significant relationship existing between parents’ profile, and their school choice and school loyalty. Data were gathered using the researcher’s two-part made instrument. Respondents were first asked to fill in a robotfoto for purpose of profiling their baseline characteristics and were later asked to rate listed indicators, using a modified 8-point Likert scale. Using statistical tools such as the ANOVA, factor analysis, correlation, mean, and standard deviation, data were treated indepth. It is interesting to note that although parents are loyal to their alma mater, this does not have a much impact on their choice of school for their children. On the whole, parents’ choice of school is based on its indispensable qualities. Among the three interval-scale profiles of the parent respondents such as age, income, tuition fee payment and number of children, none of these relate to school choice, but age, income, and tuition fee payment negatively relate to school loyalty. From their nominal-scale profiles, significant differences were noted in their school choice when grouped according to civil status, place of work, and terms of payment. With respect to school loyalty, significant differences occurred in their responses when classified according to gender, terms of payment and their active participation in the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA).     

The dilemmas of school choice: do parents really ‘choose’ low-fee private schools in Delhi,India?

The growing number of private schools in India, especially those accepting children from underprivileged households, has been considered demand driven. In contrast to this understanding, this paper argues that low-income parents in Okhla and Badarpur in Delhi, India, are compelled to send their children to private unaided recognised and unrecognised schools. These schools are used as interim schools during primary or elementary grades because of the perceived danger of sending younger children to distant government schools. Our findings show that parents encounter school choice dilemmas in three stages. Parents prefer sending their children to government schools, but being Muslim, they also prefer faith-based teaching in an Islamic environment, which they expect from government schools but not from private schools. Moreover, they prefer schools that offer all grades, do not charge fees, and have honest teachers who teach effectively, are dedicated and affectionate, and will instil discipline in their children.     

What did I do in school today?

Rina went to school 1 she was six yearsold.She liked her first day 2 .Her teacher,Miss Yates,was very nice,and 3 in her classwere 4 ,too.But at the end of the secondday,when the other children 5 the class-room,Rina stayed behind and waited.     

What did I do in school today?

Rina went to school 1 she was six years old.She liked her first day 2. Her teacher, Miss Yates,was very nice,and 3 in her class were 4,too.But at the end of the second     

Yaffa: a school of their choice?

This article is a product of in‐depth research in Yaffa, The Arab Democratic School that was carried out in 2004/05, as part of a study on alternative Arab education in Israel. Its aim, beyond telling the story of Yaffa, is to explicate the motivations that underlay this initiative, and to examine parental choice amongst the disadvantaged. We ask how the Arabs’ parental choice is affected by their (marginalised) social location, by how far they are from the dominant culture, and by their (in)capacity to make a difference. Apparently, to make a choice is a multidimensional act, reflecting the Palestinian citizens’ resistance to their marginalisation and unwillingness to be subjugated through non‐democratic educational perceptions. Their positionality resonates in Yaffa, as an act of intervention, and their search for an alternative reality where democratic education is not and cannot be separated from the Palestinian citizens’ need to imagine themselves as Arabs.     

Unit 11 What time do you go to school?

Ⅰ.用两种方式表达下列时刻。①6:10②7:45③8:28④2:05________________________________________________⑤11:31⑥9:30⑦1:58⑧5:45________________________________________________Ⅱ.看图完成对话。一空一词。1.A:_______________you get up everymorning?B:I get up_____5:45.A:Oh,it’s so early.2.A:_____you_____English classes everyday?B:Yes,we_____.A:_______________the first class start?B:It__________8:00.3.A:_____you have awatch?B:_____,I_____.A:__________is it byyour watch?B:It’s_____.4.A:________…     

What do foreign students eat for lunch at school?

One of your favorite topics of conversation at lunchtime must be the foodprovided by your school(食堂)."The dishes are boring,"you may say.You are not alone.It seems children all over the world complain about theirschool food.So what do students of your age eat for lunch at school?     

School choice and parents’ preferences for school attributes in Chile

A key assumption of school choice and competition policies is that parents’ most important (if not only) priority when choosing a school is its quality. However, evidence about which of a school's attributes really drives parental choice is still scarce. We use census data from a parent questionnaire in Chile, a country with a national school choice and competition system, to describe the attributes most commonly considered by parents when choosing a school, and to assess how the probability of prioritizing those attributes varies with the parents’ socioeconomic characteristics, while controlling for other characteristics of the family. We find that parents choosing a school prioritize its proximity, its quality, and whether it provides religious education. Furthermore, the probability of parents prioritizing proximity is higher for parents of low socioeconomic status, while the probability of them prioritizing quality and religious education is higher for parents of high socioeconomic status. These findings show that only advantaged families choose schools based on their quality, and therefore school choice and competition policies may offer a limited benefit for disadvantaged pupils, possibly maintaining or reinforcing socioeconomic segregation in the education system.     

What do they do?

Four friends live in a small town. Their names are:Cook, Miller, Smith and Garter.They have different jobs. One is a policeman; one is a worker;one is a farmer; one is a doctor.One day Cook's son breaks(摔断) his leg, and Cook takes him to the doctor. The doctor's sister is Smith's wife. The farmer isn't married (结婚). He has a lot of chicks. Miller often buys eggs from Garter. The policeman's house is near Smith's, so he sees Smith every day.     

What makes a school Catholic?

This research aims to look at how a group of primary head teachers’ in the North West of England perceive the Catholic nature of their schools and how they give their account of Catholic education for twenty-first century Britain. They go on to describe their feelings about the mission of their school. The head teachers’ views of how they identified their school’s Catholicism are critiqued in the light of Catholic Church teaching on the nature of Catholic schools and compared to academic and theological models of Catholic education.     

What do consultants do,anyway?

This article describes some of the different roles or functions a consultant may fill, and discusses some of their implications for both clients and consultants. The focus is on the differences between consultants as generalists vs. specialist, and between consultants as advisors to others vs. direct providers of products or services.     

What is a dysfunctional school?

Abstract

Whether or not a school is dysfunctional depends largely on how dysfunctionality in schools is defined and measured. Dysfunctionality, as any construct, is subject to definition and interpretation, and it is thus always marked by perspectivism. But regardless of the definition games occasionally played by academics, some form of reality takes place beyond the constructivist horizon. Moreover, perspectivism and definition games may justify and even create adverse consequences within a school's lived reality. A definition focussing on Grade 12 pass rates, for example, tends to implicate teachers, while a definition focussing on infrastructure tends to exculpate teachers and incriminate government and administration. Accordingly, this article will not end but begin with the adage that a dysfunctional school is what one defines a dysfunctional school to be, and it will explore the conditions and consequences of conceptual variations.