Form IV Cambridge School Certificate,Pupils' Aspirations in Zimbabwe

This article is based on two major studies. One study was carried out in 1985 and the other in 1987. The discussion examines Form IV Cambridge School Certificate pupils' aspirations in Zimbabwe with special reference to the post‐independence period. Among the main factors said to determine pupils' aspirations, highlighted in the study include: the class structures of scoiety, parents' occupations, gender, the urban‐rural dichotomy and the type of schools attended.

Pupils' aspirations for a developing country such as Zimbabwe have implications for the country's education policies. These implications are in areas such as the expansion of educational provisions, universal primary education, material provision, educational costs, manpower supply and demand and entry into the University.

As far as cost implications are concerned, there is debate in Zimbabwe as to whether the country can afford free and compulsory primary education given limited resources. At the same time limited resources have affected the quality of education. This article attempts to give suggestions as to what education policy makers could do to improve upon the situation.     

Notes and news

Abstract

This paper argues that two areas vital to the teaching profession's own development and to the development of its standing in society have been neglected in inservice education and training. The first, an understanding and development of the ‘public’ dimension of teaching, suggests that teachers have duties and concerns which transcend those of professionals in the private sector because the public domain is a necessary focus for the promotion of collective life as opposed to individual interests. The second, an appreciation of the ‘ecological’ context of teaching, locates its practice within wider political and social issues and deepens the teaching profession's understanding of itself The evidence of neglect of these areas is derived from questionnaire data drawn by the authors from primary and secondary schools on their inservice priorities.     

Introduction to “Racial Inequality and Education: Patterns and Prospects for the Future”

Abstract

American society is in the midst of profound economic and demographic changes. At the same time that the racial and ethnic composition of American society is changing, disparities in income and wealth have grown wider and more pronounced than ever before. This article explores the ways in which race is implicated in the widening gaps in wealth and opportunity, and how these inequities impact educational achievement.     

Whither the Enterprise Culture: An Examination of Young People's Job Values

Abstract

The proceeding decade has seen much official effort expended on encouraging the growth of an ‘enterprise culture’. The present report considers the extent to which enterprise has come to be valued by young people today. Data on work values from the ESRC's 16‐19 Initiative indicate that enterprise values are largely rejected in favour of the traditional attractions of good pay and prospects. The entrepreneurial minority tend to be more committed than others to a meritocratic society, but holding entrepreneurial values is unconnected with political affiliation. Attempts to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit appears to have failed to influence young people's notions of work.     

The Effects of Busing and School Desegregation on Majority and Minority Student Dropout Rates

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of school desegregation by court-ordered busing on the subsequent dropout rate of majority and minority students. Using before and after busing measures of dropout rates, school records and personal interviews, this research finds majority dropout rates are not affected by desegregation procedures. While the dropout rates of bused minority students appear to be identical to those of non-bused minority students, large disparities between minority rates in various bused sectors indicate highly uneven educational experiences of bused minority students. School socio-economic composition and the expectations of teachers concerning student behavior are used to analyze the disparities, with the conclusion reached that the more favorable expectations of teachers at higher socio-economic climate schools produce lower minority student dropout rates. Desegregation produces a positive benefit for this most crucial dimension of minority student educational accomplishment, when the school to which the minority student is bused is one where teachers' expectations are positive and supportive.     

COMMUNITY COLLEGE FUNDING

This article presents a practitioner's funding model indicative of the primary revenue streams of community colleges in Texas. Methodology is developed to identify internal and external processes for the comparison of these primary revenue streams on a per-contact-hour basis. Student tuition, ad valorem property tax, maintenance taxing district, and state appropriation revenues are analyzed to provide a framework for the subsequent development of methodologies to identify disparities in the Texas community college funding mechanism.     

Leadership development challenges in South African schools: The Advanced Certificate: Education (School Management and Leadership)

Abstract

A number of schools in South Africa appear to be struggling with the changes that the government is introducing to improve the quality of education and lay a strong foundation for the country's societal transformation. Leadership has been found to be one of the factors that are associated with how schools cope with change and its complexities. This article focuses on a conceptual examination of the national Advanced Certificate: Education (School Management and Leadership) programme's capacity for promoting sustainable leadership in schools. The findings from the critical analysis of the qualification's documentation suggest that the current formulation of this school leadership development programme does not address the complexities of leadership and change, and is thus unlikely to adequately contribute towards leadership effectiveness or its sustainability in schools. It may, however, contribute to short- term school improvements, policy compliance, management effectiveness or economy and/or administrative efficiency.     

Understanding and Nourishing Christian Vocation to Higher Education in a Postcommunist Society

ABSTRACT

To understand the concept of Christian vocation within the context of higher education in a postcommunist society, reflection on its communist and postcommunist history is necessary. Thus, the authors first present an analysis of Eastern Europe's Marxist past, specifically focusing on the external and internal impact of that past on attitudes toward higher education of people living in a postcommunist society. Marxist statism, or the total dominance of the state over an individual, remains an external influence more than a quarter of a century since Eastern Europe's 1989 democratic revolution that reshaped much of the continent. In considering the topic of vocation within the context of Eastern Europe, the ethos that works inwardly on members of postcommunist societies must be noted: suspicion leading to self-doubt, passivity kept alive by bureaucratization, and strict compartmentalization of knowledge into science versus religion. In the second part of the article, the authors describe the concept of Christian vocation in a postcommunist society, as understood by contemporary younger and older generations based on data from two recent qualitative investigations. These studies allowed for comparison between the generational views and documented important attitudinal changes. The third section concludes by providing examples of good practices for nurturing an understanding of Christian vocation in higher education in a postcommunist context. Although the effectiveness of some of these practices has been documented over time, most are still in their infancy. Despite the new democratic political system, Christians need to reconsider the former dichotomies (i.e., state–church, public–private, scientific–religious) and become more actively involved in previously inaccessible and challenging areas of influential work such as teaching and managerial positions in higher education institutions. It should be noted that the term vocation, as used in languages of postcommunist European countries has several meanings such as invitation, calling, occupation, or profession; accordingly, the authors use the terms vocation and calling interchangeably in this article.     

Explanation and metaphor: Some empirical questions in science education

This paper examines how science education becomes institutionalized in Third World countries using Malaysia as a case study. The findings shows that the development of science education in Malaysia has been greatly influenced by international trends and the country's socio‐political development. Science gained a place in the school curriculum in the midst of British colonial rule. The strong colonial influence on school science continued throughout the early independence period but, in the 1980s, external influences on science education came from both Western and Islamic countries. In each of the historical periods, external world cultural forces interacted with internal socio‐political forces resulting in a national science curriculum which is in accord with world cultural rules but at the same time quite indigenous in character. This study also suggests that while each nation‐state aspires to develop an indigenous form of science education that would best suit the national context, the outcome tends to be more universalistic than particularistic due to global influences.     

Chinese parental involvement and class-based inequality in education: the role of social networking sites

ABSTRACT

Based on an ethnographic study, this article presents the class-based disparities of Chinese parents’ usage of WeChat, the dominating social networking mobile application in China, in their educational involvement. We find that middle-class parents are the privileged ones who have exploited the use of WeChat not only as a medium for communication, but more as a mode of influence. Through WeChat, their various forms of capital are channelled to catalyse changes in their children's education. In contrast, working-class parents tend to act as absent participants in using WeChat for their educational involvement. We argue that WeChat has brought forth the consequence of widening the arena for winning or losing at the educational game for parents from different social classes. We call for corrective policies and guidelines on the usage of WeChat and other SNSs technologies in home–school dynamics.     

The ‘making’ of knowledge society in Rwanda? Translations,tensions and transformations

In the year 2000, Rwanda launched an ambitious long-term development strategy intended to render a fundamental transformation from an agrarian to a knowledge society by 2020. Knowledge society, however, could be viewed as a ‘floating signifier’ open for a wide range of interpretations. Guided by a policy translation perspective the aim of this article is to examine the ‘making’ of knowledge society in Rwanda. The article analyses how the government's notion of a projected knowledge society and attempts to manage globalisation to the benefit of Rwanda have translated into a set of educational policy priorities. This article further exposes various tensions that emerge in these translation processes, intimately linked to the country's deep poverty, complex political situation and high-flying ambitions.     

Social inequalities in slovenian higher education

In this article the authors study social inequalities in Slovenian higher education, using a census of students at the University of Maribor. Using the common odds ratio test, it was found that young people whose fathers had completed higher education or levels beyond are approximately 14 times more likely to enter the higher education system than those whose fathers had not completed primary education. Stratification is even more acute when mothers are observed: the ratio is 1:25. Both the situation and the trend are assessed as being unmeritocratic. These findings fit into the hypothesis of the radicalization of economic inequality in society and clarify the consolidation of a class structure and a relative absence of meritocracy. An attempt is made at longitudinal analysis of the issue: it seems that disparities in this area are increasing, after a diminution during communist times.     

Technology Training for Teacher Education in Jamaica

Abstract

The major challenges facing education systems in the information age include issues of how to prepare for and capitalize on the technological revolution and how to integrate computer technology into the curriculum. Jamaica, like most developing countries, is taking on these challenges with perhaps as much focus and increased importance as any developed country such as the United States. This paper explores the approach taken, particularly with teacher educators in Jamaican colleges, to begin the process by an assessment of the computer-related professional development needs of the college faculty. The paper makes recommendations for developing a technology training program based on the needs assessment. Underlying these issues is the necessity for a national policy to coordinate the country's efforts to integrate information technology into teacher education. Additional recommendations intended to provide guidance for the formulation of such an integrated policy development and implementation framework are offered.     

The Changing Influence of Educational Policy and Race on Metropolitan Inequality, 1970–2010

Abstract

Schools do not receive much recognition within urban sociological research for the role they perform in shaping the demographic, structural, and social features of neighborhoods, cities, and metropolitan areas. In contrast, this article links schools, and the racial avoidance that operates through educational policy, to the extreme economic polarization of metropolitan areas. The author considers why the expansion of school choice has not yet produced the decline in economic polarization that research suggested it might.     

Making biodiversity meaningful through environmental education

Biodiversity is an emerging theme in science, society and, more recently, education. There is no one single definition of biodiversity that is adequate in all situations. Both the knowledge base and the value base of biodiversity are variable and questionable. Because of these characteristics, biodiversity makes for an interesting vehicle for linking science and society, and the investigation of the normative underpinnings of 'science-in-the making'. Based on a 3-year study, this paper explores the crossroads between science education and environmental education and presents a framework for tapping the environmental education potential of biodiversity. Outlined are a number stepping stones for making biodiversity meaningful to learners. It is argued that, from the perspective of environmental education, the illdefined nature of biodiversity is a useful feature. Biodiversity is renewing the discourse on nature conservation issues by bringing together different groups in society that are searching for a common language to discuss nature conservation issues in relation to sustainability issues. The resulting debate allows the socio-scientific dispute character of 'science-in-the-making' to surface. Participation in such a dispute is an excellent opportunity to learn about a highly relevant, controversial, emotionally charged and debatable topic at the crossroads of science, technology and society     

Moral Education or Indoctrination in South Africa? A Brief Response to Potgieter

Abstract

This paper is a brief and informal response to Professor P. C. Potgieter's paper Moral Education in South Africa which appeared in the January 1980 edition of this Journal (Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 130‐3). In response to Potgieter the author attempts to present some of the more obvious philosophical and sociological inconsistencies and problems appearing in Potgieter's paper. He concludes, basically, that Potgieter has assumed a marked consensual model of South African society and, therefore, his analysis serves only to misinform the reader as to the complexities of moral education in South Africa.     

At the End of the Day,I Want to Be Close to Home: Adult Students' Preferences for College Proximity to Work and Home

ABSTRACT

Using 10 distinct samples, analyses were conducted to determine whether empirical support could be garnered for the proposition that working adults selecting a college for part-time studies tend to consider the proximity of the school to their home to be more important than the school's proximity to where they work. On a hypothetical task (first 5 samples), a clear preference for home proximity was evident. However, when real-life choices were studied (last 5 samples), the evidence for a preference for proximity to home was much weaker, perhaps because the research was conducted in a metropolitan region with numerous college choices, so that the perceived proximity to home and work were identical in most instances.     

Towards a learning society in finland: information and communications technology in teacher education

Abstract

This article describes the recent development of Finland as a learning and information society. Education, training and research have been seen as core factors to accelerate development towards a society where all citizens have a high level of competence in using information and communications technology (ICT) in their lives. A short review is given of the present situation in schools and teacher education and of how governmental strategies have guided the development and use of ICT for a learning society in Finland. The strategies of teacher education departments in universities are then analysed with the main focus on how teachers learn to use ICT as a tool which opens up high-quality learning opportunities for pupils and challenges teachers' growth as professionals. Cases have been selected to describe good examples of teachers' pre-service and in-service education. These draw a picture of how ICT is applied in different fields of teacher education. At the end of the article some trends from the late 1990s to early 2002 will be summarised. These trends are: using ICT more as a mindtool, moving towards more collaboration, interactivity and active learning, more integration of ICT in curricula and a better technical and pedagogical infrastructure.     

The Perspective of an EAZ Director

This paper is a practice-based contribution to the debate about the potential of education action zones to develop a different approach in combating educational performance in disadvantaged areas. Through an examination of the role and functions of a zone Director, the author argues that, notwithstanding the Government's single-minded concentration on the need to drive up educational standards, it remains possible for zones to pursue a more broadly based, innovative and longer-term strategy in order to deliver the required improvements.     

I can't do Tuesdays! A contracting roll ‐ some implications for heads of department in secondary schools

In these e-mail exchanges I describe the unique context of reform in the US, particularly the context of the small school district outside the New York metropolitan area that I lead. I describe how the pressures for reform coming from parents and the community lead to competition among schools, and result in micropolitics which spill out into the community. I discuss the challenges facing 'successful' schools where more autonomy is possible and where the team of educators is then empowered to lead the future initiatives. I conclude by describing examples from my own school district of how change can occur when the conditions required to develop a strong learning-centred organization are created and sustained.