Chapter 11 A Feminist Interpretation of College Student Bulimia

Bulimia is presented as a way young women negotiate the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Developmental demands for more independence place gender-specific demands on young women. The primary identification of the female child with the mother, along with familial and cultural expectations of women, encourage the development of traditionally feminine qualities. In emotionally "needy" families these relational qualities are developed at the expense of autonomous capacities. Coupled with the cultural overvaluation of women's appearance in general, and unrealistic expectations of slenderness in particular, the body becomes the focus of conflict, and eating problems often develop. Bulimia is viewed as an effort to make up for the lack of inner sources of self-esteem by living up to external ideals of perfection.     

Look to the East to Gain a New Perspective, Understand Cultural Differences, and Appreciate Cultural Diversity

Childrearing and educational practices accurately reflect cultural values. Cross-cultural experiences highlight some ways attitudes about early childhood, parenting, and teaching are influenced by cultural experiences and expectations. The author's experiences in China illustrate interesting ways these programs are very different from their American counterparts. Some of the differences revolve around practices such as residential programs for young children, the nature of classroom interactions, and contrasting approaches to teaching the arts. Identifying and understanding the reasons for some of those differences can sensitize readers to broader issues of cultural pluralism and help teachers celebrate cultural diversity as they work with families from varied backgrounds.     

Elite Female Business Students in China and Norway: Job‐Related Values and Preferences

The focus of this paper is on the work‐related values, preferences, and future expectations among female students at two elite business schools in China and Norway. The paper argues that while gender theory predicts no significant differences between these two groups, both cultural and economic development theory imply fundamental differences. The overall picture we get from this study is mixed, in that while both cultural dimensions and economic development dimensions generally have a significant impact on the variations in job‐related values between the selected Chinese and Norwegian female business students, there are also commonalities that are ascribable to gender. That is, while there clearly are differences between the two groups there are also a number of significant similarities.     

From pre-service to in-service teachers: a longitudinal investigation of the professional development of English language teachers in secondary schools

This study reports on a longitudinal inquiry into professional identity construction among six novice cross-border English language teachers from mainland China, who completed their pre-service teacher education in Hong Kong (HK) and began their teaching practice in local HK schools. The findings indicate that the participants navigated obstacles in teaching by deploying their own multiple languages as a cultural and linguistic repertoire. The findings also show that the teachers experienced difficulty legitimising their professional identity in the teaching community, where contextual issues and power interplays mediated the process. Furthermore, it is found that the participants’ commitment to teaching was negatively influenced by their non-legitimate position in the teaching community and the discordance between their teaching beliefs and the norms and values of their workplace. This study suggests that complex inter-relationships between marginal status in and legitimate membership of the community, between historical and cultural background, present practice, and future expectations, between social discourse and personal location, are involved in the process of identity construction. Measures to legitimate these teachers’ position and to transform the linguistic and cultural repertories of these teachers into valuable resources of the local schools are suggested. Implications for future research are outlined.     

Education and Culture: a Perspective from Higher Education

This article raises questions about the cultural values of higher education today. It states a range of concerns about students, institutions and some at least of the Government's policies. At every level from government downwards there is a tendency to fall back on means rather than objectives. Social attitudes and those held within education reflect uncertainties about the moral responsibilities of higher education. The classical cultural definition of higher education as an end in itself has encouraged an exclusive view, detached from the real world. The article discusses how cultural expectations can be defined in relation to higher education today and suggests some of the issues that need to be addressed. It is based on a paper originally presented to a Consultation on 'Education and Culture' at St George's House, Windsor in December 1988.     

Inside a beginning immigrant science teacher’s classroom: an ethnographic study

Teaching is a highly personal endeavor shaped by ‘funds of knowledge’ and beliefs about teaching, learning, and students. This case study examines how one Asian immigrant teacher’s personal expectations and beliefs influenced his expectations of students and the teaching and instructional strategies he employed. His expectations of students’ behavior and their failure to conform to his expectations influenced him to utilize more traditional, didactic instructional practices and responses to classroom management dilemmas. It is generally assumed that immigrant and minority students will benefit from exposure to teachers from similar backgrounds, and that ethnically diverse teachers can better prepare minority students for the multicultural workplace and global economy. This study focuses on the role a teacher’s background and experiences play in development of their beliefs about teaching and learning, their expectations of students, and the instructional decisions they make regarding teaching and learning. This study suggests that teachers draw on their personal histories and cultural understandings to create classroom practices which are molded by microcosms of personal ‘funds of knowledge’ and beliefs about teaching and learning. In contrast to conventional wisdom and unquestioned myths, this study emphasizes the importance of knowing that teachers’ cultural backgrounds do not necessarily qualify them to provide the most appropriate instructional environment for students from similar cultural backgrounds. This study suggests that all teachers need to learn to recognize and negotiate the unique social elements culturally diverse students bring to the classroom.     

Growing up female and Muslim in the UK: an empirical enquiry into the distinctive religious and social values of young Muslims

Abstract

What does it mean to be a Muslim young woman in Britain today and with which religious and social values do these young women identify? This paper tests the thesis that Muslim identity predicts distinctive values of public and social significance among female adolescents (13- to 15- years of age) who participated in a survey conducted across the four nations of the United Kingdom. From the 11,809 participants in the survey, the present analyses compares the responses of 177 female students who self-identified as Muslim with the responses of 1183 female students who self-identified as religiously unaffiliated. Comparisons are drawn across two domains defined as religiosity and as social values. The data demonstrated that for these female adolescents self-identification as Muslim encased a distinctive profile in terms both of religiosity and social values.     

场域与视角:电视娱乐化浪潮的多维解读与批判

本文从社会动因、文化视野、心理维度、传播效果、产业经济等五个方面对电视娱乐化浪潮进行了审视与反思;认为社会发展动力机制与平衡机制的失调、文化时势权力与长老权力的竞逐、受众定向期待与创新期待的变革以及经济利益链条的合力打造与共享是当代中国电视娱乐化浪潮发生的深层原因;而电视娱乐化现象在传播效果上所引发的传统伦理世界的解构与建构,则是其在传播过程中所无法避免的必然结果。     

Once Upon Today: Teaching for Social Justice with Postmodern Picturebooks

Children’s literature has long been used by parents and teachers to impart social values and expectations as well as to entertain children. Postmodern picturebooks jar this tradition by stimulating readers to question and rethink societal norms. However, these books also feature many cultural attributes that hold fast: loving families are still a safe harbor after adventures, while hard work and perseverance remain keys to success. Thus postmodern picturebooks provide a safe realm for exploration of values and traditional mores. This article examines the use of postmodern picturebooks in classroom settings to spark discussions that can lead to greater awareness of the world and the possibilities of students’ roles in it. The article also suggests activities to encourage children to reflect on new ways of being and thinking on a level appropriate to their sensibilities.     

Acceptable Masculinities: Working-Class Young Men and Vocational Education and Training Courses

Since the 1970s, the process of deindustrialisation, accompanied by social, cultural and political changes, has altered youth transitions from school to work. This paper is drawn from an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study that explored the diversity of white, working-class young men (aged between 16 and 18) in a post-industrial community. The study focused on how young men performed their masculinities through different post-16 educational pathways and within the limits of place and a disadvantaged social class position. In this paper, I explore the way three of these young men who were enrolled on different vocational education and training courses learned how to display acceptable masculinities within these settings. Drawing on the work of Goffman, I argue that these vocational courses can ‘frame’ traditional forms of working-class masculinity, but also have the potential to enable alternative performances of masculinity to come through. However, the role of a locale’s industrial heritage on gendered and classed expectations is important, and the impact this has on successful futures needs to be recognised.     

Career Guidance and Counselling for Youth: What Adolescents and Young Adults are Telling Us

The area of career guidance and counselling for youth is undergoing rapid change in light of evolving expectations of young people as members of society and rapidly changing educational and career opportunities. This article summarizes previous research describing the perspectives of adolescents and young adults, and concludes that there is a need to re-examine the assumptions underlying career advising, guidance, and counselling programs offered to young people; and also to re-develop these services to better reflect current economic, career, and social realities.     

Different for women? The challenges of doctoral studies

This exploratory study investigates gender-specific differences in the challenges of the doctoral experience through the observations of a counsellor working with doctoral students. The article first contextualises the study within the literature investigating doctoral attrition and gender equity, showing that identity transformation over the doctorate is problematic in particular aspects for women. We confirm that cultural expectations regarding women passivity, family nurturance and (at least symbolic) subordination to male authority can cause tensions between women's social relationships and academic performance which values assertiveness, clear communication and confident management of power relationships. We identify various conflicts between the female roles of the social sphere and the academic arena that problematise the identity transition of the doctorate from student to independent researcher.     

Early School Leavers and Social Disadvantage in Spain: from books to bricks and vice-versa

It can be argued that in Spain there is a relationship between the high rates of early school leaving (ESL) and inactive or unemployed young people, as is evidenced by the current situation in which over half the working population aged 25 or younger is unemployed, many having completed compulsory education only. ESL and its social and economic consequences must be considered within the parameters and expectations of the Spanish labour market and how these expectations are/were linked to demands (or not) for continued education. This article considers the monumental social, political and economic changes that have occurred in Spain during a short span of time (including the real estate crash of 2008 and subsequent economic crisis), and how these issues intersect with measures that directly concern the educational system. It also considers a variety of endogenous and exogenous factors related to the Spanish educational system, and the impact these have on rates of ESL. The article ends with a discussion of policies and practices that may reduce ESL rates and help transform the Spanish general perception of early school leavers from a ‘lost generation’ to a generation of young people with potential for helping Spain move out of its current economic crisis.     

COLLABORATION AMONG EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS AND FACULTY THROUGH A REGGIO INSPIRED LONG‐TERM PROJECT

To effectively teach young children, early childhood teachers must be prepared to collaborate with families of diverse backgrounds. Studying the unique cultural contexts of children and families in American early care and education programs and communities will offer early educators information needed to develop empathy for the families with whom they wish to partner. This study investigated the attitudes of Chinese graduate students in the United States toward American early care and education programs. Chinese graduate students are a unique and growing population of approximately 189,000, 40% of whom have at least one child attending American early care and education programs. Chinese graduate students’ educational expectations for their young children and reasons behind these expectations were also explored. Findings showed that participants’ views of American early care and education reflected Chinese culture and life experience. In terms of American education, these Chinese graduate students compared the American programs’ curricula to the Chinese national curriculum, a curriculum they successfully mastered. Implications for early childhood teacher education programs are discussed.     

Books and baths and run all the way: The cultural formation of female primary teachers in the early twentieth century

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of female primary teachers in the development of a national system of education. Their preparation at the various training colleges as well as the academic and cultural environment of these institutions is examined. More specifically, the role of extra‐curricular activities, particularly sporting endeavours, in the formation of female primary teachers is assessed. The paper suggests that the traditional picture of restrictions on females in the sporting arena may have to be modified. Finally, the importance of teachers in passing on cultural and sporting traditions is discussed.     

‘I'm a Geek I am’: academic achievement and the performance of a studious working-class masculinity

During the last few decades, the South Wales Valleys (UK) have undergone a considerable economic, social, cultural and political transformation, altering youth transitions from school to work. Drawing on a two and a half year ethnographic study, in the paper I concentrate on a group of academically successful young white working-class men aged 16–18 years who were dealing with these changes. I argue that these studious performances of young working-class masculinity offer a different way in which to view a disadvantaged community and explore working-class educational success. However, I argue that their future aspirations to attend university are still tempered by the classed and gender codes that underpin expectations of manhood in this deindustrial community and which can impact on successful transitions to adulthood.     

Cultural dimensions of decisions about educational participation among 14‐ to 19‐year‐olds: the parts that Tomlinson doesn't reach

The continued increase in levels of educational participation and patterns of attainment among young people from less advantaged social backgrounds suggests that class cultures can no longer be seen as providing significant barriers to educational progression. Indeed, it can be argued that this increase in educational participation has been facilitated by a processes of cultural convergence in which the benefits derived from qualifications are more or less universally acknowledged. At the same time, it is clear that some young people are put in positions at school that effectively promote processes of cultural resistance as survival strategies.

This paper provides an overview of some of the ways in which class cultures impact on patterns of educational participation. It draws on three recent studies in an attempt to differentiate barriers to educational progress that can be tackled through school reforms from those that originate or are constantly reinforced in the community. In the light of these observations of the cultural dimensions of the educational decisions of 14‐ to 19‐year‐olds, a brief assessment is made of the likely impact of the Tomlinson proposals.     

The social meanings of the C-Card scheme: the importance of friends and peers

This paper draws on findings from an analysis of interviews with young people aged 14–18 years, to explore the peer influences in young people's informal social networks which can affect their access to sexual health services. The research focuses on the social meanings of a C-Card condom distribution scheme in North East England. Such schemes are widespread in the UK as a way of providing access to condoms and sexual health advice for young people in health and community settings. Focusing on one aspect of a broader study, the paper outlines the important social, emotional and practical resources provided by young people's chosen friendship groups in the process of acquiring a C-Card, which offers a route to accessing sex and relationships advice and condoms. Informal peer networks inform attitudes and expectations which can influence gendered patterns of behaviour. Through a focus on the educational possibilities of the C-Card scheme, the study suggests a need to revisit the dynamics of young people's peer relationships and harness their potential to influence sexual attitudes and behaviour in positive ways, rather than simply seeing these always as a source of negative pressure.     

Stereotypes and the female politician: A case study of Senator Barbara Mikulski

This case study of Senator Barbara Mikulski (D‐MD) documents the successful negotiation of a complex set of general and local stereotypes/expectations arising primarily from gender. By recognizing and addressing these stereotypes/expectations as rhetorical constructs, Mikulski has facilitated women's increased participation in the political arena. This essay pays particular attention to the rhetorical strategies that functioned to broaden the lens through which women in politics are viewed by challenging the femininity/competence double bind. The stereotypes/expectations examined include orientation toward family (female‐identified), availability (female‐identified), and aggression (male‐identified). Mikulski used a variety of rhetorical strategies ranging from recasting to humor, and her efforts can productively inform the campaigns of other women seeking elective office.