Gender in schools and culture: taking stock of education in Italy

When politicians discuss Italy's position in terms of achieving equality between men and women, the school environment is rarely called into question or mentioned. This is despite the fact that gender inequality remains a prominent feature of the Italian education system. The reason for this failure to perceive the problem, and the consequent lack of investment in policies for gender equality in education, derives from a massive misunderstanding: school is perceived by the public and the political class as one of the few environments within the highly sexist Italian social fabric in which equality has been achieved. On closer examination, however, it is clear that the Italian school is merely the image of a sexist society which in turn acts as the driving force for a traditional and stereotypical view of male and female roles. This article will discuss this perspective and investigate three areas of education that are problematic in gender terms: gendered educational choices; sexist stereotypes transmitted through textbooks; and the lack of adequate training for teachers.     

Encouraging the transformation of personal epistemology

Educators assume a positive relationship between epistemological development and learning. But our understanding of this relationship is limited because it focuses mostly on higher education, and supporting data are biased by gender, ethnicity, and geography. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that encourage changes in Malaysian women's epistemology. Within a cultural framework, two questions guide this study: (a) How does higher education stimulate changes in epistemology in other cultural contexts, and (b) What factors other than higher education encourage changes in epistemology? Based on constant comparative analysis of in-depth interviews with 14 Malaysian women, the author identified three cultural factors that encourage transformation of thinking and knowing: family support of education for women and girls, formal and informal learning experiences, and extended international opportunities. Epistemological development occurs as a woman negotiates conflict between her cultural and personal models of self.     

Evaluation of education in the European Union: Policy and methodology

Given the new European institutional environment for education and training, policy and methodology for evaluation have become closely interwoven and stakes have been raised. This emerging situation calls for a robust reappraisal of existing comparative evaluation data and systems in the light of the perceived needs of European countries and of the specificity of European policies. Educational evaluation in Europe is not meant to compare results in the usual sense of the word but rather to help set global policy objectives and provide data to see if those are reached within national contexts. Is it really possible to do this without developing a 'unified' European understanding and methodology of evaluation? To what extent can existing national and international data be used for the purpose, knowing that in some instances they measure aspects of education which are either not relevant for or are contrary to the educational objectives of the construction of the Union? What are the alternatives? What are the consequences for education and for assessment research in Europe?     

Trying to Get Ahead of the Curve: Raising and Understanding Current Themes in New Literacies Practices

Abstract

This article addresses the following questions: What impact does using the theoretical framework of new literacies have on understanding language, literacy, and learning practices today as technologies are constantly being developed and used? What is the state of research in this area? What are some new directions the field might take in order to develop in new ways? The conclusion suggests some possibilities for new research questions and positions in relation to new technologies.     

Education on population matters in Europe: results from a comparative survey among students in five European countries

In 1996–1997, within the framework of the European Observatory for Population Education and Information, a comparative survey was conducted among students in final classes of secondary education in several European countries. On the one hand, the survey attempted to assess the effects of education on population in terms of knowledge acquired; the issues addressed in the questionnaire pertained to knowledge of demographic facts and trends (such as the ageing of Western societies and immigration). On the other hand it tried to ascertain students' opinions on demographic trends. What are young people's views on intergenerational solidarity, how tolerant are they towards immigrants, what are their views on recent changes in family structures? This knowledge is important since it is young people's attitudes and future behaviour that will help to shape both the social tissue and the economic prosperity of the European and world population. In this article we present a comparative analysis of survey results obtained in five European countries. We examined the question whether knowledge acquired in the course of scolarisation influences opinions. The results evidence a significant relationship between knowledge of the migrants' issue and attitudes of tolerance towards migrants. By means of multivariate analyses, the impact of factors such as social origin, study orientation and gender on both students' knowledge and attitudes, are investigated. We conclude that adequate educational training on population issues can have a significant positive impact on attitudes of tolerance.     

The Comparative Argument in the Case of the Greek Educational Reform in 1997-1998

The purpose of this study is to investigate how 'comparative argument', namely references to the educational policies and practices of other countries, was used by Greek politicians in the framework of the 1997-1998 educational reform. Employing the method of quantitative and qualitative content analysis, we attempted, on the basis of original sources (parliamentary minutes/debates) both to count and interpret the comparative references. Our research questions were: do politicians in Greece use the comparative argument and in what way? Which specific countries, issues and practices is comparative argument centred on? What is the form, the role and the quality of the comparative argument?     

The Convitti Scuola della Rinascita (the Boarding Schools of Rebirth): an innovative pedagogy for democracy in post-war Italy (1945–1955)

Abstract

In 1945, Italian society was in crisis. Twenty years of fascism and the aerial bombing and military offensives of the Second World War had left the civilian population suffering and the nation in need of reinvention. In this difficult context, certain anti-fascist intellectuals devised the interesting pedagogical experiment of the 11 Convitti Scuola della Rinascita (Boarding Schools of Rebirth) for adult learners, mainly those who had been partisans engaged in the Italian resistance during the war. This article reconstructs the birth of the Convitti within the general framework of education, war and reconstruction. It investigates the arduous search for and development of an adult education curriculum – outside the traditional models – suited to the ethical and political reconstruction of students. Finally, it situates the Convitti and their demise amidst the dilemmas that affected both the ruling classes and the teachers called to redefine their role in a newly democratic Italy.     

Simulation in Higher Education: A sociomaterial view

This article presents a sociomaterial account of simulation in higher education. Sociomaterial approaches change the ontological and epistemological bases for understanding learning and offer valuable tools for addressing important questions about relationships between university education and professional practices. Simulation has grown in many disciplines as a means to bring the two closer together. However, the theoretical underpinnings of simulation pedagogy are limited. This paper extends the wider work of applying sociomaterial approaches to educational phenomena, taking up Schatzki’s practice theory as a distinctive basis for doing so. The question ‘What is being simulated?’ is posed, prompting discussion of multiple bodies, performances and experiences. The potential of adopting such a framework for understanding simulation as a pedagogic practice that brings the classroom and workplace together is illustrated with reference to clinical education in nursing.     

Anxieties of Democracy and Education: Naoko Saito's American Philosophy in Translation

The article is an essay on Naoko Saito's recently published book American Philosophy in Translation. We attempt to draw out the central argument of the book as it moves through its eight chapters. The author finds that American philosophy, which she takes to be rooted in pragmatism, whilst it owes much to Dewey, needs to be reconstructed in order to meet contemporary political challenges, with their implications for political education. She asks questions such as what is the place of the tragic sense of life in philosophical thought? What is a philosophy of affirmation and chance? How are we to understand the significance of the untranslatable? What are these connections between transcendence, translation and transformation? More specifically, how are we to understand the distinction between philosophy in translation and philosophy as translation? And how does all this offer us new ways of thinking about the current state of democracy, political education and education more generally? One specific suggestion is that an education in foreign language can be transformative in terms of political education. The article concludes that Saito's project throws up some important ideas that are pertinent to our times. We question the central idea regarding language education, whilst we welcome this scholarly volume.     

Tackling early school leaving and the governing of educational transitions in Italy

ABSTRACT

This article presents a critical policy historiography of how Early School Leaving has been understood as a social problem and what policy responses have been enacted to tackle it in the Italian context, devoting a specific attention to the analysis of the translation of EU policy ideas, tools and recipes to reduce ESL. It shows how the formulation of a global and integrated national strategy to tackle ESL in Italy in 2018 can be interpreted as the result of a troubled process of re-culturing. Such a reculturing is the effect of the complex interplay between the legacies of the Italian welfare regime in education and the co-option of the ESL issue within a EU political frame that struggles to combine economic rationalism and social justice. Such a struggle is interpreted as contributing to a profound rethinking of education and its mission.     

Quality Assessment Lessons from Australia and New Zealand

This article describes two recent efforts to rank the quality of higher education institutions in Australia and New Zealand. After a brief discussion of goals, methods, and results, the author evaluates each ranking using the following questions: Does this methodological approach achieve its objective? Can other countries use the methodology by extension? What can we learn about a country's higher education system using this approach? The aim is to provide readers with a framework for thinking critically about rankings, and about the role they might play in measuring and influencing higher education quality on a global scale.     

Mathematical literacy of school leaving pupils in South Africa

This paper discusses some results of South African (SA) grade 12 pupils on an international test of mathematical literacy, administered in the framework of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Three questions are addressed: (1) What are the strengths and weaknesses of SA school-leavers in mathematical reasoning and social utility from an international comparative perspective?: (2) What is the growth of SA pupils' mathematical literacy from grade 8 to 12? (3) What are the background variables that influence the level of mathematical literacy of SA school-leavers? Finally some implications of the results for SA education will be discussed.     

Effective International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) and Local Non-Governmental Organisation (LNGO) partnerships in education programmes: a case study of an Irish INGO and its partner LNGOs in Ethiopia

A review of donors’ most recent policies highlights that the term ‘partnership’ is firmly embedded in the lexicon of international development. Most donors now only fund INGO programmes if they are partnering LNGOs. This article considers key questions in relation to such programmes: What is meant by an education partnership? Are there features common to all education partnerships? What are the features of an effective education partnership between an INGO and an LNGO? How do these features enable an effective partnership? Based on a review of international developments, research in the field, and case study data of the experience of a programme implemented in Ethiopia, the appropriateness of a planning, implementation and evaluation tool for education partnerships between INGOs and LNGOs, and the strengths and weaknesses of current programmes is explored.     

Drawing in Perspective: Scottish Art and Design Teachers Discuss Drawing

What are the main purposes of drawing in the secondary art and design curriculum? What are Scottish art teachers' views on the role and function of drawing? How is drawing taught in Scottish schools? These three broad questions formed the basis of the research reported in this article. The small‐scale study, carried out between June 2002 and June 2004 will, the authors hope, be of interest to art educators seeking to explore the teaching of drawing as a key component of art and design education. In this article, we report on the background to the study, the place of drawing in Scottish art education, the methodology used, discuss some of the respondents' comments and conclude with some reflections and thoughts for future study.     

Equal Educational Opportunity: A Definition

Abstract

Efforts aimed at the development of a European dimension to the general education curricula offered in the different European countries have been stepped up in recent years, both within the countries of the current European Union and within the wider range of European countries belonging to the Council of Europe and subscribing to its Cultural Convention. The immediate importance of these efforts is seen to lie in the desirability of offering an education to young people that helps them make the most of their opportunities not only within their own national borders but also in the wider European Community to which they now belong and in which they have new rights and responsibilities. More generally, these efforts are also seen to be important in consolidating a Europe in which past animosities can finally be abandoned and replaced by a firm pan‐European attachment to ideals of freedom and cooperation between European nations, dedicated to the defence of democracy, human rights, freedom and tolerance. But, how successful have these efforts been? What are the problems encountered? What are the prospects for the future? How far is it proving possible to develop the European dimension across the curriculum? How successful is the European dimension, or might it be, in achieving its intended objectives? These questions, all of which are more puzzling than they might at first appear to be, are touched on in this paper.     

Characteristics of Nordic research on special education in preschool: a review with special focus on Swedish conditions

ABSTRACT

The article identifies and reviews current Nordic research on special education in preschool. The research question was: What characterises Nordic research on special education in preschool between the years 2006 and 2014? The analysis that was applied was configurational and the procedure included a content analysis. The results of the present review indicate that the included studies are characterised by intimacy and depth in relation to preschool practice, with predominantly qualitative data created through interviews and with a variety of theories. Teachers’ voices dominate, while special educators, and parents’ voices are heard to some degree. Children's voices are rarely heard and then only through video recordings in which the adult interprets the child.     

Does Graduating from a Private University Make a Difference? Evidence from Italy

The main aim of this article is to explore similarities and differences in the institutional features of private and state universities in the Italian higher education system and to assess whether graduating from a private university conveys advantages in the labour market. In the first part we use administrative data to describe the main institutional features of the two types of university, looking at organisational aspects, enrolments and graduates, financial resources, tuition fees, and teachers' characteristics. In the second part we develop a theoretical framework looking at sociological and economic theories of education and labour market, from which we derive some hypotheses on the expected results. In the last part, we apply a propensity score matching analysis on data from the Italian University Graduates Survey conducted in 2007 by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, which provides information on more than 40,000 graduates who obtained their degree in 2004. The main results indicate that graduates from private universities are younger, have a higher socio-economic background and a slightly better previous school career than those from state universities. Contrary to a widespread belief, once accounted for self-selection into the type of university using a wide range of variables, graduating from a private university has neither a significant nor a substantial effect on employment probability, hourly wage and occupational level three years after graduation.     

The promises and limitations of international comparative research on teacher education

This article revisits methodological perspectives on international comparative research on teacher education (TE). Benefits and problems related to comparative educational research methodology in general are discussed. Further, methodological issues associated with designing and carrying out an international comparative study on TE are addressed using a multi-level study on teacher education in Finland and Norway an as example. Towards the end of the article, the promises and limitations of international comparative research on TE are presented. Important benefits of comparative education on TE include widening the understanding of one’s own and other TE systems as well as gaining an understanding of international trends. However, uncritical use of such research may lead to decontextualised, ahistorical and standardised transfer and development of education and educational policies. The article concludes by urging researchers in the field of international comparative research on teacher education to address the questions: What is being compared? How is context addressed?     

Border Crossings: Towards a comparative pedagogy

This article uses the Comparative Education millennium special issue and the author's recently published five-nation comparative study of primary education to argue the case for a new comparative pedagogy. Pedagogy is defined as both the act of teaching and the discourse in which it is embedded. The comparative analysis of pedagogy requires that we have a viable framework for the empirical study of classroom transactions and that we locate these transactions historically and culturally at the levels of classroom, school and system. The postulated analytical framework maps the key elements in the act of teaching and links them with the processes of curriculum transformation from state to classroom. Comparative pedagogy reveals, alongside each country's unique mix of values, ideas and practices, powerful continuities in these which transcend time and space. In so doing, it helps us to pinpoint those universals in teaching and learning to which, in any context, we need most closely to attend if we are to improve the quality of education.