The young outsiders: the later life courses of ‘drop‐out youths’

The aim of the article is to examine the consequences of exclusion from school and work on the later life of young people. The article is based on a longitudinal study concerning Finnish youths who were unemployed and had not continued their schooling after compulsory school in 1985 (n = 6983). The life‐courses of these youths were followed up to and including the year 2000. According to the results, dropping out of education and working life after compulsory schooling quite strongly predicted a weak educational and labour market position. However, there were also many persons in the target group who had continued their education at a later age and succeeded in finding their place in working life. Altogether, the results suggest that it should not be taken for granted that dropping out of education and work in youth necessarily lead to exclusion in later life. Both exclusionary and successful life careers were represented in the data, although the former were more common.     

Child Schooling in India: A Multilevel Approach

It is been widely established that child schooling has far reaching influence on shaping their subsequent living, in particular, and social and economic development of the society, in general. Although the Constitution of India provides free and compulsory education for all children until they reach 14 years, the schooling of children – enrollment and completion of primary school – still remains far below than the expectations. Using data from National Family Health Survey [NFHS], we attempted to understand primary school enrollment and completion in India. Results reveal that household characteristics play a significant role towards child schooling. The study suggests the importance of adult educational programs and opening of new schools, particularly all-girls schools, in needed areas. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The role of ritual in preschool settings

Ritual is a fact of school life and is enacted by teachers in their everyday classroom activities. This paper explores the various forms of ritual as they are played out in preschool settings. A key finding is that rituals have both variant and invariant qualities. The invariant order of ritual provides the stable framework that has become part of the school system, whereas rituals with high levels of variance are responsible for a more personalized and flexible approach to teaching. Classroom rituals have the potential to act as a tool through which teachers structure a particular form of practice that carries a rational pedagogical purpose for teachers. In this study preschool denotes the noncompulsory year of schooling immediately before children enter formal schooling. Children in this setting turn 5 years of age between January and December. Formal schooling in Western Australia begins in the year the child turns 6 years of age (January to December). The Montessori Pre-School catered to children from 3–5 years in keeping with the founder’s philosophy of mixed age groups.     

Transitions to school: reframing professional relationships

Systemic splits between pre-compulsory and compulsory early years education impact on transitions to school through discontinuities in children’s experience. This paper presents data from a critical participatory action research project about transitions between pre-compulsory and compulsory early education schooling in Australia. The project aim was to investigate how transitions to school might be enhanced by developing deeper professional relationships and shared understandings between teachers from both sectors. Within the communicative space afforded by a professional learning community, the participants engaged in critical conversations about their understandings of transitions practices and conditions, including systemic differences. Data analysis provides a snapshot of changes in teachers’ thinking about professional relationships, continuity and factors influencing cross-sectoral professional relationships. Findings suggest that affording opportunities for teachers to re-frame cross-sectoral professional relationships has led to transformative changes to transitions practices, understandings and conditions.     

What do Parents Mean when they Talk About ‘Discipline’ in Relation to their Children's Schools?

We interviewed 28 parents who had at least one child who had just finished compulsory schooling in the state sector. We asked them about their choice of school and their experience of compulsory schooling for their child. Discipline was a key element in their responses. We analysed the data to elucidate the different ways in which ‘discipline’ was of significance for these parents. We examined why they talked about discipline in this way. These included reference to employability, a concern for the ‘moral order’ and the maintenance of adult authority. We attempted to understand what was being said by seeing it as embedded in their way of life. Power relations between adult/child and resulting from social location were relevant to this understanding.     

Selling education through “culture”: responses to the market by new, non-government schools

The move to a market model of schooling has seen a radical restructuring of the ways schooling is “done” in recent times in Western countries. Although there has been a great deal of work to examine the effects of a market model on local school management (LSM), teachers’ work and university systems, relatively little has been done to examine its effect on parents’ choice of school in the non-government sector in Australia. This study examines the reasons parents give for choosing a nongovernment school in the outer suburbs of one large city in Australia. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu specifically his ideas on “cultural capital” (1977), this study revealed that parents were choosing the non-government school over the government school to ensure that their children would be provided, through the school’s emphasis on cultural capital, access to a perceived “better life” thus enhancing the potential to facilitate “extraordinary children”, one of the school’s marketing claims.     

‘They do it anyway’: a study of Primary 1 teachers' perceptions of children's transition into primary education

Almost all 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds in Scotland now experience some form of pre‐school provision prior to school entry. Given such high rates of participation, the impact of pre‐school experiences on children's readiness for primary school has become an important issue for those involved in the early stages of compulsory schooling. Teachers in early years classes need to be aware of the experiences and achievements of individual children in their pre‐school setting to enable each child to transfer into mainstream education with the least amount of disruption to their learning. This study was carried out in one small Scottish local authority and explored the perceptions of early years teachers, from a diverse range of primary schools, of what information is important for them as children start school. This article presents the perspectives of Primary 1 teachers on children's readiness for schooling. It reports the factors, which these teachers identified as having an impact on successful transition from the pre‐school setting into the primary school.     

Feminism and ‘the schooling scandal’

In this paper I outline an approach towards policy analysis that takes governmentality as its point of theoretical orientation and begin to apply this approach to my research into the recently raised compulsory school‐leaving age in Western Australia. I aim to demonstrate the methodological potentials of this approach by giving examples of the thinking and practices that shape and condition the policy. I commence by situating the school‐leaving age policy within a broader field of reforms occurring under the general banner of neoliberalism and argue that the policy is primarily concerned with the conduct of students classified at ‘educational risk’, and with transforming these students to become more visible, participative and engaged in their schooling. By focusing on the policy rationalities and technologies, and drawing on Foucault’s notion of governmentality, I explore the forms of knowledge and practical strategies that are deployed in this policy field. I contend that this particular deployment narrowly constructs young people’s experiences of schooling in ways that do not allow for a broader debate about their declining school attendance and what should be done to address it     

Who is out of school? Evidence from the Statistics South Africa Community Survey

The South Africa Schools Act requires every child to “attend school from the first school day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of seven years until the last day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of 15 years or the ninth grade, whichever comes first” (Republic of South Africa, 1996). This paper addresses three questions in relation to this. First, to what extent has this legal requirement been met? Second, what are the trends in relation to achieving universal access to compulsory education? And third, what are the factors related to and characteristics of those learners of compulsory school age who are not attending? To address these questions, we have made use of the Statistics South Africa dataset, Community Survey 2007. Our analysis suggests that the size of the compulsory age population who are not attending school may be slightly higher than some government sources have suggested. The trend associated with access remains consistent, with the only major change over the past 10 years being the improved levels of enrolment of six and seven year old children. With regard to the factors related to and the characteristics of children who are not attending school, our analysis reveals that certain sub-populations have higher non-attendance ratios: coloured boys; children whose parents, particularly mothers, have died; children born outside South Africa; children who have moved in the past five years; children with disabilities; and children living in some specific rural communities. A number of broad but interrelated factors may account for children not being in school: disability; family structure; children living in households that are eligible for social grants but are not receiving them; and geographic and racial characteristics. To be poor in South Africa may mean exclusion from the mainstream of the economy, but it does not necessarily mean exclusion from access to basic state services like enrolment in schooling or social grants. Children not attending are not only likely to be living in households that are excluded from participation in the mainstream economy, but are also on the fringes of state services; they may also be on the fringes of households. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research to identify reasons why children in these vulnerable sub-populations are less likely to be enrolled.     

美、英、澳三国基础教育教师绩效工资制度实施对办学质量的影响分析及启示

本文对美、英、澳三国教师绩效工资改革的背景,教师绩效工资制度对办学质量的双重影响进行了分析和探讨。认为教师绩效工资制度实施对办学质量产生了一些积极影响:促进教师队伍建设、提升学生学业成就、提高学校管理水平、使学校获得了更多的外部支持。但同时也带来了一些消极影响:绩效工资对教师激励的有限性、应试教育之风重新盛行、学校变得行政化和官僚化。本文指出,当前我国在义务教育学校教师绩效工资改革中应对目标群体进行科学、合理、公正的绩效评价,建立有效的监督机制,并采取多种激励方式相结合。     

Educational performance and child labor in Paraguay

In this paper, the schooling attainment and labor characteristics of those aged 12–19 years is assessed using data from the 1990 household survey from Paraguay. Although schooling is compulsory to age 13, it was found that 28% of those 12 years of age are already out of school. Among those out of school, 19% work formally in the labor market and contribute about a quarter of total family income. Among the 12-year-olds still in school, one-quarter have repeated a grade or more. The analysis suggests that language strongly influences school attainment and performance. Those who speak only Guarani at home may receive equal access to schooling, but their performance in school (in terms of years of attainment and grade repetition), is considerably inferior to that of Spanish-only and bilingual pupils. The number of siblings was found not to have had much of an effect on school enrollment, although it did have a significant impact on the probability of child labor. These findings may be evidence of ‘specialization’ in the household, whereby some children work, while their siblings are permitted to attend school and concentrate on studying. The results indicate that subsidies to poor households may be necessary to enable them to maintain their children in school for at least the duration of the primary cycle.     

Home educators and the law within Europe

Conclusions In education literature, there is often confusion between compulsory provision of education and compulsory schooling, falsely giving the impression that schooling is compulsory. This is not the case. Home education is permitted in some form or other in all the European countries studied except Germany.Where the alternative of home education is denied to children who are in difficulty, such as very young children of itinerant workers, or children who are school phobic, one has to question whether the good of the individual child is being considered, rather than the ideals or convenience of education administrators. Home education is a welcome alternative to those children who need it and benefit from it and there is no evidence in academic literature or general writing on education to suggest that home education does not usually offer a good alternative to the children involved, both academically and socially.Much research has been undertaken into home education in the US, there have been a few studies within the UK and a study in Switzerland of the laws which apply to home educators within each canton and an assessment of the numbers of home educated children in both Austria and Switzerland. In other European countries, there has been little or no research into the numbers of home educated children, the ways in which home educated children learn, efficient methods of monitoring home education, or whether home education is effective. Perhaps it is by looking more closely at these families that the effectiveness of schooling can be better assessed: fundamental questions can be asked about the added value of schooling.My preliminary investigations indicate that, with the exception of Denmark, where it is easy for parents to set up small schools with financial help from government, there are instances of home education in all the countries studied.     

The Transformation of an Invented Tradition: The School Banner as a Symbol of Education

The children's parade, the use of national flags and school banners are key features in the celebration of Norwegian Constitution Day. This article provides a historical analysis of the origin of the school banner and its emergence and development into a living and popular tradition from the late-nineteenth century. This article shows how the emergence of the school banner connects to the establishment of compulsory schooling and the school as an active site for nation building in the Norwegian struggle for independence. Today, the school banner has transformed to promote the schools’ identity and self-representation. The article adds new insight into the history of schooling in Norway and offers an additional perspective to the research on national symbols.     

Everyone in school: The effects of compulsory schooling age on drop‐out and completion rates

This article analyses the effect of the Berlinguer reform that was introduced in Italy in 1999 and increased compulsory schooling from eight to nine years. Hence, students had to attend school until the age of 15 instead of 14 that was required at the time and therefore to attend at least one year of upper secondary school (for pupils with a regular career). Using data from the Labour Force Surveys (1993–2010) and applying counterfactual time series and segmented regressions, we evaluate the effect of the reform on attendance and graduation rates. The results show that prolonging compulsory education encouraged a larger share of 16‐year‐olds to stay in school, especially those who were judged more at risk with less educated parents and with parents with a low occupational status. However, at age 17, part of the effect had already vanished and no effect was found on graduation rates. The compulsory schooling policy may have been more effective in adjusting the legislation to already existing student behaviour than in producing relevant changes in educational decisions.     

Does social labelling encourage child schooling and discourage child labour in Nepal?

This paper explores the determinants of child labour vis-à-vis child schooling. It further examines the influence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which are engaged in social labelling, on the incidence of child labour and schooling trade-off. The empirical results show that the probability of child schooling increases as well as child labour decreases if a carpet firm has adopted a labelling scheme. It can also be shown that labelling NGOs have a significant positive influence on sending the ex-child labourers to school.     

Paternalism,Authority and Compulsory Schooling in Social Anarchist Educational Thought

This paper investigates the implications of some social anarchists’ views on education for thinking about authority, educational paternalism and compulsory schooling. In the first part of the paper, some key concepts in social anarchist theory will be introduced in order to demonstrate the importance of education for social anarchists. The paper then discusses anarchist educational ideas with regard to the content and process of education. Potential justifications of authority and educational paternalism receive special attention. The final part of the paper revolves around a discussion of compulsory schooling understood as a paternalist practice. It aims to contribute to ongoing debates by evaluating the educational institution of the school, and the practice of compulsory schooling, from a social anarchist perspective. The pragmatic character of this approach is reflected by some final remarks on the feasibility and desirability of compulsory schooling in imagined anarchist societies and our existing societies. This paper is aimed at anarchist and non-anarchist philosophers of education. Anarchist theory critically scrutinises all authority and hierarchy and takes no existing social structure, institution or practice in any area of life for granted. An engagement with anarchist thinking on educational issues such as authority, directiveness, educational paternalism and compulsory schooling may help anarchists and non-anarchists alike to enrich and deepen their own views on certain practices.     

Parents' reflections on their children being excluded

Abstract

The human cost of exclusion is not confined to the student. Parents of excluded students feel they are judged as unworthy parents and are mere observers to a decision that has radical implications for their son's/daughter's future education. As partners in the educational enterprise of their child, they are often powerless in the exclusion process and are voiceless in the discourse that surrounds the decision to exclude as well as the decisions regarding future education options. The parents' experience of exclusion is a side of the exclusion story that is not often heard. This article describes how a group of parents experienced their son's/daughter's mainstream schooling and exclusion from a mainstream secondary school. The parents' story is passionate, painful and poignant. It highlights the need for the continued development of inclusive practices in mainstream schools.     

英国义务教育学龄儿童"在家上学"现象述评

本文对英国义务教育学龄儿童“在家上学”现象产生的背景、法律依据、现状和问题进行了介绍和分析，并提出了其对今后义务教育发展可能的影响。     

Universal access to preschool education: approaches to integrating preschool with school in rural and remote communities

In 2012, the government of South Australia responded to Federal agreements aimed at universal access to preschool education for children in the year before starting formal schooling by introducing a trial designed to ‘integrate’ preschool children into first year of school programmes in rural and remote areas of the state. This paper reports on the evaluation of this trial, exploring the ways in which integration was interpreted and implemented in eight rural and/or remote sites, the perceived value of collaboration in planning integrated provision and the ways in which two new curriculum documents – one for the prior-to-school years and the other for compulsory school – influenced the delivery of integrated preschool–school programmes. Results identify several types of integration, highlight some of the challenges of collaboration in integrating preschool with school and share the caution of educators about the push down of school curriculum into preschool contexts.     

Historicizing the Future: Educational Reform, Systems of Reason, and the Making of Children Who are the Future Citizens

Educational reform and reformist research are not merely about school improvement. They embody a field of cultural practices that constitutes the objects of schooling – the teacher who administers the reforms to the child and the distinctions and differentiations about who the child is and should be. Our interest is in the rules and standards of reason assembled through the cultural practices of school reform. Reason is a cultural practice functioning to enact a change in the conditions of people but also invests people with particular capacities and capabilities. This investiture of capacities and capabilities produces particular human kinds or categories of the determinant qualities of the individuals schools administer. Using studies of educational governance and social inclusion/exclusion in Europe and on US educational reform, the discussion focuses on the overlapping practices of system management and curriculum reforms that map different human kinds. One human kind is the child as a lifelong learner, an individual whose qualities entail actively and flexibly participating in communities through problem-solving strategies. The characteristics and qualities of the lifelong learner are differentiated from those who do not embody the norms of participation –the child left behind. The study of the systems of reason that govern the objects of reflection and rectification in school reforms is a strategy to consider the politics of reform, change, and social inclusion and exclusion.