An approach to understanding school attendance difficulties: pupils' perceptions of parental behaviour in response to their requests to be absent from school

The UK government has encouraged schools and local authorities to promote school attendance because of its associations with academic attainment and antisocial behaviour. Legislation makes school attendance a parental responsibility. This small‐scale study collected data on parent–child interaction immediately prior to school absence to examine how such interaction influenced the development of attendance difficulties. Good and poor school attenders, of 12–13 years of age, were compared on quantifiable measures of their self‐reported requests to be absent from school, their perceived parents' responses, self‐reported whole‐day and lesson truancy, and expected parental reaction to truancy. School absence requests were significantly more frequent among the poor attenders, who gained more absence and whose parents were inconsistent in their responses to the requests. Education social work/welfare services and school pastoral staff need well‐formulated methods, backed by empirical research, if they are to work effectively with parents and young people and substantially raise their low attendance.     

Management,Entrepreneurship and Private Service Orientation: A Framework for Undergraduate Veterinary Education

Abstract

The changing nature of livestock outreach service delivery, manpower requirements and opportunities in the private sector provide both push and pull dynamics for veterinary graduates to engage in managerial, entrepreneurial, public and private service activities. The veterinary schools should support this transition by integrating Managerial, Entrepreneurship and Service (MES) orientation in the curriculum. This transition is a quite challenging task, as the core content of the Veterinary Council of India curriculum consists of basic, productive, para-clinical and clinical subjects with little emphasis on MES aspects. Merely introducing a one-off intervention such as a semester course may not be sufficient. What is proposed with 730 class hours is a two- pronged integrative approach: i) introduce the functional management disciplines into the veterinary undergraduate curriculum; and ii) integrate the entrepreneurial, public and private service philosophy into each of the production, para-clinical and clinical courses with a curriculum for public and private service as electives. This integrative approach is expected to produce graduates as job givers rather than job seekers by mastering both the science of veterinary and animal husbandry and the art of management and entrepreneurship.     

Using Technology to Help Teachers Meet the Needs of Language‐minority Students in the USA

ABSTRACT

In an attempt to meet the challenges of increasingly diverse school populations and increased limitations on methods of instruction for pre‐service teachers, the Bilingual Training, Development, and Improvement Project at the University of Houston has developed five interactive video modules for linguistic‐minority students. Commercial videodiscs were repurposed using HyperCard, and the modules were field‐tested on fourth and fifth graders in inner‐city schools. Results from content and language measures indicated that students showed significant gains after viewing the modules. Students also responded favorably to the technology on attitude surveys. An interactive video program designed to inform pre‐service teachers of the needs of linguistic‐minority students was also developed.     

“Localism”; in Chinese media context: An examination of a closed circuit community cable system

The ongoing reforms in the Chinese media system have offered greater latitude for the development and operation of closed circuit community cable television. This research describes the structure and program content of one community system. Although similar to the national media model, the addition of a community channel offers a functional alternative. Local newscasts contain themes and production values similar to China Central Television (CCTV). Feature entertainment and music video request programs provide alternatives to the national and regional television channels. Increased access available through such systems has the capacity to expand the ideological range possible in Chinese life and exert pressure for further structural, operational, and ideological reform at the national level.     

Leadership decision making and the use of data

Intelligence gathering, or data collection, is a preliminary and critical stage of decision making. Two key approaches to intelligence gathering are “discovery” and “idea imposition.” The discovery approach allows us to learn about possibilities by gathering intelligence in order to identify and weigh options. The idea imposition approach limits intelligence gathering and focuses resources on promoting a solution. The purpose of this study is to explore the intelligence‐gathering stage of organizational leaders during decision making from both of these perspectives and to begin to identify themes as they relate to the data considered, types of decisions and outcomes sought, and level of confidence in decision‐making success.     

Cultural Complexity, Post-Colonialism and Educational Change: Challenges for Comparative Educators

This study explores various elements in the struggle for a post-colonial refashioning of cultural identity through education. Drawing on experiences in Australia and the Caribbean, the author illustrates how educational systems undergoing decolonisation reflect socio-cultural tensions of race and power. The author discusses the complexities for comparative educators in engaging with suppressed knowledge, recognising the yearnings of the marginalised, challenging the conditions that lead to poverty, and refashioning education for social justice in an era when the achievement of justice seems increasingly difficult. She argues that comparative educators can benefit from using post-colonial thinking to understand cultural complexity and promote life-affirming practices in educational change.

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Zusammenfassung KULTURELLE KOMPLEXIT?T, POSTKOLONIALISMUS UND P?DAGOGISCHE VER?NDERUNG: HERAUSFORDERUNGEN FüR VERGLEICHENDE P?DAGOGEN – Diese Studie erforscht verschiedene Bestandteile im Kampf um eine postkoloniale Neugestaltung von kultureller Identit?t durch Bildung. Unter Bezugnahme auf Erfahrungen in Australien und dem karibischen Raum illustriert die Autorin, wie Bildungssysteme unter dem Einfluss der Entkolonialisierung soziokulturelle Probleme wie Rassenspannungen und Machtstrukturen widerspiegeln. Die Autorin diskutiert die Schwierigkeiten für vergleichende P?dagogen darin, mit unterdrücktem Wissen umzugehen; darin, die Bedürfnisse derer, die gesellschaftlich am Rand stehen, wahrzunehmen; darin, den Bedingungen, die zur Armut führen, entgegenzutreten; und darin, die Bildung für soziale Gerechtigkeit in einem Zeitalter neu zu gestalten, in dem die Durchsetzung von Gerechtigkeit zunehmend schwierig erscheint. Sie legt dar, dass vergleichende P?dagogen aus der Nutzung von postkolonialen Denkweisen profitieren k?nnen, um kulturelle Komplexit?t zu verstehen und lebensbejahende Praktiken in der Ver?nderung des Bildungswesens voranzutreiben.

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Résumen COMPLEJIDAD CULTURAL, POST-COLONIALISMO Y CAMBIO EDUCATIVO: RETOS PARA EDUCADORES COMPARATIVOS – El presente estudio explora diversos elementos de la lucha por una recomposición postcolonial de la identidad cultural a través de la educación. Haciendo referencia a experiencias hechas en Australia y el Caribe, la autora ilustra cómo los sistemas educativos que están pasando por la descolonisación reflejan las tensiones socioculturales de raza y poder. La autora expone las complejidades que tienen que encarar los educadores comparativos al enfrentarse con conocimientos reprimidos, reconocer las demandas de los marginados, desafiar las condiciones que causan pobreza y recomponer la educación para lograr la justicia social en una era donde conseguir justicia parece ser cada vez más difícil. La autora sostiene que a los educadores comparativos les podría resultar beneficioso utilizar un pensamiento postcolonial para comprender la complejidad cultural y para promover prácticas que mejoren la calidad de vida en el cambio educativo.

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Résumé COMPLEXITé CULTURELLE, POSTCOLONIALISME ET CHANGEMENT éDUCATIF : LES DéFIS POUR LES éDUCATEURS COMPARéS – Cette étude explore les éléments divers de la bataille pour un remodellement postcolonial de l’identité culturelle à travers l’éducation. Se basant sur des expériences en Australie et aux Antilles, l’auteur illustre comment les systèmes éducatifs sous-tendant la décolonisation reflètent les tensions socio-culturelles de races et de pouvoir. L’auteur discute des difficultés pour les éducateurs comparés à s’engager pour des savoirs étouffés, à reconna?tre les désirs ardents des marginaux, à défier les conditions qui mènent à la pauvreté, à remodeler l’éducation en faveur de la justice sociale dans une époque où l’obtention de la justice semble extraordinairement difficile. Elle soutient que les éducateurs comparés peuvent tirer profit d’un usage de la pensée post-coloniale afin de comprendre la complexité culturelle et de promouvoir des pratiques soutenant la vie au sein d’un changement éducatif.

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The author: Anne Hickling-Hudson teaches international and intercultural studies in education at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. As the immediate past President of the World Council of Comparative Education (2001–2004), she coordinated the council representing comparative education societies from over thirty countries and led the organisation of the 12th World Congress of Comparative Education. Her research interests focus on race relations and policy analyses of education, and on intercultural and postcolonial approaches in comparative and international pedagogy. Contact address: School of Cultural and Language Studies in Education, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, 4059 Australia. E-mail: a.hudson@qut.edu.au.     

Is the relationship between competence beliefs and test anxiety influenced by goal orientation?

The study described here aimed to examine the relations between test anxiety, competence beliefs and achievement goals, and in particular if the relations between competence beliefs and test anxiety were moderated by achievement goals. Pupils in their first year of secondary schooling completed self-report questionnaires for test anxiety, competence beliefs and achievement goals. Results indicated that pupils with low competence beliefs in Mathematics reported more worrisome thoughts when they held a mastery-avoidance goal and female pupils with low verbal competence beliefs reported more off-task behaviours when they held a performance-approach goal. Male pupils with low verbal competence beliefs reported fewer off-task behaviours when they held a performance-approach goal. These findings may reflect how Mathematics may be uniquely related to a fear of failure among school subjects and how the gendered nature of verbal self-concept becomes important when peer comparison is a salient goal for pupils.     

Grant writing for childbirth educators: lessons learned from the resource center for young parents-to-be

Obtaining funding to support community-based childbirth education programs can be a challenge for childbirth educators who may have little grant-writing experience. This article was written by two nurse educators/nurse-midwives who have been involved for over 10 years with a grant-funded parenting and childbirth education program for pregnant teens. It reviews the background of the Resource Center for Young Parents-To-Be, suggests grant-funding sources, and explains the building of partnerships in the community. The basic steps involved in the grant-writing process are presented as well as the importance of follow-up evaluations and reports. Grant-writing skills and the ability to forge partnerships with other community organizations can be important tools for childbirth educators and health-care professionals.     

The successful education sector development in Tanzania – comment on gender balance and inclusive education

In this paper we discuss to what extent the international and national equality goals regarding gender balance and inclusive education have been reached in the education sector development in Tanzania. According to recent reports, the development trend has been generally positive, and the country is close to achieving its primary education targets. More detailed reviews suggest, however, that current monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are too narrow to catch the critical factors regarding equality, particularly in secondary education. Our comment concerns the achievements and challenges, and emphasises the significance of a multidimensional set of information including in‐depth qualitative research on connections between socio‐cultural factors and education.