It is changed beyond all recognition: exploring the evolving habitus of assistants in special schools

The assistant workforce is a constituent presence in all schools. Progressive reconfiguration of the role has resulted in a hybrid position, with assistants customarily navigating power relationships in the hierarchy of the school. This paper employs Bourdieu’s theory of social fields, in particular, his system of relations, as a means to consider the intersection of habitus and capital amongst assistants in special schools in Northern Ireland. Using this analytic approach, focus group interviews with Classroom Assistants and Health Assistants explored their current deployment, their interaction with each other and with teachers. Data was collected from 47 participants across 7 special schools, with interviews transcribed and thematically analysed. Findings revealed assistants as a workforce in transition, whose conventional habitus has been steadily disrupted by a supply and demand culture often at variance with the origins of the post. Whilst such divergence has the potential to create a site of struggle, the burgeoning social and cultural capital held by assistants has, instead, re-configured their perceived position within the special school environment, creating more porous professional boundaries and an increasingly fluid professional identity. These explanatory insights offer a fresh perspective for further research into this pivotal yet under-researched group in Northern Ireland.     

Superteachrs: From Policy Towards Practice

This article is concerned with the origins and evolution of the Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) initiative from its announcement in 1995 to the end of 1999. It examines the Government rationale and the contributions of the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) and the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB).     

Intergenerational Transmission of Traditional and Contemporary Gender Ideologies via Father-Son Memorable Messages

The purpose of this study was to investigate the memorable messages (N = 198) fathers transmit to sons about “being a man.” Five dominant themes emerged from fathers’ messages: work ethic, morality, strength, family provider, and other. Overall, our results suggest that fathers’ messages promote both traditional and contemporary gender ideologies. The prevalence of the work ethic and morality themes demonstrate fathers’ role in teaching sons about integrity, commitment, and fair treatment of others. Based on our findings, we suggest future researchers explore mothers’ gendered messages, fathers’ generativity, and father-son relational quality.     

Does Facebook Use Predict College Students’ Social Capital? A Replication of Ellison,Steinfield, and Lampe’s (2007) Study Using the Original and More Recent Measures of Facebook Use and Social Capital

In 2007 Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe published an article on the positive association between Facebook use and social capital that started a decade of research on the social outcomes of social network site use. Although cited almost 9,000 times, it received critique on the conceptualization and operationalization of Facebook use and social capital. In this study we replicate Ellison et al.’s study with original and alternative measures of social capital and Facebook use, thereby shedding light on the robustness, stability, and ecological validity of the original findings. We found that Facebook intensity positively predicts the original social capital measures, lending support to the validity of the original findings. Its relationship with structural measures, however, was weak for bridging and absent for bonding social capital.     

Geschlechterrollenorientierungen und ihre Beziehungen zu Maßen der Ich-Stärke bei Jugendlichen aus Ost-und Westberlin

Zusammenfassung In einer Stichprobe von 2630 Jugendlichen achter Klassen aus Gymnasien, Real-, Gesamt-und Hauptschulen in Ost-und Westberlin wurde im Jahr 2001 die Akzeptanz von Geschlechterrollenorientierungen (traditionell vs. partnerschaftlich) erfasst und ihr Zusammenhang mit Ma?en der Ich-St?rke (positives Bild von sich selbst, psychische Stabilit?t, produktiver Umgang mit Erfolg und Misserfolg) untersucht. Dem partnerschaftlichen Konzept wurde in h?herem Ma?e zugestimmt als dem traditionellen. Dabei ergaben sich Geschlechts-, Ost/West-sowie Schulartunterschiede in der partnerschaftlichen sowie traditionellen Orientierung. Weibliche Jugendliche waren weniger traditionell eingestellt als m?nnliche. Ostberliner Schüler/innen waren weniger traditionell orientiert als Westberliner und Gymnasiast/inn/en hatten eine niedrigere traditionelle Orientierung als Gesamt-, Real-und Hauptschüler/innen. Je h?her der Bildungsstand (gemessen an der Schulform und dem Bildungsniveau der Mutter), desto h?her war die Akzeptanz der Gleichberechtigung der Geschlechter. Die Jugendlichen wurden nach dem Grad ihrer traditionellen Orientierung in drei Cluster eingeteilt und hinsichtlich der Auspr?gung von Ma?en der Ich-St?rke miteinander verglichen. Dabei zeigte sich, dass Jugendliche mit hoher traditioneller Orientierung ein niedrigeres Selbstwertgefühl, sowie eine h?here Leistungsangst, mehr Furcht vor Misserfolg und in h?herem Ma?e selbstwertmindernde Attributionen ?u?erten als Jugendliche mittlerer und niedriger traditioneller Orientierung. Jugendliche, die in h?herem Ausma? über die pers?nliche Ressource der Ich-St?rke verfügen, traten h?ufiger für die Gleichberechtigung der Geschlechter ein. Summary Sex-role-orientation and its Relationship to Egostrength in Adolescents from East and West Berlin A sample of 2630 adolescents from grade 8 attending different types of secondary school in East and West Berlin was assessed in 2001. The aim was twofold: to ascertain their acceptance of gender-role orientation (i.e. traditional norms vs. equality in gender relations) and to link it to degrees of ego-strength (high self-concept, psychological stability, ability to deal with success or failure in a constructive manner). The concept of equality in gender relations was found to be more prevalent among females, pupils in East Berlin and those pupils attending grammar schools. The higher the education level of the pupils (measured according to the school attended and the education level of their mothers), the greater the acceptance of gender equality. The adolescents were classified in three clusters according to the degree of traditional orientation and then compared. Results showed that adolescents with a high traditional orientation displayed lower self-concept, a higher level of test anxiety, greater fear of failure and higher attribution of failure to lack of ability than those adolescents with moderate and low traditional orientation. Those displaying a greater range of characteristics related to ego-strength supported gender equality more frequently.