Public discourse on HIV and AIDS: an archival analysis of national newspaper reporting in Uganda, 1996–2011

Uganda is recognised as an early success story in the HIV epidemic at least in part due to an open and vigorous national dialogue about HIV prevention. This study examined the national discourse about HIV, AIDS, and young people in New Vision, Uganda's leading national newspaper between 1996 and 2011, building from a previous archival analysis of New Vision reporting by Kirby (1986–1995). We examined the continuing evolution in the public discourse in Uganda, focusing on reporting about young people. An increase in reporting on HIV and AIDS occurred after 2003, as antiretroviral treatment was becoming available. While the emphasis in newspaper reporting about adults and the population at large evolved to reflect the development of new HIV treatment and prevention methods, the majority of the articles focused on young people did not change. Articles about young people continued to emphasise HIV acquisition due to early and premarital sexual activity and the need for social support services for children affected by HIV and AIDS. Articles often did not report on the complex social conditions that shape HIV-related risk among young people, or address young people who are sexually active, married, and/or HIV-infected. With HIV prevalence now increasing among young people and adults in Uganda, greater attention to HIV prevention is needed.     

The school in the state and the state in the school: the social re-production of education systems in a mobile modernity

Schools offer powerful scope for viewing and comprehending the wider society in which they are produced and replicated. The ways in which schools are structured, positioned, funded, managed, appreciated, critiqued, cared for and neglected, presents us with a means for seeing beyond the rhetoric of a nation state to the lived realities faced by its citizens. In this paper I want to link the development of Australian educational policies to shifts in socio-cultural thought and practice that reflect and reproduce a mobile modernity. I am interested in school funding policies as they relate to the private, or non-government education sector from the late colonial period to these so-called neo-liberal/late modern times. The interrogated scenes shift about amongst a complex of interrelated fields, from the urban to the rural, the public and the private, as well as the primary, secondary and tertiary layers of educational “offerings”. The periodization reveals a loosening of commitments to a secular, state-centred, welfare-focused modernity, towards a privatizing, individualizing “second modernity”. Drawing from a range of empirical studies of school choice I highlight the shifting ideas and practices of those involved in the re-production of both public and private schools either as professionals/workers in the system, or as “consumers” of the products available in education’s “quasi-markets”.     

Mobilisieren und Optimieren

Looking at the conflictual constitution of educational systems by equality and excellence, this paper examines the discursive formation of two political rationalities in the contemporary German educational system that are directly opposed. While early childhood and primary education discourses are dominated by a terminology of equity, tertiary education institutions such as universities are described with a terminology of excellence that has become a reference point for political interventions and institutional reform processes.Taking up the theoretical position of hegemony-theory, governmentality studies and system theory, the paper analyzes the rules of justification these hegemonic discourses refer to by employing a discourse analysis of strategic, conceptional, and institutional texts of the German education policy discourse between 2003 and 2010. The paper puts forth the thesis that mobilizing and optimizing represent the common principles of equality and excellence as rationalities of the maximal mobilization of educational ressources.     

Sexuality education: findings and recommendations from an analysis of 10 United States programmes

In this study, we identified 10 sexuality education programmes from different locations in the USA that aim to give young people knowledge and skills to develop healthy relationships, as well as avoid pregnancy and disease. We conducted in-depth interviews with programme administrators to develop a series of case studies and provide concrete recommendations for education and public health professionals to implement similar approaches in their communities. Many programme administrators succeeded in developing partnerships, adapting existing curricula to suit their environments, engaging external evaluators and garnering support from teachers and parents. However, few programme developers conducted formal needs assessments before developing programmes and many struggled to implement curricula with fidelity and to employ rigorous evaluation designs. Nearly all participants identified concerns over funding as a threat to sustainability. We conclude that schools and organisations need technical assistance to build capacity for rigorous programme planning, implementation and evaluation, as well as additional funding streams to support emerging programmes.     

Bildung,Ausbildung und soziale Ungleichheiten im Lebenslauf

This paper describes mutual links between educational attainment and social inequality from a life course perspective. Analytically we distinguish between aspects of inequality with regard to access to education, consequences of education, and social reproduction through education. A special emphasis is put on the role institutions play in these processes. The paper presents selected empirical findings, discusses theoretical mechanisms, and draws some conclusions for the conceptualisation of education systems.     

Soziale Ungleichheit beim Zugang in eine Berufsausbildung: Welche Bedeutung haben die Institutionen?

The corporatistic governance model of nonacademic vocational training, which is predominant in Germany, has produced heterogeneous and complex conditions for the access to vocational training. Which training programs are offered and the selection of applicants is largely determined by the training companies themselves. Adolescents interested in vocational training are thus confronted with diverse admission requirements. Which resources they can and have to use in order to receive a training position is significantly determined by the respective admission requirements. The present paper elucidates key institutional conditions of the access to vocational training which can serve as explanations for the (re-)production of social inequalities in the transition process from school to vocational training. In particular, the inequalities with respect the admission to vocation training along the lines of educational degrees, gender, as well as regional, social, and ethnic backgrounds are investigated.     

Sprachförderung von Kindern und Jugendlichen aus Zuwandererfamilien

Children and adolescents of families with immigrant background are less successful in the German education systems than those without immigrant background. These differences can largely be explained by deficits in the language of instruction, indicating a lack of learning opportunities in the second language. The present paper investigates how it is possible to reduce language disparities before children enter school on the one hand and during the course of schooling on the other hand. This is being done by presenting the current state of research on the acquisition of a second language. In particular, recent findings on the influence of the quantity and quality of early childhood education on the language acquisition of children are summarized. Furthermore, findings on the effectiveness of attending all-day schools and of current programs for language instruction are presented. Finally, potential avenues for further development of language instruction as well as for future research are discussed.     

Elite und Exzellenz aus der Perspektive von Jugendlichen und ihren Peers an exklusiven Schulen

Against the backdrop of the recent political discourse on elite and excellence in the German education system, this paper examines how such constructions manifest themselves in programmatic concepts of schools and in the orientations of their pupils and their peers. They are reconstructed on the basis of a qualitative research project on educational careers of young people. This paper focuses on pupils and their peers at an elite school of sports and an international school. Firstly, the state of research on those types of school as well as on educational careers of their pupils will be presented. Secondly, the theoretical reference points and the methodological design of the study will be introduced. At the core of the paper is the analysis of the education related orientations of selected cases of young people and their peers: How do they position themselves towards elite and excellence in their individual and collective orientations and how is this relevant for processes of distinction and coherence building in the groups? In the resuming part of the paper, the results will be summarised and related to the state of research and the scientific discourse on elite and excellence.