Intergenerational transmission of gender segregation: How parents’ occupational field affects gender differences in field of study choices

The study explores how parents’ occupational field affects gender differences in educational fields. On the one hand, the theory of direct transfer predicts that adolescents enter fields similar to those of their parents because of intergenerational transmission of occupation‐specific resources and that adolescents are more likely to draw upon the resources provided by the higher‐status parent. On the other hand, the theory of sex‐role learning predicts that boys and girls are more likely to choose more gender‐stereotypical fields of study because they learn ‘appropriate’ gender‐role behaviour from their parents’ occupational field and that boys are more likely to learn this behaviour from their father and girls from their mother. We use longitudinal data collected from adolescents and their parents in the Netherlands (N = 2,497) and tested our hypotheses using multiple‐group structural equation modelling and multinomial regression analyses. In line with sex‐role learning, results show that especially mothers who are employed in a more feminine occupational field influence their daughters to enter a more feminine field of study (health, biology, agriculture and veterinary) and their sons to enter a more masculine field of study (science and technology). Mothers’ occupational field therefore not only influences girls’ field of study, but also boys’. This study highlights the role of horizontal characteristics when examining which field of study adolescents enter. Contrary to the stratification literature, which primarily focuses on fathers, this study concludes that mothers play a more important role in gender differences in fields of study.     

Establishing systemic social and emotional learning approaches in schools: a framework for schoolwide implementation

Abstract

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a fundamental part of education. Incorporating high-quality SEL programming into day-to-day classroom and school practices has emerged as a main goal for many practitioners over the past decade. The present article overviews the current state of SEL research and practice, with a particular focus on the United States. The need for a model of SEL that goes beyond the classroom is illustrated, and a systemic approach to implementing SEL school-wide is introduced. It is argued that school-wide SEL maximises the benefits of SEL programming by becoming the organising framework for fostering students’ potential as scholars, community members, and citizens. Further, a Theory of Action (ToA) developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is presented that serves as a blueprint for implementing systemic SEL in schools. Potential challenges and barriers involved in moving toward school-wide SEL implementation are considered and discussed.     

Engagement in business simulation games: A self-system model of motivational development

This research draws on the self-system model of motivational development to explain how the use of business simulation games in class facilitates students’ engagement and enhances their learning. Based on a survey of 360 undergraduate students who played a business simulation game in a marketing course, the findings show that students’ perceptions of competence, autonomy, relatedness and self-efficacy have a positive impact on their cognitive, emotional and behavioural engagement. In addition, cognitive and emotional engagement have a positive influence on skills development and perceived learning.     

The effect of formal teacher education on reading achievement of 3rd‐grade students in public and independent schools in Sweden

This study investigates the influence of teacher competence on 3rd‐grade students’ reading achievement in public and independent schools in Sweden. The data come from the Swedish participation in PIRLS 2001 (Progress in Reading Literacy Study 2001) and comprise some 10,000 students. Students in independent schools achieved better on the reading test than did students in public schools, but when parents’ education was controlled for, the effect on students’ achievement of school type disappeared. Teacher certification for teaching in the early grades had a strong effect on students’ mean reading test scores in both school types, while no significant effects of teacher experience, age, gender, in‐service training or cooperation could be established. Though school type had no influence of itself, it was a mediating factor for both parents’ education and teachers’ education. These effects, however, worked in opposite directions.     

Recommendations for the use of e‐tools for improvements around assignment marking quality

This article reports on selected aspects of a larger study on the use of electronic tools in the context of the management and marking of assignments. The study comprised a literature review, interviews and a review of e‐tools. The article briefly summarises the findings from the literature on what comprises quality in assignment marking. The focus then shifts towards the analysis of the interviews on e‐tool use for assignments that were conducted with 90 lecturers across five higher education institutions in New Zealand, selected purposively for engagement in this area. The article shows how these lecturers are using e‐tools to support the management and marking of assignments. Special emphasis is given on grounding the e‐tool use in educational theories on assignment marking. An important issue with high quality assignment marking is the time required. The article shows how e‐tools are used to increase efficiency, with the time freed‐up being invested into quality improvements, again supported by e‐tools.     

Effect of Secondary Schools on Academic Choices and on Success in Higher Education

Follow-up data from a group of final-grade students of the 65 schools that participated in the Flemish Longitudinal Research in Secondary Education project (Van Damme, De Fraine, Van Landeghem, Opdenakker, & Onghena, 2002) were collected to study the long-term effects of the secondary school on the educational choice when leaving secondary education and on subsequent outcomes in higher education. Multilevel logistic regression models showed significant long-term effects of secondary schools on both outcome variables. Indications are found that the effects are mediated by the achievement level of the students at the end of secondary education. An important additional finding was that grade repetition has negative long-term consequences after leaving secondary education, which raises questions about a justified policy regarding students that are at risk of academic failure.     

Learning to Learn From Data: Benchmarks and Instructional Communities

This article examines the use of interim assessments in elementary schools in the School District of Philadelphia. The article reports on the qualitative component of a multimethod study about the use of interim assessments in Philadelphia. The study used an organizational learning framework to explore how schools can best develop the capacity to utilize the potential benefits of interim assessments. The qualitative analysis draws on data from intensive fieldwork in 10 elementary schools and interviews with district staff and others who worked with the schools, as well as further in-depth case study analysis of 5 schools. This article examines how school leaders and grade groups made sense of data provided through interim assessments and how they were able to use these data to rethink instructional practice. We found substantial evidence that interim assessments have the potential to contribute to instructional coherence and instructional improvement if they are embedded in a robust feedback system. Such feedback systems were not the norm in the schools in our study, and their development requires skill, knowledge, and concerted attention on the part of school leaders.     

Learning as renewal: contribution to the present theoretical background of the lifelong learning policy of the European Union

There are a number of EU documents on the term and way of implementation of lifelong learning. However, the characteristics of learning from adult education perspectives are not sufficiently emphasized and are undertheorized in them. Numerous new, theoretical works have been published on adult learning in the related adult education literature since the millennium, which have not yet been integrated into the lifelong learning policy. This article analyses the documents of the European Union on lifelong learning from the aspect of how compatible they are with the most recent adult learning theories assisting the deeper understanding of the characteristics of adult learning. According to the recommendation of the author, the present transformation of Europe experiencing recession should be thought of as a learning process, of which the newest, innovation-oriented adult learning theories say a lot. These are, for example, the process-, biography- and change-oriented theories which contain the elements of transformative learning theory as well, and are also compatible with action-learning theories focusing on solving the tasks and problems of the workplace through learning. Further relevant theories can be the theories of innovation management and the flow theory. It would be worth integrating the relevant elements of these theories into a new, innovation-centred concept which would include the innovation indicators of adult learning/adult education.     

Pushing the boundaries of self-directed learning: research findings from a study of u.lab participants in Scotland

ABSTRACT

This article reports on the research findings from a qualitative study of adult learners in Scotland taking part in a u.lab MOOC. As a new phenomenon in adult learning, u.lab has been extremely popular yet, at present, there exists little empirical data about either the process or outcomes of the learning experience. This study aims to provide a starting point for further study of u.lab and other emergent trends in adult learning. Here, the accounts of 12 women and men participating in u.lab were analysed using a grounded theory framework. The inductive nature of this approach allowed us to build up a picture of participant experience. Of significance in the findings were participants’ relationship to course content, experience of learning in community and engagement in shaping the learning experience. We draw on Illeris’ model of the learning field to deepen our understanding of participant experience and to illustrate how the particular constellation of content, incentive and interaction dimensions of learning in u.lab creates a learning space where the possibility for self-direction and self-organisation is extended beyond existing practice.