White working-class male narratives of ‘loyalty to self’ in discourses of aspiration

This paper intends to show the processes and identity negotiations of white working-class boys surrounding their own learner-identity within a ‘raising aspirations’ rhetoric. The current dominant neoliberal discourse, which prioritizes a view of aspiration that is competitive, economic, and status-based, shapes the subjectivities of these young males. Focusing on the deeply engrained values of a group of 23 working-class boys from South London, ages 14–16, this research critically considers the conception of aspiration and persistent ‘educational underachievement’. White working-class boys in the United Kingdom are frequently labelled as having ‘low aspirations’ or, indeed, no aspirations at all. Through the use of habitus as a conceptual tool, the research intends to serve as an exploration of how the aspiration rhetoric influenced the boys’ conception of ‘loyalty to self’ and their sense of average-ness/ordinariness/’middling’. The boys’ habitus undergoes complex ‘identity work’ in order to reconcile competing and contrasting conceptions of aspiration.     

A sociocultural analysis of mandated curriculum change: the implementation of a new senior physics curriculum in New Zealand schools

We analyse the implementation of a new New Zealand physics curriculum from a socio‐cultural perspective. We explore the development of the curriculum document and examine the obstacles to its implementation. Change was compromised by the lack of any intersubjective linkage between teachers and the curriculum designers. The teachers’ own community of practice was most influential in how implementation occurred.

Curriculum change processes and discourses must be made transparent so that teachers can have a framework for ‘dereification’ of a curriculum document into their classroom practices. Without planning for teachers’ participation in the negotiation of curriculum meanings, curriculum developers themselves become marginalized, and the cultural objects they have developed will be adopted in unanticipated ways.     

Quantifying the effects of teacher movements between schools in New Zealand: to schools that hath,shall be given

This paper examines the flow of teachers between schools of different socio‐economic statuses. New Zealand Ministry of Education data is examined with regard to teacher age and salary structures in schools from high and low socio‐economic intakes. Teacher mobility data is examined and a model of the mobility life cycle of a ‘typical’ teacher reveals causes of the staffing discrepancies between schools with differing socio‐economic intakes. The model accounts for the tendency for low socio‐economic intake schools to have staff who are older and at lower salary levels than those from high socio‐economic intake schools A theoretical interpretation of the situation in New Zealand is provided. It is argued that there is competition between schools for teachers’ labour, and this has had the effect of exacerbating the social stratification flowing from market oriented reforms promoting consumer choice in New Zealand education.     

Scientific thought as dogmatism

In science, positivism has had a major impact on how we see the world. It has resulted in the belief that there is only one true answer to a question, all answers are knowable, and that those answers may be combined into a single coherent theory. The authors argue that positivistic thought has mischaracterized the dialectical process and that positivism results in dogmatic thought. The suggestion is made that a more appropriate way of understanding the development of thought is to interpret the activity of knowing as a series of syntheses rather than dramatic resolutions.     

Transnational mobility through education: a Bourdieusian insight on life as middle transnationals in Australia and Canada

ABSTRACT

This article argues for a more nuanced view of mobility through education within an era of increased globalisation. We explore questions of transnational mobility through the lens of underexplored Bourdieusian concepts, specifically transnational habitus and habitus clivé. Our analysis shows how one's perception of a ‘better life’ and one's ideology of ‘entrepreneur self’ are produced despite one's encounter with disparity between their fields of their host countries and countries of origin. We therefore assert the need for a more complex conceptual work to unpack the lived experience of mobility especially for those who are unable to operationalise their capital in the transnational field.     

Preventing violent extremism: Resourcing,stakeholder strategies and fostering belonging and connection in Australian schools

Countering violent extremism (CVE) continues to be a topic of national and international concern as well as media interest. In the field of CVE, educational institutions have an important role to play, but precisely how educators and policymakers should best respond to extremism within schools remains unclear. This article draws on interviews with multiple stakeholders implementing a small-scale nationally funded grant in Australian schools to guard against behaviours leading to violent extremism through developing restorative justice (RJ) practices. In foregrounding their accounts, we draw attention to the complexity of negotiating the CVE space by resisting dominant narratives that could be considered ‘exaggerations’ regarding both the manifestations of and motivations behind violent or extreme student behaviour. To conclude, we highlight how—in important ways—the money and resourcing allocated for CVE in local settings simply recycles what are already established to be best practices for fostering belonging and connection in schools, particularly in socio-economically disadvantaged communities.     

The Economics of Filmed Entertainment in the Digital Era

Journal of Cultural Economics -     

Propaganda

CUBAN-AMERICAN RADIO WARS: IDEOLOGY IN INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS by Howard H. Frederick (Norwood, NJ : Ablex, 1986—$34.50)

IMPERIALISM, MEDIA, AND THE GOOD NEIGHBOR: NEW DEAL FOREIGN POLICY AND UNITED STATES SHORTWAVE BROADCASTING TO LATIN AMERICA by Fred Fejes (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1986—$32.50)

PROPAGANDA AND PERSUASION by Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1986 price not given)

EXPORTING THE FIRST AMENDMENT: THE PRESS-GOVERNMENT CRUSADE OF 1945–1952 by Margaret A. Blanchard (New York: Longman, 1986—$39.95)

COMMUNICATION FOR ALL: NEW WORLD INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ORDER edited by Philip Lee (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1986—$11.95, paper)

WESTERN BROADCASTING OVER THE IRON CURTAIN edited by K.R.M. Short (New York: t. Martin's Press, 1986—$32.50)     

Beyond the Google search bar: Evaluating source credibility in contemporary research

Courses: Research Methods, Public Speaking, Communication Theory, any other course that requires college students to engage in a formal research process. Can be conducted in traditional, online, or hybrid courses.

Objectives: In this original single-class activity, students will be able to evaluate source credibility for resources that extend beyond peer-reviewed, published journal articles and books. Through the use of Internet searches and social media outlets, students will engage in an evaluation process that will promote more effective research habits.