Post-school transitions in Ireland: a case study of Russian-speaking students

ABSTRACT

This article examines the post-school pathways of Russian-speaking students in Ireland after completing secondary education; the importance of personal and institutional factors in shaping their transition process, and the role of parents and schools in achieving the post-school goals. The article draws on the qualitative exploratory study of 14 Russian-speaking migrant-origin students, to see how this group progresses beyond secondary schooling in the Irish education system. The study found that all participants had high educational aspirations. Most students achieved their desired first-choice post-school pathway, despite coming from a different linguistic and cultural background. The article points to a range of factors, which affect the post-school transition of migrant young people. The findings are discussed in light of Ireland’s liberal welfare state model with neo-liberal tendencies where those in positions of power can buy into the advantages of the more neo-liberal side of the regime.     

Social Pragmatics: Preschoolers Rely on Commonsense Psychology to Resolve Referential Underspecification

Four experiments show that 4- and 5-year-olds (total N = 112) can identify the referent of underdetermined utterances through their Naïve Utility Calculus—an intuitive theory of people’s behavior structured around an assumption that agents maximize utilities. In Experiments 1–2, a puppet asked for help without specifying to whom she was talking (“Can you help me?”). In Experiments 3–4, a puppet asked the child to pass an object without specifying what she wanted (“Can you pass me that one?”). Children’s responses suggest that they considered cost trade-offs between the members in the interaction. These findings add to a body of work showing that reference resolution is informed by commonsense psychology from early in childhood.     

Fathers' and Mothers' Parenting Predicting and Responding to Adolescent Sexual Risk Behaviors

Transactional models of problem behavior argue that less effective parenting and adolescent problem behaviors coevolve, exerting bidirectional influences. This article extends such models by analyzing growth trajectories of sexual risk behaviors and parenting processes among 3,206 adolescents (aged 13–18) and their residential parents. Within individuals, increases in regular family activities prospectively predicted declines in adolescents' risky sexual activities. In contrast, increases in risky sexual activities predicted heightened father knowledge. Between-individual comparisons revealed bidirectional links between more involved parenting, particularly family activities and father knowledge, and lower adolescent risky sexual activity. Results highlight the importance of family activities as a protective force for adolescents and suggest that fathers may react differently than mothers in the face of youth problem behaviors.     

The 2010 Horizon Report: Museum Edition

Abstract The 2010 Horizon Report: Museum Edition examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in education and interpretation within the museum environment. The report is based on conversations and dialogues with technology and museum professionals from more than two‐dozen countries.