Economic aspects of post-secondary schooling decisions

This study analyzes post-secondary schooling decisions of high-school graduates using a human-capital framework. Unlike most studies, which consider only college or no school, the current analysis considers the alternative of post-secondary occupational schools as well as four-year and two-year colleges. The model is tested using a multinomial logistic approach on state aggregated data for 1976. Cross-price elasticities reveal that post-secondary occupational schooling is a relevant substitute investment for college. Own-price elasticities have the expected negative sign and income is not found to be a significant determinant of post-secondary-school attendance.     

Young people on the margins: In need of more choices and more chances in twenty‐first century Scotland

The aim of this study was to find out more about the lives of young people in the category ‘not in education, employment or training’ (NEET). We worked intensively with 26 young people in four smaller groups, spending three days with each group. During our time with them we engaged in a variety of creative and artistic activities designed to help them to construct accounts of their lives for us with the purpose of gaining an understanding of what it was like to be NEET. Three significant issues that emerged from these life stories are discussed in this paper. These are the problematic nature of the discourse of NEET sub‐groups; the challenges of school‐exclusion policies and practices; and the myth of low aspirations.     

CCTV,school surveillance and social control

Burgeoning fears for safety in UK schools have resulted in a rapid growth in the use of various security measures, most notably closed‐circuit television (CCTV) systems. Utilising semi‐structured interviews and non‐participant observation this research examines how CCTV is used in schools, explores the manner in which this facilitates social control and considers the wider implications of such surveillance technology. It is argued that this technology, which is predominantly focused on students, is effective in facilitating direct observation, but does little to foster self‐surveillance in the longer term. It is concluded that CCTV use in schools represents an underlying shift in values, away from exercising social control through enculturation towards system integration. This has important ethical implications.     

The reliance on unclaimed cadavers for anatomical teaching by medical schools in Africa

The study of gross Anatomy through the use of cadaveric dissections in medical schools is an essential part of the comprehensive learning of human Anatomy, and unsurprisingly, 90% of the surveyed medical schools in Africa used cadaveric dissections. Donated cadavers now make up 80% of the total cadavers in North American medical schools and all the cadavers used for dissection in the United Kingdom are donated. Because the sources of cadavers used in Africa are not clearly known, a questionnaire to gather information on cadavers used at medical schools was designed from the relevant literature and was sent by electronic mail to 123 Anatomy lecturers in 23 African countries (48 medical schools). Fourteen lecturers from 14 medical schools in ten countries responded to the questionnaires. The results indicate that, in most countries, the cadavers are unclaimed bodies from the hospitals and prisons, and the bodies of dead bandits. In South Africa and Zimbabwe, the donations are mostly from the white community, and medical school in the Islamic country of Libya is importing cadavers from India. The lack of knowledge about body donation programes and firmly held cultural and religious burial traditions may explain the lack of bequests from black communities. The use of unclaimed bodies may disproportionally affect people who were homeless and poor, criminals, people with fewer social links, and social outcasts. The Anatomy lecturers felt that there should be broader national awareness programes for body donations, although the benefits of this could take decades to materialize. Anat Sci Educ, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN TELEVISION PERCEPTION

The content of television, as perceived by researchers and other adults, is widely regarded as a major determiner of the effects of television on children. Yet the field of communications research has long since documented that it is not content per se but rather the audience perceptions of that content that functions as a major determiner of effects. A shift in research and analytic emphasis from adult‐defined content to audience perceptions of content becomes crucial when the audience consists of children. The literature of child development clearly indicated that children perceive their environment differently than do adults. In this article, Piaget's theory of cognitive stage is shown to be a predictor of children's perceptions of television.     

Teachers’ Personal Agency: Making Sense of Slope Through Additive Structures

In the context of a three-year professional development program in mathematics, practicing elementary teachers persistently engaged in collaborative inquiry and reflection to build connected meanings for slope. One teacher invented a compelling representation for slope as a process of repeated addition, using Cuisenaire rods, based on teachers' shared experiences developing recursively defined linear equations. The presence of and tension between different representations of slope, brought forth by the teachers, catalyzed productive cycles of choice and inquiry for the entire class. Personal agency, purposeful choice, and performance provide a valuable lens for fine-grained analysis of mathematical learning. Preliminary versions of portions of this paper were presented at PME 28 and PME-NA 26.     

Integrating the Arts and STEM for Gifted Learners

This study investigates the process of identifying high-quality lessons for gifted learners that integrate the arts with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. These STEAM lessons have the potential to develop deep thinking, as well as develop creativity and visual–spatial skills that are necessary in the STEM disciplines. Lessons were solicited from teachers through their involvement in national organizations, and 61 lessons were analyzed and reviewed by experts in the arts and STEM fields, as well as master teachers. High-quality lessons provided deep content knowledge in both STEM and arts fields, connections across content areas, specific criteria for assessment, and collaborations between teachers and between students. The findings from this study will be used to further define the evaluation process for STEAM lessons designed for gifted learners and to develop professional development opportunities for teachers of the gifted.     

Risk Taking,Boundary Performance and Intentional School Internet “Misuse”

Whilst the association of risk with schools is predominately a negative one, fostering images of potential dangers, this paper draws upon a socio-cultural counter-discourse to explore the perceived benefits of certain risk taking activities within educational establishments. Using research data on school Internet “misuse” it is argued that some students benefit from engaging in boundary performance. This can be seen as a type of risky behaviour involving low level dangers that offer an escape from tedious routine through public displays of temporarily traversing boundaries. Furthermore, it is maintained that such activity may be a central element in identity construction. It is concluded that the concept of boundary performance has wider applications than merely explaining certain school Internet “misuse”, potentially helping practitioners and policy-makers to think more creatively about the educational process as well as offering insights into other “problematic” behaviour.