Educational influences on young people's support for fundamental British values

In 2014 the British government called on schools to actively promote fundamental British values (FBVs), seeing this as an effective way to prevent the radicalisation of young people. The government considers these values to include democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and respect for people of different backgrounds and religions. Rather than criticising this policy on theoretical or ideological grounds, as many studies have done, the current article aims to ascertain support for the values labelled as fundamentally British among 23 year olds in England and to assess whether levels of support are associated with educational attainment and distinct educational practices experienced earlier in life. Data from the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS) are analysed for these purposes. A multidimensional measure of FBVs is constructed based on policy understandings of the term rather than statistical considerations. The article finds that levels of support for FBVs among 23 year olds are already very high and do not differ between the White British majority and various minority ethnic groups, although the small sample sizes of the latter do not allow for strong conclusions about these differences. Among the educational conditions, educational attainment and particularly track attended appears to be the only influential condition, with those obtaining academic qualifications showing significantly higher support for FBVs than those achieving vocational ones. Adding this variable to the model neutralises the effects of specific programmes or pedagogies experienced during lower secondary, such as citizenship education, an open climate of classroom discussion or school‐based political activities.     

Aboriginal non-attendance at school: Revisiting the debate

Non-attendance at school among significant numbers of Aboriginal students has been officially recognised as a major problem since at least the mid 1980s. This article reviews the findings from recent literature on non-attendance within the context of a case study in Perth, Western Australia. Data for the study was obtained from a questionnaire of service providers and district-wide statistics on non-attendance. From this data the following have been identified: the various forms of non-attendance, causal factors associated with non-attendance, and limitations in service provision. Implications relating to policy development are also discussed.     

杰克·伦敦——冒险的呼唤

美国作家杰克·伦敦幼时家境贫寒,以卖苦力为生。苦难的生活没有将他击倒,反而磨练出他顽强进取的精神。自小就喜欢阅读探险类书籍和冒险故事的杰克·伦敦结合自己的冒险经历创作出了50多部作品,在现代美国文学和世界文学中享有崇高的地位。     

A Case Study of the Development of a Beginning Chemistry Teacher's Knowledge about Models and Modelling

In this paper, we present a case study of a beginning chemistry teacher who enrolled in a project aimed to contribute to the development of teachers' knowledge of models and modelling in science. The project consisted of a series of institutional meetings in combination with an action research project the teacher conducted in her own classes. By explaining how the project was conducted and mainly by focusing on the teacher's voice, her dynamic, continuous, and non-linear process of knowledge development is discussed in detail. We were able to investigate and describe this development in terms of various types of knowledge – content knowledge, curricular knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge – which were developed simultaneously. Among other results, it became clear how certain institutional activities led to specific choices in the teacher's action research project. For instance, although initially she was reluctant to conduct a modelling activity in her class, she decided to experiment with such an activity in her action research project. Subsequently, the responses of her students during the project convinced her of the value of this modelling activity and helped her to become aware of specific views of her students. Finally, it became evident that the whole experience made her very enthusiastic and stimulated her to formulate specific intentions with respect to the future, both in terms of applying certain teaching activities and in terms of collaborating with colleagues.     

A Psychometric Framework for the Evaluation of Instructional Sensitivity

Although there is a common understanding of instructional sensitivity, it lacks a common operationalization. Various approaches have been proposed, some focusing on item responses, others on test scores. As approaches often do not produce consistent results, previous research has created the impression that approaches to instructional sensitivity are noticeably fragmented. To counter this impression, we present an item response theory–based framework that can help us to understand similarities and differences between existing approaches. Using empirical data for illustration, this article identifies three perspectives on instructional sensitivity: One perspective views instructional sensitivity as the capacity to detect differences in students' stages of learning across points of time. A second perspective treats instructional sensitivity as the capacity to detect differences between groups that have received different instruction. For a third perspective, the previous two are combined to consider differences between both time points and groups. We discuss linking sensitivity indices to measures of instruction.     

An exploration of student teachers’ perspectives at the start of a post-graduate master's programme on inclusive and special education

In this article we explore the perspectives of a group of teaching professionals starting a post-graduate master's programme on inclusive and special education. Set in the current context of growing interest over the preparation of teachers for inclusive education worldwide, this exploration is part of research that looks more broadly at the impact of the programme on students. In this paper we set the context of the study and present results focusing on students’ pre-understanding of the concepts ‘inclusive’ and ‘special education’, as well as their reasons for choosing the programme and expected learning outcomes. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected with a questionnaire administered to students at the beginning of the programme. Findings reveal that students saw the programme as a factor contributing to their ability to implement inclusive education in practice. However, it emerged that they had somewhat different understandings of what ‘inclusive education’ actually means. Implications for providers of inclusive education programmes for teachers are discussed.