Managerialism and equalities: tensions within widening access policy and practice for disabled students in UK universities

This paper draws on a four-year longitudinal ESRC funded project examining learning experiences of disabled students in higher education in four universities. The focus here is on institutional responses to the demands of audit culture and legislation in relation to making reasonable adjustments for students with impairments. The data comes from institutional documents and face-to-face interviews with key informants within the institutions. The findings indicate that quality assurance regimes and legislation have had some positive effect on improving access for disabled students; however, local factors and type of institution also have a major impact on the way that national policies are expressed in particular contexts.     

U.S. and Korean children's comprehension of fraction names: a reexamination of cross-national differences

Two experiments tested the claim that the transparency of Korean fraction names promotes fraction concepts (Miura, Okamoto, Vlahovic-Stetic, Kim, & Han, 1999). In Experiment 1, U.S. and Korean first and second graders made similar errors on a fraction-identification task, by treating fractions as whole numbers. Contrary to previous findings, Korean children performed at chance when a whole-number representation was included. Nonetheless, Korean children outperformed their U.S. peers overall. In Experiment 2, U.S. children's performance improved when fraction names were used that explicitly referred to part-whole relations like Korean fraction names. U.S. children's scores actually exceeded those of Korean children. Thus, although the differences in fraction names may influence children's performance, this may not account for the reported cross-national differences.     

The conceptual change approach to improving teaching and learning: An evaluation of a Hong Kong staff development programme

This paper reports a study ofthe effectiveness of an innovative approach tostaff development, the conceptual changeapproach, which attempts to change teachers'frameworks for conceptualising teaching andlearning. The evaluation investigated theprogramme at three levels: the impact on theconceptions of teaching of the participants,the resultant impact on teaching practices, andthe consequential effect on student learning.Encouraging results were obtained. Theprogramme brought about detectable conceptualchange or conceptual development in two-thirdsof the sample group. Subsequently, all the`changed' teachers received better ratings ontheir teaching practices from their students inthe following academic year while none of thosewho did not change their conceptions showedsimilar gains in student rating scores. Aresultant positive impact on their students'studying approaches was observed for half ofthe teachers who changed their conceptions.     

Inequalities in the Overlooked Associations in Urban Educational Collaborations

This study examines the relationships between families and staff from community agencies and organizations in a poverty level urban neighborhood in the Northeast. A central concern of this study is to address how the existing relationships between these groups may affect urban educational restructuring efforts that encourage collaborations of families, schools, and community institutions to support the social and academic development of children. If community agencies and organizations are to engage in successful collaborations with inner city schools, it is critical that they be able to work with the children and families affiliated with these institutions. Findings from this study suggest that though these educational collaborations may yield support for children and their families, there are reasons to proceed cautiously which stem from the existing relationships between families and staff from community agencies and organizations. The relationships between these groups often rest on inherent inequalities. These inequalities stem from inequitable structural conditions which place a large population of urban residents at an economic disadvantage and compel them to seek services. Structural conditions, accompanied by public policies embedded in assumptions regarding which family members are deserving of support, subsequently has influenced who receives services. Mothers and their children typically are recipients of services. The inequalities that are inherent to these relationships, likewise, carry through to the roles that families and staff assume with each other in their daily associations.     

Doctoral Students' Experiences with Pedagogies of the Home,Pedagogies of Love,and Mentoring in the Academy

In this article, a group of nontraditional and/or doctoral students of color and our advisor discuss how the advisor-advisee mentoring relationship has positively affected our experiences within academia. The mentoring relationship, cultivated within a group mentoring model, was integral to our acclimation of the hidden culture of our doctoral programs. We elaborate on the history and mentoring model of the group of which we are a part, and follow with a review of the literature on mentoring practices and a discussion of methodology. Finally, through autoethnographic vignettes, each author discusses his/her experience as a non-traditional and/or student of color and how our relationship with the group has provided us with the logistical, emotional, and psychological support needed to progress in and complete our programs.     

Travels in extreme social mobility: how first-in-family students find their way into and through medical education

ABSTRACT

Higher education is understood as essential to enabling social mobility. Research and policy have centred on access to university, but recently attention has turned to the journey of social mobility itself – and its costs. Long-distance or ‘extreme’ social mobility journeys particularly require analysis. This paper examines journeys of first-in-family university students in the especially high-status degree of medicine, through interviews with 21 students at an Australian medical school. Three themes are discussed: (1) the roots of participants’ social mobility journeys; (2) how sociocultural difference is experienced and negotiated within medical school; and (3) how participants think about their professional identities and futures. Students described getting to medical school ‘the hard way’, and emphasised the different backgrounds and attitudes of themselves and their wealthier peers. Many felt like ‘imposters’, using self-deprecating language to highlight their lack of ‘fit’ in the privileged world of medicine. However, such language also reflected resistance to middle-class norms and served to create solidarity with community of origin, and, importantly, patients. Rather than narratives of loss, students’ stories reflect a tactical refinement of self and incorporation of certain middle-class attributes, alongside an appreciation of the worth their ‘difference’ brings to their new destination, the medical profession.     

Television Violence and Its Effects on Young Children

This article examines research on television violence and links violence to specific programs commonly watched by young children. Although there are some who try to disprove any connection between television and aggresive behavior, there is evidence to suggest that such linkages do exist.     

Gender and Inquiry: an investigation into identifying and defining the role of inquiry in higher-order thinking

This paper studies differences between girls ‘ and boys ‘ perceptions of mathematical and scientific higher-order thinking, ways of identifying when higher-order thinking occurs, and methods of mathematical and scientific inquiry that assist in developing higher-level thinking in both young students and pre-service teachers. Participants included 17 pre-service teacher candidates (16 female, 1 male) enrolled in an integrated elementary mathematics and science methods course, and 102 elementary students from large, metropolitan schools (52 females and 50 males from lower-middle- and high-middle-class homes). A 15-item Likert-style rating scale instrument was used. Qualitative measures including observations, interviews and reflections were completed in conjunction with the more quantitative rating scale measure to triangulate the design. Pre-service teacher candidates rated the significance of childrens’ responses and reflected on findings. Results revealed similar ratings between genders and significance on items relating to perceptions of what science and mathematics are, whether girls should be scientists, and objects/manipulatives versus paper/pencil tasks in mathematics.     

Researcher Development of Doctoral Students: Supports and Barriers Across Time

We used content analysis to analyze 42 counseling doctoral students' reports of supports and barriers influencing their researcher development across 3 years. In line with social cognitive career theory, the students named cognitive-person, environmental, and social-context influences. Analyses indicated no differences in frequencies of supports and barriers across time but significant differences by cohort.