Women Returners to Further Education: employment and gender relations in the home

The education and retraining of ‘women returners’ to the labour market was an innovative development in further education in Britain in the 1980s. Fifty‐six women who undertook a part‐time information technology course at a college of further education in Birmingham were the subjects of this study. They were the respondents to a questionnaire sent to all women who had studied on the courses run between early 1987 and late 1989. A small number were subsequently interviewed. The aims of the research were twofold: firstly, to study their current employment situations and secondly to investigate the impact of employment on gender relations in the home. Almost all the women had been able to re‐enter employment, most using the skills they had learned on the course. However the course had not been instrumental in breaking down gender segregation in computing and few women worked in professional or male dominated jobs. The majority were in clerical, secretarial or administrative work, though this did mean that most had been able to rejoin the labour force at the same occupational level at which they had left. Some women, including half the black women in the study, improved their occupational position. It is argued that training for women who are in employment needs to be more available, otherwise the women in the study will not be able to progress into better jobs as their confidence grows and family commitments lessen. The study confirmed the continued pervasiveness of ideologies which prioritise men's employment and position of ‘breadwinners’ and women's continued responsibility for home and children. The conclusion of the study is that although feminists and others keen to promote equality for women in employment have made child care and more flexible working conditions the central issues, marriage and the sexual division of labour in the home, whilst equally significant, have been neglected and need to be given more consideration, both theoretically and strategically.     

Instructional strategy change and the attitude and achievement of seventh- and eighth-grade science students

This sequential methodologic elaboration study investigated differences between the middle school and the junior high instructional strategies and the effects on adolescent attitude toward science in school and science achievement. Subjects of the quantitative phase were 570 seventh- and eighth-grade students in one school in an urban school district in the midwest United States during a transition year from junior high to middle school. Germann's Attitude toward Science in School Assessment and the school district's Benchmark Exams were employed to measure student pre- and posttest attitude and achievement. Variations within grade level, gender, race, general ability, and socioeconomic group were evaluated. Results of split plots revealed no significant differences in science attitude between the experimental middle school group and the junior high control group at this phase. However, there was significant improvement in attitude in both seventh-grade populations, but no change in attitude in either eighth-grade population. No significant differences in attitude were found between males and females, Caucasian students and students of color, or students of different ability or socioeconomic groups. Significant increases in science achievement were revealed in the seventh-grade junior high control group, the eighth-grade middle school, and the eighth-grade junior high, but not in the seventh-grade middle school. No significant differences in achievement were found between males and females. Caucasians scored significantly higher in achievement than students of color. Average and high ability students scored significantly higher pretest to posttest, but low ability students did not. High ability students scored significantly higher than both average and low ability groups. There was significant improvement in science achievement for students in the sufficient socioeconomic status group, but not in the low socioeconomic status group. These results were discussed with the five science teachers, the principal, and a university consultant in the setting, who were the informants of the qualitative elaboration phase of the study. Ethnographic methods uncovered themes explaining differences and similarities within the two instructional strategies. Teachers' feelings and stages of concern were identified. The results are discussed in terms of effectively implementing changes in instructional strategies and assessing science achievement of early adolescents.     

Transgender Issues in Counselor Preparation

The emergent consciousness and political activism emanating from the transgender community have important implications for counselor education. Treatment issues are no longer exclusively centered on aiding “gender dysphoric” individuals to assume either a “male” or “female” gender but rather on exploring alternative gender identifications and options. Counselor educators and supervisors need to model for their students a “trans‐positive” approach to counseling that affirms and celebrates individuals with nontraditional gender identities.     

Understanding children's reading activities: Reading motivation,skill and child characteristics as predictors

This study examined the extent to which a range of child characteristics (sex, age, socioeconomic status, reading skill and intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation) predicted engagement (i.e., time spent) in different reading activities (fiction books, factual books, school textbooks, comics, magazines and digital texts). In total, 791 children (aged 8–11 years) participated. There was considerable variation in the factors predicting engagement in different reading activities. Although intrinsic reading motivation was a good predictor of recreational book reading, age was a stronger predictor of engagement with digital texts. Furthermore, specific dimensions of motivation predicted engagement in different reading activities; being motivated to read challenging texts predicted recreational book reading, whereas being motivated to achieve good grades predicted schoolbook reading. On the other hand, social reasons predicted engagement with magazines and comics. Implications for education and the relationship between child characteristics and choice of reading activities are discussed.     

Do less-advantaged students avoid prestigious universities? An applicant-centred approach to understanding UCAS decision-making

Less-advantaged students are under-represented at prestigious universities, but can we infer that they actively avoid them? This research measured university applicants’ knowledge of 115 UK universities. Using card-sort tasks within an interview format, 56 Year 13 students from different types of 16–19 education described how they chose five courses for their application form. Significant cross-cohort trends in knowledge and understanding demonstrated the influence of different educational environments, but within-cohort variation showed that applicant characteristics could over-ride environmental factors. The only cohort where every student understood relative status was an independent school providing individual, career-focused guidance. Limited resources in state-sector schools and colleges necessitated ‘opt-in’ models of guidance, meaning that only highly motivated students were well-informed. When students knew that universities are ranked by national league tables, this informed their decision-making strategy, but reliance on word-of-mouth rather than fact-based information resulted in some students over-estimating status and graduate outcomes. A new conceptual framework blending developmental and cognitive psychology explained persistent class-based progression trends whilst demonstrating how personal agency or educational interventions enabled some less-advantaged students to enter prestigious universities. There was no evidence that prestigious universities were actively avoided, but some students had insufficient knowledge or understanding to make status-based distinctions.     

PARENTING PROGRAMMES: Do generalist parenting programmes improve children's behaviour and attendance at school? The parents’ perspective

Previous research has demonstrated that parenting programmes can be an effective intervention in changing behaviour and parent/child interactions. However, less attention has been given to the impact of these programmes in relation to improving attendance and behaviour at school. Lynne Rogers, lecturer in teacher education specialising in the post-14 sector, Susan Hallam, Professor of Education and Dean of the Faculty of Policy and Society, and Jacquelene Shaw, educational psychologist, all working in the University of London, set their debate in this article in the context of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 and the Respect Action Plan 2006. These authors use their article in order to describe parents' perceptions of the impact of parenting programmes on their own and their children's behaviour, with particular reference to behaviour at home and at school. The perceptions reported here, and enlivened with direct quotes from parents, are based on questionnaire data from 142 parents and interviews with a sample of parents and teachers. Parents were broadly positive about the benefits of parenting programmes. However, where the child's problem was rooted in school-related issues, some concerns about behaviour and attendance remained. Lynne Rogers, Susan Hallam and Jacquelene Shaw close their article with a call for parenting programmes to be more closely aligned with activities in school and with educational processes.     

Mastering Difficult Concepts Using Software to Support Learning: A Case Study in Teaching Mandarin Chinese

Set in the context of a first-semester undergraduate Mandarin Chinese curriculum, the Tones First case provides an illustration of how one might hurdle a formidable learning task using technological tools. The author examines extant curricula for opportunities to introduce complementary technology components. Thorough discussion of the software-activity design process is presented as well as an overview of the resulting application.     

Age Differences in Support Processes in Conversations between Friends

The purpose of this study was to examine age differences in the use and effectiveness of social support processes emitted during conversations about real life negative events between preadolescent, adolescent, and adult friends. Age differences were found for 3 forms of support. Older supporters made more excuses and engaged in less distraction than preadolescent supporters, and adult supporters validated more excuses than younger supporters. Talking to friends alleviated negative affect in subjects of all ages, however factors predicting reductions in negative affect differed across age. Preadolescents felt better when friends distracted them from their problems, and adults felt better when friends helped them evade responsibility for their problems. Specific support processes did not predict affect changes for adolescents, but adolescent girls felt better after the conversation than adolescent boys. Results are explained in terms of age differences in self-validation and intimacy needs, experience co-constructing reality and providing social support, and refinement of social skills.     

Achieving Equity and Quality in Japanese Elementary Schools: Balancing the Roles of State,Teachers, and Students

The aim of this paper is to explore perspectives on equity, quality, motivation, and resilience by focusing in depth on the perspectives of educators in one small, semi-rural school in Japan. The paper is intended to provide rich, in-depth data and discussion as a way of providing insights from different perspectives into findings from large-scale international assessments. The two key questions addressed in the paper are, (1) How are equity and quality achieved and maintained in Japanese elementary schools? and (2) How are student motivation and resilience perceived and fostered in Japanese elementary schools? These questions are addressed through analysis of key official documents related to the questions, together with analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with education professionals working in an elementary school. The paper will contribute to understanding the perspectives of teachers in a particular school context in Japan on the roles of state, teachers, and children themselves in the task of achieving and maintaining equity and quality in a high performing education system.