Parental aspirations for their children's educational attainment and the realisation of universal primary education (UPE) in Kenya: Evidence from slum and non-slum residences

There is a sound research base attesting to the importance of parental involvement and to the many potential benefits it can offer for children's education. This study sought to examine differences in parental aspirations (as a mechanism of parental involvement in their children's education) for their children's educational attainment between slum and non-slum residing parents in Kenya. The study used cross-sectional household data for a sample of 4065 parents, collected in 2007 by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) in Nairobi. A multinomial logistic model was used for the analysis to explore the factors determining parental aspirations. The results indicate the following: (i) that parents who live in the slums have lower aspirations for their children's educational attainment when compared to those who live in non-slum areas; (ii) that parents in the slums have aspirations for higher levels of educational attainment for their children than their own levels of education. We conclude that parents in urban Kenya have a strong belief in the education of their children irrespective of their slum or non-slum residence but aspirations are higher in non-slums than in slums.     

Some Characteristics of Effective Science Teaching

Summaries

English

In this paper, the authors summarize the main findings which resulted from a recent major research study of the processes and products of science teaching in English schools. For the purpose of this study, a Science Teaching Observation Schedule (STOS) was developed by means of which the intellectual transactions taking place between teacher and pupils during science lessons, can be recorded and analysed. Using STOS, the teaching behaviour of some 94 teachers of biology, of chemistry and of physics was studied. On the basis of this, three main styles of science teaching were identified. These styles are described and discussed both in terms of their educational effectiveness (as measured by pupil achievement) and in relation to the implementation of modern school science curricula.     

Representing Nature of Science in a Science Textbook: Exploring author–editor–publisher interactions

Current reforms in elementary and secondary science education call for students and teachers to develop more informed views of the nature of science (NOS)—a process in which science textbooks play a significant role. This paper reports on a case study of the development of representations of the NOS in a senior high school chemistry textbook by the book's author, editor, and publisher. The study examines the multiple discourses that arose as the developers reflected on their personal and shared understandings of NOS; squared these with mandated curricula, the educational needs of chemistry students and teachers, and the exigencies of large-scale commercial textbook publishing. As a result, the team developed and incorporated, in the textbook, representations of NOS they believed were the most pedagogically suitable. Analysis of the data in this study indicates that a number of factors significantly influenced the development of representations of NOS, including representational accuracy (the degree to which representations of NOS conformed to informed views of the NOS), representational consistency (the degree to which representations of NOS in different parts of the book conveyed the same meaning), representational appropriateness (the age-, grade-, and reading-level appropriateness of the NOS representations), representational alignment (the degree to which NOS representations aligned with mandated curriculum), representational marketability (the degree to which NOS representations would affect sales of the textbook), and ‘Workplace Resources’ factors including availability of time, relevant expertise, and opportunities for professional development.     

Evaluation of the outcome of lifelong learning programmes for social inclusion: a phenomenographic research

Our current knowledge society does not only have an impact on labour market demands, but its citizens also have to cope with increasing social demands. A growing number of vulnerable adults lack basic competences and therefore risk social exclusion. In this respect, The European Commission as well as the OECD agree that adult education can play a significant role in increasing social inclusion of vulnerable adults. However, to date, evidence of outcome of adult education programmes in terms of social inclusion is hardly available. The present study aims to unravel the complexity of the phenomenon of adult education to enhance participants’ social inclusion. Using a phenomenographic approach, we have explored different experiences of 32 vulnerable adults who have participated in adult education courses. The results show that an increase on an individual level (activation and internalisation) is more often perceived by the interviewees than an increase on the collective level of social inclusion (participation and connection). To ensure successful results and to improve quality of the lifelong learning process it seems that particularly the variables teacher support, life circumstances, and learning contents and activities are important elements to enhance the transfer aiming to increase social inclusion.     

Association between mothers' education and grade six children numeracy and literacy in Kenya

The objective of the paper is to re-examine the mother–child education achievement hypothesis, by re-examining the effect of mother's education, on math and literacy test scores of children in Kenya. Data come from the classroom Education Research Programme at the African Population and Health Research Centre which was collected between January and March 2012. Since pupils are nested within schools, we fitted a two-level random intercept model. Our findings show that mothers' and fathers' education has a positive and significant independent association with literacy and numeracy achievement. After interacting mothers' and fathers' education and controlling for school and pupil characteristics, we observed two significant findings: (1) mother's education remains statistically significant but is negatively associated with the pupil's score in both literacy and numeracy; and (2) the interaction of both parents' education is significant and positively associated with pupil scores in literacy and numeracy. This study underscores the importance of the complementarity between mothers' and fathers' education in order for children to acquire and learn literacy and numeracy in schools. In as much as mothers' education is important in the children's literacy and numeracy, the importance of fathers in children's literacy and numeracy cannot be ignored.     

Reviews of research on rural schools and their communities in British and Nordic countries: Analytical perspectives and cultural meaning

This introduction presents the case, and sets the scene, for five reviews of research on rural schools and their communities, arguing that educational research in this field is relatively rare, and decreasingly visible despite the significant population of the world's children who live in rural communities and attend rural schools. After considering various interpretations of ‘rural’, of the purpose and function of rural schooling, and of the relationship between school and community, we present three basic research questions with relevance for researchers of schools and communities, rural and urban, the world over, and raise more specific questions which are addressed in the reviews themselves and pursued in the closing chapter. Finally we introduce the research reviews and justify our selection of British and Nordic countries, where, despite geographical proximity, there are wide thematic and methodological disparities in rural schools’ research.