For Me or Not for Me? Fragility and Risk in Mature Students' Decision‐Making

Drawing on a research project which investigated the recent decline in mature student recruitment to higher education in the UK, this article explores the decision-making process among samples of potential and new mature entrants to nine case study higher education institutions. It compares the emphasis in public policy on higher education as a private investment with the understandings and interpretations of individuals in the act of applying for entry. It concludes that while at a generalised level mature learners believe that the private return on investment will be high, at a personal level the concepts of fragility and risk are more pertinent to understanding the complexity of their decision-making process, particularly for those over 25 years of age.     

The pedagogical logics of arts-rich schools: a Bourdieusian analysis

The arts are under threat in English schools. But some schools and teachers work against the trend. To understand how they continue to offer rich arts experiences to students, we bring Bourdieusian thinking to arts teacher practices that were common across the 30 secondary schools we studied for three years. In addition to a flexible approach to the curriculum which encouraged independence, intellectual challenge and risk-taking, teachers also engaged in arts brokerage – embodiment of arts engagement, ensuring students regularly visit cultural events/institutions, using local cultural resources, organising visits from artists/cultural organisations, enabling students to exhibit and perform for wider audiences, connecting students with arts workplaces and enhancing community arts participation. We approach this as a logic of practice associated with arts broker dis/positions drawn from teachers simultaneously occupying two chiasmatic fields – art and education.     

Rights and rites of passage: crossing boundaries in France

The purpose of this article is to explore the boundaries and interfaces between higher education and the other institutions and organizations involved in the provision of various forms of education and training opportunity in France. It uses a comparative lens but focuses mostly on the system in France since others in this volume will be looking at system(s) in the UK and elsewhere. A number of points of comparison are investigated: institutional boundaries, the ‘adultness’ of the system, and its qualifications. The rights of passage through it for individuals and what I have called the rites of passage?the tools, procedures and mechanisms designed to provide articulation and transfer between it various components?are examined. Finally, the future direction of the system and the attempt to build a distinctly French response to a problem experienced across the world are explored; the elements are in place but the jury is still out on whether or not this can be achieved.     

‘Building Schools for the Future’: reflections on a new social architecture

The Labour Government launched the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme (BSF) in February 2003 with the aim of refurbishing or rebuilding all secondary schools in England over a 15‐year period, with an anticipated budget of £45 billion. In this article, we locate BSF in a wider public policy context which has already had important implications in other sectors of public provision. The local improvement finance trusts (LIFTs) initiative within the National Health Service (NHS) is of particular relevance to this discussion both because it reflects contemporary developments within New Public Management and because it also reveals new ways of extending and developing the private finance initiative (PFI) approach to public provision. We shall also consider the purposes and ‘delivery’ mechanisms of BSF and identify some of the key commentaries which have been provided by parliamentary reports and other evaluations. Although still in the early stages of its implementation, the BSF is of such significance for the future shape and form of educational provision that it is important to begin the process of considering possible directions and dimensions for a research agenda which will provide a secure empirical and analytical foundation on which to base discussion.     

The changing nature of assessment in English primary classrooms: Findings from the PACE project 1989–1997

The effective use of evaluation is currently hailed as the ultimate tool in raising standards and ensuring accountability for virtually all areas of life. Nowhere has this been more in evidence than in the area of schooling. This increasing emphasis on target setting and the raising of standards through summative assessment has brought with it major changes to the educative experience for both teachers and their pupils. The PACE Project, which began in 1989, was designed to track these changes as they impacted on a representative sample of teachers and their pupils as they progressed through primary schooling. This article highlights some of the major issues which have emerged from the study and goes on to discuss what implications these might have for future policy-making.     

Talking of discovery

Two thirds of the world's population is bilingual to some extent, hence from an international perspective speaking more than one language is the norm rather than the exception. Germany, Bulgaria, Iraq are only a few of the countries where more than one language is widely spoken. This study aims to analyse the socio-demographic structure and second language acquisition (L2) of a sample of Turkish bilingual children living in Germany through a survey with regard to the socio-demographic structure of the Turkish bilingual children, the socio-demographic structure of the Turkish bilingual children's parents, the Turkish bilingual children's opinions about second language acquisition and the Turkish bilingual children's opinions and thoughts about the society they live in and the schools they attended. The sample comprises 120 Turkish bilingual children attending pre-school and elementary schools in Germany. As a result of the findings, some implications and suggestions are made to the parents and the teachers that they should take necessary precautions to make Turkish bilingual children to integrate to the German society and be successful in the society they live.     

LITERACY AND ELDERS: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

Little research has been done on the literacy needs and interests of elders. Consequently, many programs of literacy training for elders are based upon inadequate and inaccurate information. The authors review recent literature about literacy and the aged and offer some suggestions for future investigations. They maintain that there is a need for empirical research into the perceptions of reading and writing held by the elderly themselves. Specifically, this research should: (1) assess the reading/writing needs and interests of the elderly; and (2) examine what effect societal expectations of the elderly have on their reading/writing behavior and interests.     

Cyberbullying: sanctions or sensitivity?

This paper explores the phenomenon of cyberbullying. The argument here is that, although there is a case for sanctions, schools also have a critical role to play in preventing and reducing cyberbullying through a process of awareness‐raising, the education of the emotions and active participation of children and young people themselves.