Self-Reporting and Test Discrepancy: Evidence from a National Literacy Survey in Bangladesh

This paper aims to explore the discrepancy between self-reported and test-based literacy estimates in Bangladesh. It uses the Education Watch national literacy survey data of 2002, during which the literacy status of a nationally representative sample was identified using the two methods referred to above. The findings revealed that the literacy rate generated through a literacy test was significantly lower than that found when the self-report method was used. The level of discrepancy varied from one population group to another, indicating that literacy assessment using the self-report method cannot be equally appropriate for all population groups. Those with a few years of schooling were at a particular risk of over-estimating their status. The paper makes a case for a written literacy assessment rather than an oral evaluation.     

The Experience of Columbian Child Soldiers from a Resilience Perspective

There are child soldiers fighting with government forces and opposition groups in more than 30 countries worldwide. Although studies have been conducted on the impact of war-related trauma on children, very few have focused on those children who do not exhibit trauma-related symptoms after experiencing armed combat. The purpose of this study was to identify and understand some of the mechanisms and resources that resilient children draw upon to overcome the trauma of child soldiering. Six Colombian child soldiers were recruited through purposive sampling techniques to participate in a narrative study focusing on their lived experiences and their personal understanding of how they were able to overcome the effects of war trauma. Six narrative themes were identified and discussed in terms of the literature on trauma and childhood resilience and also related to counselling needs and services.     

Acting White: A Critical Review

The hypothesis of acting White has been heatedly debated and influential over the last 20 years or so in explaining the Black–White test score gap. Recently, economists have joined the debate and started providing new theoretical and empirical analyses of the phenomenon. This paper critically reviews the arguments that have been advanced to support and refute the hypothesis. This review particularly covers the analyses in economics because the economic analyses are relatively new and usually neglected in other disciplines. Also, nationally representative data are emphasized, whenever possible, to improve the generalizability of the arguments. This review concludes that although the analyses in both non-economics and economics are thought-provoking and compelling in some respect, a substantial body of empirical evidence is inconsistent with the assumptions of and results from the analyses.     

Soziale Ungleichheit beim Zugang in eine Berufsausbildung: Welche Bedeutung haben die Institutionen?

The corporatistic governance model of nonacademic vocational training, which is predominant in Germany, has produced heterogeneous and complex conditions for the access to vocational training. Which training programs are offered and the selection of applicants is largely determined by the training companies themselves. Adolescents interested in vocational training are thus confronted with diverse admission requirements. Which resources they can and have to use in order to receive a training position is significantly determined by the respective admission requirements. The present paper elucidates key institutional conditions of the access to vocational training which can serve as explanations for the (re-)production of social inequalities in the transition process from school to vocational training. In particular, the inequalities with respect the admission to vocation training along the lines of educational degrees, gender, as well as regional, social, and ethnic backgrounds are investigated.     

Effect of Oestrogen on Altering the Serum and Urinary Levels of Calcium,Phosphate and Magnesium in Hysterectomised Women Compared to Natural Menopausal South Indian Women: A Case Control Study

Given the paucity of studies conducted to know the effect of suddenness and earlier onset of endocrinological changes associated with hysterectomy, on the serum and urinary levels of calcium, magnesium and phosphate the present study was conducted to compare the levels of calcium, magnesium and phosphate in serum and urine of hysterectomised and natural menopausal south Indian women. This is a cross-sectional observational study. The study included three groups of 30 healthy premenopausal, 30 early surgical menopausal and 30 natural post menopausal women. Women suffering from any endocrine disease were excluded. Analysis was performed in serum and urine sample. The levels of calcium, magnesium and phosphate in serum and calcium/creatinine, magnesium/creatinine and phosphate/creatinine ratio were estimated in urine by spectrophotometric method. Hysterectomised women (serum calcium: 8.7 ± 0.09 mg/dl; urine calcium/creatinine: 0.16 ± 0.02) have significantly low serum calcium (p < 0.001) and high urinary calcium/creatinine (p = 0.002) ratio and post menopausal women (serum magnesium: 2.1 ± 0.03; serum phosphate: 4.4 ± 0.16; urinary calcium/creatinine: 0.17 ± 0.02; urinary magnesium/creatinine: 0.09 ± 0.01) have significantly high serum magnesium (p = 0.016), serum phosphate (p = 0.043) and high urinary calcium/creatinine (p = 0.002), magnesium/creatinine ratio (p = 0.025) compared to healthy pre menopausal women. Post menopausal women (serum calcium: 9.1 ± 0.08) have significantly high serum calcium and phosphate compared to hysterectomised women (serum phosphate: 3.93 ± 0.11). Hysterectomised women have significantly low serum calcium, oestrogen and high urinary calcium/creatinine ratio compared to healthy premenopausal women and low serum calcium and low serum phosphate compared to natural postmenopausal women. Natural postmenopausal women had low serum oestrogen and high serum magnesium, serum phosphate, urinary calcium creatinine ratio and urinary magnesium creatinine ratio compared to healthy premenopausal women.     

Plate Tectonics and Europa’s Icy Shell

A unique attribute of Earth is the presence of plate tectonics. Not only does it give rise to continents, mountain chains, and ocean basins but also promotes a high level of biodiversity. It is the reason for the formation of the so-called ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’ – a belt of intense volcanic activity and a large number of earthquakes surrounding the Pacific ocean. But what drives the plate motion? Did Earth always have plate tectonics? These are some fascinating geoscientific questions. In trying to answer these questions, an effort is made to impress upon the reader the vast ocean of uncertainty, and hence the opportunity, in the field of Earth and Planetary Sciences. To make it more engaging, the article provides a peek into the long process which culminated in the present-day theory of plate tectonics on Earth. While the first half of the article focuses on subduction and its cause, the second half summarizes a recent finding made on the surface of Europa. In view of readability across disciplines, the complex subject details are kept to bare minimum.     

Sighting horizons of teaching in higher education

This conceptual paper tackles the matter of teaching in higher education and proposes a concept of ‘horizons of teaching’. It firstly offers an overview of the considerable empirical literature around teaching—especially conceptions of teaching, approaches to teaching and teaching practices—and goes on to pose some philosophical and social theoretical considerations that open further the territory around teaching in university. Against this background, we propose the concept of ‘horizons of teaching’. Horizons of teaching provide a context in which it makes sense for teachers to give themselves to the teaching enterprise and to go on giving themselves to teaching. Horizons include diverse and intricate layers at both micro- and macro-levels that interact in a permanent and dynamic way; they involve persons and collectivities; and they concern structures and agency. The paper concludes by proposing that horizons of teaching configure and delineate curricula and the pedagogical relationship in a way that might contain a revolutionary potentiality in recasting teaching in higher education.