Surviving,not Thriving: Leas since the Education Reform Act of 1988

Local Education Authorities (LEAs) have been features of the administrative landscape of England and Wales for a century. For most of this period, their role, as central government's key partners in the operation of the national education system, expanded. However, intense criticisms of educational organisation and standards, during the 1970s, led to re-assessment of, and ultimately to major reductions in, their responsibilities, during the 1980s and 1990s. This article surveys the changed and changing role of LEAs, and the debate that has surrounded it, during their hundred years of existence, with particular reference to the period since the 1988 Education Reform Act. The concluding part of the article focuses on current developments under the New Labour government, which has assigned a definite but limited range of functions to LEAs. It is argued in this article that, as the 'intermediate level' of LEA administration has been relegated to a marginal role, little purpose would be served by implementing recent proposals for a radical restructuring of the local educational administration.     

Intracultural Travel or Adventures at Home in The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm

Rather than look at children as they move between cultures, this article examines the child protagonists of The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm as they move within their own culture. Although this multi-cultural novel is from the science fiction genre, the psychological reality of encountering different peoples holds true. Tendai, Rita, and Kuda are unique characters: they live in isolation within their own culture. This isolation allows the children to experience each segment of their culture as if they were outsiders to it. Both the narrator and narrative are set up to help the reader find the various subcultures visited as lacking—this despite several overt statements about not making judgments. In the end, what could be a novel of understanding and acceptance turns out to be a terrific adventure story, but rather typical in that any culture that is not the protagonist's own is dangerous and inferior.     

Supporting a School in Special Measures: Implications for the potential contribution of educational psychology

This article describes the experiences of an Educational Psychologist (EP) attached to a school placed in Special Measures following its OFSTED Inspection in October 1997. Requests for increased EP time were met with a specific piece of project work looking at the ethos of the school and relationships within it. The article draws out the strengths that EPs can bring to working with schools in Special Measures. These include a psychological knowledge base, skills in systems analysis and project evaluation, the delivery of training and working within a multi-agency setting. The article suggests that this is an important area of work to which EPs can make a contribution.     

‘Oh you must be very clever!’ High‐achieving women,professional power and the ongoing negotiation of workplace identity

This paper uses a gender perspective to problematise the connection between high educational achievement and a fulfilling professional career. Drawing data from an Australian study of women working as professional engineers in a range of locations, the paper investigates the ways in which the identities produced in the women’s educational experiences require further negotiation in dealing with the realities of their divergent workplaces. Through a deconstruction of the power relationships that form a key feature of the women’s reported workplace experience, the women are shown to engage in a range of tactics in the effort to achieve a degree of workplace acceptance and some professional recognition. The paper concludes by urging renewed attention to changing engineering education and workplace culture if the profession is to attract and retain able women.     

Assessing the psychometric properties of a scenario‐based measure of achievement guilt and shame

In this study, the psychometric properties of the scenario‐based Achievement Guilt and Shame Scale (AGSS) were established. The AGSS and scales assessing interpersonal guilt and shame, high standards, overgeneralization, self‐criticism, self‐esteem, academic self‐concept, fear of failure, and tendency to respond in a socially desirable manner were completed by 322 undergraduate students. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a 12‐scenario model had an acceptable fit to the data, with guilt and shame items forming separate, weakly correlated subscales. Each of the guilt and shame subscales of the AGSS demonstrated good internal and test–retest reliability. Good construct validity was also evident, with each subscale uniquely correlating with constructs in ways that were consistent with predictions. Acceptable discriminant validity was also evident. These outcomes provide support for the utility of the AGSS in assessing guilt and shame reactions in achievement situations.