Conservative force or contradictory resource? Education and affirmative action in Jharkhand,India

This article explores the combination of education and affirmative action in challenging historic inequalities faced by adivasis, or indigenous peoples, living in a remote region of Eastern India. We show how the combined effects of education and affirmative action can act as a ‘contradictory resource’. On the one hand, policies of affirmative action are enabling young educated adivasis – the children of subsistence farmers and manual labourers – to benefit from the creation of new, rural state jobs. We show how without affirmative action, such jobs may well have been monopolised by a local elite of higher castes. On the other hand, we argue several conservative processes have accompanied these changes. First, the reserved jobs secured by adivasis are relatively badly paid and insecure. Second, these jobs have not enabled relative progress for adivasis vis-à-vis traditional elites who are moving out of rural areas and diversifying their livelihoods. Third, young educated adivasis have begun to emulate the norms, values and ways of life of the local elite. This ‘culture of emulation’ is fostering new inequalities between educated adivasis and their poorer kin, who face increasing proletarianisation. The contradictory resource, we argue, concerns not only inequalities in accessing certain jobs, but also the creation of new forms of differentiation among historically marginalised people. We conclude by setting these findings within the wider complex relations emerging between caste, ethnicity and class in contemporary India.     

The systematic measurement of the perceived characteristics of information technologies I: Microcomputers as innovations

This study reports the results of the development of a test designed to measure the perceived characteristics of microcomputers as innovations. A three factor solution was obtained, with factors measuring complexity, compatibility, and trialability/observability. No factors emerged measuring relative advantage or perceived expense. All of the defined factors had acceptable levels of reliability and validity checks confirmed that the developed scales had construct validity. Issues relating to future research, model and theory building in the diffusion process, and longitudinal studies were discussed.     

In loco parentis? Public‐school authority,cricket and manly character, 1855–62

This article considers the responsibility for schoolboys’ behaviour and character when in liminal spaces between home and school, in an historical account of the annual cricket matches in London between Eton, Harrow and Winchester in the late 1850s. The episode is situated in the context of the Clarendon Commission’s discussions on school sports, parental and school authority, and ‘muscular Christianity’ in the early 1860s. Set in the conceptual framework of late‐nineteenth‐century manliness and masculinity, the article suggests an enduring attachment to pursuits of the mind rather than the body amongst masters, and points to a greater role for parents (particularly fathers) and boys themselves in the rise of athleticism in schools than is usually granted by historians. The article outlines the limits of school authority in loco parentis, and calls for a reinterpretation of the history of muscular Christianity and its relationship with the public schools.     

Investigating efficacy expectancy as criterion for comparison of teacher- versus student-regulated learning in higher education

In this study, we assessed the feasibility of a specific elaboration of the efficacy construct, distinguishing between personal and contextual aspects, as a criterion for comparing learning environments. The participants were 163 students from two student-regulated and two teacher-regulated programs in higher education. We measured students’ perceptions of autonomy and various aspects of perceptions of efficacy in common learning tasks. Using principal components analyses, we assessed the structure of all the relevant variables. Subsequently, analyses of variance were performed with regulation source, discipline and grade level as factors. All variables emerged as separate scales with high internal consistency. Students in student-regulated programs reported a higher level of organisational efficacy expectancy, implying that these students perceived better organisational conditions for supporting their task performance. It is concluded that the distinction between personal and contextual aspects of efficacy is a promising distinction. However, a more fine-grained conceptualisation of teacher and student regulation is needed.     

The flourishing of care in a multidisciplinary Faculty Learning Community

In a multidisciplinary Faculty Learning Community focussed on exploring threshold concepts and bottlenecks in learning, care emerged as an unanticipated dimension to our work, transforming the ways we view teaching, learning, our disciplines, and educational development. In this piece, we reflect on the types of care that emerged and consider implications for educational development.     

The role text structure inference skill plays for eighth graders’ expository text comprehension

The present study investigated whether text structure inference skill (i.e., the ability to infer overall text structure) has unique predictive value for expository text comprehension on top of the variance accounted for by sentence reading fluency, linguistic knowledge and metacognitive knowledge. Furthermore, it was examined whether the unique predictive value of text structure inference skill differs between monolingual and bilingual Dutch students or students who vary in reading proficiency, reading fluency or linguistic knowledge levels. One hundred fifty-one eighth graders took tests that tapped into their expository text comprehension, sentence reading fluency, linguistic knowledge, metacognitive knowledge, and text structure inference skill. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that text structure inference skill has no unique predictive value for eighth graders’ expository text comprehension controlling for reading fluency, linguistic knowledge and metacognitive knowledge. However, text structure inference skill has unique predictive value for expository text comprehension in models that do not include both knowledge of connectives and metacognitive knowledge as control variables, stressing the importance of these two cognitions for text structure inference skill. Moreover, the predictive value of text structure inference skill does not depend on readers’ language backgrounds or on their reading proficiency, reading fluency or vocabulary knowledge levels. We conclude our paper with the limitations of our study as well as the research and practical implications.     

Kirkpatrick plus: Evaluation and continuous improvement with a community focus

For almost 40 years, Donald Kirkpatrick's framework for evaluation has been used as a basic model for the identification and targeting of training-specific interventions in business, government, military, and industry alike. By approaching evaluation from four different perspectives—reaction, learning, behavior, and results—the model has provided a solid basis for the examination of training's impact on the organization. Despite the current practice of measuring one's success according to the success of one's clients, proposed changes in the model have not been frequently adopted. It is therefore likely time for professionals to reevaluate the utility and responsiveness of the Kirk-patrick framework to meet the value-added requirements of today's organizations. This article identifies tools and concepts for being responsive to the new organizational realities not originally addressed by the Kirkpatrick model.