Globalizing policy sociology in education: working with Bourdieu

This paper uses Bourdieu to develop theorizing about policy processes in education and to extend the policy cycle approach in a time of globalization. Use is made of Bourdieu’s concept of social field and the argument is sustained that in the context of globalization the field of educational policy has reduced autonomy, with enhanced cross‐field effects in educational policy production, particularly from the fields of the economy and journalism. Given the social rather than geographical character of Bourdieu’s concept of social fields, it is also argued that the concept can be, and indeed has to be, stretched beyond the nation to take account of the emergent global policy field in education. Utilizing Bourdieu’s late work on the globalization of the economy through neo‐liberal politics, we argue that a non‐reified account of the emergent global educational policy field can be provided.     

The trials and tribulations of partnerships in refugee settlement services in Australia

The ascendency of neoliberal ideas in education and social policy in the 1980s and 1990s was succeeded in the new millennium by a ‘new’ social democratic commitment with emphases on community empowerment, building social capital and a ‘whole of government’ approach to partnering with civil society to meet community needs. In Australia, this approach has resulted in the development of partnerships between schools and community organisations formed as part of a targeted, holistic approach to service delivery to meet the settlement and educational needs of refugee youth. Drawing on interviews conducted with community workers and government officers involved in the school–community partnerships, we document how these partnerships are working ‘on the ground’ in Queensland schools. We analyse our findings against the international literature on changing notions of neoliberal governance, and discuss the implications of the shift to the ‘partnering state’ for schools and community organisations working with refugee young people.     

'That's what scientists have to do': Preservice elementary teachers' conceptions of the nature of science during a moon investigation

In a science methods course for elementary education majors, students investigated the phases of the moon for six weeks. The moon investigation emphasized that scientific knowledge: a) is empirically based; b) involves the invention of explanations; and c) is socially embedded. After the moon investigation, students realized that scientists make observations and generate patterns, but failed to recognize that observation could precede or follow theory building. Students could separate the processes of observing from creating explanations in their learning, but did not articulate the role of invention in science. Similarly, students valued the social dimensions of learning, but were unable to apply them to the activity of scientists. Although our teaching was explicit about students' science learning, we did not help them make direct connections between their science learning activities and the nature of science [NOS]. We provide a set of recommendations for making the NOS more explicit in the moon investigation.     

Intrafamily secrets in various family configurations: A communication boundary management perspective

Although extant literature suggests that blended, single‐parent, and biological/adoptive (i.e., nuclear) families differ in terms of the boundaries that separate family members, little systematic research has compared such boundaries. The current investigation examined this issue by focusing on communication boundaries as indexed by intrafamily secrets. As expected, college students in blended families reported that their original parents and siblings were more likely than their stepparents or stepsiblings to know the family secret that they reported in this study. This suggests the presence of a relatively rigid communication boundary between original family members and stepfamily members. Interestingly, participants in blended families, single‐parent families, and nuclear families were quite similar in terms of: (a) the number of intrafamily secrets they perceived in their family, (b) the topics of the secrets they reported, and (c) the functions they reported being served by the secrets. Also, regardless of family form, there was an inverse association between participants’ family satisfaction and their perceptions of how many intrafamily secrets their family held. Overall, in contrast to the literature that often portrays blended families and single‐parent families as particularly problematic, these results suggest remarkable similarities across family configurations in terms of communication boundaries.     

“We’re Not Just Interested in the Work”: Social and Emotional Aspects of Early Educator Mentoring Relationships

The purpose of this study was to explore how often 159 practicing teachers enrolled in a university Master's degree principal preparation program observed their mentor principals model the four mandated Texas standards‐based instructional leadership competencies for the principalship. The competencies focus on leadership through curriculum and planning, nurturing and sustaining the instructional program, implementing a staff evaluation plan and applying decision‐making skills. Findings on the four competencies ranged from a high of 59.1% to a low of only 44.7% of the participants who indicated that they observed their mentor principals modeling these four competencies at least ‘usually.’     

Use of the Teacher Version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire with German and American Preschoolers

Research Findings: The present study evaluated the utility of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as a teacher-report measure of internalizing and externalizing problems in preschool-age children. Participants included preschoolers drawn from Germany and the United States, with the American sample composed of both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking children. In some respects the SDQ demonstrated adequate reliability and validity across these 3 culturally and linguistically divergent samples, but some problems were noted with the internal consistency of the subscales and the clinical cutoff scores. Practice or Policy: The findings generally support the potential usefulness of the SDQ as a psychopathology screening instrument within culturally and linguistically diverse preschool settings. However, normative studies need to be conducted with preschool samples so that the SDQ cutoff scores used to identify clinically significant emotional and behavioral problems can be appropriately adjusted for age, gender, and culture.     

BOOK REVIEW

The application of total quality management (TQM) to the college classroom has been hotly debated. Those critical of its use argue that it is too confining and would stifle academic creativity. Such assessments are self‐defeating and encourage educators to turn their backs on a useful tool before even attempting to use it. Properly used according to the methods described herein, TQM can be effective in the classroom and prove to be a valuable augmentation to traditional academic planning methods     

STUDENTS WHO DROP OUT BEFORE THEY BEGIN: A STUDY OF POTENTIAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO INITIATE THE REGISTRATION PROCESS BUT FAIL TO ENROLL

A follow‐up was conducted on groups of students who initiated steps in the admission process at a community college, but never enrolled. These students were telephone surveyed and compared to similar groups of students who actually enrolled. The stated reasons for non‐enrollment were job issues, financial aid, and personal reasons. Yet when the pre‐admission basic skills tests were compared, the non‐enrolling students had significantly lower scores, leading the authors to conclude that poor academic preparation was a very important reason for non‐enrollment.     

Diversity of body types in network television programming: A content analysis

This study uses content analysis to examine the diversity of men and women's body types on primetime network television programs and afternoon soap operas in order to compare male and female portrayals and to determine if the portrayals of both genders reflect the real population. The results show females are portrayed in a smaller range of body types and are more slender than males; heavier body types are less likely to be in romantic situations, wear revealing clothing, and are older than thin body types; and television body types are generally thinner than the real population.