A school’s journey in creating a relational environment which supports attachment and emotional security

This article focuses on teachers’ experiences of supporting looked after and adopted children in one case study primary school in England. Children who are looked after and adopted may have a disrupted attachment with their primary carer which has resulted in an insecure attachment. Children with insecure attachments can feel anxious, uncertain and have low self-worth which can result in a struggle to adapt to school as they are unable to articulate their feelings. This article draws on qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with teaching staff in order to illuminate strategies, subsidised through Pupil Premium Plus funding, to support such children. A key outcome was the creation of a school-based model consisting of six main components that can be developed to support children with insecure attachments.     

‘They never go off the rails like other ethnic groups’: teachers’ constructions of British Chinese pupils’ gender identities and approaches to learning

This paper examines the ways in which British Chinese pupils are positioned and represented within the popular/dominant discourse of teachers working in London schools. Drawing on individual interviews from a study conducted with 30 teachers, 80 British Chinese pupils and 30Chinese parents, we explore some of the racialised, gendered and classed assumptions upon which dominant discourses around British Chinese boys and girls are based. Consideration is given, for example, to teachers’ dichotomous constructions of British Chinese masculinity, in which British Chinese boys were regarded as ‘naturally’ ‘good’ and ‘not laddish’, compared with a minority of ‘bad’ British Chinese boys, whose laddishness was attributed to membership of a multiethnic peer group. We also explore teachers’ constructions of British Chinese femininity, which centred around remarkably homogenised representations of British Chinese girls as ‘passive’ and quiet, ‘repressed’, hard‐working pupils. The paper discusses a range of alternative readings that challenge popular monolithic and homogenising accounts of British Chinese masculinity and femininity in order to open up more critical ways of representing and engaging with British Chinese educational ‘achievement’.     

Opportunity or exploitation? Women and quality assurance in higher education

Based on interviews with 18 UK women academics and managers on quality and power in higher education, this article interrogates the impact of quality assurance discourses and practices on women in higher education. Micro‐level analysis of the effects of audit and the evaluative state seem to suggest that hegemonic masculinities and gendered power relations are being reinforced by the emphasis on competition, targets, audit trails and performance (Morley, 2003a Morley, L. 2003a. Quality and power in higher education, Buckingham: Open University Press.  [Google Scholar]). Furthermore, pedagogic space for exploring social justice issues is closing with the emphasis on learning outcomes and student consumerism (Morley, 2003b Morley, L. 2003b. “Reconstructing students as consumers: new settlements of power or the politics of assimilation?”. In Higher education and the lifecourse, Edited by: Slowey, M. and Watson, D. Buckingham: Open University Press.  [Google Scholar]). Yet women are also gaining new visibility as a consequence of the creation of a new cadre of quality managers. Quality assurance, as a regime of power, appears to offer both repressive and creative potential for women. This article will explore whether quality signs and practices are gendered and whether these represent opportunity or exploitation for women in the academy.     

Class,gender, (hetero)sexuality and schooling: paradoxes within working‐class girls’ engagement with education and post‐16 aspirations

This paper discusses the ways in which inner‐city, ethnically diverse, working‐class girls’ constructions of hetero‐femininities mediate and shape their dis/engagement with education and schooling. Drawing on data from a study conducted with 89 urban, working‐class young people in London, attention is drawn to three main ways through which young women used heterosexual femininities to construct capital and generate identity value and worth; namely, investment in appearance through ‘glamorous’ hetero‐femininities, heterosexual relationships with boyfriends, and the ‘ladettte’ discourse. We discuss how and why young women’s investments in particular forms of heterosexual working‐class femininity can play into their disengagement from education and schooling, drawing particular attention to the paradoxes that arise when these constructions play into other oppressive power relations.     

Science capital or STEM capital? Exploring relationships between science capital and technology,engineering, and maths aspirations and attitudes among young people aged 17/18

We previously proposed that science capital (science-related forms of cultural and social capital) can be used as a theoretical lens for explaining the patterned nature of aspirations and educational participation among young people aged 11–16. Building on these findings, the present article investigates whether science capital is related to post-18 aspirations to pursue further STEM study and whether science capital can be extended to related disciplines including engineering, maths and technology. Specifically, we report on correlational analyses exploring the relationships between science, technology, engineering and maths attitudes and science capital. Drawing on data from a new survey of 7,013 17/18 year old English secondary school students, analyses showed that science capital, while strongly related to engineering and physical science future study aspirations, was not strongly related to the pursuit of either maths or technology postsecondary study. The findings also suggest that engineering and maths attitudes have a stronger relationship to science capital than attitudes relating to technology. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings and propose that science capital might be more usefully applied to “SEM,” with links to technology fields and aspirations needing further exploration.     

Dyslexia and second language reading: A second bite at the apple?

An unexpected and remarkable preference for second language reading among some dyslexics has been noted, presenting a challenge to accepted theory on dyslexia and the capacity for second language learning. The current study was designed to examine this phenomenon by systematically looking at the differential reading scores in the first and second languages of reading-disabled young Swedish adults who claimed to prefer reading in their second language (English). Three groups were selected for study: a group of 10 reading-disabled young adults who prefer to read English; a second group of 10 reading-disabled with no special preference for second language reading, matched on word recognition efficiency, age group, gender and educational level and a group of 10 normal readers matched on age group and educational level. The test battery was designed to compare overall reading efficiency in English and Swedish and therefore encompassed both speed and accuracy measures. The battery covered seven phonological measures, four orthographic measures,three isolated word reading measures, two continuous text reading measures, a comprehension task and an author recognition task. All tasks were carried out in both English and Swedish. The results showed that two dyslexic groups differed significantly in the degree to which task performance, including reading efficiency, was impeded by the English format. A tentative hypothesis was forwarded as to how the exceptional and unexpected facility with English might be explained.     

An implementation and outcome evaluation of a multicomponent sexuality education programme for high school students

Numerous classroom-based interventions have aimed to improve sexual health outcomes for young people, yet few have shown strong, lasting effects. Ecological approaches that address multiple levels of a young person’s environment offer largely untapped potential to positively change sexual behaviour. This paper presents results of a cluster-randomised trial of a multicomponent sexuality education intervention that integrated a classroom curriculum, parent education workshops and materials, peer advocate programme, and sexual health services at 10 urban high schools. An implementation evaluation, employing quantitative and qualitative instruments, was conducted to examine whether the individual components of the intervention were delivered as planned and how they were received by the target populations. Multilevel modelling was used to evaluate the effect of the multicomponent intervention on outcomes at one-year follow-up. Results showed that the intervention components were successfully implemented with and well received by target populations. Students receiving the multicomponent intervention reported greater increases in the use of sexual health services (odds ratio [OR] = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.09–2.75) and the likelihood of carrying a condom (OR = 2.71, 95% CI = 1.44–5.09) relative to those receiving a control condition. No effects were found for other behaviours, possibly due to low prevalence of sexual activity in the sample and the small number of schools randomised.     

Research and the early years practitioner-researcher

This paper challenges the approach that we traditionally take to research (in the realm of Early Childhood) within our colleges and universities. It asks why we have obediently adopted an outmoded and entirely inappropriate approach to research which disempowers and alienates the practitioners that we are working with. This paper calls for Early Childhood tutors to challenge existing regimes in order to introduce students to research that is both meaningful and purposeful for their practice. It embeds purpose and ethicality at the heart of practitioner research.