White working class achievement: an ethnographic study of barriers to learning in schools

This study aims to examine the key barriers to learning to raise achievement of White British pupils with low‐income backgrounds. The main findings suggest that the worryingly low‐achievement levels of many White working class pupils have been masked by the middle class success in the English school system and government statistics that fail to distinguish the White British ethnic group by social background. The empirical data confirm that one of the biggest groups of underachievers is the White British working class and their outcomes at each key stage are considerably below those achieved by all other ethnic groups. One of the main reasons for pupil underachievement, identified in the case study schools and focus groups, is parental low aspirations of their children’s education and social deprivation. It is also perpetuated by factors such as low‐literacy levels, feelings of marginalisation within the community exacerbated by housing allocation, a lack of community and school engagement, low levels of parental engagement and lack of targeted support to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage, a legacy of low aspiration that prevents pupils from fulfilling their potential across a range of areas. The study concludes that the main obstacle in raising achievement is the government’s failure to recognise that this group has particular needs that are not being met by the school system. The government needs to recognise that the underachievement of White British working class pupils is not only a problem facing educational services but profoundly a serious challenge. Policy implications and recommendations are discussed in the final section.     

白鹤梁题刻溧水濮氏家族考察

溧水濮氏家族是白鹤梁题刻所见著名姓氏家族之一,它是晚清时期江苏溧水一个新崛起的家族,该家族以科举出仕、为官理民、文化创造而闻名,在晚清、中国近现代乃至当代社会均深有影响。     

《白鹿原》中关中方言的可理解性运用

长篇小说《白鹿原》大量运用关中方言,是运用方言进行文学创作的典范之作。关中方言是一种极其古老的方言,对于今天的读者来说,已经显得非常晦涩难懂,但是《白鹿原》所运用的关中方言并未成为读者阅读《白鹿原》的语言障碍。从语言学的角度,探讨陈忠实继承性创造性地运用关中方言进行文学创作,以使晦涩难懂的关中方言变得通俗可解,对于运用方言进行文学创作具有极其重要的现实意义。     

论电影《白鹿原》的改编策略

电影《白鹿原》游走于雅俗之间,改造了原作的叙事主线,使其叙事含混、破碎;试图以轻盈的画面表述复杂故事,定位不甚清晰;以影像奇观取代厚重思想,原作的精神意义被消解。     

黑白对立的文化修辞价值

受民族心理、风俗习惯、地域特色、宗教信仰等多方面因素的影响,黑色和白色在表达客观世界中的色彩外,还承载着丰富的文化修辞意义。在认知语言学框架内,采用类型学理论,比较分析跨语言中黑白两色认知语义结构的共性和个性,并简要总结其原因。     

催陈白酒回生现象对策

综述了现行人工催陈白酒技术的种类和弊端，认为回生现象是催陈技术不可避免的方法缺陷，单一的催陈方法无法实现理想的陈酿效果。以内部催陈法配合外部低能量处理的组合催陈技术是科学的方法，能够最大限度地克服回生现象的不良影响。应注意因采用新科技手段使白酒出现的异常成分对人体健康的影响；主张生产优质白酒应以自然陈酿为主要方法，适当的科学催陈处理只应该是辅助手段。     

Integrating multidisciplinary engineering knowledge

In order to design two distinct engineering qualification levels for an existing University of Technology programme, empirical evidence based on the current diploma is necessary to illuminate the nature of and the relationship between the contextual and conceptual elements underpinning a multidisciplinary engineering curriculum. The increasing focus on contextual application could result in decreasing opportunities to develop the conceptual disciplinary grasp required for a dynamic, emerging region at the forefront of technological innovation. Using the theoretical tools of Bernstein and Maton to analyse final year student practice, the research addresses the question of how multidisciplinary knowledge is integrated by students, and what this reveals about the nature of such knowledge. The paper presents a conceptualisation of multidisciplinary knowledge integration practices as a dynamic process along two axes simultaneously, shifting between different forms and levels of conceptual and contextual knowledge.     

Pursuing justice for refugee students: addressing issues of cultural (mis)recognition

In this paper Nancy Fraser’s conceptual tools are drawn on to theorise issues of justice in a culturally diverse primary school in Australia where approximately 30% of the student population are immigrant/refugees. The paper examines justice issues of cultural recognition in relation to refugee student identity, behaviour and assessment. Drawing on interview data from a study that sought to identify productive approaches to addressing equity for refugee students, the paper highlights the school’s efforts to remedy issues of cultural misrecognition associated with an equation of refugee student difference and marginality with deficit and lack. Such efforts relate to the school’s endeavours to create an inclusive and socially cohesive environment that supports a valuing of, and connection to, refugee student difference. These endeavours are theorised as highly productive in their capacity to disrupt the relations of cultural domination, non-recognition and disrespect that exclude and/or malign some refugee students at the school and broader level. The paper argues the importance of such an approach in light of the unprecedented diversity and complexity of the global context where schools are consistently challenged with new and changing equity concerns and priorities.