“蚁族”——弱势群体在租来空间中的呐喊——广州天河区“蚁族”群体个案研究

自2009年北京学者廉思提出“蚁族”概念以来,广为流传,成为热点词汇。该词真实反映离校大学生的生活,是他们毕业后社会生存状况的真实写照。他们在租来的空间中采取“分工合作”的生存模式,这种模式也是弱势群体无形中对社会的呐喊。     

贫困大学生的社会支持网研究

个体的社会支持网可以为人们提供情感、经济、信息等多方面的支持。运用提名法对贫困大学生的社会支持网研究发现,贫困生的社会支持网与非贫困生的社会支持网存在一些共性,如经济支持网与信息支持网规模小于情感支持网和交往支持网。当前,同伴和亲属是社会支持网的主要构成。但与非贫困生比较,贫困生的社会支持网又有不同之处,如密度更小。在趋同性方面,农村籍大学生的支持网中农村籍成员比例显著大于城市籍大学生支持网中农村籍成员比例,贫困生的支持网中贫困者的比例也大于非贫困生支持网中贫困者的比例。各类贫困生在户籍与经济状况方面的异质性都大于其相对应的非贫困生。因而贫困生的社会支持网所能提供的支持也更为不足。应该鼓励师生更主动地为贫困生提供社会支持。     

赋权与增能：农民工弱势地位改变的根本途径

农民工①作为一个特殊的群体,为国家和社会的经济发展做出了巨大的贡献,可是他们处于社会的弱势和边缘状态,无法分享经济和社会发展的成果。对此,文章分析了农民工弱势地位的基本表现,农民工弱势地位的产生原因,提出改变农民工弱势地位的途径：赋权和增能。     

我国弱势群体的法律保护探析

随着改革开放的深入,市场经济逐步发展,社会急剧转型,贫富差距逐渐拉大,弱势群体问题备受关注,其权益亟待法律予以保护。很有必要分析弱势群体从何而来,法律为什么要保护弱势群体,我国现有的法律在保护弱势群体的问题上还存在什么样的不足,以及如何加强我国法律对弱势群体的保护等一系列问题,以促进我国法治的完善。     

Influences of developmental contexts and gender differences on school performance of children and adolescents

This study investigated children and adolescents’ school performance over time focusing on two variables that may influence it: developmental context and gender. The sample comprised 627 participants (M_age?=?11.13, SD?=?1.8), 51% of them female, from grade one to eight, living either with family (n?=?474) or in care institutions (n?=?153). Participants answered individually the Teste de Desempenho Escolar (School Performance Test) and the Structured PRONEX Interview. Findings indicated a main effect of time on school performance (i.e., writing, reading and arithmetic). Furthermore this main effect was further qualified by a time and developmental context interaction and by a time and gender interaction. Interactions revealed that the participants from care institutions attained more significant increases in writing and reading than participants living within a family context; and that girls attained more significant increases in writing than boys. Therefore, school performance progress appears as affected by developmental contexts and gender. The findings reveal how school performance needs to be observed as a multidimensional variable, affected by individual characteristics but also by external ones.     

The role of schools in disaster preparedness,response and recovery: what can we learn from the literature?

In order to contextualise the articles in this special issue, this introductory article surveys the relevant literature from recent disasters in mostly developed countries in order to explore the wider role of schools in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The first section argues that as schools are hubs of their communities, it is important to understand the literature on communities in disaster contexts. This is followed by recent examples of school experiences of disasters, particularly in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. The final section synthesises the literature on children and young people in disaster contexts. The article closes with a set of recommendations for integrating schools into disaster planning.     

Using Social Networking in the Library

This case study will describe how the Stony Brook University Libraries instruction program partnered with another student support service (student computing office) to nurture a relationship with the Educational Opportunities Program (EOP) over several years to provide their students with the library research and computer skills needed to succeed in college. EOP is a state-funded program aimed at economically disadvantaged students whose high school education has not fully prepared them for college success.     

The Pedagogy and Principles of Teaching Therapeutic Practice with Children and Young People

Technical approaches suggesting that systematically produced, generalized, and scientific knowledge are the most solid foundations for practice present significant challenges for the social work profession, in which the decisions faced often are not technical but rather moral, requiring the application of ethically based and intuitive skills. Meanwhile, the command, control, and measurement of outcomes in social work practice also present significant conundrums for the delivery of relational person-centered social work and social care. With a focus too often on efficiency rather than on effectiveness, this managerialistic approach frequently fails to acknowledge the complexity inherent in the act of caring. In this context and framework, teaching therapeutic practice with children draws a balance between traditional systematic teaching methods and use of creative media including art, play, and music. This article outlines the positive contribution to professional social work practice that the teaching of therapeutic approaches to child care can make.     

Constant and emerging characteristics of Chinese learners in changing school contexts

The characteristics of Chinese learners and the factors influencing these characteristics become increasingly an important focus of research in the field of educational psychology, sociology and comparative education ever since the publication of the book, The Chinese Learner: Cultural, Psychological and Contextual Influences, edited by Watkins and Bigg in 1996. The recent essay collection edited by Chan and Rao in 2010, Revisiting the Chinese Learner: Changing Education, Changing Contexts, proposes a conceptual framework for guiding the further inquiry and documents some of the important developments in this line of research. This essay review synthesizes these developments emerging from the book, comments on the potentials of these developments in challenging the existing theoretical and empirical understanding about the relationship between Chinese learners, their learning and their social, cultural and pedagogical contexts. It further raises some conceptual and empirical questions about the constant and emerging characteristics of Chinese learners in the above contexts that are worth further examination.     

Freeing the Mind of the Oppressed

This article examines the evidence that supports and rebuts the claims of school resegregation. By examining both types of evidence and considering them complementary (James 1986 James, F. 1986. A new generalized “exposure-based” segregation index: Demonstration in Denver and Houston. Sociological Methods and Research, 14(3): 301–16. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Kelly and Miller 1989 Kelly, P. and Miller, W. 1989. Assessing desegregation efforts: No “best measure.”. Public Administration Review, 49(5): 431–37. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the author gives the reader a deeper understanding of the current trends in school segregation. First, the literature on the topic of school segregation is discussed. Then follows a discussion of the methods used in the study and the findings. The conclusion includes implications of the findings.