The recession as the site of the exceptional: young people,self-determination and social mobility

This paper examines the importance of ‘self-determination’ and ‘hard work’ found within interviews with a group of young people in Manchester, England. The author suggests that moments of apparent contradiction within the interviews have much to offer, particularly when analysed in relation to discussions of inequality and political economy. Data from this paper show that while the young people mostly spoke about work choices in primarily individualistic ways, they used the recession as a means to acknowledge that acquiring jobs simply cannot just be about ‘choice’ or working hard, but is also configured by the market and structural inequality.     

瑞典小学全国统考引起的学生考试焦虑研究

近年来瑞典教育在国际排名中呈现下降趋势。为此,瑞典已推出多项旨在提高教育质量的改革措施,最新的改革是在小学教育中实施全国统一考试。标准化考试的一个可能的不利因素是带给学生考试焦虑,而考试焦虑可能影响考试成绩。本研究选择了三年级的40名学生样本,运用现代化的标准测试来测量学生在数学和瑞典语两门学科的考试焦虑。结果表明,考试焦虑与瑞典语的成绩不佳有关;数学笔算成绩与考试焦虑有着显著的相关关系。     

Pupil perceptions of national tests in science: perceived importance, invested effort, and test anxiety

Although large-scale national tests have been used for many years in Swedish compulsory schools, very little is known about how pupils actually react to these tests. The question is relevant, however, as pupil reactions in the test situation may affect test performance as well as future attitudes towards assessment. The question is relevant also in light of the changing assessment culture in Sweden and other European countries. The main purpose of the present study was to explore how a sample of grade 9 pupils perceived their first encounter with national tests in science, mainly in terms of perceived importance of the test, reported invested effort, and feelings of test anxiety, and how these aspects were related to test performance. Results show that a majority of the pupils seemed to perceive the test as rather important and claimed that they spent effort on the test. There was, however, also a fair group of students who did not perceive the test as very important. Ratings of perceived importance and invested effort and motivation were positively related to performance, particularly for the boys. Many students also reported that they felt anxious before and during the test, but the relationship between test anxiety and test performance was rather weak. Findings illuminate how pupils may perceive and behave in the assessment situation, and point to the need of further studies investigating the psychology of test-taking.     

The role of cultural heritage in attracting skilled individuals

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role played by built heritages and cultural environments, alongside other locational factors, in explaining the growth of human capital in Sweden. We distinguish between urban, natural and cultural qualities as different sources of regional attractiveness and estimate their influence on the observed growth of individuals with at least three years of higher education during 2001–2010. Neighborhood-level data are used, and unobserved heterogeneity and spatial dependencies are modeled by employing random effects estimations and an instrumental variable approach. Our findings indicate that the local supply of built heritages and cultural environments explain a significant part of human capital growth in Sweden. Results suggest that these types of cultural heritages are important place-based resources with a potential to contribute to improved regional attractiveness and growth.     

Additive and multiplicative effects of working memory and test anxiety on mathematics performance in grade 3 students

The aim of this study was to investigate the interplay between test anxiety and working memory (WM) on mathematics performance in younger children. A sample of 624 grade 3 students completed a test battery consisting of a test anxiety scale, WM tasks and the Swedish national examination in mathematics for grade 3. The main effects of test anxiety and WM, and the two-way interaction between test anxiety and WM on mathematics performance, were modelled with structural equation modelling techniques. Additionally, the effects were also tested separately on tasks with high WM demands (mathematical problem-solving) versus low WM demands (basic arithmetic). As expected, WM positively predicted mathematics performance in all three models (overall mathematics performance, problem-solving tasks, and basic arithmetic). Test anxiety had a negative effect on problem-solving on the whole sample level but concerning basic arithmetic only students with lower WM were affected by the negative effects of test anxiety on performance. Thus, students with low WM are more vulnerable to the negative effects of test anxiety in low WM tasks like basic arithmetic. The results are discussed in relation to the early identification of test anxiety.     

Where does time go? Teaching and time use from the perspective of teachers

During the last three decades Swedish education has undergone radical decentralisation involving increased school autonomy. One aspect of this change is the gradual weakening of the state regulation of teaching time. Thus, Sweden is somewhat of an extreme in the EU. This is accentuated by a five‐year experiment, where 900 compulsory schools were allowed more freedom in the allocation of school hours. Thirty teachers from three compulsory schools participating in the experiment were interviewed and team meetings observed during a two‐year period. The article explores and analyses changes in time‐distribution, classification and framing of the curricula and teachers’ work in the three teams and their classes, and analyses teachers’ experiences of the changes. A major trend towards weakened classification and framing was found. A majority of the teachers were positive to more flexible time use, teamwork and cross‐disciplinary studies. However, despite the experiment a majority still felt inhibited by the national time schedule and too little time for development work. Variations between the three cases are discussed in terms of different team cultures. The school characterised by development‐oriented culture had changed their work and teaching most.     

Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Intragroup Conflict Scale: Validation in Athletic Trainer and Coach Populations

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this study were to examine the factorial validity of the six-item Intragroup Conflict Scale (ICS) in athletic trainer (AT) and coach populations and to examine measurement invariance by gender and profession. A total of 195 ATs and 615 head or assistant coaches working at secondary schools or National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions completed the ICS. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis procedures in LISREL 10 (Student Edition). Results supported the reliability and validity of the two-factor ICS model among ATs and coaches. Strict measurement invariance was observed when comparing male to female AT responses. Strong measurement invariance was observed when comparing male to female coach responses, as well as AT to coach responses. These data not only support the reliability and validity of the ICS for use in AT and coach populations but also support direct comparisons of mean scores across gender or profession.     

The association between working memory and educational attainment as measured in different mathematical subtopics in the Swedish national assessment: primary education

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between working memory capacity and mathematical performance measured by the national curriculum assessment in third-grade children (n?=?40). The national tests concerned six subareas within mathematics. One-way ANOVA, two-tailed Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. The results showed that working memory could be deemed as a predictor for the overall mathematical ability. However, the significance of working memory contributions varied for the different mathematical domains assessed. Working memory contributed most to basic mathematical competencies. Algorithms were not explained significantly by working memory. The contributions of different working memory resources varied as a function of the mathematical domain, but in certain respects the variance was shared across the elements and both visuo-spatial and phonological abilities seem important for mathematic performance. We suggest that individuals’ working memory capacity is important to take into consideration in learning.