Mairead Dunne

Gender violence in schools in the developing world

This paper explores gender violence in schools in what is commonly known as the ‘developing world’ through a review of recent research written in English. Violence in the school setting has only recently emerged as a widespread and serious phenomenon in these countries, with the consequence that our knowledge and understanding of it is embryonic; much of it remains invisible or unrecognized. Informed by research from elsewhere, we use theories of gender/sexual relations to provide a more coherent understanding of the issues, to point to absences and open up spaces for further research with the potential to contribute to strategies through which it might be addressed. We start by clarifying the purposes and the broad position adopted in writing this paper. Then, we trace the conceptual connections between gender/sexual relations and gender violence in schools, acknowledging the importance of locating understanding of the phenomena within the context of the school’s culture, its structures and processes. We organize the review using two overlapping categories: implicit gender violence, which relates to the everyday institutional structures and practices, and explicit gender violence, which relates to more overtly sexualized encounters. Both categories cover gender violence perpetrated by students on other students, by teachers on students, and by students on teachers. In the final section, the theoretical connections (and distinctions) generated by the research allow for a critical overview of the strategies that have been used to address the problem to date.

Anyone for tennis? Social class differences in children's responses to national curriculum mathematics testing

Mathematics is a central part of the school curriculum. Alongside studies in the dominant language of a society, success and failure in the discipline play an important role in the distribution of opportunities to children and young people. Until fairly recently, in England and elsewhere, success in primary school mathematics was achieved by demonstrating a capacity to memorise, reproduce and use relatively simple algorithms. However, in recent years, there has been considerable change in primary school mathematics with an increasing stress being laid, at least rhetorically, on understanding, investigation and the application of mathematics in ‘realistic’ settings. It seems likely that such changes, in so far as they affect the form and content of National Curriculum assessment, will produce changes in who succeeds and who fails, ie in selective processes within schooling. The paper draws on preliminary results from an ESRC project which is examining National Curriculum assessment in mathematics for 10–11 and 13–14 year-old children in relation to class, gender and ‘ability’. The paper examines the ways in which children from different sociocultural backgrounds approach assessment items which embed mathematics in supposedly ‘realistic’ contexts. Early data from the Key Stage 2 sample of 10–11 year olds will be presented which shows that there does seem be a social class effect in the response of children to ‘realistic’ items – one which leads to some working class children failing to demonstrate competences they have. The paper uses quantitative and qualitative methods, relating its findings to Basil Bernsteins account of sociocultural codes –in particular his theorising of the social distribution of recognition and realisation rules for reading educational contexts – and to Bourdieus theorising of habitus.

Risking It: Young Heterosexual Femininities in South African Context of HIV/AIDS

This article explores gender power relations and the contradictions and confusions associated with sexual identity and normative (hetero-)sexual practices. Theories of ‘identity’ and ‘performativity’ are used to understand the relationships between young womens sexual identity constructions and sexual practices within the context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The discussion focuses on young womens accounts of their feminine identities with respect to issues of intimacy and romantic love; pregnancy, virginity and respect; desire, danger and disease; future marriage and family. It highlights the fragility and ambiguity in the processes of identity construction and performance of heterosexual femininity in an HIV/AIDS environment. Significantly, the dominant discourses of femininity through which these young women made sense of their sexual selves, stood in direct contradiction to their sexual safety. Given this, greater understanding of these identity processes would appear vital to successful strategies in the protection against HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

Teachers, social class and underachievement

Addressing the ‘the social class attainment gap’ in education has become a government priority in England. Despite multiple initiatives, however, little has effectively addressed the underachievement of working‐class pupils within the classroom. In order to develop clearer understandings of working‐class underachievement at this level, this small research study focused on local social processes by exploring how secondary school teachers identified and addressed underachievement in their classrooms. Our analysis shows how teachers’ identifications of underachieving pupils overlapped with, and were informed by, their tacit understanding of pupils’ social class position. While many teachers resisted the influence of social class, they used stereotypes to justify their practice and expectations, positioning pupils within educational and occupational hierarchies. This, we conclude, suggests the need for more systematic attention to the micro‐social processes that provide the conditions through which working‐class underachievement is produced.

Reproducing advantage: the perspective of English school leavers on studying abroad

This paper presents results of a questionnaire survey of 1400 Year 13 (final-year) school and sixth-form pupils in two contrasting areas of England, which asked them about their thoughts and plans to study at university abroad. Key questions that the survey sought to answer were the following. How many and what proportion of all higher education (HE) applicants, apply, or consider applying, to university outside the UK? What are their reasons for doing so? What are their distinguishing characteristics as regards type of school (state vs. private), academic record, parental socio-occupational background and prior contacts abroad? The questionnaire data were supported, but occasionally contradicted, by interviews with school staff members responsible for coordinating and advising on the HE application process. Approximately 3% of pupils apply to study abroad (most also apply to UK universities) and another 10% consider applying but do not do so. North America, Australia and Ireland are favoured destinations; not mainland, non-English-speaking Europe. Quality of university and desire for adventure are the most important motivations. Decisions to apply abroad are strongly correlated to the academic results of pupils (the best apply), to prior connections abroad (travel, holidays, residence abroad, etc.) and to a range of overlapping indicators of parental wealth and social class. The theoretical and policy implications of the research are also considered. Study abroad creates an ‘elite within an elite’ and works against government agendas of widening participation. On the other hand, English students’ foreign experience potentially enhances their interculturalism and graduate labour market competitiveness, yet raises spectres of ‘brain drain’ of the ‘brightest and best’.

Educational Reform in China: Tensions in National Policy and Local Practice.

In the post‐Mao era, the Chinese government carried out a series of education reforms to modernise education provision. This paper explores two related aspects of these reforms through comparative case study research in three different school locations within the same region in China. The first focus is upon system reform initiated through decentralisation and financial diversification that encouraged local governments to use multiple channels to improve their education services and resource provision. The second dimension concerns the national reforms for quality improvement intended to transform the examination‐oriented system into quality‐oriented education. Based on the comparative data and analysis, the findings of this research suggest that improving student academic performance in the key state examinations remains the top priority for schools, local authorities, teachers, parents and students. The processes of decentralisation and the development of a competitive educational market have left schools competing for funds and for students in efforts to secure an advantageous position in the education market place. In contradiction with the national policy this has reaffirmed examination orientation within Chinese schools and, as demonstrated by the case study comparison, has resulted in an increasingly stratified education system.

Policy and Practice in Assessment in Anglophone Africa: Does globalisation explain convergence?

This paper explores policy and practice in assessment in developing countries in anglophone Africa in the context of globalisation. A simple interpretation of some globalisation theory suggests that there should be a convergence in the form and content of assessment following on from innovations in practice in metropolitan countries, in this case England. The analysis of assessment instruments shows that there has indeed been some convergence across the nine African cases examined, but that this is not best explained by the adoption of innovations current in the metropole. More powerful explanations are grounded in the structural similarity between the African systems. Amongst other things this leads to gaps between the rhetoric of assessment reform and the reality of assessment practice. These persist despite consistent projections in the assessment literature (both national and international) and in externally supported curriculum and assessment projects of what should be valued, what should be assessed, and what may be relevant to future employment.

Curriculum and national identity: exploring the links between religion and nation in Pakistan

This paper investigates the relationship between schooling and conflict in Pakistan using an identity‐construction lens. Drawing on data from curriculum documents, student responses to classroom activities, and single‐sex student focus groups, it explores how students in four state primary schools in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan, use curricula and school experiences to make sense of themselves as Pakistani. The findings suggest that the complex nexus of education, religion, and national identity tends to construct ‘essentialist’ collective identities—a single identity as a naturalized defining feature of the collective self. To promote national unity across the diverse ethnic groups comprising Pakistan, the national curriculum uses religion (Islam) as the key boundary between the Muslim Pakistani ‘self’ and the antagonist non‐Muslim ‘other’. Ironically, this emphasis creates social polarization and the normalization of militaristic and violent identities, with serious implications for social cohesion, tolerance for internal and external diversity, and gender relations.

Partnership in Initial Teacher Training: After the Shotgun Wedding.

Abstract This paper focusses on the institution of a partnership between one higher education institution (HEI) and several schools. The qualitative data reported here were collected from semi‐structured interviews with students, mentors and tutors. This study provides insights into how the partnership worked out in practice by highlighting contradictions and conflicts in these newly defined roles. Using the respondents’ accounts, the reconfiguration of relationships emerging in the partnership are explored. The academic division of labour and the traditions of initial teacher training in which authority and responsibility resided with the tutors in HEIs have circumscribed the formation of partnerships. In broader terms, the technical powers given to the mentors have been limited by the ways in which the partnership has been introduced. Despite the collaboration implied by the partnership, it appears in this initial year that it has reinforced the hierarchical relations and constituted a clearer demarcati...

Researching Class in the Classroom: Addressing the social class attainment gap in Initial Teacher Education.

The social class attainment gap in education is now attracting an increased level of concern. Despite the efforts of the British New Labour government to address the continuing underachievement of working class pupils in England, there has been little progress. This paper reports on one aspect of a wider research study carried out in an Initial Teacher Education department in which this persistent educational problem was explicitly addressed. In this study student teachers were prompted to explore their own understandings of social class and underachievement by acting as school‐based researchers. The data collected by the student teachers revealed both silence and resistance surrounding social class in educational contexts. They identified social class and underachievement as overlapping constructions that were inextricably linked to the perceptions and practices of the teacher. Importantly, in reflecting on their experiences of the research process the student teachers were able to identify significant implications for their own future professional practice. This paper concludes by emphasising that Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provides an important context in which to raise social class issues and to ensure that student teachers are effectively prepared to recognise and address the institutional barriers to learning faced by underachieving working class pupils.