Showing papers in "Italian Journal of Sociology of Education in 2012"

Educational Policy in Nigeria from the Colonial Era to the Post-Independence Period

Abstract: There is a widened western educational gap between the north and south of Nigeria with the predominantly Muslim areas of the north lagging behind due to some historical antecedents. In the colonial era the British educational policy did not address the aspirations of the people leading to a clamour for change in the post-independence era resulting in the first indigenous National Policy on Education in 1977. Changes have resulted in three revised editions of the national educational policy. This paper reviews the educational policy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria since 1944, highlighting specific issues on the disparity between educational policy and the implementation in context of the wider socio-economic and political development process. This is a case study of the peculiarity of educational policy development in a pluralistic society and developing country, with unity and developmental concerns.

Israeli Education Policy since 1948 and the State of Arab Education in Israel

Abstract: This paper analyses Israeli policy towards Arab education in Israel and its consequences. Drawing upon literature on the colonial nation-state, and ethnic indigenous minorities, the study distinguishes three educational policy shifts since 1948: (1) Arab education under military administration until 1966 (2) the policy of integration 1967-1991 (3) the peace process since 1992, the quest for autonomy and Arab education's present 'on hold' status. Using the analytical framework suggested by Hodgson and Spours (2006), I first analyse political eras; then describe the state of the education system, the policy-making process and its consequences for the educational space and system outcomes. These concepts and methods are used to narrate historical developments of the Palestinian Arab education system in Israel, to critique state policy-making and identify future challenges. The findings demonstrate contingent relations between ethnicity and the state. The paper concludes by discussing existing educational policies and suggesting recommendations for the future.

The transformation of the Education State in Italy: a critical policy historiography from 1944 to 2011

Abstract: This article attempts to reconstruct the main trends of educational policy- making in Italy since 1944, contextualizing them within historical and wider social landscapes. It is an exercise of critical policy historiography, in so far as it explores what have been the main issues in the Italian education policy debate during the last sixty-five years, how they have been addressed, what has changed both in the debate and in policy-making, what are the complexities and who are the subjects that have benefited or have been disadvantaged by those arrangements. The work interprets the recent trajectory of the Italian education system identifying two different political eras, namely the era of the welfarist education state and the (re)building of the nation and the era of the restructuring of education, between managerialism, decentralisation and a tentative neoliberalism. Whereas the former (1944-1990) witnessed the building up of the welfarist and centralized education system, the latter is still an open era, where multiple trials are in place to reform and modernize education matching temperate and radical interpretations of managerialist, neoliberal and Third Way recipes.

A critical historiographical analysis of England’s educational policies from 1944 to 2011

Abstract: The paper aims to reveal how educational policies in England have shifted over time revealing ‘policy eras’ and underpinning ideologies using Hodgson and Spours (2006) framework from 1944 to 2011. I take a critical policy historiography approach to map the processes and systems of educational developments and reveal the potential relationships between the problems and issues of the present and the past. Two key political eras are identified. The first is an egalitarian approach and engagement with community interests underpinned by respect and recognition for diversity within and amongst human beings. The second era focuses on self-interests within neo-liberal market forces of supply and demand. The argument I make is the nation faces a challenge of how to provide socially just education processes and systems that balance these two interests whilst facilitating civic engagement, or ‘participation’ with education systems and processes through evidence informed participatory policy making and implementation.

The Mediterranean: a Challenge for the Sociology of Education

Abstract: This special issue of the Italian Journal of Sociology of Education is based on a conference on “Challenges of Education in the Mediterranean area: Policies, Systems, Actors” held in Bari in October 2011, and organised by the Educational Section of the Italian Sociological Association (AIS-EDU) and the Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Bari “A. Moro”. The aim of the conference was twofold. On the one hand, it was the occasion for discussing the challenges faced by education and the sociology of education when assuming a “Mediterranean” perspective. On the other hand, it aimed at considering the challenges for the sociological concept of Mediterranean in itself when paying attention to educational realities. The structure of this special issue is as follows: the first two papers develop a theoretical and interdisciplinary perspective on the concept of the Mediterranean as well as on the challenges it faces and its usefulness for the study of educational processes. Then the issue moves to the discussion

A Secular Cooperative School. Can it Promote an Inclusive Education and Society

Abstract: This article is based on the French report and the European comparative results of an international project about inclusive education supported by the European Commission. It focuses on one of the main issues and the specific methodology of the French report. The globalisation has led to face the issue of making life together possible for native and immigrant populations on the same soil. How to build a common citizenship, with the same rights and duties, for diverse populations separated by their birth community, religion, history, customs and traditions? Which kind of education, and which kind of school are able to elaborate a new common heritage for citizens-to-be? Through research results, the paper compares the advantages and failures of the French republican secular school with others. It resumes the French conclusions to propose a cooperative school inspired by the spirit of the Council of Europe directives and developing social ties based on differences. Keywords: inclusive education, cooperative school, partnership, otherness, tailor-made measures, community development, secularity ___________________________________________________ 1 University of Charles de Gaulle Lille 3, 3 Rue Barreau, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, Lille, France. Email: danielle.zay@daniellezay.fr A Secular Cooperative School Danielle Zay ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 1, 2012. 89 Introduction: main issues and methodology In a world enhanced by globalisation, all countries are both rooted in their history and boosted by ideas coming from the economic leader countries and their medias, in particular the United States, that is to say, by now, a democratic manner of living and governing. To-day, the intellectual middles and young people claim for liberty and lead other citizens to follow them in islamic countries considered by the western people as more conservative than themselves. We are far from a clash of civilizations. Inside each country, in north and south, west and east, as well as between countries, the clash is mainly provoked by the growing inequalities of income, and more and more people around the world become aware of it. But the opportunity of finding scape goats is offered too by an increasing immigration of southern and eastern people looking for better conditions of life in the wealthiest countries, for instance in Western Europe. The Council of Europe raised the question to its 47 member states: how to respond to diversity? (Council of Europe, 2008). It is a challenge for applying their democratic principles and a test for their vision of the society of the future. Which choices will they make ? A society of segregated communities, marked at best by the coexistence of majorities and minorities with differentiated rights and responsibilities, loosely bound together by mutual ignorance and stereotypes? Or is it a vibrant and open society without discrimination, benefiting us all, marked by the inclusion of all residents in full respect of their human rights? (p. 1). The Council of Europe represents the EU (European Union) countries. They are supposed to follow its principles reminded in all its publications, i. e. fostering societies based on solidarity, “maintaining and developing the unity A Secular Cooperative School Danielle Zay ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 1, 2012. 90 and diversity of European societies”, in particular through education (Arnesen et al., 2008). Nonetheless, the EU countries do not follow the same paradigms of society and education, neither in their policies nor in their ideologies or their customs (Cousins, 1998; Zay, 2005 ab Zay, 2009). The project aim assigned by the European Commission’s DirectorateGeneral for Education and Culture was to analyze, assess and, then, select priority measures and “good practices” that enhanced the opportunities of disadvantaged pupils and the inclusion and chances of discriminated groups of pupils, such as e.g. minority children and/or immigrant children. Synchronic data drawn from national and international policies statements, documents, laws, rules and statistics were not sufficient. They were completed by diachronic data, in particular collected through cases studies, based on 2 Procurement procedure EAC/10/2007–Lot 3 “Strategies for supporting schools and teachers in order to foster social inclusion”, dated 9 August 2007, contract-2007-2094/001 TRA-TRSPO. The project started effectively on 16 December 2007 and was concluded on 16 August 2009, by submitting the reports to the Commission. The reports were accepted by the Commission on 12 October 2009 and disseminated through its website. Dr George Muskens, research director at DOCA Bureaus, The Netherlands, was project leader of the research consortium INTMEAS that has carried out the research assignment. Drafts of his final comparative report benefited from comments and advice from the consortium’s reference group members and from other experts in this field. The INTMEAS consortium – Inclusion and education in European countries gathered round him researchers from ten participating countries: France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom (England and Scotland) representing a reasonable sample of the EU member States in terms of size, educational systems and inclusion index. A Secular Cooperative School Danielle Zay ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 1, 2012. 91 longitudinal analyses and assessments during a longer period, at least two years until five years or more. The French report follows the same methodology and targets with the final comparative report and ten national reports. But, inside the general methodology, it chooses to develop the successful factors for an inclusive education through four case studies more detailed than in other national reports and proposing alternative solutions to the mainstreaming ways of teaching. They are called alternative because they are based upon a cooperative school model. However, the case studies observe the framework of the national secular model too, which remains at the heart of practice. Indeed, it was particularly meaningful because they were all led in socioeconomically deprived areas including important Muslim populations mainly from North Africa. The methodology in all reports is founded upon: 1) A review of ongoing comparative and national research on education and social inclusion measures, 1980 onwards 2) An inventory of relevant scientific publications 3) Case studies. The selection of references is inspired by the concept of inclusive education as “a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing exclusion within and from education” (UNESCO, 2005, p. 13). The corpus consists of research and inquiries’ results already published in books or refereed reviews, or disseminated in reports through websites, and of specific case studies, which, in the French final report, were elaborated by specialists in relation to the project research themes. It also includes indicators and statistics collected in the ten countries participating in the project and in others. The following documentation has been gathered together on measures

Financial Literacy and Money Attitudes: Do Boys and Girls Really Differ? A Study among Italian Preadolescents

Abstract: ____________________________________________________________ Abstract: Several institutions have pointed to financial education as a means of facing the contemporary crisis. However, research on financial literacy and money attitudes among children has as yet been rather scarce. Some studies maintain that women and men receive different economic socialization patterns, and consequently develop different levels of financial literacy and gendered money attitudes that in turn reproduce economic inequalities. This study was conducted in order to shed light on gender differences in financial literacy and money attitudes among preadolescents in Northern Italy. The survey used here consisted of a self-completion questionnaire administered to a sample of 1,635 students aged 12-14 years. Gender differences are estimated using several linear regression models and a binomial logistic regression model. Empirical analysis reveals significant gender differences in money attitudes, but not in financial literacy. These findings are discussed with suggestions for sustaining gender equality and designing future financial education programs.

Russian Educational Policy: Two Different Eras

Abstract: The article examines two main political eras of Russian policy in the sphere of education starting with post World War II: the Soviet and the post-Soviet periods. These eras are different not only in terms of educational policy: The Soviet system of education developed in isolation from the rest of the world, behind the Iron Curtain, under the total control of the state and Communist ideology, within a centralised planned economy. The post-Soviet Russia is economically, politically, and socially a different state. The post-Soviet Russian system of education is developing in a globalised world, within a market economy state. The article gives a detailed account and analyses the goals and shifts in educational policies within each of the eras. Keyword: educational policy, educational system, Russia ___________________________________________________ 1 Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Email: pogosian@mail.ru Russian Educational Policy Victoria Pogosian ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 1, 2012 275 Soviet Educational Policy Post World War II Period: Restoration The post World War II period in the Soviet Union was a time of restoration for the economy following a transition to peace and the beginning of the cold war. These were the main factors that influenced the development of the whole country and of the education system. Restoring and developing education had many challenges: lack of school buildings, which had been either ruined or used for hospitals during the war and lack of teachers. There were other negative consequences of the war: during the war an essential number of teenagers for different reasons had to leave schools (evacuations from the war front regions, loss of bread-winners, the need to work to support families, etc.). Besides, there were a lot of school age children and those who had not been able to go to school during the war, and there were also a lot of illiterate adults (Delegeoz, 2009, p. 18). By 1937 only half of the Soviet population had received primary education (that is, people who could read and write). That is why efforts were made to provide the maximum number of citizens with at least primary education with the implementation of mandatory primary education. The state authorities and organisations patronising schools were to register the children eligible for schooling and to provide them with clothing and footwear, textbooks, and bussing to schools. A special Fund for general compulsory education was set up (Delegeoz, 2009, pp. 16-17). Another important problem was that there were not enough teachers. The Communist Party recommended in September of 1947 to start setting up schools for urban and rural young. There were also schools of literacy for young adults where they were taught reading, writing, and counting. In 1949, general compulsory 7-year schooling was initiated which was accomplished in 1953, but the most relevant problem of the post war period was not only creating conditions for learning and drawing people to schools, but also for ‘keeping’ them there, for overcoming school dropouts and frequent repetitions of academic years due to academic failures. The Reforms of the 1950s – Polytechnic and Vocational Training While still providing remedial measures for supporting the needy children and maintaining school buildings, the reforms of the 1950s, Russian Educational Policy Victoria Pogosian ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 1, 2012 276 notwithstanding the financial problems, set the goals for the development of education in terms of its content and accessibility. The objective was to ensure that all school age children go to school. The accessibility of secondary education was provided for children who lived far from schools by setting up boarding schools, children coming from poor families were to be provided with free clothes, footwear, textbooks, and free meals. At the same time, the financial burden was too big, and the efforts led to closing small village schools described by the Minister of Enlightenment of the Russian Federation E. Afanasenko as schools with ‘no prospects’ (Romanova, 2003). Notwithstanding the financial problems, the authorities insisted on pursuing the implementation of general compulsory education. Romanova argues that one of the reasons for that was the problem of child neglect which had an impact on a high crime rate among the young people in the country (Romanova, 2003). In 1952 it was also decided to accomplish by the end of the coming 5year period the transition from 7-year schooling to 10-year schooling of general secondary education in the capitals of Soviet republics and big cities and to prepare the conditions for implementing general secondary 10year schooling in other towns and villages within the following 5 years. The rapid development of science and technology in the post war period demanded not only good comprehensive training, but also polytechnic training. XIX Congress of CPSU (1952) put forward the goal to start implementing polytechnic training in the Soviet comprehensive school. The introduction of vocational training in the secondary schools was accompanied with an additional year of schooling. The curricula included 2/3 of the overall training for general education subjects and 1/3 for vocational training subjects. It also required special workshops and equipment, qualified workers and engineers for teaching school pupils. The next reform in education continued the developments of the mid1950s, i.e. linking general education and labour education. This reform is often referred to as ‘Khrushchev’s Reform’. The idea for this reform was first put forward by Khrushchev in his speech at the XIII Congress of the 2 On June 19, 1955 the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation issued an Act “On using Funds of General Compulsory Education to help the needy children with clothing, footwear, textbooks, and to provide them with free meals”. 3 Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 4 Public Education in the USSR Comprehensive school, 1974: 78. Russian Educational Policy Victoria Pogosian ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 1, 2012 277 Young Communist League in April 1958. Later he wrote a paper for the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in which his vision of the reform was presented. The text of the reform was published as Theses of the Central Committee of the CPSU and adopted on December 24, 1958 as Law “On strengthening the link of the school with life and further development of the system of education in the USSR”. ‘Strengthening the link of the school with life’ implied linking school training with labour, industrial practice of school pupils, domination of polytechnic content in the curriculum, and active participation of the school in social life. This Law introduced general compulsory 8-year schooling and 11 years of comprehensive secondary education. The transition from 7 to 8 years of mandatory schooling and creating various types of town and village schools was planned to start in 1958 and to be fully accomplished in 1963. The strategy of education policy at that period was described as setting up various types of educational institutions (e.g. schools for gifted children), development of children’s creativity. According to this Law, secondary education was to be provided not only by comprehensive schools, but also by vocational schools. As a result, there were 3 possibilities to get secondary education: • secondary schools with vocational training which offered 3 years of vocational training in one of the branches of industry or culture; • secondary specialised vocational schools which offered simultaneous secondary general and secondary vocational education; • schools for working young people and schools for rural young people, these were evening schools offering 3 years of training (9-11 grades). The development of secondary vocational training reflects the influence of political concepts on the development of the USSR (Popov, 2007). The Soviet state regarded the system of vocational training as an instrument of constructing a new society, of forming a qualified working class that would be socially close to ‘technical intelligentsia’. At the same time, the development of the secondary vocational school was related to big scale objectives such as the eradication of illiteracy and industrialisation of the country which started in the 1930s. According to Lerner, reforming the school was to solve the problem with two opposing tendencies. On the one hand, training a highly qualified workforce, on the other hand, training the elite in engineering and in Russian Educational Policy Victoria Pogosian ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 1, 2012 278 humanities. But the main idea of the reform; labour education and professional orientation of school children, turned out to be unsuccessful. One of the reasons for this, as contended by Lerner (2008), was a simplified understanding of polytechnisation as acquiring skills for a vocation. Lerner argues that vocational training at the secondary school did not justify itself because the industrial training in many schools was not accompanied with learning the foundations of sciences, the schools did not have the required equipment, the training was carried out without taking into account the capabilities, desires and often even physical abilities of learners, as well as without taking into account the needs of the society in certain occupations (Lerner, 2008). Due to the above problems, the reform was followed by a number of supporting Acts: • August 1960 Act of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On constructing schools and measures for strengthening schools’ equipment basis” aimed at increasing the rate of constructing school buildings, manufacturing school furniture, providing school workshops with equipment. • May 1961 – Act

Education Policy in Northern Ireland: a Review

Abstract: While Northern Ireland (NI) society continues on its journey away from conflict, schools and teacher training colleges remain largely segregated on a religious basis. Since the establishment of the first integrated school only twelve more have been established out of 215 post-primary schools. While successive education ministers have attempted to end academic selection at eleven, it remains an option for primary school pupils. While academic outcomes are very good among the most able, international assessment outcomes indicate underperformance among too many, despite strategies to address this. A modern curriculum is in place which aspires to equip students for the world of work by focusing on the development of transferable skills with a strong emphasis on information technology. Schools increasingly collaborate through the growth of area learning communities. The strong accountability agenda driven by the Department of Education (DENI) and the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) creates a climate of ‘performativity’ among headteachers. There is a need for school leadership development which is being addressed to some extent.

Interculturalism in the classroom. The strengths and limitations of teachers in managing relations with children and parents of foreign origin

Abstract: The ACCEPT PLURALISM project (2010-2013) is funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme, Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities. (Call FP7-SSH-2009-A, Grant Agreement no: 243837). Coordinator: Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute.

What counts as meaningful and worthwhile educational policy analysis

Abstract: The paper considers what counts as meaningful and worthwhile education policy analysis We propose that qualitative analys es of the social historiographies of nation states' educational policies are important b ecause mapping the complex histories of each nation state addresses the questions of 'ho w' and 'why' these education policies developed as they did We suggest that usi ng qualitative policy analyses reveals the extent to which education policy as tex t and discourse facilitates community engagement and participation, the management of economic transitions and economic growth within sustainable ethical frameworks, and t olerance for cultural diversity Disseminating such policy learning is important so that nation states might learn from each other and develop global competences Reading nation states' education policy through Hodgson and Spours (2006) policy analysis framework may reveal particular eras in education systems and processes Further su ch researches may illuminate commonalities and differences in nation states' edu cation policy as text and discourse We argue such policy analyses are required to make a new contribution to knowledge with a sharp focus on policy learning to improve ap proaches to and engagement with education policy, agency and globalization

Education Policy in Ireland since the 1940s

Abstract: This paper maps education policy in the Republic of Ireland from 1947 to 1973, 1973 to 1980, and 1980 to date and examines how and why these policies were or were not actualised. The paper reveals policy processes have swung from being determined by single ‘heroic’ government leaders to more participatory processes including the production of papers, acts and consultation. In this analysis the participation of key groups such as the Catholic Church, Committees, governing bodies, Unions, teachers and parents are identified. The paper also illumiates continuities and changes in a move for comprehensive education that meets the spiritual and cultural needs of students and education to produce human capital and meet economic growth. Here the links between the expansion of education provision to equalise educational opportunities for all to reach their potential are revealed as central to educational policy, but the implementation of such reforms has been sluggish. Keywords: education, policy, Republic of Ireland ___________________________________________________ 1 Kerry Education Service, Riverside House, Dan Spring Road, Trelee, Republic of Ireland. E-mail: boreillykerry@gmail.com Education Policy in Ireland since the 1940s Barney O’Reilly

The Social Construction of the Youth-migration Nexus in Contemporary Spain. A Critical Overview

Abstract: The article identifies the different features that mark the academic debate in Spain over the youth migration nexus: a) the ideological production of youth as a classless subject; b) the ethnification of national young people in terms of tribes and vulgarisation of a culturalist discourse; c) the oblique visualisation of class under the sign of race and ethnicity in a post-migrating society and d) the construction of differential integrability criteria by culture. The emergence of a migrant youth issue in Spain in 2003/2004 was strongly marked by the discourse of gangs termed Latin, as the children of the undeserving poor, judged for making a non conforming use of the city. Paradoxically, these subjects, thought initially as culturally close, could suddenly make a shift in the public representation, enacting with their memberships and behaviours the panic and the virus of imagined gangs and violent young people, not as a product of the receiving society, but rather as an imported product.

Youth-work and young people’s agency in a Mediterranean context: an evaluation research in the South of Italy

Abstract: This study aimed at evaluating informal and non-formal learning in youth centres located in the South of Italy and funded by a regional policy called "Bollenti Spiriti". Particularly, the evaluation purpose was to provide empirical evidence about how non-formal learning affect young people's agency. The research involved all the young people attending all the non-formal education courses occurred in the youth centres between January and May 2011 (159 young people in 23 training courses of 10 youth centres). A single group design has been adopted and a self-administered paper questionnaire has been administered at the beginning of the training programmes, at the end and 6 months later. For the case studies included in this research, participation in non-formal and informal education seems associated with an agency improvement in half of the young participants. The research results also suggest that young people's agency is associated with an autonomy supportive learning.

From the side of the children. The challenge of childhood studies to sociology of education

Abstract: Three recent works by Valerio Belotti, made in collaboration with other Italian scholars, with no doubt enriched in a field of study – sociology of infant age – which is still unripe in Italy and make circulating important theoretical inputs and empirical results drawn from the international debate around the social role of children in the ageing society. In this note I refer particularly to what the author edited in 2010 and 2011, as products not only of a wide disciplinary state of art (he teaches Policies for children and adolescents at the University of Padova) but also as a corpus of empirical researches carried out when he was the coordinator of CNDAIA (Centro nazionale di documentazione e analisi per l’infanzia e l’adolescenza) from 2007 to 2011. If the collective volume Il futuro nel presente. Per una sociologia dei bambini e delle bambine [The future in the present. For a sociology of boys and girls] (guest editors V. Belotti and S. La Mendola, Guerini, Milano, 2010a, pp. 383) represents a sort of manifesto of the opening scientific approach, which includes theoretical lines, methodological notes and empirical data that can be characterised as emblematic, the other two books are in my opinion the fundamental “bricks” of a new scaffolding for the diffusion of childhood studies in Italy. These are the Quaderno CNDAIA n. 50, Costruire senso, negoziare spazi. Ragazzi e ragazze nella vita quotidiana [Building sense, negotiate spaces. Boys and girls in everyday life] (editor V. Belotti, 2010b, Edizioni Istituto degli innocenti, Firenze, www.minori.it, pagg. 230) and the Quaderno CNDAIA n. 51, L’Italia “minore”. Mappe di indicatori sulla condizione e le disuguaglianze nel benessere dei bambini e dei ragazzi [“Younger” Italy. Maps of indicators

Paradigm Shifts in China’s Education Policy: 1950s-2000s

Abstract: During the past 60 years of China’s socialist construction, its higher education policy has experienced dramatic paradigm shifts in line with the nation’s transformation from a planned to a market economy. During the 1950s-1970s, the paramount principle of education policy was political in nature and effect. While the fundamental values of education equity were based on the Chinese communist political ideology and education was treated as a public good, equal opportunities were not necessarily guaranteed. Since 1978, contribution to economic growth was prioritised on China’s education policy agenda. The political function of education was downgraded to favour a strategy that would accelerate China’s march toward economic modernisation. Priority has been shifted from equity to efficiency that is measured almost exclusively in financial terms. Within this process, new winners and losers have been created, with the former far outnumbered by the latter. By tracing current practices to their social and historical roots in order to grasp the essence of paradigm shifts in China’s higher education policy during the past six decades, this article argues that as a kind of social action, education policy requires to be observed within certain social, historical environment.

Learning from the Mediterranean: the return of the political and an education in hope

Abstract: This paper reflects on the author’s experiences as an educational researcher in the countries of the Mediterranean, and on the impact that the adoption of a regional lens has had on his own formative journey as an academic, and as a person. The author weaves into this account the narratives of other critical educators from the region, highlighting their efforts and struggles to install more democratic forms of life in states and territories where the civic voice has often been silenced by colonial and postcolonial regimes. In this manner, the paper invites the reader to ‘learn from the Mediterranean’, a task which requires considerable effort in that it engages political, epistemological, and ontological dimensions. The paper concludes that it is by listening to the global South, as a metaphor with which to refer to all those population groups excluded from the benefits of neoliberal globalisation, that we can open up new spaces of dialogue around 'other educations’ and ‘education otherwise’.

Active learning: relevance, features and conditions

Abstract: One of the effects of new post-modern culture is identified in the ‘de-routinization’ process of social life. The lack of concrete points of reference, seems, paradoxically, to force the subject to make is own ‘life plans’. The current situation of chaos leads one to carefully reflect on a trend which is often neglected: nothing can be considered human if it is (or remains) purely mechanical. Even in education, the ‘active learning’ involves the fostering of ‘interactive’ school relations between teacher and student and of dialogue techniques so as to make younger generations more and more skilled at pinpointing their problems, questioning themselves and thus enabling them to ‘open up’ to the riches of their relationships in life, as a whole. Our study is founded on the conviction that a social institution (such as a school) is human only when its members find their bearings with one another in an ‘overfunctional’ way. The ‘activity’ can be based on a correct and organic formulation of educational relations so as to regenerate social capital which can be regarded as the vital resource for the survival of a civilization. Key words: Active learning; Authority; Dialogic relationship; Educational social capital. _____________________________________________ 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Umanistiche, Sociali e dell'Educazione, Universita del Molise. E mail: pierpaolo.bellini@unimol.it Active Learning Pier Paolo Bellini ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 3, 2012.

Ten nation states; an analysis of policy, agency and globalization

Abstract: This paper analyses the ten nation states’ papers in this special edition journal that are read through Hodgson and Spours (2006) Policy Analytical Framework that examines political eras, the education state, policy processes and engagement with the public space. Each nation state identifies particular themes that impact upon their education policies and systems. First is the shift from a planned comprehensive education system underpinned by communitarian ideologies to the marketization of education, underpinned by capitalist ideologies. Second is participation and civic engagement. Third is management of economic transitions, economic growth and human capital. Fourth is commitment to tolerance for cultural diversity and the transformation of identity. All four themes may play a role in a nation state’s policy development but particular authors choose to focus on particular themes due to the focus of their papers, and/or dominating societal pressures that include political unrest, conflict, agency and globalization.

What kind of social capital is generated through sport? The difficult, educational alliance between parents, children and the world of sport

Abstract: This work investigates the relationship between sports clubs for young people and the production of social capital. This article analyzes 34 interviews with people who work in some sport associations for young of the lower Friuli, such as: parents, kids, coaches and sports administrators. For this people the great difficulty of keeping original, solidarity and prosocial type motivations alive often emerges in a context in which the association’s life is rigidly governed by bureaucratic rules and where associates and families do not always help and sustain each other. In spite of this, the world of sport that emerges from this analysis still seems to be perceived as being a place that provides an opportunity to meet and enjoy social commitment.

Rhetoric, Reality and Research: The rhetoric of systemic reform, the reality of leadership development and current trends in school leadership research in the United States

Abstract: This paper considers a central puzzle of educational reform in the United States: the problem of developing and supporting a strong system of schooling and system-wide leadership at the district level, a unit of organizing equivalent to the former Local Educational Authority in England. In the United States, the problem of developing the system of schooling at this level has come into focus as a result of efforts to enact federal and state policy that aims to bring about dramatic improvements in instructional practice and student learning, particularly in large urban districts. I invoke the four arenas of policy, practice, theory and research to understand the need for theories of organizing and organization around this middle tier and to sketch the broader systems encompassing systems of schooling and systems of research. I apply these four arenas to the analysis of three exemplary recent research and leadership development projects in the United States. The conclusions from this review highlight the paucity of robust theories about organizing and organization at the middle level and the lack of incentive structures that might contribute to expanding foundations of knowledge for the field.

Higher Education and Internationalization: students’ mobility and participatory university for the Euro-Mediterranean Area

Abstract: “Internationalization” became a key theme during the 90’s in higher education policy debates. Higher education European policy tends to highlight the fact that the future of each individual institution of higher education in Europe – and in the Mediterranean area – grows in a process of internationalization within the common framework of the European Higher Education Area. The internationalization process press European and Mediterranean universities towards new challenges that are accompanied almost everywhere by decreasing of public funds as well as by conflicting demands: this coincidence has given raise on the one hand to the introduction of NPM strategies for institutions’ governance, on the other to the emerging of new forces capable of influencing internationalization such as the business community, NGO’s, multilateral organizations. This paper focuses mainly on the conflicting demands involving the increase of students’ mobility in an area that comprises European Union countries as well as the EuroMediterranean ones.

The relational integration of immigrant teens: the role of informal education

Abstract: While the issue of cultural diversity in the field of formal education is receiving growing attention from scholars, after-school programs still qualify as under-researched educational contexts, despite the strong role they can play in terms of social integration of both native and immigrant youth. The aims of this paper is to understand how intercultural integration in the field of informal education can be concretely achieved, managed and enacted in two “tipical” research contexts an Italian Oratorio and a Juvenile Aggregation Centre (CAG) -, characterized by different strategies to deal with ethnic diversity. This qualitative study, carried out through participant observation and in-depth interviews with teens and educators, shows that specific organizational patterns (both in terms of recruiting strategies and educational offer) can lead to very different outcomes in terms of intercultural relations and social cohesion of native and immigrant youth.

The Internet and Children. A look at online risks among adolescents

Abstract: Internet, smartphone and social networks are a crucial part of daily life for children. Today these new “social machines” represent the main pathway to knowledge and relationships. While not underestimating the growth-fostering aspects offered by these new social machines, our study here focuses on the risk factors inherent in the very dimension of knowledge and relationship characterizing them. In this new, fast-evolving context, the risks need to be monitored. Research based on a sample of 1700 adolescent between the ages of 14 and 19 years, residing in northeastern Italy, has enabled us to update and clarify online risks, offering the possibility to elaborate indications useful to the adults and policy-makers involved.

Education and the Mediterranean

Abstract: The relevance of the existing processes of change returns visibility to the Mediterranean both as a geographical area and in its various cultural forms. This double relevance justifies a sociological review of related educational issues. Moving from a perspective that considers education as a dynamic element, closely connected to the complex socio-cultural Mediterranean context, the aim of this paper is to reconstruct the outstanding features of the Mediterranean area and to provide a possible contribution to a more human evolution of the present social context, through the achievement of a socialization model based on the person and the improvement of relational dynamics. It focuses on an analytical perspective as opposed to perspectives which consider the subject as a variable dependent on the context. In the first part we provide the most important contributions to the Mediterranean question, while the second section raises some important cultural questions. The conclusions consider the prevailing educational model and trace the main features of a new alternative.

Strong questions and weak answers. Discussing CONCORD DARE Forum's universalistic values from activist citizenship perspectives

Abstract: The paper analyses current trends in the definition and positioning of "development education" by European development education actors in relation to the European Commission and the Member States' policies in this field. It claims that development education should go beyond a narrow focus and relation with the European Commission and the Member States' development co-operation policy. Based on data collected during the recent DEAR Study (2010) the paper suggests that in addressing global issues from a transformative learning perspective, a post- colonial turn would require development education to acknowledge a diversity of resistance practices while promoting consistent alternatives to the growth paradigm, i.e. considering a radical conception of Citizenship Education, engaging with issues of power.