The perspectives of ‘disengaged’ students in the 14–19 phase on motivations and barriers to learning within the contexts of institutions and classrooms

In addressing educational disengagement, government policy in England focuses primarily on raising the age of educational participation, promoting vocationalism and directing resources at the population of young people not engaged in any education, employment or training (NEETs). However, ‘disengagement’ is a more fluid and dynamic concept than policy allows for and is visible within a wide range of students, even those deemed to be engaged by their presence in education and educational settings. This paper presents students’ accounts of their educational experiences which suggest that the context of the classroom, student–teacher relationships, peer relationships and pedagogical methods used in classrooms are salient factors in understanding engagement.

Helping the most vulnerable out of the poverty trap and reducing inequality: Policies, strategies, and services for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, including intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities: BASE Project Report (Volume 2) NILT Survey Autism Module

The primary purpose of the BASE Project was to establish how to help individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder out of poverty by promoting social inclusion. In order to achieve this, a range of methodologies were utilised that aimed to provide a baseline against which the effect of the Autism Act (NI) 2011 and the associated Autism Strategy (2013-2020) and Action Plans can be measured. The BASE Project is reported in 5 volumes. Volume 2 reports on the analysis of the autism module of the Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) Survey that assessed public awareness, attitudes, knowledge, and projected behaviours with regard to individuals with ASD (all primary data and technical reports are available at www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/).

The NILT (2012) survey first ever autism module (n=1204) offered a baseline against which the impact of new autism legislation, policies, and strategies can be measured. Key findings:

• 82% awareness: Most people in Northern Ireland are aware of autism (n=989).
• 50% of all participants knew someone with autism personally (n=606).

Of those who were aware of autism:
• 19% had a close family member with autism (n=186), and/or a friends/acquaintance (n=296), and/or a work colleague (n=79) with autism.
• Autism awareness was particularly low for those from ethnic minorities and those with no internet access.
• Awareness of autism specific legislation was low (20%).
• Good levels of knowledge about autism strengths and challenges, slight tendency to overestimate the occurrence of special talents.
• Prevalence of autism was underestimated (62% thought autism was much less prevalent than official figures or did not know).
• Fairly accurate perception about causes of autism, i.e., not caused by poor parenting (84%).
• Strong support for evidence-based behavioural interventions (77%), but confusion about interventions that are not evidence-based (64%).
• Strong positive attitudes towards children and adults in social, educational and employment settings.
• Autism not viewed as necessarily ‘lifelong’ (58%); support for independent living (78%), e.g., driving a car (83%).
• More business for employers who employ people with autism (12%).
• Strong support for families caring rather than residential care (64%).
• Confusion about service responsibility: education (26%) health (33%) or both (28%).

Given increasing prevalence rates of ASD it is important that the general population is aware of autism and able to respond responsibly to the associated strengths and challenges. The results of the NILT (2012) first ever autism module show that the general public was well aware of autism, had positive attitudes, and was relatively knowledgeable about the issues faced by individuals and families affected directly. However, there was a lack of clarity about responsibility for effective service delivery. The NILT results show that a shift in focus is necessary from ‘awareness raising campaigns’ to an approach that delivers clarity with regard to intervention and accountability.

Size Matters: The Effect of the Scramble for Africa on Informal Institutions and Development

We argue that the partition of ethnic groups following the Scramble for Africa does not itself matter for development in Africa. It matters only when the partitioned groups are relatively small because small groups lack political representation which may promote ethnic mobilization and foster support for informal (rather than formal) institutions which then may a ect development. Furthermore, the analysis of data from the Afrobarometer shows that the persistence of informal/tribal institutions related to property rights and the rule of law is one of the possible channels through which the size of the partitioned group a ects development.

Demand response to improved walking infrastructure: A study into the economics of walking and health behaviour change

Walking is the most common form of moderate‐intensity physical activity among adults, is widely accessible and especially appealing to obese people. Most often policy makers are interested in valuing the effect on walking of changes in some characteristics of a neighbourhood, the demand response for walking, of infrastructure changes. A positive demand response to improvements in the walking environment could help meet the public health target of 150 minutes of at least moderate‐intensity physical activity per week. We model walking in an individual’s local neighbourhood as a ‘weak complement’ to the characteristics of the neighbourhood itself. Walking is affected by neighbourhood
characteristics, substitutes, and individual’s characteristics, including their opportunity cost of time.  Using compensating variation, we assess the economic benefits of walking and how walking behaviour is affected by improvements to the neighbourhood.  Using a sample of 1,209 respondents surveyed over a 12 month period (Feb 2010‐Jan 2011) in East Belfast, United Kingdom, we find that a policy that increased walkability and people’s perception of access to shops and facilities  would lead to an increase in walking of about 36 minutes/person/week, valued at £13.65/person/week. When focusing on inactive residents, a policy that improved the walkability of the area would lead to guidelines for physical activity being reached by only 12.8% of the population who are currently inactive. Additional interventions would therefore be needed to encourage inactive residents to
achieve the recommended levels of physical activity, as it appears that interventions that improve the walkability of an area are particularly effective in increasing walking among already active citizens, and, among the inactive ones, the best response is found among healthier, younger and wealthier citizens.

National institutions and employers’ age management practices in Britain and Germany:‘Path dependence’and option exploration

We pursue a comparative analysis of employers’ age management practices in Britain and Germany, asking how valid ‘convergence’ and ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ theories are. After rejecting the convergence verdict, we proceed to ask how far ‘path dependence’ helps explain inter-country differences. Through 19 interviews with British and German experts, we find that firms have reacted in different ways to promptings from the EU and the two states. Change has been modest and a rhetoric-reality gap exists in firms as they seek to hedge. We point to continuities in German institutional methods of developing new initiatives, and the emerging role of British NGOs in helping firms and the state develop new options. We argue that ‘path dependence’ offers insight into the national comparison, but also advance the idea of national modes of firm optionexploration as an important way of conceptualizing the processes involved.

Shared Education in contested spaces: How collaborative networks improve communities and schools

Societies which suffer from ethnic and political divisions are often characterised by patterns of social and institutional separation, and sometimes these divisions remain even after political conflict has ended. This has occurred in Northern Ireland where there is, and remains, a long-standing pattern of parallel institutions and services for the different communities. A socially significant example lies in the education system where a parallel system of Catholic and Protestant schools has been in place since the establishment of a national school system in the 1830s. During the years of political violence in Northern Ireland a variety of educational interventions were implemented to promote reconciliation, but most of them failed to create any systemic change. This paper describes a post-conflict educational initiative known as Shared Education which aims to promote social cohesion and school improvement by encouraging sustained and regular shared learning between students and broader collaboration between teachers and school leaders from different schools. The paper examines the background to work on Shared Education, describes a ‘sharing continuum’ which emerged as an evaluation and policy tool from this work and considers evidence from a case study of a Shared Education school partnership in a divided city in Northern Ireland. The paper will conclude by highlighting some of the significant social and policy impact of the Shared Education work.

‘Ulster Says No’: Regulating the consumption of commercial sex spaces and services in Northern Ireland

Commercial forms of sex such as prostitution/sex work, strip clubs and even sex shops have been the subject of much political debate and policy regulation over the last decade or so in the UK and Ireland. These myriad forms of commercial sex and land usage have managed to survive and even thrive in the face of public outcry and regulation. Despite being part of the UK we suggest that Northern Ireland has steered its own regulatory course, whereby the consumption of commercial sexual spaces and services have been the subject of intense moral and legal oversight in ways that are not apparent in other UK regions. Nevertheless, in spite of this we also argue that the context of Northern Ireland may provide some lessons for the ways that religious values and moral reasoning can influence debates on commercial sex elsewhere.