Socialising young literacy learners into a discourse of failure: Dominant discourses in literacy teaching and assessment and their impact on the progression of young literacy learners into employment

This paper argues that contemporary literacy programmes are a mismatch for the expectations of both the government and employers as well as the goals of learners. It submits that the dominant discourses in literacy provision have led to the emergence of a learning culture which not only fails the learners but is also incapable of meeting the aspirations of both the government and employers. To support this argument, the paper reports a small scale research project that analyses the perceptions of learners, teachers and employers who were involved in a work placement scheme for young literacy learners in a college of further education. Data for the study were collected through focus group and face to face interviews and analysed using the framework of discourse analysis provided by Gill (2000) with findings codified and analysed thematically. The study found that teachers were aware that their learners were not adequately prepared for the world of work because of the demands of the dominant discourses of quality and performance measurement which were most obviously manifested in their assessment, teaching methods and the attitudes of learners. It found that employers perceive young learners as inadequate in terms of the workplace expectations. Learners in the study revealed that their workplace culture and expectations were totally different from the culture to which they had been socialised in their studies. The study concludes that unless the dominance of these discourses is ameliorated, young literacy learners will continue to be socialised into a discourse of failure.

Bildung im Rems-Murr-Kreis. Zweiter Bildungsbericht 2014

Analog zum ersten Bildungsbericht ist der zweite Bildungsbericht in sechs Kapitel unterteilt, deren Reihenfolge sich - mit Ausnahme des ersten und letzten Kapitels - am Lebenslauf orientiert: (..) Kapitel A beschäftigt sich mit gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen von Bildung und geht in diesem Zusammenhang auf die Bevölkerungsentwicklung, die Arbeitsmarktsituation sowie die soziale Lage im Rems-Murr-Kreis ein. Anschließend wird in Kapitel B die frühkindliche Bildung in den Blick genommen. Der Fokus liegt hier auf der Betreuungssituation der Kinder unter sechs Jahren im Rems-Murr- Kreis, dem Thema Elternbildung sowie auf dem Übergang von der Kindertageseinrichtung in die Grundschule. Kapitel C widmet sich den allgemeinbildenden Schulen im Landkreis. Neben der Schüler- und Angebotsstruktur und dem Erwerb allgemeinbildender Schulabschlüsse wird auf aktuelle schulpolitische Entwicklungen und Maßnahmen zur Berufsorientierung eingegangen. Es folgt Kapitel D zur beruflichen Bildung im Rems- Murr-Kreis, in dem Schülerzahlen und Angebote der Beruflichen Schulen dargestellt werden. Außerdem werden die Themen berufsvorbereitende Bildungsgänge und duale Ausbildung behandelt. In Kapitel E wird die Bildungssituation der beruflichen Weiterbildung und der Erwachsenenbildung dargestellt. Abschließend befasst sich das Kapitel F mit non-formaler Bildung und informellem Lernen, wobei der Fokus auf den Jugendlichen im Rems-Murr-Kreis liegt. Es werden die non-formalen Bildungsorte Musik- und Kunstschulen, Bibliotheken und Einrichtungen der Jugendarbeit in den Blick genommen. Am Ende jedes Kapitels wird darüber hinaus erstmalig auf das Querschnittsthema Inklusion eingegangen. (DIPF/Orig.)

Education, Education, Education: the Third Way and PFI

In 1997, New Labour set about the task of reforming public services in the United Kingdom through the use of an ideology that became known as the ‘Third Way’. This research examines the context from which this concept emerged, and explores its relationship with the tools of delivery, with particular reference to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). The paper begins by reviewing the Third Way, before analysing the arguments for and against PFI. Using an example from the Northern Ireland education sector, the paper argues that the characteristics associated with the Third Way are mirrored in the operational tools of public service delivery, such as PFI. The paper concludes that, within the context of the case study reviewed, there is a ‘consistent pragmatism’ in play in relation to how these delivery initiatives are operated and how they relate to their conceptual underpinnings.

Managing pain medications in long-term care: nurses' views

The purpose of this study was to explore nurses' perceptions of their current practices related to administering pain medications to long-term care (LTC) residents. A cross-sectional survey design was used, including both quantitative and open-ended questions. Data were collected from 165 nurses (59% response rate) at nine LTC homes in southern Ontario, Canada. The majority (85%) felt that the medication administration system was adequate to help them manage residents' pain and 98% felt comfortable administering narcotics. In deciding to administer a narcotic, nurses were influenced by pain assessments, physician orders, diagnosis, past history, effectiveness of non-narcotics and fear of making dosage miscalculations or developing addictions. Finally, most nurses stated that they trusted the physicians and pharmacists to ensure orders were safe. These findings highlight nurses' perceptions of managing pain medications in LTC and related areas where continuing education initiatives for nurses are needed.

Conceptualizing and Researching the Professionalization of Religious Education Teachers: Historical and International Perspectives

Current discussions on Religious Education (RE), both in Germany and England, focus on the quality of teaching and the professionality of teachers, but neglect the historical and institutional process of professionalization upon which conceptions of teaching quality and teacher professionality hinge. This article seeks to provide definitional clarity by differentiating between individual and collective professionalization; exploring teacher professionalization in general and in the special case of RE; and operationalizing the concept of RE teacher professionalization for the purposes of planned historical and international comparative research. A three-fold conceptualization of professionalization is proposed, consisting of the following inter-related levels: (1) initial and continuing professional development; (2) professional self-organization and professional politics; and (3) professional knowledge. The breadth, complexity and significance of the historical and institutional processes associated with the professionalization of RE teachers at each of these levels is described and discussed. It is argued that further historical and international comparative research on these lines would contribute a broader and deeper understanding of the presuppositions of RE teacher professionality beyond current debates.