Not done and dusted: agency and structure in youth participation

Abstract A growing body of education policy and practice purports to educate young people to become reflexive citizens with the capacity to direct their own lives as well as to ‘make a difference’ in ways that improve the democratic fabric of society. This reinforces a discourse of youth agency that obscures the structural inequalities that continue to centrally influence some young people’s lives and to play themselves out in complex ways within schools. This paper discusses the findings of a recent study that employs concepts of risk and reflexive modernity to analyse the experience of young people in two Australian schools in areas of entrenched disadvantage where programs of youth participation have been introduced as part of the curriculum. It concludes that the debate about the relationship between agency and structure is one that is far from being done and dusted, but is one with which sociology must continue to engage.

The perspectives of secondary school students with special needs in Spain during the crisis

This paper presents an overview of a situational analysis of inclusive schooling in Spain from the perspective of students with special educational needs. The purpose of this work was to learn how young people collectively considered their experiences of school inclusion. The participants—aged 12–19 years who attended six different settings—highlighted the school community, resources, teacher pedagogy, support and social cohesion as germane aspects of their inclusion. Through a presentation of these characteristics, this analysis demonstrates how schools can effectively fulfil the core requirement of teaching and supporting diversity and, in so doing, how they can incite included subjectivities of differently abled students. This analysis is positioned within the climate of economic instability in Spain, which threatens to derail the headway made towards inclusive schooling via the introduction of severe austerity measures.

Social justice across Indonesian schooling.

Implementation of social justice teaching in the regency of Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia, is still problematic, particularly in view of observed classroom teaching, which was centred on traditional didactic and teacher-directed modes of delivery.

Investigating ‘moments’ for student agency through a differentiated music curriculum

Research provides compelling evidence linking music-making to academic achievement and increased wellbeing for disengaged students. However, in the Australian context, education policy has narrowed its focus to literacy and numeracy, with an associated ‘accountability’ framework of mandated assessment and reporting practices. Within this context teachers are being asked to demonstrate how, through their pedagogical practices, they meet the needs of all their students. As a result of this, differentiation has become the lens through which student learning and engagement are being monitored. Drawing on data from a large state secondary school, this paper examines how a differentiated music curriculum is being implemented to support student agency. We demonstrate that, through a range of formal and informal music programs, agency is enhanced through the development of self-reflexive and self-referential learning practices. However, we suggest that differentiation, alone, does not unmask the reasons behind students’ different learning experiences nor does it necessarily redress entrenched educational inequalities. We also suggest that the ‘moments’ for student agency, created by these music programs, may have as much to do with the ‘fragile’ position of music within the broader school curriculum where the spotlight of high-stakes testing is directed elsewhere.

Being well : educated

Our remit for producing this chapter suggested a confluence between critical education theory and social constructionist approaches. Quite an invitation given the prospective trajectories involved! As both of us share backgrounds as practitioners (educational/school psychologists), we decided to draw the parameter for discussion around an aspect of education surprisingly seen in some circles as contentious or controversial in present day practice: the idea of being well in education. International education policy and practice is replete with political and community action geared to the promotion of wellbeing (in the UK e.g., Every Child Matters [DES, 2004]). This circumstance is not peculiar to the sociopolitical arena of education as the notion of supporting and maintaining a healthy and productive populace is today central to activities taking place across government sectors (e.g. social/community services, employment, housing, sport and recreation, etc.; Wellbeing in Four Policy Areas [New Economics Foundation, 2014]). And yet, concerns over the ways in which such activity have been delivered are mounting. Common amongst these protests are collective apprehensions around potential deleterious effects of one-size-fits-all methodologies and clinical models of personhood.

Trajectoire de la réforme de l’inspection en Belgique francophone

L’article montre que la trajectoire de la réforme de l’inspection en Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB) est loin d’être linéaire. Elle est marquée par des processus de reconversion institutionnelle d’institutions existantes, mais aussi de sédimentation et d’hybridation entre l’« ancien » et le « nouveau ». En effet, elle participe à la fois d’une politique de changement institutionnel ambitieuse et de construction du « système scolaire » dans un paysage au départ assez décentralisé et fragmenté ; mais, simultanément, elle est marquée par des « contraintes » institutionnelles existantes, des négociations et transactions entre différents acteurs politiques et scolaires qui déterminent les contours et les compétences du nouveau corps d’inspection en gestation après le décret de 2007 comme les rôles des inspecteurs et leur division du travail avec d’autres acteurs. De plus, dans la mise en œuvre du décret, les orientations normatives, cognitives et professionnelles des acteurs, la permanence de la diversité institutionnelle des réseaux comme la variance structurelle des territoires « modulent » et « tempèrent » l’ambition du changement institutionnel affiché par la politique de la FWB. Cela change mais pas complètement : il y a un processus de conversion partielle et « en tension » de l’institution qu’est l’inspection.

Formando ciudanía a través de la biopolítica : sistema de competencias ciudadanas

La escuela, gracias a su función formativa de individuos dentro de la sociedad, es una institución privilegiada para la construcción de ciudadanía. El presente trabajo de grado busca comprender dicha formación ciudadana en los colegios públicos bogotanos a partir del sistema de competencias ciudadanas del Ministerio de Educación Nacional y a la luz de la biopolítica, entendiendo a esta última como una tecnología del poder planteada por Michel Foucault, que busca la gestión de la vida y de los procesos poblacionales, junto con la regularización de los mismos. La investigación se realiza a partir del análisis del trabajo de Michel Foucault sobre biopolítica y de documentos expedidos por el Ministerio de Educación Nacional para la consolidación del sistema de competencias ciudadanas.

A estrutura organizacional das bibliotecas universitárias em Portugal

Este estudo tem como objetivo definir linhas orientadoras para as estruturas organizacionais em bibliotecas universitárias portuguesas e baseia-se numa investigação que fez uso de métodos diversificados, tanto quantitativos (em extensão), como qualitativos (em profundidade), e cotejou os dados assim obtidos com as práticas mais inovadoras em bibliotecas de diversos países do mundo. Foi feito o enquadramento teórico, para temas relacionados com os da investigação, como as teorias da gestão, as estruturas organizacionais, a liderança, a motivação, a comunicação e o processo de mudança nas organizações. Considerando o meio onde se integram estas bibliotecas, identificaram-se os principais aspetos da política educativa no ensino superior europeu e português. A revisão da literatura permitiu recolher informação sobre algumas tendências mais recentes nas bibliotecas universitárias, em geral e em Portugal. Foram identificadas as tipologias de estruturas organizacionais, as transformações que as mesmas têm sofrido noutros países e que soluções foram encontradas. A partir dos dados recolhidos com o questionário, caracterizaram-se estas bibliotecas portuguesas e os resultados indicam que há uma grande diversidade e que, em grande parte as suas estruturas organizacionais foram alteradas. Com o estudo de caso, detalharam-se aspetos dessas alterações. Concluiu-se que, com as alterações no ensino superior, as bibliotecas podem ter um papel mais ativo no processo de ensino-aprendizagem. As alterações em estruturas organizacionais de bibliotecas universitárias portuguesas ocorreram, na sua grande parte, por razões legais e houve participação das chefias das bibliotecas e dos técnicos superiores especializados em ciências da informação. As novas estruturas organizacionais procuram adaptar-se às transformações externas e internas, optando por estruturas mais flexíveis que incentivam a participação de todos os funcionários na inovação e tomadas de decisão. Como linhas orientadoras, foram indicados um conjunto de princípios por não ser possível um modelo ideal a aplicar em todas as bibliotecas. Cada caso encontrará uma solução que deverá ser continuamente analisada e adaptada à realidade; Organizational structure of university libraries in Portugal Abstract: The purpose of this study is to define guidelines for the organizational structures of Portuguese university libraries and it is based on a research that used as quantitative (in range) as qualitative (in depth) methods and compared the findings with the most innovative practices in libraries all over the world. An approach was made to the theoretical areas of management, organizational structures, leadership, motivation, communication and the process of change in organizations. Considering that these libraries act in higher education institutions it was referred the education policy for higher education, in Europe and in Portugal. The literature review allowed collecting information about the more recent tendencies of the university libraries in general and in Portugal. The organizational structures models were identified as their changes and solutions. From the data from the questionnaire the Portuguese university libraries were described and the results show there is a great variety among them and most of them have transformed their organizational structures. The case study allowed obtaining more information about the process of change in the three selected libraries. It was concluded that, with the changes of higher education, the libraries can play a more active role in the teaching and learning process. The changes of the organizational structures in the Portuguese university libraries occurred mostly for legal reasons and the top of the libraries hierarchy and librarians participated. With the new organizational structures libraries have made all the efforts to adapt to the external and internal transformations with more flexible structures encouraging all staff to participate with ideas and to take part in the decision process. For the guidelines it was pointed out a set of principles to follow as it is not possible to have an ideal model to apply to all the libraries. Each library must find a solution that will be continually analyzed and adapted.

Estudo comparativo de professores de ensino regular e educação especial em escolas públicas portuguesas: stresse, bem estar, suporte social e burnout

Sendo a docência umas das profissões onde existem elevados níveis de stresse e burnout, este estudo objetivou comparar estes níveis em professores de ensino regular que trabalham com alunos com Necessidades Educativas Especiais e professores de educação especial. Estudou-se também o bem-estar psicológico manifestado por este grupo, bem como a percepção do suporte social, o qual tem um efeito direto positivo sobre o burnout. Os resultados revelam que, relativamente ao stresse, no grupo de ensino regular são os homens que manifestam um nível mais elevado, enquanto que no grupo de educação especial, são as mulheres. Foram identificadas também diferenças no bem-estar e percepção do suporte social, tendo estes resultados sido obtidos para os docentes de educação especial, homens e mulheres, respetivamente. No que concerne ao burnout, foram observadas diferenças em função do género e habilitações literárias, tendo estas sido verificadas no grupo de professoras de ensino regular que possuem o bacharelato e professores que possuem mestrado e doutoramento. No grupo de educação especial, as diferenças foram obtidas nas professoras com doutoramento e nos homens que possuem a licenciatura; Comparative study of regular education teachers and special education in Portuguese public schools: stress, welfare, social support and burnout Abstract: Being a teaching professions where there are high levels of stress and burnout, this study aimed to compare these levels in regular education teachers who work with students with special educational needs and special education teachers. It is also studied the psychological well-being manifested by this group, as well as the perception of social support, which has a positive direct effect on burnout. The results show that for the stress in the regular education group are men who express a higher level, while the special education group, are women. They were also identified differences in well-being and perceived social support, and these results have been obtained for special education teachers, men and women, respectively. Regarding the burnout, differences were observed in gender and qualifications, and these were verified on the regular education teachers group who have a bachelor's degree and teachers who hold master's and doctorate. In the special education group, the differences were obtained in teachers with doctoral and men who have a degree.