Home schooling in view of John Calvin : a study in education and communion of saints /

This study explores the tension that has emerged around the rise of home schooling in a faith-community strongly committed to establishing and maintaining day schools in the tradition of John Calvin. It aims to identify and understand factors that contributed to this tension and to find ways to bridge, diffuse, reduce, or eliminate it. In line with Calvin, personal convictions, and the nature of the community, the study takes a Christian epistemological and axiological stance. Its premise is that the integrity of the commvmity is more important than the manner in which its children are taught. The study reviews relevant literature and several interviews. It considers both secular and Christian literature to understand communities, community breakdown, and community restoration. It also examines literature about the significance of home, school, and community relationships; the attraction of Reformed day schools; and the appeal of home schooling. Interviews were conducted with 4 home schooling couples and 2 focus groups. One focus group included local school representatives, and the other home schoolers and school representatives from an area with reputedly less tension on the issue. Interviews were designed for participants to give their perspectives on reasons for home schooling, the existing tension, and ways to resolve the issues. The study identifies the rise of home schooling in this particular context as the initial issue and the community's deficiency to properly deal with it as the chief cause for the rising tensions. However, I argue that, within the norms the community firmly believes in, home schooling need not jeopardize its integrity. I call for personal, social, and spiritual renewal to restore the covenant community in gratitude to God.

The effect of schooling on student self-concept /|nRonald S. Cowley. -- 260 St. Catharines [Ont. : s. n.],

The following research paper was a study into change in student academic and general self-concept with increase in grade level and age# The majority of literature found by this researcher dealt with self-concept and its relationship to achievement and interactions with others, Review, then, was in these two areas-particularily within the academic setting, but outside of it as well. It wrs hypothesized that there would be a decrease in both academic and general student self-concept with increase in grade level and age. Self-Appraisal inventories, measuring general and academic selfconcept, and Inferential Self-Reports, measuring only academic selfconcept, were the instruments used* Subjects were students, Trade 1 to 13, and ranging in age from 5 to 21„ Although al] Self-Appraisal inventories and all Self-1?eports were very similar, they differed according to three Grade levels: Primary (Grades 1 to 3)> Intermediate (Grades L to 8), and Secondary (Grades 9 to 13) • Students in the Primary division received only their respective Self-Appraisal inventory, while others v/ere administered both inventories designed for their grade level. Scores on the inventories were computed to percents and then mean percents were arrived at for epch grade, each of the three grade levels, each age, and each of three age intervals. In all of these instances Spearman1 s rank order coefficients (!lpff) were calculated and significance, at the *05 level, was determined by referring to a table of critical values for one-tailed tests* Similarily fftff scores were computed, but only for individual grades and ages, and significance was determined at the *0b level* In only one instance, the General Dimension for individual grades, was significance of overall decrease found* Consequently the hypotheses put forth did not gain support* The fltff scores, however, revealed some isolated significant changes for the Academic Dimension, which were generally decreases in mean percents from the last grade of one level to the first grade of the next* For age mean percents, significant changes generally took place at early (5 or 6) and late (20 or 21) ages* A number of reasons for the results were presented and were generally based upon the studentfs encounters, or lack of encounters, with achievement or success* No definite conclusions, relevant to the hypotheses stated^ could be made, although a number of isolated ones were drawn on the basis of significant fltff scores* As well, mention was made of the possible trends or tendencies that were revealed by the results, but that could not, or were not, proven significant by "t's11 or "p's"* Teaching methods stressing improvement in academic, as well as socially related, situations, were recommended and a model teaching approach was presented in Appendix B#

Explorações educacionais (educational explorations) : schooling experiences of second-generation Portuguese Canadian students

This study explores the stories and experiences of second-generation Portuguese Canadian secondary school students in Southern Ontario, Canada. The purpose of this research was to understand the educational experiences of students, specifically the successes, challenges, and struggles that the participants faced within the education system. Questions were also asked about identity issues and how participants perceived their identities influencing their educational experiences. Six Portuguese Canadian students in grades 9 to 11 were interviewed twice. The interviews ranged from 45 minutes to 90 minutes in length. Data analysis of qualitative, open-ended interviews, research journals, field notes and curricular documents yielded understandings about the participants' experiences and challenges in the education system. Eight themes emerged from data that explored the realities of everyday life for second-generatiop Portuguese Canadian students. These themes include: influences of part-time work on schooling, parental involvement, the teacher is key, challenges and barriers, the importance of peers, Portuguese Canadian identity, lack of focus on identity in curricul:um content, and the dropout problem. Recommendations in this study include the need for more community-based programs to assist students. Furthermore, teachers are encouraged to utilize strategies and curriculum resources that engage learners and integrate their histories and identities. Educators are encouraged to question power dynamics both inside and outside the school system. There is also a need for further research with Portuguese Canadian students who are struggling in the education system as well as an examination of the number of hours that students work.

Fertility and schooling : how this relation changed between 1995 and 2005 in Colombia

En este trabajo se pretende evaluar la existencia de cambios en la relación entre fecundidad y escolaridad en Colombia para mujeres de 30 a 40 años de edad entre 1995 y 2005. Para tal efecto se utilizan modelos de Poisson sobre la Encuesta Nacional de Demografía y Salud 1995 y 2005. Se encuentra una reducción en la fecundidad durante el periodo y su relación inversa con la escolaridad, que puede ser explicada por el efecto de la educación sobre otras variables como el incremento en el conocimiento sobre los programas de control natal. Se encuentra además que el efecto de culminar un nivel educativo sobre la fecundidad es mayor en 2005 que en 1995. De otro lado, se encuentra que las diferencias entre zonas urbanas y rurales son significativas en la explicación de la fecundidad en Colombia durante la última década.

Schools and schooling in the digital age : a critical analysis. 'Las escuelas y la educación en la era digital : un análisis crítico'.

Se estudia la inclusión de las tecnologías digitales en las escuelas, y cómo esta incorporación se convierte en un rasgo distintivo de las escuelas de todo el mundo. Para ello, se estructura en tres partes, en la primera de ellas se describen las posibilidades que las nuevas tecnologías ofrecen y la deficiente implementación real que tiene en las escuelas. La segunda parte se centra en el la relación existente entre la era digital y las políticas educativas desarrolladas especialmente en las escuelas. Por último, se estudia la reconstrucción y el replanteamiento que las escuelas deben llevar a cabo dentro de la era digital para lograr aprovechar al máximo las posibilidades que ofrece la alta tecnología digital.

Cheap, suitable, promising : monitorial schooling and the challenge of mass education in early liberal Spain (1808-1823)

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Christinaty, neutrality and public schooling : the origins of the dutch educational system, 1801-1920

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Young people with intellectual disabilities attending mainstream and segregated schooling: perceived stigma, social comparison and future aspirations

Mainstream schooling is a key policy in the promotion of social inclusion of young people with learning disabilities. Yet there is limited evidence about the school experience of young people about to leave mainstream as compared with segregated education, and how it impacts on their relative view of self and future aspirations. Sixty young people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities in their final year of secondary school participated in this study. Twenty-eight individuals came from mainstream schools and 32 attended segregated school. They completed a series of self-report measures on perceptions of stigma, social comparison to a more disabled and non-disabled peer and the likelihood involved in attaining their future goals. The majority of participants from both groups reported experiencing stigmatized treatment in the local area where they lived. The mainstream group reported significant additional stigma at school. In terms of social comparisons, both groups compared themselves positively with a more disabled peer and with a non-disabled peer. While the mainstream pupils had more ambitious work-related aspirations, both groups felt it equally likely that they would attain their future goals. Although the participants from segregated schools came from significantly more deprived areas and had lower scores on tests of cognitive functioning, neither of these factors appeared to have an impact on their experience of stigma, social comparisons or future aspirations. Irrespective of schooling environment, the young people appeared to be able to cope with the threats to their identities and retained a sense of optimism about their future. Nevertheless, negative treatment reported by the children was a serious source of concern and there is a need for schools to promote the emotional well-being of pupils with intellectual disabilities.

Peaceful coexistence? The role of religious schools and NGOs in the growth of female secondary schooling in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), runs a large number of non-formal primary schools in Bangladesh which target out-of-school children from poor families. These schools are well-known for their effectiveness in closing the gender gap in primary school enrolment. On the other hand, registered non-government secondary madrasas (or Islamic schools) today enrol one girl against every boy student. In this article, we document a positive spillover effect of BRAC schools on female secondary enrolment in registered madrasas. Drawing upon school enrolment data aggregated at the region level, we first show that regions that had more registered madrasas experienced greater secondary female enrolment growth during 1999–2003, holding the number of secular secondary schools constant. In this context we test the impact of BRAC-run primary schools on female enrolment in registered madrasas. We deal with the potential endogeneity of placement of BRAC schools using an instrumental variable approach. Controlling for factors such as local-level poverty, road access and distance from major cities, we show that regions with a greater presence of BRAC schools have higher female enrolment growth in secondary madrasas. The effect is much bigger when compared to that on secondary schools.