The Learning Experience of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education. A case study of a UK university

This paper summarises the results of an investigation into the social and learning experiences of students with disabilities in a UK University. The students' experiences were evaluated in three broad areas: with respect to the categories used by the Higher Education Council to examine the quality of the learning experience for all students in higher education; against the issues conventionally included in studies and policy developments for independent living for people with disabilities; and in relation to the impact coming to university has on the lives of students with disabilities. The paper highlights the issues of central concern to students with disabilities in the University and draws some conclusions with policy implications from a discussion of student perception of services, the practical constraints facing the institution, and the social values which underpin the framework of support for students with disabilities in Higher Education in England and Wales.     

Critical Thinking in Social Care and Social Work: Searching Student Assignments for the Evidence

The ability to think critically would appear to be a defining feature of competent social work practice. Yet the way practitioners develop critical thinking and how it is taught and assessed within educational establishments is unclear. This paper explores one key aspect of the learning process; the way critical thinking might be evidenced in the transition from Further Education to Higher Education. The assignments produced by students undertaking the HNC in Social Care and year one students at the initial stage of the BA Social Work programme in Scotland were examined. The findings suggest that students working in social care environments and year one students on the BA Social Work course were able to evidence some critical thinking; however, it was generally quite minimal and limited to certain categories. Whilst there are likely to be diverse opinions within Scotland as to how the new four‐year honours degree in social work is implemented in terms of teaching, assessment and learning, a valuable opportunity may be missed if critical thinking is not a core feature and meaningfully aligned to students' experiences at Further Education and Higher Education.     

Working‐class participation,middle‐class aspiration? Value,upward mobility and symbolic indebtedness in higher education

This paper interrogates the relationship between working‐class participation in higher education (HE) in England and social and cultural mobility. It argues that embarking on a university education for working‐class people has been construed in governmental discourses as an instrumental means of achieving upward mobility, or of aspiring to ‘become middle class’. Education in this sense is thus not only understood as having the potential to confer value on individuals, as they pursue different ‘forms of capital’, or symbolic ‘mastery’ (Bourdieu, 1986), but as incurring a form of debt to society. In this sense, the university can be understood as a type of ‘creditor’ to whom the working‐class participants are symbolically indebted, while the middle classes pass through unencumbered. Through the analysis of empirical research conducted with staff from working‐class backgrounds employed on a university Widening Participation project in England, the article examines resistance to dominant educational discourses, which understand working‐class culture as ‘deficient’ and working‐class participation in HE as an instrumental means of securing upward mobility. Challenging the problematic notion of ‘escape’ implicit in mobility discourses, this paper concludes by positing the alternative concept of ‘fugitivity’, to contest the accepted relationship in HE between creditor and debtor.     

Class, Culture, and Participation in the Collegiate Extra-Curriculum

With larger percentages of high school students entering higher education, it becomes increasingly important to look at how processes occurring on college campuses contribute to social stratification. Using in‐depth interviews with 61 students, I ask: How does social class structure students’ participation in the collegiate extra‐curriculum? I argue that the collegiate extra‐curriculum is an important site for stratification because it is there that students gain access to social and cultural resources valued by the privileged classes. I find that upper‐middle‐class students arrive on campus with cultural resources that motivate their participation and social resources that facilitate their involvement. Among working‐class students, limited financial factors constrain their involvement, while social and cultural resources further curtail their interest in such activities. These findings contribute to theories of social and cultural reproduction by showing that those who have more valued social and cultural resources at the outset are in a better position to gain additional such resources throughout their college careers. Moreover, these analyses show that symbolic and cultural hierarchies are sustained by the interdependent relationship between social and cultural capital.     

Developing Anti‐oppressive Ethics in the New Curriculum

This paper describes the development of an anti‐oppressive ethics and values module appropriate for the new social work degree. It is contended that there has been insufficient attention paid to ethics teaching in social work education generally in the UK, and in particular there has been:

• ?failure to develop discrete modules on ethics and values in social work;

• ?minimal critique of conventional ethics with social work values that take oppression and diversity seriously;

• ?insufficient use of recent feminist ethical contributions relevant to social work;

• ?limited development of interprofessional ethics teaching that take service user and social work values seriously; and

• ?neglect of ethical decision‐making guides that can encompass legal, ethical and social work values.

The paper proposes a rationale for an anti‐oppressive ethics module that will enable traditional ethical theories to be placed within an anti‐oppressive social work values context, and aim to provide students with a more adequate guide for decision‐making. The module will be developed in consultation with service users and interprofessional colleagues. It will take into account the British legal and policy framework, the General Social Care Council code of practice, as well as the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education requirements, but placing them within an anti‐oppressive framework drawn from the authors' current and previous work in this area, and will have special reference to recent feminist moral philosophy. The authors have recently been re‐located into a Faculty of Health and Applied Social Studies and will be developing the new module on ethics in consultation with health lecturer colleagues specialising in ethics with the aim of developing interprofessional co‐operation and sharing of perspectives between staff and students. They write with long experience of both practising and teaching social work, and with diverse experiences of ‘race’, gender, class, and also being both service users and providers.     

Primäre und sekundäre Effekte der sozialen Herkunft beim Übergang in die Hochschulbildung

Following Boudon social disparities at educational transitions can be linked to primary and secondary effects of social origin. Whereas primary effects describe social differentials in scholastic performance, secondary effects represent social differences in educational choices that are independent of performance. We use four panel surveys of graduate cohorts that have obtained eligibility for higher education between 1983 and 1999, provided by the German Higher Education Information System (HIS). By applying counterfactual decomposition methods we estimate the relative importance of primary and secondary effects at the transition to tertiary education. Our results indicate that secondary effects are the main driving force in the creation of social disparities at the transition to tertiary education, accounting for more than 80% of the differential between service class and working class offspring. Particularly financial aspects connected to the choice of post-secondary alternatives, interest in academic work and the type of Abitur degree can explain these effects. Furthermore, even though we observe a small increase in social selectivities at the transition to higher education, the relative importance of primary and secondary effects does not change within our observation period.     

Brokering International Education and (re)producing Class in Mumbai

This article discusses the role that education brokers play in the decision‐making processes of international students in Mumbai, India. Drawing on 80 interviews with students and education brokers, the analysis reveals how the services that brokers provide, and who accesses them, are shaped by the class status of prospective international students within the localized and granular hierarchies of Mumbai's upper‐middle‐class. Brokers are divided into agents and counsellors, who offer different service models and draw their clientele from two distinct segments of the upper‐middle‐class: “South Mumbai elites” and “suburban strivers”. Within these subtly differentiated landscapes of brokerage, advice from brokers can make certain students vulnerable, or hierarchise specific study destinations and trajectories. This article argues that attending to granular class differentiation within international education brokerage illuminates inequalities that exist within student cohorts from the same locality. It also outlines the policy implications of these inequalities in both sending and receiving countries.     

Evaluation of school‐based AIDS education curricula in San Francisco

Students in 3 middle (n=385) and 3 high schools (n=254) in the San Francisco Unified School District participated in the evaluation of an AIDS education curriculum. Classes within‐schools were designated as either intervention classes or nonintervention classes. Students in intervention classes received 3 class periods of AIDS instruction with a newly developed curriculum. Students in nonintervention classes did not receive any special AIDS instruction. All students completed a pretest and posttest AIDS knowledge and attitude survey. The results indicated that AIDS instruction classes demonstrated a significant knowledge‐advantage, as well as change in attitudes (e.g., reflecting greater tolerance for attending class with students who may have AIDS or HIV infection).     

‘Don't you think you're missing out,living at home?’ Student experiences and residential transitions

Recent policy shifts in higher education impact on the diversity of student experiences, one such trend is an increase in the number of students staying in their parental home for the duration of their studies. This has implications for students’ experiences of university life, particularly non‐academic aspects. Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of practice and habitus, this papers explores how young people go about fitting in to ‘being a student’, and how predispositions to university life influence these practices. Residential status emerges as a key demarcating factor in how successfully students feel they adapt to being at university. Though related to class, this cannot be explained solely by the socio‐economic background of students living at home, but rather reflects both practical problems faced by these students as well as difficulties in incorporating a student habitus while living at home.     

‘Sit in the corner and don’t eat the crayons’: postgraduates with dyslexia and the dominant ‘lexic’ discourse

The lack of cultural diversity in higher education is recognised by policy objectives and a current focus on the development of widening participation for a range of students, including those with disabilities. Amongst this group are those with dyslexia who might previously have been disenfranchised from formal education and under‐represented within it. This paper explores the personal narratives and learner histories of six postgraduates and academics with dyslexia from their earliest memories of learning to their present experiences. It examines how literacy, as a dominant form of discourse, has defined concepts of academic ability resulting in the early exclusion of these learners from formal education. It is argued that this dominant discourse can be challenged by non‐authorised, informal learning resulting in stories of resistance.     

Family assets,postsecondary education,and students with disabilities: Building on progress and overcoming challenges

Students with disabilities are increasingly enrolling and participating in two-year, four-year, and other institutions of higher education. Federal policies and initiatives addressing the educational needs of students and adults with disabilities provided impetus for these increases. For example, mandates within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) have resulted in K-12 public schools increasingly preparing students for postsecondary education. Nonetheless, students with disabilities continue to face financial challenges as well as low educational expectations in their pursuit of postsecondary education. Family assets may provide a framework for addressing these challenges and provide specific implications for policy as well as educational practice.     

Gender Gaps in Educational Outcomes Among Children of New Migrants: The Role of Social Integration from a Comparative Perspective

This article reviews current research on gender gaps in educational outcomes among children of new migrants (first, 1.5, and second generations) from a comparative cross‐national perspective. The article examines potential explanations for why gendered differences in educational outcomes among immigrants (vis‐à‐vis non‐migrants) continue to occur, focusing on individual, schooling, and institutional factors. For example, while gender gaps in expectations and aspirations as well as some cognitive outcomes are increasing (reading ability is considerably higher among females) and shrinking in specific subjects (e.g. math and science ability is slightly higher among boys), that process often has been less explored within and across immigrant vis‐à‐vis non‐immigrant students. We show that in some countries, gender gaps among disadvantaged ethnic minorities (in relation to other groups) continue to persist and are exacerbated by institutional factors. These disadvantages vary not only across different educational systems and at different rates over time but also are based on students' social background. Overall, we argue that these educational inequalities are key to understanding not only the socioeconomic and future political adaptation of migrants and their children but also future social policy developments in the European Union context.     

The mental health dimension in the new social work degree: starting a debate

The Mental Health in Higher Education Project (mhhe) aims to increase networking and debate about the learning and teaching of mental health, both within and across the disciplines and professions in higher education. Despite the recent prominence that has been given to mental health in terms of policy development and new practice models, there has so far been little discussion as to what should constitute the mental health component of the new social work degree that is currently being introduced in England. This paper sets the context for the debate and reports on the outcome of an mhhe workshop on this theme held at the 2003 Social Work Education Conference in Warwick.     

The conflict within: resistance to inclusion and other paradoxes in special education

In the 30 years since the passage of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL. 94-142) in 1975 (subsequently the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) special education in the USA as an institutionalized practice has become solidified. Over the years, however, the practice of segregating students because of disability has come under increased scrutiny. Beginning in the late 1980s, an increasing number of parents advocated that their children with disabilities be put in mainstream general education classes. Emotionally charged debates over the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms ensued. In this paper we look at the public debates over inclusion and expose some of the paradoxes within special education that serve to hinder the integration of individuals with disabilities into general classes and, by extension, society at large.     

TESTING THE THEORY OF THE NEW CLASS

This article tests the theory that a post-industrial economic order gives rise to an elite which has a class interest in the expansion of government: the New Class. Cluster analysis of large national surveys reveals the existence of such a group, identifiable by liberal policy preferences and a pattern of group identifications which clearly distinguish it from the traditional middle and working classes. This New Class is concentrated in the professions, and among those with high levels of education.     

Bridging the Theory–Practice Gap in Social Work Education: A Reflection on an Action Research in China

This article explores the background to, and issues associated with, the implementation of Personal Development Planning (PDP) within Higher Education (HE). Consideration of issues for social work educators follows as the authors seek to ground policy change in practice and debate issues so that reflection is not ‘little more than a mantra’ but rather a ‘model for practice’ (Kuit et al., 2001, Active Learning in Higher Education, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 128–142, at p. 129). Although educators have arguably always used a variety of strategies to encourage student reflection and evaluation of their learning experiences, implementation of PDPs codifies and institutionalises individual student reflection and the production of associated outputs. This is evidenced by the production of guidelines to promote what is billed as a core educational process by Universities UK, the Standing Conference on Principals, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and the Learning and Teaching Subject Network (LTSN) Generic Centre. As social work academics consider and respond to the challenges associated with the re‐specification of programmes to meet new award requirements they might usefully reflect on the challenges PDP brings, and integrate responses into programme specifications. Avoiding fragmentation and duplication, for example around the personal tutor system and role of staff in PDP, is important for both social work students and staff within complex and, at times, contradictory organisational contexts such as Institutes of Higher Education (IHE).     

Enhancing practitioner-led education in social work: developing a secondment project

ABSTRACT

This paper illustrates the development of a secondment project designed to enhance practitioner-led social work education in a Higher Education Institution. The project was developed as part of a Teaching Partnership initiative to establish joint working and standardized approaches to social work education between Higher Education Institutes and Local Authorities across a UK region. Highlighted is how the project utilized a six-stage strategy designed to gather information to produce an evidence-base to support the implementation of a pilot practitioner secondment arrangement. The paper discusses strategies used to gather information from a range of stakeholders to inform the project, the project outcome and some considerations for future secondment arrangements. Contributing to a limited source of literature, challenges and limitations of developing formal secondment arrangements and delivering practitioner-led education in Higher Education Institutes are highlighted. This paper will assist Higher Education Institutes and Local Authorities in the design and implementation of formal secondment arrangements where these are identified as in need of development.     

The field of graduate recruitment: leading financial and consultancy firms and elite class formation

The symbolic value of being recruited by a high status multinational company likely represents an important marker of distinction. For the first time, a unique Destinations of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE) data‐set is used here to model entry to elite multinational company in finance, accountancy and consultancy sectors among graduates of different social origins, universities, degree subjects and with different degree classifications. From a sample of 11,755 graduates working across these three sectors, we examine what predicts entry to 31 leading firms and then examine pay hierarchies among the 3,260 graduates working for these companies using random‐effects models. At first glance, significantly, we find that elite recruits come from a much broader range of universities than might be imagined. However, a closer look at the highest paid graduates within these firms reveals more familiar patterns of social and institutional stratification. We argue that these patterns likely reflect the nature of work undertaken by graduates in these elite firms, with institutional and social origins of graduates differing according to the particular track taken in what are likely to be highly differentiated graduate recruitment schemes.     

少数民族高等教育机会的城乡差异研究

我国少数民族学生的高等教育入学机会存在显著的城乡差异,农村少数民族学生高等教育机会获得的数量和质量都要低于城市少数民族学生：较之汉族,少数民族高等教育入学机会的城乡差异程度更为明显,反映了少数民族群体内部入学机会的城乡分化甚于汉族群体。分析我国少数民族群体内部高等教育入学机会的城乡分化状况及其成因发现,城乡教育机会的差异不是单纯的教育问题,其背后隐藏的是我国城乡二元分割的社会结构以及与此相关的一系列政治、经济、文化、教育等制度性和现实性的分离。农村少数民族学生受经济、文化、教育等多方面因素的制约,成为我国实现高等教育机会均等的最薄弱环节之一,亟待引起重视。     

The making of an egalitarian elite: school ethos and the production of privilege

Research on privilege and education often focuses on institutions that are elite in a rather traditional way, for example schools that instruct the children of the upper classes according to a reproductive logic that reinforces existing inequalities. The present article addresses the fostering of advantage from the angle of a more ambiguous case. The Global College, a municipal Swedish upper secondary school specialized in environmental issues and global justice, offers an empirical prism for discussing the cultivation of elite identification through the formative potential of an egalitarian ethos. The relation between ethics and class is examined, not only in terms of how moral stands are classed, but also by investigating into the productive capacities of such orientation. Through extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the study unfolds how a possible tension between egalitarianism and elitism resolves into a productive relation whereby the students’ incarnation of ethico‐political ideals becomes a means for developing agency, confidence, entrepreneurial skills and an overall sense of ease.