Nominal comparability is not enough: (In-)equivalence of construct validity of cross-national measures of educational attainment in the European Social Survey

Educational attainment is a core social background variable covered in each and every survey of individuals. Since educational institutions and qualifications are difficult to compare across countries, cross-national surveys pose a particular challenge to the measurement of educational attainment. This study performs a comparative construct validation of a number of cross-national measures of education using the European Social Survey. The measures comprise two versions of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), the education scheme developed in the project ‘Comparative Analysis of Social Mobility in Industrial Nations’ (CASMIN) and hypothetical as well as actual years of education. The first ISCED measure corresponds to the well-known main ISCED levels. The second one, the European Survey Version of ISCED (ES-ISCED) developed for this study, represents an effort to reflect different types of education within levels of education by considering ISCED sub-dimensions, most importantly ‘programme orientation’. Using linear regression models, it is shown how much explanatory power educational attainment loses when different cross-national variables are used, as compared to country-specific educational attainment variables (CSEVs), and how these losses vary across measures and countries. The dependent variable used for the construct validation is social status as measured by the International Socio-Economic Index (ISEI). Results suggest that harmonisation always entails some loss of explanatory power for at least a few countries. However, there are clear performance differences between the comparable measures in terms of both the average amount of losses as well as the distribution of losses across countries. The use of actual years of education as well as the levels-only ISCED strongly attenuates the education-social status association on average, but also to very different degrees across countries. CASMIN and ES-ISCED fare considerably better: they show the lowest losses of explanatory power and the lowest variation of losses across countries. Hypothetical years of education lie in between. Some practical implications are then proposed, e.g. on how to implement cross-national measures of educational attainment in international surveys.     

Changing effects of family background on transitions to secondary education in the Netherlands: Consequences of educational expansion and reform

Recent developments in educational transitions research suggest a decomposition of qualitative dimensions within educational levels that are (nearly) universal. However, research on long-term trends of social stratification in the structurally tracked educational system of the Netherlands has not been published previously. In the Netherlands, the secondary educational level is divided into four hierarchical tracks which each lead to different options for subsequent educational decisions. A rapid increase of participation in the higher tracks over time however, may have changed the background-specific distribution of early track placement. This paper improves upon previous research on educational inequality by incorporating a long-term perspective into tracking research. The secondary level of the Dutch educational system is decomposed into its four tracks, using a time frame that covers cohorts that entered secondary education between 1946 and 1998. The application of multinomial logit regressions reveals that the choice of a secondary track is strongly depending on social background features, measured as education of the parents and occupational status of the father. We found linear downward trends of effects for fathers’ occupation in the intermediate tracks for the cohorts that entered secondary education between WWII and the 90s. The effects of parental education also decrease after WWII, but the trend is curvilinear and not enduring. Unexpectedly, the effects almost reach their previous level in the youngest cohort. Our results furthermore suggest that a controversial reform of the educational system in 1968 neither triggered nor accelerated equalization of secondary education, although it resulted in a growth of participation in senior general education (HAVO).     

人口计生宣传教育为“先导”的重心和支点

宣传教育为先导的战略决策,是国家人口计生委党组书记、主任李斌同志2007年年底在河南召开全国农村人口文化建设工作现场会和在宁波市召开全国婚育新风进万家活动经验交流会上提出的重大战略思想。宣传教育为先导战略决策的提出,是在科学发展观指引下尊重思想政治工作、精神文明建设和人口计生工作客观规律,总结正反两方面工作经验教训的必然产物,是今后做好人口计生工作的元点工程。本文主要论述了为什么要先导,先什么、导什么,如何先导三个重大问题。     

台湾新移民及其子女教育现状与未来发展

台湾地区社会在政治因素、经济政策的影响与发展下,自20世纪90年代起逐渐增加与非台湾籍通婚的现象,使得台湾在人口结构上发生了巨大变化,非台湾籍配偶及其子女己在台湾地区人口结构上成为了重要的群体,新移民子女教育也成为台湾地区教育中重要环节。从总体看,对于新移民及其子女的教育和辅导主要包括语文教育、生活适应辅导和推广多元文化活动三种类型,早期比较偏重课业辅导,教育理念具有同化倾向,伴随着多元文化理念的普及,现今教育活动中加入了学习母语和祖籍文化等多元内容。     

大学生性别角色群体对同性恋态度的研究

同性恋是当今社会无法回避且必须正视的问题之一,高校校园中的同性恋状况更值得关注。对1288名大学生的调查发现,大学生中的未分化角色和双性化角色比例较高,大学生群体的性别角色与其对同性恋的态度具有一定关联性。同性恋在高校校园具有一定的比例,但大学生对同性恋的态度总体比较客观和宽容,同时也发现现有性别教育不能满足现实需要,应该通过防艾知识教育、心理健康教育、性别角色教育加强大学生的性别教育。     

通识教育与“90后”大学生社会主义核心价值观培养

通识教育作为一种全人教育,在理念、目标和内涵上与社会主义核心价值观教育存在着高度一致性,为"90后"大学生培育和践行社会主义核心价值观提供了一种新的教育理念和实践形态。为此,发挥两者的耦合效应,从课堂教学、校园文化、社会实践三个维度来深入探索促进社会主义核心价值观教育融入通识教育的途径,并着力构建培育和践行社会主义核心价值观的长效机制。     

转型期农村教育社会分层功能弱化的制度性因素

学校教育制度应该促进农村学生的向上社会流动,然而在我国社会转型过程中的教育制度以城市教育为中心,优先发展城市教育,以"市场能力"和学业成绩作为学校选拔规则,以及重点学校制度对农村学生获得高一级教育机会的制约,导致了对农村学生的"教育排斥"。教育制度的城市化、市场化、精英化取向是转型期农村教育社会分层功能弱化的制度性原因。将现阶段农村教育主要功能定位于促进农村学生城市化和社会地位升迁,确立教育制度的正义原则,实现对农村学生的"差异补偿"是解决这一问题的主要思路。     

青少年公民教育的发展脉络、现实问题与未来方向

青少年公民教育是新时期促进国家发展,增加国家实力的基本保障。由于相关概念内涵的模糊不清、推行机制的不完善等原因,导致了我国青少年公民教育的理论体系和实施体系建设的相对滞后。直至20世纪90年代以后在国际和国内环境的双重推动下。青少年公民教育才开始有了实质性的发展和推进:同时也存在着理论体系建构滞缓、教学理念混淆、课程衔接乏力、教育内容知行脱节等现实问题。构建一个适应时代发展需求,符合青少年身心发展特征。校内外有机结合的积极有效的青少年公民教育体系成为了新时期发展青少年公民教育的重要任务。     

Gaining by giving? Peer research into service user and carer perceptions of inclusivity in Higher Education

Abstract

Service users and carers (SUAC) have made significant contributions to professional training in social work courses in Higher Education (HE) over the past decade in the UK. Such participation has been championed by government, academics and SUAC groups from a range of theoretical and political perspectives. Most research into the effectiveness of SUAC involvement at HE has come from the perspectives of academics and very little SUAC-led research exists. This qualitative peer research was led by two members of the University of Worcester’s SUAC group. Findings were that SUAC perceived their involvement brought benefits to students, staff, the University and the local community. Significant personal benefits such as finding a new support network, increased self-development and greater confidence to manage their own care were identified in ways that suggested that the benefits that can flow from SUAC involvement at HE are perhaps more far-reaching than previously recognised. Barriers to inclusion were less than previously reported in the literature and the humanising effects of SUAC involvement are presented as a partial antidote to an increasingly marketised HE culture.     

高校生命教育现状与学生个性发展问题研究

生命是教育的起始点,教育的最终目标是引导鲜活的、独具个性的生命体得到其个性的充分发展。随着我国经济建设飞速发展,人们将主要精力放在有助于生存的知识和技能的获取上。在这样的背景下,高校把具有个性的生命塑造成知识的载体和社会发展的工具,学生个性特征得不到应有的发展。因此,要认清当前高校在教育理念、教育体制、教育实践等方面不尽如人意的现状,认真分析传统文化及周围环境对高校生命教育和学生个性发展产生的影响,并坚持将生命教育贯穿学生学习全过程、加强专职教师队伍建设、不断丰富生命教育的内容和形式,进一步促进学生个性发展。