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This paper reports on the social factors influencing the learning of two cohorts of school students and their experience of compulsory secondary education in a city in southern England - the secondary schooling phase of a 12-year, longitudinal ethnographic study that also tracked the same children's experiences through primary schooling. We embed our report of secondary school findings within the theoretical models and understandings generated by the Identity and Learning Programme as a whole. The paper addresses three key issues. First, we trace how social influences on learning broaden as young people develop through adolescence, and illustrate why viewing learning as social activity is so important. Second, we discuss evolving processes of social differentiation in relation to gender and social class. We draw particular attention to the dangers of over-simplified models of social reproduction. Finally, we review an analysis of strategic action and identities, contrasting the differentiated experience of young people attending independent and selective schools compared with those attending non-selective comprehensive schools. Overall, this analysis seeks to complement studies of differentiated educational outcomes by suggesting possible social processes that could help to account for them. The Identity and Learning Programme, both in its secondary phase and as a whole, shows clearly how individual agency enables young people to cope with their circumstances. However, in so doing, they both reproduce elements of constraint/opportunity and construct others anew. This has significant implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the possible impact of market forces on educational attainment in secondary schools in England and Wales. One of the main arguments made by market advocates in favour of extending programmes of school choice was that this would drive up standards. However, despite 12 years of relevant experience in the UK, it remains very difficult to test this claim. This paper examines some practical difficulties before presenting three possible models for considering changes in educational standards over time. The results are inconclusive, possibly even contradictory. The measures, such as GCSE and A levels, extending back to 1988 and beyond, have clearly increased in prevalence. In terms of these measures, students from state-funded education have also reduced the 'gap' relative to those from fee-paying institutions. However, it is not clear that either of these developments is market related. In addition, there is no evidence yet that these improvements indicate any breakage in the strong link between the socio-economic background of students and their school outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gorard and Fitz have used an index to examine the segregation of pupils eligible for free school meals in Wales and England. They suggest that secondary schools have become less segregated since the quasi-market reforms. This paper describes two segregation indices, the index used by Gorard and Fitz and a version of the index of isolation, suggesting that the latter is a more appropriate measure of segregation. Data are then presented relating to English secondary schools from 1994 to 1999. The analysis shows a significant increase in segregation during that period using either measure of segregation. While it is possible that this increase is from a lower baseline than the level of segregation prior to the reforms, the findings suggest that in the late 1990s there has been a consistent rise in the average level of segregation in English local education authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on school choice and the extent to which admissions to publicly-funded secondary schools in England address issues of equity and social justice. It argues that schools with responsibility for their own admissions are more likely than others to act in their own self interest by ‘selecting in’ or ‘creaming’ particular pupils and ‘selecting out’ others. Given this, it is argued that individual schools should not be responsible for admissions. Instead, admissions should be the responsibility of a local authority (or non-partisan body); this body should make decisions about who should be allocated to which school on the basis of the expressed wishes of the parents, and the admissions criteria of the school in question. Admissions criteria should be objective, clear and fair and the admissions system itself should address issues of equity and social justice. It is argued that systems where there are some ‘controls’ on the choice process should be facilitated to address equity and social justice considerations which can benefit individuals and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the system of banding used in England by the former Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) in order to seek to obtain an intake to secondary schools that was balanced in terms of ability. The first part of the paper provides a brief history of the system of banding, how it was informed by verbal reasoning testing and how it was subsequently based on the results of a specially constructed reading test. The second part of the paper examines the extent of banding after the abolition of the ILEA. Whilst LEA-wide banding is currently only used by three LEAs, many schools in inner London that are responsible for their own admissions (i.e. voluntary-aided and foundation schools) have introduced banding. The problems associated with banding at a school level are discussed and it is argued that banding at the level of the LEA is likely to be more equitable, more transparent and more likely to reduce social segregation; in addition, there is some evidence to suggest that the ILEA banding system resulted in a higher percentage of parents achieving their stated first preference school than more recent admissions policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Poetry Research Project 1998 continues work begun in 1982 which analysed the practice of secondary school teachers when teaching poetry and their attitudes towards it. Then some 170 teachers in a single Local Education Authority (LEA) completed a lengthy questionnaire and a number were interviewed. The information gained by this means highlighted both good practice and a number of problem areas which teachers encountered. Sixteen years after that first survey, and following considerable change in the teaching of English and of poetry as a result of such initiatives as the National Curriculum, the survey was repeated with a group of over one hundred teachers from the same LEA. This, the first of two papers, reports mainly on teachers' attitudes to poetry, particularly the reading, writing and discussion of poetry and upon their concerns. The second paper, to be published in the Oxford Review of Education, March 2000, considers the effects of the National Curriculum, of SATs and of changes in examinations at 16+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Grouping students into classes by ability on a subject-by-subject basis, also known as setting, is a common practice in many educational systems. An important issue is therefore the way in which setting decisions are made. While educators and policy-makers favouring setting claim that ability or achievement is the sole criterion used, critics counter that there is a tendency for factors such as pupils' socio-economic status background, gender and ethnicity to influence teachers' setting decisions. Purpose: This paper aims to examine the extent to which factors other than prior achievement influence setting decisions in England. In particular, we wish to study both schools' declared policies on setting and what data may reveal as to predictors of which set pupils will be placed in at year 7, the first year of secondary school. Research questions are therefore: (1) what factors do teachers say influence setting decisions in their schools; and (2) what variables are significant predictors of set membership of students? Sample: To test these hypotheses, we conducted a survey of schools and analysed national datasets. Twelve Local Authorities (LAs) in England were selected on a purposive basis to represent areas of ethnic diversity and social disadvantage. Within these LAs, 100 secondary schools were randomly sampled and contacted with a request to complete a survey consisting of questions on whether the schools set, how setting decisions were made, how often sets were reviewed and which pupils were in which sets (using Unique Pupil Numbers). In total, 44 surveys were returned completed. Methods: Data from the questionnaires was linked to data from the National Pupil Database. Pupil level analyses were conducted using statistical tests and multinomial logistic regression models in which set membership was regressed on prior attainment (National Curriculum Test Scores at the end of primary school), social background, special educational needs (SEN) status, ethnicity and gender. Results: In the survey, schools indicated that setting decisions were based on prior attainment and ability. Results showed that prior attainment was indeed the main predictor of the probability of being assigned to a particular set for both English and mathematics. However, although mentioned by respondents as being the main factor in their decisions regarding setting along with ability, it was a relatively poor predictor. Social background (as measured through ACORN categories and free school meals eligibility) and SEN were also significant predictors of probability of set assignment. Conclusion: These findings suggest that over and above the effect of attainment, pupils with no SEN and pupils from higher socio-economic status backgrounds are more likely to be assigned to higher sets and less likely to be assigned to lower sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with segregation and school selectivity in secondary schools with a religious character in London, England. Analyses of the characteristics of pupils at religious and non-religious schools reveal that the former tend to cater predominantly for pupils from particular religions and/or denominations and ethnic groups, so fostering segregation. In addition, they educate, in the main, pupils who are from more affluent backgrounds and with higher levels of prior attainment than pupils in non-religious schools. Moreover, the evidence suggests that some 'elite' secondary schools are 'selecting in' and 'selecting out' particular pupils. A range of different admissions criteria and practices are identified which appear to foster school selectivity. It is argued that there may have been a distortion of mission for at least some religious schools given that they were originally set up to educate the poor. Implications for policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encouraging pupils to develop a sense of European identity is one of the implicit aims of the ‘European Schools’. This paper reports on a small case study that was carried out in 2004 that investigated how the European School at Culham attempts to develop in its pupils a sense of European identity. In particular, the study looked at the secondary school’s organizational features, its curriculum, extra-curricular activities and teachers’ conceptions of European identity. The research findings reveal that above all else, pupils’ sense of European identity is encouraged indirectly through the many opportunities the school provides for these children from diverse European backgrounds to integrate and interact with one another. Teachers at the school believe that it is through such interactions, which take place both in the classroom and through extra-curricular activities, that pupils learn about each others’ cultures and languages and develop a feeling of being European. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the discourses of morality drawn on by secondary school teachers in England to describe their attitudes to pupils' developing sexual identities. Although teachers recognized their own formative role in the sexual socialization of pupils and identified homophobic attitudes among boys, they were ambivalent about how far they could intervene in homophobic bulling in school. However, they failed even to recognize the widespread misogynistic bullying of girls by boys as a problem. Teachers expressed anxieties about girls' ownership of sexual knowledge and sexual agency while perceiving boys to be sexually immature and less ‘responsible’. We explore possible reasons for teachers' neglect of misogynistic bullying and their labelling of girls as sexually precocious. We argue that the discourses shaping teachers' attitudes to sexual morality and sex education were largely embedded in a form of liberal individualism that impeded them from confronting the structurally reproduced relations of gender domination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By linking information from a number of databases, it was possible to investigate some factors that influence the relative progress of pupils from age 14 to age 16 attending comprehensive schools from two English Local Education Authorities (LEAs). In particular, the characteristics of the neighbourhood that the school was located in and the quality of teaching were included in the models. It was found that the quality of teaching was better in neighbourhoods of low child poverty. In addition, it was found that child poverty was also related to relative progress over Key Stage 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on research with a group of one‐year Postgraduate Certificate in Education secondary trainee teachers during their initial teacher education and training in England. It considers tensions between trainees’ prior experiences and conceptions of teaching and their training programme. In doing so, it seeks to examine how a trainee’s dispositions as revealed through practice in various contexts are reflective of Bourdieu’s ‘habitus’. Associated with this, the paper also examines how particular forms of pre‐existing cultural capital and manifestations of biographical identity also pre‐dispose trainees to form affinities and disaffinities within particular fields. Lacanian concepts of the symbolic, imaginary and real are used to help explain how trainee teachers articulate resonance and dissonance during their field experiences, particularly in relation to ontological concerns of securing a professional stable sense of self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates the research study on the effect of religious and state schools on the moral education of English secondary school students. Four scales derived to measure general religious attitudes, specific Catholic and Jewish beliefs and secular morality; Role of religion as a partner to normative values; Measure of secular moral attitudes; Results of the study and discussion.

Background:This article considers the impact of pupils studying for entry-level qualifications on their intentions of remaining in education. Such qualifications are intended to re-engage young people who are performing below expected levels and give them the opportunity to learn at a pace that suits them. Purpose:This article specifically attempts to estimate the impact of entry-level qualifications on a group of 14–16-year-olds approaching the end of compulsory schooling in England. The central research questions addressed in this article were; how do the aspirations and post-16 destinations of young people who have taken such qualifications compare with other similar young people who have taken more traditional qualifications, and is there any evidence of such qualifications being beneficial to those young people with lower levels of prior attainment? Sample:Roughly 10,000 students surveyed longitudinally within the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). Design and methods:Initial data regarding the aspirations of young people was collected from the young people at age 13 or 14 in 2004. Details of the qualifications studied and achieved over the next two years were then collected from the National Pupil Database (NPD). At the end of two years, information regarding their aspirations was collected again. Data collections in subsequent years detailed whether young people had actually continued in education after the end of compulsory schooling at age 16. Multilevel modelling was used to examine the relationship between the qualifications studied by young people and their subsequent aspirations and destinations. Results:Overall, there were no differences between the outcomes of young people taking entry-level qualifications and similar young people who did not. However, the models revealed a statistically significant interaction between taking entry-level qualifications and prior attainment, suggesting a positive association between such qualifications and outcomes for those with low levels of prior attainment. Conclusions:There is some evidence that entry-level qualifications may be useful in re-engaging low-achieving young people in education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Values continue to play an integral part in education across the globe, but the importance of teachers’ personal values is often overlooked (Klein, M.B., New teaching and teacher issues, Nova Science Publishers Inc., 2006; Aspin, D.N., and J.D. Chapman, eds, Values education and lifelong learning: Principles, policies, programmes, Springer, 2007). It has been argued that teachers need explicit opportunities to reflect on their own personal and professional values to enable them to model what they ask of their students with integrity (Palmer, P.J., The courage to teach, Jossey Bass, 1998; Atkinson, T., and G. Claxton, The intuitive practitioner, Open University Press, 2000). Professional development is still often narrowly defined within the bounds of skills and competencies. However, discussion of values could help contribute to professional development by building teacher commitment and resilience. Objective: The purpose of this research was to explore the intrinsic values of secondary school professionals and the publicly espoused values of the educational systems in which they work. This research is the result of a two-year funded empirical study carried out by the authors in secondary schools in England. Research design: Research was undertaken in five schools in a range of educational contexts. In each school, individual conversations were undertaken with six key professionals with different roles to elicit personal constructs or values. These values were discussed within schools and formed a school's ‘values footprint’. An interschool workshop completed the data collection. Data were analysed qualitatively. Main outcomes: Qualitative analysis suggested relationships between the professional roles of the participants and predominant values themes. There were also connections between school types and predominating values. Four key themes emerged from the individual and group conversations: importance of dialogue; recognition of the importance of self-awareness; the priority of learning for life and the influence of professional roles on an individual's values focus. Conclusion: This small-scale study supports the importance of dialogue and self-awareness in professional life and ongoing professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Professional commitment from teachers requires more than contractual compliance as personal and professional values are integral to teaching practice. Secondary school teachers are expected to act as role models and demonstrate positive attributes and attitudes in an evolving educational context. Little is known about how they understand or interpret their own values, or realise the shared values that lie at the heart of a school community. Purpose: The purpose of this review is to summarise the literature relating to values that teachers hold. The review is concerned with theoretical and empirical studies in which such values are considered, and also any tensions identified between the personal values of teachers and organisational values of the schools reflected in professional practice. This scoping exercise is part of two-year funded empirical research carried out by the authors in five secondary schools in England, using data from individuals, groups and schools on the personal values of teachers and head teachers. This research explored whether these values are congruent with the organisational values schools seek to establish. Design and methods: An extensive literature review was undertaken relating to the values held by secondary school professionals. The search was restricted to more recent works (i.e. the year 2000 onwards), and was mainly UK and secondary education focused. The search was conducted using the educational database, Education Indexes on Dialog, and the Electronic Journal Service which is a database covering wider disciplines. To reach harder-to-find research reports, additional strategies were adopted including hand searching of key journals and reference to existing publication lists. The review generated over 1000 published references that were then screened to determine whether publications were based on empirical research conducted in schools, and/or helped a deeper theoretical understanding about the meaning of values. Conclusion: The review highlights the integral part values continue to play in education. This article presents a framework of understanding derived from the literary contexts in which values are discussed. There is little empirical data to support current understanding about the values that secondary teachers hold, and how these fit with the organisational values of the schools in which they work. Studies in the context of values and professionalism stress the need for dialogue and reflection so that 'implicit' values that teachers hold become explicit, and refined through practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines secondary school admissions criteria in England. The analysis revealed that in a significant minority of schools, notably those responsible for their own admissions--voluntary-aided and foundation schools--a variety of criteria were used which appear to be designed to select certain groups of pupils and so exclude others. Specialist schools were more likely than non-specialist schools to report selecting a proportion of pupils on the basis of aptitude/ability in a particular subject area but voluntary-aided/foundation schools were far more likely to select on this basis than community/voluntary-controlled schools. Criteria giving priority to children with medical/social needs were given for nearly three-quarters of schools; however, community/voluntary-controlled schools were more likely to include this as a criterion than were voluntary-aided/foundation schools. Nearly two-fifths of schools mentioned as an oversubscription criterion, pupils with special educational needs; these were predominantly community/voluntary-controlled schools as opposed to voluntary-aided/foundation schools. The evidence reported here reveals that despite attempts by the Labour Government to reform school admissions, considerable 'selection' takes place. Implications for policy are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses the issue of the downgrading of the subject of the Humanities in French and English secondary education. The author discusses the reasons behind the downgrading of the subject in the two countries. The author also illustrates that a change in the social exclusiveness of secondary education has created new forms of status differentiation which are themselves related to, and based in, changes in economic life as a whole. The author also gives the reason why this process seems rather more advanced in England than in France.