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There has been an increasing effort to deliver Education in Emergencies (EiE) from the international community since the 1990s because of protracted humanitarian situations. Despite the growing attention to EiE, many children in conflict-affected situations miss schooling without having the opportunity to receive a second chance education (SCE), or voice their perspectives on this situation. Given the gaps within EiE, this paper focuses on the largely overlooked issue of out-of-school children and young people resulting from conflict, and potential for an SCE. Based on 23 life story interviews conducted in Rwanda, it examines how learners in post-genocide Rwanda made sense of the complex education journey that they undertook and their motivations for an SCE. The research demonstrates various motivations, including both intrinsic and extrinsic, using self-determination theory. It provides learners' perspectives on education that are currently missing in the EiE field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented for the featured articles within the March 2014 issue, focusing on schooling in African countries, including contributions by Shoko Yamada, Christine Smith Ellison, and Roger Jeffery.

This paper asks whether education is a viable route to better livelihoods and social inclusion for children living in poor urban areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It uses qualitative interviews with 36 students aged 11-16, living in slum and middle-class areas, and also draws on data from a larger, mixed-methods study to provide context. Many children from slums are excluded altogether from education, while others are incorporated into the system but on unfavourable terms. The paper identifies three principal ways in which this adverse incorporation can happen: through differential access to different types and quality of school; through obstacles that prevent children from poorer households from progressing through the system and reaching higher levels; and through subordinate power relations in the school, embodied in systems of assessment, labelling of students and discipline. These are likely to limit the potential for education to be a socially transformative institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many efforts to implement and improve school inspections have been modelled on examples from high-income countries, and many studies on the effectiveness of such systems have also only been carried out in these countries. However, local contexts in low- and middle-income countries are very different from those in developed countries, and findings about the effectiveness of school inspections from Western studies are therefore not easily transferable to low- and middle-income countries. Existing literature portrays complex and varied links amongst governance context, policy, design of accountability systems, mechanisms of impact and school outcomes that make translation of conditions across studies challenging. This paper presents the results of a systematic review about the conditions under which school inspections lead to improvement in schools and to positive learning outcomes for schoolchildren in low- and middle-income countries, especially the poorest and most marginalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper uses data from a household survey of three rural communities and interviews in the Mfantseman Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana to investigate the costs incurred by households that choose either fee-free public schools or low-fee private schools. The paper shows that both provisions impose costs that place those with lower household incomes at a disadvantage since the poorest cannot afford the costs for several children. Although fee-free public education has led to the elimination of payments such as tuition, exams and extra classes fees, other direct costs such as feeding and school uniform consume a large part of the household expenditure on education for the poor. Low-fee for profit private schools remain out of reach and are not affordable by the poorest. The paper concludes that fee-free public schooling still leaves households with significant costs, which constitute a barrier to access for children from poor households. The findings indicate the need for the government of Ghana, and those other countries with similar circumstances, to develop and implement policies that are pro-poor and ensure that there are no costs to the poorest households since this is the only way all children will enjoy a full cycle of basic education as mandated by commitments to Education for All. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In countries that embraced democracy after the fall of communism, education became a particular focus for policy change, particularly within their citizenship programmes. Schools that had been used to inculcate obedience to and unfailing support for authoritarian regimes were now being required to adopt citizenship programmes incorporating democratic values. This paper reports a study in Malawi that explored the school as a location where democratic citizenship is practiced. Using a multiple case study approach in three different kinds of secondary schools to explore students’ participation in school affairs, the study found that different forms of participation were being encouraged, with each school apparently socialising students to distinctive kinds of citizenship roles. The paper highlights a conflict between democratic values and traditional roles of schools leading to new and hybrid school cultures. Providing scope for student voice to be heard can lead to tensions and paradoxical practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the findings of an international comparative research project where the roles of teachers in the implementation of inclusive education in mainstream-classroom settings in South Africa and Finland were investigated. Inclusive education within this project is broadly defined as welcoming all students to general-education schools and classrooms and not segregating students on the basis of ability or other individual or sociocultural characteristics. In this paper a qualitative analysis of Finnish and South African teachers’ day-to-day teaching and learning support practices in their classroom is discussed. Individual and focus-group interviews encouraged teachers to articulate their views in this regard. Initial findings indicate that despite the dissimilar cultural and historical contexts of these two countries, both complex contextual issues and classroom practices based on a medical-deficit understanding of diverse educational needs play a role in Finnish and South African classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the methodology adopted for Malta+5, which builds on Robin Alexander's work by comparing the five pedagogical cultures he studied to the one in Malta. It reflects critically on the research process adopted in this study, and shows how, despite the very limited experience and resources, applying the methodology, frameworks and learning from Culture and Pedagogy to the Maltese context, enriched this study, by giving it a comparative and international dimension that it would otherwise be lacking. It also analyses the compromises that had to be made, the challenges encountered and, the pitfalls the author attempted to avoid while conducting the study. An exposition of the data gathered shows that the methodology adopted enabled the researcher, an insider, to better understand the pedagogical culture in which he is immersed. It is predominantly teacher-based, solidly underpinned by segmented-collectivism and encourages uniformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the context of a monocultural and monolingual education system, this paper seeks to explore and compare the experiences of Cypriot and non-Cypriot pupils in Greek-Cypriot primary schools with culturally diverse pupil populations. The concept of multiculturalism has been introduced only very recently in Cyprus and there has been little research on pupils' experience and understanding of multiculturalism. Using a narrative approach, this inquiry seeks to provide an understanding of the experience of studying in multicultural primary school classrooms. The pupils of two classrooms, aged between 10 and 12, describe their experience through terms such as new knowledge, religion, language, racism and stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on the implications of early-tracking education systems has not specifically focused on how studying in academic and non-academic tracks shapes the features and characteristics of shadow education (private tutoring) that students are involved in. The study compares the scale and features of private tutoring and the underlying factors of its reception among lower-secondary students in the two tracks. Analysing a representative sample of 1,280 senior grade students, the study found significant differences in scale, subjects and reasons for tutoring during their lower-secondary studies, which may partly explain the prevailing gaps in between-track student achievements. Early tracking is likely to contribute to increasing the overall scale of PT by introducing selective entrance examinations, which nurture the demand for PT. While parental education, books at home, city size and educational aspirations were significant predictors of private tutoring for regular-track students, they were insignificant for academic-track students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores Greek primary school teachers’ perceptions and views on pupil diversity in the classroom environment. A large-scale survey was carried out in order to examine teachers’ perceptions about pupil diversity and to identify personal and/or educational characteristics that can influence or predict these perceptions. The outcomes of the study reveal that Greek primary school teachers view diversity as a challenge more than as a barrier in teaching and learning, they can recognise at a high level the key elements of differentiated instruction as part of managing pupil diversity in their class and hold a negative-to-neutral stance on traditional curriculum implementation practices. The most influential factors and predictors of these perceptions and views are also presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An abstract of the research degree paper "Education, poverty and culture in Ghana 1991-2010," by Caine Rolleston, is presented.

We utilised four waves of TIMSS data in addition to the information we have collected on countries’ educational systems to examine whether different degrees of standardisation, differentiation, proportion of students in private schools and governmental spending on education influence students’ math achievement, its variation and socioeconomic status (SES) gaps in math achievement. A higher level of standardisation of educational systems was associated with higher average math achievement. Greater expenditure on education (as a percentage of total government expenditure) was associated with a lower level of dispersion of math achievement and smaller SES gaps in math achievement. Wealthier countries exhibited higher average math achievement and a narrower variation. Higher income inequality (measured by the Gini index) was associated with a lower average math achievement and larger SES gaps. Further, we found that a higher level of standardisation alleviates the negative effects of differentiation in the systems with more rigid tracking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines ethical and philosophical considerations intheory translation, i.e. translating a theoretical framework from its original place to another national context. Critical race theory (CRT) was developed in the United States through significant struggle in order to analyze everyday racism. Marginalized groups have historically shared postcolonial critiques, conceptualizations of social justice, and methods for mass resistance across national borders. Through an analysis of the literature on CRT and contemporary India, this article explores whether CRT’s principles and methodology can be employed to research discrimination within India’s school system. Can CRT be sensitive to the differences in context and still retain its philosophical center? This analysis reveals that CRT may be particularly helpful in highlighting the educational discrimination experienced by Dalits via use of CRT’ssocial construction thesisto conceptualize caste andintersectionalityto understand caste’s relationship to gender and class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various terms have been used to define civic education (CE) in Hong Kong since the colonial era. This has been particularly true since 2011, when CE has been given many names, causing confusion among educators. Mixed methods were employed to examine teachers’ perceptions of different conceptions of CE expressed as moral, civic and national education. The findings indicate that some teachers might not be able to differentiate among moral education, CE and national education. Most teachers contended that national education should be included in CE, while others believed the opposite. Teachers perceived that moral and civic education was more successful than moral and national education in cultivating students to become ‘good citizens’. Teachers’ comprehension of these terms has policy and pedagogical implications. While the study is set within the context of Hong Kong, the findings are valuable to policymakers and educators in other countries seeking to improve CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many parts of the world, shadow education has become a major enterprise. Such is the case of the countries of the former Eastern Bloc, including the Czech Republic, which is in scope of this article. The study analyses the Internet supply of private tutoring lessons in academic subjects and assesses the micro- and macro-factors influencing the offered lesson price as set by private tutors. Based on the quantitative content analysis of 2058 individual tutor profiles advertising online, the author found a very unequal distribution of tutors within the country and a considerable proportion of mainstream schoolteachers acting as private lesson providers. The higher the formal education and age of the tutor, the higher the price they offer per lesson. Male tutors set higher prices than female tutors, and tutoring in foreign languages is generally more expensive than in any other subject. The results suggest that the features of private tutoring supply have implications for equity in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comparative analysis investigates the influence of neo-liberal and inclusive discourses in 'special' education policy-making in New South Wales, Scotland, Finland and Malaysia. The centrality of competition, selectivity and accountability in the discourses used in New South Wales and Malaysia suggests a system preference for neo-liberal solutions to education policy problems. The focus on excellence with equity, together with proactive approaches to student support in Scotland and Finland, however, is representative of a more interventionist government approach grounded in social democracy. It is argued that an inclusive approach is conducive to the achievement of both excellence and equity in students' learning outcomes, whereas countries that have pursued market-driven models involving competition for places in selective institutions tend to have poorer educational outcomes and wider levels of inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the 1980s and 1990s, governments around the world began to champion ‘parental choice’ over schooling. Much of the existing scholarship has been based on examples taken from the global North. In such settings, where nuclear families are common, a major theme has been the privileged educational strategies and outcomes of middle-class families. Yet this South African study gives attention to gender and family dynamics in helping to explain and understand the large number of schoolchildren travelling to attend historically better-funded schools. It argues that in a setting where the nuclear family accounts for a minority of households, it is necessary to distinguish between thefinancingof a child’s education and the socialorganization of schooling, including the caring of the child. It contributes to two literatures. First, to Western-centred educational choice literature that has tended to overemphasise nuclear families; second, to South African literature, which is yet to adequately bring into the same analytical frame the marketisation of education and gendered family dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

School management in many sub-Saharan African countries has been enhanced through community participation in an attempt to improve education quality. This study uses field research in a rural district of Malawi to assess how community and parent participation differs between schools, the intentions of communities and parents when carrying out activities in schools, and the mechanism promoting active participation in schools. In high-achieving schools, but not in low-achieving schools, communities and parents were actively involved in events aimed at improving student achievement. Communities and parents considered most highly prioritised activities that directly influenced student achievement, including hiring volunteer teachers, arranging extra classes and holding mock examinations. Community participation did not directly improve student achievement. Instead, when communities and parents actively participated in a school, school management improved, ensuring better student achievement. The implications of this finding are discussed in relation to community participation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing on data from a larger study on Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and School Leadership in China, this article investigates the practices of teacher collaboration and PLCs in two urban, high-performing secondary schools in Northeast China. Qualitative data were collected from observations, documents and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 participants. The findings reveal that intentionally arranged organisational structures support teacher professional learning and collective inquiry. Collaborative teams in two schools are characterised by genuine collegiality, promoting disciplined collaboration and shared responsibility, which is different from contrived collegiality imposed on teachers. Professional learning is ongoing, supported and fully integrated into the culture and operation of the school system. Emotional bonds, trust and an inclusive school culture contribute to genuine collegiality. These learning communities establish a system of focused collaboration, peer mentoring and collective responsibility, which leads to improved teaching and student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article compares the existing single-strategy approach towards the teaching of early literacy in schools in rural Cambodia with a multiple-strategy approach introduced as part of a reading intervention programme. Classroom observations, questionnaires and in-depth interviews with teachers were used to explore teachers’ practices and attitudes. Research was also conducted into the nature of the Khmer language. These preparations informed the design of the programme implemented in 127 rural schools. The success of the intervention was evaluated through classroom observations and a survey of teachers. Pupils’ reading was assessed in a sample of the intervention schools and compared with a sample of pupils in schools without the intervention. Results showed that most teachers in Cambodia use a one-strategy approach to teaching reading but that reading competence remains poor. In comparison, the assessment of pupils following the training of teachers in a multiple-strategy approach showed a marked improvement in their reading. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A School Management Committee (SMC) is an administrative tool adopted in many developing countries to decentralise administrative and financial responsibilities at school level, while involving local people in decision-making and making education more responsive to demands. I question the assumption linking administrative decentralisation and popular participation. There is a long-lasting tradition in Africa of schools built and run through local initiatives, even in the absence of governmental education services. Instead of seeing SMCs as a means to promote community participation and evaluating its effectiveness, I investigate people’s motivation to commit to education and the social dynamics beyond the institutionalised framework of SMCs. I also shed light on factors that cause differences in the extent and form of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The introduction of universal primary education in sub-Sahara African countries in the 1990s increased enrolment rates and provided opportunities to children who were previously not in school. Research demonstrates that eliminating fees is not the magic bullet that delivers universal access. This study seeks to determine risk factors associated with dropout among primary school children in the low-income areas of Nairobi. Qualitative data is from the Education Research Program, collected between June and July 2008. The study found that: dumpsites in the two slum sites of Korogocho and Viwandani lure children out of school; school levies still charged in schools keep children out of school; and chronic poverty within families lure girls aged 14-16 into transactional sex. In conclusion, the declaration of free primary education is not sufficient to realize improved educational attainment as dropout after initial entry negates the purpose for which it was introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]