Search

Reports on a consultative paper submitted by the British government on the education and training needs of the 16-18 year old age group to local authorities, teacher associations and employer and trade union organizations. Issues on which debate is needed.

Discusses changes in the educational policy for 14-19 year-old students which began in 1980 in Great Britain. Description of the 14-19 education and training system; Organization and funding structure; Stages of development of a national 14-19 education system; Establishment of a national qualifications framework; Expectations and planning for the 14-19 phase education.

Background and Aims If socio-economic disadvantage is associated with more adolescent smoking, but less participation in tertiary education, and smoking and tertiary education are both associated with heavier drinking, these may represent opposing pathways to heavy drinking. This paper examines contextual variation in the magnitude and direction of these associations. Design Comparing cohort studies. Setting United Kingdom. Participants Participants were from the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS58; n = 15 672), the British birth cohort study (BCS70; n = 12 735) and the West of Scotland Twenty-07 1970s cohort (T07; n = 1515). Measurements Participants self-reported daily smoking and weekly drinking in adolescence (age 16 years) and heavy drinking (> 14/21 units in past week) in early adulthood (ages 22-26 years). Parental occupational class (manual versus non-manual) indicated socio-economic background. Education beyond age 18 was coded as tertiary. Models were adjusted for parental smoking and drinking, family structure and adolescent psychiatric distress. Findings Respondents from a manual class were more likely to smoke and less likely to enter tertiary education (e.g. in NCDS58, probit coefficients were 0.201 and -0.765, respectively; P < 0.001 for both) than respondents from a non-manual class. Adolescent smokers were more likely to drink weekly in adolescence (0.346; P < 0.001) and more likely to drink heavily in early adulthood (0.178; P < 0.001) than adolescent non-smokers. Respondents who participated in tertiary education were more likely to drink heavily in early adulthood (0.110 for males, 0.182 for females; P < 0.001 for both) than respondents with no tertiary education. With some variation in magnitude, these associations were consistent across all three cohorts. Conclusions In Britain, young adults are more likely to drink heavily both if they smoke and participate in tertiary education (college and university) despite socio-economic background being associated in opposite directions with these risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines a study which investigated the experience of six male adolescent refugees during their transfer and adaptation to a secondary school in the UK. The research used a qualitative design. The approach adopted was Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The data generated three superordinate themes which reflected the participants’ sense of being in need of help during the early stages of their transfer, their process of adapting to school and developing a sense of belonging in this context, and their overriding need for safety. These themes are explored in relation to existing research and implications for practice are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

strong negative correlation is often found between schooling and teenage childbearing. The question at the center of this research is whether this correlation represents a causal relation. This paper uses changes in compulsory schooling laws in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to purge schooling estimates of biases resulting from individual-specific error components correlated with education. The results suggest that increased schooling does appear to reduce the incidence of teenage childbearing. Moreover, the results serve to highlight an important change in the impact of schooling on teenage childbearing following the legislation on contraception in the late 1960s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media is lauded as a powerful tool for informal learning, and a tool of choice for teenagers. This paper reports on the findings of a survey of 384 secondary school pupils in the UK (aged 11-17) over a 12 week period. Our findings indicate a pervasiveness of social media usage amongst this age group, hut variety in the types of engagement and selfreported importance of social media. Usage of social media for learning is dominated by logistical task support (for example, clarifying instructions) and heavily focused around homework activities. However, it appears that this provides a context for deeper engagement and learning around those homework activities. Our findings indicate that social media is being used by this age group to support their learning, but that there is still great untapped potential both in terms of the range of activities discussed, and the number of pupils engaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this empirical study was to explore the extent and the determinants of management accounting practices' (MAPs) adoption in UK universities. In this vein, the current study serves as a 'stock-take', first reference study for future studies investigating the effects and impact of HE funding changes on accounting systems and practices in universities. In order to contribute to understanding the determinants of MAPs' adoption in the UK HE sector, a theoretical framework consisting of contingency theory, institutional theory and particular organisational attributes was adopted. A questionnaire survey was distributed to all 125 UK universities, of which eventually fifty-nine fully completed questionnaires, which represents 47% of all UK universities, were collected. Almost all institutions have implemented MAPs relating to cost determination and financial control, and information for management planning and control. The regression analysis concludes in a final model, which includes only seven of the initial twenty-nine variables. Prospector strategy orientation, innovative culture, trialability, mimetic and normative institutional factors and type of university are determined as the predictors of enhanced MAPs in UK universities. The findings of the current study are useful for consideration when looking into adopting new management accounting practices at Higher Education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There is some evidence that vocabulary intervention is effective for children, although further research is needed to confirm the impact of intervention within contexts of social disadvantage. Very little is known about the effectiveness of interventions to increase adolescent knowledge of cross-curriculum words. Aims To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention programme designed to develop adolescents' knowledge of cross-curriculum words. Methods & Procedures Participants were 35 adolescents aged between 12 and 14 years who were at risk of educational underachievement with low scores on a range of assessments. Participants received a 10-week intervention programme in small groups, targeting 10 cross-curriculum words (e.g., 'summarize'). This was evaluated using a bespoke outcome measure (the Word Knowledge Profile). The study involved an AABA design, with a repeated baseline, delayed intervention cohort and blind assessment. Intervention included both semantic and phonological information about the target words and involved the adolescents using the words in multiple contexts. Outcomes & Results Results were promising and participants' knowledge of the targeted words significantly increased following intervention. Progress was demonstrated on the Word Knowledge Profile on the item requiring participants to define the word (for the summer intervention group only). This increase in depth of knowledge was seen on taught words but not on matched non-taught words. Conclusions & Implications Cross-curriculum words are not consistently understood by adolescents at risk of low educational attainment within a low socio-economic context. A 10-week intervention programme resulted in some increases to the depth of knowledge of targeted cross-curriculum words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on calls to raise the minimum age for leaving school in Great Britain. An overview of the laws and systems established for required school attendance for teenagers is given in both a contemporary and historical context. The author asserts that such a change in the educational system would be both more complex and more time consuming than its general advocates would admit. Additional issues surrounding the underlying problem of youth educational motivation are mentioned, citing the need to advocate among young people the need for educational services rather than simply raising the required minimum limits.

The primary aim of this study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, was to identify the nature and influence of school-based factors in the choices of young people about their post-16 education, training and career pathways. The study also contributes to the wider understanding of 'choice', and identifies implications for the development of careers education and guidance and decision-making awareness amongst pupils and students in schools. It also further enhances the modelling of pupil decision making in education and training markets, and in labour markets. The research is based on a series of qualitative interviews in 24 schools across nine local education authorities. Focus groups were undertaken with young people in years 10, 11 and 12. Interviews were also conducted with head teachers, heads of year and heads of careers. A postal survey of parents was also undertaken. Four key school-based factors were found to have a very strong influence in the choices and decisions of young people about their post-16 education, training and career pathways. These were: whether the school had a sixth form or not; the characteristics of school leadership, ethos and values; the socio-economic status (SES) of the schools' catchment; and the organisation and delivery of careers education and guidance at the school level. In the main, high SES schools see themselves as developing pupils for academic university careers, while low SES schools maintain a rather stronger commitment to vocational pathways. The academic ethos of schools offers a very powerful influence on post-16 choices and decisions of pupils. The usual interventions put in place to influence choices and decisions appear to have greater impact in schools with a less robust academic vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Physical Education Review is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Identifying ways to increase and sustain active living among young people represents a priority for health promotion interventions. This qualitative study explored the experiences of adolescent boys and girls in the United Kingdom (aged 14-15 years) who had made the transition from inactivity to active participation in physical education (PE). The setting was a secondary school that had modified the PE programme, with the aim of increasing participation rates. Thirty-one, serf-identified, formerly 'PE adverse' students were interviewed in focus groups in the school setting. Previously, respondents felt that they had been constructed as physically marginal individuals. Having a physically 'marginal body' was perceived as being detrimental to emotional health. The new PE resulted in respondents possessing a performing and achieving physical identity. Boys gained a sense of security in their physical identity and cultural change had removed the aggression from interacting with other physically active peers. Girls spoke of increased self-confidence, including acquiring the psychological resources to participate in community-based activities. Effective health promotion interventions for inactive adolescents are likely to move beyond solely endorsing the benefits of physical activity or increasing choice and instead address the potential emotional risks and value of participation from the adolescents' perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on 14-19 educational reform and training in Great Britain. The government commissioned an independent report on the future of this education, the Tomlinson Working Group which, in October 2004, recommended the establishment of a multi-level diploma system as a new framework for post-14 learning. this article we will argue that if the Tomlinson proposals are to spearhead a movement out of a medium participation system, then not only will they have to be accepted in full but also immediately reinforced by the creation of a more collaborative institutional framework and, in the longer term, by significant reform of the youth labour market and the role employers play in 14-19 education and training.

Highlights a study which discussed young people who left post-16 education prematurely or switched courses in Great Britain. Education of teenagers in Great Britain; Method; Design; Results; Role of career education and guidance.