Gender norms and learned practices of student teachers can influence their performance in practice, either fixing or challenging, gendered social norms and expectations. This paper shares the findings of a multi-year mixed-methods research project that explored the understandings of gender norms and experiences of students and staff within a large…

Global education agendas frequently draw on the construct of 'school readiness', indexing the developmental trajectories of children to the expectations of school systems. Through in-depth ethnographic research in a village in Bihar, India, this paper examines how normative discourses of 'school readiness' govern family strategies for early…

Research on and with ethnic minority students is characterised by a growing international literature that privileges "liberal multiculturalism" as a lens through which to understand their experiences, yet ethnic diversity is constructed and responded to in many societies that are not underpinned by liberal democratic values. In this…

Author attempted to move from interpretations, which are sometimes indistinguishable from motivations, to the actual social meaning of appeals for cultural revolution, and finally to the question of education as a component of generalized change processes. (Author/RK)

Examines the growing recreational participation in some European countries in which individuals, seeking to escape the confines of their everyday environment, engage in adventurous activities. (Author/RK)

This research studied the evolution in the numbers of female students in France and Germany over a hundred years or so, compared them, and tried to interpret them in a manner valid for each country. (Author/RK)

Qualitative studies of young people's attitudes toward a unified Europe demonstrate the conceptual complexity of national or European identity and highlight epistemological and methodological problems of attitude research. Dutch adolescents' writings and discussions show that children can reflect on stereotyping mechanisms and that real or…

The introduction of sex education into the French school curriculum has had reverberations beyond more curricular reform. Indeed, the changes of 1973/74 constitute a fascinating case-study both of the dynamics of curricular change in a centralized system and of the impact of external social pressures on schools. (Author/RK)

Demonstrates how important the factor of male attitudes toward women pursuing male-dominated occupations can be in hindering the diversification of female occupational patterns. Examines the failure of a vigorous government-sponsored campaign in 1981 to introduce women into the male-dominated trades in the industrial region of Newcastle,…

Notes the factors preventing the progress of internationalization in Japanese society in general and in the educational system in particular. Topics include traditional attitudes towards other countries, the prevalence of economic strength as a national goal, and the school system's preoccupation with preparation for entrance examinations. (JHZ)

Examines the nature of the Australian myth and how this has related to and affected schooling and the provision of equality of opportunity for rural children. This myth includes the "noble bushmen" and the view that "the salt of the earth" was the small, independent farmer. (Author/RK)

This research examines the role of Islam in the process of nation-building in Nigeria in terms of its reaction to the implementation of Universal Primary Education, a scheme which forms an integral part of the Nigerian Government's strategy for development, national integration and nation-building. U.P.E. with its appearance of "western"…

In a speech delivered at a conference on "Education and Working Life," the author discusses the importance of a vocational education policy which allows for work opportunities irrespective of formal educational qualifications, and corrects the bias toward general education in the hierarchy of social values. (KC)

Summarizes the cultural and political background of the Council on Educational Reform with attention to Japan's social environment as it affects issues facing the Council. Discusses the question of internationalization of education in light of the history of foreign language teaching and looks at humanization in light of school violence. (JHZ)

Interviews with 154 elementary school students in Northern Ireland and the United States found that students in both countries were very interested in history and learned about history from family and the media, as well as school. However, the two groups of students had different views on the importance of history and reasons for studying it.…