Materials for Teaching, Research and Policy Making

Principal Investigator: David W. Livingstone
Team Members: M. Raykov, K. Pollock, F. Antonelli

CHAPTER 3. Learning [PDF]

SECTION

3.2. Formal Education, Schooling [PDF]

1. Apple, M., Kenway, J., & Singh, M. (Eds.). (2005). Globalizing education: Policies, pedagogies, and politics. New York: Peter Lang.

            Sixteen contributions from researchers in education, sociology, and planning - predominantly based in Australia - discuss the ramifications of globalization for education and education systems globally. The first essay - by editors Michael Apple (educational policy studies, U. of Wisconsin), Jane Kenway (global education studies, Monash U., Australia), and Micahel Singh (education, U. of Western Sydney, Australia)-provides an overview of the complexities of the topics addressed more specifically by the contributors, including theoretical understanding of the processes of globalization, the changing economic context of education, neoliberal governance and the enterprise culture, globalizing changes in knowledge production, changing teacher and student identities, and democratic purposes and public schooling.

            KEY WORDS: Critical Pedagogy; Globalization; Politics and Education; Work and Learning; Formal Education.

2. Bailey, T., Hughes, K., & Moore, D. (2004). Working knowledge: Work-based learning and education reform. London: Routledge Falmer.

            Based on over five years of research on work-based learning in high school and community college programs across the country, this book explores the potential for using work-based learning as part of a broad education reform strategy. The authors synthesize a historical overview of work-based learning and its place in policy-making with the experiences of teachers and students, resulting in a dynamic account of the state of work-based learning and its significance for the field of education.

            KEY WORDS: Work-Based Learning; Policy Making; Government; Formal Education.

3. Barro, R. J., & Lazear, E. P. (2002). Education in the twenty-first century. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press.

            In this book, several Hoover Institution scholars search for the answers to failures in U.S. schools and examine the debate over what works and what does not work. Such widely debated topics as national examinations, accountability, performance, and school funding are discussed. The importance of education to both the individual and society as a whole, shedding light on what education does, various ways to structure education, lessons learned from the past, and what can be accomplished in the future are detailed.

            KEY WORDS: Education; Economic Aspects; United States; Social Aspects; Educational Planning; Work and Learning; Formal Education; Schooling.

4. Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (2002). Schooling in capitalist America revisited. Sociology of Education, 75(1), 1-18.

            Justifying the once-controversial estimates of high levels of intergenerational persistence of economic status & the unimportance of the heritability of IQ in this process. The fact that the contribution of schooling to cognitive development plays little part in explaining why those with more schooling have higher earnings. Further research has supported the authors' hypotheses concerning the role of personality traits, rather than skills, as determinants of labor market success. Current contributions to the study of cultural evolution allow the authors to be considerably more specific about how behaviors in schools are learned.

            KEY WORDS: Socioeconomic Status; Intelligence; Academic Achievement; Educational Inequality; Social Inequality; Intergenerational Mobility; Educational Systems; Education; Work Relationship; Formal Education; Schooling.

5. Bussière, P. (2001). Measuring up: The performance of Canada's youth in reading, mathematics and science. OECD PISA Study-First Results for Canadians aged 15. Ottawa: Human Resources Development Canada.

            This report presents initial results for Canada, Canadian provinces and selected countries from PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) 2000. Reading literacy is the major focus of PISA 2000, with mathematical and scientific literacy as minor domains. This report also includes outcomes from the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), a Canadian longitudinal survey designed to study the patterns of, and influences on, major transitions in young people's lives, particularly with respect to education, training and work. Thirty-two countries participated in PISA 2000. In Canada, approximately 30,000 15-year-old students from more than 1,000 schools participated.

            KEY WORDS: Academic Achievement; Analytical Products; Cognitive Abilities; Educational Indicators; High School Education; Languages; Learning; Mathematics; Parental Educational Attainment; Reading; Sciences; Skill Requirements; Student to Teacher Ratio; Students; Tests; Transition from School to Work; Formal Education; Schooling.

6. Council of Ministers of Education. (2005). Education indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian education indicators program, 2005. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

            This report presents statistical indicators of education in Canada. The indicators cover various aspects of the elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, such as enrollment, graduation and human resources, as well as the financing of the education systems in Canada. The first chapter provides a statistical description of the school-age population while the last one shows measures of transitions from secondary to postsecondary education and then to the labour market. Labour market results are also included.

            KEY WORDS: Educational Indicators; Canada; Education; Statistics; Formal Education; Schooling.

7. Dei, G. J., & Karumanchery, L. L. (1999). School reforms in Ontario: The marketization of education and the resulting silence on equity. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 45(2), 111-131.

            Critically examines recent market-oriented educational reforms in Ontario and their impact on socially disadvantaged groups. Argues that current trends lead toward a "marketization" of education in Ontario, as the rhetoric of cost-effectiveness and bureaucratic efficiency shifts the official agenda of educational reform away from equity considerations to those of capital and big business.

            KEY WORDS: Centralization Disadvantaged; Educational Change; Educational Legislation; Educational Policy; Educational Trends; Elementary/ Secondary Education; Equal Education; Foreign Countries; Free Enterprise System; Minority Groups; Politics of Education; Public Education; Formal Education; Schooling.

8. Dori, Y. J., & Tal, R. T. (2000). Formal and informal collaborative projects: Engaging in industry with environmental awareness. Science Education, 84(1), 95-113.

            Describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a mixed formal-informal Science, Technology and Society (STS) curriculum that incorporates collaborative projects with case studies, field trips, and formal class sessions.

            KEY WORDS: Case Method (Teaching Technique); Cooperative Learning; Elementary/ Secondary Education; Environmental Education; Field Trips; Foreign Countries; Informal Education; Science and Society; Science Curriculum; Student Projects; Teaching Methods; Israel; Formal Education; Schooling.

9. Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2001). Between worlds: Access to second language acquisition. (2nd ed.). Portsmouth NH: Heinemann.

            This book purports to expand the learning potential of students by considering how the world inside the school interacts with outside social contexts. As the schooling of English language learners becomes ever more complex and political, this book has been updated in a second edition to address new trends and issues related to the teaching of multilingual students. The book features the following: a clear, accessible review of second language acquisition theories and research in the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education, and second language teaching methodology; new insight into the social and cultural factors that affect second language acquisition and related current research theory; discussion of the role of grammar in second language acquisition; the content teachers need for certification to teach second language learners; practical classroom examples, strategies, thematic units, student work, and language stories; ideas for promoting cultural sensitivity; logical organization that could easily serve as a basis for a course syllabus; and practical suggestions and useful resources for working with parents of language minority students. This book is intended for classroom teachers of all levels who are working with a few or many second language students. It is also written for second language educators, including those working with pre-service or in-service teachers as well as college instructors of undergraduate and graduate courses in second language, cross cultural communication, and bilingual education. A subject index and an appendix of Web sites for English-as-a-Second-Language teachers are included.

            KEY WORDS: Bilingual Education Programs; Charts; Class Activities; Classroom Techniques; Culturally Relevant Education; Elementary/ Secondary Education; English (Second Language); Grammar; Illustrations; Inservice Education; Language Acquisition; Learning Modules; Limited English Speaking; Multilingualism; Parent Teacher Cooperation; Politics of Education; Preservice Teacher Education; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Sociolinguistics; Teacher Educators; Teaching Methods; United States; Formal Education; Schooling.

10. Fullan, M., Hill, P., & Crevola, C. (2006). Breakthrough. Thousands Islands, CA: Corwin Press.

            This book presents a new approach to educational reform that breaks away from conventional paradigms to help educators create focused instruction, transform the classroom experience, and dramatically raise-and sustain-performance levels for students and teachers alike. The authors provide the concepts needed for developing precise, validated, data-driven instruction personalized to each and every student. Breakthrough establishes the tipping point for moving toward personalized, high-quality instruction and learning in the classroom to ensure continuous improvement and ongoing academic success.

            KEY WORDS: Educational Reform; Instruction; Teaching and Learning Strategies; Formal Education; Schooling.

11. Giroux, H., & Myrsiades, K. (Eds.). (2001). Beyond the corporate university: Culture and pedagogy in the new millennium. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield.

            The chapters in this collection show how and why the critical functions of democratically informed civic education must become the core of the university’s mission. Part 1, "Higher Education and the Politics of Corporate Culture," contains; (1) "Franchising the University" (Jeffrey J. Williams); (2) "Vocationalizing” Higher Education: Schooling and the Politics of Corporate Culture" (Henry A. Giroux); (3) "The University: A Place To Think?" (Roger I. Simon); and (4) "Literary Theory and the Role of the University" (Peter Baker). Part 2, "Cultural Politics and the Struggle over Curricula," contains: (5) "Curriculum Mortis: A Manifesto for Structural Change" (Ronald Strickland); (6) "Brown v. Higher Education: Pedagogy, Cultural Politics, and Latina/o Activism" (Ralph E. Rodriguez); (7) "Culture, the Academy, and the Police; or Reading Matthew Arnold in 'Our Present Unsettled State'" (Jerry Philips); and (8) "Timescapes for Literacy: Time in Academic Communities" (John Lofty). Part 3, "The Responsibility of Literature and the Possibility of Politics," contains: (9) "The Political Responsibility of the Teaching of Literatures" (Paul Smith); (10) "The Case for Jameson; or, Towards a Marxian Pedagogy of World Literature" (Christopher Wise); (11) "Subversion and Oppositionality in the Academy" (Barbara Foley); and (12) "World Bank Literature 101" (Amitava Kumar). The final section, "Making the Pedagogical More Political," contains: (13)"Going Postal: Pedagogic Violence and the Schooling of Emotion" (Lynn Worsham); (14) "The Politics of Teaching Literature: The 'Paedegogical Effect'" (Robert Miklitsch); (15) "Guerrilla Pedagogy: Conflicting Authority and Interpretation in the Classroom" (Jody Norton); and (16) "Multimedia Pedagogy and Sunday Morning Millennial Fever" (Richard Feldstein). Each chapter contains references.

            KEY WORDS: Higher Education; United States; Economic Aspects; Social Aspects; Work and Learning; Formal Education; Schooling.

12. Holmesland, I., & Tarrou, A.-L. H. (2001). Institutionalising research in teacher education: The creation of a research centre as a means of lifelong learning for teacher educators. European Journal of Teacher Education, 24(1), 67-76.

            Examines efforts by one Norwegian university college to institutionalize research among the academic staff, describing different steps taken by the college's leadership and a group of teacher educators/researchers to establish a research environment at the institution and stimulate research among the staff. Hindrances to establishing a research environment in an institution with a strong teaching-dominated tradition are discussed.

            KEY WORDS: Educational Research; Elementary/ Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Preservice Teacher Education; Research and Development Centers; Research Projects; Teacher Educators; Teacher Researchers; Norway; Formal Education; Schooling.

13. Kanu, Y. (2002). In their own voices: First Nations students identify some cultural mediators of their learning in the formal school system. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 48(2), 98-121.

            A study examined how culture influences Canadian Native student learning. Classroom observations, conversations, and student journals from 10 Aboriginal students in a Winnipeg high school social studies class identified five related themes: traditional Aboriginal approaches to learning, patterns of oral interaction, self-concept, curriculum relevance, and teachers' interpersonal style. Includes recommendations for preservice teacher education.

            KEY WORDS: American Indian Education; American Indian Students; Canada Natives; Cognitive Style; Culturally Relevant Education; Educational Environment; Educational Strategies; Foreign Countries; High School Students; Preservice Teacher Education; Secondary Education; Teacher Student Relationship; Teaching Methods; Formal Education; Schooling.

14. Kirby, D., & Sharpe, D. (2001). Student attrition from Newfoundland and Labrador's public college. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 47(4), 353-368.

            This paper shows that about one quarter of first-semester students enrolled in engineering technology programs at a Newfoundland (Canada) college dropped out. Student interviews and surveys indicate that academic difficulty was the most significant factor. Part-time attendance, uncertainty about future employment opportunities, work, and time elapsed since high school were also factors.

            KEY WORDS: Academic Achievement; College Freshmen; Dropouts; Educational Experience; Engineering Education; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Prior Learning; Student Attitudes; Student Attrition; Student Characteristics; Formal Education; Schooling.

15. Levin, B. (2001). Reforming education: From origins to outcomes. London: Routledge 2001.

            This book includes a study of large-scale education reform in five different settings: England, New Zealand, the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Manitoba and the US state of Minnesota. The book considers a variety of reforms covering: school choice; charter schools; increased testing of students; stricter curriculum guidelines; and local school management. Drawing from theoretical and empirical work in education, political theory, organizational theory and public administration, a clearly developed conceptual framework of analyzing reform programs is presented. The author reviews the political origins of the reforms, the process of adoption into law, the implementation processes used to support the reforms and the impact of the reforms on students, schools and communities.

            KEY WORDS: Education and State; Cross-Cultural Studies; Educational Change; Formal Education; Schooling.

16. Livingstone, D. W., & Stowe, S. (2001). Class and university education: Inter-generational patterns in Canada. NALL Working Paper No. 36. Toronto: Centre for the Study of Education and Work, OISE/UT. Available at: http://www.nall.ca/.

            Young people from lower class origins continue to face major barriers to university education in Canada. This paper documents both substantial inter-generational class mobility and continuing inequalities in formal educational attainments by class origins. While Canada now has the world's highest educational attainments in its youth cohorts and has experienced rapid growth in adult education participation as well, those from professional/managerial families remain more than three times as likely to attain a degree as those from working class origins. There is also mounting evidence that escalating financial costs are again increasing the relative class inequalities in university education. These large and increasing class inequalities are compared with the much more equitable and extensive participation in informal learning found in a recent national survey, as well as the underemployment of working class people in the Canadian job structure. In light of these educational and economic inequalities, needs-based student subsidies and democratic workplace reforms are seen as major means to address persistent systemic discrimination against the learning capacities and aspirations for university education of those from lower class origins.

            KEY WORDS: Access to Education; College Students; Equal Education; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Low Income Groups; Minority Groups; Social Class; Socioeconomic Status; Formal Education; Schooling.

17. OECD. (2001). Knowledge and skills for life. First results from OECD programme for international student assessment (PISA) 2000. Paris: OECD.

            This report assesses how far students near the end of compulsory schooling (15-year-olds) have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society. It presents data on student performance in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy, suggests factors that influence the development of these skills at home and at school, and explores the implications for policy development. The report presents considerable variation in levels of knowledge and skills between students, schools and countries. The degree to which the socio-economic background of students and schools affects student performance varies. Some countries have managed to lessen the influence of social background and some have done that while achieving a high overall mean performance.

            KEY WORDS: Knowledge and Skills; Student Performance; Reading; Mathematics; Policy Development; Formal Education: Schooling.

18. Ortiz, F. I., & Gonzales, R. (2000). Latino high school students' pursuit of higher education. Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies, 25(1), 67-107.

            This case study shows how joint organizational efforts and individual initiative counteracted social structures inhibiting Latino students' pursuit of higher education. A high school principal, university president, institutional units responsible for student preparation and access to college, students, and their parents created social relationships, activities, and structures to raise Latino students' eligibility for University of California admission.

            KEY WORDS: Access to Education; Administrator Role; Case Studies; College Bound Students; College Preparation; College School Cooperation; Counselor Role; Educational Cooperation; Equal Education; Higher Education; Hispanic American Students; Institutional Role; Parent Role; Parent School Relationship; Secondary Education; Social Theories; Teacher Role; Institutional Racism; Latinos; University of California; Formal Education; Schooling.

19. Rauschenbach, T. (2003). Educational dilemma. [Un]Intended side effects of formal education. Diskurs, 13(2), 50-58.

            The PISA results form the background for tracking down individual stages of the educational reform project. The author examines an educational dilemma in modern German society. In his opinion, educational reform is rooted in the fact that the public perspective has been narrowed down to school as the only place of learning & to lessons as the only mode of learning. The author pleads for changing this perspective in the current debate, & to see educational processes as the result of the diachronic & synchronic interplay of different places & modes of learning throughout the life courses of children & adolescents. In this way, several places & modes of education & learning - family, school, peers, child care, youth services, media, etc - will be on an equal footing. The paper then gives examples of different places of learning & educational processes. The author argues for a broader concept of education that comprises more than just school. With a view to imparting key competencies & educational objectives, it should also include learning & educational resources outside school.

            KEY WORDS: Federal Republic of Germany; Educational Reform; Learning; Socialization; Life Cycle; Education; Educational Systems; Formal Education; Schooling.

20. Rennie, F., & Mason, R. (2004). The connection: Learning for the connected generation. Greenwich: Information Age.

            This volume makes the case that the changes brought about by the connectivity of the Internet have so transformed the nature of post secondary learning that we need to view it differently. Both the content and the processes of learning have been profoundly altered because of the accessibility of information and the multi-way interactivity provided by the Internet. The authors call this new phenomenon the Connecticon—which encompasses the new opportunities created by the infrastructure, the content, the multiple connection devices of the Web, as well as by the hyper-interactivity of the connected generation for whom attention is the new currency. It is the aim of this book to identify and document the connecticon—its nature, its impact and its implications. We will do this in the broad domain of learning, though a similar study could be carried out in commercial, social or political fields.

            KEY WORDS: Internet; New Economy; Learning; Formal Education; Schooling.

21. Rychen, D. S., & Salganik, L. H. (Eds.). (2001). Defining and selecting key competencies. Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber.

            Forward: Literacy is measured throughout Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, and the world and we are still far from assessing a set of key competencies. Project Definition and Selection of Competencies: Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations (DeSeCo), under the auspices of the OECD, is led by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office in collaboration with the US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. The goal is to conduct research that will foster the needed framework for defining and selecting key competencies. Published contributions here represent the result of the scholarly work conducted during the 1st phase of the DeSeCo project. This book sounds out perspectives from different academic principles and areas of policy and practice.

            KEY WORDS: Cognitive Ability; Competence; Self Management; Theoretical Interpretation; Literacy; Formal Education; Schooling.

22. Sahlberg, P. (2001). From non-formal education to lifelong learning: Bridging schools with youth activity. Lifelong Learning in Europe, 6(1), 48-54.

            New, more comprehensive forms of cooperation are needed between schools and sources of nonformal education in the community. Institutions should work together to promote a new culture of learning and enhanced learning environments.

            KEY WORDS: Community Organizations; Educational Cooperation; Educational Environment; Lifelong Learning; Nonformal Education; School Community Relationship; Student Organizations; Formal Education; Schooling.

23. Taylor, A. (2002). In/forming education policy. Journal of Education Policy, 17(1), 49-70.

            Discusses vocational education by analyzing "Framework for Enhancing Business Involvement," a 1996 policy report from Alberta, Canada. Provide in-depth analysis of report by examining policy context in which framework developed, the policy process, and the implementation process. Briefly discusses broader implications of report for other nations.

            KEY WORDS: Education Work Relationship; Elementary/ Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Human Capital; Policy Analysis; Vocational Education; Work and Learning; Formal Education; Schooling.

24. Weiner, E. J. (2003). Neoliberal ideology, state curriculum standards, and the manufacturing of educational needs: Notes on the transformation of state power and ideological state apparatuses in the age of globalization. Educational Foundations, 17(4), 21-57.

            The author examines some key questions about the future of public education. Specifically, the writer looks at the role of state and federal power and the hegemonic effect of ideological state apparatuses in an era of neoliberal globalization. He examines neoliberal ideology and explores how it manufactures particular needs to serve specific interests at the local and federal level. The writer examines two New Jersey curriculum standards.

            KEY WORDS: Globalization; Work and Learning; Business and Education; United States of America; Curriculum.

25. Wheelahan, L. (2000). Bridging the divide: Developing the institutional structures that most effectively deliver cross-sectoral education and training. Melbourne: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.

            Issues in developing the institutional structures to deliver cross-sectoral education and training were examined in a study of five Australian single-sector higher education institutions with various institutional arrangements with the vocational education and training (VET) sector and five dual-sector universities. Data were collected from the following sources: (1) a broad literature review; (2) reviews of commissioned reports on Australia's VET and technical and further education (TAFE) sectors; and (3) 31 interviews conducted during visits to the 10 case study sites. The study focused on the following items: the structures and mechanisms of service that are most effective; the advantages and disadvantages of different mechanisms; criteria for identifying cross-sectoral practice; and policy changes that would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of dual-sector provision. The following were among the recommendations emerging from the study: (1) develop a nationally coherent policy on lifelong learning; (2) fund tertiary education by one level of government; (3) institute comparable reporting requirements among the two sectors; and (4) establish a single award for higher education and TAFE teaching staff.

            KEY WORDS: Accountability; Accreditation (Institutions); Adult Learning; Articulation (Education); Case Studies; Competency Based Education; Cooperative Planning; Coordination; Cost Effectiveness; Credits; Curriculum Development; Delivery Systems; Educational Finance; Educational Needs; Educational Planning; Educational Trends; Financial Support; Foreign Countries; Government School Relationship; Institutional Administration; Institutional Cooperation; Integrated Curriculum; Intercollegiate Cooperation; Job Training; Lifelong Learning; Models; Needs Assessment; Organizational Development; Outcomes of Education; Policy Formation; Postsecondary Education; Program Administration; Program Content; Student Certification; Systems Approach; Teacher Certification; Technical Institutes; Theory Practice Relationship; Transfer Policy; Transfer Programs; Transfer Rates (College); Trend Analysis; Universities; Vocational Education; Formal Education; Schooling.

26. Young, J., & Harris, A. (2000). Comparing school improvement programmes in England and Canada. School Leadership & Management, 20(1), 31-32.

            The Improving the Quality for All project in England and the Manitoba School Improvement Program in Canada have demonstrated considerable success in working with schools. This article traces both programs' development, analyzes their different approaches, and reveals commonalities. Both programs encourage teacher collaboration and foster professional learning communities.

            KEY WORDS: Change Strategies; Educational Improvement; Elementary/ Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Professional Development; Program Descriptions; Program Development; Teacher Collaboration; Formal Education; Schooling.