Comprehensive Schooling Research Articles

Education as the revolving door into the streets and back home among street-involved children in Harare, Zimbabwe

This article explores the roles of education in driving children onto the streets and facilitating reunification with family. These roles are discussed in terms of how they contribute to street childhood and how they become part of a reintegration package. Against this background, education is considered a social vaccine against risky behaviours among children. The data were collected using a qualitative research approach, employing semi-structured interviews with street-involved children and key informants. The study purposively sampled 18 participants, including 10 street-involved children, eight informants from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Non-Governmental Organisation staff, guardians and former street-involved children. Of the 10 street-involved children, five were females and the other five were males. Data analysis revealed that these children faced education-related risk factors such as material poverty, differential treatment, adverse childhood experiences, truancy, stigma, and peer influence. The children employed resilience pathways like reunification support and putting personal effort into their schooling. The article recommends the government ensure that children from poor, blended and at-risk families receive mental health and financial support to continue attending school. Street-involved and at-risk children require comprehensive schooling support, family strengthening and protection from abuse to ensure their well-being and safety.

Education as a co-developed commodity in Finland? A rhetorical discourse analysis on business accelerator for EdTech startups

ABSTRACT Education business and the actors involved in it have gained increasing global attention. However, little is known about the commercial actors participating in mainly publicly maintained comprehensive schooling in Finland and how the roles of teachers and schools are seen in this edu-business. In this article, we analyze ‘edu-business acceleration’ by a Finnish company, xEdu, that develops EdTech startups for the global education market. Using rhetorical discourse analysis, this case study identifies and analyzes xEdu’s aims for EdTech business in Finland, focusing particularly on the role assigned to teachers and schools in the business. Through these discourses, xEdu wishes to ‘scale up’ Finnish comprehensive schooling by utilizing both the reputation of Finnish education and the expertise of Finnish teachers. Building on a framework of the global education industry, we discuss the dominant EdTech discourses surrounding Finnish comprehensive schooling and how they are legitimized and promoted by versatile rhetorical means.

Organisation, attendance, and gained knowledge: a case-study of local variations in parish schools and ironworks schools in northern Sweden

ABSTRACT Sweden’s first Elementary School Act of 1842 stated that every parish was obliged to organise and fund schools to be offered to all children in the parish. Many parishes were poor and had a difficult time funding schools. In some parishes, local industries, such as ironworks, organised, funded, and managed schools for their workers. Even though state regulations might have striven for more comprehensive schooling, parishes faced different local conditions that could have affected school organisation and results. This study examines four elementary schools in northern Sweden to analyse differences and similarities caused by local conditions and local actors. Two of the schools were ironworks schools and two were parish schools, and they are studied from the 1840s through the 1860s. This case study of the Robertsfors and Gideåbruk ironworks schools and the Bygdeå and Gideå parish schools focuses on the school organisation, school subjects, children’s attendance, and reported gained knowledge. The research questions are: how were the four schools organised in their local communities? Which subjects were taught in the schools? How were the children’s reported attendance and gained knowledge? What similarities and differences can be seen among the four local school cases? The results indicate both similarities and differences. One school, Gideåbruk ironworks school, reported higher attendance and higher results, traceable to variations in local actors and local conditions in Gideåbruk. The Gideåbruk ironworks and its role in the community seem to be crucial for the ironworks school organisation.

Secondary Schools in Twentieth-century Edinburgh: Social Divisions and Intellectual Excellence

Schooling in Edinburgh is often seen as a uniquely divisive social issue, reflecting the relatively large size of the selective independent sector that, because it charges fees, caters mainly for the affluent middle class. Yet the actual history of the city’s schools during the twentieth century suggests a more complex account. For reasons relating to the size of inherited endowments, the schools that are now independent of local-authority management constituted a much larger share than elsewhere in Scotland of the selective academic sector in the city before the move to comprehensive schooling in the 1960s and 1970s, but, until that time, most of these independent schools were, in effect, part of the public system. The result throughout the century was that the city did indeed have greater social-class inequality in education than the rest of Scotland, but also that it had higher attainment in all social classes and for both sexes.

2022 KLEIN LECTURE PARENTAL EDUCATION AND INVENTION: THE FINNISH ENIGMA

AbstractWhy is invention strongly positively correlated with parental income not only in the United States but also in Finland, which displays low income inequality and high social mobility? Using data on 1.45 M Finnish individuals and their parents, we find the following: (i) the positive association between parental income and off‐spring probability of inventing is greatly reduced when controlling for parental education; (ii) instrumenting for the parents having an MSc degree using distance to nearest university reveals a large causal effect of parental education on offspring probability of inventing; and (iii) the causal effect of parental education has been markedly weakened by the introduction in the early 1970s of a comprehensive schooling reform.

Painotetun opetuksen oppilasvalikointi Suomen kaupunkikouluissa: valintakriteerit ja ideaalioppilaan normi

Pupil selection to emphasised teaching in comprehensive schools in urban Finland: selection criteria and the norm of the ideal pupil In this article we research how pupil selection inside formally non-selective comprehensive schooling in Finland is governed and analyse the admission criteria cities (n=12) and schools use to select pupils for emphasised teaching. We analyse how the pupil selection criteria texts present content that requires different forms of capital (Bourdieu) to enrol to emphasised teaching. Use of the admission criteria was vast and varied nationally. It did not just evaluate pupil’s aptitudes in a certain emphasised discipline as legislation lines but applied much more versatile criteria. We argue that pupil selection texts create the norm of the ideal pupil preferred by emphasised teaching. Municipalities and schools are the key actors creating routes to social distinction inside comprehensive schooling.

Selective schooling and social mobility in England

We assess whether changing from an academically selective to a comprehensive schooling system promotes social mobility, using England as a case study. Over a period of two decades, the share of pupils in academically selective schools in England declined sharply and differentially by area. Using a sample of census records matched to data on selective schooling, we exploit temporal and geographic variation in the proportion of pupils attending selective schools to estimate the effects of schooling system on intergenerational social mobility. Our results provide no support for the contention that the move from selective to comprehensive schooling had a notable effect on social mobility in England. The findings are robust to a battery of sensitivity and robustness checks.

The important building blocks of newcomer immigrant students’ education in the Norwegian context

The education of immigrant students, particularly newcomers, must be considered from a holistic framework. The conceptual article aims to highlight other important aspects of newcomers’ education, in addition to language and subject content learning. The three overlooked yet most important components of holistic education for newcomers are the following: (1) well-being pedagogy, (2) positive and comprehensive collaboration with newcomer parents, and (3) teachers’ positive ideology of newcomers and their families. This article begins with a brief presentation of the issue in newcomers’ education demonstrating an emphasis on some important yet overlooked elements in newcomer education. Consequently, in Norway, despite educational efforts aimed at supporting immigrant students, they continue to perform poorly compared with ethnic Norwegian students. Then, the paper defines what well-being pedagogy is and why well-being should be included in the comprehensive and successful schooling of newcomers. Here, well-being pedagogy is not limited to newcomer students’ well-being; rather, it includes teachers (who work with newcomers) and newcomer parents’ well-being. The why and how of comprehensive and successful collaboration with newcomer parents is discussed as a second important component. The third building block is teachers’ positive ideology of newcomers and their parents. The paper establishes that the positive ideology and perceptions of newcomer students and their families are the core of the holistic education of immigrant students. This paper contributes to knowledge development for the education of newly arrived immigrant students by engaging in a discussion that can foster teacher motivation and commitment, resulting in greater support for newcomer students. Second, even though this paper is framed in the context of Norwegian society, the aim is to inspire the international community of educators and researchers committed to an equitable learning environment for immigrant students to consider the topic for further exploration. The article concludes with teachers’ practice recommendations for schools and some directions for future research.

Inclusive or Divisive Choices? Education Policy Preferences in the Bilingual Education System of Estonia

ABSTRACT This article investigates educational preferences in the bilingual education system that reinforce the salience of both socio-economic and socio-cultural issues. We ask, first, how many distinct groups of educational preferences exist and whether these differ by ethnic nationality. Second, we investigate the extent to which economic self-interest vs values-driven logic of preference formations explain educational preferences and whether these determinants differ by ethnic nationality. We rely on individual-level survey data and run Latent Class Analysis and multivariate regression. We find three distinctive classes of educational preferences and that relatively high popular demand for private provision and parental choice co-exist alongside respect for comprehensive schooling in Estonia. These classes differ slightly by ethnic nationality – Russians show relatively more support for inclusive choice, while Estonians show greater support for public comprehensive schooling, with only weak socioeconomic and political party influences. The only clear explanation for different latent-class belonging is values, i.e., belief in meritocracy and the fairness perception of educational inequality; somewhat surprisingly, the marginal effects of these do not differ by ethnic nationality.

Social Exclusive of Education Inequality in the Covid-19 Pandemia by Education Digitalization Activities

The process of utilizing digital systems in the world of education to realize a learning process is the government's effort to equalize access to education and reduce the digital divide. The Covid-19 pandemic is to blame for adopting digitalization in the education sector. Using the perspective of social exclusion in Indonesia, this study aims to describe educational inequality through efforts to digitalize education during the Covid-19 pandemic. The literature review method was used to map the issue of social exclusion and inequality in the education sector in Indonesia's digitalization efforts by the government for students. The Google Scholar and Scopus features filter journal articles about educational inequality and digitalization efforts during the data collection process. Based on research findings, building more ICT infrastructure to support 5G in rural developing countries, promoting digital literacy programs, implementing policy incentives for digital technology, and increasing the equity of digital services are all strategic efforts to address educational inequality. Acknowledging comprehensive schooling, The Service of Instruction and Culture sent off a few developments to help the digitalization cycle. The development of a Learning House is one of the most significant.

Going local, heading nowhere: the 1974–79 Labour Government’s attempt to introduce comprehensive schooling in Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT This article examines the 1974–79 Labour Government’s attempt to introduce comprehensive education in Northern Ireland. The policy found support in, and drew criticism from, different elements within both Protestant and Catholic groups which, although transcending the usual community divide, hardly made the Government’s task any easier. In fact, it carried the risk of antagonising elements from both sides. Claims that the Labour Government acted with ‘fiery zeal’ over the introduction of comprehensive education, in contrast with its efforts on integrated schooling, are misplaced. Proceeding cautiously, but initially with the intention of introducing legislation before the next general election, Labour never even reached the stage of issuing a White Paper. Its caution developed into near stasis, as its policy of local consultation superseded the need to act within the electoral cycle. The guiding principle soon became ‘local planning, for local people, for local circumstances’. Consequently, despite its genuine commitment to the policy of comprehensivisation, Labour’s only achievement in office would be its promise to replace the 11-plus examination, something which remained a mere pledge.

DEVELOPING THE LABOUR PARTY’S COMPREHENSIVE SECONDARY EDUCATION POLICY, 1950-1965: PARTY ACTIVISTS AS PUBLIC INTELLECTUALS AND POLICY ENTREPRENEURS

ABSTRACT The main aim of this article is to use the case study of comprehensivisation to examine the role of party activists as policy entrepreneurs and public intellectuals during the period 1950–1965. The intention is to widen the traditional notion of the public intellectual in order to better evaluate policy-making processes within the Labour Party. It will be argued here that these figures were also policy entrepreneurs, who actively created and advocated new policy solutions, not just unconnected idea merchants hawking impractical or ignorable ideas without a clear strategy. Previously, Labour policy on comprehensivisation was viewed as a ‘missed opportunity’, a case study of ambivalent policymakers lacking vision. However, this article demonstrates that, over a long period of time, a methodical policymaking process considered and adopted a position that advocated a more comprehensive schooling system. In this process, the sustained activities of Fabian Society and NALT members, acting as policy entrepreneurs within the Labour Party’s policymaking organs to transform often non-committal and vague conference resolutions into a usable policy solution.

Framing policy problems and solutions in education policymaking: Pre-vocational education in Norwegian lower secondary school

This article investigates policymaking for Norwegian lower secondary education, with a focus on policy problems and solutions emphasising pre-vocational education. The data consist of official policy documents such as Green and White Papers, hearings, propositions to the parliament, protocols of parliamentary debates and votes in the parliament. The conceptual framework focuses on framing in policymaking and policy problems and solutions. Results reveal that dropout, difficulties in adapting education to the pupils and a gap between the content of schooling and the demands of the world of work are framed as the main policy problems. Different policy solutions emphasising pre-vocational education are presented as legitimised responses to these problems. The three policy problems can be defined as complex issues. Despite the proposed policy solutions, these are not enacted in the curriculum in line with the discussions and votes in parliament. This could be attributed to conflicting values and purposes of Norwegian education. These differences raise the question of whether the problems faced by Norwegian comprehensive schooling are taken for granted, as the proposed solutions appear to be insufficient in dealing with the defined problems.

Comprehensive private schooling for low-income children: Experimental case-study evidence from Mexico

We use first-grade lottery-based admissions to estimate impacts and cost-effectiveness of a subsidized comprehensive private school for low-income children in Mexico City, part of a philanthropic organization supporting and operating similar schools worldwide. Relative to students who did not win the lottery, CHM lottery winners gain additional 0.18 SD in literacy and 0.09 SD in numeracy over the first three years of elementary school. Parents of lottery winners are more likely to report children’s school is academically demanding, rate the school higher and have greater expectations of children’s college completion. Achievement gains come at an increased cost relative to counterfactual public schools of $1000/pupil-year, which suggests low cost-effectiveness. Higher cost is explained by greater array of services and few economies of scale. Despite the high per student cost, this robust case study suggests philanthropic private schools have great potential to improve achievement amongst the region’s most vulnerable students and reduce longstanding learning and opportunity gaps.

Does comprehensive education reduce health inequalities?

This article analyses the impact of comprehensive education on health inequalities. Given that education is an important social determinant of health, it is hypothesised that a more equitable comprehensive system could reduce health inequalities in adulthood. To test this hypothesis, we exploited the change from a largely selective to a largely comprehensive system that occurred in the UK from the mid-1960s onwards and compare inequalities in health outcomes of two birth cohorts (1958 and 1970) who attended either system. We studied physical and mental health, health behaviours and life satisfaction in middle age as outcomes and absolute and relative inequalities by social class (of origin and destination) and education. Inverse probability weighting was used to control confounding by socio-economic and education background, and ability test score taken prior to secondary school entry. We did not find consistent evidence that health inequalities were smaller under the comprehensive compared to the selective system and the results were robust under different model specifications. Our study adds to the sparse but growing literature that assesses the impact of social policy on health inequalities.

Children with Disability Rights

In several nations, children with incapacities are often destitute of their freedom, detached from family atmospheres, and restricted to institutes or sealed away in so-called health-care amenities in the term of maintenance and treatment. The motives for this separation fluctuate: disgrace, deficiency of cognizance, and a scarcity of sustenance amenities for children and their families all perform a character. Inside organizations in numerous nations, Human Rights Watch has recognized that children with disabilities frequently face solemn abandonment and exploitation, including thrashings and mental fierceness, erotic fierceness, unintentional and unsuitable remedial action, use of offensive bodily manacles, concealment, and drowsiness, renunciation of schooling and repudiation of steady acquaintances with families. These exploitations can harshly hinder their corporeal, academic, expressive, and societal expansion, and these detrimental effects are not restricted to circumstances in which the vilest exploitations take dwelling. The worldwide examination has revealed that children progress best with durable and helpful associations in a harmless and encouraging family-like atmosphere. Children with disabilities are permitted to fortification from fierceness, abandonment, mistreatment, and mishandling, and have the right to be concerned for by their parents or within family-like surroundings. Ferocity and negligence toward children existing in organizations should finish and governments should advance effective and manageable civil amenities, counting well-being maintenance, child maintenance provision, comprehensive schooling. When governments capitalize on community-based amenities and sustenance, children with disabilities can animate with their families and be a part of their societies instead of behind inaccessible exits.

Reforming the school-based education system in England: A common framework, rule book and a new structure for schools

The school system in England has undergone significant change following the introduction of the academies policy and the subsequent mass conversion of secondary schools to academies. In this article we address two issues arising from this process of academisation, namely equality of opportunity and local democratic accountability, both of which are fundamental to what one might argue comprehensive schooling should entail. We outline the policy changes that have taken place from 1965 and look in more detail at the changes since 2010. We then examine how equality of opportunity and democratic accountability have been affected by the legislative changes. In our final section, we put forward proposals for how the shortcomings we identify might be addressed by policy-makers: these we argue relate back to the basic assumptions underpinning Circular 10/65.

The elusiveness of the common school in Austria. PISA, politics and the survival of selection in a conservative regime

ABSTRACT This article investigates the failure of introducing comprehensive schooling in Austria, one of few ‘conservative’ outliers in the European post-war reform trend where early selection survived reform attempts in the 1970s. In particular, the focus is on the most recent attempt to postpone tracking from the age of 10–14 in the wake of Austria’s ‘PISA-shock’ in the 2000s. Based on in-depth process tracing and drawing on interviews and documentary sources this article examines the nuances of contemporary politics of comprehensive schooling reforms, assessing the interplay between PISA and long-standing reform barriers, the ambivalence of political parties in comprehensive schooling reforms and the role of policy feedback effects on broader societal support for reform.

Reforming the school-based education system in England: A common framework, rule book and a new structure for schools

The school system in England has undergone significant change following the introduction of the academies policy and the subsequent mass conversion of secondary schools to academies. In this article we address two issues arising from this process of academisation, namely equality of opportunity and local democratic accountability, both of which are fundamental to what one might argue comprehensive schooling should entail. We outline the policy changes that have taken place from 1965 and look in more detail at the changes since 2010. We then examine how equality of opportunity and democratic accountability have been affected by the legislative changes. In our final section, we put forward proposals for how the shortcomings we identify might be addressed by policy makers: these we argue relate back to the basic assumptions underpinning Circular 10/65.

Better Together? Heterogeneous Effects of Tracking on Student Achievement

AbstractI study the effects of early between-school ability tracking on student achievement. My research design exploits institutional differences between German federal states: in all states about 40% of students transition to separate academic-track schools after comprehensive primary school. Depending on the state, the remaining student body is either directly tracked between two additional school types or taught comprehensively for another two years. Comparing these students before and after tracking in a triple-differences framework, I find evidence for positive effects of prolonged comprehensive schooling on mathematics and reading scores. The average effects are almost entirely driven by low achievers, while effects for high achievers are null. Early and rigid forms of tracking can thus impair both the equity and the efficiency of school systems.