<p>Afghanistan has a long history of Islamic education while Western type of education (<i>maktab</i>) is of more recent date. The latter type of education has expanded rapidly recently. However, girls’ enrolment remains low, around 35 per cent.</p><p>The present study examines children’s, particularly girls’, participation in the two educational systems. Throughout history three conflicting issues are apparent in Afghan education: state control over Islamic education, the role of Islam in education, and girls’ participation. A case study approach has been adopted providing an analysis of how history and the present globalisation processes affect current education, and how students, parents and teachers in two villages perceive the changes. The focus has been on capturing the meaning attached to education.</p><p>The findings indicate high expectations on education as a vehicle to peace, enhanced morals and living standards. The traditional <i>madrasas</i> have declined, other forms of Islamic education have emerged. The Mosque schools are neglected by education authorities but highly esteemed by villagers. Concerns are expressed with the amount of time in maktab and with the quality of learning. The Islamic concept of <i>farz</i> (obligation, responsibility) puts both types of education in high demand.</p><p>Dilemmas are associated with choosing between Islamic and Western type of education, applying <i>farz</i> to girls’ education and the encounter between Islam and globalisation. Two folk theories, one on globalisation and another on <i>farz</i> in education, were formulated as a basis for the further analysis. Worries are articulated about preserving Islamic values and ethics. Although ‘globalisation’ is a never heard of concept, villagers know some of its features, e.g. secularisation, individualism and consumerism, and fear these may lead to a weakened Islamic identity.</p><p>Girls’ education is generally accepted. Albeit some consider a few years enough, most consider girls’ right to education to be identical to boys’, on certain conditions. Besides security, a female teacher is the most important. However, findings from the village with a long established girl school with female teachers indicate that this is not the crucial factor. In Islamic education, girls will continuously be excluded from advanced Islamic studies since female mullahs do not exist.</p><p>Apparently, the real obstacles for girls’ education are the strictly segregated gender roles in Afghan society. Therefore, a new interpretation of <i>farz</i> is emerging, a ‘glocalised’ version. This is likely to be a decisive factor for giving girls equal access to education in both educational systems.</p>

<p>Arbetet är en studie över tyska avdelningen och engelska gruppen på Europaskolan i Mol i Belgien. Vi har i arbetet återgivit intervjuerna vi har gjort med lärare, föräldrar och elever vid Europaskolan. I vissa fall har intervjuerna genomförts på ett språk som inte är modersmål för endera parten i intervjusituationen, därför blir det en tolkning, blandat med våra iakttagelser och samtal som vi haft under tiden vi vistades i Belgien.</p><p>De yttre förutsättningarna för alla avdelningarna är bland annat stora klassrum och stor skolgård. Sedan går vi vidare till båda avdelningarnas lärarperspektiv, efter det kommer föräldraperspektivet och sist elevperspektivet.</p><p>I intervjuerna med lärarna kommer det fram att man arbetar efter det egna landets läroplan i språk, i orienteringsämnena finns en lokal läroplan, matematiken och europeiska timmarna styrs av en gemensam läroplan för Europaskolorna. Lärarna har alla genomgått en lärarutbildning typisk för sitt hemland.</p><p>Föräldrarna berättar alla att de inte har informerats om läroplanen, de har inte något inflytande på skolans verksamhet och att det inte finns någon föräldraförening. Eleverna berättar att inte de heller informerats om läroplanen, de har inte elevinflytande. Slutligen, konstaterar vi att de har en god språkundervisning, att de arbetar traditionellt med matematik och att de skulle behöva arbeta med elevinflytandet.</p> / Examensarbete på Grundskollärarprogrammet 1-7 ht 1997. Linda har senare bytt efternamn till "Andersson".

Afghanistan has a long history of Islamic education while Western type of education (maktab) is of more recent date. The latter type of education has expanded rapidly recently. However, girls’ enrolment remains low, around 35 per cent. The present study examines children’s, particularly girls’, participation in the two educational systems. Throughout history three conflicting issues are apparent in Afghan education: state control over Islamic education, the role of Islam in education, and girls’ participation. A case study approach has been adopted providing an analysis of how history and the present globalisation processes affect current education, and how students, parents and teachers in two villages perceive the changes. The focus has been on capturing the meaning attached to education. The findings indicate high expectations on education as a vehicle to peace, enhanced morals and living standards. The traditional madrasas have declined, other forms of Islamic education have emerged. The Mosque schools are neglected by education authorities but highly esteemed by villagers. Concerns are expressed with the amount of time in maktab and with the quality of learning. The Islamic concept of farz (obligation, responsibility) puts both types of education in high demand. Dilemmas are associated with choosing between Islamic and Western type of education, applying farz to girls’ education and the encounter between Islam and globalisation. Two folk theories, one on globalisation and another on farz in education, were formulated as a basis for the further analysis. Worries are articulated about preserving Islamic values and ethics. Although ‘globalisation’ is a never heard of concept, villagers know some of its features, e.g. secularisation, individualism and consumerism, and fear these may lead to a weakened Islamic identity. Girls’ education is generally accepted. Albeit some consider a few years enough, most consider girls’ right to education to be identical to boys’, on certain conditions. Besides security, a female teacher is the most important. However, findings from the village with a long established girl school with female teachers indicate that this is not the crucial factor. In Islamic education, girls will continuously be excluded from advanced Islamic studies since female mullahs do not exist. Apparently, the real obstacles for girls’ education are the strictly segregated gender roles in Afghan society. Therefore, a new interpretation of farz is emerging, a ‘glocalised’ version. This is likely to be a decisive factor for giving girls equal access to education in both educational systems.

The study is made in Nacka, a suburb of the capital of Sweden, Stockholm, and focuses on “the parental school choice" that takes place when children start in first grade at the age of six.  New differences in the number of pupils attending various municipal schools have appeared after reforms in the early 1990s giving parents free choice of elementary school for their children. Some schools are located in areas where most children have a middle class background, while others are placed in less attractive surroundings where the parents have a lower educational status, and are more often immigrants. Parents living in the latter kind of surroundings can now send their children to schools further off, but located in more attractive areas. This leads to some schools get an increasing number of pupils and others gets a decreasing. The income of schools in Sweden is largely based on the number of pupils; the idea behind the reform is that schools with a good educational quality should be rewarded by the system. But other factors also influence the parent’s choice; bad rumors, good reputations, the number of children with immigrant background, the physical surroundings and social atmosphere where the school is located, and maybe also ethnical prejudice. My study concerns the grounds upon which school the parents choose the first school for their children in a part of Nacka municipality. The study is based on staff interviews from a school located in a socio-economically disfavored area as well as interviews and questionnaire surveys with parents having a choice between the nearby school and a school located in a more wealthy area. I found that the parent’s primary criterion when choosing schools is still proximity. When looking at the group that has opted out the most nearby schools however, the reputation of the local school – the spreading of bad rumors – proved to be a major influence. An example from the answers I received is the following: I chose a school based on the number of immigrants in it, my child should have a safe schooling, it’s said that schools with a lot of immigrants have an atmosphere that is much tougher, I’ve heard from others, that the “apartment complex” school is a tougher school to attend. (Interview Lisa, verbal, March 2010) Many parents obviously prefer not to have their children attend a school located in a socio-economic disfavored area with a large low-income and/or immigrant population. They are worried that their children will have trouble even getting the final grade from primary school, which is a precondition to entering the secondary, “gymnasium” level.

This thesis consists of three empirical studies. The first study, Rationales to Language-in-Education Policies in Postcolonial Africa: Towards a Holistic Approach, considers two issues. First, it explores the factors affecting the choice of an LiE policy in 35 African countries. The results show that the countries adopting a unilingual education system put different weights on the influential parameters than countries adopting a bilingual education system. Second, the study investigates how decision makers can ensure the optimal choice of language(s) of instruction by developing a non-cooperative game theoretic model with network externalities. The model shows that it is never optimal for two countries to become bilingual, or for the majority linguistic group to learn the language of the minority group, unless there is minimum cooperation to ensure an equitable redistribution of payoffs. The second study, The Role of Language in Learning Achievement: A Namibian Case Study, investigates the role played by home language and language proficiency on SACMEQ II mathematics scores of Namibian Grade-6 learners. HLM is used to partition the total variance in mathematics achievement into its within- and between-school components. Results show that although home language plays a limited role in explaining within- and between-school variations in mathematics achievement, language proficiency (proxied by reading scores) plays a significant role in the heterogeneity of results. Finally, the third study, Language Skills and Economic Returns, investigates the economic returns to language skills, assuming that language competencies constitute key components of human capital. It presents results from eight IALS countries. The study finds that in each country, skills in a second language are a significant factor that constrains wage opportunities positively.

Since the late nineteenth century, Switzerland, a self-professed “playground” and “classroom” of the world, has successfully promoted itself as a desirable destination for international study and tourism. The historically entangled private schooling and tourism industries have steadily communicated idealised images of educational tourism in Switzerland via advertising. Concentrating on the period 1890 -1945 – when promotional ties between tourism organisations and private schools solidified – this thesis investigates the social construction of educational tourist place in two different types of promotion aimed at English-speaking markets: private international school prospectuses and education-focused tourism brochures. An analysis of early prospectuses from three long-standing private international schools and of education-focused tourism guides written by municipal organisations, travel agencies, school boards and the Swiss government revealed highly visual, ideologically-charged textual representations of locations and markets simultaneously defined, idealised and commodified international education in Switzerland. Chapters provide close interpretation of documents and aim, through thick description, to understand specific place-making examples within a wider socio-historical context. Chapter One examines the earliest prospectuses of Le Rosey and Brillantmont, two of the world’s must exclusive Swiss schools (1890-1916). An examination of photo-essay style prospectuses reveals highly selective portrayals of “Château” architecture communicated capacity to deliver a “high-class” and gender appropriate Swiss finishing. Visual cues hallmarking literary and sporting preferences indicated texts catered to the gaze of social-climbing, Anglo-centric markets desirous a continental cosmopolitan education that was not overly “foreign.” Chapter Two analyses the social construction of towns in French-speaking Switzerland as attractive educational centres (1890-1914). It explores how guides promoting Geneva, Neuchâtel and Lausanne constructed an idealised study-abroad landscape through thematic testaments to the educative capacities of local human and natural landscapes. The remaining chapters explore interwar texts. Chapter Three examines a high-altitude institute’s use of the idealising skills of high-end tourism poster artists to manufacture a pleasant, school-like image for the mountain sanatoria-like campus of Beau Soleil. Chapter Four investigates two series of education-focused tourism guidebooks which promoted education in Switzerland. An examination of a Swiss National Tourist Office series reveals discourses of nationhood racialised the Swiss as natural-born pedagogues and constructed Switzerland as a safe, moral destination populated by cooperative, multi-lingual and foreign student-friendly folk. An analysis of R. Perrin Travel Agency’s series explores guidebooks which openly classified education as a tourism commodity. The final chapter examines Le Rosey and Brillantmont’s interwar prospectuses within the context of complex, transnational schooling and school advertising practices. An analysis of images of school sports at winter holiday resorts suggests prospectuses expressed the sense of freedom which accompanies upper-class identity more so than any sense of gender-driven restriction.

Arbetet är en studie över tyska avdelningen och engelska gruppen på Europaskolan i Mol i Belgien. Vi har i arbetet återgivit intervjuerna vi har gjort med lärare, föräldrar och elever vid Europaskolan. I vissa fall har intervjuerna genomförts på ett språk som inte är modersmål för endera parten i intervjusituationen, därför blir det en tolkning, blandat med våra iakttagelser och samtal som vi haft under tiden vi vistades i Belgien. De yttre förutsättningarna för alla avdelningarna är bland annat stora klassrum och stor skolgård. Sedan går vi vidare till båda avdelningarnas lärarperspektiv, efter det kommer föräldraperspektivet och sist elevperspektivet. I intervjuerna med lärarna kommer det fram att man arbetar efter det egna landets läroplan i språk, i orienteringsämnena finns en lokal läroplan, matematiken och europeiska timmarna styrs av en gemensam läroplan för Europaskolorna. Lärarna har alla genomgått en lärarutbildning typisk för sitt hemland. Föräldrarna berättar alla att de inte har informerats om läroplanen, de har inte något inflytande på skolans verksamhet och att det inte finns någon föräldraförening. Eleverna berättar att inte de heller informerats om läroplanen, de har inte elevinflytande. Slutligen, konstaterar vi att de har en god språkundervisning, att de arbetar traditionellt med matematik och att de skulle behöva arbeta med elevinflytandet. / Examensarbete på Grundskollärarprogrammet 1-7 ht 1997. Linda har senare bytt efternamn till "Andersson".

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Since the late nineteenth century, Switzerland, a self-professed “playground” and “classroom” of the world, has successfully promoted itself as a desirable destination for international study and tourism. The historically entangled private schooling and tourism industries have steadily communicated idealised images of educational tourism in Switzerland via advertising. Concentrating on the period 1890 -1945 – when promotional ties between tourism organisations and private schools solidified – this thesis investigates the social construction of educational tourist place in two different types of promotion aimed at English-speaking markets: private international school prospectuses and education-focused tourism brochures. An analysis of early prospectuses from three long-standing private international schools and of education-focused tourism guides written by municipal organisations, travel agencies, school boards and the Swiss government revealed highly visual, ideologically-charged textual representations of locations and markets simultaneously defined, idealised and commodified international education in Switzerland. Chapters provide close interpretation of documents and aim, through thick description, to understand specific place-making examples within a wider socio-historical context. Chapter One examines the earliest prospectuses of Le Rosey and Brillantmont, two of the world’s must exclusive Swiss schools (1890-1916). An examination of photo-essay style prospectuses reveals highly selective portrayals of “Château” architecture communicated capacity to deliver a “high-class” and gender appropriate Swiss finishing. Visual cues hallmarking literary and sporting preferences indicated texts catered to the gaze of social-climbing, Anglo-centric markets desirous a continental cosmopolitan education that was not overly “foreign.” Chapter Two analyses the social construction of towns in French-speaking Switzerland as attractive educational centres (1890-1914). It explores how guides promoting Geneva, Neuchâtel and Lausanne constructed an idealised study-abroad landscape through thematic testaments to the educative capacities of local human and natural landscapes. The remaining chapters explore interwar texts. Chapter Three examines a high-altitude institute’s use of the idealising skills of high-end tourism poster artists to manufacture a pleasant, school-like image for the mountain sanatoria-like campus of Beau Soleil. Chapter Four investigates two series of education-focused tourism guidebooks which promoted education in Switzerland. An examination of a Swiss National Tourist Office series reveals discourses of nationhood racialised the Swiss as natural-born pedagogues and constructed Switzerland as a safe, moral destination populated by cooperative, multi-lingual and foreign student-friendly folk. An analysis of R. Perrin Travel Agency’s series explores guidebooks which openly classified education as a tourism commodity. The final chapter examines Le Rosey and Brillantmont’s interwar prospectuses within the context of complex, transnational schooling and school advertising practices. An analysis of images of school sports at winter holiday resorts suggests prospectuses expressed the sense of freedom which accompanies upper-class identity more so than any sense of gender-driven restriction.

Since the mid-1990s, New Zealand has become a popular study destination for international students. In its neo-liberal knowledge economy policies including an export education policy, international education agenda, and skilled immigration policy, international students are conceptualised as ideal policy subjects: free, rational and self-interested knowledge consumers and globally available human resources. International postgraduates are expected to contribute to New Zealand’s knowledge economy with their knowledge and skills. However, both the statistics and empirical research suggest that these students’ experiences do not always coincide with the policy expectations owing to the involvement of multiple political and non-political factors and actors including international students themselves. Cultural differences in particular, generate extra challenges for these policies to recruit and serve international students and retain international graduates from non-Western cultural backgrounds including those from Mainland China. The gap between the policy intentions and these students’ experiences draws our attention to the roles of multiple regimes of government and individual students as active agencies in overseas study and raises the question of how the two aspects can converge to achieve a ‘good’ overseas study in a complicated culture-crossing policy environment. This thesis takes a post-structuralist approach and uses an adapted Foucauldian conceptual framework that develops the concept of governmentality to explore the experiences of a group of postgraduate Chinese international students studying at two New Zealand universities. It combines documentary research, an online survey and 56 in-depth interviews for data collection with culturally informed discursive, Foucauldian descriptive statistical and Foucauldian narrative analyses of data. The findings show that the convergence between New Zealand’s knowledge economy policies and Chinese students’ experiences of ‘good’ overseas study is not straightforward. This thesis argues that Chinese international students are not made and governed by a singular political power like the New Zealand Government but by multiple regimes of practices through which these students are assembled. Chinese cultural mechanisms such as filial piety, reciprocity and loyalty, play a crucial role in constituting the field of international education and assembling regimes of subjectification. Moreover, these cultural mechanisms are not only embodied in governmental technologies themselves as technical means, but also activated through the coexistence of multiple rationalities, the hybridisation of regimes of subjectification and cross-cultural applications of these technologies. This thesis helps explain both ways in which Chinese students get ‘made into’ subjects who are willing to constitute themselves as international students obliged to come to New Zealand and contribute to the knowledge economy and also the constellations of factors motivating them to move away from on-going, constant and regular engagement with New Zealand as a knowledge economy. With its findings, the thesis attempts not only to provide valuable policy recommendations but also to contribute to sociological understandings of the global governance of border-crossing population movements and comparative studies in the sociology of education.