This thesis considers a theoretical tradition which is concerned with how adult literacies education might not always serve to socialise students into existing society, instead encouraging possibilities for desirable alternatives to it. Without this possibility, adult literacies education might only be understood as a socialising machine that slots students into society as it stands and where the role of research is to describe its operation. My research describes a long-standing refusal by educators, researchers and students to accept this possibility and my thesis continues this tradition. Through the analysis and interplay of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, James Paul Gee, Paulo Freire, Jacques Rancière, I distinguish between empowerment and emancipation in the context of literacies education. I set out the assumptions that Bourdieu and Gee make, how they understand power, identity, discourse and oppression, and what this means for the practice of an empowering adult literacies education. I also present assumptions made by Freire and Rancière, how they understand equality and oppression, and how an emancipatory literacies education might be understood and practiced. In particular, I describe how education for ‘empowerment’ encourages practices underpinned by the assumption that ideological processes prevent students from understanding how oppression is manifested. In contrast, I describe how an emancipatory education implies enacting educational relationships that are not reliant on this assumption, whilst exerting a social response to societal oppression. I make three claims. Firstly, that the idea of an emancipatory literacies education has come to be neglected or conflated with the idea that literacies education might empower, which has come to hold great sway. In so doing, I critique Freire’s work whilst reclaiming it as an emancipatory project. Secondly, that the educational practices associated with adult literacies for empowerment can be understood to encourage the socialisation of students into society as it stands. This emphasises the importance of distinguishing between empowerment and emancipation in the context of adult literacies education. Finally, that emancipation is a notion that must continue to be questioned and explored if educators, students and academics are to take responsibility for the practice of adult literacies education and its consequences. An emancipatory literacies education cannot be reliant upon the assumption that discourse is inherently ideological. Instead, it is predicated upon teachers and students assuming that emancipation is possible and acting on that assumption.

本文希望探討弱勢小學如何在教育市場化趨勢下，因為收生不足而被教統局宣佈殺校，然而經過學校持分者的奮鬥，一年後竟能取錄足夠學生，成功逆轉重生。研究對象學校近年取錄的學生人數一直上升，甚至成為社區上受歡迎的學校。弱勢學校在汰弱留強的市場定律下竟能逆轉重生，這個香港教育界的特殊現象，箇中原因及意義便是本文著意的地方。 / 本文採用質性研究方法，邀請兩所位於不同貧窮社區的小學接受研究。兩所小學同樣經歷逆轉重生，其中一所小學甚至兩次殺校。在具體田野操作方面，本文採用民族誌研究方法，筆者透過長時間參與觀察、深度訪談、比較閱讀，整理兩所學校由殺校至今的逆轉發展脈絡。 / 研究結果發現，兩所能夠成功逆轉重生的學校從：宏觀層面、中介層面和微觀層面，均能啟動和累積社會資本，並轉化為不同類型的資本，包括：文化資本，經濟資本等，以支援學校的非常態運作，避過殺校宿命。此外，研究發現兩所學校的教師團隊同樣呈現一條由社會資本轉化為教學專業資本的脈絡，並在校本課程的編訂和教學法的探索得到成效，讓學生學習蒙受其利，這是學校逆轉的背後策劃能量。 / 本文期望教育領導人士能重新理解類教育市場脈絡的多端力量，並希望教育領導者了解學校在類教育市場的定位。另外，本文希望讓所有學校持分者重新理解社會資本在教育場域的正面能量。當中尤以校長為核心，啟動和轉化學校社會資本，他的信念和力量將是領導學校逆轉重生，以至持續發展的關鍵。 / 最後，本文無意為弱勢學校逆轉重生的現象下定論，限於資料收集的局限、類教育市場脈絡、社會資本概念的複雜性，本文主要通過現有的材料和論據，為香港弱勢社群教育這個領域作為開拓研究的鋪墊。 / This thesis attempts to answer the question about how a disadvantaged primary school experienced turnaround in a Quasi-education market. / This is an ethnographic study, employing qualitative methods. Two primary schools from two low-income districts were invited to participate. They both suffered from "school closure"(殺校). One of them even went through it twice. Ethnographic research was conducted with Participant Observation, In-depth Interview and Comparative Reading throughout the research duration. / The results of the research showed that two turnaround schools mobilized and accumulated social capital and transformed it into other forms of capital, such as cultural capital and economic capital, in order to support the schools’ contingency plans on macro, meso and micro levels. / Another finding is that the teaching teams of the two turnaround schools also showed a path of transforming social capital into teaching professional capital, including school-based curriculum designs and research into teaching methods. These efforts of the schools succeeded in creating a favorable condition for them not only to survive, but to flourish. / This thesis hopes to call attention to two important facts: / 1. Education leaders can benefit greatly from alerting themselves to the Quasi-education market and its related concepts, and also assessing the position of their own schools in it. / 2. Stake-holders, especially school principals, are shown to be capable of mobilizing and transforming school social capital. His or Her faith and strength are the foundation power of turnaround schools and also their sustainability. / My goal is not to draw a conclusion about turnaround schools in general. Instead, my humble task is to launch an exploratory study of these schools in order to highlight the possibilities open to such schools. Lastly, this research paves a way for future development of studies of the education of disadvantaged groups in Hong Kong. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 吳偉強. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ed.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 321-331). / Abstracts also in English. / Wu Weiqiang.

In the United States there exists a clear and disconcerting racial disparity in the distribution of good health, which can be seen in differential levels of morbidity and mortality affecting blacks and whites. Previous research has examined the role of SES in shaping racial health disparities and recent studies have looked specifically at the effect of education on health to explain the racial disparity in health. Higher levels of education are robustly associated with good overall health for both blacks and whites and this association has been examined over the life-course. This research explores racial differences in the effect of education on health in general as well as over the life-course. Specifically, this paper examines race differences in the effects of education on health over the life-course. Pooled data from the National Health Interview Survey were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression to estimate the effects of race, education and age on health. The results of these analyses indicate that blacks receive lower education returns on their health than whites. The effect of education on health was shown to grow in the beginning of the life-course and diminish at the end of the life course in accordance with the mortality-as-leveler hypothesis. The black white health disparity was shown to grow over the life-course among the highly educated, whereas the disparity was consistent over the life-course for the poorly educated.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The South African context gives rise to a number of significant adversities that challenge the stability of the individual child and the survival of their families. The repercussions of these adversities are profound. Once risk begins to accumulate, the probability of a negative developmental trajectory increases. A group of South African children that are a particularly vulnerable, at risk, and marginalized group are those youth who are excluded from school. Access to the schooling system represents an important node of care and support with the potential of linking vulnerable children to key services. Eight youth from a town in a former homeland in rural KwaZulu Natal, who are excluded from the schooling system, participated in this research. The research aimed to map their experiences of school exclusion through a participatory photo interview technique. Using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) socio-ecological systems theory, this study has indicated that exclusion from school relates to risk factors present in the five contextual systems that a child functions within. From this research one can see how each risk factor adds to the web of exclusion that makes these youth hard to identify, access and help. The findings indicate that there is a need to further investigate the South African child care grant system and the impact it has on access to schooling, as well as to develop macrosystemic interventions to alleviate poverty. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritburg, 2007.

In recent debate within education, the notion of barriers to learning has been reconceptualised to focus on systemic issues rather than deficits in individual learners. These barriers are factors which contribute to learning breakdown and exclusion. HIV / AIDS has been recognised as one of the factors which contributes to preventing children from participating in and benefiting from learning. In South Africa HIV/ AIDS has reached pandemic proportions. There has been a call for in depth qualitative micro-studies to supplement the numerous macro, quantitative studies on HIV / AIDS to explore contextualised experiences of HIV / AIDS and barriers to learning. This study was aimed at mapping barriers to learning in a context of HIV and AIDS amongst grade 6 and 9 learners in the Richmond district of KwaZulu-Natal. The study used semi- structured interviews and focus groups with participative methods of data collection. The total sample was 60 with an equal number of male and female participants. The data was analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis and the framework provided by Bronfenbrenner's theory with a particular focus on contextual factors to describe and analyse the barriers to learning in the study. The study found that psychosocial exclusionary factors that were located at different system levels in terms of Bronfenbrenner's theory exacerbated the impact of mv/ AIDS in the context of the study. The interconnectedness of, and the ripple effects amongst, these barriers to learning create additional challenges for the current education policies to minimize the impact of HIV / AIDS in formal education / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

CD-ROM in pocket on back end paper. / Bibliography: leaves 240-270. / Systems requirements for accompanying CD-ROM: Macintosh or IBM compatible computer. Other requirements: Web Browser; Adobe Acrobat Reader; Microsoft Excel version 2.1 or higher. / ix, 270 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. + 1 computer optical disc (4 3/4 in.) / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Examines the possible conflict between the increasing use of information and communication technology and a higher education which contributes to social and ecological sustainability. Presents the argument that information and communication technology might be unable to support the dialogical modes of learning necessary for a sustainable higher education. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2000

CD-ROM in pocket on back end paper. / Bibliography: leaves 240-270. / Systems requirements for accompanying CD-ROM: Macintosh or IBM compatible computer. Other requirements: Web Browser; Adobe Acrobat Reader; Microsoft Excel version 2.1 or higher. / ix, 270 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. + 1 computer optical disc (4 3/4 in.) / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Examines the possible conflict between the increasing use of information and communication technology and a higher education which contributes to social and ecological sustainability. Presents the argument that information and communication technology might be unable to support the dialogical modes of learning necessary for a sustainable higher education. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2000

This study on learner absenteeism takes place in the Namibian context with a focus on the Kavango region, located in Northern Namibia, where absenteeism has been identified as a problem. The intention of the study is to find out the relationship between learner absenteeism and environmental factors. The research question was framed as: How do environmental factors influence learner absenteeism in schools, conceptualised as human activity systems in the Kavango Region (Namibia)? The wider intention of this study is to inform processes that can be put in place to reduce the impact of environmental factors on learner absenteeism, with the ultimate view of improving the quality of education. The literature review provides insight into learner absenteeism in developing and developed nations. It outlines the Namibian policies developed for improving learner attendance and retention of learners in schools, with the view of improving access to school. The study is located within the broader goals of education of Namibia. The research adopts a qualitative interpretive approach, and focuses on environmental factors influencing learner absenteeism in six case studies, which are selected schools in the Kavango province. The study uses a variety of tools such as questionnaires, focus group interviews, observations and interviews as well as document analysis. It uses a combination of inductive and abductive modes of inference in the data analysis. It draws on systems thinking to develop a model that theorises the interrelated roles of different stakeholders, namely, learners, teachers, parents, educational officials (including the regional office and the Ministry of Education). It proposes possible strategies for reduction of learner absenteeism that could contribute towards the improvement of the quality of education. It also mentions the benefits of reducing learner absenteeism in the schools involved in the case study. The findings clearly show that poverty is the main environmental factor that influences learner attendance. The impact of poverty does not, however, occur in isolation; it interacts and has influence over other environmental factors such as alcohol abuse, sickness, lack of parental involvement, lack of motivation from stakeholders and household work. The study also found certain educational factors influenced learner absenteeism, such as teacher attitude, pedagogical styles, and lack of security. The study ends with recommendations to reduce learner absenteeism and recommendations for further research.

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