Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983.

This thesis considers the role of parents, teachers and peers in the school decision making processes of children at the end of compulsory education in England. This stage represents, in fact, the first and most important school transition when pupils will have to choose whether to enter post-secondary education or not, and in cases where they do, whether to choose an academic course or a vocational one, knowing that this will affect their next transition at the age of 18. This thesis is amongst the ones to most fully analyse the role of significant others in children’s education. All the quantitative analyses in this thesis are done using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). Most of the statistical modelling of this data is done using multivariate regression analysis. Some of the results are also based on evidence from qualitative interviews with children in their last year of GCSEs in two comprehensive schools in England and children attending an apprenticeship scheme in the London area. With regards to educational aspirations, minority students are those who show the highest and most stable aspirations during years 9 to 11, while White English working class students, especially boys, have lower and unstable aspirations. Among the explanatory factors for these results, along with social class and ethnicity, parental aspirations, friends’ plans and individual attitude to education have the strongest correlation with the intentions to stay on in school after year 11. Moreover, parental aspirations did not appear to differ with regards to social class, suggesting a different mechanism than the one indicated by Breen and Goldthorpe (B&G) (2000). Also, the fact that minority students have very high aspirations (and are high achievers), do not confirm the principles of the relative risk aversion theory by B&G. Among the types of parental involvement in children’s education, participation in school-related activities and feelings towards school and supervision of children’s school work seemed to have a positive impact on children’s entering A-levels in year 12, although the results did not highlight differences with regards to social class and ethnicity. Evidence from the qualitative interviews showed different results with regards to helping with homework - only educated parents do that – and with regards to supporting and encouraging their children’s aspirations, which is more effective with minority and middle class parents. Considering peer relationships, the evidence from qualitative interviews suggested a very small influence of peers, especially schoolmates, in children’s school decision processes; peers are, in fact, perceived as someone to share plans and common interests with, but not as well-informed and trustworthy sources such as family. Moreover, interviews suggest that school choices are not the results of long-term plans, and children treat school transitions as separate stages. This does not support Morgan’s model of prefigurative and preparatory commitment.

<p> Law schools are criticized for graduating students who lack the skills necessary to practice law. Legal research is a foundational ability necessary to support lawyering competency. The American Bar Association (ABA) establishes standards for legal education that include a requirement that each law student receive substantial instruction in legal skills, including legal research. Despite the recognized importance of legal research in legal education, there is no consensus of what to teach as part of a legal research course or even how to teach such a course. </p><p> Legal educators struggle to address these issues. The practicing bar and judiciary have expressed concerns about law school graduates ability to conduct legal research. Studies have been conducted detailing the poor research ability of law students and their lack of skills. Although deficiencies in law student research skills have been identified, there is no agreement as to how to remediate these deficiencies. This dissertation suggests the legal research resources that should be taught in law schools by identifying the research resources used by practicing attorneys and comparing them to those resources currently included in legal research instruction at the 202 ABA-accredited law schools. </p><p> Multiple data sources were used in this study. Practitioner resource information was based on data provided by practicing attorneys responding to the 2013 ABA Legal Technology Survey. Resources taught in ABA-accredited law schools were identified through three sources: a 2014 law school legal research survey sent to the 202 ABA-accredited law schools, a review of law school syllabi from ABA-accredited law school legal research and legal research and writing courses, and the Association of Legal Writing Directors 2013 annual survey of legal research and writing faculty. The combined data from these three sources were compared to the resources used by practicing lawyers identified in the annual national 2013 ABA Legal Technology Survey. This comparison of what is taught with what is used in practice identifies a deficiency in law school instruction in the research resources used by practicing attorneys. These survey results detail distinct areas of inadequate instruction in legal research resources and provide legal educators with detailed information necessary to develop a curriculum that will result in graduating students with practice-ready competencies.</p>

<p> Too often, the truth behind a phenomenon is not sought through the perspectives of the people who lived that phenomenon&mdash;&ldquo;the masters of inquiry&rdquo; into their own realities, as Paulo Freire (1982, p. 29) has explained. Voice is the most powerful, reliable medium for collecting data based on lived experiences, if we are to gain genuine insight into the phenomenon (Freire, 1982). Focusing on the lived experiences of four formerly incarcerated young men of color, this study gave each participant the space to not only recall specific events and times, but to critically reflect on their lives&mdash;becoming more critically aware of their individual journeys and constructing new knowledge of the injustices that relate to the school-to-prison pipeline, including recommendations for change. This study sought to answer the following research questions through the voices of the participants: (a) Based on their collective and individual journeys through the juvenile justice system, how do formerly incarcerated youth describe their experiences? (b) What recommendations do formerly incarcerated young men have for reducing youth incarceration and recidivism rates? The participants provided rich narratives that answered each research question with the expert knowledge that can only be derived from firsthand experience. Through careful analysis of the data, several major themes emerged, tying together the experiences of each participant with the findings from the literature. Each participant spoke passionately on not only the need for change, but also specific recommendations for change. It is the power of their poignant insights that ground conclusions offered in this study.</p>

The integration of new technologies in higher education has provoked a strong response over the last decade, not only from administrators and the public but also from academics. It has re-opened basic theoretical questions about the role of universities and that of academic culture. / This thesis begins with a critical review of the literature dealing with conceptualizations of academic culture and technology in higher education. Most theorists have come to the conclusion that academic culture is a set of values and norms that serve as guides for action. At root, this conclusion is derived from an organizational perspective prevalent in contemporary academic culture theory. / I argue, instead, that academic culture needs to be re-addressed to consider the complexities between its traditional boundaries and new technological pressures. My research suggests there are high levels of contestation across the full range of technologies, and that the nature of this contestation is ideological, aesthetic, and pedagogical. Furthermore, the contestation is both a product of, and is productive of, a reshaping of academic culture. / Drawing on the theory of cultural production of Pierre Bourdieu, who views culture as constitutive of fairly engrained practices I demonstrate that academic culture stands as a check on institutional powers, yet it is also influenced by the integration of new technologies. This suggests that academic culture is formed and maintained by an ever-negotiated and shifting set of activities.

<p> The purpose of this project was to develop a program, explore potential funding sources, and complete a grant application to secure funding for an expressive arts showcase for clients at Homeboy Industries who have a criminal and gang-affiliated past, and are now attempting to re-integrate in their communities. Narrative therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, art therapy, and mindfulness may significantly ameliorate the conditions faced by this population, as well as the overall well-being of the community through a showcase of expressive arts composed and performed by the clients of Homeboy Industries. A search for potential funding sources led to The Goldhirsh Foundation as the most appropriate source for this grant. A grant proposal was written describing an expressive arts program for Homeboy Industries that will ultimately result in a showcase for community consumption. Actual submission and/or funding of the grant were not required for the successful completion of this project. </p>

No description available.

<p> This narrative study examines the impact the foster care system had on the high school completion of adult former foster youth in an urban school setting. In particular, the study explores the experiences and reflections from their perspectives on the systems (school, child welfare agency, and legal) that raised them. The participants reflected and shared their personal experiences to provide detailed and accurate accounts of being a student while in the child welfare system. Through interviews and document analysis, a story surfaces that demonstrates collective narratives about the reality of the challenges, obstacles, and determination behind each participant's journey to get through both the public school and the child welfare systems to become the adults they are.</p><p> Five major themes (Impact of Instability and Permanency within Placements and Schools, Lack of Trust and Reliability within Systems, Perceptions and Expectations, Collaboration and Accountability within Systems and Policies, and Self-Reflection on Survival as a Student in Foster Care, Attachment or Resilience) emerged from the participants' stories that led to whether they were able to complete their secondary schooling. Attachment and resilience theories were used as a guide for participants' self-reflections about their survival in foster care and assisted in linking to existing literature associated with this subgroup of students.</p>

Guinea, a former French colony, experienced an abrupt severing of relationships with the colonial power when President Sékou Touré rejected De Gaulle’s offer of becoming part of a French commonwealth of nations and opted for total independence instead. France withdrew all support, trade and personnel within a matter of days, and Sékou Touré attempted to develop this new nation along strongly independent and ideological lines. He made a verbal commitment to social development and evolved an ambitious programme to develop the health and education services. This thesis uses dependency theory as a tool of analysis to ascertain whether independent, autonomous development indeed took place, particularly in the fields of health and education, once the break with the metropolis was made. The period under review, 1958 - 1984, was the period of Sékou Touré’s presidency. The four criteria used to assess the measure of development achieved are: a) The successful rejection of Western models of development. b) Equal development and an equal distribution of resources between the regions. c) No urban/rural imbalance. d) Services available for all rather than limited to an elite. In the light of these criteria, Guinea was indeed able to experience some measure of independent, autonomous development, more particularly in education. The health sector had been less developed as only 2.1% of the national budget was devoted to it in 1981, compared to 17.6% spent on education in 1980. The inequalities in the health service were particularly noticeable in the urban/rural imbalance, Conakry in particular enjoying a larger share of available resources, but this was not the case in education where no such imbalance appeared to exist. The area of Labé emerged as the least developed area of the country but the discrepancies in provision were not too marked. Guinea also achieved much in the promotion of women and the eradication of elites, especially among the different ethnic groups. With the death of President Sékou Touré in 1984, Guinea's experimenting with a revolutionary form of development came to an end. The nation's future, now in the hands of the military, is uncertain.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-205).