Why do middle class kids go to middle class schools? It all began with the story of a father’s dream. It was sometime in April in 2008 and I was in the midst of my undergraduate fieldwork. I had been exploring the resurgence in the ‘Gorkhaland’ movement across the hills of Darjeeling in North Eastern India. I had been interviewing various people who had been engaging in hunger strikes in pursuit of the cause. In the process of these interviews and in my general experiences during this time, I was struck by the constant rhetoric that they fought not for themselves or their own futures but for the futures of their children and generations to come. I was staying in the small town of Sukhia about 20 km outside of Darjeeling town. On that particular April day I had found myself temporarily housebound in the home of my host family, in the wake of a sudden tumultuous downpour. The weather it seemed was conspiring against my research, forcing me to postpone another interview. I sat in the kitchen waiting for the weather to pass, sharing an afternoon cup of tea with a side of sliced bread and jam, with Prabin, a member of my host family. Prabin worked in the office of the District Magistrate and thus was a man with a keen eye on local politics. As such, he had volunteered himself to be my unofficial research assistant. It had been a quiet Saturday about the house, as Prabin’s wife Binita and their 3-year-old son, Pranayan, were out shopping in the market. Prabin’s mother and father were visiting other family nearby, and Prabin’s younger brother, Pramod, had travelled into town to collect some supplies for his school. There was no sign of the rain letting up soon so Prabin and I continued to chat. Prabin’s son had recently started school and we were discussing his son’s apparent indifference towards schooling. ‘Everyday he cries! He doesn’t like school very much’. Prabin was convinced that his son would stop crying once he had learned the value of school. I had been working as an English teacher in a small private school and had seen first-hand how parents like Prabin acknowledged the importance of schooling choice, even as their children began their schooling journeys at around 2 years old. Prabin was keen to reinforce the idea that his son’s present school, a small building only 5 minutes’ walk up the road, was just the beginning. Prabin told me that he wanted his son to get a ‘good education’ in contrast to his own schooling experience, which he described as ‘simple’. Prabin told me that he dreamed of his son going to England and making enough money to support the whole family. Prabin knew that if his son was going to fulfil his dream then he would need to succeed at school, but not just any school. ‘I want my son to go to St. Joseph’s School; this is the best school in Darjeeling’. I was aware that there were many schools in Darjeeling, both in the town itself and in the surrounding areas, all of which professed to offer a high level of English medium education, so I was keen to know what made St Joseph’s such a certain choice. ‘Have you been there?’ he challenged me, as if to say that anyone who would lay eyes upon this place would know what he was talking about. ‘We will go there someday; it is a very nice place’. He was keen to emphasize how ‘nice’ this school was even if he had only seen the building from the road. ‘Others schools can teach English but [St. Joseph’s] is more than that. They play all the sport[s], they have good Rector, they have nice student[s], good discipline, this is the right place for my son’. Prabin emphasized that he dreamed of a good life for his son and in order to get there he first had to go to the right school. This was the first time I had even heard of St. Joseph’s School, but it provided a provocative insight into perceptions of the roles of schooling in India today. Prabin’s dream outlined a particular future for his son, which depended upon a foundation within a specific kind of schooling. I was immediately drawn to how he had mapped out a prospective educational trajectory, which leaned on certain intangible aspects of schooling that were perceived to subsequently guide his son towards a certain livelihood. St. Joseph’s had been singled out, as it offered something that others were perceived not to have. Perhaps most importantly of all, Prabin had never been to the school which he dreamed of. His ideas of St Joseph’s were ultimately imagined through an amalgam of stories that he had heard from work colleagues, interspersed with his own fleeting encounters in passing the school building. The imagined view of the school was integral in shaping Prabin’s actions. He was planning for his son’s future around a dream. Prabin’s perspective reflected a wider trend within literature pertaining to the Indian middle class, indicating a certain preference for a particular kind of schooling as being a necessary prerequisite for a specific, ultimately idealised, future livelihood. Donner (2006) identified a similar kind of career mapping amongst middle class Bengali families in Calcutta. The families, particularly the parents themselves, sought to admit their children to particular pre-schools, which were seen as the foundations of a scholastic career. Admission to future primary and secondary education hinged on the previous stage and as such, investment in each stage of the schooling process was vital in establishing the necessary trajectory for their child to progress on to specific occupations that would offer the necessary array of capital - financial, social and cultural – that would lead to a middle class life. What I became interested in was the concept that shapes this process. Why do middle class Indians choose certain schools and not others? What is the apparently intangible quality that leads parents like Prabin to desire St. Joseph’s over all the others? What is it about schools like St. Joseph’s that make them stand out from the range of available schools? It was with these questions that I headed off to St. Joseph’s for some answers.

This research report attempts to establish the cognitive consequences of the disruption of schooling. Specifically the report investigates Vygotsky and Luna’s claim that formal schooling necessarily produces scientific concepts in learners, by examining the performance of learners who had been subjected to disrupted schooling. On the basis of empirical research conducted, the report challenges Vygotsky and Luria's claim about the cognitive consequences of schooling.

The purpose of this 1-year case study was to understand how 5 elementary school teachers in an inner-city school foster social inclusion. Through classroom observations and interviews, the study examined the variations of classroom practices the teachers used to create inclusive environments, the challenges they faced in the process, and the strategies they developed to address these challenges. How their work in the classroom interacted with the school's organizational structures was also explored. Three concepts frame the study: a broad conception of social inclusion that addresses multiple aims for creating an environment of belonging and takes students of all social identities into account; a detailed conception of the practice of social inclusion from a range of theoretical perspectives and teachers' experiences; and a situated conception of context that interrelates the classroom with the school and the community. Three dimensions of pedagogy—content-based practices, relations, and structures—are used to identify and compare principles of inclusive practice. The study portrays the interactions of daily classroom life through cross-case analysis and reveals the complex decision-making processes that teachers use to foster social inclusion. This study builds on growing scholarship in the field of social inclusion in education (Ainscow et al., 2006; Dei, 1996a; Kosnik & Beck, 2009; Kumashiro, 2002; Topping & Maloney, 2005) and on the increased interest in inclusive pedagogical practices. The in-depth portraits of the teachers’ classroom practices are compared to literature in 4 areas: citizen-based pedagogy, culture-based pedagogy, race-based pedagogy, and anti-oppression pedagogy. The teachers’ practices are analyzed in relation to 2 principles of social inclusion: connecting content to students’ lives and creating mutually supportive social spaces. The study revealed that the participants' practices were mainly associated with pedagogies based on citizenship and culture, with some connections to race-based and anti-oppression pedagogies. What differentiates this study from most other studies in this area is its detailed attention to the dynamic complexity of applying principles of social inclusion to practice. The portraits offer insights into inclusive work in classrooms that will benefit teachers, teacher educators, and researchers interested in expanding the field of social inclusion in education.

The purpose of this 1-year case study was to understand how 5 elementary school teachers in an inner-city school foster social inclusion. Through classroom observations and interviews, the study examined the variations of classroom practices the teachers used to create inclusive environments, the challenges they faced in the process, and the strategies they developed to address these challenges. How their work in the classroom interacted with the school's organizational structures was also explored. Three concepts frame the study: a broad conception of social inclusion that addresses multiple aims for creating an environment of belonging and takes students of all social identities into account; a detailed conception of the practice of social inclusion from a range of theoretical perspectives and teachers' experiences; and a situated conception of context that interrelates the classroom with the school and the community. Three dimensions of pedagogy—content-based practices, relations, and structures—are used to identify and compare principles of inclusive practice. The study portrays the interactions of daily classroom life through cross-case analysis and reveals the complex decision-making processes that teachers use to foster social inclusion. This study builds on growing scholarship in the field of social inclusion in education (Ainscow et al., 2006; Dei, 1996a; Kosnik & Beck, 2009; Kumashiro, 2002; Topping & Maloney, 2005) and on the increased interest in inclusive pedagogical practices. The in-depth portraits of the teachers’ classroom practices are compared to literature in 4 areas: citizen-based pedagogy, culture-based pedagogy, race-based pedagogy, and anti-oppression pedagogy. The teachers’ practices are analyzed in relation to 2 principles of social inclusion: connecting content to students’ lives and creating mutually supportive social spaces. The study revealed that the participants' practices were mainly associated with pedagogies based on citizenship and culture, with some connections to race-based and anti-oppression pedagogies. What differentiates this study from most other studies in this area is its detailed attention to the dynamic complexity of applying principles of social inclusion to practice. The portraits offer insights into inclusive work in classrooms that will benefit teachers, teacher educators, and researchers interested in expanding the field of social inclusion in education.

The purpose of this study was to discuss the factors the reading-classics motivation and influencing reading motivation of Children¡¦s reading-classics at home schooling. From the one-year pilot study, the Lin Family became my partners of this study through the activity to join the reading-classics. Thus, they were invited to be part of this study. By the interview guides with 17 reading motivation and my theoretical sensitivity, I evolved the intensive field and truly entered the everyday life of children¡¦s reading-classics at home schooling. The data were collected by observation, interviewing, and the documentation. Other people also input some important ideas during the traveling between Liouguei and Pindong. After the three-months exploration, the results showed that culture has effects on reading- classics and reading motivation. There were several important results listed as follows: 1. Modeling is the foundation to make the reading-classics and reading efficiency better. 2. Creating the classics environment has an impact on readers¡¦ choices of reading values. 3. Providing the simulation of reading-classics culture is the one of the resources to improve the curiosity of reading-classics and reading. 4. Realizing the cultural importance will increase the reading efficacy of reading-classics. 5. Classics Examinations have become the discipline of reading-classics efficacy and challenge. 6. Parents-children co-study and the sages culture help solving the reading problems. 7. Enjoying the reading-classics culture motivates the competition in reading-classics. Through the research tour, reading-classics at home schooling and culture are the key factors influencing Children¡¦s reading-classics and reading motivation at home schooling. After considering the limitation in this study, the interaction between researcher and reading-classics at home schooling, I hope that the study could provide some inputs giving the education of reading-classics some new ideas and improving the future research in this area.

The problem of the study was to investigate the health education content areas taught by home school educators in Indiana. The study was designed to answer the following research questions: (a) What was the content taught in home schools health education curricula? (b) To what extent were home educators presenting health education curricula? (c) What were the means by which health education is delivered by home school educators? (d) What was the amount of training home educators have received in preparation to teach health education?An instrument was developed, pilot tested, and administered to a random sample of 600 home school educators registered with the Indiana Department of Education. Eighty five instruments were returned for a response rate of 14% and appropriate descriptive statistics were generated.From the analysis of the data it was found that home school educators were teaching health education 87.05%, the majority of health education was taught during non-structured teachable moments, the Bible was the most used curriculum guide 55.41%, the number one resources used was the public library 62.16%, and the majority of home school educators in the study had at least some college education 75.31%. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Ideologue, pedagogue, pragmatic : homeschooling factions take shape on the national stage, 1970s-2010 -- Building a homeschool movement in Indiana and Delaware County, 1980-2010 -- Homeschooling at the grassroots : an ethnography of selected practitioners in Delaware County, 2001-2010. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of History

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [129]-139).

Enligt både svensk och internationell forskning är placerade barns skolgång bristfällig. Syftet med denna studie är att utifrån ett barnperspektiv undersöka hur placerade ungdomar mellan 16- och 20 år har upplevt/upplever sin skolgång och hur samspelet mellan dem och lärarna har sett ut, och även om de har fått särskilt stöd under sin skoltid. Frågeställningarna är följande: Vilka erfarenheter och upplevelser av skolan har ungdomar över 16 år som varit eller är placerade i samhällsvård? Hur har samspelet mellan ungdomarna och lärarna/pedagogerna fungerat under skolgången enligt ungdomarna? Har dessa ungdomar fått något särskilt stöd under sin skolgång och vad berättar de om detta? Denna studie är inspirerad av livsberättelse som metodansats och kvalitativa intervjuer har använts som datainsamlingsmetod. Fem personer har intervjuats med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna har transkriberats. Utifrån berättelserna har teman skapats och analyserats/diskuterats utifrån det sociokulturella perspektivet, barnperspektivet och det relationella perspektivet. Huvudresultaten i studien är att läraren i skolan har en viktig roll för placerade barn. Läraren behöver ge stöd, samspela och se ungdomarna som individer oavsett bakgrund eller prestation. Att ha en social tillhörighet och goda relationer med andra elever och lärare har också visat sig vara betydelsefullt. Ungdomarna nämner också att stödet de har fått i skolan har sett olika ut och upplevts både positivt och negativt. Positivt utifrån att de har fått det stöd de behöver men även negativt med skamfyllda upplevelser där ungdomarna känt sig bortvalda vilket i sin tur har lett till störande beteenden eller att de har gett upp hoppet om att lyckas i skolan.

Children’s rights to participate in decision-making in matters which impact them directly, is a topic leading to increased research since the 1990s. Today, most countries, including South Africa, have included the right of children to participate and to be heard, in their legislation. In reality, however, there is still a big gap in the implementation of children’s right to participation. Home schooling as an alternative to mainstream schooling has also gained momentum in South Africa with an estimated 50 000 – 75 000 children being home schooled. When children are home schooled, the families spend more time together than children who spend 6-8 hours per day attending a local school. Decisions with regard to curriculum, subjects and social interaction which would normally be the responsibility of the school, now become the responsibility of the parents. Children in the adolescent life phase have an increasing need to gain independence from their parents. In the home school context, the fact that the parents are also the teachers, could lead to increased frustration and conflict between adolescents and parents. In this context it would therefore be important that the adolescents should be allowed to participate in decisions pertaining to their schooling. This study focused on exploring adolescents’ participation in decision-making in the home schooling context. This research is important as little is known about the perceptions of adolescents and their parents about participation in the home schooling context. The research took place in the Western Cape. Eight families, which consisted of 21 participants, were involved in the study. Data saturation determined the sample size. The participants were selected from specific home schooling forums and had to reside in the Western Cape. Semi-structured interviews were held with all the participants and an interview guide was used for consistency. Different themes were identified by using thematic analysis. The study found that families have different views about the adolescents’ role in participation. It varied from adolescents who were allowed to initiate change to adolescents not allowed to participate in decisions at all. In the families where the adolescents were allowed limited or no participation in decision-making, the adolescents indicated that they understood that their parents had their best interest at heart, although they felt that they (the adolescents) would welcome a bigger say. It is recommended that home schooling families be made aware of the need of their adolescent children to be allowed to participate more in decision-making in the home schooling context on all levels, ranging from educational matters to social interaction. / MSW, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015