It was the first day of school, and we were standing on the bleachers in the gymnasium, waiting for the seniors to make their ceremonial entrance. I stood there with the ninth graders, craning my neck, trying to get a glimpse of the new senior class as they lined up in the hallway. We show our respect by standing during the seniors’ entrance; they usually reward us by putting on a show while walking to their seats. Continue reading “The Muddy-Booted Boys: The Lads’ Redneck American Cousins”
Fame, Folk devils and Generation X-Factor
In recent months a number of articles have appeared in the UK national press, reporting renewed concerns about the impact of celebrity and consumer culture on young people’s aspirations. Celebrity culture features in these as a contemporary folk devil, conjured up as the source of various societal ills, and diverting attention from the structural causes of inequality. Continue reading “Fame, Folk devils and Generation X-Factor”
BY GOVE: BACK TO THE FUTURE: EDUCATION CIRCA 1962!
GEA Policy Officer’s Report, 2012
Continue reading “BY GOVE: BACK TO THE FUTURE: EDUCATION CIRCA 1962!”
School inspections: do they tell us about sexual bullying in schools?
Ofsted published a thematic review on 19 June that looks at what schools can do to create a positive school culture and to prevent and tackle bullying. 37 primary schools and 19 secondary schools were included. One aspect of the survey, ‘No place for bullying’, was inspectors’ focus on pupils’ own experiences and understanding of bullying and its effects. Inspectors asked pupils what they would do if they were bullied, whether they had been bullied while at their current school and how well they thought their school dealt with bullying. Continue reading “School inspections: do they tell us about sexual bullying in schools?”
Compelling Diversities, Educational Intersections: Policy, Practice, Parity
The Gender and Education Association would like to announce that the ninth international Gender and Education conference will be held at London South Bank University from Tuesday 23rd – Friday 26th April 2013. Continue reading “Compelling Diversities, Educational Intersections: Policy, Practice, Parity”
World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education
A brilliant new resource for ‘visualising the educational pathways’ of males and females and for observing the changes in disparities over time has been launched by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Maps, charts and tables relating to pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary level education worldwide can be downloaded from the UNESCO website.
Learned to Kill? Now Teach our Children: A Critique of Troops to Teachers
The UK government, following the lead of the US, is devising multiple ways to get more ex-members of the military into our schools – as teachers, mentors, classroom assistants and basic skills tutors. Continue reading “Learned to Kill? Now Teach our Children: A Critique of Troops to Teachers”
Telling girls the truth about domestic violence
Constantly, I am dismayed by the reporting style used in national and local media when women lose their lives as a result of domestic violence. Continue reading “Telling girls the truth about domestic violence”
Boffins and geeks: geek or chic?
The labels swot, ear ’ole, boffin, keeno, geek and nerd resonate meaningfully across generations of school-goers and echo through the terrains of popular culture. Our Gender and Education viewpoint started life as a conversation about our own research into how such identities are imagined and lived. We wondered: Has ‘the rise of the nerd’ meant that being a ‘boffin’ at school has lost its stigma? Continue reading “Boffins and geeks: geek or chic?”
Marriage at the heart of sex education for Free Schools and Academies?
Sex & Relationship education (SRE) in the UK remains a highly politicized arena. In the wake of the recent PSHE review, media sources are now reporting that new funding agreements for new free schools and academies places ‘marriage’ centre stage. As the Telegraph notes: Continue reading “Marriage at the heart of sex education for Free Schools and Academies?”