Education Commons^™

Girls’ Schooling Empowerment In Rural China: Identifying Capabilities And Social Change In The Village, Vilma Seeberg

Vilma Seeberg

This study is explicitly anchored in an emerging grounded paradigm, the human development capability approach, and proposes its elaboration using empowerment as a perspective, in this case, on the education of excluded village girls. The person-centered development imperative of the empowerment-capability approach provided the conceptual tools that brought together a holistic observation of social location, subjectivities, agency, achievements and transformative change. Seeking to explain village girls' demand for schooling, the work identifies intangible and instrumental capabilities often unrecognized and "their indirect role through influencing social change" (Sen 1999, 296) contributing grounded findings on the concept of empowerment. Findings further show …

“Used-Book Sales” Report : Key Factors Determining The Publisher’S Success, Lissa Coffey

LissaCoffey

In March, 2006, the Book Industry Study Group published the first study of the used book market. Somewhat miraculously, BISG got data from the major players in the used book marketplace. Because the study is so detailed and broad, The Idea Logical Company prepared a precis of the high points. That summary follows; it is, of course, much more useful reading if you have the study in hand, which is available from www.Bisg.org. The material below refers to tables which are contained in the original report. report on “Used-Book Sales” contains a huge amount of information. How helpful it will …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

On December 3, 2013, when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, the ranking of the United States as number 27 on the global scoreboard elicited little surprise among teachers, educational professionals, academics, and educational policymakers. The usual platitudes were trotted out—no mention that the United States’ standing was getting any worse, just which other countries were passing us by. We were stuck at a perennial average.

The results are in a sense a metaphor of the slow decline of the United State since the 1970s from a position of …

"For A Future Tomorrow": The Figured Worlds Of Schoolgirls In Kono, Sierra Leone, Jordene Hale

Doctoral Dissertations

Current research in Sub-Sahara Africa suggests that young women face challenges in accessing and completing schooling, due among other things to gender related school based violence (Bruce & Hallman, 2008; Dunne, Humphreys, & Leach, 2006; Lloyd, Kaufman, & Hewett, 2000). These studies, while valuable in providing documentation on school enrollment and school leaving, do not explore the motivational framework where young women remain in school. The purpose of this dissertation is to trace how schoolgirls’ identities or “figured worlds” (Gee, 2011) are co-constructed in particular contexts by the same cohort of schoolgirls, their teachers, households, and communities through an ethnographic …

The Differences Between The Public And Private School Systems In Cuenca, Ecuador, Rachael Goodloe

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador, offers both public and private education to its citizens. The value that has been placed upon each system varies from person to person. Therefore, I set out to learn more about the benefits, disadvantages, and overall differences between the two systems. I traveled to Cuenca for a site visit to public and private schools and interviewed teachers in the two systems. The observations I made and the results of the interviews changed my opinions and preconceived notions about what I thought education would be like in Cuenca. The results of this study pointed …

Creating Sustainable Education Projects In Roatan, Honduras Through Continuous Process Improvement, Arjan Raven, Adriane B. Randolph, Shelli Heil

Adriane B. Randolph

The investigators worked together with permanent residents of Roatán, Honduras on sustainable initiatives to help improve the island’s troubled educational programs. Our initiatives focused on increasing the number of students eligible and likely to attend a university. Using a methodology based in continuous process improvement, we developed tutoring programs, college preparation workshops, long-term plans for a local school, and solicited involvement by an island educational coalition. Lessons learned from these initiatives may be used to expand other efforts on the island and can be generalized to other programs in Central America.

Review Of "State Schooling And Ethnic Identity: The Politics Of A Tibetan Neidi Secondary School" By Zhiyong Zhu, Vilma Seeberg

Vilma Seeberg

No abstract provided.

A Sociological Perspective Of The American Education System, Duskin Hobbs

Social Sciences

The intension of this research project is to provide a critical analysis of the modern American school system, the policies that created and maintain it, the extensive effects of its practices, and the future of education under such a system. I will begin by tracing the evolution of the current order and discuss the impacts of government educational initiatives such as No Child Left Behind (George W. Bush) and A Race to the Top (Barack Obama) among others. To support these examples I will use secondary statistical research data, scholarly journals, government sources, and other forms of evidence. In this …

Antonio T. De Nicolás: Poet Of Eternal Return, Christopher Key Chapple

Research Resources

This book includes essays in honor of Professor Antonio de Nicolas.

Promoting Social And Academic Attainment Through Emotional And Social Skills Development, Aiden Carthy, Sinead Mcgilloway

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

The Multilingual Reality In American Business, Zachary Z. Lim

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Capturing Awareness: The Perception Of Higher Education At An At-Risk, Urban Middle School, Kristen M. Upp

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study is to understand at-risk, urban middle school students’ perceptions of higher education through the minds of young students from a diverse, inner city schooling background. This study sought to understand barriers preventing students from attending college and the positive contributing factors encouraging them to do so. Written interviews were conducted in an 8^th grade urban middle school in the southern United States.

One hundred five (105) students voluntarily participated in the research study, writing their thoughts pertaining to higher education and their feelings on the topic. The following themes were found: Family Involvement, Financial …

A Portrait Of School Leadership At Senshu University Matsudo Junior And Senior High School, Travis T. Brady

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As an important symbolic figure and embodiment of the traditions and character of the school, the position of principal in Japan is crucial. Yet societal pressures and an undefined job description are serving to increase pressures of the position. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine school administrative leadership at a private high school, Senshu University Matsudo Junior and Senior High School. The central research question was: What is the leadership role of the secondary administrator at Senshu University Matsudo Junior and Senior High School?

The sub-questions were: (a) What were the post-war changes implemented in Japanese secondary …

The Patriarchy’S Role In Gender Inequality In The Caribbean, Erin C. O'Connor

Student Publications

While gender equality in the Caribbean is improving, with women’s growing social, economic, and political participation, literacy rates comparable to those in Europe, and greater female participation in higher education, deeply rooted inequalities are still present and are demonstrated in the types of jobs women are in and the limited number of women in decision-making positions. Sexism, racism, and classism are systemic inequalities being perpetuated in schools, through the types of education offered for individuals and the content in textbooks. Ironically, the patriarchy is coexisting within a system of matrifocal and matrilocal families, with a long tradition of female economic …

Relying On The Private Sector: The Income Distribution And Public Investments In The Poor, Katrina Kosec

Katrina Kosec

Fearless: Professor Hakim Williams, Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams

SURGE

With his consistently energetic and enthusiastic personality, his progressive teaching methods using discussion and debate in the classroom, and his desire for his students to develop more comprehensive understandings of the problems facing education in a global context, Dr. Hakim Williams fearlessly uses his passion for change and justice in education to enlighten his students, sharpen their critical thinking skills, and change their outlooks on the future. [excerpt]

Democracy Education: The Radical Teaching, Learning, And Doing Of Tao Xingzhi, Todd A. Price Dr.

Faculty Publications

The apex of China’s 1911 Republican Revolution, the election in Nanjing of native son Dr. Sun Yat-sen, heralded an historic break with autocracy. Tragically, Sun Yat-Sen’s democracy did not last long. A bitter period of feudal strife followed as warlords sought to carve fiefdoms out of the young republic. Humiliating concessions to Japan under the Versailles Treaty added to the new republic’s problems. Continuing violation of China’s sovereignty spawned the May 4th, 1919 student movement in Peking. Reverberations from May 4th helped launch a small communist party cell in Shanghai and a larger democracy movement across the country.

Trenchant feudalism, …

“I Would Like To Live A Better Life:” How Young Mothers Experience Entrepreneurship Education In East Africa, Elisabeth E. Lefebvre, Amy Pekol, Brooke L. Krause

Education Faculty Publications

This paper examines the capabilities, values, and constraints of young mothers participating in a youth entrepreneurship program in Tanzania and Uganda. Entrepreneurship education is an increasingly popular development strategy for vulnerable and out-of-school youth. The ultimate value of these programs rests in the ability of these youth to convert the knowledge and skills they acquire into valued livelihood opportunities. It is therefore important to understand the characteristics, experiences, and needs of the participants, as well as the socio-economic conditions that shape their abilities to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills. Findings from this study suggest young mothers enter the …