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Primary Education (primary + education)
Selected AbstractsTransforming readers: teachers and children in the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education Power of Reading projectLITERACY, Issue 2 2010Olivia O'Sullivan Abstract This paper presents findings from a national project in England, The Power of Reading (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education), which has involved to date 41 projects over 5 years, in 16 Local Authorities nationally, with 900 schools and 1,350 teachers. The paper presents findings for the first 4 years. Our data demonstrate how professional development has increased teachers' knowledge of children's literature and developed their confidence in using a wide range of creative pedagogies based on texts. The paper draws on evidence to describe how the emotional power of texts can affect both teachers and children and change their engagement as readers. A range of evidence demonstrates children's responses to texts and their developing understanding through writing, talk, drawing and art work. We provide evidence to show how these factors have increased children's motivation and attainment as readers. [source] Putting literature at the heart of the literacy curriculumLITERACY, Issue 1 2006Deborah Nicholson Abstract This paper documents an initiative in Continuing Professional Development, conceived and carried out by London's Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE). The intention was to improve the teaching and learning of writing in Years 5 and 6 of the primary school (9,11-year-olds), through working with challenging literature. This teacher education project drew on CLPE's earlier research project, published as The Reader in the Writer (Barrs and Cork, 2001). Classroom approaches developed through the initiative are described, and qualitative and quantitative changes in children's writing are discussed. Patterns of teaching in the classrooms that appear to have made a particular difference to the children's achievement are explored. [source] The Reader in the WriterLITERACY, Issue 2 2000Myra Barrs This article discusses the role of reading, especially the reading of literature, in the development of writing. It suggests that the direct teaching of written language features is no substitute for extensive experience of written language. It gives a brief preliminary account of a recent centre for language in Primary Education (CLPE) research project on the influence of children's reading of literature on their writing at KS2. Through analysis of children's writing, the project explored the influence of children's reading on their writing. Its findings highlighted the value of children working and writing in role in response to literary texts. It looked closely at the kinds of teaching which made a significant difference to children's writing and documented the impact on teachers' practice of the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy. [source] Education for All: How Much Will It Cost?DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2004Enrique Delamonica In 1990, a target of universal access to basic education by the year 2000 was set by two global conferences. Ten years later, however, it was clear that the target had not been met. Too many countries had made insufficient progress, and although many of the reasons for this inadequate progress were country-specific, one factor stood out in virtually all countries: inadequate public finance for primary education. In 2000, the Millennium Summit set a new target date for achieving ,education for all' of 2015. This article updates the global and regional cost estimates for reaching that target. The estimates are based on the most recent country-by-country data on budgetary expenditure, population and enrolment trends, and unit cost. The annual additional cost of achieving ,education for all' in developing countries by 2015 is estimated at US$ 9.1 billion. Although this is affordable at the global level, individual countries will need considerably more resources than are currently available. However, official development assistance (ODA) has been declining, and the share of ODA allocated to basic education has changed little over the past decade. Therefore, although affordable, the target of universal basic education by 2015 is likely to be missed, just as it was in 2000, without a major change both in ODA and national budgets. [source] Expenditure Incidence in Africa: Microeconomic EvidenceFISCAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2000David E. Sahn Abstract In this paper, we examine the progressivity of social sector expenditures in eight sub-Saharan African countries. We employ dominance tests, complemented by extended Gini/concentration coefficients, to determine whether health and education expenditures redistribute resources to the poor. We find that social services are poorly targeted. Among the services examined, primary education tends to be most progressive and university education is least progressive. The benefits associated with hospital care are also less progressive than other health facilities. Our results also show that, while concentration curves are a useful way to summarise information on the distributional benefits of government expenditures, statistical testing of differences in curves is important. [source] Advocacy networks, choice and private schooling of the poor in IndiaGLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 3 2010GEETHA B. NAMBISSAN Abstract This article is about the flows of rhetorics and discourses, particularly those that advocate choice and private schooling, and the role that transnational advocacy networks play in managing and driving these flows. We explore a set of network relations between advocacy groups in the UK and the USA and local ,choice' advocates in India, and some of the emerging impacts of local and transnational advocacy on the politics of education and education policy in India. The network advocates school choice and private schooling as solutions to the problem of achieving universal, high-quality primary education. Individual policy entrepreneurs are active in making these connections and circulating ideas. A complex of funding, exchange, cross-referencing, dissemination and mutual sponsorship links the Indian choice and privatization advocacy network, and connects it to other countries in a global network for neoliberalism. [source] Assessing mothers' concerns in the postpartum period: methodological issuesJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 3 2004Helen I. Lugina MN PhD RN RM Aim., This paper reports a study evaluating the sensitivity of a semi-structured interview schedule and card sort methods in assessing postpartum concerns of women. Background., Several methods have been used to assess postpartum maternal concerns and the process of becoming a mother, but few studies have evaluated the methods with respect to their sensitivity for obtaining information. Method., A cohort of mothers was followed-up at one (n = 110) and 6 weeks (n = 83) after childbirth in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Women with a minimum of 7 years of primary education were interviewed and they also sorted cards. Those with less fewer than 7 years of primary education were interviewed only. The methods were used in alternate order to assess method interaction. Results., In the interviews at 1 week, mothers more often expressed worry and interest related to the baby or themselves when they had sorted cards first. The extent to which women expressed worry and interest about specific baby- and mother-related topics was generally higher for women who had sorted cards before the interview at both 1 and 6 weeks. Independent of whether they were interviewed only, interviewed after sorting cards or before, mothers more often expressed a higher degree of interest than of worry about the baby and self at both 1 and 6 weeks. The order of the data collection methods did not influence the way women sorted cards as being worries and interests. Conclusion., Compared to interview using a semi-structured interview schedule, our findings suggest that the card sort is more sensitive in obtaining information about women's concerns. Although the interview method has the advantage of reaching less educated people, the card sort is a technique that is associated with fewer barriers and is a more participatory method for those who can use it. [source] Towards a typology of computer use in primary educationJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 3 2007J. Tondeur Abstract, In the present study, we reject the view that computer use can be studied as an isolated variable in a learning environment. Our main objective is to develop an instrumental tool to measure different types of educational computer use in the classroom. This builds on a comprehensive review of the literature about computer use in education. This review helped to construct a questionnaire to identify a typology of computer use in primary education. In addition, the questionnaire was enriched by input of experts in this field. The questionnaire was presented to a sample of 352 primary school teachers. The input from a first subsample was used to carry out an exploratory factor analysis; the second subsample was used to verify the identified factor structure via confirmatory factor analysis. A three-factor structure of computer use in primary education was identified: ,the use of computers as an information tool', ,the use of computers as a learning tool,' and ,learning basic computer skills'. The three-factor structure was confirmed in the confirmatory factor analysis. The results underpin a number of meaningful differences in the current practice of computer use in primary education. [source] Achieving education for all: how much does money matter?JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2006Samer Al-Samarrai This paper explores the extent to which differences in the resources allocated to education explain differences in educational access and performance across countries. Cross-country regression analysis shows that the link between educational access and performance and public education expenditure is weak. The paper suggests that levels of household spending, the effectiveness of the public expenditure management system and the composition of public education spending are important factors explaining this weak link. The results imply that the achievement of the education millennium development goals will require more than just increases in expenditure on primary education. This does not imply that resources are unnecessary, but that increasing resources alone is unlikely to be sufficient. The composition of resources and institutions that govern the use of these resources play a central role in translating resources into better schooling outcomes. A stronger focus on these aspects of education systems will be required if the Millennium Development Goals in education are to be achieved. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Research into literacy and technology in primary classrooms: an exploration of understandings generated by recent studiesJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 1 2009Cathy Burnett While much has been written about the implications for ,literacy' of practices surrounding digital technologies, there has been surprisingly little research investigating new literacies in primary classrooms. This review examines the kinds of understandings that have been generated through studies of primary literacy and technology reported during the period 2000,2006. It uses Green's distinction between ,operational', ,cultural' and ,critical' dimensions of primary literacy to investigate the focus and methodology of 38 empirical studies. It explores ways in which research may be informed by assumptions and practices associated with print literacy, but also highlights the kinds of studies which are beginning to investigate the implications of digital texts for primary education. The paper concludes by arguing for further ethnographic and phenomenological studies of classroom literacy practices in order to explore the complex contexts which surround and are mediated by digital texts. [source] Returns to Education during the Reform of State-owned Enterprises in Hunan, People's Republic of ChinaLABOUR, Issue 3 2002Xiaoyu Huang The objective of this paper is to analyse the impact of education on personal earnings during the reform of state-owned enterprises, comparing 1995 with 1998 in Hunan, China, using the Mincerian earnings equation method. The results show that the rates of return to education increased, indicating that human capital has been better rewarded as the reforms of the Chinese economic structure have progressed. Moreover, the findings show that primary education receives the highest returns, followed by tertiary education. Middle school education obtains the lowest rewards, reflecting the effects of the reform of state-owned enterprises on middle school graduates on whom the unemployment impact of this change has been the greatest. [source] Fiscal Decentralization and Provincial-Level Fiscal Disparities in China: A Sino-U.S. Comparative PerspectivePUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 2009Zhirong Jerry Zhao Since China's 1994 fiscal reform, increasing concerns have been voiced about fiscal disparities across the country. Can local governments fairly and effectively fulfill basic public services such as primary education, public health, and social welfare? This essay traces the evolution of intergovernmental relations in China since 1978. The fluctuation of provincial level fiscal distribution over time and the underlying factors behind fiscal inequality, as compared to a decentralized American revenue system, are analyzed. The author, Zhirong Jerry Zhao of the University of Minnesota, argues for additional research on alternative measures of local fiscal capacity. [source] Achieving Health Equity on a Global Scale through a Community-Based, Public Health Framework for ActionTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 3 2010Laura Anderko Despite good intentions and decades of discussion addressing the need for transformative changes globally to reduce poverty and improve health equity, little progress has been made. A fundamental shift in framing the current conversation is critical to achieve "health for all," moving away from the traditional approaches that use the more narrowly focused medical model, which is intent on treating and curing disease. A public health framework for action is needed, which recognizes and confronts the complex, and often-times difficult-to-achieve social determinants of health. A restructuring of global health policy development and implementation will be ineffective unless key areas are addressed including primary education and the environment, in addition to economic considerations. A public health framework that embraces a community-based participatory approach would provide a comprehensive platform for identifying critical components that impact health, and for developing effective strategies for change. A participatory approach would encourage dialogue and problem-solving for region-specific issues among those most affected by the broader health and social justice issues, with those who create policy. [source] Progress and challenge in Nurture Groups: evidence from three case studiesBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2005Paul Cooper Nurture Groups have come to play a key role in the mainstream education of young children experiencing social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. In this article, Paul Cooper, Professor of Education, and Yonca Tiknaz, EdD Research Associate, both of the School of Education at the University of Leicester, explore the perceptions of mainstream and Nurture Group staff about the nature, purposes and impact of Nurture Group practice. Their analysis is based on data from three case studies, carried out in 2003, of Nurture Groups for pupils in Years 1 and 2 of their primary education. A key feature of this article is its focus on some of the challenges faced by apparently successful Nurture Groups in achieving a coherent and sustained form of intervention in the context of a whole-school approach. The authors show that mainstream and Nurture Group staff value Nurture Groups and see them as making a significant contribution to the progress of pupils, particularly in the areas of social and emotional development and behaviour. These findings are consistent with earlier studies. However, the lack of effective communication between Nurture Group staff and mainstream staff and difficulties over balance in Nurture Groups are highlighted as important factors that may, in some circumstances, inhibit educational progress. This paper helps to extend our understanding of some of the ,opportunity costs' and ,opportunity gains' that might be associated with the Nurture Group approach because of the temporary separation of children in Nurture Groups from mainstream schooling. [source] | ||||||||||||||||