(An item from the ISHN Member information service) We do not often pay attention to the various companies that supply goods and services to educational systems but one item caught our eye this week. Education Week reported that Pearson, a multi-national education company, had sold the business newspaper Financial Times to a Japanese company so that it could focus solely on its global education strategy. The story noted that "To many in the world of K-12, it might seem that Pearson is already just that focused on education. The Wall Street Journal reported that Pearson generates about 60 percent of its sales in North America, and three-quarters of its revenue from education". ISHN has been hearing more and more about the influence that Pearson has been exerting on the UN discussions on education targets in the revised millennium development goals. We obviously need to listen even more. Read more>>
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(An item from the ISHN Member information service) The news stories we identified this week included a story about an American forum organized by the White House to "rethink school discipline". The news release stated "The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice are hosting teams of superintendents, principals, and teachers from across the country today for "Rethink Discipline," a day-long conference at the White House on creating positive school climates and implementing effective discipline practices. The conference seeks to advance the national conversation about reducing the overuse of unnecessary out of school suspensions and expulsions and replacing these practices with positive alternatives that keep students in school and engaged in learning, but also ensure accountability." According to data released at the Forum , the number of US students losing critical learning time due to out of school suspensions and expulsions is staggering. Over 3 million students are suspended or expelled every year. A number of excellent actions were also announced, including policy, planning and profession al guides, a clearinghouse/web site and a public awareness campaign. The initiative was also linked to other US initiatives on racism, gender equity and similar policy directions. The search for meaningful alternatives to suspension are real and laudable. But do these various actions address the core dilemma for teachers; namely, if one or a few students continually disrupt the order and learning of other students, or if they break defined rules in a significant manner, what is the disciplinary pathway to follow. Particularly if the pathway is made more difficult and complicated by various administrative needs, family and neighbourhood factors and more? Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An article in Volume 197, 2015 of Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences reports on a small qualitative study of teacher beliefs about school and classroom discipline. Although the study is small, the implications are significant, particularly, if, as we suspect, the views and beliefs of the teachers in this study do not differ greatly from teachers around the world. In the study, 20 teachers from primary and secondary schools were interviewed. Numerous concepts that teachers used to define the meaning of discipline were weighted according to the interviews. Among these concepts, the notions of "order" and "rules" were believed to be far more important to these teachers than other concepts such as ethics, compassion, determination, ability and an interactive process. In the middle ranking, but still far below the importance of order and rules, the concepts of volunteering, self-control, respect and adaptation to life were found. In other words, the traditional teacher beliefs and professional norms about student discipline appear to be well-reflected in this Turkish sample. Order and rules are paramount, the rest is much less important. Our only question is whether these views are consistemt with other teachers around the world. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) With the adoption of the education targets in the 2015-30 UN Social Development Goals, there is increased interest in how health, personal and citizenship education can be delivered. An article in Volume 197, 2015 of Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences describes how citizenship education is delivered in several western European countries as an independent subject that can be mandatory or optional, or integrated in one or more subjects. In 2002 the Council of Europe suggested that CE be included in every level and must have, be linked to knowledge but also to the development of attitudes and abilities, which will provide to the students the possibility to actively participate within the society. The authors describe several countries in depth, but here is a quick summary: Spain offers CE as an optional subject at the primary and secondary level, with parents choosing between a religion course or a course on social/civic and ethical values. France defines CE as "civic and moral education" that is mandatory that is delivered in a cross-curricular format with extensive detailed guidelines in the primary school. In secondary school, "Civic, Legal and Social Education" is mandatory for one hour per week. In the UK, CE is an optional topic in primary schools and is mandatory at the secondary levels. Finland requires CE at the junior secondary levels and is optional at the senior grade levels. A participatory, empowering approach is used at all levels. In the Netherlands, CE is delivered as an explicit part of environmental education and is also delivered in a cross-curricular format. Italy delivers CE as a cross-curricular topic in primary schools and as separate subject in secondary schools. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) A July 15, 2015 news release from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in England has announced that it will monitor the joint delivery of support services to children and youth. "Joint Targeted Area Inspections (JTAI) are to be introduced from autumn this year by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. They will specifically examine how well local authorities, health, police and probation services work together in a particular area to safeguard children. The new inspections aim to shine a light on both good and poor practice, identifying examples from which others can learn and helping local agencies to improve. The proposals, set out in a consultation launched today (Wednesday 15 July), will give inspectorates more flexibility and the ability to be responsive to certain areas of interest or concern. Each inspection is to include a ‘deep dive’ element, with the first 6 set to focus on children at risk of sexual exploitation and those missing from home, school or care. Further inspections will look at other issues by theme. The experiences of children and young people are at the heart of the proposed model. Inspectors from across all 4 inspectorates will work in small multi-disciplinary teams jointly tracking and sampling cases to assess the progress and outcomes for children and young people at risk of harm. This will complement the single agency inspections and provide a joined up evaluation of how well the agencies work together to protect children. Under the proposals the final report will include a narrative judgement that clearly sets out how the local partnership and the agencies who are part of it are performing and what they need to do to improve.". Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) The world’s leading NGOs demand action on education in emergencies at Oslo Education Summit on July 7th. Here are some excerpts from the NGO call to action released subsequent to the conference. "The education of an estimated 65 million children age 3-15 is disrupted as a result of wars, natural disasters and other emergencies. These children are out-of-school, at risk of dropping out or suffer from poor quality education and learning. Over 20 million are out-of-school primary school-age children. But last year, only 1% of humanitarian aid went to education..... We, the undersigned organisations, call upon world leaders at the Oslo Summit to publicly commit to the creation of a Global Humanitarian Fund for Education in Emergencies to protect the most vulnerable children and get them back in school. The fund must strengthen existing mechanisms, rapidly coordinate and deliver education in emergencies, and leverage new finance. World leaders must create this fund in 2015 if we are to keep our promise to children and the right to education. We hope this call to action leads to a process of robust technical analysis and wide consultation to determine how best to secure more and better funding for education in emergencies. World leaders have said “Education Cannot Wait,” and must now take action to keep the promise to the most marginalised and vulnerable children. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) Readers of this blog will know that we have been tracking the relationship (or lack thereof) between physical activity and overweight/obesity. Two Articles in July 2015 Issue of International Journal of Obesity continue the discussion. One article suggests that self-reporting of eating and activity behaviours are not sufficiently accurate and objective measurement is required. Another article reports on a study that "identified an unhealthy cluster of TV viewing with ED food/drink consumption, which predicted overweight/obesity in a small longitudinal sample of Australian children. Cluster stability was fair to moderate over 3 years and is a novel finding. A third behaviour examined in the study, physical activity was apparently not as significant as the eating/TV watching behaviours. This finding continues our growing realization that eating and activity may be independent factors/behaviours rather than linked and that it may be wiser to focus on eating, especially when combined with television viewing. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) Public health nutritionists were asked to describe the elements of system and organizational capacity in an article in Issue #10, 2015 of Public Health Nutrition. " A Delphi study involving three iterations of email-delivered questionnaires testing a range of capacity determinants derived from the literature. Consensus was set at >50 % of panellists ranking items as ‘very important’ on a five-point Likert scale across three survey rounds. A total of thirty expert panellists (68 % of an initial panel of forty-four participants) completed all three rounds of Delphi questionnaires. Consensus identified determinants of capacity building in practice including partnerships, resourcing, community development, leadership, workforce development, intelligence and quality of project management." Note: This article reflects the definition of capacity and capacity building developed and used by ISHN as part of its Wikipedia style web site. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) A blog post from Live Science suggests that a better understanding is needed of the practical or real life reasons why teens use marijuana is required. Based on a study done in the USA, the author suggests that boredom, experimentation and pleasure (to get high) are among the strongest reasons for use. Mixing marijuana with other drugs to increase the effect was another. The study then examined which reasons were associated with the use of other drugs, exploring the often discussed notion that marijuana is a gateway to other drugs. Experimentation was not tied to other drug use but boredom was. Read more>>
(An item from the ISHN Member information service) With debates about the purposes of schooling now underway in several countries such as England, the US and others, we note that several blogs are adding useful commentaries suggesting that a holistic education, aimed at developing the whole child, are also adding to those debates. Watch these pages for ongoing reporting of the education reform paper in England and the renewal of the Education Act in the US. Both countries are deciding whether health education will be part of their core subjects. Read more>>
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