Area-based Responses to Educational Disadvantage

Author(s):  
Kirstin Kerr ◽  
Alan Dyson

Countries across the world struggle to break the relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and educational outcomes. Even in otherwise affluent countries, children and young people from poor and marginalized families tend to do badly in education, and their lack of educational success makes it more likely that they will remain in poverty as adults. Moreover, socio-economic disadvantage and educational failure in these countries tend to be concentrated in particular places, such as the poor neighborhoods of large cities or of post-industrial towns. This has led policy-makers and practitioners in many administrations to favor area-based initiatives (ABIs), which target such places, as one set of responses to social and educational disadvantage. Some ABIs are limited to funding schools more generously in disadvantaged areas or giving them additional support and flexibilities. The more ambitious initiatives, however, seek to develop multistrand interventions to tackle both the educational and the social and economic problems of areas simultaneously. The evaluation evidence suggests that these initiatives have so far met with limited success at best. This has led some critics to conclude that there is a fundamental contradiction in their use of purely local interventions to tackle problems that originate outside ABIs’ target areas, in macro-level social and economic processes. However, it is possible to construct a convincing rationale for these initiatives by understanding the social ecologies that shape children’s outcomes, and by formulating holistic interventions aimed at reducing the risks in those ecologies and enhancing children’s resilience in the face of those risks. There is, moreover, evidence of a new generation of ABIs that has begun to emerge recently. These new ABIs are able to operate strategically and over the long-term, rather than being bound by the short-term nature of policy-making. These newer initiatives may offer a better prospect of tackling the link between social and educational disadvantage, even in unpromising economic circumstances, and even within the context of “politics as usual.”

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 450-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Vandenbroucke ◽  
Koen Vleminckx

Should we explain the disappointing outcomes of the Open Method of Co-ordination on Inclusion by methodological weaknesses or by substantive contradictions in the ‘social investment’ paradigm? To clarify the underlying concepts, we first revisit the original ‘Lisbon inspiration’ and then relate it to the idea of the ‘new welfare state’, as proposed in the literature on new risks in post-industrial societies. We then discuss two explanations for disappointing poverty trends, suggested by critical accounts of the ‘social investment state’: ‘resource competition’ and a ‘re-commodification’. We do not find these explanations convincing per se and conclude that the jury is still out on the ‘social investment state’. However, policy-makers cannot ignore the failure of employment policies to reduce the proportion of children and working-age adults living in jobless households in the EU, and they should not deny the reality of a ‘trilemma of activation’. Finally, we identify policy conditions that may facilitate the complementarity of social investment and social inclusion.


Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5(62)) ◽  
pp. 193-208
Author(s):  
Roman Savenkov

The article focuses on the major stages of development of Alexei Navalny’s social movement in 2017-2019 on the federal and regional levels. The movement aims to form and mobilize the supporters of Alexei Navalny in the movement’s structural elements to carry out opposition activities in large cities. In the long-term, the movement wants their activists to participate in regional and local elections. The movement is developing in the context of slowly growing socio-economic and political dissatisfaction in the country and the government’s aim to restrict public expression of concern. The conditions make the movement look for new formats of manifesting people’s discontent. The weakness of the movement is Alexei Navalny’s non-eligibility to hold the office and absence of Navalny’s political party. His image of a “fringe” and “protesting” politician created by the television media prevents him from becoming a respectable and worthy of support politician for the majority of Russians.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 955-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaveri Qureshi ◽  
Sarah Salway ◽  
Punita Chowbey ◽  
Lucinda Platt

Subject Political impact of subsidy reform. Significance Saudi Arabia introduced its first major cut to energy subsidies in January, leading to a rise in petrol, diesel, fuel oil, natural gas and electricity prices. Further cuts will be necessary to avert a fiscal crisis -- but with cheap energy seen as a basic part of the social contract between the government and the population, such measures are expected to have wide-reaching political repercussions. Impacts A decision to reverse subsidy cuts in the face of protest would undercut government credibility and reduce the prospect of further reforms. Yet persisting with subsidy reforms could damage government legitimacy and political capital among the youth and lower classes. Successful reforms will improve the long-term economic outlook, and the succession prospects of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.


Humanomics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ataul Huq Pramanik

Purpose – This paper aims at examining the past as well as the current issues responsible for the most recent Arab-uprising. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical evidence based on regression and correlation together with tabular presentations suggests that the issue of Arab-uprising can be examined from both theoretical and factual evidence. Both theoretical and empirical findings testify the extremely high interrelationships existing among the determinants and co-determinants of Arab-uprising. Based on the three most fundamental pre-requisites for living a life with satisfaction based on personal honour, dignity, voice, peace, justice and equality of opportunity, the economic, political and socio-cultural components are found to be neglected in the Arab World. The constraint of data limited the scope to use systematically available and reliable independent variables, in particular, warranted by any sophisticated empirical model. Findings – The findings will have policy directions for the policy-makers/politicians to address the serious issues involving empowerments. It is argued that the ad hoc solution based on buying the dissent of the critics using handouts is not a long-term sustainable solution to the problems. The findings are also expected to create social consciousness among those who are most concerned to see the changes in the society for betterment where every citizen can stand for his honour, dignity and voice, justice and equality. Originality/value – It is expected that the general reader can understand the issues raised in this paper, internalize the ideas and create an overall environment to redirect the policy frameworks for resolving the social problems without conflict.


Comunicar ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (25) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco-Javier Ruiz-San-Miguel ◽  
Sonia Blanco

Nowadays the tv media are in the face of an emergent phenomenon as it is the appearance of a new no organic lobby that questions the veracity of the television contents exercising at the time a strong quality control on the same ones. It is the new inspection of the interactive screen (computer-internet) above the directive screen (television). That that up to now was a passive viewer, subject of a vertical and hierarchical communication, passes to be involved in the information that receives and also becomes creator of contents, correcting and questioning the credibility of traditional television means and getting at the time a high influence level. Examples of this influence would be the recent resignations of two important American communicators as Dan Rather, consecrated journalist newsreader in the channel 'CBS', and Eason Jordan, director of information of the 'CNN' until his resignation. Both withdrawals were caused basically by the social mobilization taken place in a new generation that, from the blogosphere, makes hear its voice. The disorganization of this new influence group in the civil society, far from supposing an obstacle, guarantees in certain way its independence, in front of other organizations and viewers' associations whose effectiveness could be questioned bearing in mind the current situation of the television contents. The present television faces the challenge than means the level of exigency from a new generation of spectators for who, they are no longer the main source of information, but only a member more of an universe of global communication multi-screen and therefore will have to fight for their primacy in a world in which the user have the opportunity to access to a very superior informative offer, even changing from passive receiver to emitting agent able to carry out an interesting work facing the control of quality of the audio-visual products that spread from the different commercial and/or public broadcasters. El pasado año, el Instituto Nacional del Consumo realizó un sondeo sobre los hábitos de consumo de la televisión y de nuevas tecnología de la infancia y la juventud que desvelaba datos tan significativos como que el consumo solitario de la televisión se va consolidando, frente al tradicional consumo en familia. Así mismo destacaba el hecho de que la ausencia (o escasa presencia) de una programación infantil dirigida específicamente a la infancia, no impide que los niños se estrenen como «consumidores» de televisión a edades muy tempranas: la mayoría entre los 2 y los 3 años. Por otro lado, en las Jornadas de Política y Periodismo llevadas a cabo en la ciudad de Estepona el pasado 13 de julio, se destacó el hecho de que hay una franja de edad entre los 17 y 25 años para quienes la televisión se ha convertido en un medio marginal como fuente de información. En este marco, parece adecuado cuestionarse la calidad de los contenidos televisivos y como los receptores de esos contenidos puede influir en ellos con algo más que con unos determinados índices de audiencia que, salvo excepciones, en nada se corresponden con los criterios de calidad exigibles a un servicio público. Por ello, en este artículo se verá cómo en la actualidad los medios televisivos se encuentran ante un novedoso fenómeno emergente: la aparición de un nuevo lobby no orgánico que cuestiona la veracidad de sus contenidos, ejerciendo de esta manera un fuerte control de calidad sobre los mismos. Es la nueva fiscalización de la pantalla interactiva (ordenador-internet), sobre la pantalla directiva (televisión). Lo que hasta ahora era un telespectador pasivo, sujeto a una comunicación vertical y jerarquizada, está pasando a involucrarse en la información que recibe y además se convierte en creador de contenidos, corrigiendo y cuestionando la credibilidad de medios televisivos tradicionales y consiguiendo al tiempo un elevado nivel de influencia. Ejemplos de dicha presión serían las recientes dimisiones de dos importantes comunicadores estadounidenses como Dan Rather, consagrado periodista presentador de informativos en la cadena CBS, y Eason Jordan, director de información de la CNN hasta su retirada. Ambos abandonos fueron provocados básicamente por la movilización social producida en una nueva generación que, desde la blogosfera hace oír su voz. La desestructuración de este nuevo grupo de influencia en la sociedad civil, lejos de suponer un obstáculo, garantiza en cierto modo su independencia, frente a otras organizaciones y asociaciones de telespectadores cuya efectividad podría ser cuestionada a tenor de la situación actual de los contenidos televisivos. La televisión actual se enfrenta hoy día al reto de asumir una nueva generación de espectadores, para quienes ya no es su única fuente de información, sino sólo un miembro más de un universo de comunicación global multipantalla, y por tanto tendrá que luchar por su primacía en un mundo en el que el usuario accede a una oferta informativa muy superior, incluso mutando de receptor pasivo a agente emisor capaz de desempeñar una interesante labor de cara al control de calidad de los productos audiovisuales que se difunden desde las diferentes emisoras comerciales y/o públicas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-148
Author(s):  
Taufik Nugroho

The research aims to reveal Ma’had Al-Zaytun as an Islamic educational institution in the aspects of ideology, direction and goals of education. The importance of this research is because a growing issue in society says that Ma’had Al-Zaytun carries a hidden agenda of "building the Islamic State of Indonesia in the long term". This study uses a qualitative approach with data collection methods: observation, participation and interviews. The results of this study are as follows: there has been a change in the social basis during the years 1970-1990. The change in the social basis is a change in the generation of the senior Indonesian Islamic State bearers with the pressure of the struggle for structural Islamic ideology to the new generation which emphasizes on the inclusive substantive Islamic struggle. The choice of the new generation's model of struggle is Ma’had Al-Zaytun. This is an articulation of Islam and Indonesiannes that makes Islam a spreader of peace, not a spreader of threats.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-464
Author(s):  
Rosa María Martínez de Codes

Public authorities in Europe are faced with increasing demands to accommodate religious diversity. This article traces some key issues concerning the limits of the secular State in Europe to accept and accommodate those ethno-religious minorities that are perceived to be partially different entities and claim some jurisdiction, without thereby rejecting guarantees from the receiving legal system. This multicultural challenge that minorities pose to institutionalized secularism is amongst the most complex political and long-term issues European states have to face. Such a challenge has not only to do with socio-economic disadvantage and discrimination in the labour markets but also with the constitutional status or corporate relationship with the State. On the other hand, European anxieties question whether or not Muslims can be and are willing to be integrated into European society and its political values; in particular, values of freedom, tolerance, democracy, sexual equality and secularism. Across Europe, multiculturalism seems to be in retreat and ‘integration’ is once again the watchword.


Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110091
Author(s):  
Darja Reuschke ◽  
Carol Ekinsmyth

This introduction discusses the objectives and concepts underlying the Special Issue on the new spatialities of work in the city. It highlights the urban impact of both the changing spatiotemporal working patterns and the increased diversity of workspaces that have resulted from post-industrial restructuring, globalisation, labour market flexibilisation and digitisation. Even pre-COVID-19, when the research in this Special Issue was undertaken, this impact on the urban structure and the social fabric of cities was significant, but it had remained underexplored. Here, therefore, we question models of work and commuting that continue to assume the spatially ‘fixed’ workplace, and explore how new understandings of workspace and multi-locality, developed in this Special Issue, can inform future research. This, we argue, is more important than ever as we come to understand the medium- and long-term impacts of pandemic-altered work practices in cities. We further argue that the spatialities of work need to be connected with research on health, job quality and wellbeing in cities – such as, for example, on the risks that COVID-19 has exposed for driving and mobile work.


Tempo Social ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-85
Author(s):  
Massimo Moraglio

In the transport debate, policy makers seem to be under the spell of a technological determinism, in which innovation Tand novelty are the key concepts. Obsessed with westernised regimes and systems, the current debate misses the relevance of forgotten, peripheral and silent mobilities. In this regard, looking to those peripheral mobilities is not only important for reconstructing our memory, but can also offer tools to build socially and environmentally sustainable transport regimes. I suggest using Walter Benjamin’s Angelus Novus to address the past and future of infrastructural systems and the role of “old” regimes. This paper relies on David Edgerton’s work, but I push the argument further, claiming that an innovation-prone debate today creates the (social and environmental) failures of tomorrow. While electric cars and driver-less vehicles can be useful tools, we should consider that peripheral mobilities could better address the issue of socially and environmentally sustainable transports systems. Long-term vision can bridge the past and future of transport policies and offer hints to social science, humanity and governance.


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