The government was pleased to report that more young people from lower socio-economic groups are going into higher education than ever http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/F/fypsec_paper_2009 the BBC and other commentators were less delighted, pointing out that the improvement was very slight http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8129069.stm However, I thought the most incongruous aspect to this news was that it was publicised at the same time as the government announced a squeeze on higher education (HE) numbers http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/30/recession-university-places It seems odd to me that government are not funding this bulge, especially as I'm sure any shortage of places will disproportionately hit hard to reach groups. Such as here where mature students are identified as being at risk http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jul/09/university-places-shortage-recession If one didn't know better one might think the government was developing higher education policy in a disjointed fashion and making it up as they went along.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Some Aiming Higher
HE at FE
The benefits of pursuing higher education courses (HE) at further education colleges (FE) are increasingly being debated, with some arguing that HE study at an FE can be better for some students than going to a university http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/further/degrees-of-comfort-where-to-find-smaller-classes-and-caring-lecturers-1727051.html I think that FE colleges and other non-university suppliers are going to play an increasing role in the delivery of higher education over the next 10 years and although it does not figure in this linked article I think they will soon be competing with universities on price.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Why Snot is Green?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/16/science-lessons-inspiration I thought the ‘How Loud Can You Burp?’ should be ‘How loud Can You Fart?’ but I haven’t investigated the practical consequences of this change. Perhaps more importantly, I fear that science teachers would say that they would love to teach like this but the constraints of teaching to the test (either GCSE or SATS) combined with a fear of loosing control makes it impossible. I know some of you are fans of the HBO series, The Wire, did you know that series four explores the practical problem of schooling the ‘hoppers’, the street corner kids. It would seem that the centrality and difficulty of pupil engagement is common to the schooling systems of both the
Green Wash
The ever rising price of household gas and electricity was much discussed in the newspapers last week http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/22/gas-electricity-energy-bills-rise I worry about the apparently uncritical acceptance of the need for ‘green’ measures, which it is said makes expensive fuel inevitable. Same goes for water charges http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8112953.stm I think that unless immediate ways can be found to lighten the burden of these charges on poor households, then rather than condemning the poor to freeze we should let the planet fry.
Are You Happy?
No, then it’s your own fault for not living in
Research Corner
The Sutton Trust report have investigated the difficulties that disadvantaged students can face when they attend private schools http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5382926/Working-class-children-alienated-in-private-schools-says-The-Sutton-Trust.html The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) have produced a very detailed report examining income distribution and poverty in the UK http://www.ifs.org.uk/comms/c109.pdf This is the most comprehensive analysis of poverty and inequality that I have seen this year. While a report carried out by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation looked at attitudes to income distribution and benefits http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/22/benefits-income-poverty-fabian-rowntree
Voluntary Contribution
The hidden cost of schooling http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/16/school-voluntary-contributions I think the working poor are hit hardest by these demands as it usually assumed that they are able to afford these payments as they are not on benefits.
Summer Time Blues
Universities are Having Trouble Attracting Students to their Summer Schools http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/16/students-summer-schools?DCMP=EMC-E_EDU_EDI_CRI_16_06_09 Maybe the problem is seeing the summer school as a ‘standalone’ event. Maybe hard-to-reach students need a program of engagement where the summer school is one of a number of integrated events.
Yosser’s Coming
The numbers of NEETS is on the increase again, on the back of rising youth unemployment http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/16/teenagers-not-work-school-neets-rises much of this unemployment is hitting the areas hit in the 1980s http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/24/northern-cities-youth-unemployment
Mustn’t Grumble
There has been a major increase in the volume of anti-depressants being prescribed since the economic downturn http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/21/mental-health-antidepressants-recession-prescriptions Why do GPs prescribe anti-depressants? I’ve been told by a London GP that it’s because they don’t have anything else to offer. Access routes to other therapies are always fully choked-up. Even if you are in serious trouble it can take months to see a psychiatrist. Under these circumstances, some happy pills might be a lifeline.
Sunday, 14 June 2009
A Bouillabaisse of Coaching and Mentoring Stories
My mentor is a banker http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/03/bob-network-bangladeshi-mentoring Coaching 'at risk' undergraduates http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/26/youth-at-risk-charity A scheme for budding judges http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/02/legal-mentoring-scheme Football coaching as the way to improve social skills http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/27/public-inquiry-dennis-bailey Public school weirdness http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/diary-of-a-fresher-at-my-university-marriage-is-just-part-of-taking-care-of-students-1701729.html
The Female Millennium?
The majority of students training to be medics are women http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/03/women-doctors-nhs-medicine-review however, it's not just medicine, by 2025 70% of students in HE may be female http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/5459854/Girls-will-take-up-70-per-cent-of-university-places-says-new-study.html higher female achievement is across areas of study http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/its-academic-university-women-are-beating-men-at-almost-everything-1693493.html Its not just the academic world, another recent report found that most volunteers are women http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/DailyBulletin/910970/Women-likely-volunteer/40B5E500CDC9CDB8A952DA4593E8866E/?DCMP=EMC-DailyBulletin and this year, there were two women finalists in Alan Sugar's TV game show, The Apprentice. So, what's the young male in the street's reaction to this crisis? Dumbing down seems to be in fashion; don't knock it, it's a start and some do it very well http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/bullied-boys-why-bright-lads-are-being-picked-on-1684266.html However, some researchers are suggesting that this male failure to thrive is rooted in their experience of modern schooling and is illustrated by GCSE studies http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/07/gender-gap-university-boys with further discussion at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/07/boys-academic-gap-education-gender or maybe its time to restart the drones club, day care for young men
Stop, in the Name of the Law
Legislation is being brought forward by this government to make it a legal duty for all future governments, local authorities and other named organisations to work to end child poverty across the UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8095775.stm I think this qualifies as the most absurd anti-poverty initiative of the last 50 years, if not of all time. Only a bunch of lawyers could come up with such a pompous irrelevance. The reality of Welsh poverty http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/03/gains-wales-wiped-out-recession and Scottish child poverty http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/29/child-poverty-figures-joseph-rowntree-foundation
The latest Sutton Trust Research
This time, they find that 1 in 5 state school pupils have private tutors http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5502356/Rising-numbers-of-families-hiring-private-tutors-says-Sutton-Trust.html and that in London, 43% of pupils had had a home tutor http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/11/private-tutor-boom-for-state-pupils
University Admissions
Different institutions use different systems to assess potential students http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/26/university-admissions
This has caused friction when disadvantage is openly part of the calculation http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6350374.ece
While university entry exams are found to be a barrier to working class entrants
However, what works for the applicants?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/26/university-access
Job Prospects for this Year’s University Leavers Look Tough
40,000 graduates face unemployment http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/10/students-higher-education
A discussion of this http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/10/university-students-jobs-recession A graduate premium can still be identified according to a new report http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/why-a-degree-is-still-worth-the-loan-1693841.html However, the statement made here, that "The research shows the average man with two A-level passes or more who does not go on to university earns £13.50 per hour. With a degree the figure is lifted to £16 – around £34,000 extra a year" is mathematically wrong. I calculate from these numbers that such a premium is worth about an extra £5,000 a year. Yes, it is a premium and is worth having but getting reliable analysis of this subject seems to be proving hard to achieve.
The Future of Student Finance in Higher Education
OFFA speaks http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/22/university-top-up-fees-offa-martin-harris or should there be a graduate tax, as suggested by the president of the NUS http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/10/nus-tuition-fees-graduate-tax
Science Stories
Experiments are said to be the key to making science 'cool at school' http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/experiments-key-to-making-science-cool-at-school-1693511.html Not just experiments, "Teachers are turning to ICT to make science more practical and exciting, with tools such as data-logging, blogs and wikis, podcasting, simulation software, YouTube video clips and digital microscopes." http://www.guardian.co.uk/resource/ict-practice-science
There is still a problem offering students the opportunity to study individual sciences at GCSE http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8080139.stm
Is science squeezing the humanities at universities? http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/21/language-departments-face-cuts
Unemployment as Career Move
A volunteer brokerage scheme has been established to place jobseekers as third sector volunteers and boost their employment prospects http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/13/jobseekers-third-sector Do we have a need for such volunteers? Should we be known to the scheme?
Blimey
Sex is history http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/31/sexual-health-oxforduniversity - too much time on their hands