Governing youth through education and training

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.Young people in post-compulsory education and training are targeted by a range of interventions designed to turn them into employable, socially responsible, active citizens. The fact that this group is viewed as problematic and transitions from school to work are seen as increasingly risky means that the interventions have become more inventive and more strategically directed. This thesis uses Foucault's concept of govemmentality (1991) to ask questions about the nature of these interventions and to explore the ways young people are governed through education and training. The concept of govemmentality provides a critical tool that allows us to see the ways neo-liberal agendas work through education and training to produce the desired autonomous, entrepreneurial adult subject. It reveals the inventiveness of neo-liberal government in its response to points of failure in the education system. It also sheds light on the complex web of expert knowledge that works to create the "problem" of youth in transition, "know" the target group and diagnose its needs. Specifically, the thesis focuses on a senior college in New South Wales. At its inception, the College represented a novel addition to the range of education and training provisions on offer. Students at the College engage in a mix of general, vocational and workplace learning within an adult learning environment. The govemmentality perspective frames the following research questions to explore this site: How can the existence and features of the College be understood in the wider context of neo-liberal education agendas? In this temporal and geographical context, what makes an education and training intervention such as the College possible? What types of practices occur at this site to shape the conduct of these young people and what sorts of conduct are aspired to? What types of identity/ies are valued and therefore open to young people at the College? Finally, how do young people at the College shape themselves and regulate their own conduct in this context? Through an analysis of the problematising literature on youth transitions, the policy context of post-compulsory education and training, classroom observations and interviews with staff and students, the networks of neo-liberal government will be observed as they shape the conduct of students at the College

The Stanford equivalence principle program

The Stanford Equivalence Principle Program (Worden, Jr. 1983) is intended to test the uniqueness of free fall to the ultimate possible accuracy. The program is being conducted in two phases: first, a ground-based version of the experiment, which should have a sensitivity to differences in rate of fall of one part in 10(exp 12); followed by an orbital experiment with a sensitivity of one part in 10(exp 17) or better. The ground-based experiment, although a sensitive equivalence principle test in its own right, is being used for technology development for the orbital experiment. A secondary goal of the experiment is a search for exotic forces. The instrument is very well suited for this search, which would be conducted mostly with the ground-based apparatus. The short range predicted for these forces means that forces originating in the Earth would not be detectable in orbit. But detection of Yukawa-type exotic forces from a nearby large satellite (such as Space Station) is feasible, and gives a very sensitive and controllable test for little more effort than the orbiting equivalence principle test itself

From Farmers to Farm Firms - Some Recent Changes in Norwegian Politics and Implications for Agricultural Statistics

This paper was inspired by some changes in the criteria for being entitled to subsidies in Norwegian agriculture, and the changes this induced in agricultural statistics. Although the paper is concerned with Norway only, the Norwegian experiences might be of interest to a broader audience. It illustrates some of the challenges which can occur when statistics is based on register data, and the register owner make changes in the criteria and thus in the information gathered.Agricultural statistics, agricultural units, Norway, organisational forms, register data, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Ledelse av mangfold i politiet

Siden mangfoldsåret 2008 har politiet arbeidet med «Plan for mangfoldsarbeidet i politi- og lensmannsetaten» (Politidirektoratet, 2008). Som den første sentrale strategiske plan i politiet som dekker hele mangfoldsbegrepet er hensikten å arbeide målrettet og systematisert. Strategien er å integrere mangfold som en naturlig del av den ordinære virksomheten. På vei inn i det siste året for mangfoldsplanens virketid vil vi i den artikkelen fokusere på kulturelt mangfold i politiet. For å gi noen innspill til ledelse av mangfold i politiet i praksis vil vi knytte en modell for akkulturasjon sammen med funn fra en undersøkelse av hvordan politistudenter med flerkulturell bakgrunn tilpasser seg studiemiljøet

On the appropriateness of research design: Intended and actual whistleblowing

The act of trying to stop wrongdoing goes way back in time (cf. Park et al. 2005; Vinten 1994). However, whistleblowing research is commonly depicted as related to civil and worker initiatives in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s (Bok 1981). In those times, one of the first efforts to create a body of research consisted of compilations of case stories of the experiences of whistleblowers (for instance, see Nader et al. 1972; Peters and Branch 1972). This period also included books and movies based on experiences from whole organizations and actual cases (for instance, see Anderson et al. 1980; Maas 1973). Later, theoretical papers and empirical research of the act of reporting wrongdoing at work became more common (Miceli and Near 1989; Parmerlee et al. 1982). While the first compiled versions of whistleblowing cases were important for getting attention to the topic, theoretical and empirical research was and is crucial to gaining systematic knowledge about whistleblowing at work. The act of whistleblowing is commonly defined as ‘the disclosure by organization members (former or current) of illegal, immoral or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons or organizations that may be able to effect action’ (Near and Miceli 1985: 5). Studying real-life whistleblowing is hard due to several factors. It is a sensitive topic, so gaining entry into organizations and ensuring participants that their anonymity will be kept can be challenging. Moreover, in quantitative research designs large samples are necessary to get sufficient numbers of silent observers and actual whistleblowers for statistical analysis

Alkoholkonsum blant eldre. Hovedfunn fra spørreundersøkelser 1985-2008

Eldre utgjør en stadig større del av befolkningen i Europa. Også i Norge vil andelen over 65 år øke sterkt de neste tiårene. Dagens eldre er vokst opp med et annet forhold til alkohol enn foregående generasjoner, og det er grunn til å anta at de generasjonene som nå nærmer seg pensjonsalder vil ha et betydelig høyere alkoholforbruk enn generasjonene før dem. At de eldre blir stadig flere og samtidig drikker mer alkohol, antas å føre til flere alkoholrelaterte problemer i denne gruppen. Det er imidlertid få studier som har fokusert på alkoholbruk blant eldre, både i Norge og Europa for øvrig. En vet også lite når det gjelder kombinasjonen av medisin- og alkoholbruk blant eldre. Denne rapporten gir en deskriptiv fremstilling av utviklingen i alkoholkonsumet over tid for ulike aldersgrupper basert på noen av datasettene SIRUS har tilgjengelig, og er et utgangspunkt for utforming av videre problemstillinger på temaet alkohol og eldre. Hovedresultatene i de presenterte analysene er følgende: Det er i dag flere eldre som drikker enn for 15 år siden, og økningen er størst i aldersgruppen 66-79 år. Eldre drikker også oftere enn før, også her er økningen størst i aldersgruppen 66-79 år, og den er omtrent like stor for kvinner og menn. Det er særlig konsumet av vin som har økt markant. Det er fremdeles uvanlig å drikke seg beruset blant de eldre, særlig for eldre kvinner, og eldre har også få episoder med storkonsum (seks eller flere alkoholenheter per gang). Resultatene samsvarer med resultater fra andre nordiske land, og også resultatene fra Helseundersøkelsen i Nord-Trøndelag (HUNT). SIRUS vil fremover se nærmere på hvorvidt den observerte økningen i frekvens og mengde i alkoholbruk hos eldre skyldes kohort- eller livsfaseeffekter, og vi vil også se på hvordan overgang fra arbeidslivet til pensjonisttilværelsen samt endring i sivilstatus påvirker eldres drikkemønster