A bully in the playground : examining the role of neoliberal economic globalisation in children’s struggle to become ‘fully human’

This article begins by exploring the Western historical progression of the conceptual place of children along a Property-Welfare-Rights continuum. It applies Baxi’s “logics of exclusion and inclusion” to the complex dynamic of children’s advancement in becoming ‘fully human’ through their achievement of internationally recognised human rights. It critically considers the comprehensive vulnerability of children based both on their evolving levels of development and on the multifaceted challenges of the application and enforcement of their rights. The ideological and practical realities influencing this evolution exist in an increasingly globalised world in which international economic dynamics play a particularly influential role. The character and substance of these are explored. This follows with an examination of the influence of these dynamics on both the environment in which the struggle for children’s rights to be recognised takes place, and on the ideological concepts of these rights themselves. It is proposed that the dominant form of globalisation, NEG, perpetuates ideological exclusionary criteria which thwart children’s achievement of becoming “fully human”. This is most evident in the neoliberal views on the paramount importance of the individual, and on the limited role for the state. It is the NEG perception of the child, in locating her/him within an individualistic framework and dismissing the wider societal context, which justifies at best a welfare-entitlement agenda and denies children rights. Further, this results in a justification of the effects of poverty, in particular for children of the South. This exclusion of children from bearing rights is achieved globally through NEG systems and processes which handicap the autonomy of states. The NEG maintains this exclusion of children through its deemed legitimate and commonsensical hegemony. Through these mechanisms, NEG bullies states into advancing a new form of colonialism that discriminates against children. The related way in which human rights discourse has itself been influenced by NEG ideology is also explored. The article concludes with the proposal that the effective recognition of children’s rights necessitates an understanding of the exclusionary criteria imposed by NEG. A fundamental modification of the terms and mechanisms within which NEG functions is essential to compensate for children’s unique and disproportionate vulnerabilities

Breaking Down Walls: Increasing Access to Four-Year Colleges for High-Achieving Community College Students

Results from this study show that upon transferring to a four-year school, community college students do more than just "get by" -- they equal or surpass their peers at their new schools. Recent analyses from the National Student Clearinghouse indicate that nationally 60 percent of community college students who manage to transfer earn their bachelor's degree within four years. The highest performing college students do even better: 97 percent of Cooke Scholars earn their bachelor's degree in three years. Since 59 percent of bachelor's degree students graduate within six years, transfer students are completing their four-year degrees actually at a higher rate than students who came straight out of high school. The recent research and the experience of the Cooke Scholars makes it simply undeniable that community college transfer students are just as competent as students who begin their studies at a four-year college, and maybe more so

Residential child care qualifications audit 2007

In recent years there has been a drive to develop a fully qualified residential child care sector in Scotland. In 2003 the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) announced the baseline qualifications for residential child care staff and set down a target for attaining it. This qualifications framework was subsequently reviewed and expanded in 2004. The Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC), commissioned by the Scottish Executive, has previously undertaken two inquiries into the qualification levels of the residential child care workforce in Scotland. The first Qualifications Audit (Frondigoun, Maclean, Hosie & Kendrick, 2002) was undertaken before the SSSC’s initial qualification framework was known and the second (Hunter, Hosie, Davidson & Kendrick, 2004) was based on it. The previous qualifications audit (Hunter et al., 2004) reported that 18% of residential child care staff were fully qualified in accordance with the SSSC’s qualification criteria (SSSC, 2004). The report forecast that the number of fully qualified staff would rise to 29.1% if all qualifications being undertaken were achieved. The purpose of this current audit is to determine whether levels of qualified staff have risen and to identify qualification trends throughout the residential child care sector in Scotland

Safer recruitment? protecting children, improving practice in residential child care

In the wake of a number of high-profile cases of the abuse of children and young people in residential child care, there have been repeated calls for the improvement of recruitment and selection of residential child care staff. This paper describes the findings from a survey, undertaken in 2005, of operational and human resource managers who have responsibility for the recruitment and selection of residential child care staff in the voluntary and statutory sectors in Scotland. This research was commissioned by the Scottish Executive to identify which elements of safer recruitment procedures had been implemented following the countrywide launch of a Toolkit for Safer Recruitment Practice in 2001. Research findings show that although local authorities were more likely than voluntary organisations to have gone some way toward implementing safer recruitment procedures, the recruitment process lacked rigour and commitment to safer procedures in some organisations. The article discusses the current barriers to the introduction of safer recruitment methods and proposes some possible solutions for the future

Scotland and alternatives to neoliberalism

No abstract available

Longer-Term Impact and Efficacy of Nebraska\u27s In-School Elementary Grades Savings Programs

The prevalence of in-school savings programs is widespread. Research on program efficacy is not. This mixed-methods case study contributes to the gap in the research literature. The study examined the in-school savings program, conducted in the elementary grades, from multiple perspectives. The first perspective was a longitudinal one that assessed high school student financial behaviors and evaluated if there were any lasting effects from participation in the program when they were in elementary school. The second perspective was an educational one that assessed what elementary school teachers and administrators who implemented the programs thought about the benefits of the program. The third perspective was an institutional one that assessed financial institution partner expectations in terms of program success and the costs and benefits of their in-school savings branch. Results of the high school survey showed a correlation between participation in the elementary savings program and “good” financial behaviors later in high school. Most notably, students who participated in the elementary savings program were statistically more likely to be banked once in high school. Education partners reported that the program was having a broadly positive impact on students and was worth implementing. Education partners also reported a desire to increase participation; a significant difference in participation of student tellers with more female than male; and a growing model of partnering with the school’s Future Business Leaders of America program. Financial institution partners unanimously agreed that the program was well worth the minimal costs and their primary motivation in supporting the program was to help the local community and provide a financial education opportunity for students. Partners reported average start-up costs of $2300 and average annual costs of$1023. They also reported that the elementary in-school savings programs provided an experience that established and reinforced a savings habit and provided introductory job skills for students that were hired as tellers. Students that participated in the elementary program saved an average of $55 per school year. Adviser: Guy Traini

Beyond Motor Function: The Role of the Cerebellum in Rodent Cognitive Flexibility

Individuals diagnosed with certain disease states, such as schizophrenia and autism, sometimes present with impaired behavioral flexibility. Such individuals also sometimes present with cerebellar abnormality, suggesting a possible role of the cerebellum in disease states characterized by deficits in cognitive flexibility. To further understand the role the cerebellum may play in such disease states and determine the role of the cerebellum in behavioral flexibility, we compared rats that underwent pharmacological inactivation of the cerebellum with control rats in their completion of a set-shifting T-maze task (Stefani et al., 2003). The T-maze task required the rats to learn to discriminate along one sensory dimension (e.g., color) on day 1 and then, on day 2, to be able to switch to discriminating along another sensory dimension (e.g., texture) and ignore the day 1 dimension (“set-shift”). Infusions were made into a region of cerebellar cortex prior to day 2 training. Comparison between vehicle infused rats and rats with cerebellar pharmacological inactivation showed that pharmacological inactivation did not significantly impact rodent ability to set-shift. The finding that pharmacological inactivation of a small region of the cerebellar cortex did not significantly impact rodent set-shifting suggests the possibility that either the rodent cerebellar cortex is not involved in set-shifting or that a different or larger region of the rodent cerebellum must be inactivated to affect set-shifting ability

Student Demographic And Academic Characteristics That Predict Community College Student Success In Online Courses

Online student success is a concern for higher education institutions especially community colleges with open enrollment admission. This study analyzed online student success using online GPA (dependent variable) and both demographic and academic characteristics of online students (independent variables) to determine which characteristics significantly correlated to and predicted student success in online courses. The sample included an unduplicated count of 4,046 online students enrolled in at least one online course during fall 2015 and spring 2016 at a public, Midwestern community college. Six research questions and twelve hypotheses were used to determine which independent variables led online students to a higher online GPA. Analysis was completed separately for students taking at least one online course and students taking only online courses using descriptive statistics, t tests, correlation coefficients, cross-tabulations, and logistic regression. The most significant finding was a large, positive relationship between cumulative GPA and online GPA. There was also a significant, positive correlation between online GPA and cumulative credit hours as well as online GPA and number of online courses taken. There was a significant, negative correlation between online GPA and course withdrawals. Additionally, a higher online GPA was identified for older, female, and White online students while a lower online GPA was found for Black online students. Findings also indicated a significant difference in online GPA for both online student groups based on computer experience and remedial coursework along with a significant difference in online GPA just for online only students based on financial aid

Time for "justice" : Research to inform the development of a human rights framework for the design and implementation of an "acknowledgement and accountability forum" on historic abuse of children in Scotland

In 2002, Chris Daly raised a petition to the Scottish Executive (PE535) calling for an independent inquiry into the historic abuse of children in Scotland. This led to the setting up of a reference group in 2003, in order to explore the role of a truth and reconciliation process that was identified as an important step in dealing with historic abuse. In 2004, there was an apology for such abuse by the then First Minister, Jack McConnell. In 2005, Tom Shaw led the Historic Abuse Systemic Review. This covered the period 1950 – 1995 and was completed in 2007. In 2006, a sub-group of the reference group that was set up in 2003 identified the need for a service for survivors. This led to the funding of ‘In Care Survivor Scotland’ in 2008, under the umbrella of ‘Open Secret’. It is important to see this current report in this context. Eight years on from the initial petition, it is clear that this process has been seen by many as a long road to acknowledging the need to address outstanding human rights issues in relation to the historic abuse of children in care in Scotland