The Determinants of Non-Cognitive and Cognitive Schooling Outcomes. Report to the Department of Children, Schools and Families

The Centre for the Economics of Education was asked to investigate the factors that influence a range of children's academic and non-academic outcomes, including their enjoyment of school, whether they take unauthorised absence from school and whether they feel they are bullied. The study also investigated whether schools can influence these non-academic outcomes. The study makes use of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, which is a survey of young people in secondary school that collects information on bullying, truancy and many other factors in each child's life. The data is linked to information on each child's academic achievement, enabling this study to investigate the inter-relationship between a pupil's academic performance and non academic outcomes. Pupils who enjoy school more at age 14 have, perhaps unsurprisingly, higher academic achievement by age 16. Equally, children who have higher achievement at age 11 go on to enjoy school more at age 16 though this is a not a strong relationship. In other words enjoyment of school and academic achievement are clearly linked. Pupils who were bullied or who took unauthorised absence at age 14 had significantly lower educational achievement at GCSE. Pupils who experienced bullying at age 14 were also much more likely to experience bullying at age 16. Therefore early negative outcomes, such as being bullied, suggest the child is at risk of having later negative experiences at age 16. Conversely, pupils who participate in positive extra-curricular activities, such as clubs, were also found to have better academic achievement later in their schooling. High achievers at school, i.e. pupils who do well academically at age 14, were also no more likely to be bullied at age 16 than other children. The report also investigated the impact of schools on some of these non-academic outcomes between 14-16 and found little evidence that schools currently have different impacts on pupil's enjoyment of school, nor whether they take unauthorised absence, nor their likelihood of being bullied. In other words, which school a pupil attends is likely to have small or no effect on their wider well-being. This does not mean that schools do not have the potential to impact on these factors but rather that currently there are not large differences across schools in these outcomes once socio-economic factors have been taken into account. The report concludes that non-academic factors, such as a pupil's enjoyment of school, are inextricably linked to pupils' academic achievement. We need to be aware of these relationships when considering policies to improve pupil achievement. The report also provides some useful risk indicators of future low pupil academic achievement. For example, some factors, such as being bullied or taking unauthorised absence, predict low future academic achievement. Again this can be used by schools and policy-makers to identify pupils at risk of low attainment. This research report was written before the new UK Government took office on 11 May 2010. As a result the content may not reflect current Government policy. This research will be of use to officials and ministers in helping to shape the future direction of policy and Departmental strategy.education, bullying

Research on the Intergenerational Links in the Every Child Matters Outcomes.Report to the Department of Children, Schools and Families

The Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda was introduced in the UK, as a policy aiming to improve child outcomes along five broad areas. The categories are Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Enjoy and Achieve, Make a Positive Contribution and Achieve Economic Wellbeing1. The objective therefore, is to move beyond the traditional focus on child academic outcomes, to improve the wellbeing of children in the UK. From a policy perspective, there is a need to understand the mechanism through which the wide range of child ECM outcomes form. This report evaluates the role of families in driving the ECM outcomes of their children. Specifically, we analyse the intergenerational transmission of ECM outcomes between parents and children. We take the approach of analysing correlations across generations in a wide set of outcomes - the broadest set of variables studied to date. Existing studies of intergenerational correlations across generations tend to focus on outcomes such as earnings, and consequently very little is known about how healthiness, safety and enjoyment of school are correlated across generations. We contribute towards this literature by extending the scope of child outcomes. This research was commissioned before the new UK Government took office on 11 May 2010. As a result the content may not reflect current Government policy and may make reference to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) which has now been replaced by the Department for Education (DfE). The views expressed in this report are those of the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education.Every Child Matters, ECM, education

Men and infant feeding: Perceptions of embarrassment, sexuality, and social conduct in white low-income British men

Copyright @ 2010 The Authors. This is the accepted version of the following article: Henderson, L., McMillan, B., Green, J. M. and Renfrew, M. J. (2011), Men and Infant Feeding: Perceptions of Embarrassment, Sexuality, and Social Conduct in White Low-Income British Men. Birth, 38: 61–70, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-536X.2010.00442.x/abstract.Background:  The views of fathers have been shown to be important determinants of infant feeding decisions, but men’s perceptions of breastfeeding and formula feeding are rarely explored. Our objectives were to address this gap and examine cultural associations and beliefs concerning infant feeding practices among men. Methods:  Five focus groups were conducted with low-income men (n = 28) living in areas of social deprivation in Leeds, northeast of England, and low-income areas of Glasgow, west of Scotland. Participants were white British men, aged between 16 and 45 years, and included fathers, expectant fathers, and potential fathers. Results:  Overarching themes concerning sexuality, embarrassment, and social conduct were identified across all groups. Participants perceived breastfeeding as “natural” but problematic, whereas formula feeding was mainly considered as convenient and safe. Participants without direct experience of breastfeeding assumed that it involved excessive public exposure and attracted unwanted male attention. Underpinning these fears were strong cultural associations between breasts and sexuality and anxieties concerning appropriate gender roles. Conclusions:  In some communities few opportunities may occur to witness breastfeeding, and thus existing fears concerning the activity as attracting predatory male attention remain unchallenged. Perceptions of breastfeeding as a sexual activity and the dominant mass media emphasis on breasts as a sexual site may present additional obstacles to breastfeeding. Antenatal or perinatal education with men should address not only practical issues but also provide advice on tackling problems generated by wider sociocultural issues of sexuality and masculinity

Rethinking empirical research into Children in Care and Contact

Current literature in relation to contact for Children in Care reveals that there have been a number of theories that have informed the current notion of contact and these are underpinned by psychological and psychosocial assumptions about identity development (Winter and Cohen, 2005). These have included the maintenance of the ‘mother-child’ bond (Clarke and Clarke, 1976); the need to maintain contact to avoid ‘genealogical bewilderment’ (Sants, 1964) and the importance of continuing socio-genealogical connectedness (Owusu-Bempah and Howitt, 1997) and most importantly Bowlby’s (1960) theory of attachment. These psychological and psychosocial assumptions have informed not only the type of research undertaken but also the methodology used (see Cleaver, 2000; Macaskill, 2002; Selwyn, 2003 and McWey and Mullis, 2004). A further theoretical notion that has informed the current understanding of contact is the family which Smart (2007) has described as the optimal expression of kinship and relatedness. Yet this notion in and of itself is socially constructed, and has the irony of not just being built upon by personal experience but also wider societal expectations that are communicated via the taken for granted prioritisation of family, which is illustrated in everyday language, images and ideas (Gillis, 1996 and Morgan, 1996:238). This paper will highlight that the empirical research methods that have been used to understand and explain the phenomenon of contact have been dominated not only by socially constructed notions in relation to the family and children, but also by a positivist approach where scientific techniques are used to explain and understand the dynamic of contact which can be described as a complex interaction where there are a range of agendas, interpretations and expectations that take place. An argument will be made for the use alternative methodological approaches that place the child or young person at the centre of the research project. In particular attention will be given to tools such as Hart’s ladder of participation (2008) which actively promotes empowerment and respect of children and their role in research. Additionally, the methodological approach of triadic interviews will be posited because it allows researchers the opportunity to gain a “more holistic and multi-dimensional understanding of the problem” (Brownhill and Hickey, 2012 p.370), thereby capturing the complexities of contact which can be interpreted as an interactional process built upon the foundation of existing relationships, and which is aimed at maintaining or possibly enhancing what is already present

The Interdependence and Determinants of Childhood Outcomes: The Relevance for Policy. Report to the Department of Children, Schools and Families

The Centre for the Economics of Education was asked to bring together a wide range of academic evidence (primarily England-based) to investigate the extent to which academic and non-academic childhood outcomes are complementary to each other, or are in some way traded-off against each other. The report also investigates the drivers of both academic and non-academic outcomes and the extent to which child outcomes persist throughout a child's life and across generations. There is also a brief discussion of the implications of this evidence to education policy. The report finds that the relationships between academic and non-academic outcomes are complex in nature. For example, pupils who are bullied or who take unauthorised absence at age 14 have significantly lower educational achievement at GCSE. Pupils who experienced bullying at age 14 were also much more likely to experience bullying at age 16. Conversely pupils who participate in positive extra-curricular activities, such as clubs, were also found to have better academic achievement later in their schooling. These childhood outcomes are themselves determined by a wide variety of influences (such as the quality of parenting they receive) and environmental factors (for example whether they are exposed to passive smoke). It has been well established that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have relatively poor academic outcomes and tend to have weaker social skills than children from more advantaged households. However the evidence also suggests that these children also go on to experience more negative outcomes in adulthood, such as lower probability of employment and lower wages. Furthermore key social and academic outcomes of parents - cognitive skills, attitudes to education, smoking and drinking - are related to similar behaviours in their children. The report concludes that the complex nature of the drivers of child development, the interdependence of child outcomes, and the way that outcomes persist through an individual's life and across generations needs to be recognised in order to develop truly effective policy.While very little of the evidence highlighted in this report identifies true causal relationships (i.e. that a factor X actually directly causes a change in outcome Y), the report draws on some of the highest quality research and analysis currently available, using detailed longitudinal datasets, including the Department's own Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. This enables us to identify at the very least 'robust associations' as well as the data allows. However it does suggest that further research is required to better understand the associations outlined in this report to move to a position where we can identify credible causal relationships. This is important to foster more justified and increasingly effective policymaking. This research report was written before the new UK Government took office on 11 May 2010. As a result the content may not reflect current Government policy. This research will be of use to officials and ministers in helping to shape the future direction of education policy and Departmental strategy.education, government policy

The Early Years Professional: holding a mirror up to policy makers

The importance of the early years for later life outcomes is increasingly being recognised. The former Labour Government (1997-2010) in England introduced a raft of policies aimed at raising the quality of early years provision and outcomes for the youngest children. As part of the changes a new graduate professional role and status, the Early Years Professional, was introduced evidencing a new era of involvement by policy makers in the professions. Government involvement in imposing and shaping the development makes the Early Years Professional vulnerable to political change; it was developed by government and could be removed. Indeed, political change in 2010 brought considerable uncertainty about whether the Coalition Government would continue to support the development, though they have now provided funding until 2015. Alongside this uncertainty, commissioned research evidence is emerging of the positive impact of the policy agenda of the former government. A situation that has not been formally recognised, rather it appears to have gone unnoticed by policy makers. Indeed, the current government have taken a range of actions to dismantle changes previously made and there is an emerging discourse reframing the early years as a period that supports the youngest children being ‘prepared’ for education. This paper aims to address the challenges of this change of emphasis by drawing upon doctoral research critiquing the concept, implementation and impact of Early Years Professional Status as a new professional model. The research design was underpinned by Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory of Human Development and rather than being a linear development it has been impacted upon at every stage of development by instability in wider systems, therefore providing evidence that supports his under theorised ‘Chaotic System’ and that childhood is not only a development phase but one shaped by political ideolog

Opportunistic health promotion among overweight children

Aim To explore children’s nurses’ attitudes to providing health promotion advice to overweight children and their families during hospital admissions. Methods Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted in a private room in the ward setting. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and thematic analysis of the transcripts was undertaken. Findings The six themes generated from responses were: responsibility for health promotion; sensitivity of the topic; long-term benefits; parents – a barrier; need for training; and need for institutional support. Conclusion Further research with acute care children’s nurses in the UK is required to validate the study findings. More work is also needed to explore the ethics of health promotion in the acute care setting

Emotional Education as second language acquisition?

In this paper we argue that while emotional education intervention packages offer certain advantages, there are risks associated with their uncritical use. The main risk is that if the unwanted behaviour of some pupils is seen merely as a problem that can be dealt with through targeted intervention, then important, identity constitutive parts of their reality might become obscured. We reconsider sociological explanations of school disaffection, along with more recent sociological and philosophical attempts to explore the emotional aspect of schooling. We hypothesise that some of the challenging behaviour exhibited by young people in schools is solution seeking; that it is a functional adaptation to an essentially foreign emotional environment. We conclude that attempts to educate the emotions should aim to develop morally rich virtues rather than empty intelligences