Governing the governors : a case study of college governance in English further education

This paper addresses the nature of governors in the governance of further education colleges in an English context (1). It explores the complex relationship between governors (people/agency), government (policy/structure) and governance (practice), in a college environment. While recent research has focused on the governance of schooling and higher education there has been little attention paid to the role of governors in the lifelong learning sector. The objective of the paper is to contribute to the debate about the purpose of college governance at a time when the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) commissioning era ends, and new government bodies responsible for further education and training, including local authorities, arrive. The paper analyses the nature of FE governance through the perspectives and experiences of governors, as colleges respond to calls from government for greater improvement and accountability in the sector (LSIS, 2009a). What constitutes creative governance is complex and controversial in the wider framework of regulation and public policy reform (Stoker, 1997; Seddon, 2008). As with other tricky concepts such as leadership, professionalism and learning, college governance is best defined in the contexts, cultures and situations in which it is located. College governance does not operate in a vacuum. It involves governors, chairs, principals, professionals, senior managers, clerks, community, business and wider agencies, including external audit and inspection regimes. Governance also acts as a prism through which national education and training reforms are mediated, at local level. While governing bodies are traditionally associated with the business of FE - steering, setting the tone and style, dealing with finance, funding, audit and procedural matters – they are increasingly being challenged to be more creative and responsive to the wider society. Drawing on a recent case study of six colleges, involving governors and key policy stakeholders, this paper explores FE governance in a fast changing policy environment

Families' social backgrounds matter : socio-economic factors, home learning and young children's language, literacy and social outcomes

Parental support with children's learning is considered to be one pathway through which socio-economic factors influence child competencies. Utilising a national longitudinal sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, this study examined the relationship between home learning and parents' socio-economic status and their impact on young children's language/literacy and socio-emotional competence. The findings consistently showed that, irrespective of socio-economic status, parents engaged with various learning activities (except reading) roughly equally. The socio-economic factors examined in this study, i.e., family income and maternal educational qualifications, were found to have a stronger effect on children's language/literacy than on social-emotional competence. Socio-economic disadvantage, lack of maternal educational qualifications in particular, remained powerful in influencing competencies in children aged three and at the start of primary school. For children in the first decade of this century in England, these findings have equity implications, especially as the socio-economic gap in our society widens

What makes you not a Buddhist? : a preliminary mapping of values

This study sets out to establish which Buddhist values contrasted with or were shared by adolescents from a non-Buddhist population. A survey of attitude toward a variety of Buddhist values was fielded in a sample of 352 non-Buddhist schoolchildren aged between 13 and 15 in London. Buddhist values where attitudes were least positive concerned the worth of being a monk/nun or meditating, offering candles & incense on the Buddhist shrine, friendship on Sangha Day, avoiding drinking alcohol, seeing the world as empty or impermanent and Nirvana as the ultimate peace. Buddhist values most closely shared by non-Buddhists concerned the Law of Karma, calming the mind, respecting those deserving of respect, subjectivity of happiness, welfare work, looking after parents in old age and compassion to cuddly animals. Further significant differences of attitude toward Buddhism were found in partial correlations with the independent variables of sex, age and religious affiliation. Correlation patterns paralleled those previously described in theistic religions. Findings are applied to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and for the teaching of religious to pupils of no faith adherence. The study recommends that quantitative psychometrics employed to conceptualize Buddhist values by discriminant validity in this study could be extended usefully to other aspects of the study of Buddhism, particularly in quest of validity in the conceptualization of Buddhist identity within specifically Buddhist populations

Brave new brains: sociology, family and the politics of knowledge

This article critically explores sociological arguments for greater biosocial synthesis, centring contemporary developments in public policy to demonstrate how such a reframing of humanity tends to reinforce existing political orders and socially patterned normativities. The case for further amalgamation of the social and life sciences is examined to suggest that production of somatic markers of truth from relational encounters largely relies upon an anaemic and politically contained version of the social as acquired in early childhood. More specifically, the gendered, classed and culturally specific practice of parenting children has come to occupy a new significance in accounts of social brains and environmentally reactive genomes. This is highlighted through a discussion of ‘early intervention’ as a heavily biologised policy rationale framing opportunities for biosocial collaboration. It is argued that late capitalist objectives of personal investment and optimisation are driving this assimilation of the social and life sciences, pursuing an agenda that traces and re-scores longstanding social divisions in the name of progress

Social Mobility: the potential of a genealogical approach

This paper highlights the potential of taking a genealogical approach to researching social mobility based on empirical insights, generated from a qualitative case study in a secondary school located in the South East of England. The study involved interviews with 42 students and the data leads to a deeper understanding of the role of families in inter and intra-generational social movement. We begin by highlighting some limitations in existing research on social mobility. Next the role of households and families in conditioning an individual’s identity, dispositions, aspirations and choices are emphasised. We then present findings from analysis of 42 genealogical work histories over three generations and explore the role of education and family background in shaping young peoples’ employment aspirations. We argue that education has had little impact on overall mobility rates and suggest that whilst education has a significant role in mediating social mobility, the importance of family context should not be overlooked

Inactivation of DltA Modulates Virulence Factor Expression in Streptococcus pyogenes

D-alanylated lipoteichoic acid is a virtually ubiquitous component of gram-positive cell walls. Mutations in the dltABCD operon of numerous species exhibit pleiotropic effects, including reduced virulence, which has been attributed to increased binding of cationic antimicrobial peptides to the more negatively charged cell surface. In this study, we have further investigated the effects that mutating dltA has on virulence factor expression in Streptococcus pyogenes.Isogenic Delta dltA mutants had previously been created in two distinct M1T1 isolates of S. pyogenes. Immunoblots, flow cytometry, and immunofluorescence were used to quantitate M protein levels in these strains, as well as to assess their ability to bind complement. Bacteria were tested for their ability to interact with human PMN and to grow in whole human blood. Message levels for emm, sic, and various regulatory elements were assessed by quantitative RT-PCR. Cell walls of Delta dltA mutants contained much less M protein than cell walls of parent strains and this correlated with reduced levels of emm transcripts, increased deposition of complement, increased association of bacteria with polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and reduced bacterial growth in whole human blood. Transcription of at least one other gene of the mga regulon, sic, which encodes a protein that inactivates antimicrobial peptides, was also dramatically reduced in Delta dltA mutants. Concomitantly, ccpA and rofA were unaffected, while rgg and arcA were up-regulated.This study has identified a novel mechanism for the reduced virulence of dltA mutants of Streptococcus pyogenes in which gene regulatory networks somehow sense and respond to the loss of DltA and lack of D-alanine esterification of lipoteichoic acid. The mechanism remains to be determined, but the data indicate that the status of D-alanine-lipoteichoic acid can significantly influence the expression of at least some streptococcal virulence factors and provide further impetus to targeting the dlt operon of gram-positive pathogens in the search for novel antimicrobial compounds

Family and Community Predictors of Comorbid Language, Socioemotional and Behavior Problems at School Entry

Objectives To identify the prevalence and family and community-level predictors of comorbid speech-language difficulties and socioemotional and behavioral (SEB) difficulties across a population of children at school entry. Methods The School Entry Health Questionnaire is a parent survey of children’s health and wellbeing, completed by all children starting school in Victoria, Australia (N = 53256). It includes parental report of speech-language difficulties, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (behavior), and numerous family and community variables. Following univariate analysis, family and community risk characteristics were entered into a multinomial logistic regression model to identify the associated relative risk of comorbid speech/language and SEB needs. The influence of experiencing multiple risk factors was also examined. Results 20.4% (n = 10,868) began school with either speech-language or SEB difficulties, with 3.1% (n = 1670) experiencing comorbid needs. Five factors predicted comorbidity: the child having witnessed violence; a history of parent mental illness; living in more deprived communities; and the educational attainment of each parent (independently). The relative risk of comorbidity was 6.1 (95% Confidence Interval: 3.9, 9.7) when a child experienced four or more risk factors, compared to those with no risk factors. Conclusions The risk of comorbidity in early childhood is associated with a range of family and community factors, and elevated by the presence of multiple factors. Children growing up in families experiencing multiple, complex needs are therefore at heightened risk of the early development of difficulties likely to impact upon schooling. Early identification of these children offers opportunities for appropriate and timely health and education intervention

The ecology of young children’s behaviour and social competence : child characteristics, socio-economic factors and parenting

Using a longitudinal, UK representative sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, the present study examined the effects of socio-economic factors on mother- and teacher-rated behaviour, and the unique and cumulative contribution of both risk and protective factors inherent in children’s proximal and distal influences to behaviour during the toddler years and at school entry. The findings showed that although family income, parental employment and maternal education had a significant moderate impact on child problem behaviour as rated in the home and school, when considered in the context of child characteristics and family processes their contribution was negligible, especially for income. In contrast, parenting practices and parental well-being emerged as good predictors of behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour at school entry, pointing to the importance of supporting parents in order to promote social competence in young children. These findings have implications for family policy