Creating cohesive citizens in England? : exploring the role of diversity, deprivation and democratic climate at school

Over the past decade, cohesion and integration have been a key concern for policymakers in countries across Europe and North America. The rapid increase in immigration, coupled with the perception of rapid social change and instability, is seen to have presented communities and governments with a range of ‘new’ challenges. In the attendant debates, schools are often presented as part of the solution to these challenges, but much remains unknown about the relationship between schools and community cohesion. This article therefore explores the role of schools as a site of socialisation for children and young people and their role in fostering the attitudes, behaviours and norms that are typically associated with citizens in a cohesive society. This article focuses in particular on the role of school demographics and school climate and uses longitudinal data from students in England to examine these relationships

What young Britons really think about Brexit and their prospects outside the EU

In the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum, much was made of how devastated young people were by the result. A survey by Lord Ashcroft suggested that over 70 of young people aged 18-24 voted Remain, while almost 60 of over 55s voted to Leave. In her ongoing research, Avril Keating (UCL) found that this view is too simplistic: in practice, young people's reactions ..

E-access, e-maturity, e-safety: a learner survey

The report explored young people's access to technology in school and at home and the skills, knowledge and confidence of learners when using technology for learning.In addition, the project has sought to identify any links between learner attitudes, school characteristics, and learners' technological skills, e-confidence and levels of e-maturity. The NFER conducted a large-scale national survey with primary and secondary school learners in England. The survey was administered between November and December 2008, and was completed by over 4,000 learners: 1,990 learners in primary schools (in Year 6) and 2,061 learners in secondary schools (in Year 10)

Citizenship education in England 2001-2010 : young people's practices and prospects for the future : the eighth and final report from the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS)

On the one hand, there has been a marked and steady increase in young people’s civic and political participation and indications that these young people will continue to participate as adult citizens. In contrast, there has been a hardening of attitudes toward equality and society, a weakening of attachment to communities and fluctuating levels of engagement, efficacy and trust in the political arena. The factors that shape young people’s citizenship outcomes include age and life-stage, background factors, prior citizenship outcomes, as well as levels of ‘received’ citizenship education

Growing up in coastal towns: Intergenerational perspectives from NE Lincolnshire. Emerging findings

Over the last two years we have been conducting exploratory research in North East Lincolnshire. Building on our earlier research in Margate, we examined how growing up in coastal towns shapes young people’s experiences, aspirations, and life chances. We focused in particular on two towns in the area: Grimsby (a post-industrial town) and Cleethorpes (a seaside town). Our collaboration with Young Advisors (a national charity) and Youth Action (based in North East Lincolnshire) led to 6 members of Young Action joining our team as Young Researchers. Together, we developed a range of place-based methods of data production and piloted these through a series of research activities, including focus groups, walking interviews, and in-depth interviews. We included the views of both young people and older people who grew up in the 1950s and 60s, to take a look at how coastal youth life chances have changed over the generations. We generated a rich body of data from these research encounters, and we are preparing a number of publications to share these findings. Today, we are pleased to announce the publication of our Emerging Findings report, which sets out our preliminary thoughts and findings. One clear message from the report is that young people in North East Lincolnshire feel that there are not enough things for them to do, or places for them to go. These feelings of boredom and exclusion are compounded by (1) their sense that their towns are in economic decline and (2) the fact that there are too many places in the towns that do not feel safe. A second key finding is that many of the young participants felt that they have to move away from the area in order to access higher education and/ or high-skilled work. Data from the older residents helped us to understand that this mobility imperative is relatively new. They told us that when they were growing up, there were far more (and better) employment and leisure opportunities for young people in the area