Frontiers in Sociology of Education


Book Description

Scholarly analysis in the sociology of education has burgeoned in recent decades. Frontiers in Sociology of Education aims to provide a roadmap for sociologists and other social scientists as they set bold new directions for future research on schools. In Part 1 of this forward-looking volume, the authors present cutting-edge research to set new guidelines for the sociological analysis of schools. In Part 2, notable social scientists, historians, administrators and educators provide a wide-ranging array of perspectives on contemporary education to insure that scholars make creative and broadly informed contributions to the sociological analysis of schools. The contributors to this volume examine events currently influencing education including: globalization, expansion of educational access, the changing significance of religion, new family structures, and curriculum reform. Frontiers in Sociology of Education offers an innovative collection of research and ideas aimed at inspiring new analyses of schools better linked to changing societal conditions.




Social Class and Transnational Human Capital


Book Description

Due to globalization processes, foreign language skills, knowledge about other countries and intercultural competences have increasingly become important for societies and people’s social positions. Previous research on social inequality, however, has dominantly focused on the reproduction of class structures within the boundaries of a particular nation-state without considering the importance of these specific skills and competences. Within Social Class and Transnational Human Capital authors Gerhards, Hans and Carlson refer to these skills as ‘transnational human capital’ and ask to what extent access to this increasingly sought-after resource depends on social class. Based on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of class, they investigate this question via both quantitative and qualitative empirical analyses. In doing so the authors focus, among other examples, on the so-called school year abroad, i.e. students spending up to a year abroad while attending school – a practice which is rather popular in Germany, but also quite common in many other countries. Thus, this insightful volume explores how inequalities in the acquisition of transnational human capital and new forms of social distinction are produced within families, depending on their class position and the educational strategies parents pursue when trying to prepare their children for a globalizing world. An enlightening title, this book will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers interested in fields such as sociology, social inequality research, globalization studies and educational studies.




New Frontiers of the Capability Approach


Book Description

For over three decades, the capability approach proposed and developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum has had a distinct impact on development theories and approaches because it goes beyond an economic conception of development and engages with the normative aspects of development. This book explores the new frontiers of the capability approach and its links to human development in three main areas. First, it delves into the philosophical foundations of the approach, re-examining its links to concepts of common good, collective agency and epistemic diversity. Secondly, it addresses its 'operational frontier', aiming to give inclusive explanations of some of the most advanced methods available for capability researchers. Thirdly, it offers a wide range of the applications of this approach, as carried out by a mix of renowned capability scholars and researchers from different disciplines. This broad interdisciplinary range includes the areas of human and sustainable development, inequalities, labour markets, education, special needs, cities, urban planning, housing, social capital and happiness studies, among others.




Education in the Structure of the Social and Investment Model of Economic Growth: Scenarios of Development and Mechanisms of Management


Book Description

The importance of the formation of a socially-oriented market economy grew due to the adoption of the global goals in the sphere of sustainable development. For practical implementation of this idea in the modern economic systems, there’s a necessity for a new – social and investment – model of economic growth. The essence and the main difference of this model from the traditional model of economic growth are the sources of growth are social investments – investments in humans and an increase in the population’s quality of life.




Second International Handbook of Lifelong Learning


Book Description

The second edition of the International Handbook of Lifelong Learning is extensive, innovative, and international in scope, remit and vision, inviting its readers to engage in a critical re-appraisal of the theme of “lifelong learning”. It is a thorough-going, rigorous and scholarly work, with profound and wide-ranging implications for the future of educating institutions and agencies of all kinds in the conception, planning and delivery of lifelong learning initiatives. Lifelong learning requires a wholly new philosophy of learning, education and training, one that aims to facilitate a coherent set of links and pathways between work, school and education, and recognises the necessity for government to give incentives to industry and their employees so they can truly “invest” in lifelong learning. It is also a concept that is premised on the understanding of a learning society in which everyone, independent of race, creed or gender, is entitled to quality learning that is truly excellent. This book recognises the need for profound changes in education and for goals that are critically important to education, economic advancement, and social involvement. To those concerned about the future of our society, our economy and educational provision, this book provides a richly illuminating basis for powerful debate. Drawing extensively on policy analyses, conceptual thinking and examples of informed and world-standard practice in lifelong learning endeavours in the field, both editors and authors seek to focus readers' attention on the many issues and decisions that must be addressed if lifelong learning is to become a reality for us all.







Investing in Human Capital for Economic Development in China


Book Description

Ch. 1. Why China is likely to achieve its growth objectives / Robert W. Fogel -- ch. 2. The contribution of health and education to economic growth in China / Dean T. Jamison, Lawrence J. Lau and Jia Wang -- ch. 3. Education, innovation and economic growth / Xiaoguang Chen -- ch. 4. Endogenous health care and life expectancy in a neoclassical growth model / Michael C. M. Leung and Yong Wang -- ch. 5. Demand for education in China / Gregory C. Chow and Yan Shen -- ch. 6. Human capital and educational demand in China : 2000-2030 / Xiaoying Zheng ... [et al.] -- ch. 7. Changes in the pattern of China's school enrollment rates between 1990 and 2000 / Rachel Connelly and Zhenzhen Zheng -- ch. 8. School attainment and cost of education in rural China / Linxiu Zhang ... [et al.] -- ch. 9. The educational consequences of migration for children in China / Zai Liang and Yiu Por Chen -- ch. 10. An economic analysis of health care in China / Gregory C. Chow -- ch. 11. A theoretical analysis for Chinese new rural cooperative medical system / H. Holly Wang -- ch. 12. Wealth, education and demand for medical care : evidence from rural China / Jin Feng, Bei Qin and Yangyang Yu -- ch. 13. Famine and overweight in China / Zhehui Luo, Ren Mu and Xiaobo Zhang -- ch. 14. Immunization uptake in China / Åke Blomqvist and Haoming Liu -- ch. 15. Changing health inequality in China : the role of relative income / Zhuo Chen, Steven T. Yen and David B. Eastwood -- ch. 16. The relationship between health and schooling / Michael Grossman -- ch. 17. Income productivity in China : on the role of health / Gordon G. Liu ... [et al.] -- ch. 18. Ill health and its potential influence on household consumptions in rural China / Hong Wang, Licheng Zhang and William Hsiao -- ch. 19. Wages and returns to education in Chinese cities / Dennis Tao Yang -- ch. 20. The external returns to education : evidence from Chinese cities / Zhiqiang Liu -- ch. 21. Discrimination and development : the case of beauty in China / Daniel S. Hamermesh, Xin Meng and Junsen Zhang.




Globalization and Transnational Academic Mobility


Book Description

This book examines the way Chinese academics returning from the US re-establish their academic identities and professional practices at China’s research universities in the context of higher education internationalization in China. It goes beyond economic accounts of academic mobility based on the notions of brain drain, brain gain, and brain circulation. Instead, it uses a cultural approach to explore the everyday experiences of the returning scholars concerning the issues of their sense of identity, as well as their ways of connecting and bringing about changes in their work communities. It will appeal anyone interested in 1) globalization and academic mobility; 2) China’s talent policies and strategies; and 3) the internationalization of Chinese universities.




The Foundational Handbook on Improvement Research in Education


Book Description

The Foundational Handbook on Improvement Research in Education is a pathbreaking effort to build a field of research committed to producing the practical knowledge needed to advance educational access, quality, and equity. This is research distinguished by the use of inclusive, iterative approaches to analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation to understand and address educational opportunities, needs, and problems grounded deeply in school and community contexts. Designed for researchers, students, and educators, the handbook elaborates the intellectual foundations, explores the organizational and policy contexts, reviews approaches, and examines methods of improvement research. It features contributions from a plural community of researchers with expertise in the learning sciences, instructional improvement, organizational and policy studies, and research methodologies, many with extensive experience collaborating with teachers, leadership, families, and advocates in local problem solving and design.




International Students in French Universities and Grandes Écoles: A Comparative Study


Book Description

The book mainly investigates the challenges that confront France’s unique dual system of higher education in facing internationalization and the recruitment of international students. This book focuses on the development of the institutional strategies in two groups of higher education institutions: University and Grande École in responding to the opportunities and stresses of both Europe’s Bologna process and globalization. The research data presents in this book was collected from four local institutions, two Grandes Écoles and two universities, one of each focusing on the social sciences and the other on natural sciences and technology. Interviews with major stakeholders in the institutions, including personnel from international offices, faculty/researchers and international students were adopted as principal methods for data collection. The thematic organization of the findings in each chapter covers views from three levels of stakeholders’ and interprets the results within theoretical frames, such as institutional theories, world-system theory, international academic relationship theory and branding theory. Readers will find this book both practical and innovative in four key ways. Firstly, in knowledge diffusion, revealing the mysterious veil of the unique French dual higher education system. Secondly, in new knowledge production, exploring a new subject of research and filling the blanks from previous studies of the two groups of institutions. Thirdly, in presenting new interesting sights into current reforms in Frances’s higher education and how far principles of path dependency will ensure strong continuities with the past as against a tendency to homogenization in response to pressures from Europeanization and global ranking systems. Finally, in exploring the dimension of interculturality and the interplay between researcher’s identity and research process.