Expectations And Aspirations

Education, which has been at the heart of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s history and civilizations for centuries, has a large untapped potential to contribute to human capital, well-being, and wealth. The region has invested heavily in education for decades, but it has not been able to reap the benefits of its investments. Despite a series of reforms, MENA has remained stuck in a low-learning, low-skills level. Expectations and Aspirations: A New Framework for Education in the Middle East and North Africa identifies four key sets of tensions that are holding back education in the region: credentials and skills, discipline and inquiry, control and autonomy, and tradition and modernity. These tensions are shaped by society and are reflected in classrooms. If they are not addressed, MENA will continue to operate at a level below its potential. This report outlines a new framework with a three-pronged approach that can help address these tensions and unleash the potential of education in MENA: • A concerted push for learning that starts early for all children regardless of background, with qualified and motivated educators, and that leverages technology, uses modern approaches, and monitors learning outcomes • A stronger pull for skills by all stakeholders in the labor market and society that involves coordinated multisystem reforms within and beyond the education system • A new pact for education at the national level with a unified vision, shared responsibilities, and accountabilities. Education is not just the responsibility of the education system—it is everyone’s business. The push, pull, and pact framework offers an opportunity for MENA to move forward to reclaim its heritage of a learned region and to meet the expectations and aspirations of its people. The current situation in MENA requires a renewed focus on education, not just as a national priority for economic growth and social development, but as a national emergency for stability, peace, and prosperity.

A dynamic and contextualized account of the processes and mechanisms underlying gendered career decisions and attainment across the life course.

International Perspectives on Theorizing Aspirations offers new insights and guidance for those looking to use Bourdieu's tools in an educational context, with a focus on how the tools can be applied to issues of aspiration. Written by contributors from the UK, USA, Australia, Nigeria, Jamaica and Spain, the book explores how Bourdieu's tools have been applied in recent cutting-edge educational research on a range of topics, including widening participation, migration, ethnicity, and class. The contributors consider how aspirations are theorized in sociology, as well as exploring the structure/agency debates, before recapitulating Bourdieu's tools and their applicability in educational contexts. A key question running through the chapters is: how does social theory shape research? Including recommended readings, this is essential reading for anyone looking to use Bourdieu in their research and for those studying aspiration in an educational research setting.

This highly anticipated third edition of the Handbook of Parenting brings together an array of field-leading experts who have worked in different ways toward understanding the many diverse aspects of parenting. Contributors to the Handbook look to the most recent research and thinking to shed light on topics every parent, professional, and policymaker wonders about. Parenting is a perennially "hot" topic. After all, everyone who has ever lived has been parented, and the vast majority of people become parents themselves. No wonder bookstores house shelves of "how-to" parenting books, and magazine racks in pharmacies and airports overflow with periodicals that feature parenting advice. However, almost none of these is evidence-based. The Handbook of Parenting is. Period. Each chapter has been written to be read and absorbed in a single sitting, and includes historical considerations of the topic, a discussion of central issues and theory, a review of classical and modern research, and forecasts of future directions of theory and research. Together, the five volumes in the Handbook cover Children and Parenting, the Biology and Ecology of Parenting, Being and Becoming a Parent, Social Conditions and Applied Parenting, and the Practice of Parenting. Volume 4, Social Conditions and Applied Parenting, describes socially defined groups of parents and social conditions that promote variation in parenting. The chapters in Part I, on Social and Cultural Conditions of Parenting, start with a relational developmental systems perspective on parenting and move to considerations of ethnic and minority parenting among Latino and Latin Americans, African Americans, Asians and Asian Americans, Indigenous parents, and immigrant parents. The section concludes with considerations of disabilities, employment, and poverty on parenting. Parents are ordinarily the most consistent and caring people in children’s lives. However, parenting does not always go right or well. Information, education, and support programs can remedy potential ills. The chapters in Part II, on Applied Issues in Parenting, begin with how parenting is measured and follow with examinations of maternal deprivation, attachment, and acceptance/rejection in parenting. Serious challenges to parenting—some common, such as stress and depression, and some less common, such as substance abuse, psychopathology, maltreatment, and incarceration—are addressed as are parenting interventions intended to redress these trials.

Order the SPSS Student Version (ISBN: 978-1-4129-6883-6) of this text and your students will be able to practice SPSS (version 16.0)áon their laptops in the convenience of their dorm rooms (rather than in the computer labs) for just $25 more than the text alone.In this Fifth Edition of their best-selling Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, Chava Frankfort-Nachmias and Anna Leon-Guerrero use straightforward, conversational prose and emphasize common sense as they demonstrate the link between the practice of statistics and important social issues. Social Statistics for a Diverse Society helps students learn key sociological concepts through real research examples related to the dynamic relationship between race, class, gender, and other social variables. An emphasis on SPSS® for Windows (version 16.0) throughout the book, in conjunction with General Social Survey data, introduces one of the most commonly used analytical software packages in the field. Each chapter ends with a demonstration of a related SPSS procedure, along with a set of useful exercises to help students practice what they learn. New and Retained FeaturesNew and updated real-world examples, drawn from a wide range of sources, including news stories, government reports, scholarly research, the National Opinion Research Center General Social Survey and the Monitoring the Future Survey, help students combine an understanding of statistics with an increased understanding of social issues Significant student-friendly reorganization of the text provides descriptive and inferential statistics in discrete units first, followed by coverage of data analysis Updated statistical applications in examples now include social issues beyond race and gender, such as class and mobility Reading the Research Literature sections in most chapters help students read and interpret statistical information in professional and scholarly publications Fully revitalized learning aids, including new end-of-chapter exercises, Learning Checks, and Statistics in Practice and A Closer Look boxes A new data set available on the Study Site applies to criminology and social work research issues Ancillaries Instructor Resources on CD-Rom feature a new test bank with a wide variety of test questions, PowerPoint slides for each chapter, illustrations from the book, and teaching tips. Contact Customer Care at 1-800-818-SAGE (7243). A Student study site at www.pineforge.com/frankfort-nachmiasstudy5 contains interactive quizzes, e-flashcards, data sets, online research activities, SAGE journal articles and more. Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, Fifth Edition is appropriate for use in Introduction to Statistics, Social Statistics, Research Methods and Data Analysis courses in all of the social sciences. á

The Handbook of Motivation at School presents the first comprehensive and integrated compilation of theory and research on children’s motivation at school. It covers the major theoretical perspectives in the field as well as their application to instruction, learning, and social adjustment at school. Key Features: Comprehensive – no other book provides such a comprehensive overview of theory and research on children’s motivation at school. Theoretical & Applied – the book provides a review of current motivation theories by the developers of those theories as well as attention to the application of motivation theory and research in classrooms and schools. Chapter Structure – chapters within each section follow a similar structure so that there is uniformity across chapters. Commentaries – each section ends with a commentary that provides clear directions for future research.