scholarly journals COVID-19 and its effects: On the risk of social inequality through digitalization and the loss of trust in three European education systems

2021 ◽  
pp. 147490412110313
Author(s):  
Inka Bormann ◽  
Katja Brøgger ◽  
Milan Pol ◽  
Bohumíra Lazarová
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Educational Governance ◽  
Educational Facilities ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Education Governance ◽  
Digital Devices ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Inequality In Education ◽  
European Education

This paper develops informed assumptions on the potential loss of trust as an unintended side-effect of the measures in education to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Well-founded concerns according to which the pandemic-induced closure of educational facilities and the shift to digitalized distance education are contributing to increased social inequality in education serve as a starting point for the argumentation. The paper contends that together with the temporary changes in the style of educational governance, in the medium term an exacerbated social inequality in education can cause a potential trust problem for the central actors imposing the measures. To support this line of reasoning, the exploratory study describes the context conditions which are relevant for the implementation and participation in digitalized distance education (measures, access and competent use of digital devices in education, level of trust) and combines them with the findings of a qualitative analysis of relevant documents from three European countries (Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany). A neo-institutional view is applied to exploring the implications of the changes in education governance and their potential side-effects on trust.

Exposing scale hegemonies

2019 ◽  
pp. 35-46
Author(s):  
Natalie Papanastasiou
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Politics Of Scale ◽  
Education Governance ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Scalar Politics ◽  
European Education ◽  
Introductory Discussion ◽  
Over Time

The first aim of this chapter is to present an introductory discussion to the book’s empirical focus on education governance. It demonstrates that education governance is a field that is teeming with politics of scale and therefore constitutes an ideal focus for exploring the book’s overarching conceptual puzzle. The second aim of the chapter is to present a useful entry point for policy scholars seeking to explore possible practices of scalecraft in policy contexts. The discussion outlines the key tenets of a genealogical perspective which draws on political discourse theory and pays particular analytical attention to the ‘dislocatory moments’ of policy. By tracing how European education policy evolved over time, the discussion empirically illustrates how a genealogical perspective is an invaluable lens for exposing the contingency of scale hegemonies and that this serves as an essential starting point for problematising scalar politics.

Competitive/comparative governance mechanisms beyond marketization: A refined concept of competition in education governance research

2020 ◽  
pp. 147490412095892
Author(s):  
Miriam Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Western World ◽  
Educational Governance ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Widespread Application ◽  
Education Governance ◽  
Relevant Term ◽  
European Education ◽  
State Models

Much contemporary scholarship claims that competition has become a key characteristic of educational governance, and that competition occurs in educational governance as a consequence of the comparative turn in education. This article problematizes the widespread application of the concept of competition as a relevant term across (seemingly) all governance contexts, and seeks to overcome this problem by theorizing competition as an entangled phenomenon that takes on a different ontology according to the specific situations in which it occurs. This theorization highlights three dimensions of competition that may affect its ontology: the field of contestants, the rules of the game, and the competition objective. The result is an analytical framework that makes the concept of competition sensitive to different governance contexts across Europe and the Western world, including those with strong remnants of universalistic welfare state models. The analytical framework allows for a distinction between market-based competition and competition as a governance instrument that mediates managerial decision-making in which the contestants fight to avoid top-down reform rather than fighting against their peers. The analytical framework implies that we cannot characterize all European education systems as governed through competition-based mechanisms without caution and further specification.

Inequality and the division of labor: the Davis-Moore theory reexamined

1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-256
Author(s):  
Dennis H. Wrong
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Market Model ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Recent Debate ◽  
Occupational Selection ◽  
Limited Scope

Social inequality has long been subject to theoretical dispute with moral and political overtones. The most recent debate was over the argument of American sociologists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore that unequal rewards were ‘functionally’ necessary to maintain a complex division of labour. Their theory has gained new credibility as a market model of occupational selection assuming competition among self-interested individuals. Its abstractness and limited scope need recognition, but it remains a valuable starting point for the consideration of inequality.

Housing Evaluation Methodology in a Situation of Social Poverty to Guarantee Sustainable Cities: The Satisfaction Dimension for the Case of Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11199
Author(s):  
Pilar Mercader-Moyano ◽  
Oswaldo Morat-Pérez ◽  
Carmen Muñoz-González
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Emergency Scenarios ◽  
Urban Conditions ◽  
Qualitative Characteristics

Currently, one in eight people live in neighborhoods with social inequality and around one billion people live in precarious conditions. The significance of where and how to live and in what physical, spatial, social, and urban conditions has become very important for millions of families around the world because of mandatory confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, many homes in poor condition do not meet the basic requirements for residential environments in the current framework. Theoretical models for the urban evaluation of this phenomenon are a necessary starting point for urban renewal and sustainability. This study aims to generate a model for evaluating homes in a situation of social inequality (hereinafter Vrs) with indicators on physical, spatial, environmental, and social aspects. The methodology used in this study evaluates housing, taking into consideration habitability factors (physical, spatial, and constructive characteristics), as well as the qualitative characteristics assessing the satisfaction of users with the adaptation and transformation of the housing and its surroundings. The application of 51 indicators distributed in four previous parameters was established for this study. This quantification identifies the deficiencies of the dwellings and sets the guidelines for the establishment of future rehabilitation policies for adapting the dwellings to current and emergency scenarios. The innovation of this study is the construction of a tool for social research surveys designed to include individual indicators from the dwellings’ users, to provide a more dependable representation of the problems found in Vrs. The results of this research identified the deficiencies of precarious housing and could be used for applying effective proposals for improvement of habitability and their surroundings in the future. Furthermore, the results showed that when all the indicators were considered, the level of lag reached would be similar to that of a real housing situation, further confirming the suitability of the methodology applied in this investigation.

scholarly journals Exploring the impact of social inequality and poverty on the mental health and wellbeing and attainment of children and young people in Scotland

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Gaynor Mowat
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Impact

The poverty-related attainment gap is an internationally recognised problem. There is growing recognition that it cannot either be understood or addressed without taking cognisance of children’s mental health and wellbeing. The focus of this conceptual article is to examine the impact of social inequality and poverty on the mental health and wellbeing and attainment of children and young people in Scotland through the lens of resilience. While not a ‘state of the art’ literature review, a systematic approach was adopted in the selection of the literature and in the identification of themes to emerge from it. A range of risk and protective factors at the individual, social, societal and political levels emerged as impacting on the mental health and wellbeing and attainment of children living in poverty, and three important mediating variables are the negative impact of social stratification and adverse childhood experiences and the positive impact of a supportive adult. Schools alone cannot solve the problem. The findings revealed that there is a need to build a strong infrastructure around families and schools and to examine how economic, social, health and educational policy interact with each other as a starting point in addressing the problem, supported by inter-disciplinary research.

scholarly journals The Digital Divide, Editura Polity Press, Cambridge, Regatul Unit, 2020. Jan van Dijk

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-248
Author(s):  
Mirela-Lăcrimioara Cosma
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Digital Inequality ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Digital Devices ◽  
Level Ii ◽  
Digital Skills

The Digital Divide is the result of 25 years of research in the field of digital division. It summarizes the latest studies from access to digital devices (first level of the digital divide), to digital skills and use (level II) and the results/benefits of using or not using digital (level III). The aim of the paper is to clarify the latest concepts on digital inequality and its relationship with social division. Jan van Dijk presents the theories underlying the spread of technology in society and the main directions of approach in recent studies, according to which the use of media technologies reduces social inequality, increases social inequality or has no effect on it.

scholarly journals Investigation of Teacher Roles in Educational Practices in The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-332
Author(s):  
Dinçer Temelli ◽  
Osman Yılmaz Kartal ◽  
Çavuş Şahin ◽  
Akan Deniz Yazgan
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Instructional Activities ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Inequality In Education ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Phenomenological Design

In the research, it is aimed to analyze the roles of teachers teaching in distance education in the Covid-19 pandemic period and to investigate the obstacles encountered in the realization of these roles. The aim of the research is examined with the post-positivist paradigm and analyzed with the phenomenological design which is one of the qualitative research methods. In the research, participants were chosen from the teachers of Mathematics, Foreign Language, Science, Turkish and Social Studies who teach at least 15 hours or more per week in distance education. The data collection process in which data triangulation was performed included diaries kept by teachers for five days, individual interviews and focus group interviews. Transcripted data were analyzed by content analysis technique. According to the findings of the research, it was observed that the roles of the teachers who participated in the study were “communicator”, “collaborator”, “facilitator” and “learner” teacher during the distance education in Covid-19 pandemic. It has been observed that there are obstacles in the realization of roles in issues such as injustice / inequality in education, subject-centered program, structure of the education program, professional development, student and parent unwillingness. Teachers stated the features that teachers should have in the process of distance education as technopedagogical content knowledge, planning instructional activities, being able to measure distance assessment and provide student motivation.

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