Indigeneity versus diversity

The article deals with the representation of the Sámi in the new national curriculum for primary and lower secondary education in Norway. More precisely, it focuses on a specific formulation in the fourth core element of the curriculum for religious education, in which an awareness of Sámi perspectives is presented as part of the diversity competence which pupils are supposed to acquire. Based on a critical analysis of governmental documents dealing with education it is argued that the term ‘diversity’ as it is used in the fourth core element addresses Sámi perspectives in a way that may induce readers to think of the Sámi as one of an increasing number of minorities in an originally Norwegian society. This implication, even if unintended, is highly problematic. It can be interpreted as a violation of both ILO 169, Article 31 and CRC, Article 29 (1), especially since the Sámi are a people indigenous to Norway.

Implicit Sense of Academic Futility: An Unexpected Burden From Lower Secondary Education

Vocational and professional training tracks can be a good option for many adolescents, many of whom enter these programs with a sometimes hidden burden of negative experiences and attitudes to school. This paper explores the sense of academic futility in future VET students at the end of lower secondary education. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 25 Czech students in which they described their experiences from lower secondary school, we found that despite the students’ beliefs that their achievement is the product of their own effort, they describe situations from which it is evident that they noticed (i.e., perceived) that they actually did lose control over their results. At the same time, they explicitly claim that they have full control over their own achievement. This implicit sense of academic futility is created by several mechanisms at the school level: the curriculum, ineffective teaching, grading leniency, and teachers’ distrust of students’ capabilities.

The Robust Efficiency Estimation in Lower Secondary Education: Cross-Country Evidence

In this study, we assessed the efficiency of compulsory lower secondary education. We selected three variables that may significantly affect students’ performance in a particular country. First, we assumed that student scores achieved in PISA testing determine the number of monetary funds spent on these three variables, specifically student–teacher ratio, class size, and the annual number of hours spent in school. Second, we evaluated the efficiency of education in a sample of 24 different OECD countries, comparing the students’ performance in PISA 2018. Third, we used the two-stage data envelopment analysis with a bootstrapping procedure for estimating technical efficiency scores. Finally, we applied OLS and quantile regression, where our regression estimates in both models showed a positive effect of GDP per capita on students’ achievement across countries. The positive impact of GDP per capita was significant only for the least efficient countries. Conversely, the level of impact of parental education was much stronger and more positive for the inefficient countries and proved to be negative for more efficient countries.

When more schooling is not worth the effort: another look at the dropout decisions of disadvantaged students

This paper shows that when student heterogeneity is introduced in the analysis, differences in the quality of education and in the probability of repetition, typical in developing countries, mark the contrast between an attractive and an inconvenient investment in education. The methodology associates educational quality and repetition rates with educational returns. In particular, it makes apparent that lower secondary education, in the case of Uruguay, is an inconvenient investment for disadvantaged students, even disregarding the possibility of such students not being able to afford the opportunity costs, this fact probably also explains the heavy dropout rates of this student type in many developing countries.

Framing policy problems and solutions in education policymaking: Pre-vocational education in Norwegian lower secondary school

This article investigates policymaking for Norwegian lower secondary education, with a focus on policy problems and solutions emphasising pre-vocational education. The data consist of official policy documents such as Green and White Papers, hearings, propositions to the parliament, protocols of parliamentary debates and votes in the parliament. The conceptual framework focuses on framing in policymaking and policy problems and solutions. Results reveal that dropout, difficulties in adapting education to the pupils and a gap between the content of schooling and the demands of the world of work are framed as the main policy problems. Different policy solutions emphasising pre-vocational education are presented as legitimised responses to these problems. The three policy problems can be defined as complex issues. Despite the proposed policy solutions, these are not enacted in the curriculum in line with the discussions and votes in parliament. This could be attributed to conflicting values and purposes of Norwegian education. These differences raise the question of whether the problems faced by Norwegian comprehensive schooling are taken for granted, as the proposed solutions appear to be insufficient in dealing with the defined problems.

On the Primary School Achievement Certificate (PSAC) assessment reform

We offer a critical appraisal of the Primary School Achievement Certificate (PSAC) assessment in the context of the Nine-Year Continuous Basic Education, which is the latest education policy reform implemented in Mauritius. The PSAC is an essential element of the new assessment framework for basic education since it is meant to evaluate and certify students’ achievement at the end of the primary cycle. Performance is used to stream students going into lower-secondary education according to their learning needs. Hence, the PSAC assessment has replaced the once much contested Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) examination. Using Bronfenbrenner’s model of child development, we look at the issues related to CPE examinations, and how these motivated the need for the PSAC. We then examine the various aspects of the PSAC and elaborate on how the main features of the assessment could be improved to ensure reliable, fair and valid evaluation of students.

What happened to alternative lower-secondary education in Mauritius? : The extended programme as a case of misguided curriculum, unfair assessment, and social injustice

The recent Nine-Year Continuous Basic Education (NYCBE) reform has brought about a dramatic change in the provision of alternative lower-secondary education in the Republic of Mauritius. Whereas the previous prevocational education (PVE) programme allowed educators to make use of an aims-based curriculum to respond to the learning profile of children marginalised within the primary education system by formatively catering for their holistic development in an inclusive and integrated manner and preparing them for vocational pathways, the new extended programme (EP) proposes to engage those same learners with a knowledge-based curriculum that focuses heavily on subject learning and high-stakes examinations. Our aim in this article is to examine, through the lens of social justice, the aims, objectives and expectations of the two alternative education programmes, and elaborate, by looking at aspects of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, on how the EP ends up being a fundamentally flawed and poorly implemented programme that undermines the development and potential for human flourishing of the learners concerned. Implications for educators involved in the programme will also be touched upon.