John Goodwin

Stuart Hall

Kevin Lowden

Andy Furlong

Henrietta O'Connor

Sarah Hadfield

Réka Plugor

Levels of suffering among young people have always been much higher than governments suggest. Indeed, policies aimed at young workers have often been framed in ways that help secure conformity to a new employment landscape in which traditional securities have been progressively removed. Increasingly punitive welfare regimes have resulted in new hardships, especially among young women and those living in depressed labour markets. Framed by the ideas of Norbert Elias, Young People in the Labour Market challenges the idea that changing economic landscapes have given birth to a ‘Precariat’ and argues that labour insecurity is more deep-rooted and complex than others have suggested. Focusing on young people and the ways in which their working lives have changed between the 1980s recession and the Great Recession of 2008/2009 and its immediate aftermath, the book begins by drawing attention to trends already emerging in the preceding two decades. Drawing on data originally collected during the 1980s recession and comparing it to contemporary data drawn from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, the book explores the ways in which young people have adjusted to the changes, arguing that life satisfaction and optimism are linked to labour market conditions. A timely volume, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers who are interested in fields such as Sociology, Social Policy, Management and Youth Studies.

Past, Present, Future

Young People in the Labour Market

Heather Malcolm

Graham Thorpe

Scottish Council for Research in Education

This document presents findings of a 9-month study conducted by the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) that explores: the statistical relationships among attendance, truancy, and student performance in examinations; the impact of truancy on students, teachers, and teaching; and factors of truancy in seven primary and seven secondary schools in two local authority areas. Data were gathered through interviews with 7 primary and 7 secondary headteachers, 14 primary teachers, and 28 secondary teachers; questionnaires administered to 299 primary students and 76 secondary students; followup interviews with 8 secondary students; telephone interviews with 18 parents; and analysis of attendance records and grade reports. In every school but one, pupil absences were more likely to be "explained" than "unexplained." During the first two terms of 1993-94 at least 89 percent of pupils in each school registered some explained absence. As the level of absence increased among fourth-year secondary students, the level of grade award decreased; however, there was considerable variation among schools. Explained absence and unexplained absence had comparable effects on attainment. Secondary-school truants reported that they skipped school because they were bored with school and would rather be earning money at work. A total of 17 tables, 2 figures, and the evaluation instruments are included. (LMI)

Links Between Attendance, Truancy and Performance

Understanding Truancy

Robert A. Davis

James C. Conroy

David Lundie

Vivienne Baumfield

L. Philip Barnes

Tony Gallagher

Nicole Bourque

Karen J. Wenell

Society for Educational Studies Annual Book Prize winner: 2nd Prize This ground-breaking volume draws upon a rich and variegated range of methodologies to understand more fully the practices, policies and resources available in and to religious education in British schools. The descriptions, explanations and analyses undertaken here draw on an innovative combination of policy work, ethnography, Delphi methods, Actor Network Theory, questionnaires, textual analysis as well as theological and philosophical insight. It traces the evolution of religious education in a post-religious age from the creation of policy to the everyday experiences of teachers and students in the classroom. It begins by analysing the way in which policy has evolved since the 1970s with an examination of the social forces that have shaped curriculum development. It goes on to explore the impact and intentions of a diverse group of stakeholders with sometimes competing accounts of the purposes of religious educations. It then examines the manner in which policy is, or is not, enacted in the classroom. Finally, it explores contradictions and confusions, successes and failures, and the ways in which wider public debates enter the classroom. The book also exposes the challenge religious education teachers have in using the language of religion.

A Multi-dimensional Investigation

Does Religious Education Work?

Kevin Lowden

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