Archive for September, 2008
Young Bangladeshis beat the odds
British Educational Research Association
It is one of the most interesting new conundrums in English education. Why are so many Bangladeshi pupils from economically disadvantaged backgrounds now gaining high-grade GCSEs and A-levels and going on to university?
A new study of high-achieving Bangladeshi children by Kerrie Proulx of Warwick University has helped to provide some of [...]
PE teachers’ focus on competitive sport ‘undermines healthy exercise drive’
British Educational Research Association
The heavy emphasis on fitness and competitive sport in many secondary schools is doing little or nothing to help curb the UK’s record teenage obesity rates, a new study suggests.
Since 1992 schools have been required to teach pupils about health-related exercise as well as other physical activities such as team games, gymnastics [...]
Research study challenges ‘geeky’ image of young scientists
British Educational Research Association
Young scientists are sometimes portrayed as geeky and introverted individuals who are better at conducting experiments than social relationships. However, new research suggests that this stereotype needs to be revised.
Education researchers have found that personality traits associated with emotional intelligence, such as empathy and adaptability, appear to increase pupils’ chances of gaining [...]
Work-experience placements ‘too often allocated on the basis of social class’
British Educational Research Association
Work-experience placements for secondary school pupils are too often allocated on the basis of their social class rather than their ability, researchers have found.
Pupils in schools serving disadvantaged communities are less likely to experience what it is like to do a professional or managerial job, according to researchers at Birmingham City University. [...]
Mobile phones help secondary pupils to connect with their lessons
British Educational Research Association
Ask a teacher to name the most irritating invention of recent years and they will often nominate the mobile phone.
Exasperated by the distractions and problems they create, many headteachers have ordered that pupils must keep their phones switched off at school. Others have told pupils to leave them at home.
However, education [...]
Elite young swimmers risking burnout
British Educational Research Association
Young swimmers who try to emulate Rebecca Adlington’s gold-medal-winning feats at the London Olympics in 2012 will be subjected to an unacceptably heavy training regime and excessive “surveillance”, a new study suggests.
The extraordinary demands made on elite young swimmers, who begin competitive training at the age of eight and remain under the [...]
Official statistics fail to highlight Portuguese pupils’ underachievement
British Educational Research Association
Official statistics fail to highlight Portuguese
pupils’ underachievement
The worryingly low achievement levels of many Portuguese pupils in English schools have been masked by Government statistics that fail to distinguish between European ethnic groups, according to a new study.
Portuguese pupils often find it harder to adapt to English education than other European [...]
More English language support needed for ‘isolated’ Polish children
British Educational Research Association
More English language support needed
for ‘isolated’ Polish children
The children of Scotland’s Polish migrants must be given more English language support in and out of school, researchers believe.
Local authorities were warned earlier this year that lack of investment in bilingual school staff could trigger an exodus of Polish workers who have become [...]