Published in 1999, this work suggests that widening participation is not just about changing learner expectations; it is also about changing institutional expectations and practices. "Higher" learning, for example, should include a broader, more inclusive range of knowledge and ways of knowing than at present and criteria for learning achievement should include assessment of "citizenship" as well as linear outcomes.
“This book does not focus simply on the employment prospects of first generation higher education entrants but rather engages with the wider possibilities of social engagement and transformation that can arise from participation in higher education. It provides essential reading for administrators, policy-makers, managers, academics and indeed anyone else interested in how to widen the socio-economic base of higher education so that the process is informed by a significant concern with social justice and reducing inequality.” Rosemary Deem, Professor of Education, University of Bristol This book examines the proposition that parental education is a key factor contributing to the access and success of students, but that insufficient attention is paid to this by researchers, national systems and institutional interventions. Analysis of research findings from ten countries, plus a UK wide study, indicates that parental education is more important in determining access to higher education than parental employment or financial status. The book provides a clear conceptualisation of first generation entry, exploring its complex interrelationship with social class. Furthermore, it demonstrates that when first generation entry is used as a lens, it disrupts the taken for granted assumptions regarding widening participation and helps produce much more effective approaches to targeting access and supporting student success. First Generation Entry into Higher Education provides a unique and insightful examination of how first generation entrants are supported or otherwise by different national approaches and institutional responses. The book is essential reading for all with an interest in widening participation in higher education.
IBSS is the essential tool for librarians, university departments, research institutions and any public or private institution whose work requires access to up-to-date and comprehensive knowledge on the social sciences.
This book examines the relationships between exclusion and adult learning focusing on 19 innovative learning initiatives that are making the difference in six countries: Belgium (Flemish Community), Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom (England).
Educational inequalities have strongly impacted disadvantaged and underservedpopulations such us indigenous, Roma, migrant children, students with disabilities,and those affected by poverty. A wide array of research has contributed toexplaining the mechanisms and effects of inequalities in the achievement patterns,dropout rates, disengagement in the school experiences of children and youthtraditionally excluded. Research also suggests the negative consequences for childdevelopment – including cognitive, language, and social–emotional functioning – ofpoverty and lack of quality education in the early years. Consequently, the currentunequal access to optimal learning environments for every single child to succeedin education and to have a better life perpetuates the exclusion and neglects theright to education for those minorities. This Research Topic aims at moving beyondcauses and shed light upon effective solutions by providing successful pathways forintegration and inclusion of the learners most heavily affected. Scholars worldwide are looking for successful actions with children, youth, andcommunities of learners historically underserved to overcome educational andsocial exclusion. These transformative approaches go beyond the deficit thinkingand are grounded in theories, empirical evidence, and multidisciplinary interventionsoriented towards achieving social impact, which refers to the extent to which thoseactions have contributed to improve a societal challenge. The international networkof “Schools as Learning Communities” is advancing knowledge on deepening andexpanding the impact of what has been defined as Successful Educational Actions(SEAs); that is, those interventions that improve students’ achievement and socialcohesion and inclusion in many diverse contexts, regardless the socioeconomic,national, and cultural environment of schools. Drawing on the evidence generated by this network of researchers to address the globalchallenge of inequality by studying educational actions oriented towards achievingsocial impact and potentially transferrable to other contexts, this Research Topic aimsat deepening on this approach. In short, our purpose is that the contributions includedin this Research Topic contribute to reduce educational and social inequalities andespecially benefit those populations most in need.
