The Czech education system is characterised by early tracking and high educational inequalities. The most controversial element of the system is the academic track, which is attended by students after the completion of primary school. The paper focuses on fifth graders' application process and their success in entrance examinations. The process is…

The International Baccalaureate's (IB) branding and reputation targets academic high achievers aiming for university entrance. This is an empirical examination of the growing popularity of this transnational secondary credential amongst local populations in Australia, focusing on its uptake across the community, and the discourses underpinning its…

This article addresses the "National Common Core Curriculum" in Brazil, focusing both on its "Introduction" and the sections dedicated to music teaching. The paper draws on contributions from broad critical curricular perspectives, arguing for the access to "powerful knowledge" as a means of achieving social justice…

The EU has embraced the use of indicators as policy instruments for achieving common aims. One of the indicators, 'early school leaver' (ESL), depicts the proportion of young people leaving education and training prematurely. Initially defined as an education policy indicator, it has been transformed into a performance indicator measuring the…

Despite decades of research and policy, we are still some way in the U.K. from ameliorating barriers for Gypsy and Traveller pupils. A complex set of factors exist which influence young people's engagement with secondary education. This interpretive-deductive study, which draws upon 'tensions and dilemmas of difference', presents Gypsy/Traveller…

This article examines the precarious learning-to-work transitions experienced by aboriginal youth in the Canadian oil sands mining industry. Drawing from an empirical case study of a mine-sponsored, pre-apprenticeship training programme, challenges experienced by programme participants, as well as their socialisation into the world of work are…

Access to higher education is affected by inequalities worldwide. Here we present a longitudinal study based on large databases of scores in upper secondary education and access to higher education in Portugal. Our findings show how access to higher education builds on and reinforces social inequalities: (1) private, fee-paying secondary schools…

This paper aims to investigate to what extent the growing presence of children with immigrant background in the Italian school system has an impact on the educational expectations of Italian students in eighth grade. Educational expectations are individuals' plans for their future educational career, adjusted to the subjectively estimated…

For several decades, the Maltese educational system was almost entirely reliant on English examination boards for certification in secondary and post-secondary education. In the 1990s, Maltese policy-makers decided to establish an affordable local examination system aimed at a wide range of students. This paper focuses on the review of the…

Reports on an ethnographic project examining an Australian program designed to provide homeless adolescents with access to secondary education. Focuses on the relationships among groups of students within the program and explores the way that education can either reinforce disadvantage or offer access to opportunity. (MJP)

Explores the tensions and interactions among four 13-year-old boys in a British secondary classroom. Suggests that the boys subscribe to a hegemonic ideal of masculinity that celebrates autonomy as the individualized rejection of dependence in relationships in school. Relates this to broader changes in available social texts. (MJP)

Considers who wants parental involvement in schools by exploring the viewpoints of teachers, parents, and students within the secondary school context. Discusses English and Welsh policy on Home-School Agreements. Demonstrates that parental involvement is complex and diverse, but the Home-School Agreement policy is based on a narrow concept of…

Identifies three directions in the field of education reform in Japan that are in mutual opposition: (1) State Bureaucratic Control, (2) De-regulation and Marketization, and (3) Participation and (Local or School) Autonomy. Analyzes the process and mechanism of the opposition and compromise among these directions through three case studies. (CMK)