Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to report the outcome of a city-wide survey of teenagers' views on their health, and compare this with the outcomes of a science-oriented health intervention called LifeLab, a hospital-based classroom aimed at developing teenagers' attitudes towards their health and that of their future children. Design/methodology/approach -A questionnaire survey of 597 14-year olds across the city of Southampton was conducted to gauge their views and behaviour in relation to their own health. The views of 37 students who took part in innovative, hospital-based, hands-on LifeLab activities were compared with those of their peers six months after the intervention to analyse long-term impacts of the experience. Interviews were carried out with ten LifeLab students to gain further insights. Findings -The intervention created a wider appreciation among students that food they eat now could affect their long-term health and the health of their future children. Students became significantly more interested in studying science beyond compulsory schooling, and in considering science and healthcare career options. Research limitations/implications -Although results were statistically significant, the intervention sample was quite small, and further data collection is ongoing. The city-wide student response rate of 29 per cent was fairly low. Social implications -This study has shown that a carefully structured hospital-based classroom visit, and associated science lessons can have a marked effect on student engagement with healthrelated issues, and an impact on their consideration of their career choices. Originality/value -The hospital-based classroom is an innovative approach to improving teenagers' knowledge and attitudes towards their health. The paper's findings should be of interest to a range of educational stakeholders including teachers, local education authorities and local politicians concerned with health education matters.
This paper draws on qualitative data from a mixed‐method study that analysed women's access to the principal role and their leadership experiences. The paper draws on a subset of interviews with 54 female head teachers in the Gauteng and North West provinces of South Africa. Since a mothering style of leadership was self‐reported by over half of the participants in our study, this paper aims to explore the diverse ways in which motherhood was constructed and the outcomes of these constructions on women.
This article explores young people's transitions to adulthood in a rural community in Mexico. The focus is on participants' migration experiences and the premise is that migration can be understood as an alternative way of inclusion found by the rural youth which is strongly determined by individuals' agency. The article explores the role played by place, class and agency in the migration experiences of this community and closely examines the aspirations and migration opportunities of two teenagers. Results indicate that the lack of opportunities in their localities together with the role played by peer groups and youngsters' own desire for financial independence seem to be determinant factors that stimulate youth in transition's decision to migrate.
The paper reflects upon the principles and practice of an alternative educational system operating in rural Mexico in the light of Bourdieu's theory of cultural and social reproduction. Bourdieu's theory seeks to explain processes of reproduction of power relations within schools and society; whereas alternative educational systems seek to expand educational access in deprived areas in order to counteract processes of social inequality. The paper argues that, although Bourdieu's theory does not fully explain the gradual inclusion of more people from disadvantaged backgrounds into education through alternative educational systems, processes of social reproduction in deprived communities still occur mainly because of lack of state support after primary school level, and a shortage of better infrastructure and opportunities for this sector of the population. Since the widespread upward educational and class mobility of the rural poor has not yet been achieved, the paper concludes that the processes of cultural and social reproduction continue despite the introduction of alternative educational systems.
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