This paper focuses on data from a study of middle- to upper-middle class Scottish S2 ([approximately]seventh grade) students who participated in Inspiring Purpose, a school-based character development program, during the 2016 to 2017 school year. Directed by their teachers, participating youth reflected on values and future aspirations and…

This study investigates how adolescents begin to demonstrate skills and approaches that help them pursue their aspirations. The qualitative study examined emergent forms of key indicators of adolescent thriving: the 5Cs of positive youth development and sense of purpose. Pre- and post-program interviews with 24 S2 (~seventh grade) Scottish…

This open access book explores different landscapes of Lifelong Learning policies (LLP), producing case-based examinations of their institutional, discursive, and relational dimensions. Across Europe, young people develop their life courses amidst diverse living conditions and are confronted with a variety of institutional and structural…

The achievement of equal access to educational opportunity is an international policy imperative that remains as elusive as it is desirable. Despite a plethora of inclusive policies and initiatives in Scotland such as "Getting it Right for Every Child" (2008 & 2012), "Curriculum for Excellence"(2009) and the "Scottish…

Underpinned by neoliberalism and spurred by growing international student mobility (ISM), global trends and policymaking on internationalisation are geared towards the maximisation of efforts by countries and institutions to recruit fee-paying international students. For international students, previous studies on their decision-making processes…

Purpose: This paper analyses the transition of university students from initial perceptions of enterprise to potentially heightened levels of proclivity towards creative behaviours and future entrepreneurial activity. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting a positivist approach, an intention-based scorecard survey targeted to two cohorts totalling…

This paper explores early childhood experience in Scotland in terms of how readily the aspirations of policy convert to day-to-day practices. Ambitions to improve the lives of children and families have been high on the political agenda. Policy may be understood as a tool that aims to influence childhood experience in positive ways. If this is to…

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of young people's perceptions and attitudes towards their potential progression to higher education in rural areas of Scotland. These young people belonged to three state secondary schools whose catchment areas were mainly rural. All were in S5/Year 12 or S6/Year 13 and aged 16 years and over. They…

There is growing awareness of the contribution teachers can make to school leadership, particularly in relation to improvements in curriculum and pedagogy. Teacher leadership offers the potential to engage teachers in bottom-up approaches to school improvement and liberate the professional creativity of teachers. Despite such positioning, clearer…

Inclusion is generally recognised as an ongoing, active process which reflects shifts in policies, practice and values as well as political choices made over long periods of time. Drawing upon research visits set 10 years apart, this study aims to examine how two schools with clear inclusive aspirations and intentions have weathered the last…

This paper explores stakeholders' views on the desirability of collaborative continuing professional development (CPD) and examines potential barriers. It draws on two projects which each explore perceptions of CPD for teachers in Scotland. The data include interviews with key informants and with practising teachers as well as survey data from…

The Sutton Trust Summer School offers to S5/Year 12 pupils the opportunity to sample student life for a week at one of five selecting universities in the UK. Most of the participants on the Sutton Trust Summer School will be the first generation in their family to attend university and have come from schools which traditionally send low numbers to…

Considers evidence relating to the effectiveness of Scottish schools during the Second World War. Addresses four areas: (1) teacher loss and class size, (2) deterioration of primary education, (3) early leaving and absenteeism, and (4) rising aspirations and declining standards in secondary education. Concludes that the war had both positive and…

This article describes the main findings of a follow-up survey of assessment and intervention models (current frameworks and future aspirations) used by Scottish Psychological Services that offer placements to Educational Psychologists in Training from the Dundee MSc in Educational Psychology from 1996-2005. This survey led to a study where…

The economic and social effects of centralised education in the rural areas of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland were studied. Five factors (geographical position, population density, occupational structure, economic prosperity, and educational structure) were considered in order to study the migration patterns, and attitudes and aspirations…