Search Results (56)

Socioeconomic inequalities in educational achievement are pervasive across societies. To inform a European Commission-funded project on educational inequalities in children, adolescents, and young adults, we used a scoping review methodology to synthesise the methods, topics, and coverage of reviews of empirical studies published in the past five years (2019–2024). Our systematic search of the Web of Science database identified 498 unique records, which were screened for eligibility. Of these records, 57 progressed to full-text screening, with 29 included in the metareview. We extracted data on the reviews’ methodologies, overarching conceptual perspectives, conceptualisations of socioeconomic inequalities and educational achievement, and educational stages covered. Our analysis found gaps, including a lack of qualitative reviews, a lack of focus on primary education and on tertiary education outside of university (e.g., further education college), scarce coverage of the impact of broader contextual indicators of socioeconomic inequality (e.g., school and neighbourhood contexts) on educational outcomes, and a narrow focus on academic achievement. To conclude our metareview, we synthesise and expand the review topics into an interdisciplinary conceptual diagram that illustrates the breadth and depth of research needed in this field. Full article

Climate adaptation in urban environments is often constrained by rigid institutional rules and fragmented governance, which limit inclusive and context-specific planning of public spaces such as schoolyards. This study addresses this challenge by examining how collaborative planning can transform schoolyards, from asphalt-dominated, monofunctional spaces into green, climate-resilient community assets. The research employed the Institutional Analysis and Development framework within a qualitative case study design. Two public schools in the San Cristóbal de los Ángeles neighbourhood of Madrid served as case studies, with data collected through document analysis, participant observation, and interviews with municipal officials, urban planners, educators, and community members. Results indicate that the collaborative planning process reshaped rules in use, expanded the network of actors, and transformed decision-making processes. Existing rules were flexibly reinterpreted to allow new uses of space. Children, teachers, and residents became co-producers of the public space, expanding the governance network, where new deliberative practices emerged that improved coordination across people and organisations. These institutional changes occurred without formal regulatory reform, but with the reinterpretation of the game’s rules by each organisation. Thus, schoolyards can serve as laboratories for institutional innovation and participatory climate adaptation, demonstrating how urban experiments have the potential to catalyse not only physical transformations but also transformations in urban management. Full article

This article presents STEAM Architecture, a STEAM project for all educational levels, from pre-school to high school, a project that links the learning of subjects with architectural concepts, thus trying to generate meaningful learning in students. The project is the result of an ERASMUS+ project (DART4City (2020-1-ES01-KA227-SCH-095545) Empowering Arts and creativity for the cities of tomorrow) in which a methodology was developed to extract STEAM projects from European curricula. This methodology has two variants: “forward” and “backward”. The “forward” variant analyzes the curriculum and found the areas of opportunity with more connections among the contents while the “backward” methodology proposes a specific theme to look for the connections. The “backward” variant allows finding a topic that may be of social interest. This is the variant we use in this article. We explore the “backward” methodology in order to find an area of opportunity in society, in particular related to architecture. A questionnaire is distributed to different sectors of people in society to find out whether the learning of different architectural concepts at pre-university levels is interesting. The results of these tests show the potential of a STEAM project related to architecture. The design of the STEAM architecture project shows how the subdivision is carried out from an educational point of view, and also from an architectural point of view. Both worlds agree on dividing space into micro-, meso- and macro-space depending on the scale of what is being treated. For this reason, the STEAM architecture project is subdivided into Room, House, Neighbourhood and City for each educational level: pre-school, primary school and high school (which is 4 years of secondary school (ESO) and the last 2 years of high school). At the end of the article, we show the different workshops that were held in order to analyze the goodness of the proposal. Full article

The fate of small primary schools (pupils aged five–eleven years old) in England is linked to education policy reforms. This paper presents an evaluation of selected education policy reforms in England since 2010 with suggested consequences for small primary schools. The research was undertaken using a qualitative research methodology that employed a document analysis method to create a Policy Document Analysis Frame (PDAF) for the policy evaluation. The implications of the policy reforms for small primary schools were examined through the conceptual lens of Educational Isolation. Educational Isolation identifies the limiting factors of place for a school’s access to the resources required for school improvement. Education policy reform is focused on school improvement. Small primary schools in England are typically located in rural neighbourhoods with sparse populations, resulting in an average of just over 100 pupils per school. The findings suggest that the contextual factors of place and size for small primary schools in England present disadvantages in relation to the selected national education policy reforms. The national funding formula, Multi Academy Trusts (groups of schools independently regulated but centrally funded by the state), and National Standards are the key policy reforms, driven by a neo-liberal ideology, that are suggested to have implications for the future of small schools. Recommendations are offered to the new 2024 Labour government that would support the re-instatement of small primary schools as an integral part of the education landscape in England. Full article

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has influenced all children’s motor development. We examine whether this differs by social circumstances. We hypothesise that socially disadvantaged children experienced more pronounced motor problems compared with better-off children. Methods: Our trend study includes three representative waves of preschoolers (school years 2018/19, 2019/20, 2023/24) from a German school enrolment medical screening. Based on logistic regressions, we computed predicted prevalences of motor problems separately for children in different social circumstances (neighbourhood, migration background, family status). Results: Motor development of preschoolers slightly worsened by 2023 compared to pre-pandemic level (6.3 percent 2018 to 7.4 percent 2023). Results by neighbourhood highlight that preschoolers from well-off districts experienced a deterioration of motor development (4.9 percent 2018–6.4 percent 2023). The prevalence of motor problems is, however, below that of children from deprived neighbourhoods with consistently high prevalence (9.2–10 percent). Results by migration background show a worsening trend for children without migration background and the gap between the groups disappears in 2023. Results by family status do not indicate significant differences. Conclusion: Contrary to our hypothesis, socially disadvantaged children experienced smaller change in motor problems. However, our results highlight the potential of structured physical activities in daycare centres and sports facilities to enhance the motor development of these children. Full article

Introduction: A neighbourhood’s environmental characteristics can positively or negatively influence health and well-being. To date, no studies have examined this concept in the context of Saudi Arabian youth. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the association between a neighbourhood’s environmental characteristics and health risk factors among Saudi Arabian youth. Methods: A total of 335 secondary-school students (175 males, 160 females), aged 15–19 years old, participated. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference measurements were taken, and physical activity (steps) was measured via pedometer. The perceived neighbourhood environment was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Environment Module (IPAQ-E). Results: Significant differences were found between the youths from urban, rural farm, and rural desert locations in terms of BMI, waist circumference, daily steps, accessibility, infrastructure, social environment, household vehicles, safety, and access to facilities (p < 0.001). Rural desert youths were less active, and males (26.43 + 8.13) and females (24.68 + 5.03) had higher BMIs compared to the youths from other areas. Chi-square analysis revealed a significant difference (χ²₁ = 12.664, p < 0.001) between the genders as to social-environment perceptions. Males perceived their neighbourhood as a social environment more than was reported by females (68.39% and 50.28%, respectively). Pearson’s correlation revealed negative significant relationships between steps and both safety of neighbourhood (r = −0.235, p < 0.001) and crime rate (r = −0.281, p < 0.001). Discussion: Geographical location, cultural attitudes, lack of facilities, and accessibility impact youth physical-activity engagement and weight status; this includes environmental variables such as residential density, neighbourhood safety, household motor vehicles, and social environment. Conclusions: This is the first study examining associations with neighbourhood environments in the youths of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Significant associations and geographical differences were found. More research and policy interventions to address neighbourhoods’ environmental characteristics and health risk factors relative to Saudi Arabian youth are warranted. Full article

The online environment, where the boundaries between the domains of home, school, work, and leisure are blurred, poses new challenges for youth work practice. Due to limited research on this subject matter, the theoretical underpinnings of the online youth work practice are constrained. The fulfilment of youth work’s aims online, the position it can take in the online context, and its relation to its partners in the online lifeworld need a theoretical base. This paper seeks to analyse the role of youth work in the online lifeworld according to adolescents and youth work’s partners. The research was conducted in the Netherlands in collaboration with 14 youth work organisations. A qualitative research design was used: group conversations with young people and semi-structured interviews with youth work’s partners (i.e., parents, schools, informal networks, neighbourhood support teams, police, and municipal officials). The findings indicate that youth work in the online lifeworld, according to the respondents, is part of the general youth work practice, with a primary role of addressing the developmental needs of young people and creating new developmental opportunities. This role is expected to be fulfilled by engaging and connecting with young people in the online lifeworld and providing them instrumental, informational, socioemotional, and cognitive support. To do so, according to the partners, youth workers can make use of their vantage position in the online relationship with adolescents in order to access online information relevant for support and prudent prevention aimed at adolescents’ development. This vantage position may potentially encourage a collaboration between young people and partners, and between the online and offline youth work practice. Full article

This study aimed to (a) explore disabled children’s and adolescents’ possibilities for participation and (b) identify the practices and policies that affect their participation and how these are enacted. Case studies were conducted with seven children and adolescents with various impairments. Each case included interviews with the young person, their parents and teachers, as well as observations in their usual environments. The interview topics covered the young people’s participation, their sense of belonging and aspects that were pivotal to their engagement and wellness. The observations focused on their possibilities for participation and interactions with peers and adults. These young disabled people’s possibilities for participation at home, in school and in their neighbourhoods were affected by complex dynamics between personal and environmental factors. Whether and how the young people’s disability-related rights were enacted depended on the socio-cultural–material arrangements and parents’ knowledge of the welfare system. To better understand and act on the complex and marginalised position of young disabled people, more focus should be directed at policies that affect their rights and possibilities for participation and how these are enacted in practice. Knowledge needs to be expanded to scrutinise the disabling hindrances hidden in social and structural spaces and implemented in services. Full article

This article addresses research questions on participants’ satisfaction with the essential “COVID” factors of home ownership during the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyses statistically significant differences in participants’ demographic characteristics in relation to the various “COVID” factors. The main instrument used to measure the participants’ satisfaction was a questionnaire from our previous study in 2010. The participants expressed as the most important “COVID” factors the possibility of setting up a home office, internet in the flat and the possibility of setting up a mudroom, a separate, independent space and contact with nature, which can include good natural lighting and ventilation. The results show that the statistically significant differences between the year 2010 and 2021 in terms of living conditions in the property are expressed in the participants’ satisfaction with their current living conditions, brightness of natural light, proximity to kindergartens, schools, work opinions and health centres, maintenance costs and sense of belonging to the neighbourhood. This understanding gives our study a special significance. Our study investigates the parameters of the interior of properties, so in the future, it would make sense to expand the studies in this field to include living parameters, the building, the surroundings and the neighbourhood. Full article

Reported obesity rates for adolescents in different urban and rural areas are inconsistent. We examined indicators of healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns among 1863 adolescents aged 13–18 years with a healthy or excess body weight attending 23 secondary schools in four different settlement types across the Otago region, New Zealand. An online survey included demographics and dietary behaviours. Height and weight were measured, and body mass index was calculated. New Zealand defined urban and rural settlement types were used. Home addresses determined a small area-level index of deprivation. Data were analysed using Chi-square tests and ANOVA. A logistic model was fitted to estimate adjusted odds ratios of excess weight. The proportion of adolescents with a healthy weight differed (p < 0.001) between the most (64.9%) and least (76.4%) deprived neighbourhood areas. There was only indicative evidence of differences between settlement types (p = 0.087). Sugar-sweetened beverage and fast-food consumption was more frequent in the most deprived areas (p < 0.001), and in urban versus rural settlements (p < 0.001). The most important associations with excess weight were area-level deprivation and ethnicity, but not settlement type. Prioritising socioeconomic factors irrespective of settlement type is necessary when developing interventions to improve dietary patterns and body weight status among adolescents. Full article

Residential property values are influenced by a combination of physical, socio-economic and neighbourhood factors. This study investigated the influence of public schools on residential property prices. Relatively few existing models have taken the spatial heterogeneity of different submarkets into account. To fill this gap, three types of valuation models were applied to sales data from both non-strata and strata properties, and how the proximity and quality of public schools have influenced the prices of different residential property types was examined. The findings demonstrate that an increase of one unit in the normalised NAPLAN score of primary and high schools will lead to a 3.9% and 1.4%, 2.7% and 2.8% rise in housing prices for non-strata and strata properties, respectively. It is also indicated that the application of geographically weighted regression (GWR) can better capture the varying effects of schools across space. Moreover, properties located in the catchment of high-scoring schools in northern Greater Sydney are consistently the most influenced by school quality, regardless of the property type. These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the relationships between public schools and the various submarkets of Greater Sydney. This is valuable for the decision-making processes of home buyers, developers and policymakers. Full article

So far, many studies indicated that youth experience mental problems during crises, such as the COVID-19 crisis, but little attention has been paid to the relation to age-adequate functioning and its association to layered social environments. This study addresses this gap by investigating the association between social environments (i.e., household, friends, and neighbourhood) during the COVID-19 crisis with youth’s mental problems and age-adequate functioning. In total, 673 youth (mean age = 19.87, 73.4% girls) were surveyed online during the COVID-19 outbreak. In line with predictions, worse contact with household members was associated with more internalizing symptoms. A lack of privacy was associated with more internalizing and externalizing symptoms and difficulties achieving personal and school and professional milestones. Living with a vulnerable other was associated with more internalizing symptoms and difficulties achieving school and professional milestones. Worse contact with friends was associated with difficulty achieving social milestones. Additionally, neighbourhood risk moderated the association between living with a vulnerable other and school and professional milestones. A lack of privacy stood out as the most important factor associated to youth’s mental problems and achievement of developmental milestones. Future research should indicate to what extent these findings are COVID-19 crisis-specific or can generalize to other crises. Full article

Child labour is a common financial coping strategy in poor households, especially in low-and middle-income countries with many children working under hazardous conditions. Little is known about the linkages between hazardous work conditions and psycho-social and educational outcomes. We analysed the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (BMICS) round 6 to assess the association between the exposure variables, including child labour, hazardous child labour (HZCL) and hazardous work, and outcome variables, including psychosocial functioning difficulty and school dropout, in children aged 5 to 17 years. We conducted bivariable and multivariable analyses to examine the association. In the adjusted analyses, children engaged in HZCL had increased odds of psychosocial functioning difficulty (aOR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.16–1.72) and school dropout (aOR: 5.65; 95% CI: 4.83–6.61) among 5–14-year-olds compared to children who did not engage in child labour and hazardous work. Other independent factors associated with psychosocial functioning difficulty and school dropout included being male, living in a deprived neighbourhood, being exposed to violent punishment, the caregiver’s attitude towards physical punishment, the mother’s functional difficulty and lower maternal education. The linkages between hazardous work and psychosocial functioning difficulty appear more prominent among children not in school. Further, the evidence on the relationship between hazardous work and school dropout is stronger among children with psychosocial functioning difficulty. Policies and programmes that target the most hazardous forms of work are likely to have the greatest benefits for children’s mental health, social well-being and educational attainment. Full article

The city of Johannesburg is the largest metropolitan municipality out of eight in South Africa. It is notorious for its high levels of crime, with a crime index of 80.72 and a safety index of 19.28. This article examines crime prevention co-production in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. The purpose of the study was to analyse how co-production of crime prevention is organised in Johannesburg and to understand the effectiveness of the practice there. Collaborations between the regular producers (police) and citizens were assessed to fully determine the potential of crime prevention co-production. This led to qualitative interviews with 20 police officers from 10 police stations in the Johannesburg metropolitan area. A citizen survey was conducted with a selected sample from the population (n = 400) residing in the neighbourhoods covered by the police stations investigated. The findings indicate that police officers have devised practices and programmes to co-produce crime prevention. These include the sharing of pamphlets and crime prevention education and awareness during school visitations, the use of Zello technology, community police forums, and information sharing at the youth desk and in WhatsApp groups. Nevertheless, these practices do not seem to be popular among the citizens. There is a contradiction in the perception of successful crime prevention co-production between citizens and the police. This is mainly due to citizens’ lack of trust in the police. The study acknowledged the importance of the work carried out by the police in crime prevention co-production but also observed the citizens’ lack of trust in the police as a potential threat to crime prevention co-production. Trust is crucial in managing information sharing on crime prevention. Front line professionals, such as the police, will not be able to meet future crime challenges if there is a trust deficit. Hence, it is important to restore trust in the work carried out by the police. Professionals in public administration could learn about the importance of trust in their crucial role of implementing policies, government programmes, and service delivery. Full article

The current practice of users searching for different types of geo-resources in a geographic area and wishing to identify the most convenient routes for visiting the most relevant ones, requires the iterative formulation of several queries: first to identify the more interesting resources and then to select the best route to visit them. In order to simplify this process, in this paper a novel functionality for a geographic information retrieval (GIR) system is proposed, which retrieves and ranks several routes for visiting a number of relevant georeferenced resources as a result of a single query, named flexible trip-planning query. An original retrieval model is defined to identify the relevant resources and to rank the most convenient routes by taking into account personal user preferences. To this end, a graph-based algorithm is defined, exploiting prioritized aggregation to optimize the routes’ identification and ranking. The proposed algorithm is applied in the proof-of-concept of a Smart cOmmunity-based Geographic infoRmation rEtrievAl SysTem (SO-GREAT) designed to strengthen local communities: it collects and manages open data from regional authorities describing categories of authoritative territorial resources and services, such as schools, hospitals, etc., and from volunteered geographic services (VGSs) created by citizens to offer services in their neighbourhood. Full article