Directions for the future of schooling in Hong Kong: Vision and reality in a post-colonial society

The study reported here used the OECD scenarios on the future of schooling to probe the views of a sample of educators identified as having the potential to influence education policy formation in Hong Kong. The results indicated that among this sample, there were multiple perspectives on the future of schooling and these were related to the very public education reform agenda that was currently being implemented in Hong Kong schools. The future of schooling was seen to be dependent on the role of the political process in articulating a clear vision, school leadership and teacher capacity. Lack of any one of these was seen as an impediment to achieving change in Hong Kong schools.     

Initiating a Dialogue

The diversity of interpretations and themes raised by the commentators testifies to the richness of the issues addressed in this article, and to the need for continued research and debate on this topic. In my reply, I respond to some of the specific criticisms of the commentators by focus most of my efforts on highlighting and exploring what I consider to be the major themes running through the commentaries.     

2020 Vision: Envisioning a new generation of STEM learning research

In this issue, we have compiled six original papers, outcomes from the U.S. National Science Foundation (US-NSF)-funded REESE (Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering) 2020 Vision: The Next Generation of STEM Learning Research project. The purpose of 2020 Vision was to re-envision the questions and frameworks guiding STEM research in the twenty-first century, given that notions of learning have changed significantly in the last decade. The papers present diverse research principles that emerged from an initial 2020 Vision conference at Oregon State University (OSU), were then vetted more broadly with the science education community nationally and internationally, and presented in a public 2020 Vision symposium series also at OSU. Individually and as a group, these papers argue that if STEM learning is lifelong, life-wide and life-deep, research designs need to cut across the diverse settings and investigate the multiple contexts and media in which learners live and interact. Authors call for research paradigms that holistically reflect questions of the “what, when, where, why, how and with whom” of STEM learning. Associated Forum papers respond and expand the conversation by critically examining the recommended research principles and in some cases, challenging both authors and editors to think even more broadly. Two Key Contributor pieces highlight the contributions of researchers who have helped to push on these research boundaries, advancing science education research nationally and internationally. A final synthesis paper, a case study of research being conducted in a diverse, under-resourced community in Portland, Oregon provides one example of how the 2020 Vision research principles might be integrated into a comprehensive STEM learning research study.     

在愿景与现实之间 ——南非价值观教育与种族平等团结的促进

在种族隔离时代的南非,种族主义的价值观教育助长了严重的社会不平等与分裂.政治转型后的南非依托学校相关核心课程,通过向所有课程和校园生活全面渗透等方式,推行以宪法为依据,以民主、责任、尊重等为主要内容的价值观教育,塑造青少年学生既具有共同性又容纳种族差异性的公民身份.在价值观教育的引领下,今日南非总体趋向种族平等团结的愿景,但仍然存在着对这一进程构成挑战的现实问题,如教育内容与方式的不完善、教育资源在不同学校分配的不平衡以及相关课程的教师教学活动的不规范等.     

试论新版学术期刊技术规范之优长及瑕疵

2006年2月开始执行的《中国学术期刊（光盘版）检索与评价数据规范（CAJ—cDB／T1—2005）》。是在实践的基础上,对《中国学术期刊（光盘版）检索与评价数据规范（CAJ—CDB／T1—1998）》的完善与丰富。通过新老两个规范版本的比较,特别是对其中重点完善的关于参考文献的分析,可以强化对新规范的执行。并进一步提高期刊编辑的规范意识。     

社会转型时期价值观念作用的可能与现实

面对社会的转型,人们的价值观念必然随之发生变化。就目前的社会现实而言,价值观念在社会发展中仍起着不可或缺的作用,这种作用既具有内在可能性,也具有实现这种可能性的现实性。因此,建构新价值观念对社会转型和社会稳定是非常必要的。     

教师专业技能培训的新视野

教师专业技能是教师专业化的重要方面,本文从专业化教师品质特征和实施素质教育的要求分析了教学技能培训存在的主要问题及其原因,以教师专业化的理念探讨了教学技能的地位、特点和发类等教学技能培训中的理论问题。     

Student engagement: rhetoric and reality

Recently, there has been much interest in higher education literature and policy on the concepts of student engagement and disengagement. While most academic writings recognise the significance of student engagement, they have tended to concentrate on it in relation to academic activities. Increasingly, universities are ‘cascading’ down the need to improve student engagement to schools and ultimately to individual academics. This article asserts that ideas about student engagement in the university context are often fragmented, contradictory and confused. Even the meaning of the term ‘student engagement’ is uncertain. Further, while government and universities urge attention to student engagement, many of their actions, it may be argued, have contributed to greater student disengagement. Relying on the available literature, we argue that the student experience as a whole is the key to engagement and, thus, efforts to re-engage students cannot be successful until a ‘whole-of-university’ approach is adopted.     

以科学发展观为指导开创高校后勤工作新局面

论述了在新的形势下,以科学发展观为指导,开创高校后勤工作新局面需做好以下三方面的工作:一是要进一步明确高校后勤工作的指导思想;二是要制定好高校后勤工作的发展规划;三是需进一步深化高校后勤社会化改革。     

When intentions and reality clash: Inherent implementation difficulties of an induction program for new teachers

New teachers are often required to go through an induction program in order to become fully certified. Induction programs are varied and the overall picture regarding their implementation is uneven. The present paper addresses the gap between program policy and implementation regarding various aspects of the Israeli teacher induction program. Data obtained from program documents, interviews, questionnaires, and observation in a large-scale formative evaluation revealed discrepancies between intentions and implementation regarding all program components. Implementation difficulties are discussed mainly in relation to obstacles inherent in the education system.     

新时期科技期刊编辑应具备的基本素养

随着出版业的快速发展,学术期刊迎来了前所未有的发展机遇,因而对编辑的职业素养也提出了更新更高要求,为适应这种形势,做一名合格、称职的编辑,必须大力加强思想政治素养、业务基础素养、现代科技素养、专业能力素养和身心健康素养。只有具备了上述五种素养,才能胜任科技期刊的编辑工作。     

Ideas and Ideals of Jewish Education: Initiating a Conversation on Visions of Jewish Education

Barry Holtz' (2003) presentation of a map of orientations for the teaching of Bible provides a certain kind of focus for research, enabling us to ask deeper and richer question about those orientations. This article investigates the teaching of one teacher, in two different settings— more specifically, how that teacher introduces Bible in those settings— as a way of generating insight into the particular features of what Holtz calls the “contextual orientation.” Building on the sketch that Holtz offers, it explores the internal variation within that orientation, and hence begins to reveal some of the pedagogic possibilities.