Education Towards Employment: a Project for People with Learning Difficulties

Anne Baynes (Project Director of The Education Towards Employment Project at North Tyneside College) and Alan Dyson (Co-director of the Special Needs Research Group at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) identify and discuss the disadvantages experienced by people with learning difficulties in the labour market, particularly at a time of high unemployment, and raise fundamental questions about the relationship between special and vocational education. The Project at North Tyneside College has had to confront these issues in developing an 'employability' course for adults with learning difficulties.     

Technology Education in South Africa: Evaluating an Innovative Pilot Project

Researchers from Goldsmiths College were asked to undertake an evaluation of a three year curriculum initiative introducing technology education, through a learner-centred, problem solving and collaborative approach. The program was developed in a group of high schools in the North West Province of South Africa. We visited ten schools involved in the project and ten parallel schools not involved who acted as a control group. We collected data on student capability (demonstrated through an innovative test activity) and on student attitudes towards technology (demonstrated in evaluation questionnaires and in semi-structured interviews). Collectively the data indicate that in areas of knowledge and skill and in certain aspects of procedures (most notably problem solving) the project has had a marked impact. We also illustrate that greater consideration could have been given in the project to developing skills in generating and developing ideas and in graphic communication. Gender differences are noted, particularly in terms of positive attitudes illustrated by both boys and girls from schools involved in the project. Attention is drawn to the critical impact the project has had on transforming the pedagogy of the teachers from a teacher-centred didactic model, to a learner-centred, problem solving model. Some wider implications of the successes of this project are debated.     

Border Crossings: Collaboration Struggles in Education

Abstract

In this article, a qualitative program evaluation of a state-funded educational renewal effort between a university and a local school district is reported. The collaborative venture illuminated some of the dilemmas, paradoxes, and solutions inherent in reforming American education. More important, this venture revealed the complexities inherent in the ever-popular desire for collaboration between higher education and other culturally distinct organizations (e.g., local school districts). Works by W. G. Tierney (1993) and H. Giroux (1992) are the theoretical anchors for the analysis of this case study. A primary conclusion is that educators who are interested in reform must not only encourage border crossings but they must also provide the border “crossers” with the technical, political, and cultural frameworks to support these efforts.     

走向协同：家校社关系演进的历史趋向

教育是人类特有的现象,包括家庭教育、社会教育、学校教育三种基本形态,三者关系能够反映出教育发展的基本脉络。教育始于家庭,家庭教育是原始社会基本教育形态,教育与社会生产生活合一。奴隶社会时期,学校的诞生推动了教育发展,社会出现学校、家庭、社会教育并存局面,教育得到了长足的发展;但早期的学校只为特权阶层独享,对于劳动阶层来说,所受到的主要教育依然是家庭和社会教育;工业革命之后,随着学校的普及,学校成为教育的主渠道。但学校教育的"野蛮生长"也存在诸多弊端,探索未来教育关系和形态成为一个重要话题,注重家庭教育、消除学校教育"野蛮生长"的弊端、探索新的家校社的协同,成为未来教育发展的必然。     

与中国聋校的沟通和合作:中挪手语双语教育的合作经验

本文介绍了在中国的一些聋校实施的为期五年的手语双语教育实验项目(SigAm 2004-2009),并讨论了项目实施中的经验.SigAm项目是挪威聋人福利基金会(Signo Foundation)、中国爱德基金会、江苏省特殊教育专业委员会和项目学校的校长和老师们共同合作的项目.该项目的教育目标是将实现联合国人人享有受基础教育权利的千年发展目标为出发点.因为教育是文化的一部分,该项目在实施过程中很大程度上经历了不同价值和传统观念的碰撞.本文首先介绍了挪威和中国的聋教育和手语双语教育.然后就SigAm项目的目的、过程以及结果展开论述.文章的结论重点放在三个方面:挪威传统教育思想和项目学校的传统思想的碰撞;双语聋教育和中国传统聋教育理念的碰撞;提出问题和建设性的建议.本文主要论点认为,双语聋教育作为认同聋人语言和文化的框架,作为聋人平等参与社会的条件,应该成为面对所有聋生教育的总体目标的理念.     

Institutional Change in Higher Education: Innovation and Collaboration

To remain globally competitive and increase the number of young people completing two- and four-year college degrees, America needs to expand access to higher education and focus attention on the success of those who enroll. Expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will be particularly important for maintaining a thriving economy and in developing innovative solutions to global challenges. However, only 6 percent of 24-year-olds in the United States hold first degrees in these fields, placing the country 20th in a comparison group of 24 industrialized countries. Many American students initially interested in STEM areas select other fields after they begin college: only 33 percent of white students, 42 percent of Asian American students, and about 20 percent of black, Latino, and Native American students who aspire to complete a STEM major succeed. This paper examines strategies developed at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and elsewhere that have created an atmosphere of inclusive excellence and are allowing more students of all backgrounds to succeed in STEM areas and other disciplines. Culture change at UMBC began 25 years ago with the development of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program for high-achieving minority students interested in STEM research careers. Lessons learned from that program have motivated University-wide changes as faculty, staff, and students have pursued broad initiatives to redesign courses, build community, and support and engage students.     

Education in Malaysia: Towards Vision 2020

This article analyses the relationship between educational development and the socio-political and economic context of Malaysia. Under the rubric of Vision 2020, there is a liberalisation of educational policies leading to the democratisation, privatisation and decentralisation of the Malaysian educational system. In conjunction with mass education, both the primary and secondary school curricula were revised with great emphasis on the development of an all-round individual, the acquisition of basic skills, the inculcation of moral values, and the abolishment of early specialisation. The educational administrative system has been decentralised to promote school-based management and teacher empowerment. Furthermore, the private sector has been encouraged to play an active role in providing higher education.     

International Collaboration in Brazilian Higher Education

This paper examines the approach Brazil has taken to promote the internationalization of higher education over the last decade. Three key areas are identified: human resources development, institution building, and international partnerships. Our analyses of initiatives in these areas demonstrate that Brazil does not follow global trends such as the creation of world-class universities or the pursuit of “excellence initiatives” to help universities reach higher positions in global rankings. Instead, recent strategies for international collaboration in higher education follow variegated domestic goals that encompass the logics of foreign policy and the internal priorities of federal research and education agencies. The nature and limitations of these strategies are discussed.     

新疆双语教育问题探索

双语现象是实施双语教育的基础,文章在分析新疆双语现象的基础上,分析了新疆双语教育的目标、性质、模式等问题,阐释了新疆双语教育的目标——民汉兼通的含义,以及双语教育模式的类型、层次性和递归性。     

协作:成人闲暇教育的实施路径

闲暇是人与活动之间的意义建构,不同的成人具有不同的闲暇观。成人闲暇教育的开展,需要考虑成人学习的特点并尊重成人的需要和兴趣。成人闲暇教育的实施具有一定的流程,需要诸多机构的协作。     

浅议软件项目开发过程中的沟通

软件项目部署的成功与否与项目实施过程沟通的成功与否密切相关。从需求分析、系统分析、编码、测试、试运行、软件交付与运行维护六个方面阐述了软件项目沟通的过程和方法。     

教师合作：一种整体教育的视角

基础教育新课程改革以来,教师合作问题一直备受关注。从整体教育的视角来看,教师合作是教育本身所带有的,是教育对象所决定的教师的内在生存方式,是基于整体的人的培养、整合的课程开发和互助的教师发展而形成的教师间的良性关系,而教师合作的生成也需要在整体教育下加以培育。     

Industrial Collaboration in Engineering Education in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom engineering education as it was set-up was more divorced from industry it served than in, for example, Germany and France. During the last three decades some efforts have been made to achieve a partnership between industry and the institutions of higher education in the education and training of engineers. Up till a few decades ago much of engineering research in the universities was in the field of engineering science, but now more engineering research is being carried-out in co-operation with industry and it is realised that the advantages greatly outweigh the problems it poses. University engineering departments have also realised that they have a contribution to make in providing advisory services for industry and short post-experience courses for engineers in industry.     

Curriculum Mapping in Higher Education: A Vehicle for Collaboration

This qualitative study makes the case for the implementation of curriculum mapping, a procedure that creates a visual representation of curriculum based on real time information, as a way to increase collaboration and collegiality in higher education. Through the use of curriculum mapping, eleven faculty members in a western state university Teacher Licensure program aligned and revised the teacher education curriculum across a sequence of courses. An increase in collaboration and collegiality among faculty emerged as an unintended outcome as a result of participation in the project. Kay Pippin Uchiyama  is currently the Assessment Coordinator for the Poudre School District in Fort Collins, Colorado. During this study, she was an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Colorado State University and a co-primary investigator for the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Data grant. She received her Ph.D. in Instruction and Curriculum in the Content Areas with an emphasis on Teacher Education and Learning to Teach from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her interests include data driven instruction, assessment for learning, teacher education, professional development schools, and mathematics education. Her email is kuchiyam@psdschools.org. Jean L. Radin  is an adjunct professor at Colorado State University and a co-primary investigator for the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Data grant. She received her Ph.D. from Colorado State University. Her interests are brain-based teaching and learning, data driven instructional practices, teacher education and professional development schools. Her email is jradin@cahs.colorado.edu.     

Remedial Education: An Area in Need of Scholar-Practitioner Collaboration

Much has been written about the disappointing record of remedial education. At least 40% percent of students never complete their remedial courses, hindering their access to college-level courses. Amid the clamor for reform, new programs are emerging in which scholars and practitioners collaborate on the development of models of instruction that hold promise for improving the college readiness of underprepared students. Scholar-practitioner collaboration requires a reconception of the research process and the meaning of practice. It also requires practitioners to reflect on their practice as partners in the research process. We conclude that the voices of those teaching and managing remedial education, not just those of researchers, are necessary to arrive at remedial education policies and practices that are effective and sustainable.