Female supervisors of Arab school education in Israel

This paper discusses the characteristics of women discipline supervisors in the Arab education system in Israel, through their professional development to their attainment of senior supervisory posts. It examines how they attain supervision posts and perform various managerial functions in what is considered a male role, in a patriarchal society, highlighting changes they introduce. In-depth interviews elucidated the life stories of four women supervisors in the Arab education system in Israel. Findings point up the need for a policy of gender equality in role appointments, and the need for mentoring and support to encourage women to undertake senior roles in education.     

构建阅读场 促进常态读

为了培养学生良好的阅读习惯,积极践行“阅读常态化”的理念,我校以心理学家勒温的场动力学理论为依托,充分发挥团体动力的作用,创设浓郁的阅读“场”环境,通过思想引领、环境营造、活动促进,星级评价构建师生常态阅读氛围。     

Court-led educational reforms in political third rails: lessons from the litigation over ultra-religious Jewish schools in Israel

This paper offers a model for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of judicial involvement in educational reforms. It uses the model to analyze two case studies of court-led educational reforms in the third rail of Israeli politics – the curricula and the admission policies of ultra-Othodox (Haredi) schools. These case studies are located at the knotty junction of human rights, religion, and politics in education policy, generating concern in many countries. The conclusions demonstrate that even when the courts are cautious, judicial involvement in third rail educational reforms may produce impacts that drive the cogwheels of policy-making in directions that are apt to undermine the interests of the petitioners. Therefore, the choice of courts as a forum for shaping education policy in political third rails should be prudently considered. The paper also demonstrates the need to evaluate litigation by means of a contextual, evidence-based analysis. It highlights that in certain cases, what may appear to be unjustified judicial activism or restraint is, in fact, a reasonable response, whose harmful ramifications may be attributed to the context of political third rails. Even the best judges are not immune to the well-known assertion that ‘hard cases make bad law.’     

Shared education in Northern Ireland: school collaboration in divided societies

Abstract

During the years of political violence in Northern Ireland many looked to schools to contribute to reconciliation. A variety of interventions were attempted throughout those years, but there was little evidence that any had produced systemic change. The peace process provided an opportunity for renewed efforts. This paper outlines the experience of a series of projects on 'shared education', or the establishment of collaborative networks of Protestant, Catholic and integrated schools in which teachers and pupils moved between schools to take classes and share experiences. The paper outlines the genesis of the idea and the research which helped inform the shape of the shared education project. The paper also outlines the corpus of research which has examined various aspects of shared education practice and lays out the emergent model which is helping to inform current government practice in Northern Ireland, and is being adopted in other jurisdictions. The paper concludes by looking at the prospects for real transformation of education in Northern Ireland.     

'Cultural Shift': The case of Jewish religious education in Israel

This study explores the unique situation of the Israeli-Jewish education system in Israel, which has developed different educational streams mainly according to religious differences. It highlights the changes in the status of the cultural stands of secular and religious Jewish groups in the course of the twentieth century. The secular majority has been willing to fund separate autonomous religious schools. Remarkably, the lower state intervention in the schools, the higher the level of funding. Thus, the ultra-orthodox schools have enjoyed full funding together with the greatest autonomy. Moreover, the nonautonomous secular state schools have also practiced religious rituals, without any clear guidance by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The implications of full autonomy and funding of the ultra-orthodox schools is discussed, by way of 'critical sociology of education', with emphasis on the 'cultural shift', the cultural advance of the religious groups, and 'cultural surrender' of the secular group.     

Distributed leadership of school curriculum change: an integrative approach

Since its inception in 1999, the distributed leadership framework of Spillane, Halverson, and Diamond [2004. “Towards a Theory of Leadership Practice: A Distributed Perspective.” Journal of Curriculum Studies 36 (1): 3–34. doi:10.1080/0022027032000106726] has supported research into leadership and change in schools. Whilst the conceptual integrity of the framework is sound, research based upon its premises has attracted some criticism. The research has had a narrowed focus which has not generally reflected the inseparability of the elements of the framework and the situation within which leadership is enacted. In addition, it often fails to account for the complexity of critical elements of the environment such as micropolitics. This position paper proposes a reconfiguration of the distributed leadership framework as a research framework in response to this critique. The paper asserts that this new perspective that is presented is able to respond to the critique through an integrated approach that encompasses situation, social distribution and task enactment and which supports an integrated approach to research methodology. This adapted framework has the potential to more fully support research design that is actuality holistic and embedded in the context.     

Climate change education in the humanities classroom: a case study of the Lowell school curriculum pilot

Abstract

Climate change as an instructional topic in K-12 schools is most frequently taught in the science classroom. However, it is a human issue requiring social as well as technological and scientific solutions. This study analyzes and evaluates a climate change curriculum implemented via an integrated social studies and language arts framework in a middle school classroom. The curriculum reflects collaboration between a private school, a climate education non-profit, and a government agency (NOAA). Following the first year of implementation, student surveys, teacher interviews, and classroom observations comprise the primary tools of data collection and evaluation. Based off these data, students demonstrate high levels of climate literacy, improvements in reading comprehension, and overall engagement with the topic. Teachers report successes and challenges of teaching the curriculum, and administrators offer opportunities for scaling and implementing the curriculum in other schools and contexts (including public schools). Findings from this study are relevant to climate change curriculum developers, researchers, and educators seeking to incorporate an interdisciplinary, socio-scientific approach to climate change education in their work.     

Fearful symmetry: Palestinian and Jewish teachers confront contested narratives in integrated bilingual education

The present paper deals with Jewish and Palestinian teachers who work in an integrated school in Israel, and shows the challenges and possibilities from examining these teachers' powerful historical narratives in the context of in-service training sessions. It is shown how these teachers essentially remain firmly rooted in the hegemonic historical narratives of their own community, even when their attitudes are challenged and clearer alternatives are considered to the reigning narratives. The findings highlight predominantly the failures in terms of the potential of educational efforts to help overcome situations of intractable conflict even within contexts specifically devised for this purpose; yet, also some openings become apparent in the process of negotiating competing narratives and inventing new dialogic possibilities. The implications of this work suggest that schools and their historical tradition are difficult places to reach change or produce it—even in integrated schools in which partial structural change takes place—and teacher training may not always be the answer for the need to bring changes. However, it is also indicated that an ongoing agonistics of raising critical issues regarding one's identifications with hegemonic narratives does offer openings to take responsibility for both the challenges and the dialogic possibilities that are created in the process.     

进步教育终结的内部原因探析

对美国的教育,乃至世界各国教育的根本改革都做出巨大贡献的进步教育有其存在的合理性,也有它的致命缺点。任何事物的终结都是内部和外部因素共同作用的结果,但内部因素起主导作用。从三个方面寻找进步教育终结的内部原因,指出缺乏统一有力的理论指导是进步教育终结的主要原因。     

Educational decentralization: a review of popular discourse on Chinese–English bilingual education

Educational decentralization is a worldwide phenomenon, which takes different forms and leads to different outcomes in different socio-economic contexts. Taking Chinese–English bilingual education in Mainland China as an exemplar, this study examines how the decentralization of education has worked in China in the past two decades, and what consequences decentralization has brought about in the country. The analysis reveals that decentralization has created a favourable overall socio-economic and political context for bilingual education to develop, from a local endeavour into a nation-wide undertaking. The analysis also reveals that decentralization has allowed the diversified operation of bilingual programmes at the regional level. However, there has been a visible inconsistency and incoherence between the theoretical underpinnings of the programmes and the practice in schools and classrooms. Such an inconsistency and incoherence may have resulted from a newly reconfigured relation between the central government and local governments, as well as a lack of human or intellectual resources at the regional level, leading to some unintended educational and socio-political outcomes.     

Preparing school principals in the Chilean scenario: lessons from Australia,England and the United States

In this paper will be analysed three different educational contexts for preparing school principals such as Australia, England and the United States. This study analyses the professional development of academic leadership in the countries previously mentioned in order to apply the successful aspects to the Chilean education system, a system greatly need of improvement. The main finding of this study is that school administrator development is unproductive when the administrators themselves are not given the power to make decisions such as selecting teaching staff and managing finances. In this context, legal and bureaucratic structures in Chile act as barriers in consolidating and practicing these new ideas and recommendations.     

Technology for all: turning a keyword into a school subject in post-war Sweden

The decades following the Second World War saw strong technological development and economic growth. They also saw ‘the advent of technology education’, a period of extensive curriculum development in this field. But what was done and why? In order to obtain a better understanding of the historical roots of technology education, in this study the mid-century school reforms in Sweden are examined and, more specifically, the birth of the new subject of Technology (Teknik) in compulsory schools. In this article, the political forces driving the introduction and shaping of this new subject are emphasised. In a time of rapid transformations of educational systems and labour markets, the term Teknik proved to be a useful concept for policy-makers and reform technocrats. However, the subject came to re-create the inequalities of the earlier differentiated school system, despite its presence within the framework of a school ‘for all’.     

Job satisfaction among secondary school teachers: the role of gender and experience

This paper examines the importance of understanding different organisational and professional cultures for leaders in extended service settings. It begins with a critical review of key concepts and debates in the organisational culture literature and then shows how different professional groups (education, health and social services) have adopted aspects of this literature to reflect their respective professional concerns. We argue that such insights can help leaders in these settings understand and work with different professional groups more effectively. Key to this process is the ‘culture conversation’ where different professionals are encouraged to explore the taken for granted assumptions that drive their everyday practice.     

International education as a novel entity in a public education system: the establishment of a new public international school in Israel

Abstract

This study traces the founding process of Eastern Mediterranean International School (EMIS) by analysing the motivations and interests of different stakeholders involved in the establishment process. In this novel initiative students from Palestine, Israel, and other countries study within the Israeli public school system towards an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with founders, educators, Ministry of Education officials, a parents’ survey, and content analysis of related documents, the authors show how the school was established and approved despite the supposedly contradicting hegemonic discourse of the official Israeli policy. They conclude by suggesting some implications for scholars and policy-makers.     

On the necessary co-existence of special and inclusive education

ABSTRACT

While many distinctions between ‘special’ and ‘inclusive’ education have been made and continue to be forcefully debated, the two concepts remain strongly evident in policy and practice in many countries. This paper discusses the interrelated history of these concepts. It explores how conceptualisations of them have changed since Salamanca and reflects on whether inclusive education has, can or should replace special education. It considers the extent to which ‘special’ and ‘inclusive’ education are understood as the same or different today. The paper argues for a clear a distinction to be made between how special educators can work in support of inclusive education and the task of inclusive education which addresses the barriers to participation faced by members of marginalised groups.     

Globalization,values education,and school music education in China

This paper examines music education’s legitimation of values as a means of preparing students for entry into the new ‘knowledge society’ of the People’s Republic of China in a global age. It explores the ways in which values education relates to the teaching of both musical and non‐musical meanings in the dual context of nationalism and globalization, and discusses some problems that values education faces in school music classrooms. It examines the ways in which globalization has pressured values education into resolving the apparent contradiction between national identity and national unity in the ever‐changing play of Chinese history and politics. It concludes with a discussion of how music education might juggle three pairs of apparently contradictory relationships in the curriculum: between contemporary cultural and social values on the one hand, and traditional Chinese and Communist ideologies on the other; between collectivism and individualism; and between national and global cultures.     

Institutional imperatives versus emergent dynamics: a case study on continuous change in higher education

This qualitative case study examines continuous change in a higher education organization (HEO). Both real time and retrospective data covering a 6-year period of the case were collected. The findings suggest that, in order to meet institutional imperatives the HEO defined several managerial and academic domains when the internationalization process was launched. When organizational members activate these domains they confronted with local needs, problems, and opportunities, which enable them to modify, update or extend the defined domains. In addition, throughout time the members constantly realize the missing parts and incorporate them into the process. These findings suggest several insights on the adaptability of higher education organizations.     

进步主义教育的成败对我国新课改的启示

阐述了19世纪70年代到20世纪中叶,美国教育界兴起的进步主义教育。如果将进步主义教育分为进步主义教育思潮和进步主义教育运动两个部分,二者实际上各有成败,从总体上说,前者走向了成功,后者走向了失败。对其成败原因的分析可以给予我国当前的“新课改”以良好的启示,一方面适应时代,联系实际;另一方面吸收传统,面向未来;第三教师参与,双向对接;最后广开言路,去伪取真。     

论平民主义教育管理思潮

“除盲、做新民”是上个世纪平民主义教育运动的宗旨所在。为了做新民，为了给中国的现代化奠基，无数的仁人志士投身于平民的教育。作为上世纪二三十年代的三大教育管理思潮之一，平民主义教育管理思潮的理论意蕴，在三农问题依然严峻、农村教育也不容乐观的今天，前人的思想和努力仍值得我们关注与借鉴。     

创新教育背景下的中学历史教育教学要求

本文主要论述了创新教育背景下的中学历史教育教学的四大要求 :教育观念的要求、历史教师素质的要求、教育教学目标要求和教育教学方法要求。目的是为了探索历史教育教学改革的方向。