The Doctorate in the Nordic Countries

This article gives an overview of the research training systems in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden with emphasis on the structure, organisation, time span of the degree, completion rates, labour market and internationalisation of postgraduate education. Even though the various national research training systems in the Nordic countries seem to be becoming more similar, there are still differences in their organisational models. In addition, the article compares the Nordic doctoral systems with those of the USA, the UK, Germany and France-the four countries which traditionally have been the most important recipients of Nordic students seeking research training abroad. The model of the US 'graduate school' has been the inspiration and basis for many European initiatives to improve doctoral degree education. In all these countries such schools have been introduced, but often in a modified form and to a limited extent. The main conclusion is that the trend is towards a common international PhD where the content, breadth, length and quality are equivalent.     

State-of-the-art of Computer-aided Learning in the Nordic Countries

The Nordic forum for computer-aided higher education organizes universities and colleges in the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. This organization has its own newsletter, 1995 being its sixth year. Being editor of this newsletter brings me in contact with the main activities within the field of computer-aided learning in these countries. I have had the opportunity to see the good and the bad in these early years of computer aid in higher education. Many experiments over the years have given the needed basis for development of policies for universities and colleges so that they can meet modern students in the near future. It is becoming more and more important to acknowledge the future students' need for a university which is tuned in on education for the future.     

The Growth of English for Academic Communication in the Nordic Countries

This article discusses the danger of subtractive English in higher education in Norway. If the use of a mother tongue as the medium of communication at the highest academic levels ceases, is drastically reduced and replaced through the use of a foreign tongue, we may speak of subtractive learning. If the mother tongue is being replaced by a foreign tongue in academic writing, in research and university level teaching, the mother tongue will stagnate. The vocabulary needed has not been allowed to develop at the highest academic level. The author maintains that the Norwegian language is threatened as an academic language and here discusses the following five phenomena, all contributing to this threat:1. The increasing use of English words in Norwegian academic, bureaucratic or technological language.2. The sale of more academic literature in English and stagnation of academic literature in Norwegian.3. The recruitment of teaching staff who do not speak Norwegian.4. The growth in Master degree courses taught in English.5. The financial rewards being given to academic staff publishing in an international language (read: English) instead of in the mother tongue.     

北欧高校卓越计划投入模式研究

自20世纪90年代以来,北欧国家大力发展卓越研究计划,以推动科研水平提升和一流大学建设.丹麦的“大学研究投资资本计划”、芬兰和挪威的“卓越研究中心计划”以及瑞典的“林奈环境建设计划”主要面向高校.这些项目针对有巨大潜力的学科,采取长周期风险投资理念.投入经费不仅来自政府与高校配套拨款,还吸纳了国内外多元主体支持.资金配置采用整体拨款,并配合绩效评价机制,有力提升了卓越计划投入产出的效率.     

北欧五国高等教育质量保证机制概述

高等教育大众化在一些发达国家已成为现实,高等教育质量保证机制是确保大众化高等教育健康发展的必要途径。本文选取了北欧的丹麦、芬兰、冰岛、挪威和瑞典五个国家,对其高等教育质量保证机制建立的背景、机制的运行及其最新发展加以介绍,并分析了五国的共同特点,以期对我国高等教育质量保证机制的建立提供参考与借鉴。     

The Five Swans: Educational and Vocational Guidance in the Nordic Countries

Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland: these are the Nordic countries, the Five Swans. This article covers main Nordic guidance issues with characteristic examples from the various countries under the headings of Professionalisation, Guidance Policies, Activities, Staff and professional background, Linkages, and Materials and ICT. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Research in Educational and Vocational Guidance in the Nordic Countries: Current Trends

The Nordic countries have followed slightly different, yet complementary paths in terms of research in guidance. The balance between studies in guidance based on sociology, psychology, and even ethnology varies according to the research focus and tradition in each of the Nordic countries. This article covers main Nordic guidance research issues with characteristic examples from the various countries under the headings of Structures, Contents, and Values. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

北欧国家幼儿教育和保育政策话语的新变迁

通过对北欧五国幼儿教育和保育的最新政策话语进行文献调查和文本分析,发现北欧国家幼儿教育和保育政策话语的最新变化包括:幼儿教育和保育的定位从作为民主实践场转变为社会投资品、教育内容从重视保育和游戏到关注终身学习、教育评估更重视对质量的监管与评估.虽然北欧幼儿教育和保育政策所根植的历史传统仍旧强大,但教育全球化的冲击促使北欧的幼儿教育和保育在与强调入学准备的英美政策话语的冲突与妥协中走向融合.     

北欧四国中小学课后服务的实践、特征及启示

北欧地区课后服务的发展与欧洲提升就业率,促进经济发展,维护两性平等,协调家庭与工作,促进儿童身心发展需要的背景密切相关.北欧地区具有较为完善的课后服务体系,在一定程度上实现了供需平衡.课后服务以政府提供为主;课后服务设置了内容丰富的课程,旨在促进儿童的全面发展;配备了充足且优质的师资;服务费用由国家大力补贴;形成了政府...     

英国公立学校“学园化”改革研究

在新自由主义教育改革理念的指导之下,卡梅伦政府对英国基础教育阶段的学校体制进行了大刀阔斧的改革,其中最为引人关注的政策是将越来越多的公立学校转制为由中央政府直接拨款、脱离地方当局管理、拥有更多自主权的“学园式学校”(academy).随着“学园式学校”数量的迅猛增长,相关政策的合理性和必要性也引发了越来越多的批评、质疑和争论.     

澳洲与北欧留学生教育政策及其特点分析

澳洲和北欧同为经济发达地区,而留学生教育的发展却各具特色,在吸引留学生,挽留留学生等方面都有着各自的特殊政策.文章从政策研究的视角,探讨两地留学生教育的现状、收益及相关政策,并在此基础上概括和比较两地的政策特点,以便为我国进一步发展留学生教育提供参考和借鉴.     

21世纪北欧五国基础教育课程改革的背景与特点

20世纪90年代末期,北欧五国的基础教育领域相继发起了新一轮的课程改革。此次课程改革一方面源于时代的挑战,另一方面则来自于北欧民众对本国基础教育质量的深切关注,改革的重点不约而同地聚焦于学生基础学力的提升和教育质量的提高。课程改革的特点体现在：课程目标日渐明晰、课程内容日趋综合、课程管理在权力下放的同时进一步强化责任制、课程评价的力度加强、教学方式更加多样化和个性化、家长在课程改革中的高层次参与等等。     

Nordic language policies for higher education and their multi-layered motivations

Language policies have been drafted in Nordic higher education with the obvious, but unproblematised and unchallenged motivation caused by internationalisation. In this article, we analyse the various motivations for drafting language policies in Nordic higher education and the ideological implications of those motivations. We do this by approaching the question from multiple (macro, meso and micro) viewpoints, in order to make visible some of the undercurrents in higher education language policy. We are particularly interested in the explicit motivations for language policy change, and the explicit and implicit actors and action represented in our data. We will first discuss the background for internationalisation in Nordic higher education and then move on to our analysis of policy documents, survey data on the motivations for language policy drafting in Nordic higher education institutions. Our results indicate that internationalisation turns into a national question in the motivations. It also appears that the institutions are reactive (rather than active) in responding to perceived needs to draft a language policy.     

浅谈医院护理文化在护理本科教育中的探究

21世纪护理本科院校为达到教育目标,对护理学本科生专业课程体系和教学内容进行了全面改革,推行了新的教育模式。培养学生系统掌握现代护理学以及相关学科理论和技能。护理文化作为长期在护理实践中逐步形成和发展起来的稳定的价值观,及以其核心而进行的护理教学,其内容包含价值观、道德规范、精神、制度、行为准则及文化礼仪。     

The impact of Nordic adult education ideas on the development of a democratic society in Lithuania

This article analyses the role of the cooperation with and the influence of the Nordic countries on the development of a democratic society in Lithuania through adult education since the reinstatement of its independence from Soviet regime in March 1990 to the present. The authors focus on three main areas: (1) the training of Lithuanian adult educators; (2) the establishment and development of NGOs; and (3) the implications for a Lithuanian policy of adult education. Within the framework of Nordic-Baltic cooperation established among five Nordic and three Baltic countries (NB8) in 1992, Lithuanian adult educators seized the opportunity to visit Scandinavian institutions and projects. Experiencing Nordic adult education ideas has resulted in a marked shift in Lithuanian adult educators’ values, methodology and careers; and in the establishment of a series of very influential umbrella associations as well as hundreds of NGOs in Lithuania which work with adults and support functioning democratic values in society. This shift is related to the civic responsibility and active participation growing out of the bottom-up approaches of group work, cooperation, discussions and learning circles which are so inherent in the Nordic tradition of adult education. The internalisation of new democratic values was more complicated than expected for many Lithuanian politicians, adult educators and NGO leaders in terms of how political decisions were perceived and implemented. Furthermore, the influence of the Nordic-Baltic cooperation in adult education may also be traced in adult education policy implications in Lithuania. Some changes in the policies of contemporary Lithuania have not been successful and even failed to promote a democratic society.     

Environmental engineering education (E3) in the Gulf Co-operation Countries

The six members of the Gulf Co-operation Countries (GCC)—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—are facing enormous environmental challenges associated with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, especially in the last three decades, due to its role as a global hydrocarbon energy centre. None of these countries have systematic and specialised academic programmes with the sole purpose of Environmental Engineering Education (E3). The current status of E3 in the universities across the region is surveyed and thus the individual and collective higher education policies towards environmental affairs are highlighted. The E3 policies of the regional universities are then compared to the benchmark status of the European and the US universities. The ABET criteria are used to evaluate non-E3 programs. The survey shows that the environmental engineering subjects were mostly taught under the umbrella of civil or chemical engineering departments in the GCC countries. An educational scheme for E3 in the GCC higher education institutes is proposed that is based on the evolution of E3 approach in the Western universities.     

Assessment criteria for competency-based education: a study in nursing education

This study examined the effects of type of assessment criteria (performance-based vs. competency-based), the relevance of assessment criteria (relevant criteria vs. all criteria), and their interaction on secondary vocational education students’ performance and assessment skills. Students on three programmes in the domain of nursing and care (N = 93) participated in the study. Results show that students who were given the relevant criteria made more accurate assessments of an expert model, performed better on a test and achieved higher instructional efficiency (defined as the relationship between performance and mental effort) compared to students who were given all criteria. Students who were given performance-based assessment criteria made more accurate assessments of an expert model and scored higher on task performance during practice compared to students who were given competency-based assessment criteria. They invested less mental effort in the assessments, resulting in higher instructional efficiency. An interaction effect for the concreteness of answers shows that the combination of performance-based and relevant criteria leads to superior analysis of worked examples compared to the other combinations of criteria.