The quality agenda: governance and regulation of preschool teachers’ work

The increased regulation of teachers’ work is a global phenomenon across education sectors. In Australia the governance of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) embeds international priorities for quality improvement in educational programmes. The implementation of a National Quality Framework (NQF) for the assessment of ECEC services has mobilised the production of a suite of regulatory texts. The regulation of teachers’ work is legitimised through the discourse of quality embedded in policy guidelines. Drawing on interview data from preschool teachers, this paper employs institutional ethnography (IE) to investigate teachers’ accounts of producing a Quality Improvement Plan. As teachers operationalise the expectations of quality assurance in the NQF, their work is oriented to gathering evidence of an approved quality of practice. The findings indicate a shift in professional focus to increased documentation of ‘quality of practice’, goal setting and evidence of the collaborative construction of Quality Improvement Plans.     

教师发展的学校责任与实践模式

学校承担着学生与教师共同发展的社会责任,而一些学校往往对后者重视不够或存在偏颇。只有将教师的发展与学生的发展协调起来,学校才能可持续发展和具有生命活力。教师需要集工作与发展于一身,融实践与发展于一体,在工作与实践中发展自我,并通过自身发展提升教育质量和工作效益。以校为本的教师发展实践模式主要有:个人规划与教师评价,理论学习与教学设计,听课与评课,交流与合作,教学实践与自我反思,教育改革与课题研究,专题培训与专家指导等。     

Celebration of the success of distributed research with schools: the cem centre,Durham

Abstract The Curriculum, Evaluation and Management (CEM) Centre has grown in just 25 years to become the largest educational research unit in a UK university. It has influenced schools and teachers in unprecedented numbers and has had a considerable impact on policy and practice both directly and indirectly in the UK and beyond. This article summarises this growth and points to key features of its success. It recounts the philosophical approach of the centre and gives examples of its work to illustrate the way in which it has worked. This includes the development of monitoring systems, the creation of innovative tests, the use of monitoring data in research projects, evaluation and the centre's commitment to evidence‐based work. The article does not report findings in the manner of many journal articles. Rather, it describes the growth and key features of a remarkably successful centre. It seeks to justify this claim and to outline the manner in which it has been successful.     

科学的教育政策:教育践行科学发展观的支柱

教育事业的发展需要教育政策的支持,树立科学的教育发展观,首要任务是制定科学的教育政策,这是由教育政策的基本属性决定的:一方面,科学的教育政策以科学发展观为价值取向,受教育发展规律的指导,具有教育理论的特征;另一方面,科学的教育政策作为教育践行科学发展观的支柱,促进教育事业的全面、协调和可持续发展,又具有教育实践的特征。科学的教育政策是将教育理论通过复杂、合理的构建,并系统地作用于教育实践的桥梁。教育理论与教育实践发生作用的过程也是科学的教育政策系统运行的过程、完善的过程、发展的过程。     

Teachers as researchers: The rationale; The reality

Conclusion Collaborative action research, a style of research which connotes involvement, commitment, and growth, has the potential to bring together process and outcome, teaching and research, reflection and action, theory and practice. It is an organising frame to foster productive blending of school knowledge and academic knowledge, through the participation of members of the secondary and tertiary sectors. It has the potential to enhance the professionalism and expertise of members of both sectors, in circumstances which facilitate personal development. It has the potential to enhance the relevance and applicability of educational research to the educational context and hence to generate real and permanent change in schools. We believe that this form of research has potential to be of value that extends beyond the direct participants and school settings in which it occurs. The problem is of translating this potential into practice. Neither the school nor the educational research sectors are geared for such long-term collaborative research. However, PEEL demonstrates that it can be done. Educational research can be made relevant and important to teachers. Through collaborative action research, teachers can participate in improving the quality of education in our schools.     

顶岗支教实习:教师教育一体化的有效路径

我国中小学教师职前教育的主要问题在于师范生的教育教学经验匮乏,理论性有余而实践性不足;职后教育的困境则在于教师没有足够的时间和精力进一步学习教育理论知识以指导教育教学,实践性有余而理论性不足。顶岗支教实习有利于强化师范生教育教学实践,提高教师职前教育质量;有利于为教师学习教育理论提供机会,摆脱教师职后教育困境;有利于教育理论紧密联系实践,促进教师教育整体发展,是打通教师职前教育和职后教育、实现教师教育一体化的有效途径。     

Use of computers for educational purposes at the Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU)

Abstract

University teachers are increasingly confronted with the necessity of using information technology for educational purposes. University policy in the nineties should therefor include stimulation of the use of computers and of the development of educational software. This policy should be based on an assessment of the present use of computers in teaching and learning, and needs of university teachers. At the Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU) this assessment was made through a questionnaire presented to all teachers. The results show that approximately 40% of the teachers use computers for educational purposes, 30% are interested and 30% are indifferent. The main computer applications are in the field of educational tools and exploratory environments. It is concluded that university policy on the introduction of computer use should acknowledge the importance of 1) teacher initiatives 2) exploring the possibilities of information technology, 3) material resources, 4) coordination of different initiatives and 5) a supporting centre with expertise on the use and development of computer applications for educational purposes.     

Language,Educational Television and Young Children

Ninety‐one percent of 227 surveyed teachers of children up to seven years of age (including 101 teachers who monitored educational television series for the Project), in 17 local education authorities in England and Wales, claimed to use educational television broadcasts to assist them with children's language development. However, apart from the nursery teachers, they appeared to put emphasis on language skill acquisition rather than language development, reinforcing the language policy of the schools. Two thirds of the teachers stated that they were catering for children individually when using educational television, although class viewing was the normal practice. The usual method was to watch a programme continuously from beginning to end (even when a video recorder was used) and then to discuss it with the children and to give written work on letter formation, sentence formation, initial sounds, etc., often by filling in worksheets. The teachers were encouraged in this practice by the television series, as these promoted the learning of language and reading skills rather than language development. There was no evidence to suggest that general interest series were used to any extent to enhance language development, in spite of overwhelming agreement by the teachers that television stories, songs and poems were valuable in this respect. A change of attitude by teachers towards language and educational television is desirable, involving the examination of current practices, the analysis of the material presented by broadcasters and the relating of developmental factors to the medium     

残疾儿童随班就读质量影响因素的调查

对全国三类经济发展水平不同地区的14个县(市、区)的674名教育管理人员、教研员、校长和教师进行了问卷调查。结果表明:当前我国残疾儿童随班就读质量的提高受到政府部门的政策制定与执行、普校师资特教专业水平、特教中心(特教学校)的指导作用、普校对残疾儿童的接纳程度、资源教室的建立以及家长和社区的支持等各方面因素影响。因此,随班就读质量的提高应是一系统工程,应建立涵盖各方面因素的支持体系。     

The Relevance of Systematic Reviews to Educational Policy and Practice

This paper argues that educational policy and practice has much to gain from systematic reviews and other methods of research synthesis. Different types of reviews are considered, including narrative reviews, vote-counting reviews, meta-analyses, best evidence synthesis, and meta-ethnography. It is argued that systematic reviews allow researchers, and users of research, to go beyond the limitations of single studies and to discover the consistencies and variability in seemingly similar studies. This, in turn, allows for some degree of cumulative knowledge of educational research that is often missing in the absence of systematic reviews. Some limitations of systematic reviews and research synthesis for educational policy and practice are also discussed. The work of the Campbell Collaboration as an international organisation that promotes the use of systematic reviews in educational policy and practice is outlined.     

基于学习共同体的“校-研-教”华文校本协同研究术

新加坡华文教学队伍在教育部的鼓励与推动下,近10年掀起了以改进华文教学为出发点的校本研究风。当前已有的以学者专家为主导和以一线教师为主导的两种研究模式,都对教师专业成长和教学质量持续提升帮助甚微。协同研究主张结合研究者和实践者的经验与专长,共谋专业知识的提升和实践有效的教学形式,为校本研究提供了一个新的研究方向。南洋理工大学下属新加坡华文教研中心参与的两项校本研究案例显示,基于学习共同体的校本协同研究是提高教学质量、促使教师反思、促进教师教育技术专业发展的有效手段。成功的校本研究,要建立学校领导、研究人员和教师三方组成的“校一研一教”学习共同体,以“协同研究”为取向,建立对研究课题目的、方法和策略的研究共识,合理分工,促进与提高“互补性贡献”,抑制或消除“矛盾性期待”,充分发挥三方的经验与专长,促进教师反思与专业成长,实现教学质量的实质性提高。     

美国网络教师的培养及启示

美国将网络教育视作促进教育改革、提升教育质量的重要途径,并认为网络教育对教师的专业素养有新的要求,因此十分重视对网络教师的培养。本文从宏观背景、资源建设、实践平台、质量保障四方面分析了美国对网络教师的培养。文章首先介绍了美国《国家技术教育规划》的沿革,并以此作为美国网络教师培养的宏观背景;其次,分析了美国多元与系统的网络教师培养课程及丰富的学习资源;再次;介绍了作为美国网络教师实践平台的虚拟学校的现状;最后,梳理了作为教师质量保障的专业素养标准与系统支持。文章最后探讨了美国网络教师培养对我国的启示,包括把握网络教育的本质、重视网络教师的培养;明确网络教师的专业素养要求并据此系统设计培养课程;重视网络教师的自主发展并支持经验共享。     

U.S. Teachers as Policy Protagonists in Digital Public Spaces?

Teachers engage with policies far beyond the confines of their classroom and seemingly unrelated to their classroom practice, stretching the parameters of theories such as street-level bureaucracy (Lipsky, 2010; Weatherly & Lipsky, 1977) and doing policy in schools (Ball, Maguire, & Braun, 2012). This was observed in ethnographic studies and analyses, suggesting a “policy protagonism” in which teachers engaged in public arenas with the state and with the public outside of school to address problems they faced within school walls (Robert & McEntarfer, 2014). Four attributes of policy protagonism are defining policy “problems,” seeking power and resources to address those policy-worthy problems, “using” social categories and symbolic identities such as perceptions of teachers as mothers and caregivers, and, finally, demanding multiple seats at the decision-making table. Using discourse analysis, I examine Massachusetts' teachers' publications in local and national online newspapers between 2012–2014 that identify Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellows, teachers who presumably wish to engage with public policy and are taught how to do so. The sample only demonstrated application of the first attribute, defining policy problems. Changes in policy and policymaking will only come from systematic and sustained engagement of teachers in policy protagonism in both real and virtual public spaces. Although teaching policy fellows were trained to do just that, the analysis suggests that more effort is needed to support teachers' policy work in public spaces. There is no silver bullet to the educational challenge of strengthening teachers' policy work and gaining a seat at the policy table.     

Extending theorisations of the global teacher: care work,gender, and street-level policies

This article is concerned with teachers’ negotiation of global transitions premised on improving educational opportunity with implications for professionalism. The study blends sociology of gender, work, and organisations and gender policy analysis to theorise teachers’ policy negotiations. I explore how 20 Argentine teachers mediate 3 programmes’ demands for care work. Policy as practice and street-level bureaucracy are applied to data to interrogate for gendered boundary work. I propose the addition of care work, gender, and a street-level view to Maguire’s global teacher.     

反思与中小学教师专业成长

对于中小学教师而言,反思直接指向的是教师个人以及群体的教育实践,它促使教师去思考教育实践的发生发展及实践的意义。反思唤醒了教师的主体意识,它可以帮助教师去审视自己的教育行为,意识到自己是教育实践的承担者。反思也使教师在复杂的教育情境中,评价自己行为的后果,形成工作的主动性、能动性和自觉性,不断地改进自己的教学实践,更好、更有效地开展教育活动。     

高师生的教师素质培养与教育实习

从培养高素质教师的要求出发,探讨了教师综合素质的含义及教育实习与高师生的教师综合素质养成和发展的关系;根据高师教育实习的系统特征,对如何发挥教育实习对促进高师生的教师素质养成和发展的作用进行了探讨。     

Designing Education for Professional Expertise Development

How to facilitate learning by novices (students) on their road to expertise has attracted the attention of a vast number of researchers in cognitive and educational psychology as well in the field of learning and instruction. Although many studies have investigated the phenomenon of expertise development, the implications of the findings for instruction are scattered throughout the literature. This article reports the results of a systematic literature review of 37 studies on expertise development. Using Tynjälä's Integrative Pedagogy Model as an organising framework, the implications for educational practice described in these studies are presented as 10 instructional principles. This study takes a step towards translating expertise development research into guidelines for instruction. Implications for future research are discussed.     

论基础教育标准化与教育均衡化发展

基础教育标准化是学校硬件、师资、课程建设等方面的全面标准化。教育标准化是实现教育均衡化发展的重要的政策和措施。当前的教育标准化建设要从改进标准化评价指标、改善投资政策、改造薄弱学校、提高师资待遇等方面切实推进。     

Support teachers' beliefs about the academic achievement of students with special educational needs

José Castro Silva, lecturer in sciences of education, and José Morgado, assistant professor, both work at the Instituto Superior de Psicologica Aplicada in Lisboa, Portugal. In this article, they describe their study of support teachers' beliefs about the academic achievement of school students with special educational needs. The 'support teachers' who were the subject of this study work in mainstream schools where the majority of pupils with special educational needs are educated in mainstream classes run by 'general teachers'. The work of the support teachers is supervised and supported by 'special education team co-ordinators'. The study reported here set out to elicit the support teachers' beliefs about the factors that contribute to success at school for pupils with special educational needs. Results suggest that the support teachers consider that factors including 'school climate', 'curriculum design' and 'teaching approach' contribute significantly to achievements among these pupils. On the other hand, analysis reveals that the support teachers attribute difficulties and lack of achievement significantly to 'out-of-school' contextual variables. These findings are related to a detailed review of the literature and the authors discuss the implications for policy, practice and professional development.