Adopting a postmodern approach to research

The intention in this paper is to consider a discourse of “research as narrative” and to offer an example of how personal experience can shape and influence research. In doing this, a particular notion of experience is offered experience depicted as problematizing the world and acting as the catalyst for further research.     

The learning society: postmodern politics

The notion of a ‘learning society’ is one that crops up increasingly today in the ongoing debate about the future of education in the postmodern world, together with its twin notion, ‘lifelong learning’. This article discusses the contemporary discourse within which this debate tends to be contextualized and finds several worrying factors about it: namely that it has a vocationalist, managerialist, thrust, is oriented towards the requirements of the market and the global economy and the needs of employers, and subjected to the principle of peformativity. The article concurrently examines recent trends in adult and continuing education that confirm this agenda, and asks how it can be resisted. The possibility of creating a counter-utopia or counter-discourse to it which replaces performativity with justice is proposed, but this runs into the objections of postmodernists against the employment of master narratives. The article then examines whether there are alternative resources within ‘postmodernism’ itself which do not fall foul of these objections within which an oppositional discourse could be constructed.     

The university as agent of social transformation: The postmodern argument considered

This is an abridged version of an essay that will appear inThe Imperiled Academy, edited by Howard Dickman, to be published by Transaction this year.     

向黑暗进军--对几种有影响力的梦理论的探讨

本着重介绍当今国外最有影响力的梦的理论，包括弗洛伊德对梦的认识、Allan Hobson和Robert McCarley的激活一整合假说(the Activation—Synthesis hypothesis)、Crick，F．和Mitchison．G．的保持心理空间假说(Mental housekeeping hypothesis)，另外还介绍了Domhoff，G．W．综合近年来对梦的研究成果，最新提出的发展认知成就理论(the developmental cognitive achievement)。中详细剖析了各理论的特点。最后还对梦的理论发展提出了自己的观点。     

The ages of consent: re-working consensual frameworks in postmodern times

The processes of gaining consent for educational and social research with children and young people have become increasingly complex. A variety of influences contribute to this complexity. In this paper, we use post-structural concepts to focus on the influence of three co-existing and interweaving perspectives: protectionist, participatory and post-structural. Each of these foregrounds different issues in the process of gaining consent for research involving children or young people. We argue for the need to be cognisant of the interplay between the three different perspectives, and what is effected by each. We conclude by proposing a three-overlapping-points-of-entry approach to thinking about research involving children. Our hope is that by sharing the ideas that we have had, we will contribute to those ongoing conversations in which others are trying to re-think consent within the broader framework of why and how do we do research with children and young people.     

A critical-realist response to the postmodern agenda in instructional design and technology: a way forward

Although providing an invigorating foundation for instructional design and technology theory and research, the postmodern agenda would benefit from clearer articulation and further refinement of ontological, epistemological, and methodological positions. Consequently, we reveal possible weaknesses in the radically constructivist-inspired position and, in the spirit of scholarly dialogue, counter with a critical-realist perspective that presents a potentially more innovative and defensible approach to the discovery of scientific knowledge about teaching and learning infused with technology. Without doubt, we concur with postmodernists that issues of agency, identity, race, gender and ethnicity must be addressed and given a central position in instructional design and technology research and practice. Under the critical-realist designator, case study, ethnographic, arts-based, and phenomenological methodologies are appropriate and can co-exist. Our point of distinction is that as a scientific venture, instructional design and technology as a discipline must be more public and transparent in warrants, claims and discourse for proposed change to take place. We conclude by indicating future lines of inquiry inspired by the critical-realist perspective, detailing topics in technology integration and digital games.     

高职教育基本理论问题探讨

高等职业技术教育,其基本理论问题仍是一块处女地,当代高职人有责任对其作出明确的界定,为高职教育的发展与进步明确方向、明确边界。在此思想指导下,对中国高职教育的性质、高职院校的地位、高职教育的特征、高职教育的人才观和高职教育的一般理念等五个方面的问题作出了较系统、明确的回答。     

学生发展理论在学生事务管理中的应用——美国学生发展理论简介

美国大学对学生发展理论的研究有着近百年的历史。美国学生发展理论包括个体与环境、社会心理、认知和价值观和整合型理论四个基本类型。这些理论分别从社会学、心理学、生态学等角度来解释学生成长和发展规律,理论研究的重点逐步从着眼于学生发展的某一特定方面转移到学生的总体发展上。近二三十年来,由于学生群体的不断变化,美国对女性学生、同性恋学生以及其他弱势群体学生的研究逐步增加。学生发展理论深刻影响了美国的学生管理实践,为学生宿舍管理、学务咨询、心理咨询等重要的学生事务管理领域提供了理论指导。     

Developing a discourse of the postmodern community development professional

This article seeks to promote the generation of a discourse of the postmodern community work professional. A shared discourse will lead, we propose to shared capital. We argue that there is a tension between the modern and postmodern for those of us engaged in the profession of community learning and development (CL&D). We need to value reflexivity which allows the community worker to make sense of multiple discourses and to make the transition from modernism to postmodernism. We need in the CL&D profession to recognise that Marxist principles that we espoused in the 1980s may be enhanced by a new theoretical base that still values change.     

试论巴塞尔姆《气球》的后现代特征及其意蕴

美国后现代小说新一代作家之父唐纳德·巴塞尔姆的中篇杰作《白雪公主》被称为后现代小说的经典作品之一.就体现后现代主义写作特征而言,其短篇小说也毫不逊色.他的《气球》就是一篇突出后现代特征--"不确定性"、"碎片性"、"平面性"的短篇范例.     

Leveraging theories in instructional design: a reflective response to OLSit framework

Educational technology research and development - This paper is in response to the article entitled A Design Framework for Enhancing Engagement in Student-Centered Learning: Own It, Learn It, and...     

对爱国主义几个基本理论问题的探讨

对历史上不同时期的爱国主义要做具体分析，要看其在当时条件下在多大程度上与祖国和人民的利益相通或相容。爱国主义崇尚和尊重祖国并不意味着爱国主义不承认用至抹杀个人利益，爱国主义的现实基础是个人利益与祖国利益的一致。当代中国的爱国主义必须以邓小平理论为指导，同党在社会主义初级阶段的基本路线相统一，在建设有中国特色社会主义的实现自身的理性升华。     

Complexity and then some: Theories of action and theories of learning in data-informed decision making

This article presents a synthesis of the complexity of using data in education and highlights some of the promise and challenges of adequately understanding data use across the continuum of accountability to instructional influence in the classroom. Several common themes around the complexity of data use were identified: (1) The nature of the data used, (2) the importance and difficulty of educator data capacity building and sense-making, (3) the importance of characteristics of collaboration, (4) the influence of contextual factors of schools, districts and international settings, (5) the potential negative influence of data use in equity considerations, and (6) the difficulty of determining impact of data use and discerning explanations of why data use initiative work some of the times were examined across the articles. This synthesis concludes with a call for an approach to research in data use in education that concurrently engages multiple aspects of the educational system with a focus on multiple levels of theories of learning that address students, teachers, and organizations.     

浅析认知语义学的研究对高校英语词汇教学的启示

认知语义学在遵从人类认知规律的基础上侧重研究词语和概念结构之间的联系,注重学习者基本认知能力和其经验对习得新知识的影响。本文通过对词汇的认知语义学分析联系,给高校英语词汇教学提供较为有效科学的方法。