试论国家课程的作用与特点－－以英格兰国家课程为例

英格兰正在实施的新国家课程力求对国家课程自开始之日起就纠缠不清的几个问题进行梳理和明确，以使教育适应21世纪对自身提出的挑战。它给予我国正在进行的新一轮基础教育课程改革的启示在于：1.国家课程要想取得成功，必须使学校既能从长计议，形成和提升学生恒久性的价值观念，又能对现实中出现的经济和社会变迁积极应对；2.新的国家课程在形成过程中应有教师的高度参与，教师须持有清晰的课程理念；3.跨学科学习主题应在国家课程中有所体现。     

From Flavr Savr Tomatoes to Stem Cell Therapy: Young People’s Understandings of Gene Technology, 15 Years on

This paper explores knowledge and understanding of basic genetics and gene technologies in school students who have been taught to a ‘science for all’ National Curriculum and compares 482 students in 1995 (gene technology was a new and rapidly developing area of science with potential to impact on everyday life; the first cohort of students had been taught to the National Curriculum for Science) with 154 students in 2011 (genomics had replaced gene technology as a rapidly developing area of science with potential to impact on everyday life; science as a core subject within the National Curriculum was well established). These studies used the same questions, with the same age group (14–16) across the same (full) ability range; in addition the 2011 sample were asked about stem cells, stem cell technology and epigenetics. Students in 2011 showed: better knowledge of basic genetics but continuing difficulty in developing coherent explanatory frameworks; a good understanding of the nature of stem cells but no understanding of the process by which such cells become specialised; better understanding of different genetic technologies but also a wider range of misunderstandings and confusions (both between different genetic technologies and with other biological processes); continuing difficulty in evaluating potential veracity of short ‘news’ items but greater awareness of ethical issues and the range of factors (including knowledge of genetics) which could be drawn on when justifying a view or coming to a decision. Implications for a ‘science for all’ curriculum are considered.     

‘Multicultural’ science in South Africa's National Curriculum Statement

Abstract

South Africa's Revised National Curriculum Statement for Further Education and Training (FET) is premised on the view that there are competing perspectives and worldviews from which to make sense of phenomena. Accordingly, elements of indigenous knowledges have been integrated into the discursive terrains of all subjects that form part of the National Curriculum Statement. This policy statement invites several critical questions, some of which are addressed in this article in relation to science education. These include questions as to whether seemingly disparate perspectives of ‘the world’ are competing or complementary and whether science (education) is universal or multicultural. A universalist position holds that Western modern science has superior explanatory powers of understanding the natural world to those of indigenous knowledges. A multiculturalist position holds that science is culturally produced and that cultures have disparate ways of understanding the natural world and that different ways of knowing should be recognised as science. This article discusses critical questions arising from much contestation about the nature of science as a consequence of different perspectives on science held by universalists and multiculturalists. Some of the implications this discussion has for science education in contemporary South Africa are also examined.     

Primary teachers’ self‐perceptions concerning implementation of the National Curriculum for science in the UK

This paper reports on selected aspects of data, with special reference to science, derived from a survey of primary school teachers as part of the Leverhulme Primary Project at the University of Exeter.

A national sample of teachers (N = 901) across 152 schools was surveyed in order to ascertain teachers’ perceptions of competence and needs with respect to the new National Curriculum in the UK. Initially, data were collected in relation to ten subject areas and generic teaching skills, with provision made for free‐form responses concerning National Curriculum implementation.

Selected aspects of these data, principally related to the National Curriculum core area of science, were subjected to detailed further analysis and are reported. Variables identified from the survey findings, and of concern to science educators, included early subject specialism, years of teaching and gender. These were probed for relationships and significance. The tension between competing National Curriculum requirements for specialist subject knowledge and generalist teaching skills was explored.

Findings have implications for innovation in approaches to staff development to cater for perceived needs, teacher educators and curriculum alignment.     

新课程改革在小学语文教师眼中的“利”与“弊”

在众多小学语文教师看来,新课程改革是有＂利＂有＂弊＂的。它促进了教学观念的转变,促使教师创造性地使用教材;有利于发展学生的个性特长,开阔学生的视野,促进学生全面发展;多种评价方式更是有利于学生的成长。但因新课程培训跟不上课程改革的步伐,老师们感到有些力不从心。他们期待得到更多的培训和专家指导,以提升自己的教学水平,提高语文教学效率。     

新课标下音乐课堂教学中的提问艺术

用新课标理念指导音乐课堂教学,是新课标的核心价值所在。创设问题情境,能激发学生的想象力和创造力,能培养学生的创新精神和审美能力。文章以此为依据,研究在音乐课堂教学中如何提问,如何提高质量的问题,才能最大限度地激发学生的音乐潜能,提高课堂教学效益,培养学生的创新意识,从而实现新课标基本理念。     

Developing ‘Butterfly Warriors’: a Case Study of Science for Citizenship

Given worldwide concern about a decline in student engagement in school science and an increasing call for science for citizenship in New Zealand Curriculum, this study focused on a butterfly unit that investigated how students in a year-4 primary classroom learnt about New Zealand butterflies through thinking, talking, and acting as citizen scientists. The butterfly unit included five lessons. The researchers observed the lessons and interviewed students and the classroom teacher. The students completed a unit evaluation survey after the unit. Findings indicate that the students enjoyed and were interested in activities such as reading about butterflies, learning and using new vocabulary, drawing butterfly life cycles, as well as hunting, tagging and releasing butterflies and publishing the data they had collected on a dedicated website. Through their participation in the unit, students had opportunities to act locally and globally, and to ‘see themselves’ in science through ‘being there’ experience. Units like this have the potential to develop students’ interest for longer-term engagement in science, even those students who may never envision themselves as professional scientists.     

初中科学教学要走进学生的心灵

新课程理念下的初中科学教学,教师应走进学生的心灵、想学生所想、与学生平等交流,这样不仅可营造良好的学习氛围,而且有利于发挥学生的主动性,提高科学教学效率。     

Language choice for science education: policy and practice

The Maltese National Minimum Curriculum published in 1999 sought to strengthen bilingualism by reinforcing the practice of teaching and assessing some subjects in English and others in Maltese. It also pointed out that code-switching should only be used in cases of severe pedagogical difficulties. As a new National Curriculum Framework was being prepared some educators suggested language as a possible barrier to student progress and argued that the traditional practice of teaching subjects such as science in English should be reconsidered. This study investigated language choices, function and code-switching in science lessons. Classroom observations, interviews and focus groups showed that in state schools 12-13 year old students were being taught science predominantly in Maltese while reading, writing and formal assessment were in English. Students who were more exposed to English, irrespective of class stream, used this language more frequently than those who were less exposed to the language. The findings seem to suggest that teachers may be overcautious. While code-switching may initially provide technical terms and serve as a bridge between the two languages, eventually it can give way to a more precise and formal use of English thus ensuring both learning of science and development of bilingualism.     

Pupils’ Subject Preferences at Key Stage 3 in South Wales

The perceptions of pupils towards the foundation subjects of English, mathematics, science and technology were determined by structured interviews. The pupils were selected by their responses to a Likert‐type attitude scale previously administered; pupils were banded from the results of the scale into one of three bands: those with positive attitudes, neutral attitudes and negative attitudes towards the subjects under study. Approximately 48 pupils per subject were interviewed for each of the subjects, representing 4.5% of the original survey sampled in the previous research. The results of the research showed a marked predilection for English and games and a lack of enthusiasm for modern foreign languages. There was also little positive response for subjects which occupy a small amount of curriculum time—music and religious education—with art being an exception to this. There were indications that mathematics and science were more ‘love‐hate’ subjects than others. It was found that girls were more forthcoming with criticisms whereas boys were more forthcoming with praise. Overall, there was no evidence that the National Curriculum had either improved or damaged attitudes towards subjects. However, this research indicates that the National Curriculum had removed some of the pre‐existing gender divisions, such as those relating to the separate sciences.     

《新课程标准》背景下高师声乐课程教学中的审美教育

以《新课程标准》提出的基础音乐教育以音乐审美为核心的教学理念为背景,以培养合格的基础教育音乐师资的高师音乐教学为前提,针对审美教育在高师音乐教育声乐课程教学中的运用,提出了转变高师声乐教师教学观念、加强高师声乐教师审美意识和能力的培养、培养学生良好的审美评价能力、激发学生的主观能动性,让学生在实践中获得审美的体验、紧扣情感因素,激活学生心灵中的审美感受的高师声乐课程审美教育原则。     

Girls and Science: Does a core curriculum in primary school give cause for optimism?

The low numbers of students, particularly girls, pursuing science after the age of 16 continues to give cause for concern, despite the inclusion of science as a core subject in the curriculum of primary schools in England and Wales. This article explores the perceptions of primary pupils with regard to science since its introduction as a compulsory component of the curriculum. The findings tend to replicate those of earlier studies, indicating that primary pupils, both girls and boys, view science positively while at primary school and look forward to science at secondary school. However, results show that, within science, girls' and boys' preferences are different. Girls have greater preference for biological topics while boys demonstrate a wider range of interests. Furthermore, the introduction of the National Curriculum appears to have had negligible effect in broadening the interests of girls. It is argued that intervention strategies are needed in order to make all fields of science attractive to girls and that this should begin in the primary phase of education.     

How some college students represent their understandings of the nature of scientific theories

This study explores college students' representations about the nature of theories during their enrollment in a large astronomy course with instruction designed to address a number of nature of science issues. We focus our investigation on how nine students represent their understanding of theory, how they distinguish between scientific theories and non‐scientific theories, and how they reason about specific theories. Students' notions of theory were classified under four main categories: (1) hypothesis, (2) idea with evidence, (3) explanation, and (4) explanation based on evidence. Students' condition for deciding whether a given idea is a scientific theory or not were classified under six criteria: content domain, convention, evidence, mathematical content, methodology, and tentativeness. Students expressed slight levels of variation between their reasoning about scientific theories in general and specific theories they learned in the course. Despite increased sophistication in some students' representations, this study affirms the complex dimensions involved in teaching and assessing student understanding about theories. The implications of this study underscore the need to explicitly address the nature of proof in science and issues of tentativeness and certainty students associate with scientific theories, and provide students with more opportunities to utilize the language of science.     

Powerful students,powerful words: writing and learning in a poetry workshop

A poetry workshop can present opportunities to integrate students' knowledge and perspectives in classroom contexts, encouraging the use of language for expression, communication, learning and even empowerment. This paper describes how adolescent students respond to a poetry workshop in an English classroom centred on teaching writing that is based on their knowledge from their various life experiences and understanding of events beyond the classroom. Informed by New Literacy Studies and third space theories, ethnographic methods of participant observation were used to document an eighth‐grade urban public school classroom where a community member implemented a weekly programme using music lyrics and poetry for an entire school year. Findings illustrate how the poetry workshop encouraged students to contribute to the classroom learning context and engage critically with ideas that were relevant to their lives. Collaborating with a community member and tapping in to the powerful ways of using language to communicate led to important learning opportunities for students in this classroom. Poetic devices such as rhyme, rhythm, metaphor and wordplay enhanced and supported students' own language practices; students used these sophisticated writing strategies as they worked to convey their ideas, experiences and opinions.     

英国入职教师教育国家课程探析

英国入职教师教育国家课程对合格教师资格标准,课程总要求,英语、数学、科学和信息交流技术在学科教学中的应用等几个方面进行了规定,并提出了较为具体的要求。实施其课程的目标是达成合格教师资格标准。该课程具有实践性,注重信息交流技术在学科教学中的作用,注重中小学在教师教育课程中的作用。这些启示我们要尽快制定教师资格标准,强化实践性入职教师教育课程并注重对其实施效果进行指导和监督。     

Tools for Reflection: Video-Based Reflection Within a Preservice Community of Practice

Current reform in science education calls for teachers to understand student thinking within a lesson to effectively address students’ needs (NRC in A framework for K-12 science education: practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 2012; NRC in Guide to implementing the Next Generation Science Standards. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2015). This study investigates how to scaffold preservice teachers with learning to attend to students’ thinking for the purpose of guiding curricular decisions. The study focuses on one team teaching a science unit during their early field experience. We sought to understand how participants’ thoughts and abilities changed through participation in a moderated community of practice using video of their own teaching as a reflective tool. We examined how these changes affected both their classroom practice and their decision-making for future lessons. Evidence shows growth in participants’ ability to identify opportunities to elicit, assess, and use students’ thinking to guide instructional decisions. Implications for use of the approach used in this study to begin developing novice teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for teaching science are discussed.     

Trainee teachers’ experience of primary science teaching,and the perceived impact on their developing professional identity

This study took place within an environment of educational change in teaching and assessment in the UK, where the National Curriculum (NC) and National External Examination syllabi undertook significant revision. Science education specifically, has seen aspiration raised to allow pupils to achieve a greater depth of understanding at Key Stage 4 and hence facilitate advanced study. Central to the development of effective scientific understanding is teacher preparation. This study examined the factors that impacted on the experiences of primary teachers during their training. Questionnaires completed by a sample of one hundred and sixteen trainee teachers followed by semi-structured interviews of sixteen trainees were used as a means of interpreting Post-Graduate Certification in Education (PGCE) trainee teachers’ experiences during taught university sessions and school based training. The findings showed that the majority of the trainees rated their training highly, and perceived themselves to be confident primary science pedagogues. They felt, however that the very limited opportunities to observe and teach science during their training negatively influenced their overall development.     

刍议现代教育过程中的主动学习

在现代教育过程中，教育不再是由教师单纯地向学生传授知识。主动学习作为一种全新的教育理念，强调教育要以学生的主动性为条件，同时又要使学生的主动性得以发展，注重培养学生从事独立的自我学习、自我修养和自我发展的能力。学生个体的生物学基础、教育心理学领域提供的心理实验证据、教师所提供的外部指导与激励以及现代科学提供的技术支持将使主动学习从可能走向现实。     

数码钢琴集体课的教学探讨

数码钢琴集体课采取多元化的教学形式,激发学生的学习热情,在教学中把联奏、音乐理论、即兴创作等综合内容结合在一起,使钢琴教学紧密地与音乐其他学科相互联系,相互渗透,达到在提高钢琴技能的同时提高音乐综合素质。