The first training colleges for teachers of the blind

A review of Education, Values and Mind: Essays for R. S. Peters, David E. Cooper (ed.) (London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986, £12.95. 219 pages)

     

Can mission predict school performance? The case of basic education in Oman

This article reports on a study that examined the relationship between the mission statements and performance of Basic Education Schools in Oman. The process of mission statement framing was also investigated. A sample of 161 school mission statements was randomly collected from the Ministry of Education school mission portal database representing 19% of the total population. A sequential mixed method of analysis was chosen. The mission statements being classified with respect to 12 themes of which the most frequently of them appearing Academic Achievement (74.5%) and the least frequent Scientific Research Methods (26.1%).

Results show that Learning Outcomes Excellence significantly correlated with a theme around Reconstructing School Environment (r?=?0.243). Also, Islamic Values and Ethics significantly correlated with Scientific Research Methods (r?=?0.221). It was also appeared that school principals spent great efforts on designing school mission statements that directed schools towards achieving their purpose and improving their performance.     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Overcoming Dyslexia: Resource Book 1 Hilary Broomfield Whurr Practical Pre‐School: Exploring Emotions Ros Bayley Inclusion at the Crossroads: Special Education – Concepts and Values Michael Farrell Inclusive Education – A practical guide to supporting diversity in the classroom Tim Loreman, Joanne Deppler and David Harvey Crossing the Minefield: Establishing safe passage through the sensory chaos of autistic spectrum disorder Phoebe Caldwell Understanding Children's Learning: a text for teaching assistants Claire Alfrey (ed) Understanding and using Spoken Language: Games for 7 to year olds Cathering Delamain and Jill Spring     

Education in the network age: globalisation,development and the World Bank

This article reviews the World Bank’s (1999) Education Sector Strategy document as a response to the challenges and the complexities of globalization and development as they relate to education. The article begins with an introduction to the Education Sector Strategy document. It moves on to discuss the nature of the new world economy, particularly its discursive shape, its form and the modalities of its reproduction. In this part of the article, the work of Carnoy and Castells (1999) and other analysts, such as Scott (1997), of what they all the networked economy, is used to show what is at stake for the developing world, and also, by implication, for the world as an interconnected community. Central to the reproductive modalities of the new economy, it will argue, are 1) entirely new education-work requirements and 2) a reconfigured and repositioned state. The article will attempt to show the implications of these for education. The article then moves towards a brief analysis of the developing world and then concludes with an assessment of the World Bank’s sector strategy. In summary, the article will argue that the Education Sector Strategy document is a critically important report but that is underestimates the complexity of the information age economy, particularly its modes of reproduction. The article will argue that the document does not sufficiently address the complexity of the modern developing world, especially the uneven and unequal ways in which its component parts articulate with the globalized order and the role of education in addressing this complexity. Critical weaknesses in the document relate to the relationship between education and work and the role of the state     

人文价值教育隐性课程的开发与利用

随着青海人文价值教育课程开发行动研究的逐步深入,学校大量的富有人文价值的校本课程资源,特别是丰富多样的隐性课程资源,对人文价值教育的实施以及学生的人文素质水平的提高作用日益明显.然而,由于传统教学思想的影响,各项目学校将重点放在了人文价值教育显性课程资源的开发,对人文价值教育隐性课程资源未能予以足够的重视和有效的开发与利用.本文基于对人文价值教育隐性课程开发与利用中的问题分析,从隐性课程开发者、管理者、实施者的角度提出问题解决的策略,以期为人文价值教育深入实施和继续推广提供借鉴.     

A Narrative Inquiry into Chinese Teacher Induction in West China through Cross-Cultural Teacher Development

This article is part of a narrative study of Chinese beginning teacher induction through cross-cultural teacher development, which has been developed and contextualized in the Teacher Education Reciprocal Learning Program between the University of Windsor (UW), Canada and Southwest University (SWU), China. This program is part of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant Project, Reciprocal Learning in Teacher Education and School Education between Canada and China. The partnership builds on the Teacher Education Reciprocal Learning Program, and the Shanghai-Toronto-Beijing Sister School Network. In this article, the authors conducted narrative inquiry with two of the SWU participants in the Teacher Education Reciprocal Learning Program to explore their experience from their cross-cultural learning in Canada to beginning teachers in West China. The findings of the research suggest the need to develop a global and cross-cultural dimension in teacher education and development in West China. It is evident that the cross-cultural experiences in Canada have influenced beginning teachers’ curriculum views, relationship to students, and beliefs about teaching. Their “lived stories” (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990, p. 6) also indicate that the personal, pedagogical, and social influences of cross-cultural experiences play important roles in beginning teachers’ teaching careers.     

Project Transfer—Shifts in the social and cultural capital of Further Education construction students involved in constructing an artwork

The International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies at Newcastle University has been investigating the impact of artists working with young people in cultural sites and schools. This paper focuses on Transfer by the artist Wolfgang Weileder; the construction and de-construction of a full-scale replica of Milton Keynes Gallery at Station Square, Milton Keynes by construction students. The art project involved collaboration between the artist, two Further Education colleges and a construction company involved in the training of construction students. This paper will investigate how the different cultures interacted during the creative learning experience, concentrating on the impact upon the construction students.Transfer provided training opportunities for the students, who simultaneously developed an understanding of contemporary artistic practice and began to take on ownership of the piece. Insights from this project will be presented in order to draw out implications for future collaborations.     

Value/Moral Education in Canada: The Work of AVER

Abstract

The Association for Values Education and Research (AVER) is an interdisciplinary group of researchers located at the University of British Columbia. Focusing upon the competencies deemed necessary for a morally educated person, research, both conceptual and empirical, has been carried out. Teaching/learning units have been developed in order to expose students to value issues and to teach some of the processes of normative reasoning. Teachers have been trained to use some of the processes of values education and courses have been established to expose students to a variety of philosophies, psychologies and curricular approaches to values education.     

A roadblock to social justice? An analysis and critique of the South African education Roadmap

The article provides an analysis and critique of contemporary debates concerning the quality of education in South Africa from a social justice perspective. In particular the article focuses on the Education Roadmap which has gained support from a range of stakeholders in South Africa including key members of the newly elected government. The Education Roadmap is considered in relation to dominant approaches to understanding education quality within the education literature, namely the human capital and human rights based approaches. It is argued that the Roadmap shares characteristics of both approaches although it is particularly influenced by the former. The article sets out an alternative approach based on social justice principle that, whilst developing and extending aspects of dominant approaches, is considered pertinent because it articulates with historical struggles around education in South Africa. It is suggested that although the Roadmap demonstrates limited characteristics of a social justice approach, it falls short in other key aspects and it is these aspects that must form the basis for ongoing struggles for a more equitable education system.     

Internationale Hochschulrankings

Despite disagreement about their validity, reliability and effects, international rankings of universities have become widely used by students and higher education institutions. This article compares three international rankings of universities and analyzes, based on the academic literature, the extent to which they assess relevant aspects of teaching and research and whether these aspects are measured adequately. We study the Academic Ranking of World Universities published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the World University Ranking published by the British magazine Times Higher Education Supplement and the Excellence Ranking published by the German Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE). The analysis is based on the academic literature about these international rankings and the publications by the rankings’ publishers. We draw conclusions about the design of rankings and develop further research questions.     

Effects of early literacy environments on the reading attitudes, behaviours and values of veteran teachers

Research has linked early literacy environments to the attitudes, behaviours and instructional values of reading teachers, but most prior research has addressed preservice or early inservice teachers. This mixed-methods, hypothesis-generating, Q methodology-based study explored the relationship between early literacy environments and the subsequent reading experiences, attitudes and behaviours of a purposive sample of veteran literacy educators. By-person factor analysis identified three empirical profiles of shared reading experiences, attitudes and behaviours: Early Readers Supported by Nurturing Early Literacy Environments; Early Readers Not Supported by Nurturing Early Literacy Environments; and Later Readers Not Supported by Nurturing Early Literacy Environments. Conceptual variables found across all models using qualitative analysis included: Nature of Early Literacy Environments, Early and Later Competence and Appreciation of Reading, Attitudes about the Value of Reading, and Instructional Values and Behaviors in Literacy Education. These models suggest further evidence for the importance of early literacy environments (both home and classroom environments) and provide empirically-derived testable hypotheses for future research.     

The idea of two cultures

The phrase “the two cultures debate” has a particular connotation in the British context. It was prompted by a lecture given in the 1950s by the novelist C.P. Snow. Snow’s first career had been in science, and he drew on his inside knowledge of that domain in a sequence of novels, known collectively as Strangers and Brothers, where he contrasted it with that of the arts and humanities. Attempts have been made to revive the two cultures debate on the grounds that it speaks freshly to the problems we currently face and helps to account for the repression of the humanities. My discussion will align the two cultures debate with other perhaps similar constructions of internal cultural conflict, including some reference to Korean Confucianism and Sirhak (sometimes described as pragmatism). It will, however, take issue with recent attempts to revive Snow’s categories, suggesting that this is a misidentification of the nature of the contemporary threat to the humanities. It will try to show where that threat comes from and how, through education, it might be resisted. This will involve reappraising the importance of works of art in understanding the place of technology in the development of the human. Education in the humanities requires no less.     

The Great Education Reform Bill 1988 ‐ some issues and implications

The article explores some of the wider policy issues and concerns raised by the 1988 Education Bill, in particular the implications of the Bill for control over schooling. There is a brief discussion about the main aspects of the Bill's proposals as they affect schools. The paper then moves on to consider the extent to which the Bill gives power both to the Secretary of State for Education and to parents and school governors, whilst removing power from Local Education Authorities and teachers themselves. It is pointed out that the proposals will make long term educational planning and policy implementation across a range of schools very difficult. The paper concludes by questioning whether all the intentions of the Bill will be realized but notes that opposition to the Bill has not really fully taken on board alternative strategies for improving the quality of education.     

‘The song remains the same’: rebuttal to Sherblom's re‐envisioning of the legacy of the care challenge

Abstract:

The authors analyse and compare two of the major moral education programmes in the United States, namely, Character Education Curriculum and the Values Clarification Programme. The latter is seen to be more egalitarian and to stress the development of autonomy and choice in the child. The former tends to follow the ‘bag of virtues’ approach to moral education and is more directly instructional in its methods. The strengths and weaknesses of these two programmes are compared and it is concluded that both are significant steps towards an effective approach to moral education.     

Prevention in the twenty-first century: promoting health and well-being in education and psychology

This paper explores the science of prevention, with special attention to prevention research and applications in education and psychology, and the importance of prevention in Asian countries. One example that will be highlighted is the recently adopted Korean government policy on Internet addiction which addresses the problem from prevention to treatment. In addition, the paper provides background by summarizing the history of prevention and definitions of prevention. Research and conceptual papers that have been published in the Asian Pacific Education Review serve as examples of important topics to address from a prevention perspective. The topics are school bullying, school achievement, career development, and educator professional development and educational reform. The paper also discusses prevention best practices by summarizing the recently adopted American Psychological Association Guidelines for Prevention in Psychology, emphasizing that the Guidelines are applicable for professions beyond psychology and they also apply in different parts of the world. Finally, the paper discusses prevention in the future, especially noting that advances in science, technology, and population demographics will increase the importance of prevention in the twenty-first century.     

The Training of Adequate Leadership for Week‐Day Religious Education

The 51 abstracts of doctoral theses printed below were sent to the Bureau of Research of the National Council of Churches for abstracting in Religious Education since the last series of such doctoral abstracts was printed in this journal (see Religious Education, Vol. 56, pages 359–382, 1961). The abstracts here printed have been substantially limited to studies containing explicit reference to current educational processes, procedures, and personnel in religious institutions. Persons interested in reviewing complete dissertations usually may obtain these in one of two ways. The school granting the degree will either loan complete dissertations to local libraries on interlibrary loan, or it will direct interested persons to ordering that dissertation on microfilm. Readers are reminded that an indispensable library resource for obtaining information on available doctoral theses from many of the major academic institutions is Dissertation Abstracts. Please do not address requests for dissertations to this magazine or to the National Council of Churches     

Explanations by University Presidential Assistant Zhang Weiying Regarding the Second Draft for Soliciting Opinions of the "Plan for Reforming Beijing University's Engagements and Promotions System" (Draft for Soliciting Opinions)

Rural Education (I) presented an overview of developments from the late 1970s through the early 1990s and was published in Chinese Education and Society, vol. 27, no. 5 (September–October 1994). Rural Education (II) focused on the critical 1987–1989 years, in Chinese Education and Society, vol. 29, no. 1 (January–February 1996). Rural Education (III) continues with selections from 1990 through early 1996.     

Value Education Processes for an Environmental Education Program

ABSTRACT:

Researchers and practitioners in environmental education have widely recognized the importance of facilitating the growth of positive environmental values among learners. Environmental Values Education (EVE) is included in environmental education programs, whether it is consciously planned or is an implicit part of the learner's experience. There are, however, many constraints to developing a well-planned EVE program and integrating this into the general curriculum; foremost among these is the need for teacher training in the theory and methods of EVE. Coursework and practical training for teachers is needed in several areas. When choosing appropriate strategies for teaching environmental ethics, each teacher will need to become familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, his or her own capabilities and need for further theoretical and practical training and the needs of learners and the nature of the situation at hand. Each learner's level of moral development is an especially important factor to consider when choosing and conducting EVE strategies. It is important for teachers to become familiar with school and community attitudes concerning values education, in order to implement a strong program in environmental values education while working within the existing realities of school policies and community expectations.