An International Partnership Promoting Psychological Well-Being in Sri Lankan Schools

This article illustrates the application of psychological and educational consultation in an international setting. With the goal of promoting psychological well-being of the school-age population, a partnership was formed between an American school psychologist and a Sri Lankan educational sociologist and teacher educator. The partners, or co-consultants, engaged in a recursive research–intervention process using participatory culture-specific system consultation to learn the culture; conduct formative research; form partnerships in selected systems; and subsequently develop culture- and context-specific conceptual models, interventions, and assessment/evaluation measures for promoting the psychological well-being of students in Sri Lankan schools. This article describes the stages of the collaborative work across almost two decades and the challenges and benefits inherent in international partnerships.     

学校变革与中国乡村社会之命运

目前中国乡村社会之学校教育缺乏自我服务意识，一味追求为城市奉献少许人才的使命，这势必影响中国乡村社会之人的生活质量。因而可依靠变革乡村学校观念，培养乡村人的合作精神与自治精神，变革学校内部精神状况两大方面，来改变中国乡村社会之命运的问题。     

A University Grants Commission in a South Asian setting: The Sri Lankan experience

University education in Sri Lanka in modern times has a short history of just over six decades. From 1921 to 1959 there was one University College (1921–1942) or University on the island. With the establishment of two other universities in 1959, the need for co-ordination of higher education activity through a University Grants Commission (UGC) or similar body arose.The establishment of the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) in 1966 was part of a policy of bringing greater government influence to bear on universities and was therefore resented and resisted by the latter. However, the new body, while it lasted, served as a very effective buffer against undue government interference in university affairs. The six year period beginning in 1972 saw a process of centralization of university education under strong government control. The UGC established in 1979 has much the same powers as the NCHE, a wider range in fact than those enjoyed by the British UGC, and much greater influence in university education than the British prototype.Universities in Sri Lanka have always depended on the state for almost all their funds. While this has naturally given government much influence in shaping the structure and expansion of universities, the principle of university autonomy was strongly entrenched between 1942 and 1966. There was a departure from this in 1966, but more particularly between 1972 and 1978. The Universities Act. No. 16 of 1978 re-introduced the concept of autonomous universities. The one area in which state influence has been the predominant factor is university admissions and this influence began in the mid-1950s long before the concept of university autonomy came under systematic attack from the government's Ministry of Education.The author has been a member of the University Grants Commission since its establishment in 1979. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the University Grants Commission or the University of Peradeniya.     

Communicative Action for Reforming University Education: Comments from a Sri Lankan Case Study

There is an urgent need for a new wave of learning that will transform university education through communicative action. Open discourse, by concentrating on values, feelings, fears, and hopes, enables a trusting basis for critical and problem-and-solution discussions. Dominated by an instrumental type of rationality, the existing dominant paradigm of university education is becoming progressively coercive and destructive of student and collegial life-worlds. Communicative action, through open discourse between universities, governments, and business, could lead to increasing transnational openness. Can developed countries play a role in this process without dominating and destroying university life-worlds in developing countries?     

农民工子女就学模式选择与泸县实践

农民工子女在"流入地"就学与原住地就学模式相比并不具有比较优势,而"原住地"就学模式也面临着教育资源低配置和"留守儿童"的现实问题.随着我国免费义务教育制度的实施以及中央加大对基础教育等"民生工程"的经费投入,原本带有应急措施意味的"流入地"就学模式,其政策选择条件已经改变.四川泸县的原住地就学改进实践表明,"原住地"就学模式似乎具有比较优势,也似乎更符合基础教育的长期发展战略.     

农村中小学布局调整对学生学习时间的负面影响

农村中小学布局调整后学生上学距离变远使得学生上学的在途时间普遍增加.在相同的学校作息制度下,在途时间变长对学生的学习时间产生了挤占效应,导致部分学生的课余学习时间不足,有效学习时间相应缩短.农村中小学布局调整通过影响学生的学习时间投入进而影响学生的学习结果,已经成为影响农村义务教育过程公平和结果公平不可忽略的因素.     

农村中学英语教学跨文化意识培养现状与对策探略

鉴于农村中学英语教学所面临的跨文化意识培养的缺失和英语教师自身跨文化意识发展不足的现状,提出在农村中学英语教学中创设跨文化交际教学环境、开展文化体验课外活动和教师跨文化意识发展的三个对策。     

北京城乡儿童入学成熟水平的比较研究

以《儿童入学成熟水平诊断量表》作为工具,对北京城乡165名5-6岁的儿童入学成熟水平进行测查,结果显示：除了在运动协调能力及学习品质两个维度上城乡儿童不存在统计学上差异外,其他六个维度,即视知觉能力、听知觉能力、知觉转换能力、数学能力、语言沟通能力及社会适应能力,城区儿童明显优于农村儿童。存在这一城乡差距的原因在于幼儿园教育质量、家庭因素、儿童配合度等方面,建议政府加大农村公立幼儿园建设力度、加强农村幼儿园教育质量提升、实施农村家庭教育辅助计划。     

农村初中学生辍学问题的调查研究

发展农村教育,办好农村学校,是直接关系8亿多农民切身利益,满足广大农村人口教育需求的一件大事;是提高劳动者素质,促进传统农业向现代农业转变,从根本上解决农村、农业和农民问题的关健所在;是转移农村富余劳动力,推动工业化和城镇化,将人口压力转化为人力资源优势的重要途径;是加强农村精神文明建设,提高农民思想道德水平,促进农村经济社会协调发展、全面奔小康的重要举措。农村教育工作是教育工作的重中之重。我国“普九”的工作重点在农村,难点也在农村,而“普九”的“主战场”又主要集中在农村初中。因此,认真研究农村初中学生辍学问题…     

Adoption of Knowledge Management by the Sri Lankan University librarians in the light of the National Policy on University Education

This paper discusses the concept of knowledge and provides a definition of Knowledge Management. It also gives an insight into the Sri Lankan University context and the background which required the national policy reforms on universities. It also describes the four key areas of the national policy on university education and the knowledge requirements of the policy implementers. In the fourth section, the paper discusses Knowledge Management by the university librarians. The position of the Sri Lankan University librarian within the university, management of knowledge within the university and the skills required by the librarians for Knowledge Management are discussed.     

The effectiveness of teaching science subjects through English medium: A narrative analysis of teacher experiences and perceptions in Sri Lankan secondary schools

This article analyses four narratives told by four teachers teaching science subjects in four different public secondary schools in the district of Gampaha in Sri Lanka. Gampaha is the second most populous district in Sri Lanka, and is known for excellent results in General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level) exams which school leavers sit at the end of the secondary school cycle. The teachers’ narratives focus on the policy and practice of teaching science subjects through English at secondary level, which was reintroduced in a small number of selected government schools in Sri Lanka in 2002. After using the two local languages, Sinhala and Tamil, for nearly half a century, the Sri Lankan education authorities decided to bring back the English medium to the teaching of science subjects at secondary level as a third language option. One of the policymakers’ reasons was an apparent decline in the English-language fluency of students at this level. To implement the new policy, science teachers (who had themselves been taught in Sinhala or Tamil) were asked to teach in English. More than a decade into the English-medium option, the author interviewed four of them. Their testimonies about their experiences in teaching science subjects offer valuable insights into the difficulties experienced by both teachers and students when teaching and learning in a foreign language such as English. The author’s analysis of his respondents’ statements reveals hidden realities which challenge the benefits of reintroducing English as a medium of instruction (MOI) for science subjects. Thus, the lived experiences of the teachers may help to inform language policy in education in Sri Lanka, and perhaps also in other countries.     

新形势下农村成人教育发展问题研究

在我国社会经济高速发展新的形势下,远眺我国农村成人教育发展整体格局,深度和精度分析我国农村成人教育发展的有利条件和不利因素,不仅可以折射出过去与现在农村成人教育改革发展的历史问题与现实困厄,更可以展示我国农村社会经济发展的前景与未来。关键是有必要对农村成人教育的发展进行前瞻性研究和战略性规划。     

Black Families and Schooling in Rural South Carolina: Families' and Educators' Disjunctive Interpretations of Parental Involvement

The positive impact on children's educational trajectories when effective home-school partnerships are established has been extensively documented. This article shares findings from a 13-month research study in a rural, southern community in South Carolina that sought to investigate the nature of the “partnerships” formed between educators and families, while challenging stereotypes and misperceptions that prevent such partnerships from unfolding. In doing so, the researcher makes visible the experiences of Black families, students, and schools in communities rarely studied—poor, rural Black communities in the southern United States. The researcher uses the actual words of the teachers and parents to make visible the disjunctive interpretations about one of the major themes from the study, parental involvement as relationships. Finally, the researcher offers implications for educators and parents as they do the work necessary to form relationships that really benefit students.