Evaluation reflections : Evaluation and explication of educational reform

Research is always and by logical necessity based upon moral and political valuations, and the researcher should be obliged to account for them explicitly. (Myrdal, 1968, 74)     

Implementation of open educational resources in a nursing programme: experiences and reflections

The IMPOER project (implementation of open educational resources, OER) aimed to implement OER in a nursing programme at Dalarna University, Sweden. The university and its nursing programme have long engaged in e-learning, and the nursing programme has recently been awarded the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities E-xcellence Associates Quality Label. The quality award was based on the creation of a roadmap for the continuous development of e-learning and the implementation of OER. The results of the study illustrated that overall, the students and the educators were positive about using OER. They considered that this approach was a new way of learning, and they appreciated the fact that OER were free and easy to access. However, they felt overwhelmed by the amount of material that was available and they were concerned about quality. If the use of OER is to be sustainable, a change in attitudes and practices among students and teachers is likely needed regarding the use of resources on the web.     

Masculinity,educational achievement and social status: a social network analysis

This study utilises a quantitative case study social network approach to explore the connection between masculinity and scholastic achievement in two secondary, all-boys schools in Australia. In both schools two social networks representing social status are explored: the friendship network as a measure of status that includes emotional investment, and the influence network as a measure of status without emotion. Results demonstrate that for both schools the friendship network is not associated with academic achievement, though boys with similar levels of academic application cluster together. However, for the influence network there are effects related to achievement, application and attitudes toward an anti-academic/masculinity connection, as too toward ethno-cultural background. The results differ by school and show the importance of local context. However, similarities in the schools show that masculine identities may be engaged in the social interactions of students, ones which engage masculine stereotypes in public but not in private.     

Valuing knowledge over action: the example of gender in educational leadership

Gender inequalities in educational administration attract calls for research internationally. The degree of concern and the urgent search for cause and cure are characterised as within an epidemic logic, evoking a managerialist ‘scientific’ reliance on evidence-driven change. Taking a poststructuralist approach, the paper uses a study of South African women school principals to position gender research as a tool for change. It considers one area of their experience that impacts on their leadership, marriage, as a vehicle to explore how research might be used. The paper challenges Western Enlightenment teleological cultural assumptions. It suggests that knowledge may be all we have to continue the negotiation of power where there is no solid ground of rightness about what views and actions disempower or the contrary and that it may, in itself, be a powerful force in the face of intractable problems.     

Utilising collaborative forms of educational action research: some reflections

This article considers the value of collaborative forms of educational action research in higher education and the difficulties involved in implementing such forms of research. It is argued that educational action research represents an opportunity for improving teaching and learning and developing the knowledge and skills of those participating in the process. The article draws upon the author's experience of carrying out such research in a department of business and management. The need for a collaborative approach to educational action research is emphasised. However, the introduction of collaborative action research represents a significant challenge because it requires the commitment of participants; it needs both a critical and a supportive role from those involved; and it entails the management of a process in which participants often have different values and levels of influence. Such challenges can only be met by learning from the experience of introducing collaborative educational action research into higher education. Therefore further research (including action research) needs to be carried out into how it can be more successfully implemented.     

Writing in/of/and educational leadership: reflections of a journal editor

In this article, I deal with a journal’s relation to its field and issues involved in writing and publishing, especially in educational administration and educational leadership. Some issues discussed include: the social construction of the field; the conservatism of educational administration and, later, educational leadership; status hierarchies in the field; the false dichotomy of theory/practice; and the hegemony of the quantitative.     

The standards agenda: reflections of a special educational needs co‐ordinator

This study is a life history account of Bev, a special educational needs co‐ordinator who works in a primary school in England. The research examines how, within Bev's experiences, the discourses of integration and inclusion have affected learners with special educational needs. Additionally, the study examines the impact of the ‘performativity’ agenda on a mainstream school with a high proportion of learners with special educational needs. The account illustrates how, in Bev's experiences, inclusion operates within a powerful othering framework which marginalises children with special educational needs and their teachers. Additionally, the account raises questions about the risks of choosing to work in schools with high proportions of children with special educational needs within a discourse of performativity. It raises questions about whether the inclusion agenda has resulted in limited forms of inclusion and whether it was easier to meet children's holistic needs under the integration agenda.     

Using social theory in educational research: a practical guide

In Flanders, action research as a means of enhancing quality in initial teacher training and in teaching practice is not as widespread as in some of the neighbouring countries. In this article the authors argue for trainees and qualified teachers setting up and conducting research in their teaching practice. Rather than perceiving this as an additional assignment for the parties involved, this is put forward as an inherent part of the profession, just as it is the general medical practitioner’s duty to keep up with the latest scientific developments, implement new approaches, and confer and exchange experiences with confreres. The authors suggest that such an approach could contribute to a stronger tie between theory and practice in teacher training itself, and to a reinforcement of the knowledge basis in the teacher training curriculum and the teaching profession. They discuss how research can be conceived in the teacher training curriculum and subsequent professional setting, and propose establishing a narrow link between action research and the learning cycle intrinsic to experiential learning. The article draws on the authors’ experiences at the Department of Teacher Training of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels), where action research is a compulsory subject in the curriculum.     

Post‐graduation reflections on the value of a degree

This article investigates the impact of a changing higher education system on young adults' priorities and motivations. A considerable number of studies have explored the impact of recent changes on patterns of participation within higher education. However, there has been less emphasis on how such changes have been played out in the experiences of graduates and, more specifically, in the interface between higher education and lifelong learning. To redress this gap, this article explores the changes to graduates' experiences brought about by the ‘massification’ of the higher education system. Research conducted amongst young people in Australia has suggested that as result of the normalisation of post‐compulsory education and the encouragement of high aspirations, young people have come to assume a one‐to‐one relationship between being qualified and having a lasting professional career. It has been argued that as a result of these assumptions, young adults are often disappointed when they do eventually enter the labour market, and experience uncertainties previously associated with the end of compulsory schooling. If young adults do indeed feel misled about the rewards of a higher education, it is possible that this may have a significant bearing on their perceptions of the value of engaging in further education and training in the future. Drawing on 90 life history interviews with graduates in their mid‐twenties, this article explores the prevalence of such attitudes in the UK and their impact on young adults' attitudes to lifelong learning.     

Returning to the mirror: reflections on promoting constructivism in three educational contexts

Since the early 1980s educators have argued that reflection is an essential dimension of good pedagogical practice. This discussion of my attempt to support a constructivist approach to learning for three different groups of learners illustrates one effort to engage in such reflection. I analyze several assignments I have designed for differently positioned learners, all within the context of a liberal arts college in northeastern USA. Referring to the assignments I have developed in each context, I analyze the particular kinds of structures, challenges and supports I try to provide to learners, with the goal of surfacing the convictions I hold about learners' identities and capabilities. My intention is to identify underlying pedagogical principles that inform my practice across contexts, not only to make it clearer for myself and others what guides that practice but also, in an effort to acknowledge the evolving and interdependent nature of this work, to articulate the new challenges this analysis poses for me.     

“生命课堂”与教育价值观的变革

＂生命课堂＂的本质是以生为本,教育观念是人们对于教育现象及其本质的认识与看法。价值反映的是主客体之间需要是否被满足的一种关系。教育价值,是指作为客体的教育现象的属性与作为社会实践主体的人的需要之间的一种特殊的关系。以书本、课堂、教师为中心的传统教育价值观必须改革,树立以生为本、生命教育、人文质量等新的教育价值观。     

关于女性人生价值的几点思考

女性人生价值实现的特殊性在于女性人生价值选择的双重性。职业与家庭的角色矛盾引发了女性人生价值问题的一系列思考。因此,对现实生活中女性人生价值实现的障碍、衡量标准、条件和途径进行探讨有一定的现实意义。