The Delphi method: gathering expert opinion in religious education

The ‘Does Religious Education work?’ project is part of the Religion and Society programme funded by two major research councils in the UK. It sets out to track the trajectory of Religious Education (RE) in secondary schools in the UK from the aims and intentions represented in policy through its enactment in classroom practice to the estimations of its impact by students. Using a combination of approaches, we are in the process of investigating the practices which determine and shape the teaching of RE in secondary schools through linked case studies, semi-structured interviews and a practitioner enquiry strand. In this article we focus on the first stage of the project where we used the Delphi method to elicit expert opinion on the aims and intentions of RE in secondary schools in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. We outline the place of the Delphi process within the rationale of the project, discuss emerging themes and some of the issues arising from the use of this approach.     

Higher education reform in perspective: The Japanese experience

Japanese colleges and universitiesare in an age of great transition. Currentreforms can be counted as some of the mostextensive and radical changes in the history ofJapanese higher education. Although the agendaof recent reforms has been conditioned bycontemporary socio-political circumstances,many of the ongoing changes are rooted inhistory. In this article, the reforms ofJapanese higher education are examined from along-range historical perspective. Thoughpre-war years are briefly mentioned, the mainconcern here is with reforms after World WarII.     

高等教育市场化改革思路分析

中国高等教育体系需要从根本上进行改革,变国家包办高等教育模式为市场导向教育模式,才能激发动力,提高教育系统效率。本文分析了市场化改革必要性,提出了改革基本路径,并针对一些改革矛盾进行了分析。     

The lessons of international education reform

This paper examines the nature of education reform in English‐speaking countries in an attempt to draw out its implications for other countries. The focus is on three main areas of reform: decentralization and local management of schools, markets and choice programs, and increased use of large‐scale student assessment. Other countries should be very cautious in borrowing these ideas about education reform for at least three reasons: these reforms embody problems of contradictory purposes; reforms with similar names actually end up looking quite different because of contextual differences; and such reforms are weakly connected to teaching and learning and hence to outcomes. A program of reform in any setting should be grounded in a clear sense of educational purpose that fits the particular social context.     

论现代教育技术在教育改革中的作用

当前现代科技手段已经越来越多的运用到教育改革中,现代教育技术作为一门迅速发展的学科,在现代的教育教学中发挥了重要作用。现代教育技术在教学内容、教学方式、教学组织、教学模式等方面的变革和创新是传统教学无法相比的,因此具有强大的发展潜力。     

高校教育改革所面临的问题及对策

高校教育改革已经成为一项非常迫切的任务,高校教育直接关系到我们国家高级人才的培养,如果不能去除影响高校发展的不利因素,不能把高校教育改革顺利推进,必然会影响我们国家人才软实力,削弱我国的综合竞争力。本文分析了高校教育改革中遇到的问题,问题主要有高校行政化现象严重、教育改革相关部门配合少、教育观念和体制落后等问题,针对这些问题提出了与之相应的对策,通过这些措施的采取更好推进教育高校教育改革。     

The reform of higher education in Egypt

The historical background of higher education in Egypt, the present organizational structure, as well as current challenges and constraints are described to anchor an assessment of the strategies for educational reform which are presently underway. Higher education in Egypt witnessed uncontrolled growth throughout the decade of the 1970s until 1983 when several reforms were initiated. Three broad goals have been targeted: containing enrollments through new admissions policies and testing practices; improving program quality by updating curriculum and focusing on important learning outcomes; and promoting responsible fiscal management by developing management information systems, training administrators in their use, and exploring cost recovery from various sources. This article addresses the progress of these reforms to date, makes recommendations for their fuller development and implementation, and offers comments on their significance to other developing nations.     

Autonomy: The importance of a scientific theory in education reform

The six national goals established by the National Governors' Association for education reform in the 1990s were conceived by people who had the power to decide what outcomes they wanted based on their own values and priorities. Although it is impossible to avoid questions of values, it is necessary in defining goals for education to consider scientific, explanatory theories about how human beings acquire knowledge and moral values. Jean Piaget's conceptualization of autonomy, in his unusual sense of the term, provides an overall aim for the development of individuals as well as of society, both in the intellectual and the moral realms. Autonomy as the aim of education is based on constructivism, a scientific theory, and would obviate the outdated conceptualization and contradictions among the six national goals.     

关于教育改革背景下的汉语言教育改革的思考

本文从当前我国高校汉语言文学教育的现状入手,着重分析汉语言教学中存在的现象与问题,并结合当前国家教育改革背景下,对于如何改革创新汉语言教育提出了几点对策。     

The culture of education policy making: curriculum reform in Shanghai

This paper explores the culture of education policy making in Shanghai using the conceptual tool of a ‘global assemblage’. A global assemblage is essentially a collection of ideas and practices that arise from the interplay between a global form and situated sociocultural elements. Focusing on the global form of curriculum reform, this paper explains how the Shanghai municipal government justifies the introduction of the ‘Second Curriculum Reform’ using the global imperative while maintaining its socialist ideology and central control on high-stakes exams. This paper highlights the active roles played by the municipal government and other local educational stakeholders in assembling their own logics, tactics and counter-measures in the contested space of the assemblage. It is argued that the success of the curriculum reform is mediated and vitiated by the sociocultural elements of a dominant exam-oriented culture and the traditional approaches of memorisation, repeated practice and didactic teaching. The complex and unpredictable process of implementing curriculum reform in Shanghai illustrates the culture of education policy making against a backdrop of globalisation as a problem space.     

数学教育的价值与数学教育改革

历史上每一次重大的数学教育改革 ,无不关涉到数学教育价值的抉择与建构 ;数学教育的“训练价值”与“实用价值”、“知识价值”与“能力价值”一直处在“钟摆”与“嬗变”之中 ;新世纪的数学教育、尤其是数学课程改革 ,应该把握住数学的本质特征和根本特点 ,在提高学生的数学素质 (数学知识、技能和思想、方法 ,数学概括、抽象和推理、证明能力等 )的基础之上 ,促进学生理性和非理性充分、和谐地发展。     

用西方教育经济理论浅析我国研究生教育改革的必要性

本文运用人力资本理论、筛选理论、劳动力市场划分理论,结合目前研究生教育中出现的主要问题及其原因,分析了研究生教育改革的必要性,并试图提出研究生教育的改革方向。     

影响师范教育课程改革的因素分析

随着我国经济的飞速增长,人们对师范教育课程的质量要求越来越高。但目前我国的师范教育课程改革工作中依然存在一些突出问题。本文通过概述我国师范教育的现状与改革的作用,针对影响师范教育课程改革的因素提出相应的解决措施。