Integrating Technology in Schools: a cohort process for graduate level inquiry

ABSTRACT

This article reports a graduate level program designed to facilitate inquiry into the integration of technology in schools (ITS). The ITS Process is described within the frame of insights related to teacher developmental readiness for change. The process of teacher education is viewed as change within the dialectic of ideas and actions built around the dynamics of reflection, experience, modeling, planning, and a return to reflection. Four domains of inquiry, the building of a community of thinkers, a broad base of collaboration, and transdisciplinary study are presented as the foundation of the ITS Process. A four semester process of study and the concomitant curriculum are outlined, and strategies for facilitating the process are explored.     

Intercultural learning in graduate studies at an Israeli college of education: Attitudes toward multiculturalism among Jewish and Arab students

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the factors which affect attitudes towards multiculturalism among Jewish and Arab graduate students who experience intercultural learning in an Israeli-Jewish academic college of education. In Israeli society, it is in higher education institutions where young people from different ethnic groups first encounter the ‘others’. This is due to the structure of the Israeli elementary and secondary education system, which is divided into Jewish and Arab segregated sub-systems. In contrast, the country’s higher education institutions are open to everyone. The research population was composed of first and second year graduate students, all of whom were practicing teachers or involved in other educational work. Participants completed questionnaires and a smaller sample was also interviewed. All of the students are practicing teachers or involved in other educational work. Everyone perceived the college’s socio-cultural climate as an open and multicultural one in both years of study. However, these positive feelings characterized Jewish students to a larger extent than Arab students, while the socio-cultural aspect as well as the quality of the academic experience had a positive impact on multicultural attitudes primarily among Arab students. Thus, a multicultural climate is not enough to effect a positive change in entrenched attitudes toward multiculturalism. Multicultural education policy should also be reinforced through a formal academic curriculum, so as to set an example for ongoing social change which will further encourage graduate students—majority and minority alike—to implement their multicultural positive experiences in their own schools in the future.     

研究生教育课程结构及其优化的理性思考

合理的课程结构对于研究生培养质量提高具有至关重要的作用。笔者从研究生教育课程结构出发,分析了课程结构中选修课程比例、非正式课程比例、课程国际化比例与课程层次比例存在的问题,并且针对问题设计出研究生教育课程结构优化的对策。     

Curriculum Development and New Information Technology

ABSTRACT

Many reports of achievements in developments in new information technology in schools lament the, as yet, unfulfilled hopes that they will radically change education. Those involved in new information technology sometimes seem to imagine that the problems of change that they face are somehow unique and have not been faced by others who have set out to change the curriculum.[l] I shall argue that the view of curriculum change employed by many policy makers and by some of those charged with implementing policy is inadequate.[2] While some acknowledge the need to change attitudes and practices in schools, national programmes have often failed even to include teacher training elements, and few have addressed the school as a focus of change, although the classroom has been addressed. My argument is that a better awareness of the common issues of curriculum change may make individual changes such as envisaged by the advocates of new information technology more effective, or at least less painful! Further I urge for a focus on the school, rather than individual classrooms, for both support and research efforts.

In a previous paper I traced the development of technology education in general (McCormick, 1991), this being a curriculum area that has some overlap with information technology. There are parallels to be drawn with this case of development, indeed there is direct overlap, and I will seek to illustrate this. In arguing for a more sophisticated view of curriculum change I will not be suggesting easy policy or programme changes, nor seeking to explain the lack of impact of new information technology, rather I hope to encourage (as I said above) an emphasis on the school and new directions for research. To facilitate my argument I start with a consideration of curriculum change in general, as it relates to national education systems, then consider the case of curriculum change in technology education, and then give an overview of development strategies in the new information technologies.[3] I then apply the evidence from these three sections to the fourth when I deal with curriculum change in the new information technologies, and end the paper by considering the implications for curriculum development in the new information technologies.     

AGING CURRICULUM AND RESEARCH CAPACITY IN SCHOOLS OF SOCIAL WORK: A NATIONAL SURVEY

Aging related social work research structures are vital in demonstrating the effectiveness of social work services with the elderly population, especially with the current focus on cost-effectiveness of services. However, not much is known about strategies employed by schools of social work to engage in social work research in the field of aging. This study surveyed all accredited MSW programs in the United States and had a response rate of 62%. The survey explored curriculum issues and interest levels in aging at both Master's and Doctoral levels, formal aging research structures within schools of social work and identified strengths and limits of these formal structures. The study also identified strategies for developing social work research in the field of aging in graduate schools of social work.     

对高校特教学科人才培养方向的思考

对北京师范大学1 990—2 0 0 3年间1 1届特殊教育专业2 35名本科生、2 4名硕士生就业情况进行分析,看出从计划招生分配向市场调节学生自主选择专业和就业的改革过程中,特殊教育专业学生的就业领域由窄变宽,就业的范围包括:基层特殊教育学校、康复机构、特殊教育师资培养机构、教育行政部门或残联机构、高校或科研机构、普通学校。在本科毕业和研究生毕业两次选择当中反映出两个特点:一是放弃第一次就业选择,报考研究生的比例在上升;二是研究生毕业后从事特殊教育工作的比例明显低于本科毕业生。结合一些国家和地区高等特殊教育学科的课程设置,以及我国教育领域的全面改革,本文认为高等特殊教育师资的培养,特殊教育学科的课程设置必须从用人市场和学生自身发展的需要两个层面考虑,与时俱进进行改革,在原有学科基础上发展新的学科增长点。     

Tactics or strategies? Exploring everyday conditions to facilitate implementation of an Indigenous graduate attributes project

In 2017 Universities Australia (UA), the peak body representing Australian universities released its Indigenous Strategy 2017–2020. The document unites universities together in common goals for Indigenous achievement, filling a notable gap in the Australian higher education landscape. The Strategy outlines a comprehensive plan for enhanced Indigenous outcomes in critical areas of higher education including student access and success, graduate research, and community engagement. This paper focuses on the implementation of Indigenous curriculum for all Australian university graduates which is a key aspect of the Strategy. The changing Indigenous higher education landscape invites the nuanced analysis that critical examination of universities, as organisations, might elicit. Drawing on de Certeau’s notion of tactics and strategies, the paper examines the policy and cultural climate of an Australian university which supports an Indigenous Graduate Attribute curriculum project.     

Toward Effective Teaching and Learning: stories of primary schools'environmental science interest and action

This article provides some stories of primary school teachers' and students' experiences of implementing new science teaching and learning strategies through an action research process that have also led to more environmental education occurring in the schools' curriculum. The stories have been constructed from the coordinators' journals, observations and interviews with the teachers and students in the schools. The teachers in the schools are consciously engaged in an action research-based model of curriculum change in science teaching and learning. The stories also acknowledge the critiques of critical theory in environmental education and the possibilities for a socially critical approach in environmental education within a context of the limited opportunities for both science and environmental education in primary schools.     

Interactions between principals and teacher leaders in the context of Chinese curriculum reform: a micropolitical perspective

This paper draws from a larger exploratory qualitative study that investigated the perceptions of principals and teacher leaders regarding their interactions in Chinese urban primary schools during contemporary curriculum reform. Insights from micropolitics, notably two core constructs of cooperation and conflict, were utilised to examine the interactions of participants. The research found that principals and teacher leaders employed exchange and facilitation as two strategies during cooperative processes; and they adopted enforcement and compromise in conflictive processes. Eight new sub-dimensions under the four strategies emerged from the interview accounts. Findings indicate that most principals were exercising their power ‘through’ their teacher leaders who in turn were working in alignment with their principals to achieve the desired outcomes in schools. Principals in some circumstances used power ‘over’ as a traditional approach, while power ‘with’ was not apparent in participants’ comments. The paper contends that traditional Chinese cultural attitudes towards education, as shaped through Confucianism, were also discernible in framing the nature of some of the interactions between principals and teacher leaders.     

Hunting and gathering: new imperatives in mapping and collecting student learning data to assure quality outcomes

Assurance of learning (AOL) is a quality enhancement and quality assurance process used in higher education. It involves a process of determining programme learning outcomes and standards, and systematically gathering evidence to measure students' performance on these. The systematic assessment of whole-of-programme outcomes provides a basis for curriculum development and management, continuous improvement, and accreditation. To better understand how AOL processes operate, a national study of university practices across one discipline area, business and management, was undertaken. To solicit data on AOL practice, interviews were undertaken with a sample of business school representatives (n?=?25). Two key processes emerged: (1) mapping of graduate attributes and (2) collection of assurance data. External drivers such as professional accreditation and government legislation were the primary reasons for undertaking AOL outcomes but intrinsic motivators in relation to continuous improvement were also evident. The facilitation of academic commitment was achieved through an embedded approach to AOL by the majority of universities in the study. A sustainable and inclusive process of AOL was seen to support wider stakeholder engagement in the development of higher education learning outcomes.     

Community‐based environmental education—a case study of teacher–parent collaboration

A case study of school–community collaboration in an elementary community school in Israel follows up an environmental education (EE) school‐based curriculum that involves the parents and community members in various indoors and outdoors activities. The collaboration was established in the framework of the Community School Approach. In these schools, parents are encouraged to be involved in planning school‐based curriculum and participating in school's formal and informal activities. The aim of the study was to describe environmental education‐based school–community partnerships and to examine the advantages and limitations for such collaboration. Parents, teachers and community members were interviewed for a period of three years. Most of the participants acknowledged the unique nature of EE that allows such a partnership, emphasizing local ideas of project‐based learning in environmental education. The study describes an exemplary collaboration and the development of local school–community partnerships, which could be adapted by other communities within elementary or middle schools.     

Profiles of change in motivation for teaching in higher education at an American research university

The current study employed an emergent theoretical model of teaching role identity and motivation to investigate the change in conception of and motivation for teaching in higher education of research graduate students who teach in the United States. Fifteen participants took a graduate-level seminar as part of a two-course teaching professional development (PD) program. Qualitative content analysis of the participants’ pre-seminar and post-seminar reflective essays focused on change in the theoretical model’s components – participants’ goals, self-perceptions, epistemological beliefs, and action possibilities – and their alignment. The findings suggested four kinds of change in each component, ranging from dramatic change to reversed change, as well as three general profiles of change labeled ‘Transformation,’ ‘Elaboration’, and ‘Stagnation’. The model proved useful in conceptualizing the change in participants’ teaching-related conceptions and motivation and could provide a guide for future research on teaching motivation and for designing and evaluating teaching PD in higher education.     

从基础教育课程改革看中小学教师继续教育

人文精神是构建基础教育新课程体系和整合分科教学的灵魂,中小学教师继续教育应以基础教育课程改革为核心内容,培训院校要努力探索塑造中小学教师人文精神的策略.     

“I Don't Feel Comfortable Reading Those Books in my Classroom”: A Qualitative Study of the Impact of Cultural and Political Vignettes in a Teacher Education Course

This article chronicles a qualitative study of the impact of a pedagogical practice called cultural and political vignettes (CPVs) on graduate students enrolled in a teacher education course. CPVs are cultural and political “situations” that are presented to teachers so that they can practice the decision-making skills that they will use in the diverse classrooms of New York City public schools. This study investigates whether engaging in CPV activities helped participants to feel more prepared to address culturally and politically sensitive issues in the elementary schools at which they are employed. The preliminary findings of this qualitative study are promising. They indicate that responding to, creating, exchanging, and engaging in situated performances of CPVs provided participants with occasions to practice their written, verbal, and nonverbal communication skills in a supportive classroom environment where they could discuss cultural and political issues that are rarely addressed in teacher preparation courses.     

日本教师教育研究生院课程体系述评

日本文部科学省为适应社会经济变革、以学生"生存能力"为培养目标的教育改革以及培养教育领域高层次专门人才的要求,在各大学设立了教师教育研究生院。其教师培养课程体系的基本框架包括两部分,即确定以实践能力为核心的教师教育培养目标和由必修课程、学科领域的选修课程及学校现场的教育实习构成的研究生层次的教师教育课程体系。其借鉴意义在于,研究生层次的教师教育应以培养"实践能力"为目标,应强化实践性、应用性课程内容。     

Ethical Practices and Implications in Distance Learning Ugur Demiray and Ramesh C. Sharma,Eds.

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of traditionally spoken linguistic analysis approaches for understanding the nature and outcomes of online interaction. The study took place with twenty-eight elementary school teachers in ten suburban Chicago schools involved in a technology-supported, problem-based learning curriculum development effort. The asynchronous and face-to-face communications of participants were monitored to test the utility of linguistic discourse variables for understanding interaction. The evidence showed that similar sense-making and interaction strategies are used in both face-to-face and online dialogue but that the strategies were significantly more prevalent in the face-to-face than online dialogue. When critical reflection was studied as an outcome of both forms of dialogue, asynchronous electronic communication was significantly more reflective than face-to-face discourse.     

高职院校实训教学及其质量监控探讨——以江苏经贸职业技术学院为例

随着高等职业教育的不断发展和新技术在高职教学中的广泛应用,高等职业学校教学组织形式正在发生一些变化。这就要求教师应具有课程教学能力、课程开发能力、对企业工作过程的分析及高度概括能力、学习性工作项目的开发与设计能力、课程教学的组织与控制能力、引导并启发学生自主学习的能力等。教师对基于工作过程的课程开发是课程改革的关键。     

试论我国研究生教育课程体系建设与改革

从研究生培养的过程管理角度出发,在调研的基础上,从课程目标、课程内容、课程的实施、课程考核与课程评价等方面系统分析我国研究生教育课程体系建设中存在的问题及对策,力求通过对影响研究生培养质量的关键要素分析,准确把握研究生培养过程环节的质量控制,提高研究生培养质量。     

Responsible Eclecticism: Using a Structured Analysis Process to Facilitate Curriculum Discourse with Graduate Preservice Early Childhood Students

Teaching from an informed and culturally responsive philosophy of education is critical for teaching in the 21^st century and engagement in reconceptualizing the field of early childhood. This article describes a process used with graduate preservice early childhood education students over a two-course sequence, to generate a personal philosophy through structured synthesis of (a) personal beliefs, (b) major schools of Western thought, (c) non-Western educational traditions, and (d) widely known and used early childhood curriculum models. Five key questions, numerous graphic organizers, criterion-referenced rubrics, and examples of student work are provided to illustrate the process used for content analysis and reflective activities.