Constructing Roma students as ethnic ‘others’ through orientalist discourses in Bulgarian schools

This article uses the case of Bulgarian, predominantly Roma, schools to illustrate the long history of stereotypes about Roma people dating back to modernity’s discursive binary oppositions of ‘civilized’ vs. ‘barbarians.’ The data from a longitudinal study with 12 Bulgarian educators showed the modes by which Roma as the Other is created in the school context as a universal cognitive category, internalized in social and individual identities that divide the world into ‘us’ and ‘them.’ The paper argues that Bulgarian teachers’ perceptions of attitudes, behavior, and values of Roma communities are, in fact, a projection of the discursive representations with which western European modernity has constructed the Balkan region. This research contributes to further explicating how the ideological paradigm of neoliberalism intersects with the old Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment dichotomy of civilized–barbarians and how it is reconfigured to construct those incapable of fitting within the entrepreneurial spirit of the free market efficiency as unwilling to democratize. The case of Bulgarian, predominantly Roma, schools serves to illustrate how peoples who are Othered in the western European discourse designate their own Other, and thus provides a fruitful approach to understanding how Roma’s social exclusion is constructed and situated.     

Relational aggression among boys: blind spots and hidden dramas

Although boys too are involved in relational aggression, their experiences are overshadowed by the focus on relational aggression among girls. This paradox mirrors the empirical puzzle that forms the starting point for this article: while teachers saw relational aggression as a ‘girl problem’, we found a vast undercurrent of relational aggression among boys. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with staff and students in Norwegian schools, we ask how boys’ relational aggression can be left unnoticed by school staff. We demonstrate that there is a gap between the experiences boys have of being victims of relational aggression and their expression of this, in terms of both their inability to talk about it and its undramatic form. We argue that this represents a blind spot for school staff and for the boys themselves, and suggest that gendered knowledge production contributes to reproducing the invisibility of relational aggression among boys.     

高职院系二级教学管理工作模式探讨

高职院校办学规模扩大及系（部）建制完善，使院系二级教学管理工作模式的建立必要而迫切。为此，必须了解院校二级教学管理的内涵及其基本特点，合理配置资源，完善管理制度，提高管理人员素质，运用信息技术优化管理。同时，要处理好宏观调控与部分赋权、责任与权益、持续发展与局部利益、规模发展与内涵建设等方面的关系。     

School neighbourhood socio-economic status and teachers’ work commitment in Finland: longitudinal survey with register linkage

The extent to which school neighbourhood affects teachers’ work commitment is poorly known. In the current study, we investigated whether school neighbourhood socio-economic characteristics predicted teachers’ organizational and professional commitment. Primary school teachers (n?=?1042) responded to surveys in 2000–2001 (baseline) and 2004 (follow-up). Their responses were linked to records of the school neighbourhood income and unemployment levels obtained from nationwide registers. Teachers working in areas with a high income level and low unemployment rate had longer job tenure and higher probability of organizational (school) commitment at follow-up compared to teachers working in areas with a low income level or high unemployment rate. Less consistent associations were found for professional commitment. These findings suggest that school neighbourhood characteristics may affect teachers’ work commitment, especially their organizational commitment. Further research is needed to determine whether this increases inequalities in children’s learning opportunities.     

Promoting the social inclusion and academic progress of Gypsy,Roma and Traveller children: a secondary school case study

The aim of this study was to identify support strategies used to promote “social inclusion” and “academic progress” of Key Stage 3 and 4 Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) pupils. The study used an interpretivist approach, incorporating an embedded single case study with several participant groups, namely GRT pupils, GRT parents, school staff and supporting professionals. The data were collected using interviews, focus groups and questionnaires and were analysed using explanation building – a pattern matching technique which uses theoretical propositions (generated from existing research) to guide analysis and organise data. The study identified one consistent strategy (focussed staff support) to promote both the social inclusion and the academic progress of GRT pupils, and several additional strategies to address each of these areas. The focussed staff support consisted of a dedicated staff member employed to support GRT pupils and families, and act as a consultant for other members of school staff.     

Roma pupils’ identification with school in Slovenia and Serbia: case studies

The research presented in this paper aims to challenge the belief held by some education professionals that Roma pupils do not value education. The research sample included groups of Roma pupils from two countries (Slovenia and Serbia) and from different socio-economic backgrounds. The results suggest that the majority of the pupils are aware of the importance of education. However, there are significant differences in their sense of identification with school. Roma pupils from families whose socio-economic background is comparable to that of the majority population are more appreciative of educational success, feel more accepted by teachers and classmates and are better able to connect education with their own lives. Roma pupils from families of lower socio-economic background associate school with failure, discrimination and rejection by teachers and classmates. Barriers to these pupils’ learning and social participation may be related to their tendency to drop out of the compulsory education.     

XX高校教学科研人员绩效考评案例研究

文章在对我国XX高校现有绩效考评现状进行调查分析的基础上,依据我国教学科研人员绩效考评指标体系,从能力素质、工作环境、工作过程、工作业绩等四个方面对该校教学科研人员进行360度全方位考评和数据分析。分析结果显示,该指标体系适合XX高校教学科研人员的绩效考评,其考评结果对该校教学科研人员的专业发展和绩效激励具有促进作用;与此同时,我们也发现XX高校在教学科研绩效管理等方面存在一些问题。另外,该指标体系的某些指标设置不合理、一些关键指标体现不明显以及某些指标标度描述不清晰,容易造成一些误解。总之,通过绩效考评的应用,改变了XX高校原来的"德、能、勤、绩"评价模式,提高了XX高校的人力资源管理水平。     

Turning difficulties into possibilities: engaging Roma families and students in school through dialogic learning

Schools and communities may have a key role in reversing the cycle of inequality that the Roma suffer in Europe. Aiming at reducing existing inequalities, dialogic learning aims to ensure high levels of academic learning for all children, by involving the whole community through egalitarian dialogue. Less well known are the implications of this approach for the Roma in highly marginalised areas. This article presents the results of a longitudinal case study in a Spanish primary school, undertaken as part of the European Union-funded INCLUD-ED Integrated Project. It reports on educational actions grounded in dialogic learning, which have succeeded in engaging families and communities in the school, the classroom and other learning spaces. Based on a dialogic school-based transformation, Roma families participated in children’s learning activities and decision-making spaces. We explore how these actions involving Roma families are developed and the effect they may have in improving learning and engagement.     

教师转型:组织承诺与组织支持的共同作用

对转型发展典型高校X学院5名教师的扎根研究发现,教师转型是个体因素与组织因素良性互动的结果:教师出于对学校新办学理念、定位、目标等的认同和信任,形成较高组织承诺;在较高组织承诺推动或(和)组织支持拉动下,这些教师开启转型探索之路;在组织承诺支撑下,转型教师经过探索取得了一定转型效果,获得(更多的)组织支持,进而使转型向...     

Research News

In secondary schools, subjects dominate teaching and also the organizational structures. Typically, subject department heads perform a middle-management role in secondary schools and often this role is taken-for-granted and unquestioned. In this article, we examine the impact on secondary school culture and the resulting changes to practice when the department middle-management structure and roles are open to revision. We investigate the experiences of two schools that are part of a longitudinal study on reculturing and restructuring in all secondary schools in one school district in Ontario, Canada. Our research indicates that structural change initiated by school level participants is a prerequisite to real change and that structural changes preceded cultural changes. However, it is the process of creating the new structures that is the key consideration as mandating an alternative might not be facilitative of cultural change. The primary research question guiding this article is: what impact does involvement in restructuring a middle-management organizational model have on the culture of a school and the change process experienced by staff members?     

新课程与学校组织变革

新课程是当前学校组织变革的主要驱动力。新课程对学校组织的工作任务、教职工、组织结构、教育技术四个变量提出了变革要求。为了应对新课程的挑战,学校组织变革应采取如下策略:建立扁平化的组织结构;使学校成为学习型组织;确立校本管理模式;变革学校领导方式;建立新型的合作教学文化;倡导行动研究。     

Four School Leadership Teams Define Their Roles Within Organizational and Political Structures to Improve Student Learning

A shift in educational policy and practice is to involve teachers in school reform. Many reform programs require school leadership teams for involving teachers, yet few studies have examined how teachers take up such new roles and responsibilities. Using the dual conceptual lenses of open-systems and micropolitics, we investigate how four middle school teams engaged with their colleagues to construct an identity, assume leadership roles, and situate themselves in their schools. We argue that the influence of training enabled teams to assume four roles: communicators, staff developers, problem-solvers, and leaders of change. The findings suggest that teams and educational leaders need to recognize the influence that existing organizational structures have on teams and the actions they are able to take. The results also indicate that knowledge of the organizational structure as well as micropolitical dynamics can serve as leverage points for constructing their roles and initiating change.     

学校教职工人际关系与管理效率的关系探讨

学校要达到组织目标,就必须和谐教职工人际关系,增强凝聚力,提高管理效率。而如何协调好学校教职工人际关系以及和谐的程度如何,在很大程度上决定了管理效率的高低。因此如何创建优化的教职工人际关系以促进管理效率的最大化,是我们应着重解决的问题。     

Culture and the school: The degree of educational integration of Roma and Gypsies in the Peloponnese region of Greece

This article examines the degree of integration of Roma and Gypsy children in formal education in the Peloponnese region of Greece. It is based on field research conducted by the University of Patras during the school year 2006/07 within the framework of the Greek Ministry of Education’s “Integration of Roma children in school” programme, funded by the European Union. Despite governmental incentives for poor families to enrol their school-aged children, school attendance of Roma and Gypsy children was found to decline from primary year one to primary year six, with hardly any of them entering secondary school at all. Besides looking at school attendance figures and Roma and Gypsy children’s proficiency in reading, writing and numeracy, this paper also considers gender, family composition, living conditions and economic situation, as well as culturally constructed perceptions of childhood and a person’s life cycle. The aim of this article is to highlight the contradictions and ambiguities involved in the process of incorporating Roma and Gypsy children in formal education, and to evaluate their school performance and assess their academic choices.     

组织沟通对工作压力的影响机制分析——应对方式的中介作用

抽取有代表性的企事业、机关单位在职人员为研究对象,探讨分析了组织沟通各要素与成员工作压力间的关系,并从中介作用的角度,检验并深入分析了员工的应对方式在组织沟通与工作压力效能关系中的中介作用机制,得到的主要结果为:员工积极应对方式在组织沟通与工作行为之间起到部分中介作用.即组织沟通变量一方面直接影响工作行为,一方面又通过个体的应对方式来影响工作行为;另外,积极应对方式在组织沟通与积极心理感受之间起到完全中介作用,即组织沟通变量完全通过积极应对方式来影响积极心理感受.     

Teachers’ capacity for organizational learning: the effects of school culture and context

This paper investigates how key elements of school culture are associated with teachers’ capacity to find and act on new information. We analyzed survey data from 3,579 teachers located in 117 schools which were a randomly selected sample from 9 states in the US. We found that school cultural components such as academic press, student support, and trust and respect among teachers promote teachers’ capacity for organizational learning. We also found that the role of teacher professional culture in molding the capacity for organizational learning is critical. In terms of school contexts, we identified that school level (elementary, middle, and high school) was associated with teachers’ capacity for organizational learning in 2 different ways. First, as the school level increases, the capacity for organizational learning tends to decrease. Second, as school level increases, the positive relation between reflective dialogue and teachers’ capacity for organizational learning is weakened. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Cooperative Learning and the Organization of Secondary Schools

This article describes the inter‐relationship between school organization and classroom instructional style. Two distinct models of school organization, the bureaucratic and open‐systems models, are characterized in terms of three major dimensions of school life; a. the behavior of administrators, teachers and students, b. work design and tasks, and c. space‐time allocations. It is shown that the bureaucratic model of school organization parallels, and sustains, the traditional whole‐class method of teaching in all of the three dimensions. An open‐systems model of staff organization at the school level is required to sustain an alternative form of classroom instruction such as cooperative learning. The approach presented here emphasizes the inter‐relatedness of all three dimensions of schooling at the organizational and classroom levels. It also claims that the implementation of genuine instructional change, that entails new patterns of interpersonal relations in the classroom, is contingent upon similar changes being made at the level of the school as an organization. Lack of attention to school organizational change may explain why efforts at changing instruction at the classroom level frequently fail to yield results.     

良好的组织气氛在学校目标管理中的作用及其营造策略

上下同欲的组织气氛在学校目标管理中具有导向作用、约束作用、凝聚作用、激励作用,因此,为了有效地推进学校目标管理,一是要建立一种高关怀的领导模式,倡导对教职工的人性化关怀,诱发教职工发挥最大效能;二是制定良好的沟通机制,增强教师对组织的认同忠诚,提高工作绩效水平;三是以有效的规章制度,营造弹性合理的学校环境。