Schooling in times of acceleration

Abstract

Modern societies are characterised by forms of acceleration, which influence social processes. Sociologist Hartmut Rosa has systematised temporal structures by focusing on three categories of social acceleration: technical acceleration, acceleration of social change, and acceleration of the pace of life. All three processes of acceleration are closely linked to processes of internationalisation and globalisation. Given this background, developments in the context of school education are analysed in this article, paying special attention to the question of which areas of academic learning the categories of social acceleration affect and whether internationalisation and globalisation speed up these processes. The analyses show that effects of globalisation in the fields of management, market, and performance on education are closely linked to social acceleration.     

基于互联网的生态学交互式教学

基于因特网的交互式教学技术如课程网站、QQ群、邮件列表、博客等可以解决当前生态学教学中资源、课时有限的问题．交互式教学能够激发学生的学习兴趣和认知热情,能够拓宽学生的知识面,能够培养学生的合作精神和创新能力．同时,教师也从中获益。达到教学相长的目的．     

加速式超常儿童教育研究综述

本研究综述旨在总结国内外学者就加速式超常儿童教育的利弊所进行的一些研究成果。本文前部分是讨论支持与反对加速法的理由。支持的理由包括强化学生学习动机、缩短修业年限、减少教育经费;而反对的包括让学生承受过大学业压力、社会情感调适不良、负面标签效应等。后部分是几个其他问题的探讨,如加速法的命名、研究方法、研究课题及与充实法的对比等     

The national curriculum vs. the ideal curriculum: acknowledging student learning interests

For many students, school is a place that makes no sense; a place where students’ interests are not reflected in the curriculum. Using mixed methods research, we developed an instrument that identifies student interests. This instrument was applied in a pilot study that considered 10th-grade students from three schools in Santiago, Chile. We compared student interest and national curriculum for different factors and established how well aligned these are. The results reveal that private school students prefer subjects that require greater cognitive development, related to Young’s powerful knowledge. Students from voucher schools, on the other hand, prefer to develop their knowledge of the arts and physical education, both of which are subjects they tend to enjoy. These findings are coherent with Bernstein’s theories. This pattern is also repeated when comparing high-performing students with their low-performing counterparts, regardless of school type. The findings of this study not only help identify which subjects the students want to study, but also to understand the reasons behind their preferences. Understanding these reasons is key for developing a more contextualised curriculum that makes more sense to the students.     

Establishing Scientific Discourse in Classroom Interaction Teacher Students’ Orientation to Mundane Versus Technical Talk in the School Subject Norwegian

This article reports a case study on classroom interaction in teacher education in Norway. It addresses how teacher students in the school subject Norwegian constitute scientific talk in a student-led discussion. First, the analysis reveals tension in the classroom conversation between mundane talk—that is, where students make claims with reference to their personal epistemic domain—and scientific talk—that is, where students make claims with reference to a shared scientific epistemic domain. Then, the analysis identifies specific interactional resources (reproach, embedded correction, formulation, and recontextualization) that the students use to regulate and bridge the 2 levels of discourse. Finally, the article provides insights into how scientific discourse is collaboratively established through conversational turns and considers how teacher education might use these findings for communication-skill training.     

Development of a social and emotional learning program using educational dance: A participatory approach aimed at middle school students

Participatory research with children and adolescents may increase their responsiveness toward interventions. This study focuses on the development of a program to promote social and emotional skills in middle school students, using educational dance. The main goal was to assess students’ social and emotional needs and their interests in education through art activities, duly supported by the opinions of experts. Initially, focus groups were conducted and a questionnaire given out to students (N = 22), in addition to interviews with school representatives (N = 2). Next, students (N = 6) participated in a workshop and responded to a questionnaire. Experts (N = 3) then evaluated the program. Results revealed (a) students’ social and emotional needs; (b) that music and dance matched students’ interests; (c) students’ high interest and satisfaction with the program; and (d) that the experts’ assessment served to validate the program. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

马克思早期弱势群体思想及其当代意义

马克思在其家庭教育、学校教育和社会阅历背景下生成了自己早期弱势群体思想,主要包括:弱势群体应该享有生活的尊严与生存权利、享有制度的公平对待、享有法律的平等保护以及国家应该对弱势群体的权益负有责任等。马克思早期弱势群体思想对我们当下落实科学发展观,切实解决弱势群体的民生问题具有重大指导意义。     

教师领导的三种发展思路及其认识论基础

本文归纳了当前发展教师领导的三种思路及其实践表现,并借助Habermas关于人类认识和旨趣的论述,剖析这三种教师领导发展思路的认识论基础,指出不同的教师领导发展思路正是基于行动者对学校教育、教师知识和教师权威持有不同的认知旨趣而产生的行动结果。文章进而指出虽然"社群为本"成为当前发展教师领导的最新取向,但仍需持解放认知旨趣与批判的立场,以防社群中已经存在的系统扭曲,使教师领导产生新的压迫。     

The Effects of Chronological Age and Information Media on Teacher Screening Decisions for Elementary School Principals*

Screening decisions made by public school administrators have been shown to be influenced by the chronological age of teacher candidates and have been examined through a single medium consisting of paper credentials mailed to principals in the field setting. However, today, unlike the past, teacher candidates have available to them several different mediums for communicating their interests and personal information to potential employers in the public school setting. To determine the impact of different mediums (traditional, CD-ROM, & Web page) and specific messages (masked or unmasked for chronological age) on screening decisions made by elementary school principals, an experimental study was conducted. Results indicated that principals may well overlook many qualified teacher candidates choosing to use electronic mediums for communicating their credentials to organizational representatives at the screening stage of the selection process.     

Education,technology and the sociological imagination – lessons to be learned from C. Wright Mills

As part of the Learning, Media & Technology series on ‘Key Thinkers and Theoretical Traditions’, this paper explores the relevance of C. Wright Mills’ much lauded book ‘The Sociological Imagination’. The argument is made that we would do well to take heed of many of the central tenets of Mills’ call to arms for a historically aware, politically focused and carefully crafted social science. These include Mills’ concerns over the dominance of abstract empiricism, being beholden to the demands of ‘bureaucratic’ research agendas, a tendency towards psychologism and/or resorting to default explanations of the apparent failings of individuals and institutions in terms of a cultural/technological ‘lag’. The paper argues how Mills’ writing should inspire researchers to think beyond the realms of their own experiences, interests and passions, to look beyond the shallow allure of the latest ‘new’ technology, and to critically engage with the social, historical, biographical and political dimensions of education and technology.     

Finnish Elementary School Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Gifted Education

This study examined Finnish elementary school teachers’ (N = 212) attitudes toward the gifted and their education. On a general level, teachers’ attitudes toward gifted education were slightly positive. Teachers saw that gifted students have social value and that they need special services. The results of teachers’ attitudes toward specific gifted education options were in line with earlier Finnish research, because teachers supported differentiated teaching but were more negative toward acceleration or separating the gifted into their own groups. However, despite the strong support for differentiated teaching for the gifted, teachers’ positions toward practice were more skeptical.     

Responsibility and School Choice in Education

Consider the following argument for school choice, based on an appeal to the virtues of the market: allowing parents some measure of choice over their particular children's education ultimately serves the interests of all children, because creating a market mechanism in state education will produce improvements through the same pressures that lead to greater efficiency and quality when markets are deployed in more familiar contexts. The argument fails, because it is committed to a principle of equal concern, which (after analysis) implies that a market in education is acceptable only if it is right to hold children disadvantaged by their parents' poor market choices substantively responsible for the fact. Since that claim is untenable, the market‐based argument for school choice not only fails, but also turns out to rely on principles which in fact condemn the very policy it was supposed to support.     

The politics of rural school reform: Escuela Nueva in Colombia

This article explores the history and politics of rural school reform in Colombia, focusing on the Escuela Nueva programme. In particular, it assesses the motivations of the Colombian State in promoting a comprehensive reform of its rural schools. We argue that Colombia's unique political context was, in large part, responsible for its novel approach to school reform. As the political context shifted, however, so to did the State's posture to rural schooling. We track the Escuela Nueva programme through three phases (grassroots, formalized and decoupled) to demonstrate how social actors, their interests at a specific point in time, and the distribution of power among them, are crucial elements for understanding the motivation and outcomes of social policy making. In other words, this research portrays education reform as a dynamic process that is continuously shaped and reshaped as political actors and institutions compete for influence and scarce resources in a variable social arena.     

Educational choice in secondary school in Flanders: the relative impact of occupational interests on option choice

The present study aims at unravelling the myriad of student-level (i.e., gender, socioeconomic status [SES], academic self-concept, achievement, ability, and occupational interests) and school-level (i.e., gender composition, maths composition, and SES composition) determinants of option choice in the academic track of secondary school in Flanders. We focused on 2 decisional thresholds in Flemish secondary education, namely, the transition from Grade 8 to Grade 9 (N = 2518) and from Grade 10 to Grade 11 (N = 2871). Data were analyzed through multinomial multilevel analysis. Our results strongly confirm Lent's (2005) jigsaw puzzle metaphor in that different factors go into a complex and dynamic interplay. Especially in the first grades, prior achievement is a major predictor of option choice in secondary education, whereas in the last years occupational interests become increasingly important. From a gender perspective, boys rather choose math/sciences-oriented options than girls. Option choice is mainly determined by student-level rather than school-level predictors.     

Sardonic science? The resistance to more humanistic forms of science education

Resistance to more humanistic forms of science education is an endemic and persistent feature of university scientists as well as school science teachers. This article argues that science education researchers should pay more attention to its origins and to the subtleties of its stubborn influence. The paper explores some of the imperatives which dominate the continuing practices of teachers; the linkages between school and university science; and re-considers the relationships between learning science, learning to do science and learning about science. It draws on recent, prominent publications, as well as neglected and rather more contentious material, to underline the unhelpfully narrow view of science held by those who defend the traditional disciplinary influences of biology, chemistry and physics. Suggestions are made as to where those of a more radical and determined disposition should direct their attention in the interests of improved education, vital scientific progress as well as human survival. It is argued that university science must change in order to ensure that teachers better help their students to learn, do and appreciate science.     

Secondary school students' interests,attitudes and values concerning school science related to environmental issues in Finland

This paper explores the relationship between students' interests in environmental issues, attitudes to environmental responsibility and biocentric values in school science education. The factors were investigated within the framework of three moderators: gender, school and residential area of the school. The survey was carried out using the international ROSE questionnaire with ninth‐grade students (N = 3626) from 68 schools. Likert‐type items were categorised with explorative factor analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance was used to study the importance of the moderators. There were significant correlations between the attitude and value factors. Interest and attitude were also significantly correlated, but the correlation between interest and value was negligible. Girls' attitude was significantly more positive and their biocentric value stronger than those of the boys, while in terms of interest, the gender difference was small. The effect of residential area was negligible, but there were significant differences between schools in all the factors studied. A school's own environmental projects and participation in programmes linked to environmental education or education for sustainable development was suggested to enhance students' interest in environmental issues. The role of interests, attitudes and values in teaching environmental issues are important fields for future research in science, environmental and sustainability education.     

The influence of extracurricular activities on middle school students’ science learning in China

ABSTRACT

Informal science learning has been found to have effects on students’ science learning. Through the use of secondary data from a national assessment of 7410 middle school students in China, this study explores the relationship among five types of extracurricular science activities, learning interests, academic self-concept, and science achievement. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the influence of students’ self-chosen and school-organised extracurricular activities on science achievement through mediating interests and the academic self-concept. Chi-square tests were used to determine whether there was an opportunity gap in the student’s engagement in extracurricular activities. The students’ volunteer and school-organised participation in extracurricular science activities had a positive and indirect influence on their science achievement through the mediating variables of their learning interests and academic self-concept. However, there were opportunity gaps between different groups of students in terms of school location, family background, and especially the mother’s education level. Students from urban areas with better-educated mothers or higher socioeconomic status are more likely to access diverse science-related extracurricular activities.     

Economic rationalism and the politics of education in Australia

Until the mid‐1970s, the politics of urban school desegregation concentrated almost exclusively on the attainment of some form of racial balance. The racial balance paradigm became the focal point for desegregation planners and for local, state and national dispute about ‘forced bussing’. However, in its 1977 Milliken II ruling, the Supreme Court added critical new elements to the urban school desegregation paradigm. By affirming a desegregation plan which included remedial education components in all‐minority schools, and which required state participation in financing these components, Milliken II heralded a new era of urban school desegregation. Resource issues and school effectiveness issues joined racial balance issues in the crucible of desegregation politics. In this chapter, the post‐Milliken politics of urban school desegregation are highlighted through examination of the St Louis and Kansas City cases. New goals, new issues, new alignments of interests and new political strategies are apparent, presenting new challenges to students of urban education policy and politics.     

Income,ideology and childhood reading in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries

In 1896, John Dewey opened the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago. While much is known about this legendary school and its founder, the teachers whose daily work brought the school to life remain mostly anonymous. This essay attempts to remedy this historical invisibility by investigating four of the Laboratory School teachers – Anna Camp, Katherine Camp, Althea Harmer and Mary Hill – in order to more fully understand this experimental school. The teachers’ personal correspondence and published writings evoke a vital collection of educators whose interests and passions connected them to other centers of innovation in Chicago and elsewhere in the nation. This investigation of the teachers thus fills out our understanding of the history of this innovative institution and of the developing pragmatist ideas of its time, and establishes their centrality to the ideas and practices of the Laboratory School.     

Evaluation systems and the pace of change – The example of Swedish higher education1

Abstract

The aim of¹ this article is to illuminate and discuss evaluation and evaluation systems in relation to the pace of change. It is argued that evaluation promotes and accelerates change. The article will thus contribute to a critical scrutiny of evaluation as a societal phenomenon and as a widespread practice in education. To accomplish this aim, the inherent purpose of evaluation and evaluation systems is brought forward. National evaluation systems for Swedish higher education are used as an empirical example. An analysis using Rosa’s three aspects of social acceleration (technical acceleration, acceleration of social change, and acceleration of the pace of life) is offered to demonstrate how the evaluation systems are related to, sustain, and promote an increase of the pace of change (acceleration) in educational practice in higher education.