EXCELLENCE AND EQUALITY IN EDUCATION: CONFLICTING VALUES IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

Three factors have traditionally prompted a large section of the population to oppose the idea of special support for the development of excellence: the view that intellectual giftedness depends on innate dispositions and can manifest itself under any educational and environmental conditions; the feeling of injustice connected with the perceived superiority of gifted people; the perception of special education for the gifted as a threat to ordinary people and/or to democracy. In contrast, more recent perception of the faults of an educational orientation inspired by the above prejudices and a decline in egalitarian ideology have combined to open new perspectives on better educational support for the gifted, although agreement on the means of support is often lacking. There is a strong connection between the underlying principles of a democratic society and the conditions which foster giftedness and creativity. However, the development of creativity and giftedness should not entail the separation of the gifted from others during the school years, because such separation would damage both social development in general and the specific moral development of the gifted, and would prevent acceptance of the gifted by others and by society.     

EDUCATION AND THE MIDDLE CLASSES: AGAINST REDUCTIONISM IN EDUCATIONAL THEORY AND RESEARCH

ABSTRACT:  This paper critiques what it sees as a tendency on the part of certain social researchers to engage in moralistic critiques of middle-class parents, especially in relation to the choices and actions of such parents within educational quasi-markets. It proceeds to a linked critique of the influence within education of certain aspects of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, with particular reference to the concepts of symbolic violence and the depiction of cultural meanings as arbitrary. It is argued that both these developments involve unhelpful and unjustified forms of reductionism that could have the effect of alienating middle-class support for a range of broadly progressive political endeavours within and beyond education.     

WHY "WHAT WORKS" WON'T WORK: EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE AND THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

A bstract .  In this essay, Gert Biesta provides a critical analysis of the idea of evidence-based practice and the ways in which it has been promoted and implemented in the field of education, focusing on the tension between scientific and democratic control over educational practice and research. Biesta examines three key assumptions of evidence-based education: first, the extent to which educational practice can be compared to the practice of medicine, the field in which evidence-based practice was first developed; second, the role of knowledge in professional actions, with special attention to what kind of epistemology is appropriate for professional practices that wish to be informed by the outcomes of research; and third, the expectations about the practical role of research implicit in the idea of evidence-based education. Biesta concludes that evidence-based practice provides a framework for understanding the role of research in educational practice that not only restricts the scope of decision making to questions about effectivity and effectiveness, but that also restricts the opportunities for participation in educational decision making. He argues that we must expand our views about the interrelations among research, policy, and practice to keep in view education as a thoroughly moral and political practice that requires continuous democratic contestation and deliberation.     

大学的理念和科学民主的价值

本文从跨文化的角度,比较了中西大学的传统及其现代影响,分析了西方中世纪大学民主和求真的传统。作者还简要讨论了“科学与民主”的理念思想如何通过北京大学的传统影响中国社会的现代化的进程,以及在新的时代如何坚持这一理念和传统。     

教育理论创新的"他山之石"-从人类学研究的几个特征谈起

教育理论研究与人类学的研究都是关于人的科学研究 ;一百多年以来 ,人类学研究所铸就的相对成熟的学术传统 ,特别是它的“整体性视角”、“田野作业”的方法原则、“交叉文化分析”及其“文化普同论” ,以及它关于“全球化”的解说与研究等 ,反映了人类学对人类现实的密切关注和与时俱进等特征 ,可以成为我们教育理论创新的“他山之石”。本文既论及人类学研究的主要特征 ,也联系和分析了当今中国教育理论研究中的一些重要问题     

基于教育视角的内蒙古地区人力资本现状与投资分析

众多研究表明,人力资本投资对区域经济增长和可持续发展具有强大的促进作用。笔者从教育指标出发,研究了内蒙古自治区的人力资本现状及其投资,结果表明：内蒙古人口平均受教育年限呈上升趋势,但增长较慢;政府对教育的投资有所增加,但占GDP与财政支出的比重并未得到显著提高,政府用于初等教育的经费投入明显不足。据此,提出提高我区人力资本积累的建议。