The challenge of balancing content and language: Perceptions of Dutch bilingual education history teachers

The role of subject teachers in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has received little attention, since most research focuses on language learning results of students. This exploratory study aims to gain insight into the perceptions of Dutch bilingual education history teachers by comparing teaching CLIL with regular history teaching. We used questionnaires and interviews to collect data. Results show that bilingual education history teachers perceived their dual task as language and subject teachers to be challenging. Teaching in English also enriched their teaching skills and eventually had a positive influence on their level of job satisfaction.     

创建外语师资培养的合作机制研究

当前我国基础教育外语师资以及高校外语师资培养方面尚存在一些问题.基础教育外语教师的整体素质应当从高校的师资培养抓起.构建外语师资培养的合作机制是实现这一目标的有效途径,因为这不仅有助于新任教师的成长,而且对在职外语教师发展也将起到促进作用.     

浅谈农村小学语文教师的语文素养及其提升策略

文章以文献研究的方法梳理了语文素养的内涵,得出语文素养包含人文素养、语文知识、语文技能等内容。同时,文章分析了农村小学语文教师群体存在的问题：语文教师群体结构不良、语文素养内涵不足、缺乏竞争压力和自我发展意识,进而提出提升其语文素养的策略：将年轻高学历毕业生充实到农村教师队伍中、对现有教师进行适当的在职培训、建立合理的考核与退出机制,保障高素养教师从事农村语文教育。     

Issues in the education of TESOL teachers by distance education

Language teacher education by distance (LTED) has become a widespread and important practice in the preservice and in‐service education of teachers, and in language education internationally. The advent of the Internet has combined with developments in other information communication technologies, the globalisation of English, and the marketisation of education to afford a rapid increase in the number of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages) teacher education programs, and greater variety in the ways in which teaching and learning is mediated in these programs. This article reports on an international survey of TESOL teacher education providers, and considers the status of language teaching qualifications earned by distance, changes in the institutional roles of language teacher educators, and the current state of research into LTED.     

Beyond the school setting: language teachers and tensions of everyday life

As an emergent theme in educational research, examination of the lives and careers of teachers reveals a wide range of educational factors occurring in many different contexts. Despite the relationship between teaching and life outside school, research studies have been inclined towards the working aspects of teachers’ lives. Rather than following the predominant model in the research literature, this study focused on teachers’ lives in the broader sense exploring the life tensions faced by teachers of English language in Vietnamese primary schools. Drawing on narrative inquiry as a research approach, data were collected from interviews conducted with six participating teachers. The findings indicated that the participants, similar to the majority of Vietnamese teachers, were involved in struggles over living conditions. As a result of the low pay they received for their teaching jobs, they engaged in private tutoring to bolster their income to adequately support themselves and their family. As language teachers, the participants used the English language for access to other cultures but they lived under pressures caused by cultural differences. Along with depicting the lives of Vietnamese teachers, the study offers suggestions to education leaders and educational researchers on how the situation might be alleviated.     

城乡教育统筹下外语教师均衡发展模式探索

本文从城乡教育统筹的视角,分析目前乡镇外语教师发展现状,探索从树立统筹观、创新培养模式、构建网络平台等多方面促进外语教师城乡均衡发展。     

高校外语教师元认知能力在外语教学中的作用探析

高校外语教师肩负着提升学生外语水平能力的重担。在日常教学中教师进行元认知能力的培养对于提升教师自身能力,加强教师自身教学水平的提高具有不可替代的作用。元认知能力包含元认知知识、元认知体验和元认知监控,这三个方面构成了教师在实际教学工作中的重点。如何把握和创新教师的元认知能力对于改善高校外语教学、革新高校外语教学模式具有较强的实践意义。     

试论新课程改革背景下的语文学科师生心理适应性

语文教师及学生对语文新课程改革方案的心理适应性,对于新课程改革的顺利实施有着重要意义。语文教师是语文新课程实施的主体,学生是语文教育的主体。语文新课程改革给教师和学生提出了新的要求和挑战,两者分别表现出了心理上积极的接纳但也表现出一定的不适应性。要解决这些问题,需要政府、学校以及社会等多方面的共同关注与努力。     

GLBTIQ teachers in Australian education policy: protections,suspicions, and restrictions

Recognition of human rights on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status by the United Nations has led to the development of new policies concerning homophobia and transphobia in educational contexts. This paper examines new Australian education policies impacting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) teachers. A policy review uncovered a range of protections for GLBTIQ teachers in contexts such as the State of Victoria, alongside restrictions. Experiences of policy discussed in pilot study data from surveys of 63 Victorian GLBTIQ teachers, and in-depth interviews with nine Victorian GLBTIQ teachers, revealed that GLBTIQ teachers were relatively unaware of the protections available to them, compared to their awareness of protections for students. Many teachers were out as lesbian or gay to some staff members but fewer had come out to students. Teachers in religious schools had more difficulties, causing some to leave the sector. Further promotion of protections and more research are recommended.     

Impact and cost-effectiveness analysis of the national school-based sexuality education programme in Estonia

Policy-makers making decisions on the implementation of school-based sexuality education (SE) programmes face two important questions: (1) what are the costs of implementing and scaling up SE programmes, and (2) what are the impacts? This paper responds to these questions by retrospectively assessing costs, impact and cost-effectiveness of the national school-based SE programme in Estonia 1997–2009. The three-year curriculum had been taught to 190,000 students at the end of 2009. The cost of reaching one student was USD 32.90 and the total costs were USD 5.6 million. There has been a remarkable improvement in sexual health indicators in the age groups 15–19 and 20–24 years in Estonia between 2001 and 2009. During this period, annual abortions, STIs and diagnosed HIV infections in the age groups were reduced by 37%, 55% and 89%, respectively. It is difficult to assess to what extent the improvements in these sexual health indicators are attributable to the SE programme. Nevertheless, our conservative threshold analysis indicates that the Estonian SE programme could be considered cost-saving if only 4% of the observed reductions in HIV infections are attributable to the programme. There is strong evidence, therefore, to support that the Estonian school-based sexuality programme has been cost-effective.     

Reflective learning and identity construction in practice,discourse and activity: Experiences of pre-service language teachers in Hong Kong

This paper reports on an investigation into two pre-service teachers' reflective learning through a series of integrated and interactive tasks (i.e., collaborative lesson planning, group consultation, microteaching and videoed reflections) in a teacher education course in Hong Kong. Relying on data gathered from interviews and reflection videos and informed by a tripartite model on teacher identity in practice, discourse and activity, the study revealed how the pre-service teachers engaged in reflective practice and identity construction in the course. The paper concludes with practical implications on how to design and implement effective reflective tasks in preparing and developing competent language teachers.     

Educational research and reform: Some implications for the professional identity of early years teachers

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which recent criticisms of the work of primary school teachers in Britain, most notably those entailed in and following the publication of the so‐called ‘Three Wise Men's Report’, have attempted to redefine the professional identity of early years teachers. The paper objects to the manner in which their critiques have been formulated and calls upon educational researchers to adopt a less reverential attitude to government proposals for the reform of primary education in general and early years schooling in particular.     

Pre-service education for primary school English teachers in Indonesia: policy implications

Although English is only an extra-curricular subject at primary level in Indonesia, expectations over the improved quality of the teachers are exceptionally high . This is the case in the past few years in which the low proficiency of primary English teachers and their lack of teaching competencies have repeatedly been pointed out as major constraints. Unfortunately, it remains unclear whether this problem is attributed to the delivery of pre-service education in preparing primary school English teachers. This paper gathered data from teachers, language teacher educators, primary school principals, members of educational boards, and educational consultants. The data were analysed using Grounded Theory in order to examine the adequacy of pre-service education in Indonesia to prepare primary school English teachers as well as factors that contribute to its efficacy or lack thereof. The findings of the study demonstrate the need for specific preparation for primary school English teachers as well as further training for teacher educators. This present study is highly relevant to Indonesia and other Asian countries where teacher efficacy is a major concern.     

从白族双语教育中语码转换看双语双文化现象

双语问题是白族教育研究中的一个重点和难点问题。本试从双语个体心理特征出发，探讨在不同的语境里，不同的交流对象前的语码转换现象，分析在多语言社会中双语因母语弱化而产生的语码选择和转换，从化学和语言学的角度探讨白族双语教育中的双语双化现象。     

乡村教师的文化冲突与乡村教育改革

近代以来,国家权力介入乡村社会,教师身份的国家楚构与乡土生活产生诸多冲突与矛盾。与此相应,乡村教师的社会功能不断弱化,与乡村生活的心理距高逐渐琉远。在建设社会主义新农村的时代背景下,乡村教师是实现乡村社区和谐发展必须依靠的知识力量,因而,必须重构乡村教师、地方政府和村落社区之间的关系,充分发挥乡村教师之于农村的社会功能和公共责任。     

关于新疆双语教育改革初探

实施双语教育对提高少数民族教育教学质量,维护社会稳定和促进经济发展具有十分重要的意义。积极、稳妥、有序地推进新疆双语教育工作就要遵循教育规律,注重民汉两种语言的均衡发展,注意保护和传承少数民族语言和文化,注意听取广大群众的意见和建议,把质量摆在推进双语教育工作的首要位置,双语教育要坚持从学前抓起、从教师抓起。     

Building the bridge as you walk on it: Didactic behaviors of elementary teachers in a dual language program

While there is evidence that the dual language model has the potential to raise the academic achievement of English language learners (ELLs), the policies mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act do not support maintenance of the student's heritage language which is an integral part of the model. Using symbolic interactionism as a framework, this study explored the experiences of dual language elementary teachers as they operate under the authority of current educational policy. The findings, presented as a concept model, reveal the didactic behaviors exhibited by teachers and suggest a dynamic process of negotiation is at work which informs their professional identities.     

Including nonreligious worldviews in religious education: the views and experiences of English secondary school teachers

Although the teaching of nonreligious worldviews has been advocated in a Council of Europe Recommendation, few European countries include such a study in religious education (RE). Guidance on implementing the Recommendation recognises that inclusion is problematic, raising issues for policymakers, teacher trainers and schools. In this article, findings from a qualitative study of the views and experiences of 25 RE teachers in England are used to identify and explore a range of issues, in relation to national and international debates and research. Examples of inclusion and the models that they suggest are considered and it is argued that major obstacles, such as limited time and lack of a framework for the integration of religious and nonreligious worldviews, can be of overcome. However, it is concluded that this will require further research and curriculum development work and that international collaboration should be pursued.     

Power relations in the enactment of English language education policy for Chinese schools

The scale of English language education in China is astounding, but recent research has shown that the latest national English education policy for Chinese schools has not been implemented successfully due to various reasons. One reason given for the lack of success is the impracticability of the top-down policy itself excluding teachers’ involvement and neglecting the contextual constraints. Building on the theoretical framework of multi-levelled actors in language planning and language policy, and drawing on some key concepts in relation to power in Critical Language Policy research, this paper explores how a national English language curriculum that emphasizes the international standards and norms in curriculum design has been enacted, ineffectively, by the key stakeholders through analysing the specific roles of three groups of key stakeholders involved in the English as a foreign language curriculum policy implementation.