Suzhi,Relevance, and the New Curriculum

There have been ongoing discussions about the most recent curriculum reform in China. The new curriculum aims at a more quality-oriented (suzhi) education and producing more well-rounded citizens to meet the challenges of global competition. However, it is questioned how suzhi education is possible with entrance examination still being the sole sorting mechanism. A semester-long ethnography in a rural middle school in northwest China reveals how rural students face many challenges with the new curriculum. Based on interviews, analyses of textbooks, and observations of classroom teaching, the study examines how rural students question the relevance of their curriculum and further the meaning of formal schooling. In addition to the dichotomy between an exam-oriented and quality-oriented curriculum, students are also troubled by the dichotomy between general/academic education and relevant/practical education. The study raises concerns about the urban-centered curriculum and how the rural community's absence in the picture has led to rural students' increasing disengagement in schooling and even dropout. It also reveals how the substance of suzhi education and the new curriculum have further reduced rural students' chance to move upward socially. The article concludes by pushing for discussions on how formal schooling can better serve rural children and youth.     

CHILDREN'S SPIRITUALITY AND “THE GOOD SHEPHERD EXPERIENCE”

This article aims to explore the connections between a religious education curriculum's methodology in the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia and some contemporary theories about children's spirituality. “The Good Shepherd Experience” curriculum is intended for use with 5- and 6-year-old children in the first years of formal schooling. It forms a part of the To Know, Worship and Love religious education text based curriculum, directed for use by schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne as a key text in the religious education curricula. In exploring connections with children's spirituality, this article analyzes “The Good Shepherd Experience” in terms of wonder (mystery-sensing, contingency, and dependability), play and imagination, and the ability to use religious language and concepts.     

Music Education at Hospital Schools in Spain and Sweden: Paths Between Governing and Knowledge

This paper focuses on some debates regarding music education within hospital schooling, an educational track that has developed in the course of the 20th century within Western education systems. Analysis and proposals are made with respect to the music education curriculum content in primary education, within hospital education tracks, in Spain and Sweden. In order to critically approach the changing definition of what is considered significant knowledge, we discuss how music education curriculum content is included in hospital schools located in the capitals Madrid and Stockholm.     

The enactment of literacy curriculum policy by early childhood teachers in two Australian schools

Since the early 2000s, literacy education has become an area of intense focus in Australian education policy, positioned to have a role in Australia's pursuit of enhanced international competitiveness in the “global knowledge economy”. Policy called for improvements in literacy outcomes, monitored by mandated annual assessments, and policy statements recognised the need to establish solid literacy foundations in early childhood to facilitate learning, and desired improvements, in later years. This article is derived from a larger study that investigated the production and enactment of literacy curriculum policy by early childhood teachers in Australian schools. It focuses on the school level within the State of Western Australia, presenting findings derived from thematic and critical discourse analysis of participant interview and documentary data collected in two case‐study schools. Comparative analysis revealed that literacy curriculum policy processes in both case‐study schools were focused on achieving improved test results in mandated testing regimes. This was impacting upon literacy curriculum in the early childhood years of schooling, in Australia deemed to involve children up to 8 years of age, in many, possibly adverse, ways. These findings may offer insights in other contexts about literacy curriculum policy processes that are focused on enhancing competitive positioning.     

构建高师小学教育专业儿童文学课程体系的思考

小学语文教育的＂儿童文学化＂趋势要求高师小学教育专业加强儿童文学课程的建设。构建全新的高师小学教育专业儿童文学课程体系势在必行。层递性、实践性、综合性和地域性是构建高师小学教育专业儿童文学课程体系的重要原则。     

培智学校社会适应课程标准研究的初步设想

目前,培智学校社会适应课程已不能满足现代特殊教育发展的迫切需要;因此,亟需开展社会适应新课程标准的研制工作。本文阐述了培智学校社会适应课程标准研制的原因、理论基础与初步研究结果,提出了今后进一步研究的方向。     

A Computer Package for Continuous Assessment Practice in Primary Classrooms

This paper reports on a study on National Policy initiative to introduce computers into primary education curriculum in the developing nation of Nigeria. The continuous assessment (CA) procedure has been entrenched in the National Policy on Education (1981 revised) but practice of it has been tendentious and tedious. The introduction of computer in schools poses a challenge to teachers and schools administrators. The National Policy on Computer Education stipulates that primary schools that can afford the cost should integrate computers in their classrooms. So far, there has been no national primary curriculum in computer education since the policy was launched in 1988. A computer package for continuous assessment practice at primary level of education was developed and field-tested in selected private primary schools in the country. The schools are those of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)* at Kaduna (north), Port Harcourt (southeast), Warri (south) and Mosimi near Lagos (southwest). The results of field-testing show that the computer package can successfully be integrated into the primary school system. This is the first step towards computer education integration into the primary curriculum in Nigeria. Further research field tests computer packages on selected strategic primary schools subjects (English language, mathematics, social studies and elementary science). With this, it is hoped that a tentative national curriculum on computer education will evolve. Les Progiciels Informatiques pour la Pratique de l'Evaluation continue dans la Classe. Cet article est le rapport d'une étude À l'initiative de la National Policy pour introduire les ordinateurs dans le curriculum de l'enseignement primaire d'un pays en voie de développement, une étude de cas en Nigeria. La procédure d'évaluation continue (CA) a été introduite dans la National Policy en matiere d'éducation (revisée en 1981) mais la pratique a été tendancieuse et pénible. L'introduction de l'ordinateur À l'école constitue un challenge pour les enseignants et les administrateurs des écoles. Cette e National Policy f stipule que les écoles primaires qui peuvent en payer le prix devraient intégrer les ordinateurs dans leurs classes. Mais jusqu'À présent il n'y a pas eu de curriculum sur l'éducation par l'ordinateur depuis le lancement de cette politique en 1988. Un progiciel pour l'évaluation continue au niveau primaire a été élaboré et testé dans des écoles privées sélectionnées dans le pays. Ces écoles sont celles de la corporation nigerienne nationale pour le pétrole (NNPC) À Kaduna (dans le Nord) Port Harcourt (Sud Est), Warri (dans le sud) et Mosimi près de Lagos (Sud Ouest). Les résultats de ces testes montrent que le e package f informatique peut être intégré avec succès dans le système de l'enseignement primaire. Ceci a été la première étape en rue de l'intégration de l'ordinateur dans la curriculum de l'enseignement primaire au Nigeria. Les recherches ultérieurs prévoient de tester les e progiciels f informatiques dans des domaines stratégiques choisis dans l'école primaire (anglais mathématiques, sciences sociales et sciences élémentaires). De la sorte , nous espérons qu'un première tentative de curriculum national sur l'informatique pourra être développé. Bewertungsmöglichkeiten von Computer gestützten Lernerfahrungen bei Grundschülern. Dieser Artikel berichtet über eine Studie zur staatlichen Initiative, Computer in der Grundschule eines Entwicklungslandes einzusetzen: eine Studie am Beispiel Nigerias. Die ständige Bewertung (Continuous Assessment CA) ist Teil der nationalen Bildungspolitik (wurde 1981 erneuert), aber ihre Anwendung ist langsam und tendenziös. Die Einführung von Computern in den Schulen ist eine Herausforderung an Lehrer und Verwaltung. Die offizielle Politik zur Computer gestützten Ausbildung sieht vor, dass Grundschulen, die es sich finanziell leisten können, Computer in ihren Klassen einführen sollen. Bis jetzt gibt es jedoch keinen Lehrplan zum Computer gestützten Lernen im Grundschulbereich seit Bekanntgabe dieser Strategie im Jahre 1988. Ein Computerprogramm, das den Kenntnisstand in der Grundschule erfasst wurde entwickelt und in einigen ausgewählten Grundschulen des Landes getestet.. Die Schulen sind: die Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Kaduma (Norden), Port Harcourt (Südost), Warri (Süden) und Mosimi bei Lagos (Südwest). Die Resultate dieses Tests belegen, dass das Computerprogramm erfolgreich in den Grundschulen angewendet werden kann. Dies ist ein erster Schritt, Computer gestütztes Lernen Grundschulbereich in den Fächern Englisch, Mathematik, Sozialkunde und Naturkunde einzusetzen, werden folgen. Wir hoffen, dass sich daraus ein Landeslehrplan für Computer gestütztes Lernen entwickelt. in den nigerianischen Lehrplan zu integrieren. Weitere Versuche, Computerprogramme im     

The Idea of the Secondary School in Nineteenth‐century Europe

The title echoes the well‐known phrase ‘the idea of the university’, and European universities have always been seen as institutions with a strong international dimension, developing according to common patterns. In their case, it was the ‘Humboldtian’ model embodied in the University of Berlin founded in 1810 which prevailed. For secondary schools, the lycées of Napoleon and the German Gymnasien, both taking shape around 1800, share this role. The main features of the lycée/Gymnasium model can be summarized: they were public, secular institutions; they were part of an elite sector with little organic connection with popular education; they were oriented to preparing for higher education, with a predominantly classical curriculum, taught by specialist teachers trained in the universities; and they offered an eight or nine year course culminating in an examination (baccalauréat, Abitur) which came to define a completed secondary education.

Some of these features came from the common European heritage of humanist education, others were due to political and social developments in which all European countries shared — secularization, the growth of the middle class, the impact of the French revolution, etc. But there could be crucial national differences in the timing of such developments, and in the degree to which the values of old and new elites were fused together. One argument of this paper is that the new model long remained an ‘idea’ or conceptual framework rather than a reality, even in its French and German homelands, and that the uniform concept concealed many historical variations. And after around 1870, new moulding forces took over (industrialization, mass politics, nationalism), though these too gave a strong impulse to uniformity.

The new relationship between secondary schools and universities did not become definitive in many countries until quite late in the 19th century. The word ‘secondary’ could be used in different senses, and boundaries could shift. On the one hand, traditional universities had included forms of preparatory general education which the new model defined as secondary and pushed back into the schools. On the other, as in the Bavarian or Austrian Lyzeum, the Dutch ‘illustrious schools’, or the English Dissenting Academies, intermediate institutions had developed which straddled secondary and higher education. Assimilation to the new pattern usually accompanied adoption of the ‘Humboldtian’ university ideal, and took place mostly between 1848 and the 1870s, though sometimes as late as the 1890s. The acceptance of 18/19 as a ‘natural’ age of transition itself needs explaining, and is clearly connected with the history of adolescence

The existence of a network of secondary schools, often as part of state structures which included precise legal definitions of their function, could conceal huge variations in the real role of schools in their local context. Even in a highly centralized system like the French one, historians are discovering the significance of local initiative and adaptation to local needs. In Germany, recent research has shown quite strikingly that the Gymnasien of the early 19th century were both multi‐functional in their curricula, and diverse in their social recruitment. Educating the elite, and giving an intensive humanist education, were only part of the functions of such schools. Historical generalizations have tended to overlook both the mass of pupils who left them at an early stage, and the diversity of the school pattern itself (religious schools in France, modern schools in Germany, private schools in Britain, etc.). Religious, ethnic and linguistic divisions could overlay those of social class. We should also recall that secondary schooling was a market, in which state policy had to compromise with parental preferences and family strategies. Studies of secondary schooling within its urban social and cultural context are one of the most potentially fruitful lines of current research

In the later 19th century, the multi‐functional role of schools diminished as industrialisation both expanded and differentiated the demand for schooling, a process studied by Fritz Ringer and others. It is in this context, perhaps, that the creation of modern forms of secondary schooling for girls is best seen. Within a new variety of ‘tracks’, the humanist secondary school became a specialized and more privileged type, fiercely defended by academic conservatives. Yet there remained close parallels between the various European systems: developments followed much the same chronology, and models such as the German Realschule were closely studied; even Britain was conforming to ‘continental’ patterns by the 1900s. In the age of the nationstate, great‐power rivalry, mass politics, and universal literacy, the training of a homogeneous national elite, an ‘intellectual aristocracy’ to provide stable leadership, became a general preoccupation. Just as this was true of the major powers, so the formation of such an elite through education was crucial to the demands of ethnic minorities now seeking emancipation within the multi‐national empires, as well as linguistic ones within some unitary states. In recent years, theorists of nationalism have emphasized the importance of education for the emergence of the modern nation‐state, and conversely historians of education must see nationalism as a powerful shaping force. This represents one of the ways in which, as in other fields of historical scholarship, interest has swung from the social themes which dominated research in the 1960s and 1970s to cultural and political ones.     

杂乱有章：辅导机构学校化与学校辅导机构化——兼对校外“辅导热”的社会学分析

从近代学校的兴起到学校系统在工业化国家的确立再到其他国家的仿效,公共大众学校教育在全球推广普及.然学校教育对学业成绩的残酷投注而其自身在提升学业成绩上的能力不足,驱使家庭购买大量校外辅导及相关服务以助子女取得学业佳绩,这在一些国家业已成为学校教育的制度化组成部分.通过效法并补充学校教育同时辅以世界教育文化的助推,课外辅导（影子教育）得以在全球扩张并挑战着学校教育.辅导机构有望成为教育组织系统的有机构成;学校在课程设置、运作管理等方面亦呈现与辅导机构相似、兼容之端倪.学校与辅导机构在明争暗合中形影游移、界限模糊,衍生一种混合型教育组织或有可能.依此而论,消除校外“辅导热”大抵是个伪命题.     

Child Schooling in India: A Multilevel Approach

It is been widely established that child schooling has far reaching influence on shaping their subsequent living, in particular, and social and economic development of the society, in general. Although the Constitution of India provides free and compulsory education for all children until they reach 14 years, the schooling of children – enrollment and completion of primary school – still remains far below than the expectations. Using data from National Family Health Survey [NFHS], we attempted to understand primary school enrollment and completion in India. Results reveal that household characteristics play a significant role towards child schooling. The study suggests the importance of adult educational programs and opening of new schools, particularly all-girls schools, in needed areas. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The relevance of media education in primary schools in Hong Kong in the age of new media: a case study

In this age of new media, children are exposed to media messages at an early age. What can we do when the mass media exert such a great influence on children? One proposal has been for the introduction of a new school subject: media education. Though media education has not been part of the official curriculum in Hong Kong, some schools, both primary and secondary, have tried it out. This paper argues for the desirability of introducing media education in primary schools in Hong Kong, with regard to social change, recent education reform and learning initiatives of primary pupils. It then draws on the findings of a study conducted in a local primary school to examine the views of pupils, parents, and teachers on the effects on pupils of the implementation of media education lessons and campus radio projects in this age of new media.     

学校投入与家庭投入哪个更重要?--回应由《科尔曼报告》引起的关于学校与家庭作用之争

自《科尔曼报告》公布至今已经过去了半个世纪,但对于学生学业成绩来说,学校投入与家庭投入哪个更重要的问题在国内外学术界依然没有达成共识。本文利用我国东部和中部5省16个城市中小学校大规模测评数据,采用广义教育生产函数方法,运用两水平线性模型,分析了学校投入和家庭投入要素对教育产出(以学生学业成绩为代理变量)的影响效应。同时,采用Shapley值和Owen值分解技术,识别出对学校教育产出有较大影响的投入要素,得出以下4个方面结论:第一,除生师比之外,办学条件和教师质量等学校投入要素对教育产出结果有显著的正效应。第二,父母参与、父母教育期望等家庭投入要素对教育产出结果有显著的正效应。第三,对于小学平均学业成绩而言,来自家庭的相关投入更重要;对于初中平均学业成绩而言,则是来自学校的相关投入更为重要。第四,相比学校办学条件,教师质量对中小学校平均学业成绩变异的贡献度更大;而且,相比小学,教师质量对初中学校平均学业成绩变异的贡献度更大。基于实证研究结论,提出提高我国中小学教育生产效率的5点建议:一是调整义务教育资源配置结构,优先保障初中阶段学校教育投入;二是改善义务教育阶段教师的工资待遇和工作环境,以吸引更多高素质人才投入义务教育事业;三是通过校外教师专业发展培训、校本教研合作等途径切实提高教师队伍的教学策略水平,尤其要重视提高初中教师的教学策略水平;四是政府和相关部门应尽快出台有关家庭教育的制度规范,强化父母在家庭教育中的主体责任,督促父母积极参与子女教育生产过程;五是学校和社区应广泛开展家庭教育讲座和家庭教育实践培训活动,引导家长树立正确的家庭教育观,掌握科学的养育子女的方法,以提高学校教育和家庭教育联合生产的效率。     

Education for citizenship in South Australian public schools: a pilot study of senior leader and teacher perceptions

Preparing students for informed and active citizenship is a core goal of education and schooling in Australia. The ways schools educate and prepare young Australians for citizenship involves a range of processes and initiatives central to the work of schools, including school ethos, mission, extracurricular activities and community-based participation. With regard to the formal curriculum, the recent introduction and implementation of the first ever Federal Australian Curriculum includes provision for a new subject – Civics and Citizenship. Research evidence from other nations suggests that schools understand, approach and enact education for citizenship in a multitude of ways, yet how Australian schools construct this aspect of their work is currently under-researched. In this context, and drawing on data from interviews with school leaders and teachers of Years 6–8 (11–14 year olds) students in a small sample of South Australian primary and secondary schools, we explore perceptions and current approaches to education for citizenship. Our findings suggest (1) that while school leaders and teachers value education for citizenship, they do so for different reasons; (2) that schools place values as central to education for citizenship; and (3) that community involvement is typically understood as occurring within rather than beyond the school.     

Attitudes and experiences of parents regarding inclusive and special school education for children with learning and intellectual disabilities

In a survey, 840 parents of children with cognitive deficits who were educated either in special schools or in inclusive classes were asked to assess their children's school experiences. The results showed an overall high degree of satisfaction with the schooling, but there were marked differences among the parents' assessments depending on the degree of learning disabilities and on the type of school. Satisfaction with their children's social experiences and satisfaction with the special education curriculum depend on these two factors. All in all, many parents of children in inclusive classes were satisfied with their children's schooling than those of children in special schools. The analysis of the causes for discontent showed that dissatisfied parents had chosen the type of school under less favourable conditions and a larger part of them are still not convinced of this necessity of additional help. This applied to parents of pupils in inclusive classes as well as to those of pupils in special schools. Furthermore, parents of children with German as a second language showed a higher degree of discontent than others.     

Project-based learning in post-WWII Japanese school curriculum: an analysis via curriculum orientations

In the 2000s, the new national curriculum, dubbed as the ‘yutori curriculum,’ introduced a new subject for project-based learning ‘Integrated Study’ as its prominent feature. Comparing curriculum orientations in project-based learning in three historical periods after the WWII including Integrated Study, this paper aims to offer a genealogy of postwar Japanese school curriculum primarily based on a critical reading of the national curriculum guidelines on project-based learning, which is emblematic of the extending power of postwar Japan's curriculum authorities. Although Integrated Study was purportedly child-centered and put emphasis on each child's personal relevance and each school's autonomy, the finding of this study shows that Integrated Study in the yutori curriculum was rather a technology that disciplined schools, teachers, and classroom processes to shape children into morally good and cognitively flexible Japanese nationals. Despite its rhetoric of child-centeredness and personal relevance, the introduction of Integrated Study as part of the yutori curriculum was ultimately part of the state's move to gain further control over schooling.     

关于小学语文教育专业课程的改革及其意义

以新语文课程理念及其所生成的新时期语文教育价值体系为尺度,去衡量当下小学语文教育状况,会发现小学语文教师的师资素质普遍存在不能适应新课改的需要。为此,建议师范类高等院校应着力对原有的小学语文教育专业课程设计进行改革,以提高小学语文教育的师资素质和推动新一轮语文教学改革的顺利进行。     

What determines basic school attainment in developing countries? Evidence from rural China

This paper analyzes recent household survey data from Gansu, a less developed province in Northwest China, to examine school attainment in a poor rural area of China. Censored ordered probit regressions are used to estimate the determinants of years of schooling. Child nutritional status, as measured by height-for-age Z-scores, and household income have positive effects on completed years of schooling. Mothers’ education and attitudes toward children's education also have strong effects. Children of mothers with 6 years of primary education will go to school 1.4 years longer than their counterparts whose mothers who have no education. Science labs in lower secondary schools appear to have positive impacts; providing a science lab is estimated to extend years of schooling by 1.8 years. Finally, teachers’ experience in lower secondary schools also has a strong positive impact on school attainment.     

In search of educational equity for the migrant children of Shanghai

Around the world there is a growing consensus that migrant children's rights must be protected, regardless of where they have emigrated from. One of these rights is the right to a public education of equal quality to that granted to non-migrant children regardless of where one's family is registered or pays taxes. This article focuses on migrant children schooling in Shanghai. It will show that three main problems are still impeding migrant children from getting a high-quality education. They are: the inferior quality of migrant children schools; the lack of access to a public school and the much higher costs of schooling; and the high mobility of migrant students. Our conclusion: the education rights of migrant children have become contingent on the wills of urban local governments, public attitudes, and available space in local public schools.     

This Commune has Carried Out the Popularization of Education

Chu-hsing Commune in Chin-shan hsien is located in a distant suburb of Shanghai. Before liberation, this was an out-of-the-way locality where culture and education were unusually backward. After liberation, although several primary schools were set up, there were still over 1,700 children of poor and lower-middle peasants in the whole commune to whom schooling was not made available because of the influence of the revisionist line in education. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution caused profound changes in the appearance of this commune. Under the guidance of chairman Mao's proletarian education line, the 18 production brigades in the whole commune all have schools, and every team is setting up primary school auxiliary junior middle school classes. All children of school age and young adults have entered school, popularizing the eight-year system of education.     

Social literacy and citizenship education in the school curriculum

This article explores citizenship education's need to focus on both ‘political’ and ‘social’ literacy within a communitarian framework. The Crick Report (1998; see also Lahey, Crick and Porter, 1974), while recognizing that the social dimension of citizenship education was a precondition for both the civic and political dimensions, concentrated largely on ‘political’ literacy. This article examines the social dimension of citizenship education. Concern with the social dimension of the curriculum in schools is not a recent interest, but changes within society have accelerated the social demands made upon schools. At the very least, society expects schools to correct the behaviour of children and to teach them values which usually means insisting on ‘good’ behaviour. The social development of pupils has thus assumed a much greater place in the aspirations of schools. Programmes of personal and social education, together with citizenship education, invariably emphasize a range of social skills and these skills are introduced early and built upon throughout the years of schooling. An individual's sense and ability to make socially productive decisions do not develop by themselves; rather, they require knowledge, values and skills. Above all opportunities are required for children to experience social relations in such a way that they are able to operate critically within value-laden discourses and thereby to become informed and ethically empowered, active citizens.