Internality-norm theory in educational contexts

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the socionormative approach of internality in the field of education, and more specifically regarding scholastic judgment. It describes the theoretical development and the main procedures used by researchers to show that internal causal explanations have more value than external ones because they are normative and convey social value. We present results that show that the preference for internal explanations is learned in school. We also demonstrate that internal explanations are often chosen for self-presentation purposes and have some bearing in evaluative practices (here, scholastic judgment). We also present results which show that certain internal explanations of school events, regardless of their valence (success or failure), enhance the social worth of the pupil producing them. This applies to effort-based explanations which are more highly valued than others (e.g., in terms of personological traits such as aptitudes or abilities). Such results lead us to discuss the role played by internal explanations in the evaluation practices. We underline the relevant aspect of the socionormative theory of internality by comparison to another sociocognitive approach namely Weiner’s attributional theory of motivation.     

Interanimation: repositioning possibilities in educational contexts

Changing discursive practices is necessary for educational social justice and is made possible through the interanimation of diverse ways of knowing that create dynamic tensions and challenge reliance on narrow views of what counts as legitimate knowledge. In this article, we accept the challenge that Reid and Valle put forth in creating new discourses of possibility through the animation of sociocultural and critical theory as they might apply to the interrogation of two aspects of the meaning-making process: (a) the interanimation of voices across systems as a condition of reculturing institutions and communities of practice, and (b) instructional activity settings in educational contexts (e.g., disciplinary apprenticeships). We conclude this article by examining possibilities for collaborative research activity.     

Historical contexts of educational reforms in present-day China

Conclusion As are structural changes in the economic sphere, educational reforms in present-day China are progressing in a period of great transition with the old system being replaced by the new. The old system is dissolving but has not completely dissolved. The new system is growing, but has not become a powerful institution. Promoting the growth of the new while accelerating the dissolution of the old without major upheaval remains a tremendous task. Recognizing that old things are not necessarily bad and new ones good, we will be careful to facilitate positive reforms in the Chinese context without repeating the mistakes of the past.     

Students' conceptions of learning in different educational contexts

The aim of this study is to investigate students' conceptions of learning in different educational contexts, and analyze to what extent conceptions are contextually dependent. Student nurses and car mechanic students are chosen as two groups, and qualitative similarities and differences between the students are described and explained in terms of the educational contexts: nursing education and car mechanic education.The study is 'qualitative by its nature, and the phenomenographic approach and grounded theory are taken as the points of departure. Data for the cross-section study were collected through individual interviews with student nurses (n = 60) and car mechanic students (n = 54). Different groups of students were interviewed at the beginning and at the end of the educational programs.As a result of the analysis, qualitative similarities and differences in students' conceptions were found. Differences among students within a program were, however, fewer than differences among students participating in different programs. In comparing groups of students within the programs, similar trends of development could be identified. Students within both programs used more developed conceptions at the end than at the beginning of the programs. The differences found within and between the student groups could be explained in terms of educational contexts. The results thus showed that conceptions were to some extent contextually dependent.     

Participation and participatory planning in educational systems

A conference on participatory planning in education was held in January of this year sponsored by the Country Educational Planning Programme of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Reporting and interpreting a wide range of country experience, the complete papers to this conference will be published in July, from which the following paper by Kjell Eide is drawn, with the authorization of the author and of OECD.Chairman of the Governing Board of the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Numerous publications in the field of educational planning and policy.     

外语教育研究中的叙事探究

叙事探究在外语教育领域得到越来越广泛的运用。本文以web of science核心合集文献为依据,梳理了该领域叙事探究的理论视角、研究主题、数据收集和分析方法。研究发现,研究者多采用实践共同体理论和定位理论,侧重身份、动机等主题;数据收集以多渠道数据、历时数据、互动中的叙事、叙事框架和多模态叙事等方式为主;数据分析常采用主题分析、内容分析、话语分析和叙事性分析。最后,对叙事探究在外语教育研究领域的未来发展给出了建议。     

Field theory and educational practice: Bourdieu and the pedagogic qualities of local field positions in educational contexts

Bourdieu’s version of field theory has had an impressive impact on the ways that sociologists of education conceptualize educational practices. These accounts tend to focus on the varying levels of ontological complicity established between students’ cultural dispositions and educational institutions. In this paper, the wisdom of these accounts is acknowledged but it is also suggested that Bourdieu’s field theory does not go far enough to detail the ways that positions in local educational fields embody pedagogic qualities and action trajectories. Drawing on insights from social psychology and relational sociology, a field theory for local educational action is outlined that more adequately accounts for the ways that students and educators directly experience and act upon curricular and pedagogic qualities in educational settings. An empirical example is then offered of the authors’ claims within the context of curricular tracking/streaming, and the article concludes by considering the practical and political consequences of this theoretical shift.     

Critical religious education: highlighting religious truth-claims in non-confessional educational contexts

In this article, a religious education, which combines a respect for relevant critical demands, when analysing religious truth-claims, and a sensitivity to the need to avoid unwarranted criteriological constraints in the analysing process, is examined. Starting with an analytical comment upon Andrew Wright’s critical realist approach in terms of a ‘pursuit of truth’, the question of how to motivate epistemological analyses within religious education is raised and discussed with reference to three relevant sceptical arguments. These arguments are made objects of critical comments, and an illustration of pedagogical and methodological consequences is presented with reference to the new syllabuses for religious education in Sweden. Finally, a constructive re-interpretation of Wright’s approach is elaborated, and a critical position in relation to it is outlined.     

Making the Rhetoric Real: perceptions of enterprise in educational contexts

Abstract

A study involving 139 educationalists examined the thoughts and feelings experienced by individuals in relation to the enterprise language and the philosophical, historical and cultural values which were challenged by enterprise initiatives in education. The outcome indicated that change is initiated by discourse rather than rhetoric and that the enterprise language, having served its purpose in bringing process innovation in education from the periphery of the system to the centre, should become increasingly redundant.     

Understanding experience better in educational contexts: the phenomenology of embodied subjectivity

ABSTRACT

The authors consider in this critical paper that claims that human agents experience things-in-the-world as the same are deeply flawed as these accounts misconstrue and fail to appreciate the phenomenology of embodied subjectivity. To overcome these complex problems they outline how phenomenology can reach beyond positivist and standardised approaches to classroom learning and assessment and offer a broader and more encouraging perspective. They consider that the naturalistic account of subjectivity advanced by Merleau-Ponty provides a theoretically sound basis for understanding experiences better and for embodiment to become more central to educational aims. In developing their position they detail how recognising changes in Merleau-Ponty’s thinking over time are crucial for appreciating the nature of embodied subjectivity. Thereafter, they highlight and exemplify how practical approaches based on a phenomenological reduction of seeking, sensing and seeing could enhance the centrality of embodied subjectivity in contemporary education.     

Life skills in educational contexts: testing the effects of an intervention programme

This study examined the effects of a training programme on students’ acquisition of life skills, life satisfaction, life orientation and expectations about academic achievement. Participants were allocated to either an intervention group (n?=?41) that took part in a life skills programme, or a control group (n?=?43). Participants completed the Youth Experiences Scale 2.0, the satisfaction with life scale, the life orientation test-revised and the expectations about academic achievement. Results showed that students who received the intervention reported having more developmental experiences related to life skills, greater life satisfaction and a stronger tendency to be optimistic. Expectations about academic achievement were higher for the intervention group before and after the intervention. In conclusion, there are benefits to providing life skills training to adolescents in educational contexts.     

Returning to the mirror: reflections on promoting constructivism in three educational contexts

Since the early 1980s educators have argued that reflection is an essential dimension of good pedagogical practice. This discussion of my attempt to support a constructivist approach to learning for three different groups of learners illustrates one effort to engage in such reflection. I analyze several assignments I have designed for differently positioned learners, all within the context of a liberal arts college in northeastern USA. Referring to the assignments I have developed in each context, I analyze the particular kinds of structures, challenges and supports I try to provide to learners, with the goal of surfacing the convictions I hold about learners' identities and capabilities. My intention is to identify underlying pedagogical principles that inform my practice across contexts, not only to make it clearer for myself and others what guides that practice but also, in an effort to acknowledge the evolving and interdependent nature of this work, to articulate the new challenges this analysis poses for me.