Caught in the middle: examining a contentious divide through the experiences of a small Christian school for Mexican immigrants

ABSTRACT

In this article, I describe how Escuela Luz del Mundo (ELM), a progressive Christian school that served the Mexican immigrant community in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA was ‘caught in the middle’ between Christians and secular humanists. As the school’s director, I had opportunities to interact with a variety of secular and non-secular organisations and through these experiences learned about their perspectives on the school and its mission. Using the qualitative methodology of self-study, two idents are described that occurred during the school’s existence that elucidate these perspectives. In the first ident, a doctor who worked in the ELM community implicitly expressed his lack of support for the school. In the second, students and parents at a ‘Christian bubble school’ demonstrated overtly negative behaviours towards ELM’s low-ome, students of colour. Literature is reviewed that illustrates the historic legacy in the United States of low-ome students and students of colour being denied access to high-quality educational opportunities. To address this historic legacy, individuals and groups must work across divides that separate and sustain this legacy. The need in Christian education to support the development of students’ empathy for ‘the other’ through meaningful and sustained relationships is also discussed.     

Justice,belonging and trust among Israeli middle school students

Contending that justice experiences at school transmit messages about the wider society and affects students' attitudes and behaviour, we investigated the effects of students' sense of distributive and (school) procedural justice on their sense of belonging to school and on their social and institutional trust. The study was carried out among about 5000 eighth and ninth graders in a national sample of 48 middle schools in Israel in the 2010–2011 school year. The two‐level data—individual and school—were analyzed by HLM7 (Hierarchical Linear Model). Findings basically support our hypotheses: sense of distributive justice, especially, with regard to teachers'–students' relation positively affected students' sense of belonging and their trust in people and formal institutions; and school (aggregate) sense of procedural justice added to these positive effects. However, these attitudes were also dependent on sectorial affiliation (Jewish secular, Jewish religious, Arab), which explained a considerable portion of between‐school variation in student attitudes.     

“选官”与“选佛”

唐人赴贡举干仕,名曰"选官";入禅林为僧,称为"选佛"。选官与选佛虽有入世和出世的区别,但二者在各自圈内的竞争又很相似,故士林与禅林的风习往往交相影响。这种影响不但表现为双方圈内习语的互相借用,更表现他们在组织模式和著作形式上的互相效仿。中唐后士人在贡举中形成的文人集团的组织形式是受了禅家"选佛"机制的启发,如以韩愈为中心形成的文人集团;唐代的"秀句"、"格"、"式"等诗论著作形式也是士人选官与禅僧选佛交相影响的结果。不过,僧人的格、式类著作与士人相比,有很多明显的特点和崭新的因素,象征着思维角度的一种转变,因此,禅僧之"选佛"对于深入总结艺术规律、赢得理论进步有重要意义。     

RELIGION AND SCHOOL‐EDUCATION IN A SECULAR STATE: THE FRENCH SITUATION

A major nation building concept in France is that of laïcité(secularism). Arising during the French Revolution, it gathered force in the nineteenth century, resulting in the complete separation of Church and State in France in 1905. A major goal of laïcitéwas the creation of a free, state‐supported public school system in which the teachers became the high priests of the secular state. Although certain religious minorities, the Jews and the Protestants, in particular, did quite well in France following their emancipation, making massive use of the secular schools for their own promotion in French society, their assimilation weakened their religious and community ties. Indeed, a negative result of secularism is that it has resulted in widespread ignorance on the part of many French people of all persuasions of the religious roots of their culture. This ignorance has made them intolerant of religion in general and of the religious differences manifested by an increasingly large and vocal Muslim minority, the presence of which is the confirmation that France is now a de facto plural society. The author suggests that one solution to that intolerance in France which seems to have its roots in that very laïcitéwhich at its inception had been intended to eliminate religious intolerance would be the teaching of courses in religious appreciation in the schools. Of course, this proposition raises the question of whether or not such courses should be taught by clerics or by secular teachers.     

Compulsory education in religion—the Norwegian case: an empirical evaluation of RE in Norwegian schools,with a focus on human rights

Christian knowledge used to be taught in the Norwegian state school as a compulsory subject for members of Lutheran churches. In 1997 this was replaced by a subject that is compulsory for all pupils, where both Christianity, other religions and secular world views are taught on an equal basis, although more time should be used on Christianity than other views. Some parents took the state to court because they wanted full withdrawal from the subject for their children. Having lost the case, the parents of four pupils then appealed to the UN’s Human Rights Committee, which in November 2004 gave a verdict supporting the parents. This article is based on an evaluation project, asking parents, pupils and teachers about their experiences with the new subject, and also asking parents how they would prefer religions and world views to be taught. We focus on what we regard as the subject’s most central dilemma: how can the school contribute to giving the pupils and society a common cultural basis while at the same time both freedom of religion and parental rights are taken care of?     

作为生活样态的佛教信仰 --论唐代"冥报小说"的文化内涵

唐代“冥报小说”所反映出的佛教世俗信仰不是一种纯粹的宗教信仰，而是与宗法制的社会形态相结合的产物。在其发挥作用的过程中，作为世俗生活样态表现出来。佛教信仰的生活样态又是主体在心理及精神上需求的表现。在唐代俗众的生存哲学中，由于认识水平的低劣和教化要达到的目的，促使信仰威哧成为一种规范制约力量，亦成为一种社会的根本需要。在此意义上，可以说唐代“冥报小说”是唐代社会风俗史和心灵史一个侧面的记载。     

我国中小学课业负担问题的反思——现代性危机的视角

中小学课业负担过重是关涉到我国千家万户的重要问题,也是阻碍基础教育改革的羁绊。以往的研究主要把其原因归结为学校落后的学业评价制度、家庭普遍的高期望现象和社会浓厚的唯学历意识等因素,然则追本溯源它是现代性危机带给现代人的"焦虑"所致,集中体现在人们对世俗生活的追求以及人的精神和价值的失落。要想解决我国中小学课业负担问题,呼唤人文精神的回归和加强教育管理的政策导引不失为一种可行的尝试。     

Educational leadership and culture in China: Dichotomies between Chinese and Anglo-American leadership traditions?

This article explores the extent to which Chinese school leaders espouse dichotomous or integrated Chinese and Anglo-American leadership and management preferences. Data are drawn from questionnaires completed by school leaders and from semi-structured interviews with individual school leaders from different parts of China. The exploratory study shows that Chinese school leaders perceive a coexistence of Chinese and Anglo-American leadership and management values, rather than the domination of one over the other. The findings suggest that it is important to understand the impact of national cultures on leadership and management. Differences between Chinese and Western culture and leadership and management are open to the challenge of stereotyping, and should not be over-stressed, as school leaders are working in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, and are exposed to and socialized into cultures of a multileveled polity ranging from the school to the local, national, and even global levels.     

西方政治转型理论及其影响评析

西方政治转型理论既是传统政治发展理论的承接和延续,也是20世纪70年代后期以来南欧、拉美、东亚等地区的威权政体向民主政体转型而产生的理论总结和分析。其核心内容在于对与政治体制转型因素和政治体制转型之间关系的研究,其关注重心在于对威权主义政体向民主政体转型的动因、过程、后果的动态分析。不同的方法论分析框架形成了政治转型的不同逻辑。关注和研究政治转型理论及其影响对我国发展社会主义民主、推动政治、经济的协调发展以及建构社会主义和谐社会是非常必要的。     

The contested place of religion in the Australian Civics and Citizenship curriculum: exploring the secular in a multi-faith society

In the absence of a dedicated subject for teaching general religious education, the inclusion of Civics and Citizenship education as a new subject within the first Federal Australian Curriculum provides an important opportunity for teaching the religious within Australian schools. The curriculum for Civics and Citizenship requires students to learn that Australia is both a secular nation and a multi-faith society, and to understand religions practised in contemporary Australia. The term ‘secular’ and the need for students to learn about Australia’s contemporary multi-faith society raise some significant issues for schools and teachers looking to implement Civics and Citizenship. Focusing on public (state-controlled) schools, the argument here draws on recent analysis within the Australian context to suggest that religion remains an important factor in understanding and shaping democratic citizenship in Australia, that this should be acknowledged within public schools, and that a constructivist, dialogical-based pedagogy provides possibilities for recognising the religious within Civics and Citizenship education.     

中国社会性质问题论战中之资本主义社会说

在中国社会性质问题论战中认为中国是资本主义社会的派别和个人比较多。他们高估中国资本主义力量,认为中国是资本主义社会。持资本主义社会说的主要有两大派别,最具代表性的是托派。托派观点有一个不断深化的过程。苏联托派是资本主义社会说的提出者,陈独秀是中国托派最具影响力的代表,他关于中国社会性质问题的见解是中国托派最具代表性的观点。在托派中持最极端最片面观点的是＂动力＂派,刘仁静的观点则离客观现实最近。资本主义社会说作为直接对立面,为马克思主义者和我党正确认识中国社会性质问题和中国革命根本问题起到了催生作用。     

Religious students in a public-secular college: feeling unique in a milieu of diversity

ABSTRACT

The current study examined the case of religious students who opted to study in a secular teacher-training college despite the fact that there are religious colleges that would have suited their needs. This phenomenon is unusual because the education system in Israel is segregated and each educational sector has its own teacher-training colleges. Findings of this qualitative study indicate that the majority of participants did not wish to depart from the religious framework, but rather sought to forge reciprocal relations with the secular society and carve a space for themselves where they could express their identity, which does not entirely conform to the demands of the religious society. These findings highlight an interesting dynamic that developing between students from a minority group and the mainstream secular society in Israel that promotes multiculturalism. An academic campus that adopts a multicultural approach is a safe space for minority students, whose sectorial framework does not fully provide for all their needs.     

冷漠背后的洞悉与放弃——霍尔顿与惜春形象之比较研究

霍尔顿和惜春的相似之处在于他们对人对物冷漠的态度和个性,而这种冷漠来自他们以敏锐的观察力和判断力对各自所处时代环境的深刻洞悉。因此,他们都通过或试图通过放弃世俗生活的方式向各自所生存的世界义无返顾地做出反抗。     

Politics,religion and morals: the symbolism of public schooling for the urban middle-class identity

Research points to sections of the middle-class repopulating the ‘ordinary’ urban public school and whilst there are key differences in how they are navigating public school choices, from ‘seeking a critical mass’ to resisting traditional methods of choice and going ‘against-the-grain’, or collectively campaigning for a brand new public school, the urban middle-class are developing contemporary methods to challenge the existing ways of thinking about middle-class choice. Drawing on this literature, this paper explores the symbolism of public schooling for relatively affluent choosers in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The positioning of public schooling as essentially secular and liberal indicates how the public school is valorised within the contemporary market place. Within a market that tends to undersell the public school, the perceived lack of organised religion and progressivism may be the unique selling point for the cosmopolitan, globalised consumer.     

论张爱玲散文的日常化写作倾向

张爱玲之所以具有日常化写作姿态，是由商业化社会对文人的世俗化改造，她独特的历史观和沉迷于日常生活并细致地体味的个性心理等因素综合形成的。其散文既写丰富而广泛的形而下的日常生活，更对日常生活进行形而上的透视，将之升华为对传统理想价值观的解构。这主要表现在以世俗实用的眼光消解文学艺术的诗性与神性，以日常世俗性消解历史、圣人、英雄的崇高神圣，和有关女性的神话等三方面。从写作内容及由此表达的“日常生活观”两方面呈现出文学“描述日常生活”的审美理念，使散文写作成为现代文学精神世俗化转向的典型代表，体现了建立大众生存的合理的人性维度的目的。     

日本小学社会科教科书中的“传统与文化”

日本已将成为一个"文化创造型国家"确立为国家发展的方向。"传统与文化"教育被寄予了创建国际社会、日本社会、区域社会以及学校社会的重任。2008年修订的课程标准新增了有关传统与文化的课程内容。小学社会科教科书中"传统与文化"相关内容通过展现学生自主探究、学习传统与文化的过程来培养学生的民族认同感,这种内容组织方式是值得肯定的。但是,"传统与文化"内容仅限于三年级有关区域社会的变迁和发展单元与六年级的历史单元中,而且缺乏从传统文化在今天和未来的价值、传统文化对国际社会的影响这两个视角来组织,这将是日本"传统与文化"教育亟待解决的课题。     

学校教育社会风险:本质内涵与评估指标

学校教育面临着各种社会风险,同时学校教育中的一些风险因素演变成的风险事件也给社会带来风险。因此,我国学校亟待实施学校教育社会风险管理。学校教育社会风险是指社会上的各种相关因素、自然灾害以及学校教育活动与管理本身等因素变量演化成的风险事件给学校教育带来某种危险的可能性或后果,以及学校教育本身的一些风险因素演变成的风险事件给社会带来的某种危险的可能性或后果。据此,学校教育社会风险指标体系,是一个由学校面临的教育社会风险评估指标体系和学校教育对社会的风险评估指标体系构成的指标群。     

冲突与抉择:学习化社会背景下的学校教育

学习化社会的来临给制度化的学校教育带来了前所未有的冲击与挑战。正规化、阶段化、精英化、标准化的学校教育开始受到来自四面八方的指责与批评。新的时代背景要求学校教育对这些问题做出积极的回应。因此，学校教育正处在十字路口，改造与创新势在必行。     

对立还是融合：对“5＋2=0”的诘问

“5＋2=0”思想人为地将学校与家庭、社会对立起来,将学校本应承担的那部分德育责任完全推卸到了社会和家庭的身上。这一思想的提出实质上是因为部分教育研究者没有真正对学校教育认识清楚,夸大了家庭和社会影响的负面作用,并低估了家庭和社会的正面教育意义。“5＋2=0”思想的提出,在客观上引起了家庭和社会对学生德育的重视,提高了家庭和社会对学生德育的参与意识,但这种对校内校外德育环境差异的极度强调,却演化成了学校德育工作者们对家庭和社会的警惕和敌视,产生了极大的负面影响,导致各方对学校德育的认识偏差。     

The school in the state and the state in the school: the social re-production of education systems in a mobile modernity

Schools offer powerful scope for viewing and comprehending the wider society in which they are produced and replicated. The ways in which schools are structured, positioned, funded, managed, appreciated, critiqued, cared for and neglected, presents us with a means for seeing beyond the rhetoric of a nation state to the lived realities faced by its citizens. In this paper I want to link the development of Australian educational policies to shifts in socio-cultural thought and practice that reflect and reproduce a mobile modernity. I am interested in school funding policies as they relate to the private, or non-government education sector from the late colonial period to these so-called neo-liberal/late modern times. The interrogated scenes shift about amongst a complex of interrelated fields, from the urban to the rural, the public and the private, as well as the primary, secondary and tertiary layers of educational “offerings”. The periodization reveals a loosening of commitments to a secular, state-centred, welfare-focused modernity, towards a privatizing, individualizing “second modernity”. Drawing from a range of empirical studies of school choice I highlight the shifting ideas and practices of those involved in the re-production of both public and private schools either as professionals/workers in the system, or as “consumers” of the products available in education’s “quasi-markets”.