Integrated Science Education in Primary Schools in Rome: the Research Project of the ‘University‐School’ Group

In response to global climate change, loss of biodiversity, and the immense human impact on the carrying capacity of the earth systems, attention has been given to sustainable development worldwide. In this paper, we explore the emerging field of sustainability science within the context of the socio‐cultural milieu of Malawi, a sub‐Saharan African country. Through interviews in vernacular languages and observations in the field, our research explores how traditional agriculture practices of African elders may contribute to the sustainability of the environment and culture in Africa. Findings indicate that traditional farmers and food preservationists choose to practice indigenous ways of living with nature to live sustainably in a globalized economy. Further discussion elucidates how merging worldviews and hybridized knowledge and languages can be leveraged to create a third space for dialogue and curriculum development by connecting indigenous ways of living with Eurocentric science.     

Valuing indigenous knowledge: to call it “science” will not help

In this commentary on Brayboy and Castagno’s paper, published in this volume, we discuss, on the one hand, many points of agreement between their proposal of culturally responsive schooling for indigenous youth and El-Hani and Mortimer’s proposal of culturally-sensitive science education. On the other hand, we focus on a key disagreement, not only with Brayboy and Castagno, but with a whole body of literature on multicultural, postcolonialist, postmodernist education. The main point of disagreement lies in the fact that we are not sure that to broaden the concept of science so as to talk about “native science” or “indigenous science” is indeed the best strategy to attain a goal that we wholeheartedly share with Brayboy and Castagno, to value other ways of knowing for their own sake, validity, and legitimacy.

Getting there and staying in: first-generation indigenous students’ educational pathways into Chilean higher education

Drawing on a total of 26 life history interviews with indigenous students in higher education, the article examines the role of activating valued resources and personal strategies to navigate unequal pathways into higher education. In Chile, the historical inequalities for indigenous people’s access to higher education are beginning to be reverted, but these changes misrecognize ongoing disadvantages in regard to experiencing university life. Selection choices regarding the institution and course are based on restricted information sources and prior knowledge, whilst the capital required to succeed is heavily biased toward higher socioeconomic backgrounds. This notwithstanding, students’ transitions into higher education are marked by spontaneous adaptations to work routines, managing crises, and the activation of other resources for ‘staying in’. Emphasis is placed on the resilience expressed by these young people, as the first-generation from their families to access higher education, to negotiate cumulative disadvantages from low-quality educational establishments and poverty.     

论我国“高等教育大众化”实施中的问题及其对策

“高等教育大众化”是高等教育毛入学率达到一定比例的一个标志。目前我国高等教育正快速由“精英阶段”向“大众化阶段”过渡。“高等教育大众化”对我国上我方面的现实意义。但去年我国高等教育大幅度扩招以来出现了一些影响教育健康发展的问题和困难,对这些问题急需进行理性的分析和正确的处理。     

TPACK to GPACK? The examination of the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework as a model for global integration into college of agriculture classrooms

Faculty in U.S. colleges of agriculture are encouraged to internationalize their classroom curricula, but further research is needed to determine how to best prepare faculty. This study explores the transferability of the technological pedagogical content knowledge model (TPACK), originally used for technology integration, to our proposed model, the global pedagogical content knowledge model (GPACK), for the effective integration of global concepts into content-specific courses. Interviews from eight program participants of a yearlong faculty development program imply combined faculty training in global issues, pedagogy, and content, rather than in an exclusive knowledge area, may more adequately prepare faculty for classroom internationalization.     

关于高校档案专业计算机教育的思考

文章讨论了当前高校档案专业在计算机课程开设中存在的问题,提出了改进计算机教育的办法.     

Science education and worldview

Is there a place for Indigenous Knowledge in the science curriculum for a Zulu community in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa? This article argues “yes,” based on a participative research and development project that discovered relevant science learning in a Zulu community. Among community concerns for relevant factual and performative knowledge, we found that culture and worldview are critical to community identity, to visioning educational outcomes, and to learning in school science. Cultural practices may contribute to pedagogy and curriculum; curriculum, in turn, may affirm cultural practices. Further, worldview needs to be understood as an aspect of knowledge creation. By understanding key aspects of an African worldview, science educators can contribute to both meaningful science education and community well-being. By fostering culture and worldview, a rural community can make a unique contribution to science education.     

我国高等教育与区域互动发展的影响因素分析

高等教育与区域互动发展是推进区域经济社会发展的重要趋势。在推进区域经济社会发展过程中,高等教育布局不均衡、地方政府对高等教育预期的功利化、高等教育管理体制的不完善、高等教育与区域互动发展机制的不健全、高等教育和区域自身发展的水平是影响和制约高等教育与区域互动发展的重要因素。     

我国高等职业教育课程发展的现状与对策简

教育部《关于全面提高高等职业教育教学质量的若干意见》（教高[2006]16号）中,特别指出：“课程建设与改革是提高教学质量的核心,也是教学改革的重点和难点”。本文纵观我国高等职业教育课程的发展历程,对职业教育课程理念、开发模式、课程改革现状、问题与对策进行了讨论和分析,为探索适应我国特色的高等职业教育课程模式打下良好的基础。     

三十年中国高等教育改革与发展的成就——《中国高等教育改革与发展30年·前言》

改革与发展是改革开放30年我国高等教育的两大主题。经过30年的改革与发展,高等教育构建起了规模宏大、体系完备、功能先进、影响深远的人才培养、科学研究和社会服务体系。期间,影响高等教育改革与发展的因素主要有政治改革、经济发展、科技进步和高等教育自身发展逻辑等。《中国高等教育改革与发展30年》一书以高等教育改革与发展30年为纵轴,以一些重大主题为横轴,分别从宏观和微观两方面设计了18个专题,意图从一个个断面透视30年中国高等教育的变化与进步。     

职校实施环境教育策略初探

环境意识是衡量一个国家、一个民族、乃至一个人文明程度的一个重要标志之一。环境教育关系到环境质量,也关系到人口素质,更与新时期科学发展观的实现存在着密切的联系。环境教育和保护大自然生态环境。实为人类当今的重要课题。学生中广泛开展环境保护教育,让他们从小树立环保思想。重视环境保护。意义深远。本文分析当前我国环境教育的不足并提出相关建议。     

Culture,indigenous knowledge systems and sustainable development: A critical view of education in an African context

The article’s focus is the relationship between culture, indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), sustainable development and education in Africa. It analyzes the concept of sustainability with particular reference to education and indigenous knowledge systems. In particular the article analyzes the documents from the World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 as well as from the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Moreover, the article discusses South Africa’s Curriculum 2005 (C 2005) launched by the African National Congress (ANC) by focusing on the dilemmas of exclusively introducing Western-based scientific knowledge in a cultural context based on indigenous epistemology. The article concludes by calling for more research into the viability of indigenous knowledge systems as a potential tool in sustainable development.     

高职大学生人文教育的缺失及对策

高等职业技术教育是我国高等教育的重要组成部分,但长期以来,因主客观多方面的原因,高职人文教育的发展相对滞后。人文教育的缺失对学生个人和国家、民族都危害甚大,高职院校必须认清危害,在实践中拿出有效的措施加强人文教育。     

Environmental engineering education (E3) in the Gulf Co-operation Countries

The six members of the Gulf Co-operation Countries (GCC)—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—are facing enormous environmental challenges associated with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, especially in the last three decades, due to its role as a global hydrocarbon energy centre. None of these countries have systematic and specialised academic programmes with the sole purpose of Environmental Engineering Education (E3). The current status of E3 in the universities across the region is surveyed and thus the individual and collective higher education policies towards environmental affairs are highlighted. The E3 policies of the regional universities are then compared to the benchmark status of the European and the US universities. The ABET criteria are used to evaluate non-E3 programs. The survey shows that the environmental engineering subjects were mostly taught under the umbrella of civil or chemical engineering departments in the GCC countries. An educational scheme for E3 in the GCC higher education institutes is proposed that is based on the evolution of E3 approach in the Western universities.     

从我国高等教育发展趋势看高职教育未来走向

本文在对我国10年来的高等教育发展趋势进行统计分析基础上,对今后10年高职教育的发展走向进行预测和评价,大胆创新高职教育办学机制是今后10年高职教育改革的主旋律。     

Indigenizing civic education in Africa: Experience in Madagascar and the Sahel

In Africa, as in many countries of the South, democratization is sometimes perceived as a process modeled upon outside – and specifically Northern – experience. Formal civic education programs in those countries arguably reflect the same bias and have not always been notably successful. Yet there are rich patterns of civic involvement and democratic process in African culture and in the myriad ways in which it has adapted to development challenges, often more successfully reflected in non-formal and informal education endeavors. This article reports on a comparative study of related experience in Madagascar and Sahelian West Africa and draws conclusions regarding ways to draw inspiration for school-based civic education from such ground-level sources.     

电大教育可持续发展思略浅谈

在新的历史时期,面对新的机遇和挑战,电大教育要实现可持续发展,必须坚持以科学发展观为指导,进一步明确办学理念及办学的机构、方向和目标定位,发挥系统整体优势,融入社会、依靠社会、服务社会,提高人才培养质量,打造电大教育品牌。     

Higher education for sustainability: can education affect moral perceptions?

A considerable literature looks at universities’ approaches to integrating sustainable development into teaching and learning, but less is known about how Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) affects student attitudes, values and norms. To our knowledge, only a few studies have quantified such effects of changes in curricula. This study contributes to this literature by quantifying and measuring the effect of a compulsory sustainability activity on students’ ethical and moral perceptions. Our results show that ESD can indeed affect moral perceptions of what constitutes socially appropriate behaviour, but not in a homogenous way. Instead, the effect varies with background characteristics of the students.