Piagetian structuralism and learning: Reflections on two decades of educational application

In light of salient measurement and evaluation issues a content analysis approach was chosen to assess the value and problem of applying Piagetian theory to early childhood education. Focal changes in implementation were analyzed with emphasis upon the so-called unique contributions of the theory to teaching goals, beliefs, understandings, and practices. Structuralism was compared favorably with learning theory in providing a conceptual basis for educational application. The inherently dialectical nature of Piaget's views of knowledge presents an intuitively appealing albeit conceptually and methodologically abstract approach to educational innovation. It was concluded that applying Piagetian theory to education, in agreement with these special developmental dynamics, involves an interactively changing theory and data base as teachers and children develop over time.     

Six decades of educational multilateralism in a globalising world: The history of the UNESCO Institute in Hamburg

Created in 1945 as a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was given, among other mandates, the task of reconstructing education systems devastated during the Second World War. UNESCO, in turn, and after some debate about an engagement in Germany, founded the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) in Hamburg in 1952. This paper traces the development of an institute which was founded to contribute to social renewal in war-torn Germany and Europe, functioned as a mediator between Western and Eastern countries during the Cold War and later shifted its geographical focus to developing countries. The institute was instrumental in conceptualising lifelong learning as a global educational paradigm, as well as in shaping the shift from education to learning and the concept of literacy as a “continuum”. The author is particularly interested in the nature of the institute’s niche which secured its survival in the uncertain domain of educational multilateralism in the past six decades.     

Special educational needs across two decades: survey evidence from english primary schools

Abstract The article considers the perceived prevalence of special educational needs in English primary schools and changes in this prevalence over two decades and relates these to issues in education policy, teacher practice and the concept of special educational needs. The studies considered are two major surveys of schools and teachers, the first conducted in 1981 and the second conducted in the same schools in 1998. Important features of both studies were their scale and the exceptionally high response rates achieved. Two central findings were the perception of teachers that special educational needs were widespread and of an increase in special educational needs over time: perceived levels of special educational needs were one in five children in 1981, which had risen to one in four children in 1998. Learning difficulties were by far the most common aspects of special educational needs but many children had multiple difficulties, and behavioural difficulties were seen by teachers as the main barriers to inclusion. The very high figures for prevalence raise questions about the continued usefulness of the concept of special educational need distinct from broader issues of achievement.     

Two decades of educational research in Sweden

The article is an attempt to set forth the institutional setting for educational research in Sweden after 1945 and to describe the major directions of research. Governmental school committees began in the 1940's to commission research pertaining to the structure of the compulsory school system and to the objectives and content of the curriculum. As part of the school reform and the attempts to facilitate innovations, the first research institute linked with teacher-training was established in the 1950's. Since the beginning of the 1960's, the National Board of Education has maintained a Bureau of Research and Development. Finally, the proper role of the researcher in his relationship to the policy-makers is discussed on the basis of Swedish experiences.

---

Résumé L'article tente de décrire le cadre institutionnel pour les recherches dans le domaine d'éducation en Suède après 1945 et de montrer les tendances principales de ces recherches. Ce fut dans les années quarante que des comités gouvernementaux scolaires commencèrent à commander des recherches ayant rapport au système scolaire obligatoire, aux objectifs et au contenu du programme d'études. Le premier institut de recherches lié à l'instruction des enseignants fut établi dans les années cinquante comme une partie de la réforme scolaire et des tentatives de faciliter l'innovation. Le Ministère d'Education National entretient, depuis le commencement des années soixante, le Service de Recherche et de Développement. Enfin, on traite, en prenant les expériences suédoises comme base, le meilleur rôle du chercheur à l'égard de son rapport avec les architectes de la politique.

     

关于"教育目的"问题的再认识

“教育目的”涉及教育工作的基本价值取向，有必要对其进行多角度、全方位的再认识，以期形成有关“教育目的”基本理论问题的较系统的思路。     

Teacher contact with parents of children with special educational needs: a comparison over two decades

The paper addresses aspects of teacher contacts with the parents of children with special educational needs in the broader context of parent–teacher relations. Data are presented from a large-scale survey of teachers of Key Stage 2 children (7–11-year-olds) in England in 1998 and are compared with data from a similar survey in 1981. Levels of consultation with parents have increased across the two surveys and it is very unusual for a teacher not to have had a meeting with a parent of a child with SEN during the current school year. There is a tendency for levels of contact with the parents of ethnic minority pupils to be lower than that for other pupils. There is also a markedly higher level of non-contact in schools serving areas of poverty compared with more affluent schools. A tension is identified between an agenda of home–school partnership and a set of attributions for the causes of children's difficulties which locates these in deficiencies in the home. However, teachers in the later survey were less likely to identify the home as the source of problems than were teachers in 1981. The paper suggests that considerable progress has been made towards fulfilling the conditions for home–school partnership, but that there remain areas of concern.     

国内中国中产阶层研究：近二十年回顾及相关问题探析

文献回顾表明,国内中国中产阶层研究经历了三个阶段。目前的研究重点仍是概念的界定和阶层的划分,但越来越偏向于这一阶层的消费投资行为和道德等个体特征领域。论文从梳理不同视角下的中国中产阶层定义出发,分析并探讨了不同研究角度下中产阶层的社会功能、政治态度和消费投资行为等特征。     

Massification,diversification and internationalisation of higher education in China: Critical reflections of developments in the last two decades

Against the context of higher education expansion initiated in 1998, this Special Issue sets out to critically examine the major developmental trends in higher education in China. The present article sets out the broader policy context for the Special Issue with particular focus on reviewing the rapid expansion of higher education in the last two decades. More specifically, this article discusses the higher education development trends in China through the massification, diversification and internationalisation processes in transforming the higher education system. This article also highlights the major arguments of the articles being selected for this Issue.     

Facing the challenges of educational reform in the Arab world

This paper pinpoints and discusses key aspects of the current approaches to school reform in the Arab world against the backdrop of what is accepted as the best practice in the international literature on effective school reform and educational change. The main goal of the paper is to highlight deeply ingrained assumptions and practices that are likely to create barriers for reformers who are interested in effectively implementing educational reform in the Arab region. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations informed by the current international literature on effective school reform, and deemed promising for overcoming the identified barriers and achieving effective and sustainable reform in the region. While the case of reform in the Arab region has its unique characteristics, it shares with other developing countries many of the challenges it faces. Lessons learned in this region offer promising insights to reformers in other developing regions of the world.     

教育学科外文期刊保障率分析

为了给教育研究人员提供丰富的文献资料 ,有必要对我国引进教育学科文献保障率进行分析。统计结果表明 ,我国拥有的教育学科外文期刊文献总量不足 ,质量不高 ,外文核心期刊较少。解决的思路是依靠国家级文献中心、地区级文献中心和图书馆文献中心三级文献保障体系 ,实现资源共享 ,并通过引进国外大型全文数据库 ,弥补文献资源的不足。