Designing effective educational policies: what can we learn from an Italian case study

We discuss the design and implementation of educational programmes aimed at increasing university enrolment. We focus on a means-test policy introduced in the Italian province of Trento, which consists of a monetary incentive in the form of a grant. To reduce inequalities in access to higher education, aid is awarded according to merit and financial need. Previous research has shown that this programme has no effect on the university enrolment. Therefore, our aim is to understand, through examination of a unique data set, why the policy failed; we also argue that the most effective design of educational policies considers the targeted population's demand for higher education, as well as socioeconomic context. In this way, we provide insight into the formalisation and efficacy of the eligibility conditions. Though our research is concerned with a province, our findings have important implications for how educational programmes should be designed and implemented nationwide and abroad.     

Student engagement: students' and teachers' perceptions

This article addresses the question: To what extent do tertiary teachers and students have similar understandings of what engages students in classroom settings? It employs data from a funded research project in Aotearoa New Zealand that draws on selected questions from two surveys. One survey asked students how important nine selected teacher behaviours were in engaging them in learning, the other asked teachers what priority they put on these behaviours and how important they thought they were to students. The selected questions were drawn from an extensive research literature identifying teacher behaviours that engaged students. The article reports that teachers and students had some similar but more dissimilar perceptions about what engages students. Suggested reasons for the differences are discussed.     

Changing course: the gender gap in college selectivity and opportunities to learn in the high school curriculum

Gender gaps in learning and education outcomes have changed dramatically over the last few years. However, researchers have not adequately assessed how the high school learning environment differentially affects boys and girls. An important component of the learning environment in US secondary school is the opportunity to learn in an Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum, which allows high school students to do college-level work. Using the US National Education Longitudinal Study 1988–2000, we explain how high school AP curriculum interacts with gender to predict the selectivity of colleges that students attend. The results show that girls and boys who attend high schools with a larger percentage of students in AP curriculum attend more selective colleges (that require higher standardised scores for admissions); yet the positive effect of the opportunity to learn in an AP curriculum is greater for girls than for boys. This research furthers the debate about the effects of school structure on gender stratification.     

Higher education students registered with disability services and practice educators: issues and concerns for professional placements

Introduction: The number of students with disabilities accessing Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), including professional courses, has increased substantially within the Republic of Ireland over the past 10 years [AHEAD (Association of Higher Education, Access, and Disability) 2012. “Survey on the Participation Rates of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education for the Academic Year 2011/2012.” http://www.ahead.ie/userfiles/file/PR_2012.pdf]. In one HEI in the Republic of Ireland, it was noticed that there was a large increase in students with disabilities, from 67 in 2006 to 259 in 2013 on professional courses. The aim of this study was to identify the issues and concerns of practice educators (PEs) in both supporting students with disabilities and exploring the concerns for students with disabilities on professional courses. Methods: A survey design was employed to meet the aims of this study and ethical permission was granted from the Faculty of Health Science Ethics Committee. Results: Respondents included 68 PEs and 63 students with disabilities. PEs were found to be concerned with students reaching the required standard of proficiency on placement, and how to support students in this. Students on the other hand identified stigma and disclosure of a disability as a concern. Conclusion: This study highlighted a difference in perceptive between PEs and students with disabilities in relation to disclosure and support needs for their disabilities.     

Australian and Maltese teachers' perspectives about their capabilities for mental health promotion in school settings

Policy makers identify schools as settings for promoting students' positive mental health. However, mental health promotion is not typically addressed in pre- or in-service teacher education. This paper reports 1029 Australian and Maltese teachers' perspectives about their capabilities for mental health promotion. Although participants reported favourable attitudes, many indicated concerns about capabilities such as Knowledge, Parenting Support and Self-efficacy. Multilevel modelling showed differences between county, gender and year level, but not between years of teaching experience. Curriculum initiatives for mental health promotion require opportunities for teachers to build their capabilities in this relatively new domain of school and teacher responsibility.     

Exposing ideology within university policies: a critical discourse analysis of faculty hiring,promotion and remuneration practices

Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), this paper exposes the neoliberal ideology of the knowledge-based economy embedded within university policies, specifically those that regulate faculty hiring, promotion, and remuneration in two national contexts: Turkey and Mexico. The paper follows four stages of CDA: (1) focus upon a social wrong in its language aspect; (2) identify obstacles to addressing the social wrong; (3) consider whether the social order in a sense ‘needs’ the social wrong; and (4) identify possible ways past the obstacles. The analysis demonstrates that the global, marketized climate of higher education has impacted Turkish and Mexican universities to such a degree that they have become increasingly corporate in their practices of management. The resulting effect is the creation of a performance culture that robs faculty of their professionalism. This paper uncovers this disadvantaged positioning of faculty and posits modest proposals for change.     

Student teachers' views on national education: the need for greater alignment between policy and praxis

This study examines student teachers' views on their country and on National Education (NE), with the aim of promoting teachers' understanding of the need for NE. A 40-item survey was administered to 1,650 student teachers, to assess their sense of belonging, protective attitude, perceived right, ethnic tolerance and community and political involvement, as well as their perceptions of the importance and learning outcomes of NE. Significant differences were observed between the genders and between the various programme groups in terms of the student teachers' responses, suggesting the need for a more comprehensive approach to NE in initial teacher education.     

高职学生顶岗实习思想政治教育模式研究

目前,顶岗实习人才培养模式在高职院校得到推广。在顶岗实习中,环境与角色的转换,使得相当一部分学生不同程度地出现思想与认识问题。为加强学生顶岗实习思想政治教育:实习前,要多管齐下帮助学生做好顶岗实习思想准备,教师和家长做好思想政治教育准备;实习中,要多头并进,及时解决学生思想问题;实习后,对实习学生进行科学评价,将思想政治考核纳入其中。以此更好地促进顶岗实习工作的顺利进行。     

工学结合下高职教师专业发展的内涵解析

针对在工学结合人才培养模式下高职院校专业师资队伍的建设问题,从分析教师劳动的特点入手,探讨了高职教师需具备的知识、技能和素质,得出了20项基本要素;建立了4个层次的高职教师专业结构模型。该模型为高职院校专业教师个体的专业发展指明了方向;也为高职院校的师资队伍管理者提供了专业师资的选拔条件或评价标尺,有利于实现师资队伍建设和管理的科学化。     

Changing the System of Student Support in Norway: Intended and Unintended Effects on Students

In 2002 the student finance system in Norway went through a major restructuring. The changes included an increase in student support and an introduction of progression‐dependent grants. Using two student welfare surveys conducted in 1998 and 2005, the paper analyses the effect of the changes on the students. The analysis compares the risk of study delays, the students’ weekly working hours, and the students’ concerns about student loan repayments before and after the changes among different groups of students. Contrary to the intended policy goals, the findings indicate no decline in study delays. However, the findings reveal an increase in the amount of time students spend in paid employment. This may indicate that students respond to short‐term economic incentives. Furthermore, the findings suggest increased social differences in the students’ concern for the student loan repayment after the changes.     

学生转向：澳大利亚大学教育与高职教育衔接的有效路径

澳大利亚高等教育体系由大学教育和高职教育构成,尽管这两部分存有差别。但它们有共同的目标,即为学生提供所需的技能和知识,最终帮助学生在就业方面取得重大突破．这就意味着在两种教育形式间转向不仅是可能的,而且是十分有意义的。澳大利亚政府出于教育的有效性和平等性考虑,鼓励大学与职业学校间的学生转向。     

Patterns of students' and teachers' interactions in learning centres: a case study of three teacher leaders in an elementary school

This study investigated the instructional practices of three teacher leaders employed in a diverse, elementary school in the USA. Through extended observations, it was found that learning centres occupied a central role in the organisation and learning in each of the classrooms. Bernstein's theory of classification and framing was used to analyse the patterns of classroom interactions and identify the skills and values from learning centres. This research critically examined the role centres play in developing academic and social skills in learners, including those learners from lower socio-economic backgrounds and English language learners (ELL). Learning centres were constructed on an expectation that learners made self-initiated decisions, collaborated with peers, and contributed to the development of students' academic, linguistic, and social skills in students of colour, students from lower socio-economic class backgrounds, and ELL.     

Reflections on a Decade of Global Rankings: what we've learned and outstanding issues

Ten years after the first global rankings appeared, it is clear that they have had an extraordinary impact on higher education. While there are fundamental questions about whether rankings measure either quality or what's meaningful, they have succeeded in exposing higher education to international comparison. More so, because of the important role higher education plays as a driver of economic development, rankings have exposed both an information deficit and national competitiveness. Accordingly, both nations and institutions have sought to maximise their position vis-á-vis global rankings with positive and perverse effects. Their legacy is evident in the way rankings have become an implicit — and often explicit – reference point for policymaking and higher education decision-making, and have reinforced an evaluative state's over-reliance on quantitative indicators to measure quality. They are embedded in popular discourse, and have informed the behaviour of many stakeholders, within and outside the academy. This paper reflects on three inter-related issues; i) considers the way rankings have heightened policy and investment interest in higher education, ii) discusses whether the modifications to rankings have resolved some of the questions about what they measure, and iii) looks at how rankings have influenced stakeholder behaviour. Finally, the paper reflects on what we have learned and some outstanding issues.     

选择实践发展--评《高等职业技术教育理论与实践》

樊流梧同志的<高等职业技术教育理论与实践>一书,集中反映了他的办学思想和实践探索,在高职教育规律的选择与理论建构、教育实践中的探索及其理论升华、对高职教育理论发展的贡献等方面表现出较高的学术造诣及其对教育实践的重要指导意义.     

和谐社会视野下高等教育的效益与公平探究

教育公平是现代社会公平的关键,对和谐社会的构建具有重要作用。随着我国高等教育步入大众化发展阶段,越来越多的人拥有了享受高等教育的机会,但同时高等教育中的不公平也日益显露,直接影响和谐社会建设。引起高等教育不公平的原因错综复杂,如高等教育资源配置的不合理、基础教育不公平在高等教育中继续延伸、高额学费在高等教育产生分层作用等。要促进社会和谐就必须寻求高等教育效益与公平的平衡、协调,这样我国高等教育才能获得长远发展,在创造效益的同时,为广大人民提供越来越公平的高等教育机会。     

Indigenous students' persistence in higher education in Australia: contextualising models of change from psychology to understand and aid students' practices at a cultural interface

The need to address the substantial inequities that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in higher education is widely recognised. Those factors that affect the performance of Indigenous students in tertiary education have been reasonably well documented across different institutions, disciplines, and programme levels but there has, to date, been less consideration of the processes by which Indigenous students either persist or desist in higher education. This paper aims to present a conceptual understanding of academic persistence that can inform the delivery of tailored academic support interventions to Indigenous students who are at high risk of leaving higher education.     

Learning from childhood to mature adulthood: what makes people want ‘to learn to learn’ and keep on learning?

This article describes 35 individuals who have expressed an interest in taking university courses after retirement. Longitudinal data and individuals' own accounts are presented, in an effort to clarify the role that symbolic resources play in individuals' lives, for their capacity to construct their own identity, to function as social actors, and ‘to learn to learn’. It is argued that their lives provide grounds to consider a re‐conceptualisation of adult learning.     

校园文化品牌视角下的民办高职学生党员教育管理有效途径研究

针对民办高职院校学生党员教育管理存在的问题,提出在校园文化品牌视角下的学生党员教育管理的有效途径。     

高校学生事务管理理念创新与发展的生态学审视

借助生态学的理论开展高校学生事务管理研究,是一个不同学科领域交叉的理论命题,具有鲜明的时代性和实践性,需要我们不断地探索和总结。从生态学的视角审视我国高校学生事务管理,会发现它存在着严重的生态危机,其产生的原因又非常复杂。因此,我们要依据生态学的基本原理对高校学生事务管理理念进行创新与发展,从而最终促进高校学生事务管理的生态体系建设,提高其管理效果。     

Time and Space: Access and the Lifecycle of the Art Student

Reflecting on how ‘transition’ can be interpreted in the context of an art and design college, this article will discuss how the access programme at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin supports the art students’ lifecycle in, through and out of college. The article will present an overview of NCAD’s access programme and will track its development as it has evolved and how, through a series of targeted initiatives and key partnerships it has identified, retained and supported students beyond graduation. The NCAD has a distinctive widening participation programme that is embedded in the School of Education but is part of the organic culture of the art college. This support enables the mainstreaming of NCAD’s access policy through its engagement with schools and community, seeking to raise aspirations and awareness of art and design as a life option for young people.