美、英、日幼儿教师在职培训的比较及启示

美、英、日等发达国家十分重视幼儿教师在职培训,在幼儿教师在职培训中如何提高幼儿教师的内在学习动机、如何营造幼儿教师专业发展共同体、如何提升幼儿教师在职培训的实效性等方面积累了很多优秀的经验。他们根据培训目标、培训内容、培训对象的不同采取多层次、多元化有针对性的在职培训形式。通过不断完善法律法规来规范幼儿教师培训行为,颁布一系列激励机制激发幼儿教师专业学习的内在动力,提高幼儿教师专业水平,从而促进幼儿教师的专业发展。我国要积极借鉴美、英、日等发达国家幼儿教师在职培训的经验,制定完善相关法律法规,建立和健全幼儿教师在职培训激励机制,实施多层次和多元化培训形式。     

中美幼儿教师培训政策的比较研究

教育政策法规在促进中美两国幼儿教师培训的改革与发展中发挥着关键作用。通过比较中美两国幼儿教师培训政策,发现其文本展现、财政投入、教育机构和培训评估等方面都有些许异同,这些异同可为我国幼儿教师培训的改革和发展提供借鉴与启示。例如,尽快制订落实学前教育法律法规,规范幼儿教师培养工作;增加幼儿教师培训财政投入,开启农村倾斜政策;完善幼儿教师培训机构体系,衔接职前职后教育;建立幼儿教师培训评估机制,保证教师培训质量等。     

Labeling,Affect, and Teachers' Hypothetical Approaches to Conflict Resolution: An Exploratory Study

The current study investigated how teachers would intervene in hypothetical conflicts experienced by students in the classroom and how informal labeling of students and affect relate to teachers' hypothetical interventions. Thirty-one teachers from various early childhood learning centers were recruited for participation. Teachers were presented with 3 hypothetical situations depicting children involved in peer conflicts. They were asked to rate the child who had initiated the conflict according to lists of positive and negative characteristics, as well as to rate how much positive and negative affect was elicited from the situation. Next, teachers recorded how they would intervene in each conflict, with responses coded as either mediation or cessation. Results suggested that teachers tended to use more cessation than mediation in dealing with classroom conflict and that interventions varied depending on the described behavioral background of the child presented. Labeling and affect also varied among the 3 different child characterizations of easy, difficult, and ambiguous. Findings lend support to a relationship between both labeling and affect with teachers' negotiation interventions. Understanding the implications of this study in the context of its limitations is highlighted.     

Mathematics classrooms in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States

Observations were conducted in Chinese, Japanese, and American classrooms during mathematics classes. Activities in 20 representative classrooms were observed in each of 2 grades (1 and 5) and in each country. Some observations focused on individual children and others on the teachers. Large cross-cultural differences were found in many variables related to classroom structure and management. These differences paralleled differences in achievement in mathematics among the 3 countries. A number of these variables also were significantly related to average level of mathematics achievement within the American classrooms.     

Preschool policy and bilingual education in the United States

In 1976, Head Start introduced a “Strategy for Spanish-Speaking Children.” The strategy provided support in four areas of activity, which included: (1) Basic and applied research on the developmental progress of Spanish-speaking children; (2) Regional Resource Centers intended to provide access to bilingual/bicultural materials and assistance in their implementation; (3) Head Start staff training; and (4) Curriculum model development in two languages, permitting individualized instruction in either language, and incorporating multicultural resources that facilitate cognitive and social growth.The most significant outcome of the strategy for the Spanish-speaking has been the curriculum development effort and its accompanying evaluation. The remainder of this paper will describe the curriculum development effort, th evaluation results, and some policy implications for national efforts in bilingual education.     

School Autonomy: A Comparison between China and the United States

Abstract

This study examined and compared school autonomy in China and the United States. Based on the international PISA 2012 school data, the authors examined three aspects of school autonomy. We found that in comparison with the United States, (1) principals from China were less likely to have responsibility over eleven school decisions (hiring teachers, firing teachers, salary increase, budget formulation, budget allocation, disciplinary policies, assessment policies, student admittance, textbook selection, course content, and courses offered) and were similar in having responsibility over teacher start salaries, and (2) teachers from China were less likely to have responsibility over six school decisions (hiring teachers, budget formulation, disciplinary policies, textbook selection, course content, and courses offered), were more likely to have responsibility over two decisions (firing teachers, student admittance), and were similar in having responsibility over four decisions (teacher start salaries, salary increase, budget allocation, and assessment policies). We also found that schools in China had (1) lower responsibility for curriculum/assessment and lower responsibility for resource allocation and (2) a lower level of teacher participation/autonomy. The findings have implications for educational policy in China and the United States.     

美国学前教育新动向:联邦政府加强中央干预

为了适应学前教育事业发展的需要,美国联邦政府有意加强了对学前教育事业的干预:通过有条件的拨款法,监控学前教育发展;推动开端计划与其他保教项目的整合,在更大范围内渗透优质教育理念;组织重大研究项目,解决学前教育发展瓶颈问题;开展国家层面的学前教育行动,促进学前教育发展.     

Children's Reactions to Marital Conflict in Israel and in the United States

Objective. Gaps in cross-cultural study limit understanding of whether effects of marital discord on children are culturally universal. Design. Israeli (39 boys; 40 girls) and U.S. (97 boys; 118 girls) kindergarteners responded to analog presentations of resolved and unresolved marital conflicts. Results. Children reacted negatively to marital conflict across cultures and were sensitive to the topics of conflict, whether or not it was escalating and whether or not conflict was resolved. Modest differences in responding also emerged: U.S. children reported more happiness for resolved conflicts and more distressed emotions and coping responses to unresolved conflicts. Moreover, only the expectations of U.S. children about future marital relations were affected by resolution. Conclusions. The evidence mostly supported similarities between the United States and Israel with regard to children's responding to conflicts, extending findings based on extensive research in the U.S.     

Emerging Adults’ Perceptions of Male Circumcision in the United States: Facts,Fictions, and Future Plans

Abstract

Societal perspectives on male circumcision and its implications are not well understood. In this exploratory qualitative study, participants (N?=?34, 7 male, 27 female) enrolled in a human sexuality course were asked to share their perspectives on male circumcision through the development of a written response to open-ended questions. Written responses were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis to determine the ways in which participants perceive male circumcision, as well as to explore the arguments, contradictions, and rationalizations emerging adults use to justify it. Participants were largely in support of circumcision and believe it to be beneficial in terms of hygiene, esthetics, social acceptability, and tradition. Participants acknowledged the risks of circumcision and rationalized them, indicating they were in favor of the procedure and would circumcise their own sons despite limited knowledge of the benefits and drawbacks. Findings indicate emerging adults do not often discuss male circumcision and do not carefully consider the procedure, perhaps due to the widespread belief that circumcision is a social norm that should not be questioned. Despite this lack of discussion or formal education on the topic, most of the emerging adults did express strong opinions in favor of circumcision based on their personal experiences and social interactions.     

Conflict, Understanding, and Relationships: Developments and Differences in the Preschool Years

Children's conflict management in three close relationships was studied longitudinally in 38 second born children, observed at home with their mothers and siblings at 33 months and at 47 months, and with friends at 47 months. Children used significantly more other-oriented argument with friends than with their mothers or siblings. Their use of reasoned argument with their siblings, but not their mothers, was related to their emotional understanding assessed formally at 40 months. The emotional context of conflict interactions was found to be important as an influence on children's use of reasoned argument, with less reasoning shown by children when they were upset at 33 months. The differences in patterns over time and in links with emotional understanding for these different relationships is discussed, and the significance of child-child interaction in the development of social understanding is highlighted.     

Conflict,Understanding, and Relationships: Developments and Differences in the Preschool Years

Children's conflict management in three close relationships was studied longitudinally in 38 second born children, observed at home with their mothers and siblings at 33 months and at 47 months, and with friends at 47 months. Children used significantly more other-oriented argument with friends than with their mothers or siblings. Their use of reasoned argument with their siblings, but not their mothers, was related to their emotional understanding assessed formally at 40 months. The emotional context of conflict interactions was found to be important as an influence on children's use of reasoned argument, with less reasoning shown by children when they were upset at 33 months. The differences in patterns over time and in links with emotional understanding for these different relationships is discussed, and the significance of child-child interaction in the development of social understanding is highlighted.     

团体学习中教师个人知识管理策略运用现状与问题分析

采用问卷、观察与访谈相结合的方法,对幼儿园团体学习中教师个人知识管理策略的运用现状进行调查,结果表明,在各级各类的团体学习活动中,教师运用个人知识管理策略的意识淡薄、管理策略数量十分有限、管理策略比较原始粗糙等现象普遍存在,这导致团体学习效率和质量不高.园本教研的有效性与实效性因此受到影响.     

美国发展农村学前教育的经验及启示

美国不断关注农村儿童健康发展的需要,对学前教育重要价值和意义的积极认识以及对学前补偿教育的重视构成了美国发展农村学前教育的基本背景。美国农村学前教育机构的形式多种多样,主要有中心学前教育机构,专门的4岁班幼儿园、季节性的儿童保育机构以及依靠家庭开设的家庭日托中心。完善的法规建设、充足的资金投入、社会组织的巨大影响和高质量的教师队伍是美国发展农村学前教育的经验。借鉴美国的经验,我国农村学前教育的发展可采取树立正确观念、加大财政投入、开展多样化的农村学前教育模式,优化师资队伍等策略。     

近年美国学前教育改革项目成效、特点及启示

近五年,美国学前教育改革项目规模持续扩大,投入稳步增长,质量不断提高,从内涵到外延,改革成效显现。美国学前教育改革项目具有以经费投入吸引各州参与、以师资建设保障改革质量、以持续评估跟踪改革进展、以关注弱势推进改革公平等特点。美国学前教育改革措施对于我国抓住发展机遇,深入推进学前教育改革具有重要的借鉴意义。