The effects of discourses in regional contexts on the development of curriculum-based literacy standards for adolescents in schooling: a comparative study of South Australia and Ontario

This study analyses how discourses in regional contexts affect the development of curriculum-based literacy standards for adolescents in schooling. A comparative case-study research design enabled the influences of discourses at the regional level to be analysed. The case studies include the development of curricula to define a minimum literacy standard for the final years of schooling for adolescents in Ontario, Canada, and South Australia, Australia. Critical discourse analysis of key texts associated with the development of literacy standards in each region reveals how globally shared meanings about standard setting for schooling interact with other discourses operating in local contexts to produce curricula that define literacy standards. The results indicate that, while a global discourse about standards-based reforms may be foregrounded in curriculum, locally generated discourses can challenge key ideas associated with a simplistic discourse about standards. Discourses about literacy in Ontario and South Australia contest the assertion that literacy at the end point of schooling can be defined as a basic competency and local meanings associated with literacy are emphasised within the curriculum for each location. Language choices, involving particularly lexical cohesion, complex noun groups and nominalisation, are used to ensure that local meanings inform literacy standards for the endpoint of schooling.     

100 years of primary curriculum development and implementation in Ireland: a tale of a swinging pendulum

There are ongoing initiatives in curriculum development and implementation in Ireland and internationally in order to enhance the educational experiences and outcomes of learners. This article is the first historical longitudinal analysis of primary school curriculum development and implementation in Ireland from the 1890s to the 1990s. The purpose of the paper is to distil key lessons from the history of curriculum development and implementation to inform contemporary policy and practice. The paper begins by situating current curriculum discourse and developments in both a national and international context. It then delineates the three main curriculum reforms undertaken in Ireland in the period under review. The section relating to each period includes an overview of the societal context in which the curriculum was developed, the process of development, the content of each curriculum and its implementation. Three key themes emerge from the analysis – the impact of wider societal factors on curriculum, the impact of the radical nature of curriculum change attempted and a lack of focus on planning for implementation.     

A tale of two algorithms: The appeal and repeal of calculated grades systems in England and Ireland in 2020

The Covid pandemic and the cancellation of state examinations caused unprecedented turmoil in the education systems on both sides of the Irish Sea. As the policy of calculating grades using purpose-built algorithms came undone in the face of a barrage of appeal, protest and legal action, the context in which the policies had been devised collapsed. The British and Irish governments had initially adopted similar approaches to issuing examination grades, but then diverged into different stratagems pre- and post-results, with significantly different outcomes. The Irish examination system emerged relatively unscathed, while the system in England suffered what was probably its greatest policy failure of modern times. This article examines and memorialises how and why this happened, and draws lessons for a future in which school closures and substitute examinations become the ‘new normal’.     

Technological pedagogical content knowledge in teacher education: in search of a new curriculum

The aim of this study was to explore the ways in which teacher education institutions (TEI) prepare pre-service teachers for integrating information and communication technology (ICT) in their classroom practise. Specifically, a multiple case study was conducted to examine the ways in which the development of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) was promoted in the existing curriculum of three TEI in Flanders. In the three cases, data were drawn from semi-structured interviews with the heads of the department and the ICT coordinators. Focus group discussions collected the perspectives of pre-service teachers and teacher educators. The results indicate that (1) the three institutions are moving from ICT as a ‘stand-alone’ course towards embedding ICT across the curriculum and (2) three approaches were adopted for developing pre-service teachers’ TPACK, each representing different ways of understanding the place of ICT in the curriculum. The discussion will focus on the challenges and opportunities inherent in understanding how to develop pre-service teachers’ TPACK in the curriculum of TEI.     

重塑适合我国教师专业发展的新型教师文化

教师工作的特征所派生的教师文化既有可以促进教师发展的文化因素,也隐藏有阻碍教师前进的文化形态。针对我国教师工作特质,有效开发积极的教师文化发展空间,重塑适合我国教师发展的新型教师文化,有利于教师的专业发展和教育改革的顺利进行。     

Exploring situational factors shaping access in a laptop program for socially disadvantaged children in India: a case study

Low-cost laptop programs attempt to address gaps in access to computers in developing countries. However, the translation of computing access from intention to actuality is mediated by many situational factors. This research presents a case study of how access to a set of laptops donated to a school for socially disadvantaged children in India was shaped by social, logistical, economic and value considerations. Findings illustrate how principles of equity driving the program clashed with limited resources to produce conditions that constrained student agency. Additionally, external dependencies for laptops, knowledge and support restricted the school’s ability to provide computing access, and set up uncomfortable internal inequalities within the school. Access increased for just one class of students, and even they only used the laptops for limited time periods, in pairs, and under direct supervision. Seven important access considerations related to equity, resources and agency are identified to support strategic planning of future laptop programs.     

Characteristics of effective interventions in improving young people's sexual health: a review of reviews

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a review of reviews to identify characteristics of effective sex and relationship education (SRE) interventions and/or programmes in young people to improve sexual health and identify barriers and facilitators for implementation. Six bibliographic databases were searched from 1986 to 2006 for systematic reviews that assessed SRE interventions or programmes in participants between 10 and 18 years old and their partners. All outcomes of improvement in sexual health were assessed and 30 systematic reviews were included. Effective interventions and/or programmes tended to be those targeting younger age groups before they become sexually active, focused interventions tailored to the physical and biological development stages, theory based, and abstinence education programmes that incorporate values of relationships and provide skills training and links to contraceptive services. Adequate training of personnel delivering the interventions and culturally sensitive programmes were identified as important facilitators of effectiveness. Future research should explore the appropriate age for initiating sex education and investigate targeting specific behaviour compared with multiple-outcome targeting. Research exploring the reasons for interventions focusing on specific populations (i.e. African and Hispanic origins), even if they were conducted in countries dominated by Caucasians, is warranted.     

Cultural ideology matters in early childhood curriculum innovations: a comparative case study of Chinese kindergartens between Hong Kong and Shenzhen

This study forms part of a wider comparative research project investigating the mechanisms and outcomes of school-based curriculum (SBC) development in kindergartens between the two neighbouring cities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, under the umbrella of ‘one country, two systems’. This comparison will help to clarify how sociocultural contexts may affect early childhood curriculum (ECC) innovations by comparing the kindergartens of socialist and capitalist China. Data are presented from qualitative case studies of four kindergartens—two in each city—corresponding to the three levels of curriculum analysis and comparison: intended curriculum, implemented curriculum and curriculum ideology. Comparative analyses revealed that the SBCs of the four cases were different but all tended to balance and integrate diverse approaches in terms of curricular and pedagogical practices. The commonalities of SBCs in Hong Kong and Shenzhen kindergartens were due to shared cultural values, propelled by both ‘modernization’ and Chinese traditions, while the unique characteristics of SBC practices in each society were shaped by different social contexts. The educational philosophy of progressivism has greatly influenced ECC innovations in the Chinese kindergartens to varying degrees and in different ways. Implications of this comparative study are also presented for future research and practice.     

Environmental education in television narratives: a Brazilian case study

Abstract

This article discusses recent Brazilian research on the relationship between environmental education and cultural studies. Television narratives about the environment and/or sustainability in our everyday lives are used to pose some initial questions about this relation. First, culture is discussed briefly showing how it potentially relates to teaching and informs our role as environmental educators. We argue that culturalist perspectives on research in environmental education politicise teaching practices, even though they are in a context that strays from prerogatives that envisage a future world marked by sustainable development and a green economy. We investigate the impacts of television narratives and images on our everyday lives wherein we are consistently taught particular written and visual messages about how to plan for our future. Examples are draw from the teaching effects of a Brazilian television programme called Repórter Eco, broadcast on a public television network, including the sustainable management of the baru (a typical tree from the Brazilia Cerrado). We argue the educational aspects of television programmes should receive critique, as the relationships established between people and various media artifacts produce particular meanings and ways of seeing the world. This presents a challenge for teachers as examining these subjective ways carefully requires critical examination, not only in terms of education for sustainability or environmental preservation, but also teaching using media.     

Preschool affects longer term literacy and numeracy: results from a general population longitudinal study in Northern Ireland

The Effective Pre-school Provision in Northern Ireland (EPPNI) project is a longitudinal study of child development from 3 to 11 years. It is one of the first large-scale UK projects to investigate the effects of different kinds of preschool provision, and to relate experience in preschool to child development. In EPPNI, 683 children were randomly selected from 80 preschools, and 151 children were recruited without preschool experience. Progress was then followed from age 3 to age 11. Preschool experience was related to age 11 performance in English and mathematics. High-quality preschools show consistent effects that are reflected not only in improved attainment in Key Stage 2 English and mathematics but also in improved progress in mathematics over primary school. Children who attended high-quality preschools were 2.4 times more likely in English, and 3.4 times more likely in mathematics, to attain Level 5 than children without preschool experience.     

新课程背景下农村教师合作文化的建构研究

教师文化是影响教师观念以及教学行为的隐性因素,合作文化是教师专业发展的理想氛围。保持人为合作与自然合作间的合适张力,营造和谐互助的合作氛围;依托农远工程资源开展网络教研,构建区域性合作组织,可以克服农村地区经济与地理等客观条件限制以及以保守性为基本特征的农村传统文化的影响,培育持续推动农村教师专业发展的合作文化。     

Teaching and Learning from Case Studies:Classroom Application in a Bilingual MBA Program

Case methods of teaching and learning are now popular worldwide in practice-oriented disciplines,especially in business educa tion programs.This reality-and-problem based methodology has attested to be more effective than the traditional inputting mode by link ing theory with practice so as to develop students’ ability of creativity,analysis,leadership,communication,problem-solving and the like.However,it becomes more complicated in bilingual context due to the language difficulty.This paper,investigated under the environment of a bilingual(English-Chinese) MBA program in China through the research instruments of class observation,interview and question naire,tries to explore the perceptions of seven case leaders(professors) and their students on the case-based pedagogy in their bilingual courses,and meanwhile,analyze some features and challenges of the classroom practice of cases among these teachers and their English L2 Chinese students.     

The significance of context for curriculum development in engineering education: a case study across three African countries

Curriculum reform is a key topic in the engineering education literature, but much of this discussion proceeds with little engagement with the impact of the local context in which the programme resides. This article thus seeks to understand the influence of local contextual dynamics on curriculum reform in engineering education. The empirical study is a comparative analysis of the context for curriculum reform in three different chemical engineering departments on the African continent, located in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. All three departments are currently engaged in processes of curriculum reform, but the analysis shows how the different contexts in which these efforts are taking place exert strong shaping effects on the processes and outcomes for that reform.     

Developing alternative frameworks for exploring intercultural learning: a critique of Hofstede's cultural difference model

Hofstede's model of cultural difference has been used widely for exploring aspects of culture in educational settings. In this paper, we review Hofstede's model and explore some of its limitations, particularly in relation to the field of higher education. These limitations include an oversimplification of cultural differences, inconsistencies between his categories, lack of empirical evidence from educational settings and overall a model of culture as static (instead of dynamic). We argue that educationalists interested in the field of students’ experiences in internationally diverse settings ought to treat Hofstede's model more critically. Other models are recommended that take into account flexible notions of culture, based on research evidence from a range of educational settings, which can be critically and explicitly examined against different educational theories.     

引入物理学史知识有助于物理学新课程目标的实现

结合当前实施的新课程目标,论述了加强物理学史的教学能促进学生的发展,有助于新课程目标的实现。     

New peace,new teachers: Student teachers' perspectives of diversity and community relations in Northern Ireland

This paper reflects upon student teachers' conceptions of inter-community relations and the preparation they receive to address issues of diversity and mutual understanding. The study in Northern Ireland is set against a backdrop of political, social and educational change, where a shared, peaceful future appears possible. Student teachers at a Catholic institution and a predominantly Protestant institution indicated a willingness to engage with issues concerning diversity and inter-community relations, despite having a limited knowledge of the concepts. However they also demonstrated clear views about the relevance and value of the preparation they received. The findings are evaluated using multicultural theory.     

Intercultural PhD supervision: exploring the hidden curriculum in a social science faculty doctoral programme

International knowledge markets rely heavily on a ready supply of highly mobile doctoral students, many of whom are from the global South, to bring in revenue. The supervision of these PhD students, however, can reproduce neo-colonial knowledge relations, often in subtle ways. In settler nations, international PhD students may find that they are assigned subaltern status in their university departments and this can have a significant impact on their learning. This paper explores the experiences of a group of international PhD students in a social science faculty in a New Zealand university during the first two years of their doctoral studies. It examines how they responded to the displacement of their cultural values and priorities, the way they navigated intercultural engagements with supervisors, and their ensuing relationships with indigenous and ethnic allies in the faculty. Despite considerable pressure to conform to the dominant modes of academic knowledge production that characterise universities in settler nations, it is concluded that international students find ways of speaking out, often in highly coded forms, that complicate their subaltern academic status.