Democratic reform and the emergence of special needs education in Lithuania

Lithuanian educators began working towards the transformation of their educational system in the late 1980s. The movement away from centralized control and an education based on Soviet ideology was central to the Democracy movement in this country and other former Soviet republics. This paper demonstrates the ways in which the movement towards a democratic system built on contemporary Lithuanian values, beliefs and culture has included concerns for the education of children with special needs. By tracing Lithuanian cultural and historic traditions related to the education and care of individuals with disabilities, before, during and after the Soviet period of Soviet occupation, the authors demonstrate the relationship between social-historic contexts and the development of inclusive schools, i.e. general education settings that serve all children. The current status of education for children with special needs is discussed. This discussion includes current legislation and professional preparation, as well as identifying barriers to democratic reform and the creation of an inclusive educational system.     

A new context for understanding civic responsibility: Relating Culture to Action at a Research University

Civic responsibility as an ideal of higher education is rarely considered through a cultural and theoretical lens. Swidler’s (1986, American Sociological Review, 51: 273–286) framework linking ideology, culture and action was used in this ethnographic study of a research university (a) to understand dominant institutional beliefs about civic responsibility and (b) to understand how institutional culture contributes to a unique approach to civic responsibility. This study examined campus ideologies and cultural forms that addressed five dimensions of civic responsibility: (a) knowledge and support of democratic values, systems and processes, (b) desire to act beneficially in community and for its members, (c) use of knowledge and skills for societal benefit, (d) appreciation for and interest in those unlike oneself, and (e) personal accountability. The “role model” approach emerged as a unique institutional approach to civic responsibility and aligned with Swidler’s framework. Findings are significant for both organization studies and student development research.     

Imagining the shaping of reflective deliberative education leaders: The devil is in the detail

Abstract

In this article we critically engage with some of the challenges and issues pertaining to the implementation of the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership following a national agreement by the national Department of Education, provincial education departments and several universities. The rather idealised vision of the programme to provide learning opportunities to promote quality education in South African schools through the development of a corps of education leaders who apply critical understanding, values, knowledge and skills to school leadership and management in line with the vision of democratic transformation seemingly meshed with our own approach to the development of leadership. However, consequent to the planning, budgeting and implementation of this school leadership programme we realised that realities posed serious challenges. In this paper we narrate how it became increasingly clear how “the devil is in the detail”.     

Do principal-educators have the ability to transform schools?: A South African perspective

Post-1994 South Africa adopted a new education system that would seemingly break with the past practices of the apartheid education system (Naicker, 1999) and produce citizens prepared for a democratic dispensation in South Africa. Accordingly, the new system of outcomes-based education was introduced in order to create the critical mass needed for the transformation of society. Thus, schools would become the sites where democratic practices for democratic citizenship would be fostered. Government duly promulgated the applicable policy documents (55 and 67).     

论新形势下高校党外知识分子的政治引导工作

高校党外知识分子是实施"科教兴国"战略的一支重要力量,是高校改革发展的主力军,做好高校党外知识分子工作对抵制西方敌对势力"西化"、"分化"的政治图谋具有重要意义。在进入知识经济时代和我国建立社会主义市场经济体制的今天,高校党外知识分子的开放意识日益增强,民主意识日益增强,价值观日趋多元化,管理日趋社会化。因此,高校要重点做好党外知识分子代表人物和青年知识分子的培养工作,积极引导他们将实现个人价值与实现祖国现代化的伟大事业紧密结合起来,努力为他们参政议政创造良好的环境,寓教育于活动,把做好党外知识分子思想政治工作同解决他们的实际问题、满足他们的正当需要结合起来。     

中国共产党建设社会主义高校校园文化的历史进程

中国共产党在建设革命根据地的过程中,十分重视创办大学和培养大学文化,确立新民主主义的文化理念,树立理论与实践相结合的马列主义学风,塑造胸怀坦白、品德高尚的革命道德,坚持教育与生产劳动相结合的办学原则,形成了新民主主义的高校校园文化理念。在领导新中国社会主义建设过程中,为适应建国初期社会主义革命和建设的需要,从为人民服务的高等教育的观念和突出培养大学生政治素质的现实需要出发,形成了中国共产党领导的比较完善的政治工作制度和思想教育体系。从20世纪80年代高校校园文化热点纷呈,90年代高校校园文化的主流引领作用得以加强,到21世纪初期以构建和谐校园为核心的高校校园文化建设蓬勃兴起,校园文化建设作为高校育人的重要途径和突出高校办学特色的重要手段,受到普遍重视和加强,取得了显著成就。     

Policy,practice, and reconversion in Spanish educational reform: teaching and teacher education in physical education

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, reform of the Spanish education system has been justified by reformists as a response to the social and economic changes that have occurred in Spanish society since the democratic transition in the 1970s. Consolidation of democracy, development of technology and economic convergence with the advanced nations of Europe have been seen as the major challenges for educational reform. Restructuring and legitimation processes derived from the requirements of the new reform have been conceptualized as a policy of reconversion, the main purpose of which is to maintain, or achieve, a strong competitive position in the international market. In this paper, conceptualizing educational reform as a reconversion process will allow us to link aspects of the new curriculum (content, pedagogy and assessment), school organization, teaching and teacher education in physical education with wider economic, social and cultural influences and explore the tensions and conflicts between policy and practice in PE in schools. The paper will argue that there is a widening gap between the interests of progressive educationalists and the direction of market‐driven education reform.     

让西柏坡精神永耀校园——继承弘扬西柏坡精神途径的探索

西柏坡精神是我们党在新民主主义革命时期最宝贵的精神财富之一。高校作为培养社会主义现代化建设人才的摇篮,在新的历史条件下,需要深刻理解西柏坡精神的内涵和精神实质,创新校园文化主题;提高学生精神境界,树立科学的理想信念;强化挫折教育,大力发扬艰苦奋斗精神;提升教师优良师德,培养学生优良学风;发挥社会实践的教育功能,在实践中继承和发扬西柏坡精神。     

Perception of democracy in computer-mediated communication: participation,responsibility, collaboration,and reflection

We present a case study to analyze how higher education students attending a Spanish University (N = 100) democratize the virtual classroom by assuming responsibility for their learning and that of the other members of the class; participate actively in social, cognitive, and teaching issues; and collaborate by creating a learning community and reflecting individually and as a group. Our mixed methodology includes the following: (1) content analysis with a categorization system adapted from the community of inquiry approach and (2) two questionnaires on students' perception of the democratic elements in the virtual classroom. The results show that the students assume democratic principles of responsibility, critique, participation, and collaboration. We observe the role that the teachers play in facilitating democratization of the classroom through flexible design of instruction, promotion of social relationships, and orientation of the debate toward the learning objectives. This investigation shows the implementation of democratic principles in the virtual classroom.     

用负熵理论浅析新校区加强学生管理对构建和谐校园的影响

负熵是表示通过协调控制,改变系统混乱无序状态,而实现系统有序。负熵理论运用到高校教育管理,与现实提倡的和谐教育不谋而合。结合学院新整合,学生刚搬到建设设施还不完善的新校区的现状,加强学生管理,构建校园和谐,以平安校园、文明校园、健康校园为目标,从加强学校安全管理、学校文化建设、家校和谐教育建设等措施入手,实现校园和谐。     

社会转型期的道德危机与道德教育——杜威民主主义道德教育思想再审视

19世纪下半叶至20世纪上半叶是美国历史发展中的一个重大社会转型期。在此时期,美国出现了因严重的社会失范而引发的种种社会矛盾与问题。基于社会危机主要是一种道德危机的判断,杜威围绕着寻找新道德的基础和维持、再生产新道德的机构这两个主要课题展开了其民主主义道德教育思想:以道德教育实现民主主义,以民主主义改造道德教育。杜威的道德教育思想对于同样处于社会转型期的当下中国道德教育改革有两点启示:一是凸显道德教育的民主目的;二是重视道德教育自身的民主化改革。     

毛泽东党内民主建设思想探析

在长期的革命和建设实践中,毛泽东根据革命和建设形势的需要,从不同侧面阐述了关于党内民主建设的思想。他既强调原则和制度意义上的党内民主(狭义的),更强调实践意义上的党内民主(广义的)。重视在建立健全制度基础上的党内民主教育,通过党内民主的实践活动将党内民主制度建设与党内民主思想教育统一起来,着重从提高党员的民主意识和民主素质方面来发扬党内民主。     

The impact of Nordic adult education ideas on the development of a democratic society in Lithuania

This article analyses the role of the cooperation with and the influence of the Nordic countries on the development of a democratic society in Lithuania through adult education since the reinstatement of its independence from Soviet regime in March 1990 to the present. The authors focus on three main areas: (1) the training of Lithuanian adult educators; (2) the establishment and development of NGOs; and (3) the implications for a Lithuanian policy of adult education. Within the framework of Nordic-Baltic cooperation established among five Nordic and three Baltic countries (NB8) in 1992, Lithuanian adult educators seized the opportunity to visit Scandinavian institutions and projects. Experiencing Nordic adult education ideas has resulted in a marked shift in Lithuanian adult educators’ values, methodology and careers; and in the establishment of a series of very influential umbrella associations as well as hundreds of NGOs in Lithuania which work with adults and support functioning democratic values in society. This shift is related to the civic responsibility and active participation growing out of the bottom-up approaches of group work, cooperation, discussions and learning circles which are so inherent in the Nordic tradition of adult education. The internalisation of new democratic values was more complicated than expected for many Lithuanian politicians, adult educators and NGO leaders in terms of how political decisions were perceived and implemented. Furthermore, the influence of the Nordic-Baltic cooperation in adult education may also be traced in adult education policy implications in Lithuania. Some changes in the policies of contemporary Lithuania have not been successful and even failed to promote a democratic society.     

解体后俄罗斯爱国教育体系的重构及其特点

苏联解体后,以马克思主义意识形态和政治理论为基础的传统价值体系随之崩溃,传统的爱国主义思想价值在俄罗斯遭遇了前所未有的贬值,公民道德基础被破坏,国民的整体素质下降,国家安全面临潜在的威胁.青年是国家的未来,是国家复兴大业的基础,建立健全的、现实可行的青年一代社会化机制势在必行,其中重构一个以爱国主义为核心的科学民主的思想教育体系尤为迫切和重要.与前苏联的思想教育体系相比,新的体系在内容上更为科学和完善,在形式和方法上更为多样.     

Teachers’ democratic assignment: a critical discourse analysis of teacher education policies in Ireland and Sweden

ABSTRACT

The needs of a globalized economy are rapidly changing what is legitimated as school knowledge and values, and calling up new understandings of teachers’ role in stimulating democratic spaces. We have termed this Teachers’ Democratic Assignment. We examine changing notions of teachers’ democratic assignment in Ireland and Sweden using a Critical Discourse Analysis. We tested our hypothesis that teachers’ democratic assignment has changed in unprecedented ways using an analysis of policy documents in teacher education. Our findings reported a substantive converging paradigm shift from a predominantly progressive (reconstructivist) curriculum discourse where democracy was seen as inextricably linked to everyday practice in the early years of this century, to a more essentialist (perennialist) discourse in recent times. The findings will have interest for a wider audience and have implications for the role of democracy in teacher education as well as the question of education as a social responsibility for a vibrant democracy.     

南非教师教育制度的重建:进展与成效

民主新南非的教育体系是在种族隔离教育遗产的基础上通过全方位的变革建立起来的。南非教师教育制度的重建是一个漫长、复杂的过程。通过调整管理体制、颁布教师教育标准、优化院校结构、出台国家政策框架等举措,南非已建构起一个以成果和能力为本位的、具有民主治理特质的、一体化、开放式的教师教育与发展体系。国家教师教育与发展政策框架的实施虽然取得了一些成效,但也面临多方面的不确定性和挑战。     

Concepts and Policy Innovations in the National Education Plan

Abstract

The theme of the Outline of the National Mid- to Long-Term Plan for Education Reform and Development (2010–2020) is building a nation rich in human resources, its primary thread is promoting the scientific development of education, and its soul is reform and innovation. The important concepts and policy innovations of the National Education Plan are expressed through a commitment to priority development for education, people-oriented education, promotion of fairness in education, and improvement of the quality of education to build a lifelong learning system and establish a modern school system, with teacher-based education plans, modernization driven by informatization, pooling of forces both within and outside of education circles, scientific and democratic decision making, and other features.     

学校文化环境的多维性对德育实效性的影响

德育依存于一定的文化背景,每个学校所处的文化环境都具有多维性、独特性。德育工作与学校文化环境多个维度的疏离是我国学校德育效果不彰的重要原因。做到在传承中创新、在顺应中发展、在建设中提高、在生活中增效,才能从根本上提高学校德育工作的实效性。     

Hopes and challenges for the new civic education in Mexico: toward a democratic citizen without adjectives

This paper presents the main goals and themes, as well as a critical analysis, of an ambitious new reform of Mexico’s secondary-level program for civic education. It begins with a brief historical review of the modern Mexican secondary school, as well as a thematic analysis of the new published curriculum and study program, which puts heavy emphasis on the development of democratic citizenship skills and habits. The paper then draws on interview research to highlight some of the challenges that national and local actors have identified for the program’s successful implementation. Because the new program espouses a progressive democratic pedagogy in the absence of a supportive democratic political culture, an appropriate structure of school governance, or adequate training for in-service teachers, many actors expressed skepticism about whether the reform could meaningfully take hold.     

学校文化环境的多维性对德育实效性的影响

德育依存于一定的文化环境,学校所处的文化环境都具有独特性、多维性等特点。德育工作与学校文化环境多维度的疏离是我国学校德育效果不彰的重要原因。做到在顺应中发展、传承中创新、在建设中提高、在生活中增效,才能从根本上提高学校德育工作的实效性。