Curriculum Perceptions: a multivariate analysis

The curriculum decision‐making perceptions of a pilot sample of 75 American kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers doing graduate work in education were surveyed with a 42 item questionnaire. The first four questions established the demographics of the respondents and the next three items indicated that Americans feel more constrained in making curriculum decisions than their British counterparts. The cross‐cultural comparisons are based on the findings of Doherty & Travers (1984).

The final 35 items, adapted from the instrument developed by Doherty & Travers, were subject to a factor analysis. Five interpretable factors were extracted.

The factors were labelled (1) External Monitory, (2) External Professional, (3) Internal Professional, (4) Facilitative‐Constraining, and (5) Internal Professional Peers. These factors represented 32 items with three items unassignable to any factors. Interitem reliability of the factors was judged good. Though the British study also extracted five factors (from a 30 item pool), dissimilarities in labelling and ranking importance occurred. Some of the key differences were traced to the structure of the American educational setting.     

Teachers’ Perceptions of Factors Influencing the Curriculum

This paper describes a two‐part investigation into how teachers perceive the curriculum. In the primary stage, teachers were asked to assess how much freedom they felt they should have to determine the content of what they taught in their own classrooms, and how much freedom they fell they actually had, in this respect. A sample of 196 teachers, from varied schools and teaching backgrounds, took part. It was found that there was a very definite tendency to take a ‘middle way’ between total freedom and total constraint, in both cases. By and large, these teachers seemed to feel that they should have some freedom to determine what they taught in their own classrooms, but that there should be restraints as well. The general lack of discrepancy between what the teachers wanted, and what they felt they had, seemed to indicate that the great majority of the teachers were happy with the situation as they perceived it.

The same sample of 196 teachers was then asked to assess thirty varied potential influences, in terms of their power to shape the content of what they themselves taught in their own classroom. These potential influences included LEA advisers, parents, school governors, national educational associations etc. A factor analysis of the ratings made by the respondents showed that they regarded EXTERNAL‐PROFESSIONAL influences as the most important of all. This category included such influences as local colleges, and universities, national reports (such as the Warnock Report), professional journals and articles, local teachers’ centres, LEA advisory personnel, H.M. Inspectorate, etc. Four other types of influence were seen as important, but the EXTERNAL‐PROFESSIONAL category was seen as the most important by far. It was concluded that teachers’ perceptions of the influences which they felt shaped their curricula were positive and optimistic.     

Primary Teachers' Perceptions of Policy for Curriculum Reform in Mathematics

This paper reports and analyses findings from an investigation into Cypriot teachers' perceptions of national policy for curriculum reform in primary schools, with special reference to Mathematics. Questionnaires were sent to three samples of teachers: a 10 per cent sample of Cypriot teachers randomly selected from the total population; all Cypriot beginning teachers; and all beginning teachers who graduated in 1992 from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. There were five main findings. First, pupils' ability to solve investigations, and to gain mathematical knowledge were seen as of equal importance while ability to talk about Mathematics the least important. Second, formative purposes of assessment were accorded most, and summative purposes least, importance. Third, teachers approved of active pedagogy. Fourth, they conceptualised assessment as a natural part of teaching but paradoxically favoured formally structured techniques of assessment. Fifth, statistically significant differences between perceptions of the English and Cypriot sample of beginning teachers were associated with the extent of central control on the curriculum. Implications for the implementation of curriculum policy are discussed.     

Change in Student Perceptions of Course and Instructor Following Curriculum Change

Ongoing curriculum change in higher education is essential to enhance student learning and better prepare them for the job‐market. However, research shows that faculty are reluctant to implement such changes because students generally react adversely thereby negating any potential benefits, and moreover, sanction faculty through lower evaluations and future enrollment. Yet, understanding of the effect of curriculum changes on students’ course and instructor perceptions is limited. In this article we attempt to fill this gap. Drawing on two empirical findings—students’ motivation to attend college becoming increasingly extrinsic since the 1960s and their inability to recognize, ex ante, the value‐added by a curriculum change—and the norm life‐cycle theory, we argue that any effort‐increasing or grade‐threatening change is viewed as non‐normative and will lead to an adverse student reaction. However, this adverse reaction will dissipate over time once a critical mass of students is convinced of the merits of the new curriculum. We find support for our hypotheses by analyzing change in student perceptions following curriculum changes at a U.S. University. In addition, we also find that once the adverse reaction dissipates, students’ perceptions of the new curriculum become more positive than the old curriculum, only to be reversed once the revised curriculum is accepted as the new norm.     

关于新课程的评议:一种视角

从<基础教育课程改革纲要(试行)>颁布至今,新课程历经风雨,走过了一条并不平坦的道路.特别是近一两年来,先是所谓"南京高考之痛"的冲击,继之以"轻视知识"的诟病,到最近有专家以政协委员的身份呼吁"停止推行义务教育数学课程标准"等.     

协商课程评介

协商课程是一种新的课程思想,它主张协商学习,将教师视为反思性实践者,并赋予学生以参与课程发展的权力。协商课程作为西方的一种课程思想,要实现本土化发展,就需要积极发掘我国古今丰富的商量教学思想并进行理论提升,立足于本国教育实际以寻求协商课程在中国的发展路径。     

课程改革论争评述

本文在回顾了新一轮课程改革的国际及国内背景的前提下,阐述了我国课程改革论争的起因和经过以及论争存在的主要分歧,在此基础上对我国课程改革论争进行评述并指出,我国课程改革论争既有积极意义,也有消极影响,但总体上是积极意义大于消极影响,所以,应该遵从世界课程改革的整体走势、扎根于实践的沃土、提出切实可行的措施并进行建设性的论争。     

统整课程述评

本文对统整课程的基本内容与模式等问题作了一系列阐释,提出了统整课程应该包含的六个内在维度,并结合我国的教育实践,对统整课程在我国幼儿教育中的实践进行思考。     

课程变革的后现代主义审视

后现代主义具有反本质主义、内在构成性、反权威主义的基本特征,其价值取向表现为：推崇多元、动态生成性、生态性、人文关怀等。后现代主义视野下课程变革的基础是多元文化的生态整合和复杂性思维方式;要求课程变革由课程开发单一主体和权力集中转向课程开发的多元主体和分享权力、共担责任,课程实施由控制与静态性转向对话与生成,课程评价由单一性转向多元性。     

课改十年《普通高中历史课程标准》课程目标研究述评

《普通高中历史课程标准(实验)》颁行以来,对课程目标的研究成为十年来《标准》研究中关注的重点,相关研究论文50余篇。学界主要是对课程目标的结构层次做了分析和解构,同时也提出了其中的不足之处;围绕过程与方法目标,学界就其内涵的问题、过程能否作为目标的问题、误区和策略问题进行了研究;对情感态度与价值观目标的层次与特点、策略和误区等进行了研究。文章针对研究分布不平衡、课程目标研究全局观不强的问题,指出知识与能力、情感态度与价值观这两个目标的研究还有很大的潜力可挖,同时应注重对三维目标的整体分析与研究,做到"三维一体,一体三面"。     

通胀感知与通胀预期的概念结构及综述

研究发现消费者具有有限的能力来存储和回忆物品的具体价格,他们感知和预期的价格和通货膨胀,即使是有一定程度偏差的,他们也似乎认为自己有能力去判断和预测通货膨胀。虽然研究人员已经提出了看似可行的解释,但他们是如何得到这些解释的,这还是个悬而未决的问题。     

医学院校课程整合的经验教训:学生、课程负责人与改革领导者的观点

美国医学院校的课程整合改革方兴未艾.加州大学旧金山分校医学院从2001级新生开始对课程体系进行大幅调整,本研究调查了该校参与改革的不同群体,包括教育改革的领导者、受到直接影响的学生、新建课程的负责人等对课程改革的态度,了解其对课程整合实施一年内的成绩和挑战的看法.结果表明,他们对跨学科教学、跨学科系室协作、课程关联的建立、课程内容的排序及框架构建等四个主题有相同的看法,也有不小的分歧.     

目标为本课程(ABC)评介

基于对学科为本课程的批判,约翰·怀特等提出了目标为本课程理念,构建了让每个学生都有一个丰富多彩的人生、让每个学生帮助他人过上幸福的生活和帮助每个学生能够理解背景知识等三个总体性目标和各自具体子目标的课程目标体系,提出了课程目标的生成逻辑和方法,从课程目标生成机制、学生评价目标和教师教育改革等几个方面勾画了这种目标体系的实施路径,为重构课程目标提供一种新思路。     

课程领导研究述评

课程领导在课程发展和课程变革过程中发挥着重要的作用。本文拟就以往课程领导相关研究成果进行梳理和分析,主要涉及课程领导的内涵、角色、任务、层次、功能及类型等具体问题,并在此基础上对课程领导研究现状进行反思。     

印度高中化学新课程述评

印度中央中等教育委员会(CBSE)颁布的<高中化学课程纲要>(2003-2005)是面向2005年全印度高级中学证书考试的大纲.本文在介绍印度高中化学课程设置和内容的基础上,分析了印度当前高中化学课程的特色,以资借鉴.     

我国校本课程开发研究概略

我国校本课程开发已进入由试验到推广的新阶段．专家学对校本课程开发的概念、价值、条件、类型、程序、评价、管理等各个方面进行了较为深入的理论研究．许多学校进行了校本课程开发的实践，取得了一定的成绩。不足之处在于：理论方面还应加强对学校化的重建、社会化的支持与校本课程管理等方面的研究；实践方面应调动一切因素激励更多的学校开发校本课程的积极性．特别是应重视农村中小学的校本课程开发。     

我国高校课程评价研究述评

在高等教育领域,课程评价近几年才逐步受到人们的关注,关于课程评价的研究更多地是对西方主要课程评价的探讨、借鉴与发展,并没有形成具有中国特色的、影响广泛的成果。在高校课程评价的指标、方法等方面仍存在一定的问题,重建合理的指标体系、进行量化评价与质性评价的整合、构建课程绩效评估模型等成为当前研究的主要方向。     

IBO国际文凭组织课程述评

IBO国际文凭组织是世界公认的国际教育领跑者,它提供了三大课程项目,分别是大学预科文凭项目课程DP、中学项目课程MYP和小学项目课程PYP。IB课程被全球教育界认可为具有较高学业水准的教育项目,并在全球范围内迅速发展、壮大。通过三大课程的国内外研究述评,寻求IBO先进教育理念与我国素质教育理念的结合点,以期对我国新一轮基础教育课程改革和素质教育的有效实施提供有益的借鉴。     

开放教育课程管理机制研究述评

开放教育课程管理机制分为课程准入机制和课程清理机制两部分。课程准入机制包括课程来源和课程准入方式两方面,课程准入方式又分为课程的“实体性”准入标准和“程序性”准入标准;课程清理机制包括课程的“实体性”评价和“程序性”清理机制。目前,我国开放教育课程管理机制的框架已经形成,但某些管理的细节研究有待深入,如课程来源渠道需要拓宽,课程准入把关不严,课程退出机制还远未形成等。     

女性主义课程观述评

女性主义课程观的基本特点是：特别关注课程中的性别不平等问题：主张建构服务于妇女解放的课程。女性主义课程观在一定程度上具有反对性别偏见的合理性，也存在着女性认知优越的偏见。它对我国的课程改革具有启发意义。