Financing education in developing countries: A comment on G. Psacharopoulos et al.'s proposal

The policy package proposed by Psacharopoulos et al. in Financing Education in Developing Countries: An Exploration of Policy Options regarding how developing countries should finance education is briefly examined. It is found wanting. By seeking to provide a solution applicable to all developing countries the authors ignore the specific national requirements to which policies have to respond. Cost-recovery and decentralization may not in every case lead to greater efficiency and equality. Also, cost-recovery and greater efficiency have the potential of entrenching inequality.     

Cultivating creative mentalities: A framework for education

In so far as education has acknowledged creativity at all, it has commonly focused on ‘allowing’ rather than ‘developing’ creativity, on arts-based ‘experession’ rather than broader or deeper kinds of creativity; and on the role of techniques rather than dispositions. This paper seeks to redress the balance by arguing for a range of candidate ‘habits of mind’ that are conducive to general-purpose creativity, and focusing on some of the aspects of classroom culture that seem to be conducive to the development of these habits of mind. Two practical examples from action research projects carried out over the last four years in Cardiff are used to illustrate the potential of this approach. It is suggested that this kind of ‘gentle persuasion’ may well have greater long-term value than the kind of bolt-on reative binges that are sometimes found in primary schools.     

Turning Academics into Teachers: S. Rowland et al.

For the academic worker, a love of the subject is foremost. Without this, our engagement with students is, at best, patronising and at worst, a deceit. If academics are to become better teachers, it must be built upon this love.     

Philosophy and Educational Research: a reply to David Bridges et al.

It is argued that, contrary to much contemporary opinion, ‘conceptual analysis’ is not to be seen as a particular ‘school’ of philosophical thought beyond which we have now passed. It is, rather, a practice: an inter‐personal engagement which seeks to clarify meaning without making any ‘assumptions’ and without the benefit of ‘theory’. The necessity of this practice for educational research, indeed for any sharing of minds between people, is obvious: the difficulty lies rather in our own impatience and reluctance to engage in it.     

Recognizing Conventionality: Reply to Shweder and Helwig et al

Shweder and Helwig et al. attribute to my thesis a denial of objective moral law. This is a misinterpretation of the argument. On the other hand, the critics deny the implications of the social construction of reality, leading them to reject the concept of transparency. This commits them to the remarkable position that all social formations are equally transparent. Helwig et al. do not reconcile their perspective with the phenomenon of ethnocentrism. They imply that I ignore the consistent results of the majority of studies, when in fact my critique centers on the unwarranted theoretical generalizations drawn from these results. Helwig et al. also do not adequately explain the murky distinction between "marginal" and "conventional."     

Constructivism: Defense or a Continual Critical Appraisal A Response to Gil-Pérez et al.

This commentary is a critical appraisal of Gil-Pérez et al.'s (2002) conceptualization of constructivism. It is argued that the following aspects of their presentation are problematic: (a) Although the role of controversy is recognized, the authors implicitly subscribe to a Kuhnian perspective of `normal' science; (b) Authors fail to recognize the importance of von Glasersfeld's contribution to the understanding of constructivism in science education; (c) The fact that it is not possible to implement a constructivist pedagogy without a constructivist epistemology has been ignored; and (d) Failure to recognize that the metaphor of the `student as a developing scientist' facilitates teaching strategies as students are confronted with alternative/rival/conflicting ideas. Finally, we have shown that constructivism in science education is going through a process of continual critical appraisals.     

On Rest-from-Deliberate-Learning as a Mechanism for the Spacing Effect: Commentary on Chen et al. (2021)

Educational Psychology Review - In their recent paper, Chen et al. (Educational Psychology Review, 2021) propose that rest periods between deliberate learning characterize the spacing effect and...     

瞩目文化创造，拓展20世纪中国文学的阐释空间——评李继凯等著《20世纪中国文学的文化创造》

当我们在新世纪的历史轨道上行进了整整十年之后,尽管崭新的文化、文学景观是那样令人眼花缭乱,却丝毫也冲淡不了我们对告别不久的那个百年文学的牵挂与眷怀。不论人们今天以怎样的眼光审视它,以怎样的价值标准评价它,它作为中国文学的一个重要精神转折点以及由此而具有的内在价值和思想力量则是无论如何也抹杀不了的。     

Social justice and its renewals: A sociological comment

Education Action Zones (EAZs) were launched in the United Kingdom in 1998 as 'the standard bearers in a new crusade … to modernize education in areas of social deprivation, and hailed as a third way in education.' In the light of the authors ' ongoing evaluation of a single EAZ, the article examines the extent to which the ambitious claims made by government have been realised. It assesses the extent to which EAZs can be viewed as part of the British twentieth-century theme in education of tackling inequality. It demonstrates that EAZ policy was riddled with tensions and paradoxes arising out of the eccentric mix of neo-liberal, social democratic and Third Way approaches to addressing educational inequality. The article concludes that EAZs suffered from three types of error: concept, process and outcomes, and hence were a mission impossible. The authors argue that EAZs may, hopefully, be a lesson in making the vision of resolving education inequality possible.     

基于专业素质和就业能力综合培养的毕业实习模式探索

目的:探索适合医学院校生物科学专业的基于专业素质和就业能力综合培养的毕业实习模式;方法:以培养方案为导向设定明确的毕业实习目标,围绕实习目标展开实习各环节,综合提升学生的专业素质和就业能力;结果:学生的专业素质和就业综合能力得到提高,就业率有一定的提升,学校、学生和实习基地间的关系更为融洽;结论:基于专业素质和就业能力综合培养的毕业实习模式能够更好地促进医学院校生物科学专业学生的培养。     

文化建设的导向与"向外看"——与李德顺等同志商榷

我国的化建设不能一味地“向外看”,也不能“不向外看”。化建设的导向中的“西化论”的实质是主一切向西方化看齐,把西方资本主义的观念和制度全盘搬到中国来。如果不是这样来理解,就会导致对“西化论”这一概念的认识上的偏差。向西方化学习,也包括对其进步的价值观的学习。对“与国际惯例接轨”这一提法和做法,我们既不能笼而统这守肯定,也不能笼而统之地否定,而应进行具体的分析。在 许多经济技术领域及相关的法律领域,我们的“与国际惯例接轨”的做法不是过头了,而是还不够。     

Towards a framework for creative online collaboration: A research on challenges and context

The OnCreate project was initiated by ten universities with expertise in collaborative work in online-based learning environments and explores the specific challenges of implementing university courses in creative disciplines in such an environment. The first research phase comprises a literature search on creativity and its contextual factors in online collaboration in an educational setting. From this research a first set of possible key challenges and contextual key factors has been selected and applied to categorize the results of interviews and surveys on current good practice in creative online collaboration among experienced online teachers from the partner universities. From the key findings we formulate hypotheses to guide future research towards a framework for creative online collaboration. At the same time, the results can serve as inspiration for the educational practice. Notable observations of the good practice research among the partner universities are that they realise innovative collaboration concepts usually on mashed-up environments of state-of-the-art web services rather than on the omnipresent learning management systems (such as Moodle or Blackboard). Also, they show a paradigm shift from teaching to coaching and promotion of an open peer-review culture among the students.     

普通话上声的本质是低平调——对《汉语平调的声调感知研究》的再分析

本文是对《汉语平调的声调感知研究》一文的评论,不同意原文否定上声是低平调的结论。通过对原文的实验结果的再分析,确认普通话上声的本质是低平调。文章论述了高平调和低平调的不对称现象,认为半上和全上是平等的变体,上声214的2是发音生理的调头,4是边界现象的调尾。文章认为语音实验应考虑语言的因素,语音学不能离开语言学。     

Neurological aspects of dyslexia: comment on the balance model.

The Balance Model rests on a long history of research that suggests that different subtypes of dyslexia exist. Based on the notion that there are two subtypes of dyslexia, Bakker has articulated a developmental neuropsychological model whereby a procedure known as hemisphere-specific stimulation may be beneficial in treatment. This article reviews Bakker's model and provides a critical examination as to why validating research has not been conducted. While Bakker's Balance Model may hold promise for scientific inquiry, validation of treatment effects are needed prior to employing these procedures in clinical practice. Further, important conceptual issues remain to be addressed.