“You have to get hit a couple of times”: The role of conflict in learning how to “be” a skateboarder

By examining the role of conflict in learning how to “be” a skateboarder at a skate park in the United States, this article illustrates how conflicts constitute key aspects of learning and teaching within communities of practice. Specifically, this article demonstrates how the practices of “snaking” and “heckling” are used by a group of skateboarders to learn and teach spatially appropriate behavior as well as social and ideological norms regarding class and gender. In doing so, this article builds upon and critiques the concept of community of practice used within many sociocultural theories of learning.     

School building design for feeding programmes and community outreach: Insights from Ghana and South Africa

This article investigates how school building design can support primary school feeding programmes in low- and middle-income countries. Furthermore it argues for schools to become community “development hubs”; incorporating both local access to education and also to programmes for nutrition, ICT, health education and other services, outside of school hours. It reviews the literature on school feeding programmes. Data from field research on schools in Ghana and South Africa is used to identify the key design issues for schools delivering feeding programmes. It considers how national education policies can affect school planning and building priorities. The article concludes by calling for the evolution of a new school design model, in which the school site becomes a “development hub”, supporting children” education, associated support activities including school feeding, and importantly also, integrated community development outreach activities.     

“Free Primary Education” in Lesotho and the disadvantages of the highlands

This article explores the effects of national policies associated with “Education for All” on a disadvantaged region, the highlands of Lesotho. Since 2000 a programme of “Free Primary Education” has improved the position of the highlands in access to primary schooling; nevertheless, highland primary schools compare poorly with those in the lowlands on various indicators of pupils’ outcomes and school resources. They are also found to have relatively difficult relations with local communities. The paper reflects critically on the management of the “Free Primary Education” initiative and the implications for educational opportunity and for community empowerment in the highlands region.     

Online Communities of Practice: A Catalyst for Faculty Development

This article addresses the concept of communities of practice and how it has come of age for the professional development of professors as teachers. Thanks to current technological options, faculty developers can enhance the opportunity for the entire faculty to learn through the use of online communities. Designing a faculty development portal using community of practice concepts can be an effective means to jump-start, facilitate, develop, and sustain faculty involvement in academic communities.     

再论“‘形神统一’文化生命结构”及其方法论意义 ——古典中国哲学“形神之辨”的文化哲学精义

“形”、“神”和“形神之辨”是古典中国哲学的一对重要范畴和一个重要论题。其原义是用来对人体生命结构的哲学概括,同时也推衍于艺术、文学、建筑以及医学、武术等领域。随着国学热的兴起,学界对绘画、中医、养生、武术等领域的形神关系多有论述,但似乎尚未提升到文化哲学的高度。“‘形神统一’文化生命结构”这一概念的提出和论证,意在从哲学的视角揭示古典中国哲学“形神之辨”的文化哲学精义,对于当今的文化建设具有重要的方法论意义。     

Participation in the figured world of graffiti

This article is based on ethnographic work with two “crews” of young graffiti artists in southern Mexico City. The crews share certain characteristics with gangs or urban tribes, but more with “communities of practice”: they live in the “figured world” of graffiti, a community of practice at the local and global level. Through participation, including observation and the study of fanzines, group members learn the language, technical and social skills, and values of this figured world. Their reasons to paint and the topics they express are varied, but authentic expression is fundamental. Graffiti allows these young people to establish an interesting interplay of identities in the world of graffiti versus their ordinary lives.     

East African higher education from the community standpoint

The concept of community education is considered in relation to higher education in East Africa. The case of the University of Dar es Salaam is taken as an example to show how the concept has been adapted to meet the needs of a university in a developing society. Orientations towards the community in terms of teaching, research and other activities are described. Problems of access, admission, control and participation are considered in the context of the changed conditions within which the university must operate. The suggestion is made that experience shows that an institution can re-order itself in such a way as to contribute more effectively to the national community it serves.An earlier version of this article was prepared for a Seminar on Education and the Community in Africa held at the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh 18–20 June 1976.     

Why preferences in college admissions may yield a more-able student body

Critics of affirmative action policies contend that the elimination of racial preferences in college admissions would lead to a “more-able” student body. We develop a simple model comprised of three classes of college admissions—merit, race and legacy—to show that it is possible that a change in admissions policy that reduces racial preferences leads to a “less-able” student body. The change in admissions policy may serve only to ensure that more admissions are available for “sale” to wealthy alumni through legacy preferences. In other words, when there are multi-dimensional preferences, reducing or eliminating one dimension of preferences may lead to the unforeseen consequence of producing a “less able” student body.     

论清代广东书院的课程理念与教学模式

古代的"课程"是指学生根据考课目标而自我安排的学习规程。清代广东书院存在着两种课程模式,一种为应付科举而设置,一种为崇尚经史古学而设置。这一差异导致了"无课程"与"有课程"之书院的分野,展现了两类书院不同的教学风格,进而导致不同的教学效果:"无课程"书院注重围绕科举内容进行考课,这导致书院生徒不能潜心做学问,而有追求科名等沽名钓誉之行为;"有课程"之书院注重经史教学,强调学问的经世致用,进而保障生徒的自主学习,体现出对传统教育本真的回归,这是晚清书院改革的精髓所在。     

英国院校研究发展与演变的逻辑:从“平等”到“质量”

与美国相比,院校研究在英国的发展是迟缓的。从历史渊源来看,英国早期的"院校研究"活动包括"校史研究"和"政府报告"。但其"真正意义上"的院校研究起源于英国政府决定推行高等教育大众化的政策过程(1963—1987)。在此期间,院校研究主要是促进"教育平等"的政策研究和大学内部教学法改进研究。20世纪80年代后期,英国政府与大学之间的关系发生了重大变化,"质量评估运动"和"问责"促成了院校研究在英国高校内部地位的确立。院校研究的旨趣也从关注"平等"转向"质量"。院校研究在英国发展的历程和经验,对于其他欧洲国家甚至对中国院校研究的推进,都具有启发和借鉴意义。     

在做什么,抑或知道在做什么——教师的前提性反思的危机与重建

"在做什么",是在常识、熟知、甚至自明的范围中对行为的考虑与回答。一般而言,这种考虑和回答能促使教师不断地提高自己的业务能力,反思自己行为的实效;但它并不引起教师对自己行为本身更多的反思。熟知、常识和自明并不等同于真知与明晓,却往往包含着"无知"。"知道在做什么",是对自我行为本身的一种艰苦地思索,是为了真正的知道和正当地行为,表现为对熟知、流行、常识的教师行为观念的批判与反思。这是一种教师的前提性反思。它意味着教师必须具有清醒的自我批判意识,反省自己行为所隐含的"无意识的前提",理性地抵制自己成为一个积极的、无思的共谋者。但是,教师教育对效率、手段、专门化以及科学化教育理论的过度强调使其出现了危机:前提性反思变得既不必要又无可能。重建教师前提性反思,教师需要做好一种知识的准备,即在学习和教育教学实践中努力探寻并赢得关于人、幸福以及教育的整体性知识。基于此,教师教育亦是一种通识教育。     

“明清以来的地方意识与国家认同”学术研讨会述评

地方研究已是学界显学,本次研讨会则旨在从国家建构的维度,考察地方意识与国家认同的关系,着力从历史人类学、社会史、政治史、思想史、知识分子研究等方向展开跨领域对话,试图透过迥异的研究路径和研究议题,共同探讨现代中国的国家建构与国家认同之历史过程。与会学者主要探讨了何处是“地方”、谁之“地方”、何种“中国”、何以“中国”等议题。首先,“地方”的意涵和所指是多样化的,不仅指行政区域,也指地理和文化空间,是从乡村、县、省到南方、北方、东北、西北等地域的动态概念。其次,参与并建构地方意识与国家认同的历史主体是多元的,故国家的知识精英和制度文化、地方的宗教专家和社团组织,以及中国边缘和外部世界所想象的“中国”也是多元的。最后,与会学者从地方与国家关系、种族/民族、赋役制度、礼仪宗教、战争、工业资本主义等多重视角,热烈地讨论了多样化“地方”背后的同一性,以及中国何时、如何成为民族国家等问题。这些多元性非但不会妨碍我们理解“中国”,而且是理解的前提和开端。     

卢梭的教育意图

卢梭的《社会契约论》和《爱弥儿》之间似乎存在某种矛盾和紧张关系。《社会契约论》以"社会"为取向,否定人的"自然状态";《爱弥儿》以"个人"为取向,强调"自然教育"。然而根据卢梭本人的教育意图,二者实际上是一以贯之的。卢梭的"社会契约论"表面上是对"自然状态"的否定,其实是对"自然状态"的模仿:以"道法自然"的方式建立公民社会。并且,卢梭在《社会契约论》中着重阐述了对一般公民的教育(大众教育)。《爱弥儿》并非《社会契约论》的对立面,它阐述的是对公民社会的立法家的教育(精英教育)。正因为立法家对于社会的作用高于一般公民,所以《爱弥儿》的重要性高于《社会契约论》。     

《齐物论》释义

《齐物论》以“齐”为主题,从逻辑上说,其中包含“齐物”论与齐“物论”二重涵义。“齐物”论指向世界万物,后者虽呈现千差万别的形态,但从“齐物”论的角度看,则最终可以分而齐之或不齐而齐。齐“物论”之“物论”直接所指,涉及关于“物”的不同观点,但在宽泛意义上则关乎一切是非之辩,“齐”广义论域中的“物论”,意味着消解是非的分辨和是非论争。总起来,“齐物论”以“齐”为视域,既要求超越存在之域的分别,也试图消解观念之域的是非之辩。就哲学的层面而言,扬弃“道术为天下裂”的形态、通过以道观之达到统一的存在,这一进路无疑不无所见的。然而,从现实的形态看,世界既呈现关联和统一之维,又内含多样性和差异性,所谓“物之不齐,物之情也”。以否定和拒斥的立场对待“分”与“别”,在逻辑上很难避免对存在的抽象理解,与之相涉的分而齐之,也容易疏离于真实、具体的存在,引向思辨意义上的形而上学。在庄子的齐物之论中,以道观之与抽象齐之二重取向交错而并存,呈现了多方面的理论意蕴。     

Professional judgment and dispositions in teacher education

The word “dispositions” has suddenly emerged in the lexicon of teacher educators in the United States of America, and around the globe as found in publications such as The International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations and the Journal of the International Society for Teacher Education. However, it is clear from the literature that educators are just beginning to grapple with the definitional and philosophical aspects of the construct. This work seeks to assist the field of teacher education, both in the United States and internationally in gaining a better understanding of “dispositions,” and, at the same time to offer working connections between professional judgment and dispositions, and provide grounding for the construct as “habits of mind” that render professional conduct more intelligent.     

Proving “The Girl Effect”: Corporate knowledge production and educational intervention

The Nike Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Nike, Inc., seeks to prove the “The Girl Effect,” its theory of change, through investments in adolescent girls in the Global South. The foundation defines it as the “unique potential of 250 million adolescent girls to end poverty for themselves and the world.” This article examines the elaborate, yet continually contested processes of attempting to prove “The Girl Effect.” It draws on ethnographic research in the U.S. and Brazil (2009–2010) to analyze how the Nike Foundation funds, produces, and distributes knowledge on the purported potential of particular adolescent girls to end poverty. It focuses on how the monitoring and evaluation practices of one grantee in Brazil were informed by and contributed to the foundation's broader project of proving “The Girl Effect.” The analysis explains how this occurred through processes of knowledge production and educational intervention that were predicated on an epistemological understanding of the trope of “Third World girl.” It provides insights into how the foundation extends it power and authority over new bodies, institutions, and geographies by asserting itself as an expert on adolescent girls and by influencing the development agendas of more powerful global institutions.     

On mathematics education and culture: Critical afterthoughts

This paper centers on the May 1988 Special Issue of Educational Studies in Mathematics devoted to mathematics education and culture, which is now available in book form. It questions some of the current tenets about the meaning and significance of the concept culture for a theory of mathematics education. More generally, it also argues against the cooping up of scientific problems by dividing the mathematics education community into small circles of experts which behave like a peculiar breed of mutual benefit societies, without giving due attention to the needs of scientific democracy and the simple pursuit of truth. Ultimately, it calls for an open scientific debate, unfettered by moral and ideological prejudices and, whenever necessary, disrespectful of fashionable notions. In this essay, all these points are tackled in close relation to a thorough — and unusually long — review of the book.     

The effect of effort grading on learning

In the fall of 2004, Benedict College – a Historically Black College in Columbia, SC – began enforcing a new grading policy called Success Equals Effort (SE²). Under this policy, students taking freshman and sophomore level courses were assigned grades that explicitly rewarded not only content learning (“knowledge” grade) but also measures of effort (“effort” grade). This paper examines the effects of effort grading using two stage least squares and fixed effect estimates. I find evidence of a strong positive correlation between “effort” grades and “knowledge” grades. Under some restrictions this relationship can be interpreted as “effort” producing “knowledge”.     

Fostering Distributed Science Learning Through Collaborative Technologies

TACTICS (French and Spanish acronym standing for Collaborative Work and Learning in Science with Information and Communications Technologies) is an ongoing project aimed at investigating a distributed community of learning and practice in which information and communications technologies (ICT) take the role of collaborative tools to support social construction of knowledge. This community is composed of researchers, graduate students, and high-school teachers and their students, from six schools and four universities in Canada and Mexico. It set out in fall 2000 to develop a community around the general topic of integrating concepts in science school subjects. Once a prototype community is established, it can become a terrain where different aspects could be studied. Subsequently, researchers could gradually take a back seat allowing as well as ensuring the autonomy of the school members involved and, thereby, the viability of the learning community. The set up of the proposed prototype distributed science learning community was therefore an essential yet far from trivial first step. This paper discusses the process of setting up the community and the lessons learned.