Educating for well-being in Scotland: policy and philosophy,pitfalls and possibilities

In recent years there has been a heightened interest in educating for well-being; the belief that even when beset by economic gloom, schools can be a civilising force for good and can help make young people’s lives more fulfilling and meaningful. However, the relative lack of conceptual analysis on well-being values and how they can flourish in schools coupled with ambiguities on curriculum implementation plans have limited progress to date. The paper addresses these concerns, through analysing recent theorising on values which contain a focus on personal growth, relationships with others and engagement with activities of interest. In reviewing these values in relation to the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ (CfE) policy context in Scotland, the paper discusses ways in which current policy and practice uncertainties could be improved by greater philosophical clarity on well-being values and by the development of pedagogical models which highlight how effective learning could take place. These improvements, if supported by key policy revisions and by commissioning practitioners to design more appropriate teaching resources, could provide the basis for greater teacher engagement with well-being agendas and the avoidance of policy stasis.     

Student enthusiasm for engineering: charting changes in student aspirations and motivation

Many recent teaching initiatives in engineering education have the underlying premise of improving student engagement with global issues and providing first-hand experience of complex problems associated with sustainable development and production. A greater understanding of actual motivational drivers may help in student recruitment and retention, and address, e.g. gender disparity. In this work, student motivations and aspirations are explored through a cross-faculty survey of undergraduate engineering students. The results indicate that while many students start an engineering degree with an aspiration to ‘invent something new’ and ‘make a difference to the world’, these diminish with time to be dominated by issues such as financial security. Students who continue to aspire to the creative/high-impact notions of engineering also maintain an enthusiasm for engineering. However, all students desire more practical work and skills training. Based on these findings, some general recommendations are given for further inspiring students towards engineering.     

Rural youth out-migration and education: challenges to aspirations discourse in mobile modernity

ABSTRACT

We argue here that critical educational scholarship is crucial to developing educational analysis attuned to the nuances of place, mobility, and change in rural locations. Critical sociological analysis, we argue, can also nuance and complicate simplistic portrayals of rural communities and their social, economic, and cultural character. Two central narratives in rural education today relate first, to the economic and social problems faced by challenged ‘left behind’ communities faced by depopulation and restructuring, and second, ‘boomtown’ communities that experience rapid infusions of wealth and population. We offer two linked case studies from Australia and Canada that draw on what we call a rural sociological imagination to interrogate how education is framed in contemporary convergences of history and biography in rural locations. These framings complicate and even confound meritocratic and human capital assumptions that underpin contemporary educational policy discourse, particularly as it relates to rural education.     

Adapting to Curriculum Change: A Theoretical Framework Informing the Design and Implementation of a Curriculum Intervention

Adapting to curriculum change necessitates the evaluation of teaching and learning pedagogies. A new curriculum invites reflection on how knowledge is constructed and operationalised to extend higher order thinking in adolescent learners. This paper reviews contemporary empirical and theoretical literature identifying productive pedagogical practices associated with critical reading competencies in order to design and implement a curriculum intervention in a senior secondary Literature course.     

Democratization of secondary education in Malaysia: attitudes towards schooling and educational aspirations

As a consequence of the democratization of secondary education in Malaysia beginning in the 1990s, many students who do not have academic credentials are allowed to progress to upper secondary education. This study examines the attitudes of these students towards two important aspects of schooling – namely, learning and examinations, as well as their educational aspirations – to assess the extent to which they have fulfilled the aims of the democratization of secondary education, among which is to produce more highly trained and well-educated manpower. A questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews were conducted in five sampled schools to explore the issues from various perspectives. The attitudes of the students towards learning and examinations as well as their levels of educational aspirations were generally found to be wanting regardless of their background. This study has revealed the internal contradiction of the democratization of secondary education in Malaysia. The democratization of secondary education within the ambit of a highly academic and examination-oriented education system has not served the needs of academically weak students. This study has also revealed the lack of alternative educational opportunities available to these students. The lack of resolve among teachers to handle these students and enough counsellors to guide them through the schooling process further complicate their problems.     

Educational governance,school autonomy,and curriculum implementation: A comparative study of Arab and Jewish schools in Israel

In recent years, the predominance of the nation-state as the sole arbiter of curricular matters has eroded. New actors and organizations, especially local schools, have acquired greater discretion over the definition of school subjects and curricular emphases. This study investigates whether and how different patterns of educational governance influence the actual curriculum that local schools put into place. It is argued that uniformity/diversity in the implemented curriculum reflects macro-level factors (i.e. structural and institutional characteristics of national educational systems), and meso-level factors (i.e. community and local school characteristics). Specifically, it investigates between-school variation in curricular implementation in two major sectors of the Israeli public educational system: Jewish (secular), and Arab. School-based differences are reported in course offerings and time-allocations to subject areas in each sector. In addition, it compares actual curricular implementation in relation to official guidelines established by central authorities. Implementation patterns between and within sectors are discussed in light of educational governance differences and key macro- and local-level factors.     

Junior secondary science education in Australia and the reform for public understanding of science: The case of the state of Victoria

Aspiration is currently a prominent concept in higher education policy debates. However, reference to this concept is often made in terms of low socio-economic status (SES) students simply lacking aspiration, which schools and universities must work to instill. In contrast to this potentially deficit view, this paper draws on Appadurai's notion of the ‘capacity to aspire’, which reframes aspiration as a cultural category rather than an individual motivational trait. It discusses the proposition that low SES students do have substantive aspirations, but may have less developed capacities to realise them. Bourdieu's theories of cultural capital, habitus and field provide a supplementary theoretical framework, which draws attention to the complex relationships between socio-cultural background and life-world experiences that inform students' and families' dispositions toward school and their capacities to aspire to higher education.     

Community-based field experiences in teacher education: possibilities for a pedagogical third space

The present article discusses the importance of community-based field experiences as a feature of teacher education programs. Through a qualitative case study, prospective teachers’ work with homeless youth in an after-school initiative is presented. Framing community-based field experiences in teacher education through “third space” theory, the article discusses the value that such experiences have for prospective teachers’ learning. The goals of the article align with the commitment to preparing a future teaching force for the diverse educational settings that they will encounter in the twenty-first century.     

Research on Importance and Interest: Implications for Curriculum Development and Future Research

Research has found that interest is related to attention, deeper processing, the use of effortful strategies, feelings of enjoyment, and learning. However, some strategies for creating interest in text materials may interfere with the learning of important information. In this paper, I describe results of a study that used qualitative verbal report measures to identify text characteristics that are most positively and most negatively associated with interest, as well as quantitative measures to investigate how those characteristics are related to learning. Results have implications for curriculum development by contributing to our understanding of how writers of informational text can make important information interesting. The paper concludes with suggestions for pedagogical practice and for future research that may further our understanding of interest and how it might be enhanced in classrooms.     

Lesson study: A collaborative approach to scholarship for teaching and learning in higher education

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning has become an important field of inquiry, focusing on the development of new and critical pedagogic approaches in higher education. It is a broad field leading to the emergence of a number of contrasting perspectives concerning the development of insights into teaching and learning. In this article, we explore the potential for Lesson Study to act as a framework for reflecting on and developing pedagogic practice in the university sector. Originating in Japan over a century ago, Lesson Study is a collaborative tool for analysing and developing understanding of student learning. This makes it an ideal tool for capturing and interrogating new and critical insights into teaching and learning. An outline framework is suggested for developing the use of Lesson Study in higher education and we discuss how it can form a positive methodology for extending the work of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.     

A general framework for cultivating innovations in higher education curriculum

ABSTRACT

Systematic changes to higher education curriculum typically occur within the extended timeframes of formal curriculum review processes. Programmes need to be reviewed periodically for internal and external accountability or to determine whether the curriculum has lost its coherence due to the accumulative effect of continual small-scale changes. These programme reviews often lend themselves to the introduction of innovations in teaching and learning however experiences suggest that these innovations are often short-lived. Even with well-thought-through project plans, adequate funding and staffing, and robust project evaluations, a curriculum innovation may fail to take hold and continue beyond the short-term. In this article we work towards developing a general framework that identifies the various factors and drivers that are essential to sustain important curriculum innovation beyond the short-term. The framework is developed from an analysis of several curriculum innovations related to the embedding of graduate attributes to highlight the important factors necessary to ensure longevity in important developments in teaching and learning.     

The teaching of literature in a Singapore secondary school: disciplinarity,curriculum coverage and the opportunity costs involved

Set against the backdrop of reinvigorating the study of literature and concerns about the adequate preparation of students for the world of work, this paper explores how a Singapore teacher presented a literary text in the classroom. Drawing on data from a large-scale representative sample of Singapore schools in instruction and assessment practices, we discuss some of the potential consequences of instructional choice-making from a disciplinary perspective. Our findings suggest, for example, that when teacher-dominated discourse and interpretations dominate, instructional flexibility and responsiveness are correspondingly limited and restricted. These courses of action, we contend, may occur contrary to teachers’ plans and expectations. The paper closes by making a call for further longitudinal research across multiple research sites into the nature of literature pedagogy that has a strong disciplinary focus.     

Sophia's funds of knowledge: theoretical and pedagogical insights,possibilities and dilemmas

Children's interests and thinking emanate from their daily lived experiences in their families, communities and cultures. This paper substantiates the view that the construct of ‘funds of knowledge’, understood through the lens of ‘cultural repertoires of practice’, provides an analytical tool for early years teachers to interpret their observations of, and conversations with, young children. The paper reports findings from a qualitative case study in early childhood settings of children's interests and thinking. The methods included participant observation, interviews with teachers and children and gathering of pedagogical documentation. This paper specifically draws on and problematises the funds of knowledge and related gendered thinking that a young Chinese girl revealed through her interests and practices. It argues that although the construct of funds of knowledge provides an authentic conceptual framework to guide and justify teachers' pedagogical decision-making, it should not be accepted uncritically. The concept may raise some issues for teachers' responses to children's thinking and relationships with diverse families. Teachers and researchers have future work to undertake to understand children's complex cultural knowledges and positionings in an increasingly globalised world.     

Curriculum and assessment for the knowledge society: interrogating experiences in the Republic of Ireland and Queensland,Australia

The ‘knowledge society’ has become a central discourse within educational reform. This article posits that the impact of the knowledge society discourse on curriculum and assessment has led to the emergence of what the authors term a new-form/re-form curriculum, and it asks whether what is transacting in contemporary movements in curriculum is less the reform of curriculum and more the emergence of a new-form/re-form curriculum. What is emerging is well beyond the discussions of outcomes and curriculum alignment that characterised much curriculum reform effort in the late 1990s. In this new-form/re-form curriculum ‘content’ is displaced by ‘skills’ and ‘knowledge acquisition’ by ‘learning’. Curriculum coverage is replaced by learner engagement. In this context, assessment also begins to take on new-form/re-form. Assessment now engages and promotes learning as process rather than as product. Two cases – the Republic of Ireland and Queensland, Australia – are analysed and compared to illustrate this shift in the conceptualisation of curriculum and assessment. Consideration is given to the possibility that this new-form/re-form curriculum represents a settlement in the contestation associated with learning outcomes and their perceived technical rationality and market focus. The paper concludes that the new-form/re-form curriculum is emerging in locations as diverse as Ireland and Queensland.     

略论英语学科中的教书育人

文章从英语学科角度简要论述并分析了大学教师教书育人的基本观点及相应措施 :正确认识教师职业道德要求是教书育人的重要前提 ;努力上好每一节课是教书育人的基本条件 ;课堂上有机穿插思想教育“片断”是教书育人的有效形式 ;抓两头 ,促中间是教书育人的重要方法 ;课余时间与学生谈心是教书育人的重要途径。     

知识的生存意义与高校德育课程改革

倡导"理解"与"生成"的现代课程知识观转型,要求课程改革更多地关照知识与人的生存意义之间的联系,提升人的精神生命。据此,面对"知识灌输"与"人文化成"之间的矛盾,高校德育课程目标设定应由实体思维转向过程思维,促进大学生的意义世界生成;课程内容设计应以问题意识为中心,回归生活;课程实施应以理解为基础,变知识灌输为平等对话。     

德国“教育学-教学论”范式与美国“教育科学-课程论”范式的比较研究

以德国为代表的"教育学—教学论"范式和以美国为代表的"教育科学—课程论"范式是教育研究领域两种重要的、不同的研究范式。德国的"教育学—教学论"范式以唯理主义哲学为理论基础,强调从整体上培养人的问题,并从整体和人的全面发展的角度去理解和解决教育和教学问题;相对而言美国的"教育科学-课程论"范式则缺乏这种整体主义的视角。究其原因,除了跟两国不同的历史文化和哲学范式有关外,还与德国"教育学—教学论"范式中一个核心概念"教化"有着密不可分的关系。由于历史的原因,这两大研究范式并存于我国目前的教育研究和实践中。澄清二者之间的具体差异以及造成差异的根源是解决困扰我国教育研究和实践的途径之一。     

Beyond Re/Presentation: A Case for Updating the Epistemology of Schooling

In this paper we wish to argue that despite strong challenges to representational epistemology in the last two centuries, modern schooling is still organised around a representational view of knowledge. This is the case despite teaching practices being modified to accommodate different views of knowledge that have emerged in the last two centuries. This means, if schooling is to be brought in line with current epistemological trends, there is still a case for updating the epistemology of schooling. Our analysis shows, however, that this update will not leave the idea of modern schooling in tact. Updating the epistemology of schooling, so we argue, requires a fundamental rethink of the purposes of schooling.     

美国社区课程资源开发及其对我国教育的启示

社区是美国学校课程资源的重要组成部分,是美国儿童学习的“第二课堂”。我国因为学校与社区关系的疏离、课程本身的特点以及社区文化欠发展等原因,社区课程资源没有得到切实有效的利用。唤醒教师课程资源开发的主体意识、建立校内外课程资源转化机制是我国社区课程资源开发的基本思路。