Where have all the flowers gone? An investigation into the retention of religious education teachers

The authors dedicate this article to the memory of Canon Gordan Pavey 1919–2007: priest, teacher and loving friend.

This article reports on an investigation into the retention of secondary religious education teachers trained at one institution over a ten‐year period. The initial hypothesis was that many of these teachers would no longer be teaching, or would no longer be teaching religious education. However, the authors found that a high percentage of respondents were still teaching religious education. The article then analyses the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that underlie this finding. Factors affecting retention are described and illustrated, making extensive use of qualitative data. The authors found that the overriding reason for continuing to teach religious education, despite the discouragements, was commitment to the subject: love of subject, belief in the value of the subject for pupils, a sense of vocation. The authors suggest therefore that, should these findings be replicated in other studies, a more useful hypothesis might be that a strong sense of vocation is a predominant factor in the retention of religious education teachers.     

教师培养制度的变革:从师范教育到教师教育

我国高等师范教育正处于从数量满足型向质量提高型转变的重要变革时期,灵活开放的教师教育培养体系适应了知识经济社会对高素质教师的需求,师范教育向教师教育的转型是历史的必然。建立“开放型”、“综合类”、“高层次”、“专业化”的教师教育体制对提高基础教育质量具有十分重要的作用。     

Religious education in state primary schools: the case of Catalonia (Spain)

In a pluricultural and multi-religious world, with high levels of social secularisation, the role of religious education in schools (especially in state-funded schools) has inundated political and academic debate throughout Europe, which is becoming increasingly more committed to integrating, non-confessional models. In this context, it is essential to analyse how religious education is managed in countries whose relationship between state and religion is still firmly rooted (as is the case of Spain), and what the action of schools and families is in contexts where confessional religion is maintained in schools. Based on a quantitative study of 380 representatives of primary school management teams, it is seen that one in four schools does not teach any type of religion, either due to a lack of demand from families or because the school chooses not to do so. In addition, the study shows the practical limitations of the confessional model to provide a response to the religious and secular diversity of our time, as the implementation of minority confessions is very scant while there is a primacy of the catholic confession in the religion subject.     

从《古兰经》看真正的“吉哈德”

《古兰经》作为伊斯兰教的根本经典,对于\"吉哈德\"有明确的解释和说明。而对之进行误读和曲解,才会导致\"暴力\"的观点和做法。文章从《古兰经》的文本解读入手,主要论述了真正的\"吉哈德\"是奋斗,而不是战争和暴力,更不是恐怖主义的问题。     

University teacher competencies in a virtual teaching/learning environment: Analysis of a teacher training experience

This paper attempts to shed light on the competencies a university teacher must have in order to teach in virtual learning environments. A teacher training experience was designed by taking into account the methodological criteria established in line with previous theoretical principles. The main objective of our analysis was to identify the achievements and difficulties in a specific formative experience in order to assess the suitability of this conceptual-methodological framework for the design of training proposals aiming to develop teachers’ competencies for virtual environments in higher education.     

Should universities train teachers for employability or for effectiveness?

In principle, the learning sought by universities is universal; that sought by employers of their graduates is contextual. This study illustrates this contradiction in Chile. The three participating universities differ in the socio-economic level of those admitted to teacher training. Teachers for schools in lower-income areas hired from less selective universities are seen by employers as having more skills in classroom management. Schools that enroll middle and upper-income students, on the other hand, hire teachers strong in academic knowledge from the most selective university. This reliance on employability as an indicator of quality of training sharpens social and economic inequalities.     

Improving teachers’ self-efficacy in applying teaching and learning strategies and classroom management to students with special education needs in Hong Kong

This study examines the impact of a revised one-week training course on teacher self-efficacy in terms of improving teaching and learning strategies and classroom management to support students with special educational needs (SEN) in ordinary schools in Hong Kong. Various teacher-related variables (i.e., level of prior training in special education, confidence in teaching students with SEN, knowledge of legislation and policies, years of teaching, teaching experience with students with SEN, gender, and school type) are analyzed among 347 regular primary and secondary teachers. Teacher confidence and school type are determined to be significant predictors for the self-efficacy of teachers in inclusive education.     

教师招考对高校教师教育的影响及其革新

新时期,我国许多地方实施“教师招考”制度,这就给高校教师教育职前培养带来了极大的挑战和机遇。因此,高校教师教育职前培养亟须与教师招考对接,在教学内容、教学方法、教学方式等方面进行积极有效的改革,以使师范生顺利通过“招考”关。同时,随着我国新课程改革的深入发展,教师招考也亟待完善与革新。     

The Role of Religious Higher Education in the Training of Teachers of Russian ‘Orthodox Culture’1

This article provides an ethnographic account of the tensions arising from the different ways of building authority as teachers and the role of higher education in establishing teachers' legitimacy in Russia through the specific example of religious education. After state atheism was abandoned in 1991, an unprecedented demand for religious knowledge appeared in Russia, in particular in relation to Russian Orthodoxy. Since the Russian context of Orthodox education lacks shared standards, there is considerable latitude in the criteria determining norms and rules. Seeking to increase its influence, the Russian Orthodox Church aspires to have Orthodox catechism taught in a systematic way both in parishes and in secular schools. In practice, the Church is encouraging professional pedagogues to submit their curriculum proposals that would be suffused with Orthodoxy and at the same time be eligible for adoption in all settings and institutions. Thus, in order to educate teachers of religion, the Church has made available multiple, diverse sources of religious knowledge (self-learning, various courses offered by the eparchies, Spiritual Academies, and other institutions of higher education). But the legitimacy of these sources is often questioned, for instance by asking whether the institution that delivers diplomas of religious higher education has been granted formal state recognition. The teachers' quest for being acknowledged as competent technicians of religious education leads to competing claims for the authenticity of the sources of their training.     

德国职业教育质量保障体系的认识和启示

本文通过对德国职业教育质量保障体系、质量管理过程和方法以及师资培训方面的介绍,阐述了德国职业教育对我国高职教育的启示．     

The retention question in context-specific teacher education: Do beginning teachers and their program leaders see teachers' future career eye to eye

This paper discusses the challenge of retaining teachers in hard-to-staff schools by examining how it is addressed in three context specific teacher education programs, which prepare teachers to teach in urban public, urban Catholic, and Jewish Day Schools in U.S.A. The findings of this study suggest that counter to teaching force trends teachers from the three programs that we studied expressed high motivation to serve as teachers or leaders in their particular schools and communities. In particular, we found that teachers' career commitments developed around the religious or civic missions promoted by their respective programs. Finally, teachers' career perceptions seem to correlate, though not entirely match, with those of their program leaders.     

“Whatever Happened to the Social Dimension?” Aspects of Learning in a Distance-based Teacher Training Programme

In this article we discuss distance-based teacher trainees' understandings of learning and education in a computerised learning environment. Educational research today often stresses the importance of a social dimension in learning and education and computerised learning environments are said to create and fulfil the social dimension in on-campus education as well as in distance education. This social dimension of learning and education is investigated, in a Swedish distance-based teacher training programme supported by ICT, through semi-structured interviews with 19 teacher trainees. The study shows that there is a complex relationship between the use of the computerised learning environment and the physical meetings in the programme. One conclusion is that, even though theories emphasise the social dimension of learning through participation, teacher trainees view participation with others as important primarily in relation to social aspects of well-being and not in relation to learning. The use of ICT for creating a community of learners through participation seems to individualise the students' learning rather than bringing them together in their learning.     

浅析素质教育中的小学教师师资培养策略

文章从素质教育对小学教师提出的基本要求入手,探讨新世纪的教师应具备的基本素质,并据此提出提高小学教师素质的途径。     

应用型本科高校师资培养模式构建与思考——以黄山学院师资队伍培养为例

办学定位于应用型的新建本科院校,其师资培养模式是提高高等教育质量、培养高素质应用性人才的关键。文章阐述了应用型教师素质养成的必要性,并以黄山学院为例,提出应用型师资应该具备的教师基本素质以及"知能"结构和"双能"素质,通过搭建"教师发展中心"平台,实施"专、综"工程结合,实践"双提、双导、双评"模式等,着力培养应用型青年师资和促进应用型师资建设,取得了一定的成效,其培养模式在一定程度上可为应用型高校师资培养提供借鉴。     

澳大利亚高质量职前教师教育体系改革与启示

以澳大利亚《下一步：优质职前教师教育审查报告》为基础,探讨高质量职前教师教育体系改革的重点,包括选拔优质人才、提升教学质量、支持新教师,并基于此提出对我国师范教育体系建设的启示：改革师范教育招生制度,注重考察学生品德;优化师范教育教学内容,改善师范教育城市化倾向;严格教师行业准入要求,实行“先育后考”的教师资格制度;构建教师培养一体化模式,促进教师专业发展。     

论教师道德教育的评价

教师教育不仅是强化教师专业知识与专业技能的过程,也是一项不断提升教师伦理道德的活动。教师教育评价要服务于教师教育质量的提高就要持续地关注教师伦理与道德教育问题。教师道德教育评价包括对教师道德教育目标的评价、道德教育课程落实度与创新性的评价、教育过程德育因素的评价以及教师道德教育效果的评价等方面。