Christen Kold,founder of the Danish folk high school: myth and reality

N. F. S. Grundtvig and Christen Kold traditionally are considered, respectively, as the father of the folk high school idea and its implementer. For many years, the story was that Grundtvig and Kold were substantially of one mind about the form and content of the folk high school. It is only in recent years that Kold's life and work, and his relationship to Grundtvig, became the subject of searching scholarly analysis. This article attempts to provide a revised account of Kold's life, thought and work, and of his undeniable impact on the form and curriculum of the Danish folk high schools, informed by recent scholarly work based on archival sources not available before 1976.     

Emancipation,equality and education: Rancière's critique of Bourdieu and the question of performativity

Jacques Rancière's work has had significant impact in philosophy and literary theory, but remains largely undiscussed in the field of education. This article is a review of the relevance of Rancière's work to education research. Rancière's argument about education emerges from his critique of Bourdieu, which states that Bourdieu reinforces inequality by presuming it as the starting point of his analysis. What is at stake is the question of performativity, and the means by which discourse has effects. This debate has implications for considering the basis of claims to truth in literary and social science discourse. Parallels are drawn between Judith Butler's and Rancière's portrayal of the relationship between discourse and subjection, as well as their attention to discursive ‘imitation’ in making inequality representable. The article concludes with a discussion of the problematic which Rancière's work suggests for education research.     

Bourdieu on Education and Social and Cultural Reproduction

Bourdieu's work has attracted considerable interest and, not withstanding criticism of his style and obscure theoretical formulations, has introduced some powerful concepts into social theory. This paper examines Bourdieu's contribution to the sociology of education and especially his account of socially differentiated educational attainment. Particular attention is given to issues of structure, agency and habitus, the cultural autonomy of the school, arbitrary and necessary school cultures, and the distinction between primary and secondary effects on educational differences. Some specific criticisms, for example Elster's charge of a double account of domination, are also addressed. Bourdieu's concentration on habitus as the most significant generator of practice is held to be a theory of socialisation and the paper examines the nature of the explanation of social practice provided by such theories. The argument concludes with a plea for critical tolerance with respect to Bourdieu's work but with a suggestion that his account of socially differentiated educational attainment in terms of habitus is finally inadequate.     

What determines basic school attainment in developing countries? Evidence from rural China

This paper analyzes recent household survey data from Gansu, a less developed province in Northwest China, to examine school attainment in a poor rural area of China. Censored ordered probit regressions are used to estimate the determinants of years of schooling. Child nutritional status, as measured by height-for-age Z-scores, and household income have positive effects on completed years of schooling. Mothers’ education and attitudes toward children's education also have strong effects. Children of mothers with 6 years of primary education will go to school 1.4 years longer than their counterparts whose mothers who have no education. Science labs in lower secondary schools appear to have positive impacts; providing a science lab is estimated to extend years of schooling by 1.8 years. Finally, teachers’ experience in lower secondary schools also has a strong positive impact on school attainment.     

Bernstein and the Middle Class

This paper explores Basil Bernstein's insights into education and social class, and in particular the relevance of his work for understanding the British middle class. Bernstein is one of the few sociologists of education to recognise and explore differences and tensions within the middle class. We begin by exploring some of the influences of Bernstein's theorisation of social class in general, and outline his main ideas on the relationship between the middle class and education in particular. We then examine the relevance of his work for research on education and middle-class differentiation through drawing on data from our 'Destined for Success' project. This project traced the educational biographies of 300 young men and women from the beginning of their promising educational secondary school career to their mid-twenties. We argue that the distinctive dispositions and orientations of the 'new' and 'old' middle class proposed by Bernstein are evident within parental preferences for types of school, processes of student engagement and, ultimately, differentiated middle-class identities.     

Effectiveness of Four Supplemental Reading Comprehension Interventions

Abstract

This article presents evidence from a large-scale randomized controlled trial of the effects of four supplemental reading comprehension curricula (Project CRISS, ReadAbout, Read for Real, and Reading for Knowledge) on students’ understanding of informational text. Across 2 school years, the study included 10 school districts, more than 200 schools, and more than 10,000 fifth-grade students. Schools interested in implementing 1 of the 4 supplemental curricula were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups or to a control group. The impact analyses in the study's first year revealed a statistically significant negative impact of Reading for Knowledge on students’ reading comprehension scores and no other significant impacts. The impact of ReadAbout was positive and significant in the study's second year among teachers with 1 year of experience using the intervention.     

Focus Group Effects on Field Practicum Preferences

ABSTRACT

During the coming years the need for professionals to work with the nation's elders will increase several fold. This will place a great responsibility on university educational programs to prepare enough qualified future professionals to work in the greatly expanding field of gerontology. Prior research has identified several nonacademic and academic experiences that influence a student's decision to become gerontological professionals. One area that has been omitted from this work concerns focus groups. This article reports on the impact that observing a relatively simple and inexpensive focus group of professional geriatric practitioners can have on field practicum preferences among advanced undergraduate social work students at a large Texas state university. Findings indicate that observing a focus group significantly influences students' practicum preferences for working with elders, thereby setting them on a trajectory for a career in geriatrics.     

One versus two years: Does length of exposure to an enhanced preschool program impact the academic functioning of disadvantaged children in kindergarten?

Research on the effects of preschool dosage on children's early academic functioning has been limited despite the substantial policy implications of such work. The present study adds to a growing literature on this topic by examining how the number of years enrolled in an enhanced preschool program impacts the school readiness of primarily low-income children at kindergarten. Multi-level modeling was used to account for nesting of children within classrooms. To control for potential selection bias since children were not randomly assigned to receive one or two years of preschool, propensity score one-to-one matching was used to create the two participant groups. Receiving a second year of preschool led to significant improvements in children's early literacy and numeracy skills. Implications of these results for preschool interventions are discussed.     

‘It didn't have to be so hard’: the first years of teaching in an urban school

This article presents a case study of Mark Westin from his first to his fifth year of teaching fifth grade in an urban public school. Despite extreme management challenges and limited administrative support in a school with unusually high turnover, Mark persevered through his difficult novice years to become among the most respected and dedicated teachers in his school. Through classroom observations and interviews with Mark, I first present a snapshot of Mark's first year of teaching, followed by a longitudinal study of Mark's perceptions of his early years of teaching, gathered through observations, field notes and interviews during the succeeding four years. As Mark's confidence, experience and teaching competence grew, he became increasingly reflective and critical of his teacher preparation and his early teaching experiences, especially the lack of support he received from the school administration. A high proportion of teachers in similar situations leave teaching in the first several years. Mark's story helps to put a human face on the exceptions and offers his perspectives on improving teacher preparation and support.     

Working while teaching,learning while working: students teaching in their own class

This paper examines the context of teacher education in which certain students work as teachers whilst at the same time they study in a teacher education programme. The two phenomena that are discussed are the integration of theory and practice, and learning while working. These are located in the wider framework of teachers' pedagogical thinking, and research‐based teacher education. The paper reports on students' experiences of the success of integrating theoretical studies in their work as teachers and the related issue of how a student's everyday grasp of classroom practice has been taken into account in their studies. The paper also raises the issue of the university–school relationship through students' estimations of the impact that their participation in teacher education has brought to the school in which they work and other key aspects of the university–school relationship.     

Impacts of a Prekindergarten Program on Children's Mathematics,Language, Literacy,Executive Function,and Emotional Skills

Publicly funded prekindergarten programs have achieved small‐to‐large impacts on children's cognitive outcomes. The current study examined the impact of a prekindergarten program that implemented a coaching system and consistent literacy, language, and mathematics curricula on these and other nontargeted, essential components of school readiness, such as executive functioning. Participants included 2,018 four and five‐year‐old children. Findings indicated that the program had moderate‐to‐large impacts on children's language, literacy, numeracy and mathematics skills, and small impacts on children's executive functioning and a measure of emotion recognition. Some impacts were considerably larger for some subgroups. For urban public school districts, results inform important programmatic decisions. For policy makers, results confirm that prekindergarten programs can improve educationally vital outcomes for children in meaningful, important ways.     

Leading Jewish Educators of Blessed Memory

The popular image connoted by the term “Jewish education” is the teaching-learning process in the classroom of an all day school, yeshiva, and afternoon school. The students are typically children of elementary school age. As the image expands, it includes adolescents in the high school, college students in special courses, and adults in synagogue-sponsored adult education courses. Jewish education for professionals in Jewish communal service agencies has not been part of the public's perception of Jewish education. To be sure, the professional's primary concern is helping clients with their problems and his knowledge base is primarily geared toward that objective. The “Jewish” component in the preparation for professional practice has not been a primary concern of Jewish educators.     

Pestalozzianism,natural history and scientific education in nineteenth‐century England: the Pestalozzian institution at Worksop,Nottinghamshire

The importance of Pestalozzianism in the development of Continental European education has been long acknowledged, but less work has been done on the impact and interpretation of Pestalozzian ideas in Britain. The paper utilises a case study of the Worksop Pestalozzian Institution in Nottinghamshire to explore how Pestalozzian practices were adopted and adapted. Sources utilised include the remarkable letters of the Marling brothers, pupils at the school during the 1830s, which shed fascinating light upon curriculum and practices and the experiences of the students. The study shows how the naturalistic and experiential methods were adopted at Worksop that utilised the local landscape and industry in order to teach natural history, improve the physical health and inculcate early‐Victorian moral and social values. It argues that one of the most important intellectual impacts of the school was upon the work of the Spencers William George and Herbert, the latter regarding it as an ‘English Hofwyl’ and using it as a model for the composition of his influential book on education.     

School Leaders as Political Strategists: William Boyd's Contributions to our Understanding of the Politics of Leadership

William Boyd's contributions to the education field's understanding of the political nature of school leadership are formidable. In this article, I describe the growth and development, over a roughly 30-year time span, of his key insight that successful school leaders should have the capabilities of a political strategist and that the actualization of this capacity is related to school leaders’ political and policy context. The perennial question of “who governs education” was central to Boyd's work and his various answers are important touchstones for today's educational leaders.     

论黎锦晖儿童歌舞剧的创作及影响

黎锦晖是近现代较早涉足儿童歌曲创作的音乐家,《小小画家》是其代表作,通过对《小小画家》的分析,可以发现其创作特点及平民化、大众化的时代意义和对学校音乐教育及社会的深刻影响。     

教学实践理论：伯恩斯坦的结构主义方法

近30年来，伯恩斯坦一直是教育社会学界的中心人物，从他早期关于鳊码理论的语音学著作到后来的课程与知识传递方面的论著，伯恩斯坦试图将宏观水平的阶级和权力与微观水平的学校教育过程联系起来。文章介绍了伯恩斯坦近来的一些教学实践模型，并结合其课程与教学理论阐述了伯恩斯坦全部结构主义的社会学方案。此外，文章还指出了伯恩斯坦著作中和经验主义与实用价值领域一些尚未解决或者没有回答的问题，尤其是与美国教育发展有关的问题。     

Revitalising Indigenous Languages in Homogenising Times

The world's linguistic and cultural diversity is endangered by the forces of globalisation, which work to homogenise and standardise even as they segregate and marginalise. Here, I focus on the struggle to conserve linguistic and cultural diversity among Indigenous groups in the United States. Native languages are in drastic decline. Yet even as more Native American children come to school speaking English, they are likely to be stigmatised as 'limited English proficient' and placed in remedial programmes. This situation has motivated bold new approaches to Indigenous schooling that emphasise immersion in the heritage language. This article presents data on these developments and their impacts on students' self-efficacy and school performance, analysing these data in light of critical theory and current knowledge in the field of bilingual education. Indigenous language reclamation efforts must not only confront a legacy of colonialism, but also mounting pressures for standardisation and English monolingualism. I conclude with an examination of these power relations as they are manifest in the struggle for Indigenous self-determination and linguistic human rights.     

Estimating teacher effectiveness from two-year changes in students’ test scores

Using a dataset covering over 10,000 Australian school teachers and over 90,000 pupils, I estimate how effective teachers are in raising students’ test scores. Since the exams are biennial, it is necessary to take account of the teacher's work in the intervening year. Even adjusting for measurement error, the teacher fixed effects are widely dispersed, and there is a strong positive correlation between a teacher's gains in literacy and numeracy. Teacher fixed effects show a significant association with some, though not all, observable teacher characteristics. Experience has the strongest impact, particularly in the early years of a teacher's career. Female teachers do better at teaching literacy. Teachers with a master's degree or some other form of further qualification do not appear to achieve significantly larger test score gains. Overall, teacher characteristics found in the departmental payroll database explain only a small fraction of the variance in teacher performance.     

Frontier man: A Festschrift tribute to Andy Hargreaves

Throughout his career, Andy Hargreaves has continuously pushed the boundaries of knowledge and practice in the field of educational change. He has broken new ground so often that I have come to think of him as a “frontier man.” Andy has also been a generous mentor to colleagues and students enhancing the level of scholarship and expertise in his field. His pioneering work around the culture of teaching and school change has resulted in brilliant treatises that have prompted reflection and action among educators over the years. In this tribute, I reflect on Andy’s work over the 25 years that I have known and collaborated with him as a friend and colleague highlighting his contributions to the field of educational change as a researcher, writer, teacher, and a highly respected consultant.     

The French Primary School and Literature for the Young: Benefits,Difficulties, and Promises of a Relationship at its Beginnings

The time has passed in our primary schools when reading horizons were limited to deciphering a manual of judiciously chosen texts with marginal commentaries by pupils on the travail, the vexations, and the jokes accumulated over generations on this school exercise; the time has passed when the pupil who had done his work well (or worked more rapidly than the others) was rewarded with permission to take out a book from the little class library and read it in his own corner. The conditions of school reading have undergone considerable transformation in France over the past fifteen years or more, and there is no doubt that the development of literature for the young has played an important part in this transformation. A link has now been established between children's books and the school as an institution and, generally speaking, between the child and books within the school. This has certainly not been without its problems for both sides, but it represents an evolution in which there seems to be no chance of turning back and which is far from having revealed all its potential. I would like in this report simply to pinpoint the relations which have been established in the French primary school between the pedagogical process in all its dimensions (and not solely from the standpoint of learning to read) and books for children, to examine what the school has gained from this intrusion and also the problems which the use of literature for the young has posed and continues to pose within the school as an institution, and finally to delineate the abundant promises residing in this cooperation.