Discovering democracy: an analysis of curriculum policy for citizenship education

Citizenship education has become the focus of renewed interest internationally as governments are struggling with issues of national identity in an era of globalisation where there is much ‘talk’ of threats to the legitimacy of nation states. Within this context, the Australian Commonwealth Government took another step in an accelerating trend of becoming involved in curriculum policy with the introduction of its citizenship education curriculum package, Discovering Democracy, in the late 1990s. Legally, education in Australia is a State government responsibility. However, over the last half century, the Commonwealth Government has increasingly set education agendas, justified in terms of'the national interest’ and has achieved them using financial levers which result from the vertical fiscal imbalance between the Commonwealth and the States.

This article examines citizenship curriculum policy processes and practices associated with the enactment of the Commonwealth's Discovering Democracy curriculum package in the State of Western Australia (WA). The study employed a framework of a policy trajectory extending from the Commonwealth Government (macro level) through State (WA) policy enactment (meso level) to individual classrooms (micro level). Documents and interviews with key players, including the Commonwealth Minister for Education, were the main data sources.

Analysis of the policy process revealed the emergence of power struggles as a result of the provision of a national curriculum on citizenship education by the Commonwealth Government, and these struggles occurred at national, State and local levels. These power struggles resulted in extensive transformation of Commonwealth and State level policy intent as the policy enactment proceeded at the classroom level. The study demonstrates the need for better alignment of conceptualisations and discourses in the processes of curriculum development if a greater congruence is to be achieved between expectations and realities in curriculum renewal. Meta‐level issues to emerge from the data, in particular the nature of policy consultative processes and the construction of teacher professional identity, have broader implications for education policy processes in other domains and in other countries.     

“发现民主”计划:澳大利亚公民教育的课程改革

在1989年至1996年公民教育发展的基础上,澳大利亚于1997至2004年间进行了为期8年的公民教育课程改革--"发现民主"计划.计划的实施包括成立执行机构、开发教材与资料、进行教师专 业发展、开展阶段性评估四方面.计划开发了有效的公民教育资料、开展了教师专业发展和适时的评估、也为公民教育的进一步发展提供了物质和精神动力.     

民主的教育

教育民主包含三层意思，一是教育者与受教育者之间的民主，主要是指师生民主；二是教育管理者与教育实际工作者之间的民主，主要是教育行政部门与校长、教师，校长、主任与教师之间的民主；三是专门的教育组织与社会及教育有关组织、个人之间的民主，例如学校与家长，教育机构与社区之间的民主。这里所说的民主，是指参与决策和参与管理的权力。现代教育本质上是民主的教育，因为现代教育培养的是具有民主意识和积极参与决策、管理的现代人，培养的是有责任感的社会主义现代化事业的建设者和接班人。只有在民主的环境中，运用民主的方式，通…     

Discovering Patterns in Symbolic Streams

l introductionThe progress of data-collection tCclmology, such as barcode scanners in commercial domains and sensors inscientific and industrial domains, gen~s huge amounts ofdata. It is not realistic to expect that all this data be carefullyanalyzed by human analysts and users. As poised out byPiatetsky-Shapiroll ], the huge size of real-world databasesystems creates both a need and an opportUnity for datamining and knowledge discovery teclmology.Discovering patterns in data seems tO be a k…     

符号流中的模式发现

The idea of discovering patterns in data seems to be essential for decision making in our social activities. This paper presents a simple algorithm which can be used to detect such patterns in elementary sequences of symbols. It adopts a data compression algorithm to seek for interesting patterns, which is important in understanding the way that the input symbol stream repeats itself. In this paper, the algorithm and related data structures are described in detail, and an illustrative example is given.     

Discovering patterns in interarrival data

It is suggested that students collect interarrival data for customers arriving at a queue. Two common features will often occur across these various datasets. Some data collection hints, some problems for students to pursue and a few pointers to the literature are given.     

协商民主还是竞争多元主义？ ——墨菲对哈贝马斯程序主义协商民主的批判

自由民主制度在当代面临危机与困境。哈贝马斯提出了程序主义的协商民主理论重建自由民主制度的合法性。后马克思主义的理论旗手墨菲对哈贝马斯的协商民主理论提出质疑和批判,取消了其理论的两大理论预设,并提出了协商民主的替代选择——竞争多元主义。     

Teaching for democracy in Spain

As part of the process of re-establishing democracy, Spain is reforming its educational system to promote democratic values. This article describes an experiment in education for democracy that was carried out among 86 pupils, between 12 and 14 years old, in the Spanish region of Murcia. A teaching programme was developed, in which students were encouraged to study how power is exercised in the home, the school, the community, the nation and the world. Results have been generally positive in arousing pupils' interest in democracy and helping them to understand democratic processes.

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Zusammenfassung Als Teil seiner Maßnahmen zur Wiedereinführung der Demokratie reformiert Spanien sein Bildungssystem, um demokratische Werte zu fördern. In diesem Artikel wird ein mit 86 Schülern zwischen 12 und 14 Jahren in der spanischen Region Murcia durchgeführtes Experiment zum Thema Erziehung zurDemokratie beschrieben. Hierzu wurde ein Lehrprogramm entwickelt, in dem Studenten herausfinden sollten, wie Machtstrukturen in der Familie, der Schule, der Gemeinschaft, der Nation und der Welt funktionieren. Mit einem deutlich gesteigerten Interesse und Verständnis der Schüler für die Demokratie wurden die Resultate allgmein als positiv beurteilt.

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Résumé La réforme du système éducatif espagnol visant à la promotion des valeurs démocratiques s'inscrit dans le processus de rétablissement de la démocratie. Cet article décrit une expérience d'apprentissage de la démocratie réalisée avec 86 élèves de 12 à 14 ans, en Espagne, dans la région de Murcia. Il s'agit d'un programme éducatif incitant les élèves à prendre conscience de l'exercice du pouvoir au foyer, à l'école, dans la communauté, la nation et dans le monde. Les résultats se sont révélés globalement positifs dans la mesure où cette expérience a éveillé l'intérêt des élèves pour la démocratie et les a aidés à comprendre les processus démocratiques.

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Sumario Un aspecto del proceso de restablecimiento de la democracia en España es la reforma del sistema educativo con miras a promover los val ores democráticos. Este artículo describe un experimento de educación para la democracia que se realizó con 86 escolares, de 12 a 14 años de edad, en la provincia española de Murcia. Se elaboró un programa para motivar a los escolares a analizar cómo se ejerce el poder en el hogar, la escuela, la comunidad, la nación y el mundo. Sus resultados han sido generalmente positivos, despertando el interés de los escolares por la democracia y ayudándolos a entender los procesos democráticos.

     

科学发展观的民主政治阐释:从"作民主"到"民主"的合理性

在我国深入发展科学发展观、组建和谐社会过程中,发展政治文明应从两个资源中提取营养。一方面,中国传统文化中"保民"与"民贵"蕴含着打造和谐社会的丰富资源,是现代中国人不容忽视的问题。本文对中国传统文化中"保民"、"民贵"等"民本位"资源中,挖掘组建现代中国和谐社会的传统资源,提出健全民本位政治制度体制是组建和谐社会的根本,应基于传统文明"得民心者得天下"、"民心拥戴,天下才安定,社会才和谐"。另一方面,中国古代"贵民"思想在现代民主法治的政治背景中,必须吸收全球政治主流制度中现代民主政治的内涵,无视世界政治体系民主、法治的合理性的社会是不和谐的。在现代背景下,我们不能把"以人为本"简单化,应提升到"以民(主)为本(位)"的高度,才是科学发展观体现在当代中国政治文明方面的根本。     

从细微处发现闪光点

培养学生的创新精神和创造能力是素质教育的一项重要目标.创新精神、创造能力的培养贯穿于数学教学的全过程,这就要求我们教师在教学的每一个环节,一方面要注重培养学生强烈的问题意识、追根刨底的探索精神和大胆猜测的思维习惯;另一方面要善于发现学生新的解题方法,哪怕是点滴新的想法,寻找其闪光点,并给予及时肯定,以鼓励学生积极参与、勇于探索的热情和精神.下面结合一例,就挖掘学生闪光点,鼓励学生创新热情,谈一些认识和体会.     

多元社会的稳定民主:当代西方结盟民主理论的缘起与意义

多元社会中难以践行稳定优质的民主长期以来就是学界的共识.政治文化理论的研究不仅把这一结论推向极致,而且还据此把当代民主类型划分为以同质社会为基础的英美型稳定民主,以及建立在多元社会基础上的欧陆型不稳定民主.然而,近年来大量研究发现以低地国家为代表的多元社会中稳定的民主不仅长期存在,而且似乎比英美民主更具民主性.这种多元社会中的稳定民主被称为结盟民主.这一新型民主模式不仅对传统的民主绩效假设提出了挑战,而且重构了传统的民主类型学,不仅具有重要的理论意义,而且具有重大的现实意义.     

Amateur and specialist in industrial democracy

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