杜波依斯与美国的种族问题

＂种族＂概念是文化批评的关键词之一。美国社会的族群多样性构成了复杂的种族问题,是学界关注的焦点问题之一。本文首先探讨美国种族问题的背景,考察＂种族＂概念的含义和西方学界的种族研究,集中讨论美国黑人学者杜波依斯的＂双重意识＂种族思想的两个方面——民族主义思想和融入主义思想,试图为理解和思考美国的种族问题提供一个具体入口。     

Population education in the United States

The most significant expansion of population education in the U.S. has occurred over the past 5-year period. The environmental movement of the 1960 decade established a foundation on which population education quickly developed in the 1970 decade and gained acceptance in the population establishment and among funding agencies. During the years 1970-1976, several private organizations became actively involved in the population education field. Several viewpoints and population education approaches are now evident in the U.S. These approaches stress different aspects of the issue: extension of family planning, individual and social awareness, demography, behavioral objectives, value analysis, environmental strategy, and inquiry. Although these approaches are diverse, the U.S. has provided a basic framework for population education. Research in population education has consisted of little more than review studies, knowledge and attitude surveys, and several studies on the appropriateness of population education in the formal college school setting. Further research is needed to identify the goals, objectives, and strategy of population education, and these studies would have to be linked to the cognitive and moral development of the student.     

The funding and future of Catholic education in the United States

The Catholic school system in the United States is undergoing significant changes in size, populations served and the funding models which have traditionally supported such schools. The closing of many schools in urban areas in the last 10 years in conjunction with the rising costs of schooling suggests that unless a new approach to funding schools is developed, the future of Catholic education in the United States is seriously threatened and with it the American Church. This article explores the link between traditional sources of funding Catholic schools and the increased role of federal and state funds. The rise of Charter Schools has added a significant model for Catholic schools to emulate in regarding future sources of funding. Three strategies for future funding are explored with an emphasis on the development of Faith-based Charter Schools and the development of ‘Catholic’ Charter Schools.     

Mathematics education in the United States: past to present

This article presents a historical review of mathematics education since the late 1950s in the United States. Three themes are used to organize the literature reviewed in the article: (a) broad sociopolitical forces, particularly highly publicized educational policy statements; (b) trends in mathematics research; and (c) theories of learning and instruction. At times, these themes coincide, as was the case in the 1990s. In other cases, such as the recent push for educational accountability, these themes conflict. Nonetheless, the themes go a long way to explain the serpentine nature of reform in the United States over the last 45 years. This article also attempts to account for developments in special education as well as general education research, something that does not appear in most historical presentations of mathematics education.     

Teacher education policies in the United States: The accountability shift since 1980

This conceptual paper examines a tug-of-war between state and national authorities in the United States for control of teacher recruitment, preparation, licensing, and professional development policy-making. A discussion of policy problems and instruments grounds analysis of each governing body's policy-activity since 1980. The analysis reveals how policy instrument changes have sidelined teacher education professionals and shifted programme accountability from the state to national level. Conclusions and recommendations challenge teacher education researchers to alter the current accountability trajectory by becoming active participants in the United States policy-making arena.     

The Great Divide: policies and practices in multicultural education

Educational researchers interested in race‐related matters tend to be united in their conviction that the non‐institutionalisation of multicultural education derives entirely from the ('unwitting') racist attitudes of teachers. Whilst not ignoring teacher attitudes as an explanatory concept in ‘this context I argue in this article that the disparity between LEA multicultural education policies, on the one hand, and school practices on the other should be relocated in a broader analytical framework. The argument proposed hinges on a conception of multicultural education as a ‘progressive’ educational innovation and suggests that many of the processes which conventionally link policies to practices have been routinely overlooked in the current literature on ‘race’. Although this is a provisional article I hope, at the very least, that I have provided evidence to prompt a conjectural case for the argument that the negative racial attitudes of teachers are not the only factors which have the potential to block the diffusion and legitimation of multicultural education principles in UK schools.     

Preschool policy and bilingual education in the United States

In 1976, Head Start introduced a “Strategy for Spanish-Speaking Children.” The strategy provided support in four areas of activity, which included: (1) Basic and applied research on the developmental progress of Spanish-speaking children; (2) Regional Resource Centers intended to provide access to bilingual/bicultural materials and assistance in their implementation; (3) Head Start staff training; and (4) Curriculum model development in two languages, permitting individualized instruction in either language, and incorporating multicultural resources that facilitate cognitive and social growth.The most significant outcome of the strategy for the Spanish-speaking has been the curriculum development effort and its accompanying evaluation. The remainder of this paper will describe the curriculum development effort, th evaluation results, and some policy implications for national efforts in bilingual education.     

Academic versus vocational education in the United States

Starting from the statistically supported trend of post-secondary education in the United States from the academic to the vocational area, this author investigates:

1. the causes of this wide swing of the pendulum towards vocational education;
2. the resulting assumption that education is merely a preparation for an occupation and has no intrinsic value. Three main reasons are given for this development: First, the effort made by schools and universities to fulfil their certification function has resulted in their giving precedence to selection rather than to the education of pupils and students and to equalization of opportunities. Second, the general tendency of society to exclude youth from responsible participation in the life of adults is leading to a change in the societal work process and to a gradual breakdown in the family structure. The third factor is the increase in juvenile delinquency and criminality.

     

Teacher education in the United States of America

Teacher education in the United States, and undoubtedly in other countries as well, is more profoundly affected by shifts and developments in the wider intellectual and social world than by any changes, no matter what their magnitude, in educational theory and teaching techniques. Current practices in the preparation of teachers, therefore, cannot be understood without references to such external influences as, to cite only a few, the teacher shortage of the fifties and early sixties, the post-sputnik anxiety about how well our schools were doing, the efflorescence in the behavioural sciences, the so-called explosion of knowledge in all fields, and the concentration of educationally disadvantaged children in the central cities. Once it is assumed that teacher preparation reflects changes in the broader world, any attempt to outline recent trends and developments inevitably becomes arbitrary and partial. However, the factors enumerated and discussed below are, at least, germane to the problem. Dr. Schaefer has been Dean of the Teachers' College at Columbia University in New York since 1963. This article consists of extracts from a paper presented by the author before an expert committee which met at Unesco to consider problems of general primary and secondary education.     

浅谈美国的双语教育

本文从历史的角度 ,分析了美国双语教育的几个计划 ,并从地球村的角度阐述当今汉英教育的现状及其重要性。