Undoing diversity: knowledge and neoliberal discourses in colleges of education

In this article we analyze discourses of ‘diversity’ in colleges of education in Chile. We contend that the use of discourses of diversity, as reproducing the separation between mainstream subjectivities and those uncontained by the category of normal, is one of the ways universities align themselves with the rules of a democratic society, based on ideas of multicultural understandings and tolerant communities proliferated by inter-governmental institutions such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and others. Our interest is to question the marginalization of cultural politics through the intensification of these discourses. At the same time, we explore the relations between the advancement of neutral discourses of difference and the value-free practices expressed in neoliberal educational agendas. We use discourse analysis to read interviews with future teachers. We understand students’ narratives as perpetuating normative ways of thinking and legitimating those knowledges promoted by institutional curricula.     

Breaking with old ideas: Chinese students’ perceptions of China’s ‘neoliberal turn’ in higher education

ABSTRACT

Maoist policy in China emphasised the peasants and workers. It integrated academic study with productive labour to nurture socialist citizens useful for the nation’s modernisation. More recently, China has been described as having a ‘neoliberal turn’ but many see the situation as more complex than this due to the significant role given to the state in economic development and governance. Using the film ‘Breaking with Old Ideas’ [Li, W. (1975). Breaking with old ideas [Motion picture]. China: Beijing Film Studio] to inform, and stimulate participants, this study examined how a group of 15 Chinese students at an Australian university perceived the transformation of higher education in China. Findings generated from written responses and interviews addressed the relationship between neoliberal imaginings and Foucauldian subjectification processes in post-Maoist China, supporting the thesis that China cannot be called neoliberal in the traditional sense of the word. In terms of education, there co-exist socialist and neoliberal rhetorics with tensions between Confucianism, suzhi (quality) and traditional examination-driven models.     

Schooling effects on intelligence development: evidence based on national samples from urban and rural China

The current research investigated the variability of school effects on intelligence development in considering two economically and socially distinct groups of children. The data came from a nationally representative sample of primary school children from urban and rural areas of China. Two standardised reasoning tests were used to assess fluid intelligence. The between-grade regression discontinuity approach was applied to disentangle the schooling effect from the age effect. Results showed that the combined effects of schooling and age were 5.09 intelligence points per year, in which the schooling effect (4.37 points) was larger than the age effect (.72 points). The patterns of schooling and age effects were different in urban and rural subsamples. For the urban subsample, the schooling effect was smaller than the age effect for children from grade 1 to 3, but the schooling effect became larger than the age effect from grade 4 to 6. For the rural subsample, however, the schooling effect was always larger than the age effect. The effect of one year of schooling for rural children (5.59 points) was larger than that for urban children (3.15 points). These results suggest that schooling effects are closely related to the context where children are growing up.     

Views from the blackboard: neoliberal education reforms and the practice of teaching in Ontario,Canada

This article discusses findings from two case studies examining the impact of neoliberal education reform on the classroom practice of teachers and adult educators in Ontario, Canada. We asked educators to comment on the impacts of 20 years of policy shifts in their classrooms. Teachers in public schools and adult literacy programmes echoed each other on issues of managerialism, privatisation and punitive accountability mechanisms. Both schoolteachers and adult educators made references to a reduction in autonomy and to an emerging ‘culture of fear’ in educational institutions and programmes. The experience of teachers highlights contradictions between the promises of neoliberalism and the ground-level impact of policy.     

Sensemaking and sensegiving in schooling reform: South Korea and China

ABSTRACT

This article analyses and compares the motivations and (re)actions of the education authorities and parents in South Korea and mainland China towards schooling reform. The focus is on two policy initiatives – Free Semester Programme in South Korea and Comprehensive Practical Activity Curriculum in China. Applying the theoretical constructs of sensemaking and sensegiving, it is contended that the policy actors in both countries mutually influence each other in their calculated responses to prevailing educational challenges and policy measures. The examples of South Korea and China illuminate the power of resources, processes and meanings as an integral part of sensegiving and sensemaking.     

Access to college and heterogeneous returns to education in China

We apply a semi-parametric latent variable model to estimate selection and sorting effects on the evolution of private returns to schooling for college graduates during China's reform between 1988 and 2002. We find that there were substantial sorting gains under the traditional system, but such gains have dissipated to negligible levels in the most recent data. We take this as evidence of growing influence of private financial constraints on decisions to attend college as tuition costs have risen and the relative importance of government subsidies has declined. The main policy implication of our results is that labor and education reform without concomitant capital market reform and government support for the financially disadvantaged exacerbates increases in inequality inherent in elimination of the traditional “wage-grid”.     

Where the boys aren't: non-cognitive skills, returns to school and the gender gap in higher education

Nearly 60 percent of college students today are women. Using longitudinal data on a nationally representative cohort of eighth grade students in 1988, I examine two potential explanations for the differential attendance rates of men and women—returns to schooling and non-cognitive skills. The attendance gap is roughly five percentage points for all high school graduates. Conditional on attendance, however, there are few differences in type of college, enrollment status or selectivity of institution. The majority of the attendance gap can be explained by differences in the characteristics of men and women, despite some gender differences in the determinants of college attendance. I find that higher non-cognitive skills and college premiums among women account for nearly 90 percent of the gender gap in higher education. Interestingly, non-cognitive factors continue to influence college enrollment after controlling for high school achievement.     

The oil industry in our schools: from Petro Pete to science capital in the age of climate crisis

Abstract

Fossil fuel corporations play a significant role in promoting their interests in schools and other educational institutions, a practice that has recently been labelled as ‘petro-pedagogy.’ But this role goes beyond the production of the pro-petroleum and anti-science corporate propaganda that tends to attract the most critical attention. In this article, I present a case study of the involvement of BP, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel corporations, in primary and secondary education in the United Kingdom. As practiced by BP, petro-pedagogy constitutes a core part of a corporate education reform network that, for the past decade, has focused on promoting a neoliberal model of STEM education in schools around the world. This model, based on corporate and capitalist interests, poses a significant threat to our collective efforts to tackle the global climate crisis.     

国有部门劳动工资制度改革对教育收益率的影响--对1988-1999年中国城市教育收益率的实证研究

人们公认，改革提高了中国的教育收益率，但对其作用途径还缺乏深入的探讨。本文使用1988—1999年CHNS调查数据，研究了国有部门劳动工资制度改革对国有部门内部和城市总体教育收益率的影响。修正了样本的自选择偏差以后，发现国有部门的教育收益率和城市总体教育收益率在1988—1992年间有所下降，自1993年以后则呈持续上升趋势。本文由此得出的结论是：1985—1986年劳动工资制度改革对于提高教育收益率的效果不明显，或者当时曾有短暂效果，但随后迅速消退；而1993—1995年的劳动工资制度改革对于90年代中后期城市教育收益率的持续上升起到了重要作用。     

中加贸易盘点:1990-2006

中加两国贸易关系发展迅速，具备贸易增长振荡扩张型、贸易份额“迷你”伙伴型、贸易收支“逆差之冠”型、贸易商品结构优势互补型和贸易壁垒双重型的明显特征。两国贸易持续增长的发展趋势，前途无可估量。     

Education and social change in Spain: from crisis to opportunity

This paper analyses a particular socio-educational experience in a marginalised neighbourhood in Malaga, Spain. This initiative came about as an institutional proposal to combat neoliberal austerity policies and is known as the ‘Casa de la Buena Vida'. It aims to generate new educational practices based on solidarity, dignity and justice. The methodology followed entailed carrying out an ethnography at this institution, participating in the initiative over a period of 4 years. At the same time, life histories of some of its most notable members were drawn up. In the results section we offer an analysis of the particular identities that are created as a consequence of the living conditions, social conflicts, multicultural nature and survival strategies that operate in a welfarist policy system. We also analyse this institution's socio-educational proposal using alternative social practices that enable other subjectivities to develop.     

1905年至1920年美日在中国的较量

1905年至1920年之间，美日两国为争夺在华权益进行了激烈的角逐。几番较量，美国均处于下风。美国的失败不是偶然的，这是近代以来美日在远东地区矛盾斗争、以及美国对日绥靖的必然结果，也与美国在远东外交上的孤立地位有关。     

论信息化建设对西部经济发展的影响和对策

迅速发展的信息革命和网络技术革命落后的西部地区带来了一次跨越式发展的机会。信息化建设将会给西部地区的农业、工业、产业结构、企业竞争力、经济国际化等方面产生深远的影响。抓住历史机遇，采取措施，以信息化推动西部地区社会经济的全面发展，是西部地区经济发展的途径。     

禅文化：中日文化交流的一种载体——从中日茶道的渊源、特点谈起

禅宗文化在中日文化的交流中起着极其重要的作用。从中国的宋朝到元明时期,日本不但吸收了中国禅宗文化,并结合本土特点形成了具有日本特点的禅宗文化。日本茶道起源于中国茶道中的禅宗茶道,并加以改造创新,成为日本传统文化的重要一部分。通过对中日茶道渊源和特点的分析来考察禅文化在中日茶道交流中的影响和作用,可以为我们研究文化交流现象提供一定的新视野。     

A boy who would rather write poetry than throw rocks at cats is also considered to be wanting in masculinity: poetry,masculinity, and baiting boys

This paper draws on research on masculinities to examine poetry as a socially and culturally gendered genre. Situated in the context of the current ‘crisis’ around boys’ underachievement in school, attention is drawn to the problematic understanding of poetry as an unsuitable genre for boys. Attention is further drawn to the way in which poetry, when offered up to boys, is often imbued with traditional and outdated definitions of masculinity. We illustrate the extent to which hegemonic versions of masculinity are implicated in discourses about poetry as an unsuitable genre for boys. This is accomplished by undertaking a critical analysis of various sources such as Odean's (1998) Great Book for Boys, and Scieszka's (2005) Guys Write for Guys Read, as well as Iggulden and Iggulden's (2006) The Dangerous Book for Boys. Historical perspectives which highlight the role of sexologists in forging an association between poetry and effeminacy are also used to illuminate the legacy associated with the treatment of poetry somehow discordant with dominant understandings about boys’ developing masculinity. In this way, we provide a richer understanding of poetry and its discursive relationship to masculinity.     

清末民初的科学思潮与黄遵宪诗歌

晚清随着闭关锁国政策的被打破,西方的科学技术、科学知识等大量进入中国,冲击着人们已有的观念知识结构,从而在近现代社会逐渐形成对西方科学知识、科学方法、科学价值观念的普遍信仰与广泛接受的科学思潮,在一定程度上影响了当时的诗歌创作,这种影响在黄遵宪身上表现得最明显,其诗中所体现出来的宇宙观和进化论、世界大同等思想是当时维新...     

首届来华留学生临床思维与技能竞赛对临床实习带教的启示

随着来华留学生日渐增多,医学留学生临床教学质量是各医学高校的重大挑战。首届来华留学生临床思维与技能竞赛的举办凸显了各高校对留学生临床实习的重视,我校结合留学生带教经验及所面临的障碍,进行了一系列的改革,旨在对留学生进行高效的临床实习教学。     

Improvement in Student Performance and Perceptions through a Flipped Anatomy Classroom: Shifting from Passive Traditional to Active Blended Learning

One of the major challenges facing anatomy educators is delivering the anatomy materials in fewer hours with a reduction of anatomy courses in the integrated curricula. The flipped classroom modality may be an innovative solution. However, its effectiveness remains under debate due to a lack of outcome-based research and the mixed results of students' performance. The present study aimed to determine the outcome of the flipped classroom based upon the level of student cognition. The study investigated performance on 17 multiple-choice anatomy questions as a part of the final examination of the musculoskeletal system module. The results were compared between the first-year female students of Qassim Medical College, specifically the flipped classroom group (46 students) of the academic year (2018–2019) and the traditional group (49 students) of the academic year (2017–2018). The mean differences in the students' grades on the anatomy questions at the level of knowledge, application, and analysis using Cohen's d test were 0.43, 1.41, and 1.01, respectively. These results suggest the positive impact of flipping the students' classrooms on improving their levels of thinking according to Bloom's taxonomy. Perception surveys also revealed students' enthusiasm for the pre-class activities, leading to a better performance in the class with more engagement with their peers and teachers. The present study suggested that the flipped classroom modality can be performed to compensate for the reduction of anatomy educational hours. However, further studies are recommended to investigate the best practices of the flipped classroom that fit with the students' needs and workloads.     

普通高中面向境内学生开设国际课程的现状、问题与建议——以上海为例

普通高中面向境内学生引进和开设国际课程,是近年来高中发展的热点。国际课程是促进普通高中多样化发展、满足学生多种学习需要的重要手段,但是实践中存在相关政策缺失、课程定位不清、层次不齐、盲目引进等问题。立足推动高中改革和加强引导管理,今后需要进一步加强国际课程政策研制,实施区域统筹,实施课程分类管理,扩大试点。