Reform: Why? What? By whom?

Benton and Hoyt have surveyed educational psychologists regarding their views on reform of teacher-training programs. Ostensibly based on the results of their survey, Benton and Hoyt have called for a greater role of educational psychologists in shaping the reform of teacher training. The present article questions: (1) whether educational psychologists have skills that would contribute to reform as it is being conceptualized; (2) whether the reform movement is focusing on aspects of the educational system that will result in improved student outcomes; and (3) whether it is the educational system that needs reform or our expectations for the educational system.     

Educational psychology and the reform of teacher education

Benton and Hoyt (1989) perform a service for educational psychology by obtaining empirical evidence about educational psychologists' reactions to changes in teacher education proposed by the Holmes Group and the Carnegie Commission. Their paper should serve to stimulate debate about the proper role of educational psychology in teacher education. In this paper, we challenge the empirical findings reported by Benton and Hoyt and suggest reasons why the findings may misrepresent educational psychologists' interest in teacher education. We argue that some of the Holmes and Carnegie recommendations contradict the emerging consensus among cognitive psychologists about the contextually bound nature of knowledge. Benton and Hoyt conceptualize educational psychology according to the traditional middleperson viewpoint and make recommendations with respect to educational psychology that presume this conceptualization. We counter that the middleperson viewpoint is being made obsolete by changes in psychology, and describe an alternative conception of educational psychology. This alternative conception leads to a set of alternative recommendations about the appropriate role of educational psychology in the reform of teacher education.     

Educational reform and the educational psychologist: Another perspective

In responding to the work of Benton and Hoyt, Kowalski argues that an adequate analysis of reform efforts is incomplete without an examination of underlying purposes. Questions are raised regarding the motives of those who promote extended teacher education programs and the Carnegie Forum proposal for national certification. The author suggests that educational psychologists can contribute to reform efforts by helping to explore values, beliefs, motivations, and needs as they relate to change proposals in teacher education.     

Remarks on the paper “Educational Reform: Implications for Educational Psychologists”

The article, Educational Reform: Implications for Educational Psychologists, by Benton and Hoyt is an example of the consequences of asking the wrong questions to the right question. Educational psychologists do, indeed, have a vested interest in the current debate over reform in education, particularly teacher education. The data that Benton and Hoyt chose to dissect, however, completely omitted the substantial body of information where educational psychologists have special expertise. The elaborate factor analysis reformed by Benton and Hoyt simply confirms that if one starts with flawed data, no amount of statistical manipulation will lead to a valid conclusion.     

Analysis and implications of educational reform proposals for educational psychologists: A comment on Benton and Hoyt

The design of Benton and Hoyt's study is discussed, as well as their data analysis. The limitations of the study, including the possible bias toward economic issues of the items and of data interpretation and nonrandom sampling of the subjects, are noted. Benton and Hoyt's discussion of how educational psychologists are affected by the educational reform movement is considered within the larger framework of the shift in educational research from a static normative to a dynamic interactionist approach. This shift has not only affected specific reform proposals, but also shows promise of resolving perceived conflicts in the proposals between excellence and equity and educational psychologists and teacher educators.     

Reform in teacher education: A personal comment

The Benton and Hoyt article reveals substantial information about attitudes toward teacher preparation in America. however, a notable set of issues are not a part of their data base because those responsible for programming teacher education have ignored them. This response presents a beginning at identifying such issues.     

A reaction to educational reform: Implications for educational psychologists

Issue is taken with Benton and Hoyt's (1990) study of three groups as to their agreement or disagreement with the Holmes Group report Tomorrow's Teachers (1986), and the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy's Report, A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century (1986). The three groups studied were volunteer respondents from the initial Holmes Group, Division 15 of the American Psychological Association, and the Teacher Education Council for State Colleges and Universities. Questions are raised regarding the Benton and Hoyt study's general assumptions, selection of documents for study, selection of and generalization about group responses, and general implications for all educationists as well as educational psychologists.     

A “model” proposal for reform in teacher training

The present paper uses as a point of departure two of Benton and Hoyt's (1990) survey items concerning undergraduate teaching and their finding that Holmes Group and Division 15 members favored more sweeping changes in teacher education whereas TESCSU members favored more incremental changes. It: (a) suggests that reform is unlikely to succeed without change in the behavior of those who teach prospective teachers; (b) suggests ways in which educational psychologists can improve the effectiveness of teachers and teacher training; and (c) questions whether moving teacher training to the graduate level will in fact improve such education.     

Changing policy,legislation and its effects on inclusive and special education: a perspective from Wales

This article, by Jean Ware of Bangor University School of Education, examines policy developments in education in Wales since devolution, and their implications for inclusive and special education. This is set in the context of the demographics of Wales, which, it is argued, have a significant influence on policy and on the nature of educational provision as a whole. The discussion initially focuses on issues related to the Welsh language. The article then discusses four policy initiatives (the Foundation Phase, the Literacy and Numeracy Framework, the Masters in Educational Practice and the proposed reform of initial teacher education and training), intended to respond to Wales's poor performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment, and their potential impact, as well as the White Paper on reforming the special educational needs system in Wales. It is too soon to discuss the impact of these special educational needs‐specific reforms, but the differences from the English special educational needs reforms highlight the inherent tensions in special educational needs systems. It is argued that the Tabberer Report's critique of the teacher education system in Wales, which emphasises the need for teacher education to be strongly connected to relevant research, provides an opportunity to improve the quality of education in Wales for all children; but that considerable investment, and a willingness to address the potential tensions between the different initiatives, is necessary to achieve such an outcome.     

Educational reform: Implications for educational psychologists—A comment on Benton and Hoyt's study

Stephen L. Benton and Kenneth B. Hoyt have studied the reactions of TECSCU members contrasted to those of Holmes Group Members to the recommendations made in the Holmes Group and the Carnegie reform reports. This paper agrees with several observations made by these authors, including the elitist nature of the Holmes Group and the ignoring of educational psychology and other teacher-education faculty, but it disagrees with some of the causes behind these accusations, some attributed to naivety of the Holmes Group leaders and others attributed to their purposeful, self-serving goals. This paper has focused on those report recommendations that are educationally unsound and it has offered explanations with supportive information.     

论教师教育研究的发展趋势

教师教育研究是当代中国教育改革研究中的热门话题,也是世界教育改革中的重要课题。我国自20世纪80年代以来倡导“教师教育”的概念替代原来的“师范教育”,然而,与教师教育改革实践相适应,未来教师教育研究的需要关注课程改革等诸多方面。     

Policy,practice, and reconversion in Spanish educational reform: teaching and teacher education in physical education

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, reform of the Spanish education system has been justified by reformists as a response to the social and economic changes that have occurred in Spanish society since the democratic transition in the 1970s. Consolidation of democracy, development of technology and economic convergence with the advanced nations of Europe have been seen as the major challenges for educational reform. Restructuring and legitimation processes derived from the requirements of the new reform have been conceptualized as a policy of reconversion, the main purpose of which is to maintain, or achieve, a strong competitive position in the international market. In this paper, conceptualizing educational reform as a reconversion process will allow us to link aspects of the new curriculum (content, pedagogy and assessment), school organization, teaching and teacher education in physical education with wider economic, social and cultural influences and explore the tensions and conflicts between policy and practice in PE in schools. The paper will argue that there is a widening gap between the interests of progressive educationalists and the direction of market‐driven education reform.     

教师教育改革的理论、模式与实践

实现教师教育的专业化、职前职后的一体化是国际教师教育的发展趋势,进行教师教育改革既是建设创新型国家、实施人才强国战略的必然要求,也是教师教育市场开放态势下市场竞争和高等师范院校间综合实力竞技以及基础教育和学生就业双刃剑作用下的必然结果。从各师范大学的改革实践来看,教师教育的培养模式正趋于多样化。通过教师教育改革,可以实现教师教育与学科教育的相对独立,使教师教育与学科教育专业化;实现教师职前培养与职后培训一体化,使教师教育体系更加完整;实现教师教育资源的整合与共享,使教师教育资源发挥更大的效力;实现教育科学研究与服务社会的有机统一,使理论与实践的结合更加紧密;实现高等教育质量与基础教育质量的共同提高,使教师教育与基础教育形成联动关系;实现与国际教师教育高等院校合作,使教师教育办学形式国际化。     

基础教育师资培养模式的比较

该文从教师教育模式的定义谈起,分别阐述了教师教育模式改革的时代背景及我国教师教育模式改革发展现状、介绍了几种主要的教师教育模式,对教师教育的经典模式即定向型、非定向型、混合型进行了比较,指出了国际教师教育模式的发展趋势。     

教师教育信念新探

从信念的含义解析出发,通过对教育本质特点的剖析,重新揭示教师教育信念的内涵,探讨教师拥有教育信念的意义与应然角色,对如何成长为有教育信念的教师提出具体的建议措施,进一步推动教师教育信念的树立,以期为促进教师走向专业化、现代化发展提供建设性意见。     

高师数学教育改革的探究

新课程新标准是新时期素质教育改革的需要,要求高师数学教育教学改革必须从课程设置、教学方法、教学评价、现代化多媒体计算机的使用等方面进行,并从教师队伍、教学手段等方面给出了高校数学教育教学改革的几点建议。     

新世纪高师院校教育系科改革的若干问题

高师院校教育系科改革是当前师范教育改革中的一个重要问题。本文人我国未来社会发展与教育发展的需要出发，对教育系科的培养作了新的定位，并就学制改革、课程内容改革提出了具体的建议。     

Educational psychologists’ support roles regarding the implementation of inclusive education in Zimbabwe

This article focuses on a phenomenological study of trainee/educational psychologists’ lived experiences regarding the support roles in the implementation of inclusive education practices in Zimbabwe. In‐depth phenomenological interviews were done with 16 purposely selected participants (13 trainee/educational psychologists located at three administrative offices and three experts on inclusion from three universities) and data was transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed. Monthly/annual reports from trainee/educational psychologists were used as reference material. Three major themes emerged from the support roles: (1) diverse views on inclusion; (2) critical roles, successful and unsuccessful experiences in implementing inclusive education; and (3) impact of experiences on rendering support services. Key findings indicate that advocacy and consultation, assessment and placement, and in‐service training were viewed as critical and successful experiences, whereas negative teacher attitudes and limited resources were viewed as barriers toward the implementation of inclusive education practices. The impact of experiences indicates inadequacy in the provision of support services. Annual reports of trainee/educational psychologists indicated inadequate ongoing training on inclusive education practices. These findings are discussed in relation to the inclusive education literature.     

教育学专业改造与教师教育发展实验设计

师范教育改革和教师教育发展,要求教师教育专业化。教师教育专业化关键是从事教师教育工作的教师的专业化。教育学专业作为教育科学研究和人才培养的主要依托阵地,为了应对面临的各种严重挑战,必须通过教育学专业改造,积极调整专业设置,合理定位专业目标,加大教育类课程内容体系的改革和促进教师教育专业教师队伍建设,以实现师范大学教育学院人才培养模式的成功转型。