边疆民族地区高校越南语教学现状及思考——以广西民族师范学院为例

随着中国与越南各项双边交往活动尤其是经济贸易合作的逐渐深入,社会对越南语专业人才的需求日益扩大、要求日益提高,对高校越南语专业教学水平也提出了更高的要求。为了提高边疆民族地区高校越南语专业的教学质量,以广西民族师范学院为例,从加强师资队伍建设、加强校本教材建设、强化课程设置及教学进程的改革、加强教学方法的改革与创新探讨适合边疆民族地区高校越南语教学的一些理念和方法。     

Urban High School Students’ Critical Science Agency: Conceptual Understandings and Environmental Actions Around Climate Change

This study investigates how the enactment of a climate change curriculum supports students’ development of critical science agency, which includes students developing deep understandings of science concepts and the ability to take action at the individual and community levels. We examined the impact of a four to six week urban ecology curriculum on students from three different urban high schools in the USA. Data collection included pre and posttest written assessments from all students (n = 75) and pre and post interviews from focal students (n = 22) to examine how students’ conceptual understandings, beliefs and environmental actions changed. Our analyses showed that at the beginning of the curriculum, the majority of students believed that climate change was occurring; yet, they had limited conceptual understandings about climate change and were engaged in limited environmental actions. By the end of the curriculum, students had a significant increase in their understanding of climate change and the majority of students reported they were now engaged in actions to limit their personal impact on climate change. These findings suggest that believing a scientific theory (e.g. climate change) is not sufficient for critical science agency; rather, conceptual understandings and understandings of personal actions impact students’ choices. We recommend that future climate change curriculum focus on supporting students’ development of critical science agency by addressing common student misconceptions and by focusing on how students’ actions can have significant impacts on the environment.     

Teacher candidates’ opinions and experiences as input for teacher education curriculum development*

The aim of this international study was to generate recommendations for curriculum improvement in family–school partnerships (FSP) by examining teacher candidates’ understandings, attitudes and experiences. A survey of 1144 candidates in their first or final year of preparation at three universities, one each in Belgium, the Netherlands and the USA, provided qualitative and quantitative data regarding their understandings, attitudes about FSP and their experiences in their teacher preparation. The data indicated modest approval of the value of partnerships, understandings of partnerships weighted towards teacher to parent communication, preference for traditional teacher–parent activities over non-traditional choices, and, among final year candidates, mildly positive feelings of preparedness. Candidates wished more interactions with parents during field experiences and practical strategies for communicating with parents. Inferred in their responses was the need for curriculum to develop an expanded view of partnerships, enhance attitudes, especially among secondary education candidates, and cultivate skills in working with families from culturally diverse backgrounds. However, few candidates expressed a desire for exploring theory and research on partnerships or for the opportunity to develop a personal philosophy, components which are thought critical for teachers’ ability to establish partnerships with parents.     

“It is complicated!”: Practices and challenges of generic skills assessment in Vietnamese universities

Contributing to a lack of studies related to generic skills (GS) assessment, especially in non-Western university contexts, this article reports a study that explored practices and challenges of assessing students’ GS in the Business Administration programmes in six Vietnamese universities. Content analysis of interviews with 41 teachers of skills subjects and specialised subjects revealed that teachers were organising different formative and summative GS-assessment activities. Unfortunately, the analysis indicated that their GS-assessment practices were fragmented across subjects in the curriculum. Teachers’ beliefs regarding their roles in the university, teachers’ expertise and several contextual factors were found to influence their assessment practices. The article argues that leadership should be exercised more effectively in order to remove obstacles and engage teachers with assessing GS, which will yield washback effect on students’ learning of these skills.     

Is graduate employability the ‘whole-of-higher-education-issue’?

Graduate employability has become an issue in Vietnam since many university students do not satisfy the needs of employers. Universities often receive the strongest criticism on the poor employability assets graduates possess. The ill-preparation of university graduates is considered the result of the out dated and irrelevant curriculum in the higher education system, of the traditional teaching methods and the absent of career guidance in most universities. This article, however, aims to challenge this common criticism that university is to blame for the ill-preparation for employment of its graduates. By conducting a qualitative research inviting the voices of both students and employers on the issue, this article wants to address a wider context and circumstance and also the related issues surrounding the transition from university to work of Vietnamese university graduates. It suggests that not only universities, but also students, employers and other related stakeholders (i.e. student’s family, government and educational policy makers) should acknowledge the changes in society, should be aware of the cultural features at work, and should see their responsibility in the process. They all should make an effort to create mutual understanding, to collaborate and to enhance the development of graduate employability in the Vietnamese context.     

对外汉语教学策略探究——以越南留学生为例

随着中国和越南在经济、文化领域合作的加强,来中国学习汉语的越南留学生也不断地增加,针对越南留学生的汉语教学研究也具有了重要的意义。文章以语言学理论和对外汉语教学理论为理论支撑,以160名越南留学生为调查对象,通过调查研究的方式,从汉语的学习主体———越南留学生本身的特点(学生对汉语语言的态度、学习动机、学习目的、学习策略等)来对越南留学生的学习特点及针对越南留学生的教学策略进行研究。     

‘Teaching Is Still a Good Job for a Woman’: the influence of gender on career and life choices

This article reports on an investigation of primary and early‐childhood teacher‐education students’ understandings and beliefs about the influence of gender on their careers and life choices. The research was undertaken by a collaborative team from three Victorian universities. We took as our premiss that if teacher‐education students are to be effective in promoting gender inclusiveness throughout the schooling culture, they must first reflect on the operation of the sex/gender system in their own lives. A range of viewpoints are included about the gendered understandings commonly held by the tertiary students surveyed. The resulting insights enabled us to suggest more effective strategies for fostering gender awareness in teacher education.     

External stakeholders’ roles and factors influencing their participation in developing generic skills for students in Vietnamese universities

External stakeholders have increasingly participated in instructional and training activities in higher education; however, their contribution has not yet been adequately documented, especially in non-Western university contexts. This article reports a study that examined external stakeholders’ roles and factors influencing their participation in these roles in developing generic skills (GS) for students at six Vietnamese universities of different institutional contexts. Data, which were primarily collected by semi-structured interviews with 69 university leaders, academics and staff members of the Youth Union and its associates, were analysed using a content analysis approach. The analysis showed that external stakeholders participated in multiple roles in executing GS policy, including consulting relevant GS for curriculum modification, training students in these skills, providing and supervising student internships, and evaluating the effectiveness of the skills development programmes. The analysis indicated that their participation was influenced by their interests in these roles, university location and university status. University leadership, which appeared to be driven by contextual factors such as several reforms concurrently taking place, curriculum autonomy, and regulations about staff appointment, was also found to influence extremal stakeholders’ participation.     

重构地方高校经济学人才培养模式——以安徽省为例

目前,地方高校经济学专业毕业生就业形势越来越严峻。调查发现,造成这种现象的原因与地方高校经济学人才培养模式有关:过分注重理论教学、忽视实践教学、学生动手能力较差,导致社会对地方高校经济学专业毕业生认可度低。为了扭转这种不利局面,需要重新构建地方高校经济学人才培养模式,由原来的仅仅重视理论教学转向理论教学与实践教学并重,提升学生的动手能力。重构人才培养模式,可以从重新设计课程体系、加强职业和就业引导、注重培养学生创新能力等几个方面入手。     

化学教学论课程改革的探索与实践

现行的高师化学教学论课程以及教材的开发,与当前中学教育教学改革的步伐相比,滞后十分明显。课程开设方式单调,偏重教学理论学习,缺乏实践研究;偏重以学科为中心,缺乏综合性科学整合。高师化学教学论课程目标也因随着基础教育课程的改革而变化。结合南京晓庄学院校情,我们对化学教学论课程进行了改革探索———加强教学实践,走理论与实践相结合的道路。     

地方高校日语课程体系现状及策略研究

进行高校日语课程体系现状调查研究,对于制定科学合理的日语课程设置方案以及应用型日语人才的培养都具有重要指导意义。主要围绕地方高校日语专业课程设置现状及教学效果进行全面、系统、深刻的调查,分析其制约影响因素,并提出今后日语课程体系改革的具体措施。     

Administrative capacity assessment in higher education: The case of universities in Vietnam

Administrative staff are a crucial human capital input in tertiary education institutions. Given the substantial investment in recruitment and selection of administrative staff, efficient and effective use of these staff affects the organisational and financial performance of universities. Whereas much concern has been placed on the performance of academic staff, the ability of a university to obtain an optimal level of administrative staff has not been addressed. This paper investigates whether the usage capacity of administrative staff is maximised in Vietnamese universities. Vietnam has implemented several education reform policies with the aim to improve the standing of its universities in the world’s education market. The process is not only about obtaining and delivering good education quality, but also efficiently using human resources to reach optimal performance and sustainable development. Employing the stochastic frontier input requirement model with data on 112 Vietnamese universities, we examine the presence of excess administrative capacity in these universities, given the existing student outputs and other input resources. We find that, on average, the level of excess administrative capacity is 3.4%, implying an economic loss in universities. In addition, under the analysis of determinants of the variances of the inefficiency effects and the error terms in the input-requirement function, our findings reveal that excess administrative capacity varies according to location and ownership. Some policy implications are discussed to address excess capacity of administrative staff in the Vietnamese context and some key lessons learned for the rest of the world.     

Dilemmas in examining understanding of nature of science in Vietnam

Scholars proved nature of science (NOS) has made certain contributions to science teaching and learning. Nonetheless, what, how and how much NOS should be integrated in the science curriculum of each country cannot be a benchmark, due to the influence of culture and society. Before employing NOS in a new context, it should be carefully studied. In assessing views of NOS in Vietnam, a developing country with Eastern culture where the NOS is not consider a compulsory learning outcome, there are several issues that researchers and educators should notice to develop an appropriate instrument that can clearly exhibit a NOS view of Vietnamese. They may include: time for the survey; length, content, type, and terms of the questionnaire; Vietnamese epistemology and philosophy; and some other Vietnamese social and cultural aspects. The most important reason for these considerations is that a Vietnamese view of NOS and NOS assessment possibly differs from the Western ideas due to the social and cultural impact. As a result, a Western assessment tool may become less effective in an Eastern context. The suggestions and implications in this study were derived from a prolonged investigation on Vietnamese science teacher educators and student teachers of School of Education, at Can Tho University, a State University in Mekong Delta region, Vietnam.     

Feminist Praxis and the Gaze in the Early Childhood Curriculum

ABSTRACT Traditional approaches to curriculum development in early childhood education derive from modernist developmental understandings of the child. The article argues that such understandings of the child can support patriarchal gender relations by skewing the teacher's gaze and that reconstructing the teacher's gaze is central to feminist pedagogical praxis in early childhood education. One early childhood teacher's struggle to reconstruct her gaze via feminist readings of the child is used to explore the possibilities and challenges of working for feminist reconstructions in the early childhood curriculum.     

中法两所学校的食品专业教学资源与课程设置的比较

选择了中国和法国的两所比较有代表性的高校,就其食品工业高级技术人才培养的专业课阶段的课程设置进行了比较研究。     

Invisible perceptions: understanding the perceptions of university tutors towards trainee teachers with parental responsibilities

In recent decades, Higher Education has undoubtedly changed giving rise to an increasingly diverse student population. However, there has been only limited research on students with parental responsibilities. When they are considered, this is often in a somewhat pejorative way. The challenges faced by such trainees are often invisible. This paper is focused on the contextual understandings and perspectives of university based staff involved in training pre-service teachers with parental responsibilities. The theoretical framework of this paper is based on the concept of institutional habitus, and questions whether the actions of individuals and practices within the often rigid structures of universities make teacher training more difficult for some groups than others.