School Mapping Restructure in China: What role for the small rural school?

Despite significant progress over the past fifteen years associated with School Mapping Restructure (SMR) in Chinese rural schools, many small schools have been closed or have merged with larger primary schools. This has resulted, among other things, in difficulties for many students in rural areas who now have to travel longer distances to a central (primary) school and whose families generally have to bear greater expenses for schooling. This paper examines the role of small rural schools in the Chinese education system, looks at the context and impacts of SMR on these schools in terms of quality, cost and access indicators, and highlights some of the key difficulties faced by these schools in the restructured education system. We argue that small rural schools have a significant role to play in delivering education services in rural China and should therefore be retained, supported and equipped with the right levels of facilities and quality services for them to fulfill their role. The policy implications of these findings for education officials are discussed in the context of continuing SMR.     

What are open universities for?

This article proposes a framework within which the question as to the purposes of open universities should be examined. It argues that the question has become submerged over time through the establishment of so many open universities that have become natural elements in a higher education landscape rather than remaining radical and innovative institutions. The article looks at a number of innovative distance teaching higher education institutions from the nineteenth century through to the contemporary period, and examines case studies in a wide international range. The outcome of the argument is that open universities should articulate their purposes within a discourse of development, and engage with the ethical and political questions as to how development is understood and advanced.     

Guidelines for Reporting and Evaluating Qualitative Research: What are the alternatives?

There is more to guidelines for qualitative research reports than that proposed in Smith-Sebasto (2000). Our response to the article illustrates a range of alternatives to the position and criteria outlined by Smith-Sebasto. We draw on examples from across the wider literature to explore themes and issues regarding the purpose(s) of guidelines, their content and how they are structured. Our core argument is that deliberations on the process and product of judging the quality of qualitative research in environmental education research require the recognition of two points regularly contested within the literature on guidelines. Firstly, the existence of a wide variety of types, genres and forms of qualitative research; and secondly, the proposition that criteria for judging research quality contain within them, implicitly or explicitly, a defining view of what research is, and perhaps more contentiously, what it should be.     

Who or What is School 'Self'-Evaluation for?

Schools' own capacity and responsibility for reflection and evaluation is now at the forefront of UK policy. This article posits an identifiable 'English model' of school self-evaluation, which can be contrasted with the model derived from a recent CIDREE project on school self-evaluation involving 7 other European countries. The 'English model' has various strengths, which can be characterised as instrumentalist, action-oriented, rationalistic and managerial; what seems to be missing from it are what the article calls 'the ethical, affective, non-rational and democratic modes of thinking'. The article argues that, since these are crucial dimensions in the process of education, they should also figure as key aspects or modes of evaluation. What might be the implications of this for current policy and practice?     

Podcasting in higher education: What are the implications for teaching and learning?

A podcast is any digital media file, or series of files, distributed over the Internet for playback on portable media players and personal computers. This study explored the attitudes, perceptions, and use of podcasting as reported by instructors and students at a large American Midwestern university. The results of two online surveys were examined, focusing specifically on items related to teaching and learning. Findings suggest that students use podcast materials largely for reviewing concepts and issues raised in lectures that they have previously attended. While instructors and students agree that podcasts help students learn, students are less sure about whether podcasts improve instructors' teaching. The authors argue that podcasts can help instructors change face-to-face instruction from traditional didactic lectures to more constructivist learning practices.     

Tensions in the Biology Laboratory: What are they?

The purpose of this paper is to identify tensions in teacher–student interaction in a high school biology laboratory. Using micro‐analytic analysis of classroom talk, the interaction between the students and a teacher working in the biology laboratory session on Reproduction in Plants is studied. The two tensions highlighted here are tension with textbooks as authority and tension with the teacher as authority. Tension with textbooks as authority originates from an over‐reliance on generalizations expressed in textbooks resulting in the inability of learners to appreciate alternatives and exceptions. Tension with the teacher as authority stems from the task design and varying levels of control that a teacher has over the learner and the learning process. The genesis of the two forms of tensions in the laboratory is different and they are tackled differently by the participants to yield different outcomes. While science educators have conducted intensive research over the past two decades on the effects of school science laboratory work on students’ learning of science, more can be done in the specific area of teacher–student interaction. This paper offers some insights into the interaction between a teacher and her students in a laboratory as they learn biology. An increased understanding of the impact of the tensions in a science laboratory might help to bring about realization of the true spirit and intent of school science laboratory experiences.     

Paying the price: consequences for children’s education in prison in a market society

This article explores consequences for children’s education in custodial institutions in a contemporary market society, England and Wales. It finds that policy decision-making designed to ‘transform’ prison education for children is primarily influenced by a desire to limit the cost to the public purse of custodial placements. This paper argues that market values influence decision-making in the youth custody sector and shape the nature and quality of provision that children are permitted to access. The consequences associated with this include further fragmentation of prison provision for children, an imbalance in the types of custodial place made available, (with children disproportionately contained in the cheapest type of provision), geographical discrepancies and persistent high re-offending rates. The concern with the costs of custody is particularly prominent in a society subject to ‘austerity’ measures across a wide range of public services, particularly in the criminal justice sector (Ismail, 2020). However, it is inconsistent with contemporary knowledge and understanding of children in custody, their needs and their vulnerabilities. The transformation supposedly sought is unlikely to materialize while annual cost-per-child place is a dominant driving force. Instead, we need to start with an understanding of what individual support children in prison need in order to be ‘education ready’.     

What are the essential work‐place prerequisites for successful mentorship?

The article gives guidance to prospective partners in primary school -based teacher trainingabout those factors which contribute towards the effectiveness of the school's role. Evidence from research conducted in primary schools and experience gained in setting up a primary partnership programme, is considered alongside points arisingfrom discussion of the recent HMI review of secondary partnership.     

Communitarianism: what are the implications for education?

In the context of British communitarianism there has been almost no educational literature which draws on this philosophy. The educational debate in Britain has suffered as a result of this neglect, therefore this article argues that British educational policy will benefit if it engages with the challenges of recent communitarian debates. The article introduces and reviews the meaning of communitarianism and explores the implications for some education policies in England and Wales.     

School funding formulae: designed to create a learning society?

The right to education depends upon a willingness to finance education fairly. Addressing the difference in educational achievement between learners of different backgrounds is a key aspect of fairness. Framed by contemporary neoliberal policies around marketisation and competitiveness, this paper examines fairness in the education finance policy (EFP) of three jurisdictions in England, Israel and Oklahoma. Using a comparative analysis of school funding formulae and an international survey on the perceptions of local policy actors, the de jure and the de facto EFPs are examined. Our findings reveal de jure policies attempting to address fairness through integrating different student background characteristics. However, variability is evident in the extent to which the de facto policies align with an aspiration for fairness. This is linked to the marketisation of education in each jurisdiction. We conclude that weightings of students’ background characteristics can only be one feature in policy interventions orientated towards bringing about social equity.     

Crisis? What crisis? The academic professions in the 'knowledge' society

At present, the higher education systems in most highly developed countries find themselves amidst a difficult process of change that will obviously have an impact on the positioning of their principal workers. We live in times of great uncertainties about the future of the academic profession. This article reflects on the analytical problems research on the academic profession has to face and summarizes recent trends and debates on the entrenched profession. Possible future developments of the academic profession are highlighted in the context of four scenarios -- 'key profession', 'academic worker', 'mediator' and 'antiquity'. Selected findings and results of the International Study on the Academic Profession are resumed to discuss the contribution of survey studies to the ongoing debate on the academic profession and to draw some preliminary conclusions on the challenges for further research in this area.     

The National Grid for Learning Initiative: Connecting the learning society?

This article considers what primary Subject Leaders are doing as a part of their role in schools, what their perceptions of the role are and how this relates to the TTA standards for Subject Leadership. The information presented is based on research conducted in 10 primary schools with 20 Subject Leaders. The argument is made that there is close agreement between Subject Leaders and Government agencies about the role a Subject Leader should perform. However, there is a need for greater clarity about what leadership means in this context and a need to support Subject Leaders' in their monitoring role.     

What are these?

19th-century brace and bit(手摇曲柄钻头) TEA’S UPIn the automatic(自动的)tea-makerof 1904,levers(杠杆),spring(弹簧),and the steam from the kettleactivate stages in the teamakingprocess,A bell is rung to tell you thatthe tea is ready.     

What are these?

1.Electronic PetsThese pets can respondto emotional(情感的)needs,and react tovoice commands aswell as touches or ges-tures.They have sen-sors. sO they can be—come familiar with theirhomes .Like animalpets ,they love to beloved!     

What are objects?

Object oriented development of software systems is becoming de-facto standard in large software projects. This article explains the motivation behind object orientation and how it promotes the use of software components.     

What are they?

四个好朋友各有不同的工作,究竟谁是教师?谁是医生?谁是农民?谁是司机?你能根据这篇短文做出判断吗?     

What is the Teacher Doing? What are the Students Doing? An Application of the Draw-a-Science-Teacher-Test

This study documents the use of the Draw-a-Science-Teacher-Test as diagnostic tool for both preservice teacher beliefs about science teaching and science methods course effectiveness. Direct comparison of pre-course to post-course images from 50 preservice elementary teachers was undertaken using McNemar’s test. Results indicated statistically significant shifts in participants’ mental models of science teaching and learning. Post-course more students portrayed student-centered reform minded practices. The limitations of this analytical approach, the practical significance of this work, and ideas for future research in this arena are discussed.