China's educational aim and theory

The aim and theory of Chinese socialist education is to provide scientific and technological knowledge so as to develop the productive forces and to meet the demands of the socialist cause. Since education is the main vehicle towards modernizing science and technology, any investment in education is viewed as being productive as it feeds directly into economics. Faced with the demands of industrial and agricultural production, training a technical as well as a labour force becomes crucial. This is made possible by the provision of two labour systems for workers both from rural as well as urban areas and by two kinds of educational systems for both urban and rural students. Chinese educational theory is seen as a fusion of principles from its own educational legacy with those of Marxist-Leninist principles.

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Zusammenfassung Zielsetzung und Theorie der chinesischen sozialistischen Bildung ist es, wissenschaftliches und technisches Wissen zu vermitteln, um die Produktion anzukurbeln und um den Erfordernissen der sozialistischen Ideologie gercht zu werden. Da die Bildung das Hauptmittel ist, Wissenschaft und Technologie zu modernisieren, wird jede finanzielle Investition als produktiv angesehen, da sie wiederum direkt in die Wirtschaft einfließt. Angesichts der Anforderungen industrieller und landwirtschaftlicher Produktion wird die Ausbildung des technischen Personals und der landwirtschaftlichen Arbeiter zunehmend wichtiger. Dieses wird durch die Bereitstellung zweier Arbeitssysteme für Arbeiter sowohl aus ländlichen wie auch aus städtischen Bereichen und durch zwei Arten von Erziehungssystemen für Studenten aus Stadt- und Landgebieten ermöglicht. Die chinesischen Erziehungswissenschaft wird als Fusion der Prinzipien des eigenen erziehungswissenschaftlichen Erbes und der marxistisch-leninistischen Prinzipien verstanden.

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Résumé L'objectif et la théorie de l'éducation socialiste chinoise est d'apporter une instruction technologique et scientifique afin de développer les forces productives et de servir la cause socialiste. Puisque l'éducation est le principale véhicule conduisant à la modernisation de la science et de la technologie, tout investissement en matière d'éducation est considéré comme productif puisquil nourrit directement l'économie. Confrontée aux demandes de la production agricole et industrielle, la formation d'une force technique et de travail devient cruciale. Ceci est possible grâce aux deux systèmes de travail proposés aux ouvriers des zones rurales et urbaines et aux deux types de systémes éducatifs pour les étudiants des villes et des camapagnes. La théorie éducationnelle chinoise est vue en tant que fusion des principes de son propre héritage éducatif et des principes marxistes-léninistes.

     

Against autonomy as an educational aim

It is widely held that personal autonomy is a quality of character at which educators ought to aim. In this paper I argue that those who hold this view are misguided. I identify two ordinary senses of autonomy, and a range of technical senses currently popular with philosophers, and show that none of them constitutes a defensible educational aim.     

教育目标的价值取向与创造性教育

教育目标指导和支配整个教育过程，是一切教育工作的出发点和最终归宿。本概述了教育目标的四种价值取向，即普遍性目标取向、行为性目标取向、生成性目标取向和表现性目标取向的发展关系，阐述了教育目标价值取向对创造性教育的启发。     

Dyslexia and oral reading errors

Thomson was the first of very few researchers to have studied oral reading errors as a means of addressing the question: Are dyslexic readers different to other readers? Using the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability and Goodman's taxonomy of oral reading errors, Thomson concluded that dyslexic readers are different, but he found that they do not resemble beginning readers. Thomson's study and his use of miscue analysis is re‐evaluated, both in relation to the educational and political climate of the time – which was hostile to the concept of dyslexia – and in the light of research and social developments since then. The study of oral reading still has value today, both for the teacher and the researcher, provided its limitations as a technique are fully appreciated.     

Externalizing behavior problems and interest in reading as predictors of later reading skills and educational aspirations

This study examined the developments in children’s externalizing problems and interest in reading during their first four years of school (Grades 1–4) and investigated whether this development predicted the children’s Grade 6 reading skills and educational aspirations. Data comprised (1) teachers’ ratings of externalizing problems and children’s (N = 642; 43% girls) self-ratings of their interest in reading, collected between Grades 1 and 4, and (2) measures of reading fluency and comprehension, and children’s self-reports of educational aspirations, collected at Grade 6. First, latent growth modeling showed that a higher level of externalizing problems in Grade 1 was associated with a lower concurrent interest in reading. Second, a positive association between the initial level of interest in reading and a linear change in externalizing problems indicated that children with a lower interest in reading in Grade 1 were rated by teachers as exhibiting higher levels of externalizing problems, which nonetheless declined over the course of their first four years of school more than among other children. Third, a higher initial level of externalizing problems with a linear change in these problems across Grades 1–4 was a predictor of lower subsequent educational aspirations and poorer reading comprehension in Grade 6. Analysis of the indirect effects indicated that a higher level of externalizing problems was associated with a lower concurrent interest in reading, which, in turn, was related to poorer future reading fluency and lower educational aspirations. The findings imply that problem behaviors are interlinked with academic skill development and motivation across the first six years of school.     

Relationship between second grade oral reading fluency and third grade reading

Oral reading fluency is a critical feature and outcome of early literacy instruction and it has amassed great attention as a powerful predictor of success at all levels of schooling. We examined relationships between second grade oral reading fluency scores and third grade end-of-grade reading achievement scores for students (N = 9562) in a large school district in the United States. Stakeholder interviews were also conducted. In our model, oral reading fluency and reading comprehension scores were moderately correlated; oral reading fluency was the strongest predictor of subsequent achievement, followed by ethnicity; growth on oral reading fluency was not strongly associated with end-of-grade performance; and greater than 90% of students classified as ‘at risk’ on benchmark assessments performed poorly on third grade assessments. Stakeholders believed that oral reading fluency testing was not necessary above selected levels of proficiency. We discuss implications of our findings for future research and practice.     

Suggestions for teaching oral reading

Recollections of Middle Life. By Francisque Sarcey. Translated by Elisabeth Luther Cary. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1893.

Elocution. By Professor C. P. Bronson, A.M., M.D. John P. Morton &; Co., Louisville, Ky., 1845.

Advanced Elocution, By Mrs. J. W. Shoemaker, Principal of the National School of Elocution and Oratory. The Penn Publishing Company, Philadelphia, 1896.     

Silent versus oral reading comprehension and efficiency

Seventy‐four students read passages from an individually administered test of reading comprehension (a subtest from the Test of Dyslexia, a test of reading and related abilities currently in development; McCallum & Bell, 2001), and then answered literal and inferential questions. Students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions; 39 students read the passages silently and 35 read orally, with time recorded for each passage read. Comprehension and time were dependent measures for a Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) and two follow‐up Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA). After controlling for reading ability, results from the MANCOVA showed a significant combined effect ( p < .05); however, a comparison of mean reading comprehension scores showed no significant difference between silent readers and oral readers ( p > .05). On the other hand, with reading ability controlled, silent readers took significantly less time to complete passages compared to those who read orally ( p < .02). In fact, students took 30% longer to read orally than silently, on average. When test directions do not specify either oral or silent reading and error analysis is not a goal, testing will be more efficient via silent responding with no loss of comprehension. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 241–246, 2004.     

Applying cognitive psychology to educational practice: The mind of the reading teacher

Students learn what they are taught. If a student fails to acquire the skills of reading, then one ought first to examine the program of reading instruction. The foundations of literacy in English require analysis of human cognition, of the formal use of language (the rhetoric), and of the peculiarities of the English language. The materials presently available for training reading teachers and for providing them support in reading instruction give little or no attention to these foundations. Such materials are likely to misdirect the teacher, giving him or her little guidance for presenting an effective program of instruction in reading. A syndrome like dyslexia as a consequence becomes obscured by the many youngsters for whom the problem is a lack of clarity and coherence in the instructional program. Progress in dealing with specific learning disabilities will be hampered until these fundamental problems are resolved. Presented at the 33rd Annual Conference of The Orton Dyslexia Society, San Diego, California, November 1983.     

The relevance of educational content to national needs in Africa

In their efforts to achieve relevance in educational content, many African countries have adopted a variety of broad strategies. These include the formulation of comprehensive educational policies, the preparation of periodic development plans, the mounting of special innovative educational projects, the creation of Curriculum Development Centres, and the setting up of regional curriculum development organizations such as the African Curriculum Organization. A number of specific strategies have been directed, with varying degrees of emphasis by the countries concerned, at four elements which curricula, textbooks, and methods must take account of if relevance of educational content is to be achieved: the African environment, the African child's development, the African cultural heritage, and the demands of technological progress and economic development. Evaluation of how successful these strategies have been still needs to be carried out.

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Zusammenfassung In ihren Bemühungen, Bildungsinhalten Bedeutung beizumessen, haben viele afrikanische Länder eine Vielzahl breiter Strategien eingeführt. Diese schließen die Formulierung eines umfassenden Bildungswesens, die Vorbereitung periodischer Entwicklungspläne, das Anwachsen besonderer innovativer Bildungsprojekte, den Aufbau von Curriculums-Entwicklungszentren und das Einrichten von regionalen Entwicklungsorganisationen, wie die der Afrikanischen Entwicklungsorganisation, ein. Eine Reihe spezifischer Strategien mit unterschiedlichen Schwerpunkten, bestehend aus vier Teilen, sind in den betreffenden Ländern eingeführt worden, die Curricula, Lehrbücher und Methoden in Betracht ziehen müssen, wenn den Bildungsinhalten Bedeutung beizumessen ist: dem afrikanischen Umfeld, der Förderung des afrikanischen Kindes, dem kulturellen Erbe Afrikas, den Anforderungen des technologischen Fortschritts und der ökonomischen Entwicklung. Auswertungen, wie erfolgreich diese Strategien gewesen sind, müssen noch vorgenommen werden.

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Résumé Beaucoup de pays africains, poursuivant leurs efforts tendant à la réalisation d'un contenu approprié des programmes d'études, ont adopté un nombre varié de grandes stratégies. Ceci inclut l'énonciation d'une politique de l'éducation globale, la préparation de plans de développement périodiques, le montage de projets d'enseignement spéciaux innovateurs, la création de centres de développement des programmes scolaires et la mise en uvre d'organisations régionales de développement des programmes scolaires telles que l'Organisation des Programmes Scolaires Africaine. Plusieurs stratégies spécifiques se sont focalisées sur quatre éléments, auxquels les pays concernés ont appliqués divers degrés d'importance, à savoir: l'environnement africain, le développement de l'enfant africain, l'héritage culturel africain et les exigences du progrès technologique et du développement économique, que les programmes, livres scolaires et méthodologies doivent prendre en considération si le but à atteindre est le caractère approprié du contenu des programmes d'enseignement. L'évaluation du succès de ces stratégies reste encore à effectuer.

     

What oral text reading fluency can reveal about reading comprehension

Text reading fluency – the ability to read quickly, accurately and with a natural intonation – has been proposed as a predictor of reading comprehension. In the current study, we examined the role of oral text reading fluency, defined as text reading rate and text reading prosody, as a contributor to reading comprehension outcomes in addition to decoding efficiency and language comprehension. One hundred and six Dutch primary school children from fourth grade participated in this study and were assessed on decoding efficiency, vocabulary, syntactic ability, reading fluency performance and reading comprehension skills. Regression analysis showed that text reading prosody, not text reading rate, explained additional variance in reading comprehension performance when decoding efficiency and language comprehension were controlled for. This result suggests that the inclusion of text reading prosody as an aspect of text reading fluency is justified and that a natural intonation is associated with better comprehension of what is read.     

浅析生物学教师的说课思路和技巧

＂说课＂是教师充分备课后,在同行面前讲述自己的教学设想和理论依据的过程,通常要求教师在有限的时间内,介绍一节课准备＂怎么上＂、＂为什么这样上＂,重点在于说出上课的依据.为了便于教师应用,作者主张按备课的思路,从以下四方面来说课：说学习需要（学习内容、学习者和重难点）、说教学目标、说教学策略及说教学过程.本文以人教版高中《生物分子与细胞（必修1）》教材中＂细胞的衰老和凋亡＂一节课为例,具体分析说课的方法和技巧,