Regional networks in education: a case study of an Austrian project

This case study presents the development of networks in education, using the Austrian IMST (Innovations Make Schools Top) project as illustration. The regional networks are coordinated in every Austrian federal province by groups made up of teachers, representatives of the educational authorities, and members of academia. In the framework of the IMST project, all networks are monitored by a team of the Institute of Instructional and School Development at the University of Klagenfurt. This article presents theoretical concepts, network structures and network activities, as well as evaluation data. The overall challenge in trying to enable sustainable development of learning of those involved might be described as keeping momentum between network structures and network processes or, in other words, between stability and flow.     

Focusing on the Whole Student: An Evaluation of Massachusetts's Wraparound Zone Initiative

We used a comparative interrupted time series design to examine the impact of the Massachusetts' Wraparound Zone Initiative on student achievement, attendance, retention, and suspension. This initiative was designed to create coordinated district systems that allow schools to proactively and systematically address students' nonacademic needs. The state education agency awarded grants to seven high-need districts, each of which used the funds to support a select group of schools in implementing strategies that focused on school climate and culture, family engagement, systems to identify and address student needs, and community partnerships. Results from this study showed that students in Wraparound Zone schools performed better on state academic assessments than students in comparison schools, when considering prior achievement trends. Effects were statistically significant in the 3rd year of implementation. The impact on academic achievement was greatest for third- and fourth-grade students, and was particularly strong for English learners. There was no statistically significant overall impact on attendance, retention, or suspension.     

Too cool for school? Musicians as partners in education

This article addresses the distinctive role that artists play in education. Although there has been a growing body of research internationally into artists involved in teaching and learning processes, the practice of artists in education in Ireland has developed in an uneven and sometimes disjointed manner. The field of ‘arts in education’ and issues surrounding its policy and practice in Ireland are investigated here. This article takes music as a focus in examining musicians' engagement in educational partnerships. Discussions around the role of artists in educational settings, successful partnerships and professional development are presented. Interviews carried out with a purposive sample of eight musicians are thematically analysed to provide meaningful insight into these debates drawn from actual practice. In this way, the article contributes to developing research into arts in education and, more specifically, music in education. In doing so, it hopes to underpin future policy, practice and stimulate further research in this area.     

Learning to redesign teacher education: a conceptual framework to support program change

University-based teacher education faces intensifying pressure to prove its effectiveness. This has prompted renewed interest in program redesign. In this article, we argue that enacting meaningful redesign requires university-based teacher educators to learn new ways of thinking and acting not only with teacher candidates but also with their university and K-12 colleagues. Drawing on Engeström’s expansive learning theory and our own efforts to redesign our teacher education program along a practice-based teacher education model, we delineate a conceptual framework and illustrate how it supports the organizational learning necessary to enact change in university-based teacher education. The expansive learning redesign framework specifies conceptual tools and social practices to guide, enact, and sustain university-based teacher education redesign. It acknowledges the multi-organizational nature of university-based teacher education and provides tools for engaging K-12 educators in the redesign of teacher education.     

Iconoclastes: Poor pedagogy

This article describes the teacher lore of Torey Hayden, its emphasis on a pedagogy of caring, and its use in preservice teacher education to address affective outcomes. Eight concepts that make up caring relationships and are reflected in Hayden's wisdom of practice are discussed. Four separate studies are then described examining the outcomes of reading Hayden on preservice and inservice teachers' affective understandings and skills. In the first two studies reading Hayden was more effective than reading professional texts in promoting positive attitude changes toward children with disabilities. In the third study decreased punitiveness toward classroom behavior management was associated with the therapeutic impact of reading Hayden. In the fourth study inservice teachers, who had read Hayden in preservice coursework over a 10‐year period, rated her stories as a strong influence in preparing them to teach and in shaping their current teacher practices, attitudes, and identity. Reasons why Hayden's teacher lore had a positive influence on teachers' affective development are offered. Hayden's philosophy of attachment and loss in forming relationships is discussed.     

Effective consultants: a conceptual framework for helping school systems achieve systemic reform

A growing number of organisations – universities, non-profits, independent consultants – are emerging as partners to school systems pursuing systemic improvement. This proliferation invites questions probing the interaction between school systems and their consulting partners. Drawing on a cross-disciplinary review of literature, this theoretical paper (1) explores the processes and strategies used by consulting organisations as partners to school systems and (2) proposes a conceptual framework as a starting point for implementation and evaluation of effective consulting for systemic improvement.     

Lights up! Assessing standards-based performance skills in drama education

With the recent release of the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS), educators need new consistent, fair assessments of drama learning. As an initial starting point, this paper reports on the creation of the LATA Drama Performance Rubric, a standards-based assessment to measure learning occurring under real drama classroom conditions that we hope evaluators will find to be useful. A widespread group of drama instructors coordinated with researchers to create a rubric containing four categories: (1) Diction and Volume; (2) Movement and Gesture; (3) Group Coordination; and (4) Stage Presence. Field testing of the instrument with 97 students in the treatment group and 80 students in the control group demonstrated its ability to distinguish between fourth-grade classrooms that had and had not received long-term drama instruction. Reliability, validity, and NCAS alignment are discussed, along with limitations and future recommendations.     

From positivism to critical theory: school-community relations toward community equity literacy

In recent years, research on urban school–community relations has emerged with renewed vigor and a myriad of suggestions for how to best approach the topic. While most of these suggestions are anchored in positivist and interpretive epistemologies, a growing number of scholars are applying more critical approaches to school–community relations that center issues of equity and unequal power relations. However, these approaches are often perceived as being too impractical for educational leaders to implement. This article thus situates approaches to school–community relations across three epistemologies: positivism, interpretivism, and critical theory to make these ideas more accessible for educational leaders. With a focus on developing educational leaders to work equitably across school and community contexts, this article provides an operating framework for each approach that delineates assumptions, goals, views of families, strategies, and types of leadership. Finally, this article provides an epistemological grounding to propose that educational leaders develop what I call community equity literacy, and concludes with implications for future research.     

Understanding the nature of school partnerships with business in delivery of vocational programmes in schools in Australia

This article seeks to provide a school perspective on the nature and quality of the partnerships which schools form with businesses in order to deliver work placements and workplace learning in Australia. It found that the ability of schools to engage with external partners depended on the ability of school leaders to define and communicate the role of VET within the school and its broader community. This dependence on individuals and leadership is vulnerable to changes in key personnel and the informality of some of the processes and relationships can lead to problems in monitoring, evaluating and replicating programmes. Our study shows that a balance is required between carefully documented processes and the flexibility required to operate programmes successfully. The study also noted the tension between the perceived needs of the school and those of industry. A successful partnership necessarily requires school flexibility – in the decisions as to what programmes should be offered and how work placements and timetabling should be organised.     

人民共和国"民办教育"的历史透视(1949～1978)

通过对1949～1978年间人民共和国"民办教育"的考察,揭示公立学校与私立学校的历史命运,我国历史形成的"民办教育"的原义,民办教育在人民共和国教育历史上的特殊地位,人民共和国办学的"鼎形"体制.     

以史育人,以文化人--普通高中历史统编教材之我见

2019年秋季,由国家教材委审核通过并投入使用的高中统编历史教材可称为我国教材编写史上的开创之举。为达到“以史育人,以文化人”之目的,教师在使用本教材时要注意以下五点:引导学生重点学习历史唯物主义,反对历史虚无主义,树立正确的历史观;重点学习中华民族5000多年文明史,弘扬中华优秀传统文化,增强民族自豪感和自信心;重点学习中国近代史,弄清中国特色社会主义的历史由来;重点学习中华人民共和国国史,增强“四个自信”;重点学习必要的世界历史知识,学会用比较的方法进行文明互鉴。     

关于建设学习型社会若干问题的思考

当前在如何理解学习型社会的问题上仍需处理好四对关系:即学习型社会是一种教育理想还是一个客观事实;是个体学习的新形式还是新的社会形式;是面向人力资源开发还是人性的自我完善;是侧重于对学校教育的改造还是强化社区的教育功能。对于建设学习型社会而言,兼顾每一对关系的两个方面都是合理而必要的。     

中国特色社区学校建设的可行性研究

一个文明的社区不只是高档住房和大量人口的简单汇集，还需要有文化内涵。社区物质务件的现代化不等同于市民的文明化，一个真正的文明市民要在文化素质层次上实现从农民到城镇居民，从普通城镇居民到文明市民的角色改变，需要完善社区的教育功能。社区教育的基本责任是：以“文化教育”治愚，以“生计教育”救穷，以“卫生教育”强体，以“公民教育”弘德。     

Connecting with different audiences: The anatomy of communication is essential

In the twenty‐first century, communication has become truly global. Advances in technology have opened up a host of ways in which we are able to communicate to retrieve or pass on information and knowledge. In many cases we have moved from a place‐based communication approach to one of increasing mobility. With this shift in approach, it is apparent that effective communication skills are perhaps even more important so that we can connect appropriately with diverse audiences. Despite this, relatively little attention has been paid to training our students in different modes of communication and therefore we may not be fully preparing our students to play their part in the global community. Given anatomy's place within many health‐care curricula, an ideal avenue is available for anatomists to take the lead in providing communications skills training for students. There are a variety of approaches, some of which are outlined in this article, which can be used to create appropriate opportunities for developing different communication skills and these can be woven into existing practices to ensure courses do not become overburdened. A sustained approach to communication skills training will help equip our students to communicate easily with the many aspects of modern society. Anat Sci Educ 6: 134–137. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

Of Mermen and Monsters: A Slippery Story of Drama in Education and Related Classroom Practices

The account of the evolution of a classroom teacher (me) that follows is suggestive of a degree of agency and creativity that is rarely acknowledged. Teachers are currently positioned in ways that underline their instrumental role – their duty to students, parents, school and government to ensure that students achieve. A lack of faith in teachers’ capacity to innovate on their own terms means that creative practice in schools is routinely overlooked or mistrusted. My own history serves to illustrate the complex ways in which teachers develop their practice, and the cultural and political influences that play their part in the process. This article ends with some comparison between my own experience and that of my student teachers as they embark on their teaching careers nearly 30 years later.     

学习型社区建设中三教合作问题初探

学校教育、家庭教育和社会教育在学习型社区建设中各具独特的地位和作用。正确认识这一问题,并形成学校教育、家庭教育、社会教育之合力,有利于促进学习型社区的建设。目前,学习型社区建设过程中三教合作方面存在着教育对象单一、三教地位不合理、教育资源匮乏、教育实效性差等问题。针对这些问题,本文提出了扩大教育对象、协调三教力量、增加教育投入、提高教育实效等改进策略。     

基础教育课程改革与学校重建——基于"学习共同体"的理念

"学校在风雨飘摇之中",风雨飘摇之中的学校呼唤重建.因此,创建学习共同体或合作型学习组织已成为国际教育学界的共同愿景,同时也为当前我国基础教育课程改革中的学校组织重建提供了重要启示.基础教育课程改革提倡合作学习,这种学习方式的转变为创建合作型学习组织提供了基础.基于国内外有关合作型学校的研究成果,提出如下建议:建立对话型学校文化;要做"领导者",不做"管理者";创建共同愿景.     

冲突与抉择:学习化社会背景下的学校教育

学习化社会的来临给制度化的学校教育带来了前所未有的冲击与挑战。正规化、阶段化、精英化、标准化的学校教育开始受到来自四面八方的指责与批评。新的时代背景要求学校教育对这些问题做出积极的回应。因此，学校教育正处在十字路口，改造与创新势在必行。     

Love as a Language for Educational Justice

Abstract

Schools need to do a better job of recognizing the contributions and gifts students bring with them. Such a community-spirit approach could help everyone, from teachers and parents to district leaders and the Secretary of Education, dissuade the public from individualistic school structures and instead focus on equitable solutions that include the norms and histories of the people schools serve.     

Integrating a moral reasoning game in a blended learning setting: effects on students' interest and performance

A new approach to moral education using blended learning has been developed. This approach involves 10 scenarios that are designed as a web-based game and serves as a basis for group moral-consequence-based reasoning, which is developed based on a hypothetical-deductive model. The aim of the study was to examine the changes in students' blended learning interest and reasoning ability in a time series experimental design. After playing the game with the 10 initial scenarios during the first week of the study, participants were subjected to five blended learning sessions that required them to discuss the consequences of one of the 10 scenarios using hypothetical-deductive reasoning. After six weeks, the data from the 110 participants were analyzed using time series statistics. The results indicated that players were highly interested in the game, although their interest had a tendency to decrease slightly over time. Repetitive game play (i.e. practice) was positively associated with the players' moral reasoning performance. The study results may lend support to the design of a game with additional or more highly complex content for players to further develop students' consequential reasoning ability.