Disadvantaged preschool children from rural areas: the importance of home practices and nursery attendance in the development of early literacy skills / Niños preescolares vulnerables de sectores rurales: importancia de las prácticas del hogar y la asistencia a jardín infantil en el desarrollo de habilidades de alfabetización temprana

Abstract

This research analyses the impact of home practices, sociodemographic variables (family income and parents’ education) and attendance at a formal education programme prior to the development of early literacy skills of 240 children (four years old) from rural and urban disadvantaged families starting nursery school in Chile. The results show that the development of literacy skills was higher in urban children. In rural areas, family practices (words games) and family income had the most predictive weight on the performance of children and no differences were found between those who attended a prior educational programme and those who remained at home; while in urban areas, programme attendance had the highest impact, so that children who remained at home attained a lower developmental level, similar to those of rural areas. The implications of these findings for educational practice and policy are discussed.     

Theories of Learning and Teaching and the Practice of Excellence in Higher Education

This paper critically examines two sorts of theories of teaching and learning in higher education ‐ the informal and the formal. It argues that defining the problem of how to improve the quality of higher education in terms of “theory into practice” is not useful; practice is continually informed by theory. However, there is a tendency to ignore the contribution of formal educational theory, which is experimental and forward‐looking, in favour of an essentially amateur approach to improving teaching, which is driven by institutional imperatives, rewards compliance rather than risk‐taking, and trivialises the teacher's experiences. Examples of this process are given; they include the Higher Education Council's draft advice on quality and the use of student ratings of teaching. The problem is redefined as one of bringing formal and informal theories into a fruitful relationship in order to develop, through democratic means, the practice of integrity in teaching. Some implications for the role of the educational development professional are considered.     

‘It's a different world out there’: improving how academics prepare health science students for rural and Indigenous practice in Australia

Rural and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) health content in undergraduate health science curricula in Western Australia has been limited. In 2008, a three-and-a-half-day, rurally-based, intercultural and inter-disciplinary programme for academics from three universities aimed to improve how academics prepared health science students for work in this area. Situated learning theory underpinned the programme's design, which prioritised context and participation in the construction of knowledge: academics lived ‘on country’ and participated in the lived experience of a rural and Indigenous community. Semi-structured phone interviews with 21 academics four months later indicated this approach had radically changed thinking and led to a desire to improve rural and Indigenous health and teaching practice. Targeting academics to learn about rural and Indigenous health in situ is one promising strategy for improving undergraduate health science education in this priority area.     

教育信息化2.0背景下的高职教师专业素养提升研究

《教育信息化2.0行动计划》开启了我国全面推进教育现代化的新征程,高校中教育信息化的实现在很大程度上依赖于教师的专业素养。文章以高职教育信息化应用现状为例,指出信息化教学在当前高职院校中存在的一些问题,包括传统教学观念需要转变,信息化应用程度停留在表层以及在信息化教学中创新融合精神不足,从而从更新教学观念、提升教学能力、加强信息化教学评价等方面来提升教师专业素养,以适应教育信息化2.0时代的新要求。     

论我国早期教育专业师资培养的三个维度——意涵解读、困境解剖与实践解答

早期教育是为提升0?3岁婴幼儿童身体素质、情感表达、认知能力、智力发育及人格形塑等学前基本技能,进而有助于婴幼儿协调发展与健康成长所采取的各类正式与非正式的互动式教育活动。早期教育专业师资是具有一定教育专业背景与综合知识技能的,能够为0?3岁儿童提供照料、保育与教育服务的正式职业工作者,包括早教机构管理服务人员及各类专业保健员、育婴师、保育员等。当前,我国早期教育专业人才培养面临专业标准不清、专业师资薄弱、专业课程失调及专业路径阻塞等现实困境。为有效提升新时代早期教育专业师资培养质量,可以加强顶层设计,明晰专业标准;整合教育资源,培养精英教师;遵循人才规律,优化专业课程与加大投入力度,疏通专业路径。     

论城乡教育一体化语境中的义务教育均衡发展模式——以江苏省常州市为例

区域内义务教育均衡发展模式是各地因地制宜推进城乡教育一体化战略的实践创新。义务教育均衡发展常州模式,旨在为城乡人口提供优质均衡的教育机会及资源,创新推进义务教育集团全区域覆盖为方向的城乡教育优质均衡发展和以保障外来务工人员随迁子女教育权利为表征的城乡教育一体化。市、县政府应该以合理科学的政策选择,赋予不同类别教育集团运行发展为动力支持,加强集团间办学经验的推广及共享;赋予外来务工人员随迁子女平等的教育机会与教育过程,以及外来民工子女学校改善办学条件、教师收入补贴等政策支持。     

Building on existing informal learning in Traveller communities through family literacy programmes: an Irish case study

Focusing on Ireland, this paper explores the potential role family literacy programmes can play in influencing educational attainment and in fostering positive attitudes towards formal learning in Traveller families. It is often claimed that members of the Traveller community tend to undervalue learning; that they are uninterested in their children's education and perceive it holds little relevance to adult life. However, research shows that significant forms of learning do take place within the family, for example, skills-based work-related learning. Further, there is evidence to suggest that some Traveller parents believe there is value in educating their children and there is a growing recognition, especially by mothers, that children need to achieve academically, particularly where there are concerns that migrant workers are accessing the jobs, Travellers have traditionally performed. Drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and field, the author argues that family literacy programmes can potentially offer an alternative space in which to engage Travellers in formal education and that such engagement has the potential to impact positively on the academic attainment and achievement of Traveller children by helping mothers recognise, and build on, the informal learning in which they are already engaged.     

Non‐formal education implementations in Turkey: issues and latest challenges

The aim of this article is to analyse the latest implementations and issues raised in Turkish non‐formal education from a historical perspective in Turkey. The high population rate and lack of adequate educational opportunities for adults and migration from rural areas to urban areas caused many educational, social and cultural problems in non‐formal education. For solving all the problems, Turkey followed the latest developments in the world about the aims and functions of non‐formal adult education and organised several different adult education programs in terms of integration to international bodies such as European Union and so forth. These programs aim to reach a wide range of people from rural and urban settings, the employees, employers, farmers, students, tradesmen, housewives, artisans and many others. The most important educational characteristic of this audience is that they are not regular students. The organisation way of non‐formal education differ from other developed countries in essence. In social terms, the non‐formal education for adults does not only provide professional and technical training; but also provides the learners with basic literacy and helps continue their educational life, contributes to preservation and improvement of national and cultural values, creates an awareness of citizenship and democratic thinking in Turkey.     

The role of Aboriginal literacy in improving English literacy in remote Aboriginal communities: an empirical systems analysis with the Interplay Wellbeing Framework

Indigenous language endangerment is critical in Australia, with only 120 of 250 known languages remaining, and only 13 considered strong. A related issue is the gap in formal education outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with other Australians, with the gap wider in remote regions. Little empirical research exists in Australia to explore the role of developing Aboriginal literacy through bilingual education to address these combined issues. As a ‘shared space’ collaboration between remote communities, government, and scientists, the Interplay Wellbeing Framework and associated Survey were designed to represent community values and priorities in a quantifiable system to inform policy and practice. A cohort of 842 Aboriginal people aged 15–34 years from four remote communities completed individual surveys designed and administered by Aboriginal community researchers. We applied structural equation modelling to this data to understand the role of cultural indicators on education outcomes. Results confirmed the importance of strong relationships between community and schools. Furthermore, learning about culture and learning literacy in ones first language in schools to develop Aboriginal literacy, is established as a necessary step to improve English literacy in remote schools. This suggests bilingual education and strengthening culture and community involvement in schools are necessary to improve both education outcomes and language preservation.     

Goodfellow,Robin & Lea,Mary R ed (2013) Literacy in the digital university Routledge (New York & London) isbn 978‐0‐415‐53797‐1 213 pp £24.99 http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415537971/

This book brings together practice and theory from the interface between academic and digital literacy, learning and teaching, and learning technologies. It argues for the importance of digital literacy at the heart of approaches to learning and teaching in the modern university. It is highly recommended for teachers, educational developers, practitioners in learning technology, and policy makers in higher education. Indeed, if this book's content is likely to be relevant to you, I recommend you buy a copy for yourself. Pete Cannell     

Approaches to English literacy teaching in the Central Pacific Republic of Kiribati: quality teaching,educational aid and curriculum reform

English literacy competence in the Central Pacific Republic of Kiribati is considered important for employment, overseas study and general engagement with a globalizing world. It is also considered as a key factor in the current government's response to climate change and sea level rise, enabling skilled relocation of I-Kiribati to other countries if necessary. This article synthesizes a range of literature sources based on Kiribati literacy education to highlight: a general perception that English literacy standards are in decline; the role of the teacher in addressing that decline; pedagogical approaches to teaching literacy, particularly the historic swing from a highly structured and socially conservative teacher-centred approach to that of a very liberal student-centred approach; and the reliance on Australian and NZ educational aid and consultancy in literacy education. These issues require further debate and investigation in light of unique development problems in Kiribati marked by: rural to urban drift; an increasingly youthful population; limited employment possibilities, and eventual possible large-scale repatriation due to sea level rise. The article tentatively suggests an approach to literacy education based on a four resources model that balances teacher and learner-centredness with socio-cultural and political aspects of literacy.     

Socioscientific issues via controversy mapping: bringing actor-network theory into the science classroom with digital technology

ABSTRACT

What are the current challenges and opportunities for bringing actor-network theory (ANT) into issues-based science education? This article discusses experiences gained from introducing an educational version of ANT deploying digital technology into an upper secondary school science class. This teaching innovation, called controversy mapping, has been pioneered in different contexts of higher education before being adapted to school education. Experimenting with controversy mapping in a Swedish science class raised both conceptual and practical issues. These centre on: (1) how ANT-inspired controversy mapping redesigns the citizenship training enacted by institutionalized approaches to issues-based education as socioscientific issues (SSI); (2) how controversy mapping reconfigures the interdisciplinarity of issues-based science education; and (3) how controversy mapping displaces scientific literacy and knowledge of the nature of science as guiding concerns for teaching in favour of new preoccupations with digital literacy and digital tools and methods as contemporary infrastructures of free and open inquiry.     

Health and well-being outcomes of women and children in Sub-Saharan Africa: Examining the role of formal schooling,literacy, and health knowledge

Health is related to individual educational attainment and literacy status; yet education and literacy do not guarantee health knowledge. Prior research studies health knowledge, formal schooling, and literacy as one entity, neglecting crucial differences. Using Demographic and Health Surveys from 27 sub-Saharan African countries, we examine these three pathways to gaining information, acknowledging each is distinct in target population, content, and delivery method, and uniquely contributes to health outcomes for women and children. Overall, all three pathways increase health outcomes, though health-specific knowledge could address the cultural and financial barriers that often come between women and formal schooling.     

Language education needs for multilingualism in Fiji primary schools

This paper looks at current practice in teaching multilingual Indo-Fijian children in eight Fiji primary schools. Indo-Fijians speak Fiji Hindi (FH) as their mother tongue, learn Shudh Hindi (SH) or Urdu, and English for formal and literacy purposes and use English and Fijian for interethnic communication. The current education policy states that children be taught in their mother tongue for the first 3 years of primary school before English becomes the medium of instruction. This practice was not apparent in the schools. In all 24 observed classrooms, English was the dominant language of instruction. There is an important need in Fiji for teacher training to address the issues around multilingual education so that teachers can confidently contribute to an educational system which maximises the use of Fiji's linguistic resources for the educational advancement of all sectors of the country's population.     

试论教学效率研究的意义

教学效率是一个教育理论工作者和教育实践工作者共同关心的问题。但是以往的关心是对教学效率存在状况的关心,并没有表现为对教学效率的深刻理性的思考。所以,教学效率在教学论中没有正式的位置,教育实践工作者也就没有了提高教学效率的思想依据。教学效率低在今天已成为教育的公害。要改变这种状况,对教学效率进行教学论的思考是十分必要的。教学效率研究是教学论的题中应有之义;教学效率研究具有综合性质;教学效率研究具有独特的理论价值和实践价值。     

基于卓越教师培养的职前教育实践模式构建

卓越教师培养是当代我国教师教育的新主题,实践取向是我国教师教育改革的核心理念。教育实践是培养未来卓越教师的重要环节。教育实践具有主体性、情景性、智慧性、反思性、本体性等品性。教育实践以教育理论为前提,教育理论指导教育实践,教育实践与教育理论深度融合。构建职前教师教育实践模式,需要创新教育实践机制,建设教师教育协同创新体;完善教育实践内容,构建实践导向的教师教育课程体系;统筹教育实践时间,使教育实践贯穿大学教育的始终;拓展教育实践空间,建立多种类型的教育实践基地;创新实践教学方法,提升实践教学质量。     

Deadly Ways to Learn a yarn about some learning we did together

The title of Western Australia's Deadly Ways to Learn project, an action research project aimed at facilitating and enhancing the teaching and learning of Australian Aboriginal students, was inspired by Aboriginal English in which 'deadly' means 'really good'. Aboriginal English is the first dialect of most Indigenous Australians and differs in fundamental and consistent ways from Standard Australian English which is the language of instruction in most Australian schools. Accordingly, most Aboriginal students receive schooling in a second dialect. Deadly Ways to Learn brought this dilemma into focus and engaged teachers and Indigenous Education Officers (IEOs) from several government, Catholic and independent schools in action research to develop two-way bi-dialectal teaching practices that would support literacy acquisition among Aboriginal students. Getting teachers and IEOs to accept the existence and validity of Aboriginal English was a huge task. The real challenge, however, was getting teachers to respect the sociocultural perspectives and value systems that Aboriginal English is used to express. Teachers and partner IEOs jointly participated in a series of collaborative forums in which candid discussions about culture and linguistics were carefully facilitated. Over a relatively short period, profound changes were observed and self-reported among participants. This paper outlines the collaborative processes employed in the project, qualitative changes that occurred among participants and key findings about two-way bi-dialectal teaching.     

微课在小学数学课堂教学中的合理运用

微课在小学数学教学中的应用,是信息技术进课堂的形势使然,是教育治理体系及治理能力现代化的新尝试。作为一种常新教育形式,微课教学在信息资料的采集和应用方面具有显著优势,对弥补传统数学课堂的短板不足,推进数学课堂的创新发展有积极意义。     

我国教育技术在汉字教学方面的研究概况

文章通过介绍我国教育技术在儿童识字教学方面和对外汉字教学方面的研究情况,提出对外汉字教学方面的研究相对薄弱,指出教育技术研究对外汉语教学的必要性。揭示出对外汉语教学需要创新的理论和实践,教育技术必然是改革创新的一条有效途径。