Why Right‐Brain Teaching is Half‐Witted: A Critique of the Misapplication of Neuroscience to Education

Educational tools claiming to use “right‐brain techniques” are increasingly shaping school curricula. By implying a strong scientific basis, such approaches appeal to educators who rightly believe that knowledge of the brain should guide curriculum development. However, the notion of hemisphericity (idea that people are “left‐brained” or “right‐brained”) is a neuromyth that was debunked in the scientific literature 25 years ago. This article challenges the validity of “right‐brain” teaching, highlighting the fact that neuroscientific research does not support its claims. Providing teachers with a basic understanding of neuroscience research as part of teacher training would enable more effective evaluation of brain‐based claims and facilitate the adoption of tools validated by rigorous independent research rather than programs based on pseudoscience.     

维柯人文教育的哲学意蕴

维柯的思想传入我国已有时日,影响到包括教育学在内的诸多学科领域.维柯从“认识你自己”这一前提出发,肯定人文教育的整体性关照,高扬精神在人文教育中的神圣力量.维柯集前人思想之大成,以智慧、雄辩、审慎为其人文教育的理念,认为教育目实现的过程是人性不断完善的过程.维柯提出人文教育的次序应遵循人的能力自然发生的序列.维柯重视人文教育的社会本性,重视人对幸福生活的追求,但是却不能把人过度“世俗化”.知识教育固然重要,但维柯认为还应有进一步的超越.他的人文教育旨在使人去愚增慧,通过德性教育和智慧教育去塑造人,是对知识教育的一种超越.现代社会新巧技术盲目堆积状态下人之理性过度膨胀所导致的教育与培养全面发展的人的旨归相背离,维柯人文教育思想对此无疑是一剂清醒剂.     

文化存在论教育学论纲——文化存在论教育学产生的时代背景与基本主张

文化存在论教育学理论是在教育学这门学科究竟主要是一门以哲学运思为主的精神科学,还是一门方法至上的实证科学这一历史性交锋中应运而生的。文化存在论教育学的提出是对实证主义范式在教育学领域过度宣扬的匡正。教育学是一门有着浓郁的强烈的丰富的人文性、艺术性、审美性、价值性和伦理性的学科。从学科嬗变史、学科本质、学科研究方法借鉴路线图等来考察,我们可以得出这样的结论,教育学作为一门“成人”的学科所具有的境遇性、生命性、个殊性、复杂性等特质无法被完全数据化的定量研究所把握。文化存在论教育学分别从教育本质、教育目的及教育方法出发,聚焦三个根本性问题:儿童“是”什么?儿童会成“为”什么?儿童之所以会成“为”社会与文化所期望的那个样子,需“要”什么?针对这三个根本问题,文化存在论教育学提出了理想的教育应确立的四项重要原则:首先,教育要关注儿童的“精神”或者“生命”成长,关注儿童的心灵世界、精神世界、生命世界;其次,教育是“相遇”的历程,是一场充满“境遇”的人生旅程,多元、丰富、奇幻的教育孕育着儿童各种生长的可能性,教育既关怀当下,又指向未来的生活;再次,教育要注重“关系”的营建,魅力在于生活世界中诸般“关系”的和谐与共融,儿童与教师在美好的教育“关系”中相濡以沫,砥砺前行;最后,儿童是“文化”的存在,教育要关注文化在陶冶滋养儿童的向善、求真、育美中的重要作用。     

我国幼儿园教师教育研究学术史:70年回顾与展望

我国幼儿园教师专业发展观经历了理智取向、实践取向和精神取向的三次转变,由此带来了幼儿园教师职前教育课程从关注知能到关注实践再到关注精神的变革。随着幼儿园教师教育的深化发展,研究术语从“教师培训”改为“教师专业发展”,进而被“教师学习”所替代。这一转变凸显了幼儿园教师是自主的终身学习者,体现了幼儿园教师培训观从外铄论转向内发论,自主取向的幼儿园教师发展观得到了普遍认同。同时,这一转变还催生了个人和集体的教师文化之间的相互调适,营造合作共生、带有学习共同体特征的幼儿园教师文化生态成为共识。在方法论层面,哲学思辨范式、科学实证范式、人文诠释范式、社会批判范式等研究范式呈现出齐头并进、互取所长的横向格局,但在当前大数据和人工智能的时代背景下,同时也存在着过度推崇“基于证据”的实证研究的倾向。研究范式的多元化是幼儿园教师教育研究发展的内在要求,基于“复杂性思想”,从多元整合的视角开展研究应是未来幼儿园教师教育研究发展的重要趋势。     

Can Science Test Supernatural Worldviews?

Several prominent scientists, philosophers, and scientific institutions have argued that science cannot test supernatural worldviews on the grounds that (1) science presupposes a naturalistic worldview (Naturalism) or that (2) claims involving supernatural phenomena are inherently beyond the scope of scientific investigation. The present paper argues that these assumptions are questionable and that indeed science can test supernatural claims. While scientific evidence may ultimately support a naturalistic worldview, science does not presuppose Naturalism as an a priori commitment, and supernatural claims are amenable to scientific evaluation. This conclusion challenges the rationale behind a recent judicial ruling in the United States concerning the teaching of “Intelligent Design” in public schools as an alternative to evolution and the official statements of two major scientific institutions that exert a substantial influence on science educational policies in the United States. Given that science does have implications concerning the probable truth of supernatural worldviews, claims should not be excluded a priori from science education simply because they might be characterized as supernatural, paranormal, or religious. Rather, claims should be excluded from science education when the evidence does not support them, regardless of whether they are designated as ‘natural’ or ‘supernatural’.     

论人文教育的重要性

学校教育重理轻文,家庭教育忽视情感,人文精神失落,社会风气下降.因此,学校、家庭、社会应该重视落实人文教育,让青少年从小受到良好的人文熏陶,成为一个高尚正直的人.     

“以文化人”——张岂之的人文教育观

作为著名的历史学家、思想史家、教育家,张岂之的学术研究从中国思想史与中国文化史出发,以中华民族的历史演进为主线,以中华优秀传统文化的迁衍为视域,以中华民族的伟大复兴为最终目标,认为一部中国历史即是一部文明史,而“人学”则是历史发展的内生动力。张岂之在“人学”理念的基础上,将中华人文精神的核心价值观与现阶段的素质教育相契合,辅以西方相关的大学理念,形成了极具中国特色的“人文教育观”,彰显了文化自信深厚的历史底蕴。在长期的教学与科研中,张岂之不断丰富着“人文教育观”的内涵,在教材建设、教师队伍培养、课程构建、研学实践等方面不断完善着“人文教育观”的实践路径,并积极倡导科学教育与人文教育间的会通,在建设“新文科”的大背景下,极具现实意义。     

Evidence-based teaching: a simple view of “science”

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the insistent claims by advocates of evidence-based teaching that it is a rigorous scientific approach. The paper questions the view that randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses are the only truly scientific methods in educational research. It suggests these claims are often based on a rhetorical appeal which relies on too simple a notion of “science”. Exploring the tacit assumptions behind “evidence-based teaching”, the paper identifies an empiricist and reductionist philosophy of science, and a failure to recognise the complexity of education and pedagogy. Following a discussion of large-scale syntheses of evidence (Hattie’s Visible Learning; the Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit), it examines in detail one strand of the latter concerning sports participation, which is used to illustrate flaws in procedures and the failure to take seriously the need for causal explanations.     

临床医学本科生人文关怀意识的培养

近年来,我国学者倡导的"健康中国,健康人文",以及"生物—心理—社会"医学模式都对医务工作者的人文素养提出了更高的要求。临床医学生是未来临床实践的主力军,而临床本科实习阶段是医学生转换身份成为医生的关键时期。因此,在临床教学中融入人文关怀教育、提高临床医学生的人文关怀能力、培养科学与人文精神兼备的高层次医学人才是当代医学发展的主旋律。然而,我国"重医学、轻人文"的现象比比皆是,因此,应该重视人文关怀在医学行为中的重要作用。就如何在临床教学中培养临床医学生的人文关怀意识,提高临床医学生的人文关怀能力展开探讨,旨在提升临床医学生的人文素质。     

基层学校教师“校本”培训新模式探析

教师培训是一项系统工程,它的实效性以培训的针对性、全员性和系统性为支撑,为此,教师培训走向“校本”已成一种必然的趋势。然而,在关注校本的前提下,构建一种什么样的新型培训模式,才能既能动地释放基层学校的自主能量,又充分发挥培训机构和教育院校的理论优势,使基层学校教师培训工作彰显出应有的鲜活特色,这就成为了基层学校教师培训实效性研究中的一个重要课题。四川省教育厅人文社会科学重点研究课题《教育学院为基层学校校本培训服务的研究》课题组经过三年多时间的研究认为：“教育学院为基层学校校本培训服务”的方式,是基层学校教师培训工作的一种新型模式,具有较高的实效性和可操作性。     

校史传统文化增强大学文化建设之探讨——以福建工程学院“走进林纾”课程设置为例

林纾是福建工程学院前身校的创办人之一,以林纾的文化遗产设置校本课程“走进林纾”,是利用校史文化进行大学文化建设的有益尝试,是福建省首门以校史资源为基础开设的传统文化人文素质教育课程。该课程的设置,立足于林纾的文化研究,在课程规划、课程体系建设、教学方法创新、师资培养、教材建设以及以教学促进科研方面做了诸多探索与实践,这对了解、继承中华民族优秀传统文化,提高大学生人文素质都具有重要意义。该课程的开设是对传统文化的创新性传承与创造性发展的有益探索,也是工科院校大学文化建设与大学生人文素质教育相结合的有益尝试。     

Educational Research: The Importance of the Humanities

It is one sign of the lack of understanding of the value of the humanities, to educational research and inquiry as well as to our world more widely, that such justifications of them as are offered frequently take a crudely instrumental form. The humanities (which in this essay are not distinguished from the arts) are welcomed insofar as they are beneficial to the economy, for example, or play a therapeutic role in people's physical or mental well‐being. In higher education in the UK, they are marginalized for similar reasons, on the grounds that they neither appeal to the lucrative overseas student market nor constitute a significant source of grant income from research councils, industry, or other funding sources. While their place in educational research is still defended in many quarters, the increasing demand that research should have “impact” can leave the humanities appearing ineffectual. Furthermore, the very idea of research is widely taken to mandate empiricist and “scientific” approaches. Although there are no easy solutions to this state of things, Richard Smith argues in this essay that those of us who value the humanities in and for themselves might adopt two approaches in particular: to pursue vigilant criticism of the rampant instrumentalism and scientism of our time, and to emphasize the importance of that distinctive feature of humane inquiry: interpretation.     

人文精神培养导向下金融史课程及其思政教学探索

在技术主义盛行的当下,以人文精神培养为导向的金融史课程及其思政教学对于回归金融学科传统研究范式、纠偏金融人才培养重“术”轻“道”之倾向都具有重要意义。金融学专业课程思政建设可以依托金融史课程,在布鲁姆教育目标分类理论指导下构建“三位一体”的教学目标体系,以此打造以“金融—世界—人”关系为内核的思政教学内容体系,探索从专业教学入脑到思政教学入心、从低阶思维培养到高阶思维形成,并最终达到人文精神培养目的的实现路径。     

论中国传播学的人文学特质

国内学界比较一致的意见是认为传播学属于社会科学,实际上中国传播学更多地具有人文学科的特质。以人伦为本的中国传统文化导致以人伦为本的中国传播,具体表现为:形成了低俗化、人情化的传播质地,权力本位的传播机制,以传者为本位、漠视受者,缺乏有效反馈的单向的、线性的、居高临下的传播向度和传播过程。确认中国传播的人文特质,能有的放矢地深入地去批判清理中国传播理论和传播实践的丰厚遗产,能合理利用中国传播的丰富资源,能认清奋斗目标,建立"以人为本"的传播理念,建立科学的中国现代传播体系。     

从科学到人文:教育经济学研究范式转换

目前,科学范式是教育经济学研究的主要范式.由于科学标准的变化、经济学发展的人文转向和教育实践的发展,教育经济学研究的科学范式暴露出许多缺陷.教育经济学本质上属于人文经济学,其研究范式应该由科学范式转向人文范式.     

The Private Voice: Homeschooling,Hannah Arendt,and Political Education

What becomes of the political orientation of American education when children are educated in the home rather than in public schools? Homeschooling critics raise concerns over the larger consequences: political exit and even indoctrination. Drawing on a recent study of 62 interviews with 35 homeschooling families in 11 states in the USA, we offer a theoretical argument grounded in empirical observations and perceptions of homeschoolers themselves. Using the work of political theorist Hannah Arendt as a guide, we suggest that, contrary to critics’ claims of political exit over voice, homeschooling may provide the opportunity for some families to respond with a “private voice” that is politically robust because it is intentionally subversive to a (perceived) homogenous dominant culture. We thus argue that some homeschoolers offer an understanding of private life that is political without being “public,” and that they reconcile this irony by attempting to cultivate reflexive “thinking” in their children regarding questions of conformity, materialism, and plurality.     

人文素质教育是高等师范教育质量提升的保证

2011年在重庆举办的中国高等教育国际论坛上,众多专家围绕高等教育质量提升这一主题作了报告。回顾2002年论坛主题"人文教育与科学教育的融合",阅读了会议资料"国际视野,中国道路——十届高等教育国际论坛回顾与思考"和多位专家有关人文素质教育方面的文章后深刻的感受到:人文素质教育将是教育永恒的主题,提升高等教育质量必先提升大学生的人文素养,师范教育更应重视培养学生的人文素养,课外阅读是培养师范生人文素养的重要方式,参与校内外社会活动是培养实践能力的重要途径。     

A Model for Thinking About the Evaluation of Training

A model for thinking about training evaluation is proposed. The model consists of context and process factors on the one hand, and outcome factors on the other. Among context and process factors are basis of training, purpose of training, unit of productivity, data sources, kind of training, who is trained, and costs of training. Outcome factors include employee, customer, and corporate aspects. Assumptions of the model include a) that both corporatist and humanistic conceptions of training are to be viewed as valid, and b) that the term training is constrictive and probably should be replaced by the term education, which is more elastic. An impetus for the model is that work and workplaces are changing. How knowledge, skills, and orientations toward evaluation are utilized must be viewed somewhat more expansively than might have been appropriate under work conditions in “Tayloristic” times.