Toward a Hermeneutical Theory of International Human Rights Education

The purpose of this essay is to articulate and defend the epistemological foundations of international human rights education from the perspective of a hermeneutical interpretive methodology. Fuad Al‐Daraweesh and Dale Snauwaert argue here that this methodology potentially alleviates the challenges that face the cross‐cultural implementation of human rights education. While acknowledging the necessity of global human rights awareness, the authors maintain that local cultural conceptualization is imperative to the negotiated, local embrace of human rights. A critical, interpretive pedagogy emerges from grounding human rights education in a hermeneutic methodology. Thus, Al‐Daraweesh and Snauwaert advocate taking a hermeneutical approach in order to enlarge the scope and meaning of international human rights education.     

Religious tolerance in Oman: addressing religious prejudice through educational intervention

This paper examines the impact of a school‐based intervention entitled ‘Our Brothers and Sisters in Humanity’ on 10th grade female Omani students' religious tolerance. A questionnaire was administered before and after an intervention to a sample of 241 girls, of whom 116 were in the experimental group and 125 in the control group. A semi‐structured interview was conducted before and after the intervention with 16 participants, of whom 8 were from the experimental group and 8 from the control group. Analysis of the quantitative data in the postintervention round reveals that there are statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in favour of the experimental group in religious tolerance. Similarly the experimental group shows greater tolerance when compared to the control group in post‐intervention interviews. The study suggests that religion is one of the most salient components of Omani pupils' ‘identity’. The participants use religion to define their relations with, and determine their tolerance of, those who hold different religious beliefs. However, we conclude that education that capitalises on the perceived similarities between religions can be a means to suppress intolerance.     

The Implications of the Teacher Educator's Ideological Role for the English Language Teaching System in Oman

Teacher trainers/educators (the two terms will be used interchangeably) at the pre‐service level are important agents and influential raw models for their trainee teachers. They can contribute positively to the student teacher's socialization process via the progressive training modes they adopt, the informed decisions they make, the critical reflection and analytical thinking abilities they demonstrate, and the epistemic power and experience they possess and exhibit. In rigidly centralized and hegemonic educational systems, like Oman for instance, educators should be in a position to equip their prospective teachers with theoretical and practical tools to help them become efficient agents of change.     

DEMOGRAPHIC AND JOB SATISFACTION CHARACTERISTICS OF FLORIDA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY

The demographic and job satisfaction characteristics of Florida community college faculty were studied in Florida's 28 community colleges. A total of 1,116 faculty responded in the fall of 1977 to an instrument developed to measure faculty characteristics and attitudes.

The results showed that the Florida faculty is a satisfied faculty with over 95% reporting that they were satisfied with community college work as a career and with 72% stating that they plan to stay in the community college field until they retire. Second, it was found that faculty participation in in‐service training programs had increased significantly since 1968. In 1977‐1978, 69% of the faculty reported participation in one or more in‐service programs while the 1968 percentage was 37%.

It is concluded that periodic surveys in other community colleges and states similar to this one should provide useful information for the further development and improvement of community colleges.     

Developing Social Skills Training and Literacy Instruction Pedagogy Through Service Learning: An Integrated Model of Teacher Preparation

This mixed methods study reports on the perspectives of 143 preservice early childhood educators (ECE) and 208 elementary teacher candidates (TC) on teaching children with developmental disabilities and delays (DDD) in inclusive classrooms. A questionnaire was administered which included items on demographic characteristics, experience, knowledge, and feelings of competence when collaborating with colleagues and meeting the needs of students with DDD. Included was the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale short form (Tschannen-Moran &; Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). Qualitative data were collected through open-ended questions about successes and challenges in including children with DDD. Whenever applicable, items asked respondents to respond based on their most recent practicum in a child care or school setting. Similar findings were reported by both preservice ECE and elementary teacher candidates. TCs reported significantly greater experience, knowledge, and sense of efficacy in their teaching compared to ECEs, but no differences in feelings of competence. Analyses of open-ended questions about successes and challenges experienced by ECEs and TCs yielded similar themes related to differentiating teaching, enhancing participation for children, and collaborating, with TCs also expressing concerns about differentiating curriculum. Implications for early childhood and elementary teacher preparation programs are discussed.     

XML标记的语义

尽管 XML 文档类型定义提供了一种机器可读形式的、能够说明 XML 语言语法的机制,但目前并没有类似的机制来指定 XML 词汇表的具体语义。这意味着没办法说明 XML 标记的意义,由 XML 形式呈现的事实和关系无法清晰、全面和规范地定义。这在实践和理论上都引起了严重的后果。从积极的方面看,XML 结构能被赋予任意语义,并可用于最初的设计者无法预见的领域。从不太积极的方面来看,内容开发者和软件工程师必须依靠乏味的文档,或者更糟的情况是,只能依靠猜测标记语言设计者的意图来开展工作。这一过程既费时费力,又易出错,还无法核实验证。即便是设计者当初的建档工作做得相当完美,不如意的情况还是会发生。另外,对标记语义本质研究的匮乏也意味着属于工程应用领域的数字文档处理根本没有什么理论。尽管目前正在进行的一些工程（XML 模式、RDF、语义网）已经取得了一些成绩,但是这些工程都没有直接全面地解决XML 标记语义的核心问题。本文回顾了标记意义这个概念的发展历史,阐明了解释 XML 正式语义的动机,并介绍了一个研究语义的科研项目——BECHAMEL 标记语义计划。     

Attitudes of Secular and Religious Israeli Adolescents Towards Persons with Disabilities: a multidimensional analysis

Differences between religious and secular people in their attitudes towards persons with disabilities may originate in social-cultural factors, such as values and norms, as well as in personality factors like dogmatism. Since religious and secular people differ in these characteristics, it was expected that they would differ in their attitudes as well. Attitudes towards persons with disabilities reflect complex interpersonal and intrapersonal processes and therefore should be assessed with multidimensional measures. In the present study the attitudes of 83 religious and 51 secular Israeli adolescents were measured with Siller's Disability Factor Scale–General (DFS-G). The questionnaire included seven factors that reflect psychodynamic processes operating to protect the individual against the threat and anxiety associated with the presence of a person with a disability or even by the mere consideration of his/her condition. Level of dogmatism was measured as well. No differences in dogmatism were found between the two groups. Secular participants expressed more positive attitudes than religious participants on two attitude scales—Generalized Rejection and Authoritarian Virtuousness. These two scales express special, segregative, and unequal attitudes. The findings give some support to the claim that religious affiliation, even if it encourages care for persons with disabilities, is associated with segregation and attribution of unequal social status to these people.