Curriculum analysis and education for sustainable development in Iceland

The article explores how the Icelandic public school curriculum for early childhood, compulsory and upper secondary school deals with education for sustainable development. As the curriculum does not often mention the term sustainability, a key with which to investigate signs of education for sustainable development in the three curricula was created. The key encourages a holistic view of sustainable development, where economic, environmental and social factors are not treated as separate entities. It was designed to reflect the goals of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) with research on environmental education and education for sustainable development in mind. The key has seven characteristics: values, opinions and emotions about nature and environment; knowledge contributing to a sensible use of nature; welfare and public health; democracy, participation, and action competence; equality and multicultural issues; global awareness; and finally, economic development and future prospects. Using the key, a variety of signs and indicators that provide a space for teachers and schools to deal with issues of sustainable development were identified.     

The Incredible Years Parent Program for Chinese Preschoolers With Developmental Disabilities

Research Findings: The objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of Incredible Years Basic Parent Training (IYPT Basic) in a community clinic setting in Hong Kong. IYPT Basic is a Western program developed to promote children’s academic, social, and emotional regulation skills and to reduce conduct problems among typically developing children. The program has not been tested in non-Western cultures, where the challenges for parents of children with developmental disabilities can be different. The IYPT Basic was adapted slightly to accommodate cultural characteristics in Hong Kong. Parents of 52 preschoolers with developmental disabilities were randomly assigned to either the IYPT Basic or a waitlist control. Parent and child dyads were assessed before and after the 12-week intervention/waitlist period via self-reports and spouse/kin reports and videotape coding by observers blind to the intervention/waitlist status. Significant intervention benefits included (a) increase in positive and reciprocal parent –child interaction, (b) reduction in parental stress, and (c) decrease in oppositional behavior among the children. The parents’ attendance, satisfaction, and homework compliance was high. Practice or Policy: IYPT Basic, when implemented with cultural sensitivity, can be effective for —and well received by—Chinese parents of preschoolers with developmental disabilities in a community setting.     

An assessment of the role of Hong Kong schools in promoting civic learning

Hong Kong underwent tremendous changes after the transfer of its sovereignty to China in 1997. This study attempts to explore the changing role of schools in preparing students for future democratic citizenship in the post-colonial era. Different researchers have postulated that schools play a crucial role in the political socialization process in meeting the developmental needs of adolescents. A mixed-method sequential explanatory research design was adopted to assess the effectiveness of Hong Kong schools in promoting civic learning. The significance of the present study was to analyse the school context by using the assessment framework from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study (CivEd) to generate citizenship education studies. An extensive review of research related to the role of schools through formal and informal curricula was conducted. This process helped extend the current understanding of the effectiveness of the political socialization in secondary schools in Hong Kong and contributed to the further development of the research on political socialization in the Chinese context. The findings from this study would help educators or policy makers rethink the future role of schools in citizenship education.     

When Multicultural Education Is Not Enough

In the face of rising white nationalism, multicultural education is simply not enough. In addition to suggestions for curriculum and instruction, in this article the author suggests that teachers, parents, administrators, and students need to be organizing to push back against this tide of racism, sexism, and xenophobia and find ways to concretely support their students and communities.     

批判教育学中的政治、理论与现实(下)

编者按:究竟如何理解英美的批判教育学思潮,尤其是近年来其阵营内部存在纷纷攘攘、似大有碎片化的趋势,本刊特约请当代批判教育学的代表人物之一,世界知名学者、教育思想家阿普尔教授,加州州立大学助理教授韦恩·欧,对批判教育学的历史、目前内部不同取向间的分歧以及在当代保守主义复兴语境中所面临的挑战和应对策略,予以全面的梳理和分析.批判教育学对于中国教育学界并不陌生,但是,对于它的历史缘起、理论全貌和时代境遇,我们少有系统和整体的关注.本文之于我们的价值不仅在于可略补此憾,更重要的是,它会启发我们反思,在中国时下教育改革的潮流中,我们的教育、政治、文化和经济内涵是什么?教育在社会的现实变革、社会的发展远景中,究竟应该扮演什么角色?因本文篇幅较长,故分上篇、下篇两次刊发,敬请读者谅解.     

Changing the Learning Environment to Enhance Students' Metacognition in Hong Kong Primary School Classrooms

This study reports on the impact of a 2-month classroom intervention that sought to alter the learning environment of two Hong Kong Primary Year 3 general studies classrooms. Mixed methodology, employing quantitative and qualitative data-gathering strategies, was used to investigate changes to the learning environments, including changes to the teachers' language and ultimately the students' metacognition. The quantitative facet of the research involved the development of a 15-item learning environments instrument, the General Studies Metacognitive Orientation Scale (GSMOS), that evaluated elements of the metacognitive orientation of the classrooms' learning environments. While the data from the administration of the GSMOS suggested no statistical differences between the pre- and post-intervention environments of the classrooms, student interviews and classroom observations provided supportive data for some changes, which resulted in students developing metacognitive knowledge of teacher-selected thinking and learning strategies, as well as some awareness and limited control of their use of such strategies in their classrooms.     

Helping mothers discuss sexuality and AIDS with adolescents

The current study was designed to alter experimentally mothers' style when discussing sexuality and AIDS with their adolescent children. Mothers of 11- to 15-year-olds (N = 50) were assigned to an intervention or control group, resulting in 20 dyads in each group. All dyads were assessed twice, on self-reported and observed communication, AIDS knowledge, and perceived vulnerability to AIDS. Intervention group mothers received two training sessions. Observational data revealed that intervention group mothers reduced their amount of speaking, asked more open-ended questions, acted less judgmental, and discussed dating and sexuality more than did control group mothers. Intervention group adolescents reported increased discussions of birth control and increased daily comfort talking to their mothers. There was some evidence that intervention group girls increased in AIDS knowledge. There was no change in AIDS-related beliefs.     

Towards a Causal Model of Learned Hopelessness for Hong Kong Adolescents

Understanding students’ learned hopelessness and academic self-esteem is important because the sense of controllability and competence perception can predict deficits in achievement-oriented behaviours and achievement performance. A survey was conducted to examine the role of learned hopelessness and academic self-esteem in academic achievement. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the mediational roles of learned hopelessness and academic self-esteem in the academic achievement of 165 Hong Kong junior secondary students. The findings implied that learned hopelessness and academic self-esteem are distinct constructs which play separate mediational roles between prior academic failure and academic achievement. However, the model comparisons indicated that there was no direct effect of learned hopelessness on academic self-esteem or vice versa.     

Academic risk factors and deficits of learned hopelessness: a longitudinal study of Hong Kong secondary school students

The aim of the present study is to explore a causal model of academic achievement and learning‐related personal variables by testing the nature of relationships between learned hopelessness, its risk factors and hopelessness deficits as proposed in major theories in this area. The model investigates affective–motivational characteristics of students such as prior academic failures, academic attributional style, self‐efficacy, thoughts about intelligence, school values, learned hopelessness, self‐esteem, learning strategy effectiveness and academic achievement, and the relationships among them. A sample of 741 Hong Kong secondary students completed a series of scales over a school year. As expected, prior achievement was the best predictor of subsequent achievement. The next best predictors were perceived learning difficulties and learned hopelessness. This in turn leads to disengagement from schooling and students taking on most responsibility for their failing. Recommendations for teachers and schools to ameliorate these beliefs may redress the move towards hopelessness.     

Reformulating the depression model of learned hopelessness for academic outcomes

This review explores developments in the construct of learned hopelessness, which originated in the clinical literature dealing with depression. In that context, the model developed by Abramson, Metalsky, and Alloy [Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I., & Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theory-based subtype of depression. Psychological Review, 96, 358–372] has been particularly influential. The purpose of this review is to reformulate this model in the context of academic outcomes and to consider its relevance to learning and achievement. As a means of specifying the variables and paths in the reformulated model of academic learned hopeless, correlates from relevant motivational theories and research, including value-expectancy, self-efficacy, and learning strategies, will be considered.