Educators at Work in two Sectors of Adult and Vocational Education: an overview of two European Research projects

Adult learning staff play a key role in making lifelong learning a reality. It is they who facilitate learners to develop knowledge, skills and attributes. At the European level there is a lack of information about various aspects of the profession, such as who they are, how they are recruited, what their specific roles and tasks are, what competences and qualifications they are expected or required to possess, what their employment status is, how their professional development is organised, how they are assessed, and how attractive their profession is. This article is meant to bridge this gap and describes the variety of contexts in which adult learning staff are working. Furthermore, it seeks to reveal the factors that promote or affect the quality of the work provided by these practitioners and will address a number of issues that should be on the agenda of policy makers. This article is based on the outcomes of a study that have been carried out by an international research group in the period 2007 -2008, under guidance of Research voor Beleid and PLATO University Leiden under contract of the European Commission (DG Education and Culture).     

印度医学教育

印度医学院在近两百年的扩容之后,已成为全世界医学毕业生最多的国家.本文从医疗卫生保健、医学监管机构、公/私立医学教育、招生制度、本科教学及课程改革、教师发展等方面对印度医学教育进行系统回顾,找出问题所在及发展趋势.     

The Art of Writing in the Republic of Philosophy

The philosopher Richard Rorty once remarked that the genre of philosophy writing is an extended conversation that can be traced to the dialogues of Plato. All the foundational questions of philosophy can be found in ancient philosophy texts. The subsequent history of philosophy is a dialectic progression on these questions. I argue that reading the great works of philosophy and engaging in this conversation has something to teach us about autonomy, leadership and citizenship. Reading these works, and also great works of creative literature, nurtures the imagination and interiority, and cultivates perspective on world history, politics and culture. I first elaborate the genre and styles of philosophy writing and then argue for its relevance to a civic model of education.     

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Multidimensional Measurement Instrument of Professional Expertise

The aim of the present study was to determine the nature of the knowledge and skills related to professional expertise, and to develop means by which such expertise may be individually measured. An instrument was developed consisting of five different scales (with contents ranging from 12 to 19 items each), each reflecting one of five dimensions: knowledge, meta-cognitive knowledge, skills, social recognition, growth and flexibility. Participants were two different, but relevant, groups of raters: individual employees (N = 558) and their immediate supervisors (N = 454). The item-sets for both groups are nominally identical, except that the wording was adapted when necessary to suit one group or the other. The reliabilities of the developed scales were high with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.83 to 0.94, for both the self-ratings and the supervisor ratings. All five scales are homogeneous and distinctive as corroborated by Multitrait-Multimethod and LISREL analyses. Background and construction of the instrument are discussed at length and the instrument is appended in two versions: the original Dutch questionnaire and an English version.     

教育绩效的影响因素:来自比利时弗兰德语区的经验――荷语鲁汶大学Jan Van Damme教授专访

比利时是一个联邦制国家,由荷语区(Flanders,弗兰德语区)、法语区(Wallonia,瓦隆语区)和德语区构成。自1989年宪法颁布实施以后,每一个语区承担自己的文化和教育事务。国际教育评价组织(International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement)组织的六科成绩调查(Six Subject Survey)显示,弗兰德语区和瓦隆语区的教育质量在20世纪70年代处于旗鼓相当的水平。进入21世纪以后,弗兰德语区在各种国际学生评价中的表现均优于瓦隆语区。这种优势体现在各门学科(包括语言,数学和自然科学)和各个教育阶段(小学和中学)。与其他工业国家相比,弗兰德语区的学生在语言和数学两个学科处于领先水平,但是在自然科学学科上却处于落后水平。在本期的专家访谈中,我们将与Van Damme教授就弗兰德语区的中小学教育状况展开讨论。Van Damme教授是荷语鲁汶大学(KU Leuven)的荣修教授,他和他的团队长期致力于学生学业成绩和幸福感跟踪研究。