A Brief History of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (TEA)

The origins and development of the IEA are traced from its origins with a group of assessment professionals to its status as a major international organisation carrying out large‐scale educational surveys. The paper describes the people and the projects in its short history and looks at its future prospects.     

IMAGINATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CARE OF TOP ATHLETES

The way of life of top athletes imposes a burden exceeding the average not only on the biological but also on the psychological level. Apart from somatic problems, this may result in psychological disturbances which necessitate psychotherapeutic treatment. To achieve peak performance, both somatically and mentally superior levels of health and strength are needed. On the basis of this conviction, 50 first class young sportsmen were prepared over a period of 6–8 months, using procedures such as autogenic training, imaginative psychotherapy, imaginative mental training and training on altered states of consciousness.‐Results indicated that these athletes suffered fewer injuries, were less often absentfrom training, obtainedfewer competition results below their training performance and showed more frequent improvement of performance. These findings show that psychotherapeutic work with top athletes can be a useful part of their preparation.     

The radical transformations and deep continuities of a decade: Turkish educational policy, 1938–1950

Turkey witnessed many educational and cultural policy innovations between 1938 and 1950. Realising strictly secular practices against religion and traditional culture pre-1946, political elites of the time aimed to construct a humanistic culture unique to Turkey. Educational policies were considered the most efficient tools in reaching this ideal. Despite the adverse economic conditions of the time, western cultural institutions were adopted without reservation for modernisation. It was throughout the same time period that a number of other innovative projects such as the village institutes, western translations, new journals, Turkish encyclopaedism, and physical education for the entire public were undertaken. However, as these developments were devoid of a solid historical and sociological foundation, they were forced to change under the new world order post-1945. Despite the changing perspectives on religion, history and cultural life, the policies of the ?smet ?nönü era succeeded in carrying the heritage of the Kemalist era to our day. The true dynamics behind this success are the educational practices of the 1940s and their formal and hidden curricula and rituals.     

塔吉克族伦理思想管窥

塔吉克族是一个富有道德情感和道德传统的民族。他们在长期的生产活动和社会活动中形成了带有自己民族特点的伦理思想和道德观念。文章主要对塔吉克族的人生礼仪、婚姻家庭、宗教信仰、谚语传说,以及塔吉克族人传统的爱国思想等方面的伦理思想和道德观念进行了提炼和概述,从中可大致对塔吉克族伦理思想窥其一斑。塔吉克族是一个勤劳智慧的民族,其伦理道德思想和道德观念不论是在过去还是在现在抑或是将来,对该民族的生存和发展都具有重要的意义。同时,塔吉克族伦理思想也是中国伦理思想的有机组成部分之一。     

Research in Educational and Vocational Guidance in the Nordic Countries: Current Trends

The Nordic countries have followed slightly different, yet complementary paths in terms of research in guidance. The balance between studies in guidance based on sociology, psychology, and even ethnology varies according to the research focus and tradition in each of the Nordic countries. This article covers main Nordic guidance research issues with characteristic examples from the various countries under the headings of Structures, Contents, and Values. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Self-regulation advantage for high-IQ children: Findings from a research study

Current approaches in intelligence research indicate the need for a more extensive determination of characteristics of children with possible giftedness, not only at an intellectual level, but also at the level of self-regulation and motivation. The present study compares self-regulation efficiency between high-IQ and average-ability children aged 6 to 11 years using a computerized task: The ‘Self-regulation and concentration test for children’ [SRTC, Kuhl, J. & Kraska, K. (1993). Self-regulation: Psychometric properties of a computer-aided instrument. The German Journal of Psychology, 17, 11–24]. Results show that high-IQ children have better self-regulatory abilities than a comparable group of average-ability children. In addition, self-regulation efficiency is related to working memory and action orientation (i.e., self-motivation). It is concluded that the assessment of self-regulation is important both for the research and practice related to children with high intellectual ability.     

Effectiveness of a school-based multicomponent program for the treatment of children with ADHD

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a multicomponent program for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) carried out by teachers in a classroom context. Dependent measures included neuropsychological tasks, behavioral rating scales for parents and teachers, direct observation of behavior in the classroom, and academic records of children with ADHD. Fifty children with ADHD participated in the study. The teachers of 29 of the 50 students were trained in the use of behavior modification techniques, cognitive behavior strategies, and instructional management strategies. The other 21 students formed the control group. Parents' and teachers'ratings detected improvements in primary symptoms (inattention-disorganization, hyperactivity-impulsivity) and in behavioral difficulties usually associated with ADHD (e.g., antisocial behavior, psychopathological disorders, anxiety). Furthermore, the results showed increased academic scores, enhanced classroom behavioral observations, and improved teachers' knowledge about the strategies directed toward responding to the children's educational needs.     

The PISA Tasks: Unveiling Prospective Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Difficulties with Contextual,Conceptual, and Procedural Knowledge

The aim of this mixed methods study was to investigate the difficulties prospective elementary mathematics teachers have in solving the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 released items. A mathematics test consisting of 26 PISA items was administered, followed by interviews. Multiple data were utilized to provide rich insights into the types of mathematical knowledge that a particular item requires and prospective teachers’ difficulties in using these knowledge types. A sample of 52 prospective teachers worked the mathematics test, and 12 of them were interviewed afterwards. The data-sets were complementary: the quantitative data showed that PISA items could be categorized under contextual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge and indicated the most frequent difficulties in the combined contextual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge items. The qualitative data revealed that few prospective teachers could give mathematical explanations for conceptual knowledge items, and that their contextual knowledge was fragmented. Educational implications were discussed.