The impact of environmental factors on components of reading and dyslexia

Data from 123 male adults were analyzed to estimate environmental influences on components of literacy skills and to explore the impact of environmental factors in different approaches to define reading difficulty. Literacy skills were decomposed into general cognitive function, reading comprehension, spelling, word reading, and phonological ability. Environmental factors examined were related to home conditions, school conditions, and literacy environment. Results suggest that there is a substantial social-cultural bias in the delineation of literacy skills and in the definitions of reading disabilities. Results also suggest that phonological ability constitutes the only measure relatively unaffected by environmental influences. This study has brought forward a new argument for emphasizing phonological deficits as the core component in defining dyslexia.     

The German dual system of initial vocational education and training and its potential for transfer to Asia

Germany has a “dual system” of initial vocational education and training, one that other countries admire and would like to adopt. Can it hand this model over to them? This article argues that doing so will require far more than a simple process of copying. Instead, any transfer must reflect the existing conditions in the country adopting the system, and must be adapted to its unique social, cultural, and economic objectives. In addition, though the dual system can serve as a model, no other country can implement the dual system as a whole, or components one by one. Instead, it must use five constitutive elements in order to transfer the dual spirit of the German model appropriately. The article ends by describing some considerations that apply to the transfer process and reviews some German projects that transferred the system to countries in Asia.     

Social and intellectual dimensions of entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is above all the ability to perceive opportunities and to tap resources necessary to exploit them. In defining entrepreneurship as ability, one accentuates the fact that it does not have to be equally distributed among people. It can be both learned and taught. However, it should be learned and taught because what is intended is the development of a special capacity. Not only is the skill to see opportunities (in other words to recognize possibilities unseen by others) developed, but so too is the competence (or power) to tap resources necessary to exploit them. A successful entrepreneur not only needs sufficient skill to recognize emerging future patterns (which is the essence of opportunity detection), but also the aptitude to figure out whether or not and how he or she is able to tap the necessary resources. None of these factors can be absent—neither opportunity nor resources. They should be observed and reflected upon simultaneously.     

Mind the gap: Dewey on educational bridge‐building

This is the first of four commentaries discussing John Dewey's short essay, ‘Education as engineering’. The essay provides a fascinating model of how the example of engineering could guide the interaction between educational research and practice. It has much in common with Herbart's ideas on how ‘pedagogical tact’ bridges the gap between theory and practice. Re‐introducing both Dewey and Herbart's ideas could help to overcome the current naivity of ‘evidence‐based’ school improvement.