素质教育与儿童文学

儿童文学素养在中小学素质教育中占有重要地位。素质教育与儿童文学之间存在着密不可分的联系。提高儿童文学素养,不但是学生的任务、中小学语文教师的职责,而且是全民实施素质教育的重要保障。     

Making sense of the glass ceiling in schools: an exploration of women teachers’ discourses

There is extensive evidence of a ‘glass ceiling’ for women across the labour market. Though schools have widely been described as ‘feminized’ work environments, the under‐representation of women at school management level is well established. Based on a study of women teachers’ careers and promotion in the English school sector (in early years, primary and secondary schools), this paper draws on a critical discourse analysis of 44 individual interviews conducted with women teachers to explore their views of the ‘glass ceiling’. Despite significant evidence of the barriers to management positions faced by women teachers, interpretative frameworks drawing on discourses of individualization and personal choice are most prominent among these to make sense of the low proportion of women in school management. However, the paper also identifies the existence of alternative discourses recognizing the existence of gender inequalities.     

Global Crisis: Local reality?: An international analysis of ‘crisis’ in the early years

Abstract

In a recent keynote speech Paul Standish noted ‘there is agreement in judgments. But how the response to those judgments is realised is always cultural’ (paper presented to PESA Conference, Taiwan, 2012, p. 2). Making judgments about what constitutes ‘crisis’ for children is not necessarily agreed universally, though clearly there are some commonalities across many countries, as evident in United Nations on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) agreements. This article examines the local rhetoric and reality of ‘crisis’ for children in countries across the world. What constitutes a crisis for children, and how this plays out in the contexts of nine countries is explored by the authors based on the insights of each countries’ (OMEP) (www.omep.org.gu.se) Chapter representatives. Policies will be juxtaposed with provision based on the experiences of OMEP members reporting from their various contexts. Taken together they provide a contextualised perspective on ‘crisis’ and its relationship to a non-absolutist foundation to children’s rights. The article concludes that what constitutes crisis from a global perspective warrants consideration in the context of local reality—in this locale the concept of every child as having access to ‘rights’ is far from realisation.     

In pursuit of quality: early childhood qualifications and training policy

This paper aims to critique policy discourses around the pursuit of quality in early years education. Taking England as a focal point, it problematizes the use of the term ‘quality’ and attempts to standardise its meaning; highlighting the disconnect that exists between policy and practice. The paper combines discourse analysis of a small number of key government documents with a series of interviews with early years stakeholders in order to identify issues that will have resonance and can inform a much needed continuation of debates about what quality might mean. Over the course of the research it became apparent that there was considerable disquiet amongst early years practitioners with regards the current qualifications and training landscape, particularly with regards to what many viewed as ideologically-driven policy-making, not informed by proper dialogue with the sector.     

Student learning of early embryonic development via the utilization of research resources from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

This study was undertaken to gain insights into undergraduate students' understanding of early embryonic development, specifically, how well they comprehend the concepts of volume constancy, cell lineages, body plan axes, and temporal and spatial dimensionality in development. To study student learning, a curriculum was developed incorporating resources from the Caenorhabditis elegans research community. Students engaged in a preactivity assessment, followed by instructional materials (IMs) emphasizing inquiry-based learning and a postinstruction assessment to gauge their learning. This study, conducted at two research sites with eight and nine students, respectively, shows that before instruction, most students confused embryonic cell cleavage, where total volume is constant, with regular cell division, in which total cell volume doubles. Despite their ability to construct a cell lineage tree, most of the study participants were not aware of its biological significance. All students correctly identified cells of anterior and posterior axis, but not cells of the dorsal and ventral axis. Although the students had no difficulty with the time dimensional aspect of development, most viewed an embryo as spatially two-dimensional rather than three-dimensional. Furthermore, this study indicates that combining authentic research resources with inquiry-based learning benefits student learning of key concepts in embryology.     

Private Agricultural Extension System in Kenya: Practice and Policy Lessons

Abstract

Private extension system has been at the centre of a debate triggered by inefficient public agricultural extension. The debate is anchored on the premise that the private sector is more efficient in extension service delivery. This study evaluates the private extension system in Kenya. It employs qualitative and quantitative methods. The results indicate that the private extension is skewed towards high potential regions because it is either driven by profits or quick results. The private system benefits from the public extension staff, thus some form of commercial contracting of public staff to serve the private systems is appropriate. Public extension should not overlap in the areas efficiently served by the private system. The government should consider contracting the private sector to deliver extension to neglected areas. The government has a role in extension services funding, quality control, arbitration, monitoring and in provision of quality infrastructure to lower private sector players’ costs.     

Educational/Instructional Media

Sheila Mahony, Nick DeMartino, and Robert Stengel's Keeping PACE with the New Television (New York: VNU Books International, 1980---price not given, paper)

Don Agostino and Jayne Zenaty's "Home VCR Owner's Use of Television and Public Television: Viewing, Recording & Playback" (CPB, 1980---free on request, paper)

The Communications Revolution and the Education of Americans (Council on Learning, NBW Tower, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801---$6.95, paper)

Ted Carpenter's Calling the Tune: Communication Technology for Working, Learning, and Living (National Institute for Work and Learning, Suite 301 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington 20036---$12.00, paper)

The Economics of New Educational Media: Vol 2, Cost and Effectiveness (Paris: Unesco/New York: Unipub, 1980---$18.00, paper)

A Guide to Rules and Regulations for Public Radio (National Federation of Community Broadcasters, 1000 11th St. NW (3rd floor), Washington, D.C. 20001---$50.00, loose-leaf format in notebook)     

The Effects of Study Tasks in a Computer-Based Chemistry Learning Environment

The present study examines the effects of different study tasks on the acquisition of knowledge about acids and bases in a computer-based learning environment. Three different task formats were selected to create three treatment conditions: learning with gap-fill and matching tasks, learning with multiple-choice tasks, and learning only from text and figures without any additional tasks. Participants were 196 ninth-grade students who learned with a self-developed multimedia program in a pretest–posttest control group design. Research results reveal that gap-fill and matching tasks were most effective in promoting knowledge acquisition, followed by multiple-choice tasks, and no tasks at all. The findings are in line with previous research on this topic. The effects can possibly be explained by the generation–recognition model, which predicts that gap-fill and matching tasks trigger more encompassing learning processes than multiple-choice tasks. It is concluded that instructional designers should incorporate more challenging study tasks for enhancing the effectiveness of computer-based learning environments.