Tertiary education in the Czech Republic: the pathway to change

This article analyzes recent policy proposals to reform Czech tertiary education. A brief overview of the evolution of Czech tertiary education presents the background against which emerging policy trends in education are examined. We relate the changes in tertiary education to the policy framework and recommendations of the OECD, underpinned by the ideology of neoliberal globalization. Finally, we discuss some issues that the Czech government is encountering while trying to implement its new policies in tertiary education and the consequences these policies may have on Czech tertiary education, academia and students.     

Six Hundred Years of Czech Literature in The New York Public Library: From Hus to Havel

Six hundred years of Czech writing are documented in The New York Public Library's The New York Public Library. 1988. The Treasures of The New York Public Library, New York: H. N. Abrams.  [Google Scholar] holdings. The article shows how ideas traveled from century to century in the Czech lands and who transmitted those ideas. Examples from the collection are presented.     

European Romanies: A Collaborative Educational Program at the University of Florida Libraries

The article describes a collaborative library‐museum partnership that created an educational program about European Romanies for the University of Florida community in conjunction with International Roma Day. Partners in this endeavor were the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Library and the Museum of Romani Culture in the Czech Republic. The authors hope that this record will be helpful for others wishing to stage similar projects.     

New Documents on the History of the Russian Historical Archive Abroad in Prague

The article discusses a newly-discovered collection of administrative documents and correspondence from the Russkii zagranichnyi istoricheskii arkhiv [Russian Historical Archive Abroad], which was active 1924–1945. The collection is housed in the Slavonic Library in Prague. It is important for both the history of the archive itself and the history of the Russian emigration. An inventory list of the collection is now available on the library's Web site.     

Citizen Havel and the Construction of Czech Presidentiality

Václav Havel had two eventful terms as the first democratic president of the Czech Republic. The documentary Citizen Havel is one rhetorical artifact that captures the way a new democracy and its attendant executive power is constructed consciously in real time in a political culture where such a tradition has largely not existed. Culled from ten years of fly-on-the-wall-style footage, Citizen Havel captures the tensions between the constitutional expectations of the Czech presidency and Havel's own extraconstitutional interpretations of executive power. Ultimately, this essay argues that Citizen Havel is one influential representation of how Czech “presidentiality” during the post-communist transition was built from the inventional resources of a range of rhetorical and historical materials, such as the Czechoslovakian interwar period, the long influence of totalitarianism and the dissident culture that challenged it, the examples of “Western” presidential rhetoric, and even European monarchical traditions.     

捷克音乐文化的推动者——德沃夏克

德沃夏克是捷克民族乐派的重要代表人物,被誉为＂捷克三杰＂之一。如果说斯美塔那是捷克民族音乐的始祖,亚纳切克是后起之秀,那么德沃夏克被称为捷克民族音乐的推动者和充实者是不足为过的。他为捷克音乐走向欧洲,迈向世界做出了卓越的贡献。     

Teacher and parental views on inclusive education policy lending in the Czech Republic

In international education policy articulations by organisations such as the UNESCO, inclusive education is defined rather vaguely, usually in terms of human rights. Yet, national reception it is more or less taken for granted. Analyses of policy lending show that when national education traditions are not respected, the lack of clarity about the concrete form of inclusion is further augmented by resistance to a foreign import. Taking the example of the implementation of inclusive education in the Czech Republic, a secondary analysis of survey results on responses from teachers and parents is presented. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of the reactions of two groups of actors who have had only a marginal involvement in preparing the implementation of inclusion; specifically, teachers at ordinary schools and parents of pupils with special education needs. Teachers are critical of inclusion, which they regard as special care for individual pupils with special education needs. It is only in schools which have lengthy experience with integration that a transformation of the school culture and the teaching profession in the direction of greater teamwork has taken place. The imperative of inclusion coming from above is regarded more as interference with what is a spontaneous development. The view of parents to pupils with special education needs was that systemic support to inclusion was lacking. Parents are forced to be intermediaries between other actors, but often do not have enough information and are not respected by teachers as experts on their children.     

Periodicals of Ethnic Minorities in Poland

ABSTRACT

The article examines the most important periodicals of ethnic minorities in Poland. After 1989, many ethnic groups (e.g., Germans and Romanies) were allowed to publish journals and newspapers for the first time since the end of World War II. The publications examined show the rich cultural life of the various ethnic groups as well as their current status in Poland. In addition to popular titles, some scholarly publications are also discussed.     

捷克奥洛穆茨州全纳教育支持系统的调查研究

本研究以自行编制的调查问卷和访谈提纲作为研究工具,对捷克奥洛穆茨州的全纳教育支持系统现状进行了调查研究。结果发现:通过实施全纳导向的教育政策,为全纳教育提供必要的支持、规定参与全纳教育教师的任职资格和培训、转变特殊教育学校角色等方面的努力,一个相对系统和健全的全纳教育支持系统已经建立和运转起来了。但是,传统的社会观念、政府经费支持、普通教师的专业成长、对特殊儿童家庭的财政和培训支持以及特殊儿童家长在全纳教育中的参与等问题仍然是捷克奥洛穆茨州全纳教育发展过程中亟需解决的问题。     

Structural embeddedness of students’ professional expectations: the Czech Republic and Taiwan in comparative perspective

Abstract

We compare the role of gender, socioeconomic background and measured ability on students’ secondary school placement and professional expectations in Taiwan and the Czech Republic, two countries that have experienced substantial reforms in their educational systems in the context of political change and economic development. Using data from the international PISA 2006 survey of 15-year-olds, our analysis reveals that Czech academic upper-secondary schools are much more selective in terms of socioeconomic background and gender than comparable Taiwanese senior high schools. Controlling for measured ability and other factors, students’ professional expectations are also more closely linked to socioeconomic background and gender in the Czech Republic than in Taiwan.