‘Extended Schools’: an exploration of the feelings,beliefs and intentions of parents and teachers

This research is designed to provide information for participants, facilitators and policy makers in the area of Extended Schools. Its salient purpose is to investigate and examine the feelings, beliefs and attitudes of teachers and parents involved in the development of the Extended Schools project in Northern Ireland. The Extended Schools project was formally launched by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State on 7 March 2006, and aims to provide a wide range of services and activities in school with the intention of helping to meet the needs of children, their families and the wider community. The qualitative approach was deemed the most appropriate methodology for gathering data.     

Heritage education in the Primary School Standard Curriculum of Malaysia

Due to the importance of education for sustainable heritage preservation, it is imperative to pay attention to how heritage is taught in the education system. As a multicultural country with a rich cultural heritage, Malaysia is home to four world heritage sites. This paper investigates Malaysia's new primary school curriculum to determine to what extent the core curriculum cultivates an awareness of and sense of respect for heritage. The results reveal a focus on Malaysian intangible cultural heritage in some core subjects, such as history, Bahasa Malaysia, art, and music education.     

Social relations as predictors of achievement in math in Kenyan primary schools

In sub-Saharan Africa, where there is limited financial and human capital, it is important to examine how social relationships may serve to promote or undermine human capital formation. However, little is known about the contributions of social relations to human capital development, especially in terms of academic achievement in Africa. This study examined how variations in key aspects of social relations among teachers; between teachers and students; between principals, teachers, parents and students affect achievement in mathematics among sixth graders in 70 schools in six districts in Kenya. We modeled mathematics achievement as a function of measures of social perception and support while adjusting for school-, classroom- and student level background characteristics. We found that net of teacher subject knowledge and background characteristics, teachers who display commitment to teaching by always correcting homework and keeping students engaged during math lessons had their students performing better. Teacher absenteeism and lack of interest in teaching were negatively associated with performance in math. Lack of parental involvement in the classroom also had negative effects on grades. At the school level, the level of engagement of the principal, measured by supervision of teachers and good interpersonal interactions with parents had positive effects on math achievement. Schools where parents provided material and financial support had better grades, while student delinquency and absenteeism negatively affected grades.     

Teachers' perspectives of changes in their practice during a technology in mathematics education research project

Teachers' perception of changes to their teaching practice, with respect to digital technology use in secondary school mathematics, during their participation in a research project are reported. Two case studies are presented of teacher perspectives illustrative of the range of perceived changes teachers made to their practice and positions along the ‘path of change’ during their participation in the project. Participating in a project supportive of teacher change and resulting in perception of substantial change was necessary, but not sufficient, to meet the goal of transformative use of digital technologies to increase the level of cognitive demand experienced by students.     

System-wide improvement of early-grade mathematics: New evidence from the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy

This article reports on a two-year evaluation of the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy (GPLMS), an innovative system-wide reform intervention designed to improve learning outcomes in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Using data from universal testing of all learners in 2008 on a provincial systemic evaluation, as well as data from the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Annual National Assessment tests, this article investigates whether or not the GPLMS improves the numeracy skills of learners in early-grade mathematics in underperforming schools. Using as identification strategy, the natural experiment that resulted from a miscalculation of the provincial systemic evaluation test scores in 2008, which had been used to assign schools to the GPLMS intervention, the study shows that the GPLMS intervention is positively associated with improvements in early-grade mathematics performance of schools in the neighbourhood around the assignment threshold. The findings of the study contribute to the growing body of knowledge that shows the effectiveness of combining lesson plans, learner resources, and quality teacher capacity building.     

金克木晚年散文的核心言说对象——文化

晚年的金克木把笔触深入到文化的层面，通过对历史与现今文化的回顾、比较及分析，对我们民族文化的精神进行挖掘与展望。金克木喜欢对历史人物重新进行议论，而他的评价与我们所熟悉的历史定位往往不同，而且有的人物还是我们所不熟悉的，金克木对他们的评价总以一个统一的标准来衡量，那就是文化意义。因为金克木的写作目的很明确，为时下的中国文化乃至世界文化把脉。     

对优化初等教育(汉语言)课程体系的几点思考

本文根据初等教育（汉语言）专业人才培养目标和人才规格，确立维吾尔语言表达能力和小学数学（汉语）教学能力为该专业的两项重要技能，并以此修订教学计划，构建初等教育课程体系。     

“为人师表”的合理范畴论析

为人师表是教师职业道德的基本要求。教师为人师表,应该有具体的时空范畴和行为范畴,而不应当把它泛化到教师的所有行为和一切时空环境。这既是对作为教师的人的尊重,也是教师专业化建设中不可忽视的“技术”问题。