Helping Muslim boys succeed: the case for history education

Recent research suggests that Muslim boys have become the ‘New Folk Devils’ of British education, who are characterised by resistance to formal education, especially at secondary level, and under-achievement. Since the 1990s, British Muslim boys would appear to have become increasingly alienated from compulsory schooling, especially in the humanities subjects which lack obvious instrumental value.

This mixed-methods study of the performance of 295 secondary school British Muslim boys in their compulsory school history provides evidence which interrupts this narrative of the academic under-achievement and educational dis-engagement of Muslim boys, especially in the humanities subjects. When viewed through the prism of a laminated, non-reductive model of educational success, this indicative sample of British Muslim boys could be considered to have had significant success at a traditional humanities subject such as history intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, instrumentally and civically.

This paper therefore proposes that history can provide a vital meaning-making tool to generate the success of Muslim boys in a variety of significant dimensions both in and out of school. It suggests how history can be more fully and effectively harnessed by teachers, parents and policy-planners to encourage internal integration and external social engagement in British Muslim pupils.     

浸润空气的温情——浅析影片《桃姐》

当今商业大片充斥电影市场,许鞍华导演的影片《桃姐》似一缕清新之风,让叙述隐于生活,以平实自然的叙事手法与平和冷静接纳生活的态度,塑造出一对凌驾于母子、主仆关系之上的含蓄温情、亲切动人的人物形象,使观众于最平实的生活记录中寻找记忆中的影子,于平静体味生命的进程,让我们在商业气息浓重的今天为情所动。影片以一种相对隐忍克制的镜头语言,还原电影记录现实生活的本质,还原生活本来的面目,通过润物细无声的情感让观众自己去体会人与人之间的那份亲情与感恩,感而不伤,温情涌动。     

“爱”与美”的胜利——论王统照七幕话剧《死后之胜利》

王统照1925年发表的七幕话剧剧本《死后之胜利》讴歌了"爱"与"美"的思想及为"爱"与"美"献身的艺术家,暴露了黑暗的现实,鞭挞了假、恶、丑,也表现了爱情婚姻和个性解放等社会问题。它通过以现实主义为主,以浪漫主义、象征主义为辅的相协调的创作方法,塑造了剧中人鲜明的人物形象和发展性格;通过不断的冲突和悬念达到高潮,形成递进式的上升结构。它的语言既有典雅精炼的传统风格,又有强烈的现代气息。它受到王尔德《莎乐美》的影响,但又避免了唯美主义。它的局限性主要是对"爱"与"美"的表现太理性化。但在20世纪20年代中国现代戏剧的开创期,还是唯一的七幕写实浪漫象征悲剧,特别是它对演员表演神态的舞台指示的实践和理论是一大贡献。     

Learner agency and the curriculum: a critical realist perspective

Abstract

Agency, understood as the capacity to act independently and to make one’s own choices, is considered central to children’s development. Thus, education, and hence education curricula, have a role in the development of learner agency. While curriculum development is a key focus for educational theory, research, policy, and classroom practice, the potential implications of curriculum content selections for learner agency remain underexplored. Theoretically, this paper engages with critical realism, explaining how it can provide theoretical foundation for a more comprehensive view of learner agency and, by implication, more balanced curricula. Empirically, the paper draws on the findings from a content analysis of the national curriculum documents of four countries with relatively high scores in international comparative tables, England, Australia, Hong-Kong, and Canada, to develop a new typology of primary curricula. Based on the extent of emphasis placed on knowledge versus skills, values, and attitudes, three types of curricula were identified: knowledge-based, skills-oriented, and learner-centred. Due to its significant theoretical and practical influence globally, we focus on the knowledge-based model and its likely impact on students’ agency. We conclude by highlighting the importance of making learner agency a key orientation of the curriculum and suggesting directions for future research.     

Building life world connections during school booktalk

In criticisms of children's literature, notions of 'fantasy' and 'realism' are pivotal. In school 'booktalk' conversations pupils referred to what is 'real' in three different ways: (i) by referring to feelings of or semblance to 'real' life, (ii) by invoking shared facts and (iii) by making references to personal experiences. In cases when teachers or pupils initiated so-called text-to-life or real world connections, two types of dilemmas occurred. First, engagement was at times bought at the cost of quite literal reader responses. At other times, engagement was accomplished at the price of intrusiveness. There was, thus, a delicate balance between life world references, on the one hand, and literal readings or intrusion, on the other. Moreover, students sometimes resisted life world probing, but volunteered privileged information about their parents, displaying different notions from teachers about legitimate information in a school context.     

From Environmental Education to Ecopolitics. Affirming Changing Agendas for Teachers1

In this paper I examine Peirce's epistemological and ontological theories and indicate their relevance to educational practice. I argue that Peirces conception of Firsts, Seconds and Thirds entails a fundamental ontological realism. I further argue that Peirce does have a theory of truth, that it is a particular non‐traditional ‘correspondence’ theory, consistent with, and implicit in, an over‐arching position of pragmatic realism. Peirce's epistemological position is subject to misinterpretation when the ontological realism on which it rests is overlooked. Finally I suggest that such a re‐consideration of Peirce's pragmatic ontology and epistemology in an educational context is needed.     

层次分析与国际政治结构理论

层次分析是国际关系研究中的一种重要方法。华尔兹的结构现实主义和温特的建构主义从总体上都采用了体系层次分析方法,同时存在着一些差异;在体系层次上,对影响"结构"的自变量选择上完全不同,从而形成了两种不同的国际政治结构理论。华尔兹和温特的理论对于构建国际政治理论有所裨益。     

白居易诗中的女性形象分析

白居易是我国唐代伟大的现实主义诗人。现存诗作2806首,其中妇女诗共有130多首。他把现实主义的笔触深入到当时妇女的各个阶层,从劳动妇女、宫女、歌妓以至帝王宠妃等,写出了她们的爱与恨、幸与不幸、迷茫与求索乃至反抗,真实的反映了中唐妇女的生活,表现了对妇女命运的极大关注,体现了强烈的人文主义色彩。     

晚清民国时期柳子戏的现代转型初论

晚清民国时期,柳子戏的审美形态由大团圆结局逐步转向悲剧结尾,在主题内容中,则出现了对城乡差别、市民生活与商品经济的描绘和对“现代生存困境”中的无奈的刻画,开始追求现实主义的创作方法,出现了现代主义的萌芽。柳子戏的历史转型昭示了包括该戏曲在内的地方戏曲走的是一条渐进式的现代化道路。     

关于“新现实主义”的沉思

新现实主义”创作潮流是当今文坛倍受关注的文学现象 ,本文旨在从文学实践出发 ,在历史的流变中分析“新现实主义”创作的特点和不足 ,并对其创作理论进行有益的探索