Use your imagination: what UK universities want you to think of them

In higher education research, theoretical approaches stressing isomorphism dominate the discourse on how higher education institutions ‘behave’ in their higher education and research systems. We argue that research should address both instances of similarity and differences. Using theoretical notions from institutionalism and the branding/marketing literature, and focusing on how UK universities are different and similar in their welcome addresses—as expressions of the institutions’ images—we are able to offer a balanced view of patterns of similarities and differences as well as share findings of patterns over time (2005–2015). Using quantitative and qualitative content analysis, our findings show overall high levels of homogeneity of images across the universities. But younger and less prestigious institutions were (both in 2005 and 2015) more inclined to show distinctive images.     

Tracing unique trajectories of participation for a ‘girl with ADHD’: from ‘unwilling student’ to ‘agentive learner’

ABSTRACT

The overall aim of this study is to explore how individual children with long-term school difficulties follow unique ‘trajectories of participation’ in special educational needs settings, sometimes in unexpected ways, and how this contributes to alternative forms of identification and processes of learning. The data draws on long-term video-ethnographic work, tracing trajectories of participation during the course of a school year for an individual girl with an ADHD diagnosis who is a newcomer to a special support school in Sweden. We use a multi-layered theoretical and methodological framework to learning, identities and participation as situated practices to explore how the focal girl, through her everyday participation in classroom contexts structured to amplify the student’s capabilities, gradually moves from an ‘unwilling student’ to an ‘agentive learner’. Through a multimodal interactional analysis, we demonstrate how the focal girl’s actions and the teacher’s scaffolding responses are interactionally organised, and the emotional and relational dimensions in the creation of participation frameworks for learning. It is argued that the student’s agency and emerging emotional engagement in school-based learning are intimately linked to the pursuit of building long-term learning relationships based on mutual trust.     

Learning,literacy and identity: ‘I don’t think I’m a failure any more’

The impact of participation in adult literacy programmes on learners’ identities is examined through an interrogation of their past and current experiences and the assessment of the effect of particular pedagogies. The findings show how learners’ positive experiences in their programmes had caused them to re-evaluate their previous understandings and enabled the construction of new identities as people that are able to learn. These changes had come about through the challenging of negative discourses, the creation of new figured worlds and imagined futures, and the use of a learning curriculum where learners’ experiences were utilized as positive resources.     

Jack in two boxes: A postmodern perspective on the transformation of persons into portraits

The paper explores issues surrounding portrayal in educational research and interrogates the notion of a life as a textual product, via an analysis of two short biographical narratives which happen to portray the same person — a British primary school head teacher nearing the end of his career. The discrepancies between these two texts point to the problematic nature of the relationship between person and portrait, and make visible some of the textual devices that writers/researchers use in order to achieve coherence and authenticity in biographical narratives.     

高校思想政治理论课的认同危机及对策思考

目前高校思想政治理论课的教育教学通过大学生的普遍正向认同来看已经取得了明显的成效。正向认同一般划分为强制性认同、利益性认同和观念性认同三个等级,它们对思想政治理论课的教育教学产生着正负两方面的影响。通过对三个认同等级及其在思想政治教育中的转变的分析,对思想政治理论课的改革和发展进行了一定的思考和探索。     

"脑死亡"的价值与挑战

脑死亡是由当代科学和医学技术进步给我们带来的一个全新问题，也涉及到复杂的经济、社会、伦理和法律等问题。脑死亡的提出意味着对于生和死的判别由经验转向了科学；凸显了大脑和心脏在人的生命系统和自我认同中的不同地位。在相当长的时期内，对于大多数社会成员来说，脑死亡标准不一定意味着对于心死亡标准的截然取代。而是将与其并存。脑死亡的实施提出了抢救生命的价值、代价和极限问题，将对生命终结标准的选择权和宣判权提出挑战，也将对人们通常的“孝”和“敬”等观念提出挑战。脑死亡的一个重要价值是有利于器官移植，而让生命以此种方式得以延续值得提倡。因此应当以一种更加开放的和进步的心态来积极推进有关脑死亡的立法。     

Beyond Access: Psychosocial Barriers to Computer Literacy

Research consistently indicates that Latinos and African-Americans are less likely to own and use computers than either Caucasians or Asians. While conventional wisdom holds that high computer costs and lack of access are the primary reasons for this discrepancy, my ethnographic research with 100 low-income adults reveals three non-cost-related psychosocial obstacles that significantly undermine motivation for acquiring computer skills: “relevance,” “fear,” and “self-concept.” My research thus suggests that a more complex relationship exists between ethnicity, identity, and attitudes associated with computers than previously examined; this relationship may better explain why some people are choosing not to use computers at this time. My research also indicates that while community technology centers (CTCs) play an important role in helping adults overcome their resistances and achieve computer literacy, they are presently an underutilized resource—less than 5% of San Diegans use them to meet their computing needs. Hence, my research also questions why more residents do not avail themselves of these community resources. I conclude that efforts to increase computer literacy in underserved communities must go beyond physical access and connectivity and consider the role of cultural factors.     

心安国安 心治国治——把握时代心理脉搏 提升国家凝聚力

心安是国安也,心治是国治也。把握社会大变迁背景下中国人的心理变化特点,增强国家认同,打牢提升国家凝聚力的心理基础,对于维护国家团结与稳定以及促进社会持续、健康、和谐发展具有非常重要的作用。文章首先简要论述国家凝聚力及其核心成分国家认同的含义,以及国家认同在国家治理中的重要性;然后扼要介绍了几十年来中国经济发展和社会变迁带来的中国人的主要心理变化;最后,展望如何立足于中国人当下主要心理特点及其未来发展趋势,增强国家认同,提升国家凝聚力。     

Mathematical biography and key rhetoric

The intention of this article is to consider the use of narrative and rhetorical inquiry as research methods. I construct a mathematical biography of one elementary teacher trainee, Sirpa, who had performed well in her advanced mathematics course in upper secondary school. I describe her development as a mathematics teacher during teacher education from her second-year methods course and teaching practice to fourth-year teaching practice. Narrative inquiry is more than a case study: Sirpa’s mathematical biography is a story that describes how she constructs her mathematical identity. I also analysed the key rhetoric that Sirpa used in her talk, key rhetoric here referring to the strategy by which she constructed continuity and coherence.     

时代女性的叙事与性别——20世纪二三十年代文学中的新女性叙事

20世纪二三十年代时代女性称谓首先是由男性定义、命名和阐释的,他们利用女性的特质来宣泄个人和群体的自我苦闷、创造自我形象;她们以自己的真挚的生命感受所创造的大革命时代的新女性——时代女性,既是对男性大师所创造的时代女性的呼应、补充、扩写,又是潜在的改写、解构、颠覆。