Moral spaces,the struggle for an intergenerational environmental ethics and the social ecology of families: an ‘other’ form of environmental education

‘Green families’ in Australia were studied so as to shed light on how a more durable, everyday environmental ethic and ecopolitic might slowly be enacted in the intimacy of the home ‘place’ over an extended period of time in rapidly changing socio‐cultural‐ecological conditions. Of particular interest to this study of the green household, or postmodern oikos, was how its proximal ‘moral spaces’ have been nurtured intergenerationally by family members from within the broader global climate of what Zygmunt Bauman refers to as the ‘moral lag’ of postmodernity. Three layers of interpretive findings about the social ecology and family dynamics of this oikos are presented in an effort to provide detailed understandings about families’ eco being, dwelling and becoming. Implications for education for the environment can be gleaned from the ‘best’ ecopedagogical practices found in the home that are ‘other’ than those occurring in the formal education sector. This study adds to the theorizations of ‘social ecology’, ‘experiential education’, ‘ecopedagogy’ and, more generally, the notion of an everyday ‘ecocentrism’, while providing some clues for how environmental education in schools might mirror pedagogical aspects of the postmodern oikos.     

How Student‐teachers Approach the Teaching of Reading: At the Interface Between Personal History,Theory and Practice

This article charts the progress of one cohort of student‐teachers (variously known as beginning teachers and pre‐service teachers) training to teach English in London secondary schools during 2008–9. The research focuses specifically on the experiences which facilitate their development as confident and creative teachers and assessors of reading at Key Stage 3 (11–14 years). Findings indicate that it is the interaction – and tensions – between their personal reading histories, engagement in theory, and practice within the social environment of the classroom which shape their burgeoning identities as teachers of literature and reading. This year‐long study demonstrates that for some a growing confidence has enabled them to look beyond approaches advocated by statutory curriculum frameworks to develop their own view of innovative practice in the teaching of reading.     

Reception of Arthur Sutherland Neill＇s pedagogical concept and his Summerhill School in Hungarian and German pedagogical literature and press

Arthur Sutherland Neill is one of the most debated personalities among the representatives of the classic reform pedagogy, due to his pedagogical concept and its practical realization, and his Summerhill School, equally. He is often mentioned during public debates, where mostly the ＂three S＂--＂sex, swearing and smoking＂, are existing as subject of the debates. While analyzing publications about Summerhill School appearing in Hungarian and German pedagogical special literature and press, a kind of polarized attitude has been realized towards the conceptions and school： Some talk about him admiringly; others criticize him while emphasizing the concept＇s drawbacks and unique features.     

Not yet where we want to be： South Africa＇s participation in SITES 2006

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement （IEA） initiated the Second International Technology in Education Study （SITES）--A longitudinal large-scale international comparative survey on the use of information and communication technologies （ICTs） in schools. The goal is to understand how ICTs effect teaching and learning in schools. SITES 2006 was the third module in this program to determine how teachers use ICTs, and to find out how school and education system factors influence teachers＇ pedagogical orientation. SITES 2006 administered three questionnaires： one for school principals, one for technology coordinators, and one for mathematics and science teachers, around 400 schools in each of 23 education systems. The main study took place during 2005-2007. This paper describes the South African educational context, provides an overview of the South African participation, speculates on South Africa＇s future participation, and provides a comparative glimpse of the use of ICTs in South African mathematics and science classrooms.     

Bilingual curriculum construction in business education for non-key universities in China

Weak effectiveness of bilingual education is an especially obvious phenomenon in non-key universities of China where students have poorer English ground and bilingual curriculums are unconstructive designed partly because of the scarcity of teaching resources. This paper discusses failures of these unconstructive curriculum systems from the view of cognitive learning and points out that just because of the lags in BICS and CALP of students in non-key universities, metacognitive process should be substantially considered and completely integrated in construction of bilingual curriculum system including aspects of bilingual allocation, subject design, bilingual arrangement and prepostive training. This paper takes International Business Specialty in non-key universities as an example and highly involves writer＇s teaching experiences.     

Using improvisational exercises in general education to advance creativity,inventiveness and innovation

Creativity is the process of generating something new or original that has value to an individual, a group, an organization, an industry or a society. Improvisational theater techniques are used to enhance creative thinking and action in a variety of disciplines as broad as education, theater, dance, painting, writing and music, law, business, and most recently, entrepreneurship. This paper describes an academic setting that draws upon the definition, techniques and improvisational methods as prerequisites for a progression of increased experiences of idea generation, new product invention and innovation. Improvisation is used as a critical ingredient to enhance creativity for undergraduate liberal arts students in a freshman general studies course leading to student product development and field-based innovations.     

Challenges and possibilities in climate change education

Educating and communicating about climate change is challenging. Researchers reported that climate change concepts are often misunderstood. Some people do not believe that climate change will have impacts on their own life. Other challenges may include people＇s difficulty in perceiving small or gradual environmental changes, the fact that overconsumption brings people power and recognition, people＇s weak connection to nature, and people＇s tendency to make emotional decisions and quickly solve environmental problems. Drawn from research, some climate change communication and education strategies are presented. Well designed environmental messages could convince people that they can still reduce the scale of the phenomenon and could link mitigation actions to people＇s positive desires or aspirations, while providing local examples of climate change impacts and illustrated information. In mitigation education, some strategies （future education, reflective, experiential, socio-constructivist approaches and the community of change）, jointly used, could correct the learners＇ misconceptions and lead them to action. In adaptation education, scientists and citizens could get together to choose a specific problem that may worsen with climate change, analyze it, and propose and implement adaptations. In the meantime, pedagogical strategies inspired by cognitive science could strengthen the citizens＇ skills： posing and solving problems, decision-making, scenario building and sustainable planning.     

高职院校大学生网络教育刍议

网络已经成为高职院校大学生日常生活的一个重要组成部分,直接影响着大学生的认知、情感和心理。重视和加强大学生网络教育,要从网络业、网络道德和网上思想政治教育的实际出发,按照理论联系实际的原则,以提出具有普遍适应性和现实可操作性的解决方案。     

高职教育推行基于工作过程课程体系的制约因素及对策

回顾了基于工作过程课程开发方法产生的背景及其在我国的发展情况,重点阐述该开发方法在我国高职教育实施过程中的种种制约因素及其解决对策,从而提出在我国高职教育中大力推行基于工作过程课程体系是提高＂三个符合度＂、增强高职教育吸引力的核心环节。     

高等职业教育视觉化浅议

近年来,高等职业教育在教育教学手段的视觉化方面,有了前所未有的进展,取得了很好的成效。文章意在通过对教育视觉化的探讨,分析高等职业教育如何在培养人的问题上更加讲求人性化、更加符合时代性、更好地把握教育规律。