Theorising the take-up of ICT: can Valsiner’s three zones framework make a contribution?

This article explores the contribution of theory to understanding the take-up of information and communications technology (ICT) and, in particular, it describes how Valsiner’s three zones framework came to be used in a study of lecturers in Saudi higher education institutions. The article describes the value of theory and, in the process, illustrates some of the approaches taken in the literature on teachers’ use of ICT. The challenges faced in theorising are also covered. The article then goes on to give the background to a study of ICT use among university lecturers before moving to a discussion of methodology and presentation of key findings. Next, attention shifts to explaining key aspects of Valsiner’s zones framework and showing how this framework was applied to explain the modest but differentiated use of ICT across eight institutions. Finally, the article discusses the strengths and limitations of the zones framework and highlights some of the wider challenges which theorisation poses.     

Pre-service Teachers Teaching Critical Literacy through Microteaching: Possibilities and Constraints

In this paper I explore four groups of pre-service teachers’ teaching of critical literacy in microteaching to examine how they translated critical literacy into teaching practice for secondary/upper middle grade students (the role played by peers undergoing microteaching). Firstly I discuss some key concepts and outline the pedagogical framework adopted for teaching critical literacy. I then focus on the pre-service teachers’ microteaching lessons to analyse qualitatively their lesson plans, their reflections on their teaching and the views of their peers regarding their learning of critical literacy. I conclude by assessing the possibilities and constraints of teaching critical literacy through the pedagogical framework and the microteaching context.     

Leadership in a Performative Context: A framework for decision-making

Abstract

This paper examines a model of decision-making within the context of current and emerging regimes of accountability being proposed and implemented for school systems in a number of jurisdictions. These approaches to accountability typically involve the use of various measurable student learning outcomes as well as other measures of performance to do with teachers and schools in general, often having high-stakes consequences. Given this context of performativity, the paper proposes a model that uses an objective knowledge growth framework, where teachers can engage in their own professional learning through defined structures for solving the problems of their professional practice. The model is both empowering for teachers while being sensitive to the constraints of cultures of performativity.     

Middle managers’ experience of policy implementation and mediation in the context of the Scottish quality enhancement framework

This paper analyses how middle managers perform and experience their role in enacting policy in Scottish higher education institutions. The policy focus is the quality enhancement framework (QEF) for learning and teaching in higher education, which was launched in 2003. The data-set was collected between 2008 and 2010, during the evaluation of the QEF by means of focus groups with middle managers at nine Scottish institutions. The metaphor of a policy implementation staircase helps to situate middle managers’ position in enactment, and analyse their experience of the role. Despite the values of collegiality and ownership upheld by the QEF, middle managers’ accounts of their practices reveal that their position at the interface between university management and core academic activities continues to be a delicate one, marked by contradictory allegiances to institutional strategies and the concerns of academic colleagues. While emphasising middle managers’ pivotal role in the implementation of the QEF policy, the data paradoxically suggest that the systemic positioning of middle managers is more influential in shaping their role of mediation than the values of collegiality and ownership promoted by this enhancement approach to quality specific to Scotland.     

Professionalism,profession and quality assurance practitioners in external quality assurance agencies in higher education

This article seeks to spark a dialectic discussion on the establishment of a set of professional competencies for quality assurance practitioners who serve in external quality assurance agencies in higher education. Such a need is identified due to the shortage of relevant and sufficient coverage in the quality assurance literature. To substantiate the need, the concepts of professionalism and profession, and how these concepts are linked to the quality assurance in higher education sector, are carefully examined through a desk-top research study. References are drawn from the experiences in several other occupations. The result reveals that the development of the essential competencies for external quality assurance practitioners in higher education is valuable and essential and it will be useful for the practitioners to transform themselves into a profession in the long run.     

自然风景区户外环境教育模式研究框架

户外环境教育模式,是环境教育理论研究与实践相结合的重要课题。结合旅游地理学中的研究重点———自然风景区,综合运用文献调查法、田野考察法、统计数据分析法、问卷调查、典型访谈及专家咨询法等,从“自然风景区户外环境教育的内涵、自然风景区户外环境教育的一般模式、和典型案例区户外环境教育的模式”三个方面,探讨户外环境教育模式问题,这是一个介于旅游地理与环境教育的综合交叉型研究课题,可丰富旅游地理学关于自然风景区、以及环境教育学的基础理论研究成果;同时,也可为自然风景区户外环境教育基地建设,提供方法上的参考,具有一定的实践价值。     

基于物联网技术下实训管理平台的探讨

从当前我国实训管理存在的问题入手,介绍了物联网的特征和架构,依照物联网的架构体系,引入物联网技术,设计了基于感知层、网络层和应用层的三层物联网,从而形成一种集定位、跟踪、管理和监测于一体的实训平台。详细分析了平台的功能,提出了需求构建、模型评估、政策制定的主要实现步骤,对我国高校的实训室建设具有一定的指导意义。     

欧盟碳中和政策体系评述及启示

碳中和通过改变人类生产生活方式，不仅影响各国经济发展，还重塑着全球地缘政治格局。中国自2020年9月明确提出2060年实现碳中和目标以来，一直在努力探索构建碳中和政策体系。由于欧盟的碳中和政策体系相对完善，因此文章将从政策框架、关键行业措施、研发布局、财政与金融保障措施等方面切入，系统梳理欧盟的碳中和政策体系，剖析其主要特点，以期为构建中国碳中和政策体系提供参考。     

加强管理创新构建高校科技管理新体系

对高校科技管理创新应坚持的原则和高校科技管理体系的基本框架做了初步探讨。论述了高校是国家创新体系的重要组成部分，随着知识经济时代的到来和高校科技体制的改革，高校科研管理工作，也正面临着深化改革的诸多问题，如何通过创新来构建高校科研管理体系，是当前一段时期高等学校科技管理工作面临的重要课题。     

制造业数字化转型评价指标体系构建与应用研究

新一代信息技术发展和新一轮产业变革的叠加，使得制造业数字化转型成为发展的必然趋势。依据架构理念，从价值、要素和能力维度构建制造业数字化转型参考架构，并基于参考架构给出评估制造业数字化转型发展过程的评估框架和评估指标体系，以指导和帮助企业数字化转型实践。