(Dis)ordering Teacher Education: From problem students to problem-based learning

This paper takes issue with the 'disabling' of students enrolled in teacher education courses, perpetrated by definitions of students' learning disorders and by the structures and pedagogies engaged by teacher educators. Focusing on one case, but with relevance for similarly affected systems, the paper begins by outlining the changed student entry credentials of Australian universities and their faculties of education. These are seen as induced by a shift from elite to mass provision of higher education and the particular effect on teacher education providers (especially those located in regional institutions) of the politics of government funding and the continuing demand for teachers by education systems. While these changed conditions are often used to argue an increased university population of students with learning disorders, the paper suggests that such arguments often have more to do with how student problems are defined by institutions and how these definitions serve to secure additional government funding. More pertinently, the paper argues that such definition tends to locate the problem in individual students, deferring considerations of teacher educators' pedagogy and the learning arrangements of their institutions. The paper concludes that the place to begin addressing these issues of difficulty would seem to be with a different conception of knowledge production.     

幼儿园一日活动过渡环节中规训的误用与滥用

与其他教育机构一样,幼儿园也是一个充满规训的场所,教师通过诸多手段对幼儿的身体和精神等进行着规训。通过对武汉市某幼儿园一日活动过渡环节的观察,发现教师此时在规训方面存在误用和滥用等问题。幼教工作者可以从转变教育观念、合理使用规训以及加强实践反思等三个方面寻求改变。     

城镇劳动力市场转型与谋职方式的转变

自20世纪90年代中期以来,中国城镇部门经历了激进式的经济改革,城镇劳动力市场急剧转型。城镇劳动力市场这种转型过程,最为直接的影响之一便在于导致了劳动力谋职方式的改变。实证分析结果表明,如果把谋职方式划分为市场化与非市场化两种类型,则可以发现在我国劳动力市场转型过程中,劳动力的谋职方式发生了显著的变化,非市场化谋职方式大幅度下降,同时,个人特征中的党员身份对于获取非市场化谋职机会的可能性在增强,而教育的作用在弱化。由于非市场化谋职方式通常会具有较高的收入水平,因此教育作用的弱化可能在更大程度上是被迫选择的结果,而非高教育程度者具有更强的竞争力的选择性行为的结果。从对不同时期就业人群谋职方式变化的分解分析中还发现,经济转型所导致的所有制结构、工作稳定性等的变化对谋职方式的选择具有较大的解释力。而且,这些因素对市场化与非市场化谋职人群之间的收入水平差异也具有重要的解释作用。谋职方式的这种变化特征及其对劳动力市场表现的影响表明,非市场化的劳动力市场配置方式成为保护某些人群免予市场竞争压力的屏障。在非市场化谋职方式就业人群中,如何增强相应劳动力市场的竞争化程度,降低市场化与非市场化谋职方式对于劳动力市场表现的差异化程度,或许也应当成为劳动力市场一体化建设、提高劳动力市场竞争性程度所应当关注的内容之一。     

A Rasch Analysis of Raven Item Data

The Progressive Matrices items require varying degrees of analytical reasoning. Individuals high on the underlying trait measured by the Raven should score high on the test. Latent trait models applied to data of the Raven form provide a useful methodology for examining the tenability of the above hypothesis. In this study the Rasch latent model was applied to investigate the fit of observed performance on Raven items to what was expected by the model for individuals at six different levels of the underlying scale. For the most part the model showed a good fit to the test data. The findings were similar to previous empirical work that has investigated the behavior of Rasch test scores. In three instances, however, the item fit statistic was relatively large. A closer study of the “misfitting” items revealed two items were of extreme difficulty, which is likely to contribute to the misfit. The study raises issues about the use of the Rasch model in instances of small samples. Other issues related to the interpretation of the Rasch model to Raven-type data are discussed.     

What can we learn from Plato about intellectual character education?

Abstract

In the Republic, Plato developed an educational program through which he trained young Athenians in desiring truth, without offering them any knowledge-education. This is not because he refused to pass on knowledge but because he considered knowledge of the Good as an ongoing research program. I show this by tracing the steps of the education of the Philosopher-Kings in Plato’s ideal state, to establish that the decades-long educational regime aims at training them in three types of virtue: (i) Moral Virtue; (ii) the Cognitive Virtue of Abstraction; (iii) the Cognitive Virtue of Debate.

Plato’s theory of education has much to teach us about intellectual character education today. The Platonic educational program does not advocate the direct transmission of knowledge from teacher to learner but rather focuses on building the learners’ epistemic dispositions. Building upon the Socratic Method, Plato’s educational program does not ‘spoon-feed’ knowledge to the learners but rather fosters the growth of intellectual virtues through problem-solving.

I explain ways in which fostering intellectual virtues through problem-solving could be applied in classrooms today. I conclude that Plato’s rigorous educational program is of definite merit for contemporary virtue education, especially since Aristotle offers us surprisingly little on how to educate for intellectual virtues.     

They give us homework! Transition to higher education: the case of initial teacher training

This article examines some issues surrounding transition to higher education. It is based on the case study of a cohort of Year 1 students in a modern university in England. The purpose of the study was to ascertain any potential transitional issues and therefore any areas for development in our Year 1 programmes to aid student progress. Data were gathered via semi‐structured questionnaires distributed to Year 1 initial teacher training students and their lecturers and through focused conversations with a group of students. The main findings of the study indicate that independent study and assessment processes pose challenges for students in their first year at university, and it is hoped that the outcomes of this research will contribute to a more informed transition from school to university through developing a clearer understanding of prior educational experiences that inform first‐year undergraduate expectations and needs.     

我国社会第二次转型与高等教育秩序重建

社会转型要求高等教育秩序发生相应变革。在以GDP增长主义为导向的中国社会第一次转型中,我国高等教育秩序面临失序之困局,其表征为高等教育价值失落,高等教育结构失衡,高等教育制度失范。中国社会已开启以促进人的发展为目标的第二次转型,应重树高等教育价值、重整高等教育结构、重建高等教育制度,并以此重建高等教育秩序。     

用话语主观性解读英语进行体的多义性

本文从认知语言学的角度分析了话语主观性在英语进行体多义性中的体现。言者的主观性主要表现在三方面：视角、情感、认识情态。因此,话语主观性是进行体表将来和委婉礼貌等多义性形成的推动力量。     

我国房地产金融体制存在的问题与出路

改革现存的房地产金融体制,关系到房地产市场的发展和民生的改善,是防止房价大起大落引发系统性风险的根本出路。改革措施应该包括：引进先进的融资工具和模式;发展稳定的金融市场;稳定房地产市场和房价;鼓励民间资金的投入;加强房地产金融立法。     

转型期高校内部管理体制改革的分析与思考

从高校主体性和自主发展规划、内部管理的权限分工和机构设置、内部管理体制的运行机制、高校内部各项激励和保障制度完善四个方面分析,指出了目前高校内部管理体制存在的弊端,并对其成因做了初步的分析。并以高校所处的外部环境和内在因素两个方面为切入点,提出进行高校内部管理体制改革是社会发展和高校自身建设的需要。