Appreciated but constrained: reflective practice of student teachers in learning communities in a Confucian heritage culture

This study aimed to understand the reflective practice of 23 Chinese student teachers in learning communities (LCs) during their practicum in a Confucian heritage culture. The reflective levels of the student teachers and the factors that mediated the effects of LCs on their reflective practice were explored using journals and post-journal interviews. The results showed that the majority of the student teachers reflected on their teaching at surface and pedagogical levels, and only a few of them critically reflected on their teaching in LCs. Although the student teachers acknowledged the positive roles of LCs in terms of collective wisdom, constructive suggestions from peers and peers’ emotional support in their reflective practice, they believed that some Confucian-based cultural factors, such as reliance on authority, giving/saving face, and maintaining harmonious social relationship, constrained their reflective practice, particularly when they had to make decisions or were confronted with conflicting views.     

How socioeconomic status,executive functioning and verbal interactions contribute to early academic achievement in Chinese children

The present study investigated the relative importance of executive functioning, parent–child verbal interactions, phonological awareness and visual skills on reading and mathematics for Chinese children from low-versus middle-socio economic status (SES) backgrounds. A total of 199 kindergarten children were assessed on executive functioning, verbal interactions, phonological awareness, visual skills, mathematics and word reading in Chinese and English. Results revealed that low-SES children exhibited lower levels of cognitive-linguistic skills, verbal interactions, reading and mathematics achievement than their middle-SES counterparts. Path analyses also indicated that executive functioning and verbal interactions made significant and direct contributions to mathematics, and indirect contributions to reading through phonological awareness. These results suggest that executive functioning and verbal interactions provide the foundation for phonological awareness and visual skills, which in turn affect reading and mathematics achievement. Overall, findings underscore the potential importance of SES inequalities, cognitive-linguistic skills and parental verbal input to their children for early reading and mathematics achievement.     

高校学风建设的反思与对策

培养优良学风既是推进素质教育的客观要求,也是保证教育质量的重要前提。现在各高校都意识到学风建设对学生成才和高校发展的重要性,也非常重视学风建设。但高校的学风状况仍堪忧。本文试图通过对学风建设进行反思,找出问题的症结所在,并根据问题的症结提出了几点关于加强学风建设的对策。     

The Significance of Practical Training in Linking Theoretical Studies with Practice

Today’s experts must continuously reconstruct their expertise and be able to apply their theoretical knowledge in actual work. The development of expertise is a long process, during which theoretical, practical and metacognitive elements of expert knowledge are integrated into a coherent whole. It is important to foster student’s learning and integration of theoretical knowledge in practice during tertiary education. One tool for this is to pay more attention to practical knowledge in the theoretical part of the curriculum. The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of early practical training as a part of the pharmacy curriculum and to find out to what extent the students felt their practical training fostered their learning. A total of 47 pharmacy students were interviewed during the three-month practice period. Content analyses of the interviews showed that the practical training increased students’ understanding of theoretical knowledge and their motivation to study. The students acquired practical skills and knowledge in a working community of professionals. The results also showed that the students should be able to rehearse their reflective skills during the theoretical studies as well, because the practice period was too short to permit adequate development of reflective skills.     

Action learning in postgraduate executive management education: an account of practice

The merits of action learning as a change tool and enabler of deep learning are well recognised. However, there is a gap in the literature of participants’ stories regarding their experiences on accredited postgraduate executive programmes underpinned by an action learning philosophy. The following account of practice addresses this gap and recounts participant experiences, in their own words, combined with my insights into these learning experiences of a Master of Business Studies. While the programme is underpinned by an action learning philosophy, it does not discount programmed learning. However, programmed learning is not privileged over the executives’ own experiences and knowledge of their own problems; they are seen as the experts. Throughout the programme, the participants are members of an action learning set in which they address real problems in their own organisations, problems on which they can take action. This account examines the experiences, as told by the executive participants, and so provides rich and in-depth insights into their learning experiences. It provides an opportunity for educators to appreciate the depth and richness of learning and change which can occur as a consequence of adopting an action learning approach on such programmes. Furthermore, this account provides evidence of how action learning can contribute and be an enabler to the development of executives as reflective and critical practitioners able to better face an ever more complex and challenging world.     

试论课堂因“错误”而精彩纷呈

新课程改革倡导新的课程观,课程资源不再是一成不变的范本,教师要充分挖掘身边有效的课程资源,灵活应用于教学。“错误”可以作为有效的课程资源,只要教师巧妙地利用,就可以为课堂服务。数学课堂会因错误而妙趣横生。教师在课堂教学中巧妙地利用“错误”,可以激发学生的学习兴趣,提高学生的反思能力。     

专业化与反思教学——浅论加强我国外语教师职前教育的几大途径

文章在分析目前我国外语教师职前教育现状的基础上,总结了其中存在的若干问题。针对这些问题,指出可以从专业化与反思教学等方面入手加强外语教师职前教育,从而帮助外语教师长期职业发展。     

关于教师反思能力的几点思考

教师反思能力是使教师"能够反思"的内在素质,包含责任意识、理论知识和反思技能。在实践中,既要注重教师反思能力的培养,使教师能够反思;也要培育教师反思的外在文化氛围,使教师反思成为自觉的行为。     

反思性监控:信息技术教师专业发展的基本途径——吉登斯结构化理论对信息技术教师专业发展的启示

由于特殊的文化和社会背景,信息技术教师的专业发展问题一直成为信息技术教育的首要问题。吉登斯结构化理论的视角下,信息技术教师的专业发展具有"反思性"、"情境性"等特征,信息技术教师的专业发展应该朝着合格的知识行动者的目标迈进。基于活动情境的反思性监控是教师专业发展的基本途径,应构筑教师发展的新模式——反思性监控模式。在反思性监控模式中,通过对信息技术教师自我反思性监控体系、他人反思性监控系统和反思性情境的构建来达到信息技术教师的专业发展水平的提升。     

Exploration and confirmation of a reflective-thinking scale to measure transformative learning in online courses

Responding to the ubiquity of information and the corresponding need to filter and make sense of it, transformative learning is increasingly being used to frame learning experiences in higher education. While several instruments have been developed to measure transformative learning in educational settings, little work has been done towards an understanding of transformative learning measurement in online environments. This study was conducted over two phases, an initial exploration of a reflective thinking questionnaire with students in an online MBA program of a higher education institution in the mid-Atlantic region of U.S., followed by a confirmatory phase of a refined, three-factor instrument in the same context. This study demonstrated the improved fit and overall interpretability of the three-factor instrument. The measurement invariance of the factor structure has also been examined with a set of covariates.