“成长”主题及主体精神隐喻——汪曾祺儿童视角小说解读

汪曾祺的儿童视角小说表达了一个共同的“成长”主题，是对民间民俗生活中成长仪式的象征性摹写，隐喻了作家在不同的时代对社会和文化精神的不同理解。汪曾祺将自身的思想裂变演绎为“成长”的模式和文本结构，一方面赋予了小说以浓重的民间生活气息，另一方面又将“民间”生活模式艺术化，使得短篇小说充满了多重意味，为短篇小说“写人生”提供了一个崭新的样板。     

'Inclusion is more than a place': exploring pupil views and voice in Belfast schools through visual narrative

The research reported in this article by David Ryan, an adviser for special educational needs and inclusion in Belfast, was based on a participatory approach in which young people in a number of schools were encouraged to develop their ideas about inclusion. The project set out to explore any differences in perceptions between pupils with special educational needs and those without. The young people were equipped with cameras and were encouraged to generate 'visual narratives' expressing their views about the 'reasonable adjustments' that mainstream schools might make in order to become more inclusive. David Ryan concludes that education must be personalised so that schools take account of the perspectives of individual pupils in their endeavours to become more inclusive. He also notes that young people appear to have strongly-held views about some of the sensory aspects of the school environment.     

Embracing uncertainty in research with young children

Abstract

This article contests the emphasis that is frequently placed upon child-friendly methods in research with young children. Focusing upon a series of research encounters from a doctoral study of play in an early years classroom, I examine my interactions with the children and their social and material worlds and draw upon these encounters to highlight some emergent and unpredictable elements of research with young children. I argue that these elements call for a decreased emphasis upon the implementation of method towards an openness to uncertainty and an ethical responsiveness to the researcher’s relations with children and their everyday lives. An ethical responsiveness to uncertainty has implications throughout the research process, including through the ways in which we choose to read, interpret and present the data. This article offers original contributions to contemporary debates regarding what might become possible when uncertainty is acknowledged and embraced in research with young children.     

Conceptualizations of writing in early years curricula and standards documents: international perspectives

Abstract

In this article, researchers in the field of early writing identify underlying beliefs and values about writing and learning to write for the beginning years of formal schooling in four jurisdictions: the American state of Connecticut, New Zealand, the Canadian province of Ontario, and Sweden, as reflected in the respective curricula and standards documents that guide instruction. Using Ivani?’s Discourses of Writing and Learning to Write to guide our text analysis, we found that curriculum developers have primarily been influenced by views of writing as a set of skills, processes, and genres. We found few references to the sociopolitical discourse which indicates a view among curriculum developers that sociopolitical literacy is not suitable for this age group. We argue, with support in previous research, that young children’s writing does not have to be politically neutral and that it can be developed under age-appropriate circumstances. Implications for policy and curriculum development include a need for greater consideration of the complexities of writing shown in research conducted across five decades. We propose a change to the model for early years, recognising that young children’s socio-political understandings lie within their home and school lives, rather than the broader community.     

Assessing wellbeing at school entry using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: professional perspectives

Emotional and behavioural disorders in early childhood are related to poorer academic attainment and school engagement, and difficulties already evident at the point of starting school can affect a child’s later social and academic development. Successful transfer from pre-school settings to primary education is helped by communication between pre-school staff and primary school teachers. Typically, in Scotland, pre-school establishments prepare individual profiles of children before they start school around the age of five years, highlighting their strengths and development needs, for transfer to primary schools. There is, however, no consistent approach to the identification of potential social, emotional and behavioural problems. In 2010, in one local authority area in Scotland, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was introduced for children about to start school as a routine, structured, component of the transition process to help teachers plan support arrangements for classes and individual children. The SDQ assesses emotional, conduct, hyperactivity/ inattention and peer-relationship problems as well as pro-social behaviour. In order to be an effective means of communicating social and emotional functioning, the use of instruments such as the SDQ needs to be practicable. Finding out the views of pre-school education staff with experience of assessing children using the SDQ was, therefore, essential to establish its future utility.

Aim

The purpose of this study was to explore the views of pre-school education staff about assessing social and emotional wellbeing of children at school entry using the SDQ. The objectives were to examine the opinions of pre-school workers about completing the SDQ and to elicit their thoughts on the value of doing this and their perceptions of the usefulness of the information collected.

Method

Pre-school establishments were approached using a purposive sampling strategy in order to achieve a mix of local authority (n=14) and ‘partnership’ establishments (n=8) as well as different socio-economic areas. Semi-structured interviews (n=25) were conducted with pre-school head teachers (n=14) and child development officers (n=11) in order to explore the process of completing the SDQ along with perceptions of its value. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.

Results

In general, staff in pre-school establishments viewed the use of the SDQ positively. It was seen as a chance to highlight the social and emotional development of children rather than just their academic or educational ability. Most felt that the SDQ had not identified anything they did not already know about a child. A minority, nevertheless, suggested that a previously unrecognised potential difficulty was brought to light, most commonly emotional problems. Completing the SDQ was felt to be relatively straightforward even though the staff felt under pressure from competing priorities. Concerns were, however, raised about the potential of labelling a child at an early stage of formal education.

Conclusion

The findings from this small scale study suggest that, from the point of view of pre-school education staff, it is feasible to assess children systematically for social and behavioural problems as part of the routine transition process at school entry.     

The use and usefulness of a parent questionnaire to help schools identify disability

The Equality Act 2010 will be implemented in full in 2011, and schools in the UK will have to provide special aids or services for children with disabilities where this provision is considered reasonable. This paper reports on staff perspectives on the use and usefulness of a parental questionnaire on disability from a sample of 49 schools (mainstream and special) located in 12 local authorities. Most schools found the process of administering the parent questionnaire undemanding; just under half of the sample indicated that they would take some action as a result of the data collected from the parental questionnaire (e.g., to inform plans for targeting or monitoring support for children, and to contact parents and follow‐up issues they had mentioned); and about one‐third of schools recorded unanticipated findings from the parental questionnaire, that is, the identification of children whose disabilities were not previously known to the school. Implications for schools are discussed.     

试谈中小学体育教师素质重构和体育教学观的重建

通过献资料法、专家访谈法等对《体育与健康教学大纲》，学生体质健康标准(试行方案)和《学生体质健康标准(试行方案)》实施办法进行了研究，经过归纳分析，从中提取出体育健康课程所蕴含的精神实质，并提出新时期体育教师素质重构和体育教学观重建的思想，目的是加深体育教师对体育健康课程的认识，转变思想观念，尽快的融入到体育与健康课之中，同时为师资培训部门加快师资培训工作提供参考。     

历史盛衰总结中的世界史眼光--以鸦片战争前后中国边疆史地学者为中心

鸦片战争前后,中国边疆史地研究中的历史盛衰思想出现了新的因素,开始把中国历史的兴衰放在世界历史变动过程中作为一个系统来考虑.这一时期历史盛衰思想的总结反映了边疆史地学者已自觉地从哲理之高度阐发对世界形势和中国问题的理论认识.     

我们今天怎样研究赛珍珠——从中国赛珍珠研究现状谈起

中国赛珍珠研究已经走过了70余年的历程，特别是新时期以后，这一研究取得了丰硕的成果，而这些成果的取得除了由于赛珍珠及其创作在全球化时代越发显现出其现实意义外，还得益于多样的研究方法的运用。但是，在此基础上，我们的研究还可以而且应该更为合理地运用已有的研究方法，并开发利用更多更新的批评方法，俾使我们的赛珍珠研究取得更大的成绩，更充分地利用赛珍珠留下的文化遗产，汲取她在跨文化领域的智慧，为21世纪人类文化建设服务。