The virtual class is coming

A long term action research programme initiated in 1987 by the Department of Communication Studies at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, is seeking to develop a virtual class. The virtual class is regarded as the critical component of a new educational paradigm for an information society. The action research programme takes the form of a spiral of cyclical attempts to create a virtual class. Each attempt is seen as a syntagmatic episode of a virtual class paradigm attempted in the light of an existing paradigm. The results of each syntagmatic episode are seen as influencing the further development of the paradigm.     

Responding to the challenge of providing stronger research base for teacher education: research discourses in the Norwegian national research school for teacher education

Background and purpose: The purpose of this article is to shed light on how the research projects of 140 PhD candidates in the National Research School for Teacher Education in Norway (NAFOL) respond to the challenges faced by Norwegian teacher education regarding the demand for higher competence and a stronger research base. The concept of NAFOL is of interest from an international perspective because of its focus on facilitating teacher educators to achieve a PhD. Since 2001, Norwegian educational policy has had a strong focus on strengthening teacher education and making it more research-based than before. From 2017, all new teachers in Norway are expected to take a master’s degree. In order to accomplish this, there is a need for many new supervisors with a PhD in teacher education institutions. NAFOL is a unique project: a consortium of 23 participating network institutions within teacher education. The research school includes 140 research fellows, all of whom wish to achieve a PhD suitable for work in teacher education. The research school is funded by the Norwegian Research Council, originally for a project period from 2010 to 2016. The research school has had a positive external midway evaluation, and the project period has been extended with four cohorts of students to the end of 2021. However, this study is the first one looking into the research projects of this young generation of teacher education researchers. The research question posed in this article is: how do the research projects of the NAFOL PhD candidates contribute to the research base in teacher education? Main argument: The main argument in this article is that the potential impact of this research school is dependent on the quality of the large number of PhD projects connected to teacher education and education in general developed within the research school. The quality is likely to be good because, among other reasons, these projects are scrutinised by the research school community. The challenges these research projects face, located as they are between solidarity regarding grants from the funds financing the PhD candidates, solidarity with the aims of education, and the wish to contribute to innovation, might prove to be able to be met. These research projects have the potential to create innovation in teacher education research through ‘border crossing’ between different educational discourses, as well as through creating new knowledge in meta-studies based on the results from several projects. Sources of evidence and method: In this article, project abstracts from 140 PhD candidates participating in NAFOL are analysed in terms of their theme and problem formulation. The analysis is inspired by discourse analytical thinking – namely that in a certain situation, several conditions for action exist. In this study, these conditions for action are made apparent in the choice of theme and problem formulation in the research projects. The content analysis is focused on ‘signal words’, because these words might signal positioning in different educational discourses. Results: In the study, three main discourses can be seen as influencing the choice of topic and the problem formulation in the projects: a goal-oriented educational discourse, a ‘Bildung’ (i.e. character formation, or personal growth – ‘danning’ in Norwegian) and democracy discourse, and a critical knowledge-producing discourse. These discourses are constituted when the PhD candidates start their research projects but the conditions for action are ever-changing and, hence, the findings in this study cannot, of course, be considered as ‘final’. The development of these discourses within the research community of NAFOL is one way of scrutinising the research projects in order to make a contribution to qualified teacher education research. Conclusion: ‘Border crossing’ between discourses in research projects concerned with what might be, and what can make a difference in a knowledge society could be a key way of enhancing the future for a young generation of researchers in teacher education. The research projects carried out by the PhD candidates in NAFOL have the potential to develop both new knowledge and new discourses of importance for Norwegian teacher education, as well as for a broader international context regarding professional development in teacher education and education in general. The view of the teacher education profession – and on what a teacher educator can be – could become more fully informed than before the candidates’ participation in the research school.     

民族偏远地区基础英语教学的几点建议

本文基于对我校英语专业三年级学生英语作文中典型的、低层次的语言错误情况进行的分析 ,结合课堂教学观摩、问卷调查结果 ,探讨、反思民族偏远地区基础英语教育存在的主要问题 ,然后 ,针对这些问题 ,从师资培训、合作行动研究及第二语言习得有关理论角度提出几点建议     

Perceived efficacy of teachers in Macao and their alacrity to engage with inclusive education

ABSTRACT

This paper reports findings of a mixed methods study examining private school teachers’ perceptions of efficacy in dealing with the challenges presented by inclusive education in Macao. This is highly pertinent after the Government invited consultation to propose changes to amendments of the Decree Law of 1996 concerning the education of students with Special Education Needs (SEN) which will likely see private schools being required to accept these students in the future. Within the context of teacher preparedness for inclusive education, the study found that a number of teachers felt that they were not at all prepared to teach students with SEN. Whilst some teachers suggested that they lacked skills and knowledge in teaching in inclusive classrooms, some felt overwhelmed with the challenges. The teachers proposed that they would need to know how to provide instructional adaptations and modifications to support students with SEN. Implications for continuous development of teacher training and education are discussed within the context of improving teacher efficacy and how private school teachers could better respond to the challenges of inclusive education in Macao.     

对高校教师体质观念及现状的调查与分析

本文对高校教师的体制观念、行为模式、体制现状进行了较为深入的研究和探讨，并得出了一些规律性的、共性的结果，同时提出了提高高校教师体质观念，体质水平的相关建议。     

语文教学语言艺术探微

教学语言艺术对课堂教学效果起着非常重要的作用,教师的语言在很大程度上决定着学生学习的效率。因此教学语言必须规范准确,具有逻辑性;生动形象,富有启发性;情真意切,深于传情;诙谐含蓄,具有趣味性。     

新课改视角下的语文教师素质

新课改将使我国基础教育教学发生历史性的变革。面对新的变化,语文教师要胜任新角色,必须具有现代教育思想和改革创新意识,较高的专业化素质、深厚的文化底蕴、超凡的科研能力、强烈的成就动机和崇高的职业境界。     

浅议师生间的文化冲突

教师与学生群体间的文化冲突在学校最为普遍和常见,并主要表现为代际文化冲突和目标文化冲突,其实质则是文化角色冲突、文化价值冲突和文化内涵冲突。要处理好这种文化冲突,应在保留师生间建设性文化冲突的同时,积极整合两者间的对抗性冲突。     

网络教学质量评价指标探析

目前，我国网络教师教学质量评价的研究，虽然作出了一些有益的尝试，但不完善，尚未形成独立的、系统的评价指标体系。通过国内外比较分析和实践调研，从网络教学准备、实施、学习支持服务、教学改革和研究四个方面构建一套科学有效、切实可行的网络教育教师教学质量评价指标体系。为今后的高等教育实施基于Internet的网络教学教师教学质量评价提供一个理论依据，促进我国网络教育教学质量的提高。     

论教师专业发展的后现代转向

教师发展是世界教育改革与发展的前沿课题.近年来各种后现代教育理论对教师专业发展提出了新的解读,认为自主发展是教师专业发展的新内涵,叙事研究是教师专业发展研究的新视角,关怀伦理是新时期教师专业发展新的伦理要求,个体知识是教师专业发展的新知识构成,这些认识为教师专业发展带来了新的启示.