English language learning and education policy in Chile: can English really open doors for all?

To date, knowledge of English in Latin America has reflected existing political and economic power structures. It has remained the preserve of the elite with access to private schooling, and as such it demarcates and divides social groups by reinforcing an unequal distribution of wealth, resources, and knowledge. However, the number of people learning English as a foreign language is growing across the region. This article analyses the “English Opens Doors Programme” in Chile, which aims to improve national economic competitiveness and promote equitable access to English language learning in all publicly funded schools. The article examines this initiative within the context of Chilean education policy since 1990, thereby acknowledging the influence of different stakeholders in this process, and the tensions between education for economic growth and education for social justice in a highly segmented and marketised system.     

Considering ‘best practice’: the social construction of teacher activity and pupil learning as performance

Since the 1997 election of the Labour Party to political power in the UK the foci for educational change have been widespread. One area that has received particularly intense scrutiny is that of teacher activity. In particular, the profession has seen a marked rise in the identification of ‘best practice’. As a term ‘best practice’ has entered the parlance of English educational policy to describe that which seemingly has ‘official’ approval. This paper uses a social constructionist perspective to consider how increases in pupil attainment on national tests are currently used to demonstrate better pupil learning. Specifically, it identifies that the use of such data to describe the plausibility, veracity and legitimacy of teaching before the test as ‘best practice’ is questionable. In so doing, the critique argues that ‘best practice’ confers and retains legitimacy due to its self‐perpetuation within the discourse of performance. The paper concludes by offering three areas for further research and debate.     

The student departure puzzle: do some faculties and programs have answers?

University attrition prevention strategies are typically generic, centrally managed, whole of university strategies that have emerged from an examination of whole of university attrition data. This paper takes an intra‐organisational comparative approach, through the examination of faculty and program attrition rates of students who joined an Australian university in the first term of 2004. The faculty with the highest attrition had a rate two‐and‐a‐half times that of the faculty with the lowest rate, and in programs with 40 or more students enrolled the program with the highest attrition had a rate over five times that of the program with the lowest rate. The paper identifies five practical implications of these findings and concludes that investigating the causes of these differences will help in understanding student attrition. It also suggests that universities wishing to reduce student attrition may benefit from adopting integrated and situated strategies that take into account faculty and program differences.     

Free but inaccessible primary education: A critique of the pedagogy of English and Mathematics in Lesotho

The Free Primary Education programme in Lesotho has enabled nearly all children to attend primary school, but the prevailing pedagogy denies or restricts the opportunities of these children for effective learning. This paper focuses on the theme of the inaccessibility of learning in the key subjects of English and Mathematics, reporting recent research. Some of the major problems identified are specific to each subject, while others are common to both. Referring to previous theoretical and empirical work on primary education in developing countries, the paper identifies the major factors shaping restrictive pedagogy in Lesotho.     

Two views of education: Promoting civic and moral values in Cambodia schools

This paper discusses the Cambodian government's attempt to promote civic and moral values in Cambodia schools through the subject “Civics and Morals”. The paper argues that the tensions and challenges associated with civic and moral education are linked to a fundamental difference between the traditional view of education in Cambodia, and the modern view of education promoted by the Cambodian government and external donor agencies. It is further argued that policymakers need to promote the effective teaching and learning of civic and moral values with the support of the local community and religious institutions in Cambodia.     

Restructuring reforms in Turkish teacher education: Modernisation and development in a dynamic environment

The paper examines the effectiveness of recent reforms in teacher education in Turkey, specifically the restructuring of programmes in university faculties of education. It first, briefly, sets the reforms of the 1990s in an historical context, prior to the 1997 Act which increased the length of compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years, and the 1998 restructuring of faculties of education. It considers the national need for the restructuring of teacher education and the issues involved. The thrust of the paper is a study of how teacher educators across the country perceive both the changes and their effect on the quality of teacher education, methodology as a discipline, school partnerships, and relationships with the Ministry of National Education.     

改革开放以来我国农村基础教育政策创新发展的特点

一直以来,我国农村基础教育政策对于农村基础教育的整体发展具有绝对的导向作用．改革开放以来我国农村基础教育政策系统处于不断革新之中,有必要从定性分析的角度,由政策生态环境发展的基本特征、政策内容创新的突出特点、政策制定创新的主要特色、政策创新约束的具体表征四个层面深入探讨改革开放以来我国农村基础教育政策创新发展的具体特点．     

社会排斥与社会认同——农民工社会政策调整的影响研究

农民工受到社会排斥在转型期中国是一个较为普遍的非合理现象,作为为新一届政府追求社会公平正义的重大决策之一的农民工政策调整的社会实质就是在新的价值维度上重建一种新的社会认同。该研究从社会排斥和社会认同的角度研究分析了农民工社会政策调整的效果,并提出了具体的建议。     

论新中国文艺政策的文化选择

新中国文艺政策的文化选择,是指新中国文艺政策在制定和实施的过程中,针对政策问题背后所面临的文化矛盾和文化冲突所作出的文化选择和文化整合。新中国文艺政策在其形成和发展过程中,曾经面临过许多重大的文化矛盾和文化冲突,这些矛盾冲突归结起来,主要涉及到三个方面：文艺与政治、传统与现代、西方与东方。     

国外健康促进政策对我国心理健康服务体系建设的启示

健康促进是解决全球健康问题的新策略。美国和世界卫生组织健康促进政策对我国心理健康服务体系建设的启示主要包括以下内容：（1）美国健康促进政策的连续性、科学性、法制性、可操作性以及灵活性值得我们借鉴;（2）转变心理健康服务观念,树立以人为本的健康价值观;（3）加强心理健康服务体系的理论研究;（4）完善组织管理体制,建立国家健康促进委员会统一规划指导全国的健康促进工作;（5）建立高效务实的心理健康服务体系,实现人人健康目标。