Hyperinstrumentalism and cultural policy: means to an end or an end to meaning?

This paper investigates the implications for cultural policy of the logic of the instrumental view of culture taken to its conclusion. Policy developments that establish sets of justifications and rationales that have nothing to do with the cultural content of the policy concerned, but which arise from a deliberate realignment of policy frameworks, establish a form of hyperinstrumentalism. With hyperinstrumentalism the focus on outcomes and the ends of policy means that cultural policy is only as important as the ends to which it is directed. As such, hyperinstrumentalisation demonstrates the consequences for the sector of conditions where claims about the value of culture are irrelevant to political actors. The paper questions whether sense can be made of this shift as a coherent and strategic political choice, rather than as a simple assault on culture. The case of Northern Ireland’s Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is used to illustrate this. The authors question whether hyperinstrumentalism undermines the justification for an autonomous domain of cultural policy.     

天津体育学院新增硕士点

从“工具主义”到“人文关怀”的体育教学范式转变正在进行,但“确定性科学观”的根深蒂固却是这种转变的最大阻碍,而自组织理论是肃清“确定科学观”,从而为体育教学范式转折扫清道路的最有力工具。自组织体育教学观的研究内容主要包括体育教学自组织解释框架的宏观构建、自组织条件论、动力论、方式论、演化论等方面。     

从工具论到本体论——论汪曾祺对现代汉语小说语言观的贡献

现代汉语小说的语言基本是沿着“言一致”的方向发展的。汪曾祺在现代汉语小说语言理论发展史上的意义主要在于,他以本体论小说语言现替代了传统的工具论小说语言观,并提出了以审美为核心,广泛汲取多种语言资源的营养,锻造一种诗化小说语言的一系列原则和方法。     

教与学中的实用主义

实用主义是杜威教育思想的精髓，是现代西方哲学的主要流派之一，在20世纪前半叶的中国产生了巨大的影响。本文通过将实用主义与教育相结合，从学校、教材、教学方法、课程、社会五个视角阐述了杜威实用主义教育思想的具体体现，说明了这五个方面在教与学中的主导作用。     

从工具性、思想性统一到工具性、人文性并重--于漪语文学科性质观述评

学科的性质是学科理论建设的核心问题。中学语文学科性质观是中国语文教育界几十年来一直关注与讨论的话题。于漪老师对于该学科性质的认识经历了由工具性、思想性统一到工具性、人文性并重的过程。研究于漪老师语文学科性质观的发展历程，对于今天的语文教学，不论是在理论上还是在实践上都有借鉴意义。     

Editorial: conceptualising Early School Leaving

Early school leaving has been identified as a key policy priority across Europe. In this article, we critically discuss the underpinning assumptions and rationale for this policy focus, challenging the association that is made between early school leaving, economic growth and employment. We suggest that ESL is important, not because it is inhibiting growth or that it is responsible for high levels of youth unemployment, but because it helps to sustain and reproduce inequalities. We problematise the utilitarian conceptualisation of education and linear models of educational pathways that are embedded in this policy framework and critically discuss strategies that are proposed to address early school leaving. We argue that the key criteria for assessing such strategies should be the extent to which they meet social equity and social inclusion goals.     

“Defensive instrumentalism” and the legacy of New Labour's cultural policies

The paper identifies “defensive instrumentalism” as a main feature that has characterised New Labour's cultural policies, and which constitutes an important aspect of its legacy. Yet, resorting to instrumental arguments to defend the arts and to make a case for their usefulness is hardly an invention of New Labour. However, in the past, such defensive arguments were built into a more constructive and creative attempt to elaborate a coherent theory of art and an intellectually sophisticated view of the effects of the arts on individual and societies. What the paper argues, then, is that instrumentalism under New Labour has retained its longstanding defensive character, but was deprived of the attendant effort to elaborate a positive notion of cultural value.     

高校英语专业综合英语课程的价值取向考量

综合英语是培养学生英语语言综合技能的基础和核心课程,其价值取向体现多元化.根据高校英语专业综合英语的课程定位,从课程性质、教师教学和教材建设角度,探讨课程的多元价值取向以及实现途径,对于提高综合英语课程课堂教学的时效性意义重大.