Learning to teach in a context of education reform: liberal studies student teachers' decision‐making in lesson planning

Liberal studies is a new subject in the new senior secondary curriculum in Hong Kong. This study attempted to identify factors that shape liberal studies student teachers' decisions in lesson planning. Based on interview data and lesson plans developed by the student teachers, this article maintains that four factors interacted with the subject features of liberal studies to shape the student teachers' planning decisions, namely, teacher knowledge, curriculum requirements, materials and resources, and interaction with equal and more capable partners. This paper further looks into how teacher knowledge expresses itself at different stages of lesson planning. The findings suggest that to facilitate enquiry learning in students, liberal studies teachers need to adopt an enquiry stance in lesson planning. This paper argues that the limitations of liberal studies student teachers' content knowledge need to be addressed in teacher preparation programmes and suggests teacher networking as one way to strengthen novice liberal studies teachers' content preparation. The implications for teacher education are discussed.     

Moral Atmosphere and Athletic Aggressive Tendencies in Young Soccer Players

The major purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the moral atmosphere of athletic teams to athletes' self-described likelihood to aggress (SLA). Two additional purposes were: first, to determine whether there was a predominant figure most influential to athletes' SLA and, secondly, to examine potential gender differences in athletes' perceived team moral atmosphere, their SLA and the most influential person affecting their SLA. Participants were 194 male and female soccer players 13-19 years of age. Athletes' perceptions of their team pro-aggressive norms emerged as the most consistent predictor of their SLA. Regardless of gender, the athletes reported that they would be more likely to aggress if they thought their coach supported such behaviour. The findings shed light on the influence that significant others have in "shaping" the moral atmosphere operating on youth sport teams.     

Developing research capacity among graduate students in an interdisciplinary environment

A critical review of research to date suggests a need to explore the development of graduate student research capacity from the standpoint of graduate students. Six members of an interdisciplinary graduate student colloquium at the Centre for Youth and Society (Victoria, Canada) offer their perspective. Our research involved four phases, each illustrating the processes that refined our understanding of the components that contributed to the development of our graduate student research capacity. First, we engaged in several round-table discussions and created a conceptual map depicting components that were meaningful in developing our research capacity. Second, we examined previous work on graduate student research capacity development and compared this data to the conceptual map. Third, we conducted a thematic analysis of secondary data of graduated students with similar interdisciplinary training and involvement in the Centre. Finally, the data analysis was used to refine the conceptual map that may benefit educators and future graduate students. From the standpoint of students themselves, we discuss those components perceived as best contributing to the development of graduate student research capacity and highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary context and writing process.     

在学习方式的变革中提高大学教学质量和办学水平——高等教育信息化的攻坚战

信息化正在打破大学传统教学模式及相应体制的多重壁垒,为大学改革开辟出阻力最小之路径;对大学教学的理解,必须突破传统课堂教学的狭隘眼界,从高素质人才培养的大视野中把握教学、科研、社会服务三大功能的内在联系,将提高大学教学质量的立足点建立在"推动学习方式变革"这一大学创新发展的难点和攻坚战上。研究和驾驭高等教育信息化,必须将对当代信息技术与大学变革发展的前瞻性把握这两个方面内在地统一起来,这是21世纪从事大学教育创新研究与决策管理的专业人才所必须具有的知识结构和时代眼界。     

经学研究的立场与方法——兼及“学科”问题

中国传统的儒家经学,自汉代独尊儒术,转而成为两千年的官方意识形态,规范和塑造了传统主流的生活样态.从清末到五四新文化运动,随着西方文明的东渐,传统的价值系统遭到质疑,西方现代学科分类的引入以及科学的研究方法的兴起,最终导致经学的消亡.经学是传统生活方式全体的结晶,经学消亡的结果隐含着民族身份缺失的问题.世运变迁,当下民族身份问题突显出来,传统与现代关系成为中国走向现代化的基本问 题,遂有返本开新、重塑国人生活方式的倡导以及设立经学学科的呼声.无疑,设置经学学科有助于经学研究,但经学研究应保持其纯学术的立场,如此才能在实事求是的基础上返本开新.这要求学者深入体会经典,形成既体现现代文明的优秀成果,又能够接续传统的认识,并以此为人们的生活方式提供资源.     

Don’t Silence “the Dinosaurs”: Keeping Caution Alive With Regard to Social Work Distance Education

Distance education (DE) in social work programs and studies on its comparable effectiveness with face-to-face education continue to increase. Yet not all faculty are convinced of the results, and this study explores why. Three case studies indicate that reservations center on valuing the process of learning and nonverbal communication. Issues regarding duty of care to families to be served by future social workers primarily educated in a virtual classroom also matter significantly. The trend toward DE may be inevitable, but this does not mean that educators should not voice their concerns; their skepticism has merit, and they have a responsibility to be vocal.     

Economic independence for adolescents with special educational needs

Do young men and women diagnosed with special educational needs succeed in finding full‐time employment that provides sufficient income to live on? The analyses presented in this paper are based on interviews conducted between October 2001 and April 2002 of nearly 500 young people with various types of disabilities. The young people who were interviewed have been studied prospectively since they entered upper secondary school as special needs students six or seven years earlier. These adolescents are followed through a critical phase of life when they are trying to find their way in society as adult individuals. This process is gradual and involves making tentative steps in various arenas. A crucial topic is how these young men and women, between 23 and 25 years of age, succeed in gaining employment that allows them to become economically independent. This is a vulnerable process for most youth, but it is especially challenging for young people with functional difficulties who have experienced protracted and disjointed transitions throughout their educational trajectories.     

Gendered divisions on classed routes to vocational education

In this article our focus is on the persistent gendered divisions in educational routes of young people who choose a vocational path after compulsory education in Finland. We analyse how gendered subjectivities are constructed within the practices of educational and vocational guidance and within student cultures in the comprehensive school, as well as the way in which young people process understandings of themselves and their expectations during and after vocational education. In addition, we explore young people's ways to negotiate with disciplinary practices of the educational system. The paper draws on three ethnographic studies, and on feminist post-structural and materialist theories, intertwined with contextualised ethnographic perspectives. Our analysis reveals some patterns that might work as obstacles in the process towards reducing gender segregation in education and the labour market. We suggest that whilst gendered choices are sometimes taken for granted, gender dichotomy is often emphasised even if young people choose ‘differently’.     

Social Studies Education as a Moral Activity: Teaching towards a just society

Many competing ideas exist around teaching ‘standard’ high school social studies subjects such as history, government, geography, and economics. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of social studies teaching and learning as a moral activity. I first propose that current high school curriculum standards in the United States often fail in focusing on the kinds of sustained discourse and ideas necessary for students to develop an awareness and commitment to justice in a pluralistic society. I then make the argument that understanding social studies as an inherently moral activity creates a space for transformative and meaningful learning to occur. Lastly, I contend that public schools are inextricably linked to understanding and creating elements of a just society and as such, hold equal potential to both support and severely hinder its development.     

The poverty of curriculum theory: a critique of Wraga and Hlebowitsh

This paper offers a critique of a paper by Wraga and Hlebowitsh in the Journal of Curriculum Studies (2003) for narrowness of vision, repetition of already‐familiar material, irrelevance, a retreat into the academy, reductionism, and ultimate sterility as an approach to moving forward the fields of curriculum theory and development. Curriculum discourse should be marked by richness, diversity, discordant voices, fecundity, multiple rationalities, and theories, and should be touched by humanity and practicality in a hundred thousand contexts. To replace outworn but convenient labels and to advance the field, curriculum theory must catch the untidy but authentic lived experiences of curricularists of every hue, draw on emergent disciplines outside education, and touch major issues in everyday life.