The emotional geographies of neoliberal school reforms: Spaces of refuge and containment

This paper draws from a larger research project about the post high school transitions of young people who were at school during New Zealand’s neoliberal reforms. Our participants included a group of four young men excluded from school and redirected to an Alternative Education programme. Their accounts of their experiences at school differed starkly from what they said about their Alternative Education programme. The emotional content of their accounts reveals how the social and material practices of these respective education sites are constituted differently. Alternative Education operated as a space of refuge from alienation experienced in mainstream schooling as well as a site of containment, separating Alternative Education students from their mainstream peers. Focusing on the emotional geography of one Alternative Education programme offers insight into the emotional geographies of mainstream schooling and, more broadly, of neoliberal education reforms. Drawing on ideas from Massey and Bondi, we demonstrate how alienation is produced and manifested on different scales: teacher–student interactions, school exclusions and policies establishing Alternative Education. The Alternative Education programme discussed here provides a barometer of the broader emotional geographies of New Zealand’s neoliberal education reforms.     

Spiritual development: constructing an inclusive and progressive approach

This article examines the notion of spiritual development as it was conceptualised for state schools in Britain through the Conservative Government’s education reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, reforms which also introduced the National Curriculum. The article puts forward the argument that spiritual development was conceptualised in such a way as to attempt to reinstate progressive pedagogical values rejected by the National Curriculum reforms, but that the conceptualisation led to two conservative outcomes. First, spiritual development was not sufficiently robust to counteract the reforms and may have helped ease their passage. Second, education for the development of spiritual beliefs and values continued to be primarily located in Religious Education, even though a first principle of spiritual development was that spirituality should not be synonymous with religion in order that spiritual development should be inclusive. The article recommends that changes to Religious Education should be encouraged to ensure schools can provide opportunities for an inclusive and progressive education for spiritual development.     

Values education in a democratic society

A democratic society requires a degree of consensus on values. But it is argued that the model of values education as the transmission of certain predetermined values is inadequate in a democracy, since for several reasons the transmission of predetermined values can itself be undemocratic. Education for individual autonomy in matters of values is also, by itself, inadequate. Each generation needs the resources by which it can work out its own interpretation of democratic values. What is also needed, then, is an education in a common language of discourse — which can be drawn primarily from philosophy — which will facilitate public debate.     

Psychologists and Neoliberal School Reforms: Multi-Faceted Problems Calling for Multi-Faceted Interventions

This paper extends on six aspects of an article on neoliberal school reforms, their possible influences on schools and school psychologists, and options for dealing with these challenges (Szulevicz, Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Sciences 2018). First, the reductions implied in the neoliberal view of the student as homo economicus and of an ideal student as self-regulated learner are described and alternative views of the student as a person (e.g., homo moralis) and of the ideal student (e.g., as intentional self-developer) are presented. Secondly, several promoting and inhibiting influences on neoliberal school reforms are discussed: competence-based school education, output-oriented school governance, and standardized school performance testing on the one hand, and critical discourses about these phenomena on the other. Third, attention is directed towards impending disadvantages of the aforementioned reforms (e.g., insufficient preparation of students for the fullness of life). Fourth, goals for interventions are discussed (e.g., reducing neoliberal influences on schools, creating an awareness of the disadvantages of neoliberal reforms, forming coalitions to promote alternatives to these reforms). Fifth, some intervention approaches for reaching these goals are considered with special emphasis on different system levels and stakeholders at which these interventions may be targeted (e.g., education policy makers, teachers and parents associations). Sixth, evaluations of the interventions are called for to monitor their effects and to refine the guiding goals, problem analyses, and strategies. In closing, some transferable principles of the preceding approach are highlighted that could be used to better understand and manage other educational problems as well.     

Educational Reforms in the Former Soviet Union

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there have been movements toward a range of education reforms. In this article, an historical account is presented of education from communist roots to current times.     

医学教育环境测量评价的实践与探索

重点讨论了医学教育环境测量和评价在医学教育改革中的地位和作用,在借鉴国外先进经验的基础上,在教育环境评价和教师评价方面提出了重视学生感受,重视教育环境的动态评价,科学公正地评价教师,建立全面系统的分析方法,建立评价的分析反馈机制等看法.     

Education for the prepared mind

A theory of education requires a theory of the mind that is to be educated. Modules are the central feature of the mind of the infant. Innate learning devices, modules, prepare the infant with the following competences: language, number, theory of mind, spatial navigation, music, etc. We propose that the child be taught what evolution has prepared the child to learn. This program requires adding both modular—e.g., Theory of Mind, morality, art—as well as domain-general competences—e.g., analogies, causal analysis—to the curriculum. The program further requires revamping the presently inappropriate teaching of certain modular competences. Finally it requires correcting “evolutionary errors”—modular competences that were not ideal (see Galileo); or that, though once beneficial, have become harmful in the modern world (see imitation). This proposal is taken from [Premack, D. & Premack, A. (2003). Original intelligence. New York: Macgraw-Hill].     

Preventing Persons Affected by Serious Mental Illnesses from Obtaining Firearms: The Evolution of Law,Policy, and Practice in Massachusetts

A history of commitment to a mental health facility disqualifies applicants for gun licenses. Identifying such a history has become increasingly complex as the locus of confinement has become more diversified and privatized. In Massachusetts, prior to 2014, the databases used to identify individuals who would be disqualified on such grounds had not contemporaneously matched the evolution of the state's mental health systems. A survey of Massachusetts police chiefs, who, as in many jurisdictions, are charged with certifying qualification, indicates that some have broadened the scope of their background checks to include the experience of their officers with respect to certain applicants. The survey identifying these patterns, conducted in 2014, preceded by one month significant legislative reforms that mandate the modification of the reporting into a centralized database commitments to all types of mental health and substance use facilities, thus allowing identification of all commitments occurring in the state. The anticipated utilization of a different database mechanism, which has parallels in several other states, potentially streamlines the background check process, but raises numerous concerns that need to be addressed in developing and using such databases. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

After Kohlberg: Some implications of an Ethics of Virtue for the theory of moral education and development

It is beyond serious dispute that post-war reflection upon and research into moral education and development has been well nigh dominated by an extensive and ambitious research programme influenced and initiated by the modem cognitive developmental theorist Lawrence Kohlberg — a programme which can also be seen, moreover, as standing in a tradition of philosophical reflection about the nature of moral life going back to such significant enlightenment thinkers as Kant and Rousseau. It will also be familiar, however, that a powerful critique of this essentially liberal conception of the nature of moral life and values has lately gathered momentum under the influence of contemporary post-analytical and communitarian social and moral theorists variously under the spell of Aristotle. In the first place, then, this paper argues that a basically Kohlbergian approach to thinking about moral education is difficult — if not impossible — to sustain in the face of this neo-Aristotelian critique; secondly, however, it attempts to explore the possibilities of an alternative virtue-theoretical basis for understanding the nature of moral life and education.     

On the Essence of Education

Educational reforms in developed countries are not successful, because we do not have a clear understanding of what is education. The essence of education is the limits of its improvement. Education is understood as the artificial extension of human ability to learn, as the product of learner's own efforts, and finally, as a series of historic forms of labor arrangements.     

Prayer as a model of communication

The paper deals with the principles of good communication between persons, taking the traditional forms of prayer—confession, petition, praise, thanksgiving, and contemplation—as models. It is divided into two sections: The first presents the principles of poor communication and sets these within a theological context, followed by the principles of good communication; the second section suggests two practical applications of this material: (1) marriage counseling by Christian pastors, and (2) a short, Christian education course.Sylvia Fleming Crocker has a Ph.D. in philosophy and an M.A. in comparative religion. She is a Gestalt therapist in private practice in Laramie, Wyoming.     

建构主义理论与我国医学生创新能力培养

从建构主义理论内涵,对我国医学生创新能力培养的启示以及教育观念、教育制度改革、师生素质和环境建设等方面,探讨了我国高等医学院校实施创新教育这一重要问题。     

高等教育课程评价概述

随着教育改革和教育评价的不断发展,课程评价越来越引起人们的重视.我国课程评价和西方国家相比在评价的主体上、模式上、内容上还存在着一定的差距.必须正确看待我国课程评价的现状,找出问题,深化课程改革,以顺应课程评价发展的新趋势.     

Twin-singleton differences in verbal ability: Where do they stem from?

In a follow-up investigation at age 9, the cognitive and social characteristics of 35 pairs of twins, studied previously at age 2, were compared with those of matched singletons at school. At age 2, twins' lower verbal ability compared with singletons' was attributed to lesser amount of speech by parents—seen as an outcome of the “twoness” of the “twin situation”—rather than to biological handicap or mother's education. At age 9, twins were equal to singletons in physical development and nonverbal ability, but the monozygotic (MZ)—not the dizygotic (DZ)—twins showed lower verbal ability. However, far more variance in verbal ability was accounted for by mother's education and birthweight than by twinship. In the long run, therefore, mothers' educational differences are more influential than the “twoness” of the “twin situation.”     

Psychometric properties of the French version of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES-12f)

IntroductionSelf-efficacy appears to be an important resource for teachers assessed by the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001).ObjectiveThe current study aims to explore psychometric properties the TSES short form translated into French, taking account of teachers’ experience with special needs students.MethodA sample of 283 primary and secondary teachers completed the scale.ResultsResults of confirmatory factor analyses confirm the tridimensional structure of the scale, which shows satisfactory psychometric properties.ConclusionThe usefulness of this scale is discussed considering the context of inclusive education reforms, as well as the potential protective effect of self-efficacy for teachers.     

Phenomenology,physical education,and special populations

This paper attempts to show the complementarity between phenomenology and physical education as human sciences, and discusses how a consideration of this relation might inform the questions we ask and the methods we use in our research and teaching. We enter the common ground shared by phenomenology and physical education by way of three sensitizing concepts: lived experience, intersubjectivity, and insiders stories. Using examples from physical education and phenomenology, the paper shows the connections between these two increasingly compatible partners, emphasizes the primary connection — the body — and shows the practical and heuristic applications of phenomenology in the lifeworld of physical education.     

Schools,identity and the conception of the good. The denominational tradition as an example

The Dutch education system relies upon a large number of publicly-subsidized, denominational schools. The authors defend the importance of schools that educate children within a specific — including denominational — conception of the good by arguing for the importance of such a conception for the development of the child's identity. An essential component of this developmental process is critical reflection, conceived as crucial to the formation of moral autonomy.     

University training in the social sciences in East Africa and current labor market reforms in east and Southern Africa: A research agenda

Africa is undergoing considerable political, economic and labor market reforms. In this context, education and training stands literally at a crossroads. In the past, it has been oriented toward mass production emphasizing numbers and quantities rather than skills and quality. The primary clientele of the universities were the state organs, local governments, state-controlled cooperatives, commissions and mass organizations. The universities, though frequently in conflict with the state, were very much part of the predominant bureaucratic command economies. As part of the command system the market had to go to them; they did not have to reach out to the market. The current economic crisis and its subsequent reforms have turned the wheel of fortune against the state and the universities. Financial and employment cuts cannot sustain the traditional levels and practices of employment in the public sector. As the roles of the state and the private sector change, the mission, orientation and future of the universities, university staff and their graduates cannot afford to remain what they used to be. This raises the question of the extent to which the university education system of any country in the region is ready for change? The present study undertakes to identify the mechanisms for reducing state regulation of the university curricula and increasing the acceptability, relevance, reliability and dynamism of university education to the market and nonmarket, thereby increasing the capability of university graduates to be more readily employable in various sectors and, where not directly employable, to be able to employ themselves in profitable and sustainable activities.     

School reform disorder: Alternative audience responses to nonsense

Neither general education nor special education now offers appropriate and therapeutic treatment to all children and youth with emotional or behavioral disorders. Substantial improvements are needed in both general and special education, but the needed changes may not be those suggested by many proponents of school reform. Some suggested reforms are tenuously connected to reality in ways that suggest comedic intent or thought disorder, yet audiences typically respond as if these suggestions were both serious and rational. The disorder of school reform may be as much a problem of inappropriate audience response as it is a matter of nonsensical suggestions. One possible response to serious but highly questionable suggestions for reform is articulation of postulates on which a comprehensive educational service delivery system might be based. I present eight such postulates and correlates.This article is based on a keynote presentation at the First Annual Conference on Multiple Perspectives on Children and Adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbance, Virginia Beach, VA, October 8, 1991. Portions of the paper are based on Kauffman and Hallahan (in press).     

That All Might Proclaim: Continuing Luther's Legacy of Access

This article proposes that the next century of Lutheranism focus on equipping the priesthood of all believers to proclaim. Access was one of Martin Luther's central reforms and continues to be a hallmark of the Lutheran church. However, access to the pulpit has not gone far enough. For the sake of the gospel, a robust movement toward homiletical education for the laity must accompany a movement toward lay preaching.