《四书》学与蒙学教育

《四书》学原本是士大夫之学,是一套培养士君子的知识体系和价值体系。但是,士大夫需要将《四书》学整合成为社会大众思想,故而将《四书》融入到蒙学教材。在中国思想史上,蒙学教材在社会基层还承担化民成俗的作用。为了让蒙学教材更有效地发挥作用,编写者往往将遵循道德与现实功利及未来福报结合起来,将道德规范提升为一种外在权威的强制,还将教育德目具体化为可模仿的行为模式。     

The development of a physical education state anxiety scale: a preliminary study

The aim of the present study was to develop a measure of state anxiety for school physical education. The Physical Education State Anxiety Scale was designed to assess the basic anxiety dimensions plus the related cognitive processes. High school students (n = 631) completed the scale just prior to a test on two track and field tasks, in order to create a stressful condition. Data from the sample were randoml y split in two and subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, which supported the proposed three-factor structure of Worry, Cognitive Processes, and Somatic Anxiety. Internal consistency coefficients were acceptable. Moderate correlations among the subscale scores supported its construct validity. Results provide preliminary evidence for validity and reliability.     

Personality and the experimental study of education

Literature is reviewed suggesting that a child's personality determines to a large extent his or her reaction to specific methods of teaching, and even to the whole ethos and atmosphere of the teaching situation. Thus, extraverted children benefit from being taught along the lines of discovery learning, while introverted children benefit from being taught along the lines of reception learning. The apparent lack of difference in achievement in groups taught by these methods hides the large individual differences factor that appears in the interaction term. It is suggested that facts of this kind should be of considerable concern to those who design our courses for future teachers, and for teachers generally. We owe our children care in the design of methods for teaching, and personality differences play an important part in such design.     

The concept of education

Studies in Philosophy and Education -     

Pocket money: A study of economic education

Despite the fact that some work had been done on children's conceptions of economic affairs, very little work appears to have been done on children's use of money. This study set out to examine sex, age and class differences in 7–12-year-old children's pocket money/allowances. Males and females, from middle- and working-class backgrounds in three age groups (7/8, 9/10, 11/12), completed a questionnaire which sought to establish such things as the amount of pocket money children received; other sources of income; whether they were required to work for their pocket money; whether and how they were encouraged to save it, etc. The results showed that, whereas there were few sex or class differences, there were a large number of significant age differences. The results are discussed in terms of the children's socialization and experience of money. Limitations of this research and suggestions for further work in this field are noted.     

The myth of science education

It is argued that the manner in which we teach science in the high schools represents an outdated positivistic conception of science. The standard presentation of a year of each of chemistry, biology and physics should be replaced by an integrated science plus history, philosophy, and sociology of science which would take a total of three years to complete. A proper appreciation for the true nature of science is essential to the continued health of the scientific enterprise.     

The moral basis of liberal education

The moral right to liberal education involves issues of distribution and of content. The former issue bears on the distribution of educational resources. The latter issue bears on the issue of multiculturalism. Both issues are discussed from the standpoint of equal rights.Presented as the first Distinguished Lecture to the Association for Philosophy of Education at its meeting in New York, 28 December 1991.     

The dialectic of Australian Catholic education

Australian Catholic schools are enjoying extensive popularity, with schools in general experiencing maximum enrolment capacities. The irony in this phenomenon is that Catholics are being attracted to non‐Catholic schools, and many non‐Catholics are seeking enrolment in Catholic schools. Moreover, the vast majority of Catholics in Catholic schools (parents, students, teachers) are not practising and those that do often hold a plurality of views in faith and morals that are inconsistent with Church teaching. Given this reality, the aims of the Australian Catholic school need to be re‐examined.     

The pedagogical imperative of values education

Recent research has exposed the potential of quality teaching to exercise a positive influence on student achievement. Extending beyond surface and factual learning, quality teaching has posited conceptions of ‘intellectual depth’, ‘communicative competence’ and ‘self‐reflection’ as being central to effective learning. Implicit in these conceptions are values dimensions reflected in notions of positive relationships, the centrality of student welfare, school coherence, ambience and organisation. The influences of these on student learning, welfare and progress have been observed across public, private and religious sectors, thus confirming earlier studies of similar phenomena in religious schools. Evidence from the Australian Government's Values Education Good Practice Schools Project indicates the benefit to all schools of reflecting on, re‐evaluating and rethinking the implications of values education for curricula, classroom management and school ethos in the interests of student wellbeing and progress. This indicates a pedagogical imperative for values education which extends beyond boundaries of personal or systemic interests and ideologies.