Journal of Curriculum Studies 45卷4期文章

1. Learning to Listen to Differences: Democracy, Dewey and Interpretive Discussion

Author: Elizabeth Meadows

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(4): 441-461

Abstract:How can teachers in a democracy help people value, listen to and understand ideas and perspectives that differ from their own through the use of interpretive discussions and why is this important? Interpretive discussions engage participants in collaborative inquiry about the meaning of a text. In Dewey’s view in Democracy and Education, and in the author’s view, learning to listen with respect and interest to views different from one’s own is essential in a democracy. Democratic practices available through participation in interpretive discussion can help people learn to listen to differences in these ways. These practices are described in this paper.

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2. How is Teacher Knowledge Shaped by the Professional Knowledge Context? Minding our Metaphors

Author: Carey Philpott

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(4): 462-480

Abstract:This paper compares two theoretical frameworks for understanding the relationship between individual narratives of experience and the wider social and cultural narrative context. The two frameworks are the narrative landscape model of Connelly and Clandinin and a tool-based framework derived from a neo-Vygotskyan perspective that draws particularly on the work of Wertsch. The paper explores the effects that the fundamental structuring metaphors of landscape and tool have on how we might think about the relationship between individual narratives and social and cultural narrative context. The paper argues that we need to be critically reflective about the metaphors we use and not allow them to become naturalized. It also argues that this is best achieved by exploring alternative metaphors.

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3. Learning Opportunities: The Production and Practice of Kindergarten Literacy Curricula in an Era of Change

Author: Rachel Heydon

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(4): 481-510

Abstract:This case study using ethnographic tools was designed to identify and gain analytic insight into the dimensions and dynamics of kindergarten literacy curricula during an era of early childhood education and care reform. Focal questions concerned how literacy curricula were produced and the ways in which children and their linguistic and multi-modal funds of knowledge may have been implicated in curricular production and practice. Focusing on one public school kindergarten in Ontario, Canada, and drawing on curriculum theory, actor-network theory, and multi-literacies, the study found curricula to be plural and dynamic and produced through networks that included the provincial government, school district, commerce, teachers, children, and discourses of early childhood education. Findings suggested that children’s funds of knowledge were not part of the official curriculum, yet children translated the curricular effects of other actors in the network or created alternate assemblages to enact literacy practices that more reflected their interests and knowledge. The study contributes to the dialogue on literacy curricula in early childhood education and care and hopes to provide information that can help policy-makers and educators (re)consider how networks might promote expansive literacy learning opportunities for children.

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4. Teaching in a Play-based Curriculum: Theory, Practice and Evidence of Developmental Education for Young Children

Author: Bert Van Oers and Debbie Duijkers

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(4): 511-534

Abstract:This article focuses on the possibilities of teaching in a play-based curriculum, which has become an issue of international relevance. As a domain of study, the Developmental Education approach was taken in the early grades of Dutch primary schools (grades 1–4, ages 4–8). The article describes the theoretical basis of the approach and how it is elaborated in a play-based curriculum for early years classrooms. Particularly the teachers’ strategies for the promotion of development will be discussed in more detail. Finally, the article presents a piece of the evidence base of this approach by reporting a research on vocabulary acquisition. Despite methodological limitations of the empirical study, the evidence suggests that teaching in a play-based curriculum is not only theoretically plausible and practically feasible, but also seems to be effectively useful for the attainment of positive outcomes (on vocabulary learning) as compared to a strictly teacher-driven approach.

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5. Towards an Ethical Ecology of International Service Learning

Author: Philip M.Bamber and Mark A.Pike

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(4): 535-559

Abstract:International Service-Learning (ISL) is a pedagogical activity that seeks to blend student learning with community engagement overseas and the development of a more just society. ISL programmes have grown as educational institutions and non-governmental organizations have sought to achieve the goal of developing ‘global citizens’. However, Service Learning (SL) in general and International Service-Learning (ISL) in particular remain deeply under-theorized. These educational initiatives provide policy-makers with a practical response to their quest for a ‘Big Society’ and present alluring pedagogical approaches for Universities as they react to reforms in Higher Education and seek to enhance both the student learning experience and graduate employability. After outlining the development of ISL in policy and practice, this paper draws on the rich tradition of ISL at one British university to argue that ISL is a form of engagement that has the potential to be ethical in character, although a number of factors are identified that militate against this. The contention is that ISL which promotes rational and instrumental learning represents a deficit model and, therefore, ISL is conceptualized here as a transformative learning experience that evinces distinctly aesthetic and even spiritual dimensions. Upon this theoretical groundwork is laid the foundations for conceptualizing ISL in ways that ensure its ethical integrity.

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6. The Perceived Value of Health Education in Schools: New Zealand Secondary Teachers’P

erceptions

Author: Amanda Hargreaves

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(4): 560-582

Abstract:The purpose of this study was to investigate New Zealand (NZ) secondaryhealth education (HE) teachers’ perceptions of the value various stakeholders attribute to HE and to identify enablers and barriers to effective implementation of school HE policy. In 2009, secondary HE teachers from NZ completed an anonymous questionnaire about their perceptions of key stakeholders’ value of HE and what the participants viewed as enablers and barriers to the implementation of effective HE programmes in their schools. Qualitative and descriptive data were collected and responses to open-ended questions were analysed using content analysis. There appeared to be tensions between policy and curriculum expectations and school-based curriculum decision-making. This suggested that HE was marginalized in many of the schools and HE teachers experienced challenges in implementing effective HE programmes. Indicators of value for the subject emerged and included stakeholders’ understandings of the HE curriculum, the position of HE within a school, and stakeholder responses to HE. In conclusion it is argued that the realities of secondary HE need to be improved to address the well-being of our youth.