All-round Education Research Articles

Three views of fairness in a school-based assessment scheme of practical work in biology

This interpretive study of the implementation of a school-based assessment scheme of biology practical work in Hong Kong examines three teachers' struggles with the issue of fairness in relation to their classroom actions. Though the teachers' discourses were dominated by, and their classroom actions were pre-eminently influenced by, the notion of fairness, they did so in three qualitatively different ways: (1) fair in the sense of assessing students on a fair basis; (2) fair in the sense of not jeopardizing students' chances to learn the subject matter while they are being assessed; and (3) fair in the sense of not depriving students' of opportunities of receiving all-round education. The implication is that assessment innovation is a necessary, but not a sufficient, mechanism for changes within our educational system. The role of the teacher is challenged by the new assessment scheme−the co-existence of assessment and learning requires a significant change in the teacher's pedagogy. For teachers to implement the new programme their existing understanding and beliefs concerning assessment must be challenged and opportunities provided for them to come to terms with the philosophy of the new assessment scheme. Most importantly, the teachers themselves must undertake such a learning process.

A Study of Art Education as All-round Education in Senior High Schools : In The Case of the Attached Senior High School, Hiroshima University

A Study of Art Education as All-round Education in Senior High Schools : In The Case of the Attached Senior High School, Hiroshima University

Peter Frederick Baker, 11 March 1939 - 10 March 1987

Peter Baker was brought up in Lincoln where his father Frederick Thomas, always known as Tom, was curator of the Lincoln museum. Tom started work at the age of 16 and eventually became Director of the city museum, library and art gallery. His interests in local history and archaeology were recognized by election to the Fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries, by the award of an Honorary Degree at Hull University, and by the appointment as an Officer of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire. Tom married Doris Enid Skelton, a Lincolnshire girl, in 1937 and Peter, their only child, was born in 1939. Peter went to Lincoln School where he received a good all-round education, as well as a thorough grounding in science. In 1956 he won a major scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

A Few Remarks on the Pedagogical Reform in the Department of History

I was the principal person in charge of drafting the policy regarding (reform) in the department of history at the First Joint Conference of Universities and Colleges in 1953-54. We agreed on two things: liberal (all-round) education, and advocating emulation of the Soviet Union. The matter of emulating the situation in the Soviet Union is one that entails a narrow and deep specialization. It is very rigid in its requirements. Our middle school courses have failed to become connected (with our upper-level education courses in this discipline); at the time, we only had courses in modern history in the upper-middle schools.

Relationships between research on teaching, educational innovation, and teaching: The case of the Netherlands

In most nations, if not all, the relationships between research on teaching, educational innovation, and teaching need continuous scrutiny. Only careful examination will insure productive relationships. The present paper attempts such a review of the current situation in the Netherlands. It is likely that the lessons learned will have some bearing on the situation in other nations as well. Over the past 10 years several large-scale innovations have taken place in the Dutch educational system. The ultimate goal of these innovations was to change the structure of the system. One plan was made to integrate nursery and primary schools and to replace the segmented secondary education system with a more comprehensive system, the middle school. These changes were not, however, simply structural; the plan was also intended to change the content of education. Schools were to provide better integrated all-round education, pay more attention to the characteristics of individual pupils, and increase individual counseling. The slogan for the middle school was: New schools, new goals. There was to be reorganization of both school curricula and school structures. This reorganization meant changes in what was expected from teachers. Thus they were expected to develop curricula and new styles of teaching, to spend more time on individualized instruction of pupils, and to interact as a team in a new way. In retrospect, we can ask whether, in these innovation processes, sufficient attention was given to the role and function of teachers and what teachers require in order to carry out these innovations. A start was made with innovations in the 1970s. These innovations are now moving into a final stage as regards primary education and an intermediate stage in the case of secondary education. Nevertheless, changes are still occurring in Dutch education, through, for example, the introduction of technology into education, the policy of giving special attention to certain groups of pupils, or the Back-to-Basics movement. Such changes also produce questions about the place of, and possibilities open to, the teacher. Presumably educational research could contribute an answer to such questions. During recent decades educational research has been concerned with narrowing the gap between theories of education and teaching, on the one hand, and the actual classroom situation, on the other hand. Theories about education were on the whole normative and prescriptive. They set forth the function of teachers in education and what ought to happen in the classroom and in education generally. These theories often lacked any empirical support. Meanwhile educational research concentrated on testing theories and collecting empirical data. Following the American tradition, research aimed first at establishing what are the characteristics of good teachers and then at the relation between specific educational variables and school achievement. There was little connection, however, between this research and educational innovation; apparently no one expected such a connection. Changes were made in the research programmes in an attempt to be more practical. There was, for example, research on teachers’ planning behaviour and thought processes. But it is doubtful whether

The Secondary School in Contemporary Western Society: Constraints, Imperatives, and Prospects

Secondary education will provide an all-round education for the whole child. It will provide vocational competence. It will teach the young to think, to make intelligent decisions, and to learn how to learn. It will provide an apprenticeship in the disciplines of knowledge and in contemporary technology. It will provide not only equality of opportunity to a nation's youth, but ultimately, social equality within an educated, democratic society. It will teach youth social graces, social competence, and character. It will help young people develop skills in and appreciation of the arts. It will help them become physically fit and give them skills to use in future leisure activities. It will teach young adults to review their existing value systems and to develop a coherent set that will be appropriately respectful of their worldwide and local community. It will help young people become competent in more than one language and it will consolidate their competence in the basic skills. Finally, it will prepare young people to lead fulfilling lives on the basis of good feelings towards others and about themselves.

All-round education and development of the personality

All-round education and development of the personality

Instruction in the Primary Grades

The role of the primary grades in the general system of school education is an exceptionally important one. It is in these grades that the foundations of scientific knowledge are laid, the basic methods of the schoolchild's study activity are formed, and the all-round education of the pupil is ensured.