Primary Education Reform Research Articles

First grammar books in the Habsburg Monarchy: individual initiative and regulatory interference by the state (1760s–1770s)

The second half of the eighteenth century in the lands under the sceptre of the House of Austria was a period of development of a language policy addressing the ethno-linguistic diversity of the monarchy’s subjects. On the one hand, the sphere of use of the German language was becoming wider, embracing more and more segments of administration, education, and culture. On the other hand, the authorities were perfectly aware of the fact that communication in the languages and vernaculars of the nationalities living in the Austrian Monarchy was one of the principal instruments of spreading decrees and announcements from the central and local authorities to the less-educated strata of the population. Consequently, a large-scale reform of primary education was launched, aimed at making the whole population literate, regardless of social status, nationality (mother tongue), or confession. In parallel with the centrally coordinated state policy of education and language-use, subjects-both language experts and amateur polyglots-joined the process of writing grammar books, which were intended to ease communication between the different nationalities of the Habsburg lands. This article considers some examples of such editions with primary attention given to the correlation between private initiative and governmental policies, mechanisms of verifying the textbooks to be published, their content, and their potential readers. This paper demonstrates that for grammar-book authors, it was very important to be integrated into the patronage networks at the court and in administrative bodies and stresses that the Vienna court controlled the process of selection and financing of grammar books to be published depending on their quality and ability to satisfy the aims and goals of state policy.

Готовність учителів до компетентнісно орієнтованого навчання іноземних мов учнів сучасної початкової школи: аналіз результатів анкетування

The article analyses the results of teachers’ questionnaire survey, conducted by the scientific researchers of the Foreign Languages Teaching Department in the Institute of Pedagogy of the NAES of Ukraine, for the purpose of ascertaining the level of their understanding the essence of the primary education reform and their readiness for competence-oriented teaching foreign languages to students of grades 1-4 based on the concept of the “New Ukrainian School”. The questionnaire survey covered five areas of Ukraine, with more than 130 foreign language teachers working in primary schools of general secondary educational institutions. Summarized in tables and figures and interpreted by the authors, the respondents’ answers to 16 questions of the questionnaire confirmed a clear awareness by teachers of innovative changes in primary education and the relevance of competence-oriented teaching foreign languages to students of modern primary schools. In particular, the teachers gave answers to the following questions: the advisability of creating a special educational foreign language communicative environment for competenсe-oriented teaching a foreign language for primary school students; the need of forming elementary competences (linguistic, speech, sociocultural, general) for students of grades 1-4 during their mastering a foreign language; the feasibility of using the elements of the project method in foreign language lessons in primary school; the use of didactic games in foreign language lessons in primary grades; verbal means of assessing students’ academic achievement, etc. In addition, the results of the survey indicated individual gaps in teachers’ awareness of the existing documents for teaching students of grades 1-4 in accordance with the new foreign language curricula. This applies, in particular, to the use and selection of didactic games in the formation of subject competences, and to the introduction of a language portfolio. The main positions and conclusions of the article may be useful to teachers, authors of school textbooks, scientists, responsible employees of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Zdaniem polonistów – reforma w szkole podstawowej w świetle badań własnych

University of Rzeszów. Empirical research was carried out at the beginning of the 2018/2019 school year, ie one year after the implementation of the assumptions of the primary school education reform. They covered about 50 Polish language teachers in primary schools in the Podkarpacie region. The basis for the consideration were interviews conducted with Polish language teachers during the subject-methodological practice in the Polish language and observations of lessons, as well as questionnaires. Teachers evaluating the reform in primary school had the opportunity to express their opinions on possible difficulties in implementing 
 Zdaniem polonistów – reforma w szkole podstawowej w świetle badań własnych [99] the content of the Core curriculum, e.g in the area of planning and organization of wo

Теорія та методика розвитку понять у психолого-педагогічній та методичній літературі

The priorities of reform of primary education is to create conditions for acquisition by students of new knowledge in the process of learning basic academic subjects, in particular knowledge of the educational area "Natural Sciences". The authors study the scientific and conceptual framework of the study and stated that the content of the school subject "natural Science" in elementary school is the system of concepts that are interrelated and evolve in a logical sequence. These concepts are divided into simple, complex, special and sagaminopteron. Simple concepts carry only one item of knowledge (e.g., type of root system of the plant). The content of each concept develops over time, is complicated and it becomes difficult. Complex concepts contain a few simple (for example, in challenging the notion of "stem – vegetative body" containedknowledge of anatomy, physiology, morphology, ecology, etc.). Special science concepts are complicated. They are assimilated by students when studying one section of subject environmental studies. Sagaminopteron concepts are being formed throughout the 4 years study of the subject Natural, as if they are "pass-through". For example: individual development of organisms, metabolism and energy transformation, and the like. This group of concepts is the most important because it is the basis for the formation of the scientific picture of the world. Analyzed various theories for the formation and development of concepts and focused on theory scholar and author of textbooks on natural Sciences Nicholas Versa. The authors believe that this theory has preserved its relevance and significance to today. In the process of learning concepts, the authors identified three stages: preparatory – the observation of facts, combining them into a group, highlighting common features; the main step is to build the definition of a new concept; the next stage of the deepening, enrichment, accumulation of a large number of distinguishing features.

FEATURES OF STUDYING THE INTEGRATED COURSE «I EXPLORE THE WORLD» IN THE NEW UKRAINIAN SCHOOL IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PEDAGOGY OF PARTNERSHIP

Abstract. The article shows the relevance of the reform of primary education; it is determined that the New Ukrainian School is a key reform whose goal is to create a school that is comfortable for learning, which will give students not only knowledge but also the ability to use them. The author provided an analysis of the latest sources of the problem, defined the purpose, tasks and methods of research. The study found that the main innovation of theNewUkrainianSchool is the emergence of an integrated course «I Explore the World». It is established that this course covers the system of knowledge about nature and society, value orientations in different spheres of life, ways of research activities. The author proves that the integrated course «I Explore the World» activates the cognitive and research interest of the junior pupil. The Inquri-based learning strategy is described – learning-based research based on the students’ inquiries, which is leading in the study of the integrated course «I Explore the World». It is determined that the basis of this strategy is the intensification of curiosity of junior pupils, which affects the development of student behaviour. The significance and content of this strategy are determined, peculiarities of the queries (structured, closed, open), their types (questions for conclusions, interpretation questions, questions requiring information transfer, questions for hypotheses) and stages of research (interest, questions, finding possible answers, setting new questions, finding new information, creating, discussing, presenting), which are key in the process of studying the integrated course «I Explore the World». The author draws attention to the fact that learning based on the demands of students is not possible without a comfortable learning environment; leadership and teacher support; understanding of the level of children’s education by the teacher; openness and spontaneity of the teacher. It is determined that the Pedagogy of Partnership is the direction of pedagogy, which includes a system of devices and methods of education and training on the basis of humanism and creative approach to the development of personality. The role of a modern teacher in the context of building his partner relationships with students is outlined. The peculiarities of cooperation between the teacher and the pupil in the lessons «I Explore the World» are explored, the conditions under which the organization of the pedagogical partnership is possible.

Length of Maternal Schooling and Child's Risk of Malaria Infection in Uganda: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Background: An estimated 216 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide every year. Cross sectional studies have reported negative association between maternal education and child malaria risks, but no randomized trial has confirmed a causal relationship between these two factors. I utilized the free primary education reform in Uganda to assess the causal effects of maternal schooling on the child's risk of malaria infection. Methods: Malaria biomarkers of children aged < five years were collected from the 2009 and 2014 Uganda Malaria Indicator Surveys (N = 5,316). In 1997, the government eliminated tuition requirement in primary schools and this increased the educational attainment of the affected cohorts. Using exposure to the reform as an instrumental variable, I used a two-stage least squares approach to estimate the causal effects of maternal year of education on the probability that a child would contract malaria at the time of the survey. I also evaluated the cost-effectiveness of primary schooling as a malaria control intervention. Findings: One extra year of maternal education reduced child's risk of malaria infection by 7·5 percentage points (p=0·057), from a baseline 34·6% among the children of 1980 pre-reform cohort. The length of maternal education was also positively associated with insecticide-treated bednets usage. The results were robust to a variety of sensitivity tests. Primary schooling for women was a cost-effective intervention to reduce child's malaria infection. Interpretation: Improving access to primary education could be a cost-effective measure to reduce malaria prevalence among children aged < five years in malaria-endemic countries. Funding: None. Declaration of Interest: None exist. Ethical Approval: The present study was reviewed by the Hitotsubashi University Institutional Review Board and considered exempt from full ethics review because the analysis was based on a publicly available, anonymized dataset.

Schooling with learning: The effect of free primary education and mother tongue instruction reforms in Ethiopia

In developing regions, significant increases in primary school enrollment are often generated by large national level programs, which could simultaneously promote overcrowding and reductions in education quality. In a difference-in-differences framework, this paper exploits geographic variation in pre-reform levels of schooling and the timing of the policy changes in Ethiopia to examine the impact of both removing school fees and introducing mother tongue instruction in the early 1990s. The two reforms lead to a net increase of approximately 0.7 years of school. Further evidence suggests that the additional enrollment also led to an increase in literacy, knowledge of family planning material from newspapers and magazines, knowledge of HIV, and the likelihood of knowing a location for HIV testing. These increases occur without a concurrent increase in reading, suggesting an improved ability to identify and retain information. However, the positive returns were generated by the removal of school fees. The introduction of mother tongue instruction led to a reduction in schooling and had no impact on literacy; consequences that were most severe in regions that introduced the new language of instruction in a script that was rarely used prior to the reform.

Primary education reform in Montenegro from the perspective of teachers and parents

Primary education reform in Montenegro from the perspective of teachers and parents

Педагогіка партнерства: аналіз зарубіжного досвіду

The article proves the relevance of the primary education reform; an analysis of recent research on the development of educational systems in Finland, Poland and Canada, is provided. The author notes that the postulates of the Finnish education system are trust, equality and freedom. The article notes that the attention of Finnish teachers is paid to the internal motivation of students to study; the basic principles of education in Finland are defined. The author of the article points out that the priority and the core of contemporary national educational policy in Poland is the cooperation of educational institutions with parents as equal partners in the education and training of the younger generation. The author notes that reformed Polish education implies a high level of parental involvement in the activities of educational institutions. The article defines clear legal mechanisms for the implementation of coordinated activities of parents and educators as equal partners in the child upbringing. The article deals with the management and administration of education in Canada; the role of school councils is revealed. The basic directions of work of the Committee on attraction of parents are determined. The article outlines the main directions of work for general school meetings and individual meetings, and also highlights the widespread forms of communication between parents and teachers in schools in Canada. The author emphasizes the fact that the basis of creating a formula for the New Ukrainian School is the successful experience of European countries.

Achievement gains from reconfiguring early schooling: The case of Brazil's primary education reform

We estimate the effect on primary school students’ achievement of a Brazilian policy that changed the entry age into first grade from seven to six years old. Before the policy, a typical child spent up to three years in pre-school, and four years in primary school. The reform reorganized the system so that pupils would spend two years in pre-school (at ages 4 and 5) and five years in primary education. The timing of national tests and of the incremental process of implementing the reorganization allowed us to use a DDD approach to make causal estimates of its effect on student achievement. The reform increased 5th grade students’ mathematics scores by 0.10 SDs and reading scores by 0.12 SDs over student gains in untreated schools. These effects are robust across various treated cohorts, and across alternative samples of schools.

PLS and OPLS Discriminatory Analyses on Political Sustainability in Taiwan

Political sustainability relates to successful governance. The general public’s satisfaction is vital to political sustainability. In this paper, we propose to use the general public’s satisfaction as the proxy and utilize the partial least squares discriminatory (PLS-DA) model and orthogonal partial least squares discriminatory (OPLS-DA) model to explore the factors that affect political sustainability in Taiwan. The results of the PLS-DA and OPLS-DA models vindicate that the satisfaction with the integrity performance of the central government, the satisfaction with the central government’s modus operandi on food safety, and the satisfaction with the central government’s policies on the twelve years primary education reform influence the Taiwanese civilians’ satisfaction with the central government, which is closely related to political sustainability. This offers us the insights on political sustainability in Taiwan.

O ensino agrícola no Rio Grande do Norte (1908-1930)

Este trabalho tem como objetivo compreender as ações do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte referentes ao ensino agrícola nos anos de 1908 a 1930. Para isso, iniciamos o processo de mapeamento e análise documental das mensagens dos governadores do Rio Grande do Norte, as quais constituem-se como fontes à esta investigação. O recorte temporal justifica-se pela reforma da instrução primária que reorganizou o ensino no Estado, em 1908, e o momento de mudanças políticas a partir da década de 1930, bem como pela lacuna presente na documentação referente aos anos posteriores à década de 1930 acerca do ensino agrícola. Nessa perspectiva, buscamos responder às seguintes questões: Quais as características do ensino profissional na Primeira República no Rio Grande do Norte? Quais as ações do Estado para o desenvolvimento do ensino agrícola? O que era necessário para criar uma escola agrícola? O referencial teórico baseia-se na concepção de educação profissional conforme Manfredi (2003) e na dimensão da história política de acordo com René Remond (2003). Os resultados encontrados nos permitem perceber o processo de criação das escolas agrícolas e campos de demonstração, bem como os processos de análise e determinação da necessidade de criação desses estabelecimentos no Estado, a preparação e a aparelhagem exigidas ao funcionamento como aquisição de materiais, fazendas e recursos humanos especializados para a execução e funcionamento dos estabelecimentos de ensino.

The Political Economy of Primary Education Reform in Cambodia

This paper examines the quality of primary education provision in Cambodia using a ‘political settlements’ framework developed at the University of Manchester. The framework characterises Cambodia as a ‘hybrid’ settlement with a weak dominant party and predatory administration, albeit with some islands of administrative effectiveness. Such states can achieve developmental progress in circumscribed areas with multi-stakeholder support, but more wide-ranging, top-down reforms will normally disappoint. We use the framework retrospectively to explain the balance between quantity and quality in Cambodia’s education provision, and also prospectively to assess the prospects for reform. We conclude that, although new leadership in the education ministry promises to bring faster, deeper reform than ever before, powerful forces for inertia still exist. These forces could potentially be alleviated with enhanced international support, but development partners’ current ways of working leave much to be desired. The paper concludes by outlining a number of policy options.

A Lesson from the Comparison of UK &amp; China on Key-Competencies

The key-competencies enhance the quality education while promoting the innovation and reform of primary education. The innovation and reform refers to the contents, methods and approaches,etc. With the research on key-competencies of UK and China, the comparison of the connotation of key-competencies, there is an analysis of the difference between their understandings. The research aims to learn a lesson from the key-competencies based on cultivation and subsequently sets out a clear view and direction for the similar research in China.

A FRANÇA, A ESCOLA REPUBLICANA E O EXTERIOR: PERSPECTIVAS PARA UMA HISTÓRIA INTERNACIONAL DA EDUCAÇÃO NO SÉCULO 19

Resumo Neste artigo propõe-se uma reflexão acerca dos modos pelos quais a circulação internacional das ideias pedagógicas estruturou a elaboração do sistema escolar francês no fim do século 19. Embora seguidamente associada ao processo de nacionalização da sociedade, a escola da Terceira República se construiu, de fato, seguindo modelos e exemplos estrangeiros. Inicialmente o artigo examina os diferentes vetores que na França permitiram a produção de um saber específico embasado nos sistemas educativos europeus. Em seguida se analisa o papel dos reformadores franceses no seio do movimento internacional de reforma da instrução pública, em especial, no contexto de congressos de ensino, das seções escolares das exposições universais e das primeiras redes mundiais criadas na virada do século. Trata, enfim, das diferentes reapropriações dos modelos estrangeiros na França, notadamente quando surgiram as reformas do ensino primário e secundário. Mostrando as diferentes estratégias de escalas que se operam entre as dimensões nacionais e internacionais, pretende-se fornecer pistas de pesquisa para repensar a história da escola republicana.

A PRESENÇA DA EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA NA ESCOLA DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO: ESTRATÉGIA PARA FORMAR O ESPECIALISTA (BELO HORIZONTE, 1927-1945)

Este artigo trata da disciplina Educação Física na Escola de Aperfeiçoamento de Belo Horizonte. Como marco inicial estabeleceu-se o ano de 1927, momento em que foi realizada a Reforma do Ensino de Minas Gerais, que previa a instalação da instituição, e como marco final o ano de 1945, seu último ano de funcionamento. Como hipótese se apresenta a compreensão de que a Escola de Aperfeiçoamento cultivou a necessidade de especialização no campo educacional. No caso da Educação Física, consideramos que a experiência ali cultivada sonhou a formação de professores especialistas nessa matéria. Para entender a proposta de ensino dessa disciplina, foi fundamental perseguir as ações dos professores Renato Eloy de Andrade e Guiomar Meirelles Becker, além dos registros das ex-alunas Diumira Campos de Paiva e Alzira Farnezzi. As fontes mobilizadas constituíram-se, prioritariamente, de documentos oficiais do estado: legislação educacional, o jornal Minas Geraes e a Revista do Ensino.

Students being and becoming scientists: measured success in a novel science education partnership.

The primary and secondary learning years shape development of scientific interest and skills required for science literacy, presenting a critical timeline target for science education intervention. Although many initiatives exist to target this timeframe, the modern classroom belies easy scientific investigation. Numerous initiatives often run simultaneously in a given classroom, creating limited capacity for variable control. Consequently, there is a dearth of high-quality and meaningful data in education sciences that exacerbates the general segregation of education research from practice. Many science reform programmes go unmeasured. The limited number that is researched often report strictly qualitative results or stop short of statistically significant quantitative investigation. Lack of high-resolution data restricts the ability to make informed policy changes and precludes attainment of “evidence-based education”. Here, we demonstrate 5-year efficacy of a novel, inquiry-based primary and secondary science reform programme Integrated Science Education Outreach (InSciEd Out). Five years of data over three cohorts of matched students from US grades 5–8 show maintained gains in science fair and honours biology election, as well as improved performance on Minnesota state standardized science testing. Detailed value-added analyses further reveal InSciEd Out-correlated gains in partnership-focused areas of life sciences, and history and nature of science. These analyses provide evidence that scientifically rigorous evaluation demonstrating relevant programme efficacy is indeed achievable in education science. Our results support the premise that the InSciEd Out programme is a scalable intervention capable of primary and secondary science education reform. The programme substantively builds upon prior efforts in the field. Although InSciEd Out deploys novel approaches and tools, the broad lessons learned from this programme are readily translatable to other contemporary efforts cultivating science literacy for all.

Spanish

The present paper attempts to analyze the model and meaning of the reform of ordinary primary education, its ends and goals, and to address the ideological debate and clashes present in Teacher Training Colleges during the Ongoing Revolutionary Process (PREC). Experimental times of «pedagogical experiences», of the democratic construction of education, supported by a logic of equal opportunities and openness and intervention in the community, at a time when the educational system received the mandate to democratize success and combat social inequalities (Stoer, Stoleroff, Correia, 1990). Based on the triangulation of information (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000), our analysis focuses on the stakeholders’ discourses published by media specialized in education and teaching, or other, using anamnesis , oral accounts collected through interviews, and the few (still) existing information sources. During the ideological debate and clash, two trends of the revolutionary process competed, that of the basic dynamics and of instrumentalisation . In the context of Teacher Training Colleges, the latter prevailed. It formed a centralised vision of the revolutionary process by fostering a mobilising dynamics, from the centre to the periphery, using the dimensions of academic knowledge, ideological principles and techniques for organising society following the ideological model established. It captured the strength and energy of the basic dynamics , either by outlining first the sense of mobilisation or assessing the propriety of the proposals arising from the mobilisation and adjusting them to its purposes. How to reference this article Mota, L., &amp; Ferreira, A. G. (2015). La construcción de una educación democrática. Las escuelas de magisterio primario en tiempos de crisis revolucionaria (1974-1976). Espacio, Tiempo y Educación , 2(2), 265-288. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14516/ete.2015.002.002.013

Some Aspects of the Primary Education Reform Process in Montenegro from the Perspective of Teachers

In the first decade of the XXI century, the Montenegrin educational system has undergone an extensive reform at all levels. This paper is aimed at identifying the most important reform processes in primary education, initiated by the 2004 practical implementation of the reformed curricula. That year the first generation of students was enrolled in the nine-year primary school program. The general objective of the primary education reform was a fundamental transformation of the ordered core of the educational context, which required significant structural changes such as the introduction of compulsory nine-year education, openness of school or increased availability of and access to education. On the other hand, the reform of primary education, which entails a curricular reform, was aimed at improving the quality of education (significant changes in the content and methods of teaching and learning, introduction of elective courses, etc.). In the end, the whole series of reforms initiated the continuous professional development of teachers in the field of application of modern methods and teaching techniques that allow adjustment and adaptation to the real situation of the reform process in the education system. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the reform processes in primary education. Therefore, we have tried to present the fundamental values of the existing reformed educational context, supporting it by research results of the reform evaluation conducted in the period from 2011-2012 in the wider territory of Montenegro. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n4p80

Evidence, Policy and the Reform of Primary Education: a cautionary tale

We are specialists with considerable experience of the different phases of education who have come independently to the same conclusion: that government policy is no longer the solution to the difficulties we face but our greatest problem. ... It is not only the torrent of new policy that rains down on each sector, the constant changes in direction and the automatic rubbishing of any discomforting evidence. ... It is also the failure of successive ministers to appreciate that reform has to be accompanied by continuity if the stability of our educational institutions and the quality of their courses are to be preserved.1