Viewing the child as a participant within context

This paper explores tensions between the social nature of learning and the current emphasis upon individual support. The paper contrasts the focus upon context in discussions with parents and practitioners, with the focus upon the individual within formal and informal written documents. The analysis is partly situated within the first author’s experiences as a parent researcher, drawing additionally upon ethnographic research carried out with families involved in early intervention, including an evaluation of over 150 pages of documentation provided by a parent. It identifies the need for assessment and evaluation to focus upon and record the broad range of context that influences learning.     

Contextual influence on evaluation capacity building in a rapidly changing environment under new governmental policies

Evaluation capacity building (ECB) is a context-dependent process. Contextual factors affecting ECB implementation have been explored theoretically and practically, but their influence within a changing environment has seldom been discussed. This study examined essential context-sensitive parameters, particularly those involved in implementing new governmental policies regarding higher education. Taiwan was used as a case study for exploring the effect of contextual change on ECB attributes from the perspectives of training receivers and providers. Surveys and interviews were used for data collection and importance–performance analysis was applied for data analysis. Four prominent features were identified. First, the ECB attributes perceived as important by receivers were performed adequately, whereas those perceived as less important were performed less well. Second, under new policies, training provider designed training covering a wide range of ECB, whereas receivers focused on those can be directly applied in evaluation process. Third, in a small education system such as Taiwan’s, the complexity of peer review is high and ethical issues become important. Fourth, because the evaluation structure has been changed from single- to dual-track, receivers expect more training for institution staff, whereas providers insist on hierarchical training. Aligning ECB supply and needs is paramount for adaptation to new policies.     

Personal sacrifice and corporate cultures: career progression for disabled staff in higher education

Disabled people are under-represented in higher education (HE), especially in senior posts. This article reports research on the perspectives of career progression into leadership held by disabled staff in one post-1992 university. Findings indicated that some participants were already engaged in leadership or aspired to such roles, and reported positive experiences. However, participants also experienced barriers to progression, including a lack of awareness of equality and diversity among managers and colleagues, inadequate professional development opportunities and the competitive organisational culture of management that could impact on their health and work–life balance. We conclude that disabled staff in HE do not yet have equal opportunities for progression into leadership roles compared with their non-disabled peers. There is a need for realignment of the culture of leadership and management to make it more compatible with the full inclusion of disabled staff in HE such that their unique contributions are valued.     

教育民主的内涵、路径及限度

教育是实现民主社会最根本、最有效的途径，民主是教育的基本原则。学校是民主社会的“雏形共同体”，民主生活是学校日常化的生活方式。教育目的是民主，是培养共同体生活的民主社会的公民，教育过程、手段和方法等也都应该是民主的，通过非民主的方式实现民主，这既不可取也不可能。当前我们应该创造公平的受教育机会，剔除教学中专制的形式权威，消解教育管理中的命令化和行政化方式，促进教育走向民主，社会走向和谐。     

中华女子学院高等职业教育发展评析

大力发展职业教育，是党和政府的一贯方针和要求，是经济和社会发展的必然规律。我国人力资源较丰富，但劳动力整体素质不高，人才结构不尽合理，重要原因是教育结构不够完善，职业教育发展滞后。目前，社会对各类技能型人才需求量很大，近些年来一直供不应求，但全国城乡每年有一千多万初中毕业生不能升入高中，数百万高中毕业生不能升入大学，同时，大学毕业生找工作困难又成了社会问题。因此，加快职业教育发展，合理配置教育资源，实行教育合理分流就显得尤为迫切。本文对中华女子学院高等职业教育现状、办学目标和发展思路、办学成效以及面临的问题和困难等．进行简要评析。     

Ideologies & Narratives in Relation to ‘Fat’ Children as Bullies, ‘Easy Targets’ and Victims

In this study, we explore narratives in relation to ‘fatness’, drawing on focus group interviews with parents, early years practitioners, teachers and young people. The study is located in a larger study on bullying and resilience, with no specific focus on obesity or ‘fatness’. Analysis of the interview data highlighted a recurrent focus on ‘fatness’ within the participants’ narratives, by labelling and stigmatising the ‘fat kid’ and ‘bigger children’. We conclude that obesity and fatness, as abnormalities, are now included in commonsense talk in relation to ‘easy targets’, victims and bullies.     

Applying a social model of disability across the life span

With an estimated 21.3% of persons aged 15 and older experiencing disability in the USA, social workers will see clients present with disabilities across all practice settings and stages of human development. Yet, the training and terminology of social workers—which often closely aligns with medical professionals—may seem to occur in isolating silos or disciplinary theories. Social work education often views the needs of older adults and people with disabilities as two distinct populations, despite the fact that many of these individuals share similar needs for access, resources, and support. Furthermore, when discussing human development, the focus may skew to individual affective, behavioral, and cognitive processes and indicators of abnormal development and frailty. Thus, by clarifying terminology and applying a social model of disability across the life span, we identify how educational efforts related to human behavior and the social environment can promote intersectional and inclusive social work related to aging and disability.     

W(h)ither the academy? An exploration of the role of university social work in shaping the future of social work in Europe

A controversial proposal to pilot the training of child protection social workers through an intensive work-based route in England is being supported and funded by the UK Government. Frontline, the brainchild of a former teacher, locates social work training within local authorities (‘the agency’) rather than university social work departments (‘the academy’) and has stimulated debate amongst social work academics about their role in shaping the direction of the profession. As a contribution to this debate, this paper explores the duality of social work education, which derives its knowledge from both the academic social sciences and the experience of practice within social work agencies. While social work education has traditionally been delivered by the academy, this paper also explores whether the delivery of training in the allied professions of probation and nursing by ‘the agency’ is equally effective. Finally, this paper explores the Helsinki model which achieves a synergy of ‘academy’ and ‘agency’. It suggests that there are alternative models of social work education, practice and research which avoid dichotomies between the ‘academy’ and the ‘agency’ and enable the profession to be shaped by both social work academics and practitioners.     

批判视域下的老年社会工作:对社区居家养老服务的反思

谈及近十年来我国在发达城市大力推行的社区居家养老服务,很容易联想到已有半个多世纪发展历程的英国社区照顾,然而,本文并没有采取同类比较的手法去启发我国的社区居家养老服务,而是从西方学界对英国社区照顾近二十年来的争议与探讨着手,重点引入批判老年社会工作方法,对我国为老服务的输送环节在批判视域下做出更好的借鉴与反思.     

日语教育中句群的实义切分与信息结构

信息结构是句子实际意义的切分，它与句群有着天然联系。本文通过对日语句群的信息结构的分析，指出了日语句子的实义切分标准是信息相对于听话人是已知或未知、信息在说话人语流中出现或未出现过、信息在目前是激活状态还是未激活状态、信息的预设或断言的实际情况等四项，同时讨论了句子的实义切分在日语句群教育中的应用。