For the purposes of the research, we developed a concept of structural reasons that we theoretically assume appear as typical structural reasons for violence in schools. With empirical research, we ...determined how primary school teachers recognise violent behaviour and how they execute moral education in the areas of the specific structural reasons for violence. We found that the majority of teachers have appropriate pedagogical knowledge to recognise the specific structural reasons for violence and are able to identify the appropriate moral education or support strategy to address the identified violent or disruptive behaviour. However, even in cases of repeating acts of violence, teachers only begin to engage with the factors or reasons behind violent incidents in individual cases, and not systematically. We therefore suggest that schools introduce the systematic differentiation of structural reasons for violence and incorporate this approach in the school moral education plan and the work of teachers. Within such frameworks, violence and disruptive behaviour would be eliminated through moral education and/or support strategies appropriate to the specific structural reasons. (DIPF/Orig.)
The apparently readily comprehensible descriptive discourse in Margaret Mead’s famous ethnographic study Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) (CAS) presents a discursive challenge that is greater than one ...might expect from a book that has gained a wide readership. Through theoretical analysis, and in relation to the notorious Mead/Freeman controversy, we seek to contribute to understanding CAS as discourse, and even more specifically as educational discourse. Three research questions are addressed: How can the account of Samoan culture presented by Mead in CAS be understood as discourse? How can her account of early childhood education be understood in relation to Freeman’s account? Is Mead describing permissive education when describing patterns of early childhood education in Samoa? We argue that Mead produced an overlapping research discourse that has appealed to the wider public because of its cultural suppressed message aimed at the unconscious in culture. Mead’s and Freeman’s contradictory accounts of Samoan cultural patterns in relation to early childhood education can be explained by differences in the perspectives of the social and hierarchical positions of respectable elders and chiefs (Freeman) and of young girls who were caregivers of even younger children (Mead). Finally, we argue that early childhood education in Samoa at that time was clearly not permissive. Young Samoan girls internalized the symbolic Law (Lacan) and were therefore able to act in an authoritative way as caregivers. In the field of education nearly a century later, Mead’s descriptions of early childhood education in Samoa still provide an intricate case study.
Michael W. Apple is the Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Theories and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin, USA. In his research, he focuses on the critical analysis of ...the relationships between knowledge and power in schools and in society, and on the issues of the democratisation of educational policies and practices. As early as in the second half of the 1970s, he established himself globally with his critical theory, and is one of the most cited authors in the field. He received numerous high awards at home and abroad for his work. His monographs Ideology and Curriculum (Routledge 1979) and Official Knowledge (Routledge, 1993) are included in the international list of the most essential books in the field of educational science of the 20th century and, with his entire opus, he is ranked among the fifty most influential contemporary authors in this field. Michael W. Apple's findings have not only become internationally acclaimed, but have also, in the last three decades, become part of the knowledge that we impart to students in certain subjects of fundamental education studies at our faculty. Michael W. Apple has also served as a member of the editorial board of the CEPS Journal since its founding. We are very glad that the University of Ljubljana has awarded him an honorary doctorate today.
In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in research that focuses on organisational culture as an important construct that can support or hinder the implementation of changes in ...higher education. In developing countries of Europe, limited studies are assessing organisational culture and its alignment with planned changes in higher education institutions. Hence, the objective of this research was to identify the dominant organisational culture types in higher education and understand how the planned changes are aligned with the dominant cultures. The research was conducted in a large public university in Kosovo. The Competing Values Framework was used to assess the organisational culture. The study adopted a quantitative research approach. The sample consisted of 102 academic staff from a population of approximately 960. The data were collected using a standardised instrument (The Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)) to identify the dominant organisational culture based on four organisational culture types: clan, hierarchy, adhocracy, and market. The data related to the planned changes of the university were collected through document analysis. The research identified hierarchy and market cultures as the dominant cultures. The results also show that the dominant organisational cultures militate against the main planned changes. The findings confirm the relevance of the Competing Values Framework in assessing the organisational culture in higher education institutions and provide direction to academic leaders about how they can align their planned changes with the organisational culture to achieve better outcomes.
Since the 2008/2009 school year, every primary school in Slovenia has had to prepare its own “school moral education plan” and undertake its moral education activities on the basis of this plan. ...Although the basic content areas of the moral education plan are prescribed by law, the openness of the legal provisions allows schools to exercise professional autonomy. After a decade of the implementation of moral education plans we conducted an empirical quantitative-qualitative study aimed at analysing them in terms of content. The objective was to determine the extent to which the plans include and how they define the prescribed content areas, as well as the extent to which they include and how they define additional content areas that are not prescribed by law but could be included by schools depending on their individual particularities and the specific challenges of their environment. Data were collected through publications on the websites of a representative sample of randomly selected schools and analysed with a specially prepared instrument. The research shows that upgrading moral education activities through the school moral education plan would require (1) reconsideration and upgrading of the concept, (2) continuous state support for the self-evaluation of schools specifically in this area, and (3) support for schools to gain a deeper professional understanding of current moral education challenges and of forming moral education strategies that differ with regard to the content differences in the reasons for individual moral education challenges.
V teoretskem prispevku, utemeljenem v filozofiji edukacije, obravnavamo konstrukt formativnega spremljanja in vrednotenja znanja ter v povezavi s tem odgovarjamo na vprašanje, zakaj sta poleg ...refleksije o znanju, ki jo zagotavlja preverjanje znanja učencev, nujna tudi ocenjevanje znanja in ocena znanja kot dejanje učitelja. Učiteljeva ocena znanja je nujna, ker je nujno dejanje vrednotenja znanja, za katerega ni odgovoren učenec, temveč učitelj kot druga oseba. Dejanje je akt, v katerem dejavnik v simbolnem polju postane subjekt prav skozi ločitev od lastnega proizvoda, ki ga interpretira Drugi, kar zgolj pri formi ocene velja tako za učenca kot učitelja. Ocena v nasprotju s preverjanjem znanja uvede točko preloma, s katerim (učenčev) izkaz znanja in (učiteljevo) vrednotenje znanja postaneta soodvisno Dejanje, objektivirano posredovanje med učencem in učiteljem, ki učencu šele omogoči, da se vzpostavi v subjekt znanja in se kot tak reflektira v razmerju do Drugega. Ocenjevanje znanja in ocene znanja učiteljev so tako eden od temeljev etike šole, ki deluje inkluzivno in učence spodbuja s tem, da jim lahko postavlja ustrezno visoka pričakovanja v znanju in da podpira njihov razvoj v avtonomne osebnosti.
The primary aim of this study was to analyze the validity and reliability of an instrument capable of measuring high school students’ attentional stance, modes of reading engagement, and self-insight ...during literary reading. For this purpose, a self-report questionnaire was administered to high school students in three Austrian regions (N = 417). First, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the validity and the reliability of the preconceived measurement model. Second, the interrelationships among the validated constructs were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The fit and the validity of the structural model were evaluated, and the mediating effect of expressive reading was tested. The study yielded an instrument with valid and reliable scores that assesses 9 dimensions of high school students’ reading experiences. The basic Kuiken-Douglas model (2017) on reading engagement and reading outcome could be replicated. Structural equation modeling indicated that high attentional focus negatively predicted expressive-experiential reading that in turn facilitated self-insight. This implies that students should be allowed leaky attention so that they can work with literary texts in a self-modifying way in literature education. Limitations are discussed.
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