Improving Schools

The aim of this study is to examine the problems facing University of Botswana’s PostGraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) student-teachers with respect to their pedagogical practices during school placements. The study attempts to locate the issue of lesson plans and use of behavioural objectives within the general discourse on school improvement. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of behavioural objectives, particularly the focus on the input—output process model of teaching and learning. Methods used to collect data for this study include mainly document analysis and classroom observations. The results revealed that student-teachers are more predisposed to rely on the use of knowledge and comprehension-type of behavioural verbs in their lesson plans. PGDE student-teachers appeared to face a number of difficulties such as poor articulation of instructional objectives; heavy reliance on traditional didactic teaching-learning approaches; failure to specify ‘Conditions’ under which learning is ultimately evaluated and; the failure to determine the ‘Degree of Mastery’ expected of the learners. The article concludes by suggesting the shift to medium- to long-term goals of education as an alternative to the existing pedagogical practices.

This article explores the case of a Vietnamese teacher whose conception of teaching changed greatly following a short but intensive series of lessons based on the Japanese experiences with atomic bombs. The following three issues are considered: 1) what types of efforts teachers should make to increase the depth of their lessons, on the basis of children’s reality of learning; 2) what kinds of support teachers require from colleagues, including external resource persons; and 3) how school management should be organized to practise peace education.

During the past decade, the State of Qatar has positioned itself as a leader of educational reform. In 2004, Education for a New Era (ENE) established internationally benchmarked curriculum in Qatari ‘Independent Schools’. Educational reform was to provide an educated workforce and economic prosperity based on a competitive, knowledge-based economy. Visible evidence of this goal are the Qatar National Research Fairs that showcase those students who are developing the skills necessary for a knowledge based economy. This study analyzes the difficulties of implementing national research fairs as a part of a nascent educational reform, and the initial achievements. Through interviews with teachers, students, fair organizers, and written student surveys, data were obtained on the quality and depth of the research skills acquired. As the three authors were the fair organizers and advocates, this research is practitioner-based. The data are primarily qualitative in nature. The evidence gathered indicates that common Western/European assumptions about the value of individual competition, dispassionate rubrics, and learning strategies for a successful knowledge economy are challenged by cultural and religious educational traditions.

Since 2000 hundreds of school centers have been constructed in Catalonia using industrialized technologies. These centers are modern, useful, educational edifices built using advantageous prefabricated technologies that improve the building process and reduce the environmental impact of the building. This article analyses whether these technologies can have a positive influence upon learning activities. For example, it studies the viability of carrying out educational projects about the school building itself in the near future. First, there is an introduction about the prefabrication of hundreds of schools since 2000. Next, there is an analysis of the main architectural features that belong to these industrialized school buildings. The following part studies if these architectural features could have an impact on the learning process and/or affect the curriculum. The next part analyses this teaching process by interviewing several schools’ teaching staff. Finally, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made for future educational projects.

The PISA 2006 Science Literacy Assessment results report Finland as the first ranked country out of the 30 developed nations that participated in the testing (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007). The United States was ranked 21st. Closer examination of school and student variables may help explain these outcomes. This article will use the PISA 2006 data to investigate how school resource indicators such as teacher qualifications, school resources, and school type, as well as student level indicators such as socioeconomic status and family resources affect science achievement. Comparisons will include the United States, Canada, and Finland. Due to the differences in the structure of educational systems and the makeup of student populations, findings have given an inaccurate impression that international competitiveness in science is not a viable option for the US (Ginsburg, Leinwand, & Pollock, 2007). Findings indicate school funding practices, teacher quality, school type, and family socioeconomic status impact student science achievement and have an effect on international school rankings.