You are Seldom Born with a Drum Kit in Your Hands: Music Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Knowledge and Learning Within Music Education as an Assessment Practice

Due to an increased demand for evaluation and accountability, the focus on assessment in public education has become stronger. Already leading to teachers’ deprofessionalization, another risk is assessment leading to criteria compliance and becoming a tool for measuring teaching quality. Those whose learning is affected are thereby not only students, but also teachers. One major factor to restore professionalism and focus assessment on learning is to change practitioners’ ways of thinking and not only their behaviour. Therefore, a group of seven music teachers and a researcher in music education have carried out a research and development project using participatory action research as approach as well as method. This article explores and presents these upper secondary school music teachers’ conceptualizations of musical knowledge, learning and educational communication working with peers. Using Deweyan pragmatism as a lens to interpret the qualitative data, the results show that while a professional language does exist, the music teachers’ conceptualizations of musical knowledge and learning and educational approaches differ. A key aspect for the teachers to develop their professional language, concepts and assessment practices is the teachers’ opportunities to communicate—both factual as well as perceived.     

Exploring Community Collaborations: Social Network Analysis as a Reflective Tool for Public Health

Social network analysis is a potentially useful reflective tool that could be used by public health practitioners to assess the overall composition of their networks, strengthen collaborations with other community partners, and evaluate network function. The purpose of this paper is to report on public health practitioners’ experiences with social network analysis. Thirteen public health practitioners, each associated with their own advocacy-oriented community collaboration, participated in the study. Specifically, the intervention consisted of social network analysis output (social network analysis measures and sociograms) and a facilitated discussion to stimulate reflection on the respondents’ professional networks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted two weeks later to solicit participants’ reactions to the sociograms and the accompanying measures, and elicit thoughts about how social network analysis might have an impact on their work. Participants commented on ways in which social network analysis could be applied in practice, such as using sociograms to raise awareness of the nature of current networks, as a planning and evaluation tool, to identify gaps, and to assess the degree of sustainability of current networks.     

Sustainability,Systems Thinking and Professional Practice

This article explores the impact of the new sustainability agenda on the occupational and professional needs of those who have taken educational and training programmes in the environmental field either at undergraduate or postgraduate level or through relevant professional institutions’ continuing professional development programmes. It also describes a one-day workshop for the professionals on sustainable development, based on systems thinking and practice. The workshop provides a model for developing greater understanding and effective action in professional practice, by using dialogue and interprofessional learning to explore approaches to sustainability in a variety of business and professional contexts. It introduces the principles underpinning the concept of sustainability and provides tools to support the integration of sustainable development into professional practice and organisational change.     

To Escape the ‘Finishing the Biology Syllabus Syndrome’: An Action Research Exploratory Study in Explicit Modelling for Malaysian Biology Teacher Training

In this paper an exploratory two phase action research of one teacher educator’s attempt at explicit modelling is portrayed. The first phase elicited opinions of pre-service Biology teachers at the end of a semester. Based on the findings of the first phase, the second phase facilitated the pre-service Biology teacher sample to alleviate their ‘finishing the syllabus syndrome’ which they had picked up from their school days. The explicit modelling planned for the second phase was based upon the modelling theory of Albert Bandura. The study indicates that the explicit modelling endeavoured appeared to have some effect upon the motivation and the symbolising, vicarious, forethought, self-regulation and self-reflection capabilities of the pre-service Biology teachers. The ‘finishing the syllabus mentality’ where the presentation of content was significant, showed signs of weakening at the end of the second phase.     

What Do Teachers Do? A Qualitative Analysis of the Role of the Teacher

The role of the teacher in the classroom can be seen to constitute a sociological problem. The objective of this article is to understand teaching life and to discover how teachers construct meaning of their role in the classroom. There is a scarcity of literature pertaining to the role of the teacher. The only available literature is particularly of a positivistic nature which advances number crunching. None of the research is done from the point of view of the teachers. To understand what teachers are doing in the classroom, it was necessary to undertake an investigation from the perspective of the teachers themselves. This was done within a qualitative methodological framework.     

Systems Thinking for Studying International Professional Program Participants’ Thoughts

Studying the experiences of participants in international professional programs requires conceptual frameworks that take into account the complex systemic nature of the intercultural journeys. This article explores the thoughts of a prospective teacher related to a field experience abroad. The purpose is to understand the narratives of experience and demonstrate how systems thinking facilitated a deep study of this case. The focal case is that of a prospective teacher from the US who participates in a professional program in Ecuador for 2 months. Systems mapping, critical and soft systems criteria, and correspondence analysis help explore the contexts of the international professional program and the thoughts of the participant. Results show that the participant developed an awareness of cultural systems which is also reflected in her culturally sensitive practices after her completion of the program. Both worldviews and social interactions abroad had a significant place in the participant’s narratives of experience.     

Perceptions of Pediatric Nurses on Ethical Decision Making Processes

The purpose of this study was to determine how pediatric nurses decide on ethical issues in sample cases and how they evaluate those issues in terms of ethical principles, as well as to determine the problem-solving approaches that they recommend in this regard. Qualitative methods were used in this study and the data was collected from 100 pediatric nurses using a demographic data form and an open-ended questionnaire. The demographic data form included questions about the characteristics of nurses and their participation in decisions made about ethical issues. Whereas the open-ended questionnaire consisted of questions regarding sample cases, which were developed by the investigators using current literature. Forty-four percent of the pediatric nurses reported an attempt to solve ethical issues that they encountered through their professional experiences using personal values. On the other hand, 53 % of the pediatric nurses stated that their decisions were sometimes taken into consideration in the treatment plan of their own patients, while 49 % reported that they could not participate in decision-making regarding patients’ discharge. Seventy-six percent of the pediatric nurses did not define the ethical issues in the three sample cases. However, in other cases, most of the nurses evaluated ethical issues correctly and recommended correct approaches. No statistically significant difference was found between their educational backgrounds, professional experiences, the ethical issues that they evaluated, and the approaches recommended for problem solving. It is recommended that nurses receive more undergraduate and in-service ethics training in order to develop appropriate approaches toward the ethical issues they will encounter during their professional lives.     

Pupils' Research into School Culture: A Photographic Approach to Evaluation

Pupils are given a camera as a research instrument to explore the culture of their school as a learning organization. In researching through photographying they can become active participants in evaluation and development, and the results in the form of photo presentations offer valuable insights into how young people experience school life through the eyes of a camera. The pupils' photographic images convey a different meaning from what they would express verbally or answer in a questionnaire. Moreover, the pupils have to collaborate and work toward consensus building in deciding on images they find worth being photographed and form little communities of action researchers when they explore their daily school settings from a different perspective. By doing this kind of action research through taking photos, they have the opportunity to interrupt the usual school pattern teacher asks, pupil answers, teacher evaluates according to a right/wrong system. In this sense, photos used as a means of self-evaluation can become a valuable instrument leading to institutional change.     

Systemic Approaches to Managing Across the Gap in the Public Sector: Results of an Action Research Programme

This paper tells the story and conclusions of a 1 year research project which took place over the calendar year of 2006. It was undertaken within a local government authority (or Local Authority—LA) in the UK. The specific research question to be answered was: “Can the application of systems methods in the LA aid Authority staff in developing and enhancing their professional practice?” A supplementary question arising was: “Can such learning be of wider value to other sections of the public sector (for example in other regions of local government or the health sector)?” In the process of the year 91 separate action research interactions took place. The research comes to three systemically linked findings: Firstly, LA middle managers are often caught between two realities ... strategic initiatives and operational demands. In the gap between these two realities they experience change in many guises but most critically in terms of government directives, ICT initiatives and restructuring. Despite this complexity managers did not appear to always have adequate tools to deal with issues arising in their context. Secondly, an assessment matrix developed originally at the Open University is a valuable tool for assessing the systemisism and reflective capacities of staff and, thirdly, a new, blended hybrid training programme to develop systemic reflective practitioners able to manage across the strategy/operations gap was developed and pilot tested in 2007. This programme shows signs of providing enhanced professional practice and, at the time of writing, is being further piloted with a view to establishing its wider applicability within the public sector.     

研发溢出、消费者低碳偏好与供应链横向研发策略

考虑两个制造商和单个零售商构成的供应链,面对具有低碳偏好的消费者,制造商主动实施减排研发、零售商分担制造商的研发成本,研究了研发成果溢出和消费者低碳偏好对制造商研发策略选择的影响。结果表明：当研发溢出率很低和消费者低碳偏好程度很高时,如果零售商能适当补偿制造商,制造商会选择研发竞争;当研发溢出率很低和消费者低碳偏好程度特别高时,制造商会选择研发合作;当研发溢出率和消费者低碳偏好程度均较高时,如果制造商能分享零售商的部分利润,制造商会选择研发合作;当研发溢出率较高和消费者低碳偏好程度非常高时,无需任何利益分享契约,制造商会选择研发合作。     

Collaborative Action Research for Preparing Teachers as Reflective Practitioners

Systemic Practice and Action Research - The study focuses on using collaborative action research projects to promote reflective practice of pre-service teachers during the internship. Research...     

面板数据的空间Hausman检验

在空间相关性存在的情形下,经典Hausman检验不再有效。以面板数据空间误差分量(Spatial ErrorComponents,SEC)模型为例,提出面板数据的空间Hausman检验,并通过Monte Carlo模拟实验比较空间Hausman检验与经典Hausman检验的有限样本性质。研究结果表明,空间Hausman检验具有较小的水平扭曲和良好的检验功效,空间权重矩阵的选取将影响检验的有限样本性质,增大样本量使得检验更为有效;经典Hausman检验虽然检验功效较大,但存在较大的水平扭曲,不适用于空间相关性存在的个体效应判定。     

中国农业效率TFP分解及其影响因素分析——基于区域差异的视角

农业关系到国家稳定和人民的生活,是国民经济发展的基础,农业发展的关键在于提高农业效率。运用数据包络分析法,测度了2003—2007中国各省农业生产效率变化,并进行了全要素生产率TFP分解,然后利用这些效率指标以及影响因素的外延数据构成面板数据（Panel Data）建立模型。通过实证分析得出：农业专业技术人员培养和农业经营规模的适度扩大,有助于农业效率的提升,强化财政支出管理也会对其提升起到促进作用。表3,参14。     

影响个人在线提供隐私信息意愿的实证研究

个人信息是个性化网络服务的主要依据, 然而各种网络风险使得用户心存疑虑, 拒绝提供个人信息或提供虚假信息. 为此, 从个人、网站和情境三方面的因素着手, 以已有研究成果为基础, 建立一个影响个人在线提供信息隐私意愿的模型, 并采用结构方程模型对理论模型和研究假设进行实证分析. 研究结果表明: 个人网络隐私顾虑会负向影响个人信息提供意愿, 而其信任倾向则通过影响用户对网站的信任进而对用户提供信息隐私意愿产生积极作用. 网站良好的声誉及网站安全控制和隐私政策在很大程度上通过建立用户信任进一步正向影响用户个人信息提供意愿. 此外, 用户提供个人信息隐私的意愿还受到用户对网站的有用性感知和信息敏感度的影响. 研究结果可以帮助网站制定更好的网站注册流程和顾客信息收集策略等, 从而更好地获得顾客的个人信息.     

新型驱护舰作战系统仿真设计与实现

仿真训练对于促进新装备战斗力的快速形成具有重要作用。针对新型驱护舰作战模拟训练的迫切需求,通过对仿真系统进行需求分析和概念建模,采用"通用加专用"的设计思想,解决了多型舰作战系统仿真兼容的问题,并设计了新型驱护舰作战系统仿真体系结构。分析了仿真系统的组成和功能,重点阐述了复杂电磁环境仿真、故障模拟等关键技术。系统实现了多型驱护舰的单舰和编队作战模拟训练,已在部队安装,训练效果良好。     

Community Service Learning and the Emergence of Systems Thinking: A Teacher Education Project in an Urban Setting in Turkey

This study explores how community service learning experiences are reflected in the cognition of prospective teachers. Initial thoughts related to the experience are analyzed in relation the emerging thoughts throughout and after the experience. The study explored the thoughts of 15 prospective foreign language teachers related to their participation in a community project. The participants tutored students with visual disabilities at a learning center in an urban setting in Turkey. As part of the community-based field experience, participants worked with the learners with visual disabilities over a 16-week period. For this study, multiple reflective narratives of experience were collected from each individual. The goal for the collection and analysis of these narratives was explore the participants’ thinking patterns throughout the project and encourage them to reflect on their experience. The analysis of participants’ discourse relied on analysis of co-occurring lexemes in sample utterances text with descending hierarchical classification and correspondence analysis. The main themes that reflected the thoughts of the participants were related to (a) visions for community service, (b) teaching students with visual disabilities, (c) reflections in action, (d) awareness through interactions with difference, (e) interactions with people during community service, and (f) efforts to contribute to the project site. These themes were discussed in relation to the contribution of community service learning and the emergence of systems thinking among program participants.     

关键核心技术及其攻关策略研究——基于产业链供应链安全稳定视角

突破关键核心技术，提升我国重要产业链供应链的安全稳定性，是事关国家安全和高质量发展全局的重大战略任务。考虑我国这类后发国家的发展现实，分别从产业发展和国家间竞争视角诠释了关键核心技术的概念和特点，厘清了“卡人”和“被卡”“我无人有”与“我有人优”等不同类型的关键核心技术；分析了提升产业链供应链安全稳定性的途径及其相应的关键核心技术攻关任务，明确需要同时推进“卡人”和“被卡”两类关键核心技术攻关。最后，提出了通过开发自主品牌高档新产品、替代性新产品、颠覆性新产品和全新产品等多类新产品带动不同类型关键核心技术攻关的策略。     

美国再工业化祸兮福兮：双向FDI能否促进中国经济高质量发展？——基于产业结构和技术创新的中介作用

随着对外开放政策的实施，对外直接投资（OFDI）和外商直接投资（IFDI），简称双向FDI，无疑对中国经济的高速增长发挥了重要作用，但是面对美国再工业化战略的冲击，双向FDI能否发挥以及如何发挥对经济高质量发展的驱动作用，是需要迫切解答的问题。以新经济增长理论为基础，构建包含双向FDI的经济高质量发展理论模型，并结合中介效应模型和调节效应模型，实证检验并揭示了产业结构和技术创新这对“双引擎”在双向FDI对经济高质量发展影响的中介作用以及美国再工业化战略的调节效应，采用夏普利值分解法量化了不同中介作用的贡献比例。研究结果表明：双向FDI能够显著促进中国经济高质量发展，技术创新在其中发挥了部分中介作用，而产业结构合理化存在遮掩效应；美国再工业化战略的实施既能直接调节双向FDI对经济高质量发展的影响，也能通过调节双向FDI对产业结构高级化和技术创新的影响，间接影响经济高质量发展；夏普利值分解结果显示，产业结构对经济高质量发展的边际效应大于技术创新的边际效应。通过区域异质性分析发现：产业结构合理化在沿海和内陆地区均存在遮掩效应，产业结构高级化仅在沿海地区存在遮掩效应，技术创新的中介作用仅在沿海地区成立；美国再工业化对双向FDI的调节作用在沿海和内陆地区均存在显著差异。研究结果有助于揭示双向FDI对经济高质量发展的作用机理，为有效发挥双向FDI对中国经济高质量发展的积极作用提供政策依据。     

Meta-Action Research on a Leadership Development Program: A Process Model for Life-long Learning

Our purpose in this paper is to contribute to the field of systemic practice by sharing a process of professional learning based on meta-action research. The process emerged as we engaged with evaluation data from a leadership development program (LDP). The aim of this LDP had been to help leaders design their team projects on poverty reduction through action research methods in six African countries. As facilitators of the program we discuss our experiential learning based on critical reflection. We explain how meta-action research can transform understandings of ways to improve professional practice in future applications. We present three process models: (1) a model of reflection on action, (2) a meta-action research model, and (3) a model for lifelong learning through meta-action research. These models may be of benefit and interest to readers who facilitate systemic practice and action research in education, higher education, communities, industry and government.     

The First-, Second- and Third-Person Dynamics of Learning History

Learning history is a well delineated action research process consisting of consecutive stages of inquiry where groups and individuals engage in learning and reflecting on their past shared, but often multiple, experiences as these are recorded in a ‘learning history’. Learning history has much in common with other forms of action research in that it configures first-, second- and third-person processes of inquiry in a particular way and enacts research qualities of rigour, relevance and reflexivity. Yet these and other links have as yet been tacit and under articulated - resulting in learning history often conceived as a distinctive linear method with the practice of learning history likewise confined. This reflective article opens out and makes explicit the inherent first- second- and third- person dynamics of learning history. These dynamics are explored from the point of view of different actors – the historian, the participant and the reader - in a learning history process and connections to a general empirical method are made. Finally questions of quality in a learning history are discussed. The aim of this article is to establish firmer methodological foundations for the learning history approach and to provide practical insight into how action researchers might engage more readily in learning history work.