One of the central pedagogical strategies employed in the "Analects" consists in the suggestion of models worthy of emulation. The text's most robust models, the dramatic personae of the text, emerge as colorful figures with distinctive personal styles of action and behavior. This is especially so in the case of Confucius himself. In this essay, two particularly notable features of Confucius' style are considered. The first, what is termed "everyday" style, consists in Confucius' unusual command of conventional norms in ordinary (...) circumstances; the second, termed "deviant" style, consists in Confucius' occasional and sometimes puzzling departures from conventional norms. The combind effect of these two aspects of Confucius' personal style is shown to yield a productive pedagogical tension for the moral learner who would emulate, but cannot imitate, Confucius. (shrink)

The quality of intersubjective communication in today's world, which is different from the past world, due to the development of communication tools and technology is so wide and deep that spatial distances have become almost unaffected. Then the question arises if we can talk about the educational function of religion in such a world. The general explanation of this function is that the religious educational system realizes educational goals by keeping people away from particular conditions and places (...) which are against the goals of education. In today's world, where it has become difficult, in fact almost impossible to keep people away from certain situations and places, how can religion have an educational function. Religious educators, traditionally, attempted to fulfill educational goals by imposing certain conditions and principles. The purpose of this article is to examine this problem from the Islamic perspective. The author tries to display why in the contemporary global village there is no conflict between the educational function of religion and the structure of intersubjective communication. (shrink)

In children’s learning subjects, English courses has its relative particularity compared with Chinese courses and the mathematics. Children’s English teaching is often inefficient because of the lack of students’ timely consolidation after class. Given this, the present work starts with the analysis of the current situation of children’s learning, and introduces the film-assisted English teaching. In the specific teaching links, English teaching is carried out in a three-dimensional teaching mode. Before that, topics of the films are selected for the English (...) teaching, and the films are edited and processed. Initially, the present work expounds the English children’s films and their educational functions. Then, children can obtain teaching effect from the films. An English questionnaire is designed to analyze the application effect of English films in children’s English teaching. The results show that the film teaching mode improves children’s learning interest and motivation, and English film teaching can stimulate students’ learning interest. Students are also more active to participate in teaching activities, thus improving their language skills. Under the teaching in the scenes of films, students can perceive the functions of language in certain contexts. Comprehensible language input promotes students’ English listening ability and oral expression ability. The films can intuitively show the humanistic style, historical geography, cultures, and customs of English countries, and then cultivate students’ western cultural literacy. Practice has proved that the method proposed here can achieve good teaching effect, and it provides certain references for children’s English education. (shrink)

Nature and time have long been key concepts of educational thought. Educational thinkers from both the East and the West have tried to imitate and follow nature. They have also considered time in relation to human formation and growth. This article attempts to connect these two key concepts of education through the medium of the seasons. The seasons bridge both time and nature. Our experience of nature is temporal and manifests itself in the transition of the seasons. On (...) the other hand, our experience of time is conditioned by the seasons. Seasons are a concrete manifestation of time and nature. It seems that philosophy has not paid enough attention to this. In this article, Japanese arts are used as the examples of how the arts can help to form our sensibility toward the seasons, which has ethical and educational implications. The article also asks questions about contemporary environmental discussions that, in the aspiration to be global and universal, often overlook concrete experience of the seasons conditioned by local climate. (shrink)

The purpose of the study was to experimentally test and establish the degree of effectiveness of strategic directions for the application of the educational potential of physical culture within the educational process of the university. The scientific novelty lies in the justification of the need for the introduction of educational functions and their implementation within the discipline: "Elective courses in physical culture and sports". The adequacy of the methods used allowed us to obtain reliable results indicating (...) the confirmation of the hypothesis put forward by us and the achievement of the set research goal, which assumes a high degree of efficiency of introducing scientifically based and presented strategic directions of the application of educational functions of physical culture into the educational process of the university. As a result, the proposed strategic directions can be used in the educational process of any university, within the framework of which the program "Elective courses in physical culture and sports" is being implemented. (shrink)

One of the most important discourses in contemporary religious studies is the definition of the essence and role of religious education and the problem of its coexistence with the secular. On this occasion in the circle of researchers there are diverse, sometimes opposite, points of view. The following headings of the reception of expediency of the implementation of religious education are as follows: 1) the emphasis on the current legislation on the separation of church from the state, in particular the (...) laws of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" and "On Education"; 2) comparison of foreign experience in implementation of the implementation of religious education in the practice of social life, comparative analysis of the positions of supporters and opponents of religious education; 3) outline the problems of religious and spiritual education in the context of the formation of state-church relations, the complexity of incorporation of the religious component into the system of secular education, their demarcation; 4) the relevance of the distinction and delineation of religious and religious studies, the specificity of their functional orientation. (shrink)

The aim of the article is the analysis of the principle of fair play which co-creates an axiological basis of contemporary sport as well as its basic moral category. The constituents of fair play are, first of all, responsibility and justice. Both values are central values, connected with each other, and also closely connected with other values inscribed in fair play, e.g. respect, solidarity, care or honesty. The conducted analysis shows that the rules of fair play connected with formal responsibility (...) and justice, i.e. following the rules and caring for the integrity of sport, are constituent for both sport and esports, whereas the rules of fair play connected with acting responsibly, i.e. respect and avoiding victory at all costs, are hard to realise in esports. It results from the fact that contact between the players is digitally mediated. Hence, apart from gestures and verbal communication, display of respect towards a player during a game is impeded, as is still more a spontaneous reaction to his or her being hurt. Also, avoiding winning at all costs is impeded in esports, as activities directed at obtaining victory are built into the content of the game and therefore should be carried out in accordance with the regulations, from the technical and tactical side and according to the possessed skills. However, it is possible to stop the game when the connection with the other player is suddenly interrupted. From a fair-play perspective also the content of some games employed in esports is questionable, as it assumes contesting moral rules, which in turn is at variance with the realisation of integrative, educational and formative functions of esports in society. (shrink)

Critics of Hegel's social philosophy usually focus their objections on Hegel's account of the relation between civil society and the state. Herbert Marcuse provides the best example of the standard Marxist objection. According to Marcuse, Hegel recognizes the inevitable destructiveness of competing individual interests and handles the problem by giving the state strong political powers. The state imposes restraints on the free play of individuality in the workplace while upholding and protecting the rights of individual freedom. Marcuse objects to this (...) structure because in his judgment the restraints imposed by the state are external to the free individuality they control. The dynamic of competing individual interests cannot produce a common interest and hence cannot establish a basis for real social unity. The rule of the state must stand above this competitiveness, not be involved in it, if the state is to overcome the divisiveness of free individuality. Hence, the law, which embodies the rule of the state, treats every individual as the same, guarantees to each and all the same rights, and imposes on all the same restrictions. But this sameness is an abstraction. Individuals exist with real differences and opposing interests. They live their freedom in competition with the freedom of others and some lose. The law escapes from this inequality and divisiveness by detaching itself from the realities of social living. (shrink)

This article proposes that education, according to Antonio Gramsci, is a political act. To support our thesis, first we review the concepts hegemony, organic intellectual and historic bloc. In a second level, we use those concepts to understand education. In a third level we present a proposal for a functional political and ethical approach of education in current society. La tesis del artículo es que la educación en el pensamiento de Antonio Gramsci constituye un acto político. Para dar sustento a (...) nuestra tesis, en una primera aproximación hacemos una revisión de los conceptos de hegemonía, intelectual orgánico y bloque histórico. En un segundo nivel, nos aproximamos a la utilidad de dichos conceptos para una comprensión del fenómeno educativo. En un tercer y final nivel presentamos al lector una primera exploración de la función política y ética de la educación en la sociedad actual. (shrink)

The article explores and formulates the applied functions of the archive. In addition to its function as a resource for understanding the past, the archive has important applied functions in the present. The task of defining the functions of the archive also requires defining the concept of the archive. For this aim, the concept of “archive” in the works of philosophers Alyda Assman, Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida, as well as Ukrainian researchers – Vitaly Turenko, Volodymyr Prykhodko, (...) Serhii Rudenko, Maryna Palienko, was considered and studied. These philosophers have found a methodological connection with regard to the etymology of the ancient Greek term “Αρχη”. Detailed studies of the semantics of the concept of Αρχη allow to investigate the understanding of the origin of the functions of the archive. The French philosopher Michel Foucault considered the concept of the archive as a component of his ontological system, “Archaeology of Knowledge”, which explains the functioning of human knowledge, memory and power. So, Foucault explained the epistemological function of the archive. Another French philosopher, Jacques Derrida, focuses on the human desire to take hold of the past, which he calls “archive fever,” and develops this concept in his famous work “Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression”. Among the general concepts of the archive, Derrida focuses on the main and important political function of the archive, the embodiment of the archive in the body. The way the archive functioning is an important factor in the political regime, but at the same time it ensures the successful operation of the education system. In its various forms, the archive transmits to posterity information that appears as a warning and instruction based on the experience of the past. Based on these conditions, the archive acquires an important educational function in the modern world and forms the key ideological conditions for the functioning of society. (shrink)

This study aimed to explore the effect of parents’ education anxiety on children’s academic burnout, and the mediation effect of parental burnout and the moderating effect of family function. A total of 259 paired parents and children from two middle schools in central China participated in the survey. The questionnaire was conducted using the Educational Anxiety Scale, Parental Burnout Scale, Adolescent Student Burnout Inventory, and Family APGAR Index. Our results indicated that parental education anxiety had a positive predictive effect (...) on children’s academic burnout. Moreover, parental burnout played a complete mediating role between parents’ education anxiety and children’s academic burnout. Finally, the relationship between education anxiety and parental burnout was moderated by family function, and higher family function buffered the effect of education anxiety on parental burnout. The results suggest the mechanism of parental education anxiety on children’s academic burnout, and the role of family function in alleviating parental burnout. (shrink)

The theoretical solid-state physicist Walter Kohn was awarded one-half of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his mid-1960s creation of an approach to the many-particle problem in quantum mechanics called density functional theory (DFT). In its exact form, DFT establishes that the total charge density of any system of electrons and nuclei provides all the information needed for a complete description of that system. This was a breakthrough for the study of atoms, molecules, gases, liquids, and solids. Before DFT, (...) it was thought that knowledge of the vastly more complicated many-electron wave function was essential for a complete description of such systems. Today, 50 years after its introduction, DFT (in one of its approximate forms) is the method of choice used by most scientists to calculate the physical properties of materials of all kinds. In this paper, I present a biographical essay of Kohn’s educational experiences and professional career up to and including the creation of DFT. My account begins with Kohn’s student years in Austria, England, and Canada during World War II and continues with his graduate and postgraduate training at Harvard University and Niels Bohr’s Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. I then study the research choices he made during the first 10 years of his career (when he was a faculty member at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and a frequent visitor to the Bell Telephone Laboratories) in the context of the theoretical solid-state physics agenda of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Subsequent sections discuss his move to the University of California, San Diego, identify the research issue which led directly to DFT, and analyze the two foundational papers of the theory. The paper concludes with an explanation of how the chemists came to award “their” Nobel Prize to the physicist Kohn and a discussion of why he was unusually well suited to create the theory in the first place. (shrink)

The main aspects of interdisciplinary ICT technology of educational process based on the concept of functional asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres, which reflect space-time asymmetry of the Universe and constitute a certain psychophysiological focus of human organism, are presented in the article. Its urgency stems from the tendencies of contemporary world, evolving towards the information society and influencing the development of modern education, becoming increasingly multimedia-rich and psychologised. The authors consider the major peculiarities of cognitive strategies of brain’s hemispheres, (...) which should be taken into account in modern educational systems that apply versatile multimedia means in teaching different academic disciplines. It is shown that training information offered to the students can be differentiated by the right and left video sequences, which corresponds to hemispheric information processing strategies and promotes the synergetic state of synchronization of the hemispheres functions. And the encephalographic studies show that such functional synchronization, revealing the medication state of human brain, presupposes the integration of two information processing strategies, leading to harmonization of the processes of the first and second signalling systems. The algorithms of the most effective influence of multimedia presentations of teaching materials on a student based on the concept of functional asymmetry of human brain are substantiated. These algorithms presuppose combining the "left" and "right" information in such a way that the volumes of two types of information would form a harmonious proportion. (shrink)

This paper focuses on independent training providers (ITPs) – in other words, private companies – as suppliers of vocational education and training in post-war England. Whilst acknowledging the central role of further education (FE) colleges in delivering vocational learning, it draws attention to a large, diverse sector of ITPs operating alongside FE colleges, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. Data suggest that around 15–20% of vocational learners were enrolled as fee-paying customers with private providers at that time – a figure (...) broadly similar to today. There are, it is argued, three related reasons for this. First, the post-war policy environment, and the varied and uneven nature of colleges at that time, allowed significant room for ITPs to operate as alternative providers of vocational education. Second, the far-reaching ‘efficiency’ gains required since FE colleges left local authority control have largely attenuated the space in which ITPs previously operated. Third, neoliberal assumptions about the superiority of private enterprise mean that ITPs now receive significant funding from the state, largely to deliver Apprenticeships and other programmes of work-related learning – which has, somewhat perversely, reduced the incentive for them to act as bone fide commercial providers of a broader range of vocational learning. (shrink)

This article locates Lonergan’s call for a new political economy within a larger project, the “education of liberty,” one aim of which is to have large numbers of producers and consumers voluntarily and intelligently adapting their economic decisions to the rhythms of the economy. Part I of the article describes several basic obstacles to such adaptations, including a type of economic realism that assumes “rational agency” in the marketplace is equivalent to the pursuit of perceived self-interest. How are any of (...) these obstacles to be overcome? The promise of functional specialization is to take what is best in the past and to apply it in future efforts to improve the human condition. Thus, Part II of the article summarizes this author’s understanding of the eight functional specialties, and Part III singles out an underdeveloped understanding of rational agency as the focus of an experiment in applying the functional specialties to one obstacle to the education of liberty. The experiment is no more than an invitation to others who may wish to exploit the promise of functional specialization. Leading questions under the eight headings identify parts of possible collaborative projects. [The second article by the same author in this issue of the journal provides an exercise in the fourth specialty of dialectic in response to this invitation.]. (shrink)

College students have taken part in less and less physical activities as a result of the common static lifestyle in recent years, lowering the level of motor function. This phenomenon has been a source of concern for schools and the government, and it is necessary to take corresponding measures to change it. The general motor function level of Chinese college students is explored first based on artificial intelligence and the human–computer interaction technology. The Physical Activity Questionnaire for College Students is (...) compiled by referring to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and 561 students from colleges in Tianjin province are assessed based on the functional movement screen. Spearman correlation and multivariate regression analysis are used to analyze the correlation between the motor function and physical activity status. In terms of lunch break frequency, the proportion of students having one to two lunch breaks in a week is the highest ; in terms of the frequency of doing moderate physical exercise, the proportion of students doing moderate physical exercise for 1–2 days in a week is the highest ; in terms of the frequency of doing heavy physical exercise, the proportion of students doing heavy exercise for 1–2 days in a week is the highest ; in terms of the sedentary time, the proportion of students with sedentary time more than 5 h in a day is the highest ; in terms of eye use time, the proportion of students with 8–10 h eye use time in a day is the highest. Besides, in terms of the FMS score, the proportion of students with 13–15 FMS is the highest. The hurdle step, straight knee lift, and body rotation stability have a relatively low proportion among the three-point items. There is a positive correlation between motor function score with the time of moderate exercise and the time of heavy exercise. College students generally have insufficient rest time, long eye use time, and long sitting time, leading to a low level of motor function, manifested by an asymmetry between both sides of the body and poor trunk stability. It is recommended to add hurdling steps, straight knee lifts, and body rotation stability tests to college physical education courses. (shrink)

In Art as Experience, Dewey claims that “‘imagination’ shares with ‘beauty’ the doubtful honor of being the chief theme in esthetic writings of enthusiastic ignorance. More perhaps than any other phase of the human contribution, it has been treated as a special and self-contained faculty, differing from others in possession of mysterious potencies.”1 Despite this “doubtful honor,” or as some might claim, because of it, imagination seems to have become a matter of unquestionable value in educational rhetoric over the (...) last half-century.2 This value is doubtless due in part to the immeasurable influence of Maxine Greene’s understanding of aesthetic education on broad swaths of educational thought.3 Yet Greene’s... (shrink)

Along with technological progress, vocational education and training (VET) is consistently changing. Workforce disruption has serious consequences for workers and international economies, often requiring adults to transition into different occupations or to upskill to maintain employment. We review recent literature covering VET trends, theoretical considerations for the 21st century, and present an approach to workforce training to help workers not only learn necessary skills but also become adaptable to constant change. We suggest a functional contextualist approach to mastery learning achieves (...) this aim. Specifically, we offer suggestions for pedagogy that not only develop skills but also encourage higher order thinking. Within a novice to expert continuum, we suggest deliberate practice, mental simulation, and reflective meaning making as methods to achieve efficiency and transfer—learning outcomes relevant to a changing workforce. This approach recognizes that learning is context bound and should promote broader human capabilities that support both employability and the continuing development of life literacies. (shrink)

Medical education provides many examples of the development of functional features, but as a response to deliberate instruction. These features require so much specificity and context sensitivity that they seem likely to require the development of new categories of appearances rather than just reweighting old features. A suggested implication is that feature development may help to explain the problematic noticing of features in diagnosis.

With the development of society, the rapidly developing social environment has played a significant role in the particular group of college students. College students will inevitably suffer setbacks and psychological obstacles in their studies and daily life. This work aims to ameliorate college students’ various mental illnesses caused by anxiety and confusion during the critical period of status transformation. Educational psychology theory, aesthetic theory, and poetry appreciation are applied to the mental health education of college students to obtain a (...) satisfying psychological healing effect. First, this work summarizes the connotation and characteristics of college student’s mental health and defines educational psychology. Secondly, the long tradition of Chinese poetry teaching is introduced. Besides, the theoretical basis of poetry therapy and aesthetic psychology is expounded, and foreign poetry is discussed. In addition, poetry appreciation is used to promote personality shaping and psychological healing of college students based on the theory of educational psychology and poetry appreciation psychotherapy. In addition, mental health education for college students is studied from the perspectives of psychological health, mental health education, college students’ mental health education, and appreciation of ancient poetry. In addition, the principle and significance of college students’ mental health education are discussed from the perspective of poetry appreciation. Finally, an experimental study is conducted on college students and patients in a specific hospital department by issuing questionnaires to verify the practical application effect of this method in psychotherapy. The survey results indicate that the scores of college students who have completed a one-semester poetry appreciation course in different dimensions of mental disorders are lower than those of those who have not completed the course. At the same time, in the scores of 16 personality traits, the positive trait scores of the experimental group are higher than those of the control group. Comparing scores before and after class also reflects the positive effect of poetry appreciation intervention on college students’ personality shaping. It can be concluded that poetry appreciation has a strong effect on promoting college students’ mental health and personality shaping and improving college students’ psychological problems. (shrink)

The present study investigated the cross-cultural variations in parents' views on the role of play in child development and the primary purpose of preschool education from Ethiopia and Hungary. It also examined the cross-cultural variations in preschoolers' executive functions, the frequency of their engagement in home activities, and the role of these activities in the development of EF skills. Participants included 266 preschoolers with their parents. The independent samples t-test showed that Ethiopian parents view fostering academic skills for preschooler (...) significantly more important than their Hungarian counterparts do. We also found that while Ethiopian parents hold the belief that academic and cognitive development is the major purpose of preschool education, Hungarian prioritize social-emotional development and entertainment. Additionally, preschoolers in Ethiopia were reported to engage in academic and arts and crafts activities after preschool significantly more frequently than their Hungarian counterparts. On the contrary, preschoolers in Hungary were found to engage in fine-motor activities, solitary play, sports and other physical activities significantly more frequently than their Ethiopian counterparts. No significant differences were found in EF skills between preschoolers from Ethiopia and Hungary. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that, after accounting for age and SES, preschoolers' frequency of pretend play and their parents' play support beliefs were found to be small to medium-sized predictors of inhibitory control skills in both samples. However, children's frequency of having breakfast at home was another significant predictor in the Ethiopian sample only. The frequency of participation in arts and crafts and other fine-motor activities were found to be important predictors of preschoolers' visual-spatial working memory skills in the Ethiopian and the Hungarian samples, respectively. We also found that, after controlling for SES, parental play support was an important factor associated with preschoolers' shifting skills only in the Hungarian sample. Based on the findings, we made important conclusions. (shrink)

Starting from Wilhelm Dilthey?s concept of understanding, the article inquires into modes of forming competencies within the experience of reflexive education. In line with moder?nity?s understanding of science, the text designates the role of sciences as instances of po?ssible real values, whereby the spiritual sciences are ascribed the role of giving meaning by broadening horizons. The article questions the ground that allows for spiritual and pedagogical sciences within the commercialization of university teaching and research activities. In all this, functionalization conducts (...) a process leading to the weakening of the constructive role of these sciences in the formation of competencies. (shrink)

Within universities, a tension exists between research and teaching and learning, where research is often accorded a higher status creating a Cinderella effect by rendering teaching and learning of lesser importance. World university rankings, also referred to as global rankings, are contentious although they have become a permanent feature of the higher education system internationally. Lindsay argues that institutions have emphasized the importance of publications and prestige, which contribute to national and institutional reputation. Publications increase rankings thereby contributing to the (...) lower prestige given to excellent teachers as compared to excellent researchers. This has consequently led to a decline in the attention given to teaching. Pressure exists in the HE system to play the ranking game without acknowledging that there are expertise and pockets of teaching excellence in universities. Through their performance criteria, global rankings are transforming universities into becoming similar and conforming to a single hierarchy. In order to compete in the global HE market and improve their rankings, some universities have adopted a business model to mitigate the effects of globalisation and have begun to view themselves and higher education as a business. Global ranking systems thus have the agency either to perpetuate teaching and learning as the Cinderella function in HE, through the ranking game or to holistically focus their performance criteria on all the core functions of universities. Ethical policy decision-making in higher is thus essential. (shrink)

Background: Patients prescribed with medication that treats mental health conditions benefit the most compared to those prescribed with other types of medication. However, they are also the most difficult to adhere. The development of mobile health (mHealth) applications (‘apps’) to help patients monitor their adherence is fast growing but with limited evidence on their efficacy. There is no evidence on the content of these apps for patients taking psychotropic medication. The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the (...) aims and functioning of available apps that are aiming to help and educate patients to adhere to medication that treats mental health conditions. Method: Three platform descriptions (Apple, Google and Microsoft) were searched between October 2015 and February 2016. Included apps need to focus on adherence to medication that treats mental health conditions and use at least a reinforcement strategy. Descriptive information was extracted and apps evaluated on a number of assessment criteria using content analysis. Results: Sixteen apps were identified. All apps included self-monitoring properties like reminders and psycho-educational properties like mood logs. It was unclear how the latter were used or how adherence was measured. Major barriers to medication adherence like patients’ illness and medication beliefs and attitudes were not considered nor where information to patients about mediation side effects. Very few apps were tailored and none was developed based on established theories explaining the processes for successful medication adherence like cognitions and beliefs. Reported information on app development and validation was poor. Discussion: A variety of apps with different properties that tackle both intentional and unintentional non-adherence from a different perspective are identified. An evidence-based approach and co-creation with patients is needed. This will ensure that the apps increase the possibility to impact on non-adherence. Theories like social cognition models can be useful in ensuring that patients’ education, motivation, skills, beliefs and type of adherence are taken into consideration when developing the apps. Findings from this study can help clinicians and patients make informed choices and pursue policy-makers to integrate evidence when developing future apps. Quality-assurance tools are needed to ensure the apps are systematically evaluated. (shrink)

Research suggests that sedentary behavior is negatively associated with cognitive outcomes. Interrupting prolonged sitting has been shown to improve cognitive functions, including executive functioning, which is important for academic performance. No research has been conducted on the effect of standing on EF in VET students, who make up a large proportion of the adolescent population and who are known to sit more than other students of this age. In this study, we investigated the acute effects of reducing SB by (...) short time standing on EF in vocational education and training students. In a randomized crossover study, 165 VET students were first taught for 15 min in seated position. After this, they performed while seated the Letter Memory Test for updating, and the Color Shape Test for shifting and inhibition. Students were randomly assigned to a sitting or standing condition. All students were taught again for 15 min and then took the same tests in the condition they were allocated to, respectively, standing or seated. After 1 week, the test procedure was repeated, in which students switched conditions. Mixed model analyses showed no significant effect of sitting or standing on updating, shifting, or inhibition. Also, no significant differences were found for the order of condition on updating, shifting, or inhibition. Our results suggest that 40 min of standing does not significantly influence EF among VET students. (shrink)

Socratic dialogue is nowadays often invoked as a model in education, and several educational approaches explicitly claim to be inspired by it (Naccari, 2003; Shah, 2008; Delić & Bećirović, 2016). However, contemporary versions depart profoundly from its original form as expressed in the Platonic dialogues, reinterpreting the role of the teacher in the dialogical exchange and referring to different epistemological criteria (cf. Shields, 1953; Reich, 1998; Dinkins, & Cangelosi, 2019; Marshall, 2019). The aim of this paper is to highlight, (...) on the one hand, how such a distortion of the classical model results in the renunciation of the heuristic and transformative functions of Socratic dialogue, and on the other hand, to propose an alternative model of dialogic teaching that restores these functions while maintaining its practicability in contemporary school contexts. Specifically, the role of epistemological relativism and the facilitator in constructivist education are identified as the critical issues in the construction of effective dialogical confrontation in the post-truth era. (shrink)

Although it has been given qualified approval by a number of philosophers of education, the so-called ‘therapeutic turn’ in education has been the subject of criticism by several commentators on post-compulsory and adult learning over the last few years. A key feature of this alleged development in recent educational policy is said to be the replacement of the traditional goals of knowledge and understanding with personal and social objectives concerned with enhancing and developing confidence and self-esteem in learners. After (...) offering some critical observations on these developments, I suggest that there are some educationally justifiable goals underpinning what has been described as a therapeutic turn. Whilst accepting that ‘self-esteem’ and cognate concepts cannot provide a general end or universal aim of education, the therapeutic function is more valuable and significant than is generally acknowledged. This claim is justified by an examination of the concept of ‘mindfulness’ that, it is argued, can be an immensely powerful and valuable notion, which is integrally connected with the centrally transformative and developmental nature of learning and educational activity at all levels. (shrink)

Education as a deliberate activity and purposive process necessarily involves mediation, in the sense that the educator mediates between the child and the world. This can take different forms: the educator may function as a guide who initiates children into particular practices and domains and their modes of thinking and perceiving; or act as a filter, selecting what of the world the child encounters and how; or meet the child as representative of the adult world. I look at these types (...) of mediation at the hand of the work of John Dewey, Martin Buber, Hannah Arendt, and Richard Peters. The purpose of this paper is to explore the bearing that the mediating role of the educator—as interpreted by these authors—has on the role wonder may play in the educational process. I suggest that initiation highlights the familiarizing function of wonder, and is most readily associated with inquisitive wonder; representation draws attention to the defamiliarizing role of wonder, as well as to its world-affirming role; and selection foregrounds the distinction between momentary and dispositional wonder. (shrink)