I suppose you think that's funny! The role of humour in corporate learning events

This paper examines the uses of humour among participants in five bank training programmes in the UK. These programmes, run by the banks themselves, were studied using ethnographic methods and the observations reported here are based upon extensive field notes. The paper examines the ways in which participants deployed humour during these learning events and the role humour played in the management of their relations with their fellow learners and the course instructors. The course instructors' use of humour is also examined. It is argued that humour played a far from trivial role in the programmes studied. On the contrary, humour was vital to their maintenance as viable organizational practices. In conclusion it is suggested that the more systematic study of humour could make an important contribution to the understanding of the social realities of corporate training programmes.     

试论高等教育的麦当劳化

麦当劳文化席卷全球,麦当劳企业机制日益渗透于社会的组织机制中。本文分析了高等教育大众化过程中的麦当劳化表征,包括它的含义及影响,对现代社会带来的进步意义,分析各种消极意义,进一步探讨了高等教育麦当劳化的负面影响,希望能引起高校工作者的警惕。避免它给我国高校工作带来这样或那样的麻烦,为广大学生的成长开辟一条健康的成长道路。     

谈写作教学中的素质教育

素质教育是以提高学习的整体素质为根本目的的教育。在写作教学中的素质教育应体现在写作理论知识讲授、优秀作品阅读赏析、思维能力及写作能力的训练和培养等方面，进而提高学生的思想水平、思维品质和作及表现能力。     

Are computers driving real wages down?

The annual growth in mean employee compensation plummeted from 2.6% in 1947–73 to 0.4% in 1973–2003. Using both time-series regression and pooled, cross-section, time-series regression analysis for 44 industries over the period 1953–2000, we find that earnings growth is positively related to overall productivity growth, capital investment excluding computers, and the unionization rate. We find also that computerization has a significant negative effect on earnings growth, but no evidence that the growth of skills or educational attainment has any statistically significant effect on earnings growth. The dominant factors explaining the slowdown in wage growth are decline in the unionization rate, slowdown in both TFP growth and overall capital investment, and acceleration in computer investment.     

对广西职业教育发展的思考

文章结合广西职业教育特点，从加大教育支持力度、加强合作办学、加强教师队伍建设、采用灵活办学机制等角度出发对广西职业教育迎接挑战的对策进行了思考。     

DOES MOTHER'S EDUCATION MATTER IN CHILD'S HEALTH? EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH AFRICA1

Using the 1993 South Africa Integrated Household Survey, this paper studies the effect that mother's education through the knowledge channel has on children's health using height for age Z‐scores as health measure. Under a two‐stage least square methodology we find that an increase in 4 years on mother's education (approximately 1 standard deviation) will lead to an increase of 0.6 standard deviations on her child's height for age Z‐score. We also find, as the medical literature suggests, support for the hypothesis that mother's education is more important for children older than 24 months of age.     

智障学生生活化教育探析

生活自理能力的形成，有助于培养智障学生的责任感、自信心以及自己处理问题的能力，对智障学生今后的生活也会产生深远的影响。因此，我们针对智障学生的特点与生活自理能力差的现状，有的放矢地对他们进行生活教育，通过生活化的课堂，使智障学生最终学会生活，走向社会。     

教育捐赠：农村义务教育融资新途径的探讨

费改税后,农村义务教育的提供成为县乡财政的直接困难。本文讨论了义务教育融资的几种方式,即中央政府和地方政府共享、PPP模式和私人提供公共产品,引出捐赠对于农村义务教育的重要性,并通过捐赠模型分析了捐赠的福利效应,最后提出了政府促进捐赠的政策建议。     

Teacher qualifications and student achievement in urban elementary schools

Teacher quality is a key element of student academic success, but few specific teacher characteristics influence classroom outcomes. This research examines whether teacher licensure test scores and other teacher attributes affect elementary student achievement. The results are based on longitudinal student-level data from Los Angeles. California requires three types of teacher licensure tests as part of the teacher certification process; a general knowledge test, a subject area test (single subject for secondary teachers and multiple subject for elementary teachers), and a reading pedagogy test for elementary school teachers. The student achievement analysis uses a value-added approach that adjusts for both student and teacher fixed effects. The results show large differences in teacher quality across the school district, but measured teacher characteristics explain little of the difference. Teacher licensure test scores are unrelated to teacher success in the classroom. Similarly, student achievement is unaffected by whether classroom teachers have advanced degrees. Student achievement increases with teacher experience, but the linkage is weak and largely reflects poor outcomes for teachers during their first year or two in the classroom.     

Local community reaction to the ‘no-take’ policy on fishing in the Tsitsikamma National Park, South Africa

Fishing in the Tsitsikamma National Park has officially been halted since 2001. However, the desire to fish in the Marine Protected Area remains high among the local communities in Tsitsikamma. This has led to illegal fishing practices in the park. Consequently, the reaction of the local communities was measured using semi-structured questionnaires, informal interactions, personal observations, and through a key informant workshop that was organized in the Tsitsikamma National Park. It was found that responses from local communities to fishing within the park were defined by their residence status, ethnicity, gender, income, and educational level. There is a general understanding by local communities that the purpose of the Tsitsikamma National Park is to conserve nature within its boundaries. However, there is a mismatch in the understanding of the term ‘conservation’ between the local communities and conservation officials of the South African National Parks (SANParks). Local communities consider conservation to include sustainable utilization while conservation officials from the practice pursue absolute protection of the marine fisheries resources. The majority of local communities in Tsitsikamma resent this SANParks ‘no-take’ policy on fishing. They would like access to the fisheries resources in the Tsitsikamma National Park for both subsistence and recreational purposes.