Practice and Theory in Systems of Education


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Editorial Board


CONTENTS
Volume 2 Number 1-2 2007
ISSN 1788-2591 (Online)
ISSN 1788-2583 (Printed)


Zsuzsanna Vajda:
Intelligence and Schooling: Is there Exit from the Maze?, pages 1-16

This paper's aim is to put relationship of intelligence and education into a historical frame. One of its main arguments is that the effects of education on intellectual achievement of the population cannot be studied apart form politics, since it is obviously just as much a political as a psychological issue. On the other hand the impact of schooling can be measured only with a consideration of its long term cross generational effect. Compulsory schooling created a new norm of rational thinking and had a determining role in the recent history of modernity. However a majority of social scientists, anthropologists and psychologists share the view that intelligence is a substantial human ability and it does have organic base, human intellectual development is shaped by social and political institutions.

Magdolna Estefan-Varga:
Mental Development and School Success of Prematurely Born Children, pages 17-37

The goal of my research was to determine whether premature birth as a biological risk factor determines the child's mental development, attainment of scholastic maturity and subsequent and integration of the school. Furthermore, I have also investigated the effect of environmental factors, socio-economic status, education in the home and intellectual influences, and the degree to which these factors help or detain scholastic aptitude. In the longitudinal study, I was interested to determine which class of factors promoted children's scholastic aptitude: the environmental influences or biological factors. In addition, I was also interested to find out which of the psychological tests had a predictive value concerning scholastic aptitude. The sample consisted of 30 prematurely-born children (14 boys and 16 girls) from the ministration area of the Eger Educational Counselling Centre. The children's perinatal risk-level was as follows: average gestation period: 33,9 weeks; birth weight under 2500 grams, average weight 1885 grams. I applied the next psychological methods: HOME inventory, Bender B test, HAWIK, Brickenkamp's advertence-test (d2), self-developed questionnaire. Our results confirm the findings of number of research that perinatal biological insults of similar gravity, such as premature birth and low birth-weight, may affect the intellectual development of children differently, depending on particular environmental factors. Of the psychological tests, the Bender B test has a prominent role in predicting learning aptitude at the age of 6 or 7. Goodenough's drawing test and the Binet test play a role in predicting performance at the age of 6-7, although to considerably lesser degree than the Bender test. Psychological examinations conducted whit children of 10 years of age suggest that HAWIK VQ is most probably the primary selective device in the group of well and weakly performing children. Secondarily, the attention test (d2) may play a special role. Of the environmental variables affecting the development of prematurely-born children, it is parents' formal education and intellectual factors in the environment in terms of SES indicators that have predictive values at the age of 6-7.

Miklós Szabó:
The History of Russian Education. The Historical Background, pages 38-56

Byzantium and Christianity - Grand Duke Vladimir and his son, Jaroslav - The cultural awakening - The monastic order. Patriotism. Turning away from the west - Religious and secular literature - Books and libraries - The cultural system. The end of the age.

Erzsébet Kézi:
The Effect of English Language Teaching on School Education in Sárospatak, pages 57-66

One can only acquire knowledge of the most modern scientific achievements with the help of foreign languages. The teaching of foreign languages has always been greatly affected by the geopolitical circumstances as well as by the economic and political goals of the country in question. In 1931 a change of special line took place in the Reformed College of Sárospatak which led to the giving up of the teaching of Greek in some groups of students and also caused less students to learn Latin while more and more students started learning English. This process had two purposes. One of them was to make the school more attractive for the students as the borders of Hungary changed due to the Trianon Peace Treaty and consequently the schooling-district became much smaller. On the other hand, Hungary wanted to strengthen the cultural relationship with England to review the policy of the Trianon Peace Treaty as the English aristocracy seemed to be willing to support Hungary's aims in the 1920's. The introduction of the teaching of English changed the composite of the school's students. The number and proportion of students coming from far off counties and from Budapest increased. The members of the economic and intellectual élite sent their children in greater proportions to English-learning classes than people with other social backgrounds. The introduction of the teaching of English increased the number and proportion of non-Reformed students which made it possible to strengthen the effects of the Reformed spiritual education. The education of students with different social and religious backgrounds in the same school improved the students' sense of tolerance and toleration.

Erzsébet Molnár:
Sámuel Brassai, the Last Transylvanian Polymath, pages 67-72

The aim of this paper is to introduce Sámuel Brassai, the teacher, the outstanding scholar of the 19th century to the reader. He played a great role in the Reform era which was the time of rapid development in the cultural life of Hungary. Brassai's views on language-pedagogy and methodology, and his principles of foreign language teaching are still acceptable. He deserves our respect for his struggle for the teaching of the Hungarian language and for his language supporter activity. His main effort to modernize education and spread knowledge were featured prominently in a newspaper devoted to public education, Sunday Journay (Vasárnapi Újság). The paper, founded with the help of the Kolozsvár Society (Casino), was edited by the professor of the Unitarian college, Sámuel Brassai.

András Keszthelyi:
How to Clone a Large Number of PCs, pages 73-78

Computer sciences are taught in all kinds of schools from elementary grade to universities both in theory and in practice. Schools usually have computer labs to serve this education activity. The technical management of these labs needs very different type of activities. One of them is to install or re-install the computers, which can be a very dully and time-consuming activity with the possibility of human mistakes. In this article I show two methods for two different situations to automate this process.

Szilvia Légrádi-Lakner:
A New Aspect in Developmental Counselling: Coaching, pages 79-88

The article describes an emerging developmental approach, methodology, known as coaching. After introducing a brief history of its origin and spreading, the main characteristics and features of the coaching process are introduced. Through a comparison with other counselling methods, you can gain an understanding of what coaching is and is not. The article further describes coaching trends currently in use in Hungary, with a focus on the various techniques applied such as Gestalt, psychodrama, transaction analysis, supervision, NLP and others. The expected results of coaching are also presented by the author who herself professes this approach and shares her own personal feelings and experiences.

Rita Szaszkó:
The Effects of Intercultural Contact for Learning English as a Foreign Language, pages 89-104

The present paper attempts to gain an insight into the nature of intercultural contact effects on adult Hungarians' motivation for learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The present study aims to highlight the interrelationship of the motivation and intercultural contact dimensions of a questionnaire. The data gathered in this questionnaire study involving 100 adult Hungarian participants aged 19+ from Budapest and eastern Hungary was subjected to factor analysis and to correlation analysis. This paper discusses the correlations regarding different types of motivation, motivated learner behaviour, contact with cultures other than Hungarian and contact effect, through which we gain deeper understanding of how and what components of motivation and intercultural contact are related to one another in a Hungarian context. The results revealed that different factors of the contact dimension (integrativeness, instrumentality, attitude, self-confidence) affect different factors of the motivation dimension, contact in private sphere, written/electronic communication, information from others, contact through cultural products and use of English at work, and the motivated learner behaviour dimension, effort and persistence. Furthermore, intercultural contact was found to have a more significant effect on communicative competence than on language learning motivation.


Experiences

Judit Pillmann & Vilmos Vass:
Education in Action, pages 105-108

Nowadays, when we hear something about school or education, we often hear a bunch of contradicting opinions. If we wait a second to recall the years passed by, we will surely remember a lot of great ideas. The question is what or who these experiences are connected to. To an adventurous excursion, or to an exciting work in class, or maybe to an unforgettable teacher's personality? Evidentially that the main part of our experiences are based in such experiences, when both the pedagogue and the students take part in finding a new kind of knowledge, where they discover or create something new together.

Zoltán Boka:
A Model Webquest for Students, pages 109-111

Although Slovakia is less technologically inclined than East Asian countries where I have taught, the mastery of computer skills is still held in high esteem here and students at City University need to combine their computer skills with problem-solving abilities in order to succeed in the business world. This proposed webquest helps them do just that.


Previous Issues

Volume 1 Number 1 2006

Volume 1 Number 2 2006