醫學專業精神是醫學教育的核心能力，醫師被要求需展現淵博的醫學知識、醫術精湛，且能善盡照護病人職責，因此在醫師的養成過程，除需培養醫學專業能力，更要提升以病人福祉為中心的態度和行為，重視倫理操守及社會責任核心價值的醫學專業認同（medical professional identity）。而醫學專業認同形成（Professional Identity Formation, PIF）是一種持續動態的變化過程，由於探討PIF的相關因素研究鮮少，是以，本研究目的在探討臺灣醫學生、住院醫師和主治醫師PIF的現況及比較形成PIF的相關因素。本橫斷式研究以中部某醫學大學 及其附設醫院的實習醫學生及醫師為對象，使用日本學者Tagawa於2019年發展與效化的中譯本，量測醫學生、住院醫師和主治醫師PIF的四個階段（imperial/SAS-2、interpersonal/SAS-3， institutional/SAS-4及inter-individual/SAS-H）。本研究以便利取樣選取182份有效問卷，填答醫學專業認同特定屬性量表中譯本，再以描述性統計、t檢定、單因子變異數及Spearman相關進行資料分析。結果顯示，SAS-4的平均分數最高，顯示整體研究對象呈現高階專業認同。在高階認同中，男性的得分顯著高於女性；專業認同隨著年齡的增長而增加，36歲以上年齡組在高層次認同表現顯著高於30歲以下年齡組。執業經歷階段分析顯示，在SAS-4及SAS-H階段，新進住院醫師（PGY1和PGY2）的專業認同得分顯著低於實習醫學生、資深住院醫師及主治醫師。本研究發現有助於醫療體系瞭解臺灣醫師專業認同養成的現狀，呼籲應對新進住院醫師及女醫師積極建構有效的輔導與支持系統，可供未來進一步研究參考。 Background and Purpose Professional identity formation (PIF) is the process by which individuals internalize the values, behaviors, and ethical standards of the medical profession, and– together with clinical competence–it is regarded as a foundational pillar of medical education. In Taiwan, where medical training is shaped by intense academic pressure and hierarchical clinical settings, nurturing a stable, reflective professional identity is especially critical. The 2003 SARS outbreak prompted the launch of a nationwide Post-Graduate Year (PGY) program to remedy gaps in generalist knowledge and skills among young doctors and specialists. A subsequent reform in 2013 shortened undergraduate medical education from seven to six years; within this structure, the 2 years PGY training ensures that every medical graduate can manage undifferentiated patients before entering specialty training. Nevertheless, early-career physicians often experience identity instability as they shift abruptly from student clerkships to licensed PGY doctors in non-structured and fragmented support systems. Because PIF influences how practitioners interpret their roles, engage with patients and colleagues, and resolve ethical dilemmas, understanding its development trajectory is essential. Yet, despite growing global interest in developmental and socialization perspectives, empirical studies on career stage-based identity progression and demographic moderators remain scarce in Taiwan. This study therefore examines PIF among medical clerks and physicians at different career stages and analyses how identity stage correlates with gender, age, and clinical experience. Literature Review PIF in medicine is a dynamic, lifelong endeavor shaped by both individual development and the psychosocial context. Classical frameworks– Piaget’s cognitive development, Kohlberg’s moral reasoning, and Erikson’s psychosocial stages– conceive identity as a progression toward ever-more complex understandings of self and others. Kegan’s constructive-developmental theory extends this tradition, portraying adulthood as a series of qualitatively distinct meaning-making structures. Based on Kegan’s model, Tagawa (2019) created the Stage-specific Attribute Scales (SASs), which capture four successive levels of medical professional identity: SAS-2 (imperial balance), SAS-3 (interpersonal balance), SAS-4 (institutional balance), and SAS-H (inter-individual balance). These stages trace a trajectory from rule-bound conformity to the internalization of values and the reflective integration of multiple perspectives. The SASs have been employed in East-Asian settings such as Japan, illuminating how learners negotiate professional roles amid distinctive cultural expectations. Whereas Western models often foreground autonomy and individualism, East-Asian contexts must reconcile collectivist values with entrenched institutional hierarchies. Preliminary studies suggest that gender, age, and clinical experience influence identity growth; yet Taiwanese data remain sparse. In particular, the role conflicts encountered by female trainees and the transition stress of early-stage PGY physicians are under-explored. A culturally attuned understanding of PIF is therefore essential for guiding research, curriculum design, and support systems in Taiwan’s medical education. Methods A cross-sectional survey was administered to 182 participants drawn from a medical university and its affiliated teaching hospital in central Taiwan. The participants comprised fifth- and sixth-year medical students (medical clerks), PGY 1-2 residents, senior residents (R3–fellows), and attending physicians. All participants completed the Chinese version of the Stage-specific Attribute Scales (SASs)– 27 items that gauge identity attributes across four developmental stages– using a seven-point Likert scale. The stage with the highest mean score was taken as each respondent’s dominant identity level. Data analysis included descriptive statistics; repeated-measures ANOVA to compare stage scores within individuals; independent-sample t tests and one-way ANOVA for between-group differences; and Spearman correlations to explore associations between background variables and identity scores. Construct validity was evaluated via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study protocol received Institutional Review Board approval, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Results (1) Stage profile. Mean scores peaked at the institutional balance level (SAS-4, M = 5.66), followed by SAS-3 and SAS-H, whereas the imperial balance stage (SAS-2, M = 4.27) was lowest. This pattern indicates that most respondents have progressed beyond ego-centered rule compliance. (2) Gender. Male participants scored significantly higher than females on both SAS-4 and SAS-H (p< .05), implying that current clinical structures may pose greater barriers to advanced identity integration for female trainees. (3) Age. Respondents aged ≥ 36 years outperformed those < 30 on SAS-4 and SAS-H (p < .01), suggesting a positive association between age, accumulated life experience, and professional maturity. (4) Career stage. PGY 1-2 residents recorded significantly lower SAS-4 and SAS-H scores than both medical clerks and attending physicians, pointing to possible identity regression or instability during early postgraduate training. Discussion and Recommendations This study confirms that professional identity formation (PIF) is a staged, yet nonlinear journey shaped by both personal characteristics and contextual forces. Although increased age and clinical exposure are linked to higher-level identity stages, the gender gap and the dip in identity strength among early postgraduate residents reveal structural and psychosocial shortcomings in Taiwan’s training system. For PGY-1-2 doctors, the abrupt shift from student clerk to fully accountable practitioner can create dissonance between clinical workload, external expectations and internal readiness, underscoring the need for strengthened transitional scaffolding. Similarly, the lower scores among female participants may reflect implicit bias, role conflict, or a lack of gender-responsive mentorship within clinical environments. To foster identity development across the career continuum, educators and institutions should adopt stage-specific strategies– structured mentoring, interprofessional learning, narrative-medicine workshops, and reflective-practice groups– while ensuring regular formative feedback. Support programs for early-career residents should emphasize emotional resilience, role clarity, and opportunities for self-assessment. At the policy level, accreditation bodies could embed identity formation explicitly into competency-based medical education frameworks and audit the availability of supportive structures. Creating learning environments that are inclusive, supportive, and developmentally responsive is essential for sustainable professional growth. Future research should employ longitudinal and mixed methods designs to trace identity trajectories and to examine how sociocultural values interact with professional development in diverse medical contexts.
儘管全英語課程（English as a Medium of Instruction, EMI）已成為全球高等教育的發展趨勢，然而，EMI課程在臺灣之實施仍存在諸多挑戰。為了幫助大一學生有效掌握EMI學習方式，本研究旨在探討一門大一EMI必修課程的教材選用發展策略與修正歷程，嘗試透過可理解性輸入、跨語言實踐策略及多模態教材的融入，逐步發展教材輔助與應用策略。本研究採用設計本位研究法，經歷三個階段的設計，每一階段涵蓋「準備」、「設計」、「實施」與「修正」四個過程。研究結果顯示，經過三階段設計後，在教材選擇與輔助方面，發展出主 題式文本選擇，並輔以多媒體導讀影片，可幫助學生更好地理解教材內容；在教材應用方面，亦發展出課前、課中、課後多項策略，以深化學生學習。最後，本研究於結論與建議中反思研究歷程，並提出對未來研究與教學的實務建議。 Research Motivation and Purpose As English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) becomes central to global higher education, Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 policy also aims to enhance students’ English proficiency and international competitiveness. However, implementing EMI presents considerable challenges, particularly for freshmen with limited English skills. This study seeks to explore the selection and application of teaching materials in a compulsory freshman EMI course, employing a design-based research (DBR) approach to iteratively improve instructional design and enhance student learning outcomes. Literature Review Prior research highlights cognitive, linguistic, and emotional challenges in EMI contexts, including foreign language anxiety, limited comprehension of academic texts, and reduced classroom participation. Theoretical underpinnings include comprehensible input (Krashen, 1982), translanguaging (Cenoz & Gorter, 2021), multimodal learning (Lin, 2016), and flipped classroom strategies (Al-Samarraie et al., 2020). Teachers’ beliefs, material design, and focus on student needs are critical for EMI success. Research Method The study employed a three-phase DBR framework, with each phase comprising preparation, design, implementation, and revision stages. Data were collected through student needs surveys, course evaluations, interviews, reflective journals, learning portfolios, and institutional course evaluations. The research team utilized coding, thematic analysis, and triangulation to ensure analytical rigor. Research Results Phase 1 (2022, Fall): - Preparation: Selected an open-access English textbook without Mandarin translation; - Design: Planned weekly topics and employed lecture-based methods; - Implementation: Provided pre-recorded videos and bilingual glossaries; - Revision: Added Mandarin explanations and simplified key concepts in slides after students reported comprehension difficulties. Phase 2 (2022, Spring): - Preparation: Introduced flipped learning and multimodal materials; - Design: Combined text annotations, videos, and local case examples; - Implementation: Delivered mixed-language guided videos and connected theory to local issues; - Revision: Reduced reading load, integrated student feedback, and encouraged reflective thinking. Phase 3 (2023, Fall): - Preparation: Collaborated with a team to adopt a thematic, multimodal curriculum; - Design: Created online quizzes, student-led reading groups, and integrated AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT); - Implementation: Used simplified slides with visual cues and facilitated student-led discussions; - Revision: Uploaded lecture slides post-class, supported independent learning, and refined assignments based on student needs. Discussion and Suggestions This study highlights that flexible material selection, multimodal resources, and translanguaging strategies effectively reduce students’ cognitive overload and enhance engagement in EMI classrooms. Through continuous reflection and collaboration, the teaching team designed a course that helped students gradually progress from dependence on scaffolds toward greater autonomy in learning. To build on these findings, several suggestions are offered. First, instructors should carefully select thematic, multimodal, and locally relevant materials that align with students’ needs and interests. Providing bilingual scaffolding and clear explanations of key concepts is essential to support comprehension. Incorporating flipped classroom approaches and collaborative tasks can further foster active student engagement and participation. Additionally, integrating generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, offers new opportunities for enhancing learning interactions and deepening understanding. Prioritizing teacher professional development in EMI pedagogy remains critical for sustaining high-quality instruction. Finally, future research should explore the long-term impacts of these strategies on students’ language proficiency, disciplinary knowledge, and their ability to become autonomous learners. Limitations and Contributions Since this study focused solely on a first-year compulsory course related to education, the findings may not be generalizable to EMI courses in other colleges or universities. In particular, this research primarily concentrated on the selection and application of teaching materials; therefore, topics such as course design or pedagogical approaches fall outside the study’s scope and represent its limitations. Future studies could explore various intervention strategies tailored to EMI courses across different disciplines, student year levels, and subject characteristics. Nonetheless, as this study adopted a design-based research approach to examine the selection, support, and application of course materials, it yielded two main contributions through its three-phase process: Firstly, we shifted from using a full English-language textbook to a theme-based course design, emphasizing quality over quantity to reduce students’ cognitive load. This approach effectively integrated reading materials, alleviated reading pressure, and enhanced learning outcomes by promoting the understanding of core concepts. To support learning, we replaced audio-based previews with multimedia videos that included visual aids and highlighted key points. This combination of visual and auditory elements facilitated intuitive comprehension and further improved learning outcomes. Secondly, the study recommends that EMI instructors implement supportive strategies before, during, and after class to enhance students’ comprehension of course materials. For instance, assessing students’ preparedness for asynchronous self-study can encourage independent thinking and proactive questioning. Incorporating AI-assisted interactive design promotes higher-order thinking and metacognitive strategies, enabling instructors to tailor instruction to learners’ needs while fostering autonomy and critical thinking skills. In the classroom, lectures were divided into mini-lectures, each followed by interactive group discussions. These sessions provided opportunities for students to exchange ideas, reflect on the content, and raise questions, thereby deepening their understanding and preparing them for English oral expression. This approach fostered active engagement and deeper learning. Instructors also incorporated diverse formats such as role-plays and case studies to increase engagement and participation. Presentation materials were redesigned to incorporate multimodal resources and translanguaging strategies, enhancing both classroom interaction and content comprehension. By combining visual and auditory cues with Chinese annotations, students were better able to grasp key concepts and reduce anxiety related to English comprehension. Small group-led reading activities further built a sense of learning community and promoted peer interaction, increasing engagement and deepening understanding through shared discussions. For post-class assignments, we replaced the full-term learning portfolio with weekly reflection worksheets, which reduced the overall workload and clarified the weekly course structure. This adjustment helped students better organize the course content and supported knowledge retention through structured review and reflection. While these findings provide valuable insights for EMI instruction, the research team recommends further exploration of instructional materials and learning supports. For example, a multimedia repository or website with organized content by topic or unit– featuring guided previews and summaries– could help students access and use relevant materials more efficiently. Generative AI could also be used to produce practice questions, quizzes, and summaries to support students’ comprehension and retention. In addition, AI could generate differentiated texts based on learners’ proficiency levels, enabling personalized learning paths within EMI contexts. Future practices should aim to further integrate multimedia tools to encourage self-directed learning and incorporate task-based activities with built-in feedback mechanisms to increase engagement. Exploring real-time feedback systems may also enhance teacher-student interaction and provide scaffolding for English language production. Finally, assessment strategies should be continuously refined based on student feedback and learning outcomes to ensure ongoing improvement in instructional quality.
108國語文課綱要求學生具備閱讀白話文與文言文這兩種不同文體之能力，然閱讀文言文的困難，包含字詞解釋以及篇章主旨的理解，為此，本研究以真實的文言文寓言為材料，檢視成熟讀者是否能跨越文言文字詞解釋的困難，正確地擷取篇章主旨。寓言是文言文的入門教材，能讓學生連結古人的生活經驗，深化人與人之間的關係，以及待人處世的道理，寓言文章獨特地連結敘事為主的故事和說理來表達文章主旨的寓意，寓意的寫作技巧包含明顯的直接書寫或隱微的含蓄象徵。本研究採用眼球追蹤技術記錄大學生讀者閱讀這兩種類型寓 言文章的歷程，對比在故事及寓意注意力的分布，也分析字詞解釋、文章整合及推論理解三種層次的閱讀理解表現。研究顯示，當閱讀「寓意明顯文章」時，寓意段落的重讀時間比故事段落短，可能因為寓意明顯，讓讀者直接達成內在連貫性的標準，獲取篇章主旨。但是，閱讀「寓意隱微文章」時，寓意段落的重讀時間比故事長，顯示讀者需要花較多時間推論隱微的寓意，才能達成連貫性的標準，獲取篇章主旨。讀者花時間關注的段落，顯示其理解表現較佳。本研究提供教師文言文教學的注意事項，建議引導學生注意文章段落的屬性，把各句意義與段落意涵形成連貫性的理解，亦可提供適性化的篇章理解教學。 Introduction The curriculum guidelines for 12-year basic education require students to comprehend various literary genres in both vernacular and classical Chinese. However, students often fail to reach a deep understanding of classical Chinese. Previous studies have shown that although word decoding is the main difficulty in understanding classical Chinese, students can employ top-down reading strategies, such as causal and context inference, to extract the gist of the texts. Given these considerations, this study introduced classical Chinese fables as reading materials because fables are unique in their structures. A fable consists of two distinctive text types: the story and the moral. The story serves as the surface structure or vehicle, and the moral, presented in an expository form, serves as the main topic of the fable. Readers may infer the gist by constructing meaning from the story’s framework or extracting the main idea from the moral paragraph. By using fables, this study aimed to use eye-tracking technology to closely investigate how readers process the story and moral paragraphs when reading classical Chinese fables. Previous studies showed that the moral paragraph plays an important role in comprehending fables. Without the explicit moral paragraph, it is difficult to infer the gist of the fables. However, two written skills are used for the moral: one explicitly states the main concept, while the other expresses it more implicitly. Both are commonly seen in classical Chinese fables. It is worth investigating the reading process in these two types of fables. According to the construction-integration model, readers need to construct the propositions and integrate them with prior knowledge to reach the coherence of texts. The factors that drive readers to form a coherent mental representation of a text are closely related to their standard of coherence— the level of coherence they aim to maintain while reading. When coherence between paragraphs is strong, readers can meet their standard of coherence without additional processing strategies, passively accepting the content without increasing reading time. However, when coherence between paragraphs is weak, readers must actively process the text until coherence is established. Although this process demands greater cognitive resources and time for inference, it ultimately enhances comprehension. In other words, actively activating information and inference-making during reading affects readers’ memory representations. Given that reading is a dynamic, interactive process that involves cognitive processing to establish coherence between paragraphs, this study examines how readers create coherence between the story and moral paragraphs in classical Chinese fables to provide practical instructional recommendations for effectively teaching fables. Specifically, we investigate whether university students can extract the main idea of fables despite encountering challenging vocabulary. To further explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying this process, eye-tracking technology was used to examine whether students focus more on the story or moral paragraph while inferring the fable's main idea. Method Sixty-two graduate and undergraduate students were recruited, except those who majored in classical Chinese. Four fables were used, two with explicit and two with implicit morals. Each fable consisted of two paragraphs: one presenting the story and the other the moral. In explicit moral fables, the moral paragraph clearly and directly states the gist of the story. In contrast, the implicit-moral fables employed metaphors in the moral paragraph, using indirect analogies to connect the moral to the story’s events. The post-comprehension test collected data to measure three types of questions: decoding, integrating, and inference. Decoding questions measured readers’ understanding of vocabulary and word meanings. Integration questions required readers to reconstruct events and recall details from the texts. Inference questions evaluated readers’ ability to derive the fables’ central messages and underlying meanings. Each text included 12 questions, with four items per question type, resulting in 48 test items. The reading ability test was derived from the College Entrance Examination Center. A total of 20 items were selected to measure participants’ decoding, integration, inference, and Chinese literary and cultural knowledge. The EyeLink 1000 was used to collect eye movement. The area of interest in this study was sentence level. Each sentence was labeled as either a story or a moral. Two eye-movement measures were used: the first-pass reading time (FPRT) and rereading time (RRT). The first-pass reading time was the fixation duration when encountering the sentence before leaving, reflecting the early process, such as meaning construction and syntactic analysis. The rereading time was summed up with the fixation duration except for FPRT, reflecting late processes, such as integration. All the data was analyzed using linear mixed models. Results The reading comprehension results indicated that readers scored higher on integration and inference questions than on decoding questions. A significant interaction effect between the fable and question types revealed three key findings. First, readers performed similarly in both explicitand implicit-moral fables for decoding questions. Second, readers scored higher in explicit-moral fables for integration questions than in implicit-moral fables. Third, readers scored higher in implicit-moral fables for inference questions than in explicit-moral fables. The results of FPRT showed that readers spent more FPRT reading explicit-moral fables or moral paragraphs than reading implicit-moral fables or story paragraphs. The results of RRT revealed a significant interaction effect. The simple main effects showed that when reading implicit-moral fables, readers spent more RRT on the moral paragraph than on the story paragraph, whereas this pattern was reversed for explicit-moral fables. Furthermore, readers spent more time on the story paragraph in explicit-moral fables than in implicit-moral fables, while they allocated more time to the moral paragraph in implicit-moral fables than in explicit-moral fables. Discussion and Implication The current study investigated how readers allocate their attention to the story and moral paragraphs when reading explicit and implicit moral fables and examine their reading comprehension. Results showed that readers obtained higher integration scores in explicit-moral fables and inference scores in implicit-moral fables. The eye-movement patterns can explain these results. Specifically, the results of the RRT showed that when reading explicit-moral fables, readers spent more RRT on the story than on the moral paragraph. These suggest that the explicit presentation of the moral enhances semantic overlap between paragraphs, creating strong coherence. As a result, readers can passively accept the moral without additional inference while dedicating more time to integrating the story’s contents to construct global coherence between the story and moral paragraphs. In contrast, when reading implicit-moral fables, readers spent more RRT on the moral paragraph than the story paragraph. This reflects the lower semantic overlap and weaker coherence between paragraphs, requiring readers to invest additional time in the moral paragraph to infer and integrate the symbolic metaphors with the story. That is, readers need to actively engage in inference to achieve coherence in understanding the moral. These findings suggest a distinction between the passive reception of meaning and the active pursuit of meaning across different paragraphs. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of how readers comprehend classical Chinese fables and provides insights for educators and teachers. When students have a basic vocabulary level of classical Chinese, teachers can focus on enhancing reading comprehension. Genre types, paragraph features, and text coherence are critical to providing adaptive instruction.
本研究旨在探討幼保相關科系準教保員之生涯適應力與專業認同之關聯，並分析其影響機制與關鍵因素，進一步考察時間距離對專業認同與生涯適應力間關係的調節角色。研究以Savickas（2013）提出的生涯適應力理論為基礎，探討「生涯好奇」是否透過「生涯控制」與「生涯關注」的中介，促進「生涯信心」之形成，並檢驗專業認同在其中的調節效果。同時，亦納入時間距離（近程與遠程目標）作為預測變項，以區別分析評估其對專業認同傾向的解釋力。研究以1,158名幼保相關科系學生（準教保員）為樣本，採調節式中介分析。結果顯示，「生涯好奇」對「生涯控制」與「生涯關注」具顯著正向影響，進而提升「生涯信心」。專業認同於各變項間有調節效果，具教師專業認同者即便生涯好奇較低，其生涯關注與生涯信心亦優於具教保專業認同者。此外，近程與遠程目標的規劃差異對專業認同具預測力，說明時間距離可作為區辨準教保專業認同傾向之變項。據此，本研究建議幼保相關科系應設置專業導向的生涯諮詢服務，協助學生擬定兼顧近程與遠程的職涯目標，強化生涯好奇與自我效 能，並支持其建立清晰的職涯規劃與穩固的專業認同，透過課程、實務操作與多元職涯探索機會，促進生涯信心與適應力，無論未來選擇以教保員或教師身分服務，皆能提升職涯穩定性與成就感。 This research investigates the intricate dynamics between career adaptability and professional identity within the demographic of university students specializing in early childhood education and care, herein referred to as “Pre-child Caregivers.” Grounded in Savickas’s career adaptability theory, this inquiry seeks to delineate the principal factors and mechanisms that significantly impact the career trajectories of these individuals. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the extent to which career curiosity affects career confidence and whether this association is mediated by career control and career concern, two pivotal elements within the adaptability framework. Furthermore, the study evaluates how professional identity serves as a moderating variable in this linkage, alongside the influence of temporal distance, interpreted through the aspects of immediate and distant goals, on the professional identity inclinations of students. The research utilized a quantitative cross-sectional survey methodology, gathering data from 1,158 valid responses from individuals enrolled in early childhood education and care programs throughout Taiwan between 2019 and 2022. A moderated mediation framework was developed to investigate the intricate interactions among the studied variables. The research employed SPSS, AMOS, and PROCESS applications to execute structural equation modeling (SEM) and evaluate moderation and mediation. The results indicate that career curiosity serves as a significant predictor of both career control and career concern. These mediating constructs, in turn, exert a positive influence on career confidence, thereby affirming a sequential pathway from curiosity to confidence facilitated by internal self-regulatory mechanisms. The findings substantiate Savickas’s assertion that career curiosity acts as a pivotal driver in the formation of career-related behaviors and attitudes. Significantly, professional identity serves as a key moderator in this relationship. Students possessing a robust professional identity as educators– those who aspire to acquire teaching credentials and attain certification as preschool educators– exhibited elevated levels of career confidence in comparison to their counterparts who align more closely with the broader early childhood care sector (e.g., child care personnel or assistants). Even in instances of diminished career curiosity, individuals who self-identify as prospective teachers manifest heightened levels of career concern and confidence. In contrast, students who associate more with the early childhood care identity reveal diminished levels of career control and confidence, even amidst heightened curiosity, indicating that identity orientation is instrumental in mediating the transforming intrinsic motivational resources into tangible career planning behaviors. Additionally, participants with a teacher professional identity demonstrated significantly higher scores on both proximal and distal goal measures compared to those with a child care identity. This suggests that a well-established future goal orientation is closely linked to the formation of a teacher-oriented professional identity, reinforcing the predictive power of temporal distance in shaping career identity. The investigation further explores the influence of temporal distance in distinguishing between various professional identities. Proximal goals (including course-based knowledge, internship participation, certification success) and distal goals (including career dreams, professional contentment) were applied as variables in a discriminant analysis to determine their usefulness in grouping students into separate professional identity categories. Findings reveal that temporal distance serves as a significant predictor, with proximal goal orientation emerging as the most potent discriminating variable. Students possessing well-defined short-term objectives exhibited a greater propensity to adopt a teacher professional identity, whereas those with less clearly articulated goals were more inclined to identify with a general child care identity. This implies that the conceptualization of time and considerations for future planning are intricately linked to the manner in which students cultivate their professional self-concepts. This investigation presents a range of contributions. Firstly, it empirically substantiates a theoretical framework that links essential dimensions of career adaptability with professional identity, thereby affirming the mediating and moderating functions of certain psychological resources. Secondly, it supplies empirical evidence underscoring the significance of temporal perspective in the development of professional identity. Lastly, it provides a contextualized elucidation of how prospective educators within the early childhood domain construct and navigate their career trajectories throughout their training. In response to these findings, a set of viable conclusions are proposed. Institutions of learning are encouraged to introduce systematic career advisory services that address the distinct needs of students in early childhood education and care programs. Such services may encompass individualized career planning, future-oriented workshops, and skill-mapping strategies designed to assist students in delineating both their immediate and long-term objectives. Facilitating a sense of career exploration through varied educational experiences and reflective thinking may empower students to approach career challenges with increased confidence and resilience. Furthermore, educators are encouraged to incorporate career adaptability training into the curriculum to bolster students’ sense of agency and concern for their future, particularly regarding professional roles within the early childhood sector. Moreover, facilitating access to career exploration initiatives, such as observational visits to early childhood education centers, internship placements, and mentorship collaborations with alumni, can significantly expand students’ comprehension of potential career trajectories. These initiatives may also augment their recognition of the benefits associated with obtaining formal teaching qualifications. For current practitioners in child care, avenues for pursuing advanced credentials (e.g., acquiring educational credits or enrolling in pedagogical training programs) may create opportunities for career progression, transition into new professional roles, and sustained employment stability. In summary, this investigation underscores the interconnected dimensions of career adaptability, professional identity, and temporal perspective in influencing the career trajectories of pre-service early childhood educators. By assisting students in cultivating robust professional identities, promoting future-oriented goal establishment, and enhancing internal adaptability resources, educational institutions can assume a crucial role in fostering a stable and proficient early childhood workforce for forthcoming generations. Building upon this conclusion, the research further suggests that short- and long-term career goal clarity plays a critical role in stabilizing professional identity across diverse student profiles. Enabling students to identify immediate academic targets and distant vocational aspirations not only reinforces self-efficacy but also facilitates sustained engagement within the profession. At the same time, enhancing students’ exposure to the structural realities and evolving demands of the child care and education sector may strengthen alignment between career intentions and workforce needs. Additionally, future research is encouraged to broaden sampling to include credit-based program enrollees and explore longitudinal differences in temporal distance perception across academic stages. Investigating the combined effects of institutional culture, familial expectations, and peer influence may also yield valuable insights into how professional identity is shaped over time. The theoretical integration of Savickas’s adaptability model with complementary frameworks, such as Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), could further expand the explanatory power of future models and better illuminate the psychological underpinnings of vocational decision-making. These extensions would offer a nuanced understanding of how professional identity evolves and inform policy strategies aimed at nurturing a sustainable and committed early childhood workforce.
本研究主要目的是建構「教保服務人員專業表現指引」，作為衡量教保服務人員專業表現或引導專業發展的方向。首先，歸納相關文獻整理出教保服務人員專業表現的內涵作為建構指引的基礎，再以焦點團體座談蒐集27名學者專家對專業，表現指引初稿架構與內涵的意見，並依據建議編製成德菲法調查問卷。其次，另邀請23位學者專家，以德菲法蒐集學者專家對專業表現指引架構與內涵的共識。最後，以問卷調查蒐集487名現職教保服務人員對專業表現指引適切性的意見，並以驗證性因素分析檢驗「教保服務人員專業表現指引」的理論 模型與實際觀察資料的適配程度。經分析結果顯示，「教保服務人員專業表現指引」的架構與內涵包括兒童權益與重要議題、教保活動、健康安全與照顧、班級經營與幼兒輔導、專業承諾等五個層面，層面下包含12個向度、36個指標。經驗證性因素分析顯示，專業表現指引具有良好的模式適配度，一階與二階潛在變項的組合信度皆大於.60，平均變異抽取量皆大於.50，反映「教保服務人員專業表現指引」內部一致性良好。本研究於文末依據研究結果提出實務與後續研究之建議。 Preschool educators serve as the primary caregivers for young children and play a critical role in shaping their cognitive, emotional, and skill development. Given the significant impact of educators’ professional performance on preschoolers’ growth, it is essential to construct comprehensive professional performance guidelines. These guidelines not only support educators in demonstrating professional competence but also enhance their professional identity and perceived value. This study aims to identify the core components of professional performance among preschool educators, develop a structured set of performance guidelines, and examine the impact of these guidelines on the overall quality of preschool educators’ professional practice. Based on relevant documents from international sources, preschool education organizations, and the Ministry of Education, the professional performance guidelines for preschool educators were structured around four major domains. First, in the domain of Foundational Educational Philosophies and Contemporary Issues, preschool educators are expected to possess sound educational competence, understand the developmental characteristics of young children, and stay informed about current reforms and issues in early childhood education. Second, within the domain of Implementation of Preschool Educational Activities, educators are responsible for designing developmentally appropriate curricula, employing diverse teaching strategies, creating enriching learning environments, ensuring the health and safety of children, and fostering collaborative relationships with parents and the broader community. Third, the domain of Classroom Management and Child Guidance, emphasizes the creation of a harmonious classroom atmosphere, the cultivation of positive teacher–child relationships and classroom norms, the use of guidance and counseling strategies to address behavioral issues, and the support of children’s social interaction and learning outcomes. Finally, in the domain of Professional Ethics, educators are expected to comply with regulations that protect children’s rights, engage in ongoing professional development, and demonstrate passion and commitment to their roles. These four domains are further divided into 12 sub-domains and comprise a total of 40 performance indicators. Based on four focus group interviews with 27 experts– including university professors, preschool teachers, kindergarten principals, and principals of elementary school-affiliated kindergartens– the professional performance guidelines for preschool educators were revised to include five major domains: (1) children’s rights and contemporary issues, (2) preschool educational activities, (3) health, safety, and caregiving, (4) classroom management and child guidance, and (5) professional commitment. These domains are further divided into 12 sub-domains and encompass a total of 36 performance indicators. A total of 23 experts– including 11 early childhood education scholars and 12 preschool practitioners– were invited to review the professional performance standards for preschool educators using the Delphi method. Among the 36 performance indicators, 33 achieved a mode of 6, while the remaining 3 had a mode of 5. The overall mean scores ranged from 5.0 to 5.9, with standard deviations between 0.24 and 0.69. The finalized professional performance standards consist of five domains, 12 sub-domains, and 36 performance indicators. The finalized professional performance standards were converted into a questionnaire and distributed to 907 respondents, of which 486 valid responses were returned and used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results indicated an acceptable model fit: χ²/df = 2.65, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .058, standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR) = .048, goodness of fit index (GFI) = .841, comparative fit index (CFI) = .921, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = .913, parsimonious goodness of fit index (PGFI) = .723, private nonresidential fixed investment (PNFI) = .798, and critical N (CN) = 202. The standardized factor loadings for the 36 indicators ranged from .65 to .90, all exceeding the .60 threshold. The squared multiple correlation (SMC) values ranged from .50 to .81, all above .50. The composite reliability (CR) for 12 first-order latent variables ranged from .76 to .87, while 5 second-order latent variables had CR values between .86 and .87, all above the .60 threshold. The average variance extracted (AVE) for 12 first-order latent variables ranged from .51 to .70, while 5 second-order latent variables had AVE values between .77 and .93, all above the .50 threshold. This indicated that the observed variables are able to respond to the latent traits of the common constructs and possess excellent convergent validity. This study yielded several key findings. First, the domain “Children’s Rights and Contemporary Issues” aligns with the principles of child protection outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and reflects the Department for Education (DfE, 2023) emphasis on the role of preschool educators in safeguarding children’s welfare and rights. Secondly, preschool educational activities should encompass curriculum and lesson design, teaching implementation, learning environment planning, and assessment. These components align with the guidelines set forth by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2017), the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI, 2011), the Council of Europe (2019), the Department for Education (DfE, 2023), the Government of Singapore (2022), and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 2020). Moreover, within the domain of “Health, Safety, and Caregiving,” preschool educators should plan activities that prioritize the safety and health of preschoolers. This is consistent with the guidelines set by the Department for Education (DfE, 2023) and the Government of Singapore (2022). In the domain of “Classroom Management and Child Guidance,” preschool educators utilize classroom management strategies to support preschoolers’ learning (Ministry of Education, 2016a, 2016b; ACEI, 2011; Government of Singapore, 2022). Finally, within the domain of “Professional Commitment,” preschool educators demonstrate a willingness to adhere to professional ethical standards and commit to the education and care of preschoolers. This concept of professional commitment is in line with Anitha and Krishnaveni’s (2013) notion of educators’ dedication to their roles, as well as with the commitment emphasized by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2017), Ministry of Education (2016a, 2016b), the Department for Education (DfE, 2023), the Government of Singapore (2022), and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 2020). Based on the findings of this study, several suggestions were made. First, preschool educators can use the professional performance guidelines to assess their own professional performance and as a reference for enhancing preschool education. Second, teacher education programs can utilize the guidelines to evaluate the comprehensiveness of pre-service training curricula. Third, these guidelines can add value to institutional evaluation processes. Finally, the guidelines can serve as a foundation for developing specialized education and vocational training programs.
本研究以COCO模式為基礎，並綜合過往創造力理論，將影響創造思考的面向分為個人的人格特質、知識背景、守門人的情境脈絡及環境的運作四大面向。其中，人格特質探究好奇心、藝術性；知識背景為學生的科學素養；守門人的情境脈絡為家庭環境鼓勵；環境的運作為學校創意環境。以好奇心、藝術性、科學素養、家庭環境鼓勵作為個人層次變項，學校創意環境作為學校層次變項，討論對於學生創造思考的影響，並且加入家庭環境鼓勵的調節效果以及學校創意環境的跨層次調節效果。本研究利用PISA 2022臺灣資料的5,857位學生資料以及182所學校資料進行分析，統計分析方法採用階層線性模式分析。結果發現，一、好奇心、藝術性、科學素養、家庭環境鼓勵以及學校創意環境對於創造思考有正向的直接影響效果。二、家庭環境鼓勵在好奇心、藝術性與創造思考的關係間具有正向的調節效果。三、學校創意環境在科學素養與創造思考的關係間具有負向的跨層次調節效果。根據以上分析結果，提出相對應的實務及未來研究建議。本研究的創造思考與科學素養符合108課綱的教育理念，加以利用大型資料庫來檢證理論模式的關係，所獲得的分析結果對於臺灣在推動108課綱及創造力教育上將有豐富的貢獻。 Research motivation and purpose This study is theoretically grounded in the COCO model and aligns it with variables available in the PISA database. A total of five variables were selected: curiosity, artistic inclination, scientific literacy, family encouragement, and the school creative environment, as key factors influencing students’ creative thinking. First, in terms of personality traits, the study explores curiosity and artistic inclination, as these traits are less frequently discussed in the current literature but are included in the latest PISA dataset. In the domain of relevant knowledge, the study focuses on the crucial PISA construct of scientific literacy. For the role model or “gatekeeper” aspect, family encouragement is examined, while the environmental dimension is represented by the school creative environment. Overall, the main objective of this research is to investigate the factors influencing creative thinking. Specifically, the goals are: 1. To understand the impact of curiosity on creative thinking; 2. To understand the impact of artistic inclination on creative thinking; 3. To understand the impact of scientific literacy on creative thinking; 4. To understand the impact of family encouragement on creative thinking; 5. To explore whether family encouragement moderates the relationship between personal factors (including curiosity, artistic inclination, and scientific literacy) and creative thinking; 6. To understand the impact of the school creative environment on creative thinking; 7. To examine whether the school creative environment moderates the relationship between personal factors (including curiosity, artistic inclination, and scientific literacy) and creative thinking. Although this study is based on the COCO model, some adjustments have been made. While the ecological systems theory emphasizes the interaction of environmental factors, the original COCO model primarily discusses direct relationships between variables. Therefore, this study modifies the COCO model by treating family encouragement and school creative environment as moderating variables. It aims to explore whether these environmental factors interact with personal traits to influence creative thinking. Literature Review The literature review of this study consists of the following sections: 1. PISA’s assessment of creative thinking and recent related studies on creative thinking; 2. The influence of personal traits－including curiosity, artistic inclination, scientific literacy, and gender– on creative thinking; 3. The direct and moderating effects of family encouragement on creative thinking; 4. The direct and moderating effects of the school creative environment on creative thinking. Based on the findings and discussions in these sections, seven research hypotheses were developed to align with the objectives of this study. Method This study utilizes data from the PISA database. The target population for PISA 2022 is defined by age and includes 15-year-old students currently enrolled in school. In Taiwan, the official testing period was from April 11 to May 27, 2022. However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 188 out of the originally sampled 216 schools completed the assessment. Among these, 6 schools were excluded because their student attendance rate was below 33%. As a result, the final sample in Taiwan consisted of 182 schools and 5,857 students, which formed the analytical sample for this study. The research instruments included variables such as learning resources, school support, family assistance, learning self-efficacy, and urban-rural classification. Since students are nested within schools and all students share the same school-level creative environment, the school creative environment is treated as a higher-level (school-level) variable. In contrast, curiosity, artistic inclination, scientific literacy, family encouragement, and creative thinking are considered individual-level variables. Given this nested data structure, multilevel analysis is appropriate. The analysis was conducted using HLM software. In addition, AMOS 24.0 was used for analysis, and the maximum likelihood estimation method was employed. Results This study utilized data from the PISA 2022 database, selecting 182 schools in Taiwan with a total of 5,857 15-year-old students. It aimed to examine the direct effects of students’ personal traits– specifically curiosity, artistic inclination, and scientific literacy– as well as family encouragement and the shared school-level creative environment, on creative thinking. In addition, the study explored the moderating effect of family encouragement on the relationship between personal traits and creative thinking, as well as the cross-level moderating effect of the school creative environment on the same relationships. A total of seven hypotheses were developed. Based on the results from Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analysis, three key conclusions were drawn: 1. Curiosity, artistic inclination, and scientific literacy as personal traits of students have a positive effect on creative thinking. 2. Family encouragement has a direct effect on creative thinking and also plays a moderating role between personal traits and creative thinking. 3. The school creative environment has a direct effect on creative thinking and serves as a negative moderator in the relationship between scientific literacy and creative thinking. Discussion and Suggestion This study is grounded in the COCO model and aligns the framework with variables available in the PISA database. Based on this alignment, five key factors were selected for analysis: curiosity, artistic inclination, scientific literacy, family encouragement, and the school creative environment, all of which are examined for their influence on students’ creative thinking. Previous research has rarely integrated the four dimensions– personality traits, knowledge background, gatekeepers’ contextual support, and environmental dynamics– into a single comprehensive study. This research, by leveraging PISA’s large-scale data, confirms that curiosity, artistic inclination, scientific literacy, family encouragement, and school creative environment all have positive effects on students’ creative thinking. Moreover, the moderation analysis revealed that curiosity, artistic inclination, and family encouragement interact positively with one another to influence creative thinking. Interestingly, the school creative environment played a negative moderating role in the relationship between scientific literacy and creative thinking. Compared with previous studies, multilevel analysis using large-scale data to explore creativity is still in its early stages. Therefore, this study offers a significantly different perspective. Notably, the finding that the school creative environment negatively moderates the positive relationship between scientific literacy and creative thinking is quite unexpected. Intuitively, one would assume that a higher level of school creativity would enhance students’ creative thinking. However, for students with higher scientific literacy, this pattern does not hold. Typically, students with higher scientific literacy are expected to also perform better in creative thinking. Yet, if they are in schools perceived (by administrators) to have high creative environments, this may actually diminish their creative performance. Does this imply that scientifically literate students do not need a highly creative school environment? Not necessarily. The researchers point out that the school creative environment used in this study is measured through questionnaires completed by school principals, reflecting the principals’ perception of the school’s creativity, not the students’ own perception. Thus, we cannot determine whether students themselves feel they are in a creative environment. This potential discrepancy between students’ and principals’ perceptions may require further in-depth investigation. In other words, it is not that high-scientific-literacy students do not need a creative environment, but rather that the creative atmosphere of the school may not be meeting their expectations or needs. Based on the study’s findings and discussions, the following three concrete recommendations are proposed: 1. Practical strategies for families to encourage the development of students’ curiosity, artistic inclination, and scientific literacy. 2. School-level actions to enhance the creative environment and support students’ scientific literacy in order to foster creative thinking. 3. Suggestions for future research directions based on the study’s limitations.
本研究基於2 × 2成就目標理論，聚焦於學業結果情緒，建構成就目標與自豪／羞愧交叉延宕模式（Cross-Lagged Panel Modeling, CLPM），以檢驗兩者的交互效果。本研究以臺灣國中七年級學生為對象，採用三波縱貫性設計（N = 92），透過交叉延宕分析探討四向度成就目標與兩種學業結果情緒的交互效果。結果顯示，不同成就目標與學業結果情緒的交互效果存在時間變化性。首先，趨向精熟目標與自豪的關係，從單向影響逐漸發展為雙向影響，顯示自豪不僅是趨向精熟目標的結果，亦能回饋強化學習者的趨向精熟目標。其次，逃避目標與羞愧呈現穩定的交互效果，兩者互相強化。學習者的逃避目標愈高，羞愧感愈強，而羞愧感亦增強學習者的逃避目標。第三，逃避表現目標與自豪逐漸呈現不對稱的交互效果，即逃避表現目標會降低自豪，但自豪卻可能強化學習者的逃避表現目標。相較之下，逃避表現目標與羞愧之間則逐漸形成交互效果，兩者互相強化。整體而言，本研究支持成就目標與學業結果情緒之間的雙向關係，顯示自豪與羞愧不僅是成就目標的結果，亦能回饋影響後續成就目標的形成。本研究結果為學習動機與情緒互動歷程提供實證支持，並對未來研究與教育實踐具有啟示。 Research Motivation Academic emotions are integral to students’ motivation, engagement, and academic outcomes (Pekrun, 2006). Among these, pride and shame– self-conscious emotions linked to achievement outcomes– are particularly salient yet underexplored. According to Control-Value Theory (CVT) (Pekrun, 2006; Pekrun & Perry, 2014), students’ emotional experiences in learning are shaped by their appraisals of control and value. Achievement goals, as distal motivational beliefs, influence these appraisals and thereby indirectly affect emotions (Pekrun et al., 2002). Importantly, CVT also posits that emotions reciprocally influence motivational beliefs over time, forming dynamic feedback loops (Pekrun et al., 2006). However, empirical evidence testing these bidirectional processes remains scarce– especially among early adolescents and in non-Western educational contexts. To address these gaps, this study examines the longitudinal, reciprocal associations between four achievement goals and two key outcome emotions– pride and shame– among Taiwanese junior high school students. Literature Review 1. Academic Outcome Emotions: Pride and Shame Pride and shame play central roles in learning. Pride is a positive, activating emotion that arises when success is attributed to internal, controllable causes and is personally valued. In contrast, shame is a negative, activating emotion triggered by perceived failure and low controllability– even when failure is attributed to a lack of effort (Pekrun et al., 2023). Empirical research links pride to increased motivation, self-regulation, and academic achievement, whereas shame predicts maladaptive outcomes such as avoidance, helplessness, and disengagement (Butz et al., 2016; McGregor & Elliot, 2005). 2. Four-dimensional Achievement Goals Achievement goals– the reasons students engage in academic tasks– are key motivational constructs. The 2×2 framework of achievement goals (Elliot & McGregor, 2001) classifies goals along two dimensions: the definition of competence (mastery vs. performance) and motivational valence (approach vs. avoidance). This yields four goal types: mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance. A meta-analysis by Huang (2012) demonstrated this framework’s superior predictive power for academic outcomes. Subsequent studies have used it to examine relationships between achievement goals and emotional, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes across cultural and developmental contexts (Demirbag & Bahcivan, 2022; Peng, 2019; Putwain, Larkin et al., 2013; Putwain, Sander et al., 2013). 3. Linking Achievement Goals with Emotions Within CVT, achievement goals shape students’ emotional experiences by guiding control-value appraisals. Performance goals, emphasizing normative evaluation, often evoke pride or shame. Mastery goals, typically tied to learning-focused emotions, can also trigger pride or shame depending on students’ internal standards and outcome interpretations (Putwain, Larkin et al., 2013). Prior studies suggest that performance-approach goals are positively linked to pride, while avoidance goals– both mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance– are associated with shame, especially under low perceived control (Goetz et al., 2016; Pekrun et al., 2009). Yet few studies have tested whether these emotions reciprocally influence future motivational orientations. 4. The Present Study Building on this foundation, the present study examined the reciprocal, longitudinal relations between four achievement goals and the outcome emotions of pride and shame among Taiwanese seventh-grade students. Mathematics was chosen as the target domain due to its emotional salience and academic importance in East Asian contexts (Gladstone et al., 2018; OECD, 2016). Gender and prior academic achievement were included as control variables due to their known associations with goal endorsement and emotional responses (Pekrun et al., 2009; Watt, 2006). Method This study adopted a three-wave longitudinal design to examine the reciprocal relations between achievement goals and academic emotions among Taiwanese junior high school students. A regionally stratified convenience sampling approach was used to recruit 835 Grade 7 students from 17 schools across northern, central, and southern Taiwan. After removing inattentive or incomplete responses, a final sample of 792 students (354 boys, 438 girls) completed all three waves of data collection over one academic year, with approximately six-month intervals. Two cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) were estimated using structural equation modeling (SEM) with LISREL 8.50 and maximum likelihood estimation. Each model included four types of achievement goals (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, performanceavoidance) and two academic emotions (pride and shame). Gender and prior math achievement–indexed by three midterm exam scores from the second semester and standardized within classrooms– served as control variables. All measures were administered in validated, abbreviated formats with demonstrated internal consistency across waves (Cronbach’s α = .79-.92). To account for clustering effects due to nested data, all variables were standardized at the classroom level prior to model estimation. Results and Discussion The results revealed evolving reciprocal relations between achievement goals and academic emotions. Mastery-approach goals initially predicted increases in pride, but this relation became reciprocal over time, indicating that pride not only stems from adaptive goal pursuit but also reinforces subsequent mastery-approach motivation. In contrast, mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance goals showed stable mutual reinforcement with shame– students who adopted avoidance goals felt greater shame, which in turn intensified avoidance motivation. This pattern reflects a maladaptive cycle of emotional vulnerability and motivational withdrawal. Moreover, performance-avoidance goals were found to suppress pride over time; paradoxically, pride later predicted greater endorsement of performance-avoidance goals. This asymmetrical relation suggests that even positive emotions, when experienced under high-stakes evaluative pressure, can feed self-protective motivational tendencies. Additionally, the initially one-way association between performance-avoidance and shame evolved into a reciprocal loop, indicating that emotional distress may gradually shape motivational orientations. Conclusions These findings offer robust empirical support for the CVT model, highlighting the dynamic, bidirectional nature of motivation-emotion processes. They underscore the importance of early interventions that reduce avoidance goals and foster adaptive emotional regulation– especially in high-pressure academic contexts like mathematics. Cultivating pride through mastery-oriented goals and equipping students to manage shame in the face of difficulty may help break maladaptive cycles and promote more resilient, engaged learning trajectories.
本研究旨在運用一款虛擬實境教育訓練系統，以虛擬人擔任模擬案主，作為協助訓練準諮商員諮商技巧的自主學習輔助工具。研究對象為諮商相關科系之大三學生，採用混合研究之質性與量化並重方法，以虛擬實境教育訓練系統、諮商技巧練習回饋表與反思札記、個別諮商能力評量表，在研究過程中同步蒐集量化與質性資料，以瞭解研究對象透過此系統學習諮商技巧的經驗與效果。研究結果發現，運用虛擬實境訓練系統可提升準諮商員的個別諮商能力與諮商技巧學習動機，但有時參與者也因未達預定的學習目標、受虛擬個案人物設計與 表達方式影響，而稍微減弱學習的投入程度。同時，運用此系統後諮商能力有明顯的進步、練習後期的目標達成率增加，但也因為諮商技巧本身的結構程度差異、系統的提示步驟明確性，影響各諮商技巧的目標達成率，研究對象更意識到諮商技巧的挑戰而覺察需要有更多的練習。此系統作為國內諮商領域與虛擬個案進行諮商對話訓練之首創，已發展出有助於諮商技巧訓練之系統功能設計，但也有需進一步加強功能與語料庫之處。最後，依據研究結果提出建議，作為持續豐厚語料庫對話內容，以及未來持續進行新手諮商員諮商技巧訓練研究之參考。 Introduction Counseling skills training is a crucial component of counseling education. However, the limited availability of case sources, insufficient simulated scenarios, and constraints on training and supervision personnel restrict students’ opportunities to practice counseling skills, thereby impacting their professional competency. A key challenge for counseling educators is providing students with opportunities to learn counseling skills in real-world settings (Walker, 2009). Although role-playing techniques are frequently employed in counseling skills training (Rogers et al., 2022), concerns remain regarding the authenticity of role-played cases (Melluish et al., 2007) and the financial and human resource costs associated with standardized cases (Caltabiano et al., 2018). Consequently, the integration of emerging technologies into counseling skills training to offer realistic and safe simulated scenarios while minimizing the limitations of live role-playing has become a pressing issue for counseling educators, who must also be mindful of technological challenges and limitations. Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to enhance learning experiences, increase engagement, facilitate knowledge transfer, and promote collaboration and empathy in the education field (Deshmukh et al., 2023; Purnama et al., 2023; Shin, 2017; Southgate et al., 2019; Zyoud & Zyoud, 2021). However, research on the application of VR in counseling education, particularly in counseling skills training, remains scarce. VR has already been employed in clinical training for medical students, nurses, and social workers (Kleinsmith et al., 2015; Lowell & Alshammari, 2019; Washburn et al., 2016). In the field of counseling education, only a limited number of studies have explored the use of VR for psychological assessment and role-playing exercises (Lan et al., 2021; Lowell & Alshammari, 2019; Rogers et al., 2022; Wilkinson & Bazile, 2019). This research aims to develop and implement a VR-based training system for novice counselors, enabling them to interact with virtual clients and practice counseling skills. The goal is for this VR counseling training system to serve as a supplementary tool for counseling training programs. Methods This study targets third-year undergraduate students in counseling-related programs, employing a mixed-methods approach that integrates both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Data collection includes the VR training system, counseling skills practice feedback forms, reflective journals, and individual counseling competency assessment forms, allowing for the simultaneous gathering of qualitative and quantitative data to examine participants' experiences and learning outcomes. Results The quantitative results of this study are based on the analysis of responses to the 16-item quantitative section of the Counseling Skills Practice Feedback Form, completed after weekly counseling skills practice sessions, as well as the Individual Counseling Competency Assessment Form, administered both before and after training. Participants reported experiencing significantly less pressure when using the Virtual Reality (VR) Training System, even compared to peer role-playing exercises. They also found the system’s prompts helpful in practicing counseling techniques. However, they suggested that the design of the virtual client's body language, facial expressions, and appearance could be improved. After practicing counseling skills using the VR Training System, participants demonstrated significant improvements in individual counseling competencies. Post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores across several dimensions, including the total score, process skills, deep interaction, information exchange, basic communication, and conceptualization skills (p < .001). Additionally, professional behavior, personalization skills, and theoretical foundations also showed significant improvement (p < .05). These findings suggest that after 14 sessions of counseling skills practice using the VR system, participants experienced substantial progress in their counseling skills. However, no significant difference was observed in the personality traits subscale. In the qualitative analysis, the research team conducted repeated readings of participants’ reflective journals and performed coding analysis to extract key themes. Participants reported feeling intrigued and satisfied while using the VR Counselor Training System. They found the system interface clear and easy to navigate, considering it a practical and convenient tool for learning counseling skills. However, they also pointed out some limitations, such as the relatively lower accuracy of speech recognition compared to text input, and participants reported that they sometimes found it difficult to respond due to the lack of facial emotional expressions from the virtual client. Participants experienced lower anxiety levels compared to practicing with real individuals, benefiting from the ability to engage in repeated practice sessions. The high realism of the simulated counseling scenarios enhanced their immersion in the counseling environment. However, some participants were affected by the intonation of the virtual client and perceived a lack of flexibility in dialogues, differentiating the experience from real-life counseling interactions. Participants provided positive feedback and reflections on various system features, including setting learning objectives, offering prompts, providing immediate feedback, and demonstrating example dialogues. Practicing counseling skills with virtual clients strengthened their learning by integrating classroom knowledge, improving familiarity with counseling techniques, and expanding their understanding of counseling topics. Additionally, they reflected on their counseling abilities, recognized the differences between counseling conversations and everyday dialogue, acknowledged the challenges of learning counseling skills, and became more aware of how personal life experiences influence their application of counseling techniques. Discussion and Conclusion The research findings indicate that the Virtual Reality (VR) Training System can enhance individual counseling competencies and motivation for learning counseling skills. However, some participants experienced a slight decrease in engagement due to challenges in achieving learning objectives, as well as the design and expressive limitations of virtual client avatars. Additionally, after using the system, participants demonstrated significant improvements in counseling abilities, with an increased success rate in achieving practice goals in the later stages of training. Nonetheless, differences in the structural complexity of counseling skills and the clarity of system prompts influenced the attainment of specific skill-related goals. Participants also became more aware of the challenges in mastering counseling techniques and recognized the need for additional practice. Recommendations Based on the research findings, this study proposes the following recommendations: 1. Continuously strengthen the development of the corpus based on the research results. 2. Encourage novice counselors to take a more proactive approach in using the VR-based training system for self-directed practice and enhance feedback mechanisms to improve positive learning outcomes. 3. The VR-based training system utilized in this study is intended as a supplementary self-training tool for counseling skills training courses and cannot fully replace traditional training methods. 4. Invite more novice counselors from different fields (such as helpers in related institutions and volunteers) to participate in the study to further explore the system's impact on improving counseling abilities. 5. Compare the counseling abilities of novice counselors who use this system for counseling skills training with those who do not. Conclusion This system is the first of its kind in the domestic counseling field to facilitate counseling dialogue training with virtual clients. It has developed system functionalities that support counseling skills training; however, there are areas that require further enhancement, particularly in system features and corpus expansion. Finally, based on the research findings, recommendations are provided to further enrich the dialogue content of the corpus and serve as a reference for future research on counseling skills training for novice counselors.
本研究旨在探討學生學習策略與教師學習策略教學對英語素養導向評量表現之影響。依訊息理解層次，本研究聚焦於四種學習策略：記憶、認知、推論理解與後設認知策略。研究參與者為第一屆108課綱七年級學生（N = 2,264，男生1,184名、女生1,080名）及其英語教師（N= 219），採用階層線性模式（Hierarchical Linear Modeling, HLM）分析跨層次的交互影響。結果顯示，在學生層次，推論理解策略與後設認知策略能顯著預測英語素養導向評量表現，而記憶策略與認知策略之影響均未達顯著。在教師層次，教師的策略教學無法調節學生學習策略對評量表現的預測效果；然而，推論理解策略教學能顯著提升班級整體英語素養導向評量表現。本研究根據上述結果，就未來研究方向與英語教學實務提出建議。 Purpose The research is to explore the influence of learning strategies and teacher’s strategy instructions on English literacy-driven achievement in the context of 12-year basic education. The study has two goals. The first goal is to investigate the relationship between English literacy-driven achievement and learning strategies including memory, cognition, inference and metacognition strategies. The second goal is to test whether teacher’s strategy instructions affect the means of English achievement in the class and adjust the impact of learning strategies on English achievement. Literature Review The researches have indicated that learning strategies affect students’ English grades. These studies use Pearson correlation and description statistics to demonstrate the relationship between grades and learning strategies. Additionally, the studies reveal that teachers’ strategy instructions influence on English achievement. A semi-structure interview is applied to explore the impact of teachers’ strategy instructions on English grades. However, no research has investigated how learning strategies and teachers’ strategy instructions affect achievement within the same framework. Furthermore, contextual effects have not been considered when examining the relationship between learning strategies, teachers’ strategy instructions and achievement. Method 1. Participants The participants are the seventh-grade students who were the first cohort of 12-year basic education in Taiwan in 2020. There are 2264 students including 1184 males and 1080 females. Additionally, there are 219 teachers from 216 schools. 2. Variable In this research, the dependent variable is student’s English literacy-driven achievement. The independent variables include student’s learning strategies and teacher’s strategy instructions. Student’s learning strategies consist of four variables: memory, cognition, inference and metacognition strategy. Similarly, the teacher’s strategy instruction consists of memory, cognition, inference and metacognition strategy instruction. 3. Instrument (1) Memory strategy: The scale contains six items. The factor loading ranges from .77 to .85. The composite reliability is .92. (2) Cognition strategy: The scale contains six items. The factor loading ranges from .67 to .80. The composite reliability is .89. (3) Inference strategy: The scale contains eight items. The factor loading ranges from .71 to .83. The composite reliability is .93. (4) Metacognition strategy: The scale contains ten items. The factor loading ranges from .69 to .81. The composite reliability is .93. (5) English Literacy-Driven Achievement: The assessment includes 93 reading comprehension question and 89 listening questions. (6) Memory strategy instruction: The scale contains two items. The factor loading ranges from .64 to .81. The reliability is .76. (7) Cognition strategy instruction: The scale contains three items. The factor loading ranges from .57 to .78. The reliability is .69. (8) Inference strategy instruction: The scale contains three items. The factor loading ranges from .63 to .82. The reliability is .76. (9) Metacognition strategy instruction: The scale contains three items. The factor loading ranges from .68 to .78. The reliability is .76. 4. Data Analysis In this study, HLM is applied. To use HLM, data is weighted and centered. Additionally, five models are evaluated. Results 1. Descriptive Statistics Pearson correlation between achievement and learning strategies is .29, .30, .42, and .35 for memory cognition, inference and metacognition strategy respectively. All of correlations are significant. Additionally, the correlation between achievement and learning strategy instructions is .02, .06, .07, .06 for memory cognition, inference and metacognition strategy instruction respectively. However, cognition, inference, and metacognition strategy instruction show significant correlations, while only memory strategy instruction is not significant. 2. HLM Analysis (1) Model 1: Intercept-Only Model The result shows that interclass correlation is .29 which is higher .05. Additionally, reliability of the mean is .8 which is higher .7. Therefore, the further analysis should be applied. English Literacy-Driven achievement = β0j + γij β0j = γ00 + μ0j (2) Model 2: Means-As-Outcomes Model The analysis reveals that the coefficient of memory, cognition, and metacognition strategy instruction are not significant. However, the coefficient of inference strategy instruction is significant (γ03 = 5.81). In addition, the variance of random variable (μ0j) is significant indicating that next step is needed. English Literacy-Driven achievement = β0j + γij β0j = γ00 + γ01memory strategy instruction + γ02cognition strategy instruction + γ03inference strategy instruction + γ04metacognition strategy instruction + μ0j (3) Model 3: Incorporating Individual-Level Explanatory Variables While Treating The Slope As A Fixed Coefficient The result shows that coefficients of inference (γ30) and metacognition (γ40) strategy are significant (γ30 = 16.32; γ40 = 5.10). However, at the intercept of second level, inference strategy instruction (γ03) is significant (γ03 = 5.83). English Literacy-Driven achievement = β0j + β1j memory strategy + β2j cognition strategy + β3j inference strategy + β4jmetacognition strategy + γij β0j= γ00 + γ01memory strategy instruction + γ02cognition strategy instruction + γ03inference strategy instruction + γ04metacognition strategy instruction + μ0j β1j = γ10 β2j = γ20 β3j = γ30 β4j = γ40 (4) Model 4: Random Coefficient Model The results of the random coefficient model are very similar to model 3. The coefficients of inference (γ30) and metacognition (γ40) strategy are significant (γ30 = 17.11; γ40 = 4.60). Moreover, inference strategy instruction (γ03) is also significant (γ03 = 6.36). However, the variance of μ1j, μ2j, μ3j, and μ4j are not significant. English Literacy-Driven achievement = β0j + β1j memory strategy + β2j cognition strategy + β3j inference strategy + β4jmetacognition strategy + γij β0j= γ00 + γ01memory strategy instruction + γ02cognition strategy instruction + γ03inference strategy instruction + γ04metacognition strategy instruction+μ0j β1j = γ10+μ1j β2j = γ20+μ2j β3j = γ30+μ3j β4j = γ40+μ4j (5)Model 5: Slopes-as-Outcomes Model (Full Model). In this model, teachers’ strategy instructions are added to predict the slopes of students’ learning strategies. The results show that the cross-level interaction terms (γ₁₁-γ₄₁) are not significant, indicating that teachers’ strategy instructions do not moderate the effects of students’ learning strategies on English literacy-driven achievement. In addition, only the variance of the intercept (μ₀j) remains significant. Therefore, Model 4 is selected as the final model. Although D2 decreases as model complexity increases, the variances of the random slopes (μ₀j-μ4j) in the random coefficient model are not significant. Therefore, the random coefficient model (Model 4), rather than the more complex slopes-as-outcomes model, is chosen as the final model. Conclusion The study highlights the importance of learning strategy and strategy instruction in the context of 12-year basic education. Students’ inference and metacognition strategies have a significant impact on English Literacy-Driven achievement, while memory and cognition strategies do not. Regarding teacher’ strategy instruction, inference strategy instruction has positive effect on the mean of English achievement in the class. In contrast, memory, cognition, and metacognition strategy instruction do not have impacts on English achievement in the class. Furthermore, regardless of which strategies teacher choose, the coefficients of students’ learning strategies on English achievement are not moderated. Through analysis of HLM, the role of teachers, students, and learning achievements are depicted more clearly compared to previous literature. Based on the result, the following suggestions are proposed. First, students should improve their inference and metacognition strategy. Second, teachers should guide students in developing inference strategy to enhance overall English achievement in the class. Besides, other topics and issues warrant further investigation. In the study, only junior high school students were included. However, to gain the deeper understanding of learning strategies, further research should also include elementary school students to examine the effects of learning strategies from an early stage. Furthermore, this study focused solely on listening and reading. However, English proficiency encompasses listening, reading, writing and speaking. Therefore, further research should consider all four skills.
Motivation and Purpose The main purposes of this study are as follows: 1. To examine, analyze, and discuss the influence and function of narrative on the self, career, and education within a cultural context, based on J. Bruner's cultural psychology. 2. To evaluate Bruner's contribution to cultural psychology and the narrative by integrating domestic and international theoretical study on narrative and career. Literature Review The main references for this study focus on Bruner's works related to cultural psychology, narrative, and the relationship between education and culture, following his shift in focus after the 1980s. Additionally, this study collects and reviews the extensive domestic and international scholarly work on the widespread application of Bruner's cultural psychology and narrative, particularly in the context of career issues. Although relevant study frequently cites Bruner's narrative, few studies have systematically linked his rich discussion of narrative within cultural psychology to the exploration of career issues. This study fills this gap by systematically connecting Bruner's cultural psychology, narrative psychology, personality psychology, and career construction theory. It aims to elucidate how narrative shapes self-identity and career construction within a cultural context. Bruner emphasized that the narrative form embraces a dialectical relationship between fiction and fact, and between the expected and the actually experienced. This perspective enriches career theory. Career construction is not merely a linear planning process but a dialogical process filled with uncertainty, peripeteia, and multiple voices, during which individuals continuously interpret and create meaning through narrative. Study Methodology This study adopts the method of literature analysis: 1. To examine the background of the formation of Bruner's cultural psychology and the application of his view on narrative in school education (which he regards as cultural life) within the current educational context. 2. To analyze the development and application of "cultural life narrative" in career-related issues. For example, narrative presents diverse viewpoints, allowing for a multiplicity of perspectives in story interpretation. This implies that individuals can freely create a career view that aligns with their interests and needs. This can be applied to the dialogue and writing of the multiple self, increasing community cohesion, fostering a sense of self-belonging, or serving as a reflexive reference for the self. 3. To explore how the agent, within a cultural context, utilizes narrative to integrate, evaluate, and create self-identity, thereby promoting career construction and cultural adaptability. Study Results This study finds that the narrative, as emphasized by Bruner's cultural psychology, has the following main influences on psychology and career construction: 1. Bruner believed that narrative is the primary cognitive mode of human beings, which can be used for the dialogue and writing of the multiple self. This allows narrative career construction to encompass both factual and imaginary dialogues. 2. Bruner argued that when people narrate or listen to stories, whether factual or fictional, it shapes their everyday thought processes. This view has influenced practices in narrative therapy, such as "definitional ceremonies," "self-reflexive consciousness," and the writing of "psychological displacement." 3. Bruner advocated that the narrative approach can link different cultural perspectives, enabling people to discover and recognize various non-mainstream cultures, the viewpoints of the oppressed, and negative emotional states, thereby broadening people's interpretations of the world and enhancing empathy. 4. Bruner asserted that the positioning of narrative can only be discovered within a culture. People must participate in the construction process of the narrative text, a process likened to drawing a map or embarking on a journey. In narrative therapy, this view encourages clients to become aware of their life trajectory and create stories of "exceptions" or "unique outcomes" for themselves. 5. By highlighting peripeteia in narrative, Bruner emphasized that stories do not merely describe facts but also reflect various viewpoints. This perspective can be linked to the concept of the "multivoiced self-narrative." Discussion and Recommendations Based on Bruner's narrative perspective from cultural psychology and integrated with domestic and international study, this study forms the following five points for discussion: 1. The agency of narrative empowers career construction: Bruner's assertion that narrative possesses agency has influenced study on self-control and choice in career, as well as on the cross-cultural self and the bicultural self. 2. Narrative creation integrates the relationship between culture and career: Narrative is a crucial tool for shaping future life blueprints. Career choice is about what kind of life narrative an individual wishes to construct for themselves, and where they seek self-identity and future positioning within cultural life. 3. Self-created narrative affects the interaction between culture, mind, and career: People's career choices can be constructed through a "self-referent narrative / self-making / autobiography." This is because an autobiography is not just a memoir but a sincere affirmation of one's history within a cultural context. 4. The evaluative function of the narrative approach facilitates career self-confrontation: In narrative activities, characters in stories often serve as reference points for evaluating real life. Such stories prompt readers to engage in "self-confrontation," re-examining their own beliefs, values, and role positioning. 5. Dialogical relationships aid in realizing self-created career narratives: Narrative is a dialogical process of free experience exchange and sharing among subjects. This perspective can foster "dialogical imagination" and the "re-authoring narrative identity," enhancing the reflexivity and career construction capabilities of cross-cultural individuals. In terms of educational recommendations, this study offers three main insights: 1. Educators can integrate narrative practices into career education. For example, having students use "autobiographical reasoning" to articulate how their past experiences have shaped their identity, the cultural background of their current difficulties and conflicts, and possible future options that balance personal interests and family expectations. 2. Provide school counselors and professional counseling personnel with a cultural psychology perspective to assist clients in exploring the multiple self, cultural belonging, and career meaning through stories, while enhancing understanding and support for disadvantaged and marginalized groups. 3. Remind policymakers to consider students' diverse cultural backgrounds and narrative styles when promoting learning portfolio systems and college entrance examinations, to avoid a trend toward uniformity and standardization driven by socio-cultural influences. This study suggests that future study can be extended in two directions: 1. A critical analysis of the issues in Bruner's cultural psychology, such as whether his narrative has limitations related to relativism, and whether its application to career issues might be detrimental to resolving clients' career difficulties. 2. In terms of cross-disciplinary application, to explore the application value of Bruner's cultural psychology and narrative in addressing issues such as multicultural conflict, threats to mental and physical health, and the uncertainty of personal career construction in digital and networked life. In summary, the researcher hopes to deepen domestic study on Bruner's cultural psychology, integrate the application of the narrative across psychology and career fields, and construct a view of narrative as a medium for the self, life, career, and culture. This aims to provide people with appropriate theoretical and practical support when facing various career challenges.
This study examines the historical development and educational-theoretical foundations of Jerome S. Bruner's cognitive theory between 1945 and 1972. Using Jeremy M. Anglin's edited volume Beyond the Information Given: Studies in the Psychology of Knowing (1973) as the primary corpus for textual analysis, the study reconstructs the internal coherence and progression of Bruner's writings across this formative period. Rather than offering a historiography of cognitive psychology, the research adopts an educational-theoretical perspective to clarify how Bruner's cognitive research was progressively articulated as a coherent theory of education. To this end, the study employs a tripartite analytical framework- cognition, development, and education- to trace the continuity and transformation of Bruner's theoretical insights and to specify their implications for curriculum theory, pedagogy, and educational reform. By integrating close textual analysis with biographical and contextual information, the study highlights the reciprocal influence between Bruner's psychological theorizing and his evolving educational commitments. Bruner's early work emerged as a substantive challenge to the behaviorist paradigm that dominated mid-twentieth-century American psychology. In contrast to behaviorism's emphasis on observable stimulus- response mechanisms, Bruner conceptualized perception as an active and interpretive process shaped by internal values, expectations, and needs. His research in perception (including collaborative work with Cecile Goodman and Leo Postman) demonstrated that individuals do not simply register sensory input but organize and reinterpret stimuli in ways that preserve cognitive coherence. Studies such as "Value and Need as Organizing Factors in Perception" (1947) and "On the Perception of Incongruity" (1949) illustrated how meaning, motivation, and expectation function as organizing factors in perception. These early findings provided a conceptual foundation for Bruner's broader rejection of reductionist learning models and contributed to the "New Look" movement in cognitive psychology, thereby establishing a view of mind that foregrounded agency, interpretation, and intention. Building on this foundation, Bruner developed a more systematic account of thinking and concept formation that further displaced mechanistic accounts of learning. In A Study of Thinking (1956), co-authored with Jacqueline Goodnow and George Austin, Bruner framed conceptualization as a sequence of decisions involving categorization, hypothesis testing, and information reduction. He argued that concept acquisition is not a simple function of stimulus-response conditioning but a creative and goal-directed problem-solving activity shaped by constraints and purposes. In the intellectual context of the cognitive revolution, this work positioned Bruner alongside major figures such as George A. Miller, Noam Chomsky, and Herbert Simon, while also carrying clear educational implications: if thinking is active, strategic, and constructive, then educational environments must be designed to cultivate inquiry, decision-making, and conceptual exploration rather than mere reinforcement. A unifying theme of Bruner's cognitive theory is captured in his notion of "going beyond the information given." For Bruner, the mind does not merely process incoming data; it actively constructs meaning through inference, analogy, and abstraction. This constructivist orientation informed his later investigations into representation and symbolic functioning. He proposed three primary modes of representation- enactive (action-based), iconic (image-based), and symbolic (language-based)- through which individuals encode, reorganize, and transform experience. Although often discussed in developmental terms, these representational modes function in Bruner's work as interrelated cognitive resources: each mode offers distinct affordances for thinking and learning, and their coordination provides a framework for understanding both intellectual development and instructional design. From a developmental perspective, Bruner argued that intellectual growth involves the progressive mastery, integration, and transformation of representational systems. His studies of children's learning processes emphasized the role of symbolic representation in supporting abstract reasoning and complex problem solving, while also underscoring the continuity between early sensorimotor experience and later cognitive competence. His work on skill acquisition- exemplified in "Competence in Infants" (1971)- showed that seemingly basic behaviors (e.g., grasping or gazing) are structured by intention, feedback, and hierarchical sequencing. These findings reinforced Bruner's broader claim that learning is an active developmental process and challenged rigid separations between "basic" and "advanced" cognition. Educationally, this suggests that instruction must attend to learners' current representational capacities while also providing conditions for their transformation through guided participation and increasingly complex intellectual tasks. The educational implications of Bruner's theory were most explicitly articulated in The Process of Education (1960), which synthesized insights from the 1959 Woods Hole Conference on curriculum reform. Bruner advocated reorganizing school curricula around the fundamental ideas and structures of disciplines, arguing that deep understanding depends on grasping underlying conceptual patterns rather than accumulating disconnected facts. He introduced the spiral curriculum as a model in which central ideas are revisited at increasing levels of complexity, thereby linking curriculum progression to learners' developing representational resources. A central claim in this framework is that any subject can be taught to any child in some intellectually honest form, provided that instruction is aligned with the learner's current mode of representation. Readiness for learning, in this view, is not a fixed prerequisite but a developmental and representational relation between learners, content, and instructional mediation. Bruner further advanced discovery learning as a pedagogical orientation grounded in the learner's active construction of knowledge. Discovery learning posits that students learn most effectively when they engage in inquiry, generate hypotheses, test interpretations, and draw conclusions based on evidence. This orientation was operationalized in the interdisciplinary curriculum Man: A Course of Study (MACOS), which explored what it means to be human through anthropology, sociology, and biology and incorporated multimedia resources, fieldwork activities, and ethical discussion. In educational-theoretical terms, MACOS exemplifies Bruner's commitment to curriculum as an intellectual and moral practice: the learner is positioned not as a recipient of finalized knowledge but as an inquirer whose understanding is shaped through structured encounters with evidence, interpretation, and competing perspectives. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Bruner increasingly emphasized the cultural dimensions of cognition and education. He argued that schools function as "cultural amplifiers," transmitting symbolic tools- such as language, mathematics, and narrative- that extend human cognitive potential. Education thus involves not only knowledge transmission but the transformation of learners' relationships to knowledge and society. Bruner distinguished between context-free models of mind, which seek universal cognitive structures, and context-sensitive models, which attend to how cultural practices, institutional arrangements, and social values shape learning. Empirical support for this cultural perspective appeared in cross-cultural research (including work with Patricia Greenfield in Senegal), suggesting that schooling can foster metacognitive awareness and abstract reasoning across cultural contexts. Bruner's involvement in early childhood initiatives such as Head Start further reflected an educational commitment to designing enriched learning environments that support cognitive and emotional development, especially for disadvantaged children, and that connect educational opportunity with broader ideals of participation and equity. Bruner's later writings extended these concerns through an emphasis on narrative as a fundamental mode of knowing. He argued that human beings organize experience and identity through storytelling, and that narrative cognition enables meaning-making in ways that complement logical-scientific forms of thought. This narrative perspective broadened the educational significance of his cognitive theory by underscoring interpretation, context, and cultural continuity as central to learning. It also anticipated later developments in cultural psychology and educational research, contributing theoretical resources for contemporary discussions of curriculum, literacy, and identity formation. In conclusion, this study argues that Bruner's cognitive theory (1945-1972) is best understood as a coherent educational theory integrating cognition, development, culture, and pedagogy. By reconceptualizing learners as active, intentional, and culturally embedded agents, Bruner offered a robust foundation for developmental curriculum design, discovery-oriented pedagogy, and an educational vision attentive to symbolic mediation and cultural practice. His work challenged reductive models of learning, foregrounded the role of representation and inquiry, and affirmed the transformative potential of education in shaping human development and social innovation. Reconstructing Bruner's cognitive theory from an educational-theoretical perspective therefore provides enduring conceptual resources for educational research and offers a clarified understanding of the intellectual foundations of modern educational thought.
This study undertakes an in-depth examination of "Man: A Course of Study" (MACOS), a curriculum developed under the leadership of contemporary educational thinker Jerome Bruner, systematically investigating its core educational philosophy, curriculum structure, pedagogical practices, and profound implications for contemporary educational reform. As an exemplary curriculum of the 1960s "New Social Studies Movement" in the United States, MACOS was grounded in structuralist cognitive theory and creatively integrated multidisciplinary knowledge from anthropology, psychology, and evolutionary biology, with the aim of guiding students in social science learning centered on "the exploration of human nature." Research Background and Motivation While Bruner's contributions to educational theory and practice are widely recognized, systematic scholarly research on MACOS remains inadequate. Existing literature tends either to emphasize historical background descriptions or to focus on technical analyses of curriculum models, without deeply examining how MACOS systematically transformed theoretical research on "humanity" into human-centered educational practice. Notably, there is insufficient exploration of how MACOS, based on the study of "humanity," systematically constructed the holistic operational logic integrating curriculum objectives, content, methods, and evaluation. This research gap underscores the necessity of re-examining MACOS to comprehensively present its integrated framework connecting educational philosophy, curriculum design, and pedagogical practice. Research Objectives This study aims to systematically elucidate how MACOS promotes children's cognitive development, cultural understanding, and ethical reasoning through its interdisciplinary curriculum content, spiral curriculum organization, and discovery learning pedagogical strategies. Concurrently, this study seeks to critically reflect-within its historical context-on the internal and external challenges and structural limitations that MACOS encountered during implementation, thereby extracting its significant implications for contemporary educational innovation in the digital era. Literature Review A review of relevant literature reveals that previous research has predominantly approached MACOS from the perspectives of curriculum development history or Bruner's personal academic trajectory, with limited attention to the curriculum philosophy centered on "human nature inquiry" and its epistemological foundations. While some scholars have astutely identified its scientific inquiry characteristics, they have relatively underemphasized Bruner's core commitment to humanistic values. Other researchers have focused on comparisons with objectives-based models, yet discussions of MACOS's pioneering contributions to multicultural education and values education remain underdeveloped. Furthermore, MACOS's innovative approach to instructional technology-positioning films, games, and other media as "prisms" for cultural understanding and "scaffolding" for cognitive development-this pedagogically sophisticated technological perspective has not received adequate scholarly attention and evaluation. Research Methods To achieve the research objectives, this study employs a combined approach of historical analysis and document analysis. Historical analysis traces the development of MACOS within the evolving social, cultural, and educational landscape of the United States from the 1950s to 1970s, while examining Bruner's intellectual biography to understand both the external conditions and internal logic shaping his curriculum philosophy. Document analysis involves in-depth interpretation of Bruner's original writings, the MACOS curriculum materials, and significant critical literature. Through interpretation and synthesis of qualitative data, the study extracts core educational meanings and conducts critical reflection. Research Findings The principal findings of this study are as follows: (1) A curriculum framework centered on human nature inquiry: MACOS constructed a curriculum guiding students toward a comprehensive understanding of the human condition, structured around three core questions: "What is human nature?", "How is human nature formed?", and "How can humans develop their humanity more fully?" The content transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries in history and geography. Through comparative studies of salmon, herring gulls, baboons, and Inuit Eskimos, students explore the essence of humanity through the interplay of biological and cultural dimensions. (2) Discovery learning and technology as cognitive scaffolding: Pedagogically, MACOS emphasizes "discovery learning," guiding students to construct knowledge autonomously through strategies including comparison, inference, participation, and metacognitive activation. Particularly noteworthy is its forward-thinking application of instructional technology: films, games, and other media function not merely as vehicles for knowledge transmission, but as "prisms" for stimulating cultural reflection and "scaffolding" for supporting cognitive construction, thereby pioneering a distinctive paradigm for deeply integrating technology into humanistic education. (3) Empirically validated teaching and learning outcomes: Multiple empirical studies demonstrate that MACOS implementation effectively promotes teacher pedagogical reflection, fostering shifts toward more student-centered teaching approaches and encouraging adoption of diverse assessment methods. For students, MACOS not only enhances learning motivation and positive attitudes toward social studies, but also cultivates cross-cultural understanding and critical thinking skills, with demonstrable positive effects in reducing achievement gaps among students from diverse backgrounds. (4) Underlying causes of curriculum termination and sociological implications: MACOS ultimately ceased due to external political and cultural conflicts, prohibitively high implementation costs, and lack of vertical articulation with schools' overall curriculum systems. This outcome profoundly illustrates that educational reform success depends not solely on curriculum design quality, but is inextricably linked to social and cultural contexts, political ideologies, and institutional structures. From an educational sociology perspective, the trajectory of MACOS exemplifies the nature of curriculum as a "cultural politics" text, wherein content selection and organization inevitably engage with contestations over values and power. Discussion and Implications Despite MACOS's incomplete realization due to historical constraints, the educational philosophy it embodied and the curriculum model it pioneered retain profound relevance for contemporary educational contexts confronting digital transformation and value pluralism. In summary, its implications encompass: (1) Re-examining educational essence: Education must refocus on "human development," transcending mere knowledge transmission and skills training to prioritize holistic human flourishing. (2) Advancing knowledge integration: Through interdisciplinary integration and structural understanding, educators should help students construct coherent worldviews to counter knowledge fragmentation. (3) Upholding value commitments: Curricula should cultivate students' multicultural perspectives and critical capacity for value judgment, preventing reproduction of cultural hegemony. (4) Innovating pedagogical approaches: In the technological age, technology should serve as a medium for deepening humanistic inquiry and scaffolding cognitive development, rather than constituting an educational end in itself. (5) Building collaborative infrastructures: Educational innovation must acknowledge schools as social systems and establish collaborative ecosystems supporting teacher professional development and effective curriculum implementation. The historical experience of MACOS reminds us that meaningful educational transformation requires seeking dynamic and dialectical equilibrium among theoretical construction and classroom practice, educational ideals and social realities, technological affordances and humanistic foundations, and individual development and social structures.
Motivation from the Initial Literature Review The influential role of Bruner's theory of representation in inspiring technological innovations-most notably Alan Kay's development of the Graphical User Interface (GUI)-highlights a profound yet insufficiently examined interplay between cognitive theory, technological design, and educational practice. Despite the extensive discussion of Bruner's ideas in education and psychology, the translational link between theoretical insight and practical or technological realization remains largely unexplored. This study aims to address this gap. The Purpose of the Study Was Confirmed by a Further Literature Review The intellectual lineage of the concept of "representation" can be traced from its epistemological foundations in modern philosophy to its pivotal role in educational thought. Descartes' mind-body dualism established the core representationalism premise that knowledge arises from the mind's internal representation of external reality-a view later refined by rationalist and empiricist traditions, which collectively reinforced the modern subject-object dichotomy. In educational psychology, this paradigm first manifested in associationist and behaviorist theories, which framed learning as a process of passive reception or external reinforcement, portraying knowledge as a mere reflection of an objective world. In contrast, genetic epistemology, particularly as developed by Piaget, emphasized the active and developmental nature of thought. While both Piaget and Bruner shared a deep concern with how children's representational capacities emerge through interaction with the world, their theoretical trajectories diverged significantly. In order to uncover the value and significance of Bruner's theory of representation, this study addresses three interrelated questions: (1) How has the concept of representation evolved within the intellectual tradition of developmental psychology? (2) How has it inspired and shaped technological and educational practices? (3) What is its contemporary intellectual and educational significance? Methodology The methodological approach of this study is grounded in textual analysis and interpretive intellectual history, exploring the trajectory of the concept of representation across philosophical, psychological, and educational thought. A comparative analysis of seminal works by Piaget and Bruner-particularly The Language and Thought of the Child (1923), Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood (1945), Studies in Cognitive Growth (1966), Toward a Theory of Instruction (1966), and Acts of Meaning (1990)-forms the core of this inquiry, highlighting their theoretical divergences regarding cognitive development, cultural understanding, and pedagogy. This analysis is further informed by the scholarship of Alan Kay, David Olson, and Howard Gardner, as well as biographical materials, to examine the broader impact of Bruner's theory of representation within technological and educational domains, ultimately framing it as a generative interface between mind and culture. Finding One: Bruner's Inheritance and Extension of Piaget's Theory Piaget conceived representation as the logical form of cognitive structure, emphasizing its developmental progression from sensorimotor schemas to symbolic representation and ultimately to abstract logical reasoning. His work sought to uncover the internal mechanisms through which children abstract general concepts and logical structures from concrete operational activity. In Piaget's view, the sensorimotor stage constitutes a pre-representational phase in which the child has not yet developed genuine representational capacity. He maintained that as biological maturation proceeds and experience with the external world accumulates, the individual's mental structures are gradually constructed in a stagewise manner, enabling the continuous evolution and expansion of representational functions within mental activity. Bruner inherited this developmental orientation but transcended Piaget's biological determinism and rigid stage theory by proposing that representation has both cultural and symbolic dimensions. Through the parallel systems of enactive, iconic, and symbolic representation, Bruner reconceived cognition not as isolated mental computation but as meaning-making through cultural tools and social interaction. In doing so, he shifted the theory of representation from an internal cognitive mechanism to a psychological-cultural process of co-construction.. Finding Two: Theoretical Inspiration for Graphical Interface Technology This study finds that Bruner's representational theory provided a foundational framework for the development of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), notably influencing pioneers such as Alan Kay. Kay operationalized Bruner's continuum of enactive, iconic, and symbolic representation by transforming abstract command-line operations into a visual and directly manipulable interface. This design, grounded in the bodily and intuitive aspects of enactive and iconic interaction, significantly lowered the barrier to digital system use. It enabled a diverse range of users-from children to adults-to interact with computers in culturally meaningful ways, thereby democratizing access and humanizing technology. Bruner's insight that cognition operates through interaction with symbolic environments and external amplifiers laid the epistemological and pedagogical foundation for subsequent innovations in human-computer interaction and learning technologies. Finding Three: Educational Significance of Bruner's Representational Theory Bruner's theory conceptualizes learning as a dialogic process mediated by culture, where individuals construct meaning through interaction with cultural tools. Consequently, education should not be confined to the mere reproduction of knowledge but must focus on cultivating cultural contexts that facilitate meaning-making. A central task for educators is to guide learners in navigating flexibly among enactive, iconic, and symbolic representational modes, thereby fostering diverse cognitive pathways and enhancing creativity. This perspective has profound implications for curriculum design, disciplinary pedagogy, and the learning environment: instruction must prioritize the diversity and mediational capacity of representational forms, transforming learning into a practice of exploring "possible worlds." In this framework, representation becomes a pivotal concept linking cognitive development, cultural formation, and educational innovation. Discussion and Suggestions for Future Research Bruner ultimately conceptualized representation as an interface between mind and culture, redefining education not as the transmission of knowledge but as the cultivation of understanding and the awakening of a sense of possibility within cultural symbol systems. This idea-central to his later cultural psychology-gains renewed significance in the convergence of technology and education: when representation becomes the interface through which humans communicate with the world, education itself becomes a process of cultural renewal. Future research may further explore the transformative potential of representational theory within the contexts of artificial intelligence and mediated learning, as well as the tensions among multiple forms of expression in children's developmental processes. Such inquiries could illuminate its implications for curriculum design,teacher education, and the philosophy of cultural education. This would extend Bruner's vision-that educators should strive to create interfaces capable of dissolving the boundaries between mind and culture, theory and experience. The ultimate aim, however, does not lie in technological innovation per se, but in fostering human self-realization through education, achieved by means of equitable interaction and the richness of communicative exchange.
Motivation and Purposes: In contemporary preschool and elementary education, learning has long been dominated by "paradigmatic thinking," simplified to a process of logical reasoning. However, this phenomenon neglects narrative as a fundamental means of understanding the world, constructing the self, and internalizing social culture. This model also restricts children's subjectivity, inquiry, and creativity. Bruner's shift from cognitive psychology to cultural psychology was a response to this phenomenon. He viewed narrative thinking and paradigmatic thinking as two irreducible yet complementary mental models. He emphasized the central role of intention, context, and interaction in the cognitive process. This article aims to systematically organize Bruner's theory of child narrative and explore its role in infant subjectivity, intersubjectivity, and cultural learning. It also analyzes the implications of child narrative theory for educational practice, particularly in the context of Chinese education, regarding how to respond to the need for narrative and contextualized curriculum. Literature Review: This study engages with Jerome Bruner's foundational contributions- Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (1986), Acts of Meaning (1990), The Culture of Education (1996), Making Stories (2002), and In Search of Pedagogy Volumes I and II (2006a, 2006b)- in conjunction with empirical research on infant subjectivity, joint attention, and gaze following. The literature review further integrates Applebee's analyses of children's narrative structures, Labov's framework of narrative grammar, Tulving's differentiation of semantic and episodic memory, and theoretical discussions on intersubjectivity. In the realm of educational practice, the paper examines the Reggio Emilia approach, exemplified by The Story of the Shadow, as a contrast to the procedural "teacher question-child response" model prevalent in Chinese classrooms, while also considering narrative practices among Atayal and Kinmen children. Collectively, these studies illuminate the centrality of cultural contexts and educators' narrative sensitivity in shaping children's narrative development. Nevertheless, despite the breadth of existing scholarship, a systematic synthesis focused explicitly on Bruner's narrative theory remains underdeveloped. This paper seeks to fill this gap by offering an integrative analysis that situates Bruner's theoretical insights within broader cross-cultural and educational discussions. Methods: This study adopts a textual analysis approach, centering on a close reading of Bruner's major works in dialogue with critical commentaries. Literature was systematically collected from 1975 to 2025 through Google Scholar, ERIC, EBSCOhost, CNKI, and Airiti Library, using the keywords Bruner, narrative, (sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic), and (sic)(sic). Priority was given to studies pertinent to early childhood and primary education. The analysis follows a hermeneutic orientation, emphasizing interpretive circulation between Bruner's texts and contemporary scholarly debates. Furthermore, a comparative dimension examines the theoretical intersections and divergences between Bruner, Piaget, and Vygotsky, highlighting their implications for cognition, cultural learning, and intersubjectivity. Through this combined strategy of textual interpretation and theoretical comparison, the study aims to illuminate the cultural-psychological foundations of Bruner's narrative theory and its significance for educational practice. Results: This study yields five key findings: 1. Narrative and paradigmatic thinking constitute two irreducible yet complementary cognitive modes: the former is oriented toward intention, context, and plausibility, while the latter privileges causality, abstraction, and falsifiability. 2. Infants exhibit early forms of subjectivity and means- end regulation; through joint attention and gaze following, they achieve "mental alignment," which provides a developmental basis for narrative thought. 3. Encounters with "non-normative events" significantly enhance children's narrative reasoning and intentional explanations, leading them to construct reparative stories that reintegrate exceptional experiences into shared social frameworks. 4. Scaffolding in the zone of proximal development is facilitated by more knowledgeable others across three dimensions- language (restatement and elaboration), context (props, temporal sequencing, role play), and norms (social expectations)- thereby strengthening narrative organization and socio-cognitive understanding. 5. In Chinese educational settings, highly procedural or time-compressed instruction tends to reduce narratives to abbreviated retellings with minimal plot complexity. Conversely, open-ended questioning and peer interaction promote integrative narrative structures, richer emotional expression, and perspective-taking, underscoring the centrality of cultural context and teachers' narrative sensitivity in narrative development. Discussion and Recommendations: The findings of this study underscore the epistemological importance of narrative theory in early childhood education while challenging the dominance of logico-scientific reasoning. Narrative and paradigmatic thought are irreducible yet complementary; when narrative is reduced to a secondary linguistic skill, children's opportunities to construct meaning, negotiate sociocultural norms, and develop subjectivity are diminished. Non-normative events, which stimulate children's narrative reasoning and intentional explanations, illustrate dimensions of learning that paradigmatic reasoning alone cannot address, particularly the capacity to deal with uncertainty and exceptionality. Evidence from Chinese classrooms shows that procedural or time-compressed narrative tasks limit children's narrative competence, while open-ended, dialogic approaches better support meaning-making. In comparison with Piaget's structuralism and Vygotsky's cultural mediation, Bruner's framework uniquely integrates cognitive development with cultural-symbolic meaning, offering a more comprehensive account of human learning. Based on these insights, three recommendations emerge. First, narrative should be integrated into curriculum design as a core mode of knowledge construction rather than an ancillary activity, enabling connections between abstract knowledge and lived experience. Second, teachers must cultivate narrative sensitivity and intersubjective awareness to create dialogic learning spaces where children collaboratively construct meaning. Third, narrative activities should emphasize creativity and generativity rather than rote reproduction, fostering adaptability and innovation in dynamic cultural contexts. Future research must extend narrative theory in educational practice. Developing culturally sensitive frameworks for assessing narrative competence is crucial to reflect diverse developmental pathways beyond Western benchmarks. Longitudinal studies should trace the sustained impact of narrative interventions on language, emotion, and social development, while clarifying their causal mechanisms. Moreover, as digital and global learning environments transform storytelling, narrative theory should be applied to digital narratives, cross-cultural collaboration, and interactive platforms, enriching both pedagogical innovation and learners' capacity to construct meaning and negotiate identity. Conclusion: In sum, this study demonstrates that Bruner's narrative theory provides a critical framework for rethinking early childhood education by bridging individual cognition and cultural-symbolic meaning-making. Narrative is not merely an auxiliary linguistic activity but a fundamental mode through which children construct subjectivity, negotiate intersubjectivity, and engage with sociocultural norms. By integrating narrative into curriculum design, cultivating teachers' narrative sensitivity, and fostering creative storytelling practices, education can move beyond procedural instruction toward a more holistic vision of human development. Future research extending narrative theory across cultural contexts and digital learning environments will further enrich its relevance and application.
Motivation and Purposes Poverty, as a multidimensional social phenomenon, reflects not only economic deprivation but also profoundly affects the cognitive, linguistic, emotional, and social development of young children. Drawing on Jerome Bruner's theoretical framework from "Poverty and Childhood," this study investigates how poverty shapes early developmental trajectories among children from economically disadvantaged families in Taiwan. Bruner emphasized that poverty is not merely a lack of material resources but a "culture of powerlessness" that limits children's capacity for goal-setting, problem-solving, and future orientation. Despite Taiwan's long-standing efforts to mitigate educational inequities through economic subsidies and tuition support, significant disparities in developmental outcomes persist, suggesting that financial aid alone fails to address the deprivation of cultural participation. Motivated by the urgent need to better understand the longitudinal impact of poverty within Taiwan's unique cultural and policy context, this study aims to empirically analyze developmental differences across diverse economic backgrounds. Utilizing nationally representative longitudinal data, this study seeks to illuminate how early childhood development varies by family economic status and identify specific developmental domains requiring targeted interventions to enhance equity. Ultimately, this research aspires to provide an evidence-based foundation for supporting young children in disadvantaged families, thereby contributing to the broader goal of promoting educational and social equity in Taiwan. Literature Review Understanding poverty has evolved significantly over time, shifting from a narrow focus on material deprivation to a recognition of its multidimensional nature. Contemporary perspectives view poverty not merely as an absence of financial resources but as a complex condition encompassing educational, health, social, and psychological disadvantages. Within this framework, poverty is increasingly being understood as a dynamic process that affects individuals across multiple domains of life. Particularly for young children, poverty can disrupt their cognitive, language, and socio-emotional development, thereby shaping long-term educational outcomes and life opportunities. Jerome Bruner's cultural-psychological approach offers a critical lens through which to examine the impact of poverty on early childhood development. Bruner emphasized that poverty generates a "culture of powerlessness," constraining children's ability to set goals, engage in problem-solving, and envision future possibilities. In his view, education must serve as a proactive intervention to help children build autonomy, resilience, and cognitive competencies through a culturally responsive pedagogy. Although various policies have been implemented in Taiwan to address educational inequality, economic disparities continue to influence children's developmental trajectories. However, much of the existing research has relied on cross-sectional or localized studies, limiting insights into developmental trends over time. By employing longitudinal data, this study seeks to bridge this gap and deepen the understanding of how persistent economic disadvantages shape the developmental pathways of young children within the Taiwanese context. Methods This study utilized data from the "Kids in Taiwan: National Longitudinal Study of Child Development and Care (KIT)," a large-scale national survey designed to capture the developmental trajectories of children across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. This research focuses on the 36-month cohort, selecting children born between April 2013 and June 2014. Longitudinal data from the first three waves, corresponding to children's ages at 36, 48, and 60 months, were linked to ensure consistent tracking of developmental trends over time. After applying the selection criteria to include only participants who completed all three waves, the final analytical sample comprised 1,695 children. To examine the impact of poverty, family economic status was categorized based on monthly household income following Taiwan's officially published minimum living standards. Families were classified into three groups: economically disadvantaged, general economic, and economically advantaged. Post-stratification weighting was applied to correct for sampling discrepancies and ensure that the sample distribution matched the national population benchmarks. This study analyzed cognitive, language, and socio-emotional development using standardized scales provided by the KIT dataset. Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Pillai's trace tests were employed to assess developmental changes over time and identify differences across economic groups. By integrating rigorous statistical analysis with longitudinal data, this study aimed to reveal how persistent economic disparities influence early developmental trajectories and provide empirical support for targeted educational and social interventions. Results The analysis revealed significant developmental disparities across economic groups in cognitive, language, emotional, and social interaction domains. While all children demonstrated developmental gains from 36 to 60 months, those from economically disadvantaged families consistently exhibited lower proficiency compared to their peers from economically typical and advantaged families. Specifically, in cognitive development, disadvantaged children scored significantly lower at each assessment point; despite evident growth over time, the performance gap relative to higher-income groups remained substantial and persistent. Language development presented a distinct trajectory. At 36 months, children from disadvantaged backgrounds showed significantly lower language scores than the other two groups. Although they subsequently demonstrated a steeper rate of growth-suggesting a "catch-up" effect-their absolute scores at 60 months remained significantly below those of children from general and advantaged economic backgrounds. This indicates that while early acceleration occurred, it was insufficient to fully bridge the initial disparity. A parallel pattern was observed in emotional development: disadvantaged children began with lower emotional competence and, despite substantial improvement over the study period, continued to exhibit significant deficits compared to their peers at 60 months. Conversely, social interaction development displayed greater stability. Although disadvantaged children initially presented with lower scores, the disparities in social interaction abilities remained relatively constant and did not widen significantly over time. Repeated Measures ANOVA confirmed significant main effects for both time and family economic status across all domains. Furthermore, significant interaction effects were observed, indicating that the developmental trajectories were not uniform but systematically varied as a function of economic background. Collectively, these findings underscore the pervasive and enduring impact of poverty on early childhood development, highlighting that without targeted support, initial disadvantages tend to persist despite natural developmental maturation. Discussion and Recommendations The findings of this study resonate with Bruner's theoretical framework, suggesting that poverty impacts early childhood development not merely through economic scarcity but by depriving children of cultural participation and fostering a "culture of powerlessness." The analysis reveals that while children from economically disadvantaged families exhibit growth potential between 36 and 60 months, significant developmental gaps persist compared to their more affluent peers. These disparities are closely linked to structural inequalities in family environments, particularly the lack of reading resources and the quality of parent-child interactions. Consequently, this study argues that addressing these gaps requires moving beyond simple material compensation toward a strategy of "cultural redistribution." Policy interventions should prioritize three key areas: (1) establishing systematic early intervention mechanisms focused on language and cognitive scaffolding; (2) strengthening community-based parenting education to empower families as effective cultural mediators; and (3) implementing culturally responsive and narrative-based pedagogies in early childhood education. By reconstructing the "future orientation" and agency of disadvantaged children, these measures aim to break the cycle of poverty and achieve genuine educational equity.
Research Motivation and Purpose Since the early twentieth century, research on children within psychology and education has expanded rapidly. Yet much of this work has remained confined to empirical investigations of cognition and behavior, neglecting the humanistic dimension that views the child as a creator of culture and meaning. Jerome Bruner, through his critical reflections on behaviorism and information-processing theory, sought to reconstruct psychology as a holistic discipline that integrates philosophy, anthropology, and linguistics. His central concern was to explore the factual conditions, developmental possibilities, and normative values of the child's mind. In doing so, Bruner crossed the conventional boundary between psychology and educational philosophy, opening a theoretical pathway that moves from the facts of the child toward the meanings of the child. This study aims to elucidate the internal logic that connects the development of the child's cognition with the formation of the cultural world, thereby revealing Bruner's integral conception of childhood as a mode of being. More specifically, it addresses four interrelated questions: (1) the possibilities of children's cognitive development; (2) the goals of such development; (3) the modes or processes by which it unfolds; and (4) the educational conditions that support it. Ultimately, this paper seeks to reconstruct the theoretical architecture underlying Bruner's conception of the child. Literature Review Previous studies on Bruner have primarily focused on his cognitive theory, curriculum design, and narrative thought. However, few have systematically examined how he understood the fundamental questions of who the child is and how the child becomes human. Bruner's intellectual trajectory reveals his effort to transcend disciplinary limitations by situating psychology within a comprehensive framework of culture and meaning. He argued that learning is not a mere sequence of stimuli and responses, but a culturally mediated process of meaning construction. Adopting a hermeneutic approach, this paper interprets Bruner's conception of the child through close analysis of his major works (1960-2006), together with autobiographical and biographical sources, in order to reveal the coherence and transformation of his thought across different periods. Research Methodology The study employs a hermeneutic method, adopting a retrospective strategy-interpreting Bruner's early theories through the lens of his later writings-to trace the continuity and transformation of his ideas. The research combines close textual reading, conceptual analysis, and contextual interpretation within the intellectual history of twentieth-century psychology and education. Based on these methods, the study constructs a four-layered analytical framework encompassing: (1) cognitive possibilities, (2) developmental goals, (3) modes of learning, and (4) educational supports. This framework enables a holistic understanding that integrates cognitive development with cultural construction, while also engaging critically with existing theoretical paradigms. Finding 1: The Possibility of Cognitive Development Bruner viewed the child not only as a learner of disciplinary knowledge and structure, endowed with the innate ability to encode experience, but also as a constructor of culture and meaning. He identified four congenital cognitive predispositions that make this possible: (1) means-ends readiness, (2) social interactivity, (3) systematicity, and (4) abstractness. These predispositions form the basis for both the discovery of knowledge structures and the creation of shared meaning within cultural contexts. Finding 2: Cultural Positioning and the Formation of Citizenship The development of the child's cognition unfolds within cultural contexts. For Bruner, the goal of education is to promote well-balanced development-a dynamic equilibrium between reason and emotion, individuality and community. The child is simultaneously a newcomer to the cultural world and a co-creator in the negotiation of meaning. Education, therefore, should not merely transmit culture but engage children as participants in its continual reconstruction. Learning, in this sense, constitutes the fundamental mode through which children both enter into and contribute to the making of the cultural world. Bruner distinguished two complementary modes of learning: discovery learning and narrative learning. The former leads to the formation of knowledge structures, while the latter produces cultural meaning. Through the personalization of knowledge and narrative practice, children transform experience into cultural understanding, engaging in a dialogical process between self and world. Learning, thus conceived, stands at the intersection of epistemology and hermeneutics-knowing becomes an act of interpreting and re-storying the world. Finding 3: Play as the Core of Cognitive and Cultural Construction Bruner viewed play as the central mode through which children construct mind and culture, not merely a pastime or teaching aid. Play is a "safe" space for exploration, enabling children to experiment, err, and imagine freely while shifting among enactive, iconic, and symbolic representations-from doing to thinking to speaking. It fuses freedom and structure, serving as the arena for tentative thinking and hypothesis testing. This playfulness also infuses discovery and narrative learning: discovery learning embodies exploratory, open-ended inquiry, while narrative creates "possible worlds" where children reconfigure experience through storytelling. Across these forms, play expresses a spirit of freedom, curiosity, and creativity through which children generate meaning, integrate imagination with reality, and participate in the making of culture. Finding 4: Educational Support and Mediation From his early ideas of scaffolding and the spiral curriculum to his later emphasis on learning communities and cultural reform, Bruner consistently regarded education as a mediating mechanism linking cognitive development with cultural construction. Education must both unfold the potential of cognition and foster cultural understanding, enabling children to find balance between learning to understand and learning to coexist. Conclusion and Suggestions for Future Research Bruner's conception of the child bridges psychology and philosophy, fact and value, cognition and culture. His work reveals that cognitive development is inseparable from the creation of meaning, and that education serves as the mediating field between individual becoming and collective renewal. Yet the tensions within his thought-between logic and story, reason and emotion, unity and diversity-invite ongoing reinterpretation. To carry Bruner's vision forward, educational theory must move toward a more relational, pluralistic, and narrative understanding of human development-one that recognizes the child not merely as a learner of knowledge, but as a creator of culture and meaning in an ever-evolving world. Building on these insights and limitations, future research can extend Bruner's ideas in three directions: (1) Integrating an ethics of care-emphasizing the affective and relational dimensions of children's development, and recognizing empathy and interdependence as central to learning. (2) Developing plural forms of subjectivity-reconceptualizing education as a space of coexistent difference, where cultural diversity and personal agency mutually affirm one another. (3) Expanding narrative thinking in the digital age-exploring narrative education and cultural co-creation in new media environments, where meaning-making becomes multimodal, participatory, and trans-cultural.
Research Motivation and Purpose What is so unique about human beings that can surpass other species and become the dominator of all things? There have been many discussions among sages throughout the ages. However, the sages' discussions on human nature, depending on their concerns, have insightful opinions, but they all have their own biases, and logically, there may be some inferences from effects to causes, or there may be some imperfections. Accordingly, this study uses the viewpoints of American psychologist J. Bruner and Taiwan scholar Jia Fuming on human nature to explore the theory of human nature. Bruner's research mainly focuses on human cognition and development, combined with educational practice, and has accumulated rich research results. Jia Fuming is based on Chinese philosophy, mastered the theories of Western psychology and devoted herself to education. Jia Fuming has devoted much attention to the study of human nature and has achieved outstanding results. Therefore, the study can make good use of the research findings of Bruner and Jia Fuming to play a complementary role in their perspectives, so that we can have a better understanding of human nature and grasp human nature more completely. Literature Review This study discusses the important findings on human nature by Bruner and Jia Fuming. During academic career, Bruner, based on his psychological research, combined with biology, anthropology, sociology, literature, law and other fields, made lasting and sustainable contributions to the health sciences related to human. There is optimism that these contributions will expand further, with Bruner's aim of establishing a growth science for human development. Therefore, the study is based on his book "In search of pedagogy, Vol. I & II. The selected works of Jerome S. Bruner". On the other hand, the study mainly used Jia Fuming's "Human nature and education" and combined with other related works and other second-hand documents to fully grasp human nature. Through analysis and interpretation, the views of Bruner and Jia Fuming on human nature are comprehensively integrated to gain a glimpse of the full extent of human nature. Research Methods This study adopts the method of hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the inquiries of understanding and interpreting the meaning of texts. The core concept of hermeneutics is interpretation. After comprehensively grasping the essence of Bruner and Jia Fuming's important works on the theory of human nature, this study combined with secondary literature and adopted the method of "hermeneutic circle" to truly grasp the ideas of Bruner and Jia Fuming on the theory of human nature. The method regards all his/her personal works as a whole and his/her main work as parts; at the same time, his main personal work as a whole and other papers as parts. The method is described as "a two-way back and forth between the whole and the parts", conducting analysis and synthesis, and even interpretation and reflection. Through the two different historical "horoscopes" of the East and the West, a "tension" will inevitably arise, which will blend and create meaning, thereby obtaining a further "understanding". This fusion of horizons may finally result in fruitful findings. Research Results Regarding the discussion of human nature, Chinese and Western philosophers have had many viewpoints since ancient times, saying that everyone is different and each has his or her own opinions. However, the views of human nature discussed by different schools of thought refer to different ideas, and the concepts may be confused or incomplete. Therefore, it is easy to breed doubts and misunderstandings, and it is difficult to clearly grasp its true meaning. The research results pointed out that Jia Fuming clearly distinguished the different attributes of human nature, using an onion-like method of peeling off the layers, from the outside to the inside, to analyze, from the nature, basic emotions, desires and even the senses, dispelling the clouds and seeing the clear sky. To put it differently, unraveling the mystery of the human soul step by step may be the key to unlocking the ability of human beings to become the dominator of all things. Bruner's distinction between the concepts of sensation and perception emphasizes that the human mind not only responds to environmental stimuli, but also interprets them. Humans will also actively explore the world to verify their cognitive expectations. All of this will help us understand the sages' propositions about human nature. Furthermore, Bruner believes that human beings' longer immature state enhances their teach ability. At the same time, they are influenced by the social culture created by human beings and enlighten their minds, thus developing complex thinking abilities and enhancing their adaptability. Discussion and Recommendations To sum up, Bruner and Jia Fuming's arguments about human nature have their own characteristics. Through the analysis and integration of their viewpoints of human nature, it can be found that, first of all, human nature can be understood from nature, basic emotions, desires and functions. Especially regarding human functions, Bruner has accumulated many years of research on cognition, advocating that the human mind is an active, planning, capable of forming thoughts, and a thinking organ. It is further emphasized that thinking will have a "structure", which is also called a "cognitive map" or a "mental representation". Its development has stages, and the content of thinking can be regarded as a "mental model". Therefore, school education should guide the construction of students' mental models based on their mental representations to promote mental growth. Secondly, with the development of human society and culture, the cultural tools developed have a multiplicative effect on mental intelligence and can effectively promote the upgrading of thinking. This research findings highlight the key role that human faculties can play. Based on this, it is emphasized that human beings should make good use of their immature state, especially when combined with the design of the school system, which will be more effective. In this way, it can not only reduce human risks and desires, but also play a functional role and enhance human thinking ability. Finally, quoting the arguments of Bruner and Jia Fuming is helpful in identifying the sages' views on human nature and helps us obtain a more complete picture of human nature.
Main Argument This paper examines the concept of the "course of study" (COS) in education, a term that appears in the works of John Dewey and Jerome Bruner but has vanished mainly in Chinese editions of their works due to translation issues. The author addresses this problem by clarifying the historical meaning of COS and exploring its educational value through the examples of Dewey's and Bruner's educational experiments. By comparing Dewey's laboratory school and Bruner's MACOS project, the paper shows that each educator's treatment of the course of study reflects different views on the subject matter, the teacher's role, and the student's role. Through this comparative analysis, the author argues for recognizing the value of COS as a bridge between educational theory and classroom practice. Historical Background of the "Course of Study" In the early 20th century United States, COS had a well-established meaning as a formal curriculum guide issued by state, county, or local education authorities. A COS was typically a printed document that outlined, for a specific subject and time frame, what content to teach, which textbooks to use, and in what sequence, thereby providing structure and support for teachers' instruction. This concept was not identical to "curriculum" but rather a concrete plan or syllabus to guide the curriculum implementation. Thus, a school could have an excellent COS but a poorly implemented curriculum, or vice versa, underscoring that a course of study was a distinct entity focused on planning and guidance. Throughout the early 1900s, COS documents were central to curriculum reform efforts in the U.S. educational system. By the 1920s and 1930s, researchers undertook large-scale evaluations of existing courses of study. A typical COS contained lists of topics per grade and detailed subtopics, learning objectives, and suggested classroom activities and resources, such as textbooks, to support teachers. This historical context establishes COS as a tangible cornerstone of curriculum design in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century, however, the prominence of the course of study began to wane. The Progressive Education movement brought skepticism toward rigid, centralised curriculum guides. Progressive educators grew "disappointed" and even "hostile" to the traditional COS, which they saw as overly authoritative, "top-down" prescriptions that left little autonomy for teachers. In many cases, courses of study were developed hierarchically by superintendents or committees with minimal teacher input, reflecting the era's administrative culture. This approach conflicted with emerging educational ideals that favored teacher professionalism, child-centered pedagogy, and flexibility. Progressive critics argued that a one-size-fits-all course of study could not accommodate individual children's needs or innovative teaching methods. Moreover, the fact that many early 20th-century teachers had limited training (as later noted by scholars like Shulman) meant that simply handing them a detailed COS might have been considered necessary at first. Still, it also underscored teachers' exclusion from curriculum design. Over time, the term "course of study" fell out of vogue in the U.S., often replaced by the broader notion of "curriculum" or new concepts of curriculum guides. This decline in usage likely contributed to the translation problems in Chinese: by the time Dewey's and Bruner's works were translated, Chinese scholars were less familiar with COS as a distinct term, leading them to translate it inconsistently or merge it with "curriculum". Theoretical Perspectives: Dewey and Bruner John Dewey viewed the relationship between the child's experiences and organised subject matter as a dynamic interplay. He famously sought to "psychologise" the curriculum content, meaning that subject matter should be transformed into forms that connect with the learner's interests and experiences. In Dewey's Laboratory School in Chicago, he and his colleagues experimented with a curriculum that started from the child's perspective and gradually introduced meaningfully the organized knowledge of the disciplines. Dewey did use the term "course of study" in his writings, but in a nuanced way. Dewey's theoretical perspective on COS was that it should not be a rigid syllabus imposed on teachers, but a flexible guide grown out of and constantly adjusted to student experiences. However, Dewey's approach placed a heavy responsibility on the teacher: the teacher in a Deweyan setting had to deeply understand the subject matter and the child's needs to create that connection. Dewey did not emphasize external subject-matter experts designing the COS for the teacher; instead, the teacher was expected to be the mediator who translates content into experience. This approach reflects Dewey's democratic and child-centered ethos, but it implicitly assumes a high level of teacher expertise to implement the curriculum in the intended way successfully. Jerome Bruner felt that Dewey's focus on justifying knowledge through its relation to the child's social experience misconstrued the nature of knowledge. Bruner argued that knowledge's unity and value lie in its internal structure. Thus, Bruner prioritized the logical structure of knowledge (the concepts and principles of a discipline) and sought ways to make these accessible to children, rather than starting from the child's whims. In Bruner's MACOS, the content was chosen for its disciplinary importance (e.g., fundamental anthropological concepts about human nature), not primarily for its immediate familiarity to a child. However, Bruner did not ignore the psychological side: he believed these concepts could be taught through engaging materials (like film-based case studies of different cultures, inquiry-based activities, etc.) and that with proper support, students would indeed find them interesting. Bruner introduced a collaborative model in the COS: subject experts and teachers work in tandem. The COS (like MACOS) became a "platform" where scholars and teachers meet-experts contribute content structure and broader vision, while teachers contribute knowledge of learners and context. Bruner provided a curriculum framework that integrated expert knowledge with pedagogical guidance, inviting teachers to participate but not to shoulder the design alone. The result was a course of study that was neither purely top-down nor purely teacher-made, but a hybrid designed to ensure academic rigor while remaining teachable and adaptable in real classrooms. Key Findings from the Comparative Analysis The paper's analysis of Dewey and Bruner's treatment of the course of study yields several key findings and insights: center dot Distinct Meaning of COS: Unlike the broad curriculum (which encompasses the entire learning experience), a COS was a tangible product-a printed guide or syllabus prepared by educational authorities to direct teaching content and sequence. This distinction, well understood in Dewey and Bruner's time, has been blurred or lost in later educational discourse, especially in Chinese translations where COS was often rendered simply as "curriculum". Recognizing this distinction is crucial: as Caswell argued, a good COS can support a good curriculum but does not guarantee it, implying that the design of a COS is a unique task in curriculum work. center dot Historical Trajectory and Disappearance: COS was once central to curriculum reform and development, attracting the attention of scholars, administrators, and teachers alike. However, over time, the concept faded from prominence, especially with the rise of progressive education ideals that criticized the top-down "teacher-proof" approach inherent in many COS. By the mid-20th century, the focus in curriculum theory shifted away from designing courses of study towards broader questions of curriculum theory and understanding. This shift contributed to translators and educators paying scant attention to COS as a term, effectively causing its "disappearance" in non-English contexts. The disappearance is symptomatic of a broader change: curriculum scholars moved away from hands-on curriculum design ("curriculum development") toward theoretical or interpretive work, which the author finds problematic. center dot Divergent Philosophies-Dewey vs. Bruner: How Dewey and Bruner each engaged with COS reflects their different resolutions of the psychological-logical problem. Dewey's stance was to trust teachers to adapt subject matter to the child-essentially attempting to fuse the logical and psychological through skilled teaching grounded in students' experiences. Bruner's approach demonstrates an intermediary position: rather than leaving the entire task of reconciling child and subject to individual teachers (Dewey's approach) or enforcing a strict syllabus (the old COS approach), his COS design brought experts and teachers together in the curriculum development process. Dewey's model risks overburdening teachers and relies on exceptional teacher competency. In contrast, while still challenging, Bruner's model provides more structured support and acknowledges teachers' need to learn the content's structure. center dot The Educational Value of COS: Both Dewey and Bruner, despite their differences, demonstrated the power of engaging directly in COS design: their theoretical ideas did not remain abstract but were embodied in the courses of study they crafted. In doing so, they directly influenced teachers' teaching and students' learning via these guides, making COS a conduit through which educational philosophy could impact classroom practice. The findings suggest that when educational thinkers create a COS, it becomes a "platform" for dialogue among theorists, subject experts, teachers, and even the public about what and how to teach. This practical engagement can lead to innovations and clashes of ideas-in other words, the COS can be a site of curricular struggle and progress, where different visions of education are negotiated and tested. The author highlights that losing sight of such a concrete instrument means losing an opportunity for educational research to shape practice directly. Conclusions In conclusion, the paper argues that the disappearance of the "course of study" as a recognized concept is a loss to the field of education, and it calls for a renewed appreciation of COS's value in bridging theory and practice. The analysis of Dewey and Bruner's work illustrates that COS was a pivotal tool for implementing educational philosophy, allowing ideas to be refined in real school settings. When Dewey and Bruner engaged with COS design, they acted as theorists and curriculum developers, translating their ideas into actionable form for teachers. This engagement is increasingly rare today, as many modern curriculum scholars focus on high-level theory ("understanding" curriculum) rather than the hands-on development of curriculum materials. The author challenges the view of some contemporary theorists (such as Pinar et al.) who declared "curriculum development, born in 1918, died in 1969", implying that the era of actively designing curricula had ended. On the contrary, the author contends that curriculum development remains crucial and should not be considered obsolete. The shift from practical curriculum design to purely theoretical work is seen as an unfortunate "self-imposed exile" of curriculum scholars.
Research Background and Purpose Community colleges in Taiwan have experienced substantial growth since the establishment of the first institution in Taipei's Wenshan District in 1998. Currently, 90 community colleges serve over 400,000 students nationwide, fostering a culture of lifelong learning and civic participation. These institutions serve a dual purpose: providing educational opportunities and strengthening community identity while addressing deficiencies in higher education regarding public engagement and critical thinking skills. Community college teachers face unique challenges compared to their counterparts in formal education. They must accommodate adult learners with diverse backgrounds, integrate public concerns into their teaching, and often lack traditional teacher training. Many have developed expertise through practical experience rather than academic study, with some transitioning from student to teacher roles through mentorship. This distinctive professional development pathway creates a rich context for studying how teachers maintain positive psychological functioning amid challenges. The primary purposes of this study were to: (1) explore the relationships among community college teachers' savoring traits, creative transformation, and flourishing life, and (2) examine whether creative transformation moderates the relationship between savoring traits and flourishing life. Literature Review Savoring traits represent an individual's capacity to attend to, appreciate, and enhance positive experiences through cognitive and behavioral strategies. These traits include dampening savoring (strategies that reduce positive emotional intensity), amplifying savoring (strategies that enhance positive emotions), and suffering savoring (a Chinese cultural concept emphasizing the value of experiencing both joy and sorrow). Creative transformation refers to teachers' ability to transform theoretical knowledge and personal experiences into educational practice in novel and valuable ways. For community college teachers, this process involves three levels: theoretical learning transformation (internalizing knowledge and values), practical application transformation (implementing knowledge in teaching practices), and teaching resilience transformation (adapting to challenges like enrollment pressures and student diversity). Flourishing life extends beyond mere happiness to encompass overall life fulfillment. In Chinese cultural contexts, this concept includes five elements: mercifulness-positive emotions, playfulness-engagement, peacefulness-identify meaning, respectfulness-competent requirements, and cheerfulness-optimistic attitude. Previous research suggests positive correlations between savoring and psychological well-being, and between creativity and life satisfaction, but few studies have examined how creative transformation might moderate the relationship between savoring traits and flourishing life, particularly among community college teachers. Research Methods The study employed a mixed survey method, collecting data through both paper and online questionnaires. Participants included 274 community college teachers primarily from northern Taiwan (including Keelung, New Taipei, Taipei, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu). The sample comprised 154 females (56.2%) and 120 males (43.8%), with an average age of 56.3 years and average teaching experience of 8.1 years. Research instruments 1. Savoring Traits Scale (STS) The Savoring Traits Scale (STS) was developed by Chen (2021) and uses a 6-point Likert scale to measure three factors: Dampening Savoring (4 items, e.g., "I often remind myself that nothing lasts forever"), Amplifying Savoring (5 items, e.g., "I seek opportunities to share positive experiences with others"), and Suffering Savoring (3 items, e.g., "I believe that experiencing some setbacks in life is not necessarily a bad thing"). Participants responded based on their personal situation using a six-point scale ranging from "1-strongly disagree" to "6-strongly agree," with higher scores indicating better savoring traits. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients for these three factors were .83, .86, and .77 respectively, with a total scale reliability of .91. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit indices (chi(2) = 274.26, df = 51, CFI = .96, NFI = .95, RMSEA = .08), with standardized factor loadings ranging from .58 to .88, all reaching significant levels. 2. Creative Transformation Scale (CTS) The Creative Transformation Scale (CTS) was developed with reference to Yang's (2007) items and incorporating interview results from Chen et al. (2021) on community college teachers' creative transformation. The scale uses a 5-point Likert format to measure three factors: Theoretical Learning Transformation (8 items, e.g., "I integrate theory and practice, adjusting teaching content according to community college local objectives" and "When designing courses, I simultaneously consider community needs, student interests, and innovative teaching activities"). Practical Application Transformation (5 items, e.g., "I actively participate in community college teacher empowerment activities, sharing personal teaching experiences and innovative practices" and "I regularly reflect on the teaching process, transforming community college teaching experiences into motivation for personal professional growth"). Teaching Resilience Transformation (9 items, e.g., "When facing student complaints or dissatisfaction, I maintain a professional attitude and seek constructive problem-solving solutions" and "When students express dissatisfaction with course arrangements, I calmly explain my professional considerations"). Participants rated each item from 1 to 5 points (very inconsistent to very consistent), with higher scores indicating better creative transformation. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients for these three factors were .83, .88, and .92 respectively, with a total scale reliability of .93. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit indices (chi(2) = 594.86, df = 206, CFI = .97, NFI = .95, RMSEA = .08), with standardized factor loadings ranging from .55 to .88, all reaching significant levels. 3. Flourishing Life Scale (FLS) The Flourishing Life Scale (FLS) was developed by Chen and Yu (2018) and uses a 4-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The scale measures five factors: Mercifulness-Positive Emotions (4 items, e.g., "I feel very happy"). Playfulness-Engagement (4 items, e.g., "I am willing to invest my time and energy in my current work"). Peacefulness-Identity Meaning (5 items, e.g., "I strive to implement the direction and meaning of life"). Respectfulness-Competent Requirements (5 items, e.g., "I know how to use effective methods to successfully complete my current work"). Cheerfulness-Optimistic Attitude (5 items, e.g., "I treat encountered difficulties as life challenges and growth opportunities"). The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients for these five factors were .86, .89, .92, .86, and .88 respectively, with a total scale reliability of .96. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit indices (chi 2 = 718.22, df = 225, CFI = .98, NFI = .96, RMSEA = .08), with second-order standardized factor loadings ranging from .78 to .91, all reaching significant levels. Data analysis included correlation analysis to examine relationships among variables and hierarchical regression to assess the moderating effects of creative transformation. Results The findings revealed significant positive correlations among all three variables. Dampening savoring showed a strong correlation with positive emotions (r = .68). Practical application transformation correlated with engagement (r = .77). Suffering savoring correlated with meaning identification (r = .71). Amplifying savoring correlated with optimistic attitude (r = .64). More importantly, creative transformation demonstrated a significant moderating effect (beta=-.11, p < .01) on the relationship between savoring traits and flourishing life. The interaction between savoring traits and creative transformation explained an additional 1% of variance in flourishing life beyond the main effects. The moderation analysis revealed that the positive relationship between savoring traits and flourishing life was stronger for teachers with high levels of creative transformation compared to those with low levels. Among the three dimensions of creative transformation, teaching resilience showed the strongest moderating effect (beta =-.15, p < .001), followed by theoretical learning (beta=-.10, p < .05) and practical application (beta=-.09, p < .05). These results indicate that the ability to adapt to teaching challenges particularly enhances the positive impact of savoring traits on flourishing life. Discussion and Implications This study contributes to understanding the distinctive characteristics of community college teachers and how they achieve psychological well-being. The findings suggest that: 1. Cultural context matters in savoring: The significant correlation between suffering savoring and meaning identification reflects Chinese cultural values that emphasize finding meaning through adversity. This contrasts with Western conceptualizations focused primarily on positive emotion enhancement. 2. Teaching resilience is crucial: The strong moderating effect of teaching resilience transformation highlights the importance of teachers' ability to adapt to challenges, particularly in non-formal educational settings with diverse student populations. 3. Creative transformation enhances savoring benefits: When teachers can creatively transform their experiences and knowledge, they derive greater well-being benefits from their savoring abilities, creating a synergistic effect. These findings have important implications for community college teacher development. Professional development programs should integrate both savoring cultivation and creative transformation training. Specifically, teachers should be encouraged to: develop diverse savoring strategies appropriate to Eastern cultural contexts. Cultivate reflective practices and emotional regulation skills. Actively participate in professional growth activities. Build supportive professional networks. Strengthen problem-solving abilities, especially regarding teaching resilience. Limitations and Future Research This study focused exclusively on community college teachers and may not generalize to other educational contexts. Future research should extend to other lifelong learning institutions (such as elder learning centers) to examine whether similar patterns exist. Additionally, more in-depth theoretical work is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the relationships among savoring traits, creative transformation, and flourishing life. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of cultivating both savoring traits and creative transformation abilities to enhance community college teachers' flourishing life, with particular emphasis on developing teaching resilience to navigate the unique challenges of non-formal adult education.
Contemporary character education is primarily grounded in Aristotelian virtue ethics, emphasizing the cultivation of appropriate moral habits from an early age. However, it remains largely silent on how moral transformation might occur when this crucial developmental period is missed, resulting in individuals of corrupt character. While Aristotle explicitly acknowledges the possibility of moral reformation, he does not elaborate on how such transformation might take place. Addressing this theoretical gap, neo-Aristotelian scholar Kristj & aacute;n Kristj & aacute;nsson, drawing inspiration from Platonic ideas, introduces the concept of "moral epiphany" as a potential breakthrough. This concept not only fills a theoretical void but also offers a practical pathway for moral education. Against this backdrop, this study asks: In cases where individuals lack early moral habituation, the guidance of moral friends, or sufficient intellectual virtue for contemplative self-reflection, how can moral epiphany-a moment of profound moral awakening-still occur? This question is particularly relevant to cases of radical moral transformation, including instances of moral reformation among individuals of corrupt character. Accordingly, this study explores the nature of epiphany, its various types and attributes, and how character education might facilitate moral epiphanies. It is worth addressing in advance why moral epiphany has been largely overlooked in past (character) education research. Although education, as an endeavor aimed at cultivating individuals, inherently involves transformation and becoming, it is typically conceived as a gradual, long-term process-an undertaking that requires patience and persistence, akin to the proverbial "hundred-year project" of nurturing a person. The transformative power of education is generally understood as incremental, akin to water gradually wearing away stone, emphasizing slow and steady change rather than abrupt shifts. In contrast, epiphany represents a sudden, drastic, and often profound transformation, occurring in a moment of radical insight. This stark difference renders epiphany an anomaly in the discourse on education, often leading to its exclusion from mainstream academic discussions on educational transformation. This research falls within the domain of philosophy of education and employs conceptual analysis to examine the notion of moral epiphany. By analyzing various cases of epiphany, this study identifies its key attributes and elucidates how education might foster such transformative experiences. Through a comparative analysis of different types of epiphanies-such as intellectual, aesthetic, religious, and moral epiphanies-this paper focuses specifically on moral epiphany. Unlike the paradigmatic case of Paul on the road to Damascus, moral epiphany differs in at least three key respects. First, moral insight gained through epiphany does not guarantee immediate or complete moral transformation. Second, moral epiphany does not necessarily presuppose the existence of a transcendent being, such as a deity or spirit. Third, moral epiphany is inherently connected to ethical values and has the potential to inspire a fundamental shift in one's mode of being. Overall, moral epiphany possesses six defining characteristics. First, it is a sudden, immediate, and sometimes even catastrophic turning point. Second, it involves a spontaneous and dramatic awakening, often accompanied by a radical reconfiguration of one's psychological framework. Third, the events or factors that trigger moral epiphany are typically unplanned or fortuitous. Fourth, moral epiphany is usually accompanied by intense emotional experiences, such as awe or moral elevation. Fifth, it often entails a radical transformation of the self. Sixth, moral epiphany generally leads to positive moral progress rather than moral deterioration-although the latter possibility cannot be entirely dismissed. In essence, epiphany represents an extraordinary moment of insight that induces a Gestalt shift in one's cognitive perspective. In the case of moral epiphany, this newfound moral vision is marked by penetrating clarity, allowing the individual to perceive ethical value. This experience is typically accompanied by powerful emotional responses, such as awe or moral elevation, which awaken a deep yearning to embody a new mode of existence. As a catalyst for moral transformation and awakening, moral epiphany, when followed by proper moral re-habituation, has the potential to facilitate radical self-transformation. This study argues that while educators cannot guarantee the occurrence of epiphany, and while epiphanies alone are insufficient without subsequent habituation, educators can nevertheless create conditions conducive to epiphany. Specifically, they can strategically invoke strong emotional responses, such as awe or moral elevation, to trigger cognitive shifts. Following the Socratic approach, educators may also cultivate moments of confusion or disorientation, disrupting students' conventional experiences and thereby creating opportunities for epiphany. These transformative experiences, in turn, can lay the groundwork for moral re-habituation, increasing the likelihood of long-term moral growth. This study posits that the Aristotelian model of character education-centered on moral habituation and the support of moral friends-represents the "royal road" to virtue. However, given its limitations in accounting for real-life cases of moral transformation, this paper explores moral epiphany as an alternative "winding path" to character development. This metaphor underscores two key ideas: first, that this pathway is not a direct or straightforward route; second, that it is not the norm for most individuals, but rather a relatively rare and unconventional experience. Yet, the scarcity of discourse on moral epiphany in educational scholarship may itself be a reason why this pathway remains underexplored and underutilized. This study, therefore, seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of moral epiphany and its potential applications in education. The significance of this research is twofold. First, it addresses a theoretical gap in Aristotelian character education by proposing moral epiphany as a complementary concept. Second, by analyzing real-life cases of moral transformation, it explores the potential triggers and mechanisms that facilitate epiphanies, offering insights that educators may leverage in practice. After understanding the attributes of epiphany and its potential applicability in education, future research should further explore concrete pedagogical strategies for fostering moral epiphany in character education. Specifically, scholars may investigate how educators can deliberately create conditions conducive to epiphany cultivation, ensuring that transformative moral insights are not left to chance. This includes designing structured interventions, crafting meaningful learning experiences, and identifying key triggers that facilitate moral awakening. A more in-depth and comprehensive discussion on the systematic implementation of epiphany cultivation in educational practice would significantly enhance both theoretical and practical contributions to character education.
