Education & Pedagogy

The higher vocational education entrance examination is crucial not only for improving China's vocational education system but also for promoting economic development. Although China has placed an unprecedented emphasis on reforming the higher vocational education entrance examination in recent years, this reform is still fraught with many challenges. Very few studies have attempted to draw lessons from history for China's current reform of the higher vocational education entrance examination. This study fills this gap by examining the connections between the imperial examination and China's vocational education during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic period to shed light on China's current reform of higher vocational education entrance examination. The institutional logics theory has provided useful tools for this study. Drawing lessons from the past, this study makes the following suggestions: (1) the need to transform a social environment dominated by academic and official oriented institutional logics into a one that is more influenced by the logics of craftsmanship spirit; (2) the need to readjust the examination content for the higher vocational education entrance examination; and (3) the need to establish a national unified higher vocational education entrance examination system to ensure students' equity and fairness. This study calls for more research on the imperial examination to shed light on the reform of China's contemporary higher vocational education entrance examination.

The field of education in the United States is in a period of unprecedented change. Educators in all disciplines are challenged to understand and respond to the waves of reform sweeping over the national education landscape. Linking these reforms to meaningful outcomes that will produce more rigorous and effective measures of quality and performance in our schools is an ongoing goal for all educators as they work to respond to calls for educational reform. Changes in the general field of education have direct implications for arts education policy and practice. Arts educators find themselves in the position of making sense of these landmark reforms and changes in the context of arts education and determining what courses of action and responses they should pursue on the road to meaningful reform. This report provides an overview of a selected number of contemporary developments in the general field of education, brief summaries of consequential studies and education-related reports, and an examination of some policy issues these developments and reports raise for arts educators as they work to shape the future landscape of arts education.

Research on distance education in Mexico is still in the embryonic stage, in spite of its long history. One indication is that among the lines of research defined by the Mexican Council on Educational Research, the leading organization in the field in Mexico, distance education does not even appear. Only recently, in the last few years, has an effort been made by educational institutions and professionals interested in doing research in this field, to set up working associations, such as the Distance Education Researchers' Network and Technologies for Learning. This article is a reflection of Mexico's challenges in the field of distance education. The purpose of this article is to establish a perspective for the historical analysis of distance education by proposing categories that coincide with the premises that underlie this mode of education: (a) greater and more equitable coverage; (b) self-reliance and independent learning; and (c) flexibility in adapting to participants' living conditions. From this perspective, there are many approaches for looking at the changes that have taken place in distance education, such as educational policies and their social orientation, distance education models that have been implemented, and the most typical approach, the technological supports on which they are based.

The present article attempts to study financing patterns of elementary education in Uttar Pradesh. A review of educational development in the state reveals that the goal of universalizing elementary education in a resource-poor state seems to be elusive in the near future. Neither the financing pattern of education per se nor elementary education in particular is conducive to achieving the target of universal elementary education. The magnitude of out-of-school children (leaving or dropped-out children) vis-a-vis the resources allocated toward elementary education provides a gloomy picture in the state. Financing the additional resources required to universalize elementary education in the state would require significant reallocations in overall expenditure with federal assistance, since the fiscal situation in Uttar Pradesh is highly imbalanced. The state and central government should bear the entire responsibility of funding and ensure the twin principles of equity and efficiency in the public education system in the state. This requires an indomitable political commitment in terms of reorientation of spending priorities and improving the efficiency of resource use in the state. This study reaffirms that the goal of universal elementary education could become a reality only if there is a joint commitment between the federal and state polities. (Contains 19 tables, 2 figures and 13 notes.)

Ethnic segregation has become an emerging feature in Malaysia's education system even though the institutional role of education should have been a unifying force for the country's multi-ethnic society. The underlying problem is that, at all levels of education provision in Malaysia, alternative streams are allowed to coexist alongside mainstream education provided by the government. Alarmingly, these alternative streams are not reinforcing what mainstream education is trying to do: foster ethnic integration. Instead, the alternative streams have become divided along ethnic lines. This paper looks at the development of Malaysia's education system and examines two main factors that have contributed to the current state of ethnic segregation: enrolment choices and preferential policies. These two factors have in one way or another helped to strengthen the coexistence of alternative streams alongside mainstream education from which ethnic segregation emerges. These alternative streams have become competing rather than supplementary/complementary forces capable of challenging mainstream education. This paper explains how these two factors contribute to ethnic segregation at all levels of education notwithstanding their causal relationships at certain levels of education. Second, it evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the measures taken by the Malaysian government to desegregate the education system. (Contains 56 footnotes.)

In Lower Saxony, technology studies as part of preparing technical education teachers for primary and partly for secondary education can be studied only at two universities--the Technical University of Brunswick and the University of Oldenburg. Technology education is not available at the Gymnasium (a type of secondary school leading to the university) in Lower Saxony. Universities in Lower Saxony and other German states have agreed about the basic contents of technology education that should be taught in the public schools. However, the themes are emphasized differently, because the universities view the subject and conduct their research differently from one another. The target is to connect the technical resources of the participant universities to reveal the variety of contents of the subject and to allow access to sources of knowledge irrespective of time and place. Specifically, the creation of accessible databases for technology education via the Internet will help educators teach technology as thoroughly as possible and offer the opportunity to reach larger numbers of students at colleges and universities. A further step will be to connect the databases of individual partner universities to a database network. The technology education database is meant to represent an important scientific and didactic source for the subject "technology". This article describes the advantages of the technology education database and the contents of the database.

The purposes of this study were to examine the current situation pertaining to the teaching of sex education and identify barriers to teaching sex education among Thai health education teachers. A survey questionnaire was administered to 193 health education teachers who participated in this study. The questionnaire was comprised of three parts: (1) demographic questions, (2) the current status of sex education in Thailand, and (3) the barriers to teaching sex education. The third part was comprised of teacher characteristics, curriculum and multimedia, and environmental factors. The findings focused on the main effect interaction analysis between a dependent variable (gender, age, level of education, etc.) and the three factorial scales generated by using the Factor Analysis Procedure from the questionnaire. There were no significant differences found between the dependent variables and the three factors associated with teaching based on Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at p=0.05. Using descriptive statistics, we found teachers held interesting perspectives on factors surrounding sex education. So, although there were no significant differences in the findings, the study indicates that health education teachers contribute to the quality of teaching and the learning process of sex education. They play a critical role in designing and implementing sex education courses. (Contains 24 figures and 3 tables.)

Millennium Development Goals were established by the United Nations to help underdeveloped countries to overcome problems of illiteracy, poverty, low health status and quality of life. Much emphasis was placed on the attainment of MDG targets in education because of its pivotal role in national development. The targets include education for all through 100% gross enrolment rate by 2015, gender equality in access to education opportunities, eradication of adult illiteracy, and improvement of the quality of education. Nigeria was used as an example to examine challenges faced by the African continent in pursuit of MDG targets in education. Nigeria's experience revealed great increases in school enrollments with improvements in gross enrolment rates. But big gaps still exist between states and regions, and between targeted expectations and real achievements, particularly in reduction of gender disparity and adult illiteracy. To raise the prospects of goal attainment, African governments must see education as a right rather than a privilege, and therefore increase budgetary allocations to education. There is also critical need for prudent management of available funds and resources. All African countries should mobilize to provide free and compulsory basic education for the citizens, and organize more mass literacy and public awareness campaigns on the role of education in personal and national development. (Contains 3 tables.)

Little empirical attention has been paid to state capital expenditures for higher education. While some anecdotal evidence exists that the process of appropriating capital dollars to higher education institutions is a particularly political process, no study has systematically examined the determinants of higher education state capital spending. This study counters this scholarly oversight by employing a longitudinal analysis of the factors associated with state capital expenditures for higher education. Panel data is used including political, higher education sector, and economic and demographic variables from 1988-2004 on all 50 states. Our fixed effects analysis reveals that the process is indeed political. Numerous political factors were significantly associated with capital expenditures for higher education, including political culture, electoral competition, budgetary powers of the governor, higher education governance structures, interest groups, legislative professionalism, and voter turnout. Although some higher education sector factors, such as private giving and tuition rates, proved to have a significant influence on state capital expenditures for higher education, the results provide substantial evidence that politics matters in the appropriation of these capital dollars. These findings suggest that more research is needed to understand how the determinants of state capital spending differ from other state expenditures on higher education. (Contains 3 tables and 3 footnotes.)

In the years between the world wars, music education in Germany prospered, because successful policy made constructive cooperation among relevant institutions and representatives possible. The situation today is very different. Many music educators and researchers are not aware that policies affect them; nor do they see themselves as active participants in policymaking. This article discusses the conflicting forces in society and in the education system that are responsible for this: the precarious relationship of youth music culture and music education; the continuing decline of music education in the schools, which is concealed by media-supported events; the seeming irrelevance of music education content and methods to students; a lack of consensus in society about the core content of music education; and the ineffectiveness of the argument for the educational benefits of music education in policymaking. As a result of these forces, Germany lacks both theories and research on music education policy. This article argues that music is a diverse practice that manifests itself as many different practices in various contexts. Thus, the center of music education policy must be the people dealing with music and their varied musical practices, rather than musical works and their dissemination. As a consequence, music education policy needs to be shaped in ways appropriate to the diversity of musical practices and the various contexts of music education. (Contains 4 notes.)

The Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics, sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, is the first data-based study about mathematics teacher education with large-scale samples; this article is based on its data but develops a stand-alone conceptual framework to investigate the quality of teacher education among various countries. The framework includes five indicators: future teacher achievement, instructor effectiveness, coherence between universities and schools, courses/content arrangement, and overall effectiveness of teacher education programs. One of the findings provides indications that it is necessary to combine theoretical knowledge with practical teaching into teacher education; another finding is that for all countries involved, future teachers are less approving of the courses/content arrangement of teacher education programs than are program educators, thus perhaps lowering educators' motivation to improve the arrangement. The data also indicate that there is a high degree of synchronization and organization in teacher education programs in the United States; however, these programs still require further development and promotion of their future teachers' knowledge achievements. (Contains 9 notes, 6 tables and 3 figures.)

The link between the funding of higher education and the attainment of higher education transformation goals in South Africa, especially access by students from previously under-represented communities, is the main focus of this paper. Specifically, the paper examines three questions: (a) How does public funding of higher education encourage (or discourage) the attainment of higher education transformation goals in South Africa? (b) What challenges do frequent tuition fee increases pose to the attainment of higher education transformation goals? (c) How can South Africa's higher education be made affordable for indigent (mostly black) students? The paper concludes that although South Africa's higher education funding formula is generally geared towards attaining the goals of transformation, several of its aspects are inimical to the achievement of these goals. Further, declining public funding of higher education and frequent tuition fee increases by public universities vis-a-vis higher education's natural inclination to reproduce, and even to exacerbate, existing social disparities and inequalities do not bode well for the attainment of transformation in South Africa's higher education. This is aggravated by existing high levels of poverty and inequality mostly affecting the majority of the communities that were marginalised during apartheid. (Contains 3 figures, 1 table and 1 note.)

We examined the extent to which state departments of education are including (a) goals for student social behavior in their mission statements; (b) criteria for individual student, classroom, and schoolwide behavior support in certification standards for general education teachers, special education teachers, and principals; and (c) state initiatives focused on improving student social behavior. Web-based information from state departments of education from all 50 states and from the District of Columbia were reviewed in the fall of 2004. Results indicated that only 16 states (31%) include a focus on student social behavior in their mission statements. Individual student behavior support practices were identified in the curriculum for general educators in 30 (59%) states and for special educators in 39 (76%) states. Classroom behavior support practices were required for general education teachers in 39 (76%) states and for special educators in 40 (78%) states. Schoolwide behavior support practices were most likely to be required for principal certification, and they were formally identified in 20 (39%) of the states surveyed. Character education was the most common state initiative cited for improving social behavior in schools.

This article complements the one written by George Psacharopoulos. It builds on the market returns to education that are measured by increments to earnings and to pure economic growth. It considers the additional nonmarket private returns to education, but it also considers the social benefits of education that benefit others in the community and future generations. Both of these benefits have enormous relevance to education finance. Understanding the private nonmarket benefits and their value is highly relevant to how much should be invested in education. The size of the social benefits, some of which are market benefits, is relevant to how much of the total investment in education must be financed publicly. The main issues to be addressed in this article include: (1) What are the main nonmarket benefits of education?; (2) How can they be distinguished from market benefits and from social benefits, some of which are also market benefits?; (3) Why must a dynamic view of the process that includes indirect effects that feed back to set the stage for further growth be understood before most education externalities are seen?; (4) How large are the nonmarket returns and externalities for secondary education?; and (5) For education finance policy, what is an economically efficient total investment in education as, say, a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), and what is the appropriate public share? (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

While education is a key to any development strategy, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is the master key that can transform the world of work and the economy, alleviate poverty, save the environment and improve the quality of life. As students are being prepared to become efficient, skillful and competent workers, they can at the same time be educated to become productive and responsible citizens, the creators of better tomorrows--of sustainable future societies. This article discusses the paradigm shift taking place in TVET. Its philosophy, vision and mission, goals and objectives, policies and practices, content and methodologies are undergoing transformation. This new and enhanced vision is leading to an expanded and strategic role for TVET in the twenty-first century. It will be an era of rapid change and dramatic revolutions, of globalization and democratization, of breakthroughs and breakdowns never before experienced by humankind. The resulting challenges in education in general, and in TVET in particular, are tremendous and overwhelming and need to be faced especially for the survival and progress of future generations. (Contains 3 figures.)