Education & Pedagogy

This article explores how cultural identity reveals itself in East Asian higher education. The following questions are addressed. First, what is culture and what is the characteristic of East Asian culture? Second, what are cultural situations of East Asian higher education? Third, how does the cultural identity of East Asia reveal itself in higher education? Finally, what are new paradigms in East Asian higher education. The article offers theoretical basics so as to establish new paradigms of higher education in East Asia.

This paper looks at the state of higher education in India--in terms of policies and the trajectory that it has taken in the aftermath of neoliberalisation of the economy. Through studying the discourses that construct the edifice of the educational complex in the country, it unravels the dynamics of how economy, politics and education interact. Lastly, it explores the possibilities of countering the neoliberal offensive of capital and create a more egalitarian higher education system. (Contains 3 charts and 7 notes.)

Investigated how Latino parents defined their roles in their children's education and their relationships with schools, examining how they perceived their sense of place before and after attending the Parent Institute for Quality Education. Survey, interview, and observation data indicated that after attending the Institute, parents had expanded concepts of involvement in their children's education at home and at school. (SM)

Examination of old and new vocational initiatives in Alberta suggests that educators and employers support new school-to-work programs (Tech Prep; Registered Apprenticeships; Careers, the Next Generation). However, these programs are hampered by mixed policy messages; the resilience of existing practices; and lack of provincial resources, research, attention to equity, and clarity in objectives. (Contains 58 references.) (TD)

This article describes a project which created and evaluated a technology-enhanced course to prepare educators for collaboration in serving students with special needs. It offers a rationale, a theoretical overview of the course, and summarizes the topical content and technology components. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation data suggest participants made significant cognitive gains and had positive attitudes toward the experience. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Presents results of a survey designed to test the level of development and application of cases in non-business courses such as sciences, mathematics, engineering, health, and technology. Findings support the growing popularity of the case method of teaching and learning outside the business domain. Suggests a framework for establishing win-win partnerships with business, industry, and the professional community. (Author/MM)

At the UNESCO Bonn conference, more than 50 ministers from around the world met privately to discuss education for sustainable development (ESD) and progress made in support of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Their wide-ranging discussion touched on the purposes of education, the nature of education, the importance of the principles of ESD, challenges in education systems, what is needed to overcome these challenges, how to implement education for sustainable development, and the opportunities waiting to be seized.

This paper investigates how education legislation in Denmark, Norway and Sweden define democracy, especially in relation to a complex society with diverse linguistic, religious and cultural practices. What tasks are assigned to educators through education policy documents pertaining to democratic values? The analysis points out that the designated mandate is normative and emphasizes the political nature of education. Furthermore, there is room for improvement in democratic features of education systems in Scandinavia. (Contains 7 notes.)

Neither of the "Three Industry" Theory nor the "General Agreement of Trading Service" (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) can be the essential criteria to analyze the property of education. The property of education can be defined from consumers' perspective. The direct consumers of education are students; but the ultimate consumers of education include parents, employers, society and governments as well. From the perspective of consumers, education is both a service and a productive institution.

China's "Compulsory Education Law," determining the development of compulsory education, was first promulgated in 1986 and then amended in 2006. It has been a symbolic milestone in the history of Chinese education. During two decades, there have been totally 8 influential reforms in compulsory education funding policy. From the viewpoint of practical analysis and value analysis about policy changes, China's compulsory education funding policy is still in a state of dramatic changes and mixed changes, which shows some disadvantages.

This is a commentary on some major issues raised in Carter and Dediwalage's "Globalisation and science education: The case of "Sustainability by the bay"" (this issue), particularly their methodology and theoretical framework for understanding how globalisation shapes education (including science education). While acknowledging the authors' contribution to the literature on globalisation and education, it questions the degree to which their analysis captures and explains how globalisation shapes science education, and examines how the research can be complemented by altering its methodology and expanding its theoretical framework.

In this commentary, we extend the cautionary tales regarding dual-language programs raised by several scholars by considering the interface of such programs with global education. We consider the possible pitfalls of uncritically framing dual-language programs within the global education movement in the United States, especially in light of how this new framing will affect the educational opportunities and experiences of Latino/a students throughout the country.

This paper describes the development of library and information science education (LIS) in the Baltic and Nordic countries and gives a brief overview of the historical and present connections of these countries. The similarities and differences between the Baltic countries as well as the Nordic and Baltic higher education systems are described. The emphasis is on the internationalisation of Baltic LIS education in cooperation with Nordic partners.

The following article introduces an exploratory study that was designed to measure the quality of early childhood education within its ever changing sociocultural context utilizing the Early Childhood Learning Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) in 40 classrooms in Beijing, China. Implications for early childhood teacher education, including the education of children with exceptional needs are addressed along with recommendations for future research. (Contains 6 tables.)

This article describes four teacher education programs and their student teachers' responses to why some students in their classrooms were not doing well. The responses and programs fell into two categories: education for replication of inequities and education for transformation. If teacher education programs want their prospective teachers to be academically successful with all students, programs need to adopt an orientation with multiculturalism and social justice at the center. Implications for accreditation criteria are also addressed.