Education & Pedagogy

This book introduces readers to issues, debates and literatures related to a number of central areas of practice in adult education and training, especially in Australia. It is intended as a first attempt to define the field of adult education in Australia in an analytical and theoretical, as opposed to a theoretical and practical sense. Written by Australian professionals in adult education, the book contains 17 chapters organized in 4 parts. Part I discusses knowledge that is fundamental to adult education practice. The following five chapters are included: "A Framework for Understanding Adult Learning and Education" (Griff Foley); "Understanding Adult Learners" (Philip Pogson, Mark Tennant); "Teaching Adults" (Griff Foley); "Program Development in Adult Education and Training" (Michael Newman); and "Issues in the Evaluation of Adult Education" (James Athanasou). Part II explores various aspects of the scope and context of Australian adult education and training in four chapters: "Policy and Provision in Australian Adult Education and Training" (Ann Whyte, Alastair Crombie); "The History and Political Economy of Australian Adult Education" (Griff Foley, Roger Morris); "Research in Adult Education and Training" (John McIntyre); and "Reading the Discourses of Adult Basic Education Teaching" (Alison Lee, Rosie Wickert). Part III is devoted to the central current issue in Australian adult education, the relationship of workplace change, adult learning, and training. Chapters are as follows: "Organizational Learning: Basic Concepts" (Laurie Field); "Understanding and Facilitating Change in the Workplace" (Hank Schaafsma); "Competency-based Education" (Clive Chappell, Andrew Gonczi, Paul Hager); and "Cross-cultural Training in the Australian Context" (Daphne Brosnan, Hermine Scheeres, Diana Slade). Part IV explores a number of other contemporary developments in the theory and practice of Australian adult education and training: "Experience-based Learning" (Lee Andresen, David Boud, Ruth Cohen); "Women and Learning" (Sue Knights); "Adult Education and Indigenous Australians" (Michael McDaniel, Rick Flowers); and "Adult Education and Social Action" (Michael Newman). The book ends with "Conclusion: Coming to Grips with Complexity" (Griff Foley). Contains 460 references, an author index, and a subject index. (KC)

There is extensive research pointing to the positive effects of education in the form of labour market outcomes. These outcomes are vital when evaluating education; there are however additional outcomes of education that might also be important for quality of life. From this point of view, education could affect non-market areas such as democracy, gender equality and civic engagement. This article investigates the effects of level of education and field of study on two vital non-market capabilities: agency and voice. The study uses an eight-year longitudinal national survey of 1058 Swedish youth, controlling for baseline values of voice and agency. The empirical analysis shows that university education increases young people's capabilities of voice and agency. Field of study was also found to have a relationship with agency, where social science and business education was found to be connected with the highest probability of agency, whereas there were only small effects of field of education on voice. (Contains 4 tables and 4 notes.)

The impact of three variables on the self-efficacy of 992 general and special education preservice teachers was examined. These variables were years of preservice education, experience with children with special educational needs, and training in inclusion or exceptional education. All participants responded to a teacher self-efficacy scale that measured four factors. Findings revealed a main effect for years of preservice education and for major of the academic degree. The main effect for years of preservice education was found only for efficacy for social relations. The main effect for degree major revealed that special education majors had significantly higher scores than regular education majors, on all four factors. A significant main effect for experience and major was also found. Students with much and some experience had significantly higher scores than students with no experience on two factors. Intensity of training was associated with self-efficacy. Students with much and some training had significantly higher scores than students with no training on all four factors. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)

A unique aspect of Aotearoa/New Zealand physical education is the inclusion of Maori culture in the form of te ao kori. Te ao kori translates to mean the world of movement and is represented by the interpretation of indigenous movement, games and pastimes. Participation in te ao kori means the sports-based normative frame of reference for physical education is removed. What constitutes physical education is challenged by a movement discourse firmly grounded in Maori culture. In this paper I include historical detail about te ao kori and reflect on a "snapshot story" drawn from my autoethnographic research about teaching te ao kori to physical education teacher education (PETE) students. The story is derived from eleven years of field experiences with PETE students in a gymnasium setting and is focused on te ao kori as expressive movement and dance. The story stands as an example of practical theorising important for pedagogy because it is the experiential case material on which pedagogic reflection is possible. (Contains a glossary and 1 note.)

In this two-part series, the author's task is to draw out some themes from the Working Forum for Teacher Educators, held in Auckland, New Zealand on April 30-May 2, 2008. Earlier he identified ten concerns relating to future directions in early childhood teacher education. In this article, he suggests ten principles for early childhood teacher education programs: (1) Early childhood teacher education honours the whole person; (2) Early childhood teacher education welcomes the full expression of diversity; (3) Early childhood teacher education nurtures teachers and their journeys toward authenticity; (4) Early childhood teacher education values teachers' beliefs as instrumental in understanding their motivation and actions; (5) Early childhood teacher education nourishes the fullness of teacher presence; (6) Early childhood teacher education honours emotions, dispositions, and personality as reflecting the humanness of teachers--this includes joy, love, compassion, grace, humility, and passion; (7) Early childhood teacher education values freedom to initiate as well as to exercise autonomy with responsibility; (8) Early childhood teacher education enables teachers to critically reflect, self-reflect, contemplate, and to nourish their souls; (9) Early childhood teacher education encourages teachers to be wise and to grow in wisdom; and (10) Early childhood teacher education upholds and practises social justice. [For Part 1, see EJ864775.]

Australia's large distances and widely distributed population has meant that distance education has been an important part of its history. From the earliest provision of schooling by mail through a series of correspondence schools, both state and federal governments have provided a sound infrastructure to support distance education. Innovative uses of technologies to provide communication and interaction and ease the isolation of distance have also been a feature of Australia's distance education history. The impact of this history is particularly relevant as the Internet and information and communication technologies are changing this field and making distance educators of all institutions and sectors. This article examines the response to these conditions within an Australian educational system that has its state governments providing school and vocational education and both federal and state governments sharing governance of the university system. The impact of government policies as both responsive and directing of distance education in Australia is discussed.

Private higher education was probably the fastest-growing sector of postsecondary education worldwide at the turn of the twenty-first century. China is no exception. With the recent expansion and differentiation of higher education, private higher education, in conjunction with public higher education, has become a main force for enhancing the supply of higher education. This paper explores the features of the privately run educational sector's regional distribution and the mechanism that forms the privately run educational sector in China. Its major findings are the following: The mechanism of private higher education, as compared with that of public higher education, is more market oriented, versatile, and geared to socioeconomic requirements, and the growth patterns of private higher education vary according to regions; a "market resources dependent" growth pattern has emerged in economically developed regions, such as Zhejiang province; an "education resources-dependent" pattern has been identified in regions where public higher education is relatively well developed, such as Hubei province; and a "policy-driven" pattern in which government actions replace the market is seen in regions where the economy and public higher education are underdeveloped. (Contains 2 tables, 2 figures and 5 notes.)

Internationalization becomes increasingly important in higher education in a globalized world. Exporting higher education services by recruiting overseas students is an integral facet of internationalization of higher education. It not only helps develop the place as an education hub but also facilitate internationalized environment of higher education. Alongside this global trend, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong are of no exception and have embarked on the process of internationalizing their higher education campuses by recruiting more international students, striving for achieving the policy goal of developing themselves into regional education hubs. Hong Kong has no doubt had some comparative advantages over other Asian competitors in the region but there are several major hurdles it needs to overcome before it can successfully export its higher education services. This paper reports part of a territory wide study in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of exporting Hong Kong's higher education to the Asian markets. In addition, to counteract the economic driven imperatives in restructuring higher education, the author would like to caution the importance of going beyond income generation and put forward a question of what the real aim and mission of internationalization of higher education are in the Asian region.

Agricultural education in South Africa is defined entirely in the context of applied and natural sciences and has not yet positioned itself in the frame of educational sciences. Many agricultural graduates without an educational background pursue educational careers. The absence of dedicated agricultural education research centres perpetuates the dependency on applied and natural sciences alone. This dependency has allowed neglect of the rigorous teaching and learning research and development of agricultural education. This mispositioning has led to neglect in the investigation of pedagogic and andragogic praxis in higher education institutions. To understand the status quo of academia as it relates to agricultural education, a systemic analysis of the past decade's agricultural education research conclusions was conducted. The study exposes the reality of teaching and learning from agricultural research in South African academia and how agricultural education has progressed over the past decade. This intellectual piece validates the need to rethink agricultural education as it relates to teaching and learning in basic education, higher education, and adult learning in research discourse. Consequently, it legitimises the need for agricultural educators and trainers who are grounded in the more current and humanised methods of teaching agriculture while understanding how children and adults learn.

Moral education is political, ideological, moral, and psychological quality education conducted for students. It plays a decisive and guiding role in upholding the socialist nature of schools, assuring the correct political direction in cultivating talent, and promoting the all-around development of students. Guided by Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, and Comrade Deng Xiaoping's theory of developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, schools must earnestly implement national education policy and the Outline on the Reform and Development of Chinese Education, actively promoting educational and teaching reform, conscientiously ensuring the status of moral education, and doing their best in moral education work in order to cultivate dedicated builders and successors of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics who have ideals, morality, culture, and discipline. The Outline on Secondary School Moral Education presented here stipulates the state's basic requirements for secondary school moral education work and for the moral character of secondary school students. It is the primary document guiding moral education work in secondary schools; the basic standard for educational departments at all levels for the scientific management, guidance, and evaluation of secondary school moral education work; and the basic foundation on which families and society can collaborate closely with schools in the moral education of secondary school students. (Contains 1 note.)

This article investigates six pathways through which students possessing initial vocational qualifications can enter higher education in Norway. In Norway, vocational education and training (VET) tracks in upper secondary education are popular nationwide with the youth population, catering to almost half of every youth cohort. However, despite explicit goals to promote social mobility through education, there is evident reproduction of social inequalities in attraction to and completion of higher education programmes. This issue is of paramount importance for the welfare state context, given that students in VET tracks typically come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds compared to their peers in general education pathways. Therefore, prohibited permeability between VET and higher education undermines universal access to higher education. This study is designed in a threefold manner: First, the connection between VET and socioeconomic background is investigated, leading to the conclusion that underprivileged youth are overly represented in VET pathways. Secondly, we explore alternative routes to higher education available to vocationally qualified students in Norway; and thirdly, we present available data on to what extend these pathways facilitate access to higher education. We conclude that limited permeability is a social problem and discuss possible means to address the issue.

Background: Exploratory study aiming to assess the prevalence and time of initiation of menstrual health curriculum in US public school education standards by state. Methods: US public school Kindergarten-12th grade education standards from each state's Department of Education website, including D.C. (n = 51), were searched for menstruation, menstrual, menses, menopause, period, menarche, reproduction, puberty, and growth and development. Results: 25.5% (n = 13) of US education standards include menstruation. Of these, constructs of comprehensive menstrual health were recorded including abnormal menstruation (n = 6), menstrual hygiene (n = 6), menopause (n = 1), and stigma (n = 7). Education is initiated in 3rd-5th grade (n = 6) and 6th-8th grade (n = 7). One state required boys and girls to be taught separately. Parents opt-out choice is allowed in (n = 6) and (n = 6) requires certified teachers. Policy Implications: Isolating menstrual education as an independent framework is needed to advocate for educational inclusion in US public schools. Conclusions: Menstrual health education is profoundly rare in US K-12 public education standards, despite 50 million students being impacted. Furthermore, comprehensive menstrual education does not currently exist in US education standards.

This chapter provides information on the development of Vietnamese education under the influence of global forces based on the analysis of relevant education research and policies using Wolhuter's frameworks. In the process of coming up with ways to develop education in the face of different influences of globalization, besides having reactions with patterns commonly found in countries around the world, Vietnam also has responses that reflect its own political, sociocultural and economic characteristics. The state still plays a controlling role in education at all levels and many culture-related features that have existed throughout the country's history have hardly changed, namely aspects related to teachers, learners and teaching and learning methods. To sustain its education in the globalized era, Vietnam must make more efforts in various aspects such as the link between education and employment, the logic of education objectives, the feasibility and appropriateness of curricula, quality of education, especially of higher education and equality in education for underprivileged groups. [For the complete volume, "World Education Patterns in the Global South: The Ebb of Global Forces and the Flow of Contextual Imperatives. International Perspectives on Education and Society. Volume 43B," see ED674982.]

Does education affect economic outcomes, and if so, how? Does education finance interact with public policy? And how does education finance policy contribute to the development of a new strategic planning for the next generation, if at all? This chapter reviews recent conceptual and methodological developments in the field of economics and finance of education. The review covers these two major topics and is divided into three sections. First is an overview of the field, including current trends in economics of education in both developed and developing countries. This section incorporates themes such as returns to investment in education, costs of education, education and economic growth, and education market, choice, and incentives. The second section focuses on finance of education and current debates on equality, equity, and efficiency in educational finances. The third section presents summary and discussion. The discussion will bring to light the issues, challenges, opportunities, and future directions of the field. Where appropriate, examples and empirical evidence from both developing and developed countries are presented. [For the complete volume, "Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2019. International Perspectives on Education and Society. Volume 39," see ED674880.]

This paper seeks to offer an interpretation of the significance of the core of education in an attempt to achieve public policy goals. Some publications addressing approaches, techniques, and models of learning as a means of understanding the ideal education, but there are still deficiencies attributable to educators or adults who do not see the environment as a place of training. The paper aims to provide parents, teachers, and the community with knowledge so that education is a joint obligation so that cooperation in the education system is complete. "Tri Pusat Pendidikan" are three critical elements that play an essential role in learning and become the center of educational activities, namely family education (informal education), school training (formal education), and social education (non-formal culture). The "Tri Pusat Pendidikan" idea means that learning can be done anywhere and at any time, being a mutual obligation. This principle says the society and family have a balanced responsibility for the success of education offenders, and that it is not just schools that are made and regulated as organizations that have a great (full) responsibility for the success of individuals in their educational cycle.