Translating Globalization and Democratization into Local Policy: Educational Reform in Hong Kong and Taiwan

The past two decades have witnessed three important international trends: an increase in the number of democratic states; economic globalization; and educational reforms in light of the challenges of the new millennium. A great deal of research has addressed educational change in relation to either globalization or democratization, but little has been said about the complex interactions among all three processes. In view of recent educational reforms in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the present contribution examines the local nature of education policy in a globalized age. It challenges those globalization theories which minimize the role of the state and exaggerate the power of globalization over local factors. In particular, it explores how the governments of these two Chinese societies have employed democratization to generate and legitimate reform proposals and have used economic globalization to justify educational reforms. The study concludes by discussing the complex interrelations of these processes, including tensions between global and local concerns in educational reform.     

Future developments of educational research in the Asia-Pacific Region: Paradigm shifts, reforms, and practice

In facing up to the challenges and impacts of globalization, high technology, economic transformation, international competitions and local developments in the new century, there have been numerous educational reforms and initiatives in many countries in the Asia-Pacific Region (Cheng, 2005a, A new paradigm for re-engineering education : Globalization, localization and individulization. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer). Unfortunately, many of these educational reforms with good intentions and huge resources investment have been found ineffective and unsustainable if not totally failed. One of the major reasons for this is lack of a comprehensive knowledge base for policy development and implementation supported by sophisticated and relevant educational research. From the waves and trends of educational reforms in the Asia-Pacific Region, this article aims to draw implications for future developments of educational research in supporting paradigm shifts, policy formulation, and practice of educational reforms in the Region and other parts of the world in an era of globalization and transformation. This article was adapted from the president address at the International Conference of Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association held on 28–30 November 2006, Hong Kong.     

全球化时代的政治民主化:概念与关系的再探讨

本文主要对全球化以及政治民主化的概念及其关系进行了探讨。在当今全球化加速发展的今天,各国的政治民主化建设呈现出多样化的发展趋势,对于全球化以及政治民主化的认识也存在不同的看法。     

How has recent curriculum reform in China influenced school-based teacher learning? An ethnographic study of two subject departments in Shanghai,China

Curriculum reforms with a focus on helping students ‘learn to learn’ are now an established global educational phenomenon. China has been implementing such curriculum reform and this poses challenges to teachers as they need to develop new pedagogical skills and knowledge to deal with new educational demands that arise. This ethnographic study investigates the impacts of current curriculum reform on teacher learning using two subject departments from two schools in Shanghai, China. It shows that teachers direct much attention towards searching for good practices and norms of practice to encounter new curriculum challenges. Findings show that outside experts who act as ‘boundary brokers’ are crucial in teacher learning. They also identify two modes of teacher learning activities: hierarchical, which relies on imported expert knowledge; and reciprocal, which depends on exploiting local knowledge. Striking a balance between these two approaches may be the way forward.     

School curriculum,globalisation and the constitution of policy problems and solutions

To varying degrees, education policy reforms around the world are driven by educational discourses relating to globalisation. At the same time, national and local histories, cultures and politics mediate the effects of globalisation discourses. This paper employs methods of analysis that draw on the concepts of ‘vernacular globalization’ and ‘policy archaeology’ in order to examine the ways in which the effects of globalisation on National Curriculum policy reform are mediated by conditions and priorities that are specific to national contexts. The enquiry focuses on three curriculum policy problems that are associated with the English school curriculum and have recently been identified as requiring reform: inappropriate curriculum knowledge, the skills deficit and the one-size-fits-all curriculum. The paper concludes by summarising the results of the analysis, identifying some curriculum issues arising from it and offering reflections on the methodological approach it has employed.     

论影响政策借鉴的地方化因素——基于澳大利亚与韩国媒体对PISA的报道

在教育全球化时代,地方化因素对于一个国家是否成为教育改革的参考标准依然重要。澳大利亚和韩国两国媒体对亚洲国家和地区PISA成功的描述与话语讨论因国情不同而表现出各自的特点,进而影响着政策借鉴是否可以以及如何发生。基于对澳大利亚与韩国媒体对PISA结果报道的比较后发现,对亚洲教育的刻板印象、国家间的经济关系、潜在参考国家和地区在PISA排名表中相对排名的变化等三大因素影响着一个国家对这些国家或地区"最优教育系统"的政策借鉴。     

Teacher management and educational reforms: Paradigm shifts

In the past 15 years, numerous reforms and initiatives in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have aimed to change education and promote new learning to prepare the new generation for the future. Unfortunately, despite good intentions and huge investments of resources, many of these reforms have been found to be ineffective and unsustainable—if they succeed at all. Reflecting on the trends and waves of educational reform in the Asia-Pacific region, this paper introduces an international lesson on the emerging syndrome of educational reform across the region and illustrates its negative impacts on teacher ecology and teacher management. Then, the paper outlines the implications of this lesson and of a study of the world’s best-performing educational systems, using them to develop a holistic approach to managing teachers and planning for their sustainable professional development. Finally, it highlights the paradigm shifts in teacher management, reviewing the three waves of educational reform in the last two decades, and draws further implications for formulating teacher management policies in ongoing and future educational reforms to support students’ new learning and sustainable development.     

Placing math reform: locating Latino English learners in math classrooms and communities

This article explores how place matters in public school reform efforts intended to promote more equitable opportunities and outcomes. Qualitative case studies of three California middle schools’ eighth grade math reforms and the resulting opportunities for Latino English learners are presented, using the conceptual frameworks of critical human geography to situate math reform processes within local and regional social, political, economic, institutional and spatial dynamics. The cases reveal relationships between local efforts to transform or maintain racially and ethnically segregated housing and school attendance patterns, decision-making about math programmes and resource allocation, and resulting student learning opportunities. Together they suggest that (1) efforts to foster more equitable student outcomes must account for the mutually constitutive nature of schools and their localities; (2) mobilization, and educational leaders’ responses to it, matter; and (3) place-sensitive education research demands place-sensitive conceptual frameworks and interdisciplinary, qualitative research methods.     

Reforms of Educational Efficiency and Quality in Developing Countries: an overview

It is possible to distinguish different ‘themes’ of educational reform in developing countries. These can be categorised as planning/management and efficiency reforms, quality reforms, and curricular reforms; the first two only are discussed here. The first of these ‘themes’ has been typically dominated by the economist's agenda, the second by the educationalist's. Planning/management and efficiency reforms have been set within a context of overriding concern with educational expansion, with the consequence that insufficient attention has been paid to the quality of the educational systems being developed. Moreover, under prevailing conditions of austerity, the recent efficiency‐oriented solutions proffered by greater competition have served to exacerbate the disparities in the provision of quality education. Educational reform focused on quality has, perhaps, been the most intractable of the themes under discussion. What makes for a high quality educational system is a moving target. The pendulum swing has been away from state interventionism, but the state's role as regulator and equaliser of disparities may be on the return. The extent of the swing back will be dependent on the success of participatory strategies to involve the more marginalised stakeholders in all the different aspects of educational reform reviewed in this paper.     

The lessons of international education reform

This paper examines the nature of education reform in English‐speaking countries in an attempt to draw out its implications for other countries. The focus is on three main areas of reform: decentralization and local management of schools, markets and choice programs, and increased use of large‐scale student assessment. Other countries should be very cautious in borrowing these ideas about education reform for at least three reasons: these reforms embody problems of contradictory purposes; reforms with similar names actually end up looking quite different because of contextual differences; and such reforms are weakly connected to teaching and learning and hence to outcomes. A program of reform in any setting should be grounded in a clear sense of educational purpose that fits the particular social context.     

The global,the local,and the science curriculum: A struggle for balance in Cyprus

In documenting educational reforms in the science curriculum of developing countries, a number of tensions become apparent as a result of struggles to preserve local values while incorporating global trends. This article describes and analyses these tensions and paradoxes, and discusses the intersections of cultural, economic, administrative and educational history of elementary school science curriculum development in Cyprus since its independence from the British in 1960. Using a combination of methodological tools that range from document analysis, historical research and ethnographic methods of collecting data, it is argued that the global and the local can be viewed spatially in terms of linking people, spaces and diverse knowledges. In order to ensure that local values in science curriculum development can be sustained without being absorbed by globalization curriculum developers in developing countries need to create spaces in which the local can be performed together with the global.     

中国应对经济全球化的哲学思考及方略

文章从哲学的视野分析了中国融入经济全球化进程中的机遇和挑战，同时，提出了我国应对经济全球化的方略。机遇和挑战是双重的，也是可以相互转化的。中国要坚持正确的科学发展观，深化政治、经济、科技，教育等改革，健全社会主义市场经济体制，不断增强综合国力，从容应对经济全球化。     

Reforms and challenges in the era of inclusive education: the case of China

This article, written by Meng Deng of Beijing Normal University and Kim Fong Poon‐McBrayer of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, reviews and analyses the reform of special education in China, the challenges confronting Chinese special education provisions, and how the Chinese inclusive education model, namely ‘Learning in Regular Classrooms’, has been shaped by the pragmatic needs aligning with the nation's economic and social developments. In an effort to provide wider school access, the current inclusive education model has become the form of educational placement that serves the majority of students with disabilities in China. The authors conclude that reforms in the last two decades have resulted in dramatic changes and progress in many facets of special education service delivery, school structure, administrative monitoring mechanism, and instructional practices. However, the current Chinese special education service structure is still shaky, with inadequate resources, personnel preparation and support at the local level. Fundamental changes to the examination‐oriented mainstream education system are still needed, to enhance the quality of education for students with special needs.     

Economic globalization,politico‐cultural identity and university autonomy: the struggle of Tsinghua University in China

A great deal of research has addressed the tension between economic globalization and local cultural identity, and the tension between convergence in global policy objectives and divergence in local practices, but research has not explored the impact of the complex interactions between these tensions on an individual university, especially in relation to university autonomy. This paper attempts to bridge this gap. Based on a case study of Tsinghua University in China, this paper explores the university's role in three interrelated processes: the incorporation of international experience into higher education, in order to respond to economic globalization; the reinforcement of political education, as a means of preserving the state‐prescribed cultural identity; and the quest for autonomy, to facilitate the university's move towards world‐class status. Tensions raised by the interaction of these processes will also be discussed. This paper concludes by applying the concept of ‘glocalization’—i.e., ‘thinking and acting both globally and locally’—as a means of understanding the complex interrelations of global, national, and local factors that inform the translation of global imperatives into local realities in the context of Tsinghua.     

Policy,practice, and reconversion in Spanish educational reform: teaching and teacher education in physical education

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, reform of the Spanish education system has been justified by reformists as a response to the social and economic changes that have occurred in Spanish society since the democratic transition in the 1970s. Consolidation of democracy, development of technology and economic convergence with the advanced nations of Europe have been seen as the major challenges for educational reform. Restructuring and legitimation processes derived from the requirements of the new reform have been conceptualized as a policy of reconversion, the main purpose of which is to maintain, or achieve, a strong competitive position in the international market. In this paper, conceptualizing educational reform as a reconversion process will allow us to link aspects of the new curriculum (content, pedagogy and assessment), school organization, teaching and teacher education in physical education with wider economic, social and cultural influences and explore the tensions and conflicts between policy and practice in PE in schools. The paper will argue that there is a widening gap between the interests of progressive educationalists and the direction of market‐driven education reform.     

教育改革必须突破的难点:教育改革主体的自我变革

我国教育改革已进入攻坚阶段,但其突破的难点是什么,各界还未形成共识。从教育改革的主体及其关系的角度审视,教育改革实际存在着"我改你"、"你改我"、"我改我(自己改自己)"三种形式。"我改你"的教育改革是改革主体乐意的改革,"你改我"的教育改革是改革主体转化为改革对象后惧怕的改革,而"我改我"的改革则是改革主体最不愿意的改革,因而也是教育改革中最艰难的改革。当前需要成立具有一定超脱性的教育改革指导或领导小组,使之成为唤醒教育改革主体进行自我变革的外力,进而促进教育改革主体的自我变革。     

Understanding and Interrupting Neoliberalism and Neoconservatism in Education

In this article I describe the ideological strategies of neoliberal and neoconservative educational reforms on the educational systems of the North and West. The principal strategies entail the labelling of culturally and economically disenfranchised communities through media and political debate in ways that shift responsibility for their educational marginalisation to both teachers and these communities themselves. The goals of educational systems are then recast in narrowly economic terms that call for market-based reforms. Democratic educational reform is examined as an alternative, with specific examples from Brazil and the United States.     

论我国的教育传统及其变革与发展

中国是教育大国,教育传统积淀深厚。全球多元化、科学技术以及信息网络等社会变化对现代教育提出新的需求和挑战,促使教育传统的变革与发展。教育传统是教育变革的基础,变革则能促进传统的再发展,传统与变革二者是统一的。我国教育传统的现代性变革要反对民族虚无主义和民族中心主义,一要吸收教育传统中符合现代社会与教育要求的内容;二要摒弃教育传统精神中与传统的自然经济、专制主义和宗法制度相依存的诸如功利主义、精英主义、权威主义等有悖于现代教育精神和要求的观念和思想;还要梳理教育传统中有价值的要素,并使之与现代化需要的要素整合,对教育传统文化进行创造性的转化。     

再一次的高校求学机会： 当代德国“第三条教育路径”

类似于我国高职扩招模式，发端于工业革命后的德国“第三条教育路径”旨在为无前期学习经历或证明但具有充分职业工作经验和实践技能的求学者，开辟出“获得工作—积累经验—考核入学”的高等教育求学通路。该路径的产生是社会人口结构变化、科技生产力重心转移、政治更迭等元素在教育改革领域的投影，教育理念基础在于突出高等职业教育与普通高教在机会和地位上平等以践行教育民主化，并强调理论与实践的有机融合，其实施方法具有入学多元化、校企合作化、专业优质化、课程灵活化等特征。该路径的实施对于社会、教育改革和个人发展具有成效，同时在规模、均衡化和个体适应方面也面临挑战。对该路径的借鉴应当从提升师资和办学条件、优化培养模式、形成完备的制度结构等三方面着手。