Book reviews

Sans résumé

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Book reviews

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Buchbesprechungen

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Institut national d'Etude du travail et d'Orientation professionnelle

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UNESCO     

Reclaiming Commitment to Social Justice through Relevant Adult and Continuing Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Reclaiming commitment to social justice through widening access to education, using the medium of relevant adult and continuing education, requires people to have the ability to initiate ideas, to act and to take their destiny in their own hands. This article postulates that deploying relevant adult and continuing education in the quest for social justice leading to freeing oppressed Sub-Saharan Africans is possible. It was partly for this reason that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) came up with standard setting instruments measuring the effectiveness of inclusive education among its member states and, towards that goal, sponsored a limited study to assess how much has been done globally. The outcomes of that study have influenced the propositions made in the article that is structured against the background of the opportunities and/or challenges posed by the demand for social justice by way of widening access to education and learning. The article makes suggestions for ensuring that relevant adult and continuing education provides valuable service in reclaiming the needed commitment to social justice.     

The Impact of Supply and Demand on Doctorates in Physical Education Teacher Education: The Future of the Profession

ABSTRACT

Quality preparation of doctoral students is a key to the survival of physical education teacher education. Past research has revealed a shortage of students graduating with a doctoral degree in physical education and a general reluctance of teachers to leave their jobs to pursue an advanced degree. As the number of universities preparing new physical education teacher education assistant professors decreases, those in the profession are concerned for the future of teacher education. Unlike other professions that prepare more doctoral students than the market can accommodate, this is not the case for physical education teacher education doctoral programs. This article will provide summary information on supply and demand, which will be used to identify trends and recommendations for the future. This article will explore the status of doctoral programs in the United States and whether university programs will be able to prepare a sufficient number of professors to replace the aging physical education teacher education professoriate.     

CONFINTEA VI follow-up and the role of university lifelong learning: Some issues for European higher education

The Belém Framework for Action underlines, among many other issues, that quality in adult learning and education must be holistic and multidimensional both as a concept and in practice, using various tools such as partnerships with higher education institutions. Bridging adult and higher education is difficult, but the lifelong learning paradigm may help European universities to meet the challenge. This paper argues that European higher education institutions should, on the one hand, educate adults to qualify them for their complex roles in society and economy either through academic programmes or in other, non-formal ways. On the other hand, higher education institutions should promote quality research on adult learning and education and develop active citizenship too. Emphasis was clearly given to the former task in the Budapest Statement in December 2008 as part of the European preparatory process for CONFINTEA VI, and the latter has been articulated by UNESCO for more than a decade. This paper suggests that a balanced position may help universities in setting themselves up as better and more effective learning organisations.     

An assessment of Rev. Professor Timothy J. Corcoran's major works in the field of Irish educational historiography

Abstract

The initial and inservice education and training of adult tutors has been described as “the biggest challenge facing the field of adult education” (UNESCO 1985). Studies and reports from many countries suggest that although the importance of, and the necessity for such preservice education is clearly recognised, few substantive efforts to meet this challenge have been made.

This paper attempts to unravel the factors contributing to inadequacies in the preparation and training of professionals in the field of adult education. In Ireland, as in other countries, a host of organisations and agencies make provision for the education of adults. However, adult education is virtually “invisible” in contrast to other sectors of education. The situation is due, mainly, to the lack of status ascribed to, or achieved by adult education. The structural location, the content and the process of adult education have been identified as the major contributory factors responsible for this low‐status. Inadequate provision for the preparation, training and retraining of adult educators is one of the causes of the low status of adult education and also the effect of such status.

The “patternless mosaic” of agencies providing courses and their attempts to offer professional training to their personnel are examined and some remedies to up‐grade both the status of the adult educator and the totality of adult education are suggested.     

IS THE ACADEMY READY FOR ADULT STUDENTS?

The intention of this article is to assesss developments which have occurred in the universities of western Europe and North America in the twenty‐year period since UNESCO began work on a long‐term programme to promote the concept of universities as centres of lifelong learning. After describing ways in which universities and other higher education institutions have pursued the goal in question, citing cases drawn from Europe and North America, the author presents a number of conclusions with regard to how well traditional universities have wholly or partially adopted this new role. He concludes that much remains to be done before universities have fully accepted their roles as centres of lifelong learning but that they will be greatly stimulated and aided by the increased availability and use of the new information technologies.     

Equalizing educational opportunities and its problems

The Editors are glad to be able to open the third year of theInternational Review of Education with an article by Isaac Leon Kandel. They offer him. their respectful greetings and best wishes on the occasion of his 75th birthday, celebrated in 1956, and on his entry into the fourth quartercentury of his life.They admire him as one of the grand old men of Comparative Education and hope that he will continue to bring an unbroken freshness and further stimulus to education in general and especially to his favourite subject.

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Das Problem der Schaffung Gleicher Bildungs-Möglichkeiten Für Alle

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La Démocratisation de L'enseignement et Ses Problémes

     

QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION FROM AN INTERNATIONAL POINT OF VIEW: THE ROLE OF UNESCO

Although admittedly quality is very hard to define, UNESCO, particularly its European Centre for Higher Education and its Division of Higher Education, have undertaken a number of actions to further quality in higher education. Thus CEPES created EGAA (European Group on Academic Assessment) and the Division of Higher Education stressed the questions of quality in higher education in a recently prepared UNESCO draft policy paper. A strong component of the UNESCO UNITWIN and UNESCO Chairs Programme is directed at improving the quality of universities and university programmes in developing countries. The effort in favour of quality thus dovetails into other policies and actions of UNESCO, such as those in favour of the development of Centres of Excellence in the academic world. Yet quality improvement should not mean the imposition of one university model throughout the world but drawing upon what is best in local customs and indigenous culture.

     

The Human Rights Approach to Education in International Organisations

In this article, the work of three international governmental organisations (IGOs) dealing with human rights will be discussed, namely the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)¹ and the Council of Europe (CoE). In the first section, the main characteristics of the three IGOs in terms of similarities and differences will be elaborated. Then, their human rights approach to education will be described, dealing with the legal foundations. In the final section, the different strategies of implementation based on both their official mission statements and their present strategy papers will be evaluated under the heading ‘competition vs. cooperation’.     

Adult education and indigenous peoples in Latin America

This article describes the educational situation of indigenous peoples in Latin America, and in particular their scant participation in adult education activities. It analyses the historical, structural and institutional barriers to their greater involvement in adult education. The article proposes to look at indigenous demands on education as a potential way out of educational stagnation of indigenous adults, which is one of the challenges clearly formulated by UNESCO member states during CONFINTEA VI as a priority to be faced. The article concludes arguing the case for intercultural education, not only among indigenous peoples, but for the whole of the population, to be a guiding philosophy for education in general and adult education in particular in Latin American countries. It emphasises the fact that this cannot be achieved without the active participation of indigenous peoples themselves.     

The China‐Hong Kong Connection: A Key to Internationalising Chinese Universities

Hong Kong has always served as an undisputed gateway to China. As one of the world's best established centres of information and a well‐reputed bridge between the East and the West, it has helped mainland universities to have access to first class scholars and their academic work, and therefore, has been one of the most prominent geographical foci of the internationalisation of Chinese universities. This article demonstrates that by playing the role as the “beach‐head” of China's higher education internationalisation, Hong Kong universities will provide crucial benefits to their counterparts in the Chinese mainland, as well as maintaining their own continued vigour.

This article reports findings from a survey at 17 universities in Guangzhou in 1998, involving data from interviews and questionnaires. It is also based on long‐standing personal working experience at a university in Guangdong, and on primary as well as secondary sources of information about the current situation in China. At the end, it discusses some strategies that might be employed to effectively facilitate further improvement of internationalisation of higher education in Hong Kong and the mainland.     

Humanising Writing centre Practice: Peer tutor Reflections at a University of Technology

Abstract

Traditionally, universities of technology (UoTs) have focussed on education to prepare students for the workplace. The Durban University of Technology (DUT) is currently undergoing a pedagogical transformation with the inclusion of a general education curriculum that aims to prepare students for an increasingly complex globalised work environment. This critical paradigm shift in curriculum design foregrounds new ways of teaching, thinking and learning based broadly on humanistic principles. Writing centres in universities are positioned to sustain a teaching and learning environment in which students grow as critical citizens. This article reports on research that explored – through the thematic analysis of tutor reflections – how a humanising pedagogy underpins a responsive writing centre practice within the changing South African context. Thematic analysis of the tutors’ reflections revealed their self-awareness of the significance of communities of practice in their work. These communities of practice could be seen to cultivate a humanising pedagogy within writing centre work, which might contribute to the aesthetic, socio-political and cultural environments in which students live and work.     

Not quite university people? Academics teaching on foundation studies programmes in New Zealand universities

ABSTRACT

In the current neoliberal environment in higher education, universities are viewed as a valuable source of income. To generate this income, universities need to attract students, and in order to do so, they need to perform well in global ranking tables. These tables are influenced to a large extent by staff research and postgraduate teaching. Foundation studies programmes (FS) do not usually have a great deal to offer in these categories and this places staff teaching on these programmes in a difficult position. This article explores the perceptions of staff teaching on FS programmes in New Zealand universities, drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with 22 lecturers from four universities. Although lip service is paid in higher education circles to the importance of widening access to university education for traditionally marginalised groups, it appears that staff teaching on FS programmes do not, on the whole, receive acknowledgement, support or reward for the work that they do. Despite their marginalised status, these lecturers are committed to helping second chance learners. However, their ability to make a positive impact on these students’ lives is limited by their lowly status in the university sector. This article discusses the insights of FS staff and considers the implications of their positioning in the university sector. It offers some suggestions as to how, in a small way, universities could address the difficulties these academics face in their attempts to widen university access.     

The Rise of the Australian Comprehensive University

Australia is now moving into a unitary system of higher education following the current merger of the advanced education sector with the universities. As Australia will be without a non‐university higher education alternative, the resultant institutions are appropriately termed comprehensive universities. This article examines government policies which resulted in this extensive restructuring and discusses inadequacies in the conceptualisation of the post‐Dawkins university. Responses to the prospect of nationwide amalgamations and the ways in which they are being carried out are also discussed. Reference is made to the main challenges which will confront the new comprehensive universities.

Some have called the new changes in Australian higher education “a revolution”, a characterisation which is not altogether hyperbolic.     

A STRENGTHENED EUROPE AS A FACTOR IN THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION: A UNESCO VISION

Beginning with general considerations about the vocation and role of UNESCO with regard to the promotion of higher education, the article zeroes in on the specific activities of CEPES, the UNESCO European Centre for Higher Education in Bucharest, Romania. Some of these activities, which are presented in detail, involve the massive introduction of new information technologies and electronic communication links into the universities and the higher education systems of the region, particularly in eastern Europe. These will contribute greatly to the internationalization of education, one of the goals of UNESCO.     

East–West partnerships: lessons from UNESCO and Eidos

This article draws lessons from experience at UNESCO and Eidos pertinent to the issues of developing East-West Partnership in education. For the past 60 years, UNESCO’s mission has been to promote international co-operation. It has been very much involved in promoting intellectual co-operation among the professional leaders in education. Eidos is a consortium linking three Queensland Government Departments and seven of its universities that are committed to building collaborative research and policy capacity and to ensuring that research informs educational policy and practice. The experience of UNESCO indicates that to be successful, partnerships must focus on shared goals and mutual advantages. Partners must be prepared to meet their commitments and abide by agreed standards, and there needs to be effective monitoring of performance. The Eidos experience confirms that maintaining partnerships is not easy in a highly competitive environment, but that we must harness the collective expertise of researchers and policy makers if we are to develop innovative solutions to the complex problems facing our education systems.     

Recent trends and developments in primary and secondary education in England

Conclusion Change is not an abnormal or even intermittent state in education. It is an essential and permanent part of any system. True, the rate of change may be greater or less at different times but it is always present in some measure. Change at the present time in English education is rapid and, if a mere list is to be avoided, some of the trends and developments have to be omitted from a short account. Partly the movement is a reflection of the rate at which society as a whole is changing, partly the result of a belief that the system as at present constituted does not entirely meet the needs of contemporary society, even less the society of the future in which the children now at school will be adults and earn their livings. We shall have to run quite fast to stay in the same place. We shall have to run even faster if we want to get anywhere else.

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Neue Tendenzen und Entwicklungen im Primar- und Sekundarschulwesen in England

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Tendances et developpements recents dans l'enseignement primaire et secondaire en Angleterre

     

Scottish education: Changes in the examination structure in secondary schools

Conclusion Any examination system, to maintain its viability, must change in response to relevant pressures. When the Certificate examinations were introduced in 1888, their purpose was threefold: — to supplement the inspection of certain secondary-type schools; to establish uniform standards of attainment; to provide a Certificate acceptable to the universities and other examining or professional bodies. The first of these purposes was a temporary expedient, vital at that particular stage in the development of Scottish secondary education; the other two are still valid purposes today. Throughout the years, changes in the Certificate examinations have had two main aims: the encouragement of a widening of the curriculum to meet changing conditions, social, economic and industrial; and an easing of the pressure on secondary pupils. The introduction of the Ordinary grade in 1962 is entirely within this tradition; the projected Advanced grade is less clearly so;1) nevertheless, this departure may be the inevitable reaction to pressures to which the system has not previously had to respond.Whatever the final outcome may be, the emerging pattern of the examination structure in Scottish secondary education is at least evidence of an adaptability and resilience which critics of the system had feared it might no longer possess. It may even be the case that the future historian will regard 1962 as one of the key dates in Scottish education, paving the way for an extension of the provision of full secondary education, with a more relevant and vital curriculum, an examination structure geared to modern needs, and a consequent utilisation of talent which the country has always possessed, and can no longer afford to neglect.

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Schottische Erziehung: Veränderungen im Prüfungswesen

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Education ecossaise: Changements dans la structure des examens des ecoles secondaires

     

Scolarisation Et Promotion Feminines En Afrique Francophone (Côte-D'ivoire,Haute-Volta,Senegal)

Sans résumé

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The education and advancement of women in Africa (Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Senegal)

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Bildung Und FÖrderung Der Frauen In Afrika (Elfenbeinküste, Ober-Volta, Senegal)

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Version abrégée, allégée notamment de nombreux tableaux et références, d'un article paru dansTiers-Monde, revue publiée par l'Institut d'Etude du Développement Economique et Social (Université Paris I), Tome 13, N^o 49, Janvier-Mars 1972, pp. 41–83. Le présent rapport est redevable, par ailleurs, de nombreuses informations concernant la situation des filles et des femmes en Afrique à Mlle Nicole Friedrich de l'UNESCO.     

Education and sustainability: reinvigorating adult education’s role in transformation,justice and development

Distinctively economic objectives for lifelong education, especially adult learning and education, feature prominently in policy-making agendas and educators’ practice in much of the world. Critics contend that humanistic and holistic visions of lifelong learning for all have been marginalised and neglected. The current turn of political attention to issues of planetary environmental sustainability and to global societal transformation and interconnectedness raises further questions and prospects. Two United Nations’ publications in 2015: UNESCO’s Rethinking Education: toward a global common good? and of the United Nations’ Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pose intersecting concerns for lifelong learning and environmental sustainability. This article engages with those questions in particular regard to the role of adult learning and education. It discusses a field study of non-formal adult education in Ghana. The field study contributes evidence that resiliently humanistic conceptions and practices of non-formal adult education practically succeed to foster transformation, development and human flourishing. That effective humanism gives credence to the ambitiousness of UNESCO and UN agenda for transformation and sustainability and informs international debates.