Adult higher education in the Netherlands: National policy and local practice

Policy papers published by the Ministry of Education and Science in the Netherlands show that the government is strongly interested in the concept of recurrent education. One possible way of implementing this idea is through university level evening programs. In the Social Science Faculty of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam the evening program in sociology (which was established through the institution's own initiative) has recently taken on an institutionalized character. This article reports the results of research on the first year's experience of the day and evening students who began their studies in 1974. Attention is devoted to evening student recruitment, motives to take up university study and sociology in particular, minimum conditions within the institution's infrastructure, the curriculum and output. University evening education in general is also discussed and some policy conclusions are formulated regarding the realization of university evening education in the Netherlands.Translation: Drs. Ray Jurkovich.     

Asymmetries in progression in higher education in Taiwan: Parental education and income effects

A unique data set on Taiwan was employed to investigate the socioeconomic family backgrounds of students attending universities. Our empirical study found that individuals attending university are more likely to come from better-educated families than are those who do not attend university. Students attending public universities, which receive higher government subsidies, tend to come from wealthier families. Furthermore, our results show that the relationship between the size of the government subsidies and family background is not purely progressive. Students attending normal universities/teacher training colleges received the highest subsidies but tended to come from the least-educated families. Students attending the top five public universities come from the most affluent families of Taiwanese society.     

The ghosts of higher education reform: on the organisational processes surrounding policy borrowing

The Bologna Process is one of the most extensive examples of policy borrowing processes. Based on qualitative data, this article argues in favour of studying part of this process as ‘global smallness’, centring on the organisational effects of the implementation of a globalised curriculum. Through Derrida's notion on hauntology, Fenwick and Edward's analysis of multiple reals, and Barad's understanding of entanglement and time, this article explores how the implementation processes evoke simultaneously existing worlds of practices propelled by the agency of the past troubling present higher education reform. Finally, this article addresses how ongoing reforms tend to increase the stretch between ‘what is performed on the outside’ and ‘what is practiced on the inside’.     

顺应全球化:发展中国家高等教育的变迁与改革

随着全球化经济就业模式的变化及对技能的需求 ,高等教育的内涵出现了变化。旨在满足国家优先发展战略的自上而下的高等教育投资政策已难以满足大众的迫切需求 ,基于个人和社会需求的自下而上的决策观更能满足人才、职业全球流动性日益增加的社会现实。根植于学术研究的知识生产模式难以在新形势下发挥作用 ,而与自下而上的政策建构相适应的知识生产模式 ,将有利于发展中国家在国际高等教育市场中保持竞争力     

Internationalization of higher education in the crucible: Linking national identity and policy in the age of globalization

Nationalism’s rise represents a potential harbinger of doom for the internationalization of higher education (IoHE). Space exists for research to amplify our understanding of the interplay between internationalization and nationalism from a public policy theory perspective. The study identified and classified policies and policy ideas pertinent to IoHE, and furthermore, explored how political rivalries in Taiwan have influenced IoHE’s development under globalization. Analysis of documentary data from an online national database reveals how IoHE policy changes reflect the machinations of political actors to advance domestic political agendas and provoke controversy. The advocacy coalition framework informs our explanation of how the aforementioned changes reflect Taiwan’s inward-looking political climate, unique geopolitical circumstances, and longstanding controversy over national identity. The paper discusses the implications of context for IoHE development across three consecutive government regimes to provide insights for further comparisons with other localities and contexts.     

Reflecting on Practice: using learning journals in higher and continuing education

The purpose of this study is to report on the use of learning journals as vehicles for encouraging critical reflection among non-traditional students and to compare variances with studies among traditional students. An objective of the study was to understand how adult students in a 'technical' computer class responded to the requirement for learning journals. Qualitative research focused on whether learning journals prove to be an effective teaching tool in science-based, adult learning. The study was conducted at Columbia University's Computer Technology programme in Continuing Education. Results suggest that non-traditional students are more skeptical than traditional students about using learning journals and more likely to use them as study tools. An implication of this study is that student perception and skepticism of the assignment can affect the objective of developing reflective thinking. This implication stresses the need to account for student perception in studies on learning journals and critical reflection.     

全球化语境下的中国基础教育改革

在全球化语境下考察我国基础教育改革,针对其中存在的教育价值观不健全、教育目标的全球化取向不突出、教师缺乏全球素养、教育国际交流与合作不平衡等问题,我们应当转变观念,树立新的教育价值观,突出教育目标的全球化,在教师教育中加强全球教育,促进教育国际交流与合作的平衡发展.     

新自由主义、全球化与高等教育发展

高等教育的存在与发展具有两种特性:理智特性和社会特性。这两种特性的演变在不同的历史阶段都受到不同思潮的影响。新自由主义和全球化是影响当今高等教育发展的两大主要思潮。新自由主义通过强调高等教育所传授知识的可交易性、效率性、个体性、竞争性和自由化来重塑高等教育发展的理智特性,全球化则从时空、制度和组织三个维度影响高等教育的社会特性。应对新自由主义和全球化的挑战,需要扭转通过拥抱市场、放弃公共利益来推进高等教育的做法,但也必须抓住机遇使本国高等教育融入全球知识经济。     

Internationalization of higher education and language policy: the case of a bilingual university in Taiwan

Universities worldwide, in placing a greater emphasis on global mobility, have recently seen a growing number of in- and outbound students. Parallel to this development has been the need to internationalize individual campuses, an important aspect of which is to have a common language (or languages) used for communication. The language policies in Asian universities have been complicated by the growing presence of international students who may only understand one of the languages used as the medium of instruction, typically English. Drawing on Tinto’s integration (Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1987) and Spolsky’s language policy (Language management, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009) frameworks, this exploratory, perceptual study solicits the views from 38 international students on the implementation of a bilingual education policy, especially with respect to whether the policy facilitated these sojourners’ academic and social integration at a Taiwanese university that is actively advocating internationalization. The findings suggest that Mandarin Chinese continues to be the mainstream medium of instruction and social activities, while English is used rather sparingly and on an as-needed basis. The recognition of the growing economic power of China and importance of Chinese as well as the scholarships provided may have overridden these sojourners’ integration concerns and challenges arising from the underuse of English as a lingua franca.     

Finance reform in Japanese higher education

One of the characteristics in Japan's system of higher education is its large private higher education sector. However, recent financing reforms have targetedmainly national universities since the largestproportion of government support to highereducation goes to these institutions. Recentreforms have been changing the structure and natureof national university finance. These changeswere also influenced by a large private sector. Private universities also compete with nationaluniversities in order to increase financialresources. Therefore, there is a need toreconsider resource allocation and thedistribution of functions among whole universities.     

台湾高等技职教育的现状、政策与发展

台湾高等教育阶段的学校类型大抵仍延续中等教育的双轨制,分为学术及技职两类.本文针对台湾的高等技职教育,首先进行历史背景的回顾,其次介绍近来发展的概况及分析当前面临的问题,最后再论述未来的政策与发展方向.     

近代直隶高等学校的国际化特征及启示

近代直隶的高等学校具有鲜明的国际化特征。各学校在创建初期通过聘用外国师资、使用外文教材、促成教师参与国际学术交流、向海外派遣留学生、沿用外国课程和学制等方式推动学校国际化,实现了办学水平的迅速提升。近代直隶高等学校的历史经验表明:高校必须首先明确国际化办学理念,并将该理念落实到具体的教育教学工作之中,充分借鉴国外先进经验,不断提升办学水平。这才是高等学校国际化的应有之义。     

全球化对我国教育变革的影响综述

20世纪80年代以来．学术界对全球化进行了系统的研究。本文在概述我国学者对全球化基本含义认识的基础上，从两大角度较详尽综述了学者们对全球化对我国教育变革影响的认识，即：按照全球化对教育变革的影响是否有中介而把这种影响划分为直接影响和间接影响，按照价值判断角度把全球化的影响划分为积极影响和消极影响。     

The policy object: a different perspective on policy enactment in higher education

This paper proposes a new perspective for higher education policy research. It introduces the concept of policy object to designate the discrete preoccupation(s) of a policy text (e.g. a new governance regime, a quality system, or new degrees) and suggests that actor conceptualisations of the policy object intersect with other elements in the policy process to shape enactment and outcomes. First, the policy object concept is described. It is argued that the policy object does not have an objective existence and two concepts are proposed to explain it: ontology and enacted ontology. The former refers to what actors believe the policy object is, a socially-construed context-determined conceptualisation, whereas enacted ontology refers to what the policy object becomes further to enactment under the influence of ontology. Second, the paper presents the findings of a comparative study of master degrees further to the Bologna process in different national and institutional settings to illustrate the policy object approach. This research puts forward arguments to suggest that the policy object could be an important variable to consider in policy research. This somewhat different lens, inviting fine-grained attention to a specific policy object (its ontologies and enacted ontologies), could bring additional insight into policy outcomes.     

Facilitating debate in networked learning: Reflecting on online synchronous discussion in higher education

Small-group collaborative learning in whichstudents have opportunity for criticaldiscussion is a key element of effectiveteaching and learning in Higher Education. Providing this sort of education throughNetworked Learning (NL) is challenging. Research in Computer Mediated Communication(CMC) is revealing that facilitating effectiveuse of these tools depends on encouragingstudents to take many different dialogue roles.Our hypothesis was that asking post-graduatestudents to reflect on the kinds of role theyshould take in synchronous online discussionwould encourage adoption of such roles. A``role-play' activity was introduced topost-graduate students who used a VirtualLearning Environment (VLE) as part of theircourse. Initial results showed that bothdistance and face-to-face students, nativespeakers (NS) and non native speakers (NNS),working collaboratively on the same coursethrough the VLE, had comparable outcomes onessay assignments and that NNS and distancelearners slightly outperformed face-to-facestudents in their group work. Moreover, therewas evidence that the facilitation technique ofraising student awareness of roles waseffective in helping (at least some) studentsmanage synchronous online discussion moreeffectively, improving the overall coherence,focus and depth of discussion.     

Whiteness as futurity and globalization of higher education

Higher Education - Amid growing debates about globalization of higher education (HE) reproducing inequalities, an analysis of race as the organizing influence underlying this global phenomenon...