Teachers in international schools: a global educational ‘precariat’?

An over-looked global educational development has been the exponential growth of ‘international schools’. The field in 2014 involved almost 350,000 educators in over 7000 English-medium schools in non-English-speaking countries. This is expected to rise to half a million educators, mainly American and British, in 10,000 schools by 2022. The field has never constituted a ‘system’, and it remains largely uninspected, unmonitored and unregulated. There was substantial evidence from both social media comment and real-life reports in the popular press during 2013 and 2014 that the field is becoming an increasingly precarious one for teachers.     

Predictive control of a class of bilinear systems based on global off-line models

INTRODUCTION Bilinear systems are a kind of important nonlinear systems with relatively simple structure, and many industrial processes can be described as a bilinear system. Thus research on the control of this kind of systems is very important. On the other hand, model predictive control (MPC) (Clarke et al., 1987) has been widely used in industrial applications and many predictive control methods focusing on bilinear systems are emerging (Bloemen et al., 2001; Fontes et al., 2004; He…     

Neural network and genetic algorithm based global path planning in a static environment

INTRODUCTION The path planning problem of a mobile robot is to find a safe and efficient path for the robot, given a start location, a goal location and a set of obstacles distributed in a workspace. The robot can go from the start location to the goal location without colliding with any obstacle along the path. In addition to the fundamental problem, we also try to find a way to optimize the plan, say to minimize the time required or distance traveled (Wu et al., 1996; Sadati and Ta-he…     

On the global knowledge components in an information security curriculum–a multidisciplinary perspective

Because of the borderless feature of the Internet, information security threats could come from anywhere around the globe. In this research, we propose adding global knowledge components in the information security curriculum using a multi-disciplinary approach. We argue that a global perspective has been lacking in the current information security curriculum. We then propose several knowledge components to be added in the curriculum to enhance the global perspective. We also examine how to incorporate knowledge from various related disciplines, including political science, criminal justice, and business administration. Through our empirical study on faculty from various disciplines and the industry practitioners with first-hand information security knowledge, we confirm that the proposed knowledge components are relevant to the information security education and practice. Analyzing the similarities and differences among responses from various disciplines, we also found that albeit different disciplines have slightly different emphases on the curriculum components, they all tend to agree on the importance of adding the global perspectives in information security education. Our research could be of value to the educators in the information security field when considering incorporating a global perspective into the curriculum. It could also shed some lights when examining the relevance of global information security to various disciplines.     

Education for global citizenship in a divided society? Young people's views and experiences

Global citizenship education has been suggested as a means of overcoming the limitations of national citizenship in an increasingly globalised world. In divided societies, global citizenship education is especially relevant and problematic as it offers the opportunity to explore identities and conflict in a wider context. This paper therefore explores young people's understandings of global citizenship in Northern Ireland, a divided society emerging from conflict. Results from focus groups with primary and post-primary pupils reflect some theoretical conceptualisations of global citizenship, including an awareness of global issues, understandings of environmental interdependence and global responsibility, though other elements appear to be less well understood. We argue that global citizenship education will fail to overcome engrained cultural divisions locally and may perpetuate cultural stereotypes globally, unless local and global controversial issues are acknowledged and issues of identity and interdependence critically examined at both levels.     

Educating global citizens: a good ‘idea’ or an organisational practice?

Higher education emphasises training and skills for employment, yet while the ‘idea’ of educating global citizens appears in university discourse, there is limited evidence demonstrating how the ‘idea’ of the global citizen translates into practice. Recent research emphasises a desire for graduates to be local and global citizens with ethical and critical capacities for global workforce preparedness. The purpose of this paper is to explore the university responsibility for translating the ‘idea’ of the ethical thinking global citizen into practice. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with higher education experts (n?=?26). The interpretive research is discussed through the themes: Constructing the global citizen, Enacting the global citizen, Legitimating the global citizen and The sidelining context (italics used to distinguish research themes in text). The paper contributes to higher education discourse on a contested and topical issue.     

‘Governments base performance-based funding on global rankings indicators’: A global trend in higher education finance or a global rankings literature fiction? A comparative analysis of four performance-based funding programs

For nearly two decades now, the rankings literature has continued to suggest that governments are adopting performance-based funding models which prioritize criteria favored by global rankings. This study examines this assertion by analyzing the performance-based funding programs of Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. The study finds that the orientation of performance-based funding on global rankings is weaker than it is commonly assumed. Except for Finland, the funding volume universities raise from this orientation is not substantial to influence the institutional performance. The study also analyzes the recent structural changes to performance-based funding in each jurisdiction. Policy implications are provided in the conclusion for higher education systems revising their performance-based funding or considering a shift to performance-based accountability.     

The changing role of the state vis-à-vis higher education in a global context

Since the 1980s, a series of reforms that aimed to reconstruct the relationships among the government, the university, and the student (consumer) have been initiated in the systems of higher education. In varying degrees, these systems of higher education were affected by market forces. Given this, the relationship between the state and higher education has also been changed significantly. The purpose of this paper is to view recent changes in higher education in the historic context of globalization. It attempts to trace the source of these changes and to depict, against a new background, the new role of the state vis-à-vis higher education. It also seeks to illuminate the rationale behind the changing role of the state. By using the experiences of selected countries as illustrations, this paper will discuss the salient features of the state’s role change in various contexts. __________ Translated from Beijing Daxue Jiaoyu Pinglun 北京大学教育评论 (Peking University Education Review), 2007, 5 (1): 138–149     

The permanence and global attractivity of a competitive system with feedback controls and toxic substance

In this paper, we consider a nonautonomous competitive system with feedback controls and toxic substance. Some average couditions for the permanence and global attractivity of the system are obtained. It is shown that our results are generalization or improvement of those of Zhao, Jiang and Lazer E Nonlinear Analysis ： Real World Applications, 5 （ 4 ） （ 2004 ）, 265 - 276 1, Xia, Cao, Zhang and Chen Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications ,294 （ 2 ） （ 2004 ）, 503 - 5221 and Chen [ Nonlinear Analysis ： Real World Applications, in press ].     

Product design engineering – a global education trend in multidisciplinary training for creative product design

Product design is the convergence point for engineering and design thinking and practices. Until recently, product design has been taught either as a component of mechanical engineering or as a subject within design schools but increasingly there is global recognition of the need for greater synergies between industrial design and engineering training. Product design engineering (PDE) is a new interdisciplinary programme combining the strengths of the industrial design and engineering. This paper examines the emergence of PDE in an environment of critique of conventional engineering education and exemplifies the current spread of programmes endorsing a hybrid programme of design and engineering skills. The paper exemplifies PDE with the analysis of the programme offered at Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), showing how the teaching of ‘designerly’ thinking to engineers produces a new graduate particularly suited to the current and future environment of produce design practice. The paper concludes with reflections on the significance of this innovative curriculum model for the field of product design and for engineering design in general.     

Creating a ‘world class’ programme: reciprocity and constraint in networked global collaboration

The article reflects on the construction of a common Master’s programme across four universities located on four continents, in order to explore the role of networks in international educational collaboration. The study draws on the documented processes of the principal members of the programme team. It is presented as a case study of the development of the programme that uses ideas drawn from actor‐network theory to draw attention to the conjunction of human and non‐human actors that shaped the resulting web‐based courses. Constraints arising from major institutional and systemic obstacles were addressed through the effects of the actor‐network. The reciprocity of action and de‐centring of individual activity made possible through the collaboration enabled the human actors to sustain a level of innovation within their own institutions that would not have been possible through them acting alone.     

The permanence and global attractivity of a competitive system with feedback controls and toxic substance

In this paper, we consider a nonautonomous competitive system with feedback controls and toxic substance. Some average couditions for the permanence and global attractivity of the system are obtained. It is shown that our results are generalization or improvement of those of Zhao, Jiang and Lazer [ Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications, 5 ( 4 ) ( 2004 ), 265 - 276 ], Xia, Cao, Zhang and Chen [ Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications ,294 (2) ( 2004 ), 503 - 522 ] and Chen [ Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications, in press ].     

Students’ communication, argumentation and knowledge in a citizens’ conference on global warming

An empirical study on 12th-grade students?? engagement on a global warming debate as a citizens?? conference is reported. Within the design-based research methodology, an interdisciplinary teaching sequence integrating an initiation to non-violent communication was developed. Students?? debates were analyzed according to three dimensions: communication, argumentation, and knowledge. Students regulated their oral contributions to the debate by identifying judgments in their discussions. Rhetorical processes developed by students were mainly related to the identity of debate protagonists with interest attributions, authority, and positions. Students?? arguments also relied on empirical data. The students?? knowledge focused on energy choices, economic, political, and science development issues. Implications for socioscientific issues integration in class are discussed.     

Constructing “world-class” as “global”: a case study of the National University of Singapore

This article investigates the ways in which newly-established higher education institutions (HEIs) position themselves as “world-class” through constructing themselves as “global”. With the escalating “free market” and competitive forces arising from the marketization of education, most universities see a construction of themselves as global universities as a necessity, where the global mark is valued as a signal of quality across markets and thus positions the universities as world-class. This study specifically examines how one very successful emerging university, the National University of Singapore, constructs and promotes itself as a global institution through three strategies.     

Citizenship education ‘goes global’: extra-curricular learning in an overseas campus of a British civic university

Active citizenship is increasingly being framed in the context of lifelong and life-wide learning. However, research on young people’s participation in and experience of different forms of civic practice, particularly in informal settings in different sociocultural contexts, is scarce. Consequently, little is known about how these experiences shape their learning about active citizenship, their understanding of the self and their relationship to society. This paper reports findings from a small-scale qualitative research on students’ experiences of participation in extra-curricular activities (ECAs) in a UK Transnational Higher Education institution in China, in relation to the development of active citizenship and lifelong learning capacity. The findings suggest ECAs can provide opportunities for students to accumulate knowledge and develop skills, attitudes and values that underpin the promotion of active citizenship, while developing habits and skills essential for lifelong learning.     

The internationalised university as discourse: institutional self‐presentations,rhetoric and benchmarking in a global market

In the last half century higher education has had to respond to a rapidly accentuated process of globalisation. Consequently, universities worldwide are more concerned with internationalisation than before. Stier identifies three intrinsic internationalisation ideologies (idealism, instrumentalism and educationalism) in higher education. Drawing from these ideologies and using discourse analysis, written documentation on internationalisation from 31 universities in 12 countries has been analysed to explore the self‐presentations that universities project of themselves in discursive space. Focal questions were: (1) what types of rhetorical devices are used in university’s self‐presentations and (2) what are the ideological consequences of this use? Five idealtypical self‐presentations were discussed. One conclusion drawn is that universities must harmonize politically controversial dichotomies, which produces consensus narratives. Yet there are potential tensions between these dichotomies. On the language level these tensions are resolved by harmonising different ideals.