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.     

The unintended and intended academic consequences of educational reforms: the cases of Post-Soviet Estonia,Latvia and Russia

In this paper, we try to unravel some of the unintended and intended academic effects associated with post-Soviet educational reforms by focusing on three cases: Estonia, Latvia and Russia. We have chosen this comparison because a unique ‘natural experiment’ in the three countries allows us to compare the changing academic performance on an international test of a largely similar population in the three countries—Russian origin students attending Russian-medium schools—subjected to three variations of post-Soviet reforms. We find that relative to students in Russia, Russian-medium students in the Baltics made significant gains in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test. In Latvia, these appear to be an unintended effect of somewhat ‘softened’ state language policies, the conditions surrounding minority rights, and the general context of maintaining social cohesion. In Estonia, the (later) relative gains of Russian students appear to an intended effect of locally grown educational (and language) policies and increased, more effective cooperation with Russian medium schools to further improve PISA performance in a relatively high scoring, PISA-focused country.     

Achieving both intellectual quality and relevance in classroom learning experiences: some conceptual challenges

The idea that the educational needs of secondary school students are best met by providing them with learning experiences that are both intellectually challenging and connected to the world beyond the classroom underpins several recent pedagogical initiatives in Australia. However, such learning experiences are rarely found in practice. Many reasons for this have already been identified, but we suggest there may be another dimension to this problem. From our experience of trialling a similar pedagogical approach with Years 8 and 10 students, the participating teachers seemed to be struggling with a conceptual dilemma that interfered with creating learning experiences that are both intellectually challenging and relevant. We suggest this dilemma was generated by a dualistic framework of thinking and practice, endemic in education systems, which constructs academic rigour and relevance as incompatible with each other. We conclude that there is a need for more extensive teacher professional development in pedagogies which attempt to integrate intellectual rigour and relevance.     

Leadership challenges in an educational program at a UAE juvenile detention center: A contextual analysis

Effective school leadership is a vital component of successful educational organizations, and the increasing complexity of schools requires leaders to employ contingent skills and contextualized approaches. We examined administrative approaches and challenges at an educational center of a juvenile detention facility in Abu Dhabi. Qualitative data for analysis were collected through interviews from administrators, a social worker, and teachers. Specific challenges encountered by the leaders of the juvenile center included support and communication issues with parents, discontinuity in juvenile students’ education, organizational and systemic problems, policy constraints, managerial pitfalls following early releases, curriculum suitability and delivery issues, problems involving follow-up and progress management of students, and difficulties regarding the general motivation and rehabilitation of juvenile students. The findings illustrated the significance of leaders’ roles in juvenile education and the staff relationships that influenced the fulfillment of leaders’ roles.     

藩篱与跨越:社会公平视域下的东盟职业教育发展

东盟经济的繁荣发展与社会不公平现象相伴而生。正规、非正规和非正式职业教育具有促进弱势群体发展与维护社会公平的功能。东盟职业教育系统存在职业教育参与程度不高,女性群体接受职业教育机会偏少;职业教育经费投入不足,正规职业教育入学率相对较低;职业教育管理体制欠妥,职业教育质量有待进一步提升等问题,这些限制了其促进社会公平功能的发挥。越南、菲律宾、新加坡分别在弱势青年群体技术技能培训项目、女性群体创新创业教育项目、劳动力继续教育与培训在线项目上进行了有益探索,并取得了令人瞩目的成效。     

Chronicling educator practices and experiences in the context of democratic schooling and quality education in South Africa

An interview-based qualitative study was undertaken to explore the experiences and practices of educators in providing democratic schooling as a way of delivering quality education for learners in schools. The exploration looked at educators’ understandings of the concept of democracy in schools, their understanding of the concept quality education and whether there is any link between democratic schooling and quality education. The findings suggest that there is a perceived link between democracy in schools and the delivery of quality education for learners, even though there are tensions and contradictions in democratising schools.     

教育平等视野下的职业技术教育制度创新研究

在教育平等的视野下,在相关理论研究的基础上,课题组采用文献法、理论分析法和问卷调查法对我国现行的职业技术教育制度和现实问题进行分析,从社会发展对职业技术教育的影响及要求出发,通过对问题产生根源的追溯以及与其他教育类型的比较,明确职业技术教育的弱势地位,提出教育类型不平等的研究视点;并在教育平等理念的引导下,采用比较研究方法,借鉴发达国家的发展经验,结合我国职业技术教育发展的实际,从制度创新角度研究我国职业技术教育的发展问题,用前瞻性的眼光,提出了职业技术教育制度创新的改革建议。     

Second Chance Programmes: a response to educational needs in compulsory education

This paper asks whether the integrated training provision currently offered through the different Spanish Second Chance Programmes (SCPs) constitutes a valid response to the educational needs and deficits known to exist among those young people who do not satisfactorily complete the Compulsory Secondary Education stage (ESO). The objectives of the current Social Guarantee Programmes (SGPs) are examined, as are the characteristics of the young people who participate in them. The Programmes of Initial Vocational Qualification (PCPI) envisaged in the most recent educational legislation are also discussed. Having identified the key factors which the empirical studies suggest influence the effectiveness of these programmes in addressing the educational needs and training deficiencies of the young people involved, a number of proposals are presented in connection with the training needs of teaching staff. The paper concludes with a number of proposals for improving the educational response to the challenges that the new perspectives and expectations raise for the development of a system of inclusive education to overcome the education deficits of the young people concerned.     

The complexity of human rights in global times: The case of the right to education in South Africa

The right to education has an established legacy in international agreements and debates, but has nonetheless proved difficult to achieve across the countries of the world. This paper explores why this might be so. It begins by locating the current architecture of rights in Enlightenment philosophy and the political and legal formations of modernity, exploring the paradoxical legacy this brings. It then looks more specifically at the right to education, and why it cannot be assumed that statements of rights deliver what they promise. Finally, it looks at education in South Africa to explore both the limits and the possibilities of using a framework of rights to achieve greater social justice in global times.     

How teachers perceive the new curriculum reform: Lessons from a school district in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The meanings that a teacher attaches to the new curriculum reforms act as his or her map on the curriculum implementation journey, and these usually determine the success of the education reforms. This research article explores the meanings attached to the new Science curriculum reforms by primary school teachers in a school district in South Africa, where the perceived meanings emanated from, as well as the role they played in the implementation of the reforms in the classroom. It is argued that new curriculum reforms have to take place concurrently with other changes in order for them to have a significant and long-lasting effect. Three possible ways will be suggested that will help the teachers to avoid formulating reform meanings that are not aligned with the vision and goals of the new curriculum.     

Sustaining environmental pedagogy in times of educational conservatism: a case study of integrated curriculum programs

Although the global call for environmental education is persistent, on a local or regional level, this call can be confronted by educational policies that drive environmental education out of the curriculum. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of the factors contributing to the sustainability of three teacher‐driven integrated curriculum programs (ICPs). Four key factors were identified: financial self‐sufficiency and physical isolation (program separation); and visibility of teachers in the school and support from a broad network of allies (political connection). This paper suggests that ICPs can be further supported by fostering pedagogical kinships and expanding counter‐praxis discourse. The paper also highlights the importance of ‘ground‐up’ programs in sustaining environmental education in periods of educational conservatism.     

高职聋生就业心理及教育对策案例研究

本研究选取109名高职聋生为研究对象,对其就业心态、就业安置倾向、就业形势与困难判断、就业选择及影响因素、就业与成才等进行了问卷调查,结果表明部分高职聋生在就业中具有明显的依赖心理、从众心理、畏惧心理、自卑心理和冷漠心理。由此对高职聋生进行系统的两课一训三结合的就业教育具有十分重要的现实意义。     

Implementation of open educational resources in a nursing programme: experiences and reflections

The IMPOER project (implementation of open educational resources, OER) aimed to implement OER in a nursing programme at Dalarna University, Sweden. The university and its nursing programme have long engaged in e-learning, and the nursing programme has recently been awarded the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities E-xcellence Associates Quality Label. The quality award was based on the creation of a roadmap for the continuous development of e-learning and the implementation of OER. The results of the study illustrated that overall, the students and the educators were positive about using OER. They considered that this approach was a new way of learning, and they appreciated the fact that OER were free and easy to access. However, they felt overwhelmed by the amount of material that was available and they were concerned about quality. If the use of OER is to be sustainable, a change in attitudes and practices among students and teachers is likely needed regarding the use of resources on the web.     

The culture of education policy making: curriculum reform in Shanghai

This paper explores the culture of education policy making in Shanghai using the conceptual tool of a ‘global assemblage’. A global assemblage is essentially a collection of ideas and practices that arise from the interplay between a global form and situated sociocultural elements. Focusing on the global form of curriculum reform, this paper explains how the Shanghai municipal government justifies the introduction of the ‘Second Curriculum Reform’ using the global imperative while maintaining its socialist ideology and central control on high-stakes exams. This paper highlights the active roles played by the municipal government and other local educational stakeholders in assembling their own logics, tactics and counter-measures in the contested space of the assemblage. It is argued that the success of the curriculum reform is mediated and vitiated by the sociocultural elements of a dominant exam-oriented culture and the traditional approaches of memorisation, repeated practice and didactic teaching. The complex and unpredictable process of implementing curriculum reform in Shanghai illustrates the culture of education policy making against a backdrop of globalisation as a problem space.     

Ethically scaling up interventions in educational development: a case for collaborative multi-sited ethnographic research

Educational interventions are often administered at scale in diverse settings as part of international development programmes. Their implementation is subject to a linear process that begins with finding out ‘what works’ at a local level, frequently through the use of randomised controlled trials, and continues with rolling out the intervention to the whole population at a national or even transnational level. This process often fails to consider the role cultural, political, and historical factors play in the perceived success of the local intervention, which can compromise both the impact and the ethics of at-scale implementation. To help address this issue, this paper argues for a definition of scalability that incorporates the ethics of the practice of scaling. It points to the potential of collaborative multi-sited ethnographic research to identify nuanced understandings of the different ethics systems endogenous to individual sites of implementation, in lieu of the universalising notions of ethics that are embedded in mainstream, linear notions of scalability. In so doing, it makes the case for multi-sited critical ethnography as a methodology of choice in researching the scalability of interventions in the context of development projects in the ‘Global South’.     

Approaches to English literacy teaching in the Central Pacific Republic of Kiribati: quality teaching,educational aid and curriculum reform

English literacy competence in the Central Pacific Republic of Kiribati is considered important for employment, overseas study and general engagement with a globalizing world. It is also considered as a key factor in the current government's response to climate change and sea level rise, enabling skilled relocation of I-Kiribati to other countries if necessary. This article synthesizes a range of literature sources based on Kiribati literacy education to highlight: a general perception that English literacy standards are in decline; the role of the teacher in addressing that decline; pedagogical approaches to teaching literacy, particularly the historic swing from a highly structured and socially conservative teacher-centred approach to that of a very liberal student-centred approach; and the reliance on Australian and NZ educational aid and consultancy in literacy education. These issues require further debate and investigation in light of unique development problems in Kiribati marked by: rural to urban drift; an increasingly youthful population; limited employment possibilities, and eventual possible large-scale repatriation due to sea level rise. The article tentatively suggests an approach to literacy education based on a four resources model that balances teacher and learner-centredness with socio-cultural and political aspects of literacy.     

Education,health and social welfare in the late colonial context: the International Missionary Council and educational transition in the interwar years with specific reference to colonial Africa

Mission schools in Africa in the first half of the twentieth century were in many ways microcosms of the great educational debates of the times. The objectives of policies regarding access, governance and curriculum were part of a historical evolution of mission education but they were also increasingly a reflection of significant new trends that were to reshape the theory and practice of colonial education. New forms of educational research and professional expertise were to play an ever‐increasing role in shaping the forms and content of the education provided. The brief of the mission churches was to meet with the increasing demand for schooling. Church and state gradually expanded their cooperation in the field as the costs of education outstripped the resources of the missions and the demand for mass education came to be linked to nationalist demands for political and economic rights. This paper is concerned to map the background to those international influences that shaped the policy and practices of mission education and the increasing engagement of colonial governments with the field of education. It addresses the question of the worldwide Protestant mission church’s response to the changing political, social and economic environment of the first half of the twentieth century. In particular it seeks to explore how mission initiatives shaped thinking about education in Asia, Africa, Oceania and Latin America by the 1930s. It also attempts to situate those issues within a wider educational framework by linking them to the emergent debate concerning pragmatism and utilitarianism in regard to progressive education in the USA and the quest for social democratic education in the United Kingdom and Europe as part of a response to socialism, nationalism and totalitarianism. In short, the paper explores the influence of the Christian mission churches with regard to social policy, in general, and the provision of education, in particular, during the interwar years, with special reference to areas influenced by the work of the International Missionary Council. At a time when there was a crisis of support for ‘foreign missions’ how did the debates between fundamentalist‐evangelicals and supporters of a ‘social gospel’ transform themselves into debates regarding the role of missions in non‐Western societies? And how did these essentially ecclesiastical/theological issues come to influence public policy, specifically educational policy, in the long term? The conclusions are that mission churches had a very significant influence on the shaping of educational thinking in the colonial and imperial context at a time when state influence in the sector was still often quite weak. The origins of the conference and research culture that has informed educational policy since the establishment of the United Nations Organization had its roots in the broad context of the Charter of the League of Nations, with a meeting of religious and secular goals, prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Between 1910 and 1939 there was a significant history of educational reform and community development that has only been partially documented in relation to its global significance. This is an attempt to build a framework for understanding the nature of those changes and what was achieved. The investigation is conducted through an exploration of the three great World Mission Conferences of the International Missionary Council (IMC) held at Edinburgh (1910), Jerusalem (1928) and Tambaram, India (1938). The attempts of Christian churches to engage with dramatic social changes associated with industrialisation, urbanisation, poverty, cultural change and the rise of anti‐colonialism, with specific regard to the field of educational policy, are documented and analysed.     

From numerical to comprehensive inclusion: utilizing experiences in the USA and South Africa to conceptualize a multicultural environment

This paper offers a critique of approaches to racial inclusion in the USA, and recommends that institutions of higher education adopt a more comprehensive approach. In particular, it argues that most approaches to racial inclusion in the USA focus on increasing the numbers of racially diverse students, or numerical inclusion. Despite the relative success of this approach, inequalities experienced by African American and other minority-group students attending predominantly white universities suggest that a more comprehensive approach to inclusion should be pursued. A comprehensive approach to inclusion would involve an examination of institutional characteristics to determine how policies, practices and programmes challenge African American and other minority-group students' success. For example, such an approach would involve a reconceptualization of the measures used to determine access, the nature and structure of curricula and teaching pedagogy.     

Global Knowledge-based Policy in Fragmented Societies: the case of curriculum reform in French-speaking Belgium

This article examines the relationship between knowledge and policy in French-speaking Belgium. It starts by describing Belgium as a consociational democracy, i.e. a society that is largely organised around integrated pillars of society (Catholic, secular), each of which provides a wide range of services (educational, training, health, health insurance, social care, family planning, leisure) to 'its' people. This special political-institutional arrangement has profound implications for the way knowledge circulates (or not) and the way it is used (or not) both within pillars and across the policy community. We argue that consociational democracies are not likely to generate knowledge-driven policy communities. Since knowledge could threaten the peace, some things are better left unknown: the co-existence of distinct communities requires a form of discretion ( Mangez, 2009 ).
Recently, however, globalisation has led to changes in this long-standing state of affairs: elites are now seeking more knowledge about systems and joint regulation is on the rise. In the education sector, several policy issues, including curriculum issues, have been subject to new joint regulation. In the second part of the article, we take curriculum reform as a case study to investigate these changes. Although all school networks from both pillars are now obliged to follow common guidelines (influenced by globalisation), they are still responsible for transposing them to their individual curriculum programmes. Lexico-statistical analysis reveals that when they transpose these common guidelines to their own curricula, each network reasserts its own values and cultural references (including its own view of the role of knowledge).