The Use of University Rankings in the United Kingdom

University league tables and rankings are produced annually in the United Kingdom by the leading "quality" newspapers using statistical data on universities and colleges published each year. The newspapers claim that the up-to-date independent measures which they provide annually on the changing quality of universities are necessary to guide students in choosing universities in which to enroll. Many, however, are skeptical about the accuracy (as opposed to the precision) of the data, where year-to-year movements in the rankings of institutions are as much artifacts of the data and their manipulation as real changes. Prospective students seem not to be strongly influenced by the annual changes in the league table position of a given institution but are influenced more strongly by competition for places and the quality of the learning environment offered by the university.     

The Shaping of a Gendered School

Gender education has been emphasized in Taiwan in recent years. Related research undertaken such as textbook reviewing and teachers' gender consciousness has pointed out potential problems in regard to gender in education. The process of shaping gender in a school per se has not yet been explored. This article aims to elaborate on how school authorities produce/reproduce stratification of school organization through the differentiation of male-strong/female-weak traits and through the segregation of educational work. An examination of school discourses and institutional arrangements demonstrates the underlying gendered nature of a school culture and the reproduction of differentiation, segregation, and stratification.     

University competition,student migration and regional economic differentials in the United Kingdom

University entrance for undergraduate degree courses is highly competitive in the United Kingdom, both among students and universities. A model is proposed of regional competition among the latter, from which a number of indices of their relative competitiveness are derived. These are applied to empirical evidence for groups of neighbouring universities from which a regional pattern of competitiveness emerges in harmony with the national north-south divide. The model is then extended to other aspects of higher education and to the wider space economy. Certain implications are identified, bearing in mind changes in the level and funding of degree course provision now being introduced nationally.     

美、澳、英三国教育博士的培养目标与培养过程研究

对美、澳、英三国Ed.D.教育项目的培养目标、培养环节、入学要求、课程设置、学习与指导、论文写作与学位授予等事项进行了详细的阐述与分析,以对我国即将开展的Ed.D.教育提供有益的借鉴和启示.     

Gender Differences in Undergraduate University Admissions in the United Kingdom

Admissions data for the admissions year ending in October 1989 are analysed by sex, subject and level of qualification. It is found that entry into some subjects is easier than entry into other subjects, and that this works to the disadvantage of women applicants. It is also found that, in general, in male dominated subjects females who have low levels of qualification are more likely to be accepted than males, the reverse being true of female dominated subjects. The consequences of these effects are explored.     

Planning,Government, and Administration in Two University Systems: California and the United Kingdom

(The Editors are pleased to be able to publish the following paper by Mr Geoffrey Caston, which is a case‐study of direct relevance to the major policy issues raised in the cluster of articles which precede it.)     

关注英国开放大学的学习支持服务

英国开放大学的学习支持服务系统颇为完善。他们在面授辅导、在线学习、新技术的应用及教材建设、网络课程等方面有许多独到之处,值得我们学习、借鉴。     

Diagnosis,Treatment, and Educational Implications for Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in the United States,Australia, and the United Kingdom

For many years there has been debate over Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and whether this condition, which commonly afflicts adolescent children, is a medical or social condition and whether it is exclusively an American phenomenon. This article reviews the basis of ADHD's definition, diagnosis, treatment, and educational implications across three countries: the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The differences in approach have clear and significant consequences for children and their futures.     

Curriculum Profiling in Australia and United Kingdom: Some Implications for Performance-Based Assessment in the United States

An important development in the context of recent moves toward alternative, performance-based assessment has been the emergence of curriculum profiles. These profiles are assessment tools that allow teachers to make judgments about student achievement with reference to key curriculum outcomes in different subject areas. In this article, six dimensions of curriculum profiles are identified: function-purpose, curriculum coverage, criterion referencing, validity-reliability. manageability, and interpretability. The extent to which each dimension is present in three recently developed curriculum profiling systems—the Australian National Profiles, the Victoria (Australia) Profiles, and the National Curriculum Assessment in England and Wales—is examined. This article highlights the fact that tensions exist among many of these dimensions and examines how the tensions have been addressed within each of the systems. The article concludes with a consideration of the implications of international research on curriculum profiles for the development and implementation of performance-based assessments in the United States.     

Approaches to Global Education in the United States, The United Kingdom and Japan

This paper analyses approaches to global education in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. The paper begins by looking at movements that preceded global education, such as education for international understanding, development education, multicultural education, and peace education. The rise and fall of these earlier movements is analysed in terms of the interplay between the international and domestic politics of particular countries. To identify the world views which underpinned these pedagogic forms, the author discusses various discontinuities between the period up to the 1990s and thereafter. It is suggested that fresh forms of global education are emerging in - and because of - the changed world of the late 20th and early 21st century.     

Approaches to Global Education in the United States, The United Kingdom and Japan

This paper analyses approaches to global education in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. The paper begins by looking at movements that preceded global education, such as education for international understanding, development education, multicultural education, and peace education. The rise and fall of these earlier movements is analysed in terms of the interplay between the international and domestic politics of particular countries. To identify the world views which underpinned these pedagogic forms, the author discusses various discontinuities between the period up to the 1990s and thereafter. It is suggested that fresh forms of global education are emerging in - and because of - the changed world of the late 20th and early 21st century.     

When Identity and Leadership Intersect: The Experiences of Six Female Principals in South Africa

While literature on the interplay between educational leadership and context abounds, the attention granted to the experiences of female principals has, to a large extent, treated the construction of women as a homogeneous entity. Consequently, very little, certainly within the South African context, is known about how women in leadership positions construct and enact their leadership identities. Drawing on the experiences of six female principals at public schools, this article investigates the extent to which conceptions of gender give shape to the formation of leadership identity. To this end, the focus of the article is to explore the complex intersections of constructions of identity in relation to female principals; and how these constructions hold particular implications for conceptions of gendered leadership in South African schools.     

英澳德职业教育与培训：相似原则指导下的不同实践

文章主要分析了英国、澳大利亚和德国这三个国家的职业教育和训练体系的共同原则和不同实践。首先探讨企业在这三个国家参与职业教育和训练中的作用。英澳德三国致力于改进相关工作技能并为青年人提供企业相关训练，注重加强训练中企业的参与。澳、德特别强调学徒制途径的重要性，英国的现代学徒制也以崭新的面貌呈现在世人面前。其次。英、澳两国引入职业资格认定的评估体系，探索职业协会在资格认定中的重要作用。英澳德三国保证职业教育质量的方法是相似的。最后探讨了欧洲一体化政策对于学生与职业资格在不同国家转移的作用。比较英澳德三国时，发现相似多过区别，职教方法的一致性更明显地体现在职教政策的概念基石上，而不是具体的实施过程中，然而，欧洲教育和训练一致化的动议也意味着职教实践上的逐渐趋同。     

南非大学:推进非洲大陆的开放与远程学习

南非大学在推动非洲远程与开放学习方面具有重要的战略作用,虽然在非洲,增加高等教育的机会仍然是一个潜在的迫切需要,但南非大学和非洲远程教育理事会（ACDE）决心不能以牺牲开放与远程学习所培养学生的能力、课件内容、教学和学习、学生支持等的质量为代价。为了实现这一目标,南非大学已经参与了一系列合作、质量保证,以及大学层面和非洲层面的数据分析。在大学层面,南非大学旨在通过合作伙伴关系、制定一套前沿的质量规则、周密的数据聚合,促使制定能在国家政策环境下成长和发展的最佳的、适当的决策,从而提高南非大学的影响力及其对开放与远程学习的贡献。在非洲层面,南非大学积极参与了一系列创新举措,本文将深入探讨这些创新举措,从而洞察非洲大陆开放远程学习的现状,以及南非大学在其中所起的作用。     

United Kingdom: University Development in a Period of Restraint

We reproduced below extracts from the letter sent by the chairman on the University Grants Committee (UGC) to all universities on July 1, 1981.     

Early Maternal Employment and Children's Academic and Behavioral Skills in Australia and the United Kingdom

This study assessed the links between early maternal employment and children's later academic and behavioral skills in Australia and the United Kingdom. Using representative samples of children born in each country from 2000 to 2004 (Australia N = 5,093, U.K. N = 18,497), OLS regression models weighted with propensity scores assessed links between maternal employment in the 2 years after childbearing and children's skills in first grade. There were neutral associations between maternal employment and children's first‐grade skills in both countries. However, there was a slight indication that more time away from parenting was negatively linked to children's behavioral functioning in Australia and employment begun between 9 and 24 months was positively linked to cognitive skills for U.K. children of low‐wage mothers.     

Legal teaching methods to diverse student cohorts: a comparison between the United Kingdom,the United States,Australia and New Zealand

This article makes a comparison across the unique educational settings of law and business schools in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand to highlight differences in teaching methods necessary for culturally and ethnically mixed student cohorts derived from high migration, student mobility, higher education rankings and host governments promoting educational services. The approach of grounded theory is used, drawing data from instructor interviews and class observations of their teaching styles. While instructors from universities with higher numbers of international students are under pressure, the findings indicate there are positive consequences that result from these settings. Outcomes include experimentation in teaching methods, increases in the use of technology and more teacher training. There are concerns about English-language entry tests, a possible reputational risk for the higher education industry. This research contributes to the debate on changes in teaching methods that result from student mobility towards English-medium universities.     

Structural Change,Leadership and School Effectiveness/Improvement: Perspectives from South Africa

This article comments on leadership within mainstream literature on school effectiveness/improvement, where it is almost always considered to be a factor of change. The article argues that systemic school improvement, particularly for disadvantaged children, is inextricably linked to wider social, economic and political conditions—in South Africa’s case, the political transition from apartheid to democratic government. These structural conditions and specific historical contexts are often glossed over in models of school effectiveness/improvement. Through an analysis of dysfunctional and resilient schools as a legacy of apartheid, and of the slow reconstruction of education in the post‐apartheid period, the article argues for the importance of political legitimacy and authority in school improvement. The article concludes by suggesting that states in transition require a different theoretical lens in order to understand the impact of wider social changes on schools. In such societies, the establishment of legitimacy and authority is a precondition for sustainable effectiveness and improvement, and this has implications for theorising the role of leadership in school change more generally.     

The Role and Work of the Co-ordinating Committee for the Training of University Teachers in the United Kingdom

Interest in the training of university teachers began to develop over thirty years ago. The Association of University Teachers first raised the question of training with the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals in 1945. Despite further representation by the AUT in 1954 and again in 1961, universities showed no general acceptance of the need to train university teachers until 1961 when the University Grants Committee set up a sub-committee on University Teaching Methods under the Chairmanship of Sir Edward Hale.