Substantiating a special cultural emphasis on learning and education in East Asia

Claims of a special cultural emphasis on learning and education (SCELE) in East Asia versus the West – the United States in particular – are legion in the research literature. The evidence is, however, largely anecdotal, severely geographically limited, or reflects an unrepresentative selection of respondents. We review the evidentiary strategies of earlier studies, situate the assumed SCELE in a theoretical framework, and compare the prevalence of learning and education words in general-interest newswriting samples from across East Asia and the United States (N = 61). Our findings confirm earlier unsubstantiated claims, provide new insight into the strength of the difference, and illustrate a novel means of quantifying the difference in magnitude of SCELE in East Asia in comparison to the United States.     

Emerging education hubs: the case of Singapore

In anticipation of a globalising post-Fordist political economy, countries and universities are increasingly pursuing strategic transnational education and research alliances. This article analyses the Global Schoolhouse, a key education policy platform that aims to transform Singapore into a knowledge and innovation hub by establishing networks and collaborations with foreign universities. Two Global Schoolhouse initiatives are examined—the alliance between Singapore and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and the institutional restructuring aimed at re-modelling the National University of Singapore into a ‘leading global university centred in Asia’. We outline some of the complexities and unanticipated outcomes which emerge when nations and their education institutions seek to globalise.     

The complexities and challenges of regional education hubs: focus on Malaysia

The race to establish regional education hubs is a recent development in cross-border higher education. This article briefly examines the rationales and strategies used by three countries in the Middle East and three in South East Asia which are working towards positioning themselves as regional education hubs. The different approaches and purposes among the six countries highlight the need for a typology of education hubs. Three types are proposed: the student hub, the training and skilled workforce hub, and the knowledge/innovation hub. The final section of the paper takes a closer look at Malaysia??s cross-border education initiatives and its actions to establish itself as a competitive education hub in a region where Singapore and Hong Kong have similar intentions. Whether Malaysia has the ability to make a quantum leap from being a student hub to becoming a knowledge/innovation hub remains to be seen and appears to be an optimistic outlook.     

Studying cultural diversity using information and communication technologies in teacher education: pedagogy,power and literacy

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between new technologies, pedagogy and cultural diversity. It is clear from the project discussed in this article that studying diversity issues on-line provides scope for developing what has been called cultural literacy following Bourdieu's (1990) notion of ‘different ways of seeing’. However, there are a number of unintended effects of power that emerge in this new cultural field which need examination. These include the importance of understanding the embodied context as much as the virtual, the need to be explicit about literacy practices to challenge the dominant liberal discourse of ‘voice’ in on-line discussion, and the effects of power that emanate from teaching and learning in this field.     

思想政治教育文化力对地震灾区重建的作用

灾区人民在经历了地震带来的巨大损失后,重建家园是更为重要的任务.某种程度上说,重建工作是举国上下的任务,在给予灾区人民物质支援的同时,我们更加注重给予灾区人民精神激励,精神动力能够为灾区建设提供更为持久,更为顽强的力量.思想政治教育文化力将在这一过程中发挥其应有的作用.民族精神转化为灾区人民艰苦奋斗、重建家园的坚定意志,转化为推动科学发展、促进社会和谐的强大动力.     

Madrasa education in South Asia and Southeast Asia: current issues and debates

Madaris (plural of madrasa) face a multitude of challenges in preparing students for life in rapidly modernising societies and emerging globalised knowledge economies. The complexity of the role and tasks of madaris, which are caught in the interface of modernity and tradition, the challenges they face, and the strategies they develop to address these challenges, suggest the need for a very cautious approach when attaining a clear picture of madrasa education and making conclusive statements about them. The literature has contributed more to confusion than clarity about the number of madaris, their rationale, purpose, pedagogy, curricula, funding, administration, relations with the state, and global violence. This paper presents an account of current debates of madrasa education and reform focusing on madaris within the diverse Sunni schools of thought and denominations located across South Asia and Southeast Asia. Based on an extensive review and analysis of over 90 articles, an overview of madrasa education and an examination of the issues and challenges facing Islamic schools that struggle to uphold tradition, and those that have begun to embrace modernisation and integration in the global process of change is given. The extent that some Islamic education systems are willing to collaborate with non-Muslims and in the process potentially enrich their circle of interest while engaging with the rest of the world in dialogue offers promising glimpses and a sense of hope for religious-based education in Muslim communities in the 21st century.     

Issues surrounding English,the internationalisation of higher education and national cultural identity in Asia: a focus on Japan

The English language is significant to the internationalisation of higher education worldwide. Countries in Asia are proactive in appropriating English for their national interests, while paying attention to associated national cultural identity issues. This article examines the ways in which the role of English is interpreted and justified in different countries in Asia, with a particular focus on Japan, as these nations attempt to internationalise their higher education within the broader processes of regionalisation and globalisation and their own nationalist discourse. Through critical analyses and discussions of Japan's two major government initiatives, the Action Plan 2003 to ‘Cultivate Japanese with English Abilities’ and the ‘Global 30’ Project 2008, the article investigates how cultural national identities are shaped, are altered and are put ‘at risk’ in policies and practices for the internationalisation of higher education and the overemphasis on English. It argues for the importance of understanding the intersections of English language policy, the internationalisation of higher education and national cultural identity and also considers how the over-promotion of English in the case of Japan has been energetically driven by the nation building agenda that tends to undermine local languages and what this might mean for internationalisation.     

YouTube: An emerging tool in anatomy education

The use of online social networks in medical education can remodel and enhance anatomy teaching and learning; one such network is the video-sharing site YouTube. Limited research in the literature exists on the use of YouTube as a platform for anatomy education. The aim of this study is to assess student's perceptions and patterns of usage of this resource, as well as the effectiveness of YouTube videos within a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. The study was conducted on 91 second-year medical students for whom video links were suggested throughout the academic year. In addition, the Human Anatomy Education (HAE) Channel was launched on YouTube to support classroom teaching with videos that emphasized applied aspects of anatomy. The results demonstrated that 98% of the students used YouTube as an online information resource, albeit in different frequencies. Out of the 86% who have been to the HAE Channel, 92% agreed/strongly agreed that the channel helped them learn anatomy. The study also reports the popularity of and awareness about using YouTube as a social network as well as in learning. Based on these findings, YouTube can be considered as an effective tool to enhance anatomy instruction if the videos are scrutinized, diversified, and aimed toward course objectives. Faculty of average computer literacy should be enabled to produce videos on their own YouTube channels to support independent learning and integration in a PBL curriculum. The methods described for capturing and editing the videos can be used as a prototype.     

Soft power as a policy rationale for international education in the UK: a critical analysis

This article presents the results of a textual analysis conducted on policy discourses on international students in the UK between 1999 and 2013. A number of rationales for and against increasing their numbers have been made, which have largely remained consistent over changing political administrations. One key rationale is that international students enhance the UK’s global political influence through its soft power. Critical analysis indicates that a number of unsubstantiated assumptions are made, representing international higher education and students in an outdated power relation predicated on Cold War politics. Key assumptions are that international students change their political attitudes and identify with the host country as a result of positive experiences. Later they are supposed to return home and reach positions of influence, which they exert in favour of the UK. They are represented to feel the same whether on scholarship or self-funded; and behave in predictable, similar ways. These representations of students as social subjects have disciplinary implications, which should be a topic for critical debate and potentially resistance in pedagogical contexts.     

Equity and marketisation: emerging policies and practices in Australian education

The conjunction of equity and market logics in contemporary education has created new and different conditions of possibility for equity, both as conceived in policy discourses and as a related set of educational practices. In this editorial introduction, we examine how equity is being drawn into new policy assemblages and how, in the context of marketisation, equity is evolving and being enacted in new ways across education sectors. Different conceptions of equity are considered, including the increasingly influential human capital perspective promoted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). We argue that, separate from critiques of neoliberalism and its deleterious effects on equity in education, it is necessary to analyse carefully the increasing rationalisation of equity agendas in economic terms, the associated effects on education governance and policy-making, as well as on the work of educational institutions and educators. Providing an overview of the contributions to this Special Issue, we direct particular attention to the multiple, complex and often contradictory effects of the current education reform agenda in Australia, which has prioritised equity objectives and intensified performance measurement, comparison and accountability as means to drive educational improvement and reduce disadvantage.     

Girls and basic education in Ghana: a cultural enquiry

This paper attempts to do three things: first to provide an argument for acknowledging and using the cultural dimension in educational development; second to put the case for a culturally more appropriate research methodology; and third to address the issue of access and gender in schooling within a cultural framework.Using predominantly life history interviews with women teachers and girls in and out of school, the research identifies three domains of enquiry: the home, economy and school, where problems and solutions of girls' access to schooling are to be found. It concludes with implications for policy makers at national and local level.     

文化素质教育与通识教育之比较

教育本质上是一种文化活动。我国高等学校开展的文化素质教育体现了教育这一本质特性。对我国高等学校的文化素质教育的基本性质和美国通识教育的历史和性质的分析,以及对文化素质教育和通识教育的比较显示,通识教育是美国高等教育的本土化创新,文化素质教育则是我国高等教育的本土化创新。文化素质教育要重视并借鉴通识教育的成功经验,但文化素质教育是我国高等学校素质教育的有机组成部分,它较之通识教育具有更全面、更丰富、更深刻的内涵,也更符合我国高等教育的发展要求。     

Video databases: An emerging tool in business education

A video database of business–leader interviews has been implemented in the assignment work of students in a Bachelor of Business Administration program at a primarily-undergraduate liberal arts university. This action research study was designed to determine the most suitable assignment work to associate with the database in a Business Strategy course and to analyze how the nature of learning was impacted by this technology intervention. Three different assignment approaches to accessing the online database were considered with students. Based primarily on quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews and focus groups, the study determined that this sample of students (N?=?65) preferred self-contained case study approaches that accessed regular interaction with the instructor and provided textual materials to supplement the database content.     

略论现代远程教育文化的内涵

现代远程教育文化是现代远程教育研究的重要课题之一.开展现代远程教育文化研究,既是远程教育实践发展的需要,也是远程教育学科建设的需要,更是我国建设学习型社会的需要.在对文化研究理论的简单归纳基础上,本文就其主要内容展开了讨论,包括物质文化、精神文化、教学文化和制度文化四个维度的十个方面.并指出了现代远程教育文化研究的价值和意义有利于培养积极向上的学习方式和生活方式,有利于营造健康和谐的远程教育文化生态,有利于形成具有中国特色的现代远程教育文化.