Evaluation of education in the European Union: Policy and methodology

Given the new European institutional environment for education and training, policy and methodology for evaluation have become closely interwoven and stakes have been raised. This emerging situation calls for a robust reappraisal of existing comparative evaluation data and systems in the light of the perceived needs of European countries and of the specificity of European policies. Educational evaluation in Europe is not meant to compare results in the usual sense of the word but rather to help set global policy objectives and provide data to see if those are reached within national contexts. Is it really possible to do this without developing a 'unified' European understanding and methodology of evaluation? To what extent can existing national and international data be used for the purpose, knowing that in some instances they measure aspects of education which are either not relevant for or are contrary to the educational objectives of the construction of the Union? What are the alternatives? What are the consequences for education and for assessment research in Europe?     

The contribution of PISA to the convergence of education policies in Europe

The international comparative studies on students’ outcomes have initiated analyses that have had a growing influence on national and sub‐national education policies in industrialised and developing countries. It is particularly the case of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which started in 2000 and has organised surveys every 3 years, so that the 2015 survey was the 6^th. Its influence has been particularly important for several reasons: 1) it assesses the basic competences in reading literacy, maths and science of 15 year‐olds students, i.e. around the end of compulsory education in many countries; 2) the assessment is based on a reliable methodology and the tests are completed by qualitative surveys and studies; 3) and the results lead to recommendations and are amplified by the media in most countries. However, it is not easy to evaluate the real impact of PISA because of the existence of other international studies such as IEA's TIMSS and, particularly in Europe, the influence of the recommendations and benchmarks of the EU that has been growing steadily in the last 25 years. Our analysis of the impact of PISA and EU policy focuses on the evolution of the education policy in France, but also studies its evolution in a few other European countries. Finally, we underline the limits of the influence of PISA and international standards in education towards a convergence of education systems because of the importance of their specific historic and cultural contexts.     

Competence in educational theory and practice: a critical discussion

This paper first provides a brief overview of the history and current usage of the concept of competence in academic research, and then undertakes a critical discussion of how the term is currently used in educational policy. The running example used throughout the paper is competence in foreign language learning. The PISA study is discussed to demonstrate how the concept of competence has come to prominence in the international discourse on education in recent years. Following this, particular attention is given to the situation in Germany where there has been a shift towards competence as an aim of teaching in recent years, coupled with an increased focus on standards and accountability. The relationship between competence and standards is examined critically, since some authors appear to use the two interchangeably whether or not this is justified. Finally, the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) and a German curriculum document are examined critically with regard to their use of the concept of competence.     

Europe versus Asia: foreign language education other than English in Japan’s higher education

The era of Asia has been felt in foreign language education in Japan, with more and more youth reportedly opting to study Chinese and Korean as the second foreign language. The shift in popularity, from European to Asian languages, not only reflects the societal demand for the institutional rearrangement of academic staff but also stirs teachers of European languages to appeal for the continued study of their language. The present discussion paper, drawing from secondary statistics and scholarly knowledge, first reviews a series of Japan’s foreign language education policies from the 1990s to 2012 that have been affecting the organizational structure of foreign language education in Japanese higher education. The study then addresses an array of issues that emerge with the changing needs of the times: the waning popularity of European languages, the Japanese government’s policy shift to English and Chinese, English language professionals’ detached attitudes toward other language education, and the dominance of university language teachers with little to no language teaching training. By addressing these pending yet gravely overlooked issues that merit due attention from language teaching professionals beyond Japan, the present study hopes to provide insight into the traditionally one-sided, English-centric discussion on foreign language education in Japanese higher education in a matter that is informative for international scholarship.     

Reciprocal Learning in the Partnership Project: From Knowing to Doing in Comparative Research Models

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to describe an international project aimed at building a knowledge base between Canada and China and beyond for cross-cultural educational understanding and harmonious relationships. The overall purpose of this work is to move beyond cross-cultural comparison and competition to collaborative reciprocity. Reciprocal learning is the guiding term for the Canada–China Partnership Project. The term is relatively commonplace and its deceptive simplicity veils important research and public discourse consequences. The Partnership Project, though not explicitly comparative in nature, draws heavily on the literature of comparative education, particularly with respect to methodology and understandings of Chinese and Canadian education. We describe four comparative education approaches which we think of as models of reciprocal learning across cultures. In the following remarks, we unpack these ideas of reciprocal learning as they apply to collaborative studies of Chinese and Canadian education. The models are assessed for their potential to generate collaborative teaching and learning situations with associated reciprocal learning.     

大数据与中国比较教育学科发展的新相对优势

建国后,特别是改革开放以来,中国比较教育学科的快速发展得益于三大传统优势:政策优势、语言优势、数据/资料优势.然而,这些传统优势目前都面临着国际化和信息化带来的巨大挑战,特别是大数据和可视化技术的快速发展,给世界比较教育学科的发展带来了许多新的可能和问题.在这样的背景下,中国比较教育学者必须重新反思和定位本学科的相对优势.研究者认为,中国比较教育学科发展的政策优势依然存在,且国际教育和发展教育是未来该学科在中国发展的基本方向.虽然大数据打破了传统的数据/资料优势,但中国比较教育学者对全球教育数据的洞察力及解读力将成为该学科发展的新优势.     

Re-integrating academic development and academic language and learning: a call to reason

This paper argues for the re-integration of academic development (AD) and a academic language and learning (ALL) practitioners in Australian higher education. This argument is made as universities aim to develop internationally recognised, inter-disciplinary and standards-based curricula against the backdrop of international comparative education (e.g., Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), the Australian Qualifications Framework and a quality emphasis on English language standards (e.g., Tertiary Education Quality and Assessment Agency). Drawing on Rowland's argument that professional life in the academy has become fragmented across five fault lines ([2002]. Overcoming fragmentation in professional life: The challenge for academic development. Higher Education Quarterly, 56(1), 52–64), I propose a sixth: the pedagogical fault line between language and learning which I argue is institutionally manifest in the historical bifurcation of AD and ALL practitioners in the academy. This paper traces the historical separation of these two fields of practice in Australian higher education in order to disturb the present distinction and show how it is more an accident of history than the result of sound pedagogical decision-making. The paper argues that in the current educational context, it is timely to consider a re-integration of these two aspects of the academic field. It is suggested that such a move will create research and teaching connections that develop synergies in educational development that are able to work with language and learning simultaneously.     

Policies for inclusive education practices in teacher education in the United Kingdom and France

Implementation of any inclusive policy is dependent on longstanding conceptions, beliefs, and public discourses on schooling, learning, and including children in mainstream schooling. The adoption of inclusive education in education policies in France and the United Kingdom requires discursive support to reshape the meaning and content of teachers' work, duties and practices. Although inclusive education is widely debated, analyses of the variations in policy narratives promoting inclusive teaching in Europe are lacking. This article reports on comparative and international analysis of discourses and policies for empowering teachers for continuous professional development and inclusive school practices. The analysis focuses on an exploration of varieties of articulations, resources, and conceptual dynamics in the UK and France. These elements are discussed within the broader scheme of the teaching profession, with reference to the inclusive education paradigm.     

当前小学英语教学的争议焦点与反思

当前小学英语教学存在诸多颇具争议的话题,包括初始年龄问题、汉英输入比例问题以及教学方法取舍问题等等。本文试图澄清相关的教育教学理念、挖掘小学英语教学处于困境的深层原因,提出:1."关键期假说"与少儿英语学习初始年龄并无直接关联,11～20岁是国际学术界公认的外语学习最有效的年龄,英语教育低龄化的概念值得商榷;2.5～10岁是母语思维培养的重要时期,小年龄段的英语教育应处理好汉英语言输入比例的问题;3.小学英语"趣味化"教学不能过度,应淡化功利性动机,增强其人文学科内涵。     

Teacher Competence Frameworks in Europe: policy-as-discourse and policy-as-practice

This article analyses the growing focus on teacher competences in European policy discourse against the backdrop of global convergences in education reforms. It traces key ideas, policy recommendations, peer learning and documents which underscore the relevance of teacher quality for education improvement, as recently stressed in the European Commission Communication and Staff Working Documents Rethinking Education. The intertwining of teacher competence frameworks with other areas of education policy is outlined — key competences in school education, the quality of initial teacher education, and the continuous professional development of teachers — teasing out reasons for their central role. Some insights from research and peer learning then explore key implications in the defining and implementing of teacher competence frameworks in national education systems. A comparative viewpoint further analyses current policy trends about teacher competences across European national contexts, in discourse and practice. In order to do so, a framework of analysis takes into account system features as key variables affecting national policy — roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, governance and education cultures, and the status of the teaching profession. Across the variety of policy practices, the analysis endeavours to trace some emerging patterns and trends, highlighting paradigmatic national examples, with some food for thought.     

Living in an era of comparisons: comparative research on policy,curriculum and teaching

ABSTRACT

The articles in this special issue include different perspectives on comparative policy studies with an aim to understand transnational education policies in relation to the logic of national educational systems and to grasp the ongoing reframing of teacher identity and teaching as a result of the policy activities of ‘new’ and coordinated international actors. This special issue aims to contribute to a continued qualified investigation in curriculum issues at the various levels within the public education system, as well as in the international policy movements, affecting public education differently in different nations. A ‘comparative curriculum research’ inspired by theories and methods from comparative education might be helpful in this endeavour.     

对外汉语学习网络教学平台建设的需求分析

本文通过对华中师范大学国际文化交流学院的115位在读外国留学生及其学习和使用汉语情况的调查发现，学习者对现有汉语学习网络教学平台不满意的主要原因，是没有得到相应的辅导、学习内容太难等。鉴于此，本文从网络教学平台的内容结构、资源呈现方式、功能设置等几个方面，分析了学习者对汉语学习网络教学平台建设的需求，并针对平台开发中的设计问题进行了重点讨论，以为对外汉语学习网络教学平台的建设提供参考。     

经济合作与发展组织的三大国际教育测试研究

除了PISA(国际学生评估项目)以外,经济合作与发展组织还研发了关注教师专业发展和学校教学的TAMS项目(国际教学调查项目)、调查高等教育学生学习情况的AHELO项目(高等教育学习成果测评)和对16～65岁成人进行能力评估的PIAAC(国际成人能力测评项目)。这些国际教育测试分别针对不同的教育人群进行能力评估,以更好地使各国政府了解自身的教育状况,在世界范围内进行跨文化比较,为教育的发展制定更加科学合理的教育政策。     

“一带一路”倡议下外高加索语言教育服务

外高加索地区是“一带一路”倡议重要的沿线区域,语言服务在双方共建“一带一路”和实现“五通”中起着重要作用。借助于文献法、比较分析法和归纳法对“一带一路”倡议下外高加索地区的语言教育服务现状进行了研究,发现存在语言服务规划待完善、非通用语言人才培养不足、汉语国际教育力量偏弱、师资团队建设待改进等问题,提出了加强宏观战略指导与政策规划、实施多元化汉语国际人才培养模式、加强双方高校教育合作和人才联合培养、优化教学提高语言人才培养质量、优化师资队伍建设等应对策略与建议。     

在日汉语教学方法浅析

改革开放以来中国的经济不断发展壮大,随着中国国际声望的日益提高,全球掀起了学习汉语热的高潮,对外汉语教学也成了热门话题,那么摆在我们面前的任务就是如何做好对外汉语教学工作。对外汉语教学的对象就是指母语不是汉语而是其他国家语言的外国学生,这就涉及到各个国家的学生状况,然而每个学生的自身条件、文化背景、教育背景、语言背景、学习的目的等不同,教学的方法和效率也就不同。如何使学生能够更好、更快、更准确地掌握汉语和运用汉语,换句话来说,让学生喜欢上汉语,传播中华民族文化,搞好国际交流是对外汉语教学的目的。对外汉语教学是有针对性的,对不同的学生采取相应的不同的教学方法,否则就达不到教学目的,鉴于此,结合日本汉语教学方面的问题作一些有益的探讨,以期进一步提高中对日汉语教学质量。     

Comparative education,the ‘New Paradigm’ and policy borrowing: constructing knowledge for educational reform

Education reform in England is increasingly portrayed as a quest to create ‘world class’ schools through the transfer of features of ‘high performing’ school systems. The demand for evidence to support policy borrowing has been serviced by an influential intermediary network, which uses international data banks to compare education systems, and to identify and promote evidence of ‘what works’. The approach to comparisons has been portrayed as a ‘New Paradigm’ by its advocates, and whilst the network has been extensively critiqued, this has largely focused on its deviation from the norms of academic comparative education. This article explores how the ‘New Paradigm’ operates, identifying its inherent features and the strategies used to overcome the methodological issues associated with policy borrowing. This is pursued through an analysis of the rationale; assumptions; underlying ideology; methodology; omissions and silences; dealing with critics; and language and presentation of four of its influential publications.     

Explanations for the use of languages of wider communication in education in developing countries

This paper analyzes the explanations suggested by language and educational policy scholars for the use of languages of wider communication in education in developing countries. Five explanations are discussed and critiqued, namely national integration, comparative cost, international communication, elite closure, and the world-system; each explanation is driven by assumptions about the nature of society (functional or radical-functional) and the level at which ‘society’ operates (national or international). Too narrow an adherence to a particular configuration of assumptions may foreclose for scholars a broad understanding of the dynamics which inform language policy decisions in developing countries.     

In-service training programmes for mathematics teachers nested in transnational policy discourses

Results in mathematics on international knowledge surveys like Programme for International Student Assessment and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study have become one of the most important factors for the perceived success or failure of schools and even entire education systems in the policy arena. In this article, we explore the complex recontextualising processes that occur when translating educational policy into actual programmes for teachers’ education. First, the transnational education policy discourse(s) of teachers’ in-service training with a focus on mathematics will be explored. Second, we examine how this transnational discourse is recontextualised in a national policy discourse resulting in a national reform programme for in-service training of mathematics teachers in Sweden. In a third step, concrete teacher training courses in mathematics are examined. The result shows a convergence between the official policy discourse and the pedagogic recontextualising field in terms of a broad teaching repertoire and peer discussions about reflections on certain common objects of learning.     

European Languages and Culture in Hong Kong: trade or education?

Hong Kong Government policy is to promote Hong Kong as an international education hub for the region. This may be more rhetoric than reality. The article surveys the historical background of Hong Kong in terms of its role as a trading centre, a gateway to China and a meeting place for East and West for which interchange with European languages and cultures has been important. The development of education policy within Hong Kong as far as the European dimension is involved is also reviewed. In addition, the development of global trade in educational services is touched upon which thus far has been heavily Anglo-centric. In terms of Hong Kong itself, an analysis is presented of overseas educational programmes available in Hong Kong from Europe. The extent of European languages and studies provided in the school, university and lifelong learning sectors is surveyed. The work of European consulates in promoting languages and culture through such organisations as the Alliance Française, Goethe Instituta, etc. is another important part of provision. The article makes passing reference to the neighbouring territory of Macau and the importance there of Portuguese.
The article concludes that for European studies and languages, the role of Hong Kong as a trading and financial hub has been a more significant stimulant than the Hong Kong government's policy for Hong Kong to be an international education hub.     

Book reviews

The Sage handbook of special education : Lani Florian (Ed.) Moral education—beyond the teaching of right and wrong : Colin Wringe Interviewing and representation in qualitative research : John Schostak Citizenship and language learning: international perspectives : A. Osler and H. Starkey Early literacy work with families: policy, practice and research : Cathy NutbrownPeter Hannon & Anne Morgan Qualitative research in education: a user's guide : Marilyn Lichtman